Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
At certain times, we are profoundly reminded that God’s ways are not our ways. When my wife and I had just gotten married, settled into a new house, and neither of us were earning a livable income having a baby did not seem to be a wise move. But having a baby was part of God’s plan for our family. To many humans this appears to be poor planning, but, as Jana Bennett put it so nicely in yesterday’s reflection, God is not human. His ways are not our ways and sometimes we need a sharp reminder of that every once in a while.
Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Today's scripture readings are fitting for the month of October, I think. They are full of demons, bad omens, and doomsday events - exactly the stuff of popular scary movies and Halloween haunted houses.
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Sometimes it seems disadvantageous to be a Christian. Have you ever had the experience of trying to do something that you knew was right, only to suffer for your efforts? Have you ever made a sacrifice, knowing it was the loving thing to do, only to find yourself forced to endure more challenges as a result?
Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Today’s feast, Our Lady of the Rosary, reminds us that Mary as the first disciple said yes to all that discipleship entails. Mary’s ability to accept God’s will from the beginning was a gift that helped her through the mysteries of being the mother of the Son of God. Although, the glory of the resurrection helped Mary overcome the sorrow of watching her son’s crucifixion, she must have had an extraordinary ability to forgive. Forgiveness is perhaps one of the most difficult skills of a disciple. Today’s feast and readings remind us that it happens best through prayer.
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
The importance of listening to the Lord’s teaching and direction is a theme that runs through our readings today. In our first reading, we pick up the story of Jonah just after the well-known account of his encounter with the whale. Jonah, who had previously attempted to run away from the commission that God gave to him, now accepts God’s direction that he set out for the city of Nineveh to warn its citizens, who had lapsed into sin, that the city would be destroyed in forty days.
Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Today we hear the first half of a very well known story, namely, the tale of Jonah being swallowed by the fish. We often catch that Jonah is suffering the consequences of his decision to disobey God, but we don’t always recognize the fuller context of this story. Jonah did not like the Ninevites; they were sort of enemies in some sense. Jonah had no positive feelings toward them. If Jonah could choose between the Ninevites being saved by God or condemned by God, Jonah would have chosen for them to be condemned, so little regard did he have for them. So when God asked him to go and preach to them, Jonah decided instead to run away, or rather, to sail away from Nineveh. He had no mercy to extend to the people of Nineveh, and he knew that God would extend them mercy if they repented from their evil ways.
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Today's reading give us three important lessons in regard to relationship, marriage and sexuality.
a) Firstly, human happiness cannot be found in the self. Human beings are not created to be happy by themselves. The original intention of the creator is that happiness is found in a relationship, in self-giving. The woman emerges out of Adam, of his giving, of his self. Happiness is found in loosing oneself for another. Happiness is found in giving of oneself to another. This is because God is community… “Let us make man in our image and likeness” (Gen 1:26). There are many expressions of community - committed friendships, the church community, the neighbourhood, society itself. The deepest and most intimate of these relationships is marriage. It is that relationship where self-giving is deepest and because it reflects God’s own life – the most sacred.
Memorial of the Guardian Angels
Today's Scripture
Today, the church remembers the guardian angels. And the regular readings for today is very appropriate for the feast of any of the angels. Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:5). We consider children angelic and believe that infants who die do become angels. So we can also conclude that angels are like children, only, they see the fullness of God’s glory in ways that we on earth do not. In this sense, they are fully alive to the mystery of God. True greatness lies, then, in one’s perfect knowledge of God. This provides the perfect in road to talk about today’s first reading.
Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Over the past two weeks we have been reflecting on the theme of the Babylonian exile, the eventual return of the people back to Judah, and the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Nowhere has the reason for the exile more clearly explained or the future course of action more categorically prescribed than in today's first reading. Let us take a look at both these aspects.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
Today's Scripture
“Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!” says Ezra and Nehemiah to the weeping former exiles now returned to their home in Jerusalem. What emotions must have overcome the Israelites who were allowed to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple! While God had never abandoned them, they had been unable to worship him in the way they desired. Their exile in a foreign nation took away their right to worship according to the Law. Now they are home at last, and celebration is in order!
Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
The first reading from the book of the prophet Nehemiah is a continuation of the last week’s themes from Haggai. Nehemiah was a Jewish cupbearer for Emperor Artaxerxes (a cup bearer task was the taste the emperor’s drinks to ensure that it was not poisoned). When Nehemiah heard news about the state of Jerusalem (Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC and the inhabitants taken to exile to Babylon), he pleaded with the Emperor Artaxerxes to appoint him governor of Judah (Jerusalem was the capital of Judah) so that he could rebuild Jerusalem. The emperor agreed and Nehemiah proved to be an excellent governor.
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
Today's Scripture
Perhaps no part of our Christian faith today is so extracted from its original Christian context as angels. Angels! We see them as statues, on stationery, and in books. Those who do very little to practice Christianity are often drawn to the cute little cherubs. Those who do practice Christianity often take very little notice of angels, other than accepting this sentimentalized and sanitized version of winged figures flitting about doing good.
Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
For many of us, the name “Jerusalem” simply brings thoughts of international conflict – religious conflict – and a major political debate. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise us to know that conflict over Jerusalem is nothing new. For the prophet Zechariah’s audience, Jerusalem was more than just a city. It was a symbol of what they had lost. In this 26th week of counting the time that we have committed ourselves to Jesus, we hear Zechariah’s words of comfort. For Jerusalem was also a symbol of hope. Over the past weeks we have heard first, the warnings of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and after that the words of the prophet Haggai, who wrote during the same time as Zechariah. That time period was a time of exile.
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Today’s readings are about exclusion and inclusion. In the first reading, God gives the gift of prophecy to Eldad and Medad – two people not among the seventy that were set apart as prophets. Some complained about this, others got upset and Joshua tried to put pressure of Moses to stop them from prophesying. Moses confronts the exclusivism of these men and opens their mind to the wideness of God’s immense gifts. We see a similar instance in the gospel reading.
Saturday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
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
Today's Scripture
Maybe it’s because of the economic situation now, or the wars, or the fact that I have a two year old and that means I worry more, but lately I’ve often felt like the world is a pretty scary place. And so I’ve been remembering hymns that have to do with God and fear. One we often sang in my grandmother’s Methodist Church went like this: “Fear not, I am with thee, O be not afraid, for I am thy God and will still give thee aid.” Another is a song I learned when I became Catholic: “Be not afraid – I go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give you rest.”
Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Today’s responsorial psalm has an interesting refrain: “The Lord takes delight in his people” (Ps 149:4a). The root of this word “delight” is love, as is echoed in the line which says “For the LORD loves his people” (Ps 149:4). It is one of the great tenants of Christianity that God loves us, but yet we do not often think of the Lord delighting in us. We might notice that in this psalm, the people are described as also rejoicing in the Lord, praising God and exalting him. One insight we could take from this is that the Lord delights in human beings recognizing him as God. Of course he loves us regardless, but God really delights in us returning his love. Why might this be?
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time - St. Padre Pio da Pietrelcina
Today's Mass Readings
Today we remember Padre Pio. His life was a witness to the power of suffering. At Pio’s canonization celebration John Paul the second remarked that suffering, if accepted with love, can lead to a “privileged path of sanctity.” St. Pio had been blessed with the wounds of Christ on the Cross. The “stigmata” humbled Pio, who became even more a servant of the people after that gift from God. He often heard confessions for 10 hours a day.
Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
Today’s Gospel reading invites us to examine our relationship with Christ. Specifically, we are asked to examine that relationship through Christ’s perspective, which is identified in the response he provides upon learning that his mother and brothers had come to him, but were unable to join him because of the crowd. Upon hearing this news, Jesus responds that “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” (Lk 8:21). Jesus’ perspective and expectations are set forth in this description of his followers as his mother and his brothers.
Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
Today's Mass Readings
Today, as we continue our daily walk with the Lord through this season of Ordinary Time, we pause to celebrate the feast of St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist who is known as the author of the gospel of Matthew. So who was this Matthew? Was he a great man, a renowned scholar, a righteous and holy person when he encountered Jesus?