"Eyes on Christ". This is one of the foundational phrases I pray with often and which I teach frequently to others. It reminds us to lift up our hearts to Jesus whenever we need guidance on the right path to follow. The Letter to Hebrews speaks to this reality when the author tells us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and persevere in our faith. This is especially important when we experience temptation, suffering, and the trials of life. Eyes on Christ.

We belong to the Lord, and He to us. This mutual belonging is an entrustment we have received in faith through Baptism. This entrustment is the effect of the covenant of truth, peace, and justice that God made with His people from generations ago. We carry the torch of the covenant in today's world, to be the light of God's final and definitive covenant in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Be rich in what matters to God. These closing words of Jesus in our Gospel define the blessed life He came to bring us. What matters most to God is setting our heart on heaven and helping others receive what they need in order to do the same. Jesus isn't opposed to us pursuing wealth, pleasure, power, or honor, but shows us that these riches are meant to be received in proportion to our state in life and for God's glory. When anything in life becomes self-serving, we know we have lost our way. On the other hand, when we receive in gratitude the things that better help us love God and our neighbor, we begin to live the blessed life.

In this weekend’s gospel, one of Jesus’ disciples says to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” It’s such a simple request, but deep. Because they had seen Jesus pray many times. They noticed something different about His prayer. Something personal, powerful, full of love and confidence. They were asking Jesus to bring them into the heart of His relationship with God.

This weekend's readings focus on the sacrifice of charitable works. Every genuine act of love and charity on behalf of others is a gift of self. This entails some element of sacrifice. We serve Christ and others by giving of ourselves and our resources. What we find with every act of heartfelt charity is that we end up with more rather than less. It's true that we may sacrifice time, money, emotional or physical capital when we serve others, but these gifts that God has given to us are meant to be used to enrich our lives by enriching the lives of others by helping them come to Christ and live in God's goodness and truth.

Our readings this week focus on responding to God's voice. Moses tells the people, "If only you would heed the voice of the Lord your God and keep His commandments…For this command is not too mysterious or remote for you…It is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts. You have only to carry it out." The Psalm response echoes this injunction to heed God's voice by reminding us that the Word of God is Spirit and life. This Word is alive in our hearts through Christ who, as St. Paul says to the Colossians, "is the head of the Body, the Church." In the Gospel, Jesus gives a very practical example of hearing and responding to God's Word through the Good Samaritan's act of justice and mercy to his neighbor on the roadside.

The sending of the seventy-two disciples teaches us a lot about being a disciple of Christ sent to evangelize. Christ gives us His grace as He sends us to make our lives and vocations bear fruit abundantly in whatever situation we are in! I'll share a few Gospel highlights below to help us remember His wisdom and grace as He sends us out this day:

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Apostles Saints Peter & Paul. Both Apostles faced trials, persecution, and martyrdom in the early Church. Both on earth and in heaven, they are brothers who pray for each other in the Lord.

This weekend of Corpus Christi, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus, given to us sacramentally at our Mass. On the night before He offered His Body and Blood on the Cross, Jesus offered His Body and Blood to His disciples at the Last Supper. With the Apostles, we proclaim His death and resurrection until He comes again, and He is already with us in the Holy Eucharist! Be sure to spend some time at church this week before the Blessed Sacrament, and thank Jesus for sharing the gift of His life, death, and resurrection with us!

Happy Father's Day! Fathers are a blessing to our families and to our society, whether they are our earthly fathers, foster fathers, or priestly fathers. Think of St. Joseph whom God called to guide and protect Mary during her pregnancy and during Jesus' early years. His tender and compassionate leadership are the hallmarks of his sainthood. May we thank and encourage our fathers this week for their commitment to lead, pray, and love those whom God has entrusted to them.

Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the “birthday” of the Church! It’s the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, just as Jesus had promised. In the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2, something remarkable happens. People from every nation hear the Apostles speaking, and each one understands in their own language. What does this mean for us?

In the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear a summary of the key events of our salvation: Jesus’s passion, His resurrection, and now His ascension into heaven. In the Second Reading, Saint Paul speaks of the time after the Ascension- how Christ now reigns at the right hand of the Father, and how the Church, His Body, is called to live in His presence and carry His mission forward.

The Easter season gives us much to celebrate in our Church. Throughout the world and in our own communities, we have newly baptized and professed members of the Church, children and teens who have received their First Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Confirmation, newly ordained deacons and priests for our Diocese, and of course our new Pope Leo XIV! Our Church is very fruitful with the activity of the Holy Spirit. We have much to rejoice in!

"The glory of God is man fully alive." This ancient quote from St. Irenaeus of Lyons expresses that man and woman are made in God's image and likeness. The more our lives pattern the life of Jesus, the more fully alive we become and the more God is glorified. However, the path to fullness of life as a human person is marked by suffering and hardship since self-giving and merciful love presents a challenge in this life marked by sin and selfishness.

Happy Mother's Day! We give heartfelt appreciation to all of our moms, grandmas, stepmoms, aunts, and godmothers this day. We have all been blessed with a mother who said yes to the gift of our life, and we honor our moms by being the sons and daughters God created us to be.

"Do you love Me?" Jesus asks Simon Peter this question three times in today's Gospel. Our English word "love" doesn't quite grasp the dynamics at work in this exchange, but if we look at the Greek words used by Jesus and Peter for love, we can learn a lot about their interaction and how the Lord meets us where we're at.

It may be difficult to accept the Lord's infinite mercy for us. We might understand intellectually that the Lord loves us, but as an experience of the heart we may find ourselves resisting His merciful love. In today's Gospel, Thomas was not present when our risen Lord first appeared to His Apostles and He refuses to believe. Not unlike us, perhaps His disbelief was not so much in Jesus' resurrection from the dead but rather in His infinite divine mercy.

Christ is risen! After a long 40 days of fasting in Lent, we now get 50 days to celebrate Easter! Christmas and Easter together are the hinges of our Christian and Catholic faith. We celebrate God becoming man in Christ's Incarnation, and God conquering sin and death in Christ's Resurrection. The door of our salvation swings wide open to us because of these two solemn mysteries of our faith.

We celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend and enter into the most solemn week of our Church year. As Jesus enters Jerusalem where He will be crucified, make the special intention to unite your sufferings with His sufferings this week. While no one looks forward to suffering, we need to keep our head and heart lifted up to see that the Cross leads to the Resurrection, that the life that Jesus gives triumphs over death.

Christ is risen from the dead! I know, I know…it sounds like I'm two weeks early in saying that, but today's Scriptures with the raising of Lazarus from the dead give us an insight into the power that Christ has over death and fixes our hearts on Easter and the resurrection Christ brings.