Pastor's Reflection

Everything around us seems to be getting more automatic. We press buttons or tap screens all day long. And we see the results - the car starts immediately at the press of a button, the letters appear on the screen, the new screen glows and emerges.

We can get so used to pushing buttons and tapping screens that we can begin to treat other people like they were a keyboard or a screen: they should respond immediately at the press of a button or touch of the screen.

But people aren't screens. People aren't buttons.

Our expectations build until they are an avalanche crushing us.

Jesus wants to rescue us from the inundation: "Do not let your hearts be troubled" (Jn. 14:1).

Releasing ourselves from our own expectations is hard work. It means allowing ourselves to be liberated from the demanding spirit that can often hover over us. Demands love results. The more we play with the spirit of demands and results, the more we will grow unsettled by unreachable expectations.

And we can even draft God as an agent to secure our expectations. And if He doesn't deliver, resentment begins to build.

Prayer doesn't involve pressing a button or swiping a screen. Prayer means sitting down at church in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament or in the silence of our own room and letting God be free. God meets us in silence. He wants to take us to Himself in love. As we sit down to pray, the demands, expectations, and wishes for results swirl around us.

Let them go. Put them down as often as you have to. And as we repeatedly let go of the momentum, a new freedom will slowly be born is us. Let grace replace your expectations. Let meeting God be more important than the countless buttons and the hypnotic screens.

Next time you want to reach for your phone, stop. And reach for God instead in a simple moment of prayer.

God bless,
Msgr. Bransfield

There are a lot of voices in our lives. Today in the Gospel Jesus tells us that the most important voice for us is His voice – the voice of the shepherd. But He also warns us that there are other voices – the voice of the stranger from which we must run.

The “stranger” stands for temptation and sin. Temptation always tries to make itself look attractive. We can’t fight temptation on our own. We must gather close to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, so that His voice will conquer and drive away the voice of the enemy, the stranger.

Listen to the voice of Jesus – we hear His voice especially in the Sacrament of Confession, at Holy Mass, and in Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

If we are too busy for God, then we are too busy. Let Him interrupt the busyness. Come visit with Him. Listen for the sound of His voice – before we even concentrate on what He may be saying to us, just listen … listen to the sound of His voice in prayer.

The voice of Jesus drives away the enemy, the voice of the stranger, sin, and temptation. Let the voice of Jesus have free rein in your heart.

God bless,
Msgr. Bransfield

“That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus … (Lk. 24:13).

In the Bible geography is never just geography and numbers are never just numbers.

The above verse describes what happened on Easter Sunday. The two disciples did not yet know that Jesus had risen from the dead that morning. They thought He was dead and not coming back. They were afraid.

And as can happen when we are afraid, they were running away. They were running away from Jerusalem – the place where Jesus was crucified. They were away from the place of pain and running to Emmaus.

Geography is never just geography. Emmaus wasn’t just another city, and the road they were on wasn’t just another street. That was their escape route to their hideout.

And notice that they were going “seven miles distant” to run away. The number seven means something. In the Book of Genesis, when God created time, a week is seven days. There are seven Sacraments. The number seven is the symbolic number of completeness, totality. The two disciples are running away from Jerusalem, wanting to be completely away from what caused them hurt and pain – the loss of Jesus. Denial can take us long distances, even right in our own home.

What are our hideouts where we go to be completely away when we are afraid and in pain? Is it alcohol, gossip, or scrolling continuously on our cell phone? Is it gambling, rage, or shopping? Where do we go to numb the pain?

Even though the two disciples were running away, Jesus came and walked with them. He doesn’t write them off or disqualify them. He walks with them. They don’t recognize Him at first. But gradually they do. In fact, He probably bothered them at first. He was getting in the way of their escape. And He would soon rescue them and free them.

He is going to get in the way of our escape, too. He wants to walk along with us. He rescues us, too. And He frees us.

Let’s let Him. And let’s see where He leads us.

God bless,
Msgr. Bransfield