Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP

Paul tells us that the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of love (charity), which is the capstone of every other gift.

Jesus likened heaven to a wedding banquet to which all were invited. As we celebrate the memorial of the Queenship of Mary, we are reminded that we will all be royalty in heaven.

Jesus said that it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get to heaven. Besides external wealth, are there obsessive personality traits that we need to shed in order to follow Christ more closely?

Throughout history, God has had surprises in store for his people, from bringing them back from exile in Babylon to sending his son Jesus, and God is not done surprising us even today. Be open and look for it.

The mother of James and John asked Jesus if they could sit at his right and left in the Kingdom. Jesus asked them if they could drink from the cup he drank from, and they said they could. While Jesus could not give them these positions in the Kingdom, he promised they would drink from his cup, and they both suffered for the Kingdom as he did, but in very different ways. We cannot know where witnessing to the Kingdom will lead us, but we trust God to make the most of our lives if we do.

Jesus rejected people who claimed to to great deeds in his name, embracing instead people who listened to his words and acted on them. We do not have to have success in our ministry, we simply need to listen to Jesus and to try to be faithful to his words.