Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
One of my favorite moments at family gatherings is when the reminiscing about family history begins. All sorts of stories are shared. Some are goofy, others heroic, some about God's providential hand, and some about the darker and harder things the family has faced. All of them help give the family identity. Their is a legacy and legend to be upheld or in some cases overcome. This is the theme I found connecting the first reading and the Gospel today.
Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel passage caught me off guard. I found myself wondering, “Who is this grumpy and snippy Jesus?” This poor guy wanted his son healed and Jesus seemed like someone spit in His wine. However, after I spent some more time with it, I realized this passage might be deeper than I first suspected. It might be easier to reconcile the “I’ll be with you always” side of Jesus with this “How long will I endure you?” side of Jesus then I first anticipated. There are two phrases from Jesus that I want to consider as we look this passage. Matthew records Jesus telling the disciples that they have little faith and he spoke these words, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you?”
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Do you ever get stuck in a rut where you can’t shake your focus from the stress of current situations, busyness of work, challenges in relationships? Sometimes, without knowing it or even being aware of it, we get locked in our own little world or particular situation. We lose sight of the fact that we are part of a much bigger world. Each of us carries a lot on our minds and our hearts; we each bear crosses regularly in big and small ways.
Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Can you imagine what it must have been like to be Peter in the story we encounter today from the Gospel of Matthew? One minute, Jesus is telling Peter that he will make Peter the cornerstone of his church. He even promises Peter the keys to the Kingdom of heaven! Next thing Peter knows, Jesus is rebuking him and even calls him Satan! What can account for this dramatic turn?
Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest
Jesus had a great sense of humor. I see it shining forth in our Gospel text today. It would be easy to mis-read Jesus’ words to the Canaanite woman as harsh and demeaning. Our Lord is never like that! Instead, I see him approaching her playfully, egging her on to be the proclaimer of the Gospel that she was, and taking the opportunity to demonstrate that his mission was to the entire world – to all peoples everywhere and in every age, and to invite us to recognize and welcome each and every person as brother or sister.
Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the gospel passage for today Jesus is being criticized by the Pharisees for not following the tradition of ceremonial washing before he eats. Jesus responds to his critics by essentially calling them hypocrites—that is, they criticize others of doing the very thing that they themselves do. As an example of this Jesus mentions that the Pharisees allow people to decide not to take care of their parents by saying that the money that they would have spent on their parents belongs to God instead. This practice is allowed because it is a tradition. So in the name of tradition the Pharisees allow people to break one of the Ten Commandments – namely the command to honor one’s father and one’s mother.
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
As we continue with this 18th week of Ordinary Time, we hear more about Moses’ journey with the Hebrew people following their escape from Egypt. When we consider this first reading from the book of Numbers, we might say to ourselves, “These people are certainly big complainers! God rescues them from slavery, and all they can do is complain about the food!” The list almost seems comical: cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. One can picture the Hebrew people daydreaming about food, wishing they could head back to slavery and maltreatment so that at least they could eat well. It’s no wonder that Moses became so upset with these people! If this is our reaction, however, then I suggest we have some more soul-searching to do. After all, our behavior is often very similar to the Hebrew people. Have you ever dreamed of buying the perfect shoes or the perfect shirt or the perfect car or the perfect house, only to make the plunge and come away disappointed? Or have you ever had the experience of praying for something you really wanted, only to get it and be disappointed? In other words, have your expectations of something ever differed from the reality?
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Today is the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola. 500 years ago, Ignatius was seriously injured when struck by a cannonball at the battle of Pamplona. During his convalescence, he read stories about knights and chivalry, and on other occasions read stories about Christ and the saints. During this time, Ignatius discerned his call to leave behind his life of soldier and courtier and begin anew in a life following Christ. This cannonball moment was the turning point for Ignatius as he discerned how God was calling him to love and serve in new ways. Each of us probably has had a cannonball moment- “Experiences that force us to stop how we are living and invite us to live in a new way.” (David Kerr) How we respond to these experiences can be life giving if we are able to surrender to God’s guidance and love. We may not know where the road may lead us, but St. Ignatius and the story of his conversion help us know that we will not be alone, and God will provide the grace needed for the journey.
Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Maybe it’s because I’m really feeling a need for a break and am preparing to go on a vacation with my family next week that today’s first reading stood out to me. I don’t usually feel drawn to the Old Testament book of Leviticus with it’s laws, rules and regulations that can come across as dry. But today’s reading from chapter 23 includes the phrase “you shall do no work” or “you shall do no sort of work” four times! That certainly caught my attention.
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Interestingly, this is the first time we are celebrating memorial of all three! Pope Francis included them in the General Roman Calendar “considering the important evangelical witness they offered in welcoming the Lord Jesus into their home, in listening to him attentively, in believing that he is the resurrection and the life.”
Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Recently, we had a conversation at hospital about the ability of people to change. What struck me was that most of us felt people could change, while others thought generally people cannot change. Experiences with people are unable to break free from addiction has shaped this perception of the inability to change. What I find so profound about this conversation is that we all work for an organization whose main mission is to be change agents for the patients well-being.
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Moses had a tough job. As others have said, it may have only taken 40 days to get the nation of Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites. In today’s reading, we hear how Moses goes about re-writing the words of the covenant and the Ten Commandments on stone tablets. This is after he smashed the first set of tablets in a fit of rage because the people went back to worshiping golden statues AFTER seeing God’s mighty deliverance.
Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Reading today’s passage from Jeremiah, I was reminded of another prophet (in my opinion he was a prophet). A modern day prophet living in the same setting that crafted saints like Maximillian Kolbe and John Paul the Great. This man was a Lutheran pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I was reminded of him because Jeremiah’s passage and the opening chapter of Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship, are like long lost brothers separated by several thousand years.
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the reading from Exodus, I have to wonder: how many of the eager and zealous Israelites, crying out their obedience to the Lord, were looking around at one another thinking, “Yeah, right, he doesn't mean that, I heard him complaining as we came through the desert.” Despite those silent accusations, how many of them, I wonder, would find themselves worshiping the Golden Calf not long after this? Though in all honesty, would I be any different? Would you? Our memories of others faults can last forever, while our foresight to see our own can be so short. In this way, we love neither neighbor nor God.
Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
We have a garden that we do our best to tend; being where we live, it includes a fence to help stave off the deer. Within the fence, we have three large plots with paths separating them and a path around the outside edges. Each year we attempt to grow a variety of plants and vegetables with varying success. A number of factors play into our ability to produce fruit; obviously, our plan is to sow seed and establish plants in rich soil. However, we notice that sometimes the growth of our plants is impacted by lack of water. Or this year, we’ve had several strong, heavy downpours with flood-like strength that oversaturated some of the plants, washed away much of the topsoil, and drowned some of the recently sown seeds. In other instances, the weeds got out of control and encroached on some of the plants, stealing nutrients and choking the root system. We’re not garden experts but we try to follow some logical steps when it comes to placement, cultivation, planting, and thinning throughout the growing season. We want all of our seeds to have good, rich soil to give them the best chance at producing vegetables and flowers to harvest throughout the summer and fall. I’m currently saddened by how much the heavy rains this summer have harmed our zucchini and tomato plants. Alternatively, we have sunflowers ten feet tall (no joke) and cucumbers that are about to produce what looks like “a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, and for good reason! Or, rather, for at least three good reasons.
Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Two verses especially captivate me in our readings today. From the book of Exodus: “Then the Lord said to Moses, I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.” And from our Psalm: “Can God spread a table in the desert?” My heart goes to the Eucharist. Jesus pours himself out to us as the Bread of Life on the table that God faithfully spreads in every place and every season of life. In the Gospel Jesus gives us the metaphor of a sower. We feast at the Eucharistic banquet to be sent out to sow the seeds of Good News. Today, let us invite the Lord to give us a renewed hunger for the Eucharist and an increased fervor to glorify the Lord by our lives.
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
On one side of things, we have the Israelites. They have escaped slavery in Egypt only to find themselves stranded in the wilderness. To make matters much worse for them, Pharaoh and his armies are in hot pursuit. The Israelites have no weapons with which to defend themselves and are on foot. As for their leader, Moses does not appear to have been a great choice. After all, he’s the one who got them into this mess—with the Egyptian armies to their backs and a sea in front of them. And now Moses is telling them not to be afraid and to head right into the sea. In the verses that precede those before us today, the Israelites cry out to Moses. They want to know why Moses brought them out of Egypt only to have them die in the wilderness. Why couldn’t they have just stayed in Egypt and continued to serve the Egyptians? Good questions!
Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Scripture Readings
"The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still" is sometimes one of the hardest thins we can hear. This is often because God often allows us to come to the brink of death before we see exactly how God will fight for us.
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Both of today’s readings reveal that our God is a God of mercy and hope. God frees the Israelites from slavery and promises justice for the gentiles through His beloved Son. These readings remind us that God offers us mercy and hope for our lives. Although God’s timing may not be ours, and God’s presence may not always be evident for us to witness, God s Spirit is still active and enduring.