Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
An Egyptian-Coptic Christian makes an anti-Islamic movie, social media websites allow its video cast, four Americans are killed as are many protestors in Islamic countries and the world moved further away from sanity. Newly trained Afghan recruits kill their Western trainers, the Chinese in Japan and Japanese in China fear for their lives because of a dispute over islands in the East China Sea, the contenders for the presidential elections in the United States continue their vitriolic attack on each other and hundreds of government and rebel forces continue to die in Libya. These are just some of the headlines that dominated the news over the last week. Is there any compelling and credible voice that is calling for peace? If there is, it is not heard.
Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Did you ever wonder why it is that in the Apostles’ Creed that we confess belief in the resurrection of the body? Isn’t it enough to say that there is resurrection? Why is “of the body” so important that it is part of the oldest baptismal formula that we have, used in first-century Rome? There are at least three ways in which this prepositional phrase, “of the body,” makes a huge difference for Christians.
Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
Paul’s theme in the first reading for today, from Ephesians, is unity in diversity. Each of us Christians has our own strengths and weaknesses. We come from all walks of life and from every country and culture on the earth. Paul makes it clear that despite our differences, all Christians are united in Christ. As Paul says, we are united by virtue of the fact that we are all baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection and that we are thereby united in him. Our common faith in one and the same God unites us all no matter what individual differences exist between us.
Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegŏn, priest and martyr and Saint Paul Chŏng Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs
Imagine for a moment that you are Simon, the Pharisee in today’s gospel (Luke 7: 36-50) who invited Jesus to his house for dinner. You have made sure that a fine meal is cooked and everything is prepared for your guests, including Jesus. Then, as Jesus is reclined at the table (the manner in which meals were eaten), a woman from the city who is known to be sinful (perhaps a prostitute) enters uninvited and proceeds to bathe Jesus’ feet with her tears, wipe them with her hair and kiss them. She then pours oil on his feet, anointing them.
Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated.” (1 Cor. 13:4) This is scripture is known and loved by many. It is often chosen for Weddings because Paul’s words describe an ideal understanding of love. What few seem to realize is why Paul includes these words at the end of these two chapters of guidance on the proper use of spiritual gifts.
Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
I wonder how many people are feeling kind of dead, these days. Obviously, I don't mean the kind of death that requires a funeral mass, but I do mean the kind of "death" of feeling isolated. Isolation often means feeling empty, purposeless, and insignificant. In these days of continued high unemployment or underemployment it is easy to feel unimportant - and unemployment (or even sometimes a good retirement!) cuts us off from co-workers and people we know, so that we feel isolated. Illness and old age similarly isolate people.
Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The celebration of the Eucharist is a central practice to our Catholic faith. For me, receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus at communion is the high point of the liturgy. When I receive the bread and wine from the Eucharistic Minister, I make it a point to look them in the eyes when I say “Amen.” I think this is such a grace filled moment. Here are two disciples, sharing Christ with one another. By the giving and receiving of the bread and wine- His Body and Blood-we become united into His Body as one people. When I say “Amen”, I am proclaiming my faith not only in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but to His presence in everyone in the community. The readings today remind us that it is through the Eucharist that we become one body, and we are all called to a deeper faith in the power and presence of Christ.
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Over that last few weeks the second reading has been from the letter of St James. Because of our emphasis on the parish retreat and the related themes in the gospel, I chose not to comment on the readings from James. In the process we have sidelined some very practical and important ethical teachings from scripture. Briefly, let me recall a few important statements from these readings. I have to insert a caveat here. Some of James’ writings are all too direct and difficult to digest at first. He writes: “Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.” Last week we heard him say, “For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please," while you say to the poor one, "Stand there, " or "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? Today we heard James say, “So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
Over a decade ago, I lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania. On every Good Friday, the bishop would give the homily at the cathedral. He would always begin by saying (in a rather severe tone), “Today is the saddest day of the year.” There was something about that line that never sat well with me. I grew up praying the rosary—including the Sorrowful mysteries—as well as the Stations of the Cross and I never thought that I should be miserable doing so. I was, after all, praying with the Church, which exists precisely because of Christ’s resurrection. These prayers and liturgical actions only make sense in the context of the entire story of Jesus—we enter into His death knowing that He is risen! We die with Him, knowing that we too will rise with Him.
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
I have an old cookbook in my pantry that discusses ways of observing special feast days. For today's feast, the suggestion is to bake a cake - any cake will do - and then decorate the cake with crosses made from various forms of candy. Of course, for young kids, this will seem especially awesome: an excuse to have more sugar!
Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church
Today’s readings are particularly countercultural. In the first reading (1 Corinthians 8: 1b-7, 11-13) we have Paul’s letter to the believers in Corinth emphasizing the importance of setting aside the need to always “be right” in order to avoid being a “stumbling block” to the weak. He is explaining that although it is okay for them to eat meat (that may have been sacrificed to idols before it came to the market place and homes), if their eating the meat causes a “weaker” person to stumble because that person doesn’t have the knowledge of their being only one true God and not numerous other gods to which the meat is sacrificed, then the believer is sinning by causing the weaker person to sin.
Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
How many things have I wanted to get done today that I was unable to accomplish. It seems there are not enough hours in the day. The lunches need made before school. One of the children needs driven to school. Homework may need to be finished before school. Then there is breakfast and the commute to work. And this is just the first few hours of the day. It seems sometimes there is little time for a person to breathe.
Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
In the first reading, Paul admonishes the Corinthian Christians of his time to take more care to demonstrate the social aspects of their allegiance to Jesus. In particular, he seems to be responding to situations where one Christian would sue another Christian in the civil (Roman) courts. The point that he is making is much broader than the example of Christians taking each other to court. Paul uses this example as a teaching moment. His larger point is that when we become Christians, we supposedly have left our old ways behind and have become something new. He points out the many ways of life that people might be called “from.” But he emphasizes that is very important also to focus on what we have been called “to.” In other words, how do we live differently as a result of our baptism into Christ?
Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
I was notorious in college for asking questions, often pushing the limits of the age-old axiom, “There is no such thing as a stupid question.” Most of my engineering professors knew this unique fact about me and so did all of my friends, as they were more than willing to give me a hard time about it during class. But, to my defense, I wanted to get the answers right. I wanted to know what was true. And I knew that I learned best by asking questions because it allowed me to receive an explanation for the things I considered to be unexplainable on my own. However, there was nothing more awkward than when the roles were reversed and a teacher called upon the class to answer a question that no one was willing to answer. Even if the question appeared to be straightforward or obvious, often there existed a common uncertainty among the students that perhaps there was something that we were not considering. Often the phrase, “I knew that!” resonated throughout the classroom after the teacher finally resolved to answer the question himself. The honest truth was that we probably did know the answer, but refrained from responding because we either overcomplicated the question or had forgotten the answer that we once knew.
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
I would like to pay special attention to the gospel reading today. If we read deeper into the passage we will realize that this is not a simple account of the healing of a deaf and mute man. First of all, this passage is a direct fulfillment of Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy in today’s first reading. “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.” (Is 35:4) The reference to God here is a reference to Jesus. And as Isaiah continues, “Then the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.” (Is 35:5-6) Mark, in this way presents Jesus as the prophesied Messiah.
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today we celebrate the feast of Mary’s birth. In arranging these feasts, our Church is quite straightforward. We celebrate the Immaculate Conception on December 8th and Mary’s nativity on September 8th, exactly 9 months later. The same with the Annunciation—March 25th—and Christmas—December 25th. To mention these parallels reminds me of the many times that the Immaculate Conception is confused with the Annunciation. I recall a friend in college suggesting that because her physical activities led to no possibility of pregnancy, if she were pregnant it must have been the “Immaculate Conception.” I’ve even heard homilies in which priests’ reflections seemed to suggest that we were really celebrating Jesus’ conception in his mother’s womb on December 8th.
Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever stared up into the stars away from the city lights and marveled at the vastness of space? Or stood on a mountaintop looking out and beyond to the valleys and hills as far as the eye can see? Or gazed out over the ocean and been amazed by the grandeur and power of all that water? I sometimes feel so small, so insignificant in the face of such awesome creation, realizing that I am just a tiny part of this vast world and universe. I can be overwhelmed by the power of God in these moments, and humbled.
Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Every four years in the United States, we as a people are asked to make a decision by voting for a person to be our President. The closer we get to the election the louder the voices often become. The tone of voices and the tenor of the arguments often hamper people’s ability to think clearly and to listen to one another. With this in mind we might imagine Paul’s challenge in ministering to the similarly divided Christian Community in Corinth.
Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
I don’t tend to think very much about the Holy Spirit, and it seems that I’m not alone in this. Of the three persons of the Trinity, the Spirit tends to be the one who is discussed the least. Yet, for Christians, the Spirit should be integral to our understanding of who God is. God is indeed one God, but God also consists of three persons. Focusing on the role of the Spirit in our lives also points to a spiritual reality that lies beyond the physical world that we can see, touch, taste, smell, and hear. And it reminds us of our need for help from God to become the kind of people that we are meant to be. The scripture readings for today speak to these themes.