Easter Sunday

Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Easter is the perfect time of year to reevaluate our priorities and renew our spiritual lives. It is a time for cleansing ourselves of our sins, indifference, and distractions and starting over with a clean slate. Over the course of each year, we can find ourselves falling into bad habits and today is a good day to put an end to them and begin a new life of good habits. Easter is a day of resurrection, of breaking free from the chains of sin and death and choosing to seek out the risen Lord. It is a time to cast off our worldly worries and weaknesses and put on the white garment of God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace. It is a day to rid ourselves of malice and wickedness and celebrate the Way, Truth, and Life of the Risen Lord with sincerity.

Are we living our lives in accordance with the Father’s commandments, Jesus’ teachings, and the Holy Spirit’s inspirations? What sins, weaknesses, and imperfections do we need to clear out of our hearts and minds? How can we renew ourselves in faith, hope, and love?

O Lord, we celebrate your Resurrection with the bread of sincerity and truth.

Amen.

Twenty-Eighth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

“Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

We all have priorities in life, but the greatest one of all is to love God and His children with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. We can do all the right things and say all the right words, but if we do them for the wrong reasons, then we gain nothing spiritually from them. This is why we need to pay attention to our motives, too. God doesn't give us golden tickets to heaven just for completing a checklist. Loving God and neighbor is more than just going through the motions. True love goes above and beyond what is right to what is compassionate to others and glorifies God. We are not called to be angelic robots, following rules without having our heart guide us. Instead, we are called to be faithful bearers of God's Word and Mercy to all who will listen and accept the graces God has prepared for them through us.

Where are our priorities? Are our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths aligned with God or the world? How can we pay better attention to our motives and to loving God?

O Lord, help us to do your Will out of love and always have you as the center of our attention.

Amen.

Seventh Saturday of Easter

“What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”

This rebuke of Peter is also a reminder to us to take care of our own business first when it comes to faith. Each of us is given a set of tasks to fulfill in our lives by God and it is our responsibility to concern ourselves with them and not with others. We follow Christ, not our family, friends, or neighbors. We might come to know, love, and serve everyone around us—as Jesus would—but we should not be so concerned with them that we ignore our own tasks. We need to focus on feeding and tending God’s children in the way He asks us to and sometimes that means doing things without or even against our family, friends, and neighbors. This does not mean that we do them without regard to these people or to spite them, but rather we do it because God calls us to do it. He should take precedence over everything and everyone in our lives.

What are the tasks God has set before us? How do we put aside our concern for others and focus on God’s Will? Is our faith in God our top priority?

O Lord, we follow you. Let our concerns be your concerns and not our own.

Amen.

Monday of Holy Week

Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

Priorities. That is what this gospel is all about. Everyone has them. Martha placed her priorities on serving others. Lazarus placed his on reclining at the table with Jesus. Mary placed hers on anointing her Lord. Judas placed his on money and will betray his Lord because of it. The chief priests placed theirs on their power and decided to kill Jesus because of it. And Jesus placed his priority in fulfilling his Father’s Will knowing full well that it means suffering his Passion and Death. His priorities should be ours and we should learn from this gospel what it means to place God first in our lives.

What are our priorities in life? What should they be? How can we bridge the gap between them?

O Lord, you knew what was being asked of you, help us to know what God is asking of us.

Amen.