July 19 through July 25th, 2026

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(July 19, 2026: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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“Those who are just must be kind.”

The Book of Wisdom is unambiguous when listing the characteristics of divine justice: care, clemency, leniency, repentance and kindness. Far from insinuating that God is somehow “soft,” these (and other) characteristics describe the nature of true strength, authority and power.

This manner of acting is the great paradox of divine love: although sin and evil can provoke divine punishment, they are ultimately more likely to receive divine mercy, leniency and kindness. Francis de Sales observed:

“Far indeed was Adam's sin from overwhelming God's kindness; on the contrary it aroused and called forth God's kindness. As if to realign its forces for victory, God's kindness made grace to abound yet more where iniquity had abounded....Indeed, God's providence has left in us many great marks of divine severity, even amid the very grace of God's mercy; there are, for example, the fact that we must die, disease, toil and sensual rebellion...but God's favor floats as it were over all this and finds joy in turning these miseries to the greater profit of all who love him.” (Treatise on the Love of God, Book II, Chapter 5)

No where do we see more clearly the just power of God exercised with such kindness and forbearance than in the life and legacy of Jesus Christ. St. Francis de Sales wrote:

“In a word, our divine Savior never forgets to show that ‘his mercies are above all his works.’ That his mercy surpasses his justice, that ‘his redemption is copious,’ that his love is infinite and, as the Apostle says, ‘that he is rich in mercy,’ and consequently, that he ‘wishes that all be saved’ and that none should perish.” (Treatise, Book II, Chapter 8)

On the practice of virtue, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Some virtues have almost general use and must not only produce their own results but also spill over into all other virtues.  Occasions may not often present themselves for the exercise of fortitude, magnanimity, and great generosity, but gentleness, temperance, integrity and humility are virtues that must mark all our actions in life.”

The practice of virtue is, in fact, a sharing in and sharing of God’s power and promise. How should we respond to such divine power - power expressed in patience, leniency, clemency and kindness?

First, we must repent. We must acknowledge our need for God's saving, redeeming and reconciling justice. Such power not only helps us to turn away from iniquity, but it also enables us to do what is right and good.

Second, we must exercise the divine power in which we share (by nature of our creation and redemption) by forgiving one another: by practicing and extending care, clemency, leniency and kindness to our brothers and sisters, especially when they either purposely or thoughtlessly hurt or harm us.

Divine justice is best served by kindness. How ready are we to receive - and share - such a powerful, redeeming gift?

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(July 20, 2026: Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“You have been told what the Lord requires of you: do the right and love goodness and walk humbly with your God…”

In a letter to “a person of piety”, Francis de Sales wrote:

“The more humility costs you, the more graces it will give you. Continue then to discipline your heart by humility and exalt it by charity…Study this lesson deeply, for it is the one lesson of our sovereign Master: ‘Learn of me because I am meek and humble of heart.’ How happy you will be, if you resign yourself fully to the will of Our Lord. Yes, for this holy willing is all good and its execution all good. There is no better path to walk other than under His providence and guidance.” (Living Jesus, p. 145)

Humility is not about having no life; humility is about laying down our lives – giving our lives – in the service of others. Of course, “laying down our lives” can sound overwhelming, especially when we consider the dramatic way in which Jesus laid down his life on the cross of Calvary. As St. Francis de Sales constantly reminds us, however, for most of us this giving of our lives gets played out in little, ordinary ways: like doing what is right and loving what is good.

We know what the Lord requires of us: to walk humbly with God, that is, to do what is right and to love what is good in our relationships with others.

And to know true happiness in the process!

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(July 21, 2026: Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in ordinary Time)

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“Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, sister and mother…”

In the opinion of William Barclay, this selection from Matthew’s Gospel offers us an expanded notion of the ties that bind - a new way of looking at kinship, family and friendship. He wrote:

“True kinship is not always a matter of flesh and blood relationship. It remains true that blood is a tie that nothing can break and that many people find their delight and their peace in the circle of their families. But it is also true that sometimes a man’s nearest and dearest are the people who understand him least, and that he finds his true fellowship with those who work for a common ideal and who share a common experience. This certainly is true – even if Christians find that those who should be closest to them are those who are most out of sympathy with them, there remains for them the fellowship of Jesus Christ and the friendship of all who love the Lord.”

Barclay says that this expanded notion of family – of home – is founded on three things:

1.     A common ideal. People who are very different can be firm friends, if they have a common ideal for which they work and toward which they press

2.     A common experience and the memories that come from it. When people have passed together through some great experience – and when they can together look back on it – real friendship begins

3.     Obedience. There is no better way of showing the reality of love than the spirit of obedience.

In a conference to the Visitation Sisters, Francis remarked:

“Let us hear and follow the voice of the divine Savior, who like the perfect psalmist, pours forth the last strains of an undying love from the tree of the cross, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ After that has been said, what remains but to breathe forth our last breath and die of love, living no longer for ourselves but Jesus living in us? Then, all the anxieties of our hearts will cease – anxieties proceeding from desires suggested by self-love and by tenderness for ourselves that make us secretly so eager in the pursuit of our own satisfaction…Embarked, then, in the exercises of our own vocation and carried along by the winds of this simple and loving confidence we shall make the greatest progress; we shall draw nearer and nearer to home.” (Living Jesus, p. 430)

As members of Jesus’ family let us do our level best to be obedient, that is, to listen to the voice of God in our lives and act upon what we hear. May we celebrate the kinship, friendship and love that come with following the will of our heavenly Father and experience the ties that truly and tenaciously bind us together.

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(July 22, 2026: Mary Magdalene, Disciple)

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“She saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus.”

In a letter to Marie Bourgeois Brulart, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Mary Magdalene is looking for Our Lord and it is he whom she holds. She is asking him, and it is he whom she asks. She could not see him as she had hoped to see him. This is why she did not recognize him as he actually was and continues to see him in another guise. She wanted to see him in his robes of glory and not in the lowly clothes of a gardener. But in the end, she recognized him when he spoke to her by name: ‘Mary.’”

“You see, Our Lord meets you every day dressed as a gardener in any number of places and situations…Be of good cheer and let nothing dismay you.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 136)

On any given day God may be, as it were, standing right in front of us, hidden in plain sight. However, it isn’t a case of a God who is trying to hide from us! Rather, it is our desire to see God in ways that match our preferences, and that, consequently, prevent us from seeing God as and where He really is, especially when it comes to recognizing how God is present in us and in one another!

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(July 23, 2026: Thursday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“To anyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away…”

William Barclay made the following observation about this Gospel passage:

“Many a person in childhood and schooldays had a smattering of Latin or French or of some other language, and in later life lose every word because he never made any attempt to develop or use them. Many a person had some skill in a craft or game and lost it because he neglected it. The diligent and hard-working person is in a position to be given more and more; the lazy person may well lose even what he has. Any gift can be developed; and since nothing in life stands still, if a gift is not developed, it is lost.”

“So, it is with goodness. Every temptation we conquer makes us more able to conquer the next and every temptation to which we fall makes us less able to withstand the next attack. Every good thing we do, every act of self-discipline and of service, makes us better prepared for the next opportunity, and every time we fail to use such an opportunity, we make ourselves less able to seize the next when it comes. Life is always a process of gaining more or losing more. Jesus laid down the truth that the nearer a person lives to Him, the nearer to the Christian ideal that person will grow. By contrast, the more a person drifts away from Christ, the less he or she is able to grow in goodness; for weakness, like strength, is an increasing practice.” (Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2, p. 67)

St. Francis de Sales put it this way: if we are not moving forward in the practice of virtue, we are falling behind. So, it is with a life of devotion: making the effort to do good produces its own reward by expanding our experience of life, whereas neglecting to do good is its own punishment by diminishing our experience of life.

Today, take an inventory of the gifts - and the life - that God has given you. What do you find - growth or decline?

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(July 24, 2026: Friday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Hear the parable of the sower….”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Ostriches never fly; hens fly in a clumsy fashion, near the ground, and only once in a while, but eagles, doves and swallows fly aloft, swiftly and frequently. In like manner, sinners in no way fly up towards God, but make their whole course upon the earth and for the earth. Good people who have not as yet attained to devotion fly toward God by their good works but do so infrequently, slowly and awkwardly. Devout souls ascend to him more frequently, promptly and with lofty flights.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

There is something of the ostrich, something of the hen and something of the eagle in all of us. We crawl in God’s paths; we stumble in God’s path; we fall in God’s paths; we walk and sometimes run in God’s paths, and on occasion, we even manage to fly in God’s paths. So, too, there is something of each of the scenarios of the seed in today’s Gospel that applies to us. Sometimes, God’s word is stolen from our hearts before it has a chance to grow. Sometimes, God’s word springs up quickly in us but withers even more quickly because of our shallowness or hardness of heart. Sometimes, God’s word falls to the wayside because we lose heart in the midst of trials and difficulties. Sometimes, God’s word is simply overwhelmed by our fears, doubts, anxieties and second-guesses.

But sometimes – just sometimes – God’s word finds a home deep in our hearts, deep in our souls and deep in our lives. And then that seed bears a harvest beyond our wildest dreams: thirty, sixty or even a hundredfold.

Don’t just hear the parable of the sower, but also – more importantly – live the parable of the sower! Consider the ways in which the seeds of God’s love might have trouble taking root in your life. More importantly, focus your attention and energy on the ways in which the seeds of God’s love have made a deep, abiding and fruitful home in your mind, heart, attitude and actions!

And live it today!

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 (July 25, 2026: James, Apostle)

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“We hold this treasure in earthen vessels….”

Francis de Sales once wrote:

“‘Borrow empty vessels, not a few,’ said Elisha to the poor widow, ‘and pour oil into them.’ (2 Kings 4: 3-4) To receive the grace of God into our hearts they must be emptied of our own pride…” (Living Jesus, p. 149)

It’s all-too-easy to fill our hearts – our precious earthen vessels – with all kinds of earthly treasures, things that – as good as they might be – aren’t really treasures at all - at least, not where God is concerned. The less space occupied in our hearts by things that merely pass for treasure, the more room we make available in our hearts for the real, heavenly treasure that is truly precious: the love of God. Recall the words of St. Francis de Sales in a conference (On Cordiality) he gave to the Sisters of the Visitation:

“We must remember that love has its seat in the heart, and that we can never love our neighbor too much, nor exceed the limits of reason in this affection, provided that it dwells in the heart.” (Conference IV, p. 56)

The story of Zebedee’s sons illustrates the importance of being very careful about what we store in our hearts. Notwithstanding their intimate relationship with Jesus, they set their hearts on a treasure that was not in Jesus’ power to grant: places of honor in His Kingdom. He responds to this request (made on James and John’s behalf by their mother, no less, who apparently also had her heart set on honor for her sons as well) by challenging them to set their hearts not on the desire for honor but for opportunities to serve the needs of others…and so to have honor beyond their wildest dreams!

We do hold a treasure - God’s love - in the earthly vessels of our hearts. Let’s be careful about what we pour into them; the more room we make in our hearts for God’s treasure, the richer we shall be.

And the more we will have to share with others!

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July 12 through July 18, 2026

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(July 12, 2026: Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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“The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

Sometimes, good things take time...and require much patience. This process is even true of the greatest of all good things, the seeds of God's love.

Each of us is the “good ground” on and in which God plants the seeds of divine life and love. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and our common vocation (lived in ways unique to God's plan for each of us) is to allow these seeds of divine life to take root in our minds and hearts and to produce an abundance of goodness within us that spills out into the lives of our brothers and sisters...all to give glory and honor to God.

As the parable from Matthew's Gospel clearly illustrates, however, not all of the seeds of God's love within us fair well. Some of these seeds are choked off by our fears and anxieties. Some of these seeds are overwhelmed by other concerns or attractions. Some of these seeds simply wither away for lack of care and attention. Still, notwithstanding these and other would-be obstacles, many of the seeds of God's love do, in fact, take root, grow and produce a harvest of love, justice, peace, truth, reconciliation and freedom.

But this growth takes time, as well as a mixture of trial and error. This fact is important for us to remember, lest we lose heart and just allow the seeds of God's love within us to go to pot altogether. The practice of patience is not only important in promoting spiritual growth in ourselves, but also in encouraging it in the lives of others. In a letter to one Madame Brulart, Francis de Sales wrote:

“As for your desire to see your dear ones make progress in the service of God and in their longing for Christian perfection, I praise this desire tremendously...But to tell you the truth, I am always afraid that in these desires there may be a trace of self-love and self-will; for example, we may indulge so much in these desires that we may not leave enough room in our hearts for the things that really matter: humility, resignation, gentleness of heart and the like. Or else the intensity of these desires may bring about anxiety or overeagerness, and in the end we do not submit ourselves to God's will as perfectly as we should.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, page 110.)

Clearly, while we must take responsibility for our growth in devotion - that is, nourish the seeds of God's love in us and encourage the same in others - we must do it patiently and with a mind to God's will for us, lest our efforts become an exercise in self-will, self-delusion or self-absorption. Francis de Sales offers this advice:

“Pursue your aims gently and quietly...By what you say and do you must gently sow seeds that will encourage others...In this way, especially if you pray about it, too, you will do more good than you would in any other way...” (Ibid)

The seeds of God's love that fall on good ground - in us, in others - will, in the long run, yield a fruitful harvest. In the short run, however, we must nurture them slowly, patiently and carefully (especially in the face of failure and frustration) in ways that give glory to God in heaven...and produce a harvest of justice and peace here on earth.

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(July 13, 2026: Monday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Put away misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim…”

Cease doing evil; learn to do good. This is a no-brainer, right? Well, maybe yes, maybe no. While we may know the difference between good and evil, actually doing what is good – and actually avoiding what is evil – is another thing all together.

In a sermon on “The Seven Gifts”, Francis de Sales observed:

“The Holy Spirit’s gift of knowledge is essential if we are to know…how to be capable of discerning the evil to be avoided and the good to be sought. Whence comes this gift of knowledge to distinguish between good and evil, virtue and vice if not from the Holy Spirit?” But merely distinguishing between good and evil is not enough. Francis opined: “Nothing is more common than to find theologians who are more effective at describing virtues than at practicing them.” (Pulpit and Pew, pp. 150 – 151)

We need help to put our knowledge into action. Fortunately for us, the same Holy Spirit that gives us knowledge gives us yet another gift to help us to put our knowledge into practice. Of this gift – fortitude – Francis observed:

“This is absolutely essential to us; the ability to tell good from evil is of little use if we lack strength to avoid the one and to engage in the other. Nothing is more common than finding people who know what is right but who lack the courage to do it.” (Ibid, p. 152)

Fortitude gives us the courage – the heart – that we need to cease doing evil and to do what is good. Two down and one to go. Francis continues:

“The next gift is the gift of counsel; absent this gift and fortitude would be mere rashness. The strength of an army needs the counsel of a commander. Fear causes us to break away from sinful habits; knowledge helps us to see what is wrong; fortitude gives us the courage to act on our knowledge. But we need the help of counsel if we are to know how to tackle what knowledge has taught us. What this gift enables us to discern is how to carry out what the Holy Spirit teaches us.” (Ibid, pp. 153-154)

There’s more to putting “away misdeeds from before” God’s eyes than meets the eye. We need the knowledge to distinguish good from evil; we need the courage to do good and to avoid evil; we need the counsel to decide how best to accomplish this spiritual goal. Thank God for the abundance of these gifts! Today, ask God for the grace to use these gifts well!

With the aim of doing justice!

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(July 14, 2026: Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin)

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“Take care to remain tranquil and do not fear. Let not your courage fail…”

In a sermon given to the Visitation Sisters in Annecy in April 1620, Francis de Sales preached:

“The apostles and disciples were afraid. They were children without a father, soldiers without a leader. While they were in hiding our Lord appeared to them; He brought them comfort and encouragement. ‘Peace be upon you,’ was his greeting. ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ He seemed to ask, ‘Why are you so fearful and upset? Look at my hands; look at my wounds…’ It is of peace that I wish to speak to you – the peace of the Gospel. Where Gospel precepts are ignored there is nothing but trouble; nothing but strife.” (Pulpit and Pew, p. 198)

Francis de Sales warns us, however, not to confuse peace with tranquility. The peace that Jesus offers makes no provision for a carefree or trouble-free life. He observed:

“People delude themselves into thinking that pain and misfortune have no place where our Lord is; they believe that God’s presence produces only constant happiness. However, the opposite is true: God is never so close to us as when we are in trouble or difficulty, for it is precisely in these moments that our need for God’s protection and help is greatest.” (Ibid, p. 199)

This sequence of events should come as no surprise to us. After all, the same Jesus who promised us peace is the same Jesus who told us: “In this world you will have trouble but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16: 33)

Are you dealing with difficult issues? Are you having trouble with life’s challenges? Are you losing your nerve? Don’t make it worse by losing your courage. Remain tranquil; do not fear. Take care in the midst of all your cares.

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(July 15, 2026: Bonaventure, Bishop & Doctor of the Church)

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“Judgment will be with justice, and the upright of heart shall follow it...”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines judgment as “the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing an idea that is believed to be true or valid without positive knowledge.” Synonyms include: belief, conclusion, conviction, determination,  diagnosis, eye, mind, notion, opinion, resolution, sentiment, verdict and view.

OK. Then it should be obvious that a world without judgment (and things akin to it) would be a pretty chaotic place. We need to be able to make determinations, draw conclusions, form opinions and develop views in order to make our way through life. The challenge (presented to us in today’s Responsorial Psalm) is to render judgments that are just; the temptation is to make judgments that are rash.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“How offensive to God are rash judgments! The judgments of the children of men are rash because they are not the judges of one another, and when they pass judgment on others they usurp the office of our Lord. Such judgments are rash because the principal malice of sin depends on the intention and counsel of the heart. They are rash because every man has enough on which he ought to judge himself without taking it upon himself to judge his neighbors…fear, ambition and similar mental weaknesses often contribute to the birth of suspicion and rash judgment.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 28, p. 196-197)

What is the cure for rash, unjust judgments?

“Drink as deeply as you can of the sacred wine of charity. It will set you free from the perverse moods that cause us to make such tortured judgments, for whoever wants to be cured must apply remedies not to one’s eyes or intellect but to one’s affections. If your reflections are kind, your judgments will be kind; if your affections are charitable, your judgments will be the same.” (Ibid, pp. 198-199)

What is Francis de Sales’ advice for those dedicated to judging justly?

“Those who look carefully into their consciences are not very likely to pass rash judgments. Just as bees in misty or cloudy weather stay in their lives to prepare honey, so also the thoughts of good men do not go out in search of things concealed among the cloudy actions of their neighbors. It is the part of an unprofitable soul to amuse itself with examining the lives of other people.”

Duly note, however, an important caveat that Francis wrote:

“I except those who are placed in charge of others, whether within a family or in the state. For them a great part of their duties consists in inspecting and watching over the conduct of others. In such cases as these, let those responsible for others discharge their duty and make judgments with love.” (Ibid, pp. 200-201)

If/when you need to make judgments, avoid the temptation to do so rashly. If/when you need to make judgments, do so justly.

And, with love!

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(July 16, 2026: Thursday, Fifteen Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart...”

In her book entitled Heart Speaks to Heart: The Salesian Tradition, Wendy M. Wright writes:

“The Jesus of gentleness and humility is not a sentimental figure. In the Salesian world of hearts these qualities belong to God’s own kingdom. If one looks carefully, one sees that the passage in Matthew 11 that issues its invitation is located in a scriptural discourse on the mystery of the kingdom of God. That mystery of the kingdom of God the Father, the passage continues, is revealed through the Son. ‘Come to Me,’ he declares, ‘and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble of heart.’ God’s-kingdom-realized is thus seen in this gentle, humble heart that confounds and overturns the values of the accepted order. It is not power over others, self-assertion or wealth that characterize God’s reign, but love of God and neighbor exercised through all the intimate, relational virtues like gentleness and humility…Discipleship is the lifelong opening of the heart to be transformed by and inhabited by Jesus’ own gentle heart…” (Pp. 33-34)

The meekness that Jesus embodies is not weakness; it is strength. The humility that Jesus embodies is not thinking less about oneself; it is thinking about oneself less. This meek Jesus is all about power; this humble Jesus is all about using His power to help others.

This passage in Scripture was Francis de Sales’ favorite. The “meek and humble” Jesus of Matthew’s Gospel transformed Francis’ life and the lives of so many others whose lives he touched. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this “meek and humble” Jesus transformed Francis into a saint.

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Jesus wants to do the same for - and with - us; Jesus wants to make us saints. Are we meek and humble enough to accept His invitation?

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 (July 17, 2026: Friday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“I have heard your prayer and seen your tears….”

In a sermon he preached in Lent 1622, Francis de Sales observed:

“The Canaanite woman did not become discouraged in her prayer. For although she saw that Our Lord was paying no attention to her prayers (since He gave her no word of response and seemed to do her an injustice) nevertheless this woman persevered in crying out after Him: so much so that the Apostles were constrained to tell Him that He should dismiss her because she did nothing but cry out after them. Because of this some are of the opinion that since Our Savior gave her no word of response, she addressed herself to the Apostles, asking them to intercede for her. This is why they said, ‘She keeps crying out after us.’ Others believe that she did not ask them, but that she continued to cry out to the Lord. Nevertheless, although Our Lord appeared to turn a deaf ear to all that, she did not fail to continue her prayer.” (Living Jesus, p. 303)

We shouldn’t assume that God doesn’t hear us if it sometimes seems that God is taking a long time in answering our prayers. As the Book of the Prophet Isaiah reminds us, God always hears our prayers; God does see our tears. In a letter to one of her daughters – one of her biological daughters – Jane de Chantal once wrote:

“We owe everything to the goodness of our Lord who has watched over us and who has heard our prayers…Be assured that God who has been mindful of you will not forget you if you abandon yourself to His tender care…” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, P. 211)

God does see us; God does hear us. What’s stopping us from giving voice to our prayers?

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(July 18, 2026: Saturday, Fifteen Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches…”

Oh, come on! Who actually plans iniquity? Who actually sits around and plans on doing evil? How about those who talk down other people or put down other people? In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“To scoff at others is one of the worst states in which a mind can find itself. God detests this vice and in past times inflicted strange punishments on it. Nothing is so opposed to charity – and much more to devotion – than to despise and condemn one’s neighbors. Derision and mockery are always accompanied by scoffing, and it is therefore a very great sin. Theologians consider it one of the worst offenses against one’s neighbor of which a person can be guilty. Other offenses may be committed with some esteem for the person offended, but this treats a person with scorn and contempt.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 27, pp. 195-196)

We plan or do not plan to talk negatively about other people, but as we all know from our own experience, it is all-to-easy to fall into it. Be it planned or spontaneous, God is very clear: woe to those who engage in evil things, evil things like bad-mouthing others.

What strategies might we employ to avoid those woes today?

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July 5 through July 11, 2026

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(July 5, 2026: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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“Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yolk upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Being humble and gentle is about trying to embody the words of Jesus found in St. Matthew's Gospel: “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.”

Humility might be described as “living in the truth”. The truth is that we are created in God's image and likeness. The truth is that we are good. The truth is that we do not always live up to that goodness. The truth is that we need God’s forgiveness and grace to make that goodness real. The truth is that we need the support and encouragement of one another.

Gentleness might be described as the practice of proportionality. It is about keeping things in perspective. It is about knowing when to stand firm. It is about knowing when to give ground. Most of all, whether in good times, tough times or in all the times in between, gentleness is about relating to ourselves and others with profound respect and reverence and with a graciousness rooted in the recognition that each of us - all of us - are sons and daughters of the living God.

The daily practice of these two virtues fashions a particular kind of heart in those who follow Jesus: a heart that longs and strives for justice. “Be just and equitable in all your actions,” wrote St. Francis de Sales in Part Three, Chapter 36 of The Introduction to the Devout Life. “Always put yourself in your neighbor's place and put your neighbor in yours, and then you will judge rightly.” He continued: “Imagine yourself the seller when you are buying; imagine yourself the buyer when you are selling. In this way you will sell and buy according to justice.”

This is not always easy to do. We are frequently tempted to relate to others in ways that are not just, that are not reasonable. We are tempted to promote only our own concerns, to first ask “What's in it for me?” or to always be concerned about taking care of “#1”.

At times like these, “we have two hearts,” says St. Francis de Sales. “One heart is mild, favorable and courteous toward ourselves; the other is hard, severe and rigorous toward our neighbor.” At times like these we have “two balances: the one to weigh out conveniences to our own greatest advantages, and the other to weigh those of our neighbor to their greatest possible disadvantage.”

St. Francis de Sales challenges us:

“Do not neglect to frequently examine whether your heart be such with respect to your neighbor as you would desire your neighbor's to be with respect to you, were you in the other's situation.”

Such an ordinary thing. Such an everyday thing. In the Salesian tradition, such a powerful, life-giving thing. In the end, St. Francis de Sales claims, we “lose nothing by living generously, nobly, courteously, and with a royal, just and reasonable heart.”

Not only do we lose nothing; Jesus promises us that by living humbly and gently we will find everything for which we all long…rest for our souls: not later in heaven, but even right here, right now, on earth.

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(July 6, 2026: Monday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Courage! Your faith has saved you…”

How many times does Jesus make this statement (or ones similar to it) in the context of performing a miracle? Some might interpret his words as gratuitous; they might view these words as Jesus’ attempt to make the beneficiaries patronize them into thinking that they contributed – somehow, even in some small way - to the releasing of His life-changing power.

Those who would interpret Jesus’ words as patronizing would be wrong – dead wrong.

When Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you”, He is simply speaking the truth. The two miracles in today’s Gospel illustrate this point. In both cases (an official with a dead daughter and a woman with a chronic illness) the story that ends with the woman being cured from her hemorrhage and the daughter being raised from the dead were set into motion because someone had the courage to approach Jesus with a request and/or an intuition: “Come, lay your hand on her, and she will live” and “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured”.

What if the official had been too proud to ask Jesus for help? What if the woman had been too ashamed to reach out to Jesus? Fortunately for them, each of them was (1) humble enough to acknowledge their need, and (2) courageous enough to ask for help.

How about us? Are there any needs that we (or those we love) have that we believe only Jesus has the power to address? Are we humble enough to name those needs for ourselves? Are we courageous enough to bring those needs to Jesus?

Do you believe your faith in Jesus can save you?

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(July 7, 2026: Tuesday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved…”

In commenting upon the Beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn…” William Barclay wrote: “It is first of all to be noted about this beatitude that the Greek word for to mourn – used here – is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is the mourning that is used for mourning for the dead, for the passionate lament for one who was loved…it is defined as the kind of grief that takes such a hold on a man that it cannot be hidden. It is not only the sorrow which brings an ache to the heart; it is the sorrow which brings the unrestrained tear to the eyes…” (The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 93)

And in the case of Jesus, it is the sorrow that also releases miraculous power.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales cites one of two virtues associated with mourning or sadness: “Compassion”. (IDL, Part IV, Chapter 12, p. 253) At the sight of the man with a dead daughter and the woman with a chronic illness in yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus’ heart was deeply moved: the woman was cured, and the girl was raised. In today’s Gospel Jesus’ heart was deeply moved as He taught in synagogues, proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom, and cured every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved. Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer size and scale of the neediness that He himself was encountering in others, Jesus asked His disciples to pray that God send more laborers for His harvest. In tomorrow’s Gospel, Jesus’ heart will move Him to go a step further with this request: He himself will commission his disciples to be those very laborers.

Whenever Jesus’ heart was moved by the sight of others’ needs, power was released in Him: the people were taught, the sick were healed, the possessed were freed, the lost were found, the dead were raised. These actions are the heart of compassion. It’s not enough to feel sorry for someone else’s plight. Compassion requires that we do something to address another’s plight. Compassion is more than just feeling; compassion is more about doing.

At the sight of other people’s needs, are our hearts moved? And if once our hearts are moved, do we act as Jesus did - with compassion?

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(July 8, 2026: Wednesday, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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“Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety.”

Wikipedia defines piety as “a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions is humility.” Merriam-Webster defines piety as (1) “the quality of being religious or reverent,” and (2) “the quality of being dutiful.” Synonyms include: “devoutness, godliness, religiousness and devotion.”

In a letter to Madame de Limojon, Francis de Sales wrote:

“I have said this to you in person, madam, and now I write it: I don’t want a devotion that is bizarre, confused, neurotic, strained, and sad, but rather, a gentle, attractive, peaceful piety; in a word, a piety that is quite spontaneous and wins the love of God, first of all, and after that, the love of others.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, p. 156)

As Francis de Sales understood it, piety is less a function of how many prayers we say, how many spiritual exercises we perform or how many hours we spend on our knees (although these things do have their place!). No piety is more about being devout, about being “dutiful,” that is, about honoring what is due to God and honoring what is due to our neighbor.

In other words, piety is about justice; piety is about doing what is right.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, (Book XI, Chapter 3, p. 202) Francis observed:

“Of all virtuous actions we ought most carefully practice those of religion and reverence for divine things. Such are the acts of faith, hope and holy fear of God. We must often speak of heavenly things, think of eternity and sigh for it, frequent churches and sacred services, read devout books and observe the ceremonies of the Christian religion…” Provided, of course, that all these nourish “sacred love.”

Today, do you want to reap “the fruit of piety”? Then sow justice for God; sow justice for others.

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(July 9, 2026: Thursday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

In a conference to the Visitation Sisters on “Generosity,” Francis de Sales remarked:

“The humility that does not produce generosity is undoubtedly false, for after it has said, ‘I can do nothing, I am absolute nothingness,’ it suddenly gives rise to generosity of spirit that says, ‘There is nothing – and there can be nothing – that I am unable to do, so long as I put all my confidence in God who can do all things.’” (Living Jesus, p. 152)

Consider all the things that Jesus did for those whose lives He touched – curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and driving out demons, all without expecting anything in return. So it’s easy to understand how His apostles might have been tempted to simply stand in awe of His power. That said, Jesus didn’t want them just to stand in awe, but Jesus also wanted them to imitate his example by doing the same works as He did – curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and driving our demons, all without expecting anything in return.

And to experience the awe of His power by sharing it with others.

It’s tempting to simply stand in awe of God’s love for us. It’s humbling when we stop to consider how generous God has been to us purely out of the goodness of His heart without any cost on our part. What return can we possibly make? By being generous to others without cost to them.

Out of the goodness of our hearts!

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 (July 10, 2026: Friday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Straight are the paths of the Lord: in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.”

When we hear these words from the Book of the Prophet Hosea, it’s easy to ask the question: who are the just who walk in the paths of the Lord; who are the sinners who stumble in them? As it turns out, both are one in the same.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Ostriches never fly; hens fly in a clumsy fashion, near the ground, and only once in a while, but eagles, doves and swallows fly aloft, swiftly and frequently. In like manner, sinners in no way fly up towards God, but make their whole course upon the earth and for the earth. Good people who have not as yet attained to devotion fly toward God by their good works but do so infrequently, slowly and awkwardly. Devout souls ascend to him more frequently, promptly and with lofty flights.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

Not to put too fine a point on it, but when it comes to walking the paths of the Lord, we are all the just and the sinners alike. There is something of the ostrich, something of the hen and something of the eagle in all of us. We crawl in God’s paths; we stumble in God’s path; we fall in God’s paths; we walk and sometimes we run in God’s paths, on occasion, we even manage to fly in God’s paths.

Bottom line? Regardless of how we manage to make our way in life, the thing to keep straight is that’s it’s God’s path that we are called to walk. Regardless of how weakly, awkwardly or well we walk it!

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(July 11, 2026: Saturday, Benedict, Abbot)

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“Here I am - send me!”

Have you ever been at a meeting during which some really pressing issue was raised and/or examined, after which one or more people exclaimed, “We need to do something about this!’ or “Somebody has to address this!” only to discover in the days and weeks afterward that when they said “we” or “somebody”, they didn’t mean “me”?

Have you ever been y of doing the same thing? Have you ever expected – perhaps even demanded - that something be done, but that “something” should have nothing to do with you?

Not so in the case of the prophet Isaiah. Deeply aware of his own sinfulness, imperfection and unworthiness, when God asked the question, “Whom shall I send?” and “Who will go for us?” Isaiah didn’t offer a list with other people’s names – Isaiah didn’t say, “I’ll wait until someone else goes first.” – he didn’t point a forefinger into his own chest and ask, “You’re not looking at me, are you”? He immediately said, “Send me.”

Come to think of it, that sounds an awful lot like the person of Jesus himself. When the Father looked for the best way of saving us from our sins, Jesus, said, “Send me!”.

Remember Francis de Sales’ description of a devout person? “He not only walks but runs and leaps forward ‘in the way of God’s commandments.’” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 2, p. 41)

Should it become obvious that there is something “in the way of God’s commands” that need to be accomplished today, don’t look around for somebody else – don’t wait for someone else to make the first move – don’t hope that somebody else will raise their hand. Stand up, step forward and say, “Send me!”.

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June 28 through July 4, 2026

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(June 28, 2026: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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“Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink — he will surely not lose his reward."

In his commentary on this passage from today’s Gospel, William Barclay observed:

“We cannot all be prophets and preach and proclaim the word of God, but he who gives God’s messenger the simple gift of hospitality will receive no less a reward than the prophet himself. There is many a man who has been a great public figure; there is many a man whose voice has kindled the hearts of thousands of people; there is many a man who carried an almost intolerable burden of public service and public responsibility, all of whom would gladly have borne witness that they could never have survived the effort and the demands of their task were it not for the love and care and the sympathy and the service of someone at home, who was never in the public eye at all. When true greatness is measured up in the sight of God, it will be seen again and again that the man who greatly moved the world was entirely dependent on someone who – as far as the world was concerned – remained unknown.”

“We cannot all be shining examples of goodness. We cannot all stand out in the world’s eye as righteous. But he who helps a good man to be good receives a good man’s reward.”

“The great beauty of this passage is its stress on simple things. The Church and Christ will always need their great orators, their great shining examples of sainthood, their great teachers, those whose names are household words. But the Church and Christ will also always need those in whose homes there is hospitality, on whose hands there is all the service which makes a home and in whose hearts there is the caring that is Christian love and, as Mrs. Browning said, ‘All service ranks the same with God.’”

Barclay’s reflection is reminiscent of three observations made by St. Francis de Sales on this very consideration of the importance of little things:

“Little daily acts of charity, this headache, toothache or cold, this bad humor in a husband of wife…in short, all such little things when accepted and embraced with love are highly pleasing to God’s mercy. For a single cup of water, God has promised to his faithful people a sea of endless bliss.”

“Put your hands to strong things by training yourself in prayer and meditation, receiving the sacraments, bringing souls to love God, infusing good inspirations into their hearts, and in fine, by performing big, important works according to your vocation. But never forget your distaff or spindle – in other words, practice those little, humble virtues that grow like flowers at the foot of the cross: helping the poor, visiting the sick and taking care of your family, with all the tasks that go worth such things and with all that useful diligence which will not you stand idle.”

“Nothing is small in the service of God.”

Today, in big ways – in little ways – how might God be calling you to live a rewarding life?

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(June 29, 2026: Saints Peter and Paul)

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Today we celebrate the lives and legacies of two great pillars of the early Church – Peter and Paul. Of course, a closer look as these two pillars reveals that they weren’t always very strong or sturdy!

Of St. Peter, Francis de Sales wrote:

“St. Peter was chosen to be the chief of the Apostles, although he was subject to so many imperfections that he even committed some after he had received the Holy Spirit, because, notwithstanding these defects, he was always full of courage, never allowing himself to be dismayed by his shortcomings.” (Conferences, Number IV, Page 63)

Francis expounds upon this duality of Peter’s nature in his Treatise on the Love of God:

“Who would not marvel at the heart of St. Peter, so bold among armed soldiers that out of all of his master’s company he alone takes his sword in hand and strikes out with it? Yet a little afterwards among ordinary people he is so cowardly that at the mere word of a servant girl he denies and detests his master.” (Book X, Chapter 9, p, 167)

Seems that this “rock” upon whom Christ built his Church had more than his share of cracks!

Let’s turn our attention now to St. Paul. Francis wrote:

“He fights for all people, he pours forth prayers for all people, he is passionately jealous in behalf of all people, and he is on fire for all people. Yes, he even dared more than this for ‘those according to the flesh,’ so that, if I dare to say so, he desires by charity that they may be put in his place with Jesus Christ. O perfection of courage and unbelievable spirit!” (Treatise, Book X, Chapter 16, pp. 188 – 189)

Of course, as in the case of Peter, Paul, too, has his shortcomings. In a letter of encouragement to a sister of the Visitation, Francis wrote:

“Do not be ashamed…any more than St. Paul who confessed that there were two men in him, one rebellious to God and the other obedient to God.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, page 224.)

Individually and collectively, the impact that Peter and Paul have made on the early Church cannot be overestimated. Without a doubt, they have left a lasting impression. That said, their lives also give poignant and powerful testimony to how God chooses the weak and makes them strong in bearing witness to him in the lives of other people.

God chose Peter and Paul in their time to be heralds of the Good News. God chooses us too, in our time, to do the same. As in the cases of Peter and Paul, the Lord chooses us as we are – imperfections, cracks, warts and all – and makes us something strong, beautiful, powerful and passionate for God…and for one another.

Who says that you have to be a perfect person to reflect the image and likeness of God? Who says that you have to be a perfect person to preach – in both word and deed – the Good News of Jesus Christ?

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(June 30, 2026: Tuesday, Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time)

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"Why are you terrified?”

Given the fact that the disciples got caught out on open water in a violent storm would be plenty of reason to be terrified, regardless of whether Jesus was with them or not. In the event, the disciples’ terror quickly subsided, when they witnessed the calming power of Jesus.

In a letter to Madame Gasparde de Ballon, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Regarding your fears, they are the work of the enemy who sees that you are quite determined to live in Our Lord without any reserves and exceptions. The evil one will make every sort of effort to upset you and make the way of holy devotion seem hard for you. What you must do to counteract this is to open your heart and often repeat your protestation never to give in, always to keep faith, to love the challenges of God’s service more than the sweetness of the world’s service and to say that you will never leave God’s side. Be very careful not to give up on prayer, for that would be playing into the hand of your adversary. Instead, continue to go steadfastly with this holy exercise and wait for Our Lord to speak to you, for one day he will say words of peace and consolation to you. Then you will know that your trouble will have been well spent and your patience and trust useful…Say often: ‘May Jesus reign!’” (Selected Letters, Stopp, pp. 225 - 226)

We all have things in life that should concern, scare - and even - terrify us. Jesus isn’t asking us never to be fearful or even terrified; rather, Jesus asks us to trust him precisely in those times of timidity and terror.

No matter how daunting the storms of life may be, don’t allow them to shake your faith in God’s love for you and fidelity to you. Regardless of how your boat may get rocked during the course of your life, Jesus will never – never – abandon you. He will either calm the storms for you or ride them out with you.

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(July 1, 2026: Wednesday, Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time)

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“Seek good and not evil, that you may live…”

Do what is right; avoid what is wrong. As far as living a God-like life goes, that’s not a bad place to start.

But from a Salesian perspective, doing only that not good enough. Insofar as we are followers of Jesus, our baseline of goodness needs to be higher.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to his Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do the good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do good but also to do what is good carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 35, p. 215)

Note the title of Francis de Sales’ book. It wasn’t called Introduction to a Good-Enough’ Life. It wasn’t published as Introduction to the Good Life. It was – and continues to be – Introduction to the Devout Life! And what is a devout life? It isn’t just turning away from sin – it isn’t even simply doing what is good. It is doing good – and living well – carefully, frequently and promptly.

Jesus isn’t simply remembered for the good that he did. He is also remembered for the ways in which he did what was good.

How will we be remembered by others for having encountered us today?

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(July 2, 2026: Thursday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Why do you harbor such evil thoughts in your hearts?

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales claimed that impugning the motives of others is a primary source of much of the sin and iniquity with which our world is plagued.

We witness slander when someone falsely imputes crimes and sins toward another person. We see slander when someone reveals another’s secret faults or exaggerates faults that are already obvious to everyone. We hear slander when someone ascribes evil motives to the good deeds that another does or attempts to minimize - or deny them - all together.

In today’s Gospel we see such slander in action. Perhaps slander in thought only, but slander nonetheless.

After forgiving the sins of a paralyzed man, Jesus is palpably aware of what was going through the minds of the scribes – they secretly assumed that such action made Jesus guilty of blasphemy, that is, of usurping the power and authority of God. They were determined to turn any good that Jesus did into something bad. Jesus response is swift and twofold – he calls them out for their secret, distorted thinking and then powerfully proves by what power and authority he forgives sins by healing the same man of his physical paralysis.

Would that Jesus have healed the attitudinal paralysis of the scribes so easily, a paralysis stemming from the slanderous manner with which they viewed Jesus, because when they weren’t falsely accusing him of assorted crimes and sins, they attempted to minimize – or discredit entirely – the good that he accomplished and the healings that he performed.

What is the moral in this Gospel? There are far worse ways of being incurably paralyzed other than being unable to physically walk.

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(July 3, 2026: Thomas, Apostle)

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"Unless I see the mark of the nails…I will not believe.”

In the same chapter (“On Slander”) to which we referred during yesterday’s homiletic reflection, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Do not say that so-and-so is a drunkard even though you have seen him intoxicated, or that so-and-so is an adulterer even if you saw him in his sin, or that so-and-so is incestuous because he has been guilty of a certain depraved deed. A single act is not enough to justify the name of vice...To deserve the name of a vice or a virtue, there must be some advance in an act, and it must be habitual. Hence it is untrue to say that so-and-so is bad-tempered or a thief simply because we once saw him in a fit of anger or guilty of theft…We must not draw conclusions from yesterday to today, nor from today to yesterday, and still less to tomorrow.” (Ibid, pp. 203-204)

So why is it, then, that we continue to refer to the Apostle whose life and legacy we celebrate today as “Doubting Thomas”. It has been nearly two thousand years since he declared to his peers what it would take for him to believe that Jesus was risen. Why should we vilify Thomas for being honest? Why should we criticize Thomas for speaking from his heart?

Jesus certainly didn’t!

Jesus didn’t scold Thomas for his declaration. Jesus didn’t refuse Thomas’ request. Quite the contrary! Jesus showed him his hands and his side, saying, in effect: “See my wounds? You bet! Touch my hands and side? Absolutely! If that’s what it’s going to take to convince you that I’m real, Thomas, then by all means do it!” It was then that Thomas believed that the person who was standing in front of him was the same Jesus with whom he walked for three years - the same Jesus, who spent his ministry meeting people where they were, now offered the same courtesy to him.

In the closing scene from the film Red Dragon, Dr. Hannibal Lector’s character opined: “Our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real.” Perhaps Thomas intuited that only the scars left by Jesus’ humiliation, passion and death could convince him that Jesus had conquered death! Perhaps this is what prompted Thomas’ request. Perhaps that’s why Thomas had the courage to speak his truth despite the giddy euphoria of the other Apostles who had previously seen Jesus. Can you really blame Thomas for not taking their word?

Come to think of it, it is remarkable that the experience of resurrection did not remove the wounds of Jesus: the lasting marks of pain, disappointment, misunderstanding, rejection, humiliation, abandonment, suffering and death. Notwithstanding these wounds, however, Christ's resurrection powerfully demonstrated that pain, sadness, suffering and injustice -- as real as they were -- did not, ultimately, wield the last word. While suffering was clearly a part of Jesus’ life, there was so much more to his life than only suffering.

From this day forward, perhaps it’s time for us to retire the moniker “Doubting Thomas” and replace it with “Honest Thomas”!

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 (July 4, 2026: Independence Day in USA)

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“They pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary…to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The Declaration of Independence has more than a little bit in common with the Good News of Jesus Christ. After all, Jesus proclaimed the equality that comes from knowing that God loves everything (and everyone) that he has created. Secondly, Jesus preached that the essence of liberty is to be faithful to the will of God, that is, to be the kind of people that God created us to be. Finally, Jesus pointed out that the source of real happiness is found in placing ourselves at the service of others, a way of life best described in the Beatitudes of Matthew’s Gospel.

Our founders shared something else with Jesus. Both their messages indicated that the old order was passing away and that the path to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness could only be experienced in a new way on a new road. One might describe their common vision as “revolutionary”.

Do you want to experience the Life, Liberty and Happiness that Jesus promises? Then, don’t just follow him; follow – and live – his example.

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June 21 through June 27, 2026

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(June 21, 2026: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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“Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul.”

“Fear, dread, fright, alarm, panic, terror, trepidation mean painful agitation in the presence of or anticipation of danger. Fear is the most general term and implies anxiety and usually the loss of courage; dread usually adds the idea of intense reluctance to face or meet a person or situation and suggests aversion as well as anxiety; fright implies the shock of sudden, startling fear; alarm suggests a sudden and intense awareness of immediate danger; panic implies unreasoning and overwhelming fear causing hysterical activity; terror implies the most extreme degree of fear; trepidation adds to dread the implications of timidity, trembling and hesitation.” (Webster's Dictionary)

As with so many other emotions, fear - as well as its related feelings - is a part of life. Who of us has never been afraid, alarmed or anxious? Who of us exercises ultimate control over the things, people or situations that may cause us to fear?

While we may be unable to avoid fear, we do have a choice as to how to deal with it. Francis de Sales observed:

“St. Peter, seeing that the storm was raging, was afraid; and as soon as he was afraid, he began to sink and to drown, so he called out: ‘Lord, save me.’ And Our Lord caught hold of his hand and said to him: ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ Look at this holy apostle; he walks dry footed on the water, the waves and the winds could not make him sink; but fear of the wind and the waves will make him perish unless his Maker saves him. Fear is a greater evil than evil itself. Oh you of little faith, what do you fear? No, do not be afraid; you are walking on the sea, surrounded by wind and water, but you are with Jesus: so what is there to fear? But if terror seizes you, cry out loudly: O Lord, save me. He will stretch forth his hand towards you; clasp it tightly and go joyfully on your way.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, page 125)

The secret to dealing with fear is to be patient, to be self-possessed, that is, to be centered and grounded. Francis de Sales wrote: "By your patience you will win your souls. It is our great happiness to possess our own souls, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls." (Introduction, Part III, Chapter 3) Regardless of the intensity of the fear that we may experience, we cannot be ultimately overwhelmed or defeated so long as we do not lose possession of our souls.

“In short, don't philosophize about your trouble; don't argue with it, just go straight on, quite simply. God would not allow you to be lost while you live according to your resolutions so as not to lose him. If the whole world turns topsy-turvy, if all around is darkness and smoke and din, God is still with us.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, page 125)

Fear is a part of life. It is a powerful and troubling part of life that can have a profound effect upon us. However, no matter how formidable or frequent, fear cannot prevail…unless, of course, we allow it to rob us of our courage…to rob us of our hearts.

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(June 22, 2026: Monday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“The measure with which you measure will be measured back to you…”

In his commentary on today’s selection from the Gospel of Matthew, William Barclay wrote:

“Many a time the Rabbis warned people against judging others. ‘He who judges his neighbor favorably,’ they argued, ‘will be judged favorably by God. They decreed that there were six great works which brought a person credit in this world and profit in the world to come – namely, study, visiting the sick, hospitality, devotion in prayer, educating children in the Law and thinking the best of other people. The Jews believed that kindliness in judgment was nothing other than a sacred duty.” (Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 119-120)

“There is hardly anyone who has not been guilty of gross misjudgment; there is hardly anyone who has not been the victim of someone else’s misjudgment. And yet, the fact is that there is hardly any commandment of Jesus which is more consistently broken and neglected than temptations to judge other people.” (Ibid)

There are three great reasons why we should not judge other people:

1.     We never know all of the facts or everything about the person.

2.     We are rarely impartial in our judgment.

3.     None of us is so perfect as to presume to judge any other person.

          (The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 119-120)

If these reasons aren’t enough to curb our tendency to judge other people, then heed Jesus’ warning: “The measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.”

In that case, if we can’t refrain from judging others, it might be in our best interest to judge people in the most positive light, that is, to presume the best in others.

With the hope that God – in his mercy – will look for the best in us.

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(June 23, 2026: Tuesday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time)

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"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you…”

The “Golden Rule” has been around for a very long time. It predates Jesus, but it’s still important enough for Jesus to refer to it in the context of his “Sermon on the Mount”. It also predates St. Francis de Sales, but it is still important enough for him to refer to it in the context of his Introduction to the Devout Life. He wrote:

“Be just and equitable in all your actions. Always put yourself in your neighbor’s place and him in yours, and then you will judge rightly. Imagine yourself the seller when you buy and the buyer when you sell and you will sell and buy justly. Resolve to examine your heart often to see if it is such toward your neighbor as you would like his to be toward you were you in his place. This is the touchstone of true reason.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 36, p. 217)

The “Golden Rule” seems so simple, doesn’t it? It’s tempting to say, “You mean to tell me that living the Gospel boils down to doing something so simple? Heck, anybody can do that!” Maybe so, but we know that not everybody actually does it when push comes to shove.

Do you?

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(June 24, 2026: Nativity of St. John the Baptist)

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“The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.”

Francis de Sales wrote:

“I have often wondered who is the most mortified of the saints that I know, and after some reflection I have come to the conclusion that it was St. John the Baptist.  He went into the desert when he was five years old, and knew that our Savior came to earth in a place quite close by, perhaps only one or two days’ journey.  How his heart, touched with love of his Savior from the time he was in his mother’s womb, must have longed to enjoy Christ’s presence.  Yet, he spends twenty-five years in the desert without coming to see our Lord even once; and leaving the desert he catechized without visiting him but waiting until our Lord comes to seek him out. Then, after he has baptized Jesus, he does not follow him but stays behind to do his appointed task.  How truly mortified was John’s spirit!  To be so near his Savior and not see him, to have Him so close and not enjoy His presence! Is this not a completely detached spirit, detached even from God himself so as to do God’s will, and to serve God, as it were to leave God for God, and not to cling to God in order to love him better?  The example of this great saint overwhelms me with its grandeur.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, Page 74)

“How truly mortified was John the Baptist’s spirit.”  What does Francis de Sales mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines mortify as “to discipline by self-denial or self-inflicted privation.”  John did, indeed, discipline himself: he denied himself many things in order to be faithful to his understanding of whom God wanted him to be: a light to the nations, a light to highlight the coming of Jesus.

Think about it! John spends twenty-five years in the desert preparing to announce Christ’s coming.  Despite growing up in the same general area, John meets Christ only once – when he baptized him at the Jordan River – only to remain behind as Jesus recruited others to be his apostles and disciples!  John never sees his cousin again before dying in prison at the hands of one of King Herod’s executioners.

John was faithful to the role God wanted him to play in the plan of salvation and he played that role supremely well. Listen to what Jesus himself said: “I tell you the truth: among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11: 11) “Yet,” Jesus continues, “anyone who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John shows us that being faithful to God’s will often requires that we deprive ourselves of the desire to “have it all” and to dedicate ourselves to discerning – and embracing – our unique roles in God’s plan of salvation.

Today, what unique role might God ask you to play in his ongoing plan of salvation just this day?

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(June 25, 2026: Thursday Twelfth Week of Ordinary Tim)

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“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“As the little children of our heavenly Father, we can walk with God in two ways. In the first way, we can walk with the steps of our own will, which we conform to his, holding always with the hand of our obedience the hand of his divine intention and following wherever it leads us. This is what God requires of us by his will as signified to us. Since he wills that I do what he ordains, he wills me to have the will to do it. In the second way, we can walk with our Lord without having any will of our own – we simply allow ourselves to be carried by his divine good pleasure, just as a little child is carried in its mother’s arms. Either way, we strive to do all that God wills to be done in us, on us or by us.” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 1, p. 82)

Whether it be through walking with God – or being carried by God - let us make every effort this day not to simply pay homage to our Father in words, but also to conform to our Father’s will in deeds and so imitate the obedience of his Son and our brother, Jesus Christ!

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(June 26, 2026: Friday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales observed:

“The truth is that our Savior’s redemption touches our sins and makes them more beneficial and worthy of love than original innocence could ever have been. After all, Our Savior himself tells us that there ‘is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just people who have no need of repentance.’”

“So, too, the state of redemption is a hundred times better than that of innocence. Truly, by the watering of our Savior’s blood - made with the hyssop of the cross - we have been restored to a white incomparably better and brighter than that found in the snows of innocence. Like Naaman, we emerge from the stream of salvation more pure and clean than if we had never had leprosy in the first place.”

Can God make us clean? Absolutely! Can God heal us and make us whole? Absolutely! Can God restore us to life and to love? Absolutely!

All this and so much more.

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(June 27, 2026: Saturday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“I will come and cure him.”

In a sermon about St. Joseph and the Holy Family, Francis de Sales observed:

“Let it, then, be enough to know that God wishes us to obey, without occupying ourselves with considering the capability of those whom we are called upon to obey. In this way we shall bring down our minds to walk simply in the happy path of a holy and tranquil humility which will render us infinitely pleasing to God.”

This is a great insight that Francis de Sales offers regarding the virtue – and practice – of obedience. The essence of obedience (from the Latin meaning to listen) is not simply doing what we’re told; obedience is recognizing that each person in our lives has a unique role in helping us to become the person that God wants us to be. Obedience is about listening to how God may be speaking to us today through the people with whom we live, love and labor every day,

In truth, we see the obedience of two people in today’s Gospel – Jesus and the centurion. Jesus’ obedience is demonstrated in his listening to the needs of another (in this case, the centurion describing the plight of his servant) and choosing to respond as his Father wills Him – to follow the centurion home and effect a healing. For his part, the centurion demonstrates his obedience by listening to Jesus, believing that Jesus will be true to His word, the soldier returns home, confident that Jesus will affect the healing…or perhaps, already has.

Jesus is amazed at the quality of the obedience of the centurion. He knows more than a little about the virtue of obedience, because he was soon to be obedient even unto death - death on a cross.

On a scale of 1-to-10, what is the quality of our obedience? How willing are we to listen for and to the voice of God in our lives and follow it?

Today!

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June 14 through June 20, 2026

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(June 14, 2026: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…”

Today’s Scripture readings emphasize that God is the one who has taken the initiative in our salvation. God has borne us up on eagle wings and made us his special possession - we are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy people.

St. Paul is caught up in the wonder of God’s love for us: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us ...When we were God’s enemies, God reconciled to himself by the death of his Son.”

God is love, and the nature of love is to go outside itself toward others. God not only took the initiative in loving us. In the sacrificial death of Jesus, God proves in an incontestable way that we are loved far beyond any considerations of our worthiness. That is the mind-blowing mystery of our faith: we have been redeemed in total love by a God whose love is completely benevolent. God gains nothing by loving us. We gain everything by being loved by God.

Sometimes we can get too preoccupied with our duties as believers, our obligations as members of the people of God. We forget that God first moved toward us in love. We don’t have to seek God; God has found us.

Jesus has reconciled us to God by his death. Our heart-felt acceptance of our reconciliation can lead us to draw confidence from God’s boundless love and take greater hold of the life God offers us in Jesus. Our hope is sure. We have good reason to make God our boast every day of our life.

Our lives can become a joyful celebration of the grace that is ours. We are gifted by God’s love every day.

What return can we make to the Lord for his gift of love? Nothing better than freely and generously sharing that gift of God’s love with everyone we meet. May our thankfulness be evident each day as we choose to be an announcement of God’s gracious love in everything we say and do.

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(June 15, 2026: Monday, Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time)

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“He refused to let me have his vineyard…”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines presumptuous as: “Overstepping due bounds (as of  propriety or courtesy); taking liberties.”

The story from today’s selection from the First Book of Kings illustrates how one person’s desire can all-too-quickly become an obsession…with disastrous results. Ahab had his heart set on acquiring Naboth’s vineyard. When Ahab’s offer to purchase Naboth’s property was rebuffed, he couldn’t let it go. Undeterred, Ahab and his wife plotted to have Naboth first discredited and subsequently stoned to death. Once dead, Ahab could easily acquire Naboth’s property. Ahab felt entitled to take liberties with others; he believed that other people’s possessions were his for the taking, notwithstanding the fact that other people weren’t offering their possessions! Having little or no sense of boundaries, this presumptuous behavior – as we shall see tomorrow – ended badly for all concerned.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“I think you will agree that what I about to describe is both unjust and unreasonable…we want our neighbor to give up his property and take our money for it. Is it not more reasonable that we simply allow him to keep his property while he allows us to keep our money?” (Part III, Chapter 36, p. 216)

It’s very tempting to tell other people how they should live their lives. It’s all-too-easy to expect other people to make us the center of their universe. In a letter written to Madame Brulart, Francis de Sales counseled:

“Don’t sow your desires in someone else’s garden. Just cultivate your own as best you can.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, p. 112)

By all means follow your dreams and pursue your plans…just remember to extend the same courtesy to everyone else.

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(June 16, 2026: Tuesday, Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time)

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"I say to you, love your enemies…”

It’s safe to say that we all have enemies. We all have people in our lives that we do not like. We all have people in our lives whose company we avoid. We all have people in our lives that rub us the wrong way. We all have people in our lives that push our buttons. We all have people in our lives that drive us crazy.

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“Antipathies are certain inclinations which excite in us a certain repugnance toward those about whom we entertain these feelings…If I feel a repugnance to conversing with a person whom I know to be most excellent – and from whom I mighty learn much that would do me good – I must not succumb to the antipathy which prompts me to avoid his company. On the contrary, I must discipline myself to listen to the voice of reason telling me rather to seek his company or at least, if I am already in it, to remain there in quiet, peaceful mind…People who are of a harsh, severe disposition will dislike those who are gentle and mild. They will regard such gentleness as extreme weakness, though indeed it is a quality most universally beloved. What remedy is there for these antipathies, since no one, however perfect, can be exempt from them? The only remedy for this evil – as indeed for all other kinds of temptation – is simply to turn away from it and think no more about it…We should never try to justify our reasons for our antipathies, let alone wishing to nourish them. If you have simply a natural, instinctive dislike for anyone, I beseech you to pay no attention to it; turn away your thoughts from it and so trick your mind. When, however, you find these antipathies going too far you must fight against them and overcome them, for reason will never permit us to foster antipathies and evil inclinations for fear of offending God.” (Conference XVI, pp. 298 - 301)

Francis knows the human heart very well. He acknowledges that “this instinctive tendency to love some more than others is natural.” (Ibid) Likes and dislikes are part-and-parcel of life. That said, Jesus commands us to love our enemies. Jesus commands us to love those whom we dislike. Jesus commands us to love those who get on our nerves: Like it or not!

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(June 17, 2026: Wednesday, Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time)

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“Take care not to perform righteous deeds…to win the praise of others.”

In a letter to Madame de la Flechere, Francis de Sales observed:

“Humility is the virtue of virtues, but a humility that is generous and peaceable. Preserve a spirit of holy joy which – modestly spreading over your words and actions – gives consolation to the good people who see you that thus they may glorify God, which is your only aim.” (Living Jesus, p. 150)

Jesus calls us to “perform righteous deeds”. He calls us to live a life of virtue. That said, Jesus cautions us against doing good to win the applause, praise or adulation of others. It isn’t enough to do the right thing – we also need to do it for the right reason: to give God the applause, praise and adulation due to him!

Let us try our level best this day to do the right thing for others. Let us try our level best to do it for the right reason: to the praise and glory of God!

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(June 18, 2026: Thursday, Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time)

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“In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales took a page right out of Jesus’ play book, when we wrote:

“Your prayers must be said with strict attention of mind and with affections aroused by the meaning of the words. Do not hurry along and say many things but try to simply speak from your heart. A single Our Father said with feeling has greater value than many Our Fathers said quickly and hurriedly…If you cannot say your vocal prayers because of your many duties, or for some other reason, don’t be disturbed on that account. Be satisfied with saying…the Lord’s Prayer…” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 1, p. 82)

When it comes to the amount of words that we employ in prayer, it would seem that less truly is more, provided that the words that we speak are deliberate, intentional and come from the heart.

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(June 19, 2026: Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Store up treasures in heaven…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life (in a chapter entitled, “We must be Faithful to both Great and Little Tasks”), Francis de Sales wrote:

 “The Sacred Spouse implies that He is pleased to accept the great deeds of devout persons, that their least and lowest deeds are also acceptable to Him, and that to serve Him as He wishes we must have great care to serve Him well in both great, lofty matters and in small, unimportant things. With love we can capture His heart by the one just as well as by the other…For a single cup of water God has promised to his faithful a sea of endless bliss. Since such opportunities present themselves from moment to moment it will be a great means of storing up vast spiritual riches if only you use them well.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, pp. 213-214)

Do you want to store up treasures in heaven? Do good things for God – be they little or great – as often as you can on this earth.

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(June 20, 2026: Saturday, Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Do not worry about your life…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales observed:

“We must always render ourselves pliable and tractable to God’s good pleasure, as though we were wax. We must not deceive ourselves into willing and wishing for things but we must leave them to God for Him to will and do them as He pleases, ‘casting all our cares upon him, because He cares for us,’ as the holy Apostle says (1 Peter 5: 7). Note that he says all our cares, that is, not only our cares as to accepting events but also that of willing or not willing them. He will have care as to the outcome of our affairs and to will whatever is best for us…” (Living Jesus, p. 439)

Francis de Sales isn’t asking us to be Pollyanna’s. For that matter, neither is Jesus. There are lots of things in life about which we should be concerned, especially when it comes to those we love. The challenge is to not allow our concerns and our cares to consume us. The challenge is to not allow our responsibilities to morph into anxieties.

But if Jesus’ exhortation and Francis de Sales, advice aren’t enough to convince you, consider this: most medical research suggests that worrying about life not only won’t lengthen your life but it will also – likely – shorten it!

So, by all means, be busy about your life. Just be careful not to allow your legitimate cares and concerns to overwhelm you.

By any means!

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June 7 through June 13, 2026

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(June 7, 2026: Body and Blood of Christ)

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“Do this in memory of me.”

Eucharist - a word that literally means thanksgiving - is the central celebration of the Christian community. It speaks volumes of whom God is in our lives. It speaks volumes of whom we are called to be in the lives of one another.

Eucharist is the heart of our faith.

Eucharist celebrates the truth that God so loves us that God sent Jesus to be our redeemer. Eucharist celebrates the truth that God so loves us that God allowed Jesus’ body to be broken and Jesus’ blood to be poured out for us. Eucharist celebrates the truth that God loves us so much that the Spirit raised Jesus from the dead that we might share in the power and promise of eternal life.

The former Eucharistic Prayer III for Children said it this way: Jesus “brought us the good news of life to be lived with you forever in heaven. He showed us the way to that life here on earth; the way of love……He now brings us together to one table and asks us to do what he did.” The former Eucharistic Prayer II for Reconciliation told us that Jesus “has entrusted to us this pledge of his love”.

Eucharist celebrates the truth that we are called to do more than simply receive the body and blood of Christ. Eucharist celebrates the truth that we are – we must be – the body and blood of Christ for one another. Eucharist celebrates the truth that we are called to allow ourselves to be broken and poured out for others, to spend our lives in the pursuit of justice, peace, reconciliation, healing, freedom, life and love.

We are called to proclaim the death of the Lord in our willingness to be bread and wine for others. We are called to proclaim the death of the Lord - the power of the Lord - the promise of the Lord - in our willingness to lay down our lives, our talents and our efforts to continue the redeeming, saving work that Jesus began.

We demonstrate our Eucharistic dignity and Eucharistic destiny when we embrace Jesus’ command to “do this in memory” of him - not only by celebrating Eucharist on the first day of the week, but by being Eucharist for one another every day of the week by feeding, nourishing and forgiving one another.

Eucharist is not simply something that we receive. Eucharist is something that we must become. Eucharist is something to be shared with others. Eucharist, in short, is a way of life.

Especially today, let us be Eucharist for one another. Let us feed, nourish and forgive…in memory of him…in fellowship with one another.

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(June 8, 2026: Monday, Tenth Week of Ordinary Time)

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“Blessed are...”

In his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, William Barclay wrote the following before delving into an examination of each individual Beatitude:

“Beatitudes are not pious hopes of what might be. They are not glowing – but nebulous – prophecies of some future bliss. Beatitudes are congratulations on what already is. The blessedness which belongs to the Christian is not a blessedness that is postponed to some future world of glory – it is a blessedness which exists here and now. Beatitude is not something into which the Christian will enter – beatitude is something into which the Christian has already entered.”

“While it is true that Beatitudes will find their fullness and consummation in the presence of God, Beatitudes are a present reality to be enjoyed here and now. The Beatitudes in effect say, ‘O, the bliss of being a Christian! O, the joy of following Christ! O, the sheer happiness of knowing Jesus Christ as Master, Savior and Lord!’ The very form of the Beatitudes themselves is a statement of joyous thrill and radiant gladness of th4 Christian life. In the face of the Beatitudes a gloom-encompassed Christianity is unthinkable.” (The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 111)

The point that Barclay is making is that the Beatitudes are not an example of quid pro quo – that is, Jesus is not saying that if you do the good now you will get even better later. Living a life of Beatitude – as we see so clearly in the life of Jesus – is its own reward.

How can we be Beatitude – that is, how can we be a source of blessing – in the lives of others today and experience firsthand the happiness that comes with being faithful to who God calls us to be?

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(June 9, 2026: Tuesday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time)

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"You are the salt of the earth.”

Today’s Gospel makes it crystal clear the kind of people that Jesus expected his disciples to be. Jesus challenged them to be “salt of the earth”.

In the time of Christ, salt was highly prized. Salt was indispensable as a preservative for food, especially meats, foul and fish.  Obviously, salt was used as a seasoning.  Salt added zest and tang to food, making it more palatable and enjoyable.  Sometimes, new-born babies were rubbed with salt for what was believed to be medicinal purposes. Salt was even used to seal covenants of friendship (which were also called covenants of salt), inviolable and unbreakable covenants to be preserved for life.

Salt was as valuable as a person's life – in some cases, even more valuable than a person’s life. Soldiers were often paid for their work with bags of salt.  In fact, the Latin word for salt is the root for the English word salary.

Ironic, isn’t it, that something so small is so powerful. Salt makes a huge difference even in very small quantities. A mere pinch has an effect out of all proportion to its weight. Yet, salt is inconspicuous, ordinary and often mixed with a variety of other common things. Take it away and you can tell immediately that it is missing. (Just ask anyone who has been on a salt-free diet.)

Like Jesus’ first disciples, we, too, must be salt of the earth.  Jesus challenges us to preserve all that is good, loving and life-giving in life. Jesus commissions us to add zest to life with ingredients such as joy, laughter, enthusiasm, truth, peace, and justice. Jesus calls us to be a healing remedy for anxiety, alienation, marginalization and isolation. Jesus encourages us to immerse ourselves into the thick of things, to enrich and enliven the stew that is our lives. Jesus urges to use all of our God-given abilities, skills, time and talent for the benefit of others. In short, Jesus expects us to be worth our salt.

Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth.” In our day and age, salt might be an everyday thing, but from Jesus’ perspective, being salt of the earth is everything. Just this day, how can we be salt of the earth in the lives of others?

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(June 10, 2026: Wednesday, Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time)

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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets...”

Throughout the Gospels Jesus was repeatedly criticized by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes for not “doing it by the book”. That is, he was accused of abolishing the Law and the prophets by not living by the letter of the Law. In today’s Gospel Jesus responds to that charge by saying not only does He have no intention of abolishing the Law, but also he plans to go one step further – to fulfill the Law.

And how does Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets? He does so by being himself, that is, by performing the works of God in accordance with the will of God, and not by the whims of man – a life described by St. Paul as a life lived in “the Spirit”.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“The Holy Spirit dwells in us if we are living members of Jesus Christ, who said to his disciples, ‘He who abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit.’ This is because one who abides in him partakes of his divine Spirit, who is the midst of a person’s heart as a living fountain springs up and flashes its waters into everlasting life...Thus, like a little grain of mustard seed, our works are in now ay comparable in greatness to the tree of glory they produce. Still they have the vigor and virtue to produce it because they proceed from the Holy Spirit. By a wondrous infusion of his grace into our hearts he makes our works become his and yet at the same time they remain our own, since we are members of a head of which he is the Spirit…” (TLG, Book XI, Chapter 7, pp. 211-212)

So, it turns out that the reason that Jesus did not abolish the Law – even the smallest parts of it – is that he embodied the Law, that is, the Law of the Spirit which supersedes (“fulfills”) the letter of the Law. While we, the followers of Jesus, may need to know how to do it “by the book”, the life of Jesus clearly suggests that there is something much more important than the letter of the law  and that something is the law of the Spirit, which leads to life.

Today, how can we do our part in fulfilling Jesus’ law of love through our love for one another?

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(June 11, 2026: Barnabas, Apostle)

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“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.”

In today’s Gospel Jesus raises the bar when it comes to considering just what it takes to “enter into the Kingdom of God. Jesus calls his disciples to a higher love! When it comes to judgment, it’s no longer enough for them to say, “Well, we never killed anybody.” Now, they must also be able to say, “We did not grow angry with somebody else; we did not hold another person in contempt; we didn’t hold a grudge against anybody!” In other words, Jesus calls his disciples to live a higher love!

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales describes what this higher love – “devotion” – looks like:

“Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to his Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do what is good but also enables us to do what is good carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion. Ostriches never fly; hens fly in a clumsy fashion near the ground and only once in a while, while eagles, doves and swallows fly aloft, swiftly and frequently. In like manner, sinners in no way fly up towards God but make their way here upon the earth and for the earth. Good people who have not yet attained devotion fly toward God by their good works but do so infrequently, slowly and awkwardly. Devout souls ascend to Him more frequently, promptly and with lofty heights.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

Today, how might we rise to Jesus’ challenge to live a higher love? How might our souls “ascend to Him more frequently, promptly and with lofty heights” with our feet planted firmly on this earth?

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(June 12, 2026: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus)

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“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“God’s love is seated within the Savior’s heart as on a royal throne. He beholds through the cleft of his pierced side all the hearts of the children of men. His heart is the king of hearts, and he keeps his eyes fixed on our hearts. Just as those who peer through a lattice see clearly while they themselves are only half seen, so too, the divine love within that heart, or rather, that heart of divine love, always clearly sees our hearts.” (TLG, Book V, Chapter 11, p. 263)

In the person of the meek and humble Jesus, God makes room in his heart for all of humanity. In imitation of that divine, Sacred Heart, let us try our level best to make room in our hearts for all those people whom we encounter - just this day.

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(June 13, 2026: Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

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“He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales observed the following about Mary, the Mother of Jesus:

“Just as the charity of this mother excels in perfection compared with all the saints in heaven, so also, she practiced it more excellently in this mortal life. For her there was no change or delay in her progress of love but by a perpetual advance she rose from love to love…Her love, like a true Solomon, reigned peaceably in her heart and performed all its acts at will. He virginity of heart and body was of greater dignity and more honorable than that of the angels. Hence her spirit was neither divide nor separated and was, as St. Paul says, ‘concerned about the things of the Lord and how she might please God.’ In fine, since maternal love is the most urgent, the most active and the most ardent of all forms of love, how much must it have worked in the heart of such a Mother and for the heart of such a Son?” (TLG, Book III, Chapter 8, p. 183)

The most urgent, active and ardent Immaculate Heart of Mary was completely and totally consumed about the things of the Lord and with serving God. To what extent can the same be said of our hearts this day?

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May 31st through June 6th 2026

(May 31, 2026: Most Holy Trinity)

“Encourage one another. Live in harmony and peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

St. Francis de Sales had this to say about one of the most profound mysteries of our faith - the Triune Nature of God.

“From all eternity there is in God an essential communication by which the Father, in producing the Son, communicates his entire infinite and indivisible divinity to the Son. The Father and the Son together, in producing the Holy Spirit, communicate in like manner their own proper divinity to him. So also this sovereign sweetness was communicated so perfectly outside itself to a creature that the created nature and the godhead each retained its own properties while still being united together in such wise that they were only one self-same person…In short, God's supreme wisdom has decided to intermingle this original love with his creatures’ will in such wise that love would not constrain the will but leave it possessed of its freedom.” (Treatise on the Love of God, Book 2, Chapter 4)

What can we hope to consider or explain about the profound mystery of the Trinity in a way that makes a practical difference in our lives and in the lives of those we touch? For the sake of simplicity, let us look at each person of the Trinity in very broad strokes, looking at those activities – in our attempt to take in the mystery of the divine nature – which we associate with the Father, the Son and the Spirit in recalling the history of our salvation:

·        In the Trinity, we experience a Father who creates us out of love.

·        In the Trinity, we experience a Son who redeems and reconciles us out of love.

·        In the Trinity, we experience a Spirit who encourages and enlivens us out of love.

We are most like the Trinity when we establish and sustain in ourselves the things that most clearly reflect our God-given, Trinitarian nature - when we create, feed and nourish relationships in which we are redeemed, reconciled and inspired to live in the freedom of the sons and daughters of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the words of St. Paul, we are faithful to our divine dignity and destiny when we “encourage one another…living in harmony and peace…”

We are most like the Trinity when we forgive, when we are willing to let go of hurts, disappointment, injury and betrayal. We are most like the Triune Godhead when we inspire, encourage, challenge and support one another to do the same

Today, might we best act in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit? How might we encourage (a word that literally means, “give heart to”) one another?

(June 1, 2026: Justin, Martyr)

“He has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Just as seaman who set sail with a favorable wind and in fair weather never forget the cables, anchors and other things needed in time of danger and storm, in like manner even though God’s servants enjoy the sweet repose of holy love, we must never be without the fear of divine judgments so that we may use it in the storms and assaults of temptations. Again, just as the apple’s skin – a thing in itself held in small esteem – still helps greatly to preserve the apple it covers, so fear, which in itself is of little value in comparison with love, is yet very useful for preserving love during the dangers of this mortal life…Although fear is very necessary in this mortal life, it is unworthy of having any place in eternal life, where there will be certainty without fear, peace without distrust and rest without care. Yet, such services as fear may provide on behalf of love will be rewarded in heaven.”(TLG, Book XI, Chapter 17, pp. 245-246)

In a perfect world all we would need to live – to do what is right and to avoid what is evil – is the love of God. The tenants in today’s Gospel parable might have fared a lot better, if they had had even the slightest respect or fear for the representatives of the owner of the vineyard or for the vineyard owner himself. Their total lack of fear emboldened them to give in to evil desires to the point where they murdered the owner’s son – with disastrous consequences to themselves.

As we know all-too-well from our own lived experience, this world isn’t perfect, and neither are we. Try as we might to do everything out of love, there are occasions in which it doesn’t hurt to have a little fear to provide our love with a little “back-up” or reinforcement when times get difficult, or evil desires attempt to have their way with us.

May God give us the precious and very great promises of grace to resist evil desires and to pursue desires that are good and righteous.

(June 2, 2026: Tuesday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time)

“Consider the patience of our Lord as salvation…”

If one conducted a survey of the things that people most frequently confess in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, ‘losing patience’ would probably be near the top of the list. In addition, it is the experience of ‘losing patience’ that often leads to many other things frequently confessed in this Sacrament: taking God’s name in vain, using obscene language, saying something hurtful and/or doing something hurtful.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“‘For you have need of patience that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise,’ says the Apostle. True enough, for our Savior himself has declared, ‘By your patience you will win your souls. ‘It is man’s great happiness to possess his own soul, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls…Do not limit your patience to this or that kind of injury and affliction. Extend it universally to all those God will send you or let happen to you.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

Jesus encountered his share of injuries and afflictions during the course of his public ministry, and, no doubt, he also experienced the frustration that comes with those same injuries and afflictions. Yet, Jesus seems to have never lost his cool when dealing with difficult people, situations or circumstances, other than when he drove the moneychangers out of the temple. He clearly demonstrated an ability to keep the upper hand over his emotions.

We are called to “Live Jesus!” We are called to continue Jesus’ saving work in our own day. Have you ever stopped to consider that one of the most practical ways of imitating Christ is to follow His example of patience? And win our souls in the process?

(June 3, 2026: Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs)

“I am grateful to God…”

How often do we say “thank you” to God? How often do we take time out to remind ourselves of how generous God has been to us? How often do we think about all the blessings that God has showered – and continues to shower – upon us? Of course, if we took the time required to consider all the things that God has done for us, we wouldn’t have time for anything else!

Francis de Sales offers us no fewer than ten meditations in Part I of his Introduction to the Devout Life. The considerations, affections, resolutions and conclusions contained in each meditation leaves no stone unturned in reflecting upon how good God is to us. A quick review of the things for which we should be grateful includes:

·        Being created

·        Being capable of being perfectly united with God

·        Being destined for eternal life

·        Sharing in God’s grace and glory

·        Enjoying so many gifts of body, mind, heart and spirit

·        Opportunities to serve God

·        Opportunities to serve one another.

Francis de Sales also suggested that from time to time it may be appropriate – even helpful – to take time out and reflect upon our ingratitude. He wrote:

“Note how many benefits God has granted you and how you have misused them against their giver. Note especially how many of God’s inspirations you have despised and how many good movements you have rendered useless. Even more than all the rest remember how many times you have received the sacraments: where are the fruits? What has become of those precious jewels with which your beloved Spouse adorned you? Think about such ingratitude…” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 12, pp. 58 – 59)

Being aware of our ingratitude is a good thing. Being grateful to God is a better thing. Being mindful of God’s love for – and fidelity – to us is the best thing!

(June 4, 2026: Thursday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time)

“The first commandment is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Many men keep the commandments in the way sick men take medicine: more from fear of dying in damnation than for joy of living according to our Savior’s will. Just as some persons dislike taking medicine - no matter how pleasant it may be – simply because it is called medicine, so there are some souls who hold in horror things commanded simply because they are commanded. By contrast, a loving heart loves the commandments. The more difficult they are the sweeter and more agreeable it finds them since this more perfectly pleases the beloved and gives him great honor. It pours forth and sings great hymns of joy when God teaches it to his commandments and justifications. The pilgrim who goes on his way joyously singing adds the labor of singing to that of walking, and yet by this increase of labor he actually lessens his weariness and lightens the hardship of the journey.” (TLG, Book VIII, Chapter 5, pp. 67-68)

When you boil it all down, Jesus gives us two – just two – commandments to follow: love God; love your neighbor as yourself. At one in the same time these two commandments are not too much to ask even if they ask us to give them our all!

What better way of taking our medicine to good effect – and being medicinal in the lives of others – than by living these commandments joyfully?

(June 5, 2026: Boniface, Bishop and Martyr)

“One who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work…”

It has been said that practice makes perfect. Put another way, practice leads to competence.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines competent as:

1.     Having requisite or adequate ability or qualities: fit

2.     Qualified or adequate

3.     Having the capacity to function or develop in a particular way

4.     Having the capacity to respond.

Synonyms include able, capable, equal, fit, good, qualified, suitable, on the ball.

Recall Francis de Sales’ description of devotion:

“To be good we must have charity, and to be devout – in addition to charity – we must have great ardor and readiness in performing charitable actions.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

In the opinion of St. Paul – in the mind of St. Francis de Sales – following Jesus requires more than simply doing good things; it requires that we be good at doing good things. How do we acquire the requisite or adequate ability to be good at doing good? How can we grow in our ability to be equipped to accomplish every good work in every good way? How do we make strides in our training in righteousness? Recall the punch line to the question: “Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Broadway?”

Answer: “Practice, practice, practice.”

(June 6, 2026: Saturday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time)

“Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life St. Francis de Sales exhorted:

“Be patient not only with regard to the big, chief part of difficulties that may come to you but also as to things and accidents accompanying them. Many people would be ready to accept trials provided they were not inconvenienced by them. ‘I wouldn’t be bothered by poverty,’ one man says, ‘if it didn’t keep me from helping my friends, educating my children and living as respectably as I’d like.’ ‘It wouldn’t bother me,’ another says, ‘If people didn’t think it was my own fault.’ Another would be willing to suffer patently false reports about him provided that no one believed his detractor. Others are willing to endure part of an evil, so they think, but not the whole of it. They say that they don’t complain about being ill but about their lack of money to get cured or because they are so much bother to those around them. Now I say that we must have patience not merely at being ill but at having the illness that God wishes, where he wishes, among the people he wishes and with whatever difficulties he wishes.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 129)

Many people would be ready to accept trials provided they were not inconvenienced by them. This statement sounds like the restaurant owner who says: “Business would be great if it weren’t for the customers,” or the teacher who opines that, “My job would be great if it weren’t for the students.”

In what ways might I be a “sunshine patriot” when it comes to following Jesus? Do I follow him when it’s easy, but head for the hills when it’s tough? Imagine if Jesus only helped people when it was convenient for him! Where would that have left the people of his day?

Where would that leave us in our day?

May 24th through May 30th 2026

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(May 24, 2026: Pentecost)

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“Each of us hears them speaking in our own tongue about the marvels that God has accomplished.”

Despite the fact that they were speaking to many people from many languages and many cultures, the apostles were understood by all of their listeners as they proclaimed the marvels that God had accomplished.

How was this possible?

Enflamed by the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were speaking the language of the heart. They were speaking with enthusiasm. They were speaking with gratitude. They were speaking with praise and thanksgiving. They were speaking from the core. They were speaking from the soul.

In short, they were speaking the universal language - the language of the heart.

We are most human - we are most divine - when we speak the language of the heart, when we speak the language of love, when we speak and listen from the soul, when we are grounded in the Word-Made-Flesh.

As we know all too well from our own experience, there is more to communication than meets the eye, or for that matter, even the tongue or the ear.  Communicating is often a lot easier said than done. We frequently misunderstand one another. We frequently presume to know what others are thinking or feeling. We frequently use the same words for which there are different meanings. We frequently have different ways of saying the same thing. We frequently hear, but we frequently fail to listen. We are always talking, but talking is not the same as communicating or speaking from one heart to another.

St. Francis de Sales tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to inflame the hearts of believers. When we speak and listen from hearts enflamed with joy, truth and gratitude, conflict gives way to understanding, confusion gives way to clarity, estrangement gives way to intimacy, hurt gives way to healing, frustration gives way to forgiveness, violence gives way to peace and sin gives way to salvation.

Francis de Sales offers this observation:

“Speak always of God as God, that is, reverently and devoutly, not with ostentation or affectation, but with a spirit of meekness, charity, and humility. Distill as much as you can of the delicious honey of devotion and of divine things imperceptibly into the ears of now one person and then of another. Pray to God in your soul that it may please God to make this holy dew sink deep into the hearts of those who hear you. It is wonderful how powerfully a sweet and amiable proposal of good things attracts to hearts of hearers.”

Today, how might we need to speak, to listen and to practice the language of love?

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(May 25, 2026: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church)

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“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.”

“Pope Francis very recently declared that a new obligatory memorial is to be celebrated in honor of our Blessed Mother under the title: Mary, Mother of the Church (Mater Ecclesiae). Fittingly, this memorial will take place on the Monday following Pentecost Sunday. The decree was signed on February 11th (the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes) and released on March 3rd, 2018, by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.”

“Mary was present at the beginning of the Church: when Jesus entrusted the beloved disciple to Her at the foot of the Cross (cf John 19:25-27) and in the Cenacle, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, and all those gathered with them, at Pentecost (Acts 1:14).”

“This title of Our Lady, has its origins in early Church Fathers: St. Ambrose in the 4th century, whose Mariology Fr. Hugo Rahner rediscovered and brought to light, St. Augustine, ‘[who said] that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she cooperated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church, while [Pope St. Leo the Great said] that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church’ [from Pope Francis’ decree].”

“So, what’s the purpose of this decree promulgating this obligatory memorial? According to the Vatican News, Cardinal Robert Sarah said, ‘the Holy Father wishes to promote this devotion in order to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety’.” (https://catholicexchange.com/mary-mother-church)

Speaking of “genuine Marian Piety”, Francis de Sales has this to say about “well-ordered devotion” to the Blessed Virgin Mary in his Treatise on the Love of God:

“A man who invites only one of his friends to visit him in no way offends the others. However, if he invites all of them, and then gives the chief places to those of lower rank while putting more honorable guests at the very bottom places, does he not offend both groups? He offends one group because he degrades them against reason and the other group because he makes fools of them! So, too, when we perform an action with a single reasonable motive, no matter how slight it might be, there is no offense against reason. However, a man who wants to have many motives must rank them according to their quality; otherwise, he commits a sin, for disorder is a sin, just as sin is disorder. A man who desires to please God and our Lady does what is very good, but one who would like to please our Lady as much as God or more than God would commit an intolerable breach of order. To each end we must give its proper rank, and consequently supreme rank to the end of pleasing God.” (Book XI, Chapter 13, p. 236)

There is absolutely no question that the Blessed Virgin Mary holds a uniquely special place in the Catholic Church, in the world and in the universe itself! At the end of the day, however, all glory and honor belong to God.

And God alone.

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(May 26, 2023: Philip Neri, Priest)

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“Be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct…”

When it comes to pursuing a holy life, Francis de Sales says that our efforts need to be “universal” in nature. Our attempts at growing in devotion (his term for holiness) must affect every aspect of our lives and not just some of them. In the beginning of his Introduction to the Devout life, Francis observed:

“One person sets great value on fasting and believes himself to be leading a very devout life, so long as he fasts rigorously, yet all the while his heart is full of bitterness. Another person will not moisten their lips with wine, perhaps not even with water, in their great abstinence, but does not hesitate to steep those same lips in their neighbor’s blood, through slander and detraction. Still another individual reckons themself as devout because they repeat many prayers daily, although at the same time they do not refrain from all manner of angry, irritating, conceited or insulting comments among family and neighbors. Another person freely opens their purse in almsgiving but closes their heart to all gentle and forgiving feelings towards those who are opposed to them. Yet another one is ready enough to forgive their enemies but will never pay their rightful debts to others unless forced to do so. All these people may be conventionally considered ‘holy’, but in truth they are in no sense actually devout at all…”

However we attempt to pursue a devout or holy life, may our strategies help promote ongoing conversion not merely in some of who we are, but the universe inside of us: body, soul, spirit, mind, heart, attitude and action!

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(May 27, 2026: Wednesday, Eight Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant…”

In his reflection upon this selection from the Gospel of Mark, William Barclay makes the following observation:

“The basic trouble in the human situation is that people wish to do as little as possible and to get as much as possible. It is only when they are filled with the desire to put more into life more than they take out of it. That life for themselves and for others will be happy and prosperous. Rudyard Kipling has a poem called Mary’s Son which is advice on the spirit in which a person should work:

‘If you stop to find out what your wages will be,

And how they will clothe and feed you,

Willie, my son, don’t you go to the Sea,

For the Sea will never need you.’

‘If you ask for the reason of every command,

And argue with people about you,

Willie, my son, don’t you go on the Land,

For the Land will do better without you.’

‘If you stop to consider the work that you’ve done,

And to boast what your labor is worth, dear,

Angels may come for you, Willie my son,

But you’ll never be wanted on earth dear!’

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“The world needs more people whose ideal is service; that is to say, it needs people who have realized what sound sense Jesus spoke.”

And the sound sense that Jesus continues to speak today.

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(May 28, 2026: Thursday, Eight Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Once you were no people, but now you are God’s people…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales makes this observation even more personal in his Meditation on Our Creation:

“Consider that a certain number of years ago you were not yet in the world and that your present being was truly nothing. My soul, where were you at that time? The world had already existed for a ong tme but of us there was as yet nothing.”

“God has drawn you out of that nothingness to make you who you are now and has done so solely out of his own goodness and without need of you.”

“Consider the nature God has given you. It is thr highest in this visible world: it is capable of eternal life and of being perfectly united to his Divine Majesty.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 9, pp. 52-53)

You used be nobody. Now you are somebody, but someone even more! You are a unique person created in the image and likeness of God! How might you express your gratitude for the gift of that life today?

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(May 29, 2026: Friday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Therefore, I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.”

“If a man prays to God and perceives that he is praying, he is not perfectly attentive to his prayer. He diverts his attention from the God to whom he prays in order to think of the prayer by which he prays…A man in fervent prayer does not know whether he prays or not, for he does not think of the prayer he makes but of God to whom he makes it.” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

Today, here’s a question for you. When you “ask the Father for anything” in Jesus’ name, upon what do you focus - that for which you ask or the person from whom you ask it?

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(June 30, 2026: Saturday, Eight Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit…”

In his commentary on this selection from the Letter of Jude, William Barclay observes:

“A good person builds up his or her life on the foundation of faith. That is to say, the life of the Christians founded, not on something manufactured by oneself but on something received from another. There is a chain in the transmission of faith. The faith that comes from Jesus to the apostles; it came from the apostles to the church; and it comes from the church to us. There is something tremendous here. It means that the faith we hold is not merely someone’s personal opinion; it is a revelation which came from Jesus Christ and is preserved and transmitted within the church, always under the care and guidance of the Holy Spirit, from generation to generation.

How might we build up that faith of – and in – Jesus Christ for ourselves and others just today?

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May 17th through May 23, 2026

(May 17, 2026: Ascension of the Lord)

“Go, make disciples of all nations.”

In speaking on the mystery of the Ascension of Our Lord, Francis de Sales wrote:

“We forsake our merely human life in order to live a loftier life above ourselves. We hide all this new life in God with Jesus Christ who alone sees it, knows it and gives it. Our new life is heavenly love, which vivifies and animates our soul, and this love is wholly hidden in God and the things of God with Jesus Christ. As the sacred words of the Gospel say, after Jesus had shown himself for a little while to his disciples, he ascended up to heaven, and at length a cloud surrounded him, took him and hid them from their eyes. Jesus Christ, then, is hidden in heaven in God. Jesus Christ is our love, and our love is the life of our soul. Therefore, our life is hidden in God with Jesus Christ, and when Jesus who is our love and therefore our spiritual life shall appear in the Day of Judgment, we shall also appear with him in glory. That is, Jesus Christ, our love, will glorify us by communicating to us his own joy and splendor.” (Treatise on the Love of God, Book VII, Chapter 6)

Our life is indeed hidden in God. The deepest reality of whom we are is known only to God. Still, for Francis de Sales, living a life hidden in God is not the same as keeping that life a secret. No, it is about giving witness to the deepest truth of whom we are - and who God is - by the quality of our relationships with one another. Consequently, it is appropriate that Francis de Sales would desire us to practice what he calls the “hidden virtues”, “those little, humble virtues which grow like flowers at the foot of the cross: helping the poor, visiting the sick and taking care of your family, with all the tasks that go with such things and with all that useful diligence that will not allow you to stand idle.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, Chapter 35)

Through the Ascension, Jesus has been removed from our sight - at least, from the view of our physical sight. Nevertheless, the same authority that Jesus claimed from his Father is given to us by virtue of our creation and confirmed in our baptism. We are called to continue the work that Jesus began, that is, to make disciples -- followers, leaders, believers -- of all nations. We are called to be convincing signs of the ongoing redemptive and challenging activity of the Triune God, but in the simple, ordinary and everyday tasks of everyday life.

Paradoxically, to the extent that we are faithful to practicing the little virtues -- the hidden virtues -- that grow “at the foot of the cross”, Jesus is no longer hidden. He becomes clearly visible in our love, our concern, our pursuit of justice, our promotion of peace, our willingness to forgive and our attempts to heal.

What could be a more powerful - and convincing - way of making disciples of all nations?

Or, at the very least, the people with whom we interact every day?

OR

(May 17, 2026: Seventh Sunday of Easter)

“When they entered the city…they devoted themselves with one accord to prayer.”

A prayer life is essential for those who wish to live a life of devotion. Francis de Sales described prayer as “a stream of holy water that flows forth and makes the plants of our good desires grow green and flourish and quenches the passions that lie within our hearts.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 1)

What is prayer? In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis wrote:

“Prayer, generally speaking, comprehends all the acts of contemplation...a conference or conversation with God...a discussion with the divine majesty...an ascent or elevation of the mind to God. To the extent that prayer is a colloquy, discussion, or conversation of the soul with God, then by prayer we speak to God and God in turn speaks to us. We aspire to God and breathe in God; God reciprocally inspires us and breathes upon us.” (Book VI, Chapter 1)

Of all the methods of prayer, Francis recommended “mental prayer, the prayer of the heart, and particularly that which centers on the life and passion of our Lord. By often turning your eyes on Christ in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with him. You will learn Christ’s ways and form your actions after the pattern of his.” (Introduction, Part II, Chapter 1)

Regarding Mental prayer. Meditation and Contemplation, Francis observed:

“They might seem to be words from another world, so few people try to grasp their meaning.” (Pulpit and Pew, page 191)

For many of us, therein lies the rub: we are intimidated by and/or are discouraged in our attempts to practice mental prayer. We tell ourselves that we aren’t good at it, we get too distracted, or it requires too much time or effort.

And so, we stop praying.

Francis was no stranger to the challenges of practicing mental prayer, meditation, contemplation or “prayer of the heart”. He realized that just as there are a variety of people and personalities, there is more than one way to pray. He mentions two other approaches: (1) Vocal prayer, and (2) prayer of life or good works.

“Vocal prayer consists in making use of a ready-made formula of words provided for us, trying to mean what we say.” (Pulpit and Pew, page 180) “The prayer of life is the prayer of our good deeds, a hidden prayer. The good deed treasured in poor peoples’ hearts speaks for us to God.” (Ibid, p. 181)

Common to these (and other) forms of prayer is the simple — yet powerful — act of asking.

“All prayer implies asking God for something: God’s glory or our need. It is our duty to pray, for...although God has no need of our prayers, they are useful to us by keeping alive in us the sense of our obligations to God.” (Ibid)

Prayer is to the soul what breathing is to the body; neither can continue nor flourish without the other. But adapt your devotion and practice of prayer to the state, stage and circumstances of life in which you find yourself. Don’t make prayer more complicated than it needs to be, while keeping it as important as it ought to be.

A story is told of a novice who, in the course of a monthly interview, told his novice master that, much to the former’s embarrassment and frustration, he was convinced that he could not pray deeply. The novice master replied: “If you cannot pray deeply, at least be a deep person...who prays.”

However deep, shallow, long or short, devote yourself to prayer any way, all ways...each and every day.

(May 18, 2026: Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

“In the world you will have trouble but take courage...”

In his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (dealing with Christ’s prediction of persecution in the last two verses of the Beatitudes), William Barclay wrote the following:

“One of the outstanding qualities of Jesus was his sheer honesty. He never left men in any doubt what would happen to them if they chose to follow him. He was clear that he had come ‘not to make life easy, but to make men great’.” (The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 111)

Jesus – in his sheer honesty – tells us to expect trouble; Jesus – in his sheer honesty - doesn’t promise to shield or protect us from trouble. He does, however, challenge us to take courage, that is, to be people of heart. Recall some of the lyrics in a song from the musical Damn Yankees:

You've gotta have heart
All you really need is heart.
When the odds are sayin' you'll never win
That's when the grin should start.

When your luck is battin' zero
Get your chin up off the floor.
Mister you can be a hero
You can open any door.

You've gotta have heart
Miles 'n miles n' miles of heart.
Oh, it's fine to be a genius of course
But keep that old horse
Before the cart.
First you've gotta have heart.

Who minds those pop bottles flyin'?
The hisses and the boos
The team has been consistent
Yeah, we always lose
But we're laughin' cause... We've got heart
We've got heart... We've got heart

So, for what will you pray today? Will you ask God to spare you from trouble or will you ask God for the courage to deal with any trouble – big or small – that may come your way? Either way, be it with or without trouble being a person of courage is its own reward!

 (May 19, 2026: Tuesday, Seventh Week of Easter)

“This is eternal life: that they should know you, the only true God and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“‘Life is in the will of God,’ says the Psalmist, not only because our temporal life depends on the divine will but also because our spiritual life consists in its fulfillment, by which God lives and reigns in us and makes us live and subsist in God….Ah, Lord God, we are in this world not to do our own will but that of your goodness, which has placed us here. It was written of you, O Savior of my soul, that you did the will of your eternal Father. Ah, who will give my soul the grace to have no will but the will of God!” (TLG, Book VIII, Chapter 7, p. 73)

To know God is to know God’s will. To love God is to love God’s will. To know and do God’s will is to experience eternal life. Nowhere do we see this love demonstrated more clearly and convincingly than in Jesus’ knowledge, love and obedience to his Father’s will throughout his entire earthly ministry. Note the impact: not only did following the Father’s will not diminish Jesus, but it also empowered Him to be faithful to and effective in his purpose for living: that “we might have life, and have life to the full”. (John 10:10)

If eternal life is found by knowing and loving God – and, by extension, by knowing, loving and living God’s will in our lives – then the eternal life that Jesus offers us is not limited to the next life; it is available here and now in this life.

Let us pray: God, not our will, but your will be done in us, in order that we might know something already on this earth of the eternal life you offer us in the One whom you sent in order that we might know and love you!

Jesus Christ.

(May 20, 2026: Wednesday, Seventh Week of Easter)

“It is more blessed to give than to receive…”

When we talk about the virtue of giving to others – when we talk about the virtue of sharing with others – we are really talking about the virtue of generosity.

In a Conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“Humility believes that it can do nothing, considering its poverty and weakness as far as depends on ourselves; while, on the contrary, generosity makes us say with St. Paul: I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. Humility makes us distrust ourselves; generosity makes us trust in God. You see, then, that these two virtues are so closely joined and united to one another that they never are and never can be separated.” (On Generosity, pp. 76-77)

When it comes to being generous, the more obvious (i.e., the “more blessed”) way of doing this action is expressed in our willingness to give to others. However, have you ever considered that the less obvious (but no-less blessed) way of doing this is expressed in our willingness to receive from others? While it may be more blessed to give than to receive, it may be more humbling to receive than to give. St. Francis de Sales suggests that these two virtues are inseparable. Think about it: what do we gain by being great givers if we are lousy receivers? After all, one person’s willingness to give requires – by definition – another person’s willingness to receive, doesn’t it?

Today, do you want to be blessed? Then look for opportunities to give to others! Do you want others to be blessed? Then look for opportunities to receive from others! What could be more generous than that?

(May 21, 2026: Thursday, Seventh Week of Easter)

“Take courage…”

In a letter to Soeur de Soulfour, Francis de Sales offered this advice:

“Be like a little child who, while it knows that its mother is holding its sleeve, walks boldly and runs all around without being distressed at a stumble or fall; after all, it is as yet unsteady on its legs. In the same way, as long as you realize that God is holding on to you by your will and resolution to serve him go on boldly and do not be upset by your setbacks and falls. Continue on joyfully and with your heart as open and widely trustful as possible. If you cannot always be joyful, at least be brave and confident.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, pp. 45-46)

Be brave; be confident; be courageous.

Being courageous is not about being foolhardy. Being courageous (as we learn from the Italian word, coragio) is about being a person of heart. We all have issues in life; we all have difficulties in life; we all have setbacks in life; we all have heartaches in life. Frequently, what distinguishes triumph from tragedy in our attempts to deal with life’s challenges is whether we end up encouraged or discouraged, that is, whether we manage to maintain our hearts or whether we lose our hearts.

Consider the stumbles and falls that you have experienced in life. How have they left you? Encouraged or discouraged? Are you managing to keep your heart or are you losing it?

(May 22, 2023: Friday, Seventh Week of Easter)

“Do you love me…?”

In the context of a post-Resurrection appearance, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” not once, not twice but three times. With all the sincerity that he can muster, Peter responds each time with, “You know I love you.” The Scripture passage also includes an interesting - and not unsurprising -  observation: by the time that Jesus asks his question the third time, Peter has become distressed and agitated. It’s not a stretch to suggest that Peter may have been having a flashback of  his threefold promise to stand by Jesus – even to the point of death – shortly before Jesus’ arrest, only to have Peter’s resolve fold like a five-dollar suitcase.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but perhaps Jesus is simply reminding Peter that when it comes to love, talk is cheap.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de sales wrote:

“Just as the dawn of day may be termed day, so complacence of the heart may be called love because it is the first step of love. However, just as the day’s true heart extends from the beginning of dawn to the end of sunset, so the true essence of love consists in movement…Let us state it thus: by complacence, the good takes, grasps and binds the heart, but by love it draws, conducts and leads the heart to itself. Complacence causes the heart to begin the journey, but love keeps it on the road and enables it to finish the journey. Complacence is an awakening of the heart, but love is the heart in action. Complacence makes the heart rise up, but love makes the heart move forward. Complacence may help us to spread our winds, but only love actually enables us to take flight.”  (TLG, Book I, Chapter 7. p. 6)

Saying, “I love you” is easy. Showing, “I love you” is something else entirely. Is it any wonder, then that as this interchange between Jesus and Peter comes to some kind of resolution, Jesus’ final words to Peter are, “Follow me”? In other words, Jesus is saying: don’t just tell me you love me – show me you love me.”

Love begins with words – love ripens and matures with action.

Today, how can we show Jesus that we love him?

(May 23, 2026: Saturday, Seventh Week of Easter)

“Who is the one who will betray you…?”

Well, the easy answer is Judas. We know that he betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Later he regretted his betrayal and hanged himself.

Then again, Peter betrayed Jesus by denying that he even knew him - not once, not twice but three times. He regretted his denial almost immediately, but eventually went on to become “the rock” on which Jesus would build his Church. How about James and John? Didn’t they betray Jesus – in a way – by asking for places of honor at his left and at his right? In subsequent years they gave their lives for their faith.

It might make a lot more sense – and requires a lot less time – to ask this question - who is the one who has not betrayed Jesus? The answer would produce a much smaller number. After all, each of us betrays Jesus when we are focused upon our own benefit at the expense of others. Each of us betrays Jesus when we turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to the needs of others. Each of us betrays Jesus when we decide that we are not up to the challenges that come with being his disciple.

Each of us betrays Jesus when we sin.

Thanks be to God that Jesus doesn’t hold grudges. Thanks be to God that Jesus doesn’t settle old scores. Thanks be to God that Jesus doesn’t hold on to old hurts or betrayals. Imperfect as we are, Jesus continues to say to us, day in and day out: “Follow me”.

Thanks be to God!

May 10th through May 16, 2026

(May 10, 2026: Sixth Sunday of Easter)

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises to ask the Father to send an Advocate (sometimes translated as Paraclete) to accompany his disciples.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language defines advocate as: (1) “One who argues for a cause: a supporter or defender; (2) One that pleads in another’s behalf: an intercessor; (3) a lawyer.”

In addition, the dictionary notes that the word advocate comes from the Latin advocatus, past participle of advocare, to summon for counsel. Important derivatives include: vocal, voice, vowel, equivocal, vocation, vouch, advocate, avocation, evoke, invoke, provoke, revoke and epic.

The one derivative that catches my eye is vouch. In this context, this Advocate, this Paraclete, this Holy Spirit will vouch for those who follow Jesus. Put another way, this Advocate is someone who stands up for us.

But hold on, there’s even more! How many of us fail to notice that Jesus promises his disciples “another” Advocate? Unless I’m missing something here, “another” presumes that this is not the first Advocate; rather, this is a subsequent Advocate which, of course, begs the question: Well, who was the previous Advocate?

The answer - Jesus himself! Jesus stood up for us by becoming one of us, by becoming one with us and by becoming one for us. Jesus stood up for us by living with us, by laboring for us, by loving us and dying for us that we might one day stand up forever through the power and by the promise of the resurrection.

But wait. It seems that we still have one more Advocate to acknowledge - God, Yahweh, the Father.

God stood up for us by creating something out of nothing. God stood up for us by bringing form out of chaos. God stood up for us through Creation by giving us a share in God’s own divine image and likeness. God stood up for us through the Incarnation by taking on our human image and likeness.

In a word, it seems that God, our Eternal Advocate, is, among other things, a “stand up guy.”

As children of God, as brothers and sisters of Jesus, as temples of the Holy Spirit we, too, are called to be Advocates. We are called to stand up for what is just; we are called to stand up for what is right; we are called to stand up for what is peaceable; we are called to stand up for what is fair. And especially as members of the Salesian tradition, we are called to stand up for all that is of God in ways that are both courteous and considerate.

God has stood up for us by creating us, by redeeming us and by inspiring us. What better way in there to express our gratitude than through our willingness to stand up for one another?

Today!

(May 11, 2026: Monday, Sixth Week of Easter)

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away…”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a “heads up”. Notwithstanding the imminent arrival of the Paraclete, whom Jesus will send from the Father, there will still be tough – and trying – times ahead for them. Jesus wants them to be prepared so that when the tough – and trying – times come, they won’t fall away, that is, so that they will not give up.

In a letter to a “nun” (dated August 20, 1607) Francis de Sales wrote:

“To be a servant of God means to be charitable towards one’s neighbors, have an unshakeable determination in the superior part of one’s soul to obey the will of God, trusting in God with a very humble humility and simplicity, and to lift oneself up as often as one falls, endure oneself with all one’s abjections and quietly put up with others in their imperfections.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 140)

Francis de Sales’ advice to a “nun” over four hundred years ago is just as relevant today as it was then. Following Jesus – being a servant of God and a temple of the Holy Spirit – will always bring its share of challenges, trials and tribulations. We sometimes fall – we sometimes fail – in the face of these same challenges, trials and tribulations. However, falling down is not the same as falling away, unless, of course, you choose to stay down after falling down.

If you fall – if you fail – in your attempts to “Live + Jesus” just this day, will you stay down or will you get back up?

 (May 12, 2026: Tuesday, Sixth Week of Easter) 

"Where are you going…?”

Where are you going?
Where are you going?
Can you take me with you?
For my hand is cold
And needs warmth.
Where are you going?

                             - “By My Side” (Godspell, 1971

For some time now Jesus has been telling his disciples that he will be leaving them in order that the Advocate (a.k.a. the Paraclete) can come to them. As we see in today’s Gospel, Jesus is trying to convince them that it will be better for them if he goes. By all accounts, the disciples are having a hard time believing - or accepting – his reassurances.

Put yourself in their position. As Jesus keeps talking about going back to the Father, they are surely tempted to ask the question: “Where are you going?”. But if you dig a little bit deeper, the question that they’d really like to ask is: “Why can’t you stay?”. Either way, they are struggling with the fear of losing Jesus. They are struggling with the prospect of being left alone to fend for themselves.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“After Jesus had shown himself for a little while to the disciples, he ascended up to heaven, and at length a cloud surrounded him, took him and hid him from their eyes. Jesus Christ, then, is hidden in heaven in God. Jesus Christ is our love, and our love is the life of the soul. Therefore our ‘life is hidden in God with Christ Jesus, and when Christ who is’ our love and therefore our spiritual life ‘shall reappear’ in the Day of Judgment, we shall also appear ‘with him in glory.’” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

For our purposes, let’s hear the question “Where are you going?” in a slightly different way. Just suppose that now, it is Jesus who is asking the question of us! Jesus asks us “Where are you going” today? Where will your steps, conversations and interactions take you today? At the end of the day, how will we have drawn closer to the “Day of Judgment” when we shall “appear with him in glory”?

Whether we actually see him or not, Jesus assures us that he is always with us through the outpouring – and indwelling – of the Holy Spirit.

Do you believe?

(May 13, 2026: Wednesday, Sixth Week of Easter)

“The Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity or dissimulation. While it is not always advisable to say all that is true, it is never permissible to speak against the truth. Therefore, you must become accustomed never to tell a deliberate lie whether to excuse yourself or for some other purpose, remembering always that God is the ‘God of truth.’ If you happen to tell a lie inadvertently, correct it immediately by an explanation or making amends. An honest explanation has more grace and force to excuse us than a lie has…As the Sacred Word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful or tricky soul.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)

Jesus promises that the “Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth.” How do we know, then, that the Spirit dwells in us? How do other people know that the Spirit dwells in us? We do - when we do our level best to tell the truth, when we do our level best to speak the truth, and when we do our level best to be truthful, truth-filled people.

(May 14, 2026: Matthias, Apostle)

“This I command you: love one another.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Many men keep the commandments in the same way that sick men take medicine – more from fear of dying in damnation than for the joy of living according to our Savior’s will. Just as some people dislike taking medicine – no matter how pleasant it may be – simply because it is called medicine, so there are some souls who hold in horror things commanded simply because they are commanded. On the contrary, a loving heart loves the commandments. The more difficult they are the sweeter sand more agreeable it finds them since this more perfectly pleases the beloved and gives him greater honor. It pours forth and sings hymns of joy when God teaches it his commandments. The pilgrim who goes on his way joyously singing adds the labor of singing to that of walking, and yet by this increase of labor he actually lessens his weariness and lightens the hardship of the journey. In like manner the devout lover finds such sweetness in the commandments that nothing in this mortal life comforts and refreshes him so much as the precious burdens of God’s precepts.” (TLG, Book XIII, Chapter 5, pp. 67-68)

Matthias was chosen to replace Judas as one of the Twelve. In a very high-profile way, he joined a very exclusive group of men whose mission it was to call all people to see in Jesus Christ the embodiment of His divine commandment: to love others.

Almost two thousand years later, we continue the work of Matthias and eleven of the original Twelve. In very inclusive and mostly low-profile ways, we too, are called to continue to proclaim – in words and in deeds – the power of Christ’s commandment to love one another.

How can each and every one of us – individually, in our own unique way - continue the work of Jesus and the Twelve just this day and experience the joy that only comes with loving?

OR

(May 14, 2026: The Ascension of the Lord)

“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?”

Well, the day in question has finally arrived. Jesus was taken up into heaven; Jesus returned to the Father. After standing there in silence for what must have seemed like an eternity, one of the eleven eventually broke the quiet by asking the question: “Now what?”

The rest – as they say – is history.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“After Jesus had shown himself for a little while to the disciples, he ascended up to heaven, and at length a cloud surrounded him, took him and hid him from their eyes. Jesus Christ, then, is hidden in heaven in God. Jesus Christ is our love, and our love is the life of the soul. Therefore our ‘life is hidden in God with Christ Jesus, and when Christ who is’ our love and therefore our spiritual life ‘shall reappear’ in the Day of Judgment, we shall also appear ‘with him in glory.’” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

In his Catholic Controversies (p.286) Francis de Sales outlines the activity of the Apostles – especially Peter and Paul – following the Ascension. Simply put, it would appear that once the dust of the Ascension settled, Jesus’ disciples got to work.

This same work continues for us today. Our task in the wake of the Ascension is to make the “hidden” Christ “reappear” through the quality of our love for others.

(May 15, 2026: Friday, Sixth Week of Easter)

“You will grieve but your grief will become joy…”  

These words spoken by Jesus in today’s Gospel have a familiar ring to those acquainted with the Salesian tradition. They sound like a remarkably simple – but powerful – summarization of St. Francis de Sales’ teaching on what he called “spirit of liberty”:

“The first sign (of this spirit of liberty) is that the heart enjoying this liberty is not at all attached to consolations and accepts afflictions with all the meekness possible to the flesh. I am not saying that the soul does not love consolation and long for it, but without clinging to it. The second sign is that the man enjoying this spirit does not set his heart on spiritual exercises: if illness or some other emergency prevents them he is on no way upset. I am not saying that he does not love them but that he is not attached to them. Thirdly, he does not lose his joy, because no loss or lack can sadden one whose heart is perfectly free. I am not saying that it is impossible for him to lose his joy, but it will not be for long.  (Stopp, Selected Letters, pp. 70 - 71)

What’s the bottom line? Into everyone’s life a little rain must fall. Into everyone’s picnic ants will sometimes intrude. Into everyone’s success some setbacks will eventually surface. But for those who are freed by the spirit of liberty, any grief associated with these (and any other hard knocks in life) will – eventually – turn into joy.

Over and over again!

(May 16, 2026: Saturday, Sixth Week of Easter)

"Ask and you shall receive…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“If a man prays to God and perceives that he is praying, he is not perfectly attentive to his prayer. He diverts his attention from the God to whom he prays in order to think of the prayer by which he prays…A man in fervent prayer does not know whether he prays or not, for he does not think of the prayer he makes but of God to whom he makes it.” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

Today, here’s a question for you. When you “ask the Father for anything” in Jesus’ name, upon what do you focus - that for which you ask or the person from whom you ask it?

May 3rd through May 9th, 2026

(May 3, 2026: Fifth Sunday of Easter)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Have faith in God; have faith in me.”

William Barclay sets the context for Jesus’ assurance to his disciples in today’s Gospel. “In a very short time life for the disciples was going to collapse. Their world was going to disintegrate in chaos all around them. At such a time there was only one thing to do: stubbornly hold on to trust in God… There comes a time when we have to believe what we cannot prove and to accept what we don’t always understand. If, in the darkest hour, we believe that somehow there is a purpose in life and that this purpose is love, even the unbearable becomes bearable and even in the darkness there is a glimmer of light.”

There are many things in life that can trouble our hearts. Worldwide, we witness the ravages of terrorism, the violence of religious intolerance, the hatred of cultural and social genocide and the devastation of natural disasters. On the domestic front, Americans appear polarized around the uncertainties associated with such issues as national security, social security, energy independence and affordable health care. Even closer to home, we harbor concerns and anxieties about families, friends, other loved ones…perhaps, even ourselves

Truth is that there is always something, be it global or local, which distracts our minds and troubles our hearts.

In the face of these difficulties and so many other things that seize our hearts, Jesus asks us to have faith in God. In the face of all that shakes our faith, Jesus asks us to have faith in him.

St. Francis de Sales observed:

“What can I say to stop the flux of these thoughts in your heart?  Do not strive to heal yourself of them, for such anxious striving would make your heart sicker... Do not struggle to overcome these anxieties, for this effort would simply strengthen them…Fix your mind on Christ crucified.” He continued by concluding “If the whole world turns topsy-turvy, if all around us is darkness and smoke and din, yet God is still with us. For if we know that God lives in the darkness and on Mount Sinai which is full of smoke and surrounded with the roar of thunder and lightning, shall not all be well with us as long as we keep close to God?” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 125)

There are those times in all our lives when we have done all we can to address a concern and need to leave the rest to God.  There are other times when we do not even have a clue as to how to address a situation and need to place our trust in God. The wisdom of Francis de Sales’ advice is to recognize that to the extent that we allow our hearts to be troubled we lose the strength or ability to deal with those very things that trouble our hearts in the first place. Placing our trust in God – placing our trust in Jesus – placing our trust in the Spirit – better enables us to know how to better trust ourselves and others in dealing with the challenges of life. Placing our trust in God also reminds us that trusting ourselves and trusting others – even those we love the most – has its limits.

Placing our faith in God does not guarantee how the mystery of life will unfold. However, placing our faith in God should always be our first step in entering life’s mysteries more deeply…and faithfully.

(May 4, 2026: Monday, Fifth Week of Easter)

“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“When I saw in St. Catherine of Siena’s life so many raptures and elevations of spirit, words of wisdom and even sermons uttered by her, I did not doubt that by the eye of contemplation she had ravished the heart of her heavenly Spouse. But I was equally edified when I saw her in her father’s kitchen, humbly turning the spit, kindling fires, dressing meat, kneading bread and doing the meanest household chores cheerfully and filled with love and affection for God. I do not have less esteem for the humble, little meditations she made during these ordinary, lowly tasks than for the ecstasies and raptures she experienced so often. Perhaps the latter were granted to her precisely because of her humility...I cite her life as an example so that you may know how important it is to direct all our actions – no matter how lowly they may be – to the service of his divine Majesty” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, p. 214)

The Salesian tradition reminds us that great ways of keeping God’s commandments are rare; opportunities to display our love for God in remarkable ways are few and far between. By contrast, opportunities to love God and to keep his commandments in everyday, ordinary ways are legion. It is interesting to consider the possibility that it was St. Catherine’s ability to recognize – and to love – God in the midst of the mundane responsibilities and demands of everyday life that enabled her to recognize – and to love – God – in extraordinary ways!

How might we approach the ordinary tasks that will be part and parcel of our experience today?

 (May 5, 2026: Tuesday, Fifth Week of Easter)

“Peace I leave you; my peace I give you…”

In a conference to the Visitation Sisters, Francis de Sales observed:

“God wishes our care to be a calm and peaceful one as we proceed faithfully along the road marked out for us. As for the rest, we should rest in God’s fatherly care, trying as far as is possible to keep our soul at peace, for the place of God is in peace and in the peaceful and restful heart. You know that when the lake is very calm – and when the winds do not agitate its waters – on a very serene night the sky with all its stars is so perfectly reflected in the water that looking down into its depths the beauty of the heavens is as clearly visible as if we were looking up on high. So when our soul is perfectly calm, unstirred and untroubled by the winds of superfluous cares, unevenness of spirit and inconstancy it is very capable of reflecting in itself the image of Our Lord.” (Conference III, On Constancy, pp. 50-51)

Why were people able to see reflections of the Father in the person of his son, Jesus? Because in the depths of his soul – in his heart of hearts – Jesus managed to rest in his Father’s care. No matter what happened around him on any given day, Jesus was able to keep himself “calm, unstirred and untroubled”. If we are having trouble seeing reflections of that same Father in ourselves (or others), perhaps it is because we have some work to do in our own efforts to remain “calm, unstirred and untroubled” as we try to “proceed faithfully along the road marked out for us”.

(May 6, 2026: Wednesday, Fifth Week of Easter)

“Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit…”

From the perspective of St. Francis de Sales, the fruit that first comes to mind when hearing these words from Jesus is the most important fruit of all: charity or the love of God. Of course, this fruit-of-fruits is manifested in a whole host of ways. In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“The man who possesses charity has his soul clothed with a fair wedding garment which – like that of St. Joseph – is wrought over will all the various virtues. Moreover, it has a perfection which contains the virtue of all perfections and the perfection of all virtues. Hence, ‘charity is patient, is kind. Charity is not envious,’ but generous. ‘It is not pretentious,’ but prudent. ‘It is not puffed up’ with pride but is humble. ‘It is not ambitious’ or disdainful, but amiable and affable. It is not eager to exact ‘what belongs to it’ but is generous and helpful. ‘It is not provoked,’ but peaceful. It ‘thinks no evil’ but is meek. It ‘does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth’ and in the truth. ‘It suffers all things, believes all things’ that are said concerning good to it easily, without stubbornness, contention or distrust. It ‘hopes all’ good things for its neighbor without ever losing hope of procuring his salvation. ‘It endures all things,’ waiting without agitation for what is promised to it…” (TLG, Book XI, Chapter 8, p. 219)

How well do we remain in Jesus? Well, how patient and kind are we? How humble, amiable and affable are we? How meek, generous and humble are we? How truthful and hopeful are we? How patient and long-suffering are we?

Simply put, how much – and what kind of – fruit do we bear?

(May 7, 2026: Thursday, First Week of Easter)

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete…”

This debate outlined in the today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles puts us in touch with Francis de Sales’ perspective on two gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge and understanding.

The Gift of Knowledge

“This divine gift, however, has little to do with mere human learning. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge is essential if we are to make good and effective use of the previous two gifts, if we are to know how to behave towards the God we mean to fear and love. It is about being capable of discerning evil to be avoided and the good to be sought. As the prophet says, offend no more; rather, do what is good. And be at rest always.”

Mere human knowledge only enables us to know the difference between good and evil. Just hearing God’s word doesn’t guarantee the ability to follow it! The Spirit’s gift of knowledge, by contrast, actually enables us to turn away from what is evil and to put our hands to doing what is good.

Francis concludes with this observation.

“There have been saints, to be sure, who were wonderfully wise for all of their ignorance. There have been others, equally as certain, who have been wonderfully ignorant for all of their knowledge.”

Many practicing Jews – considered knowledgeable of the Law and Prophets – rejected Jesus. Many Gentiles – considered by these same Jews – to be ignorant of the Law and Prophets – accepted Jesus! Tough pill for some to swallow.

The Gift of Understanding

“Understanding is a special enlightenment that enables us to see and penetrate the beauty and perfection of the mysteries of faith. We may listen to sermons, we may read widely; yet we can remain ignorant of these divine mysteries if we lack the gift of understanding. A simple soul, open in prayer, may gain some insight into the mystery of the Blessed Trinity – not to explain it, but to draw from it some secret aspect that can save – because the Holy Spirit has bestowed the gift of understanding. I always maintain that if anyone loses his soul, it is for want of following such mysteries of the faith, for example: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs; blessed are the patient, they shall inherit the land. Who is awake to the beauty of these principles, however, except those whom the Holy Spirit enlightens?”

There is no substitute for the knowledge that helps us to grow in our understanding of the ways of the Lord. However, we must be careful not to allow knowledge to take the place of understanding - ultimately, this became the Achilles’ heel of many of the Jews of Jesus’ day. While Francis de Sales recognizes the need to know the difference between good and evil (and, by extension, to actually do good and to actually avoid evil), such knowledge only comes to full flowering when we demonstrate our understanding of God’s ways through our practice of the Beatitude,; that is, by being sources of blessing, happiness and joy in the lives of others!

Today, how will Jesus make our joy complete? By helping us to be sources – perhaps even signs and wonders - of joy in the lives of one another!

(Based upon a sermon preached by St. Francis de Sales on the feast of Pentecost, date unknown. Translation from Pulpit and Pew: A Study in Salesian Preaching. Vincent Kerns, MSFS.)

(May 8, 2026: Friday, Fifth Week of Easter)

“It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden...”

“Living Jesus” is not always easy. “Living Jesus” brings with it its share of difficulties and challenges. “Living Jesus” will certainly stretch us and challenge us to be more of the people that God calls us to be.

But one thing that “Living Jesus” is not supposed to be is burdensome.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“True devotion does us no harm whatsoever, but instead perfects all things. It not only doers no injury to one’s vocation or occupation, but on the contrary adorns and beautifies it. All kinds of precious stones take on greater luster when dipped into honey, each according to its color. In the same way every vocation becomes more agreeable when united with devotion. Care of one’s family is rendered more peaceable, love of husband and wife more sincere, service to one’s prince more faithful and every type of employment more pleasant and agreeable.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 3)

If your practice of devotion is weighing you down, you must be doing something wrong. If your attempts at “Living Jesus” make your everyday life more complicated, something’s not right. Perhaps you’re trying too hard. Or, worse yet, maybe you’re trying to “Live Jesus” all by yourself.

Take Jesus at his word! Go to him when you find life burdensome. Let him refresh you. Take up his yolk and learn from him, for he is meek and humble of heart. And you’ll find rest for your soul, for his yolk is easy, and his burden light.

And if you let him, Jesus might even put a spring in your step - today!

(May 9, 2026: Saturday, Fifth Week of Easter)

"No slave is greater than the master…”

Jesus seems to be saying, in effect, “Don’t even think about trying to be greater than I am.” Put another way, it certainly feels that Jesus is at least reminding us of our place, if not putting us in our place. But as Francis de Sales reminds us in his Treatise on the Love of God, the “place” that Jesus has in mind for us is anything but a put-down.

“You see how God by progressive stages filled with unutterable sweetness leads the soul forward and enables it to leave the Egypt of sin. God leads us from love to love, as from dwelling to dwelling, until He has made us enter into the Promised Land. By this I mean that He brings us into a most holy charity, which to state it succinctly, is a form of friendship and disinterested love, since by charity we love God for his own sake because of his most supremely pleasing goodness. Such friendship is true friendship, since it is reciprocal, for God has eternally loved all those who have loved him, now love him or will love him in time to come. It is manifested and recognized mutually: God cannot be ignorant of the love we have for Him since He himself has given it to us, while we cannot be ignorant of his love for us since He has made it so widely known and we on our part acknowledge that whatever good we possess is the true effect of his good will. In fine, we are in continual communication with Him and He never ceases to speak to our hearts by his inspirations, allurements and sacred movements. He never ceases to do us good or to give us every kind of proof as to his most holy affection. God has openly revealed all his secrets to us as to his closet friends.” (TLG, Book II, Chapter 22, pp. 160 – 161)

The bottom line is that we are already friends of God! Why would we need to be anything greater than that?

April 26 through May 2, 2026

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(April 26, 2026: Fourth Sunday of Easter)

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“If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God.”

We hear echoes of this first Letter of Peter in one of St. Jane de Chantal's exhortations to the members of her community, the Sisters of the Visitation. She remarked:

“Let us look to our Savior in the excess of his sufferings and the excess of his love. Let us keep our hearts always on these things, so that our divine Savior may communicate and give us the strength to suffer the things that his adorable hand may send us.” (Conferences, page 255)

How can our suffering ever compare with the suffering that Jesus experienced? If we are speaking about the suffering of the last day of his human life, there really is no comparison. However, if we consider the suffering that accompanies the efforts to suffer - that is, to bear with - others, we actually have a great deal more in common with Jesus' suffering than we might otherwise think.

Look at the word “suffering” itself. Suffering is not only about “putting up” with something difficult, harmful or painful. Suffering comes from the Latin sufferre, meaning, “to carry, to bear, to give birth…or life.”

Made in the image and likeness of God, redeemed by the love of Christ and inspired by the Spirit, we all have a responsibility to carry - to live our lives for others. We are called to carry the responsibility to love one another, to help one another, to challenge one another, to heal one another, to forgive one another and to encourage one another. Children of God, brothers and sisters of Christ, we carry the burdens and inconveniences that come with living lives of generous service.

In short, we are called to live as Jesus lived……and to carry, to bear with whatever may come with that life choice. “It was for this that you were called, since Christ suffered for you and left you an example, to have you follow in his footsteps.”

St. Jane clearly recognized the suffering, the inconvenience, the stretching that living for others will bring:

“We must have a large heart toward our neighbor, which means in affection, love and help, being ever ready to serve, to assist, to comfort, bear with and support in every way in our power, but cheerfully and cordially. A large heart is a heart ready for all sorts of inconveniences, an open heart that loves before all things the will of God.” (Conferences, page 174)

This is God's will for us - that we should not endure a suffering that leads to death, but a suffering that leads, as St. Jane observed, “to a new life, in God's grace and in God's love, in this world, and then forever in glory…,” the suffering that comes from bearing with - carrying - one another in love. (Conferences, page 117 - 118) Or, as St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, (4:2) let us live a life worthy of our calling, being completely humble and gentle, bearing with one another lovingly.

Today and every day!

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(April 27, 2026: Monday, Fourth Week of Easter)

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“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold…”

Jesus wants us to “have life, and to have it to the full” (John 10:10). That’s why Jesus cares so much for us. That’s why Jesus is the good shepherd who loves us so much that he is willing to lay down his life for us.

And lay down his life is exactly what the Good Shepherd did!

But the people saved by the Good Shepherd are not some exclusive club. There is no “in” group or “out” group when it comes to God’s love. Whether of his “fold” or not, Jesus lays down his life for everyone. Note that he says: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Truth be told, all of us are members of Jesus’ flock. Truth be told, Jesus is for all of us – without exception – our one, Good Shepherd.

Just today, how might we listen to the voice of this Shepherd in ourselves and in one another?

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(April 28, 2026: Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter)

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"He rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart...”

Firmness - or strength - of heart is an invaluable asset in the pursuit of devotion, especially as we deal with the ups and downs of daily life. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“We must try to keep our heart steadily, unshakably equal during the great variety and inequality of daily events. Even though everything turns and changes around us, our hearts must remain unchanging and ever looking, striving and aspiring toward God.” (IDL, Book IV, Chapter 13, p. 256)

A little further along in this chapter, Francis de Sales makes a distinction between tenderness of heart and firmness of heart. He continues:

“Some men think about God’s goodness and our Savior’s passion, feel great tenderness of heart, and are thus aroused to utter sighs, tears and prayers, and acts of thanksgiving so ardently that we say that their hearts have been filled with intense devotion. But when a test comes, we see how different things can get. Just as in the hot summer passing showers send down drops that fall on the earth but do not sink into it and serve only to produce mushrooms, so also these tender tears may fall on a vicious heart but do not penetrate and are therefore completely useless to it.” (IDL, Book IV, Chapter 13, pp. 257-258)

With respect to tenderness of heart and firmness of heart, both have their place in the pursuit of holiness. Tenderness of heart can help us to enjoy the good times; firmness of heart can help us get through the tough times.

What kind of heart might you need to have today?

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(April 29: Catherine of Siena, Virgin & Doctor of the Church)

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“His commandment is eternal life…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Many men keep the commandments in the same way that sick men take medicine – more from fear of dying in damnation than for the joy of living according to our Savior’s will. Just as some people dislike taking medicine – no matter how pleasant it may be – simply because it is called medicine, so there are some souls who hold in horror things commanded simply because they are commanded. On the contrary, a loving heart loves the commandments. The more difficult they are the sweeter sand more agreeable it finds them since this more perfectly pleases the beloved and gives him greater honor. It pours forth and sings hymns of joy when God teaches it his commandments. The pilgrim who goes on his way joyously singing adds the labor of singing to that of walking, and yet by this increase of labor he actually lessens his weariness and lightens the hardship of the journey. In like manner the devout lover finds such sweetness in the commandments that nothing in this mortal life comforts and refreshes him so much as the precious burdens of God’s precepts.” (TLG, Book XIII, Chapter 5, pp. 67-68)

In this observation from Francis de Sales, we can hear the echo of Jesus’ words from Matthew 11: 29 – 30: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.”

Seeing the commandments of God as strong medicine that cures our sickness can surely weigh us down, but seeing the commandments of God as that which keep us healthy can surely lift us up.

How will you see – and experience – God’s commandments today - as burden or bounty?

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(April 30, 2026: Thursday, Fourth Week of Easter)

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“Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.”

In his Conference on Three Spiritual Laws, Francis de Sales remarked:

“Never was there a time when people studied as they do now. Those great Saints (Augustine, Gregory and Hilary whose feast we are keeping today!) and many others did not study much. They could not have done so, writing as many books as they did, preaching and discharging all the other duties of their office. They had, however, such great confidence in God and in God’s grace that they neither placed their dependence nor their trust in their own skill or labor, so that all the great works which they did were done purely by means of their reliance on God’s grace and almighty power. ‘It is You, O Lord,’ they said, ‘Who gives us the work and it for you that we work. It is You who will bless our labors and give us a rich harvest.’ Therefore, their books and their sermons bore marvelous fruit. By contrast, we who trust in our fine words, in our eloquent language and in our knowledge labor for that which ends up in smoke. We yield no fruit other than vanity.” (Conference VII, pages 116-117)

It is healthy to remind ourselves that however much good we may manage to accomplish today, it is God ‘who gives us the work.’ It is God who helps us to work. It is God who will bring His work in us to completion. In so doing, what we do gives witness to the goodness of the Lord at work in us and at work among us.

Together, let us sing the goodness of the Lord! But don’t stop there! Together, let us do – and be – the goodness of the Lord in the lives of one another today!

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(May 1, 2026: Joseph the Worker)

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In response to the annual “May Day” celebrations (which invariably included fearsome displays of military might) for the International Solidarity of Workers observed by the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955 as a kind of Catholic expression of its own “Cold War” with atheistic Communism.

“The liturgy for this feast vindicates the right to work, and this is a message that needs to be heard and heeded in our modern society. In many of the documents issued by Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II, reference is made to the Christian spirit that should permeate one's work, after the example of St. Joseph. In addition to this, there is a special dignity and value to the work done in caring for the family. The Office of Readings contains an excerpt from the Vatican II document on the modern world: ‘Where men and women, in the course of gaining a livelihood for themselves and their families, offer appropriate service to society, they can be confident that their personal efforts promote the work of the Creator, confer benefits on their fellowmen, and help to realize God's plan in history.’” (http://www.passionistnuns.org/Saints/StJosephWorker/index.htm)

Of course, associating Joseph with the dignity of human work and enterprise was not solely a creation of the 20th Century. The Gospel itself identifies Jesus’ foster father as a carpenter, an artisan who needed to know as much about working with people as he did woodworking in order to provide for himself and his family. Therefore, Jesus is subsequently described as “the son of a carpenter” – not as a putdown, but rather as recognition of a “hands-on” profession that garnered no small modicum of respect.

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“Oh, how faithful was the great Saint of whom we are speaking! Words fail when we try to express the perfection of his fidelity, for consider in what poor estate and abjection he lived throughout his entire life. With what great virtue and dignity he concealed within himself this same poverty and abjection! What a dignity to be the guardian of Our Lord, and not only that, but to be even His reputed father, to be the husband of His most holy Mother! Truly, I doubt not that the Angels, wondering and adoring, came thronging in countless multitudes to that simple workshop to admire the humility of him who guarded that dear and divine Child, and labored at his carpenter’s trade to support the Son and th4e Mother, who were committed to his care. (XIX, The Virtues of St. Joseph, pp. 365-366, 372-373)

It isn’t a stretch to suggest that Jesus’ ability to work with people of all stripes – and in particular, his being comfortable with common, ordinary, everyday working people – was a direct result of values and skills that he learned from his foster father.

Just this day what might St. Joseph teach us regarding the skills and virtues we need to build some of the most important things of all: loving and lasting relationships with others?

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 (May 2, 2026: Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church)

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“The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit…”

One of the manifestations of living life in the Spirit is happiness and joy. In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“The virtue of cheerfulness requires that we should contribute to holy and temperate joy and to pleasant conversation, which may serve as a consolation and recreation to our neighbor so as to not weary and annoy him with our knit brows and melancholy faces…” (Conference IV, OnCordiality, Book IV, p. 59)

In a letter to St. Jane de Chantal written not long after their first encounter during the Lenten mission that he preached, Francis specifically cites the relationship between joy and religious liberty:

“No loss or lack can sadden one whose heart is perfectly free. I am not saying that it is impossible for such a person to lose his joy, but it will not be for long…” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 71)

In a letter to a young novice who attempted to live the life of a Benedictine sister (but who subsequently left the convent) Francis de Sales underscored the importance of being joyful…or, at least, of trying to be:

“Go on joyfully and with your heart as open and widely trustful as possible; if you cannot always be joyful, at least be brave and confident.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 46)

It’s no accident that we as Christians frequently refer to the term “Easter joy”. The power of the Resurrection – and the gifts of the Spirit that flow from it– should go a long way in helping us to be – among other things – joyful! Life being what it is, however, we aren’t always joyful people. When we find it tough to be joyful, let’s do our best to at least be brave and confident.

And perhaps even find joy in that!

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April 19 through April 25, 2026

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(April 19, 2026: Third Sunday of Easter)

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“They recounted how they had come to know him in the breaking of the bread.”

“Two disciples were making their way to a village named Emmaus. In the midst of their lively exchange, Jesus approached and began to walk along with them.”

We know that during most of this seven-mile walk with Jesus, the two disciples failed to recognize the true identity of their traveling companion. It was not until they were seated at table with him - and Jesus broke and shared bread with them - that their eyes were finally opened.

What was it about such a simple act that enabled them to recognize Jesus? Undoubtedly, it reminded them of that powerful moment that directly preceded Christ's betrayal, passion and death: the Last Supper. In addition, it may have reminded them of countless experiences of table fellowship with Jesus and the other disciples: simple, personal and intimate opportunities to understand more about Jesus' - and their own - identity. The ordinary - but profound - act of breaking and sharing bread had become for them a gateway to experiencing the divine precisely in the midst of everyday, human events. On an even broader scale, it may have reminded them of the experience of communion and community that they experienced with Jesus and their fellow travelers throughout all the ups, downs and in-betweens of living, learning and loving together.

The connection of this story to the Church's eventual understanding of communion was not lost on St. Francis de Sales. In his book entitled On the Preacher and Preaching, he wrote: "It is certain that since our Lord is really within us, he gives us brightness, for he is the light. After the disciples at Emmaus had communicated, 'their eyes were opened.'" (page 26) In our celebration as we gather around the table of the Lord, we are challenged to see both how Christ is present in the Eucharist and how Christ is present in us.

Still, we need to expand our notion of communion in order to more deeply understand the meaning of this scene in the Gospel. Jesus is especially present whenever there is table fellowship; He is embodied whenever people allow themselves to be broken and shared with - and for - others. Jesus is seen whenever people focus more on what brings them together and less upon those things that would drive them apart.

When we break bread with others - literally or figuratively - the ongoing power and promise of the risen Christ is made manifest to us. When we choose to break ourselves open to nourish and feed others, we embody in our own day and age something of the same Jesus who companioned these two disciples so long ago.

Two questions to consider today might be:

·        Do we recognize Jesus in our attempts to feed others?

·        Do we recognize Jesus when others attempt to do the same for us?

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(April 20, 2026: Monday of the Third Week of Easter)

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“Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord...”

In today’s Gospel the question is asked of Jesus, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” The answer is found in the antiphon to today’s Responsorial Psalm: “Follow the law of the Lord.”

What does it look like when we follow the law of the Lord? In the mind of St. Francis de Sales, the answer is: “Living a life of devotion.”

“Devotion is simply that spiritual agility and vivacity by which charity works in us or by the aid of which we work quickly and lovingly. Just as the function of charity is to enable us to observe all of God’s commandments (the law of the Lord) in general and without exception, so it is the part of devotion to enable us to observe them more quickly and diligently.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

Devotion enables us to follow the law of the Lord. Devotion enables us “to do quickly and lovingly as many good works as possible, both those commanded and those merely counseled or inspired.”(Ibid) Such devotion enables us to experience the blessings of life for ourselves; this same devotion enables us to be a blessing in the lives of others.

Today, might we follow the law of the Lord?

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(April 21, 2026: Tuesday, Third Week of Easter)

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“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?”

Jesus was constantly bombarded with requests for signs. People were constantly looking for reasons to put their faith in Jesus, but they wanted him to perform wonders and miracles in order to be convinced. During his ministry, Jesus gave people more than enough signs for believing in him. Unfortunately, those signs fell on the deaf ears, blind eyes and hard hearts of people who were basically saying to Jesus: “Sure, but what have you done for me lately?”

Aren’t we sometimes guilty of asking God for a favor, a sign or a wonder in order that we might really, really believe in him? Notwithstanding God’s proven track record of mercy and generosity in our regard, aren’t we sometimes guilty of saying to God, in effect: “Sure, but what have you done for me lately?”

What remedy can we apply to the temptation of constantly asking God for signs in order that we might believe in him? How about asking the question, “What signs can we do in order that others may see and believe in him?” How can we live our lives in ways that help others to believe in God? Rather than asking for signs, we should be asking to be signs in other people’s lives!

What have we done for God – or others – lately?

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(April 22, 2026: Wednesday, Third Week of Easter)

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“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger or thirst…”

 Ia a letter of spiritual direction (dated August 24, 1613), Francis de Sales wrote:

“As your heart continues receiving its Savior more often (in Communion) it would also continue being more perfectly converted to him. During the twenty-five years that I have been serving souls, experience has given me an insight into the all-powerful virtue of the Divine Sacrament for confirming hearts in the way of goodness, preserving them from evil, consoling them, and in a word, making them god-like in this world, provided that they are moved by a right faith, by purity and devotion.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, Chapter 29, pp. 215)

Jesus is the bread of life. Whoever comes to him – whoever receives him – will never hunger. Whoever believes in him – whoever receives him – will never thirst with, perhaps, one exception.

The hunger and thirst to follow Jesus’ example in doing what is good!

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(April 23, 2026: Thursday, Third Week of Easter)

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“How can I understand…unless someone instructs me?”

This question raised in the today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles puts us in touch with Francis de Sales’ perspective on two gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge and understanding.

The Gift of Knowledge

“This divine gift, however, has little to do with mere human learning. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge is essential if we are to make good and effective use of the previous two gifts, if we are to know how to behave towards the God we mean to fear and love. It is about being capable of discerning evil to be avoided and the good to be sought. As the prophet says, offend no more; rather, do what is good. And be at rest always.”

Mere human knowledge only enables us to know the difference between good and evil. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge, by contrast, actually enables us to turn away from what is evil and to put our hands to doing what is good.

Francis concludes with this observation:

“There have been saints, to be sure, who were wonderfully wise for all of their ignorance. There have been others, equally as certain, who have been wonderfully ignorant for all of their knowledge.”

The Gift of Understanding

“Understanding is a special enlightenment that enables us to see and penetrate the beauty and perfection of the mysteries of faith. We may listen to sermons, we may read widely; yet we can remain ignorant of these divine mysteries if we lack the gift of understanding. A simple soul, open in prayer, may gain some insight into the mystery of the Blessed Trinity – not to explain it, but to draw from it some secret aspect that can save – because the Holy Spirit has bestowed the gift of understanding. I always maintain that if anyone loses his soul, it is for want of following such mysteries of the faith, for example: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs; blessed are the patient, they shall inherit the land. Who is awake to the beauty of these principles, however, except those whom the Holy Spirit enlightens?”

There is no substitute for the knowledge that helps us to grow in our understanding of the ways of the Lord. However, we must be careful not to allow knowledge to take the place of understanding. While Francis de Sales recognizes the need to know the difference between good and evil (and, by extension, to actually do good and to actually avoid evil), such knowledge only comes to full flowering when we demonstrate our understanding of God’s ways through our practice of the Beatitudes.

Understand?

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(April 24, 2026: Friday, Third Week of Easter)

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“Who are you?”

This question that Saul raises after falling to the ground and hearing a voice speaking to him is immortalized in our culture by Pete Townsend (and the group “The Who”) as the name of both an album and a song that débuted in 1978. The song raising this question “Who are you?” is also the theme to the CBS TV hit series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Setting aside the Top 40 charts and the Nielsen Ratings, the question that Saul asks of Jesus is worth being directed at each and every one of us: “Who – are – you?” Francis de Sales answers the question by asking us to consider the following:

·        “Consider that a certain number of years ago you were not yet in the world and that your present being was truly nothing.”

·        “Consider that God has drawn you out of nothingness to make you what you are now and he has done so solely out of his own goodness.”

·        “Consider the nature that God has given to you. It is the highest in this visible world and is capable of eternal life and of being perfectly united to his Divine majesty.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 9, pp. 53-54)

Who are you? You are someone created by God. You are someone called to grow in union with God in this world. You are someone destined for eternal life in the next world. Most importantly, you are someone loved by God.

Just today what steps can you take to be the very best version of the person God calls you to be?

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(April 25, 2026: Mark, Evangelist)

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“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…”

Humility is one of the great hallmarks of the Salesian tradition. It is one of two qualities that Jesus used to describe himself. Obviously, then, our attempts to practice humility help us in our efforts to imitate Christ, to “Live + Jesus”.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Many men neither wish nor dare to think over and reflect on the particular graces God has shown them because they are afraid that this might arouse vainglory and self-complacence. In so doing they deceive themselves. Since the true means to attain to love of God is consideration of God’s benefits, the more we know about them the more we shall love them. Nothing can so effectively humble us before God’s mercy as the multitude of his benefits and nothing can so deeply humble us before his justice as our countless offenses against him. Let us consider what he has done for us and what we have done against him, and as we reflect on our sins one by one let us also consider his graces one by one. There is no need to fear that knowledge of his gifts will make us proud if only we remember this truth: none of the good in us comes from ourselves. A lively consideration of graces received makes us humble because knowledge of them begets gratitude for them.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 5, pp. 134-135)

To humble ourselves does include acknowledging our sins, weaknesses and deficiencies. Unfortunately, many of us stop there. True humility challenges us to name not only our sins but also to name God’s graces. True humility challenges us to count not only our weaknesses but also to count God’s blessings. True humility challenges us to acknowledge not only our littleness but also to acknowledge our greatness.

In the end, the Salesian practice of humility has far less to do with putting ourselves down and a great deal more to do with remembering how God continues to raise us up. The Almighty has done great things for us; holy is his name and humble is our name!

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