Saturday evening, I was driving with my mom, and we were on the interstate for a large part of the drive.  We had been following a semi-truck for awhile, but I hadn’t paid much attention to it, knowing it was there of course, but not really seeing it.  After some time, I looked at the back of the truck and saw small red text towards the bottom.  These small red words said, “Deo Gratias”, which means, thanks be to God.  In that moment, it was a small reminder to take time to look up, look around and to thank God, for everything.

We often are preoccupied with our thoughts, the events of the day, and the tasks we need to get done.  How often do we stop throughout our days to simply thank God for who He is, what He has done and continues to do, and for what He has given us?

We have so many reasons to thank God, yet we sometimes fail to do so.  We sometimes see our challenges and difficulties as being greater than the gifts in our lives.  And whether we realize it or not, our challenges, crosses, and sufferings can actually be seen as blessings to thank God for too.

We must remember to thank God always and for everything, to actually look at our lives and recognize He is the reason for it all.  For the people He’s put in our lives, for the opportunities we have, for all our needs that are met, for the Church and the sacraments, for the gift of our faith, and for the breath in our lungs, as we are blessed with a new day of life.

Thanking God is so simple, yet we don’t express our thanks to Him nearly as much as we should.  Seeing those words on that semi-truck was a reminder to me, to thank God for it all.  Maybe you sometimes need a reminder too.  My prayer for today is that each one of us would stop in the midst of what we are doing and be able to say, “Deo Gratias!”

Last April I had my wisdom teeth removed.  My sister Abbey was my designated driver to take me home after the procedure.  One thing about Abbey is that she is not particularly fond of dealing with blood.  Even just the word “blood” being brought up in conversation is enough to make her feel squeamish.  After the procedure was done, she drove to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions while I waited in the car.  Just as she was getting back to the car, I made the mistake of putting my head down to look at my phone.  As that happened, an excessive amount of blood dripped down and started pooling out from my mouth, and it wouldn’t stop.  She noticed this after driving a few feet away from the pharmacy and after panicking for a few brief moments, pulled into the parking lot of another business.  She got out of the car and came over to the passenger side.  After blood had already dripped all over her car, she helped me to lean out of the car and into the parking lot.  She pulled out more gauze from the bag that was sent home with me, rolled it up and assisted me with replacing it every few minutes as each piece filled with blood and I needed a new one.  She held the bag with the blood- soaked gauze and tissues for those few minutes before it slowed down and we were able to continue back home.  We often laugh now about this situation, but as I think back about those moments, I recognize that Abbey served me when I needed it.  She did something that was inconvenient.  She gave when there was nothing I could give her in return in those moments.  And we are all called to do the same.  We may not be called to physically wipe up another person’s actual blood, but we are called to serve others with love and compassion.

When we serve others, we serve Jesus Himself.  Each day, we are called to be attentive to the needs of others, whether big or small.  This can be something as simple as listening to a family member talk about the difficult day they had, helping a coworker with a project they are behind on, visiting a friend who feels alone, or offering to pray with someone.  Other times, it may be something bigger like volunteering at an organization that helps those in need, giving someone a ride, helping a neighbor or a fellow parish member with something, or taking care of someone who is sick or unable to do something for themselves, whether temporarily or permanently.  In all of these situations, we must look outside ourselves and see where Jesus is asking us to serve.

Not only are we called to serve, but we are called to do it with compassion and love.  To serve with compassion and love is to serve even when it might be inconvenient, difficult, or uncomfortable.  When Jesus was making the way to His crucifixion, Veronica stepped out from the crowd to wipe the blood and sweat from Jesus’ face.  A seemingly small act, she was moved by Jesus’ suffering and chose to act, and she did it out of love.  Are we too moved by the needs of those around us, choosing to act out of love?  As St. Ignatius of Loyola said, do we choose to “give and not count the cost?”

There are opportunities each day for us to serve others.  Whether it’s being there for someone who is struggling with something or hurting, giving our time to serve a group of people in need, or helping a sibling replace bloody gauze pads, Jesus is there in the midst of all of it, because when we serve others, we serve Him.  My prayer for each one of us today is that we would be able to open our eyes to where He is calling us to step up and serve, giving of ourselves without expecting anything in return.

“Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve as you deserve, To give and not to count the cost, To fight and not to heed the wounds, To labor and not to seek to rest, To give of my self and not ask for a reward, Except the reward of knowing that I am doing your will.”- St. Ignatius of Loyola

Last year I read a book called Into His Likeness: Be Transformed as a Disciple of Christ by Edward Sri.  One point that the author made has stuck with me since.  He talked about how disciples would walk behind their leader, “following him so closely that they would become covered with the dust kicked up from his sandals” and they were expected to follow “so closely that they would be covered with their master’s whole way of thinking, living, and acting” (Sri 30).  He goes on to say that it should be the same for us as Jesus’ disciples (30).  This is a profound image to sit and reflect with throughout this season of Lent.  Imagine walking so closely to Jesus that the dust from His sandals covers us, and that we become like Him, imitating His way of life.  That is the goal for each one of us, especially in this season.

We must continually ask ourselves, “How can I become more like Jesus?”  The answer to that is to follow Him more closely.  We can often find ourselves following other people, doing what everyone else is doing, and listening to the voices of the world.  It can be easy to want to be like everyone else, to get sucked into the ways of the culture around us.  But if we have faith, we will choose the path that Jesus is leading us on, choosing to follow right behind Him.

How do we follow Jesus closely?  We spend time reading scripture and letting His words speak to our hearts.  We immerse ourselves in prayer, growing in our relationship with Him and spend time praying in eucharistic adoration as often as we are able to.  We receive the sacraments.  We go to mass to worship Him and receive Him in the eucharist.  We study our faith by reading the books and using the many different resources that are available to us these days.  And we surround ourselves with people who are trying to do the same, so that we can be encouraged and supported on our journey to follow Him more closely.

When we follow Jesus closely, we become more like Him.  We become more joyful, more at peace, and filled with deeper love.  I want to be more like Jesus.  While I am far from imitating Him well in every moment, I recognize that each day, I can take one small step closer.  My prayer for each of us is that we would all strive to follow Jesus so closely that the dust from His sandals would cover us, and that we would all become a little bit more like Him.

One of the hardest parts about being on a retreat or some other spiritual mountain-top experience is realizing that while your faith has been changed and transformed just a little bit more than before, the outside world did not change while you were gone. When you experience the love of Jesus so profoundly and have your heart set on fire by the Holy Spirit you must cling tightly to what you experienced so that the world does not rip it away from you.

Sunday night, I got home after a retreat called CEW (Christian Experience Weekend) and opened up a few social media apps after not having opened them for a few days. Within the few minutes of mindless scrolling, most of what I saw were posts from people with comment threads arguing about what was going on in the world and other posts that are so far from Truth. And in those moments, I was reminded of just how many people are living but are not fully alive.

So many people have not been touched by the love of Christ. They have not had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. They don’t know what it’s like to experience Jesus’ love so intensely in the people around them. They don’t know what it’s like to be lifted up by the encouragement and prayers of a community. And after experiencing each one of these graces this weekend, it leaves me with a deep desire for everyone to get even just the smallest glimpse into the blessings that God pours out onto retreats and ministries like CEW.

We might ask ourselves how others who haven’t experienced what we have would be able to get a glimpse. This is where we must remember to hold onto our faith experiences and carry the love of Christ and the fire of the Holy Spirit out into the world. We must try to be a light in the world, shining into the darkness that lies before us.

My prayer is that every single person could be a part of a faith community that bears good fruit in their lives. And may the Lord help us to use that good fruit to make a difference in the world around us.

The season of Lent is just a little more than a week away.  Every year as we approach this season, we find ourselves asking what we will do- how will we increase our prayer, what will we fast from, how will we give more generously of ourselves, our time, and our money?  The goal in whatever we do is to find ourselves closer to Christ by the end of the 40 day journey.

A few days ago, I came across this profound quote about Lent.  It is from St. Josemaría Escrivá and says, “We cannot regard this Lent as just another liturgical season which has simply happened to come around again… Jesus is passing by and He hopes that we will take a great step forward — today, now.”  This season is not just another season that we can let slip by, it is an opportunity to grow, change, and be transformed.  How often does the season come around again and we find ourselves choosing to take the easy way out, to do what’s comfortable?

I sincerely want to take a great step forward.  I want to walk more closely with Jesus through the desert than I did in the year before.  I want to challenge myself to become more disciplined so that I can be a better disciple.  I want to experience a conversion of heart so that I might become more like Him.  I want to learn how to suffer well, even if just in very small ways, so that I can unite those sufferings to the cross.

When deciding what to take on or give up for Lent, we should think about our current habits and reflect on what will help us to grow closer to Jesus. As we reflect on Jesus’ journey leading to Calvary and His death, we should think about how we can die to ourselves in small ways. The season and what we decide to do will likely look a bit different for all of us.  While it is not a competition and not a time of comparison, we can be inspired by the ideas of others and it may help to keep us accountable.

As we get closer to Lent, take some time to pray about how you can pray, fast, and give in a way that is different from what you are doing now.  We must not let Lent just be another season that comes and goes.  Will we choose to take a great step forward, following Jesus more closely as He passes by? 

Throughout this past weekend, I was able to spend a significant amount of time in one of the greatest places that you can be.  From Friday night to Sunday morning, I had spent just about a total of 15 hours in a eucharistic adoration chapel throughout the course of a retreat taking place.  Some parts of the weekend, I was there in the middle of the night, while the outside world was asleep and all was quiet and seemingly peaceful.  But the place where I was, peace envelops you and surpasses anything that resembles peace in the world.  In scripture, Jesus tells us “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27).  As I spent time before Jesus present in the blessed sacrament experiencing His peace, I thought to myself, this right here is what it’s all about.

The world is filled with noise.  And while it’s not all bad, it can make our relationship with Jesus more difficult to maintain.  There is so much pressure put on us to perform, achieve, succeed, and advance.  We constantly have projects, deadlines, and tasks that we need to complete.  Expectations of what we are to do are placed on us all of the time.  These things are not bad and are just a part of life, but they can wear us down after a while, especially if we are not taking time for prayer.

When you spend time in adoration, these pressures and expectations are removed.  The most beautiful part about adoration is that you can simply exist.  You don’t have to say or do anything specific.  You can just be, and let Jesus pour His love out on you.

A lot of times, we may get frustrated with ourselves for how distracted we get during prayer, how far our minds wander, and how much we think about things that seem so irrelevant.  But I don’t think we should be so hard on ourselves.  Distractions are a part of being human.  And since we are going to get distracted anyway, where better to be than in adoration, where Jesus is gazing upon us, looking at us with love.  It is these encounters with love that allow us to go out into the world and live our faith, to follow His ways, to stand up for the truth, and to love others.

I think we often spend a lot of time worrying about stuff that really doesn’t matter.  Something that Blessed Carlo Acutis is known for saying is “to always be close to Jesus, that is my life plan.”  To be close to Jesus always; that is what truly matters.  And being able to sit before Him fully present and, at times, to kneel just a few feet from the monstrance, I was reminded that this is what being close to Jesus is.  Aside from receiving Him in the eucharist at mass, it is the closest to Him we can be.

We all need to take time to escape the world for a little while and to simply exist and be still.  Whether it’s a few minutes, or a few hours, it will change us.  My prayer is that everyone would be able to experience the real peace and love that Jesus gives while being in His presence.  Because that is what it’s all about.

In today’s gospel from Mark, we read about people bringing the sick to Jesus to be healed.  When Jesus and His disciples arrived on land, “as they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him” (Mark 6:54).  People immediately recognized him.  In this passage, the people in the area knew who He was and knew His power.  How many times throughout our days do we encounter Jesus?  Do we recognize Him?  While we will not encounter Him walking towards us in the same way that the people living in His time did, we know that He is with us in our days.

Whether it’s in other people, in experiences we have, or in blessings we receive, Jesus is among us.  It is just a matter of whether we recognize Him or not.  Sometimes it is in profound and big ways, other times, it is more of a whisper, quiet and small.  So often, Jesus speaks to us through another person or through an experience we have or we are blessed with something good.  How often do we miss Him or fail to see?

Our vision is so often clouded.  We fail to see Him working in certain moments and throughout our days.  We can sometimes think He’s showing up for other people but not for us.  But He is so often right in front of us, speaking to us through the people around us and working through different experiences we have.

Reading through the gospel passage, I thought to myself, maybe I am like the sick in this story who need to be healed.  While not physically blind, I can be blind to Jesus working in my life.

We all could open our eyes more to see Jesus in our lives.  The hope is that to speak with someone who is telling us something we need to hear, to experience something amazing, or to simply look at another person, we would be able to think, “that was Jesus.”  Lord, open our eyes and our hearts so that we would be able to recognize you immediately.

Last week, the Church celebrated the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas.  He is a Doctor of the Church and was one of the greatest theologians in church history.  With this in mind, there is a lot you could reflect on regarding his life and writings.  But there is a simple story about him that stands out to me.  The story says that St. Thomas was in a chapel in prayer before a crucifix when Jesus said, “you have written well of me, Thomas.  What reward will you receive from me for your labor?”  St. Thomas replied, “nothing but yourself, Lord.”  This is the kind of faith that I want.

Imagine being asked what you want and your response is Jesus.  If we could have anything we wanted in the world, what would it be?  Would we believe that Jesus alone is enough for us?  As we go through life, a goal of the journey is to deepen our faith so that all of our hopes and desires point to one thing, or rather, one person: Jesus.

For most of us, there are so many different things we want.  Whether it’s goals we want to achieve, a good career, material possessions, or a certain salary, there are many areas that we want to obtain more.  While none of these are bad, we must determine what is the root of these desires?

We must recognize the deep longing we all have for Jesus.  And from there, we must realize that it is He alone who can fill the emptiness within.  He alone can fill the empty spaces that we try to fill with everything but Him.

We have countless opportunities to come before Jesus and encounter His love.  Whether we are at Mass receiving Him in the eucharist, sitting in eucharistic adoration, praying before a crucifix, or reading scripture, these are all times that we can experience His love pouring out on us.  Imagine thinking that it’s not enough.  Yet, we often do.

When we recognize that it is only Jesus who can satisfy us, we will have made great progress in our spiritual journeys.  May we never give up and continue to desire a deeper relationship with Christ.  My prayer today for each of us is that we would all be able to honestly say, “only you, Lord.”

A couple of months ago, I read a book by Scott Hahn, called Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and the Resurrection of the Body.  Reading this book, it was a great reminder that the body is sacred and it matters not only during life, but also after death.  The book explores the history and tradition of caring for the body after death and discusses the importance of burial from the Catholic perspective.  Properly caring for and burying the dead indicates our belief in the resurrection.  We often see a disregard for the Church’s teaching surrounding proper care for the body after death and can see around us a general lack of understanding.

When I read this book back in November, it was not even one week after I finished reading that I saw a strange news story come across in my social media feed regarding an urn with ashes.  An urn containing the cremated remains of someone was found in a Wisconsin movie theater.  A follow up to the original story revealed that the woman brought the ashes and left them behind intentionally, as she wanted to get rid of the ashes because she had no close relationship with the person.  Not long after this, my mom came home from work one evening and told me about a situation with a resident at the assisted living facility she works at.  One of the residents had died a few days prior and upon going through some of his stuff that was in the basement at the facility, her manager found ashes of who she assumed to be the resident’s wife.  Then, the staff found out that the ashes were not the resident’s wife, but belonged to who they figured was a girlfriend of the resident.  It almost seems like an ash mix-up, not knowing who is who.  Additionally, a few years ago, I had a co-worker who wore her husband’s ashes in a necklace and came into work distraught one day because she had “lost her husband” (the necklace with his ashes had fallen off somewhere between her home and the office).  And just within the last week, I heard about someone who got a tattoo that used some ashes of a family member in the ink.  All of these situations show disrespect for the body and also show a lack of awareness of the dignity of the human person.

Cremation is permitted by the Church, but there is a proper way that it must be done.  Cremated ashes cannot sit on someone’s fireplace mantel or be spread across a field or treated in any ways listed in the above paragraph.  As stated in Order of Christian Funerals: Appendix on Cremation, a person’s ashes must be “treated with the same respect given to the human body from which they come.. The cremated remains should be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium” (no. 417).  With cremation becoming more and more popular and widespread, it is important that Catholics know and are aware of the proper way to honor and respect their loved ones after they have died.

As people who believe in the resurrection, all that we do should express our belief in the resurrection.  Catholics must profess and respond to the death of loved ones in a way that says that the body is not disposable and that the body matters not just in life, but also after death. 

In this past weekend’s gospel, we heard the story of the wedding feast at Cana.  It is a beautiful gospel that we can gather so much from.  The passage shows us Jesus’ first public miracle and also shows us how He provides for the couple and wedding guests.  We also get to see exactly the kind of person Mary is as we hear, “His mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever he tells you’” (John 2:5).  Mary not only instructs the servers to listen to Jesus, but she tells us too, and that is a beautiful thing.

A few years ago, I was praying about something and I remember hearing this gospel passage at mass.  I was struck by the line “do whatever he tells you.”  This message kept coming up in various ways in the days and weeks that followed.  In those moments, the answer to what I was praying about was right in front of me.  I was being reminded to listen to Jesus’ voice and to do what He was calling me to.  And this reminded me of who Mary is.

Just like mothers know what’s best for their children, our spiritual mother Mary also knows what’s best for us.  And it is Jesus.  It is always Jesus.  She will always point us to and lead us to her son because she knows that He is who we need, and wants to see us be drawn closer to Him.

In the story of the wedding at Cana, we see how Mary brings a request to Jesus regarding the wine running out.  This reminds us how she does exactly the same in our lives.  She carries our prayers, desires, and petitions to Jesus always.  She guides us and leads us to Him, knowing that He will give us what we need.

Mary knows and loves her son so well and so deeply.  And she wants the same for us.  She wants us to know and love Jesus like she does.  She teaches us how to listen to Him and say “yes” to whatever He asks of us.  

May we all follow the example of Mary and walk with her to Jesus and may we each heed her words to “do whatever he tells you.”