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Paul tells us never to grumble, but to rejoice whatever comes our way, so that we can shine as a beacon of faith and hope for others. This is particularly important as the world get darker.

We long for a political system that will be just and perfect, but it will never happen in this life. Jesus came not to fix everything in this world, but to open for us a better one in heaven. The effects of original sin are still in this world, and it can never be perfect, but if we can be life Jesus, not grasping for power but humbling ourselves for the sake of others, we will join him in heaven.

Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, expanding on the center of God's law—the shema: love the Lord your God with everything, and love your neighbor as yourself. In the Old Testament and the New, this does not change, and it requires us to actually live according to our love in God and neighbor.

Readings: Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28-34

Jesus said, "whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Children are dependent on others for the basic needs of their lives, and they know it. We are dependent on God's mercy to to be able to live in the kingdom of God. Do we always remember that?

Today we have the end of the Book of Job, where Job realizes that he cannot understand the ways of God, but at least he knows that God loves him and will, in the end, make things right. That is enough for Job. Is it enough for us?

Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. First, the prophet Isaiah tells a people who were suffering in darkness that God will send a messiah to save them. In the Gospel, Jesus does the things that show that he is the promised messiah, though he does not want everyone to know yet. Then, the second reading is from the Letter of James, a "brother" of Jesus, who does not claim to be the new messiah to carry on Jesus' work. Rather, James claims that Jesus is still alive and is alone the messiah, and is working though him to keep bringing about the kingdom.

In Luke's Gospel we hear of Jesus expelling demons. Is demonic possession real, or was it just some form of mental illness? What we can certainly say is that if demons are real, we don't have to worry about them if we trust in Jesus, because Jesus has power over all.

The people of Nazareth thought they already knew Jesus, and so could not accept that he was more than they thought. We can discover amazing things by being open to being taught by God rather than holding on to our small ideas.

Br. Joe Trout breaks open the readings for the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, tying the disparate readings together—Amos is not a professional prophet, just trying to do God's will; Jesus calls the apostles to trust him and follow his work; and Paul reminds us that it is God who lavishes grace upon us. Thus, we must ask ourselves: is this God working through me, or are these my own ideas that are getting in the way of God working through me?

Readings: Amos 7:12–15, Ephesians 1:3–14, Mark 6:7–13

God instructed Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife as sign of both Israel's unfaithfulness and God's enduring love. When we gaze on a crucifix we can see both our sin in crucifying our saviour and God's love in enduring that for our salvation. Let us embrace that duality.

God instructed Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife as sign of both Israel's unfaithfulness and God's enduring love. When we gaze on a crucifix we can see both our sin in crucifying our saviour and God's love in enduring that for our salvation. Let us embrace that duality.

On this memorial of The Immaculate Heart of Mary, we remember Mary as having the perfect human heart, untouched by sin. In iconography, Mary's Immaculate Heart is pictured in flames, recalling the burning bush that Moses encountered on Mount Horeb from which God spoke of his desire to save humanity. Mary's heart was grafted on to God's heart when she said agreed to become the Mother of God. Even though we see in the Gospel that Mary did not always understand the plan of God, her burning love never wavered.