Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, “I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever.” We need to give thanks to God today. Today is the day for thanksgiving, and tomorrow, and every day. Far too easily we can fall into the trap of enjoying God’s gifts today and putting off giving thanks to some theoretical future day. It is as if we forget the gift-giver entirely. We should rejoice immediately upon receiving a gift, thank the giver, and give thanks for our relationship with the giver, too! Every moment of our lives is a gift from God; why make excuses and put off our thanks

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, “The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal.” The Book of Sirach gives us good advice for how we ought to relate to God. We are reminded subtly that Fear of the Lord is a gift from God—a Gift of the Holy Spirit. We ought to tremble in God’s presence as recognize our smallness in comparison to God’s majesty. Humility and awe in His presence will lead us to recognize our need for God’s mercy and inspire us to proper gratitude for the gifts we receive, especially the gift of the forgiveness of our sins. The tax collector in our G

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, In the immortal words of Pat Benatar, “Love is a battlefield.” In the same way that a strong marriage will withstand the trials and tribulations of time, so too our relationship with God demands fidelity and firm resolve to hold strong to Him Who loves us. “The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life.” Psalm 121 reminds us that God will defend us as long as we cling to Him. Our spiritual life is a battlefield; wandering into enemy territory is deadly! In our first reading we see Moses embodying the support of prayer in our earthly battles. As Joshua fights the army of Amalek, Moses prays on the mountaintop with his arms uprai

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, “The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.” Our Psalm response this Sunday seems common-sense to our modern ears, but it can be good for us to remember how revolutionary such a broad-minded idea was in Old Testament times. In the ancient world, each tribe had their own private gods, and battle between tribes was often interpreted as a battle between the gods of those tribes. A victorious army of Carthage might give praise to Marduk for their victory, but when the Romans conquered Carthage, Marduk was displaced, and worship of Jupiter took its place. In many ways, local religions were to ancient peoples much like modern sports fandom

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'” Jesus challenges us with these words in Sunday’s Gospel passage. Are we doing only the bare minimum in our relationship with Christ and His Church? Are we motivated by a sense of begrudging obligation, faithful attention to our duties, or love of Christ? Our response to this question reveals much of the disposition of our hearts. It will also reveal how we go about our lives as Christians. If our hearts are not in it, our practice of the faith will be dull, uninspired, and uninspiring. But are we satisfied with being