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.

The Lord looks into the heart. He doesn't judge by appearances. As we continue our "Scrutiny" Sundays, we give the Lord permission to access our heart to help us overcome our sins and areas of moral weakness. Sin blinds us, but the Lord's mercy enables us to be children of light, called to walk in the light and not in the darkness of error. Like the man born blind healed by Jesus, we may encounter people who don't understand our journey from darkness into light, but the Lord sees our struggles and perseverance in a way no other person can. Continue to walk in the light of God's truth this Lenten season!

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent are known as the Scrutiny weekends. This is a time of deep examination, especially for catechumens and candidates preparing to enter the full life of the Catholic Church. We all need time to scrutinize our ways and make sure we are on the path God wants us to be on. As we begin the 3rd week of Lent, be grateful for the gifts of grace God gives us and find ways to deepen your connection to Christ and His Church.

“God became man so that man might become God.” St. Athanasius and the Church Fathers taught this theological concept in the early years of the Church, and we still teach it today. Yet thousands of years of Church history haven’t softened the impact this teaching makes on our lives and it’s difficulty to accept.

Jesus gives purpose and direction to our journey of life. In the midst of the culture of relativism we live in that provides little to no direction as to the meaning or purpose of life, our faith in Christ is all the more necessary as a light to guide our path and to draw others to that path that God has set us on.

Our readings today deal with judgment. Our culture tends to have a very negative view of "judgment" with the assumption that we should just mind our own business and not make any sort of determination about the words or actions of another person, be it good or evil. Without judgment, there would be no law or order, no right or wrong, no good or evil.

We can draw some beautiful connections between King David and Jesus Christ. Both are anointed to lead God's Kingdom, both work to liberate God's people from their enemies, both act with mercy among their kindred who seek their life, and both are faithful to the Father and trust Him completely in their leadership to “do good to those who hate you” and “bless those who curse you."

In today’s gospel, we heard the Beatitudes. Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” This does not mean that poverty itself is good, but that those who recognize their dependence on God are truly blessed.

Jesus' command "lower your nets" in today's Gospel comes at the worst time for Simon Peter and his fishing crew. They've just spent the whole night catching nothing. They are tired and have given up. They're ready to wrap things up and try again tomorrow. But Jesus has another plan.

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The Feast is also known as "Candlemas" because of Simeon's profession we hear in the Gospel, "My eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."