Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
When I was a kid, we played hide and seek all the time. Growing up out in the country with 5 siblings, this was extra fun to play outside at night. It added another layer of challenge because of the darkness (especially in rural northern Ohio); sometimes a hider was able to sneak all the way to the base if they were quiet enough because the seeker could not see them coming. Fast forward 25 years and now my own children are playing hide and seek together. They are still young enough that they haven’t graduated to take the game outside at night but just the other day, our 8 year old was playing it in the house with our 2 year old. My favorite part about being the seeker is getting to say, “ready or not, here I come!” It gets the blood flowing and elevates the excitement as the anticipation grows for both the hiders and the seeker. This is probably a significant stretch, but in some sense, we are kind of in the longest, most drawn out game of hide and seek with God.
Thursday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel, Jesus urges his followers to stay awake and be prepared for their master’s return. This is an especially challenging command for us today. We get prepared for something we believe will happen; if it doesn’t, we lament that our preparation was a waste. We see waiting as passive, but we see preparation as active. Being ready and then not doing anything seems silly. Wouldn’t it be better to move on to the next task on our list? Or better yet, be ‘done’ for the day and enjoy a cold drink?
Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Alleluia, alleluia. Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him. Alleluia, alleluia. So sings our Gospel acclamation today. The Word is alive and powerful! Our heavenly Father wants to transform us by Christ’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, who is perfect Love itself. Today I hope to encourage you that the living Word is alive in you and its power to transform is available to you.
Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist
It’s interesting how the far the account of John the Baptist’s death in today’s gospel reading parallels the Jesus’ passion narrative. Both Herod, in this passage, and Pilate in the passion narrative hold the power of life or death over persons they acknowledge to be holy and both operate out of fear. Herodias and the crowds stand in the place of the accusers: they hold such hatred for these men because of John’s and Jesus’ teaching, which challenged the way that they lived their lives. Both John and Jesus were given a proper burial by respected people who requested their bodies from the authorities. This similarity is notable because today we celebrate the memorial of the “martyrdom” of St. John the Baptist. “Martyr” in an interesting word. In Greek it means “witness” and in the early Church it came to mean those who died for the sake of Christ. Often their deaths had, or were narrated as having, parallels to Jesus death. This is especially clear in the account of St. Stephen, often called the first martyr, in the Acts of the Apostles (See Acts 7).
Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today we hear the oldest verse (49 CE) in the entire New Testament, from I Thessalonians 1:1: “Paul, Sylvanus, & Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians…” The three missionaries named were leaders of the early Church. But there are many early leaders whose names never landed in the scriptures.
Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
We still have on our wall the cross-stitched gift a friend made for us as a wedding gift thirty-four years ago with the verse found in today’s reading, “For wherever you go, I will go, wherever you live I will live, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16b) It was (and maybe still is) a popular verse for wedding liturgies and gifts, and understandably so. But the context of the verse, as you might already know, is not a married couple or romantic relationship; it’s the loving bond between a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law.
Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
In our daily lives, we meet people who we do not know. Whether we are at the grocery, school, work, or even church, we interact with others who are strangers. Unfortunately in our polarized world, we may find ourselves judging and choosing to exclude these “others” because they look different, speak a different language, or even have a different mindset. Jesus calls us to open our hearts, minds and arms to others, so we can recognize that Christ dwells in every person, and every encounter with another is an opportunity to find God.
Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel is my favorite of all our Lord’s parables. I’m moved every time I read it by God’s generosity, extravagant mercy and grace, and the startling paradox revealed. Typically, I would read it as one of the laborers hired first, pitying those hired last and praying for greater humility to celebrate God’s grace to them. God forgive me! Today, I receive this Gospel from an entirely different perspective; today I am the worker hired at 5:00pm. Where do you find yourself in Jesus’ story today?
Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
If I ever meet someone who claims to be an angel of the Lord coming to give me an impossible-sounding mission, my first thought will probably be, “either I’m crazy, or this guy is…” So, we can hardly blame Gideon for wondering if the person standing before him was really an angel. After all, Gideon was from the biggest loser in a family of losers: “My family is the lowliest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in my father’s house.” How could such a wimp take care of the biggest problem in the whole Kingdom of Israel at the time, the Midianites?
Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope
Today’s reading from Judges reveals that during times of great difficulty God raised up judges to guide Israel. This was before permission was given to God’s people for a king, because YHWH alone was Israel’s king.
Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
At the top of the steps as you enter our home we have a display of photos of our family–an individual picture of each of the kids and a family photo, all of which surround a cross that was gifted to us several years ago with the phrase, “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Today’s first reading is the precursor to this great exaltation by Joshua; it is a reflection by Joshua of the continuous commitment of our good God to his people; a recap of his life and the unconditional love of God toward the people of Israel: “gave you a land that you had not tilled and cities that you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.” (Jos 24:13)
Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
On October 2, 2006, Carl Roberts IV entered a one-room Amish school house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania while class was in session. He told all the boys and the teacher to leave the school. They did. And the teacher ran to a nearby Amish farm and called the police. (Amish are allowed to have phones. They’re just not supposed to be in the house.)
Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
If you’ve ever been in a car accident, you may have wound up taking your car to a body shop. The ensuing body work hopefully restored your car, if not to its original pristine state, then to a functional state of repair. It’s no accident (pun intended!) that we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are required to engage in Body work. We are, after all, the Body of Christ, and each of us is responsible for doing our part to keep Christ’s Body as healthy and vibrant as possible. That takes work, it takes intentionality and effort. In our Gospel today, Jesus invites us into some serious Body work. Let us ask Him for the graces we need to be courageous and willing to do the (oftentimes) hard work to which we’re called.
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today, as we gather to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, we reflect on the unique and profound event that took place in the life of our Blessed Mother, Mary. This feast commemorates the moment when Mary, body and soul, was assumed into heaven; a foretaste of the resurrection and the promise of eternal life that awaits each one of us.
Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
King Richard I, 12th century English monarch, was known as “the Lion Heart” for his courage and fortitude. However, while returning from the 3rd Crusade, he was captured and a huge amount was demanded for his release.
Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin
I was happy to see that my reflection writing for today lined up with the Memorial of St. Clare since she is one of my favorite saints. So much so, in fact, that our daughter is named after her. Maybe best known for her connection with St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare was to have said, “Christ is the way, and Francis showed it to me.”
Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr
Today’s readings are a great reminder that each of us has been given particular gifts and talents, and we are called to use these to generously serve others. God supplies the gifts and the abundance, but we must discern what blessings we can share with others through prayerfully listening to God’s voice. Using these gifts of service often requires sacrifice, and it is through our imitation of Jesus that we find the path to follow.
Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s easy to read the story of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land with critical eyes. The Israelites are a fickle lot, pledging undying allegiance to God one day, falling into fear the next, turning away another day. They grumble, they protest, they doubt, they create idols. Like armchair quarterbacks, we might scoff at them. God worked mighty wonders in their midst and performed miracles for them – how could they so easily fall away?! But if I’m honest, I see myself at times in the children of Israel, and I imagine you might, too. May today’s readings inspire us to a greater confidence in God, our Deliverer.
Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest
In the gospel passage for today Jesus is being criticized by the Pharisees for not following the tradition of ceremonial washing before he eats. Jesus responds to his critics by essentially calling them hypocrites—that is, they criticize others of doing the very thing that they themselves do. As an example of this Jesus mentions that the Pharisees allow people to decide not to take care of their parents by saying that the money that they would have spent on their parents belongs to God instead. This practice is allowed because it is a tradition. So in the name of tradition the Pharisees allow people to break one of the Ten Commandments – namely the command to honor one’s father and one’s mother.
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the Gospels the miracles and parables of Jesus have one purpose — revelations of the Kingdom of God. Today in blessing simple food, Jesus reveals a great sign of that Kingdom.