Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
I have probably shared this with you before. Every time I leave home, my parents and I gather for prayer. Something wonderful happens just before I leave. My mom and dad lay their hand over me and bless me. I feel their breath. I feel the warmth of their body. I feel their tears as they feel mine. Most of all, I touch their holiness. And then, they both make the sign of the cross upon my forehead. Right at that moment, I experience a little bit of heaven. Right at that moment, I feel a little more free, a little more strong, a little more loved, a little more sure. I know that heaven is indescribable. But if someone asked me what heaven it like, I would say, its like my mom and dad blessing me.
Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel passage captures one third of something called Lewis’ Trilemma. Here is how Lewis describes it:
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. … Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. (Mere Christianity 56)
This is commonly represented as “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord.” The goal today is not to discuss all of the flaws or merits of his argument, but to draw from it the startling connection in Mark today.
Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Today, our prayer focuses on legal protection for the unborn. This day calls us to be mindful of the most vulnerable in our midst and to love all, even and especially those we have not even met yet.
Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
Today’s Gospel passage from Mark demonstrates Jesus’ ability to overpower evil spirits curing those who were of diseases and allowing the unclean spirits to recognize Jesus as the Son of God. One key element from this reading that can be overlooked is Jesus’ summoning of the disciples to have a boat prepared so that Jesus isn’t overcome by these evil spirits. This displays a key element of servant leadership amidst the disciples and the trust that Jesus places upon them to make sure their needs are met and their mission upheld.
Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Serving God faithfully is at the heart of what it means to be a disciple and it demands a radical trust in the Lord. This is not always an easy task as it seems we regularly encounter obstructions to our faith. These challenges may be people or situations that present roadblocks or bog us down leaving us without the energy to move forward. These truly may be impediments. However there is another level that lies below the surface and they call us to dig deeper. The pretenses of today’s scripture stories leave us mystified as to the depth of courage needed to serve the Lord.
Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
In our first reading, Samuel has called the whole town of Bethlehem together for a banquet. Everyone is supposedly there, including Jesse and his sons, one of whom will be the next king. The sons are dressed up and looking their best. But the Lord reminds Samuel, and us, that the outward appearance is not an accurate way to judge.
Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
There are times when I read a scripture passage that I am taken aback by the stories of the Israelites in the Old Testament. Today is one of those readings which tells the story of the downfall of Saul. Although it appears that Saul was trying to in a special way honor the Lord, by not obeying God’s command he places his will above God’s How often in our lives do we take control of our lives maybe even thinking that we are showing God our praise through our actions. But more than our creative and bold action, God desires our obedience. If God is truly a loving God than His will for our lives is what will bring us the greatest blessing and therefore His greatest glory. When I fall into the Hand of God, then I become the person He calls me to be, and I therefore give Him the greatest praise.
Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading captures the essentials from Saul’s appointment as king of Israel. The whole scene takes about a chapter, but for the purposes of the reading cycle it was abridged. Not only is this reading abridged, but the cut material contains the foreshadowing elements of the story that lead up to Saul’s anointing. This offers the reader and listener a hasty and jarring account of Saul’s appointment that is largely coming from his unsuspecting perspective. Essentially, he wakes up in the morning and is ordered to go find his dad’s donkeys and three days later a prophet of God is dumping oil on his head naming him the “commander over his [God’s] heritage”. What a weekend! This pace and whirlwind nature makes the passage more relatable to us.
Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
This weekend, we observe a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., a champion of civil freedoms and martyr for that cause, and so this is a fitting time to think about what it means to be free. Today's scriptures help us reflect further on what it means to be free.
Thursday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
Somedays I’m 100% on board with God’s plan to bring us all into communion. And then there are the other days. Those are the times that I question whether God is much smarter than the person who invented the college dormitory (seriously who thought that was a good idea? Giving young people an overdose of freedom while supervised by their peers. Yikes!). The worst rough days are when I hear phrases like “He was just trying to help.” That phrase is uttered when he not only failed, he actually hindered everything I wanted to do. And the worst part is that he didn’t mean it. It is precisely the well intentioned bumble that Jesus was trying to prevent in today’s Gospel.
Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Well now what? After all of the joy and wonder of the past few weeks, we have now entered ordinary time through the bookend of the Christmas season that is the Baptism of the Lord. It is through the waters of baptism that we enter a life of discipleship. Our discipleship can sometimes get lost in the day to day grind of living, our own “ordinary time”. Today’s reading is a guide of how to be alive in a ways that lead us to serve the Lord faithfully.
Tuesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
Some people might say that you can be religious without going to church. They might say that they can pray just well at home as they can at church. Today's readings are a counter argument to these individualistic thought.
Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
During January it seems many of us feel a sense of relief. The expectations, busyness, and pressures of the holiday season are lifted and going back to familiar routines can offer a certain comfort. While reflecting on today’s Scriptures, I repeatedly returned to what Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark immediately after he learns of John the Baptist’s arrest: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk 1:15)
Saturday after Epiphany
Today’s first reading offers a strange relationship between our petition and God’s providence. Here is what John says, “We have this confidence in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked Him for is ours.” This text seems like an appropriate clarification on Jesus’ “Ask and you shall receive,” but it also adds something to our side of the equation. I not only read this and see John calling us to rely on prayer, but I sense him pushing us to discernment, particularly in three ways.
Friday after Epiphany
Thursday after Epiphany
Reflecting on today’s readings, I found myself especially focused on the passage from today’s first reading found in 1 John 4: 19-5:4, “…for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” And I ask myself, why does it seem to be more difficult to love our “brothers and sisters,” other people with whom we share our planet, than it is to love God? I think the answer, at least in part, is that we imagine God as we prefer, rather than as God truly is. Don’t we sometimes deceive ourselves and believe that God is what we want God to be; whereas we can’t as easily change our perception of someone we encounter face to face and are uncomfortable with or disagree with or are afraid of?
Even when Jesus was walking on the earth, many found it difficult to accept and love him as the Son of God. I think it’s easy to believe that if I lived at the time of Jesus I would most certainly have been one of his followers. But, I wonder, is that true? There were many who believed they were in right relationship with God and followed their religious guidelines and missed that Jesus was the Messiah. Was it because he did not look or act the way they expected the Son of God to look and act? Or expect him to come from Nazareth? So, I ask myself, what is my image of God that may be causing me to miss seeing, hearing, knowing God in the here and now?
In today’s gospel reading from Luke (4: 14-22), we hear of how Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth where, in the synagogue, he read the passage from the prophet Isaiah, saying that the passage was fulfilled in their hearing it. This referred to Jesus’ ministry of liberating the poor and oppressed as written in Isaiah. Initially, those who heard Jesus speak were amazed by him and had only good things to say, but we know that quickly changed. And very few followed him all the way to the cross.
Today’s first reading also tells us that if we say “I love God,” but hate our brother (or sister), we are a liar! For “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” The writer tells us that this is the commandment we have from God! But the passage also says that God’s commandments are “not burdensome.” So, how is it that we can love one another, even those who we don’t like, disagree with, are angry at, or are afraid of? I believe it is through Jesus Christ. We can overcome our limitations and love one another because God first loved us.
The challenge, I think, is to stay close to Jesus, to be grounded in God’s truth through prayer, regular Scripture reading, receiving the sacraments, and being part of a community of believers, so that we do not so easily deceive ourselves and create God in our own preferred image, one that we find less challenging than our brother, sister, spouse, co-worker or neighbor.
I know I need to be reminded that it is in loving those we would rather not love (even if just for the moment), that we are loving Jesus, himself, who came to liberate the poor and oppressed by humbling himself and being born as a poor infant in a stable. When we see those in greatest need, we see Jesus. When we love our brothers and sisters, especially those we are tempted to hate or ignore, we love God.
- Eileen Miller
Wednesday after Epiphany
Nearsightedness is no big deal as I have a great set of glasses that helps me distance terrifically. However, I cannot read well or work on the computer with my glasses on. In taking off my glasses, unless I am fully attentive to putting them down, I can sometimes have a hard time being able to see them to pick them up again. The readings strike me that something right before the disciples eyes remained unseen to them.
Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop
The first letter of John elevates love so highly as to equate it with God. In today’s love- confused world, it’s easy to misunderstand what love is, and therefore who God is. Many of us think of love as romance, or being lost in another person, or liking someone (or even something) a whole lot. All those things are nice and pleasant, but as we learn with maturity, they are not love. They are not very useful if we want to know who God is. Perhaps to help us, the author of 1 John describes divine, real love.
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
With the beginning of the New Year, many people choose to make resolutions. Some people decide to eat healthy, exercise more, read more, get more sleep, save more money… the list goes on and on. In today’s gospel Jesus calls us (actually He commands us) to repent. Repent means to feel remorse for wrongdoing and sin, but it also means to have a change of heart and mind- to turn away from our sinful ways and towards God and His love. As we enter into this New Year, may we hear the words of Jesus reminding us to turn to Him, so that by the way we live we may bring the Kingdom of heaven to the world around us.
The Epiphany of the Lord
Scripture Readings
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany literally means manifestation. It is the feast of the manifestation, the revelation, presentation of Jesus to the world. If this is true, then, is it not truly amazing that the magi saw a mere child and recognized the Divine? Today gospel says that “ they prostrated themselves and did him homage.” If I was one of them, I probably would have been disappointed that the spectacular star had led me only to a mere child. Perhaps, that is why, they, unlike me, are known as three wise magi.