Jesus' ambiguous answer to the question of who He was should also be a challenge for us: do we call Him our King, our Savior, our God? Do we see Him in all moments of our lives? In whatever way we suffer, do we unite our suffering to that of His? Or do we glorify Him only in the good moments, and put the blame on Him when we are suffering, when we are alone and afraid, when we feel abandoned and rejected?

Readings at this Mass: Lk 19:28–40 | Is 50:4–7 | Phil 2:6–11 | Lk 22:14—23:56

Judgment is a very dangerous thing. I’m not talking about judging choices, attitudes, or actions, but judging hearts. Condemning and dismissing others. Ridiculing and dehumanizing them. Using them. When we do that, we put ourselves in God’s place — and God takes that very seriously. Only God can judge the heart, because only God can see the heart. Let’s remember that when we’re angry or frustrated or annoyed this week — for the sake of our relationships and for our own sake.

Readings at this Mass: Is 43:16–21 | Phil 3:8–14 | Jn 8:1–11

Our heavenly Father is always seeking us out. He made us for communion with Him and with one another. And when we sin, we break that communion. That’s why every Mass begins with a confession of sin — not because we’ve already made everything right, but because turning back to the Father opens the door for His embrace. God offers us second chances (and third, and fourth, and as many as we need) to come to our senses and return to Him. The Sacrament of Reconciliation was given to us by Jesus for exactly this purpose: to restore and preserve our communion with the Father. And when we turn back toward Him, He comes running toward us.

Readings at this Mass: Jos 5:9a, 10–12 | 2 Cor 5:17–21 | Lk 15:1–3, 11–32

Praying, fasting, and almsgiving are the remedy for inner peace, helping us to imitate the good things that belong to God. Putting effort into praying, fasting, and almsgiving assists us in staying constant in our relationship with God, while also strengthening our conscience, soul, mind, and heart to be always at ease and in peace. If we consistently and intentionally fertilize our soul, our mind, and our heart with these three disciplinary acts, we will be freed from disordered affections and instead yield the beautiful fruits of a good conscience.

Readings at this Mass: Ex 3:1–8a | 1 Cor 10:1–6, 10–12 | Lk 13:1–9

Fr. Columba Jordan notes that most of us have little pauses in our day that pop up naturally: we're stopped at a stoplight, waiting for the kids to get out of practice, waiting in line at Starbucks, etc. Those are opportunities when we can practice turning our attention inward for just a minute or so, to listen to God. It’s not much at first, but when you make this a habit, you start to become aware of God’s voice.

Readings at this Mass: Gn 15:5–12, 17–18 | Phil 3:17—4:1 | Lk 9:28b–36

Just as nature has seasons and athletes have training cycles, Lent is our "spiritual training season" — a season to refocus and reset our hearts and minds on God. It gives us an opportunity to share and renew our faith with those around us through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Readings at this Mass: Dt 26:4–10 | Rom 10:8–13 | Lk 4:1–13

Our speech can act like a sieve that can filter out the bad and negative words a person can deliver to yield the beautiful and good characteristics about this person. In other words, when we listen to our own words/speech, we can filter out the ugly/unneeded husks to reveal the inner soul which should display what is a resemblance of the image and likeness of God.

Readings at this Mass: Sir 27:4–7 | 1 Cor 15:54–58 | Lk 6:39–45

What we say about Jesus matters because in the end, who Jesus is determines whether we’re able to really know God or only know about God. For the Arians and the Gnostics, knowing God was impossible; God was too far beyond us, inaccessible to mere mortals. For our Christian ancestors, knowing God was the very essence of faith, and the key was the direct, personal encounter with Jesus. In Jesus, God Himself entered our reality and sought us out — so, to know Jesus was (and is) to know God.

Readings at this Mass: 1 Sam 26:2, 7–9, 12–13, 22–23 | 1 Cor 15:45–49 | Lk 6:27–38