(Note: these are posted for interest/inspiration. JMM's theological stance is to be found in our Statement of Faith).

11.15.04 Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. Jesus' kingship can appear "paradoxical". Indeed, the power he exercises does not fit into earthly logic. On the contrary, his is the power of love and service that requires the gratuitous gift of self and the consistent witness to the truth. Pope John Paul II

11.08.04 By your perseverance you will secure your lives. The definitive coming of God is Christ, the Gospel of salvation, in which humanity's eschatological waiting is fulfilled. The world and mankind who dwell in it are no longer condemned to death. Pope John Paul II

11.01.04 He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive. By the Incarnation the Word of God has taken on human flesh, enabling it to share, through his Death and Resurrection, in his own glory as the Father's Only-begotten Son. Through the gifts of the Spirit, the Father instills in all man's being and, in a certain way, in the universe itself, a yearning for this destiny. Pope John Paul II

10.25.04 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost. Man is not left alone to attempt, in a thousand often frustrated ways, an impossible ascent to heaven. The Word became flesh, like us in everything except sin. He pours divinity into the sick heart of humanity. Pope John Paul II

10.18.04 The one who humbles himself will be exalted. It is quite human for the sinner to acknowledge his weakness and to ask mercy for his failings; what is unacceptable is the attitude of one who makes his own weakness the criterion of the truth about the good." Pope John Paul II

10.11.04 But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Christ is a divine judge with a human heart, a judge who wants to give life. Only unrepentant attachment to evil can prevent him from offering this gift, for which he did not hesitate to face death. Pope John Paul II

10.04.04 Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Jesus comes to offer us a salvation which, although primarily a liberation from sin, also involves the totality of our being with its deepest needs and aspirations. Christ frees us from this burden and threat and opens the way to the complete fulfilment of our destiny. Pope John Paul II

09.27.04 If you had faith the size of a mustard seed. The kingdom is God's effective but mysterious action in the universe and in the tangle of human events. He overcomes the resistance of evil with patience, not with arrogance and outcry. Pope John Paul II

09.20.04 If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead. It is necessary to distinguish between error, which always merits repudiation, and the person in error, who never loses the dignity of being a person even when he is flawed by false or inadequate religious notions. God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts... Pope Paul VI

09.13.04 You cannot serve both God and mammon. It is necessary to create lifestyles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments. Pope John Paul II

09.06.04 Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep. In pardoning sins, Jesus shows the face of God the merciful Father. By opposing certain religious tendencies marked by hypocritical severity towards sinners, he shows on various occasions how great and profound is the Father's mercy towards all his children. Pope John Paul

08.30.04 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Worshipping the true God is an authentic act of resistance to all forms of idolatry. Worship Christ: He is the Rock on which to build your future and a world of greater justice and solidarity. Pope John Paul II

08.23.04 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. To possess the 'kingdom of heaven', it is necessary to have the interior attitude of the poor. Material poverty is never an end in itself, but a means of following Christ, about whom Paul said to the Corinthians: 'though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.' Pope John Paul II

08.16.04 For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Christ is the fulfilment of the yearning of all the world's religions and, as such, he is their sole and definitive completion. Pope John Paul II

08.09.04 Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Mary is a consoling sign of our hope. In looking to her, carried up amid the rejoicing of the angelic hosts, the whole of human life, marked by lights and shadows, is opened to the perspective of eternal happiness. John Paul II

08.02.04 For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. It is true that the Word was made flesh in "the fullness of time" (Gal 4:4); but it is also true that, in virtue of the mystery of his identity as the eternal Son of the Father, he is the origin and end of the universe. Pope John Paul

07.26.04 This night your life will be demanded of you. The thought of hell... must not create anxiety or despair, but is a necessary and healthy reminder of freedom within the proclamation that the risen Jesus has conquered Satan, giving us the Spirit of God who makes us cry 'Abba, Father!' Pope John Paul II

07.19.04 How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? The Holy Spirit will ensure that in the Church there will always continue the same truth which the Apostles heard from their Master. Pope John Paul II

07.12.04 Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. Is it not an incontestable fact that women were the ones closest to Christ along the way of the cross and at the hour of his death? Pope John Paul II

07.05.04 You shall love the Lord, your God, and your neighbor as yourself. It was not by chance that Jesus closely united the Eucharist with service (John 13:2-16), asking the disciples to perpetuate in memory of him not only the 'breaking of the bread,' but also the 'washing of the feet.' Pope John Paul II

06.28.04 I am sending you like lambs among wolves We believe that, without the direction and assistance of Christ, true, permanent and worldwide Peace is not possible. We also consider that the Peace of Christ does not weaken people, does not make them timid and victims of others' arrogance, but rather renders them capable of struggling for justice and of settling very many questions with the generosity, indeed the genius, of love. Pope Paul VI

06.21.04 Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head. The Lord wished to show his total openness to his Heavenly Father, whose will he was determined to carry out without letting himself be hindered by the possession of worldly goods: for there is always a danger that earthly realities will take the place of God in the human heart. Pope John Paul II

06.14.04 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. The person who is 'begotten from above' becomes able to 'see the kingdom' of God (Jn 3:3), and take part in building up social structures more worthy of every individual and of all humanity, in promoting and defending the culture of life against all threats of death. Pope John Paul II

06.07.04 They all ate and were satisfied Christ wanted his saving presence in the world and in history to be linked with the sacrament of the Eucharist. He wanted to make himself the bread which is broken so that everyone can be nourished by his very life through participation in the sacrament of his Body and Blood. Pope John Paul II

05.31.04 When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. Since the way of peace passes in the last analysis through love and seeks to create the civilization of love, the Church fixes her eyes on him who is the love of the Father and the Son and in spite of increasing dangers she does not cease to trust, she does not cease to invoke and to serve the peace of man on earth. Pope John Paul II

05.24.04 Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. [The Church] knows quite well that the divine message entrusted to her is not hostile to the deepest human aspirations; indeed, it was revealed by God to satisfy, beyond every expectation, the hunger and thirst of the human heart. For this very reason the Gospel must not be 'imposed' but 'proposed', because it can only be effective if it is freely accepted and lovingly embraced. Pope John Paul II

05.17.04 That they may be one, as we are one. We know that the Redeemer spent most of his life in the obscurity of Nazareth, 'obedient' (Lk 2:51) as the 'Son of Man' to Mary his Mother, and to Joseph the carpenter. Is this filial "obedience" of Christ not already the first expression of that obedience to the Father "unto death" (Phil 2:8), whereby he redeemed the world? Pope John Paul II

05.10.04 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Christ's example, no less than his words, is normative for Christians. We know that, at the Last Judgment, we shall all be judged, without distinction, on our practical love of our brothers and sisters. John Paul II

05.03.04 As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. The Church sees in Mary the highest expression of the "feminine genius" and she finds in her a source of constant inspiration. Pope John Paul II

04.26.04 My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Let us stir up our hearts, rekindle our faith, and long eagerly for what heaven has in store for us. To love like this is to be already on our way. Saint Gregory the Great

04.19.04 Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you. This is Christ's promise, our consoling certainty: the Petrine ministry is not founded on human abilities and strengths, but on the prayer of Christ who implores the Father that Simon's faith 'may not fail.' (Lk 22: 32). Pope John Paul II

04.12.04 As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Is not loving God and loving one's neighbor and even one's 'enemies', after Jesus' example, the program of life of every baptized person and of the whole Church? Pope John Paul II

04.05.04 Why do you seek the Living One among the dead? However dark the horizon of humanity may seem. If a contrary wind slows the march of peoples, if the sea of history is tossed by storms, let no one yield to dismay and lack of trust! Christ is risen; Christ is alive in our midst. Pope John Paul II

03.29.04 Not my will but yours be done The light of Easter reveals the great teaching contained in the Passion: life is affirmed through the sincere gift of self to the point of suffering death for others, for the Other. John Paul II

03.22.04 Neither do I condemn you, go and do not sin any more Jesus is newness of life for those who open their hearts and, after acknowledging their sins, receive his saving mercy. Pope John Paul II

03.18.04 This man welcomes sinners and eats with them God welcomes every prodigal child who returns to him. The acceptance of God's forgiveness leads to the commitment to forgive our brothers and sisters and to be reconciled with them. Pope John Paul II

03.10.04 If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Do not forget to seek Christ and to recognize his presence in the Church, which is like the continuation of his saving action in time and space. Pope John Paul II

03.03.04 This is my chosen Son; Listen to him The Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Pope Paul VI, 'Nostra Aetate'

02.25.04 You shall worship the Lord, your God By calling God 'Our Father' we will better realize that we are his children and feel that we are brothers and sisters of one another. Pope John Paul II

02.22.04 Love Your Enemies Christians must make peace even when they feel that they are victims of those who have struck and hurt them unjustly. This was how the Lord himself acted. Pope John Paul II

02.15.04 Blessed are you when people hate you... on account of the Son of Man God has ordered civil society to the service of the human person, to whom belongs the freedom to seek and embrace the truth. Pope John Paul II

02.08.04 Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. The reality of the Church as Communion is the central content of the divine plan for the salvation of humanity. Pope John Paul II

02.01.04 Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing The cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the most painful wounds of man's earthly existence. Pope John Paul II

01.25.04 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me When the Father intervenes with his Spirit, chaos is transformed into cosmos, the world comes alive and history is set in motion. Pope John Paul II

01.18.04 Do whatever he tells you The presence of the Son of God at the wedding feast is an indication that marriage should be an effective sign of his presence. Pope John Paul II

01.11.04 You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased God always loves us first and, with the blood of his Son, has already paid the price of our redemption. Pope John Paul II

12.21.03 Blessed are you among women The 'yes' of Mary and Joseph involves their entire person: spirit, soul and body. Pope John Paul II

12.14.03 I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. Man needs love, he needs truth, if he is not to squander the fragile treasure of freedom. Pope John Paul II

12.07.03 Prepare the way of the Lord The 'fullness of grace,' which is Mary's starting point, for all others is the goal Pope John Paul II

11.30.03 Raise your heads because your redemption is at hand If humanity loses the meaning of God, it will close itself to the future and inevitably lose the perspective of its pilgrim journey in time. Why birth, why death? Why sacrifice, why suffering? Pope John Paul II

11.21.03 Are you the King of the Jews? The created world is not the result of mere chance. It springs from God's love; it is sustained by God's love, and all the events of human history are subject to God's loving providence. Pope John Paul II

11.12.03 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away Since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

11.09.03 Stop making my Father's house a marketplace Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church sees Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice Pope John Paul II

10.29.03 I shall raise him on the last day For how could a man have learned that he is himself an infirm being, and mortal by nature, but that God is immortal and powerful, unless he had learned by experience what is in both? St. Irenaeus of Lyons

10.26.03 Jesus, Son of David, Have Pity on Me Jesus revealed that love is present in the world in which we live - an effective love, a love that addresses itself to man and embraces everything that makes up his humanity. Pope John Paul II

10.15.03 Can You Drink the Cup that I Drink? In human eyes, Jesus is in absolute immobility. His life seems a failure. But, in the eyes of God, on the Cross, Jesus has carried out the most important action of His life. He has saved the whole of mankind. Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan

10.08.03 What Must I do to Inherit Eternal Life? You must make real the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only in this way is it possible to change the world. Pope John Paul II

10.01.03 Male and Female: The Image and Likeness of God ...man and woman, created as a "unity of the two" in their common humanity, are called to live in a communion of love... Pope John Paul II

09.17.03 God's Risk...Our Freedom God built us on a razor's edge, so full of godly fire that we are capable of both martyrdom and murder. Ronald Rolheiser