Holy Fools and the Wisdom of God

 

Readings 090326

Today we celebrate St. Gregory the Great —  

pope, pastor, doctor of the Church,  

the shepherd who sent missionaries  

to carry the Gospel into England.  

A man of wide vision, deep wisdom,  

and a humble, steady soul.

And I’ll be honest…  

I’ll never have the wisdom  

of a doctor of the Church.  

I’ll never stand in that kind of brilliance.  

But there is hope for me.  

Because today’s readings  

pull my heart toward the "Holy Fools" —  

those strange saints  

who hide their wisdom,  

reject pride,  

and mock the world’s values  

so they can cling to Christ alone.  

They remind me  

that God’s reality is warmer,  

more beautiful,  

more life‑giving  

than any cold, mechanized world.

The prophets lived this way —  

Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea —  

startling the crowd  

so sleepy hearts could wake up.  

And Paul says,  

“We are fools for Christ’s sake,”

because the wisdom of this age  

cannot carry the weight of God.

I think of St. Francis,  

barefoot on the road,  

giving away everything,  

preaching to the simple and the poor —  

a holy fool  

who saw the world  

through heaven’s eyes.

Scripture tells us:  

“If anyone considers himself wise,  

let him become a fool  

so as to become wise.” 

Because God catches the proud  

in their own cleverness.

And Jesus says to Simon,  

“Do not be afraid…  

from now on you will be catching men.”  

That’s the holy fool’s calling —  

to step out of the boat,  

to trust grace more than reputation,  

to follow Christ  

even when the world laughs.

So today,  

in Gregory’s shadow  

and Francis’ footsteps,  

let your heart settle into this truth:  

The world’s wisdom fades.  

God’s wisdom saves.  

Become a fool for Christ —  

and you will become wise.

Prayer —  

Lord Jesus, 

keep my heart humble 

my vision wide.  

Teach me the holy foolishness 

that clings only to You.  

Break the pride 

that blinds me 

to Your grace.  

Make me wise in the ways 

only heaven understands.

Amen

St Gregory the great, pray for us

Steady on the Rock of Peter

 

Readings 090226

I’ve noticed something stirring on social media —  

so‑called Christians walking into Catholic churches,  

claiming to “bring the Gospel to the non‑Christian Catholics.”  

They chase clicks, views, and money…  

but not more Jesus.  

No Church in the world  

is more consistently hated, resisted, and attacked  

than the Catholic Church.  

And Jesus told us why:  

“If the world hates you, know that it hated Me first.”  

If your mission is to preach Christ,  

why begin by attacking Christ’s Church?  

The Church built upon the rock of Peter —  

the first Christian preacher,  

the voice of Pentecost,  

the shepherd who carried the Gospel  

from Jerusalem to Samaria,  

to Lydia and Joppa,  

to Caesarea, Antioch,  

and finally to Rome.  

After his martyrdom,  

Linus, Cletus, and Clement  

carried that same flame.  

We are challenged today  

by those who call themselves Christian  

yet do not know the real history  

of the Church they criticize.  

Saint Paul saw this spirit long ago:  

“While there is jealousy and rivalry among you…  

are you not walking according to the flesh?”  

Some say, “I belong to Paul,”  

others, “I belong to Apollos.”  

But Christ is not divided.  

We are called to preach Christ  

to those who do not know Him —  

not to divide His Body,  

but to draw hearts toward His truth.  

Jesus Himself said,  

“To the other towns also I must proclaim the Good News,  

for this is why I was sent.”  

So let us stay steady,  

stay humble,  

and stay rooted  

in the Church Christ founded.  

For the rock still stands,  

and the light still shines. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, 

Keep our hearts steady on the rock 

You set beneath us. 

Holy Spirit, quiet every rivalry 

and stir up only charity.

Father, guard Your Church 

from jealousy, pride, and confusion. 

Teach us to answer every insult with mercy 

and every challenge with truth. 

And let our lives preach the Gospel 

more loudly than our words. 

Amen

Faith Faces the Fire

 

Readings 090126

People attack people of faith —  

and it has always been so.  

When it comes from those with no faith,  

it is ignorance.  

When it comes from different faiths,  

it becomes part of a radicalized culture.  

But I struggle most  

when Christians attack Christians —  

when those called to love as Christ loves  

wound others in the name of Christ.  

It is ignorance.

It is prideful.

They become radicals too,  

but not in the way the Gospel calls us to be.  

Scripture tells us the natural man 

cannot grasp the things of God.  

To him, spiritual truth feels like foolishness  

because it cannot be measured  

by worldly wisdom.  

The cross — humility,  

sacrifice,  

grace —  

stands against the self‑reliant mind.  

And so the world reacts.  

They cling to their truth,  

not the truth —  

the truth even the demon recognized  

when he cried out,  

“I know who You are — the Holy One of God!”  

Darkness recognizes holiness,  

but it does not welcome it.  

So here is the pattern:  

those who rely only on human reasoning  

reject what the Spirit reveals.  

But those who live by the Spirit  

see with a different sight,  

judge with a different heart,  

and walk with a different courage.  

So when attacks come —  

even from fellow Christians —  

remember:  

the Spirit within you  

is stronger than the noise around you.  

Stay rooted.  

Stay gentle.  

Stay faithful.  

For the One who sent you  

is the One who strengthens you.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, 

Steady my heart;

when voices around me grow sharp.  

Teach me to see with Your Spirit

and not the world’s eyes.  

Guard my love

so it does not turn into judgment.  

Let Your grace be the measure

of every word I speak.  

And keep me faithful to the One

who strengthens me.

Amen

Nothing but Christ

 

Readings 083126

I was asked to become a deacon 

by the church, the people of my small community—  

and now I serve with other parishes,  

other congregations,  

other hearts seeking God.

I don’t worry about what to say,  

the Holy Spirit guides my words,  

and gives the witness others need.  

But sometimes—quietly—I wonder what people think.  

This accent, this drawl.  

This voice which is far from velvet.  

I can’t sing—my wife says I hit a note  

every now and then.  

I fight my weight,  

fight to find clothes that fit,  

and I wear suspenders  

just to keep my pants pulled high.

Yet Scripture whispers:  

I did not come with sublimity of words or wisdom.  

I came in weakness,  

in fear,  

in trembling—  

so that faith might rest  

not on human wisdom  

but on the power of God.

I’m not comparing myself to Jesus,  

or even Paul.  

But I remember what the people of Nazareth said:  

“Is this not the son of Joseph?”  

Even the familiar can carry grace.  

Even the ordinary can bear the message.

So I stand as I am—  

accent, suspenders, trembling voice—  

and I proclaim Christ crucified.  

Because God chooses the simple things  

to reveal His glory.  

And if He can use me—  

He can use anyone.

Prayer

Lord, 

You call the humble to speak Your truth. 

Let my voice, rough and real, carry Your grace. 

In weakness, 

let Your strength be known. 

In trembling, 

let Your Spirit move. 

May every word rest on the power of God.

Amen

The Grace of Human Struggle - 22nd Sunday OT

 

Readings 083026 

Blessed be God.  

Praise be to Jesus Christ, 

now and forever. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit,  

fill us with Your joy;  

set our hearts ablaze with Your presence.  

Amen.

One of my favorite philosophers (Kierkegaard

)wrote --

it must be assumed  

that every human being must possess  

what it means to be human —  

and one of those essentials is this:

We all will struggle.

That is where we find Jesus’s words – take up your cross and follow me.

My grandchildren struggle 

with telling time from a dial faced clock. 

They don’t teach it in school anymore, 

because of digital clocks and cell phones.

Generations of school children

will never know the anticipation

as the second hand slowly marches 

toward time for the bell to ring.

I was teaching my grandchild how to tell time.  

The little hand points to the hour,  

the big hand points to the minutes.  

He asked me,  

“When the hands get to the top,

do they go back the other way?”

Trying to simplify his struggle,  

I said, “No, they keep going around, clockwise.”  

I drew a circle in the air with my finger.  

“Do you understand?”

He looked at me with

honest seven‑year‑old eyes,  

“No, Pop. I’m just a little kid.  

I have not seen as much time as you!”

A simple fact for a child.  

A deep truth for a sixty‑five‑year‑old man.

Time, a struggle of life. 

We all essentially posses 

what is essentially human, 

struggle --.
And we will all struggle spiritually.

Not some of us.  

Not the weak among us.  

All of us.

Take up your cross and follow me.

Struggle is not a flaw in the human design;  

it is part of the human condition.

Jeremiah gives that struggle a voice —  

raw, aching, unfiltered:

“You duped me, O Lord…  

You were too strong for me.”

Not a cry of accusation,  

but a confession of experience.

Jeremiah is naming what happens  

when God’s call presses deeper than our comfort,  

when His truth enters places we would rather keep closed,  

when His love captures the heart  

and refuses to let go.

The Hebrew sense of duped 

is not trickery;  

it is being persuaded by love,  

being drawn into a mission  

bigger than our fear  

and heavier than our strength.

Jeremiah is saying:  

“Lord, You won my heart.  

I resisted,  

but Your truth kept pulling me forward.

And that surrender —  

that holy defeat —  

becomes the beginning of victory.  

Because when God triumphs in us,  

He begins to reshape us.

Paul tells us what that reshaping looks like:

“Do not conform yourselves to this age,  

but be transformed  

by the renewal of your mind.”

Jeremiah describes the experience of transformation.  

Paul describes the purpose of it.

Together they reveal one movement of grace:

- God captures the heart  — Jeremiah  

- God renews the mind — Romans  

- God reshapes the whole person — prophets and apostles alike  

- God redirects the life—  

  so we may discern  

  “what is good, pleasing, and perfect.”

Then Jesus turns to Peter —  

the rock, the friend, the chosen one —  

and says words that sting:

“Get behind me, Satan.”  

Not to condemn Peter,  

but to reveal the tension inside every disciple:  

the pull between God’s way  

and the world’s way,  

between divine thinking  

and human thinking.

Peter loves Jesus deeply,  

but he thinks as humans think —  

protecting, controlling, avoiding the cross.

Jesus invites him — and us —  

to step behind Him again,  

to let Him lead,  

to let His mind become our mind,  

His path become our path.

All today’s scripture gathers into one truth:

To be human is to struggle.  

To be holy is to surrender that struggle to God.

Jeremiah teaches us to be honest about the ache.  

Paul teaches us to be open to renewal.  

Jesus teaches us to let Him lead  

even when the path bends toward sacrifice.

The answer to our spiritual struggle is

simple, quiet, searching:

Let God capture your heart.  

Let Him renew your mind.  

Let Him reshape your life.  

Let Him lead you — even through struggle —  

into what is good,  

what is holy,  

what is love.

And may we preach the Good News  

by the way we live our life,  

love one another,  

and forgive.

Praise be to Jesus Christ,  

now and forever.  

Amen.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Capture my heart by Your faithful love.

Renew my mind - Reshape my life 

so it bends toward 

Your will alone.

Lead me when the path feels heavy 

and the struggle deep.

Make my surrender a witness 

to Your goodness and grace.

Amen