Today Bishop teaches about joy- one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. We are given two beautiful examples of this joy. Jesus, who did the will of the Father and not his own. And the Blessed Mother Mary who was open and disposed to God's will all her life. Will we choose to follow the example of our our Lord and his mother?
On this feast of St. Joseph the Worker, patron saint of our diocese, Bishop DeGrood teaches about the dignity of human labor. He reminds us to labor in love and offer our work and vocation to the Lord.
On this Easter Sunday, Bishop teaches about grace and the supernatural virtues, and contrasts them to the things of this world such as pleasure. Will you seek what is above? Or will you seek what is here on earth?
This week Bishop teaches about sin. False accusations. Hatred. Lies. Jealousy. Betrayal. These are all sins found in this weekend's readings and sins that still plague humanity today. As we enter into Holy Week, Bishop encourages us to open ourselves to the interior freedom God wants to give us.
This week Bishop teaches about suffering. We have a natural aversion to suffering from the moment of our birth throughout our life. Our natural tendency is to seek what is pleasurable. Bishop challenges us to have our intellect and reason guide our passions - to choose to do the prudent thing even when we don't feel like it. We are encouraged to make our sufferings acts of love. How can you love best today?
This week Bishop encourages us to take a look at the darkness in our lives. Are we holding on to grudges against a sibling, co-worker or neighbor because we've been hurt? Are there any dark feelings that are keeping us separated from God? God wishes to set us free from the darkness in our lives. Will we accept His love and mercy and live in the light?
This week Bishop teaches us about keeping holy the Sabbath and being careful of not worshiping false gods. He reminisces about the "good old days" where Sunday was a day set aside for church, community, family and rest. Bishop challenges us to ask the Lord how He wants us to spend our Sunday and to keep it holy.
This week Bishop teaches us about soul surfing on the waves of grace. We learn how prayer is essential to staying on the wave of grace, even when the wave gets big, or when we fall off the wave God will always pick us back up.