All About Faithfulness
For the person struggling with faithfulness. Being faithful means being loyal, constant, and steadfast. You are married. You be faithful. Or you’re a student, you go about studying. Keep the rules. Keep the regulations. You have a course; stick to it, do what is expected of you, and stay on it. You stay focused. Many things happen today, and people no longer want to be faithful. They want to take shortcuts, and they want…
The Rich Man and Lazarus (Lent 2024)
Does it have to end in just being able to receive God’s unconditional love? Like Lazarus, the guy beat up on the side of the road. We who have been loved in such messiness are also invited to go into the mess and love. This is a sign that God is alive in us. We now have the dignity of His beloved sons and daughters, of not just being the recipients of His unconditional love, but now being able to love, not only from our strength but…
Shining Light in the Dark
So why does Batman only come out at night? Because that’s when the criminals come out. You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Criminals prefer working in the darkness rather than the light. And so in the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says, “The light came into the world, “but people prefer darkness to the light.” The reality is that we are all criminals. We love to keep…
The Prodigal Son (Lent 2024)
Would you receive the Father’s unconditional love if you were the prodigal son? The Father wants us to convert from a conditional, perfectionistic way of experiencing God to a place of just being unconditionally loved by Him. But we can sometimes hold onto shame for security. What is asked of us is to leave behind that shame—let the shame and self-contempt crumble. We don’t need to “pay rent” to be loved by the heavenly Father…
God Does Not Abandon You
You may have prayed long, asking the Lord to give you a good spouse, but none is coming. Oh, you are married. You have been praying for a child, and none is coming, and you want to get a new job, and there is no job. It seems he’s not hearing you. You ask, “Why me?” I tell you, you’re not alone. It happens every day with many people. But I want to assure you that the Lord did not abandon you. When Christ cried…
Let Jesus Clean House
This happens in professional sports all of the time. A team is on a losing streak. The owner is not happy. And so the owner brings in a new coach to clean house. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus enters the temple and cleans house. He is not satisfied with his home being violated. The crazy thing is that we are also a home for Jesus. We also have a temple within our hearts for the…
Struggles with Relationships
Are you struggling in your relationship? You should check this out. There is this person who always gets on your nerves. Whatever you do is wrong. You have the feeling this person hates you. Most of us go through this. Sometimes it’s your boss. Sometimes, it’s your coworker. Sometimes even in your house, sometimes your children, even your parents. It’s hard. It is hard to love. But the Lord said, “Love your…
The Good Samaritan (Lent 2024)
Are you familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan? When we’re beat up, when we’re in this place of difficulty and shame, He’s there, at the side of the road, looking at us, desiring to pick us up and saying, “Come with me.”. That’s Jesus for all of us. The invitation of this episode is to allow the Lord to get close into our deepest places of darkness and shame so he can help us and love us there. Jesus comes into our messiness…