Image. Render Unto God (2026-10-18, Sunday 29th)

 [ver_11]   29^th Sunday _Year A  ● ●    October 18, 2026    ● ● Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 ● Psalm 96 ● 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b ●  Matthew 22:15-21  ●   ●

1. Whose Image? Whose Loyalty?

In today's Gospel, Jesus is asked whether it is lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar.

Jesus asks to see a coin and then asks, "Whose image is this?"  

If we were to modernize that question, we might say that Jesus is asking a question about brand loyalty.

Who are you loyal to?

Sometimes we almost define ourselves by the car we drive, the clothes we wear, or the phone we carry in our pocket.

Are you an Apple person or an Android person?

There's nothing wrong with having a favorite brand or product.

But Jesus isn't simply asking about commercial or corporate loyalty. He's asking something much more personal.

Who are we really loyal to? Who do we really follow?

And the first reading and the Gospel give us two interesting examples of political authority—and remind us that our ultimate loyalty belongs to God.

2. Cyrus and Caesar — Earthly Authority Has Limits

In the first reading, from Isaiah, we hear about Cyrus, the king of Persia.

The Jewish people had been carried off into exile in Babylon. Cyrus conquered Babylon and permitted them to return to their homeland.

What's remarkable is that Cyrus was not one of the people of Israel. Yet God worked through him to accomplish something good for his people.

In fact, Isaiah describes Cyrus as the Lord's anointed.

God was working through someone the people might never have expected.

Now, several centuries later, in today's Gospel, the Jewish people are living in their homeland, but under Roman authority.

And Jesus is asked a politically dangerous question:

"Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"

It's a trap.  If Jesus says not to pay the tax, he risks being accused of opposing Rome. If he says to pay it, he risks alienating people who resent Roman occupation.

But Jesus doesn't fall into their trap.

He asks them to identify the image on the coin.

"Caesar's," they answer.

And Jesus responds:

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

We have responsibilities in this world, including civic and financial responsibilities. But those responsibilities never replace our ultimate obligation to God.

Caesar's authority has limits.

Cyrus was not God. Caesar was not God. And no political leader can take God's place.

3. God's Image — Even in Those Who Do Not Forgive Us

But Jesus' question about the coin leads us to an even more important question.

Caesar's image is on the coin.

Whose image is on you and me?

In Genesis chapter one, we read that God created human beings in his own image and likeness.

The coin bears Caesar's image. But you and I bear God's image.

And if we bear God's image, then giving God what belongs to God means more than fulfilling certain religious obligations.

It means offering ourselves to God through the way we live.

And here's something important.

Not only are you and I created in God's image. Every other person is created in God's image as well.

Everyone in this church is made in God's image. Even people we don't know are made in God's image.

And I'm sorry to say—or perhaps sorry to admit to myself—that sometimes even the people I don't like are made in God's image.

Even the person who has caused me great difficulty is made in God's image.

Even the person I find difficult to forgive is made in God's image.

Even the person who refuses to forgive me is made in God's image.

That can be a difficult truth to accept.

Sometimes it seems easier to remain angry at someone or to hold on to resentment.

But then we remember Jesus' words:

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

We don't have to agree with everyone. We don't have to approve of everything someone says or does.

But we are called to recognize God's image in them.

Saint Paul reminds us that love is patient and love is kind.

And sometimes loving another person means taking up our cross.

4. The Cross — Our Personal Response to God's Love

Jesus told his disciples that following him would mean taking up their cross.

And Jesus himself showed us what that means.

At the Last Supper, he said, "This is my body, which will be given for you."

His words became a gift of himself.

And sometimes taking up our cross means quietly doing what is right, even when it is difficult, even when nobody notices, and even when we receive nothing in return.

The Cross is the great sign of Christ's love for us.

It reminds us that Jesus gave himself for us, that our sins can be forgiven through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, and that we are called to extend forgiveness to others.

But the Cross is not simply an outward sign of our Christian identity. It calls for something personal, something that changes the way we live.

And there's a familiar gesture we make at every Mass, just before hearing the Gospel.

We trace 3 small Signs of the Cross: on our forehead, on our lips, and over our heart.

We ask that God's Word be in our minds, on our lips, and in our hearts.

That's not simply an outward gesture. It's meant to become part of our interior lives.

Perhaps we can remember those three small Signs of the Cross before a difficult conversation, before responding to someone who has hurt us, or before speaking with someone with whom we disagree.

We can quietly ask God to guide our thoughts, our words, and our hearts.

Sometimes that means finding the right words. Sometimes it means choosing not to say something hurtful.

And sometimes all we can do is pray for someone we find difficult to love.

Because that other person, even someone who has hurt us or refuses to forgive us, is also made in God's image.

The Cross reminds us of the love Christ has already shown us. Our Christian lives are our response to that love.

The coin bears Caesar's image. But you and I bear God's image. And so does every person we encounter.

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

Invitation / Wedding Garment (2026-10-11, Sunday 28th)

[ver_04]   28^th Sunday _Year A ● ●   October 11, 2026  ● ● 

● ●   Isaiah 25:6-25:10a ● ●   Psalm 23:1-23:3a, 23:3b-23:4, 23:5, 23:6 ● ●   Philippians 4:12-4:14, 4:19-4:20 ● ●   Matthew 22:1-22:14 ● ●

 The Invitation and the Wedding Garment

1. The Invitation — Our Last Family Vacation

Jesus tells a parable about a king who prepares a wedding banquet for his son. Invitations are sent out, but many of the invited guests have other priorities. They have other things to do, and they don't show up.

We know what that's like. We receive invitations, and sometimes we accept them. Other times, we have other priorities.

Many years ago, my family went on vacation together. It was actually the last family vacation we ever took with just the six of us—my parents, my three siblings, and me—before marriages, careers, and other responsibilities changed our family life.

Our vacation took place during the week of August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation.

My mother told us we were all going to Mass that Tuesday.

Nobody particularly wanted to go. We were on vacation! But my mother insisted, and we went.

And I have to tell you, it wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience.

The church was extremely crowded. The air conditioning wasn't working very well. The homily was terrible. And I don't think we particularly liked the priest either!

Now that I'm a priest myself, I have a little more sympathy for him. In fact, I still remember him in my prayers from time to time.

But what stayed with me was that my mother was glad we had gone to Mass, even though the rest of us weren't particularly happy about the experience.

Looking back, I realize she was teaching us something important.

Our relationship with God cannot depend entirely upon whether everything goes the way we want it to go.

Sometimes the music isn't what we prefer. Sometimes the homily isn't what we wanted to hear. Sometimes we'd rather be doing something else.

But it matters that we are here. It matters that we have heard God's invitation and responded.

2. The Wedding Garment — How God Sees Us

But today's Gospel takes an unexpected turn.

The king sends his servants to invite others, and the banquet hall fills with guests. Then the king notices someone who has accepted the invitation and shown up, but who isn't wearing the proper wedding garment.

Now, I wonder: Did the other guests even notice how this man was dressed?

We don't know. But the king noticed.

And that reminds us of something important.

We often compare ourselves with other people. We notice their appearance, their accomplishments, their behavior. Sometimes we judge ourselves by how we compare with them.

But we don't really know what's going on inside another person's life.

We don't know all their struggles, their sins, their sacrifices, or even their hidden acts of kindness.

But God knows. God sees what other people cannot see.

And I know I'm sometimes guilty of comparing myself with others rather than examining my own life according to the example of Jesus Christ.

I might say, "Well, I'm really not that bad. I haven't done anything seriously wrong."

But sometimes I don't even recognize the ways I need to change.

That's why I need prayer, reflection, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

In the Christian tradition, the wedding garment represents charity—the love of God and love of neighbor.

It's not simply about looking good or appearing religious.

The wedding garment represents the life of charity that God's grace is forming within us.

God invites us freely. But accepting that invitation also means allowing his grace to change our lives.

3. Confession and Saint Bernadette — Interior Conversion

Think about what happens when we go to confession.

Nobody else hears what we confess. Nobody sees what happens within our hearts.

But through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God forgives our sins, restores us through his mercy, and gives us the grace to begin again.

That's one example of how God helps us grow into that wedding garment.

And this past Wednesday, we had the extraordinary privilege of welcoming the relics of Saint Bernadette to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.

It was a beautiful day. Many people came to pray, attend Mass, and venerate the relics. I'm grateful to everyone who helped welcome our visitors.

But we didn't welcome the relics simply to honor someone who lived many years ago.

Bernadette points beyond herself to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Mary always points us toward Jesus Christ.

The purpose of our devotion is not simply to admire the holiness of the saints.

It is to allow God's grace to lead us toward holiness in our own lives.

4. After Mass — Growing Into the Wedding Garment

And that brings us back to the wedding garment.

We come to Mass because God invites us. We hear his Word. We receive the Eucharist. We encounter Christ in the sacraments.

But what happens when we leave church?

I know that sometimes I can walk out into the parking lot after Mass and find myself becoming impatient with somebody almost immediately!

Sometimes I may be less forgiving than I ought to be, even after celebrating Mass.

Conversion doesn't always happen instantaneously.

God continues to work within us, sometimes gradually, teaching us to become more patient, more forgiving, and more attentive to the needs of others.

And we are called to respond to that grace, day after day.

That's what it means to grow into the wedding garment.

It's not simply a costume we put on when we enter the church. It's not merely about showing up or appearing religious.

The wedding garment is the life of charity that God's grace is forming within us—a love of God that becomes visible in our love of neighbor.

God invites us to the banquet.

And by his grace, he prepares us to live as people who belong to his Kingdom.

God Who Comes Close (2026-10-07) Relics St. Bernadette

[ver_02]   27^th week Wednesday October 7, 2026  ● ●   Bernadette Relics / Holy Rosary ● ●  

The God Who Comes Close

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 — Our Lady of the Rosary
Visit of the Relics of Saint Bernadette Soubirous

1. “Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

There is something beautifully simple about the request the disciples make to Jesus in today's Gospel:

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

They have watched Jesus pray. They know that there is something about His relationship with the Father that they want for themselves.

And Jesus gives them words that are very familiar to us:

Father.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins.

They are simple words.

And perhaps that simplicity is particularly appropriate today, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and on this extraordinary day when we welcome the relics of Saint Bernadette to our parish.

Because Bernadette was also taught to pray simply.

At Lourdes, she prayed the Rosary.

She did not arrive at the grotto with great theological knowledge. She did not arrive with power, wealth, education, or influence.

She came as Bernadette.

And God met her there.

2. God Comes Down

A few days ago, we heard the Gospel of the Good Samaritan.

There is an interesting geographical detail in that Gospel. The man is traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

And it really is down.

Jerusalem is high in the hills. Jericho is one of the lowest cities on earth, near the Dead Sea, the lowest place on the earth's surface.

The man goes down—and at that low place, he is wounded and left beside the road.

And then someone unexpected comes to him.

A Samaritan.

To Jesus' listeners, the Samaritan is the outsider. He is the person they might have expected to stay away.

Instead, he comes close.

He sees the wounded man.

He bends down.

He tends his wounds.

He lifts him up.

The early Church saw something of Jesus Himself in that Samaritan.

Because this is what God does for us.

God comes down.

He does not remain at a safe distance from wounded humanity.

He comes to us in the lowest places—in our weakness, our suffering, our sin, our confusion, even in those moments when we wonder whether God is there at all.

3. Bernadette: Following Without Knowing Everything

And perhaps Saint Bernadette helps us understand what it means to receive that grace.

Bernadette was an unlikely messenger.

She came from poverty. Her health was poor. Her family had experienced hardship. And when she began describing what happened at the grotto, not everyone believed her.

She was questioned.

She was challenged.

She became the object of enormous attention.

And yet there is something striking about her humility.

Bernadette did not need to make herself the center of the story.

She did not pretend that she understood everything.

She simply tried to respond faithfully to what had been given to her.

That is an important lesson for us.

Sometimes we think following God means understanding exactly where God is leading us.

But very often it doesn't.

Sometimes faith means taking the next step without knowing the whole road.

Sometimes prayer means saying:

“Father, give us today our daily bread.”

Not bread for the next ten years.

Not an explanation for everything that has happened.

Daily bread.

Enough grace for today.

Bernadette followed with that kind of simplicity.

4. The Rosary and the Method of God

And that brings us to the Rosary.

The Rosary itself is simple.

Hail Mary.

Hail Mary.

Hail Mary.

Again and again.

But those repeated prayers keep bringing us back to Jesus.

We contemplate Christ with Mary.

The Annunciation.

The Visitation.

Bethlehem.

The Cross.

The Resurrection.

The Rosary keeps returning us to the great mystery at the center of our faith:

God comes close.

The God who created heaven and earth does not simply send us instructions from a distance.

God enters our history.

God takes flesh.

God becomes vulnerable.

God comes down among us.

And He does it quietly.

Not by overpowering the world, but through the humility of the Virgin Mary.

Through a child born at Bethlehem.

Through a Savior who kneels before His disciples.

Through a man who carries a Cross.

And even centuries later, at Lourdes, God's grace becomes visible again through someone the world could easily have overlooked: a poor young girl named Bernadette.

That seems to be the method of God.

God so often chooses what is humble in order to reveal what is great.

5. The Relics Point Beyond Bernadette

That is also why these relics are here today.

We do not come simply to look at something associated with a famous person.

Relics remind us that Christianity is incarnational.

God works through real human lives.

Through bodies.

Through places.

Through water.

Through bread and wine.

Through ordinary human beings who allow His grace to work within them.

Bernadette's relics therefore point beyond Bernadette.

They point toward Lourdes.

Lourdes points toward Mary.

And Mary always points toward Jesus.

Ultimately, everything brings us back to Christ.

The One who comes down to wounded humanity.

The One who teaches us to call God Father.

The One whom Mary carried within her.

The One whom Bernadette sought to follow.

The One who comes close to us even now.

And so perhaps our prayer today can be very simple.

When we are wounded, may we trust that Jesus will not pass us by.

When we do not understand where God is leading us, may we have the humility of Bernadette to take the next faithful step.

And when we pray the Rosary, may Mary always lead us where she led Bernadette:

not finally to herself,

but to her Son.

And we can make our own today the prayer the Church so often places upon our lips:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts;
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son,
was made known by the message of an angel,
may by His Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.

Amen.

Begin Again (2026-10-04 _ Sunday 27th)

[ver_04]   27^th Sunday _Year A   ● ●  October 4, 2026  ● ●   ● ●   ● Isaiah 5:1-7 ● Psalm 80 ● Philippians 4:6-9 ● Matthew 21:33-43  ●● ●

When Did Your Life Begin?

1. When Did Your Life Begin?

When did your life begin?

If I asked you that question, you would naturally think about your date of birth: month, day and year.

But there are other ways to answer that question.

Our life begins when we discover what we are good at, what we are going to do with our lives, what our calling or vocation might be.

Our life begins again when we confess our sins and receive absolution from God in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.

Our life begins again when, with God's grace, we find the strength to forgive someone who has trespassed against us.

There are many times throughout our lives when God gives us the grace to begin again.

2. Priesthood, Home and Seminary

Sometimes people ask me, "Padre, when did you know you wanted to be a priest?"

There wasn't one particular moment.

After college, I took a gap year before going to the seminary—and then I repeated the gap year about thirteen times.

Eventually, I entered the seminary in my mid-thirties.

But after I entered the seminary, I realized that my formation for the priesthood had begun long before that.

It began at home—with my mother and father, my grandparents, my two brothers and my sister. It began through the way we lived together and practiced our faith.

God was already forming me before I understood where he was leading me.

And that's true for all of us.

God is at work in our lives even before we recognize what he is doing.

3. Respect Life Sunday

Today is Respect Life Sunday, and so that question—When did your life begin?—takes on another meaning.

Our Catholic faith teaches us that human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

Before we know whether a child will be rich or poor, strong or weak, healthy or sick, successful or unsuccessful, that life already has dignity.

Life is God's gift.

And Respect Life Sunday is not simply about winning an argument or proving a point.

It is about protecting unborn life, but also about caring for the mother and father who may be experiencing a difficult or crisis pregnancy.

It is about caring for the elderly, the sick, people living with disabilities, and anyone whose life may seem vulnerable or unwanted.

Every life has dignity.

4. Respect Life and Mercy

And respect for life has to become concrete.

Here at Our Lady of Lourdes, one way we do that during October is through our Respect Life Baby Shower.

We collect new items—diapers, blankets, clothing—and monetary donations for Several Sources in Ramsey, helping mothers, children and families who may need practical assistance.

But there is another way Respect Life Sunday has to become concrete.

It has to include mercy.

If you have ever been involved, directly or indirectly, in an abortion, or if you carry sorrow or regret because of one, remember this:

God's mercy is greater than any of our sins.

No sin is beyond God's reach.

And if you have been away from the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation for a long time, any priest—including me—would be happy to hear your confession and guide you through the steps.

There is contrition.

There is absolution.

There is forgiveness.

There is healing.

And with God's grace, life can begin again.

5. The Vineyard

That brings us to the vineyard in today's Gospel.

A landowner carefully prepares a vineyard and entrusts it to tenants.

When the time comes for the harvest, he sends servants to receive its fruit. But the tenants reject them.

Finally, the owner sends his son, thinking:

"They will respect my son."

But they reject the son too.

Jesus is speaking about himself.

He is the Son who is sent into the vineyard and rejected.

But being rejected does not mean that he has no value.

Quite the opposite.

Jesus tells us that the stone rejected by the builders becomes the cornerstone.

6. What Has Been Entrusted to Us?

And that word entrusted is important.

The tenants have been entrusted with the vineyard. They don't own it absolutely.

And so many things in our lives have been entrusted to us.

Our possessions have been entrusted to us.

Our abilities and talents have been entrusted to us.

Our time has been entrusted to us.

Our families have been entrusted to us.

Our children have been entrusted to us.

Life itself has been entrusted to us.

We receive these things as gifts from God, and we are called to cultivate them and bear fruit with them.

7. What Fruit Are We Producing?

And so the Gospel leaves us with another question:

What fruit are we producing with what God has entrusted to us?

Can a frightened mother find somebody willing to stand beside her?

Can parents struggling to care for a child find support?

Can someone who is elderly or sick know that his or her life still matters?

Can someone carrying sorrow from the past discover that God's mercy is greater than that past?

We will not always produce the fruit perfectly.

We fail.

We sin.

We make mistakes.

But God's mercy is greater than our failures.

And God continually gives us the grace to begin again.

8. Christ the Cornerstone

So we return to the question with which we began:

When did your life begin?

Our physical life has a beginning.

But throughout our lives, God continually calls us to new beginnings.

Life is God's gift.

Life is entrusted to us.

And when we fail to care for that gift as faithfully as God calls us to, we can turn back to him.

Because our failures are not the cornerstone.

Christ is.

Even when we fail, Christ remains.

Even when we wander, Christ calls us back.

Even when we need to begin again, Christ continues to build us up.

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes."