“Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus’ words from today’s Gospel echo what the Lord God spoke to Moses: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” This is precisely what we should be focusing on as we prepare for the Season of Lent. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, a day we remember our mortality and acknowledge our need for God to deliver us from a world of sin and death to eternal life in heaven. So, be holy, as the Lord, our God, is holy.
Today, Jesus uses powerful imagery to describe those who give glory to the Father by their good deeds. He says, “You are the salt of the earth,” and “the light of the world.” This echoes what the prophet Isaiah says in our First Reading: “If you remove from your midst of oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.” In other words,…
Pope Francis has declared this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time to be “Sunday of the Word of God.” The purpose of this particular emphasis is to promote a closer relationship with holy Scripture and its spread throughout the world. As Catholics, we believe that all Scripture is the Word of God, written by sacred authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To that end, the pope is encouraging all Catholics to embark on a journey with the sacred text. What might this look like? It could be as…
Hailing just a few miles away from the famous Trenton Makes the World Takes bridge, Fr. Jim is a native Trentonian and priest of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. After completing his seminary formation at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, MD, Fr. Jim was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ on June 2, 2018.
