If God loves us with all his being (Pope Leo XIV)

    If God loves us with all his being, then we too must love one another. We cannot love God whom we do not see without loving our brother and sister whom we do see (cf. 1 Jn 4:20)... 

    In following Jesus, the ascent to God passes through descent and dedication to our brothers and sisters, especially the least, the poorest, the abandoned and the marginalized. What we have done to the least of these, we have done to Christ (cf. Mt 25:31-46). 

    In the face of disasters, wars and misery, we bear witness to God’s mercy to those who doubt him only when they experience his mercy through us. 

--Pope Leo XIV 

Image source: Pope Leo XIV blesses a baby as he greets people before celebrating Mass with those assisted by the Albano diocesan Caritas agency at the Shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda in Albano Laziale, Italy, Aug. 17, 2025, https://catholicreview.org/burn-with-fire-of-gods-love-pope-says-at-mass-and-lunch-with-the-poor/
Quotation source

Joy and duty (Bishop Robert Barron)

    Joy and commandments: these are not terms that we would readily juxtapose. We usually associate commandments with the carrying out of duty and responsibility, or laying down the law and establishing order and discipline. But all of this seems opposed to joy. 

    We find joy in God alone, for our souls have been wired for God. We must acquire God if we are to be joyful. But here’s the trick—and the whole of the Christian life is on display here: God is love. God is self-emptying on behalf of the other. But this means, paradoxically, that to acquire God is to make of oneself a gift. To have God is to be what God is—and that means giving one’s life away. That alone will make you joyful. 

--Bishop Robert Barron 

Image source: Marc Chagall, Crucifixion, Union Church of Pocantico Hills, New York, https://hudsonvalley.org/article/union-church-of-pocantico-hills-virtual-tour/
Quotation source

What is a Paraclete? (Gerard Manley Hopkins)

     What is a Paraclete? A Paraclete is one who comforts, who cheers, who encourages, who persuades, who exhorts, who stirs up, who urges forward, who calls on, what the spur, and word of command is, to a horse. [The Paraclete] is what clapping is to a speaker, what a trumpet is to a soldier. That is what a Paraclete is to the soul: one who calls us to the good. 

      A Paraclete is just that, something that cheers the spirit of one, with signals and with cries, all zealous, that one should do something and full of assurance that if one will, one can, calling us on, springing to meet us halfway, crying to our ears, or to our heart: This way to do God’s will, this way to save your soul, come on, come on! 

--Gerard Manley Hopkins,
Sermons & Devotional Writings

Image source: https://www.justhorseriders.co.uk/blogs/news/legends-of-the-saddle-the-10-greatest-horse-riders-and-equestrian-disciplines?srsltid=AfmBOorCX-J44yMX7Xrgvbmecqi20pUYf9dhnA9bqAjsDWP_wD_5bBT_
Quotation source

Bless all mothers (A Mother's Day Prayer)

Heavenly Father,
We thank You for the gift of mothers,
through whom Your love is revealed in so many ways.

Bless all mothers:
those who are joyful, and those who are burdened,
those expecting new life, and those who mourn a loss,
those who nurture children now, and those who lovingly remember. 

Grant them strength, patience, and joy in their vocation.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord,
be their guide and consolation.
Let their sacrifices be honored,
their love returned,
and their hearts filled with peace. 

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Happy Mother's Day to all
who fulfill the role of mother!

Image source: Filippo Lippi, Madonna with Child and Two Angels (ca. 1460-1465), https://mymodernmet.com/madonna-and-child-art-history/
Prayer source

God broke open his own heart in love (Bishop Robert Barron)

     In his passion to set right a disjointed universe, God broke open his own heart in love. The Father sent not simply a representative but his own Son into the dysfunction of the world, so that he might gather that world into the bliss of the divine life. God’s center—the love between the Father and the Son—is now offered as our center; God’s heart breaks open so as to include even the worst and most hopeless among us. 

--Bishop Robert Barron

Image source: https://inspiration.org/spiritual-life/an-open-heart-for-god
Quotation source

Mary is not passive (China Galland)

     Mary is not passive. The image we've been shown has truth in it, but it is a limited truth. I derived great comfort in the fact that Mary was an earthly mother, that she went through a pregnancy as a teenage mother, that she had known homelessness, that she had borne at least one child. She had witnessed that child's suffering and death, she knew the depths of a mother's sorrow. ⁠ ⁠ 

 

     But Mary's passivity may be all we've allowed ourselves to see. A woman rising up against authority, a woman strong and fearless, a ferocious woman, an independent woman, a heroic woman, a physically courageous woman - to have seen Mary this way would not have served the social order...⁠ ⁠ 

     This is a Mary we need now, a fierce Mary, a terrific Mary, a fearsome Mary, a protectress who does not allow her children to be hunted, tortured, murdered and devoured. 

--China Galland 

Image & quotation source: Margo Humphrey, Black Madonna (2013), https://periodpastor.com/2020/12/13/mary-knew-and-she-still-said-yes/

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 10, 2026: Always be ready to give an explanation...

Always be ready to give an explanation…
What role do we play in the revelation of God’s infinite love? 

    It is through relationship that God is revealed. In John’s Gospel, Jesus reassures his disciples at the Last Supper that, while he will not longer be visibly or physically present to them after his death, he will ask the Father, and he will give them another Advocate, the Spirit of truth. This Spirit will remain with them and will be in them. Jesus came to bring us to God, to give us access to God’s infinite love. All that Jesus said and did points to that and was working to make that happen. To be church is to find our union in the love of God revealed in the death and rising of Jesus and revealed in the Spirit at work in our lives. If we as a church are one, then we share in the relationship shared by Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit. And we can only enter into that union through surrender, which requires that we keep his commandments. Our true identity lies in our connectedness, in the participation of all as one. 

    After Jesus’ death and rising, then, it was left to the Twelve and to the disciples that came after them to continue to reveal God’s infinite love to our world through the Spirit that dwelt in them. In the Acts of the Apostles, Philip proclaims the Christ to the people of Samaria, and then Peter and John also come to Samaria and pray for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. The disciples are channels through which God works, through whom God is revealed, and that revelation is cause for great joy! 

    That joy is to be evident in our communal witness to God’s action in our lives: Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing praise to the glory of his name, Psalm 66 reminds us. Such joy is precisely what allows us to, as the First Letter of Peter recommends, give an explanation to anyone who asks us for a reason for our hope, with gentleness and reverence. Our challenge is to make sure Christ is revealed in our answer, and that the love of God is manifest in our response. In this way we can further Jesus’ purpose in coming, as in our words and deeds, we too offer access to God, revealing God’s love to all, so that all the earth can indeed cry out to God with joy! 

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

Join in that love (Fr. Patrick Michaels)

    I was at St. Kevin’s on Cortland Avenue in San Francisco during a period when Cortland Avenue was a little rougher than it is now, with a lot of drug dealing and using and a lot of people hanging around doing nothing and creating havoc. 

    One day at morning Mass, there was this man who was a good 6’6” – much taller than anyone else, or so it looked. He didn’t look like he’d had a bath for a month or so. His eyes were glazed, and he was totally unfocused. At the Our Father, Margaret Ahearn, who was all of 4’6” and had a smile that was about five feet wide, walked to the man with a big smile, took his hand, looked up at him (which was quite a feat), and then prayed the Our Father with him and everyone else. What she couldn’t see were the tears running down his face. How long had it been since someone had touched him? How long had it been since someone recognized that he, too was a human being, he too was loved into existence by God? When was the last time anybody had recognized his dignity? 

    Margaret was amazing; I’ve known very few people like her. I never met her husband Matthew; he was dead before I arrived in the parish – but she would talk about him. She said that she and Matthew wanted children, but they never had any, so they adopted everybody they met. And they did: everybody they met. It didn’t matter who, they had a place in the hearts of the Ahearns, a place in their home, if they needed it. Come Thanksgiving, if you didn’t have anyone to have Thanksgiving with, they had more than enough room. And they were happy to have you. 

    Because Margaret took this seriously: If God has loved us first – it doesn’t happen the other way around – if God has loved us first, what other response can we have but to love God and to love what God has made? Our gospel text is the conclusion to last week’s text: Remain in me as I remain in you. Love one another as I love you. As I love the Father and the Father loves me, join in that love, be one in that love, join us, be with us, never part from us … for our love for you is eternal. Let your love for each other try and reach the same lack of limitation. 

--Fr. Patrick Michaels,
Homily, May 5, 2024

Image source: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/11/16/what-its-going-church-when-youre-homeless/

Creating and nurturing communiies of faith (Carolyn Jacobs)

    There is a healing power for those gathered in prayer who trust that God is in the midst of them. While we may share hope for a specific outcome, we must remember that line of the Lord’s prayer where we ask for God’s will to be done. Trusting in God frees us to hear the Holy Spirit’s guidance, not just our own desired outcome, for in the midst of the community and in our hearts as we become open to new ways of hearing the other, we realize that whatever the outcome may be, we are not alone on our journey. We are in the family and community where God calls us. 

 

    The challenges of our church and our world are invitations to continuous discernment of how to dialogue, to forgive, and to be obedient to the urgings of the Spirit. We live in a time when we need to step out and invite others to prayer, dialogue, and action. We need to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us. For the challenges invite us to become open to our personal and collective vulnerabilities in creating and nurturing communities of faith that are inclusive. To remember that we are not alone, that we are because others exist in the world surrounding us. We trust that whatever challenging circumstances or people we meet on our journeys, we are called to listen for God’s voice as we gather in groups of two or more and hold in our hearts the love of our neighbors as ourselves. 

--Carolyn Jacobs, MSW, Ph.D. 

Image source: OLMC Liturgical Ministers Retreat, August 2022, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5555792571148786&set=a.5555795787815131
Quotation source

Only Christ's love (Pope Francis)

     Only Christ’s love can set us free from a mad pursuit that has no longer has room for a gratuitous love. Christ’s love can give a heart to our world and revive love whenever we think that the ability to love has been definitely lost. 

    The Church also needs that love, lest the love of Christ be replaced with outdated structures and concerns, excessive attachment to our own ideas and opinions, and fanaticism in any number of forms, which end up taking the place of the gratuitous love of God that liberates, enlivens, brings joy to the heart and builds communities. 

--Pope Francis, Dilexit nos,
Paragraphs 218 & 219 

Image source: Pope Francis shares a meal with the poor and homeless of Rome, June 29, 2018, https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-dinner-poor-homeless-krajewski.html
Quotation source

At its best, the church is a murmuration (Rev. Spencer Reece)

     [Starlings] fly in one mass of love. They have no leader. They pulse as a single entity. The starlings are the words of Paul come to life: ‘For all of you are one.’” 

     At its best, church is a murmuration. If it’s done right, a priest is a leader who is being led. But if you’re a leader and you think your ego is in charge of all the starlings, it won’t work. You have to shrink your ego to the size of a pea, and that’s not an easy thing to do. The power of church is community and community-building. And the future of the church is how it will bridge to the secular world. 

     The beauty of starlings is as beautiful as the murmuration of the disciples as they gather for the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus stands before them like the Statue of Liberty and asks them to consider a call to radical love. Bless everyone you can think of until you can’t think straight. Everyone listening, in a mass of love. Everyone led by Jesus, a leader who is led.

--Rev. Spencer Reece

To watch a beautifully filmed murmuration of starlings, click on the video below: 

Image source: https://www.carolynanderson.com/blog/174266/a-murmuration-of-starlings
Video source
Quotation source

The Church the world needs today (Pope Leo XIV)

Here is the church.
Here is the steeple.
Open the doors and
see all the people.

--Children's rhyme

      A Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love, is the Church that the world needs today. 

--Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi te

Image source 1: https://saintcoleman.org/cst-love-for-poor

Image source 2: https://katyandtheword.com/2012/06/15/here-is-the-church-here-is-the-steeple-open-the-doors/

Quotation source

Her full, total yes (St. Edith Stein / Fr. Settimio M. Manelli F.I.)

The kingdom began on earth
when the blessed Virgin spoke her
Be it unto me.

 --St. Edith Stein 

    Such ‘consent,’ given by Mary, is not merely private, but expresses the willing participation of man, of humanity, in the work of salvation. In the freedom of Mary, at that instant, were contained all the desires, fears, and hopes of man in need of redemption. And the New Eve spoke her full, total yes to the angel of light, just the first Eve had once spoken her yes to the angel of darkness. Moreover, the response given by Mary to the angel also expresses, in addition to her consent, a humble and unconditional dedication to the plan of God entrusted to her. 

–Fr. Settimio M. Manelli, F.I.

In May, we honor
the Blessed Virgin Mary…

Image source: Daniel Braniff, Annunciation window (1966), Dominican College, Belfast, Ireland, https://www.facebook.com/groups/303462353173920/posts/3134290370091090/
Quotation source 1

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 3, 2026: Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do...

Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do…

How much God can accomplish through us,

if only we are one in Christ! 

   One of the single most important takeaways from the beginning of Jesus’ Last Supper Discourse in John’s Gospel is the fundamental union of Jesus, the Word-made-Flesh, with his Father, from the time of the Incarnation to Jesus’ death on the cross and beyond: I am in the Father and the Father is in me, Jesus tells his disciples. Through his death, Jesus gives us access to divine life as well: I am going to prepare a place for you, he says. We are baptized into Christ’s death so we might join him in resurrection. But the place he prepares is here, now – it is relationship. Jesus calls us to be fully alive in him, here and now, on earth as it is in heaven. How? Where I am going you know the way, Jesus tells his disciples; I am the way and the truth and the life. Jesus, the perfect revelation of God’s infinite love for all creation, teaches us the way. Love is the way. Love is truth. Love is life. Love is what we are called to. 

   Although, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles, the early Christian community had its growing pains, with Hellenists complaining against Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution, the community is still very much grounded in their faith in this truth: that they too are called together, as a community, to act in concert as a community for the benefit of all, through love. They can only do so if they recognize the centrality of the Spirit and the importance of the wisdom they gain from the word of God, placing their trust in the Lord, as Psalm 33 reminds them to do. 

   The importance of interdependence is reinforced in the First Letter of Peter, which calls upon the Christian community of the author’s time to let themselves be built into a spiritual house, not a tangible structure but rather an intentional union in Christ, the cornerstone of our faith. Like the community in Acts, these Christians must work not only to meet the needs of their own, but call others to faith, for this is the work of God, and to do the work of God, they must be one in Jesus who is the revelation of God. Together we are called to learn the way and the truth and the life that is Jesus, and to build upon all that he accomplished, allowing the Lord to work through us for the benefit of our world.

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

Their hearts are changed (Jackie Bacon)

     The Acts of the Apostles provides us with the opportunity to witness one of the truly “aha” moments in Christianity, when people see something quite extraordinary and they are changed. On the day of Pentecost, we see Peter and the other disciples filled with the Holy Spirit, and Peter interprets the recent Christ events and the arrival of the Holy Spirit for them. The crowds see the effects of the arrival of the Holy Spirit on these simple, flawed fishermen, and what they see and what they hear is so gripping, so compelling, that their hearts are changed. They ask, What are we do to? Peter says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Peter then issues a call to action: Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. 

    The Greek word for repentance, metanoia, is such a recurring focus in Acts, referring not only to a changed mind, but to a profound conversion that changes the heart, moving people from where they were before to where they are now: a very different place because of Jesus and faith. They are new people, individuals transformed, a group transformed, a Body transformed. That is what Peter is asking the people of Israel. 

--Jackie Bacon,
OLMC Communion Service,
April 2, 2024 

Image source: Fra Angelico, St. Peter Preaching in the Presence of St. Mark (c.1433), https://www.wikiart.org/en/fra-angelico/st-peter-preaching-in-the-presence-of-st-mark

Oftentimes we do not recognize the gift (Fr. Patrick Michaels)

     Oftentimes, in our own self-perception, we do not recognize what God has done in creating us. We do not recognize the gift that he has gifted the world with. We don’t know what we are capable of, but God has loved each one of us infinitely, which means that each one of us has an infinite capacity. The smallest seed brings forth a great, large shrub that gives shade to others. 

     For the longest time, we were all taught to work for our own salvation. That stood in contrast and contradiction to everything Jesus taught. We cannot find salvation on our own. We can in each other’s context. That’s why we gather here. We long to be with the Lord, and we gather here to be with the Lord in each other, to affirm his presence in one another, to help each of us leave this place knowing that God is at work in us, knowing that the infinite capacity of his love is contained in us. We do not control the growth, but we allow it. 

     We have to stop working for ourselves, trying to find that holiness we think only can be found in isolation. Holiness is found in one another. We are blessed profoundly in one another because the gifts that you have not the gifts that I have, and if you want a whole set, you need more than you can bring on your own; we all do. That is what draws us together, for then we encounter the one who makes us holy and we live a love that we are only beginning to understand. This is grace: he is present here, now, always, every time we gather, so that we might live… in him. 

--Fr. Patrick Michaels,
Homily, June 16, 2024

We are so grateful, Fr. Pat,
for these words of wisdom,
which seem so very appropriate today
as we celebrate your birthday.
 You may not often recognize
what God has done in creating you,
 but the OLMC community sees God
working through you daily,
and we know we are blessed to have you.
Thank you for all you do for us,
and for all you do with us!
May you be abundantly blessed
today and always,
as you are blessing to us all! 

Image source 1: Fr. Pat celebrates Mass on Palm Sunday 2025, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1116331353865611&set=a.1116337687198311

Image source 2: Fr. Pat works with Joe R. and Rodrigo to prepare the OLMC Memorial Day Float, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1233405612158184&set=a.1233430658822346

At the center of your being (Henri Nouwen)

     Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and ask him more directly to give you joy, peace, and a pure heart. Purity of heart means a heart where God is the center of your attention. Take a simple sentence like “The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want,” and repeat that quietly during the day until the truth of it enters the center of your being. You will always continue to have feelings of depression, anger, and restlessness, but when God dwells in the center of the storm, the storm is less frightening and you can live with trust that in the midst of all of the darkness you will be led to a place of joy and peace. 

--Henri Nouwen

Image source: Christ in a mandorla, which is often a representation of the door through which we must pass to live in him; Evangelistar von Speyer (1220), Manuscript in the Badische Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe, Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandorla#/media/File:Codex_Bruchsal_1_01v_cropped.jpg
Quotation source

Jesus is the door (Pope Francis)

    I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (Jn 10:9). Let us listen to those words again: “he will go in and out”. On the one hand, Jesus is the wide open door that enables us to enter into the Father’s fellowship and experience his mercy. Yet, as we all know, open doors are not only for entering, but also for leaving. After bringing us back into God’s embrace and into the fold of the Church, Jesus is the door that leads us back into the world. He urges us to go forth to encounter our brothers and sisters. Let us never forget that all of us, without exception, are called to this; we are called to step out of our comfort zones and find the courage to reach out to all those peripheries that need the light of the Gospel. 

--Pope Francis 

Image source: Jean-Baptiste Champaigne, Le Bon Pasteur / The Good Shepherd (17th c.), https://pba-opacweb.lille.fr/fr/notice/p-167-le-bon-pasteur-1085b7ea-eb28-4555-989e-a8860be95ff8
Quotation source

Able to distinguish (Elizabeth Nava)

        I’ve introduced my children to the voice of the Good Shepherd… so that when they hear it in the world, they are able to distinguish between the Shepherd and the wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

--Elizabeth Nava 

Image source: Artist unknown, Good Shepherd, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Shepherd
Quotation source

The voice of the Shepherd (Pope Francis)

      Let us pay attention to the voices that reach our hearts. Let us ask ourselves where they come from. Let us ask for the grace to recognize and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd, who brings us out of the enclosures of selfishness and leads us to the pastures of true freedom. 

--Pope Francis 

Image source: Tom Denny, Witts Memorial Chapel, Gloucestershire, https://www.facebook.com/groups/303462353173920
Quotation source

Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 26, 2026: What are we to do, my brothers?

What are we to do, my brothers?
What does it take to be saved? 

    In John’s Gospel, having just healed the man born blind, Jesus points out to the Pharisees that they themselves are blind, for they have failed to hear Jesus’ voice and follow him, even when he demonstrates irrefutably that he is the Messiah. The Pharisees ignore and deny God’s action; they are the thieves and robbers of whom Jesus speaks, those who will not enter through the gate to salvation that is Jesus. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, Jesus tells them, but they pay him no heed, refusing to listen (let alone believe!), refusing to accept their identity as sheep and cling instead to their own self-interest. The Lord is manifestly not their shepherd. 

    After Jesus’ death and rising, the Christian community will cling to Jesus’ promise of salvation. In the Acts of the Apostles, the crowds ask Peter and the other apostles, What are we to do, my brothers? Peter reassures them that Jesus’ promise is intended for them as well: Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is made to you and your children and to all those far off. God raised Jesus, thus opening a door; they have but to step through it to access eternal life. Likewise, although they may have gone astray like sheep, the author of the First Letter of Peter tells his community, they have but to return to the shepherd and guardian of their souls, Christ, who suffered for them. As Christians, they may suffer for doing what is good, but they have been called, and must follow in Christ’s footsteps, in order to live for righteousness. 

    It is through Jesus that we must go in order to embrace our identity as Christians; we cannot pass through the gate without being touched by his life, his sacrifice, and participate. We too must be patient when we suffer for doing what is good, and hold to his promise of salvation. All who listen, follow and believe will be saved. Are we ready and willing to embrace that promise and believe, as Psalm 23 reminds us, that the Lord is our shepherd, too? 

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

Everything visible is the outpouring of God (Fr. Richard Rohr)

    While calling ourselves intelligent, we’ve lost touch with the natural world. As a result, we’ve lost touch with our own souls. 

    When God manifests spirit through matter, then matter becomes a holy thing. The material world is the place where we can comfortably worship God just by walking in it, loving it, and respecting it. Everything visible, without exception, is the outpouring of God. What else could it really be? When we can enjoy all these things as holy, “we experience the universe as a communion of subjects, not as a collection of objects,” as the “geologian” Fr. Thomas Berry said so wisely. 

    When we love something, we grant it soul, we see its soul, and we let its soul touch ours. We must love something deeply to know its soul (anima). Before the resonance of love, we are largely inattentive to the meaning, value, and power of ordinary things to “save” us and help us live in union with the Source of all being. In fact, until we can appreciate and even delight in the soul of other things, even trees and animals, we probably haven’t discovered our own souls either. Soul knows soul through love, which Jesus teaches as the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37–39). 

--Fr. Richard Rohr

Happy Earth Day! 
How (and where) will you
reconnect with nature today?

Image source: Pirates Cove Trail, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, https://www.parksconservancy.org/trails/pirates-cove-trail
Quotation source

Places of encounter (Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna)

    Brother Lawrence discovered that holiness does not depend on extraordinary circumstances, spiritual achievements or moral perfection. Instead, it flows from a simple, loving awareness of God’s presence in every moment. 

    Whether he was praying in the chapel or working in the kitchen, he sought to remain in quiet conversation with God—not through many words, but through attentive love. 

    This insight reminds us that God is not found only in ideal conditions, but also in the real circumstances of our lives: in moments of joy and pain, clarity and uncertainty, belonging and struggle. This means that our lived experiences—including our questions, wounds and hopes—are not obstacles to God, but places of encounter. 

    Living in God’s presence does not require us to resolve every tension at once. It asks only that we turn our hearts toward God with honesty and trust. A simple intention—“God, I am here with you”—can transform even the most ordinary moment into sacred ground. 

--Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna 

Image source: Still shot, Of Gods and Men (2010), trailer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhQzn2gVGjQ
Quotation source

God's self-emptying love (Bishop Robert Barron)

    Jesus enlightens the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Have you ever tried to solve a puzzle and then were surprised when the various pieces suddenly fell into place? Well, this is what happens to these disciples as Jesus begins to speak: “How slow of heart [you are] to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” The whole of Christianity is hanging here in the balance. 

    The disciples didn’t get it at first. They didn’t get the secret, the mystery, the key, the pattern. And what was that? God’s self-emptying love, even unto death. God’s act of taking upon himself the sins of the world in order to take them away, the mystery of redemption through suffering. 

   Jesus explains this first by reference to the prophets; but then, he makes it as vividly present to them as he can: “He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” And that’s when the pieces fell into place—that’s when the puzzle was solved. The Eucharist made present this love unto death, this love that is more powerful than sin and death. The Eucharist is the key. 

--Bishop Robert Barron 

Image source: Pierre Loy, Emmaus, Eglise St Luc, Valais, Switzerland, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1785622648381496
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Jesus accepts their hospitality (Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe)

     When the disciples flee to Emmaus, they are filled with anger and disappointment… The disciples are running away from the community of the Church, like so many people today. Jesus does not block their way or condemn them. He asks ‘What are you talking about?’ What are the hopes and disappointments that stir in your hearts? The disciples are speaking angrily. The Greek means literally, ‘What are these words that you are hurling at each other?’ So Jesus invites them to share their anger. They had hoped that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but they were wrong. He failed. So, he walks with them and opens himself to their anger and fear. 

    Notice that Jesus does not attempt to control the conversation. He asks what they are talking about; he goes where they go, not where he wishes to go; he accepts their hospitality. A real conversation cannot be controlled. One surrenders oneself to its direction. We cannot anticipate where it will take us, to Emmaus or Jerusalem. 

    When they reach Emmaus, the flight from Jerusalem stops. Jesus looks as if he wishes to go further but, with glorious irony they invite the Lord of the Sabbath to rest with them. ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is nearly over.’ (Luke 24:29). Jesus accepts their hospitality as the three strangers in Genesis 18 accepted the hospitality of Abraham. God is our guest. We too must have the humility to be guests. [We] must leave ‘the comfortable position of those who give hospitality to allow ourselves to be welcomed into the existence of those who are our companions on the journey of humanity’. 

    When he was at table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him and he vanished from their sight.’ (Luke 24:29). Their eyes were opened. The previous time that we heard that phrase was when Adam and Eve took the fruit from the Tree of Life, and their eyes were open and they knew that they were naked. This is why some ancient commentators saw the disciples as Cleopas and his wife, a married couple, a new Adam and Eve. Now they eat the bread of life. 

    One last small thought: When Jesus vanishes from their sight they say, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked to us on the road.’ (Luke 24:32) It is as if it is only afterwards that they become aware of the joy they had as they walked with the Lord. St John Henry Newman said that it is only as we look backwards at our lives that we become aware of how God was always with us. I pray that this will be our experience too. 

--Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe 

Image source: Sadao Watanabe, Jesus at Emmaus (1969), https://collections.artsmia.org/art/135693/jesus-at-emmaus-watanabe-sadao
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Living with our eyes and hearts open (Fr. James Martin)

     Seeing God means being ready to see him in unexpected people, places and ways. It means living with our eyes and our hearts open. Because wherever you are, there is your Emmaus. 

--Fr. James Martin S.J. 

Image source: Georges Rouault, Road to Emmaus (1936), https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection/road-emmaus-20079813
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The One who walks beside us (Fr. Patrick van der Vorst)

   In this lithograph, Maurice Denis offers a contemporary interpretation of the Supper at Emmaus. We see Christ seated at the table, blessing the bread. Opposite him sits the artist himself, portrayed as the disciple who has just recognised the true identity of his extraordinary table companion. Denis’s wife, Marthe, enters the room carrying a dish, while a friend follows with two small jugs; one for water, the other for wine, a clear Eucharistic reference. The print, based on Denis’s original painting now housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, reimagines the scene from today’s Gospel in a modern setting. Notice, too, the two candelabra on the table: their flames seem to merge into one. It is a beautiful image: our own light drawn into Christ’s, shining all the more brightly together. 

    This morning’s reading offers real help for our life of prayer. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus are clearly discouraged, weighed down by sorrow. Many of us have found ourselves in that place, living under the shadow of a cross. 

    What does Jesus do? He simply draws alongside them and gently asks why they are downcast. He invites them to speak freely, to share what is on their minds and in their hearts. This is what Jesus invites us to do each time we come to him in prayer: to pour out our hearts, to speak of our joys and our struggles, our hopes and our hurts. 

    And once the disciples have shared all that is within them, the Gospel tells us that Jesus then begins to speak. The same is true for us. After we have brought our hearts to the Lord, there comes a moment to listen, to be still, and to allow Jesus' word to speak to us. Thus prayer is not only about speaking; it is also about listening, waiting in silence for the voice of the One who walks beside us, even when we do not recognise him at first.

--Fr. Patrick van der Vorst 

Image source: Maurice Denis, The Pilgrims at Emmaus (1895), https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/prints/collection/p1115V2000
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Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 19, 2026: Were not our hearts burning within us?

Were not our hearts burning within us?
How has God been revealed to you? 

    As two of Jesus’ disciples travel to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, Luke tells us, they are downcast, devastated and in deep pain. Their rabbi Jesus has just been crucified and they are lost, trying to find their way in the darkness. In their dejection, the travelers encounter a man who can offer them some insight: Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Jesus’ history is very logical and succinct, bringing new insights and awareness to the travelers. The Lord is very present to them in this moment, a presence they sense viscerally, although they comprehend all only once he has disappeared: Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us? At that moment, they sense the grace of God present and working in their lives. Jesus has, as Psalm 16 suggests, shown them the path of life, remaining in their line of vision to lead them; their hearts are glad and their souls rejoice! 

   In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter, having just received the Holy Spirit, similarly asks the crowd to look more carefully, and to remember what they have witnessed: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. Jesus’ works, his words, were all part of God’s plan; God was revealed through Jesus, and they have but to open themselves to the fullness of this revelation to be filled with joy in God’s presence once again. They are not dealing with human whim, but with the love of God, which so far surpasses any expectations they may have had. 

    Attentiveness and awe are also at play in the First Letter of Peter, whose author exhorts his audience, Conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning. Why? Because Jesus, known before the foundation of the world has been revealed in the final time for them. Jesus has shown them how to find God in absolute love, in God himself willing to sacrifice the entirety of himself for the sake of that love. All those who knew the Lord in person or know him through the witness of others – ourselves included – are called to be filled with wonder at what God is unfolding in us, for God works through us as well, if only we allow God to show us the path of life!

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

The beauty of a community (Veronica Szczgiel)

    There is a sanctity in literally breaking bread with others — whether it be for a special occasion or as part of an everyday routine. Regardless, being distraction-free and fully focused on the present moment — and God’s presence in our company — makes each meal full of grace.  

    Mealtimes emphasize the beauty of a community. Everyone takes time out of their busy lives to come together as one. It’s no wonder that Jesus chose a meal to establish the first Mass, the holiest of meals. In fact, every Mass is a meal. We gather together to listen to God’s word and eat and drink his body and blood in the form of bread and wine. 

    As Jesus literally broke bread [at the Last Supper seder meal], he told his disciples: “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). He did it again as he passed around the cup of wine: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). This was one of the most singularly important announcements in the world: that Jesus is fully present in the bread and wine that is shared in Mass, all around the world, from that very first seder meal to today. 

--Veronica Szczygiel 

Image source: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Potluck, July 14, 2024, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=909846294514119&set=a.909848687847213
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Communities in faith (Dorothy Day)

    We are communities in time and in a place, I know, but we are communities in faith as well -- and sometimes time can stop shadowing us. Our lives are touched by those who lived centuries ago, and we hope that our lives will mean something to people who won’t be alive until centuries from now. It’s a great ‘chain of being,’ someone once told me, and I think our job is to do the best we can to hold up our small segment of the chain. That’s one kind of localism, I guess, and one kind of politics -- doing your utmost to keep that chain connected, unbroken. 

--Servant of God Dorothy Day,
The Reckless Way of Love:
 Notes on Following Jesus

Image source: George Walsh, stained glass, St, Kentigern’s Roman Catholic Church, Eyeries, West Cork, Ireland, https://www.docbrown.info/docspics/irishscenes/ispage134f.htm 
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Interaction with others (Ted Chiang)

    We are all products of what has come before us, but it’s by living our lives in interaction with others that we bring meaning into the world. That is something that an auto-complete algorithm can never do, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 

--Ted Chiang,
"Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art"

Image source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-ai-make-human-relationships-even-more-important-paul-swettenham-fnhyc/
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Christian identity (Pope Leo / Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe)

The Christian life is not lived in isolation,
confined to our minds and hearts.
It is lived with others,
because the Risen Christ is present among
the disciples gathered in His name.
We are part of a people,
a body that the Lord has established.
No one is a Christian alone! 

 --Pope Leo XIV, June 6, 2025 

   For some the idea of a universal welcome, in which everyone is accepted regardless of who they are, is felt as destructive of the Church’s identity. As in a nineteenth-century English song, ‘If everybody is somebody then nobody is anybody.’ They believe that identity demands boundaries. But for others, it is the very heart of the Church’s identity to be open. Pope Francis said, ‘The Church is called on to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open ... where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems and to move towards those who feel the need to take up again their path of faith.’ 

    This tension has always been at the heart of our faith, since Abraham left Ur. The Old Testament holds two things in perpetual tension: the idea of election, God’s chosen people, the people with whom God dwells. This is an identity which is cherished. But also universalism, openness to all the nations, an identity which is yet to be discovered. Christian identity is both known and unknown, given and to be sought. St. John says, ‘Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.’ (1 John 3. 1 – 2). We know who we are and yet we do not know who we shall be. 

    For some of us, the Christian identity is above all given, the Church we know and love. For others Christian identity is always provisional, lying ahead as we journey towards the Kingdom in which all walls will fall. Both are necessary! If we stress only our identity is given – This is what it means to be Catholic – we risk becoming a sect. If we just stress the adventure towards an identity yet to be discovered, we risk becoming a vague Jesus movement. But the Church is a sign and sacrament of the unity of all humanity in Christ (LG. 1) in being both. We dwell on the mountain and taste the glory now. But we walk to Jerusalem, that first synod of the Church. 

    How are we to live this necessary tension? All theology springs from tension, which bends the bow to shoot the arrow. This tension is at the heart of St. John’s gospel. God makes his home in us: ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’ (14.23) But Jesus also promises us our home in God: ‘ In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14.2). 

    When we think of the Church as home, some of us primarily think of God as coming home to us, and others of us coming to home in God. Both are true. We must enlarge the tent of our sympathy to those who think differently. We treasure the inner circle on the mountain, but we come down and walk to Jerusalem, wanderers and homeless. ‘Listen to him’. 

--Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe

Image source: https://emailmeditations.com/2014/08/14/490-early-christian-testimonies/
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