Podcast

“Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear.”Isaiah 50:4After all the weeks of Lent and preparation, we come to the heart of who we are and what it means to be a Christian. This is Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.Today’s events, and the events of Holy Week soon to follow, are as meaningful now as they were 2,000 years ago. We recognize that God is inviting us to be transformed: to pass from death to new life. This is the week we say “Yes, Lord. I am ready.”I know that for some of us the traditional liturgies and celebrations of Holy Week will be compromised. Whether we express our faith privately at home or in safe groups, Holy Week represents the core of our faith. What we remember is Christ giving himself up totally for us—and calling us to give ourselves up for one another.Today we receive the palm, which the crowds waved as they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. Later this week we will celebrate the Last Supper and the gift of the Eucharist, the lasting presence of God among us. Then on Good Friday we will recite the Stations of the Cross, remembering the suffering and death of Our Lord. As we experience the promise of Holy Week, now is a good time to focus on forgiveness—for ourselves and one another—and on acts of charity that heal. We do both by responding to God’s call to love and serve one another freely and without measure. As missioners, there is no holding back.Friend, when we turn to God for help, it will be as Isaiah says: The Lord will open our ears, we will be called, and we will hear. May you have a blessed Holy Week in preparation for the greatest feast day of all, Easter Sunday.

Bill Cain’s The Diary of Jesus Christ is a first-person recounting of the life of Jesus, a new lens through which to see the familiar stories of the gospel—including the Passion.Get your copy today >> https://maryknoll.link/1huThe story begins with the healing of the leper, heralding the remarkable spirit that flows through the diary accounts—a spirit of discovery, surprise, learning, doubt, failure, and new life.

“A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.”Psalm 51:12Yes, it’s been a long five weeks. But be hopeful. Very soon we will arrive at the moment in our spiritual journey sure to fill us with a lasting joy. Easter is almost here.Everything we have done since Ash Wednesday—the prayer, the sacrifices, and acts of charity—have had a single goal: to invite God into our lives to create a clean heart. I think today’s wisdom from the psalmist is this: A heart focused on God—love and the sanctity of life—doesn’t get caught up in petty things or self-satisfying pursuits but lives for others instead. To me a clean heart is just another way of saying “the ability to love without holding back”!Being human, we can easily forget our original intentions to stay focused and steadfast. After all, forty days of focus is a long time and distractions are going to test our will. But even when they do, we can work through them by calling on God’s grace. We do that through Mass and the sacraments especially the Eucharist. We also bring God into our hearts through scripture, personal prayer, and the Rosary. All the things we have been doing. Friend, as you prepare for Holy Week, lay claim to the comfort of a clean heart—and recognize that God’s presence during Lent has guided you every step of the way. Lent is almost over, but the richness we are about to inherit will last forever.

“For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.”Ephesians 2:10As far as Paul is concerned, we all have an important role to play. And our calling comes into sharper relief as we continue through the days and weeks of Lent.Of course, we all have choices to make about how we witness our faith. That’s why Lent is so helpful—and hopeful. It’s the gift we give ourselves. We pray for guidance to be better family members and neighbors, better co-workers and more engaged members of our parishes and communities. And we pray that by giving ourselves selflessly—in time, words, prayers and deeds—we will encourage others to become the children of God that they were called to be.If the days of Lent have started to feel long, don’t be discouraged. God is still at work, infusing us with new life. Each act of charity, and every moment you dedicate to prayer takes you closer to your personal transformation. I understand: Sometimes we are called to do things that aren’t always easy, and that includes me. The past year and its lingering impact have asked us all to be selfless and heroic in ways we couldn’t have imagined. But our examples of collective good will and determination continue to inspire the faithful—and society itself. Working through suffering is the story of Easter—the birth of new life that follows and the promise of redemption in Christ.Friend, you are God’s fullest expression of life destined for greatness by doing good. Your gifts are unique to you. Share them and you are doing the work of salvation, drawing closer to eternal life—the promise of Easter. Life is always new, always becoming. And you are thereason why.

In this companion to her popular Hidden Women of the Gospels, Kathy Coffey offers thought-provoking stories of women who appear in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.Order your copy today >> https://maryknoll.link/805dcFor readers seeking to encounter these figures and their stories in a new way this book will open the door.

“Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear.”Isaiah 50:4After all the weeks of Lent and preparation, we come to the heart of who we are and what it means to be a Christian. This is Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.Today’s events, and the events of Holy Week soon to follow, are as meaningful now as they were 2,000 years ago. We recognize that God is inviting us to be transformed: to pass from death to new life. This is the week we say “Yes, Lord. I am ready.”I know that for some of us the traditional liturgies and celebrations of Holy Week will be compromised. Whether we express our faith privately at home or in safe groups, Holy Week represents the core of our faith. What we remember is Christ giving himself up totally for us—and calling us to give ourselves up for one another.Today we receive the palm, which the crowds waved as they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. Later this week we will celebrate the Last Supper and the gift of the Eucharist, the lasting presence of God among us. Then on Good Friday we will recite the Stations of the Cross, remembering the suffering and death of Our Lord. As we experience the promise of Holy Week, now is a good time to focus on forgiveness—for ourselves and one another—and on acts of charity that heal. We do both by responding to God’s call to love and serve one another freely and without measure. As missioners, there is no holding back.Friend, when we turn to God for help, it will be as Isaiah says: The Lord will open our ears, we will be called, and we will hear. May you have a blessed Holy Week in preparation for the greatest feast day of all, Easter Sunday.

“From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard: This is my beloved Son, listen to Him.”Matthew 17:5Today’s Gospel reading is a comfort to contemplate… The Son of God transfigured in all His glory, His divinity revealed as a sign of the eternal glory each of us is destined to enjoy. Here we are in the second week of Lent, anxious to show God that our good works and our sacrifices are all offered with the intention of drawing closer in worthiness to the gift of salvation. We see that the transfiguration of the Lord is a glimpse into our future, too. Matthew’s recounting assures us that we can be transformed in God’s image as well and become worthy of eternal life.Transformation may sound like a tall order right now. Everyday life still poses its challenges—for all of us. But let’s remember that God loves and accepts us as we are, especially because our goal during Lent is to always offer up a little more and find new ways to give praise. While we still have the spiritual energy, let’s promise ourselves that we will keep the momentum going. One way to do that is by trying to discern the gifts that God is trying to reveal in us. Is it a special kinship with children or the elderly? Do you have a unique talent that you could share—or share more of? Is there a prayer group that could enrich your Lenten practice—and convince someone else to do the same? Friend, it’s only the second full week of Lent, I know. But with the example of today’s Gospel, it’s a perfect time to look inward and see how you might be transformed in God’s image. The one promise I can make is that when you welcome God with the intention of being renewed, you’re not the only one who will experience a change. Your example will have the power to transform someone else’s life, too. Maybe more than one life. Maybe many lives. Lent is a time when we can set new goals and find out. May your journey this...

“Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.”
 Psalm 25:4-5The Psalmist is reading our minds today. On the first Sunday of Lent—and the days that follow—we ask God to make the paths of truth and righteousness known to us so that we might become worthy of salvation. That is our Lenten prayer.But how can we become worthy in the eyes of God? That seems like such a tall order, doesn’t it? We know the traditions: fasting, Stations of the Cross, daily Mass, and acts of charity that go beyond the usual. Of course, giving up something that we love—a tradition for many of us since childhood—is a form of penance. But Lent is more than that. Beyond the sacrifice, Lent is an opportunity to open up our hearts to God and give witness to the love we have received in baptism. Actively witnessing God’s love is as rewarding—if not more so—than, say, forgoing tonight’s dessert. Something I experienced during my mission days in the Altiplano of Peru taught me how deeply we can practice our faith when we welcome Christ home. A man in our parish said he was giving up some food from his daily meal that Lent in order to give it to someone he knew who needed it more. The man was poor himself. But in order to prepare for Easter, he was ready to give away the little he had. That’s a sacrifice that showed me how deeply one person can love another.Friend, before he began his public ministry Jesus fasted for 40 days. He was tempted by the devil but never gave in. Our 40-days of Lent will have its challenges, too, and we will need each other for support and encouragement. That’s what prayer partners are for. So please know I am praying with and for you. May this Lent deepen your faith and mine—and make known the paths of the Lord so that one day we will all be worthy in God’s eyes.

Learn more or order your copy today: https://maryknoll.link/42036In relating the story of the Black Lives Matter movement through a Christian lens, readers—Catholic and others—will gain insights and a deeper understanding of the movement and why it can help the church, and the country, move closer to racial equality.

“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31“L-o-v-e” is a simple word, but rich and layered in meaning. These four magical letters, written in this precise order, define God’s relationship to us and our relationship to one another. Could anything be more uncomplicated? In the end, it all comes down to love.My thoughts on Valentine’s Day are probably a lot like yours. Today we celebrate all expressions of God’s love: in our friendships and marriages... through the caring partnerships forged in brotherhood and sisterhood… in religious life… and through the teachings of the Gospel itself. Thanks to Christ’s example, we understand that the richest experiences of human fulfillment come from loving one another. We saw this lesson expressed time and again over the past year—expressions of caring and love from our frontline healthcare workers that knew no bounds. Maybe you are one of those workers, or perhaps a caregiver who was called to serve in a new or unexpected way. Friend, when we give ourselves over to someone else—freely and without expectation of any return—those are moments when we grow as disciples of Our Lord. So happy Valentine’s Day. Honor the gift of love with every special remembrance—traditional or otherwise. Then celebrate all year long by being an imitator of Christ.

“Praise the Lord who heals the brokenhearted.”
Psalm 147:1Life, as we know, is full of paradoxes. Where there is joy, there will also be pain. Where there is order, there will always be things that need fixing. Our lives are like that—contrasts and opposites. But they are also opportunities along the way to find God and the healing we long for.The first reading today is from the Book of Job, a blameless man who knew setbacks and flat-out misery. Can you relate? Most of us can. Yet even in moments of despair Job never lost sight of God’s presence. We can take comfort from a man who gave himself over to God with the wisdom of faith and the knowledge that his Creator would never abandon him. Here’s what Job said: “Yet he knows my way:if he tested me, I should come forth like gold.My foot has always walked in his steps;I have kept his way and not turned aside.From the commands of his lips I have not departed;the words of his mouth I have treasured in my heart.”- Job 23:10-12

Another masterful work by this renowned and popular author, Wholeness and Holiness guides the reader through grace into the possibilities of a deeper spirituality and relationship with oneself, the world, and God. With his lifetime experience in psychology and spirituality, David Richo takes us on a three-step journey to become psychologically healthy, spiritually aware and active, and sometimes saintly. All three are possible!