As the Christmas season draws to a close, the Church leads us to the Jordan River—quiet, dusty, and crowded with sinners seeking a new beginning. And there, astonishingly, we find Jesus. The sinless One stands among the broken, the weary, the repentant. He joins the line of those longing for mercy, not because He needs cleansing, but because we do.
Continue reading “Stepping Into the Water With Us”
John’s words in 1 John 4:11–18 draw us back to the very heart of the Christian life: love. Not the fragile, shifting kind we often encounter in the world, but the steady, self-giving love that begins in God and flows through us. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.” It’s both a command and a revelation. We love because we have first been loved.
Continue reading “Remaining in the Love That Remains in Us”
The Incarnation is not a poetic idea or a distant doctrine. It is God choosing to step directly into the grit and beauty of human life—into families with tensions, bodies that grow tired, communities that misunderstand, and days that don’t go as planned. Jesus didn’t come to float above real life; He came to inhabit it so that we could learn how to make sense of our own.
Continue reading “When God Stepped Into Real Life”
A new year always arrives with big expectations—fresh starts, bold goals, the pressure to “finally get it right.” But what if the most transformative resolution we could make is surprisingly simple? What if this year we chose, above all else, is to develop the habit of becoming friends with God?
Continue reading “Begin the Year as a Friend of God”
There’s a line from an old hymn I prayed recently in the Divine Office that has been echoing in my heart lately:
Continue reading “Letting God Steady Our Day”
Last night, I stood in the backyard looking at the moonlight shining on my house and the twinkle of the Christmas lights through the window. Their soft glow felt almost like a benediction of tiny, trembling prayers strung across branches and the banister. The Christmas tree lights still shimmer in the early January dusk, as if the world is reluctant to let go of this season of brightness.
Continue reading “One Last Look at the Lights”
The Feast of the Epiphany yesterday is a reminder that God is always revealing himself—often quietly, often unexpectedly, always with love. The Magi didn’t stumble into Bethlehem by accident. They saw something, however faint or distant, and they chose to follow. Their journey began with a glimpse of God’s light, and that was enough to set their lives in motion. Wise men still seek Him.
Continue reading “When We Seek God, We Find Him”
Epiphany is the feast of seekers—of those who sense there is more to life than what they can see, measure, or control. The Magi remind us that the honest search for truth never ends in mere understanding. It leads us to worship.
Continue reading “Epiphany: For All Who Still Seek the Light”
There is power in being named—and even more power in the One whose Name claims us. Saint Paul reminds us, “You have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 6:11).
Continue reading “Celebrating the Name Above All Names”
A Gentle Examen for the New Year
Every so often, the Spirit nudges us to pause, not to judge ourselves harshly, but to look honestly at the shape of our lives. Are we living in a way that reflects the One we claim to follow? Are our habits, our reactions, our desires slowly being formed into the life of Christ?
Continue reading “Are We Living the Life of Christ?”
Smitten With Goodness 