God wishes the salvation of everyone (Fr. Ron Rolheiser)

    Many great saints and mystics were either borderline or full-blown universalists. This means that they believed that there is universal salvation. 

    Their reason for believing this is not the perennially popular (and bad!) argument: ‘If God is all-loving and merciful, how can He send anyone to hell?’ 

    Rather, they argue from the power of God’s love: ‘God wishes the salvation of everyone and is, ultimately, powerful enough to bring it about. 

    If we believe in the power of love to heal and to create freely its own response, surely God’s perfect love will eventually bring even the most hardened sinner to accept it. If human love, weak and imperfect as it is, can melt hard hearts, won’t perfect love eventually penetrate every kind of resistance? 

--Fr. Ron Rolheiser OMI 

Image source: Wayne Pascall, Prodigal Son, available for purchase at: https://www.waynepascallart.com/584174/prodigal-son/
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Trust that your soul is in God's hands (Marie Philomène Péan)

    How do you keep the balance between love, life, and truth? How do you hold onto gratitude, even when your expectations are not met? Can you trust that your soul is in God’s hands and live like you believe it? 

    Because with Jesus, it is a win-win! Jesus accepts us no matter who we are. In John 6, 37 he said: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me”. 

    Thus, if we live, we live in Christ. If we die, we die in Christ. Either way, we are held. We are loved. We are home. 

--Marie Philomène Péan, D.Min. 

Image source: https://charis.regent.edu/trust-artwork-on-trust/
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A holy human soul (Frederick Douglass / Marilynne Robinson)

 

The soul that is within me
no man can degrade.

--Frederick Douglass

    Once in a lifetime, you look at a stranger and you see a soul, a glorious presence out of place in the world. And if you love God, every choice is made for you. There is no turning away. You’ve seen the mystery – you’ve seen what life is about. What it’s for. And a soul has no earthly qualities, no history among the things of this world, no guilt or injury or failure. No more than a flame would have. There is nothing to be said about it except that it is a holy human soul. And it is a miracle when you recognize it. 

--Marilynne Robinson, Jack

Image source: Elizabeth Catlett, Recognition (1970), https://www.swanngalleries.com/news/fine-art/african-american-art/2015/12/elizabeth-catletts-varied-mediums/
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Learning from St. Joseph (Thomas Griffin)

    Each moment we have as fathers, whether before or after the birth of our children, and whether it is beautiful or challenging, is an opportunity to learn from St. Joseph. Joseph knew what it was like to wait for the birth of his child, and he knew what it was like to embark upon an unknown pilgrimage into the future. Joseph is the king of dealing with unpredictable and unforeseen situations -- from the pregnancy of Mary before they lived together (Matthew 1:18), to having no place for her to give birth in Bethlehem (Luke 2:7) all the way through the flight from Egypt in fear for their lives (Matthew 2:13-14) and providing for his family with his small carpentry shop. 

     Life has uncertainties and challenges, but following St. Joseph’s lead will allow you to perceive God’s fingerprints in every present moment – no matter what might come. Joseph’s silence in the Bible, humility in following God, and trust in God’s plan made him the best suited stepfather to Christ. 

--Thomas Griffin 

God bless all fathers,
biological, adoptive, and spiritual, today!
Happy Fathers Day! 

Image source: El Greco, St. Joseph and the Child Jesus (ca. 1600), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_of_Toledo,_sacristy,_with_paintings_by_El_Greco_%2815%29_%2829161098404%29.jpg
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Salvation comes (Fr. Patrick Michaels)

    God wants to embrace every human being. Salvation – the kingdom of God – comes when every human being allows themselves to be embraced, when they understand that love is a way of life, not hatred, when love creates the world that God came to create, not to diminish it. 

--Fr. Patrick Michaels,
Homily, February 23, 2025

Image source: Jesus embraces John, The Chosen, Season 5, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/newsletter/2025-06-20/the-chosen-prime-video-a-king-like-me-netflix-long-way-home-apple

Fear not (Pope Francis)

    There is no need to worry and fret, for our story is firmly in God’s hands. We are heartened by Jesus’ invitation not to fear. Indeed, at times we feel imprisoned by a feeling of distrust and anxiety. It is the fear of failure, of not being acknowledged and loved, the fear of not being able to accomplish our plans, of never being happy, and so on. And so, we scramble to look for solutions, to find a space in which to emerge, to accumulate goods and wealth, to obtain security. 

    And how do we end up? We end up living anxiously and constantly worrying. 

    Instead, Jesus reassures us: Do not be afraid! Trust in the Father who wants to give you all you truly need. He has already given you his Son, his Kingdom, and he always accompanies you with his providence, taking care of you every day. Fear not: this is the certainty that your hearts should be attached to! Fear not: a heart attached to this certainty. Fear not. 

--Pope Francis

Image source 1: https://chrisgoringe.net/2023/06/many-sparrows/ 

Image source 2: Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich, Procrustes (2023). For a compelling explanation of how this piece embodies human fear, go to: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-25-14-30-2025/
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Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 21, 2026: Lord, in your great love, answer me...

Lord, in your great love, answer me…
 What does salvation look like? 

    Humankind’s understanding of what constitutes salvation has evolved greatly over time. When the prophet Jeremiah prays to the Lord, he is hoping to be saved from his former friends, now his enemies: Perhaps he will be trapped, Jeremiah imagines them saying, then we can prevail! Jeremiah’s community has no concept of an afterlife, and so Jeremiah believes that any vindication he might see – in the form of verification of his prophecies – needs to happen in his lifetime. Ultimately, however, Jeremiah has confidence in God’s love: to you I have entrusted my cause. Jeremiah has much in common with the author of Psalm 69, who has become an outcast to his brothers, a stranger to his mother’s children. Yet, like Jeremiah, the psalmist knows that he must not change his message simply because he feels threatened. Instead, he will trust in the Lord’s help, for bounteous is God’s kindness and mercy. 

    When, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus sends out the Twelve, his principal request is that they fear no one. Fear makes us defensive, and if the disciples are defensive, then Jesus will not be able to be present to the communities the disciples are hoping to reach. Rather than fear, therefore, the disciples must remain confident that Jesus is with them, present to them at all times, that they might go and love and heal their world. They have entered into relationship with Jesus, and consequently they know salvation. To deny him before others would be to deny their own identity. Clearly, Jesus has every confidence that his Twelve will remain faithful, and thus be effective in their ministry. 

    Paul will remind the Romans that the vindication of all mankind comes from the one God has sent, for the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflows for the many. When Adam and Eve chose control over relationship, sin entered the world, but Jesus’ unselfish, generous gift is not like the selfish transgressions of Adam and Eve. Indeed, God’s response to transgression is a generous and absolute love. We know salvation because we know Christ. So long as we remain in him, we too can trust in the bounteous kindness of the Lord, entrusting our salvation to his infinite mercy. 

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