Feast of Saint James, Apostle
Today the church celebrates the feast day of St. James. This has particular meaning for me, since I recently visited the Cathedral in Santiago de Compestela (the final destination of the Camino de Santiago located in northern Spain) where the body of St. James is reposed. St. James is often pictured as a pilgrim because he is said to have traveled to Spain to share the Good News of Jesus.
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
To the modern western mind, Abrahams haggling or bargaining with God, in today’s first reading, may sound preposterous. To me, coming from India, I am not alarmed. Haggling is part of our daily life. In fact, for us haggling is an art. We do not buy anything without haggling. Every morning, when the fish monger comes to my house, my dad has to haggle. The fish monger already knows that my dad will haggle. So the price he quotes is already higher than the original price. My dad haggles and brings the price down. At the end of it all, the fish monger is happy that he got the price he wanted and my dad is happy that he saved a few bucks. Or, at least he thinks he did. Haggling was and is common in the Middle-East as well. Abraham’s bargaining with God follows this practice.
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
It was 7th grade. We were sitting in line waiting for our name to be called to go out to our cars. I had something pressing to tell my friend, probably something about the Pokémon I was looking for (yup we were playing that when I was in middle school too). Knowing we weren’t supposed to talk, I folded my hands over my face so my palms covered my mouth and my fingers met on the bridge of my nose. I was mid-sentence when my teacher crouched down right in front of me, hands just like mine telling me, “I can still see your mouth moving.” That’s what he said, what I heard was, “I see you trying to be clever which means you know the rules, but you’re not that clever, so stop playing games with me.”
Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
I think conversion happens over a lifetime - each day we are converting ourselves to the will and steadfast love of God. But there are watershed moments, too, times when things change pretty dramatically. One of those watershed moments for me was the very first time I ever made a retreat. A friend invited me to go because she knew I'd been pretty heavily thinking about atheism. So off I went to a Carmelite monastery in the middle of the desert. I stayed two weeks by myself in a small hermitage with no running water or electricity, surrounded by wild animals and tall mountains. All of this served to heighten the fact that I was alone, and scared to be alone. All of that vast space and dangerous wildness made it a great place to face that fear inside me - that God didn't really exist and that all was emptiness. In the midst of these vast mountains and wildness, I saw how utterly unlike us God is. My near-atheist view of who I thought God was, was merely a large picture of humans. But over those two weeks, I came to see that that view does not begin to measure up to who God is. Two weeks is just about enough time to make peace with being alone - and to recognize that truly we are never alone.
Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
A few weeks ago I was blessed to go on a 7-day backpacking trip in Olympic National Park with some friends from college. We affectionately call these yearly trips a “man-venture” with the intention that we are just a bunch of guys looking to get away and spend some time together. Each year they serve as an unstructured retreat opportunity for myself, a time to disconnect from distractions, to reconnect with great friends, and a time to listen to God, others, and nature more closely. These trips help me re-center myself, typically they are an impetus for me to recall the important things in life and how I may have lost sight of those. For me, these trips are one of a few ways I try to use my “summer vacation” to re-prioritize, re-center, and re-focus prior to the upcoming academic year and returning to work in August.
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.