Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
We are so used to seeing the many things and people around us, that we often take them for granted. After all, how many of us wake up and greet the world with amazement, as though we are surprised by what we see? Perhaps, hopefully, there are some. But many of us no doubt groggily roll over only to slump out of bed to our familiar surroundings, so that we may begin our regular routine of coffee, breakfast, showering, teeth-brushing, dressing, etc.
Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
What’s in a question? There are so many different types of questions. There are open ended, closed, rhetorical, inductive, deductive to name a few. Questions can be helpful in gaining information like when children often ask the “Why?” But questions can also be used as tools to inflict pain like “like why did you do that?”; or “is that really necessary?” In these last cases, the questions maybe to gather information however they could also question authority. These can be what we call “loaded “questions.
Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
I’ve been thinking lately that the advice given in the Bible about how to live seems opposed to much of the advice that we are given by our 21st-century, Western culture. We are told by the world to pursue wealth, success, and power but justice and wisdom are not put forth as things worthy of our time or energy. The readings today emphasize the need for human beings to pursue the latter qualities if we are going to find favor with God.
Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
When we look at our readings for today, there are at least two possible responses. One is to respond to Jesus’ words as did the rich young man. We can go away sad and discouraged, thinking that we will never be perfect enough, that we will never be willing to perform the heroics that will make us truly holy. We might read that first reading from the book of Sirach and think that we will never be able to give up sin. After all, who among us has not struggled with some sin, purposefully amending that we will never do it again, only to fall once more? Indeed, these words may incite discouragement among us.
Sunday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
When I have conversations with people about God, the very first question I ask them is how they imagine God. I even try to probe the specifics; what does God look like? Do they imagine God to be male, female, or spirit? What qualities do they associate with God primarily? Is God smiling, frowning, angry? What does God do on a day to day basis? Although, most people cannot be sure of the answers, it gives me an insight into the kind of relationship I can expect people to have with God. In today’s gospel Jesus offers a new way to imagine God.
Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
As we come to the end of James’s letter that we have been following for some time now, we see that St. James wraps up the letter with an exhortation to his fellow Christians. What we notice about his ending plea is that all things are to be brought to God – sufferings, good spirits, sickness, and sinfulness. This is, however, not possible by ourselves. In order to pray in our sufferings (Jas 5:13), we have to learn how to pray. In order sing a song of praise (Jas 5:13), we have to have been taught such a song. The role of our fellow Christians becomes even more obvious in the last two: the role of presbyters (priests) and our fellow Christians is made explicit (Jas 5:14, 19).
Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
In our era of Facebook, the concept of "friends" is interesting to ponder. Some people on Facebook "friend" anyone who requests a friendship with them; others are much more guarded, and "friend" only people who they really know well, because of privacy concerns. Either way, more than one cultural commentator has said that social networking seems to be changing the way we see our relationships with each other. We generally have looser connections with each other, but we have connections to more people. I think it is somewhat strange, actually, that I know more about what a good friend from my high school days who lives in another state is doing this morning than I do about my next door neighbors.
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
We all have probably experienced procrastination. For me, the desire to procrastinate was likely to hit right as I sat down to write a paper for a class in college. It was amazing how much I could get done when I had a paper to write. I’d talk to my parents on the phone, clean my whole dorm room, do my laundry, check my email countless times, and of course chat with my roommate. I did always get the paper done. But there are other areas of our lives where procrastination really can be crippling, making our task so much more difficult than if we were just to do it immediately as we should. If we think of cleaning a bathroom, for example, it is much easier and quicker to do it regularly than only annually. Soap scum comes off…but when it’s an inch thick it becomes no easy task.
Memorial of Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
Driving anywhere can be tough in winter weather between accidents and slick spots. Obstacles can come out of nowhere it seems. Now, as glimpses of warmer weather are appearing, the dreaded orange barrels are starting to come out of their hibernation bringing new challenges for smooth sailing. When talking about driving, we would like to get from point A to point B obstacle free. It seems logical then, that in our faith journey, many of us desire to be unencumbered by suffering or frustration as well. It is fascinating that today’s readings mostly suggest that roadblocks are spiritual opportunities to stop and ask a question, like “Why Lord?” Or “how are you using these events to transform me?”
Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, apostle
Lately I’ve been thinking about how astonishing it is that two thousand years after Jesus lived on earth Christians can still think of ourselves as his followers. We don’t serve God in the abstract; instead we serve God as revealed to us by Jesus. There were many teachers in ancient times who had disciples then, yet very few if any can be said to still have disciples now. So it is even more remarkable that we can be counted among Jesus’ disciples. As I reflect on the readings for today I’m reminded of the ways that our ability to live as disciples of Jesus is a result of God’s providence and grace through the church.
Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Wisdom is often thought of as having an elusive quality, and that is perhaps why Sirach turns to poetic language to describe wisdom. Our Christian tradition, however, adds another dimension to our understanding of wisdom. When this Old Testament book is read through the lens of the New Testament, this passage can be understood Christologically. In other words, many Christians through the years have regarded Christ to be wisdom personified or, at least, the one through whom all wisdom comes. For Christians, wisdom is inextricably linked to this person of Christ.
Sunday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Holiness… Perfection… these are not words we associate with ourselves easily. On the contrary, we are the victims of the common adage, “To err is human….” Many people consider holiness and perfection to be outside the ordinary realm. I was barely seventeen when I joined the seminary. I was sure then that I wanted to try the priesthood, but I was less aware of holiness or how to be holy. And sure enough, we were given numerous books about the lives of the saints to read. They made great reading but these books, but as I read them then, it seemed to me that they included a fair amount of a romanticization of holiness. It seemed to me at that time that holiness was beyond me. These books portrayed holiness as something unreachable for a seventeen year old guy who struggled with bad thoughts, who entertained fantasies, who has trouble getting along with other seminarians, and one who struggled with genuine prayer. It took me a long time to realize that holiness and perfection are not unattainable for even a guy like me.
Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s readings there appears a rather sharp contrast between the generations who were faithful to God—Abel, Enoch, Noah—and Jesus’ three closest apostles—Peter, James, and John. - Tim Gabrielli
Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
I remember when I was a teenager, I was often embarrassed by the things my mom and dad would say. I would want them to be, by turns, more cool, more understanding, more intelligent-sounding than they were. To this teenager, words mattered, and the slightest misspoken word could set me off.
Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
In yesterday’s first reading from Genesis, we heard the end of the flood story, as Noah sent out a dove to look for dry ground. Today we hear what happened after this great flood. It almost sounds as though it is a second creation story. God makes a new covenant with his people: He gives all the animals to Noah and his family, and he reaffirms that human beings are made in God’s image. He also gives these people the same instruction he had given Adam and Eve, namely, to be fertile and multiply so as to fill the earth and subdue it. In this new covenant, God promises never to send a flood again to devastate the earth.
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
The readings speak to us today of God’s extraordinary power, God’s generosity and how we need to be grateful for God’s accomplishments. The story of the flood and Noah continues in the readings today. The rain has stopped, but the journey is nowhere near complete. Noah sends forth a bird three weeks in a row to find out if it’s possible to download his cargo. The first week the dove returns, the second the dove returns with an olive leaf. The third time the dove does not return at all, signaling Noah that the land was dry enough leave the ark.
Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
I think I’ve mentioned before how I like to bake bread. A few weeks ago I made some raisin bread with my daughter. The dough took a long time to rise, probably because we let it rise in a place that was not very warm and was somewhat draughty. Yet eventually it did rise, and we were able to bake the bread. In fact it turned out very well. The yeast did its work despite a slow start. In the gospel reading for today Jesus makes reference to “the leaven of the Pharisees,” referring to their teachings and their influence.
Memorial of Saint Cyril, monk, and Saint Methodius, bishop
Today’s first reading from Genesis contains another familiar story, namely, the story of Cain killing his brother Abel after God prefers the offering of Abel. The text is rather concise, and hence it is not clear exactly why God prefers Abel’s offering from his flock as compared to Cain’s offering from his field. The response from today’s psalm provides some insight as to why this would be: “Offer to God a sacrifice of praise” (Ps. 50:14a). We can only surmise that Abel better offered his sacrifice with genuine praise. But whatever the reason, after Cain’s killing of Abel, the Lord appears and asks Cain where his brother is. Now, of course, God KNOWS what Cain has done; God realizes that Abel has been killed at the hands of his own brother. So the question posed by God is not one of seeking information. On the contrary, the Lord is giving Cain the chance to admit his sin, to confess his murder, and to repent of this wrongdoing. Instead, Cain shirks responsibility and evades the question by replying with a question of his own, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Because he does not own up to his crime or show sorrow, Cain lives a life of extended punishment.
Sunday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
It was in the seminary that I first heard the parable of the wise old man and the boy with the butterfly. The wise old man travelled from village to village and from town to town and along the way, people would line up to ask him their most difficult questions. One day he noticed a young boy, barely in his teens, standing in the long queue. This boy had a nasty habit. He would catch butterflies, hold them in his little fist and ask people if the butterfly is dead or alive. If someone said that the butterfly was alive, he would let the butterfly go free; but if someone said that it was alive, he would crush it in his fist and prove the answer wrong. The wise man approached the boy and asked, "Son, what question do you have for the old man?" The boy stretched out his hand toward the old man. Inside his small closed fist was a beautiful butterfly he had caught that day. And the boy said, "Sir, if you are as wise as everyone believes you to be, please tell me whether the butterfly in my hand is dead or alive.” For a minute or so the wise man was lost for words. He thought hard for a while, then looked at the mischievous grin on the boy’s face. The old man stared straight into the boy's eyes and said, “Son, whether the butterfly is dead or alive, it depends on you. The choice is in your hands."
Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Putting together today’s readings, we get a deep sense of just how wide-reaching God’s love for humanity is.
Following the Adam and Eve’s acquiescence to the temptations of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, something changes in the first two humans even before God finds them in the garden—they realized that they were naked (Gen 3:10). This introduction of shame is the beginning of the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God—a list of consequences detailed in the following verses (Gen 3:14-19). Despite Adam and Eve’s willful rejection of God’s commands, God still displays His loving care for them by making leather garments for them (Gen 3:21).