First Sunday of Lent_A - Unrequited Love_022226

Deacon Tom Writes,

Unrequited Love

First Sunday of Lent, Year A

 

The Prophet Hosea speaks of God’s unending love for his unfaithful people and his desire to be reconciled with them with these words:

 

“I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.”  HOSEA 2:16

 

The season of Lent draws much from the desert imagery that is so deeply immersed throughout our Sacred Scripture. And, so at the very mention of the word “Lent,” for instance, we recall the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, a journey from slavery to freedom. And we are mindful of how Jesus withdrew to the desert to discern God’s Will for him as read in today’s gospel.

 

Yet, the words from Hosea cast another light on desert experiences:  they are a time of solitude, a time of intimacy, of knowing and becoming known. God calls those he loves into a place of solitude so that we can enter into a deeper relationship with him and, through his Mystical Body, into a deeper relationship with one another.

 

Yes, Lent is about discovery, an awakening of just how incomplete our lives have become separated from our Beloved. These next six weeks give us the chance to see just how far we have fallen out of relationship with God and provide us the opportunity to seek to make things right.

 

But least we think that we are left on our own to do all the work, recall the beautiful words from Hosea and remember who it is who entices us into this desert journey: it is our very God himself. It is God who desires us to seek him; it is God who calls us into relationship with him; it is God who desires to be our all in all, our Beloved; and it is God who is desperate for us to love him in return.

 

May God bless all our Lenten efforts to draw near to him. May he bless abundantly our Seeking Hearts.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: Stubborn Hope During this Lenten season, let us cultivate a stubborn hope, like the trees in Psalm 1, planted near streams of water, yielding fruit in due season, and never withering.

Throughout Lent, writers from the Ignatian network will nourish our hope. Join us each day to allow your roots—be they abundant, brittle, or somewhere in between—to pull from the waters of faith and bear fruit for a more just world.

 

Recommended YouTube Video: Lenten Meditative Music

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - Make the Right Choice_021526

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Make the Right Choice”

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

Our readings today address the choices we have in life. Sirach seems to say that, in essence, every choice that we make comes down to this: we choose between life and death or, stated differently, between good and evil. Then the Sacred Writer cautions us further that, “whatever we choose shall be given to us.”  

 

It is not often we think of the choices we make throughout the day as either good or evil or between life and death. We probably make hundreds of choices over the course of an ordinary day. Yet, it shouldn’t be a surprise to us that every choice we make counts; every choice we make has us heading in one direction or another. We often find ourselves in situations where we must compromise... our faith, our values, our entire belief system. Jesus, in saying that he has come to fulfill the law, not to abolish it, reminds us that we have a reference point on how to determine if we are making good or bad choices. His focal point is … the Law, specifically, the Law God handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai.

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus expands the meaning of the Law when he interprets it in a much broader sense. He equates anger with the act of killing another person. Then again, the act of calling someone a fool and thereby diminishing their dignity as a child of God becomes punishable by eternal damnation….

 

I don’t think that Jesus is being overly scrupulous. But, he is being very cautious. He knows that it is the little things that trip us up not only in the day-to-day happenings in our material life but also on our spiritual journey as well. He knows that every choice we make is either drawing us nearer to him or has us moving further away from him. He knows that little by little we can lose the kingdom of heaven by making bad choices. 

 

Jesus taught us that the best choice we can make is to choose to love, to love God first and foremost, and to love others, even our enemies as well. And this happens every time we choose to put others first, and by doing so, we deepen our love of God, which is always the right choice!

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: Thoughts Matter, by Mary Margaret Funk, OSB. John Cassian taught that real intimacy with God in prayer demands renouncing one's former way of life, the thoughts belonging to that former way of life, and one's very idea of God. In Thoughts Matter, Funk explains well how failure to control these thoughts can undermine our spiritual life, and she instructs readers on how effectively to overcome these thoughts and to focus instead on thoughts in harmony with God's will. The result is an experience of joy, hope, and freedom from enslavement to our appetites. Readers will come away enlightened, strengthened, and inspired to delve more deeply into a life of intimacy with God.

 

 

Recommended YouTube Video:  Glory Be podcast Episode 37 Sister Meg Funk

"We don't have [to work] to pray. We have to let prayer happen to us. The Holy Spirit is already alive in us. When we renounce our afflictions, prayer starts surging up." Sr. Mary Margaret Funk has been a Benedictine nun at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, IN, since 1961. She holds a M.A. from Catholic University in Religion and Religious Education and a M.S. from Indiana University. She’s the author of five books in the Matter Series that brings forward the teachings of the Desert Spirituality. She is currently facilitating the St. Enda retreat, a 100-day online retreat. In this episode Sr. Mary Margaret gives the listener a little insight on how our thoughts matter in our effort to grow in spirituality.

 

 

 

 

 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinay Time_A - Light and Zest_020826

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Light and Zest”

 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

The Sacred Author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote this graphic an insightful, if not disturbing, passage concerning the enduring truth about the Word of God when he penned these words, “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.” Heb 4:12

 

There is no shortage of problems in our world today, extremely morally challenging ones facing our country. Look around and you see protesters responding to the recent ICE killings in Minnesota. Crowds of people carrying signs and placard protesting the arrest and treatment of immigrants; other protestors supporting one cause or another, advocating one course of action over a different path forward, labeling one ideology good and those who stand in opposition to that way of thinking bad. We are divided over many issues... our world, our country seems to be in chaos. Where does one turn to find a meaningful message, one that inspires hope, gives us a path that we may follow that helps heal our social, spiritual, emotional, and mental maladies? Perhaps anyone who enters any of our Catholic Churches around the world today, February 8, 2026 will find some direction and hopefully a better plan of action in these words from the Prophet Isaiah

 

 

Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;

 

Isaiah goes on to say:

If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

 

We don’t surrender our politics, our agendas, our experiences or hopes for the future when we enter Church to worship God. These are essential dimensions of our lives that are to be conformed and shaped by the Word and Sacrament that we receive when we participate in “the sacred mysteries” which bring us together as “the people of God” whenever we gather in his name.

 

We are faced with many challenges today not only in our political and social lives but also in our ecclesial and  moral realms; we have many factors dividing us into contentious fractions to put it mildly...toxic polarization. Where to begin to find a remedy? In good conscience, we must not overlook the cautionary and prophetic advice we find in Sacred Scripture, which, like a scalpel, cuts away all diseased ways of thinking for all who are seeking to be healed from our current and prevalent toxic pattern of thinking. 

 

Jesus calls his disciples “the salt of the earth.” All who heard Jesus say this understood how valuable salt was as both a preservative and an antiseptic, that enhances the flavor of food. Salt was a medium of exchange from which the word “salary” is derived. If we are to be the “salt of the earth” as Jesus called us to be, we must bring to the current debates the Christian values we find in Sacred Scripture that sees us all as God’s children and not just with our words but with our actions as well by bringing light and zest to the world around us. And the hardest part of all this, my brothers and sisters, is that first, we must embrace those very values Jesus teaches to rid ourselves of the toxins in our system.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: The Universal Christ by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM - Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God—except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us, and in everyone we meet.

 

Thought-provoking, practical, and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.

 

Recommended YouTube Video:  Fr James Martin, SJ Spirituality Podcast with Fr. Richard Roar, OFC.  Host James Martin, S.J., welcomes the Franciscan spiritual master and author, Richard Rohr O.F.M., onto “The Spiritual Life”:

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - First and Goal - 020126

Deacon Tom Writes,
“First and Goal”

 

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

 

The teachings contained in this passage from Matthew’s Gospel today lay out for us our call to holiness. Jesus presents his vision of the Kingdom where the poor in spirit are blessed and the meek are comforted; where mercy abounds and righteousness prevails; where there are peacemakers to put an end to conflict, violence, and strife. Do you think that Jesus was telling the crowd to persevere, to just accept the evil in this present age and await the justice of God in the next life? I don’t think so. Jesus had a plan to help ease the suffering and hopelessness that he saw in the human condition, the one he embraced, willingly. Jesus had a plan to restore us to God’s good graces, revealed when he told his disciples, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (JN 10:10). Jesus’ plan for us to enjoy life more abundantly is one we are invited to work with him to bring to completeness. It is called “discipleship.”

 

In making a decision to follow Jesus we take on the responsibility of embracing the mind and heart of God as Jesus did and acting accordingly. We do know this; being faithful to the teachings of Jesus is difficult work. To use a football analogy on this pre Superbowl Sunday, it is like trying to move the football inside the “Red Zone”, when it is “First, second, third or even forth... and Goal.” There is a lot of resistance to our effort; the other team, the demons within our very selves, our own resistance to change, are trying just as hard to stop us. They try to prevent any “forward progress” and undermine our confidence; they challenge our determination to score, they are forceful in stopping our spiritual growth. This football analogy suites us well on our spiritual journey as we look to overcome all the challenges and obstacles to our faith that we encounter on a daily basis. We may experience rejection when we reach out to strangers; we may be the target of unkindness and misunderstanding when we try to bring comfort to family, friends, and neighbors. If we try to forgive others for the hurts they have caused us, there are those who may take this as a sign of weakness and attempt to take further advantage of us. We may suffer many setbacks if we try to live and act with the mind and heart of Jesus and that should come as no surprise for Jesus told us as much.

 

Still, we seek to be kind and gentle people, quick to forgive and slow to anger. We strive to be thoughtful and accepting of everyone. We engage people with the understanding that we are all made in the image of our creator. Most of all, we never lose sight of the goal and the good that can come from a single act of selfless love. Why? Because we take Jesus at his words, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

 

Today we hear Jesus call the poor in spirit “blessed.” If we live our lives as his disciples, the day will come when he will say to us “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (MT 25:34)

 

In the pursuit of eternal life, that’s how you run up the score!!!

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: The Shepherd who Didn't Run by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda is the enduring story of Fr. Stan Rother, the martyr from Okarche, who loved, served and was martyred in the village of Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala serving among God's humble people. A truly remarkable and timely story about America's Frist martyr.

 

Recommended YouTube Video: An Ordinary Martyr: The Life and Death of Blessed Stanley Rother

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - Decision Time_012526

Deacon Tom writes,

“Decision Time”

 

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

Making important decisions is seldom easy. St. Matthew recounts the story of ordinary men who were running a successful business when they were asked to make a decision. Their encounter with Christ causes them to alter the course of their lives. Called by Jesus they set out in a new direction to face the uncertainties of life with a new vision…. that all we experience in this life is not the totality of our existence but rather a greater reality is yet to come, one that we can begin to grasp by following in the ways of Jesus.

 

In deciding to follow Jesus these men became witnesses to the life transforming possibilities that Christ brought to every person and every situation he encountered during his brief ministry. Because they decided to follow Jesus, it is through their eyes and through their eye-witness testimony these events have been written down and preserved by Holy Mother Church. Today these words come alive for us here and now as we are asked, “How do we respond to Christ’s invitation to ‘Come after me…’”

 

We all have received a calling from God. We all have a unique and specific purpose in life that belongs to each of us individually. If we do not accept this call, if we don’t set out to accomplish the specific task God has given us, then that work, that effort, remains undone. People go hungry, there is no one to visit sick and imprisoned, no one to comfort the widow or widower in the time of grief. It is like the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” If we who profess to be disciples of Christ do not respond with our actions, those simple acts of kindness go undone and God’s work goes unfinished,

 

Today our Gospel prompts us to look into our lives and see how we have responded to the call that we have received, the call to love God and neighbor, the call to forgive those who hurt us, the call to live our lives in a spirit of wonder and awe knowing God is with us, always present in our lives, always seeking to bestow his abundant graces upon us just as he did to those we read about today. What he does for them he will do for everyone who makes the decision to follow him.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

 

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: The Sermon on the Mount by Fr. Frank Matera provides readers who wish to use the sermon as the standard by which they live their lives every day and shows how the teaching summons believers to single-minded devotion and wholehearted service to God. He unfolds the historical and theological background to the sermon.

 

Recommended YouTube Video: The Sermon on the Mount by Fr. David Senior, CP

 

 

 

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - Too Little to Ask-01182

Deacon Tom writes,

“Too Little to Ask?”

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

In today’s First Reading, Isaiah reminds his listeners that God has great things in store for his people. Yes, Israel has fallen upon difficult times and is in a state of decline. But, the day will come when God will work wonders through his servant, Israel. Yes, too little is the work of raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the survivors of Israel. God has even greater plans for his Servant Israel, who will also ... “be the light of the nations that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”

 

Now, at the beginning of this new year, is a good time for each of us to reflect on how we are the beneficiaries of this ancient promise God made to Israel. What has God revealing himself to the world meant to me? How do I respond to his coming into my lives?

 

While reflecting on Isaiah’s reading, we might consider how little God really asks of us in light of all we have received from him. We have so much to be grateful for; we all undoubtedly come up with a long list of blessings that we have received over the course of our lifetimes and yet God doesn’t overburden us with demands as a sign of our gratitude. He tells us simply to “love one another,” to share our food with the poor, to be peaceful, to be honest, to consider others first. He is not demanding that any of us end poverty, war, bigotry… No, he doesn’t demand that any of us individually solve the problems of hunger or disease. But I wonder if, just like servant Israel, God is just waiting for us to do our part, no matter how little or insignificant that may be, so he can bless the work of our hands and therefore bring to our troubled world the peace, justice and goodness that he desires for us.

 

As we journey through this new year, one that may prove both challenging and exciting on the one hand or vexing and overbearing on the other, let us all be mindful that we are the torch bearers who bring the light of Christ to all those around us. May our thoughts, actions and prayers find their source in our Lord Jesus Christ who came to give us new life.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading: Hope Against Darkness by Fr. Richard Rohr is an excellent treatment of what we are so afraid to encounter... our dark self. Rohr describes how following Saint Francis' way to forgiveness and love, and "owning the darkness," can bring us out of the postmodern pit in which we find ourselves.

YouTube Video. 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Fr Timothy Radcliffe. In the Catholic Tradition, Peace Sunday (or World Day of Peace) is celebrated on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, focusing on global peace efforts, while many Protestant traditions highlight peace on the Second Sunday of Advent, symbolizing hope and the coming of the Prince of Peace. In this Youtube video, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. addresses his homily to violence in our world and how we are called to be a people who refuse violence in word and in deed.  . In the Catholic tradition, Peace Sunday (or World Day of Peace) is celebrated on the 

 

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord_A - We Are God's Beloved_011126

Baptism of Christ - Davezelenka.png

Deacon Tom Writes,

“We are God’s Beloved”

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Year A

In one of his first encyclicals, Spes Salvi, In Hope We Are Saved, Pope Benedict wrote, “It is not science that redeems man: man is redeemed by love. This applies even in terms of this present world. When a man experiences a great love in his life, it is a moment of “redemption” which gives new meaning to his life. However, soon he will also realize that the love he has received cannot, by itself, resolve the questions of his life. All love remains fragile. It can be destroyed by death. The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38- 39

At the heart of this Pope Benedicts encyclical is the fact that the deepest longing of the human spirit is to be loved completely, without judgment or qualifications, conditions or limitations. We all desperately want to be “beloved”, unconditionally. We want to be absorbed into a love that protects, nourishes, encourages, forgives, nurtures, enlivens, animates. When we don’t experience this type of love, we become fearful, suspicious, and withdrawn. Our lives become shallow and resentful. We become self-absorbed and self-centered.

One of the many gifts Christ’s death and resurrection secured for us is the reality that because of his selfless love, we too are beloved by the Father. This elevated status frees us from fear and gives us the hope, the certainty that there is nothing that will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

This is a good way to begin this New Year, to hold on to this profound truth thought throughout the new year: we are beloved, each of us by God whose love is overwhelming. Our God is with us always, by our side, always, in good times and when we are in despair. God gives us that same love he gave his own Son, Jesus; revealing himself so that we may continue to grow in his Love; encouraging us to love one another; speaking in the depth of our hearts that we too are loved with an everlasting love, an unconditional love that awaits our falling into it.

 Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: Three ways to incorporate Ignatian spirituality into daily life    . In this episode of Saturdays at Seven, Fr. David Quigley presents one of St. Ignatius’s building blocks for spiritual growth, namely, finding God in all things. As we begin this new year, let’s take the time to hear what Fr. Quigley has to say.

 

YouTube Video. Finding God in All Things. In this episode of Saturdays at Seven, Fr. David Quigley presents one of St. Ignatius’s building blocks for spiritual growth, namely, finding God in all things. As we begin this new year, let’s take the time to hear what Fr. Quigley has to say.