Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Prophecy can be a tricky thing. There are Nostradamus’ vague predictions. There are the science fiction applications of the Revelation in popular literature. We tend to understand prophecy as some prediction of the future, some vision of things that will and must come to pass. While this understanding is common and probably not entirely incorrect (I am not able to see the future so I can’t say for certain), it is helpful to start with the immediate situation that the prophet confronted. Typically, at least in scripture, there are two interrelated aspects. First, the context the prophet addressed. Second, the community the prophet inhabited. Prophecy is very often about a community’s relationship to its context. Most often they are not doom and gloom (though sometimes they are). Instead, they are occasions for hope in a time of crisis. The passages for today are great examples of the hopeful role of scriptural prophecy.
Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings got me to thinking about our Parish discipleship theme “Being the Body of Christ” in a slightly different way. I remember the very moment I began to truly feel part of the community at my parish. It was nearly 8 years ago when my father passed away. I had been attending the Rock with Jesus Mass at Immaculate Conception for quite a while and I always sat in the back in the same area of the church. A woman walked by before church and asked me how I was. I’m not sure if she expected anything more than the usual “Fine, thank you”, but I blurted out that my father had passed away several days earlier. She stopped and sat down next to me and began to ask me questions about my Dad. She did not seem to be in a hurry although I knew she had work to do and Mass was starting in just a few minutes. The most wonderful thing happened after that. A few minutes into the Mass, I noticed she was sitting behind me. I knew she never sat in that area and she usually sat with her husband. Now it doesn’t really matter the reason, but I felt that this woman knew I had just lost my Dad and that I was sitting alone at church and she decided to sit near me. I felt I was not alone. I felt deeply cared for. I felt loved. It was that evening I truly became part of my parish community. Since that time, I have related this story to her and she seemed surprised. She did not think she did anything special or out of he ordinary. She simply acted out of love and community. I was reminded of this incident when I reflected on today’s Scripture passages because we just never know how one little action on our part will forever impact another person in our community.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Does the gospel reading chosen for such a majestic feast strike you as unusual? Why would the church choose the most shameful moments of Christ’s life as the gospel reading for the Solemnity of Christ the King? When we celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and events connected with our loved ones, don’t we normally focus on the positive? The gospel says about Jesus that the rulers sneered at him, the soldiers jeered at him, and one of the criminals reviled him, saying “Are you not the Christ?” To a certain extent, this criminal is justified in his question. How could this man sharing the fate of criminals be God? The plaque above his head said, “This is the King of the Jews.” How could a man hanging from a cross be a king? This man groaning with pain – how could he be “the Christ?” Why could the Church not have chosen a reading that showcases Christ’s splendor?
Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
I'm in my sixth month of marriage, and while I'm hardly an expert, I'm quickly learning many things. I'm learning to appreciate our differences, to be able to communicate that just because I'd do something differently doesn't mean my way is better, and I'm learning to appreciate all of the little things that I can easily take for granted. There are areas that need a little more work than others. Presently, I'm still quite the amateur at recognizing my mistakes before they catch up with me, admitting when I'm wrong, and finally, gracefully recovering from being wrong. I can hardly take credit for thinking about these areas that need growth on my free time. Rather, I picked up today's readings and they jumped off the page at me as several key passages resonated with me above and beyond the others.
Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The line in today's gospel, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes (Lk 19:42),” speaks volumes to me. Too often I have held the belief that if I simply go with the flow and keep everyone happy and smiling then I am creating peace. And all too often the real method for peace has been hidden from my eyes.
Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Consider for a moment, what has been the moment in your life where you drew a line in the sand and said I will go no further? Where does the strength come from when everything around us seems to suggest that creating such a line will not end well for us? Standing firm in the midst of a collapsing world is an act of total trust in God. When your brain is repeating, I cannot take any more of this torture, please give in or run away, what are we to do? Yet it is these times when God gives us the grace to persevere. And somehow the mental anguish slowly abates as we hold fast to the Lord who promises to protect us.
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading and psalm tell us about great persecution. In 2 Maccabees, Eleazar is being forced to eat pork in defiance of the Torah (Law). He chooses torture and death over breaking God’s Law. In Eleazar, we have an early example of the martyrs who have died for their faith throughout the centuries. Before he dies, Eleazar says that he is old and that his death will be an example “of how to die willingly and generously for the revered and holy laws.” In the psalm for today, the lament of the persecuted continues as we pray, “The Lord upholds me.” This simple sentence becomes meaningful in the verses of the psalm. The supplicant speaks of persecution not unlike Eleazar’s, saying that “Many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’” Yet the speaker maintains his faith in the Lord, the Lord who upholds him.
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
I sometimes wonder how well I really know “who” I am. I go through my busy life doing things, going places, scheduling activities, but who is this person that is dashing around. Unfortunately, I often become caught up in who others think I am and what I do. Today’s readings remind me that it is important to stop and take time to see who I am. As a Christian, I am called to see myself not through my eyes, but through the eyes of Christ. With His vision, I will see that I have been created in love, and although I am a sinner, God’s love and forgiveness welcome me back to Him over and over again. It is with this perspective of who I am in the eyes of God that I can best recognize the person He calls me to be. With this vision then my daily activities are no longer a blur of situations, people, and lists of to- dos, but my life becomes a sequence of choices that I make as I answer the call to follow Him and become more and more like Him.
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
My hope is that in some ways you have been keeping abreast of the devastation created by super-storm Haiyan. I have heard numerous heart-breaking conversations over the media. It is hard to imagine the devastation and tragedy. There is something I am struggling with. On the one hand, millions of people who survived the storm are now facing death because of hunger, thirst and disease; on the other hand, for us, the holidays are approaching. If you are not ready yet, the high-pitched TV commercials will soon enough get you there. On the one hand I see unimaginable misery, and on the other hand I see superficial, profit-obsessed commercial glitter. The misery and the fake glitter do not seem to be adding up for me. I do believe in hope, but sometimes, just sometimes it is good for the rest of humanity not go on with business as usual unless those who are left behind have caught up with us. But I do not think that is what is going to happen.
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
“But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” This question ends today's gospel and brings a close to Christ's reflection on the parable of the dishonest judge and the persistent old widow. I get the impression this is less of an inquiry and more of a challenge, a throwing of the gauntlet if you will. But what is the challenge? To understand this challenge we must look to the characters in the parable. From them we understand the meaning of faith to go beyond simply the assent of our knowledge, but to also encompass obedience to the Lord, respect for our fellow humans, and perseverance.
Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Today's first reading from the book of Wisdom (7: 22b-8:1) is a beautiful, poetic writing about the nature of Wisdom, which is usually identified as the Spirit of God, that provides insight into what might be called the feminine dimensions of God. Here is just a taste of it: “For she is an aura (also translated as breath) of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty...For she is fairer than the sun and surpasses every constellation of the stars.”
If you haven't yet done so, I encourage you to read or even re-read this beautiful passage from Wisdom.
Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin
There is an old riddle that asks, “Can God make a rock so big that God can’t move it?” While there may be no easy answer, the question submits that God is the only one with the power to do such a thing. After all it was on God’s authority that the universe came into existence.
Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
Today is the memorial of St. Josaphat. I must admit, I know very little of St. Josaphat aside from what I could piece together off the internet. He was Lithuanian. He was martyred in Russia. He did not attempt to flee from his persecutors, even though he had the opportunity to do so. He was and is a saint.
Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
How often do we hear about the importance of forgiveness in the life of a Christian? My feeling is that it is very common. In fact, when we hear about something repeatedly we can be tempted to dismiss it if we cannot identify how it applies to our lives right now. But it’s great to know I can carry that spiritual tool of forgiveness in my back pocket and pull it out when I need it! This may sound cavalier, but how seriously do I take forgiveness?
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
I just concluded the ten-week discipleship training seminar at the parish. Fourty-four people began this journey and fourty-two people completed it. The primary reading for this seminar was Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship. Bonhoeffer lived in Nazi Germany and was put to death in a concentration camp. This is very dense book to comprehend but his main contribution is the idea of ‘cheap grace’ and ‘costly grace.’ Cheap grace, according to Bonhoeffer is, “the preaching of forgiveness without repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” Costly grace is grace for which a price has to be paid. “It is the call of Jesus at which the disciples leaves his nets and follows him.” Costly grace is when the disciple realizes the price that has been paid for his or her redemption – the cross of Jesus Christ. Today’s readings are all about cheap and costly grace.
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
My wife and I recently completed the process of selling our previous house, buying a new house, and moving. For anyone who has ever gone through that experience, I’m confident that you can relate to the unique combination of frustration, chaos, and excitement that it can bring about in your life. Slowly but surely, my wife and I have begun to settle in and transform this new house into a home. It’s an interesting feeling. The papers have been signed, the boxes are unpacked, and our mail is sent to our new address, but it still doesn’t feel like home yet. It begs the question, “What will it take for this house to become a home?”
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
I love when a set of readings can simultaneously challenge and comfort me. Today’s readings are able to do just that. The first reading from Romans is an intense challenge to avoid selfishness and sin, while the Gospel is a comforting reminder that the Lord will not abandon us or forget us, even in our sinfulness. We are human and therefore are sinners, but thankfully we are able to repent and return to the Lord, who will be seeking us out, waiting for our return.