Made Known

What You Used To Avoid Will Turn To Sweetness and Joy (Nov 3, 2013)

St. Francis of Assisi, like Zaccheus, was willing to “come down” to be with Jesus.  This led to him following Christ with his whole heart, mind, body and soul and so he came to know the joy of being a disciple of Jesus.

31st Sun Ordinary Time Yr C

Wis 11:22-12:2

2 Thes 1:11-2:2

Lk 19:1-10

All Saints

In honoring the Saints, we honor God.

We recognize to be saints those who were willing to accept their weakness and entrust themselves to God.

All Saints Day

Rv 7:2-4, 9-14

1 Jn 3:1-3

Mt 5:1-12a

Humility and Prayer - St. Therese of Lisieux (Oct 27, 2013)

The lives of the Saints can teach us and give us deeper insights into the Gospels.  

The life of St. Therese of Lisieux shows us how the humility of the tax collector in the Gospel is the surest way into the heart of God.

30th Sunday Ordinary Time Year C

Sir 35: 12-14, 16-18

2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18

Lk 18:9-14

Perseverance in Prayer (Oct 20, 2013)

Prayer fuels the furnace of our souls.  If we don't persevere in prayer, our faith grows cold.  Jesus wants to find our faith alive and burning when He comes again.

29th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year C

Ex 17:8-13

2 Tm 3:14-4:2

Lk 18:1-8 

The Vision Will Not Disappoint (Oct 6, 2013)

Habakkuk expresses what we often feel: overwhelmed by our difficulties and troubled by the fact that God seems unwilling to help us.  

We find ourselves praying:  "Why do you let this happen?  Don't you see?  Can't you do anything?  Don't you care?  How long will you let this go on?"

And God responds:  "The vision...will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late."

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Hb 1:2-3; 2:2-4

2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14

Lk 17:5-10

The Courage To Get Our Hands Dirty (Sept 29, 2013)

"True charity requires courage:  let us overcome the fear of getting our hands dirty so as to help those in need."  - Pope Francis' Tweet

The rich man didn't truly see Lazarus - not with the eyes of compassion.  Do we stay at a distance from those in our lives who are in need in some way?  Or are we willing to overcome our fear and "go out to the margins"?

In the end, the Gospels seem to tell us, the lowly, the rejected, and the poor will have their voice on the Day of Judgement. 

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Am 6:1a, 4-7

1 Tm 6:11-16

Lk 16:19-31

The Audit (Sept 22, 2013)

Are worldly people working harder for their money than we are for our salvation?

The audit is coming.  

The perplexing parable of the Dishonest Steward challenges us to learn this lesson:

To win others' favor FOR the master is an excellent way to win the favor OF the master for ourselves.  

Yet another reason to enter into the mission of the Church to Evangelize - to bring the Good News of salvation to the ends of the earth.  

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Am 8:4-7

1 Tm 2:1-8

Lk 16:1-13

Does the Parable of the Prodigal Son Make You Feel Good? (Sept 15, 2013)

The favorite Gospel for many of us - the Parable of the Prodigal Son!

It should be.  But let's read it again.  It has more to say, each time we read it.

"We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right.  What we want is a religion that is right where we are wrong."  GK Chesterton, The Catholic Church and Conversion

Humility, Awe, and the Liturgy (Sept 1, 2013)

If you're full of yourself, you can't be full of God.  Humility is the foundation of all virtue.

We need humility to enter in to the Liturgy.  Cultivating the sense of the sacred helps us enter into God's presence with humility.  

"You have not approached that which could be touched..."  Rather, "you have approached the city of the living God..."  Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, for He (and only He) can lift you up.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a

Lk 14:1, 7-14

Faith: Abraham's Realization and Evidence of Things Not Seen (Aug 11, 2013)

The Letter to the Hebrews famously defines faith as "the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen."  In this Year of Faith, we delve more deeply into our understanding of what faith is.  Today, Abraham is our guide.  

"Faith is no refuge for the fainthearted." -Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei 53

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Wis 18:6-9

Heb 11:1-2, 8-19

Lk 12:32-48