Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Tomorrow is my birthday. Every year, I think back to previous birthdays and marvel at where the years have gone. One way I mark my early birthdays is with the great gifts my family gave me. There is one gift that stands out. When I turned five, my parents bought me a beautiful, bright red scooter. I’ll never forget how I felt the moment I pulled back the shower curtain to find it sitting in the bathtub (this was the favorite hiding place for gifts in our family). The bright red paint is burned into my mind; the scooter was so simple but it represented so many things to me: fun, a bit of independence and most importantly, my parents’ desire to see me so happy. I knew, even at that young age, that they looked out for me, and more than that, they loved me enough to give me a thing beauty and freedom.
Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes I am amazed at how God uses everyday life to speak to me. Today I woke up with a stiff neck. As I went to read the scripture for the reflection that I was about to write, I was struck by the passage that said “be no longer stiff-necked.” (Deut 10:16) It was almost as if God was tapping me on the shoulder and trying to get my attention. In a physical sense, my stiff neck was not only a painful situation, but it also limited my ability to see all of my surroundings because of the tightness of the neck muscles. Trying to turn around to back out of the driveway was nearly impossible. A “stiff necked” spiritual condition is similar in many ways. When I am “stiff necked” I am unable to see God and His work both within my heart and in the world around me. It is almost as if I have blinders on and can only see straight ahead, or the things that I choose to see. I think that both readings today remind me that I cannot live life fully as a disciple unless I allow God to cure my “stiff- necked” attitude.
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Most of you know about my trip home last month to take care of my father. You also know that the doctors advised him against any intervention because his heart was too diseased. Being so far away from home makes it a little difficult for both my parents and I. When I returned from India, I made it a point to make a conscious surrender of this situation to God. But I underestimated my anxiety and the other night it played out in a dream. I dreamt that my mother and I were at the hospital and on the way to the doctor’s chamber my dad collapsed and died. I woke up with tears rolling down my cheeks and thanked God that this was just a nightmare. So I sat down again, and made another conscious surrender of the situation to God. I know that God has it all worked out but sometimes as a human person I struggle to live life from God’s perspective.
Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr
One of my favorite lines in all of scripture is "as it is written." It comes up quite often. It makes me stand at attention, take pause, and anticipate what I'm about to read. These words beckon me to do a little investigation, to check my footnotes, and to appease my inquisitive mind which asks, "Where was that written?" In today's first reading from First Corinthians, St. Paul writes, "As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." My initial thought was that this was a beautiful description of God- speaking to the limitlessness of His generosity, His abundant care for the poor, and His righteousness. It came as no surprise that God should be described in this way. The only problem was that, as it is written, this description doesn't refer to God in this passage. It refers to me! It refers to what all of us are being called to in our discipleship.
Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
I love today's first reading (Deuteronomy 4:32-40) because it comes just before the passage where God gives the Ten Commandments,and it is a description of why God hopes the people will follow the Ten Commandments and take them to heart. Usually we see the Ten Commandments listed on a wall or on the back of a prayer card, without their context, as though God simply gave them with no explanation or rationale.
Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest
Do you ever complain to God? Grumble or express your discontent, even anger? I know I do. I don’t mean complaining about other people, I mean complaining about how God seems to be orchestrating things in my life (or in the life of people I care about). Sometimes it seems that as soon as one problem is solved or crisis is dealt with, another one comes down the pike just as I was starting to feel hopeful, even good, about life again.
Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever wanted something so bad, that you did all you could to make your wish come true? You did everything in your power to make the reality you desired to be true. Everything from petitioning God, to overemphasizing one reality so that another would become what was real. Wishes can create false dilemmas in us or they can help us find a hope that will lead us to faith and truth.
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Last year in one of my classes we were discussing some of the current thought on the “historical Jesus”. Eventually the discussion came to specific stories in the Gospels, in particular the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Someone mentioned that some theologians thought that this had not really been a ‘miracle’ in the sense that something supernatural had taken place, but rather that the ‘miracle’ of feeding that vast multitude of people happened as a result of everyone sharing the food they had with them and in the end there was an abundance of food remaining. My initial reaction was that they were certainly wrong—how could this miracle found in all four Gospels not be historically accurate? On the other hand, thinking of a crowd that large coming together and sharing what they had with the community to provide for one another’s needs is a deeply heartening notion. After thinking about this for a while I decided it did not really matter whether this particular story was factual in the historical sense. In the end, the importance of this story lies in the truth it conveys. For me, it is another reminder that God ALWAYS provides for the needs of his people.
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
New research suggests that “evolution does not favor selfish people.” It is hard to believe that scholars do research about these things but yesterday, BBC reported in its headline news that “selfish traits were not favored by evolution.” This challenges a previous theory which suggested it was preferable to put yourself first for survival. This earlier research used a model of the prisoner's dilemma game. Two suspects who are interrogated in separate prison cells have to decide whether or not to inform on each other. Each prisoner was offered a deal for freedom if they inform on the other (defection), putting their opponent in jail for six months. If they kept silent (cooperation), they would both get a prison sentence of three months. Obviously, putting themselves first, they informed on each other. But the new research says that what was missing in the old research was communication between the two prisoners. On the contrary, when prisoners talked to each other, the new research suggests, the prisoners did not tell on each other but rather both agree to take on the punishment and remain silent. Research suggests that this behavior of cooperation is typical in the rest of nature (not with regard to the prison situation but that species cooperate even if it means taking a less desirable position). Researchers say that evolution works in favor on cooperation because otherwise nature would head into extinction.
Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today's Gospel, I want to pay less attention to Herod and the fear and distress he experienced. I also want to pay less attention to John and his martyrdom. I even want to pay less attention to Christ's off screen role in this whole passage.
I really want to focus on 'the people.'
Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
I found myself laughing in the middle of today's gospel story (Matthew 13:54-48) at the people who "were astonished" at Jesus. They've known him forever, watched him grow up, maybe know some embarrassing childhood stories, saw him working with Joseph in the workshop - and now here he is, doing "mighty deeds." They're incredulous, to say the least. Perhaps more than one of them is thinking, "So now this guy is coming in and pretending to be all high and mighty? Whatever."
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
The glory of God's dwelling was always seen as far off, distant and unreachable for mere humans. And indeed it is. But what for us is impossible, God has made possible. In today's first reading from the Book of Exodus, we see a glimpse of how awesome God's dwelling, God's very presence, is. The readings move from an image of God's dwelling as awesome and holy, terrible and mighty, to the Psalmist longing for God's dwelling place. The Psalmist yearns to dwell in the courts of the Lord. And this too should be our own longing.
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Intense encounters with others can leave deep impressions on our minds, hearts, and souls. What is amazing is how these encounters can literally change how we think and feel. One recent meeting with a friend left me with a profound sense of sorrow, and compassion for this person. This person’s sharing raised in me an awareness of how the Spirit was moving and transforming this individual. This connected to a similar transformation going on within myself.
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings can result in a bit of spiritual whiplash. In the first reading, we come upon the scene of Moses and the Hebrews in the desert. Moses pitches a tent outside of the camp as the place to meet God. But there is a startling detail: Anyone who wished to consult the LORD would go to this meeting tent outside the camp. Anyone! Not only has God been faithful in leading the Hebrews out of their slavery in Egypt, God is now generously available to them. But here comes some whiplash. The LORD reminds Moses and his people that God is abundant in mercy and kindness but he is also just, meaning that punishment will not only come upon the guilty but upon their “children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.” In the end, Moses prays that the LORD will stay with them in spite of their faults (and faults they have!). The whiplash comes from being pulled to the directions of both mercy and justice. Jewish interpreters have said about other places in Scripture that God’s character is often portrayed with both attributes so as not to be confined to either.
Memorial of Saint Martha
Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Martha who is one of my favorite saints. I enjoy reading and learning about the lives of the saints, since I think that their lives can be a source of inspiration for me as I travel on my faith journey. In the recent past, I was talking with two separate groups of Catholic friends about what it means to be a saint. Many if not most of them stated that they had no desire to become a saint. I was surprised by this and I asked them why they felt this way. One person responded that in order to be a saint that there would be too many things that she enjoyed that she did not want to give up. Another person remarked that being a saint involved great suffering and oftentimes death as a result of a person’s belief. Although many Catholics have this view of sainthood, I think that there is a great deal more to being a saint than sorrow and sacrifice. I believe that we are all called to be saints- to be “holy” people, and although there will be challenges and hardships at time, the road to holiness is also filled with joy and hope.. Today’s readings show us two examples of saints who lived their lives trusting and believing in God’s great love and mercy. They show me how to be “set apart” for God.
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am certain you have heard about the child who when she first prayed the “Our Father,” said “Our Father who art in heaven, how do you know my name?” Or, the child who prayed, “Our Father in heaven, ‘Howard’ be thy name!” Or, the child that said, “Lead us not into ‘Penn Station.’” Or even the woman who cried out, “Deliver us from e-mail.”
But humor aside, on Thursday I was with two year old Reagan who has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her brain. Her parents, her family, friends and I gathered around her to pray for her healing. Like Abraham in today’s first reading, we put everything we had into our prayer. There was not one tearless prayer that we offered.
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the reading from Exodus, I have to wonder how many of the eager and zealous Israelites, crying out their obedience to the Lord, were looking around at one another thinking, “Yeah, right, he doesn't mean that, I heard him complaining as we came through the desert.” Despite those silent accusations, how many of them, I wonder, would find themselves worshiping the Golden Calf not long after this? Though in all honesty, would I be any different? Would you? Boy, talk about loving neighbor and God?
Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Jesus' parable in today's gospel reading (Matthew 13:18-23) really strikes me this week. All the ways he describes seeds and soil make me wonder - what kind of soil am I planted in? In particular, his admonition to seeds sown among thorns, which are distracted by worldly ambitions and the lure of riches, makes me think about the soil of me and my community here in the middle-class US. As a person with a good job, and a job that encourages me to be very ambitious, I find it helpful to use these verses to reflect on my situation today.
Feast of Saint James, Apostle
I don’t really fault the mother of the sons of Zebedee for what she asked Jesus. I mean it sounds pretty foolish to us with hindsight, but who doesn’t want the best for their children. I know I’m “guilty” of wanting my kids to succeed and in taking pride in their accomplishments. She was planning ahead, not understanding of course that Jesus’ kingdom would not be one like political rulers, but I don’t blame her for getting excited about the possibility of good things coming to her sons and subsequently to her. How many of us have outwardly or inwardly calculated the benefits of some new development for our own sake or our family’s sake?