Memorial of Saint Bonaventure
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11: 28-30).
Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Do the works of God seem ‘normal’ to you? We participate in Mass week after week, year after year. It’s easy to get used to the way God works in our lives. Is conversion a word that brings more static memories than dynamic and present questions? This is most of us, and it’s who Jesus is speaking to in today’s Gospel. The difficult thing about God’s call is its constancy. God loves us always and every day. The Spirit enlivens us every day. So it’s very easy to take the every-day and let it be background noise that gets ignored. The reality is more nuanced. God’s everyday presence has different words for each different daily situation. As we move from season to season in our lives, God speaks the words we need to hear. The tough thing is to keep listening.
Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“So do not be afraid” (Mt 10:31).
Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In our gospel reading, Jesus is preparing his apostles for their first mission without him. He has already given them authority over evil spirits and to drive out disease. He also provided marching orders on how they were to proceed from place to place. “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” (Mt 10:16) I’m originally from rural northwest Ohio with family who have raised sheep. In talking to my brother-in-law about them, it is easy to see why Jesus so often compared us to this lowly animal. To start with, sheep are not very smart; they need to be protected and always seem to be wandering off and getting themselves into predicaments. With this in mind, the comparison in today’s gospel is somewhat disconcerting, both to the apostles and for me as I think about its application in my life. Being sent as sheep among wolves certainly sounds like a suicide mission. The apostles knew how ruthless the world could be living in the Roman empire and had seen first-hand the dysfunction of their own religious leaders. They would be lambs led to the slaughter.
Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The reading from Matthew for today keeps taking me back to Father Satish’s powerful homily on Sunday. I have read the Matthew text numerous times in preparation for writing this reflection, and each time I think that it is speaking to the same themes: being present as an act of faith, vulnerability, and awe.
Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
I’m entitling my reflection today “Hard Mercy,” because I believe that true mercy is revealed and extended in the deepest depths of pain and suffering. At times we may exercise mercy as a “soft skill,” offered casually in situations that don’t cost us much personally. True mercy shows itself most when it comes at great personal price and inner sacrifice. Mercy can only be modeled after the Cross of Calvary. Joseph exemplifies this kind of mercy. Today, may we grow in our understanding of God’s mercy toward us and may we be filled with mercy toward even the most difficult people in our lives.
Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Some time back, I jumped off a cliff. Literally. I was visiting family in Colorado; my sister thought it would be fun to try out a zip line - zooming through a mountain valley about 100 feet off the ground in places, attached to a wire with some climbing gear. I've tried something like this before, but it was a long time ago, and I remember being petrified and not being able to do it. The thing is, first you have to climb the several feet up to the spot where the zip line begins; then you have to find the courage to jump off the cliff - all while the wind is roaring around you and you're thinking, golly, this is crazy.
Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
After our third child was born we had a little scare in the hospital. My wife, Bess, was getting cold and was having trouble staying awake. We discovered that she was hemorrhaging. The doctor returned treated her and we thought she was good to go. For a stretch of time, probably close to a month, we continued to see signs that concerned us and her energy stayed incredibly low. In the end, we returned to the doctors and found that she needed a little more medical attention to be treated. Ever since then we have had an attachment to the story of the hemorrhaging woman. We even have a painting of her that Bess' sister made.
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
On a recent vacation, I had the opportunity to spend time with some of my nieces and nephews. Like many adults, these young people are seeking to know who they are and how their faith and God fits into their understanding of life. During several conversations, I had the opportunity to share how God and my faith are an integral part of my life. As I reflect back on these discussions, I realize that it is not until we are faced with certain circumstances that we take the opportunity to stop and consider what we believe. Once we have confirmed our belief, then we are invited to go forth into the world to share the Good News with others.
Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do” is Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees in their judgment of him and his disciples eating “with tax collectors and sinners” in today’s gospel (Matthew 9:9-13). I hear an echo of these words in Pope Francis’ now famous quote about the Church needing to be “a field hospital” that cares for the sick and wounded after battle. How often I’ve heard people outside of church doors say they don’t attend because they feel judged and not welcome. Today’s gospel also reminds us that Jesus “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” And aren’t we all sinners?
Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
When Jesus saw the paralytic man in today’s gospel reading from Matthew he said, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” Perhaps if we witnessed this scene we would have found it confusing that Jesus was focused on the man’s sins as opposed to his inability to walk. However, Jesus’ primary concern was not for man’s physical need, but rather his spiritual need. He wanted to provide him the opportunity to restore his relationship with the Father. It was the forgiveness of sin that mattered more to Jesus. The scribes, unable to see this distinction, accused Jesus of blasphemy. Jesus cleverly responded, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” But to prove that Jesus has the power to forgive sins, he also said to the man “‘Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.’ He rose and went home.” Jesus showed the teachers of the law that he had not only the power to heal, but the authority to forgive. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe and they glorified God.
Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
When we think of poverty, our minds typically go to material poverty. We think of the poor as people lacking financial, material, or physical resources needed for daily living. During my time working for Heart to Honduras, I came to understand poverty and poverty alleviation much more broadly. I also came to recognize my own impoverishment in a deeper way. Today’s readings call to mind our poverty, remind us of God’s faithfulness, and perhaps can inspire us to be people through whom God can respond to the cry of the poor.
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Today, on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, we hear defining stories of their lives. Peter is very different from the ‘soft rock’ that denied Jesus 3 times. He has been hardened into diamond, and courageously proclaims the gospel, even after he sees his brother apostles killed by an evil king. After seeing Jesus’s death and resurrection, he no longer is afraid of being poured out. Similarly, Paul writes to his fellow Christians that he is being poured out like a libation. The first time I really looked at this reading I had to look that last word up; a libation is a ritual pouring out of water or sand or ashes. When people scatter ashes, that’s a libation. When you ‘pour one out’ in memory of a buddy lost and gone, it’s a libation.
Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
There are many reactions to Jesus in the gospels. Some people follow him, some do him homage, some plot against, and others try to entrap him. Today's gospel account seems very peculiar in what occurs during the exorcism in Matthew 8:28-34 (parallel accounts in Mark and Luke).
Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Am I hospitable? Do I allow others to welcome me with hospitality? These were the questions that crossed my mind as I read today’s readings. I’m going to let my prayer and reflection rest on those questions.
Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Last weekend we were visiting family in Pennsylvania and attended a small parish for Sunday mass. As you may recall from Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is sleeping through a storm at sea when his disciples wake him up, asking, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” We’ve heard that story many times and can understand, and perhaps even empathize with, the disciples’ distress. The way the priest read the passage last weekend, though, made it obvious that the disciples were not waking Jesus up because they necessarily expected him to do something about the storm and prevent them from perishing. They were instead waking Jesus up because they were freaking out and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t freaking out. How could he rest so peacefully during such a violent storm rather than be frightened, like everyone else? When we, in the year 2021, know Jesus as the Son of God, it is easy to forget that his disciples initially knew him as a human, as a friend.
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
“No. He will be called John.”
Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Our God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. God’s love and faithfulness to God’s people is evidenced in the covenants God initiates. We see this divine fidelity in the five major covenants beginning with Noah and culminating in the New Covenant in Christ. Today we read the covenant God makes with Abram (who will become Abraham). Our psalm sings the truth that the Lord remembers his covenant forever. Reminded of God’s eternal covenant faithfulness, we read Jesus’ admonition around fruit-bearing. God unites us to Godself in covenant love. How do we respond to this divine extravagance and what is the fruit that is evidence that we are partakers in covenant love?
Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
As I reflect on the texts before us today, I am struck by the simple yet powerful wisdom God offers us for living well with one another. If only we all could follow that wisdom. Our world would be utterly transformed.