So, have you ever felt like you are going to die after you get a paper cut or stub your toe? Me too. But blessed Chiara Luce Badano, a contemporary teenage saint of the church, teaches us how to have joy amid suffering. She contracted a rare form of cancer as a teenager. But amid her suffering, she knew that Jesus had already won in her heart, and she did not have to be afraid.
Today, we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, the church saying, no, you have to be joyful. Even if your life sucks, you can still choose joy. We know and are convicted as Christians that Jesus Christ has won. Pope Francis said joy is the air we breathe as Christians, no matter what happens. You can have joy because Jesus has claimed us. My favorite thing that blessed Chiara said was, I’m going to die, but I still have my heart. And with that, I can love.
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King Herod
So I’m not sure if I can say this as a priest, but King Herod sucks. In the Gospel today, King Herod is evil. He is Voldemort, he is Thanos, he is the Mind Flayer all rolled into one. All he wants to do is control everything, the Jewish people, the Roman government, even to control the God of the universe, even to the point of wanting to kill…
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Against The Grain
Okay, so fish are fascinating. Did you know that salmon swim upstream for almost 2,000 miles every year? This is insane. This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, and the family are like fish always swimming upstream. No matter what is going on in the culture, no matter what is happening in the world, the family is always being counter-cultural, going against the grain, bringing life, and providing…
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Shining Light in the Dark
So why does Batman only come out at night? Because that’s when the criminals come out. You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Criminals prefer working in the darkness rather than the light. And so in the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says, “The light came into the world, “but people prefer darkness to the light.” The reality is that we are all criminals. We love to keep…
