Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
This story from Genesis is so very hard. I want to think that I am a person of faith. But that kind of faith? Taking my son or daughter to an altar by God’s command. Putting a knife to one of their necks. Nope. Can’t do it. I don’t have that kind of faith.
Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
I’m feeling sorrowful as I write this reflection. I have compassion for all who are suffering, and based on the first reading I have particular empathy for those who suffer at the hands of someone close to them. Exclusion, rejection, abandonment are especially cruel blows. Perhaps like Hagar, you’ve been mistreated by someone who should have protected you. Certainly, we all know and have experienced emotional and relational pain. Pain can too easily lead to despair. We also must stand guard that our pain does not influence us to mistreat others. Today I offer a word of hope from our psalm to all the Hagars and Sarahs out there: The Lord hears the cry of the poor. I also offer a doorway through which to carry our pain: the Sacraments and serving others. Beyond this door lies healing and redemption.
Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is with his disciples in a boat on the sea. They encounter a storm and the disciples panic, waking Jesus up from a nap to save them. He says to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” and then goes on to stop the storm and waves, amazing his followers. I love this story, mostly because I love when I can relate to the disciples. Every time I read it or hear it, I can’t help but think, “Well, what were they supposed to do?” I would have done the same thing if I had God incarnate in a boat with me during a storm! Do they not show faith in Jesus by relying on him to stop the storm? So why is Jesus rebuking them?
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
A High School Religion teacher began the school year, as he always did, with a session on getting to know his students. Due to the nature of the class, it was apropos to inquire as to what faith the young men professed.
Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Words have power. Even the words we say to ourselves can have an influence. Telling myself or someone else that I WILL do something, rather than saying I’ll TRY to get that done, seems to increase the chances of doing it. It’s not fool-proof, but at least in my experience it makes a difference. Today’s readings remind me that God keeps God’s word. When God says “I will” do something, God’s gonna do it. In the first reading alone I counted God saying “I will” six times; we also hear of Jesus saying “I will do it” in today’s gospel passage. And in each case, what was said happens.
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. These two men are so important to our tradition that their feast is ranked a “solemnity,” the highest designation that the Church has. While both men were instrumental in passing on the Christian faith and leaders of the early Church, they are an unlikely pair, different in many ways and known to have disagreed at one time. Peter is regarded as the first pope, the rock on whom the Church was founded. Paul is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles and the author of most of our New Testament.
Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr
I have recently found myself spending a lot of time in prayer contemplating the generational impact of our faith. I have found myself thinking about the deposit of faith that was handed down to me by my parents, the ways it has taken seed in me and grown and then the ways that I pass this on to my children, who will hopefully pass it along to their own children. There is a maturing that happens within us as we contemplate the faith of our parents and our childhood. I find myself holding tightly to some of their truths and wrestling with deep, persistent questions about others. I have found that it is in the wrestling (bringing these questions to prayer, to the sacraments, to trusted friends and to God’s word) that a deeper, more sincere and life-giving faith has grown within me.
Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
In the Sound of Music, Maria (Julie Andrews) sang of her favorite things– raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, and the like. What are our “favorite things” as Catholics? Popular culture, whether justified or unjustified, is quick to assign us the following “favorites” (as they perceive us): superficiality, hypocrisy, and self-righteousness.
Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
On this day 11 years ago, I like to think that LeeAnn and I made an investment in heavenly treasure, something that “neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.” (Mt 6:20) Our anniversary today is a beautiful opportunity for me to reflect on the words of Christ in our gospel. What is it that I cherish? Where do I place the greatest value in my life? What is my most precious treasure? As I sit here and look around me, I see stuff, lots of things, possessions, wants, just stuff. Sure, there is value and meaning to several items. The table I’m working from came from LeeAnn’s grandparents and the mug of water in front of me says Best Dad Ever (you can guess where that came from). I enjoy the connections to these items; but in the grand scheme of things, it’s all just stuff–treasures on earth.
Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
When I was about 16 or so a youth pastor put a question to me. It was in the context of a very odd alter call. I didn’t know what an alter call was at the time, having grown up “unchurched.” He asked me and about a hundred other youth sitting on folding chairs in the gym at the Palatine (exurb of Chicago) YMCA if Jesus had come to me.
Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Welcome to Lent, everyone! Wait a minute, what?! Today is the Wednesday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, and yet I invite us to consider today a reminder of how we are to live year-round. The Gospel calls us to practice the Lenten disciplines always, not only during the season of Lent. Let us approach our scripture readings in humility, asking God for the graces to be faithful and generous disciples after the example of Christ.
Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
In today's Gospel reading from the Gospel of Matthew we encounter one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult, sayings of Jesus: "Love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44). Loving your enemies is an important part of what it means to be Christian, but it is very difficult.
Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Whenever my grandmother would get exacerbated with us she would say in her thick Scots brogue, “I’ll give ye the back-o-me-hand.” Although she never did, as a kid I never appreciated how dire a statement that was.
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Fr. Gregory Boyle’s book Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion was first published in 2010. Maybe you’ve heard of it, even read it. I recall reading it with one of my sons in their adolescence. Drawing on experiences with the gang-intervention program (Homeboy Industries) that he founded in Los Angeles, Fr. Boyle crafted the real-life stories of God’s grace and mercy touching and softening the seemingly hardest of hearts. It quickly became a New York Times bestseller.
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
We all know that anger can kill relationships and seriously wound people, including the person holding the anger. It is a human emotion that can be very destructive. In today’s gospel passage (Matthew 5: 20-26), we read that Jesus is instructing his disciples about anger. They know the command/law “you shall not kill” and now Jesus adds to that, “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment….” He goes deeper into the heart where anger lies. Jesus wants more from his disciples than simply obeying laws and commands. He is challenging us to transform our hearts, our very lives.
Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus explains what he means by this fulfillment. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:37-40). Today’s text ends with a summons to obey and teach God’s commandments. Let us pray for the grace to more fully surrender our lives to the Father’s will that we might live lives ordered by the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Today’s first reading seemed a little confusing to me. I had to use my imagination a bit, asking, ‘what were they complaining about? The yes, the no, or that there seemed to be a bunch of yes’s and no’s?’ I can’t say for sure what Paul and the Corinthian Church were talking about, but maybe they were frustrated with the burdens of a faith in conflict with the larger culture. Romans sacrificed animals to their gods at lavish festivals, had all sorts of sinful sexual habits, and worked seven days a week because they didn’t have a Sabbath. To them, Christians must have looked like lazy people who can’t do anything fun.
Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
According to Acts of the Apostles, Paul founded the church at Corinth and stayed there 18 months (Acts 18:1-18). When divisions arose after his departure, he sent his beloved Timothy and followed that up with what we call I Corinthians.
Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Several years ago, I spoke with a co-worker about tithing. While I was coming from a Catholic background she was coming from a non-denominational one. I didn’t know the statistics for how much the average Catholic gives or if the Church had an official recommendation for tithing. My understandings were rudimentary at best. When she shared her experiencing of tithing I was floored.
Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
We are blessed today with lots of rejoicing in Tobit and the psalm. After so much loss, Tobit finally gets to rejoice; “The Lord God had granted [Tobiah] a successful journey; he had brought back the money; and that he had married Raguel's daughter Sarah” (Tb 11:15), not to mention that Tobiah restored his sight! Tobit then expresses a beautiful hymn of praise, “Blessed be God and praise be his great name, and blessed be all his holy angels!” (14) The joyful noise continues into our psalm for today (one of my favorites), “Praise the Lord, my Soul!” (Ps 146:1b)