Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel Acclamation exhorts us, Raise your voice and tell the Good News; Behold, the Lord God comes with power. God invites us through the Word to be the prophets of our day, the evangelists, the apostles – ones who witness to the power and presence of God and who give testimony to the Good News of Christ. In short, we are called to tell others about the ways in which we see and experience God in our lives and in the world around us. Sometimes, many times, we are the only voices that others will hear speaking words of life; we may be the only ones to inspire faith, hope, and confidence in our great God.
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
A while back, about an hour before a ministry event began, I received a text message that one of my adult volunteers wouldn’t be able to make it and that I’d be short an adult for the evening. I wasn’t mad – she had a perfectly legitimate reason to not come – but imagine my panic. I had planned around having here there to help with things, and now my plan wasn’t going to be possible because she couldn’t make it. Fortunately, a parent of one of the teens I work with noticed that I was down a volunteer and stepped in for the evening. It was wonderful, and the event was better because I had all the support I was anticipating having.
Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
I grew up a few blocks from the gritty steel mills of Youngstown. In fact my grandmother would ritually sweep graphite off of our front porch every morning. “That's good,” she'd say in her thick Scots brogue. “That means that the men are working.” We didn't even mind the brightly red colored sky that lite up the night throughout the Mahoning valley each evening.
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
Our vision is so easily obscured. Everything seems to vie for our attention to the exclusion of what is true and real. In true reality, Jesus is at the center of everything and, as disciples, we are constantly moving toward this reality. In the midst of the changes and challenges and chaos of everyday life, do we see this? Do we recognize Jesus?
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
If you’ve ever been in a situation where you felt that no matter how hard you tried you just couldn’t please someone, you know just how Jesus feels in our Gospel today. As parents, we encounter this with our kids regularly (especially the 3-year-old) - sometimes, we just cannot win. Jesus warns, “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn” (Mt 11:17). Jesus points out that John was criticized for not eating and drinking while the same people criticize Jesus for eating and drinking. The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard…’ Criticism is inevitable in all situations, good or bad; people will always have something to say; likewise, we only believe what we choose to believe. Advent is here! Jesus is coming! Now is the time for preparation; now is the time for attention. Our gospel antiphon today says, “The Lord will come; go out to meet him”. Are you ready? Are you paying attention? “He is the Prince of Peace”. What will we choose to believe?
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
In Matthew’s gospel for today, Jesus says this to the crowds: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” Jesus, of course, knows of what he speaks. He knows the violence that is coming for him.
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The reality I have experienced is that many Catholics aren’t aware of what we mean by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our feast celebrates that, “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her Conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in the view of the merits of Jesus Christ was preserved from all stain of original sin.” Simply put, Mary, the Mother of God was conceived without the stain of original sin. The Church teaches us that this Dogma is essential to our faith. Thus we have churches named Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
A while back, I was reading this Gospel passage (Matthew 18:12-14) with some of the teens I work with. As we were reflecting on the story, I asked what everyone thought. One of my teens, a freshman, said “I just wonder about why the sheep leaves.” Honestly, since then, I haven’t been able to hear anything about lost sheep without thinking about this. What leads the sheep to go away from the shepherd and the flock?
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
The focus of today’s Gospel is often on the behavior of the Pharisees and the controversy they present to Jesus regarding the forgiveness of sins. While this focus holds key lessons for us, I’d like to look at the faith of the paralytic, particularly the actions of the paralytic in verse 25: “He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.” What an amazing response by this man! The word “immediately” stands out to me in that verse. The paralytic did not respond to Jesus with questions such as: “are you sure?”, “right now?”, “what if my legs don’t work?”. Rather, this man of faith “immediately” stood up. He did not hesitate, he was not skeptical. How often can we say we “immediately” do what Christ asks of us? While there is value in the process of discernment, when we know that God is asking a specific task of us, do we hesitate or delay, ignore or forget?
Saturday of the First Week of Advent
Every morning before I get out of bed I pray, “Lord help me do your will today.” To be a disciple we are called to think, talk and act like Jesus, and yet how do we know what is God’s will for us in our daily lives? In today’s scripture, we are told that God will speak to us and show us the way. How can we hear God’s voice in the midst of busy days, and when we hear that a voice speaking, how do we know that it is God speaking?
Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
While in a session with a client earlier in the week, a fuse blew and the office suddenly went completely dark. Since I don’t have windows in my office and the door was closed and neither my client nor I were using our cell phones (I didn’t even have mine in my pocket), it really was pitch black for several seconds (and felt more like several minutes). It was surprising and a little disorienting as we began to process what was happening and thought to reach for our phones before noticing a little crack of light coming in from under the door. This experience of unexpected total darkness reminded me of how much I rely on light and the sense of sight. Similarly, with the decreasing daylight as we draw closer to the winter solstice, the absence of light seems to increase my longing for it.
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
We await the Lord Jesus’s return with eager expectation during Advent – the season of hope, when candlelight from decorative wreaths illuminates churches and the rooms of our homes.
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!