So that others might have life (St. Thérèse de Lisieux / Fr. Ron Rolheiser)

The only way I can prove my love
is by scattering flowers,
and these flowers are every little sacrifice,
every glance and word,
and the doing of the least actions for love.

--St. Thérèse de Lisieux

     There is a quality I see in the great, selfless people that I have met. They have made peace with the inadequacy of life, no longer demanding that others make them happy, and find real joy in being able to sacrifice their time, their dreams, and their lives so that others might have more life. 

     Our faith needs to give us the tools to handle that, namely, to help us come to grips with the fact that we live and die in incompleteness. 

--Fr. Ron Rolheiser OMI

Image source: https://seedsheets.com/when-does-wisteria-bloom-a-simple-growers-guide/?srsltid=AfmBOoqDga1pc82b7ikcP627HzUkVdFXWjP-MI8_aZDzPtQ3a2pSlaQi
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Letting go (Fr. Patrick van der Vorst)

   Before a tree can produce its leaves, it must grow, shed and nurture. When it sheds them, it makes way for new leaves and new life. In the same way, those who desire closeness to Christ must be willing to let go of certain things in order to embrace new life in Him. This ongoing process of sacrifice and renewal is at the heart of the Christian journey. Peter... is told precisely this: whatever has been left behind will be returned in the form of new, abundant life. 

    Philip McKay, a Liverpool-based digital artist, began creating digital works in 1996. Strongly influenced by René Magritte and the Surrealists, his art often weaves together the surreal and the spiritual, evoking a profound sense of mystery. In our image, the leaves being swept away from the tree subtly take on the shape of a face, a striking visual metaphor. It serves as a reminder that who we are is often revealed in what we give away! 

--Fr. Patrick van der Vorst 

Image source: Philip McKay, In Spirit (2022), https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-10-28-31-2025 (Quotation taken from this same page.)

Imaginal cells (Richard Hooker / Mirza Inayat Khan)

Change is not made without inconvenience.

 --Richard Hooker,
16th-century theologian

    Midway through its life, the caterpillar withdraws into a chrysalis. After weeks of hidden transformation, it emerges as a butterfly. We might imagine it slowly growing wings. But what happens is far stranger. 

    The caterpillar dissolves. Tail, limbs, head, and body break down into a pool of cells. 

    And yet, within that dissolution, small clusters survive. Biologists call them imaginal cells. They have been there from the beginning, carrying the pattern of the butterfly. From these cells, a new winged body takes shape. The butterfly emerges and takes flight. 

    Perhaps our true self has always been there, hidden within us. Awakening is the remembering of who we really are, transcendent and beautiful. 

--Mirza Inayat Khan,
March 4, 2026

Image source 1: https://a-z-animals.com/animals/butterflies/how-does-a-caterpillar-turn-into-a-butterfly/
Image source 2: Phoebe Anna Traquair, Progress of a Soul, detail (1895-1902), https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/progress-soul-phoebe-anna-traquair/
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What cross will you choose? (Paulo Coelho)

     A man in a certain village was always complaining about his lot in life. He was a Christian and found the weight of his “cross” much too heavy to bear. 

    One night, before going to sleep, he begged God to help him find a way to change his burden. 

    That night he had a dream; the Lord led him to a warehouse. “Go ahead and change it,” God said. The man saw crosses of all sizes and shapes, each with the names of their owners. He picked an average size cross. But when he saw the name of an old friend written on it, he left it aside. 

    Finally, as God had permitted, he chose the smallest cross he could find. To his surprise, he saw his own name on it. 

--Paulo Coelho 

Image source: This image is taken from a thirteen-minute animated, slightly more developed version of this story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP0J2eDPIjU
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Let us turn this thirst into a step stool (Pope Leo XIV)

    We continually aspire to something 'more' that no created reality can give us; we feel a deep and burning thirst that no drink in this world can satisfy. Knowing this, let us not deceive our hearts by trying to satisfy them with cheap imitations! Let us rather listen to them! Let us turn this thirst into a step stool, like children who stand on tiptoe, in order to peer through the window of encounter with God. 

--Pope Leo XIV 

Image source: https://www.spscreens.com.au/blog/guide-keeping-children-safe-around-windows/
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Sacrifices and suffering (Pope Francis / Fr. Louis Brisson)

The sacrifices and sufferings required by
[our] acts of love of neighbor
unite us to the passion of Christ.

 --Pope Francis, Dilexit nos

    When we suffer pain, we must cut short all reflections, all murmurings and say, ‘I accept it.’ When we are tempted to pride or sensuality, we must cut short again. Someone causes you pain or expresses disdain for you. Why do you stop there? ‘Why do you listen to your own thoughts?’ says St. Francis de Sales. Couper court! [Cut it short!] 

    Sacrifice, thus understood and practised, is extremely pleasing to God. Cut short whatever binds you to your own will, whatever makes you look back, whatever enchains you and holds you captive. 

    By practicing the couper court, you acquire a considerable amount of strength and energy… Day by day, hour by hour, you will develop the habit of sacrifice. And when a formal order of God will ask of you something difficult, something which will seem impossible to nature, you will accept it completely and courageously. 

--Fr. Louis Brisson,
Founder of the Oblates
of St. Francis de Sales

Image source: https://www.antidote.info/en/blog/reports/couper-court-et-finement
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Sunday Gospel Reflection, August 30, 2026: Be transformed...

Be transformed…
How does surrendering to God’s will transform us? 

    The life of a prophet is never easy, and Jeremiah’s is no exception. The people Jeremiah is sent to serve have categorically rejected his message and have subjected the prophet to prolonged abuse, even time in the stocks, because he has participated in God’s plan unfolding. All the day I am an object of laughter, he tells the Lord; everyone mocks me. Yet Jeremiah has found the strength to surrender his own will to the Lord, and the transformation effected by this surrender is viscerally clear: God’s name becomes like a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones. Jeremiah is no longer the man he was when the Lord called him; his identity has been radically altered, and he cannot stay silent. The author of Psalm 63 has undergone a similar transformation, and thus recognizes that his life and self exist only to the extent that the psalmist dwells in God. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God, he sings. To yearn to be close to God, the source of life, is an indication that this man knows his true identity and is ready to live from it, whatever it takes. 

    Jesus likewise participates in God’s plan and knows he will suffer for it. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus knows that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly and be killed, and yet he surrenders to God’s plan unfolding, that all humankind might be saved through his sacrifice on the cross. Spokesman for the disciples, Peter cannot countenance this revelation: God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you! Jesus makes it clear to Peter and to all that they are, first and foremost, to surrender, to participate in God’s plan unfolding. How? Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me, Jesus says. To surrender this life to Christ is to become what Paul in his Letter to the Romans calls a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Our worship must be worship with our whole self as we offer ourselves fully alive to the Lord, ourselves and all that is in us, living life as a sacrifice for other. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, Paul continues. Transformation of body and mind takes place so that we might discern what is right and do it, discern, as Paul writes, what is the will of God, living life for other rather than for self. Then and only then will we know the transformation of our identity that comes from making our whole self a living sacrifice. 

    God’s plan is unfolding, and Jeremiah and the psalmist find themselves at heart of it. Peter and his companions have some way to go. Our hope is to be able to say that God’s plan is unfolding and we are at the heart of it! But first, we must surrender, allowing our hearts and lives to be transformed! 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com