Parish Blog

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus touches our most human concerns through three comparisons: the treasure, the pearl, and the net, as if to tell us that it would be the height of folly not to choose the best when it is within our reach. What is most valuable is the happiness we will have in heaven forever!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Jesus teaches that God’s kingdom resembles a farmer who plants good seed, only to have an enemy sow weeds among the wheat. When the servants ask to pull up the weeds, the farmer refuses, fearing they’ll uproot the wheat as well, and instead commands that both grow together until harvest, when the weeds will be burned and the wheat gathered into the barn. (Matt 13: 24-43)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last week, I presented a brief teaching on the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity— because they “inform all the moral virtues and give life to them.” (CCC,1841)

The Church teaches that these virtues are not merely human motivation. They are “infused by God into the souls of the faithful,” so that we can act as God’s children and “merit eternal life.” (CCC,1813)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the life of faith, there are gifts that do not simply help us “manage” the spiritual journey—they guide it. St. Paul teaches that faith, hope, and love abide, and that “the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). Pope St. John Paul II describes these virtues “like three stars” that rise in the sky of our spiritual life to lead us to God, forming a “triptych” whose apex is love (agape). (Pope St. John Paul II’s General Audience, Nov 22, 2000)