We Catholics are like the Holy Trinity, many members making up one big family with all its shared blessings and responsibilities. 

Today we pray that the driving wind of God and the gentle breath of Christ would come our way once more.

We were all anointed at our baptism. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit, we have all been set apart to bear witness to Christ.  But the Holy Spirit needs us to say “yes” to his offer of assistance, and that’s up to us.

“There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Christ loved us so much that he gave his life for us. There is no more convincing evidence of friendship.

Our lives need to be properly aligned, because our actions need to match our words. 

The voice of the Good Shepherd is the voice we want to recognize in the din of our culture today.

Spiritual makeovers begin and end in our faith of the Risen Lord. It takes trust in Jesus to make necessary changes in our lives; it takes a humble yielding of control of our lives to Christ to bring about a graceful transformation.

On Divine Mercy Sunday, let’s heed the prayerful advice of St. Faustina, who gave us this beautiful, simple prayer: Jesus, I trust in you!

Today, we rejoice that in Christ, hope really does spring eternal because in Christ there really are no dead ends, no permanent burial grounds in our lives, no insurmountable obstacles to overcome, no mountains too high to climb.

The story of Jesus’ passion is a story of faithful love in the midst of human suffering.

Jesus speaks in the gospel today about a single grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, but then bears much fruit. And as it turns out, Jesus is that grain of wheat.

During this season of Lent, Christ invites us to come into the Light and to live in the Light of the Lord.

To be human is to get angry from time to time. But to be fully human is to manage and channel that anger properly.

Sometimes we catch a glimpse of just how God sees another person.

Today’s gospel invites all of us to enter into our deserts with a measure of confidence because Christ has been there before us and will be with us every step of the way.

Jesus does not shun the leper and neither should we. Jesus is moved with compassion to extend a welcoming hand to lepers and to offer healing and reconciliation to them, and so should we.

Why do bad things happen to good people? In all honesty, there is no satisfying answer to this perplexing question.

Demons are not relics of the past. They are the devils that harass all of us -- trying steer us in the wrong direction, tempting us and fooling us into thinking their way is better, easier, sweeter than God’s way. The only power that makes demons go away and flee is the power of Christ’s love – so we have to stay as close to Christ as we can get.

For Catholics, conversion is not a one-time event -- it is an extended process, a pilgrimage, a lifelong sacred journey. At any moment and at every moment, Christ is calling us to a change of heart and a conversion of attitude and behavior.

Is God still calling us today? Our faith tells us yes, there are times when the Lord speaks to us directly and personally. When the Lord calls us in his own quiet way to do something for him, he wants us to respond with a listening heart and if we do, things will never be the same.