Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
My last reflection focused on gratitude and today’s readings fling open the floodgates of gratitude once again! I invite you to be swept up in the current with me and allow joyous gratitude to wash over you and carry you through this day. Gratitude does indeed have the power to transform our minds and our hearts and thus reframe our attitudes and perspective toward all of life. Let’s enter into prayer this morning open and receptive to the conversion that God would want to bring to us upon the foundation of gratitude.
Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
At first, I struggled with today’s Gospel (Matthew 4:18-22). I find a great deal of inspiration in the Apostles – they are an honest and sincere group that wants to understand and follow Jesus, and their example is helpful in my journey as I try (and – like the Apostles – sometimes fail) to do the same. Inspired and guided by the example of the Apostles, I struggle with the image of these men just leaving work and their family just because someone walked by and said, “follow me.”
Monday of the First Week of Advent
I pray 'Lord I am not worthy' immediately before receiving the Body of Christ at every celebration of the Eucharistic. These words are from today's Gospel passage (Mt 8:8) and are the plea of the centurion requesting that Jesus save his dying servant. What do these words mean to me before receiving the Body of Christ? Am I saying them automatically or am I acknowledging deep in my heart that I am an unworthy servant at the mercy of God?
Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
On this final day of the Liturgical Calendar, we prepare to enter the season of Advent. As today's scriptures remind us of end times, we may find ourselves reflecting on our spiritual life over the past year. Where have we made progress? Where have we fallen short? How do we begin anew? The Desert Mothers and Fathers advise us to be aware of the 'workshop of our mind'. What we think about mostly is how we will live our lives. Keeping Jesus present in our minds first and foremost and at all times is where we can begin our renewal.
Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Our 3-year-old, Lillian, has developed quite the imagination. She has a fascination with pretending to be the monster or assigning mom and dad to be the monster in the stories she develops for playtime. At other times, she will call us back to her bedroom (when she is supposed to be sleeping) to tell us that she is scared of her closet--I can only assume it is one of the monsters. In today’s first reading, Daniel explains a vision he had, with four terrible beasts. He provides graphic detail of their horrible and terrifying appearance with horns and tusks, multiple heads, extraordinary strength, devouring and crushing. I’ve recently started watching the Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime; these depictions that Daniel describes are eerily similar to awful Trolloc creatures from the tv series. Then, he describes the Ancient One coming on his throne, destroying the beasts and casting them out, making way for the son of man to receive dominion, glory, and kingship.
Thanksgiving Day
Samaritans. They were a kind of Jew that most Jews did not think were really Jews. And, as such, they did not enjoy respect or the privilege of a place among the Jews who despised them. They were outcasts owing to the fact that they thought God had chosen Mount Gerizim for his dwelling place whereas the rest of the Jews were convinced that God had chosen Mount Zion.
Memorial of Saint Andrew Dŭng-Ląc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs
As a people pleaser by nature, I am always trying to make sure that everyone is happy and has their needs met. I will often go out of my way to avoid offending someone or arguing with them, in order to keep the peace and stay in someone’s good regard. For me, today’s Gospel felt very uncomfortable. In Luke’s gospel, we hear “You will be hated by all because of my name”. I will admit this line makes me cringe. I do not often choose something that will anger others or cause them to hate me. I love God, but do I love God enough to be hated? If me believing in God and in Jesus meant that I would be hated, persecuted, killed, would I be strong enough to publicly say that I believe? Or, like the King in our first reading, would I be told that I have made other things – in this case pride and comfort – my God?
Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s easy to read today’s Gospel (Luke 21:5-11) and think Jesus is describing this very moment. Let’s review the checklist:
War? Yep
Insurrections? Check
Earthquakes? Regularly
Famines? Definitely
Plagues? Don’t even get me started.
But I’m not here to say that “the time has come.” If I did, Jesus would advise to stop reading, which would defeat the purpose of writing this in the first place!
Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
In reflecting upon the readings today, the ideas of commitment and obedience come to mind. In the first reading Daniel does not want to accept the food and wine from the king because it may be unclean. While Daniel doesn't want to put the life of the chief chamberlain at risk, he also does not want to compromise his beliefs. So Daniel, a faithful Jew seeks out another solution. Before moving on to the solution, I think it's important to reflect on Daniel's commitment and obedience to his Jewish faith. He is in a difficult position having been brought under the service of a Gentile king, and there seem to be things outside of his control, such as what is served to him. It would be easy for Daniel to say, "it's out of my control, so I guess I'll just eat the food and wine served to me." But he doesn't do that. Daniel, at the very least, attempts to find a solution that will allow him to remain obedient to his Jewish faith and committed to God. Daniel does not look for an excuse to make the covenants of his faith easier. How often are we like Daniel? Where are the places in your life that you find it easy to remain committed to God and to the Church? And where in your life do you find it difficult to remain obedient? Do we make excuses to make our faith “easier” or do we seek other solutions?
Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
As we head towards the end of the liturgical year, many of the daily Mass readings focus on end-times. Today’s gospel reading speaks about the coming age. Our lives are often so busy that we seldom take time to consider what the ‘resurrection of the dead’ means. The reading today reminds us that God is a God of the living, and death is not an end to our lives, but a transformation to the fullness of life in God.
Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Yesterday we read of Jesus weeping and now today we read about him acting out of anger. Jesus experienced a full range of human emotion. Fully human and fully God; I know sometimes I fail to remember the “fully human” part. Next to yesterday’s gospel reading, today’s gospel passage, The Cleansing of the Temple, is for me a helpful reminder of this.
Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
“As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If this day you only knew what makes for peace…” Luke 19:41-44
Today we read in Luke’s gospel that Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. His lament immediately follows his triumphant entry into the city. He looks out at the sweeping vista and predicts total destruction.
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious
It is with powerful yet somewhat violent imagery today that the readings speak of giving each of us all we need for the building of the Kingdom of God. The story from the Second book of Maccabees shares the image of a faith-filled family. The narrative has the family being tortured for their beliefs. As each brother refuses to obey the command of the king, they are executed, all this while their mother watches. The mom waxes poetically about how the creator of the universe gave each child life and to them they will return. Her statement is not defeatist though, as she encourages her sons to accept their fate with hope that a merciful God will reunite them all again some day.
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Public perception matters. I wish it didn’t, but it matters a lot. The first reading today (2 Maccabees 6:18-31) gives a strong example of why and how we should take public perception into account. In the first reading we see Eleazar, a high-ranking Jewish official, taken captive and abused by his captors. Part of this abuse includes being force-fed pork, which is considered unclean by Jewish law. Eleazar, for his part, spits out the pork and refuses to eat it. The ensuing conversation struck me as I sat down to write this reflection.
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s reading from Maccabees is the kind of reading that makes the bible seem particularly foreign and strange to us. The conquest of Alexander the Great, a gymnasium in Jerusalem, a “horrible abomination” built on the altar of burnt offerings. Huh? This stuff is a far cry from our world of Netflix, work commutes, and soccer practices. Or is it?
Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin
Today is the Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini, an Italian American Nun who lived from 1850 to 1917 and spent her life tirelessly serving immigrants and the poor. She was no stranger to chaotic times. Mother Cabrini said of her times: "The world is poisoned with erroneous theories…" This can certainly be said about our own times as well. For Mother Cabrini, changing minds and hearts and finding new solutions to deep seated problems always begins with prayer that is grounded in faith.
Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
Last week, I took the boys to Chaminade Julienne to see the fall play, Clue. Without spoiling it, the show is set at a dinner party hosted by Mr. Boddy, where he admits to blackmailing his guests, Mrs. Peacock, Miss Scarlet, Mr. Green, professor Plum, Mrs. White, and Col. Mustard. When Mr. Boddy turns up dead, everyone is a suspect, and they are tasked with trying to figure which one of them is the killer. Needless to say, the boys loved the play and we subsequently were obligated to teach them how to play the board game this week. It’s fun to feel like a detective, looking for clues to the mystery.
Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
In Luke’s Gospel for today, Jesus offers three very important insights.
First, he insists that the Kingdom is not a thing. It’s not an object to be observed—as if we could know it with certainty or even confidence. This insight stands in sharp contrast to a discussion I heard years ago at a family reunion I attended with my first husband. The family members that gathered were all conservative Mennonites, and they had very specific ideas about the Kingdom.
Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about gratitude and the power it has to transform our attitudes and our actions. Practicing gratitude can become a spiritual discipline as we take time frequently to call to mind the people, the things, the opportunities, the circumstances for which we’re grateful and offer them up to God in prayer. First and foremost, we pray in gratitude to God for God’s love, presence, grace, mercy, forgiveness, salvation – the list is endless as we recognize who God is for us and what God does for us. Gratitude is the antidote for nearly everything that distracts us and drags us down. Impossible situations, difficult people, anxiety, depression, sorrow, any form of suffering suddenly comes into a different light when we shine gratitude into it. While we’re not grateful for the hard things in life per se, when we choose to practice gratitude in the midst of them, we can experience growth in holiness as we gratefully unite our sufferings with those of Christ.
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
You are the temple of God.
Do you believe that?
Not in the way that your head can repeat the phrase “my body is a temple.” But in the way that your heart and soul really hold that you are the temple of God. And not only that you’re the temple of God, but that the Spirit of God dwells in you, and you are holy.