Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” This Word came and dwelt among us. This Word still dwells in and among us. It is the very Word that knew us since the beginning of time. The Word who made us, knew us and had plans for us since before we were born. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you.” As we come into being, the seed of the Word has already been planted in our soul with our baptisms. From the very beginning we were being called to love and serve the Lord and one another.
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“God will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Yet today, many of us are often unaware of our sins. We may feel inadequate or be aware of our weakness, but we are quick to forget our sins. If we don’t know our sinfulness, it will continue to weigh us down in secret. Our Lord offers something better. The Spirit can cast light upon our sins, so that Jesus can free us from them. A good examination of conscience isn’t one that makes us feel small or pathetic; it is one that opens us to God’s uplifting, cleansing Love.
Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
It seems we are constantly bombarded by news of the presence evil in our world today. It is impossible to deny this reality; the evidence is too clear cut. But this lack of balance in daily news reporting has the potential to lead some to emotional numbness and apathy or deep frustration and anger which may begin to seem justified. Many may feel there is a conspicuous absence of God’s presence and activity in the world. Now, more than ever, those who are disciples of Jesus must be a sign that God is indeed alive and living among us.
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
How often have you felt frustrated by another person on a cell phone… in a restaurant, at a public place or even at home? How often have you wished that someone would just get off the phone? I was with somebody for dinner once and the other person kept answering all the texts. I thought that was rude. Have we forgotten basic hospitality?
Memorial of Saint Bonaventure
It is very tempting to read today’s first lesson (Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8) and today’s psalm (also from Isaiah 38, verses 10, 11, 12abcd, 16) as being passages that are primarily about how God saves us from death if only we pray. Both of these scriptures are about Hezekiah and how he is on his last legs; indeed his whole kingdom is being crushed under the weight of a siege by the Assyrians and the future for the Hebrews looks distinctly bleak. The prophet Isaiah tells Hezekiah that he will certainly die and lose the battle, but then Hezekiah utters a plaintive prayer to God, and God prepares to do not just one miracle but three (Hezekiah is healed, the kingdom is saved, the sun moves backwards). So, it is terribly tempting to think that these scriptures have been given to us to remember that in times of crisis, God will work miracles for us and save us.
Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
The words from today’s gospel passage are among the most comforting but challenging in the Bible. In this section from Matthew, Jesus calls the weary to him to find rest. Jesus also tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden light. It sounds nice to us – peaceful and simple. But given what we know of the rest of Jesus’ life, we might ask ourselves, how exactly is Jesus’ burden light and his yoke easy? Is not this the same man who was virtually homeless, was condemned unjustly to death, flogged, crowned with thorns, made to carry a cross and ultimately crucified? How does this constitute an “easy yoke” and a “light burden.” Are crosses supposed to be easy?
Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever been so angry or frustrated that you felt like you could spit nails? The anger might be at yourself, an event or even a grave injustice done against you. Sometimes, those moments of anger, cause us to lash out or take sides. Positions that we arrive at in anger may be deserved and even just, however often they can be harsh as well. Harshness is not necessarily a bad thing if it makes a point.
Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Holy fire and brimstone! Both the first reading and the Gospel about God “smiting evildoers” and “bringing down fire on the day of judgment” used to be one of the very things I most disliked about the Church. But as I’ve seen and experienced more in life, I’ve come to realize that I need to be reminded of the real, daily, nitty-gritty struggle between good and evil. Jesus gives us a wake-up call that it’s possible for a soul to be lost. In our “anything goes” culture where we’re told that there’s no such thing as right and wrong, we’re called to teach the same unpopular message that Jesus did: our actions now shape our eternity.
Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot
In today’s gospel reading Jesus talks about what it means to be a disciple. He is instructing the apostles on what it means to follow Him before they head out to spread the Good News. And yet what Jesus says seems difficult to understand. Jesus says unless a person does certain things, he or she will not be “worthy” of Him. At first glance it seems as though someone has to be good and deserving of Jesus to follow Him, and yet this is certainly not what He preached or how He lived. I believe the worthiness that Jesus calls us to is a recognition of our great need for Him above all else. When we are able to believe in God’s great love for us, then we want to respond by loving God and His ways (even to the point of losing our lives). Our worthiness is not based on what we do, but on God’s grace and our ability to allow His grace to guide our lives.
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Doesn’t feel like we are in the twenty-first Century. As humanity makes progress, society is supposed to become safer, more egalitarian and peaceful. Instead, the kind of violence and turmoil we are experiencing looks like we are digressing. We have made unprecedented progress in the field of education, science and technology. Racial, religious and economic strife should be a thing of the past. Instead, a dozen more lives have been lost - civilians and police officers.
Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(This reflection was written and composed before the death of 5 police officers in Dallas. Spencer is on vacation and did not get the chance to edit this reflection to include the latest tragedy in his reflection. His thoughts on the death of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile is applicable to the every person that is killed in any kind of violence).
Tragically, there have been two more recent shootings involving the police and black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. They have exploded my facebook and I’ve followed what some of my friends have posted and shared. The scenes are heartbreaking. When I sat down to read today’s readings they came back into my mind and are going to shape today’s reflection.
Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Before I went into academia, I worked in chaplaincy services at a hospital. I sat by the bedsides of those with cancer, high risk pregnancies, premature babies, psychiatric illnesses, and more. And I often sat with families who were worried about loved ones, or who had heard the news: “We’re sorry – your father/mother/child/spouse has passed away.”
Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
We continue following the prophet Hosea in today’s first reading. The passage describes how God has lovingly cared for his people, guiding them with affection even as they strayed from him. Today’s excerpt ends with God’s assurance that he will not destroy the people, despite their unfaithful behavior. Against those who would portray “the God of the Old Testament” as someone who is vindictive, the God described in this Old Testament passage is compassionate and forgiving, committed to the people whom he loves so dearly.
Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In trimming the bushes this morning it became clear to me that it had been a while since this task had been done. Two bushes had grown together and in the process prevent either bush from having the light of the sun on the sides of both bushes. There was no new life on those sides. In fact, the areas of the bushes that had received no light seemed dead. I trimmed them back so that light might reach the areas that were in the shadows. The spiritual message I learned connected with the readings for today. One needs the Son to shine on them completely in order that all parts of a person grow. In order to be purified nothing can remain in the shadows.
Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s reading from Hosea, God is telling the people what the consequences are of their spiritual infidelity. They will be slaves again.
600 years later in the reading from Matthew, God’s promise has come true. Romans have conquered and occupied Israel. The people are hurt and helpless. Demons possess many, but the leaders think Jesus’s righteous healing and teaching are strange and evil.
Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
One of the miracles in today’s Gospel passage from St. Matthew relates the brief story of the woman suffering hemorrhaging for 12 years. While reading this passage I saw her story in a different way—how she approached Jesus and how Jesus responded to her. There are slightly different versions of this encounter in Luke (8:43-48) and Mark (5:25-34) and is always placed right in the middle of the miracle of Jesus’ raising the Official’s daughter.
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Today's reflection is based on Fr. Satish Joseph's installation of Pastor at Immaculate Conception and St.Helen Parishes. This homily is his vision for Immaculate Conception, since this website is of the Immaculate Conception faith formation ministry. He wrote a separate one for St. Helen Parish, which will be available on www.sthelenparish.org).
It is with immense gratitude to God, to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and to the parishioners of Immaculate Conception and St. Helen parishes, that today, I assume the awesome responsibility of Pastor of both these parishes. As I do so, I ask God for two graces: humility and wisdom - humility to know that pastorship means to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, the Good Shepherd; and wisdom to view each person and situation through God’s eyes. Even though Fr. Vincent is new to our communities, I consider him integral to the ministries at both parishes. I believe that God has placed him among us for a reason.
Please allow me to share how I understand the role of a pastor and his relationship to a parish. While this is not a comprehensive statement, it would like to give you an insight into my thinking, my spirituality, my leadership, and my ministry. As usual, God speaks to me in three points.
Saturday of the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time
I read the Amos prophecy and thought of some really cool, impractical thoughts I could offer. So, I ruled out those. Then I read the Gospel and felt so distant from cloak patching and wineskin drinking that I wasn’t sure what to say there. I then thought, what about this often forgotten section, the Psalm. Remarkable isn’t it? We read the Psalms multiple times a day in the Church. Psalms are included in nearly every office of Liturgy of the Hours, every daily Mass, and every Sunday Mass. This is one rich Old Testament book. So today, let’s look to the Psalm, and I want to offer a rewording of the Psalm as a meditation. So you don’t have to leave this page, here is the original text:
Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Many of the people in my family are, or have been, farmers. Consequently I’ve heard many farming stories in my life. At this point, I have no idea at all what happened to which of my family members, or indeed whether the stories are true at all. But one of them is the story of a family who went to church one morning, and while they were at church, they heard rain, then hail. The hail, of course, would ruin their crop. Some people left the service to go attend to their crops, but this family did not. In fact, this family observed Sabbath-keeping, and so did no work at all on Sundays.
Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
It seems to be a part of our fallen human condition that we do not bear criticism well. No one wants to be told that he is failing to live a good life. Perhaps even less so do we want to hear criticism of our nation. We don’t like people accusing the United States of injustice, selfishness, materialism, or neglect of the poor and the needy. We’d like to think that we are doing alright, and serve as a model to other nations because of all the good for which we stand.