Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel reading is very short, just three verses, but there is a lot packed into it. In the passage, Jesus’ relatives, including his mother, come to see him while he is preaching. Someone tells Jesus they are there to see him, and he replies that those “who hear the word of God and act on it” (Luke 8:21) are his family. Without diving into what that moment meant for his relatives, this line clearly teaches us something profound about discipleship.
Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
“Some were apostles and some evangelists”- Ephesians 4:11
Today we celebrate Matthew, apostle and evangelist. Throughout the life of the church Matthew’s star shone brightest among the synoptic Gospels while Luke and Mark (most especially Mark), have shone dimly.
Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Recently, developers of AI have been issuing dire warnings about the threat it poses to human life. One developer, who recently appeared on “Meet the Press,” resigned from his position at Anthropic (a major AI company), saying that AI advances were moving too fast with insufficient safeguards. If development of AI doesn’t soon start to focus on how to protect human beings, he went on to say, AI could “kill us all by the end of the decade.” Importantly, this is not the lone view of a disgruntled former Anthropic employee. I wish. Even Elon Musk, who stands to make a lot of money with AI, is now issuing similar dire warnings.
Wow! Ten years? Really? That’s terrifying!
Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Dear St. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and the other women who accompanied Jesus as he journeyed from one town and village to another (as we read about in today’s gospel from Luke),
What was it like to be so close to Jesus? To walk with him, talk with him, eat, pray and laugh with him? How did he treat you? We read he had already shown you so much respect and love and compassion to have cured you of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary, you in particular, having been cured of seven demons.
Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In our current culture, there seems to be a predisposition among people to believe that they are right and have all the answers. This strong individualism and pride can stand in the way of our relationship with God. In today’s reading, scripture reminds us about the importance of humility to open our hearts to God’s mercy and grace. How are we being called to recognize God’s compassion and respond with faith and love?
Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
Today we pray with Mary as our mother, who accompanies us as Our Lady of Sorrows. She who bore the suffering of her beloved son being tortured to his death, surely understands any pains and unfairness we experience. The gospel of John paints a powerful image of compassion and tenderness as Jesus is dying. Mary, and the beloved Disciple, John, steadfastly remain at the foot of the cross through Jesus’ suffering and death. Jesus expresses his deep love for them both by giving them to each other as family: “woman, behold your son; “son behold your mother”.
In the stark pain and emptiness I experienced following my father’s unexpected death at a relatively young age, I learned the power of the presence of caring others. I was comforted by gentle gestures and the kindness of those who reached out in concern; of friends willing to be willing to simply be present, and listen to my words or my silence.
Today’s gospel reminds us that our living out Jesus’ mission is not done alone, but rather as a caring community. Our bereavement and immigrant ministries provide such gifts at times of need. It is also fitting that our new groupings of parishes are called ‘families’ as we grow in harmony and support of one another in living out the gospel call. May we ever welcome Mary into our hearts and homes as our mother, Jesus has given his mother to us to companion and teach us how to reach out with compassionate care and to be in greater solidarity with those who are suffering.
-Sr. Leanne Jablonski FMI, Marianist Sisters
Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Jesus is clearly frustrated today. The people have endured much. He longs to give them what they desire. They have been waiting for a prophet and for a messiah. And yet, when their hope is being fulfilled, they fail to see it. John came fasting, calling for change and repentance, and they said he couldn’t possibly be a prophet. Jesus came eating and drinking with any and all and so they said he couldn’t possibly be the Messiah. They have waited, and in waiting have lost hope. It’s easier to dismiss and to discount than to risk once again having hope and being disappointed.
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, a very ancient feast. Legend has it that our own St. Helen found the Lord’s cross on this date in the year 380. We have had this feast in the universal Church since not long after Helen’s discovery of the “true cross.” It does us well to recall that the cross we exalt is an instrument of torture and humiliation.
Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Today is September 11, for many Americans not a feast day but a day of mourning and remembrance. On that morning 25 years ago today, I was in my car on my way to the gym to work out when I heard a report on the radio that a plane had struck one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I pictured a small private plane that had somehow gotten off course and crashed into the tower. I felt sad for whoever was in the plane, said a little prayer for them, and drove on. I never imagined any in the tower was hurt.
Saturday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Our Gospel today comes from the end of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain,” St Luke’s version of the “Sermon on the Mount,” found in St Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus’ sermon can be considered the disciple’s handbook because in this important proclamation we hear Jesus teaching us the way to be obedient and faithful disciples, indeed calling us to become like him. Today let us ask our Lord for the grace to choose good and reject evil, that our lives would bear good fruit and that by our witness others would be attracted to Jesus. Let us also today consider the foundation upon which we are building our lives and ask ourselves if it is Christ’s Word and teaching or something of this world.
Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” - Luke 6:27
“I hold on, and often by the skin of my teeth, to believe that God is in charge of this world, in spite of all appearances to the contrary.” - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
How is it possible to love our enemies? Pray for those who mistreat us? Forgive? Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa wrestled with these questions, as have Christians throughout time. And Tutu, like millions over two millennia, had every reason to wonder about how much God is in charge (given his experience with apartheid). Tutu wrote that the only way that he has been able to forgive was by his firm belief that ultimately God has the last word and it will be a word of justice. God, who is justice, will make things right.
Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest
When the psalmist proclaims, “God is close to the broken-hearted,” the psalmist is not saying that God wants us to suffer (Psalm 34). When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor,” he is not saying that God wants there to be poverty in our world. When Jesus says, “Woe to you laugh,” he is not saying that God wants us to live without joy. So, what are we to make of the gospel today?
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
“From you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel…. he shall be peace.”
Today is one of those days when the readings can be a little confusing because they don’t quite line up with what the Feast actually celebrates.
Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Paul was a pastor who fretted over his flock, like a worrywart parent who can’t let go of the kids. I Corinthians (our first reading today) was composed by the Apostle just five years after he founded the Church of Corinth, writing with great anxiety from Ephesus. Paul is like so many who realize that parenting never ends, even when the children are technically adults. And the neophyte Corinthians greatly need supervision.
Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
An easy interpretation of the brief exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees in our text from Luke’s Gospel today is that Jesus found the rules and practices of the sabbath to be a burden that his followers did not need to bear. That is why he allowed his disciples to eat the grain as they passed by it and proclaimed that he was “the lord of the sabbath.” Some have even extended the point to say that Jesus was all about challenging or loosening up the various rules and obligations of Judaism.
Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
“Therefore, do not make any judgements before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness, and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God.” This last verse from today’s reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (4:1-5), stood out to me – especially the last phrase, “then everyone will receive praise from God.” ! It makes me wonder, was Paul using some sarcasm there? Or being encouragingly optimistic about the motives of the people of Corinth’s hearts?
Memorial of St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
There are many scripture passages about wisdom. Today’s reading refers to the “wisdom of the world”. What is this wisdom, and how can we develop “wisdom of Christ”?
Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
The Incarnation is a central and beautiful mystery of our faith. It is such good news that God so loves us that God became flesh! What more of an affirmation do we need that our flesh is not the enemy? Our flesh is not bad. From the beginning, in Genesis, we encounter the truth that we are created when God’s Spirit is breathed into matter; we are a unity of spirit and flesh, breath and body.
Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
As the days grow shorter and cooler, I marvel at the bird and butterfly migrations underway. I am amazed that monarch butterflies and arctic terns navigate thousands of miles and across continents. For most species, there is an innate genetic tracking ability - an inner-knowing, as well as adaptive features which have evolved over thousands of years. For some migrating mammals such as caribou and other ungulates, knowledge of migration routes builds on the cultural transmission of the herd's experiences. For many species, there is a combination of both.
Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
We encounter a humble and affectionate Paul in our first reading today from I Corinthians. He writes to his foundling community that he hadn’t come to them with “persuasive words of wisdom.” (He may be referring to the so-called wisdom of the Greek philosophers, as he had recently been to Athens.) He adds that faith must not depend on human wisdom but rather on the power of the cross.