This past Saturday there was an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Mercifully, the gunman was not successful in taking his life. I offer a few thoughts on what we can take away from this sad day in American history.

What occurred that day was an attack on our democratic way of life. There was an old Roman orator named Quintillian who said that society always needs men (and women) who can defend justice before a crowd.

The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. Jesus sent out his disciples 2 by 2. We are made in the image and likeness of a God who is in Himself an eternal exchange of love. Thus, we are made for communion and love. We are made for relationships, and among the various loves we need as human persons, friendship is key.

Dear Family of God,

In our Gospel this weekend, Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deeds in Nazareth, because of their lack of Faith. Pride is one of the capital sins, his townmates cannot accept Jesus because of their pride. We all need to develop the Virtue of Humility so that we can accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and avoid eternal separation from God.

Dear Family of God,

From the Bible we know that there are two kinds of death, one is physical, and the other is spiritual or the death of our soul. The cause of both deaths is the envy of the Devil, who tempted Eve to commit the first sin. Death is a consequence of sin. Adam and Eve did not die physically when they disobeyed God, but they annihilated their soul, they were separated from the presence of God.

One of the things I love to do but I’m not good at is swimming. I grew up in a town that has one of the biggest rivers in Nigeria, River Benue. In fact, at one point my family lived very close to the bank of the river. Unfortunately, none of my siblings, including me, learnt how to swim. This is because some of our friends and relatives drowned in the river. That made us have a phobia for large bodies of water.

Dear Family of God,

God is in charge so “walk by faith and not by sight” (2Cor. 5:7).

If we have faith, we can be “full of confidence” like Saint Paul. We know that the Lord is with us, guiding us, working out all things for good, and drawing us into the fullness of life (cf. Rm. 8:28). We will experience a lot of obstacles and we cannot see yet our true final destination.

It’s summer. It’s June, and it’s hot. And although the summer has just begun, it feels like we are already in the “dog days of summer.” There can be a ho-hum attitude about the summer days as they roll on—hot and interminable.

A similar mindset can afflict us as Catholics as we think about ordinary time in the liturgical year. It is easy to get excited for Advent as we prepare for Christmas, or to be in a spirit of penitence as we enter the practices of Lent longing for Easter. But Ordinary time? It can feel so, well—ordinary.

Dear Family of God,

This weekend we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, given to us out of His great love for each one of us and that we will be able to participate in the holy exchange of love of the Holy Trinity, and be eternal like God. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51).