What an amazing experience it must have been for Peter, James and John to witness an event few humans can imagine – the glory of Jesus! And yet we experience a similar miracle at every Mass as the glory of Jesus is shown to us in the Eucharist. The three Apostles didn’t take their experience for granted. Why should we?

Let our trust craft a transfiguration bridge that connects us to God and to one another. Become catchers of broken lives! Be spiritual companions in making shattered lives be whole again. In God we trust!

As we begin the season of Lent, we join Jesus in the desert where he is tempted by the devil in three ways, each representing the same three tactics he commonly uses for us today. Can you identify the three?

LENT is here! It started last ASH WEDNESDAY by the imposition of ashes on our foreheads in the form of a Cross. The Cross on our forehead isn’t an amulet; it’s a reminder that God is alive in our hearts. We need the Cross to clean our hearts, and we need our hearts to love the Cross. At times, when we promise something, we always say: “Cross my heart!” In short, I describe LENT as #crossme-lovemeforgiveme season!

Ash Wednesday, March 6th Is a day of Fasting and Abstinence

Imagine that you and Jesus are standing in today’s Gospel reading under a fruit tree, loaded with ripening fruit. Jesus points to the fruit and says, “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit . . .every tree is known by its fruit.” In prayer, ask Jesus to show you areas where you are not bearing good fruit—perhaps in your friendships or family life or in your moral life.

Jesus’ words are expressed in one word: “reconciliation.” Reconciliation erases the wooden beam in your own eyes, and wipes off the splinter in your brother’s eye. In the spirit of healing, it works this way: be reconciled with your self first – simply put, accept your fault, even though how painful it is. Then, in good conscience, you can bravely face the person whom you have hurt, and honestly say, “I am sorry, please forgive me!” And at the end, both of you, the offender and the offended are able to live a reconciled and reconciling way of life.

When someone tells you: “Do good to those who hate you; bless those who cursed you; forgive the one who ruined your dignity”, your answer might be: “IMPOSSIBLE!... But there’s nothing impossible with God.

Take a moment now and close your eyes. Imagine that you are with the disciples as Jesus begins to talk. You hear him say, “To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” What is your immediate reaction to hearing these things? In what ways is this teaching challenging for you?

Imagine yourself sitting at the feet of Jesus when he gave the Beatitudes. Hear him say that the rich and satisfied will be unhappy. Hear him offer a path of true happiness through humble obedience and faith. Do you accept this humble path?

"The BEATITUDES are blue print to holiness. They are our “identity card” as they reflect what we can become: A HOLY person or an EVIL one! There are two divisions of the BEATITUDES: “blessings” and “woes.”

Simon Peter had been up all night fishing unsuccessfully, but Jesus tells him to go out and try one more time. It’s easy to imagine how a seasoned fisherman like Simon Peter might resist the suggestion. But, in the end, he agrees. Perhaps he didn’t expect to catch anything. So we can imagine his surprise when his obedience yields more than he could possibly imagine. In that, we have an important lesson.

TRUST is Simon Peter’s response to Jesus; he said: “ Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets”. TRUST is Jesus’ tribute to Simon Peter’s faith-fullness; he said: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth to give a homily in the synagogue. At first, everyone is impressed. But then Jesus takes on the tone of a prophet and his hometown friends take offense, even inhibiting the ability of Jesus to effectively minister there. What lesson might we learn from this event?

We have been successful last year as we went beyond our 2018DDF Goal. From my heart, I say sincerely: “Thank you for your harmonious cooperation and extravagant generosity!” I am praying that this year’s 2019DDF Campaign, you will render again such fascinating visual of charitable action.

Luke’s Gospel recounts the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry as He returns “in the power of the Holy Spirit” to Nazareth and stands up in the synagogue to read from the prophet Isaiah. There Isaiah declares that the Spirit of the Lord has commissioned him to announce good news to the poor, news of release from captivity, recovery of sight for the blind, liberty to the oppressed—all in all, a year “of the Lord’s favor.” The Old Testament called this celebration the Year of Jubilee. Jesus applied that passage to himself as a new beginning for Israel. He is the one who launches the Jubilee Year for all who will hear Him.

Today energized by the Gospel of Life, let us “proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” by boldly saying: “YES to LIFE, no to death! LIFE is sacred!”

Mary’s words at the wedding feast at Cana - “Do whatever he tells you” - offers two examples of prompt obedience and Christian discipleship. May Mary’s words encourage us to show our trust in Jesus by promptly obeying him in all things, filling our “jars to the brim” in whatever he may ask of us.

What gifts do you have? Each one has a special gift. That gift might be the gift of singing, reading, evangelizing, cooking, best mother and wife, best father and husband, best friend, best neighbor, best parishioner, etc. Gifts that are placed in your hearts by God; and gifts that are important to our parish, for the Church, for the diocese and to the world.

On this first Sunday of Ordinary Time, we recall the Baptism of the Lord. But, in addition to remembering this historical event, we also are asked to call to mind our own baptism. Why? Because our baptism isn’t just an event from the past, but a present reality that impacts every aspect of our lives.