Pray To God Today

21  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22  It's very hard to forgive. Forgiveness is essential to our life here on earth. Jesus gave us the perfect example of forgiveness while he was on earth. Jesus loved us so much that he bore all our sins on the cross that goes before us. Every wrong we have done; every pain has become  A LOT LIGHTER because Jesus bore it before us. Jesus is asked by his own, disciples, how many times should they forgive. Because they know that they have to forgive, and they know they everyone does wrong, but how much is enough? We need to draw a line right? No. Jesus tells us that we shouldn't just forgive seven times. He told us to forgive 77 times. Or 77 X 7 times. Which is a higher perfect number. Jesus told us that we must forgive as ma...

 "Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him..."  Hebrews 5: 8-9 Sometimes I come across, and maybe we even believe that because Jesus is fully God, his death and resurrection were pretty easy and that it wasn't all that bad for him. But this sort of thinking doesn't acknowledge the fact that Jesus was entirely human as well, and that he indeed suffered.  Earlier in the passage from Hebrews it says that Jesus "offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death..." He experiences pains and suffering, heartbreaks and grief, joy and compassion, sadness and betrayal by his best friends.  Jesus knows what we are going through, what we bring him every day in prayer, and especially at every Mass, and it's because he has gone through it too.  Through his suffering, he showed us an app...

Every week I gather with the students who are part of my Campus Ministry team. These are great opportunities for me to build connections with the teenagers, hear what they are going through, and help aid them on their faith journey. These are also critical moments for me to get their help with the religious activities within the school and be of service to them in anyways I can.  When I get together with the 30 students, I always start off with a prayer, of course. I never do off-the-cuff prayers. Instead each week I introduce them to a different prayer from our church's rich history. I have done prayers from St. Augustine, St. Francis,  St. Patrick, among others. Recently I led them to pray the "The Litany of Humility." If you have never prayed it, here it is:  O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved...Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being extolled ...Deliver me, Jesus. From th...

As they were going the ten lepers were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Luke 11: 15-19 We recently celebrated Thanksgiving as Canadians, and our American brothers and sisters in Christ will soon celebrate it as well. The word Eucharist, in greek literally means thanksgiving. So when we go to Mass, we are giving thanks to God for everything he has given us. The Mass, then, is primarily about giving to God our thanksgiving and praise for all that he has done . We recognize that he is the Lord of all and has given us everything. When we take time to pray, when we go to Mass, we become like that one samaritan who thanked God. We become that person who recognizes that God is in control and has supplied us with everything ; we are not like the nine that walked away without recognizing the t...

  Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” Luke 11: 39-41 I am not sure about you, but sometimes I can find myself becoming too preoccupied with some external things: a preoccupation with how I look, what brands I am wearing, or how I present myself to the world. Online, on Instagram it's even worse, I try to put forward a certain image or aesthetic online or I post nothing because I'm focused on what other people will think and try to give a certain persona to people. Sometimes we are too focused on the outside. Not that we shouldn't care about how we present ourselves or the image we put out there, the problem is that we can become too obsessed over it, and not care about our attitude towards our friends, the homeless, the sick, or those who might not have many fr...