Can you even imagine the chaos of that first day following the resurrection? For three long days, Jesus's friends had been wrapped in a heart-wrenching cloud of grief after watching the brutal murder of their Lord—gripped by anxiety and fear, hardly able to process (let alone understand!) what had happened, what the future held for them. And then the angel at the tomb speaks to the women: "He is not here . . . He is risen!" Immediately their grief becomes hope, exuberant joy, unspeakable relief, uncontainable thanksgiving for what they hardly could have hoped: HE IS ALIVE! And as they run wildly to share the news, they are stopped in their tracks: JESUS! Their beloved Lord, whose lifeless body they had just held, now standing in front of them, speaking to them, indeed very much alive! Can anyone deny this miracle? Can anyone deny His absolute Divinity?! But immediately, Satan finds a way to plant the lies and sow the seeds of doubt. The guards who are witness to this miracle—this living Savior of the world who has literally crushed death—are paid off by the chief priests who cannot bear to accept the True Living God because their pride is their god. And so, from the first moments of the resurrection, there is a choice for every human whose ears are privy to the good news: have faith in the outlandish, miraculous, life-changing truth? Or swallow the saner-sounding, soul-starving, fabricated safety of a lie? The truth, when held up against the "safety" of this lie, did not turn out to be comfortable. It required courage and unshakeable faith. It created martyrs. But it led to a beautiful reality that could not be denied or taken away: true life. Compared with that Resurrection Morning, choosing our faith these days is sometimes portrayed as equally ludicrous. The world tells us over and over in different ways that our faith is laughable, our practices inconvenient, and our beliefs an absolute afront to modern culture. The lies are more palatable, so the world closes its ears and wills us to close our mouths to the truth, to let our faith slip through the cracks. But, as the First Reading said, the Truth, who is Jesus Christ, cannot be contained by anything—even death. "It was not possible for Him to be held by it." And so we choose our faith, no matter what the world says, knowing that in it we also choose the truth and its rewards. The reward of soul-nourishing, everlasting life. The reward of uncontainable joy. The reward of running to share that joy and ultimately coming face-to-face with the living, breathing, love-filled face of our resurrected Jesus. Fear of living and sharing the truth can rule over our hearts far too often. How can you turn that fear around and joyfully share your faith today? Megan Hjelmstad is a wife, mom, writer and sometimes soldier whose real passion is equal parts faith and chocolate. You can find out more about her here.

Jesus is Risen! Alleluia! We have heard the Easter story so many times, it is easy to trivialize the magnitude of the Resurrection. I have been trying to put myself in the place of the Apostles. I close my eyes and picture them behind locked doors feeling afraid and defeated. I am sure they wondered how they could have gotten things so wrong. Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be the Messiah? Wasn’t He supposed to free God’s people? Instead, He was condemned to a brutal and tortuous death. Imagine the despair they must have felt! On the third day, as the sun rose after a restless night, Mary Magdalene arrived in a panic. Someone had stolen Jesus’ body. As John and Peter ran and peered into the tomb, there surely was a whirlwind of emotions. What happened? Their thoughts must have turned to the events they witnessed—Jesus’ transfiguration, Lazarus being raised from the dead, Jesus’ predictions about His death and resurrection. The truth of the situation was seeping into their hearts like rays of sunshine seeping through window shutters. Something deep within them knew that life would never be the same again. I can relate to that feeling in a small way. In my early 20’s after falling away from God, I distinctly remember one night when the inner turmoil reached a peak, and I knelt down and cried out to God. It was as if forty days of Lent were condensed into that one moment, and I begged for God’s mercy and repented. The following morning, I did not hear any angelic trumpets but deep within my soul I knew—something was different, and my life would never be the same. Each day God calls us to never be the same. Consider the flowers of spring. They cannot remain in the dark soil forever. They must grow and push their way through the earth to lift their heads to the sun. We, too, grow and push ourselves towards the Son. This is especially true during the moments when we feel suffocated and buried by difficult situations in life. God calls us to turn our eyes back to Him and gaze upon the light of His love. That same love that conquered death, can conquer our fears, doubts and heartache. His love brings new life and gives us the strength to grow and blossom. Today, rejoice and thank God for giving you new life as His beautiful creation! Bobbi Rol is a wife, mom and part time blogger. She lives with her husband, teen daughter and three rambunctious little boys along the coast of Central California. You can find out more about her here.

Creator. Redeemer. Savior. If you managed to get through all of today’s readings without being completely overwhelmed, then please tell me your secret. The shear awe-inspiring, engulfing truth of our God’s great power is never more apparent than when we see these events side by side. It was if I could feel my eyes widening, my jaw dropping, my heart swelling. The truth of our entire being is clear. It’s a circle. God cycles through our lives, our time, our entire existence as our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Savior. The wheel is constantly turning as birth and rebirth happen again and again. It’s whole. It’s complete. It’s perfect. God created the heavens and the earth. He washed it clean. And He sent His only Son to die for our sins. Mind. Blown. God has created this perfect model of life, and everything in the natural world exists in this harmony. The rain pours down and is brought back up, just to cleanse the earth again. We are born and are cared for by our parents, then we give back to them as they age and as their days draw to a close. The seed sprouts its roots and stems to blossom into a flowering tree which then spreads its own seeds. To begin again. Over and over again, we see this cycle, this circle, this perfect exemplification of our Lord’s creation. When we try to separate the pieces, an emptiness is felt and a rift is created. Our natural state is to exist in the harmony of God’s creation, and our souls can perceptibly feel any imbalance that is created. God made the day and night, the vast oceans, the sprawling trees, the birds, the beasts, and all of us. He stayed the hand of Abraham in his darkest moment. He washed clean the path for His chosen people as they followed Moses across the sea. After His own wrath, He promised to never forsake us and His love has never departed from us since. He commanded us to call upon Him so that we may live. He removed our hearts of stone and replaced them with hearts of flesh. And mostly, we are dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus. As the wheel of life, created by God, turns and spins, He stretches His hand out to me, and I step onto this ever-moving circle of God’s creation. It’s as if my sins are left behind. I am washed clean. I am born anew. I weep tears of purest joy. I am His. It’s a circle. Are you in? Samantha Aguinaldo-Wetterholm is a wife, mom, and soon-to-be-dentist currently living in San Francisco, California. You can find out more about her here.

I remember being nine or ten years old, not yet fully aware of the immensity of our faith, but starting to see glimpses of what it meant to be Catholic. Our family was crowded into a pew in our parish for the Good Friday service, and my mom leaned over and gestured to the empty tabernacle, "He's not there today. It's the only day in the entire year that the Mass isn't celebrated, not anywhere in the world." I nodded, not totally understanding the sorrow in her voice, and I looked up past the altar toward the gaping, open door, the curtain pushed aside revealing His absence. Even now as an adult, my heart still seizes up to walk into an "empty" church; the void is tangible—His Body and Blood reposed elsewhere for the solemn and sorrowful hang time between Good Friday and the Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday. God died for us. The weight of it is unfathomable. And it is perhaps most acutely felt in those empty, wondering hours, the bridge between Lent and Eastertide. What if He hadn't come back? What if it had all ended there, on that hill, on that Cross, the way nearly all the Disciples believed it had? Oh God, the weight of it. Jesus, as You hung there, bleeding out and breathing Your last, You had us in mind. And not some amorphous mass of humanity, but each one of us, individually sufficient to merit the sacrifice. How? This love is wild. Beyond all reason. And yet it is the very essence of reason, that You alone would be capable of righting it, of righting us. Jesus, you rescued us. You ransomed us. And you continue to do so, inebriating us with the gift of Your Body and Blood at every single Mass throughout all of history. Except for today. Today we remember and we keenly feel what could have been permanent: the loss, the absence, the gaping wound rent in the fabric of time and space by a God, dead and buried at the hands of His own creation, Who chose us—Who still chooses us today. Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom. Take 20 minutes to pray the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary with your family. Keep your kids home from school if possible, and mark the hours between noon and 3 pm with prayerful silence and a media fast. Dim the lights at sunset and let your home sit in expectant darkness, explaining to your kids that we await the return of Christ our light. Jenny Uebbing is a freelance writer and editor for Catholic News Agency. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband Dave and their small army of toddlers. You can find out more about her faith, thoughts on bioethics, and potty training failures here.

What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand. As Jesus knelt in service to His apostles, washing their (probably stinky and dirty) feet, Peter asked what was going on. He didn't understand and was—not for the first time—confused. Here Jesus was, celebrating the traditional Passover meal with them, and doing something different. Peter and the others grew up with the Passover. It was sacred ritual and commemoration to them. Washing feet just wasn't part of it. So Peter says, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" I imagine if it was me, I might say, "Um . . . Lord, what are you doing?" Jesus knew they wouldn't understand. He washed their feet anyway. He told them, "You don't know now . . . but you will." He wanted them to trust Him, to submit to His loving action, to remember it, to ponder it, and promised that they would understand later. What is Jesus doing in your life that you don't understand? This Lent, He has been pruning my heart in all kinds of ways that hurt and don't exactly make sense (being sick while pregnant and homeschooling? Talk about God rearranging my priorities.), but I trust Him that in time, I will understand the path He has chosen for me. It may not be as soon as we celebrate Easter, may not be this year, or even in the next ten. In fact, I am pretty sure that most of the things God designed for my life won't be made clear until after I die and join Him in Heaven, when He shows me how each day, each trial, each joy led me closer to Him. That is the goal, anyway, to have lived these trials and joys and moments such that I have lived them with trust in God's promise of salvation—won through His Son's death and Resurrection. I have hope that at the end of a life lived with trust, I will one day join Him at the eternal banquet. So when I am confused about why God allows something in my life, I probably will keep asking, "What?! Why?!" Like Peter, I do not yet know . . . but I trust that one day, I will know. Do ask God your questions. Wonder and marvel at "why" He does and allows things in your life. Jesus assures us we will one day understand. Take hope in Him, and trust in His promise. Gina Fensterer is a wife, daughter, mother, friend, homeschooling mama and Colorado native. You can find out more about her here.

I am Judas. Holy Week brings me back to this reality every year. During this week, I come face-to-face once again with all the ways I betray my Lord and all the ways I fail and fall in loving Jesus Christ. I reflect in disbelief that Judas would sell Christ and betray Him so blatantly, but when I stop, and think, and reflect . . . I have sold out on Christ for far less than a few pieces of silver. There have been moments in my life when I sold out on Christ in a moment and without thinking twice. I am Judas. The strange thing I find, though, is that Judas and I have both seen the marvelous works of the Lord. We have felt the Lord's love and have seen the way He heals and have experienced His power and have seen His hand at work in our lives. Yet we still put our hand in that dish. There are many days when I knowingly betray the Christ who calls me loved and chosen and who blesses me in the most majestic of ways. I know what He has done for me, yet the list of ways I sell out is long. I consciously resort to gossip, or choose anger, or envy, or holding grudges, or obstinacy. I knowingly choose to turn toward sin and away from Christ, and I ponder this reading and I wonder how Christ could still love Judas and I wonder how He could still love me. This Friday, I will remember that day Christ poured out mercy unimaginable as He walked the Via Dolorosa. As He walked, He showed His miraculous, divine love for Judas, and for me, and for you. He knew that He would find my hand in that dish throughout my life. He chose to free me even still. May this week bring a deeper understanding of all the ways we betray Christ, and in our reflection on mercy may we allow this grace to rid our hearts of any desire to ever put our hand in that dish and turn away from our loving God. Emily Wilson planned her whole life to become a sports reporter but turned out to be a Catholic musician and speaker at the hand of God. She lives out of her suitcase and travels across the world speaking to people of all ages. The heart of her ministry is offering encouragement to teen girls in search of their true identity, and she loves ever second of it. You can find out more about her here.

"The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name." One of you will betray me. One of you whom I called from your mother's womb, whose inmost being I knit together, whose heart I formed and molded. You will betray me. Lord, surely it is not I? Lord? Both Peter and Judas reclined at table with Jesus, breaking bread with the One who called them into being. Both betrayed Him. Both could have been forgiven, had they the humility to ask. But only Peter would return. Only Peter had the courage to face his corruption, to look up from the wreckage of his fallen humanity into the eyes of his Savior and to accept His offer to remake him in His image, redeeming him from the disaster of his denial. But not yet. First the Cross. First, the betrayal to end all betrayals. First, though it is Peter who vows that he will lay down his life for Jesus, it will be Jesus who lays down His life for us all. The Creator of the universe, incarnate of the Virgin Mary, Who knows each of us intimately, and knows already the choices we'll make, the decisions we will make . . . or fail to make; it is He who will die for us. As we progress further into Holy Week, let us remember that we tread on holy ground, and that He alone knows our future, and He alone can redeem it. And remember too, that He knows our names, He sees our inmost thoughts, our darkest parts, and He loves us just the same. Not even Judas would have been turned away, had he pled for mercy. Is it I Lord, will I betray you? Jesus, pray that I may have the strength to follow You to the cross, and to stand vigil with Your Mother and the disciple whom You loved. I want to be there. Jenny Uebbing is a freelance writer and editor for Catholic News Agency. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband Dave and their small army of toddlers. You can find out more about her faith, thoughts on bioethics, and potty training failures here.

“Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.” (John 12:3) What a beautiful and intimate scene we are allowed a glimpse of in today’s Gospel, Mary anointing the feet of Jesus. Foot washing was a common show of hospitality in Biblical days, but Mary takes it one step further by anointing Jesus’ feet with pure nard. Nard was a very expensive spice, the cost of which was close to an entire year’s wages. Mary could have saved this extravagant ointment to use on herself, or, as Judas so bluntly points out, she could have sold it for a great deal of money. But there is no room in her mind for anything but Jesus, and so she pours this precious gift out on His feet. Holy Week has begun, and in just a few days we will celebrate the passion and death of Jesus. We have spent all of Lent preparing ourselves for this by practicing penance and fasting. But somehow after reading today’s Gospel, my penances seem a little weak. Mary gave up an entire year's income, and I gave up chocolate. Sometimes it takes this stark contrast to remind myself that Lent is not just about giving up a food group that I enjoy. It’s about giving up my entire self. Having a penance like no dessert or no TV is a good way to remind myself to think about Jesus’ sacrifice, or to make more time in the day for quiet prayer. But if I don’t first give my life to Jesus my penance is meaningless. Jesus gave it all for us. Should we not also give our everything for Him? I am reminded of the words from the hymn, "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross": Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. I hope your Lent is going well. I hope your penances are leading you into a deeper understanding of Christ’s sacrifice for us. But if not, there’s still time. Lent is not over yet. There’s still time to refocus and to dig deeper. Quiet your heart this day and ask Jesus to show you if there are any parts of your life that you have not yet offered to Him. And don't be afraid to give Him Everything. Anna Coyne is a wife, mother, knitter, gardener, and convert to the Catholic faith. Read more about her here.

Palm Sunday is such a meaningful day it almost feels like a collision of all we believe. Here we have Christ entering Jerusalem for the last time, people are welcoming Him into the holy city but will demand His death in only five short days. The long-awaited King of the great city of Jerusalem, yet He enters on a donkey. We hail Christ as our King today too, yet we know He is about to die for us on Good Friday. What do our praises mean to Him who must suffer the pains of sin and be like a lamb led to the slaughter, who will turn His back to the smiters? How can so many powerful contradictions exist at once? Palm Sunday is a collision of the paradoxes of our faith. We are an Easter people who must embrace the cross. We know Christ is our King just as we know He must suffer for us. We cannot explain away this important contradiction because it is in the contradiction, the paradox, the mystery, that the beauty and truth of our faith is found. The embrace of suffering with the knowledge of our redemption begins with Palm Sunday. We sacrifice during Lent to prepare ourselves to experience again the most important truths of our faith, that Christ's death and Resurrection merits our salvation. But our Lent ends at Palm Sunday, which brings the paradox of our faith into bold technicolor, showing us graphically how contrary we are to the world and even to ourselves. We welcome suffering even though we know it to be painful, difficult, and tragic. We praise our King even though He will be treated as a common criminal, even though He will be humiliated because His death is our salvation. These are the paradoxes of Palm Sunday, the paradoxes of Holy Week, the paradoxes of our faith. Paradox are like a window into mystery, and it is into the mystery that faith leads us. Christy Isinger is the mom to five lovely, loud children living in the Canadian wilds. You can find out more about her here.

The other day I made banana bread. We had a few bananas that were past their prime and had that brown, mushy quality that is perfect for bread. It was a pretty classic banana bread recipe with cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. I mixed the ingredients together, poured them into my go-to bread pan, and popped it into the oven. That’s when the magic happened. The aroma of the cinnamon and vanilla filled the apartment. My baby daughter played in the corner and I refilled our butter dish. I couldn’t wait for the bread to cool completely before I sliced some pieces, plated them, spread a heaping portion of butter on top, and sipped coffee while my husband and I sat together on the couch to eat our slices. We laughed and chatted. I warmed my feet under his legs. Little crumbs collected on our shirts as we fawned over our little girl. It was a lovely snapshot in our lives. A simple moment of joy. But what made this moment so wonderful? Cinnamon is delicious, yes, but I would never eat it alone. Vanilla extract is perfectly aromatic, but you would not catch me taking a spoonful of it. You couldn’t pay me to eat a mushy banana by itself. But put them together and you get the delicious, creamy texture of a great banana bread. When combining these parts, there emerged the wholeness of a delicious snack and a family spending time together. There emerged an opportunity for good food, satisfied smiles, and a whole lot of love. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Our Lord promised to make a nation out of individual people with individual lives. He took the parts and made them into a whole nation that not only spanned the mountains of Israel, but has spanned the entire world, for all time. The parts, the separate pieces, became the nation of our Lord—cleansed in an everlasting covenant. We must realize that the Lord has created a singular nation by which we refer to as one. The nation is His, not the nation are His. One Nation under Him. Our oneness with the Lord is our salvation. We must not forget this covenant. How do should we live in this Nation under our Lord? Samantha Aguinaldo-Wetterholm is a wife, mom, and soon-to-be-dentist currently living in San Francisco, California. You can find out more about her here.

The word "tango" in today’s Gospel can easily leave us scratching our heads. What’s all this back and forth between Jesus and the Jews about gods and blasphemy and technicalities, and what on earth does it have to do with our walk with the Lord today? Throughout his Gospel, Saint John focused heavily on proving that Jesus was, in fact, God Himself. The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy because He claimed to be God all the stinking time. He was trying to get His point across to us, a human race who aren’t usually the brightest bulbs in the box. So He kept repeating Himself, working miracles, and drawing attention to His unique unity with the Father. And Jesus was despised for this. Much like the prophet Jeremiah foreshadowed in the First Reading, Jesus was persecuted and sought after for His bold and scandalous claims. Jesus said He is God because He is God. And many people of the day weren’t too crazy about that. Are there times when we’re not so crazy about God being God? The Jews weren’t fans of Jesus new and radical teachings. They didn’t like that He was fulfilling the law. They didn’t like these new commandments that require us to love one another as we love ourselves. If Jesus was God, then, that meant that what He said was true, and must be acted upon. Are there times when it is hard for us to accept that God is God of our lives because of what it will require of us? Are there moments when Jesus leads us somewhere we are afraid of going, even though we know He knows best? Are we sometimes wary of opening our hearts to Him in prayer because we realize that what He says to us is truth? Today, let’s take comfort in the fact that God is God of our lives. Let’s allow Him to take the reins of our adventure and lead us to still waters. Olivia Spears is a middle school religion teacher turned SAHM who is married to her high school best friend. You can find out more about her here.

"I Am." It is such a simple and profound and mind-boggling truth: literally everything in our world will change or fade away except our God. Only He is ever-present and ever-unchanging. The world’s ideas about Him have changed throughout the ages, and our relationship with Him might grow and evolve as we ourselves grow and change, but He remains the one, single, constant, fully present presence in the universe. Our God, our creator, who knows us better than we know ourselves, is the same God who knew and loved us when we could barely toddle or babble a word. He was no different in the Ice Age and the Stone Age and the Medieval Period and the Victorian Era than He is now—and He will be no different in ages we have yet to fathom. “I Am” of ages past reaches through the cosmos of the distant past, millions of light-years away, to fill our night sky tonight in the present. “I Am” is stamped on the oldest and newest layers of ancient coral reefs. His presence bounces off soaring mountains and echoes within hidden caves tucked between narrow canyons. “I Am” whispers from every petal of every flower, every leaf that shivers in a gust of wind, every cloud and sunset and grain of sand. At this very moment, “I Am” is present in over 200,000 tabernacles across the globe, and shines forth from every unique and unrepeatable face of the seven billion human souls He has gifted with life. As hard as this is to wrap our brains around, it can also bring immense comfort: He IS every good and true and righteous and beautiful thing that exists now, that has ever existed. If we want to know what real love is, He says, "I Am." If we want to know what Beauty or Truth are, He says, “I Am.” If we want to know what friendship and sacrifice and joy and healing and acceptance and fulfillment and life are, He answers to each: "I Am." And even more of a comfort—for everything that we are not, He Is. If we are not wise enough: He is. If we are not patient enough: He is. When we are not forgiving enough: He is. When we are not loving enough: He is. When we are not persistent enough: He is. And when, from the depths of our souls, in the aching moments when we cry out, "I cannot do this anymore, God! I am not strong enough!" He answers gently: "Daughter. I Am." Let us allow ourselves to rest fully today in the presence of our most constant companion: the God of the past, present, and future, the Father who desires to make each and every one of our moments His. Megan Hjelmstad is a wife, mom, writer and sometimes soldier whose real passion is equal parts faith and chocolate. You can find out more about her here.

What a gift we have to be children of a loving God who knows us so well. How often we desire a sign from our Lord. We don’t want to ‘put the Lord to the test’ as Ahaz decries, but rather we just want direction. We yearn for peace in our decisions. I think of Mary, and the gift that the Lord provided her when the angel appeared. Not only did he tell her all that wonderful stuff about the Holy Spirit coming upon her and giving her a child—the Son of God—to bear and raise, but He gave her an added bonus. He gave her knowledge of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy. That knowledge was such a gift. Her journey to be with Elizabeth, the recognition by Elizabeth that Mary was carrying our unborn Lord in her womb, and the miracle of Elizabeth’s own pregnancy, were all confirmations for Our Blessed Mother that the angel was legitimate, that she hadn’t just had a weird dream, that she wasn’t going insane. Did Our Blessed Mother need such confirmations? Clearly not. She was submissive to our Lord from the beginning. Yet He gave her The Visitation and it no doubt served to further her resolve. Are there areas in your life in which you need the Lord’s confirmation? Are you tasked with responsibilities you question or loads that seem too heavy? Our Lord knows you and He knows what you need today. He is giving us all direction, validation, confirmation, daily but many of us are too busy, to noisy, and to hurried to stop pay heed. So stop today. Look and listen for His love and His accept and His peace. Take time today to really listen to Him speak to your heart. Pour out your fears and concerns and then just sit in the stillness. Look around you for your Lord’s grace and direction. It can come in many forms. MaryRuth Hackett is a full-time wife and mother doing her best to teach her four children to love God and country. You can find out more about her here.

When Jesus is speaking to the crowds, or His disciples, or His close group of Apostles, so often I think, what does that mean?? And the Gospel makes clear that they are often as perplexed as I am. Although, these were a people educated in the ways of the Torah and the Prophets and they were on the lookout for their Messiah in a much more acute way that the average Joe today so perhaps I don't give them enough credit. Yet even when He speaks out, plain and clear, on matters of messianic importance, not in the more difficult parables, He is not necessarily understood. At the end of today's Gospel, Saint John writes that as Christ spoke that He came from the Father and the Father was with him, and He was acting in accordance with the Father, that many believed Him. This was clear: Christ was stating He is the Son of God. And that without believing this, we are going to die in our sins and not be saved. In today's world, this means Christ wasn't a nice historical figure, a Jew crucified over whom many rioted and a new religion was founded. He wasn't a wise man with good pinterestable lines about love and kindness. As a good evangelical friend of mine told me years ago, Christ was either Lord, liar, or lunatic. I choose Lord. We can't parse Him into something more new-agey and inside our comfortable conversation with non-believers. Jesus? Oh, yes, He had some lovely things to say about loving your neighbor. He's all or nothing. He's the judge, the forgiver of sins, the lamb, the redeemer, or He's just a nut. He made some outrageous claims. He stepped up and said He was the one they had been waiting for, the Messiah, Son of the Living God. He said without Him, we are not free from our sins. What is He in your life? What is He in mine? Is He Lord God? Or is He simply Buddy Christ. Does evil exist and are we choosing to make choices that divide us from our God, i.e., sin, or are we all just getting along and going along? How radical of a believer are you? Today let's go all in. Christ is Our Lord. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Get on fire for Him. What's holding you back? Nell O'Leary is an attorney turned stay-at-home mom to three lovelies. She and her husband live in the great city of Saint Paul. You can find out more about her here.

In case you were wondering, I was named for the Susanna in the chapter 8 of Saint Luke’s Gospel, but from my earliest consciousness of the book of Daniel, I felt drawn to this story of the Old Testament Susanna. I was drawn in by her innocence before her accusers and her people and her plea to God. She, of the house of Judah, being very beautiful, became victim to a wicked plot of two old men who “suppressed their consciences.” These men first tried to satisfy their lusts with her, and when she proved uncooperative and virtuous, they accused her openly of committing adultery. As she is being taken to be executed, God stirs the young boy Daniel who, on separating the elders from each other and them naming two very different species of trees, proves her innocence. She trusted in God, He saved her, the old men were punished, and her good name was preserved. In the New Testament we have a very different story. Here is a woman who was actually caught in the very act of adultery. She is a sinner, she has no good name to preserve, and according to the ancient law, she is to be put to death. But she is brought before Jesus, who came to establish the New Covenant. He came to His unfaithful people, who like the woman caught in adultery, have turned from their covenant with God many times. He looks at her; He forgives her. Only He is without sin; only He can judge her. In His judgment, He shows mercy. He only tells her, “Go, and do not sin again.” He says this to us all. Susanna, who was innocent of the crime of which she was accused, was certainly not without any sin. In her cry to God to save her, she must have realized this. And after her redemption, she must have been lead to a deeper conversion. She experienced firsthand what can happen when a person becomes lax in following her conscience. The woman caught in adultery also saw her own sinfulness, and her redemption from execution also lead her to live a converted life. Maybe some of the Pharisees who caught her in adultery were also led to conversion. Because Jesus came, we can be forgiven and make our lives anew. In what ways are we like Susanna, innocent but accused? Where can we form our consciences to become even more virtuous? Or maybe we are like the woman caught in adultery, in a deeper, grave, pattern of sin. Christ sees us in the very act. Or maybe we are like the Pharisees standing in judgment. We are called to conversion. We are called to let go of our judgment, to turn from our sin, and to “Go, and do not sin again.” Susanna Spencer once studied theology and philosophy, but now happily cares for her three adorable little girls and her dear husband. You can find out more about her here.

The Psalm sung today is one of the seven penitential psalms. The penitential psalms are great to pray and meditate upon especially during Lent as throughout this period of the liturgical year we particularly strive to call to mind our sinfulness and seek God’s forgiveness and mercy. Psalm 51 is my favorite because despite its penitential spirit, it has a very hopeful tone. The psalmist reminds us that our God is a God of steadfast love and abundant mercy. No matter how hard you fall, nothing can rupture that steadfast love He has for each one of us. Although you often fall short of the mark, His mercy is abundant and always there for you when you turn to Him. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. No matter how grievous your sinfulness, no matter how frequently you fall into the same sin over and over again, nothing pleases God more than to wipe the slate clean. He will fully cleanse your heart until not a spot of sin remains. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Even when you fall into mortal sin, He is always willing to restore His Spirit within you once you turn to Him with a contrite heart. He will come to dwell once more within your heart after a good Confession. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation . . . . The gift of a firm resolve comes with each good Confession. You gain strength in fighting the battle against the particular sins you struggle with every time you confess them. . . . and uphold me with a willing spirit. After having filled you with His forgiveness and grace, you will stand as an example to others of His steadfast love and abundant mercy. Others will witness the transformation in you and be inspired to call upon His mercy themselves. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee. Do not be afraid to turn to Him. He loves you more than you will ever know. No matter what you have done, there is nothing He wants more than to wrap you in His loving arms and offer you His forgiveness. Listen to this hauntingly beautiful rendition of Psalm 51, the Miserere by Allegri while meditating upon and offering it to God in prayer yourself. Laurel Muff is a creator and appreciator of beautiful things. She resides with her husband and daughters in Northern California. You can find more about her here.

Whenever I read this Gospel, I can feel the tension and chaos as the Pharisees argue about Jesus. Our Lord was speaking remarkable words and performing amazing miracles. People’s lives were being changed and hearts converted. Even the officers that were sent by the Pharisees to arrest Jesus came back empty-handed. When they were questioned they exclaimed, “No man ever spoke like this man!” They knew there was something different about Jesus. However, the Pharisees were not moved. They were trapped in their obstinacy and refused to even take the first steps of belief. As Catholics, we have all encountered some form of ridicule for our beliefs. We may have received derogatory comments for having too many children or for living a chaste life or for going to Mass. Sometimes the persecution comes from strangers and sometimes from our own friends and family members. God gives us the grace to stand strong in our faith and be a living example to those around us. However, sometimes we will encounter people who, like the Pharisees, not only refuse to believe but refuse to dialogue civilly and honestly. Instead, they sow discord and chaos. Even if you don’t know anyone like that personally, you will often see it on Facebook or in comboxes when people lose all reason and respect and attack those who differ in their beliefs. It is good that we share our faith and stand up for truth but we also have to use wisdom and prudence to know when to step away and not engage in futile arguments. Arguments do not win over hearts. The work of the Holy Spirit and the blood of the Savior do. These situations call for prayer, sacrifice and charity to truly change a heart. Is there someone in your life that needs a conversion of heart? Offer up the little crosses that come your way today for them. Bobbi Rol is full time mom to a teen daughter, three rambunctious little boys, and two babies in heaven. She lives in California with her husband, Brian. You can find out more about her here.