Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
“Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!” - This is the message that Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites provide to those who are saddened at Ezra’s reading from the book of the law of God.
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
Last week, my reflection centered around Luke 9:1: Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. I shared my conviction that just as Christ gave the Apostles power and authority for their situations and encounters, so does the Risen Christ give us resurrection power by the Holy Spirit for our moment-by-moment living and loving. Today, I’m moved by Nehemiah’s lifestyle of prayer in his intimate relationship with God. Nehemiah seems to have gone about his life with a keen awareness of the presence of God with him, and his deep dependence on God to help and comfort him. Nehemiah reminds me that through prayer, God gives power and authority, strength, comfort, conviction, wisdom, guidance – whatever charism, grace, or word I need. More importantly, through prayer, God gives Godself. Prayer, intimate communion with God, becomes more than a channel of communication, it becomes a medium for deep awareness of God’s love, presence and power within, upon, and around us. Through prayer, we nurture our relationship with the God who loves us.
Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
People who know me would agree that I am easy to sidetrack. Students and friends know that I am one derailed train of thought away from twenty minutes of tangential, and likely trivial, conversation. This tendency sheds light on my affinity for blazes. I don’t mean fires, I mean trail markers. I love that purple square painted on a tree or the cairn (a small pile of rocks) that guides your hike through a barren region. It is these trail markers that keep you on track. They are a sign reminding us how we got here, where we are going, and why we are on this journey in the first place.
Memorial of Saint Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church
Have you ever been grumpy with a Saint? Hopefully, your answer was no. For much of my life, my answer was no. But now that I have begun today’s reflection this way, you can probably guess what my answer is. And now I get to write on that Saint’s feast day.
Saturday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Almost every evening my husband and I read and reflect on one of the daily Mass readings as part of our evening prayer. There are many times that after reading the passage we look at each other and wonder, “What exactly is this suppose to mean?” We believe that scripture is God’s revelation to us, but understanding the depth of the meaning is challenging for many reasons. Despite our inability to grasp God and His infinite presence, we are still called to seek God in all things.
Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
“But who do you say that I am?”, Jesus asks his disciples in today’s gospel passage from Luke. I’ve heard this question posed about Jesus to the reader or listener in reflections and homilies, and I’ve asked it of myself. However, as I reflect on this passage today, I am led to a different angle. I wonder if Jesus was looking for some confirmation of his call as he was coming to further discern and understand his identity as Son of God. I’m not a theologian, but I don’t think Jesus was born fully understanding his mission and role in salvation history.
Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading takes place around 536 B.C., when the Jews left Babylon and returned to Judah under the order of King Cyrus of Persia. Sometimes, we only see this as a glorious return from exile, but I’m drawn to how difficult it must have been for the Jewish people to leave the comfort and safety of their homes in order to make an unsettling journey back to the Promised Land. Having just recently moved, I can relate to the feelings of nervousness and uncertainty! The Jewish people followed God’s call, which led them on this new path. They were met with hardship, and even war. Soon their earnest attempt to rebuild the temple stopped. Even the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua were complacent.
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
I work for Heart to Honduras, a non-profit organization that serves the materially poor in communities of rural Honduras. Part of my ministry involves traveling to Honduras, and I’ve spent countless weeks living in families’ homes in the villages. I know what it’s like to travel to a community and receive the hospitality of the people living there. It’s a gift beyond measure. I do not know, however, what it’s like to travel without a packed bag! I travel light, but I do bring the basic necessities. I can’t imagine what the disciples must have felt and thought as they set out on their evangelistic journey without any provisions. Today’s Gospel illustrates an invitation to great faith and trust in our Lord who summons us to be participants on the playing fields of the Kingdom.
Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
A friend of mine and I were talking recently and he has been suffering from health issues. On this occasion, his wife was present but just listening. My friend looked at his wife and smiled and then began to cry. I looked at him as if asking what he what are you feeling. He said, “I do not deserve the love and dedication this woman has for me.” His wife moved close and hugged him. I asked my friend, “When you all took vows did you promise to love and care in sickness and health?” They both responded, “Yes.”
Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Every day on my way to work, I drive north on I-75, past the Wagner-Ford road exit where one of the tornados did some serious damage over Memorial Day weekend. As we all know, quite a few buildings, homes, and businesses were damaged or destroyed, including Queen of Martyrs Catholic Church. For many, the rebuilding is just beginning. The Israelites in today’s reading endured a similar situation. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by an invading army, and all the wealth and leading people of the city were exiled to a foreign empire. Those who did remain were too poor to have any sort of government or building project; they simply did the best they could, subsisting for decades, until the next king and empire looked favorably on the Jews and funded a new effort to rebuild the temple.
Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest
I'm suspicious that Jesus never had to sneak around a sleeping child's bedroom. I've turned on many lights that I've then obscured to give me just enough light to see, but (hopefully) not so much that I disturb the sleeping children. And yet, I wonder if this reverse of Jesus' rhetorical situation might not shed some light on his point (pun fully intended).
east of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
I hate to admit this, but I am not the world’s most humble, gentle, or patient person. This fact is hit home to me every day as I walk my youngest child to preschool (about a mile away). Usually, we have left the house a bit late, I am thinking about the to-do list I have waiting for me at work, and so I’m trying to speed us along. Of course, my four-year-old, being four, sees this walk as an opportunity for mommy time, and for exploration of the world. For all that I want to walk at a fast clip, she will meander, point out the cicadas on the ground, and ask why no one has planted a garden in the plot of dirt yet, or why some cars are grey and some are red, or why that person over there is wearing a hat. She wants to pretend some of the garden walls we see on our walk are balance beams, and when we arrive at a sprinkler, that she’s turned into a mermaid. Our walk gradually gets slower and slower, I remind myself that taking time to talk about her questions is just as important – if not moreso – than the pile of papers on my desk.
Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs
“For the love of money is the root of all evils” (1 TM 6:10) This statement from Paul today reminds me of another message from Christ: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (MT 6:24). Money tends to get in the way of true value in many aspects of life. It can fill our wallets but it cannot fill our hearts. We live in a culture that is constantly selling us propaganda about what will make us happy and bombarding us with distractions at every turn. Having new “stuff” tends to consume our attention--the latest phone, shoes, clothes, cars, jewelry, headphones, toys, the list goes on. It is when we pursue material things that we lose sight of our faith; when we get “trapped,” as he says, by “harmful desires” --faux or fleeting moments of false happiness.
Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The story that Luke’s Gospel puts in front of us today seems to me to be the Gospel in a nutshell. If we can get this story, then we’ve pretty much got what Jesus is about. Not only that, we also know who he wants us to be.
Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel text is a bit perplexing. We find Jesus drawing an analogy to children at play and a contrast between himself and John the Baptist in their approaches to the Gospel proclamation. I offer this reflection based on one possible interpretation of this text and invite you to consider the place of repentance in your own life.
Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
We see at the beginning of today’s gospel a funeral procession. For us as bystanders, the focus in on the sadness of death, but for the people in the story, the great tragedy is the widow. Remember that in society at that time, women had no place in the outside world; they could not work outside the home, have a farm, or own a business. So a woman needed to be attached to a man to avoid becoming destitute. A widowed woman was taken care of by her sons, or her daughters’ husbands if they were wealthy and kind enough to welcome her into the household. This is the situation that has Jesus “moved with pity for her…” No one else is obligated to take care of the mourning widow. She’s burying her son, and afterwards, she does not know how she will eat or where she will sleep.
Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
I don’t like it when people that I disagree with teach me things that I should have known all along. Sound familiar at all? Let me give you some context.
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Today we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Jesus’ death on the cross plays a significant role in our faith, but how exactly are we saved by the cross?
Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
“I am grateful to him who has strengthened me...because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.” (I Timothy 1:12) I appreciate Paul’s words of gratitude to Jesus in today’s first reading. Paul, who had previously been a terrible persecutor of the early Christian community, was shown God’s mercy and forgiveness. He was humbled in a much-needed way on that road to Damascus, and is now thankful that he has been found “trustworthy” despite his past, to minister to other Christian disciples.
Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel, Jesus shares an important message with his apostles after spending days on a mountaintop in prayer. He commands them to love their enemies, turn the other cheek, love sinners, lend money, be merciful, stop judging, stop condemning, forgive, and give abundantly. Whew. It is easy to feel a bit overwhelmed with what seems likes a long to-do list that Jesus offers. I personally love the satisfaction that comes from crossing things off my to-do list. Accomplishing tasks and completing goals makes me feel successful and motivated. After reading this passage, we may be tempted to add more to our already endless to-do lists. But perhaps Jesus is challenging us to move beyond merely checking off boxes. In what ways can we reorient ourselves from extrinsic rewards and shift our lives toward a heavenly reward? If what Jesus asks seems too much for us, we are beginning to understand that it is through our response to His abundant love and grace that we can better serve him. Like the innkeeper who, earlier in Luke’s gospel, provided a humble space for the Word to enter the world, we too are called create room for the Spirit that Jesus promised so that we can bear witness to his love, mercy and peace.