Natalie Conseur

Sometimes people ask, regarding Purgatory: “where is that in the bible?” The first reading that will be used at Sunday Mass at St. James – since there are different options for All Souls Day – is the biblical source, 2 Macc 12:43-46. (See also 1 Cor 3:15.) Keep in mind, unlike Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, Protestant Bibles do not have 1^st or 2^nd Maccabees. In this reading, we hear about how the leader of Israel in the second century BC, Judas, had a sacrifice offered at the temple in Jerusalem for the expiation of sin for a group of dead soldiers from the army of Israel. If we are honest, we recognize that while we follow Jesus, we are still impatient, at times dishonest, sometimes lustful and so on. In short, we are not perfect. We hope to be in heaven one day with the Lord Jesus and everyone else we love in our families, among our friends, and in our community. But, if Jesus brings imperfect people into heaven, then heaven will not be a place of perfect love, peace and joy.

We will still be gossiping, bickering and causing a raucous. The solution: for God to perfect those bound for heaven in the love of Jesus Christ.Those in purgatory are being perfectly molded to the image of Christ, to love as he loves. Yet, this process takes time; not because God lacks power, but because people have free will and are stubborn. People must freely choose to love, or else it is not love. God is patient because he gave us free will in the first place and will not override it, lest he effectively destroy the very creatures he is saving. The existence of Purgatory is part of the Good News of Jesus Christ: God is so merciful and patient, that those people who are not ready for heaven, and not bound for hell, when they die, are given his grace for transformation even after death, in order that they may live forever in perfect love.

Readings for Sunday: Numbers, Philippians, John

Do we love Jesus? Yes… at least a little. Do we love Jesus as he loves us? No. When we suffer, we get angry with God. When we pray for cures and do not get them, we start praying less or stop praying all together. We spend more time watching TV than we pray. The list goes on. We do not love Jesus to the point that we love him for his own sake. Rather, we tend to love him because he makes lives better. We do not love him to the point that we will suffer for him without asking him for something in return.

For this reason, if we embrace the cross in our lives, then Jesus can use it to transform our hearts to love him as he loves us. To the world, it seems as though Jesus is powerless to end our suffering. But God sees it as a chance to change our motives, to choose to love him for no other reason than for who he is. It is in this way that the suffering of the cross cleanses us of all our sinful tendencies and makes us ready for heaven. That is the victory. It is true that, in the end, we will be cured of all sickness. We will be cured of death through the Resurrection. In heaven no one suffers. But more importantly, that is because everyone is perfectly united to God in love. And the love of God gives life everlasting.

Readings for Sunday: Wisdom, Philemon, Luke

Jesus teaches three conditions: to put Him above all relationships, to carry our cross, and to renounce possessions. These do not mean literal hatred or reckless poverty, but rather a reordering of life so that Christ always comes first.

Discipleship is demanding because it requires transformation. We must let go of sin, embrace suffering, and live with spiritual poverty, seeing all that we have as belonging to God. Yet the reward is beyond imagination—eternal life in heaven, where perfect love and peace reign. The price is heavy, but discipleship prepares us for that profound encounter with God’s infinite love, the ultimate goal of our journey.

Readings for Sunday: Sirach, Hebrews, Matthew

When we serve those most in need, we grow in humility. Service shifts our focus away from ourselves and onto others, helping us live in the truth that life is not about self-promotion but about God. A truly humble person does not seek praise or recognition, nor are they disturbed by criticism, because their life is anchored in Christ.

Ultimately, humility is both a disposition and a way of life. It frees us from pride, grounds us in the truth, and directs all glory to God. This is why, as Augustine taught, humility is the foundation of the spiritual life.

Readings for Sunday: Acts, 2 Timothy, Matthew

This Sunday, we celebrate the two great evangelizers of our faith—St. Peter, the apostle to the Jews, and St. Paul, the apostle to the gentiles. Though very different in background and personality, both were chosen by Christ and gave their lives to build His Church. The readings for today offer us a powerful reminder of who they were, what they endured, and what their lives mean for us.

In our first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. An angel of the Lord comes, light fills the cell, and Peter walks free. God isn’t done with him yet. It’s a reminder that when we follow Christ, no prison—physical or spiritual—can hold us back.

Next, in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, we read the apostle’s words: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” What a testimony! Paul’s life wasn’t easy—he was beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned—but he never gave up. And through it all, he trusted that the Lord would see him through.

Finally, in today’s Gospel from Matthew, we hear that it is Peter, who answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responds with those unforgettable words: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.”

This isn’t just about Peter personally—it’s about the Church’s foundation. Jesus entrusts Peter with leadership, showing us how God works through human instruments to guide His people.

Peter and Paul weren’t perfect; both would admit that they were sinners. Paul originally persecuted members of the Church and Peter denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion. But grace transformed them—and through them, the world. Their lives encourage us to say “yes” to Jesus, no matter our past, and to trust that God can do great things through each of us.

Let us pray today for their courage, their faith, and their love for Christ. May we, like Peter and Paul, become living stones in the Church that the Father continues to build—in and through Christ, our Lord.

Readings for Sunday: Sirach, 1 Corinthians, Luke

If an anthropologist from the future, traveling back in time with an invisibility cloak could observe you every day, all day, for months: what type of report would he write? It is easy for us to declare what our ideals are, but talk is cheap. How do we actually live? In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says, “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit… A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” We all like to think of ourselves as good people, yet, if we are honest, we not only sin but even have thought patterns that are not always good. We judge people, we lust, and we are often selfish and self-centered.

Holiness is not simply avoiding sin; though to be clear, we should not sin. Holiness, in the end, is about conformity to Jesus Christ. It is to become just like him: to be a son or daughter of God in and through the Son of God.

To think like him, be like him, take on his dispositions and, in the end, act like him. That is why the Catholic Church teaches both about what entertainment we “consume” and the inculcation of virtue, that is, good habits.

Regarding entertainment, as well as books and so on, the Church teaches us to choose carefully. We like to think that we have great mental filters, and that we can filter out bad material. But that is not true. After all, have you ever had a song stuck in your head? How did it get there? Virtue is the day in and day out doing of good things, to the point that they become habit. Habits can be good (virtues) or bad (vices). We want to be so like Jesus Christ that it becomes “natural;” we want to be holy.

Readings for Sunday: 1 Samuel, 1 Corinthians, Luke

Sometimes Jesus’ commands seem crazy; for example, in today’s Gospel, he tells us to “love our enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Yet, if we understand it, it makes perfect sense. In the first place, the actual word in the original Greek text is Ἀγαπᾶτε (agapate); it is the command form of the verb agapaó, “to love.” But this is different than the other Greek words for love such as phileō (brotherly love, the love of friends), stérgō (family feeling), éramai (physical love, romantic love, sexual love). Agapaó means to do good for the other person without expectation of repayment. It has nothing to do with how you feel, rather, it is about what you do. Jesus would ultimately say, “No one has greater love (agape) than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

We, as sinners, were in a sense God’s enemies. St. Paul wrote, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We see God’s love for us in the Cross. We see God’s love in what he did for us, not expeting repayment because it is impossible to buy or earn or compensate God’s for our salvation. As God loves us, we are to love others, even our enemies.

There is a difference between authentically loving someone and liking someone. Liking someone means you enjoy being around that person, and or you agree with that person, and so on. You can truly love (agapaó) someone while not liking him. You can like someone without truly loving her. We have probably all had friends who like us but didn’t truly love us: they were not there when we truly needed them or they were not willing to do good for us without expecting some kind of payment or return. Jesus is not like that: he truly loves us, even when we are not being very likable; he truly loves us even though we are sinners.

Readings for Sunday: Malachi, Hebrews, Luke

At the Field Museum there was an exhibit filled with shoes—endless varieties from around the world, even boots. A sign read, “Walk a mile in my shoes,” inviting us to understand others’ lives by imagining their journeys. It was inspiring. But something was missing—a pair of sandals, worn by a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth named Jesus.

Those sandals represent something profound: that God Himself understands us. God, as God, knows everything.Yet in Jesus, God takes our humanity, walking among us, experiencing life as we do.

The feast we celebrate today, the Presentation of the Lord, reminds us of this incredible truth. Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple—the place where God’s glory, His shekinah, dwelled among His people.

For centuries, that glory had seemed distant—hidden behind the curtain of the Holy of Holies, accessible only to the high priest, and only once a year at that. But Malachi foretold a day when the Lord Himself would come to His temple. And when He did, it wasn’t with fire and lightning, but as a baby in His mother’s arms.

In Jesus, the glory of God walked a mile in our shoes. He shared in our joys and sorrows, even our death, to save us from sin and bring us into a new relationship with God—as His beloved children.

So, when life feels dark or overwhelming, follow Simeon’s example. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Because in Jesus, our God is with us in our experience, even when life is hard.