Will to Love Blog

St. Paul's words from his letter to the Ephesians in our second reading this weekend struck me. "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" Sleeper. It's a convicting label. Have I been "a sleeper"? How? Our Lenten practices awaken us. Through God's grace we have the desire to engage in them. Then, Christ shines His light on those things that make us dead, on those things that keep us from fully loving God and neighbor, on those things that kee

These words from today's Gospel reminded me of some fruit of our Lenten Practices. Our prayer leads our souls away from listening to ourselves and toward listening to God, so we grow in faith. Our fasting leads our souls away from relying on what the world provides and toward relying on what God provides, so we grow in hope. Our almsgiving leads our souls away from the needs of our flesh and toward the needs of others, so we grow in love. By turning our attention away from, a

As we start the first full week of Lent, and just the sixth day into it, let's talk, already, about how to push "reset". Why not? I already have to. At my parish, the pastor's homily on Sunday prompted me to think more deeply about the point of our Lenten practices. His homily was inspired by Dr. Seth Tobin's recent book called "Big God, little devil." When we look at Jesus going into the desert, the Bible tells us he was "led by the Spirit." We might think that Jesus went th

This is our last blog post this Advent. Thank you for coming on this journey with us! We have our retreat Saturday morning at Immaculate Conception church (in the downstairs hall) from 8:00 to Noon. Fr. Murray offered to start the retreat with Mass at 8:00am. This Friday evening, before the retreat, adoration and confession also will be available in the chapel at Immaculate Conception church from 6pm to 7pm. We’ll start the retreat right after Mass with some food and drink, a

I know this is Advent, but here is another Easter-time reference: the last supper. (cf. Matthew 26:17–19; Mark 14:12–16; Luke 22:7–13) . As the feast of Passover drew near, Jesus knew that his “hour” was coming. The Gospels tell us, “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?’” (Mk 14:12). Jesus gives very specific instructions: “Go i

In Capernaum there was a Roman centurion who had a servant who was very ill. The Gospel of Luke tell us the servant was ill and dying (Lk 7:1-10); the Gospel of Matthew says the servant was paralyzed and suffering (Mt. 8:5-13). This centurion is not a Jew, but a Roman officer and a gentile. Yet he has heard about Jesus and so seeks him out. In Luke’s Gospel, he even sends the Jewish elders and his staff out to Jesus, instead of going himself, believing himself unworthy to app

For our third reflection this Advent we look at the story of Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10). Pope Francis wrote about this gospel in a catechetical bulletin published just a few weeks before his death: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/04/02/250402c.html Zaccheus was the chief tax collector of Jericho, a city lying below sea level about fifteen miles east of Jerusalem. He was a very wealthy man, and likely grew his wealth dishonestly and was lik

For our first reflection, we read about how Jesus entered Jerusalem as King and cleansed the temple. Sometimes this image of being “cleansed” can be unsettling. If you were raised Catholic, you may have experienced a sense of guilt or inadequacy or other negative emotions in reaction to the reminder that we are sinful people. There is something to that “big Catholic guilt.” Sometimes this image of “cleansing” does not help us realize that God is a loving Father. We may forget

Welcome to the Will to Love Project’s Advent program ! Our Advent Journal is a set of exercises to help you discover one part of your life where you prepare a place to welcome Jesus in. To inspire you in doing these exercises, we will provide six scriptural reflections over the next three weeks. These reflections will help you consider the question - what happens when Jesus enters a place that was prepared for him? Oddly, for Advent, our first reflection is about Palm Sunday,