Mary M. McGlone

Scripture for Life: The mustard seed not only surges forth in growth, it also produces more seeds. In Jesus' vision, faith like the mustard seed is something exuberantly energetic and will not disappoint.

Scripture for Life: Today's readings are meant to provoke us to sharpen our senses and sensitivity. Jesus' parable asks us to judge where we choose to focus and what we intentionally block out.

Scripture for Life: Sometimes the kind of question a 5-year-old could answer helps us make a good judgment: "In Jesus' parable, who did the most good for others?"

Scripture for Life: The title of this feast, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, expresses the paradox of Christian faith. Christ's death revealed that evil is as dead as its works.

 Disciples are people who, like Jesus, have been captivated by God's love. In today's Gospel we hear Jesus describe three absolute impediments to being his disciple. 

Scripture for Life: This may sound presumptuous, but all Jesus is asking is that we share in the banquet God prepares for all of us together.

Scripture for Life: When we hear Jesus say, "I have come to set the Earth on fire," he's asking if we are ready to burn with his zeal and face the peril it entails. 

Scripture for Life: What is our call from these Scriptures? Perhaps it is to let ourselves be tamed — over and again — by God and those whom God loves. 

Scripture for Life: Today's liturgy invites us to learn how to take hold of the freedom we have and to help it grow like bamboo, the fastest growing and one of the most useful plants on Earth. To do this, we need to cultivate new attitudes through asking and answering serious questions. 

Scripture for Life: Many times, we ask, "What would Jesus say?" In this case, we have an answer in today's Gospel. The disciples ask, "Teach us to pray."

Scripture for Life: When Jesus called people to discipleship, he paid attention to their potential, not their status. Our call is to receive Jesus and his message as extravagantly as Martha and Mary did.

Scripture for Life: When communications media bring the world into our homes and onto our phones, our sense of being neighbors has become global. Our neighbor is anyone we bother to see.

Scripture for Life: Evangelizers know that the reign of God they announce is real. They've experienced it in communion with God and others. They know it can't be proven, only experienced, and when it is experienced, it's contagious.

Scripture for Life: What if we considered our everyday activities as being like a procession manifesting the presence of Christ among us? 

Scripture for Life: As we celebrate our loving relationships, let us also take prayerful time to become more aware of how these loves make us who we are.

Today's feast reminds us that God not only chose to dwell among us, but to dwell in us. That mutual indwelling grows for a lifetime. It fulfills every human life.

Scripture for Life: As we come to the end of our Easter season, we can ask, "What have we learned? How have we changed? Has our faith in the resurrection of Christ given us courage and freed us from fear?"

Scripture for Life: We live in a time of polarization in society and even in the church. Too many of us maintain a spirit of "I've thought about it, and I'm right." The danger with this is that we leave little room for the Spirit.

Scripture for Life: It is one thing to say, "Love one another." But here, Jesus takes it to the extreme: "Love one another as I have loved you." Whoa! That definitely belongs to the new heaven and earth.

Scripture for Life: The Gospel tells us that what is of God will always draw us toward greater unity among all people and creation and of all in God. Follow these criteria, and we can put the devil in checkmate.