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Hope, Pilgrimage, and Jubilee

Over the Jubilee Year,  we will explore the themes of Hope, Pilgrimage, and Jubilee, always ending with a question for you to consider over the week. 

In today’s Gospel, Simon Peter gives his boat to Jesus to use. Jesus taught from the boat to avoid the pressing crowds, but his greatest lesson came after Simon caught the miraculous catch of fish. It’s a reminder that hope includes an openness to God’s plan.

Pondering Point

Imagine you were like Simon Peter, exhausted after a long day (or night) at work, and being asked to do something you knew in your bones would be fruitless only to have it be better than you could have dreamed (or hoped)!

February 8 - 9 Blessing those in Armed Forces, First Responders, & Security 

Lord God, thank you for the courageous people who have chosen to help protect, serve, and defend your people at home and throughout the world.

Give them the gifts of wisdom and discernment to make the necessary decisions in troublesome situations.

Guard them with your protection as they go through their daily work of protecting and serving your people and bring them home safely to their loved ones at the end of the day.

Amen.

Eucharistic Communion and Seeing Those in Need

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that receiving the Eucharist “commits us to the poor” (1397). Why is this so?

Receiving the Eucharist means that we enter into union with the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And being in Holy Communion with Jesus himself means something profound. Let’s consider one facet of this great mystery.

The Eucharist is Jesus himself. He is the Eternal Word, living in Trinitarian communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. But out of love for us, in order to save us from sin and death, the beloved Son of the Father chose to take upon himself a radical poverty: the weakness of the human condition of his beloved creatures.

Continue reading this article by Dr. James Pauley here.