Keeping Our Hearts Open to God - Weekday Homily Video

My dear brothers and sisters, today's readings ask us one simple question: Is my heart still open to God?

In the Gospel, Jesus says something that can sound puzzling: "To anyone who has, more will be given." He is not talking about money or success. He is talking about an open heart. The one who welcomes God's grace finds that grace keeps coming. The one who closes his heart slowly loses even the ability to recognize God's presence.

The difference is never God's generosity — God gives freely to everyone. The difference is our receptivity.

Looking in the Wrong Places

In the first reading, God speaks with sadness through Jeremiah. He remembers Israel as a young bride who once followed him through the desert. But over time, his people abandoned "the fountain of living water" and dug for themselves "broken cisterns" that hold no water.

How often we do the same. We look for happiness in achievements, possessions, screens, or the approval of others. These things have their place, but they cannot satisfy the deepest thirst of the human heart. Only Christ, the living water, can do that.

Saint Bridget

Today the Church also remembers Saint Bridget of Sweden — wife, mother of eight, widow, mystic. She shows us that holiness is possible in every season of life. After her husband's death, Bridget gave herself entirely to God's will. Kings and popes sought her wisdom, yet she never thought herself important.

Before every major decision, she knelt long hours before the crucifix. Asked once how she could speak with such wisdom, Bridget answered simply: "I only repeat what I first hear from Christ." She listened before she spoke. She received before she gave.

Learning to Listen

That is exactly what today's Gospel teaches. God reveals his mysteries not to those who think they know everything, but to those humble enough to listen. As Father Patrick Peyton loved to remind families, "The family that prays together stays together" — because prayer is what opens our hearts to hear God's voice amid the noise of daily life.

So let us ask ourselves:

Am I drinking from the living water of Christ, or from broken cisterns that leave me empty?

Do I make time each day simply to listen to God?

Is my heart growing more open to his grace, or more distracted by the voices around me?

Invited to Receive

Every Eucharist is God's invitation to receive him again. He never stops pouring out his grace. The only question is whether our hearts are open enough to receive it.

May Saint Bridget intercede for us, that we too may first listen to Christ, then faithfully share him with others. And may our families always remain places where his living water flows through prayer, love, and faith.

• Today’s Readings
  
  
• Father Pinto’s inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center today. You can watch the entire Mass on the Family Rosary Video streams channel on YouTube.
  
  
• Join the Rosary (11:30 am ET) and Mass (Noon ET) livestreams on the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page, Monday – Friday. Invite your friends and family to pray with you as well.