Elon Musk, Simone Biles, Dwayne ‘The Rock, Johnson, Mulan, Tony Stark. What do all of these people have in common? Ambition. They have this drive to be great. In the gospel for this Sunday, James and John, the Sons of Thunder, have ambition. All they want to do is sit on Jesus’s right and left and be the most awesome. And the crazy thing is Jesus doesn’t take that away from them. Jesus…
How do you experience beauty, and how does it move you? God presents to us the gift of the beauty of the world. Beauty is usually in the eye of the beholder; we all experience and see beauty differently. But at the same time, it is commonly an experience of awe and wonder before the other or the world. We are invited to be more open to the beautiful things in our lives, be moved…
So, at the end of your life, you get to the gates of heaven, and the person guarding the gates of heaven, either St. Peter or Morgan Freeman, asks you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” And we could have so many answers, like ” because I’m awesome,” ” because I gave much money to the poor,” ” because I went to mass every Sunday,” or “I’m not Voldemort.” We can give many good answers…
If you don’t value something, does it mean it’s not valuable to others or the world? Our life experiences form us, and our hearts respond in different ways, mainly where there are areas of something we didn’t experience or grew up without. We can have a coping mechanism or a defense mechanism of numbing and closing that part of our hearts so that it doesn’t become an open…
I don’t know if you’re like me, but every time I see a baby, I only want to hold and squeeze it because it’s so cute. Maybe that makes me weird. What this is called is the positive feedback loop. When we hold or care for an infant child, it releases oxytocin. It’s written in our biology that babies are cute. The gospel for this Sunday is intense, but it is all about the preciousness of children, and the Catholic…
What’s your experience of St. Francis? You might know St. Francis differently or have a different experience of St. Francis, but in this episode, we’re going to look at the life of St. Francis through the lens of the CFR brothers themselves and highlight what part of St. Francis’ life stands out in their own lives. This episode gives a deeper insight into who St. Francis is, how he lived…
Do you know who the unsung heroes of our society are? Garbage men. They do everything that we do not want to do. Garbage men and women, we salute you. In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus speaks about Gehenna. Gehenna also means hell. But Jesus uses the word Gehenna because Gehenna was the area of Jerusalem that was the garbage dump, and Jews were not allowed to go there. Jesus is…
How does Jesus come alive in you? We are invited to share in the heart of Jesus, who wants to heal the world and do His works even now. There are patterns and consistencies in how He works in our lives that are also personal and particular. These are revelations that are not abstract or different but unique and personal to each one of us. In this episode, we’ll try explaining that…
A couple of weeks ago, a student approached me after mass and told me, “Hey, Father, you’re homily today. It has many overly complicated words. Next time, make it simpler.” And then they left, and then I cried myself to sleep. A lot of the time, we overcomplicate things. All we have to do is make things simple. This is precisely what the apostles do in the gospel for this Sunday. Jesus told the…
How do I hear and know God’s Voice? God desires to break into our lives and speak with us—to communicate with us. But most of the time, what that looks like can be quite unclear. That is why it’s important that we are able to discern how God speaks. In this episode, we’ll look at some practical ways to hear and know God’s voice and see how we can receive what He speaks to each of us…
