We understand how we feel when someone close to us learns they need a biopsy for a spot that might be cancerous. How much we fear the potential suffering they must go through. And if it turns out to be cancer, how deeply we suffer with them during their surgery and chemotherapy.
Coming down the mountain after the Transfiguration, Jesus tells his three disciples that he will suffer, be crucified, and rise again. It’s tempting for us to focus on the excitement and hype of the Transfiguration. How wonderful it would be to stay on that mountain with Jesus. But they went down into the valley, and immediately Jesus healed a man possessed by a demon.
Jesus had to clarify to His disciples that His healing power was not magic but the outcome of much pain and suffering. Nevertheless, “It is by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus did not hesitate to demonstrate His greatest love for us through His Suffering and Passion.
He challenges us to carry our cross every day and show Him how much we love Him during difficult times. That cross, carried in love, brings healing and salvation to those in need of Jesus’ healing and compassion. We are His hands and heart for others.
Gospel Challenge:
Is there a cross you are hesitant to pick up and carry? Pray with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, “Lord, let this cup pass me by, but let not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
March 9, 2026, Luke 4:24-30 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030926.cfm Homecoming. When I returned home from my studies in England, my family warmly greeted me at the airport terminal.
March 7, 2026, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030726.cfm Home at Last. How heart-wrenching it is to stray from our Father’s loving embrace. Like the younger son
March 6, 2026, Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030626.cfm Someone is Missing. Mother Teresa recounts a story about a young drug addict she and her sisters met
March 20, 2025, Luke 16:19-31 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030526.cfm One Small Step. One Giant Leap. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on
Father Rick’s Two-Minute Homily for Saturday, 25th Week in Ordinary Time
September 27, 2025, Luke 9:42b-45
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092725.cfm
No One Wants To Suffer, But.
We understand how we feel when someone close to us learns they need a biopsy for a spot that might be cancerous. How much we fear the potential suffering they must go through. And if it turns out to be cancer, how deeply we suffer with them during their surgery and chemotherapy.
Coming down the mountain after the Transfiguration, Jesus tells his three disciples that he will suffer, be crucified, and rise again. It’s tempting for us to focus on the excitement and hype of the Transfiguration. How wonderful it would be to stay on that mountain with Jesus. But they went down into the valley, and immediately Jesus healed a man possessed by a demon.
Jesus had to clarify to His disciples that His healing power was not magic but the outcome of much pain and suffering. Nevertheless, “It is by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus did not hesitate to demonstrate His greatest love for us through His Suffering and Passion.
He challenges us to carry our cross every day and show Him how much we love Him during difficult times. That cross, carried in love, brings healing and salvation to those in need of Jesus’ healing and compassion. We are His hands and heart for others.
Gospel Challenge:
Is there a cross you are hesitant to pick up and carry? Pray with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, “Lord, let this cup pass me by, but let not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
Love Your Neighbor!
Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.
frrick@bscchurch.com
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