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THE WEEKLY DIGEST
OF REGNUM CHRISTI
DAILY MEDITATIONS

Week of May 11 - 18 2025

Sunday, May 11, 2025 – Hearing Our Shepherd’s Voice

Monday, May 12, 2025 – Freedom of the Sheepfold

Tuesday, May 13, 2025 – Spiritual Seasons

Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – God Loves Us

Thursday, May 15, 2025 – Blessed Are You

Friday, May 16, 2025 – The Cure for Anxiety

Saturday, May 17, 2025 – I Need You, Lord

Sunday, May 18, 2025 – Commanded to Love

May 11, 2025 – Hearing Our Shepherd’s Voice

Fourth Sunday of Easter

John 10:27-30

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

Opening Prayer: Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Encountering Christ:

  1. My Sheep Hear My Voice: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Jesus spoke these words during the Feast of Dedication, which is Hanukkah, the feast founded by Judas Maccabaeus to commemorate the cleansing of the Temple and the restoration of its services after the defilement by Antiochus Epiphanes. Jesus was standing in Solomon’s Portico in the Temple of Jerusalem. Solomon was the son of David, the young shepherd who God anointed as King of Israel one thousand years before Jesus. Jesus’ words here were in response to the crowd of Jews who asked him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus responded as asked because every Jew in that time knew God’s house was the Temple. Every Jew knew they were the chosen people. Every Jew knew sheep refuse to follow any voice other than their master’s. Every Jew knew only God could give eternal life. Jesus was speaking very plainly here. How many of them would allow Jesus’ words to penetrate their hearts? How many would let Jesus heal them of their spiritual blindness and see he is the Messiah? Do we believe Jesus is who he says he is? If so, are we willing to follow him completely, refusing to listen to any other voice that is not God?

  2. Belonging to God: “No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.” This statement revealed Jesus’ great desire to draw those listening even deeper into an understanding of his relationship as the Son of God to God the Father. His words here evoked Psalm 100:3, which we pray today, “Know that the Lord is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.” The Catechism teaches, “It pleased God in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature (CCC 50).” We can judge the Jews for not seeing what seems obvious, but how often are we blind to the awesome reality that we know we are children of God because God has chosen to reveal that to us?

  3. One in the Holy Trinity: “The Father and I are one.” Jesus, the Word made Flesh, could not speak more plainly to the Jews–and to us–than he does here. The Catechism is just as clear: “God, who ‘dwells in unapproachable light,’ wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his only-begotten Son. By revealing himself, God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity” (CCC 52). If we have been blind to this great love and mercy of God, let us commit ourselves from this moment on to join in praise as we just prayed in Psalm 100:1-2, “Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful song. We are his people, the flock he tends.”

Conversing with Christ: Lord, where I am blind and do not see your goodness, please heal me. Jesus, in all the places I do not follow you, please call me. I desire to know my Master’s voice,  and I desire that you know me. I forget so often how it is you who desire to reveal yourself to me and how it is me that closes myself off from you. Mother Mary, help me to follow your Son so he can take me to our Father.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will read from the Catechism of the Catholic Church so as to grow in greater knowledge of God and his Church.

For Further Reflection: Read and meditate on the Catechism of the Catholic Church 50-53.

Nan Balfour is an events coordinator for Pilgrim Center of Hope, a Catholic evangelization ministry that answers Christ’s call by guiding people to encounter him in order to live in hope as pilgrims in daily life. She is also a mother, writer, and speaker on Catholic topics.

May 12, 2025 – Freedom of the Sheepfold

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

John 10:1-10

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Opening Prayer: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You set a table before me in front of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days.

Encountering Christ:

  1. The Sheepfold: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.” One definition of a sheepfold is a three-foot stone wall opening up to the sky. It is said a sheep can jump as high as three feet, and anyone trying to get in would have no trouble stepping over that low wall. This type of sheepfold assumes a shepherd who is ever alert and attentive. The Catholic Church is like this type of sheepfold. The sheep have the freedom to jump the wall if they choose, and anyone from the outside can easily enter. We, too, have that freedom. “God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel, so that he might of his own accord seek his creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him” (CCC 1743). “The Church proposes. She imposes nothing” (St. John Paul II).

  2. Thieves and Robbers: The Catechism states, “The grace of Christ is not in the slightest way a rival of our freedom when this freedom accords with the sense of the true and good that God has put in the human heart” (1742). Humans are much more intelligent than sheep, but we are wise to look to them for their example of trust. It is said that as long as the sheep are full and feel protected, they are happy to stay in place. Our faith teaches that the “thieves and robbers” that tempt us are the flesh, the world, and the devil. If we believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Good Shepherd, who provides fully for us and protects us from harm, why do we find ourselves mistaking the voices of vice as something good and worth following?

  3. The Shepherd’s Voice: “But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.” With over thirty-thousand Protestant Christian denominations in the world, there are various understandings of who Jesus is. For Catholics, we can trust who Jesus is through Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. These three pillars of the Church, like the Good Shepherd, the gatekeeper, and the gate, are Jesus Christ, who promised he would not leave us orphaned (cf. Jn 14:18). When we doubt, fear, and find ourselves lost through sin, we can trust Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is always alert and attentive and will draw us back to the sheepfold of the Church. We can trust Jesus through his Church to provide and protect us as he says, “Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Conversing with Christ: Lord, I believe you are the Good Shepherd. I believe you will provide and protect me. I am sorry for all the times I have left your fold to go my own way. True freedom lies in you, God. Thank you for the gift of the Church, where I can always come home and seek reconciliation through the sacraments.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will learn what the Catechism teaches about the pillars of the Church: Scripture, Apostolic Tradition, and the Magisterium by reading and reflecting on CCC 74-141.

For Further Reflection: Contemplate Ephesians 1:15-23 on the Church as Christ’s Body.

Nan Balfour is an events coordinator for Pilgrim Center of Hope, a Catholic evangelization ministry that answers Christ’s call by guiding people to encounter him in order to live in hope as pilgrims in daily life. She is also a mother, writer, and speaker on Catholic topics.

May 13, 2025 – Spiritual Seasons

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

John 10:22-30

The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

 

Opening Prayer: Jesus, reveal the Father to me. I want to draw closer to you. I know only through you am I able to know the Father. Lead me, Good Shepherd, to our heavenly home.

 

Encountering Christ:

 

  1. It Was Winter: “The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter.” John’s Gospel is rich in providing signs to direct minds and hearts. Every word has meaning. Winter symbolizes many things: cold, waiting, end, death, a precursor to spring and its new life. In these lines of Scripture, “It was winter” means that the long wait for the Messiah was coming to an end. Death would soon be defeated. The winter of Satan’s reign would soon pass into the spring of Jesus’ Kingdom. Those who were not Jesus’ sheep were there to do battle. Those opposed to Jesus gathered around to debate him and cause confusion among the crowds.

  2. And Jesus Walked About: “And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon.” The Portico of Solomon was on the east side of the Temple and offered protection from the cold winds of the desert, once again referencing winter. It was a feast day, so many Jews from distant lands were arriving and Jesus was “walking about” them. Psalm 87, today’s responsorial psalm, encouraged the dispersed Jews of 6 BC who were living in foreign lands to remain children of Zion, God’s people. Jesus was doing the same here. We can imagine Jesus walking about looking in the hearts of those who had come from far away, acknowledging their hopes and desires. And none of them realized that their God was looking lovingly upon them first. Where are the areas of waiting in our life? Places of winter cold or death? God is at this moment walking about those places in our souls. Pope Francis offered us this encouragement: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. ‘Dwell’ is the verb […] to signify this reality: It expresses a total sharing, a great intimacy. And this is what God wants: He wants to dwell with us; he wants to dwell in us, not to remain distant.”

  3. But You Do Not Believe: “But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” How hurt Jesus must have felt to be among his own people and not be recognized. Every person desires to be acknowledged, affirmed, and appreciated for they are. Our usual response is to self-protect by putting on masks to hide our vulnerability. Jesus wanted to be known and loved, but his response was completely different. God who is Love remained vulnerable and open. Jesus, which means “God Saves,” continued to seek his lost sheep. Jesus, who is Emmanuel, continued to dwell among them even when they failed to recognize him. When it feels like a long winter has settled in our souls, we remember that we are not alone. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is walking about in us. We welcome him.

 

Conversing with Christ: Lord, where do I fail to see you? Help me to acknowledge your presence in my life. Help me to see and help me to respond. I want to be found by you, Lord.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take at least twenty minutes to imagine myself coming into the Temple at the Portico of Solomon. I will look at you and remember that you are already looking at me. I will ask you to walk about with me and bring light and warmth to the cold and dark places in my soul.

For Further Reflection: Contemplate the zeal and confidence of the first disciples of Jesus in today’s first reading: Acts 11:19-26.

Nan Balfour is an events coordinator for Pilgrim Center of Hope, a Catholic evangelization ministry that answers Christ’s call by guiding people to encounter him in order to live in hope as pilgrims in daily life. She is also a mother, writer, and speaker on Catholic topics.

May 14, 2025 – God Loves Us

Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

John 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples: “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. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”

Opening Prayer: Lord, thank you for these moments of prayer, of friendship with you, my God and Redeemer. Bless me so that I can fulfill your command to love one another.

Encountering Christ:

  1. Remain in My Love: We can never know everything about God the Father—or any Person of the Trinity, for that matter—but we do know that God is pure, unadulterated love. And his love for his Son is so powerful that it is manifest in the Spirit. Jesus tells us in these lines of Scripture that “as the Father loves me, so I also love you.” No human being loves us as perfectly, wholly, and completely as Jesus does. And the love God the Father, Son, and Spirit have for us is unchanging and unconditional. We can’t do anything about it. Whether we’re naughty or nice, God loves us. We could spend hours and hours contemplating this truth and not scratch the surface of the depth of love God has for us. We will, in fact, contemplate this awesome reality for all eternity, God willing. May we remain in this love as much as is humanly possible, starting afresh today.

  2. We Are Not Slaves: Jesus tells us we are friends if we do what he commands of us. At times, however, we can feel like slaves. With a sense of duty, we abide by rules, conform to truths, offer penances, sacrifice for others, etc. We are never slaves, however, because God is not a slave master. Sin enslaves us. God is love. When we feel anything less than beloved, our perception of God has become warped. We have listened too closely, perhaps, to the great liar, Satan. In that case, we can return to the first verse in this passage and remind ourselves that we are eternally loved by an awesome God.

  3. Love One Another: We just explored the infinite depth of Jesus’ love for us, and now we are commanded by Jesus to love others as he loves us. It would be impossible, of course, were it not for the fact that God has loved us first. When our hearts are full of the experiential knowledge and love of Jesus, love for others overflows. We love not with our own limited resources, but by the grace of Jesus. In his strength, it is possible to love even those who have hurt us. “… Love, and do what you will. If you hold your peace, hold your peace out of love. If you cry out, cry out in love. If you correct someone, correct them out of love. If you spare them, spare them out of love. Let the root of love be in you: nothing can spring from it but good…” (St. Augustine).

Conversing with Christ: Lord, increase my faith so that I may know something of your love for me. I want to believe in the depths of my heart that you love me infinitely and permanently. And help me also, Lord, to love others more perfectly. Only by your grace can I show your love to others.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will look for a silent, hidden way to show my love for someone you have placed in my life.

For Further Reflection: CCC 219, 220, 221: God’s love for Israel is compared to a father’s love for his son. His love for his people is stronger than a mother’s for her children. God loves his people more than a bridegroom his beloved; his love will be victorious over even the worst infidelities and will extend to his most precious gift: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” God’s love is “everlasting”: “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you. Through Jeremiah, God declares to his people, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” But St. John goes even further when he affirms that “God is love”: God’s very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.

Maribeth Harper celebrated paying the last tuition bill for her kids’ college by writing a book for moms who have college-aged young adults, And So We Pray, Guidance for Moms with College-Aged Young Adults. She is a wife of thirty-five years, mother of four, and grandmother of nine and counting.

May 15, 2025 – Blessed Are You

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

John 13:16-20

 When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, he said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it. I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, the one who ate my food has raised his heel against me. From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

Opening Prayer: I want to believe and follow you, Lord Jesus, but it is difficult for me at times to understand how I am to act and speak as your disciple in the circumstances of my day. I believe in you, Jesus; help my unbelief.

Encountering Christ:

  1. Slave and Messenger: Several verses before this Gospel passage and the few after it revealed that Jesus had an enemy among his Apostles. When Jesus said, “No slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him,” he was warning his Apostles of this sinister threat. Judas had already accepted the blood money in exchange for turning Jesus over to the authorities, but it was not too late for him to repent here. He did not. Perhaps Judas believed he was in control, able to twist events to his advantage without losing his place among his brother Apostles. Judas would soon realize he was never in control, but instead had become a slave to Satan and his messenger of evil. We too often fall for the lie that we are in control of our lives. God has given every person free will, but “the exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything. It is false to maintain that man, ‘the subject of this freedom,’ is ‘an individual who is fully self-sufficient and whose finality is the satisfaction of his own interests in the enjoyment of earthly goods’” (CCC 1740). “Freedom makes a man a moral subject. When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the father of his acts. Human acts, that is, acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be morally evaluated. They are either good or evil” (CCC 1749). Jesus taught his Apostles, and teaches us, that our acts of free will are subject to two choices: good or evil.

  2. In Control: John writes Jesus was “fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God […] (Jn 13:3), and then described the Son of God, fully empowered, stooping to wash the feet of his Apostles. This is the amazing witness of Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” (Mt 5:5). Meekness, Archbishop Fulton Sheen says, is “self-possession. That is why the reward for meekness is possession.” The Greek origin of the word meek is “strength under control.” In ancient Greece, war horses were meeked: trained to be strong and powerful, yet under control and willing to submit. Jesus was fully in control of his humanity through his divinity, manifested in his obedience to the Father. This is meekness, the strength under control that Jesus witnessed to us, and we are called to imitate him.

  3. I AM: “From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.” Jesus was taking the precious little time he had left to prepare his Apostles for what was to come. He had spent the past three years walking with them, teaching them, and witnessing to what they were to do, and now it all came down to their belief in his words that he, Jesus, their friend and Master, is God: I AM. “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” When the situation soon became out of the Apostles’ control and their Lord was taken from them, their belief was shaken but not destroyed. This outcome was helped by the witness of those who stood at his cross: the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, John, and a few others. It would be Mary Magdalene whom the resurrected Jesus sent and was received by the Apostles. When we experience our “out of control” situations, we can remember that Jesus prepares us and teaches us what to do through the graces we receive in the sacramental life of his Catholic Church. “If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.”

Conversing with Christ: Lord, so often I try to control situations, and this leads to division and unrest instead of the unity and peace I want. You teach us that the way to unity and peace can only be achieved by surrendering our will to you. You are the way, Jesus. I will follow you.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make an intentional effort to grow in the virtue of meekness through prayer and acts of submission in your name to the proper authorities in my circumstances.

Nan Balfour is an events coordinator for Pilgrim Center of Hope, a Catholic evangelization ministry that answers Christ’s call by guiding people to encounter him in order to live in hope as pilgrims in daily life. She is also a mother, writer, and speaker on Catholic topics.

May 16, 2025 – The Cure for Anxiety

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

John 14:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Opening Prayer: Lord, thank you for these beautiful words. You know how often my heart is troubled, and I come to you in these moments of prayer for consolation. Increase my faith.

Encountering Christ:

  1. Don’t Be Troubled: We live in an anxiety-ridden society. To combat the stress, experts recommend exercise, yoga, vitamins, solitude… there are even courses on happiness at Harvard University with long waiting lists. Yet, Our Lord tells us very clearly, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He gives us the remedy for anxiety in the very next line of Scripture. “Have faith.” According to the Catechism (150), “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed.” There are antidotes for anxiety, but how do we grow in faith? We were given the seeds of faith at our Baptism. Just as we grow from toddlerhood to adulthood, we must nurture our faith from its nascent origins to a mature spirituality. We do this by asking the Lord every day to increase our faith, reading and studying to continually deepen our understanding of Christ, praying daily, and availing ourselves of the sacraments.

  2. There Are Many Dwelling Places: The central tenet of our faith is the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and won for us eternal life. In these lines of Scripture, Jesus promised that he would be preparing a place in Heaven for each of us, “so that where I am you also may be.” When we meditate on these words of Jesus and allow our hearts and minds to dwell on the things of Heaven, we are fostering a “holy habit of contentment,” according to author Linda Dillow (Calm My Anxious Heart, p. 3). We are letting go of worry in favor of joyfully anticipating union with the person of Jesus one day.

  3. Jesus Is the Way: God blessed St. Thomas for asking the question that prompted Jesus to proclaim, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” By following the Commandments and the tenets of the Church, we are following Jesus, the way. When we exert ourselves to study and inquire so that we can learn about the faith, we are seeking Jesus, the truth. When we beg for grace in our prayer, avail ourselves of the sacraments, and foster an eternal perspective, reflecting often on Heaven, we are acknowledging that Jesus is the life.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, how can my heart be troubled when you promise so clearly that you are preparing a place for me in Heaven? You are truly the way, truth, and life, and it is distractions and sufferings that deflect my attention from you. Help me to be still and know that you are God (cf. Ps 46:10) in my prayer and to be attentive to you during my day, so that my faith may grow rock solid.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will do some spiritual reading to deepen my understanding of the faith.

Maribeth Harper celebrated paying the last tuition bill for her kids’ college by writing a book for moms who have college-aged young adults, And So We Pray, Guidance for Moms with College-Aged Young Adults. She is a wife of thirty-five years, mother of four, and grandmother of nine and counting.

May 17, 2025 – I Need You, Lord

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter

John 14:7-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,

and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”

Opening Prayer: Lord, I desire that you open my eyes to see as you see, my mind to think as you think, and my heart to love as you love. I approach you today, Lord, as I would a dear friend. May this time of prayer lead to a more profound relationship with you.

Encountering Christ:

  1. God Bless Philip: Even though he accompanied Jesus for quite some time, Philip still missed an important truth about his master—that the Father and Jesus are one. Yet, Philip spoke from his heart when he begged, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Like Philip, many of us are “seasoned followers of Christ,” having been with him for years in our vocations as priests, consecrated persons, or lay men and women. Like Philip, we often misunderstand Jesus when he reveals something of himself to us, even if we should know better. Philip teaches us that when we ask Jesus sincerely for clarification or greater insight, Jesus answers us. We have this beautiful description of Jesus’ relationship with the Father because Philip asked to see and understand.

  2. Doing His Works: Once more, Jesus tells us in these lines of Scripture that by faith we can work miracles. “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.” If we’re not doing miracles or witnessing them, the fault lies with us. Perhaps our faith is too weak. Perhaps we haven’t discerned when miracles are called for. Perhaps we aren’t ready to give Jesus all the credit. Or maybe we fail to see miracles for what they are. Is there any greater miracle than to see the light of Christ sparkle in someone’s eyes for the first time as you witness about him? Lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and church musicians can be miracle workers, bringing the word to life in people’s souls by their ministries. Healing miracles happen through healing services or by our own intercessory prayers. We are miracle workers every time we act according to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, for we become Christ’s hands and feet for the good of our neighbor.

  3. Asking: Jesus told us that if we ask anything of him in his name, he will do it. What a promise! How often do we trust the Lord with our heart’s greatest desires? We think, “I want to be a saint” or “I want the conversion of my fallen away children.” These things are certainly at the top of our list, but are they truly our greatest desires? Maybe we want to be hugged? Loved? Understood? Do we long for companionship? Physical healing? When we ask the Lord to reveal to us what our greatest desires are, the answers may surprise us. Our Lord knows what we want, so let’s have the courage to tell him the truth from the depths of our hearts. We take these things to Jesus and trust that he hears us and is working on it. And we say with St. Therese of Lisieux, “I am certain… that you will grant my desires; I know it, O my God!”

Conversing with Christ: Lord, fill my heart with your light. Through getting to know you, may I get to know myself and see more clearly what is in my heart—what should stay and what should go. Give me the grace of this deep and intimate relationship with you.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will spend ten minutes in intercessory prayer, confident that you hear and answer my prayers.

For Further Reflection: The Story of a Soul, by St. Therese of Lisieux.

Maribeth Harper celebrated paying the last tuition bill for her kids’ college by writing a book for moms who have college-aged young adults, And So We Pray, Guidance for Moms with College-Aged Young Adults. She is a wife of thirty-five years, mother of four, and grandmother of nine and counting.

May 18, 2025 – Commanded to Love

Fifth Sunday of Easter

John 13:31-33a, 34-35

When Judas had left them, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Opening Prayer:  Lord, I come before you knowing my own littleness and offering myself to you, just as I am. You created me and redeemed me and call me to yourself. You desire that I live as your image of love in the world. In faith and hope, I believe that you give me the grace I need to do so. I know that it is only through opening myself to your love that I can truly love. Thank you that you are always with me, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwelling within me and giving me life and love.

Encountering Christ:

  1. Foretelling Betrayals and Loving Anyway: This Gospel passage, the beginning of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse,” is sandwiched between his foretelling Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s betrayal. In it, Jesus taught the disciples how they were to live: They were to love one another. Knowing that he would be betrayed by those whom he loved, he continued to speak about love as the defining characteristic of his followers. He didn’t qualify his directive to love. Reflecting that it was given in the context of his foretelling of the betrayals to come, we can see that his is a call to love no matter what. As St. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13:7, “[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” When we consider this kind of love, we can think of times we have heard (or perhaps thought) that a particular person “didn’t deserve” another’s love. In Jesus’ example, we see that love isn’t based on the other person’s behavior but on our relationship with the Lord. May we never rationalize or justify ourselves when we fail to love as Jesus does.

  2. As I Have Loved You: In these precious moments, as Jesus prepared his disciples for his Passion, he didn’t give them tasks to do, moral laws to follow, or acts of piety to perform. Of course, this doesn’t preclude the importance of our actions, but his words show us what he most desires of us: “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” While each of these elements has a place (and a very important place!) in our lives as we follow Our Lord, our actions, behaviors, and practices will naturally flow out of us when we allow Christ to love us and form us. On the other hand, focusing on the externals without striving to love God and neighbor is hollow. As St. Augustine said: “Anyone can bless himself with the sign of the cross of Christ; anyone can answer ‘Amen’; anyone can sing Alleluia; anyone can be baptized, enter churches, build the walls of basilicas. But the only thing that distinguishes the children of God is charity. Those who practice charity are born of God; those who do not practice charity are not born of God. It is indeed an important sign, an essential difference. No matter what you have, if you do not have this one thing, everything else is of no avail; and if you lack everything, and have nothing else but charity, then you have kept the law.” What kind of disciples are we? Do we consider ourselves faithful followers because of what we do—whether in apostolate, prayer, or the moral life—or are we faithful because of how much we love God and neighbor?

  3. What Does Love Look Like? Of course, love is manifest in behavior. Jesus tells us, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13), and he modeled this self-giving love on the cross. As we consider his example of love, we can feel overwhelmed and defeated, as if our ability to love like Jesus depends upon our strength and our will. However, in a very real way, it depends upon us letting ourselves be loved by God, allowing him to dwell within us and act through us. The Catechism tells us that “It is impossible to keep the Lord’s commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and mercy and love of our God” (CCC 2842). This participation comes from the life of the Trinity within us, and the indwelling of the Holy Trinity capacitates us to pour ourselves out in love as Jesus did.

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, I love you, but I want to love you more deeply. I want to give myself to you, to open my heart so that I can experience your love more fully. I want to be a visible instrument of your love in the world, of your mercy and holiness. I need you. It is your love that makes it possible for me to love. Thank you, Lord, for your deep abiding love.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take time to consider whether there are any parts of myself (my past, personality, habits, etc.) that I feel are unlovable, and I will then bring these to you in prayer, asking to know your love, just as I am.

For Further Reflection: Listen to No Other Heart by the RC Music Collective.

Janet McLaughlin and her husband Chris live on a mountain in rural northeastern Oregon. She puts her Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies to work as she shares the beauty and importance of the lay vocation in her writing, speaking, and teaching on spiritual topics.

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Alex Kucera

Atlanta

Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.

In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.

Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.

From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.

Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!