Find what you’re looking for
Most of us don’t care about storing up treasures in heaven. Yet Jesus says that that’s where real wealth lies. Where and what are my treasures?
Though we may not all formally profess to follow Francis of Assisi’s way of life, we can all cultivate Franciscan hearts.
Jesus took the meager amount of fives loaves and two fish and turned it into overflowing abundance. He can and does the same thing with us; our little amount is always enough.
Known for his long hours of prayer and notable ability to communicate, John Francis Regis served the people of France during a “dry” period, when the faith and the Church seemed in decline. He conducted missions to counteract the malaise.
The Lord’s Prayer gives us a sample of what prayer should be. If what you are praying for doesn’t somehow fit into the Lord’s Prayer, it shouldn’t be prayed for.
Feeding others—both literally and spiritually—is the theme of this week’s Gospel. It reminds us that Chris is the bread of life for all.
Enduring a seriously dysfunctional marriage and being left a widow, Saint Marguerite d’Youville did not give in to despair. Rather, she founded the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, the “Grey Nuns,” rescued a failing hospital, and cared for the sick. Not even the destruction of the hospital by fire drove her to despair.
How is Jesus the food that feeds our deepest hungers? At every Eucharist we’re commissioned to take its power into everyday life where we’re called to feed others, with both physical and spiritual food.
God doesn’t hear prayer that is addressed to making us look good. If we want to get through to him it has to be on his wavelength–that is, in quiet and in secret.
María Natividad Venegas de la Torre (1868-1959) had a choice. She could treat the soldiers entering her hospital with the same disrespect that their government showed Catholics. Or she could meet them with courtesy and hospitality.
