Juan Point at a Time: Recent Episodes
Juan P Ruiz
I am a Jesuit priest in the Roman Catholic Church. This podcast is a collection of my best homilies thus far... plus some of the rest. (Feel free to be the judge of that.) My focus is often on spiritual insights that are gleaned from the readings or the occasion being celebrated. May it bring some reprieve and encouragement for the journey. :D
Sometimes the evil spirit presents us with no-win scenarios, that turns out are not no-win scenarios when Jesus enters the story.
When the future seems very unclear, it doesn’t mean that today we need feel lost. (Easter - Week 4 - Friday)
This homily was given at a mass where a major relic of Saint Jean de Brébeuf was present which is why the homily has so much to do with him.
One can sometimes doubt if Jesus desires our spiritual healing, but it is more likely that he is inviting us to take another step.
Jesus confronts an unclean spirit in today's Gospel, one which he easily casts out and a sort of spirit which each of us might need to be liberated from as well.
The prophetess Anna makes a cameo in today's Gospel and her history can prove a valuable, though simple, lesson.
You know wisdom when you see it, but how do we grow in it?
Year A - Ordinary Time - Week 32
Without even realizing it, we may sometimes be charging Christ a price of admission into our hearts. And there's a simple question way to figure out what that price might be.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 31 - Thursday
Jesus invites us to develop routines that keep us open to his Spirit and remain faithful to them.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 29 - Tuesday
Jesus opens the eyes of the Pharisees in today's readings with a litmus test that we can apply to our own lives.
Year A - Ordinary Time - Week 30
Today is a memorial of 8 Jesuits who were martyred in North America and their witness can still be a model for us today, even in a context which lacks the violence of their time.Memorial of the North American Martyrs
Today's reading offers some suggestions from Jesus on prayer.
Ordinary Time - Week 27 - Thursday
Jerusalem is a city, but also a symbol. Luke is well aware of what he is doing when writes that Christ determined to go there.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 26 - Tuesday
Unworthiness can be a rather distasteful concept in popular culture, but they are valued within our Christian tradition. So much so that we repeat it every mass... Why?
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 24 - Monday
Today's Gospel is about an encounter between Philip, Jesus, and Nathaniel. As always, God takes the lead.
Feast of Saint Bartholomew
Saint Ignatius offers guidelines for the discernment of spirits in his spiritual writings. If I could add one thing with confidence thus far, it would be the simple reminder in this homily.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 17 - Saturday
This homily was given to high school freshman at the end of their orientation.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 17 - Friday
We can easily get lulled into one extreme or another when it comes to accepting others. Jesus wants to free us to love others just as he has loved us.
Year A - Ordinary Time - Week 13
Jesus speaks with metaphor about how the body is illumined or darkened by what we believe to be out there in the world - and tracking how different worldviews perceive meaning can help us understand our own perspective.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 11 - Friday
Sometimes we tell lies to avoid a storm, but it erodes our integrity and becomes self-defeating. Jesus gives us the best reason not to do so.
Year A - Ordinary Time - Week 12
Like an expectedly intense liturgist, Jesus unexpectedly draws our attention to sacred spaces. How much do I do to maintain my own?
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 08
Jesus points Peter three times beyond himself, and, Saint Philip Neri, who is celebrated on this memorial, is one example of what that can look like.
Memorial of Saint Philip Neri
Easter - Week 07 - Friday
God has judged the world and in response He gave his only Son.
Year A - Ordinary Time - Week 09
Jesus didn't want us creating more division or setting ourselves against each other, that's why he had to leave. The unity Jesus wants is Catholic, universal.
Solemnity of the Ascension
Jesus teaches us a small lesson on how to respond to those whose betrayal is pending. It is a small lesson to learn, but very difficult lesson to practice.
Easter - Week 05 - Thursday
Jesus refers to an often-heard and often-misunderstood or not-understood phrase in today's reading. This homily is a bit of unpacking of that phrase.
Year A - Easter - Week 05
Jesus claims that the sheep know the voice of the good shepherd... So what is that good shepherd like?
Easter - Week 04 - Sunday
People have difficulty recognizing Jesus after his resurrection. Is it because he wears disguises or they are missing something that has always been evident?
Year A - Easter - Week 03
What exactly did Thomas doubt and was the doubt the real issue? Easter - Week 02 - Divine Mercy Sunday
Saying farewell well is always worth the trouble, even with the smallest things. And Jesus isn't bothered by the process in the least.
Holy Week - Monday
Martha gets such a bad rap she just doesn't deserve, which only makes her redemption all the sweeter.
Year A - Lent - Week 05
We can sometimes get stuck living in a little shelter of shame, but the good and great news is that God's got so much more in mind for us.
Year A - Lent - Week 03
A fear of anonymity coupled with never feeling known is a surely an indication of some evil spirit baloney.
Lent - Week 03 - Wednesday
Jesus invites us to forgive rather than judge or condemn, but that seems to be easier said than done. In today's homily, I offer a couple examples that help illustrate where one might begin when feeling stuck in judgment or condemnation.
Lent - Week 03 - Monday
The moment of the transfiguration is a revelation of who Jesus and where Christ continues to dwell today. Year A - Lent - Week 02
Jesus encounters his disciples in an argument about a young lady and takes a different tact for healing her.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 07 - Monday
The moment and duration of Saint Paul's conversion were not quite as people often imagine them.
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle
God shares his authority with us, even knowing that we often won't represent him perfectly.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 02 - Friday
At the moment of the baptism of Jesus, John the Baptist makes a mistake many of us fall into, thinking we need to be good enough to give away a blessing.
Year A - Ordinary Time - Week 02
Saint Brother André Bessette is remarkable because he was tiny, did small things, and had an incredible influence.
There is an arena in which Christians can compete with one another directly and it leads to the good of all the world.
Memorial of Saint Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen.
The incarnation and nativity of Jesus tell us about how God prefers to say "I love you."
Solemnity of Christmas (Homily for Mass during the Day)
Everyone's house is built on some foundation, but the foundations are rarely visible. Yet sometimes, people show by their actions in secret upon what foundations their house rests.
Advent - Week 01 - Thursday
The Gospel of Matthew has a unique feature where the number of people healed or the number of animals encountered is twice that of other similar Gospel stories... No details within the Gospels are without purpose.
Advent - Week 01 - Friday
Often Jesus shows us the way by walking ahead of us by expressing his pain openly, so that we can treat each other differently.
Year C - Thanksgiving
The Gospel reading sounds like it's about the rapture, but it's actually something much more mundane, and rather frightening.
Year A - Advent - Week 01
Sometimes it seems easier to wear the crown than let it rest on Christ, but he is king of the universe and it is for love of us that he takes the crown upon himself.
Solemnity of Christ the King - Year C
Saint Charles Borromeo enjoyed power and privilege as the beneficiary of less-than-ideal practices, yet he used every bit of it for the good of others.
Especially with topics around which we know so little, such as the bodily resurrection of the dead, we can get stuck in the muck and lose sight of living in the present moment.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 32
Jesus is always pouring himself out for others. In this case, he pours out a part of himself some may never think to give away.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 31
Even though we may do it for the wrong reasons, if we act humbly when it comes to teamwork, everyone benefits. Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 30 - Saturday
Sometimes it's worthwhile to take stock of the gifts that are sitting right before us because we may not even realize they are already there.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 28
Prodigal means ungrateful and the parable presents two such persons, one of whom can share redemption.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 24
Saint Peter Claver was known for working among the neediest in Colombia, but as Saint Mother Teresa said, "Find your own Calcutta." Peter Claver points the way for each of us to do just that.
Feast of Peter Claver
We often hear of the cost of discipleship, but it perhaps is not so high a price to pay when one considers the steep cost that can come with avoiding discipleship. And above that, the benefits only tip the scales further in favor of discipleship.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 23
Life can often be too busy to make time for prayer, so why not make time prayerful?
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 23 - Saturday
The reading from the Gospel can seem frightening, but it's just a reminder that Christ knew that life was difficult. He lived it just as we do and wants us to be as faithful as he was to the end of our days.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 21
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was an incredibly charismatic figure from our Church history. One can think that charisma comes from a personal giftedness to persuade, but perhaps Bernard's magnetism on others came from his nearness to God. His fourth degree of love is somewhat surprising, but reveals what a profound love of God leads to and also why he continues to be a compelling figure six hundred years after his death.
The Gospels contain many truths, not the least of which is the fact that evil can crop up just about anywhere.
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 17 - Tuesday
There are many people in today's reading and only one of them doesn't seem imprisoned, the prisoner.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 17 - Saturday
God is insistent on the point that it is to His Son that we should always look for guidance. Like any relationship, that means we can come to know the Other better.
Feast of the Transfiguration
God is ready to do the hardest work, but we must collaborate with him if faith is to grow.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 19
One step in the loss of innocence is becoming aware that even the greatest among us are fallen, but that need not be a cause for discouragement! God holds the scales of judgment and it can be a relief not to have to balance things out ourselves.
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 17 - Tuesday
It turns out that people are different and remain so, but that doesn't need to get in the way of grace or holiness!
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 17 - Wednesday
Christ is more than encouraging when it comes to prayer. He's persistent and insistent that we trust in God's goodness.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 17
An empty tomb. God in the garden. Christ's encounter with Mary Magdalene that sets in motion a new beginning for a new creation.
Feast of Mary Magdalene
Sometimes, all that Jesus asks of us is to take a moment and rest.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 16 - Sunday
There is a great deal of helpful scholarship about God as we have come to know of Him through Christ, yet it is in knowing Him directly that most will find their peace with Him.
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 15 - Wednesday
Saint Benedict wrote a guide called "The Rule of Saint Benedict." It is filled with merciful and pragmatic wisdom for communal living. Today's homily focuses on just one of his many insights.
Warning: this episode includes some violence in the description of the death of Maria Goretti. Her response is that of the forgiving victim, just like Christ.
Jesus sends out his disciples as lambs among wolves and that seems like a scary prospect, unless you know what it's like to be the type of lamb Jesus intends.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 13 - Sunday
The people marvel at the power of forgiveness that God has given to human beings. Do we, perhaps, feel called to exercise that today?
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 13 - Thursday
Sometimes Jesus exaggerates when he's trying to get us up and moving. The more that he demands, the more that is promised.
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 13 - Monday
The Gospel today offers an example of how Mary's Immaculate Heart carries the aftermath of crisis and what we can move towards in similar crises.
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 12 - Saturday - Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Christ wants us to know that we're not better nor worse than anyone else. He just invites us to surrender to mercy.
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Sometimes it's tempting to want to build a kingdom for God, but He wants so much more than that for each of us and asks something different than many might suspect to get there. Additional context: This homily was delivered in Canada at the tail-end of my studies there before I returned to the United States to be ordained a priest.
Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord
Jesus is saying farewell to his disciples and preparing them for his departure, by preparing them to remain near to him always.
Easter - Week 06 - Sunday
Many learn as children how to defensively protect the territory they can control. Jesus comes to invite us to help him grow a new kingdom that is much greater.
Easter - Week 04 - Wednesday
It is not an easy thing to see Christ in ourselves, the world, and others, but it is a great gift that Christians can give. Sometimes, however, moments of weakness like Peter's betrayal can hinder the ability to see Christ.
Easter Octave - Friday
Hatred often seems to be the root of community in the world, but it is mercy, not hatred, that builds community. This is at the heart of the spread of Christianity.
Year C - Lent - Week 5 - Saturday
Sometimes people choose, consciously and unconsciously, to turn off the light of their conscience. Today's scripture story is an example of what can happen when people choose to do so.
Year 2 - Lent - Week 05 - Monday
The story of the Prodigal Son is often told with an emphasis upon his repentance and God's love, but there is another nearly invisible character who models what is possible from the very beginning.
Year C - Lent - Week 4
Though tradition and teaching can help us come to know a lot about God, he ultimately just wants us to know him. Today's Gospel points us back towards relationship with God; something we can encounter when we enter into interior silence.
Lent - Week 2 - Sunday
Christ always models for us that with which he also helps us. In the readings for the first Sunday of Lent, that's moments when we walk through wilderness in our lives.
First Sunday of Lent
When challenges come for faith or life and they seem insurmountable, the best thing to do may be to love them even though it seems like exactly the opposite of what we want to do.
Year 2 - Ordinary Time - Week 6 - Wednesday
Jesus shocks his disciples with the beatitudes today. They are not an appealing list, yet they can wake us up to poison we might be drinking without realizing it.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 6
Saint Josephine Bakhita walked through the valley of the shadow of death and had plenty of cause to fear evil, but she somehow lived with a grace that is beyond telling.
Ferial of Saint Josephine Bakhita
The blessing read at the end of this homily comes from the reflection guide to Kate Bowler's Good Enough Lent which can be found here.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a devotion that emphasizes the God's loving mercy for us. This homily speaks to how we can learn to love ourselves and others more like Christ.
The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Jesus today raises two difficult moments from the institutional history of the Israelites. As similar as our own responses can be at times, he is opening a space to begin reconciling with the past in the present.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 4
Unbeknown to nearly all, Jesus quietly performs a miracle at the Wedding at Cana. He can do the same with the water in our lives when our trust is fully in Him.
Year C - Ordinary Time - Week 2
The healing work of therapists and the healing work of priests can be quite complimentary.
Year 2 - Week 1 - Ordinary Time - Tuesday
Many thought John the Baptist was the messiah because he had answers to difficult questions, but the true messiah does much more than provide answers.
Advent - Week 03 - Sunday
The Gospel today is cast with characters who are all waiting for something when they encounter Jesus. As we prepare for Advent, perhaps each of us can ask ourselves, what am I waiting for?
Advent - Week 02 - Monday
John Berchmans life was fraught with tragedy, yet he is remembered for having been kind, friendly, intelligent, and emotionally mature. He is a saint not for the sacrifices that were forced upon him, but for his continually responding out of a desire to do only the will of God in the midst of it all.
Memorial of Saint John Berchmans
Today's Gospel has two rulers go toe-to-toe in a verbal boxing match. The opponents seem unevenly matched and it turns out they are, but not the way one would expect.
Year B - Solemnity of Christ the King
Jesus was well aware that everyone faces apocalyptic moments in life, moments when it feels like the world is being turned upside down. Today's reading and the story of Christ's own life is a reassurance to trust in his word.
It's amazing how many things can get in the way of doing good, but when it comes to implementing our great desires, something is better than nothing.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 30 - Friday
It always seems so difficult to find one's place in the world. This was even the case for Saint Therese of Lisieux after having committed to life in a convent. Her words offer comfort and guidance for those seeking a place within the Catholic Church and beyond.
Feast of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
Feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux
Jesus provokes in the Gospel reading with images of cutting off a hand or foot if it causes us to stumble... and he's exactly right. Some things lead us down to perdition and aren't worth an iota of our time or energy.
Year B - Ordinary Time - Week 26
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross
Sometimes people find themselves trapped in a private hell, but Christ is able to break into even those spaces and lead them out by the hand. What the Christian tradition encourages is looking up to the triumphant and exalted cross of Christ, especially when times of trial and tribulation come. Christ can be a guide through and out of darkness.
The painting referenced in the homily is called the "Harrowing of Hell" by Fra. Angelico. It can be found here: https://www.christianiconography.info/Florence/sanMarco/anastasisSanMarcoFlorence.html
Saint Monica is the mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Although she is credited with his conversion, it is God's ability to bring hope there seemed to be none that allowed her to be a source of inspiration for her son.
Memorial of Saint Monica
Year 1 - Week 17 - Ordinary Time - Friday
In the Gospel reading, Jesus is not able to reveal himself to the people of Nazareth because of preconceptions they firmly held. Sometimes we too can get caught up in the attitude of the people of Nazareth for seemingly good reasons when others are trying to reveal something new to us about themselves.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 17 - Wednesday
Both of Jesus' parables presume that when it comes to the Kingdom of Heaven, we will know it when we see it. Yet daily we must make decisions in the midst of uncertainty. This sermon offers a rule of thumb which helps with discerning which road leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 16 - Saturday In the parable of the wheat and weeds, Jesus advises not yanking out the weeds. As always, he's sharing a bit of good news.
Feast of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene has a profound love for Christ which is particularly obvious when he is experiencing poverty and humiliation. Her story helps understand how she was able to do so and how others can grow in their capacity to love those they encounter who may be in similar circumstances.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 14 - Friday
If someone desires to speak with the Spirit, it begins with listening.
Year B - Ordinary Time - Week 13 - Sunday
When humans do triage, they prioritize efficiency. When God does triage, he prioritizes love. This works out better than many might dare to hope.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 12 - Saturday
One of the greatest gifts that someone can give to God and others is a sincere heart filled with gratitude. It often comes as a response to what has already been received.
Solemnity of the Birthday/Nativity of John the Baptist
People who do not point towards themselves, but try to direct others towards their best selves are gifts to be treasured.
Year 1 - Week 12 - Ordinary Time - Tuesday
Saint John Fisher
Saint Thomas More
The gate may be narrow, but in this lifetime, it's never shut.
Year B - Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
The hope that is found in Christian communities can seem strange until one is witness to it in action. Then, it somehow works.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 11 - Wednesday
Jesus called out virtue signaling way before the term existed, and he did it to help liberate folks.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 11 - Thursday
The Kingdom of God is not only a hope for the future, but a promise for the present.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 11 - Saturday
When something stirs up negative emotions someone didn't know were there, it can turn out to be a big blessing in disguise.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 9 - Friday
Getting caught up in what others will think can be a trap for some, but thankfully, God helps people to recover from it.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 10 - Thursday
God reserves for himself the role of judge and that can be a source of great joy and freedom.
Year 1 - Ordinary Time - Week 9 - Saturday
No matter how little it may seem, there is always something that can be shared.