Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The story of the rich man coming to Jesus and asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life,” is one of the most compelling stories in gospel of Mark. In the upcoming verses, Mark will contrast this story with the story of the blind beggar who left everything a followed Jesus. Immaterial of how the story ends, it is not difficult to find ourselves in the story.
Let me offer three points for reflection:
Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes, maybe even most of the time, Jesus has a little zing in his words. In today’s gospel Jesus is interrupted by a woman who says “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” Do you hear yourself in her words? I know I hear myself.
Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Often in today's Gospel, I get stuck on the person behind the door, who says no to his friend. Why not share what you have to give? But even more than this, today's Gospel, when focused on the man who is knocking, tells us a lot about prayer. We are told that when we ask, seek and knock, there will be an answer to our pleading - an answer to our prayer. Today's gospel speaks of hope, as does our psalm. "Blessed are they hope in the Lord." We are told to hope in the Lord. But hope often requires us to ask for help, hoping we find the answer we need.
Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s feast, Our Lady of the Rosary, reminds us that Mary as the first disciple said yes to all that discipleship entails. Mary’s ability to accept God’s will from the beginning was a gift that helped her through the mysteries of being the mother of the Son of God. Although, the glory of the resurrection helped Mary overcome the sorrow of watching her son’s crucifixion, she must have had an extraordinary ability to forgive. Forgiveness is perhaps one of the most difficult skills of a disciple. Today’s feast and readings remind us that it happens best through prayer.
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
The importance of listening to the Lord’s teaching and direction is a theme that runs through our readings today. In our first reading, we pick up the story of Jonah just after the well-known account of his encounter with the whale. Jonah, who had previously attempted to run away from the commission that God gave to him, now accepts God’s direction that he set out for the city of Nineveh to warn its citizens, who had lapsed into sin, that the city would be destroyed in forty days.
Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Our youngest son graduated from college in this past May. In August we moved him to a small city in the Northeast to begin his graduate studies. We all experienced the anxiety of leaving him in this new environment. I’m sure I was the most anxious! During the four days of getting his apartment furnished and set up, I had the opportunity to walk around the main square of this little town. This particular university has an incredible reputation and nearly every one of its historical buildings are located in close proximity to the main square. What astonished me was the number of people who approached me asking for money or cigarettes or help in this very small town. Each time I walked outside our hotel, I encountered at least four or five people within the first several minutes. And while I do not want to rush to judgment, I had a strong feeling of an ‘us and them’ mindset, a sense that these people were ‘other’ and not ‘neighbor’. All these weeks later, it still bothers me and I have become much more aware of how and when I find myself viewing the persons I encounter in my life as ‘other’.
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Those of you who have not heard about ashleymadison.com be prepared to be shocked. It is a Canada-based online dating service and social networking service. There is nothing shocking about this, is there? It is what ashelymadison.com stands for that is shocking. “Life is short. Have an affair” – that is the motto of this website. It is marketed to people who are married or in a committed relationship. The website boasted of having 39 million registered users. Most of them were men but the number of women is equally concerning.
Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
As Christians we are called to a great many things. We are called to be missionaries of mercy and workers of charity. We are also called to be advocates of truth and supporters of justice. We are to be deeply contemplative and tirelessly active. The call to live the Christian life is difficult and oftentimes loaded with paradox and I think those two realties can weigh us down if we fail to live with an eternal context. We act, speak, pray, and rest with one eye on eternity. This is what Jesus sets up for us today in the words, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” This eternal context doesn’t make the Christian life easy, but I think it helps make it feasible. To help with that feasibility I want to offer three quick snippets of advice.
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
Today’s scriptures mention sins that are extremely easy to commit. For instance, it is altogether too easy to disregard “the little ones” that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel reading (Matthew 18:1-5, 10). There is the visceral reaction people give toward children: many get frustrated with having to travel next to young children on airplanes, or see them in restaurants, or anywhere other than a playground. I am also very conscious now, both as a parent and as a catechist of little ones, how much people dismiss that two year olds or three year olds might say anything important about what we think is important, including God, money or politics. And yet, it is the three year olds who are capable oftentimes of naming mysteries about God in very deep ways (and actually, I think they often have wise words about money and politics, too!).
Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus
“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.
This story from Nehemiah reminds me of the early years of high school when I began to understand faith as something that expanded beyond “rules” and is lived. The process of that discovery initially heightened my awareness of my own sinfulness and my own inability to follow these rules. As I came to understand faith as something that is lived, all I could do was focus on how remorseful I was at my inability to integrate these rules into my everyday living. At times this process seemed so difficult that I even resented the fact that I was Catholic, wishing that I could live outside these rules in an attempt to have more freedom (remind you, I was in high school).
Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Today’s memorial recollects the life of St. Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church. He is best known as a scripture scholar who wrote numerous commentaries and authored a Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate. Jerome’s tenacious approach to scholarship also made him particularly adept at dealing with heretics. This could be why the church used today’s gospel for Jerome’s feast as it reflects Jesus’ strong tone with his those followers who are not completely understanding Jesus’ purpose.
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
For many people, Worship and Praise do not come easily. We’re comfortable asking God for what we want, and thanking God for what we receive. But praising, adoring, or worshiping our Lord… some people may ask, “why do we have to do that?”
Well, for one, God is God, and as the Creator of the Universe, he deserves it. But like all good acts, it can benefit us as well. In today’s first reading, we see a fantastic vision of The Majesty of the Father as Kingship is bestowed on Jesus Christ. When I read this, sitting in my chair, with my little concerns about work and children and all the changes in my life, I can’t help but notice that what keeps me up at night is pretty small compared to the awesome might of God.
Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
One of my most vivid memories of junior high school was feeling I was never good enough. I remember experiencing strong feelings of jealousy and rejection. I saw girls who were pretty and smart and ‘cool’ and the jealousy I felt led to me try so hard to be different, to be more special, or to be just plain ‘more’. I remember the agony this caused during that period of my life. If there was ever a time I could choose to relive it would never be that time! These many years later, I realize how damaging this was. Those feelings of jealousy left me not only feeling personally inadequate—it led my disdain of those who were the object of my jealousy. It strongly distracted me from what God wanted me to be during that tender and tumultuous time of life. The sin of jealousy led to developing habits contrary to the basic charity I was called to as a Christian and it led me away from God. I did not realize this at the time, I only knew how intense my feelings were and allowed those feelings to drive my behavior. Had I recognized my feelings were not based in fact, I think those years would have been quite different.
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am sure most of you have been following Pope Francis’ visit to the United Sates rather closely. I have not watched this much TV in all my life. I tweeted my response to his visit in these words: “I have never been more proud of being a Catholic priest as I am today. I am thrilled to be a priest in the Pope Francis era.” There is no doubt that as concludes his visit today, he is creating history. Last week I prepared a homily in preparation for his visit. This week, based on today’s scriptures, I would like to read between the lines of the Pope’s speeches, visits and words to give some pointers for our own discipleship. Let me do so in five points.
Saturday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
A few months back Fr. Satish preached a homily where he said, and I’m paraphrasing, “I never wanted to hear the phrase, ‘It’s a mystery’ given as an answer ever again!” He was talking about his time in seminary running up against some of the unanswerable questions about God. I want to use that sometimes infuriatingly over used sentence, “It is a mystery”, as our starting point in drawing some meaning out of today’s gospel.
Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
With the Pope's visit to the US this week, I can not help but get excited. The energy and the enthusiasm surrounding this visit is palpable, in both the religious world and the secular world. In this excitement, I have heard many people say, "what a gift to sit in the presence of such holiness!" While I do agree that the Pope is a man of tremendous holiness, I pray that each person who attends his visit keeps in mind the source of this goodness - Jesus!
Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest
As a hospital chaplain, I am often called to some of the sickest in our hospital. When someone is suffering an illness or disease, their loved ones suffer alongside of them. And this is true discipleship, if we are attuned to the feelings and needs of others, we have empathy and compassion that calls us to want to help shoulder the cross that others carry. Thus when we understand the suffering of others, we are given the gift to share their suffering.
Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading invites us into the world of ancient Judaism. We have a passage from Ezra that describes the rebuilding of the Temple, the very place where the God of Israel dwells. It had been destroyed and the Israelites had been taken into exile. Now returned, they rebuild the Temple and offer a great sacrifice at its completion. And what a sacrifice it was: “For the dedication of this house of God, they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, together with twelve he-goats as a sin-offering for all Israel, in keeping with the number of the tribes of Israel.”