Tag: Gospel Reflection

  • Come As You Are

    A Father’s Day Invitation from Your Heavenly Father

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    Come As You Are

    On this Father’s Day in the United States, there is a Father who longs to see you just as you are.

    Not the polished version.

    Not the version that tries to impress others.

    Not the version hidden behind titles, accomplishments, or appearances.

    Just you.

    The real you.

    Your Heavenly Father is not asking for perfection. He is asking for your presence.

    Like the prodigal son in the Gospel, many of us have wandered. Some have wandered far from God. Others sit faithfully in church each week while carrying wounds, fears, regrets, and disappointments deep within their hearts.

    Yet the Father’s invitation remains the same:

    “Come home.”

    The Father Who Waits

    In the parable of the prodigal son, the father never stopped loving his child.

    He watched.

    He waited.

    He hoped.

    And when he saw his son returning from a distance, he did not condemn him. He did not lecture him. He did not shame him.

    Instead, he ran to him.

    He embraced him.

    He welcomed him home.

    That is how God feels about each one of us.

    Many people spend their lives searching for love, acceptance, and belonging. Yet our Heavenly Father has already prepared all of these things for us. His heart longs for us to receive the love He freely offers.

    Let God Love You

    Sometimes the hardest thing to do is simply accept that we are loved.

    We know our mistakes.

    We remember our failures.

    We see our weaknesses.

    But God sees something more.

    He sees the son He created.

    He sees the daughter He formed.

    He sees a beloved child made in His image.

    When we come before Him in humility, He lifts us up. When we surrender our burdens, He carries them. When we acknowledge our need for Him, He fills us with His grace.

    The Father does not merely tolerate you.

    He delights in you.

    The Feast Is Waiting

    The father in the Gospel did not merely welcome his son home.

    He prepared a feast.

    That feast symbolizes the joy of life with God and the fellowship of His family.

    At God’s table there is room for everyone.

    There is peace for the troubled.

    There is hope for the discouraged.

    There is healing for the wounded.

    There is joy for the weary.

    There is love beyond anything this world can offer.

    God desires that we share this feast with our brothers and sisters, encouraging one another and growing together in faith.

    Love Poured Out on the Cross

    The greatest proof of the Father’s love was revealed on Calvary.

    Jesus Christ stretched out His arms upon the Cross and poured out His life for us.

    Every drop of His Precious Blood proclaimed the same message:

    “You are loved.”

    The Cross is not a symbol of defeat.

    It is the greatest victory of love the world has ever known.

    God did not wait for us to become perfect before loving us.

    He loved us first.

    He loves us now.

    And He will love us forever.

    A Peace Beyond Understanding

    Today, your Heavenly Father invites you to stop running.

    Stop hiding.

    Stop pretending.

    Come as you are.

    Bring your hopes.

    Bring your fears.

    Bring your sins.

    Bring your wounds.

    Bring your entire heart.

    Allow Him to embrace you with His mercy and fill you with a peace beyond understanding.

    Surrender yourself to His loving care.

    Become the child of God He created you to be.

    For you were made for more than this world can offer.

    You were created for eternal life, eternal joy, and eternal communion with the Father who loves you beyond measure.

    And His invitation remains open today:

    Come home. Come as you are.

    “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” — 1 John 3:1

    Happy Father’s Day, and may God the Father bless you abundantly with His love, peace, and joy. 🙏

    and may you accept it and embrace it. Make Your Father in Heaven very happy as you come to and truly accept His Eternal, Pease, and Joy. Live with Passion. Live for God today. He is truly living for you.

    Thank you for reading this blog. Please share it with others.

    Rick Herring
    thmjmj@gmail.com

  • When Even Miracles Aren’t Enough: Reflections on Lazarus and the Rich Man

    In today’s Gospel reading, we encounter one of Jesus’ most sobering parables: the story of Lazarus and the rich man from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 16:19–31).

    The story is simple, yet profound.

    A rich man lives a life of luxury, feasting and dressing in fine clothes. At his gate lies a poor man named Lazarus, covered in sores, longing for scraps from the rich man’s table. The rich man ignores him.

    Eventually, both men die.

    Lazarus is carried by angels to rest with Abraham, while the rich man finds himself in torment. From his suffering, the rich man sees Abraham and Lazarus in the distance and begs for relief.

    Just a drop of water.

    But the chasm between them cannot be crossed.

    Desperate, the rich man makes one final request:
    He asks Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn his brothers.

    Abraham answers with words that echo across centuries:

    “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

    Even the Resurrection Did Not Convince Everyone

    In his homily, the deacon made a striking point.

    Abraham’s words turned out to be prophetic.

    Someone did rise from the dead.

    That someone was Jesus Christ.

    And yet, many still do not believe.

    The Resurrection is the central miracle of Christianity — witnessed by the apostles, recorded in Scripture, and proclaimed for two thousand years.

    Still, belief is not automatic.

    Miracles alone do not force faith.

    The Miracle of the Sun at Fatima

    4

    History offers another remarkable example.

    In 1917, during the apparitions at Fátima, tens of thousands gathered after months of reported visions of the Virgin Mary.

    On October 13, after a heavy rainstorm soaked the crowd, the clouds suddenly broke.

    Witnesses reported something extraordinary.

    The sun appeared to spin, dance, and plunge toward the earth in a dazzling display of light and color.

    An estimated 70,000 people saw it.

    The event became known as the “Miracle of the Sun.”

    And yet — even with thousands of witnesses — some still do not believe.

    Our Lady of Guadalupe

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    Another powerful moment occurred in 1531 in what is now Mexico City.

    The Virgin Mary appeared to an Indigenous convert named Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac.

    She asked that a church be built in her honor.

    When the local bishop asked for proof, Mary instructed Juan Diego to gather roses from the hilltop. It was winter — roses did not grow there, especially not in the cold.

    Yet when Juan Diego opened his cloak — his tilma — roses spilled out.

    And something else appeared.

    On the tilma was a miraculous image of Mary herself.

    The site is now home to the great Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, visited by millions every year.

    Within a decade, historians estimate nine million Indigenous people converted to Christianity.

    Still, some people do not believe.

    The Real Message of the Parable

    The lesson of the parable becomes clearer in light of these stories.

    Faith is not only about seeing miracles.

    It is about listening to God.

    The rich man did not end up in torment because he lacked evidence of God. He had the Scriptures, the prophets, and the poor man at his gate every day.

    He simply chose to ignore them.

    The danger Jesus warns about is not ignorance.

    It is hardness of heart.

    Some Will Believe — and Some Will Not

    Abraham’s words remain painfully true.

    Even if someone rises from the dead…

    Even if the sun dances in the sky…

    Even if roses bloom in winter and a miraculous image appears on a cloak…

    Some will still refuse to believe.

    And perhaps the deeper question is not about miracles at all.

    It is about trust.

    There are people who will trust God.

    And there are those who insist on doing things their own way.

    The parable of Lazarus and the rich man asks each of us a quiet but serious question:

    When God speaks — through Scripture, through the poor, through grace —

    will we listen?

    If you like this article, please share your feedback and follow me for When Even Miracles Aren’t Enough: Reflections on Lazarus and the Rich Man

    Rick Herring
    thmjmj@gmail.com

    Rick Herring

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