Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
St. John of the Cross speaks of “nada” (nothing) as he describes his ascent to Mt. Carmel (union with God.) John reminds us that the path to God is filled with “nothing.” We all called to see God only as our source of truth and being. This detachment from the world and our ego is illustrated by St. Paul and Jesus in the readings today. To grow closer to God, we are called to put aside all things that put our wants ahead of God. This is a challenging journey, but we can still find our lives to be a source of hope and joy as we allow Christ’s love to become present through our nothingness.
Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading is a letter of prayer, encouragement, and gratitude from Paul and Timothy to “all the holy ones in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi.” As I read this letter, I imagined writing you a letter…
“LeeAnn and Brandon, disciples of Christ Jesus,
to all the parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church who are in Dayton,
with their families and loved ones:
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…”
Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s easy for a lot of Christians to read the text from Saint Paul today and think that it is a call for spiritual battle or culture war. After all, Paul is talking about standing firm, holding your ground, resisting evil, being clothed in righteousness as a breastplate, putting on the armor of God.
A lot of folks these days think they are engaged in a spiritual battle/culture war with those who think other than they do. And they are ready to put their breastplate on. Many have already done so in the things they have said to their “enemies.” Some have even sought to physically harm their “enemies.”
Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Brothers and sisters, You are no longer strangers and sojourners (foreigners and strangers), but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones (God’s people) and members of the household of God . . . This declaration from St Paul in the opening verse of our first reading vibrated my heart strings. You are no longer foreigners and strangers . . . Recall a time when you felt like a stranger – alone, unknown, overlooked, separated, or excluded. What did that feel like? Perhaps you’ve even had the experience of being shunned, neglected, ostracized, or abandoned. As you remember those situations where you felt like an outsider, allow Paul’s affirmation to wash over you. You are not an outsider; you are very much an insider in the household of God. Today, let us consider how embracing our own sense of belonging might cause us to open our arms more to those around us.
Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
As I prepared for today’s reflection I followed my normal habits. I read the passages briefly in advance in anticipation of sitting with them longer to listen and formulate what was on my heart or in my head. As I realized that I would be reflecting on this portion of Ephesians chapter 5, I found myself distracted and uneasy. I know when I hear others reflect on this passage I have trouble listening with my heart and more easily listen with my critical brain. And yet I feel like the Lord has put a reflection on my heart that I want to share. So, whatever your prior feelings about this passage, please approach it again with me, doing as St. Pauls asks in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test everything; retain what is good.”
Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
“When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated” is not a phrase we often anticipate encountering in the Gospels, but we find it today in Luke’s account (Lk 13:17). I found myself immediately captivated by this line.
Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
In this world today it is so hard to know what is true. Whether you are reading a news article, watching TV, or checking out your social media sites, everything that we encounter has an element of bias, and the “facts” presented may be completely false. So where do we find truth? As a Christian disciple we look to Jesus as our source of truth. We are then called to live out that truth in love, so others may come to know that truth as well.
Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Tensions are high. With our country’s election day less than two weeks away (and voting having already begun) in the midst of so much political division, there seems to be fear and anger and suspicion not only around us, but within us, our families and our churches. This is the 21st century, and yet today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (4:1-6) from the 1st century speaks to us in this present time. Are we willing to listen?
Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! (Luke 12: 49-50). Earlier in Luke’s gospel, John the Baptist said, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming…he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3:16). The Greek word for baptize is immerse. Indeed, Jesus came to immerse us into the fire of the Holy Spirit. When we think of the image of a fire it can be tempting to focus on its destructive power. Fire can consume all that is touches, but not without giving back warmth and light. Jesus’s passion and death brought with it a fire that would cleanse us of our sins and give victory over death.
Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Today I invite us to focus on our responsorial psalm, which comes from Isaiah 12. This hopeful passage affords us an opportunity to declare God’s promises over our lives and over our loved ones and others around us. My youngest son was a joyful child; he exuded sunshine wherever he went. Those rays of joy originated deep within him from the well of his soul. He absolutely made my day each morning when he awoke and came downstairs from his bedroom with his face beaming. His joy was definitely contagious and attractive.
Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Most people are able to recall a time when they excluded others. Most people can also recall a time when they were excluded. These can be among the most poignant and painful memories, especially for kids and young adults. This happens in religion as well. We might remember that after Jesus commanded the crowd to “love you neighbor,” their first response was, ‘who is my neighbor?’ People want to know who they can exclude. This reality is the starting point for our first reading.
Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs
We've had a lot of new things this past year. The two biggest additions to our life are little Eli (two weeks old) and our new home. We have come to love our new home and have put a lot of time, energy, and money into it. Yet, like all homes it comes with a never ending list of things we could do to improve it or things we need to do to maintain it. While we've been able to relish our new home and have done so with greater appreciation after brining Eli home to it, we are served well by taking Jesus' parable to heart.
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
When I first wake up in the morning, I lie in bed and think, “OK Lord, what do you want me to do today?” Today’s readings remind me that I am not on my own, when I get up to face the day. The Holy Spirit provides me the wisdom, hope, courage and grace that I need to follow God’s leads. The challenge is to believe and trust in the Spirit particularly when I do not know what lies ahead.
Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
I love to play games of all kinds. Some of my favorite games as a child were team games--football, dodgeball, kickball. I have distinct memories of grade school out on the playground or in gym class. We would identify two individuals to be captains and they would, one-by-one, select members for their team until everyone was chosen. There was this hopeful desire to be chosen first--it is very exciting to be wanted for a team. Yet, there was also a fear of being chosen last. However, as I reflect on it today, the truly powerful piece of the process is that everyone was chosen. We all wanted to play; we were all chosen to participate.
Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
Over the last week or so, my husband Bill (who has been writing on Protestant fundamentalism for more than forty years), has been engaged in an email exchange with Mark, who is a self-identified fundamentalist.
The exchange started when Mark contacted Bill in response to an article that Bill and I wrote on the Creation Museum that was published in The Conversation, which is an outlet for scholarly work written for a popular audience. The piece got picked up by other media venues, which is how Mark came across it. Here’s a link to the article, in case you want to read it.
Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
When my boys were young, I bought some assorted plastic fruit and wrote an attribute of the fruit of the Spirit on each piece of fruit. We kept the fruit basket on the dining room table and while we ate dinner together as a family, one of the boys would choose a fruit and we would talk altogether about what it means to live that particular virtue. Interestingly, the fruit of the Spirit is singular – St Paul describes fruit, not fruits, so we had fun trying to picture a multi-faceted fruit that contained all of these various virtues. It’s like a fruit that has the qualities of a grape, an apple, a mango, a banana, a kiwi, and an orange all wrapped up in one!
Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Flowcharts, processes, and procedures, these are all things that I have an appreciation for. I prefer the recipe following and precision measurements of baking over the intuition and eyeballing of cooking. When I’m thinking about buying a new game, I’ll often search online to read a copy of the rule book to help me decide about purchasing it. Today’s readings challenge me.
Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
My children teach me new things everyday. Sometimes they are little factoids they have picked up from some educational show or book. At other times they remind me where my deepest weaknesses are or just how sweet and loving they can be. The latter has been particularly prominent as we have just brought home our fourth child and the other three are the most amazing caregivers for their little brother. Their actions and my time on paternity leave has really drawn me to today’s Psalm.
Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Scripture Readings
Although there are so many struggles that we face today, one of the things that brings me the greatest sorrow is the amount of division in our world and even our church. This polarization and at times malice accosts you at every turn. As Christians, Jesus calls us to become one in Him. If we could see one another as equals- fellow children of God- we could work together to address the many problems plaguing our world.
Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Although Pope Francis released an encyclical this past Sunday, today’s readings have led me to his previous writing: an apostolic exhortation from 2018, Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad). It may seem odd that I am drawing on a document entitled Rejoice and Be Glad to help us reflect on a gospel passage (Luke 11:15-26) that deals with demons and unclean spirits. But Francis specifically refers to the end of today’s gospel in a chapter entitled “Spiritual Combat, Vigilance and Discernment,” noting that the Christian life is “a constant battle.” I invite you to continue with me here to learn more about what he (and Jesus) has to say.