Have you ever seen a celebrity? Have you ever met a political representative? Did the encounter leave you with newfound acting or musical abilities? Did it give you a grasp of the intricacies of the latest city ordinance or controversial law? Talents, expertise, and skill are hard-won traits, not rewards that spread by contact. Our life of faith is also not so easy.

“We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets!” In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus notes that it requires moral strength to enter the kingdom of God. It's not mere proximity to righteousness that saves. Rubbing elbows with the righteous is not the same as being truly holy ourselves. Unfortunately, we can have this attitude in many areas.

The Prince of Peace wants to set the world on fire? This Sunday's Gospel can sound more intense than what we may be accustomed to. It's a passage of contradictions. Jesus so clearly prays for unity, yet here he speaks of division. Why would our God who comes as an offering of love speak so frankly about causing relationships to be torn apart?

The sobering truth is that Jesus is divisive. We see this throughout the Gospels, as the Pharisees critique him, the Romans condemn him, and not everyone in the crowd is enthusiastic about his words.

Jesus has not come for the purpose of dividing, but what he does is so radical that it upends the status quo. And it doesn't end with his preaching and miracles! "There is a baptism with which I must be baptized." Jesus isn't talking about his baptism at the Jordan River, which has already occurred, but the passing through the waters of death on the Cross and rising again to new life in the resurrection.

Tickets booked, packing list double-checked, itinerary set - how do you know you're prepared for a trip? Being ready requires plenty of practical preparation. Do we give the same care to our spiritual preparedness? "Your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom," Jesus tells us. In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus reminds us to have the right attitude for the gifts and callings he wants to give us!

Clear out your clutter! “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Jesus reminds the disciples that earthly standards of security and success will wear out in time. If our lives are structured around values that don't align with the kingdom of God, we'll miss opportunities to receive God. If we're so concerned with our child's success in sports that we miss Sunday Mass for their tournaments, we're missing out receiving the sacraments and building a consistent community of faith. If our quest for the promotion takes us away from family commitments, we won't be able to fully receive the love intended in our closest relationships.

As we enter into a new week, I lift you up in prayer and claim 1 Chronicles 4:10. It is the prayer of Jabez.

May God grant your requests as He did for Jabez! May He bless you indeed and enlarge your borders! May the hand of God be with you and keep you from harm, in Jesus mighty Name, Amen!

— Fr. Emmanuel

Today's Gospel tackles a key question in the spiritual life - grateful or greedy?

The best news about saints is that everyone, including you, is called to be a saint.

Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a saint because you have not done anything great.

That’s no excuse. The saint whom Pope Pius XI called the greatest saint was Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun who lived in a cloister and died at 24. What made people all over the world admire her is precisely that she did nothing the world called important but found holiness in everyday things.

Isn’t Having Statues or Pictures of Saints Idolatry?

Perhaps, as you are reading this, you have in your wallet pictures of your loved ones, such as your wife, husband, mother, father, son, daughter or pictures of your grandchildren. Maybe you carry their pictures to remind you of people you love, to help you feel that they are close to you when you are not together, or to share with people you meet. But you probably would not say that you worship them.

These are the same reasons we have statues and pictures of Saints. Seeing a statue of Saint Therese of Lisieux, who lost her mother when she was a child, might make us feel less alone when we are grieving. A picture of Saint Francis of Assisi might remind us of how much he loved God’s creation and make us more aware of our environment.

“Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” Mark 14:22a-24

Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God! What a Gift we celebrate today!

The Eucharist is everything. It’s all things, the fullness of life, eternal salvation, mercy, grace, happiness, etc. Why is the Eucharist all this and so much more? Simply put, the Eucharist IS God. Period. Therefore, the Eucharist is all that God is.

Looking at some of things that have been done in the history of the Church, how can it claim to be guided by God?

Since the Church is made up of human beings who are not perfect, it is to be expected that the Church will be less than perfect.

Jesus knew that those who would represent him were subject to failure. Peter denied him three times, but Jesus, after his resurrection, gave Peter a threefold commission to care for his flock (John 21:15-18). The apostles ran away when Jesus was arrested, and yet he appeared to them after his resurrection and sent them to preach the gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:16-20).

The resurrection of Jesus gives our faith voice, purpose and meaning. “Our faith would have been in vain if Christ had not risen from the dead,” says St. Paul.

But besides that, the resurrection has other implications for our lives. Do you know that because Jesus is risen, we too have the power to rise and breakaway from the graves that often plague our lives such as financial graves, emotional graves, marital graves, the graves of hopelessness, meaninglessness, alcohol and drugs, the graves of sadness, grief, depression and despair?

This Sunday, Jesus continues his challenging Sermon on the Mount. "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back." Words like these are challenging! Many of us have grown up in a culture of independence and retaliation against those who harm us. Today's Gospel reminds us that the way of the world is not necessarily the way of the disciple.

What an audience Jesus has in today's Gospel! "A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and thecoastal region of Tyre and Sidon." Disciples, pagans, and devout Jews gathered together to hear Jesus speak in the Sermon on the Mount. All of these peoplehad something in common. God was someone to be bargained with, and if God liked you, you were rewarded with good fortune.

Do you have enough? Many of us come from a nation of material abundance. We have all the things we could possibly need not only to survive but to thrive - food, shelter, mental ability, income, access to medical care. Most people in human history lived with far less than we. So why are we so dissatisfied? Some Christians can be drawn to the "prosperity Gospel." This is the idea that following God will bring us material abundance in this life.

Today's Gospel is one of tension and contradiction. We enter the scene at the local synagogue. It is near the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry, and he has returned home to Nazareth for a short while. There, in the midst of the men who watched him grow up and who played with him as a boy in the dusty streets, Jesus proclaims that he is the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah. The response is understandably mixed. "All spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, 'Isn't this the son of Joseph?'"