Just as Peter denied Jesus three times, now the risen Lord asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”

Our gospel today brings out the faith-driven and decisive question of Jesus to Peter: “DO YOU LOVE ME?” When Peter answered with an animated and spirited “YES,” Jesus articulated the spirit of a loving mission, he said: “FEED MY LAMBS, TEND MY SHEEP!” Jesus is conveying to Peter that his love should be unconditional, and his service must be immeasurable.

There are two sides to Christ’s love. On one side He mercifully loves us wherever he finds us, even in our sin. On the other side, we see that he loves us too much to leave us in that condition, but draws us out to be transformed.

This Easter Season, embrace that Divine Gift of PEACE, because it is a PEACE that is “not constructed by tough competition, hard thinking, and individual stardom, but rooted in simply being present to each other and working together in harmony.” Likewise, “it is often hidden from the wise and the wealthy, and revealed to those who feel empty, inarticulate and poor.

Today we celebrate the greatest of all Christian feasts: Easter Sunday. We come together rejoicing in the goodness of God, knowing that Christ’s resurrection from the dead gives us the hope that we too will rise someday with him.

During the EASTER SEASON, may the elect’s prayer be our prayer as God’s holy people and say with renewed faith: “Risen Lord, now I’m 101% available. How can I help?” “With Jesus, we’re loved! With Christ, we’re alive!”

The readings for Palm, or Passion, Sunday are the most dramatic of the whole year. They recount the entire story of Christ’s death from Holy Thursday through Good Friday. One of the unusual aspects of this week’s Gospel reading is that it is the one time during the year when all of us take part in proclaiming the Word of God by participating in the Gospel reading.

Let’s begin this Holy Week at the foot of the CROSS, and consider it the most sacred week for God and us by proactively following the three spiritual prescriptions of Holy Week: PRAYING everyday; FORGIVING each person and LOVING each other with a love that never dies! BE A SAINT... even just for one week!

Today’s reading from the Gospel of John tells of a woman who was caught in the sin of adultery, and then caught again--but this time in God’s mercy and love. The account provides not only a striking example of Jesus’ mercy, but also his call to conversion. He offers forgiveness and healing and a call to a new life as he tells her: “Go and sin no more.”

We are God’s masterpiece of love: his image and likeness. This is the reason why Jesus tells us a million times: “I love you. Remain in my love...” (JN 15:9) We are truly the reflection of God’s glory and beauty.

The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the most familiar of all of Jesus’ parables. However, when we look more closely at the historical setting for this story we see that, for Jesus’ original audience in the first century, it would have been a shocking story. Do you know why?

Like the “prodigal son,” let’s “return to God with all our heart.” Then the father will gift us the robe, ring, shoes and fatted calf. So, in today’s Eucharistic Meal, feel at home! No place like home! And let us CELEBRATE!

At this midway point in our Lenten journey, today’s readings show us the Exodus, the great journey of the Jewish people out of Egypt. What are we to think of this amazing drama as Moses defied the King of Egypt, risking everything to obey God and lead His people out of their slavery?

Today, as people of repentance, let us become the “gardeners” of the world. Let us cultivate in our hearts the core values of peace, hope, faith and generosity; then let us fertilize them with the virtues of love, compassion and mercy. That perhaps, the single honorable and desirable fruit is what we can become – the “visible signs of God’s love!”

What an amazing experience it must have been for Peter, James and John to witness an event few humans can imagine – the glory of Jesus! And yet we experience a similar miracle at every Mass as the glory of Jesus is shown to us in the Eucharist. The three Apostles didn’t take their experience for granted. Why should we?

Let our trust craft a transfiguration bridge that connects us to God and to one another. Become catchers of broken lives! Be spiritual companions in making shattered lives be whole again. In God we trust!

As we begin the season of Lent, we join Jesus in the desert where he is tempted by the devil in three ways, each representing the same three tactics he commonly uses for us today. Can you identify the three?

LENT is here! It started last ASH WEDNESDAY by the imposition of ashes on our foreheads in the form of a Cross. The Cross on our forehead isn’t an amulet; it’s a reminder that God is alive in our hearts. We need the Cross to clean our hearts, and we need our hearts to love the Cross. At times, when we promise something, we always say: “Cross my heart!” In short, I describe LENT as #crossme-lovemeforgiveme season!

Imagine that you and Jesus are standing in today’s Gospel reading under a fruit tree, loaded with ripening fruit. Jesus points to the fruit and says, “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit . . .every tree is known by its fruit.” In prayer, ask Jesus to show you areas where you are not bearing good fruit—perhaps in your friendships or family life or in your moral life.

When someone tells you: “Do good to those who hate you; bless those who cursed you; forgive the one who ruined your dignity”, your answer might be: “IMPOSSIBLE!... But there’s nothing impossible with God.