All world religions speak in some way about mindfulness, about living lives that are looking beneath the surface and asking, "What's happening on a deeper level? How might God be involved in what's going on?". Take the time to do that in the simple, daily things - like prayer before meals, morning prayer, giving thanks to God in the evening - and don't just do them mechanically. Be really wide open to the beauty around, the beauty within, the people you see, and think about that intermingling of the visible and invisible - that we can be awakened to that deep, spiritual sense that is surrounding and permeating us every moment of our lives.

For those who want to be great Christians, or even just to be pretty good Christians, we can make the choice to pray daily, to put others first regularly, to willingly carry our crosses, and to love all those we meet. Repeated daily choices to follow Jesus will build themselves into habits, creating that 'muscle memory'.
Take a moment right now to choose something good you can do in your daily life, and then do it every day this week. It could be prayer or consciously speaking loving words; it could be specific actions towards specific people or something you’ve been putting off. Whatever it is, the key is to start building that Christian Muscle Memory.

It's important to practice an awareness of resurrection. There are signs of resurrection all around us, and we have to make the decision to see those signs in our day-to-day life. We ourselves are "previews" of the resurrection: the way we live, our ordinary acts of kindness and thoughtfulness, and at times those extraordinary moments when we are called to do something heroic for the people around us. Even in the midst of tragedies, we can live with joy and hope because we know that resurrection is real, Jesus is real, and He is present in our world today.
 
Permission to podcast the music in this episode obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-737156. All rights reserved.

Think about the crosses that God, in his mysterious wisdom and providence, has allowed to come into your life. Think about the persons in your life and in our world who most need God's grace. Give your cross to the Lord; allow Him to take it, to join it to His own; and offer it up: for you, for your loved ones, and for the transformation and renewal of the world.
 
Permission to podcast the music in this episode obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-737156. All rights reserved.

Jesus lowers Himself to serve those whom He loves. That kind of self-lowering can often offend our human pride; while many of us are willing (or want to be willing) to give everything for someone we love, we want to control how much others are allowed to do for us - even Jesus. But to truly receive the love of Jesus, we must not only be willing to give everything for Jesus: we must also be willing to allow Him to give everything for us.
 
After the homily (about the 06:55 mark) is the singing of "Pange, Lingua, Gloriosi / Tantum Ergo," which takes place during the Transfer of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the end of the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper. Permission to podcast this music obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-737156. All rights reserved.

Practice hosannas by allowing your words to be those of encouragement and support, your prayers to be of praise and surrender and humility. And be alert for any way that, instead, you are giving in to a kind of "crucify him" by your words and actions.

Embracing the cross is a "perishable skill" - you lose it if you don't use it. How do we practice, though? Deacon Brett uses "Mother Teresa's Humility List" (see image below), and challenges us to choose one or two to work on this week (and in weeks to come).

We are called to reach out to the lost, wherever they may be. Drawing in those who have wandered isn't about some kind of piety or moralizing people, shaking our finger at them for "being lost" - it means building relationships with people. It's about kindness. Sometimes it's not easy; often times it's messy; but it always starts with basic friendship and relationship. This week, let the Holy Spirit guide you to someone in your life that has wandered or is lost in some way, and make the effort to build a relationship with them.