Christ Jesus bestowed upon the Apostle Simon Peter a particular ministry, that he and all those who would succeed him as the Vicar of Christ on Earth would carry out. This reflection concerns the Second Confession of Saint Peter. Attached to that confession is the duty for Simon Peter and his successors in the Peterine Ministry to be the servant, slave, and friend of all creatures of God.

There are many people who are actively living their calling in the Lord, and there are many other who are working towards living it. And everyone who has chosen the path to cooperate with God fully by partnering with Him to become who He created them to be and do what He created them to do, will find that this path difficult to trod at times. They will find along this path both obstacles and obstinate people, and I believe that the three primary reasons why we ought to never do anything less than persevere through it all in our calling is found in the three readings today.

What would Saint John the Baptist be doing if he were with us today and living through this challenge to our Church? He would be calling Obama’s HHS Mandate exactly what it is and he would be pointing us to follow Christ Jesus at any cost; even if it should cost us our lives. Are you ready?

It is the Theology of the Body and how we Cooperate with God when men accept their call to Fatherhood. Indeed, fatherhood is the highest form of masculinity – it is what every man has been created for, and must aspire to. And while ones life in fatherhood may not always be the direct result of his own seed planted in woman, it is still his natural calling to be precisely the type of father that called has called him to be.

What we Catholics believe about the Corpus Christi as the Holy Eucharist is what Jesus actually taught, what Saint Paul actually taught in 1 Corinthians, and what the Fathers of the Church taught from the beginning. The most beautiful thing about our teaching on the Holy Eucharist is it’s consistency with sacred Scripture and fulfilled theology; all of which I talked about in three apologetic articles on the subject:

I understand that Humility can be a difficult virtue to live in, but we also have to remember that God has created and empowered us, through the Holy Spirit and example of His Son Christ Jesus, to be humble creatures. We were born to be who God created us to be. We were born to be saints, and humility is the stuff that saints are made of.

The Christian Feast of Pentecost is the fulfillment of Jewish agrarian festival. For on this day we commemorate the anniversary of Christ Jesus giving His people the Holy Spirit, which He said would guide us to all truth (Cf. Jn. 15:13), and teach us everything and remind us all that Jesus taught us (Cf. Jn. 14:26). In the Old Covenant the Law was written on tablets and parchment, but God’s sharing with the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of the promise that YHWH made to Jeremiah that in the New Covenant, “I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people.” (Jer. 31:33).

Need a job? Well, there’s absolutely unemployment in the Kingdom of God – it actually has negative zero unemployment. Everyone is already hired; just not everyone has showed up to work yet. You’ve probably heard it said that God doesn’t hire the qualified, he qualifies the call. What that means is that responding to your call to be missionaries of the God’s love is a cooperative venture with you and God, working together – Him in you, with you, and through you – empowering you to give His love away.

Today’s Reading from John 15 (I am The True The Vine) has had its true understanding diminished by Catholic Apologists who have hard-linked it to John 6:56 (with good intentions). This short reflection attempts to restore it’s true power and understanding.

Do you have the audacity to sacrifice your life? Perhaps you don’t, but the good news is that the God who lives in you does have the audacity, and He desires to accomplish great things through you if you just open yourself up to love. True love is radical – it’s powerful – it bears many fruits and blessings; and although it may cost you much suffering in this world, it’s also the best investment you can make for your eternal future.

As people of God we were created to know, love, and serve Him. We were created for a definite purpose to love one another as Christ Jesus loved us. We were created so that we might glorify God by giving all of our life to back to Him. We were created so that He could live in us, with us, and through us. Therefore, if you are not actively engaged in knowing, loving, and serving God then you are idle and at grave risk to falling into the temptations of Satan.

In this day and age, many of us aren’t very far from Jesus physically, in the sense of seeking Him out in Holy Eucharist, and most of us aren’t lepers, but there are certain aspects of our life that do need to be cleaned and made whole and turned over to God. You may live near the Church, but how close is your heart to Jesus? You may not be a leper, but is there an aspect of your life that separates you from the people of God and is requiring you to receive the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation?

The Readings at today’s Sacrifice of the Mass points to an axiomatic truth in the spiritual life; that when God does the impossible in your life it is for your benefit just as much as it is for the benefit of all His people. It [...]