Podcasts

Trust the Holy Spirit

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

As disciples we trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We strive to live out our stewardship in loving obedience to God, receiving, developing, and sharing His gifts, making an impact on our family and community like Jesus and the saints did. We know we can trust in the Holy Spirit to guide rightly us in this truth.  

This past Sunday we celebrated the Holy Spirit on Trinity Sunday. Jesus tells us in John 16:13, “the Spirit of truth will come. He will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.”  

Do we trust Jesus to tell us the truth? Of course we do. So, what could hold us back from trusting Him and living this way? St. Hilary of Poitiers  is quoted saying, “Our love for God is entrusted with its own responsibility: to observe his counsels, to obey his laws, to trust his promises.”  

Too often we fear that obedience to God’s word will cause us some degree of affliction. St. Paul tells us that that is okay. He says we are to boast in our afflictions. In Romans chapter 5 he say that, “Affliction produces endurance; endurance, proven character; and proven character, hope. Hope does not disappoint (Rm. 5:3-5).  

This Jubilee Year 2025 we are Pilgrims of Hope.  Let the Holy Spirit reassure you of God’s love. He is smitten with you. His love for you is immense. His love is so great that you can be confident to obey His commandments and give. Because our giving expresses our hope. 

                                                                                                                                                                                           Photo Credit: Robert Davis

 

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Pentecost – the Birthday of the Church

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

Pentecost – the birthday of the church! We celebrate Pentecost when the apostles receive the outpouring of the spirit. We read about that in Acts 2:1-4, “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” 

       I love that – tongues of fire – they had to go and speak. They couldn’t help it; they were so filled with the Spirit. 

We, too, each of us, is filled with the Holy Spirit by virtue of our Baptism, and sealed with the Spirit at our Confirmation. We know from 1 Corinthians 12:7 that, “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” We are to share, to speak out about how Jesus is working in our lives so that others may benefit. 

What would your life look like if you embraced that truth and surrendered to the Holy Spirit with boldness and courage? Your life would be so filled with joy that you couldn’t help but speak out, praise God, and love your neighbor.

A couple of the fruits of the Spirit that we know from Gal 5:22 are generosity and kindness. An attitude of generosity is the heart of stewardship. We gratefully receive God’s gifts. We manage them faithfully. And out of kindness, we care about what is best for our neighbor. Our trust in God to provide and our obedience to His word drives us to generously and courageously share our material resources to make sure our most vulnerable neighbors are fed, clothed, housed, educated – in other words – loved. Their lives change for the good. The health of our cities is improved. Our world becomes a better place. 

Think about this – what If all of us would respond to God’s love, step out in faith, heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and give to the needs of the poor? We would change the world. We would literally renew the face of the earth (Ps. 104:30).

                                                                                                                                                    Photo Credit: Robert Davis 

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Be a Witness

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

How to be a witness? Jesus tells the disciples just before He ascends into heaven that they will be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and throughout the world. What does it mean? What does it take to be a witness?

Let me ask you to approach it this way:  Take a moment and think about all the blessings in your life. What are they? Family, Job, Health are cited most often, and they’re big and important blessings. But did you also think of God’s unconditional love? Can you fathom that the God who created the universe created you. He knows you and He loves you. He gives you unmerited grace and mercy and forgiveness. He suffered and died on the cross for our sins so that we can have eternal life with God in heaven.

Oh My Goodness. It is overwhelming. 

Acknowledging these blessings elicits a response. And how else can we respond but in all humility, give praise and thanksgiving to God. To live our life with intention to honor God. We do that when we pray and when we give back, when we give courageously of our Time, Talents, and Treasure. This is how good stewardship is a witness.

Living stewardship sets a great example for others. People see you doing good which glorifies God (Mt 5:16). They see how your participation in the larger and more majestic mission of the church brings you such joy and happiness that they will want to learn more about how you get that. They want this for themselves. This is being a witness. This is evangelizing. This is creating your legacy. This is how we are the very disciples Jesus tells to be – His witnesses throughout Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Embracing the truth of God giving us everything, and so honoring Him by giving to the needs of others out of our love for Him is living stewardship. Living stewardship is one of the best witnesses we can make. How does your giving bear witness to God’s love for you and all the blessings and benefits He gives to you?

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Peace.

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

We think of peace as the absence of conflict, the lack of hostility and war. This is the world’s definition of peace. This is not the peace of Christ.

The peace that Jesus gives is a sense of tranquility of mind, a simplicity of heart. True, inner peace. We only get this peace from God. The world does not–cannot give us this peace. We have this peace only when God dwells in us. We know from John 14: 23 and 27 that Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him…Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” He goes on to tell us that His peace is not the peace of the world.

We have peace when God dwells in us. God lives in us when we love Him. St. Isidore of Seville is quoted as saying, “Reading the Holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns man’s attention from the follies of the world and leads him to the love of God.”  When we love God, we read Scripture and we keep His word. When we love God, we put Him first in our lives. Obedience to God’s word is the way to peace! 

Obedience to God’s commands to give is our intentional acknowledgement of His authority in our life. He is entitled to honor and respect. His Divine Lordship over every facet of our life, including our money, is not a threat, but a place of safety and security. A place of peace.

I have cited many scriptures in these posts that speak to God’s commands of us to give. So, Give in obedience to God’s word and see if in that you don’t experience His peace, the peace that is beyond understanding. 

                                                                                                                                                                                             Photo Credit: Robert Davis

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How Has Jesus Loved You?

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

How has Jesus loved you? In John 13:34 Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

So – how has Jesus loved you? It is truly overwhelming to contemplate. His love is so vast. It is unconditional. His love is complete. It is so great that He gave His entire life for you. In chapter 15 of John’s Gospel we learn that no man has greater love than this–to lay down one’s life for a friend. 

God loves us so much that He gave us His son. And Jesus laid down His life for us on the cross. And then He rose, defeating death for us so that by believing in Him, and having faith in His resurrection, we may have eternal life. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit and the church. He gives us Himself in the Eucharist. He gives us everything we are and all that we have. This is His legacy.

How can we ever give and love like that? Love is a verb. It is what we do for and give to others. Archbishop Aymond says that we show how much God loves us by how we live our lives. We live to love others, and we give to those we love. We love when we receive God’s gifts and make something beautiful of our lives as Jesus and the saints did. We love by giving our time, talent, and treasure to serve others and build God’s kingdom. 

Think about the presents you give. How do your gifts to family and friends compare to the gifts you give to colleagues and acquaintances? How do your gifts to God compare? Where does God rank on your list of loved ones? How does the way you live and the way you use and give back the gifts He gives you demonstrate how much you love Him?

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