God invites us to join in the work of salvation by offering us wisdom and grace in the Eucharist, but we have to choose to partake of these gifts if we want to be coworkers in creating the Kingdom,
Jesus said to let the little children come to him, because the kingdom of heaven belongs so such as them. Children can have a very profound and simple trust in God that can be our guide when we feel our faith flagging.
God called Jeremiah to become a prophet and promised to give him the words to speak when it was time. In life, we often find it difficult to know what to say at times. In conversations that matter, we should be open to prayer and allowing God to inspire us with the right words to say.
The spiritual bonds that we can form with others by living out the will of God can be even more profound and important than the the ties of kinship that bind us to our biological family.
While at sea with his disciples, Jesus rebuked a violent squall and told it to be quiet, and it obeyed. His disciples were amazed. Can we trust in the power of Jesus? Do we have a sense of the awesomeness of God?
Jesus famously said that we cannot serve two masters, God and mammon. If we serve God first, then we can have healthy attitude towards our own material goods, not clinging to them, but using them to help those who do not have enough.
The Letter of James advises those who are sick to be anointed with oil by the elders of the church, which is part of the basis for our Anointing of the Sick, a beautiful sacrament of healing and comfort that does not need to be put off until the end of life.
Building on Jesus' teaching against divorce and the Church's teaching that the family as the domestic church is the basic building block of a stable society, we are challenged to reach out to help families that are struggling, to help them draw closer to God's love.
Jesus tells us, "if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you." We feed our faith and our souls by regularly and devoutly partaking in the Eucharist.
Philip explained the Good News of Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch, who then immediately demanded to be baptized. This is a day to reflect on the great gift of Baptism that has been offered to all of us.
In today's Gospel we get a hint that Caiaphas wants to kill Jesus in order to maintain his political power. Today our politicians sometimes try to protect their vested interest rather than working for the common good.
Jesus' enemies want to stone him because he is preaching a vision of Judaism that is different than their own. Can we look upon what is new with eyes of love that try to understand rather than with condemnation?
