18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God works so powerfully in and around us at different times in our lives…but like the Israelites in our first reading, it’s so easy to forget the good things God has done in our lives.  When we remember what God has done for us and consciously give Him thanks for those blessings, we begin to enter more fully into the celebration of the Eucharist, where we “give thanks” to God for what He has done for us, especially in giving us the greatest gift of all: the gift of His own Body and Blood, “the food that endures to eternal life!”

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We mistakenly think that comfort will lead to happiness…but the human experience proves that those who do NOT regularly push themselves outside their comfort zones experience a slow but sure atrophy of their spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational health, and thus a slow but sure atrophy of happiness and fulfillment.  Those who consistently push themselves outside their comfort zones are healthier, happier, more fulfilled people: spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally, etc.  (Book: The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter)

In today’s readings we see Amos and the Twelve pushed way outside their comfort zones to proclaim God’s message – they weren’t “religious professionals”, they were never schooled in this, most of them had blue collar jobs…and yet God chose and sent these individuals to witness to Him.  God has chosen and sent you, too, O Christian, as Paul tells us in our second reading.  You have been chosen, you have been sent, by the creator of the universe!  Will you begin to step outside your comfort zones, push your perceived boundaries, and start experiencing, to a degree you didn’t even know was possible, the life God actually has in store for you?!

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A question to ask ourselves today: “Am I living for myself, or am I living for God?”  And the answer for most of us is probably, “A little bit of both…depending on when you catch me during the day.”  In our Bishop’s Pastoral Letter on Evangelization he gives the image of three circles of what our life can look like and explains them: first, second or third circle.  I want third circle Catholicism, and I hope you do, too!  (Listen to find out what that means!)

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I head a lot of complaining and blaming in this day and age.  Jesus had a lot that he could have complained about in his time…a lot…but we don’t hear Him complain once in the Gospels about any of the things that we often complain about.  Why?  Because His mission wasn’t first and foremost to fix the world.  Rather, Jesus came to save individual people from their sins; Jesus’ mission was to save souls, to proclaim that God’s day was a t hand…and that’s the mission He gave us!  So stop complainin’ and start proclaimin’!