Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.

Although it is good to plan for the future and dream of better days, we should not lose sight of what is right before us. There are so many opportunities to do God’s Will and to love our neighbors that we should not ignore them in favor of what might be. We should remember that Jesus, and the Kingdom of God, is among us in those who need our help. Once we have taken care of our present obligations, then we can look to the future and our greater hopes. It is only by being vigilant in our faith that we can make sure that we are ready for God when He comes into our lives.

Are we taking advantage of those opportunities to do God’s Will right now? Are we keeping our hearts open to those moments when Jesus is calling us to service of Himself or His children. Do our lives make the Kingdom of God present to others?

O Lord, help us to recognize you when you come into our lives.

Amen.

Good Friday

“Didn't I see you in the garden with him?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed.

Sin can be a very subtle thing. It can sneak up on us when we least expect it and lead us to think, say, or do something wrong. This is what happens to Peter in today’s gospel. He is concerned with what is happening to Jesus, which is a good thing, yet when he is confronted by others about his involvement with Christ, he denies Our Lord three times. He doesn't even know what he is doing until the cock crows. And one must wonder if he would have known he was sinning if Jesus had not warned him about what would happen. He might have kept on denying Jesus if not for the foretold sign of the cock’s crow. When we are in the midst of sin we often don’t know that we are. We need someone or something else to reveal it to us. Then, once we recognize our sin we have a choice to make, we can continue to sin or we can seek forgiveness and reconcile ourselves to Our Lord.

What are the subtle sins in our lives? Are there any warning signs we've been ignoring or been told to us by others? If we are denying Jesus in some way how can we make amends for our sins?

O Lord, we know we have denied you, but please forgive us as you did Peter.

Amen.