Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
I’ve often found that during those times when I am the busiest I have a tendency to falter in my relationship with God. I find myself spending less time in prayer and putting less effort into considering what God would have me do, think, and will. Nevertheless, having nothing to do is also not very conducive to my spiritual life. Being not busy enough can result in boredom and lack of purpose. What is best seems to be a balance between being too busy and not busy enough.
Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, religious
This week we begin hearing selections from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The basic context of this letter revolves around the question of circumcision. Circumcision, is, of course, an important requirement of the Jewish faith now as it was at the time of Paul. Galatians plays out an early Church conflict inasmuch as the members of this Church were comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. One strain of Christianity at this time, following the Jewish tradition, argued that circumcision was necessary, and hence all Gentile males who wished to become Christian must undergo circumcision. The emotions in Paul’s words are not hard to detect: such a message represents for him a false portrayal of the gospel. The good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection does not necessitate circumcision. Throughout this letter to the Galatians, Paul will outline an argument for why this is so.
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
For how long and how much pain should someone have to endure before they utter these words to God in prayer? “How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery?” (Hab 1: 2-3) Do you sense the same desperation and sheer exhaustion in the cry for help that I sense? In recent times, people without employment, people without health insurance and people whose homes have been foreclosed, perhaps have raised their voices to God. What became of these prayers, I wish I knew.
Memorial of the Guardian Angels
All week we have been hearing the familiar story of Job—the one who loses everything and calls upon God for answers. God’s answer to Job is a three chapter long assertion of His power over everything, which illustrates how God’s ways are not the ways of humans. In today’s first reading we see Job’s response to God’s speech. Let us note the profound humility with which Job responds to God.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
Today’s scriptures ask us to reflect on how small and insignificant we are in comparison to God, but also show that though we are small and insignificant, we also can do great things.
In the first lesson (Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5), God is responding to Job’s complaints. Job has been inflicted with all kinds of tragedy: he’s lost his family, his job, his friends, and he is very ill, in addition. As many of us might do, Job asks God, “Why me?” Today’s scripture provides God’s answer to Job’s question, namely pointing out to Job the vast differences between them. Job finally recognizes this fact and says, “Behold, I am of little account.” Recognizing that we are not God is an important part of learning to live as holy people.
Memorial of Saint Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church
There’s a line in a song that goes: “Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’.” During this week we have been reading the story of Job, and perhaps we have been amazed by his continued faith in God despite his dire circumstances. Job demonstrates a complete dependence on God; though perhaps hidden during his times of success, this dependence is illuminated when he encounters tough times. Today’s passage from Job could be summed up by the phrase, “Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’” in the sense that Job, having lost everything material including wealth and family, is left with God and perhaps even more aware of it than ever before. Rather than letting his misfortune lead him to despair, Job speaks confidently of his belief in God’s saving work.
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
How much time does the average person spend thinking of Angels or Demons? I often find myself shying away from such thoughts especially when it comes to talk about Satan. I would rather focus on the angels among us, using angels as a metaphor. Also, I would rather translate Satan the same way as the Jewish community; Satan from the Hebrew means adversary. Yet, here is a feast of the lead angels. Perhaps it could help to see angels both metaphorically and literally.
Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes it seems like there’s no clear reason for our lives. We may feel useless and our daily toil and worry seems to be of no avail. At such times life can appear to be meaningless and without purpose. As the writer of Ecclesiates writes: “Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2-3). Perhaps, like Job, we even curse the day we were born, thinking it better if we had never existed (Job 3: 1-15). But even if we don’t go that far, we can sometimes wonder why we bother getting out of bed in the morning. Wouldn’t it just be easier to sleep all day – to “drop out” of our busy lives? This is not even to mention the fact that good people seem to suffer and those who do great injustice to others often seem to escape without punishment or even seem to prosper.
Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, priest
Today our first reading comes from the book of Job in the Old Testament. This book – the story of Job – can evoke difficult questions for those who think about it. Why would God allow such evils to happen to such a good person? Why would God enter into a contest (of sorts) with the devil which involved ruining someone’s life? But perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves about Job is, what can we take from this story for our own lives? And when we consider that last question, we can see that Job stands as a model for us in many ways.
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am not sure if any of you read the daily cartoon, Pearls before Swine. The main characters in this cartoon are the rat, the pig, the goat and crocodiles. In last Monday’s clip, the goat asks the pig, “Do you have any religious beliefs? …Things you know in your heart are true?” The pig answered, “Just Nachofication.” The goat asks, “What is Nachofication?” The pig replies, “The belief that everything tastes better with melted cheese.” The goat looks disgusted as he turns around and exclaims, “I was hoping for something deeper than the church of cheese.” Perhaps, the cartoon is a commentary on contemporary society which sometimes seems all too shallow. I certainly do not want to make generic judgments about society, but I certainly want to pose some questions. If someone had to ask you the question, “What is at your core?” or, if your children or your parents or your friend had to ask you, “What are the hallmarks of your character?” or if God had to ask you, “Who are you? Or “Who are you becoming?” what would your answer be?
Saturday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
How common it is for us to idolize youth! Think of the extent to which many of us go to hide indicators of aging – we color our hair, we wear contact lenses, we use anti-aging cream on our skin. Think of the ways that we try to make youth last longer and longer – we delay marriage and having children, we create and use drugs like Viagra.
Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s a little difficult for me to read the first lesson (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11) without also hearing Pete Seeger’s song “Turn, Turn, Turn” in my head, because his song is a very faithful rendition of verses 1 through 8, in pretty much exact translation. Seeger added only six words to those verses, including the “Turn! Turn! Turn!” refrain. The emphasis in this song is on cultivating world peace, and so the lines focus on those aspects of the first eight verses that relate to peace. (The Byrds' Rendition of Turn!Turn!Turn!)
Memorial of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, priest
“Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” begins today’s first reading from the book of Ecclesiastes (Eccl. 1:2). This beautiful passage goes on to explain poetically the sort of pointlessness of human life as it is experienced. Qoheleth, who speaks, seems to say, life goes on and on, the same things happen over and over again, people forget those who came before, the sun rises and sets, but what is the point, what is the purpose? This first passage, then, seems to pose a question based on human experience. How can this life as experienced by us and millions of others have any meaning at all? Is not all life temporal and ephemeral?
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Modern Society in many ways is built upon a culture of materialism. Part of this culture thrives on creating wants and needs that have to be fulfilled in order for our lives to be complete. In my own life, this could be illustrated by a voice in my head that says, “You need this tool in order to complete this project.” Or, I might feel the need to have a certain book or workshop in order to accomplish a task for ministry. In reality, today’s readings remind us that we have all that we need to be a disciple.
Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
I’ve often heard people say that Christianity takes away our freedom and the opportunity for self-expression and traps us in a life of rule-following. This is a common view of what it’s like to be Christian that’s often expressed by people both outside and inside the faith today. And since self-expression is such a big part of people’s self-understanding, it’s natural to ask why someone would choose to be a Christian. It would seem that Christianity doesn’t allow one to “be oneself.” Unfortunately, as Catholic Christians we haven’t always done a very good job helping people see how they can contribute to the life of the Church. I know of a number of people who feel that their individual gifts are not appreciated and that they are not encouraged to develop and use them within the Church.
Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegŏn, priest and martyr, and Saint Paul Chŏng Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs
For the last few weeks we have been following first readings from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Today, however, we begin to have passages from the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. These little sayings contained in today’s selection have great meaning in terms of how to live a godly, or holy, life. Notice that the directives contained in this passage are all phrased in terms of the negative, and all have to do with relationships with others—that is, they are instructions about what NOT to do to others. But as negatives, they also imply affirmatives. In not refusing a neighbor, one ought to be generous. In not plotting evil and arguing, one ought to live in peace. We can see how developing habits of NOT doing things could build virtue, in a positive sense.
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In its latest report, the US Census Bureau has announced that in 2009 one in seven Americans was living in poverty. The bureau defines poverty as any family of four living on less than $21,954 a year. Officials said that the number of people in poverty increased by nearly 4 million between 2008 and 2009. Today, 43.6 million people live in poverty in the United States. Among the working-age population, ages 18 to 65, poverty rose from 11.7% to 12.9%, the highest level since the 1960s. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health insurance increased by 4.4m between 2008 - 2009. This number rose from 15.4% to 16.7% - or 50.7 million people - mostly because of the loss of employer-provided schemes during the recession. The report also suggests that the group that suffered most from increasing poverty levels was children.
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.
Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Life with an almost-three-year old makes me realize some things I would otherwise have forgotten. This week, it’s the reality of how much power I actually have in shaping my daughter’s view of and interaction with the world. “What color is that, Mama?” “Why does it get dark, Mama?” “Why do I have to go to bed now?” Each of my answers to these questions shapes how she encounters the world. What would happen if I one day decided to tell her that blue things are actually named “red”? She would be a rather messed up toddler, I imagine.
Memorial of Saint Cornelius, pope and martyr, and Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr
Today’s first reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians ought to be one of the best-known excerpts of the New Testament. It contains, in a nutshell, the entire gospel message, and in can be regarded as having a creedal form. In other words, Paul’s testimony here seems to be a confession of faith: Christ died, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to people. Paul also personalizes this confession of faith, adding his own testimony, namely, that Christ appeared to him. Paul finds this last part particularly remarkable because of his own past; Paul was a persecutor of the Church, one who caused suffering for those who followed Jesus. Paul explains to the Corinthians that his apostolic work is the result of God’s grace.