Thanksgiving Day Mass
Today’s gospel reading (Luke 17: 11-19) for Thanksgiving Day mass is The Healing of the Ten Lepers. It is a very familiar story, which, as a result, can cause us to skim over it quickly and not reflect deeply. I encourage you to read it again and take a closer look at it today on this day of giving thanks.
Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s Memorial recall’s the Presentation of Mary. This of course echoes the presentation of Jesus and the Jewish ritual of claiming a child for the Lord. Like baptism, it is outward reminder of an inward reality. The child we present is given this day and every day to serve the Lord. The readings today challenge us to give our all for the Lord; to live lives of holiness that utilize all of our God given gifts for the glory of Lord.
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
The readings for this week look forward to the Solemnity of Christ the King, this coming Sunday. The theme expressed in them is repentance at the expectation of Christ’s coming. In the first reading, the writer of Revelation warns the churches not to be lukewarm but rather to remain steadfast in faith. The metaphor of the undesirability of what is lukewarm is one that most people can appreciate. In warm weather it is natural for people to drink cold beverages to slake their thirst. And conversely, in cold weather people drink warm beverages to warm them from the inside after they’ve come in from the cold. The problem with lukewarm beverages is that people do not find them to be refreshing either on cold or warm days. No one wants to drink lukewarm soda, or coffee once it has cooled off.
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
One of my favorite things to do is to go hiking. Whether it is the snowy trees of winter, the springtime wildflowers, the lush green of summer or the beautiful colors of fall, I can see and feel God’s presence around me when I am wandering through the woods. Recently, as I was hiking, I was reflecting upon St. Ignatius’ phrase about “finding God in all things.” As I thought more about this concept, I realized that I was missing many opportunities to find God in my daily routine. Whether it was because of the busy schedule of the day, or because of my close minded attitude, I was not seeing God’s presence and love in so many circumstance of my life. It seems easy to see Him as I climb up trails surrounded by nature, but He is also present in the people at work ( even the person who drives me crazy) and in the traffic jam on the highway ( even when I am late for an appointment.) Not only am I not recognizing His presence, but I am missing out on many opportunities to respond to Him in love in the situations that I encounter. Today’s readings remind me that I am very much like the blind man in need of healing. I need to be given the ability to see God’s love and presence in the everyday occurrences of my life. Once I can see clearly, I can respond with gratitude and love. Like the blind man I will then be able to follow Jesus and give glory to God.
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Three years back when I reflected on the reading we have today, the movie 2012 was just released. Based on the Mayan calendar, people were beginning to predict the end of the world on the winter solstice Dec 21, 2012. The movie was a blockbuster. Since we are only a few weeks away from the deadline, I decided to search the internet about the latest news about the prediction. Nevertheless to say, the website December212012.com still exists and it still has a clock counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds. Surprisingly enough, on the same website you can also find a 72 hour survival kit. I am not sure why if the world is going to end I would need a survival kit but that is beside the point, right? For those who want hard core evidence about the end of the world, the NASA website also has something to say about the end of world. It states categorically that the world will not end on Dec 21st because there just enough any evidence to think otherwise. I really think that Jesus was smarter than both the doomsayers and NASA put together. He simply stayed away from predicting whether the world will or will not end or a particular day. I must agree with Jesus. I too, simply do not know. In fact, to focus on prediction of the end of the world is to simply miss the point of today’s readings.
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, religious
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus gives us a rather odd parable to illustrate the necessity that his disciples pray constantly. There are two important aspects of it, however, that perhaps we might miss on a first read—both are common features of Jesus’ parables in general and both help us to understand the story a bit better.
Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Intuitively, we believe that it is important for the church, and especially for our witness to Christ, that we make use of contemporary culture for witnessing to Christ. We know that different people like different kinds of music, for example, and so our parish has masses that make use of a variety of musical styles in order to help people worship. At heart, the basic question is: how to let Jesus speak in peoples’ own languages and customs so that they find a genuine relationship with him, and yet how to maintain the tradition Jesus himself handed on to his apostles. That is, we who seek after Jesus don't want to discover that we're in fact following some non-Jesus ideology, or someone else entirely. Today’s scriptures ask us to consider this question carefully.
Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
It is a rare occurrence for me to get out to see a movie, but my husband and I recently saw the movie “Cloud Atlas” based on the book. I won’t give a review of it, but one part of the movie comes to mind as I reflect on the first reading today. The scenario involves a stowaway slave on a ship in the 1800s who relies on the at-first-reluctant- kindness of one of the passengers, an American businessman, to save him from either starving or being cast overboard. Later, the slave ends up saving the life of the American who is being poisoned by the greedy doctor who he thinks is trying to heal him. He eventually ends up denouncing slavery. It was quite beautiful to see the change of heart and relationship in this thread of the movie.
Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
The modern age has brought many conveniences into our lives that help us do everything from cooking to communication with efficiency. These tools have contributed to the faster pace in our lives. In some ways they have also contributed to the way we look at our faith. Imagine if we transfer our expectations that we can serve a meal in minutes or get an answer to most any question just by “Googling.” Can God answer our prayers as quickly as Google? The answer of course is no.
Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin
Memorial of Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr
Sacred Scripture is flooded with verses regarding children, child-like faith, and God's relationship with His children. Throughout my life, including my young adult life, I've read these verses through the eyes of a child and with the experiences of child, always knowing that God is a good Father and His love for His children is great. But it's challenging for children to comprehend the depth of such love, which can only be experienced in order to fully understand. Many have told me that, "when you have children, then you'll understand." After seeing for the first time the face of my son, Andrew, who was born less than three weeks ago, now I understand.
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
This election, both the presidential candidates together spent close to two billion dollars on their election campaigns. This is just the spending on the presidential election. Closer to home Sherrod Brown and Josh Mandel spent $ 60 million on their campaigns. I find it difficult to imagine what $ 2 million looks like or for that matter what 60 million would look like. All that money was spent to assume an elected office! Let me change the scene. School kids often write to me when they give their tithe envelops. One kid wrote: “Dear Father, you may not have heard m in Church today because my voice is hoarse because I am sick. (I had to go to school today because my mom and dad are at work, I am glad I did so I could go to church). But I did try to sing loud today Could you hear me? Probably not. At least you know now that I tried, right?” Another letter was a prayer. This kid started writing the ‘Our Father,’ went all the way up to “as we forgive….” And then she writes, “I can’t go on. God knows what I mean.”
Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pope and doctor of the Church
In the reading from Luke’s Gospel today, Jesus exhorts His disciples to keep money in its place. It’s interesting, in light of the eventual sharp contrast between God and mammon, that Jesus begins by talking about trust, and a rather common sense notion at that. If people cannot be trusted on small matters, we certainly don’t trust them with more important ones! (Lk 16:10-2). The key here is that money is not of the essence, at best it’s an instrument toward something, certainly not an end in itself, a small matter.
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
Today is the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. Why does the Church celebrate the dedication of this building which exists in one particular place? It seems to me that one reason for this is that Christianity is a religion that brings together the spiritual and the physical aspects of human existence and affirms the importance of both. As Christians we believe that we worship a God who is not bound to a particular time and place (and indeed is outside of time and space), but who also became man and lived on the earth for a time. The dual character – physical and spiritual – of Christianity is seen in its emphasis on concrete places and real people who have encountered God in their lives at particular times and in particular places. These people have in turn influenced others to encounter God in their own lives.
Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
When I was about twelve or thirteen years old, I lost my pet rabbit, Penelope. I went to feed her in her hutch out back and found the door broken and Penelope missing. I loved that rabbit, and I was very worried and upset. There were some woods near our house and I feared the worst for her. I went out looking for her and calling her, and I got my parents’ help, especially when the sun began to set. My Dad and I took a flashlight and looked some more. We didn’t find her that night or the next, or the weeks after that I kept looking for her. I cried myself to sleep many a night, worried about her out in the cold and dark, lost and afraid, maybe even hurt or worse. My parents offered to get me another bunny, but of course I didn’t want another one; I wanted Penelope.
Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
It is one of my least favorite times in my life, election time. General elections often seem to bring out the worst in people. I am often afraid of even speaking of the election out of fear. As I went to the polls I wrestled with my fear of how this election might turn out and what the results will mean. I had been reflecting on the first reading at the time and I began to think about other people and their fears. For some, the fears might be where will I find my next meal or will the shelter have room for me tonight. For others, the fears might be health related, or fears that their child won’t find a job. Other fears might be related to work or ones neighbors.
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
I have a friend who is always inviting me to dinner. She's profusely hospitable - the kind of host who serves a rich chocolate cake with ice cream after a simple weeknight dinner, and then slips a quarter of the leftover cake into my purse when I'm not looking. I usually don't find the cake till I've made it home, where I have no choice (sigh...) but to eat the leftovers with my lunch the next day.
Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Every once in a while you meet a person you know is living the authentic life of a Christian. It isn’t so much what they do, but rather, the way they do it. Everything they do involves their “heart” and it’s always related to Love. It is certain they have something special and you are certain you want it! When I read today’s passages they all came together in a very specific way for me. By this I mean I am able to see clearly how a disciple lives a truly authentic life—from start to finish. It explains how the very heart of a Christian develops and what the life of that Christian looks like.
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
These are very crucial times. Numerous things stare us in the face. First the super storm, ‘Sandy. I am sure that most of you like me are immensely saddened by the devastation. Second, two days from today is the presidential elections and we find ourselves to be an increasingly divided nation. Some have proposed that we are now two nations within a nation. And third, we have the readings for today. Perhaps we are not impressed by the radicalness of gospel reading because we are so far away from what Christ did. Christ radically transformed the meaning of the Torah when he brought the 613 laws of the Jewish tradition under two seemingly similar commandments – Love God and love your neighbor.
These are crucial times. If God’s word is alive and active, we have got to interpret these words as a people of faith.
Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
In St. Luke’s Gospel, our Lord asks us to consider humility and it’s opposite—pride, the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. Why is it that we are called to humility? Isn’t pride a good thing? It seems that in all places we see pride held up as the ideal: pride in one’s country, pride in one’s achievements, pride in one’s work, pride in one’s children, pride in one’s status. What’s so deadly about pride? Pride, deadliest of sins, is such a problem because it’s an extreme focus on the self. To be proud is to be satisfied with oneself, to put oneself first. When one is completely satisfied with oneself, one does not need salvation, one does not see sin. Indeed, St. Augustine described sin as to be “caved in on oneself.”