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Jesus challenges his disciples to love their enemies. This is difficult, but we can start with some of the other challenges he makes, such as, "stop judging and you will not be judged." This includes to stop judging ourselves so harshly so that our hearts might soften towards others as well.

Today we celebrate The Feast of the Chair of Peter, the office of the pope, and hear Jesus promise to give the keys of the kingdom to Peter and to the church so that the gates of Hades will not be able to prevail against it. Today, we still celebrate the blessings of this great gift a by being in communion with one another in the church.

The Letter to the Hebrews recalls how Abraham trusted God's promise to him and so obtained it. St. Agnes, a 4th century martyr, also trusted God and witnessed her faith to the end, and so obtained the promise of salvation. We should seek that which allows us to trust God's promise and we will find peace, and joy, and ultimately, salvation.

People came to Jesus and asked why his disciples did not fast. He replied that they could not fast while the bridegroom was with them, indicating himself as the divine presence with them. But, why do we fast? To show that God is first in our life, before our own desire for food and gratification.

The birth of John the Baptist was surrounded by miraculous events, so that it made people wonder, " ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him." This Christmas, let us all be open to experiencing the exceptional quality of God's presence in the miraculous things that happen around us.

Our Gospel today is about Mary going to visit Elizabeth, her cousin who is pregnant in old age. Elizabeth gives voice to the blessing Mary brings her in this Visitation. In this season of visits, will we bring blessings to everyone we visit?

In today's gospel, we hear Luke's version of Matthew's parable of the talents, where a rich man goes away and leaves his money in the care of his servants. This versions stresses the need to invest the faith we have been given by proclaiming God's graces.

In the Book of Revelation we hear a challenge for Christians living in a pagan society to hold fast to their faith, living in the world but not being of the world. We live in a very secular world. Can we live as Christians without caving in to the values of this secular world?

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Luke, the Evangelist, who worked with Paul to spread the Christian Church around the vast Roman Empire. 2000 years later, the Roman Empire is gone but the Church remains—but now, like then, the Church struggles to be heard amid the noise of the wider society. May our life in Christ animate us to be sign of the Kingdom of God so that it might spread throughout our society and around the world.

In today's Gospel, Jesus again condemns the Pharisees for being on the side of those who killed the prophets, demanding that they change on the inside, hear his critique, and thus change the way they behave. They do not listen to him. Are we open to Jesus' challenge to change our hearts, and will this change be reflected in new actions that show our love for God, for ourselves, and for those most in need?

Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, but then rebukes him when Jesus predicts the suffering and death he must endure. Jesus is solid in his faith and so can accept the violence of others and respond in love. Peter is not solid in his faith. Are we? If we follow Jesus, we will not be ashamed when the world bullies us, or taunts us, or inflicts violence upon us, and we, like Jesus, will respond with love.

On this Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, we are pushed to ponder why we should celebrate this violent means of death. One thing it teaches us is that by dying this way, Jesus shows us a better way to counter the violence we see in the world by not responding in violence, but through inner strength, keeping our eyes on God's plan and responding to all things with love.