Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel tells of an encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees. The Sadducees were an aristocratic class of priests who only accepted the first five books of Hebrew Scriptures called the Torah, refuted oral legal tradition, and denied teachings not found in the Torah including the resurrection of the dead. Therefore, in this exchange, the Sadducees try to trap and challenge Jesus on the teaching of the resurrection by bringing up a seemingly ridiculous example of seven men who married the same woman. Jesus dodges the trap by quoting from the Torah, “That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive,” (Luke 20:37-38). Thus, today’s Gospel is really about eternal life.
Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Why are only 144,000 redeemed and joyous around the throne of God as we hear in today’s rendition from Revelation? Are only 144,00 saved?
Numbers don’t always mean what they seem. Walking into Partial to Pie on Wayne Avenue we can order a baker’s dozen. How many donuts is that? In the early days of television if you answered the $64,000 question correctly would you have been able to retire? Why is “16” sweet? Why is “7” considered lucky in the roll of the dice?
Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
How sweet to my taste is your promise! (Ps 119:103a) Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians. I was raised in a family gifted with musical talent and passionate about using and sharing those gifts. We loved to say that singing in church is like praying twice. My wonderful parents required each of us kids to take piano lessons from elementary school all the way until we left for college (a tradition that I have continued with my own children). My extended family even had a special hymn we sang regularly at gatherings; the Choral Benediction set to the tune of Edelweiss (made famous in the movie, The Sound of Music). I learned to play the saxophone for a few years in middle and high school. And in college, I embraced a growing passion for liturgical music by becoming an undergraduate music minister on campus. Music is ultimately what drew me deeper into my faith. Unsurprisingly, I have grown an affinity for St. Cecilia over the years.
Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On May 25, 2019, during a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto in central Italy, Pope Francis said: “There’s a need for simple and wise people, humble and courageous, poor and generous, people who at the school of Mary, accept the Gospel without reserve in their own lives. God, through Mary, entrusts a mission in our time: to bring the Gospel of peace and life to our contemporaries, often distracted, taken by earthly interests or immersed in a climate of spiritual dryness.”
Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
I have to be honest – when I read today’s Gospel, I feel a little like my children. I read this Gospel and hear that to those who have much, more will be given and to those who have less, what they have will be taken away and I can’t help but think – “That’s not fair!!” I will admit that I struggle with this gospel.
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
The Zacchaeus story in today’s Gospel is a relatable one that brings a smile to children and those of all ages who know people short in stature. It carries a hope-filled promise that Jesus looks for us whoever we are, for all of us can feel lost and unnoticed and experience falling short. Through encountering Jesus, we can each change and experience the reconciling love of God, whatever we have done. The basic story: A short man climbs a tree so he can see Jesus; Jesus notices his efforts and invites himself into Zacchaeus’ home for an extended conversation. Joy characterizes their encounter, and Zacchaeus enthusiastically responds with a generous promise to change his ways and make amends to everyone he has wronged.
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
I love the Book of Revelation. It has inspired, consoled and supported me spiritually and financially. It put food on our table and paid our utilities. While teaching at St. Xavier, I offered Revelation as an elective and it grew so popular that I taught five sections every semester for twenty straight semesters.
I first encountered this book of hope in the ‘70s when I studied under Father Patrick J. Sena, CppS at Mt. St. Mary’s in Cincinnati. Sena was a creative and innovative teacher who’s techniques not only inspired seminarians but, as I discovered, were efficacious with teenagers, too. I'm sure that he is enjoying the Heavenly Throne Room first hand.
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Many years ago, I used to be a Medical Biller. Part of my job was to handle claim denials from health insurances. Sometimes I would have to call them, and almost every time I was on hold for a long time. Often I would be on hold for 20-30 minutes, but I’ve been on hold for as long as two and a half hours. I would wait because I believed that there was a chance that the claim denial could be overturned and the insurance would agree to pay the claim. Today’s Gospel reminds me of those times. The widow was so persistent that the unjust judge gave a judgment in her favor. Jesus uses this parable to teach about how we are to be steadfast in prayer.
Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Looking at today’s gospel passage (Luke 17:26-37) alongside yesterday’s gospel reading, which is the five preceding verses (20-25), I found myself a bit confused. Yesterday’s gospel passage is basically saying the Kingdom of God is “among you” and it “cannot be observed.” Now today in the verses following yesterday’s we hear about what some have referred to as “the Rapture”, which has been dramatized in books and movies, such as Left Behind (which I have not personally read or seen) about how on that night, “one will be taken, the other left.” And today’s passage ends with the ominous response to the disciples’ question of “Where, Lord?”: “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”
Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of God and the Son of Man. He specifically reminds His disciples to be aware of whom they choose to follow. How are these words of Jesus important to us living today?
Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
You cannot give away what you do not possess. And you cannot give away what you’re unwilling or unable to relinquish. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about those two corollaries. Our first reading today reminds us to receive God’s vast love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness and from that abundant fountain, live and serve in the overflow.
Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
In the six verses that precede the reading from Luke for today, Jesus gives instructions to his disciples about how to follow him. The first takes the form of a warning: do not become an obstacle or stumbling block to someone else’s faith. In other words, don’t do anything that might encourage someone else to turn away from God. If I give someone else reason to doubt God or I encourage them in some way to sin and, thus, be in wrong relationship to God, I am a stumbling block to their faith. The second is a call to hold accountable the brother or sister who sins and, even more, to forgive them no matter how many times they sin so long as they repent each time. That could mean enduring a whole lot of someone else’s sinning and offering up a whole lot of forgiveness to boot!
Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
The New Testament “pastoral letters” consist of I & II Timothy & Titus. Timothy & Titus were the right and left hands of Paul. Today we hear the beginning of Paul’s letter to Titus.
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
In today’s second reading, Paul tells the Corinthians that we are God’s building. He uses this metaphor to teach that God’s Spirit is within us and that our foundation should be Jesus Christ. For us today, Paul challenges us to look within ourselves to see what we base our lives on. Is it money? Pride? Fear? Anger? Love? What is the foundation upon which we build our lives? If we are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us as Paul writes, then we must be a place where God’s love can thrive.
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Prudence is the first of the cardinal virtues in the Catholic Church. Merriam-Webster offers a few definitions for prudence: the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason; sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs; skill and good judgment in the use of resources; caution or circumspection as to danger or risk. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, prudence “is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it” (1806).
Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you may struggle with the same challenge as Paul (and I): Confidence in “the flesh;” in other words, confidence in the self. In all Paul’s writing, ‘the flesh’ points not to our physical nature, but to our ‘self’ as it exists independent of God. It alludes to our will, our rationality, our emotion, our human-informed capability for both vice and virtue. In the first reading when Paul talks about “confidence in the flesh,” he’s talking about the human ability to be good, or to ‘save yourself.’ There’s a tendency among many people (especially we who are trying very hard to be good) to believe that our salvation counts on our goodness. That our ‘flesh,’ our being on its own, can and MUST act rightly if we are to have a good life and eternal life. If we act wrongly, bad things will happen. It totally depends on ME. In a funny way, it’s self-centered; this belief inflates our sense of self-importance. Paul confesses to being like this before his conversion. Lots of religious people think this way. Most days, I think I do. It can be a problem.
Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
In our CGS sessions the students often choose to sing the song, Christ is light. The song is sung to a simple tune and goes like this - “Christ is light, in him there is no darkness. Come to Him and He will give you light.” This simple song comes to mind when I read today’s readings.
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
When I was in middle school in 1966, the Medical Mission Sisters put out an album “Joy is Like the Rain” that became very popular. The final cut on the album was “Wedding Banquet”, which was based on today’s Gospel. The refrain still sometimes echoes in my head and I’ve been caught singing it out loud sometimes: “I cannot come to the banquet don’t trouble me now, I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow, I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum, I cannot come, I cannot come…”
Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop
Mohandas K. Gandhi once remarked, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.” Why would the great Mahatma, a man of morality and humanity, level such a sharp rebuke?
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
Dealing with death is difficult. My uncle recently passed away unexpectedly, and my family struggled with his passing, especially my aunt (his wife) and cousins (his sons). However, my aunt was hopeful that she would be able to get through this. I believe that she has this perspective because our faith teaches us that death is not the end and that there is something greater for us after death. Today’s first reading tells us that “The souls of the just are in the hand of God” (Wisdom 3:1), and St. Paul in the second reading teaches us that “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in the newness of life” (Romans 6:4).