A very important part of our lives is being touched by other people. Touching involves far more than using our hands or a physical embrace. We are touched and uplifted by the goodness and love of so many people, especially those who are an intimate part of our lives. Their loving presence is a wonderful source of joy, meaning, and inspiration. In the Gospel for today’s Mass (Mark 5:21-43), we see the touch of Jesus giving healing and life. A man named Jairus comes to Jesus and asks him to come and heal his daughter. On the way to his house the word comes that the girl has died. Jesus continues his journey to the house, goes in, and raises the little girl back to life. The other healing touch in this Gospel is seen as a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for years sees Jesus and truly believes if she just touches His clothes as He passes by she will be healed. Her faith brought her healing. At first Jesus did not see her but He knew that He had been touched by a person who truly believed in His healing power.

Popular author and presenter Patrick Madrid draws Life Lessons from the many interesting, funny, instructive, and poignant experiences of his life. With wisdom and good humor, Patrick reflects upon the treasure trove of riches we can all take from our daily lives. Grounded in Scripture and a firm moral foundation, Patrick's Life Lessons shows how the smallest stories that make up your life are clear pointers to the greater story of God's work in your life. The laughter, the tears, and the beauty of life come alive through Patrick's insightful and clear style. These life lessons will inspire you to look anew at your everyday experiences and see the wonder of God.

“Groovin' on a Sunday afternoon, Really couldn't get away too soon. I can't imagine anything that's better; The world is ours whenever we're together. There ain't a place I'd like to be instead of.” These words are from the 1967 song Groovin’ on a Sunday Afternoon by the Young Rascals. In many ways this describes the previous scene in the Gospel for today’s Mass. In last Sunday’s Gospel (Mark 4:26 -34) Jesus spoke about the seed of faith growing in our hearts and how the love of God expands as the seed grows in more and more hearts. That was an enlightening message. In today’s Gospel we see that they left that physical place got into a boat to cross to the other side of where they were. All of a sudden a storm came up. This passage tells us that Jesus was asleep and not disturbed by it, but the disciples woke Him because they thought the boat was going to capsize and they would drown. Jesus simply said, “Quiet! Be still!” and he storm was calmed.

This is one of my favorite times to drive out east to see my brother. On the way I stop at one of the local farm stands on Sound Avenue and buy fresh strawberries. I bring them back to the rectory, hull them, and put sugar on them. What makes them much better than at the store bought ones is that they were ripened completely while on the plant. They are a vibrant red all the way to the core. They are delicious. It is a short harvesting season, but still great source of culinary delight.

Do you follow Jesus ‘on the way’?

Can we trust the Gospels? Do we really know who wrote them? Do the Gospels communicate truth – or fabricated fables? Who is Jesus? Who did Jesus claim to be? Join Dr. Brant Pitre as he draws evidence from both early Christian and non-Christian writings attesting to the authenticity, authorship, and dating of the Gospels, and as he gives an in-depth look at the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, and the proclamation of Christ’s divinity.

Dr. Pitre’s powerful presentation will strengthen your faith so that you can not only stand firm and profess that Jesus truly is “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” but also confidently respond to any skeptics you encounter.

There is an old children’s song called, “When you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.” Last week passed the mark of 50 years of being a priest. This weekend I am concelebrating the noon Mass with some of the priests I have been with here and in other parishes. Looking ahead in 1971 when I was ordained there was not a thought in my mind about 2021. That was way in the distance. Now as I look back it seemed to happen so quickly.

“The greatest proof of love is the perfect gift of self.” This quote comes from a reflection in the publication Magnificat for this Sunday and is from a priest named Fr. Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P. We can shower all kinds of physical gifts on people, but the true gift is the love with which it is given. There is no greater gift than ourselves filled with love, joy, and gratitude.

Prepare the next Sunday’s Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ with this audio talk by Dr. Scott Hahn, a former Presbyterian minister. Dr. Hahn provides the Biblical basis for the Church's teaching on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the significance of the Feast of Corpus Christi. It also gives us a greater understanding of our vocation to be the living presence of Christ in the world.

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” These are the words we pray every time we pray the Our Father, the very prayer Jesus gave His disciples when they asked Him how to pray. How good it would be if God’s kingdom were present in our world. God’s kingdom is not a physical place, but people united in faith in Jesus Christ. What is God’s will for us? When God told the Jewish people He would be their God and they would be His people He offered them the covenant (agreement between two parties) which gave them and us the Ten Commandments. Obeying them enabled them to say with confidence, hope, and gratitude that God is my God. Embracing the Ten Commandments and all they mean is part of doing God’s will. We have even more in Jesus who expands the Ten Commandments with His words of preaching and way of life. One of wonderful ways to find guidance and direction is to prayerfully read chapters five, six, and seven from St. Matthew’s Gospel. This is the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus begins with the eight Beatitudes.

“Please pray for me . . . my loved one . . . my friend.” As a priest I have been asked countless times to pray for people who are concerned for others or themselves. Prayer for others is very important. It expresses faith in God’s goodness and love and our love and concern for those we are praying for. I still pray for people I met in my first parish back in the 1970s. It is my privilege to pray for my family, friends, and all those who ask for prayers. In the Gospel for today’s Mass (John 17:11-19), we see Jesus at the Last Supper praying to His Father for those who He will leave behind the next day when He is crucified. What is His prayer for them? “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction.” Jesus expressed His love for them, knowing that it will not always be easy to live as He lived, to share the Good News He spoke and was. But that is the truth of who we are as His prayer continues: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

Why should a person who is not Catholic consider entering into the Church? Father Francis Peffley gives five compelling reasons, followed by a simple outline of the steps one would take to begin the process of becoming Catholic. Fr. Peffley is active with parish young adult ministry, retreat work, Catholic apologetics, and evangelization. His hobbies include golf, scuba diving, bowling, and juggling fire torches and machetes.

To all of our mothers I say, “Happy Mother’s Day!” Thank you for the gift of life and the gift of your love. You held us in joy when we were born. Before we uttered a word or were able to say thank you, we were nourished by your life-giving motherhood. For nine months you carried us in you wombs, nourishing, protecting, and feeding us with your very self. You are an example of what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel (John 15:9-17). These words are part of His last words with His disciples at the Last Supper. First of all He says, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

Fr. Mike Schmitz, a renowned and beloved speaker and spiritual guide to the youth and young adults, discusses the all-important topic of God's existence. Armed with his usual repertoire of lively humor and sound philosophy, Fr. Mike reveals the incredible implications of the question that Christ asks all of us: "Who do YOU say that I Am?"

May is the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This docu-drama will focus on Our Lady’s apparition at Fatima. Produced by the awardwinning filmmakers of the highly acclaimed feature film The 13th Day, this powerful and in-depth documentary combines archival footage, dramatic reenactments, original interviews with Fatima experts, and stunning visuals to tell the whole story of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.

As I drive out east to Greenport on Sound Avenue, the fields are plowed and the vines in the vineyards are pruned and ready to grow branches. In the Gospel for today’s Mass (John 15:1-8), Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” I began to wonder how long a vine lasts, being pruned and bearing fruit year after year, and found this interesting information: “With proper care, grapevines can live for 50 to 100 years or more. Some of California's oldest vineyards contain grapevines dating back to the 1880s. In your garden, your grapevines may well outlive you.” In the opening line for today’s Gospel Jesus says: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.” One of the commentaries I read on this Gospel says that the word true in this context means a lack of forgetfulness. “The True Vine remembers at all times the communion between ‘all there is’ and the ‘Source of All There Is.’ This means that the True Vine lives simultaneously in the flux and time and in the Eternal Now.”