Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading we have a passage from the prophet Habakkuk. This is one of the shortest books in the entire Bible, composed of only three chapters. Habakkuk wrote during a tumultuous time for Judah—Babylon was breathing down its neck, winning decisive victories all around its borders. It wouldn’t be long before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity in 597 BC.
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
There have been many books released in the past couple years that proclaim "the God delusion," that "God is not great," and that Jesus must be some kind of strange myth dreamed up by those who want power. Under the guise of reason these books put forth arguments that are very tempting for our day, and that are not all that new. People have been discussing modern atheism and questioning God's existence for the past two centuries, but as today's letter from Peter (2 Peter 1:16-19) attests, people have been directly questioning who Jesus is ("cleverly devised myths") ever since he died and rose again. On this feast of the Transfiguration, which is a feast celebrating that Jesus is revealed as divine and human to us mere creatures, the scriptures have much to say to us about modern-day and historic atheism.
Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Often those who convert to Catholicism from another Christian denomination find opposition from family and friends who challenge Catholic beliefs. One of these beliefs is the papacy, and the Scripture passage that supports this Church doctrine is today’s gospel reading. This passage is sometimes known as Peter’s confession because he professes his belief that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah), Son of the Living God. Jesus responds by calling Peter blessed and saying that he will build his Church on Peter, a name that means rock. Nor is this the only passage that highlights Peter’s leadership and place of primacy among the apostles. Whenever the apostles are listed, Peter is always at the head of the list, and Judas is always listed last. So it is with good reason that Catholics acknowledge Peter’s leadership and the authority of the pope in leading the Church.
Memorial of Saint John Vianney, priest
M. Scott Peck’s book, “The Road Less Traveled” starts out memorably with the sentence “Life is difficult.” Aside from stating the obvious, this line gives context to a book that sets out to explore the nature of loving relationships and how they affect our spirit and our serenity.
Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah appears to tell of doom and destruction. The tone quickly changes, since we are reading only an excerpt of a much larger passage. In our passage today, God speaks of the destruction, but then God foretells a time of healing and renewal. Yes the people will suffer in exile, but then they shall return to the land and the city shall be rebuilt. In the broader context including the rest of the passages from chapter 30 which have not been included in our reading, we see that the sufferings depicted are themselves a part of the healing. Israel is being chastised, disciplined, punished, as a child, but not destroyed completely. Israel has done wrong, and will have to reap the consequences. But, God, as Israel’s Father, will have mercy on them and will not destroy them but will restore them.
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading from the prophet Jeremiah tells the story of a sort of prophecy competition between Hananiah and Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s message to the people has consistently been a negative one, warning the people of suffering. Hananiah, meanwhile, promises peace to the people, and the recovery of their own self-government. Jeremiah desires this as much as any other person of Israel would do. But Jeremiah does not think it is necessarily realistic, especially because the people have not repented as they ought to have done in their situation. It’s easy to see that Hananiah would have been a more popular prophet than Jeremiah. Who wants to hear about death, destruction, woe, and misery when you can look forward instead to a brighter future of freedom, peace, and prosperity? Jeremiah, then, represents what the people don’t want to hear.
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Most of us have at some time been drawn to the existential questions: “What am I doing here?” or “What is life about?” “What is the meaning of all this?” It is so easy to be caught up in the drone of everyday life: wake up, eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, go to work, come home from work, watch television, go to bed, and repeat. Life seems to drag at times or even seem pointless or meaningless as we do the same things over and over again.
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, priest
Today’s readings encourage us to reflect upon our ability to listen, especially to words that we don’t want to hear, and to discern the voice of God.
The prophetic profession is not easy. Even the valiant Jeremiah of today’s first reading had protested to God that he was too young to be a prophet when God called him (see Jer 1:6). It’s not easy because it often demands delivering God’s word to people who don’t want to hear it. Jeremiah has warned the Jews that their infidelity to the covenant will lead to their destruction (Jer 26:13). In return, the leaders want to kill him.
Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the readings for today we see a parallel drawn between Jeremiah and Jesus. For both Jeremiah and Jesus, some key people found their teachings too difficult to accept. In Jeremiah’s case, the priests and prophets called for him to be put to death for speaking what God had told him to say. In Jesus’ case, we are told that it was those from his home town who found it most difficult to accept him as a prophet. There is really nothing surprising in this reaction to Jesus. Often it is the people who think they know us best who are the ones that have the strongest preconceptions about who we are and what we are capable (or not capable) of doing. Following the will of God might involve breaking with such expectations. I’m reminded here of the numerous saints – including Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, Ignatius Loyola, and Teresa of Avila – who felt the need to separate themselves from the expectations that their families had set for them in order to follow a call they had received from God.
Memorial of Saint Martha
In the United States today, we have a negative association with giving up. We are told from the time that we are little that we can be whatever we want and do whatever will make us happy. We are told that we can achieve the American dream, so long as we work hard and stay focused on our goals. And while this bears some reflection of truth, it can lead us to think that life is all about us: “If it is to be, it is up to me.” In fact, this is not the case. We can’t always control what happens to us, and when we look back at our life, we often find that we weren’t as in control as we thought we were at the time.
Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
In praying with the readings today, the phrase that kept coming to mind was “that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” For Jeremiah, in today’s first reading, lemons seemed to be abound. Jeremiah found that being the Lord’s mouthpiece came with a cost. The decision Jeremiah had to discern and the one that is continually before us as well remains, “Are we willing to suffer the cost, or do whatever it takes to pay for the pearl of great price?”
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Once again today we have frank, and even mournful words from the prophet Jeremiah. Yesterday we heard the people of Israel compared to a rotted loincloth. While today’s words are not quite so imaginative in portraying the worthlessness of the people of Israel, Jeremiah nonetheless illustrates the destruction of the people of Israel. They are suffering, they are hungry, they cannot overcome their situation. In desperation Jeremiah calls out to God to come to the people’s aid.
Memorial of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The prophets are known for their unusual metaphors and images. Today’s passage from Jeremiah is a great example of this. In today’s reading, the people of Israel are compared to a rotted loincloth. As a loincloth is an intimate garment, so the people of Israel ought to have clung closely to the Lord. But because they have removed themselves from God, they have become “good for nothing” (Jer 13:7). This is insulting to the Lord precisely because God desires intimacy with his people for their own benefit. This passage indicates that pride ought to come from dependency on God, not independence from God. The latter pride is a mistaken pride that amounts to nothing; in isolation from God, the pride itself rots. The pride that comes from a dependency on God is rather a form of humility. It is a pride that gives credit where credit is due, namely, to God, the creator, redeemer, and sanctifier – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Parenting books often tell us that we ought NOT to give into our child, especially when the child is being particularly difficult, by throwing a tantrum, for example. The theory is that we, as parents, must be consistent in our parenting, and let our “no” mean “NO.” But most of us who are parents have had the experience of saying no only to find ourselves giving in within minutes. I remember once my husband had succumbed to our daughter’s wish for something, and when I asked him why, he explained, “Well, she REALLY wanted it!”
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading from the book of Jeremiah, we are given a message from God delivered by Jeremiah to God’s people. The words are striking in their call to the Jewish people to make their worship congruent with their actions. In order to fully understand this message, we need to know a bit about the temple in Judaism.
Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the gospel reading for today, Jesus admonishes his disciples to wholeheartedly receive his teachings. In order to do so, they must minimize the noise, distractions, and competing influences that prevent them from letting the gospel take root in them. It is certainly true that we need to allow the gospel to take root and to grow in us. Without doing so our faith will be fruitless, empty, and short lived. However, I would like to focus on a different aspect of today’s readings—namely God’s role in the process of sewing seed and causing it to grow.
Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene
Today’s reading is again from the prophet Jeremiah, who expresses God’s anguish and disappointment in his people who have abandoned them. The tone of Jeremiah’s words is emotional; he wants the people to understand just how treacherous are the acts they have been committing against God. In turning away from God, they have rejected his love and chosen idols. God’s passionate response to this is described in very human terms in order that the people might think of God in personal terms. The people’s continual turning away from God has made it so that they no longer see and hear as they should. They no longer recognize God in their midst, and, in particular, when Jesus begins to walk the earth, they cannot see and hear him as their God walking among them. In so doing, the people forsake God, “the source of living waters” (Jer. 2:13). This water image is emphasized throughout today’s psalm, Psalm 36. The response proclaims, “With you is the fountain of life, O Lord!” The fountain of life, the source of living waters—this is our God, this is Jesus. These Scripture readings invite us to open our lives to God, to respond to Jesus by seeing and hearing, by recognizing in God the love of our lives.
Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) This Word came and dwelt among us. This Word still dwells in and among us. It is the very Word that knew us since the beginning of time. The Word who made us, knew us and had plans for us since before we were born. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jer. 1:5) As we come into being the seed of the Word that is our soul had already been planted. From the very beginning we were being called to love and serve the Lord and one another.
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading from the book of the prophet Micah represents the feelings of the people of Israel. These words are both a longing for God and an acknowledgment of the people’s own sins and weaknesses. We often find the prophets lamenting the irresponsibility and unresponsiveness of the people of Israel, so beloved by God and yet so negligent of the gifts God lavishes upon them. In particular we encountered this in the recent readings from Hosea. But here the people recognize their sin as well as God’s mercy. For those who would claim that the “God of the Old Testament” is somehow angry and mean, this reading bears witness to God in the Old Testament represented as loving, forgiving, merciful, and compassionate.
Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading from the prophet Micah represents what is a common theme throughout the Old Testament and especially throughout the prophets: God addresses the people and accuses them of infidelity. God reminds the people of his loyalty to them, particularly in the exodus, when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The response to this is one of questions from the people—then how should we repay the Lord? What God requests is also a common theme throughout the Old Testament and especially the prophets. He does not seek sacrifice of grain, animals, or children, rather: “Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mi. 6:8). Of course, we know that sacrifices of grain and animals were an important part of the tradition, just as the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross continues this tradition as a crucial element of the Christian faith.