This truth of being a sinful human being and simultaneously being loved by the creator is a mysterious paradox.

Almost always, I find medicine in people who revive my gratitude, whether over a meal, in a liturgy, or simply witnessing their forbearance and vulnerability.

Our hearts know the shape of the words spoken by a true teacher. They sound like those written by Augustine to God. And they sound like those written by Paul to his friends in Thessalonica. Perhaps today is a good time to read St. Paul’s words aloud.

Naomi and Ruth have come to a crossroads. We encounter them there, at this intersection of loyalty and truth, carrying the weight of their expectation. It is an invitation for us to focus on God at the center.

To call Mary “Theotokos”—Mother of God—is at once to recognize our own vocation to birth and protect the Christ-Child, who gestates like a seed in each of us.

To be fashioned in the image of God is to be life-giving, generative, imaginative, full of fecundity. All of us are gifted with this potential.

As we taste God’s loveliness and long to dwell in God’s house, we learn to become pilgrims and psalmists ourselves

Loving God, our friendship with you in Jesus gives joy to our hearts. In gratitude we pray: Let us rejoice in you, O God.

Today, Jesus invites us to reflect on different questions: How well do our kids treat their classmates, even ones they don’t particularly like? What opportunities are we giving them to serve the community?

When we choose God, we choose to love as God loves. We do not love others less, we love them more. We likely will love differently. We may not offer the same goods and affirmation prized by secular measures, but we draw on another currency: grace from the divine treasury.