Find what you’re looking for
Jesus says that what’s important is not the religious appearance we present but the reality that underlies the appearance. How much of me is real?
During the weeks of Lent, we embrace the sorrowful mystery of Christ’s death, knowing we are always journeying toward rebirth. Who in your life is feeling spring will never come to their hearts again?
Appealing again for an end to the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis said those who invoke God to promote or justify violence “profane his name.”
Jesus tells us that we are called to treat others as God does. God gives us the capacity to be generous as he is generous by remaking us in his own image in baptism.
It doesn’t matter if we have serious and valid grounds for complaint against our neighbor. What matters is whether we are willing to be reconciled to the neighbor.
God wants us to pray not so that he can be informed about what he should give us, but so that we can continue to be aware of how much we depend on him.
Saint Frances of Rome is a good example of what Vatican II hoped for—an active laity who take their baptismal call seriously. Although she lived centuries before the Council, her life shows that the call for an active, dedicated laity has been a part of the Church all along.
In our Christian communities this season, we’re preparing with those who will be baptized at Easter. Let’s reaffirm our own Christian commitment as we pray and fast with them.
The presentation of this passage of Luke is meant to remind us that the Lord speaks to us. We might want to ask ourselves where and how the Lord speaks to us, and how we answer.
In teaching us his prayer, Jesus is calling us to be a certain kind of person–a person who reverences God, who acknowledges dependence on God, who knows that we need to receive and to offer forgiveness.
