Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
Occasionally, I take the time to make bread or beer, both of which use yeast as a leaven. Leaven is mentioned in today’s Gospel (Luke 12:1-7) and the concept is important for understanding today’s scriptures, as well as for understanding our own spiritual lives.
Thursday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
The selections for today’s readings make an interesting pair. In the gospel passage from Luke, Jesus continues along a strand of “woe to you” statements. Undoubtedly, it was not a pleasant message to hear. The people listening were meant to feel convicted for their participation in the past persecution of God’s prophets; Jesus intended to affront them with accusations regarding their behavior. In fact, the least surprising part of this passage is the last two verses: “When Jesus left, the scribes and the Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him in something he might say” (Lk. 11:53-54). It’s no surprise that the people would be upset by Jesus’ words. And yet it is perhaps a bit surprising that they felt they needed to interrogate him further. This indicates that his accusations were not unfounded; Jesus’ statements in today’s passage were not cause for Jesus’ own conviction.
Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
While floating in a canoe on the Little Miami River at a recent youth ministry event, I was struck by all of the many trees present around the river. Some grew right up out of the water and other trees near the bank had roots like fingers from a hand reaching down to the river. Today’s psalm uses a similar image that captured my imagination as a metaphor for understanding today’s readings.
Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
In the gospel for today we see one of the most familiar themes of the New Testament. And to be honest, my first reaction in reading the passage was whether we needed yet another reminder that the Pharisees’ spiritual approach was incorrect. But then I started thinking about why we might need this reminder. One reason seems to be that living out the gospel is a process of learning new habits of thinking, acting, and believing, and that we need to repeatedly focus on lessons from Jesus life and ministry in order to integrate his teachings more deeply into who we are as people. Another reason is that the Bible never speaks to us in exactly the same way on each reading, because our situation and the state of the world in which we find ourselves is constantly changing. Although it is easy to write off the passage for today as too familiar, if we pay attention to it, it will have something to teach us.
Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
As we continue to count our weeks of walking with the Lord in this 28th week of Ordinary Time, we continue to read through St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Although this letter concerns the practical issue of circumcision (as not necessary for Christians), Paul’s approach to the topic gives us insight on other matters as well. In today’s excerpt, Paul discusses Abraham’s two sons, Ishmael (born of Hagar) and Isaac (born of his wife Sarah). When all hope seemed lost that Sarah would ever bear a child, Sarah convinced Abraham to conceive a child with her servant Hagar. While this might seem strange to us, this was actually how fertility problems were surmounted during this time period. Abraham and Sarah should have had more trust in God’s promise of descendants.
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Unfortunately, today’s first reading includes a woefully inadequate section of this otherwise marvelous story of Naaman the Syrian. Israel and Syria were arch enemies. Naaman was the military commander of Syria but his wife was an Israelite woman who was captured in a rather bloody raid. Yet, Naaman dared to come to the enemy territory, to the prophet Elisha to seek healing for his leprosy. Elisha merely commanded Naaman to dip himself in the Jordan seven times. Elisha’s casual approach to this otherwise high profile visit is rather disconcerting for Naaman. Although miffed at the suggestion, Naaman did as he was commanded and he was healed. We do not get many details about how Naaman was healed. The focus in on his ability to do what was commanded him to do. This must have been hard for a military commander. But the real focus of this episode is on Naaman who returns to Elisha in gratitude. Not only that, he acknowledges the God of Elisha as the true God. (2 Kgs 5:15).
Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s First Reading begins with the mysterious statement that “scripture confined all things under the power of sin.” This remark, at least at first glance, implies a particularly bleak view of the world in which we live. Contextually, however, St. Paul is simply arguing that the Law of Moses is without power to save. Despite what his readers may have been led to believe, St. Paul insists that the whole narrative of salvation history that is recorded in scripture teaches that the Promise made to Abraham was not fulfilled in the Law, and so it is not the following of that Law that makes someone an heir to the Promise.
Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes it feels like we American Catholics are more scattered than gathered, to use the words from today’s Gospel (Luke 11:15-26). US Catholics are scattered on a variety of things, especially relating to American politics: economy, immigration laws, abortion. These are all also key aspects of our faith and therefore important topics for discussion: ultimately the point of such discussion is to try to understand our faith better and to help each other live better lives. Yet we Catholics seem sometimes to be more governed by how other non-Catholics discuss and describe the debates, rather than being influenced by our own Christian convictions. It feels like we, as Catholics, can’t have discussions, in person or online, without someone accusing someone else of “not being a REAL Catholic” because they’re not focused enough on just wages or immigration issues on the one hand, and abortion or embryonic stem cell research on the other.
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
“O Stupid Galatians!” begins our passage from Paul’s letter today. Paul’s frustration with the church of Galatia is expressed here full-force. The subject of this letter is circumcision, which Paul argues is not necessary in order to be a Christian. This is contrary to those Judaizer Christians, who argued that to become Christian one must first become Jewish. This was a way of excluding Gentiles from becoming Christian.
Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Recently I had the opportunity to sit with a friend who knew that they did not have a long time left for this world. Those moments I shared with my friend left me awestruck as to her ability to have a positive outlook on life even as her days are drawing to a close. Her positive outlook not withstanding she did share with me that she felt like a burden to her family. I asked her how long she had cared for her children and assured her that we were grateful for the opportunity to care for her. One can hardly use the word burden to describe the labor of love it is to care for someone you deeply love. Perhaps I might feel differently if I was a constant caregiver. Still, it is in these moments of suffering and our responses to them, that we are given profound opportunities to keep our eyes on the Lord.
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
I’ve often found that during those times when I am the busiest I have a tendency to falter in my relationship with God. I find myself spending less time in prayer and putting less effort into considering what God would have me do, think, and will. Nevertheless, having nothing to do is also not very conducive to my spiritual life. Being not busy enough can result in boredom and lack of purpose. What is best seems to be a balance between being too busy and not busy enough.
Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, religious
This week we begin hearing selections from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The basic context of this letter revolves around the question of circumcision. Circumcision, is, of course, an important requirement of the Jewish faith now as it was at the time of Paul. Galatians plays out an early Church conflict inasmuch as the members of this Church were comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. One strain of Christianity at this time, following the Jewish tradition, argued that circumcision was necessary, and hence all Gentile males who wished to become Christian must undergo circumcision. The emotions in Paul’s words are not hard to detect: such a message represents for him a false portrayal of the gospel. The good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection does not necessitate circumcision. Throughout this letter to the Galatians, Paul will outline an argument for why this is so.
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
For how long and how much pain should someone have to endure before they utter these words to God in prayer? “How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery?” (Hab 1: 2-3) Do you sense the same desperation and sheer exhaustion in the cry for help that I sense? In recent times, people without employment, people without health insurance and people whose homes have been foreclosed, perhaps have raised their voices to God. What became of these prayers, I wish I knew.
Memorial of the Guardian Angels
All week we have been hearing the familiar story of Job—the one who loses everything and calls upon God for answers. God’s answer to Job is a three chapter long assertion of His power over everything, which illustrates how God’s ways are not the ways of humans. In today’s first reading we see Job’s response to God’s speech. Let us note the profound humility with which Job responds to God.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
Today’s scriptures ask us to reflect on how small and insignificant we are in comparison to God, but also show that though we are small and insignificant, we also can do great things.
In the first lesson (Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5), God is responding to Job’s complaints. Job has been inflicted with all kinds of tragedy: he’s lost his family, his job, his friends, and he is very ill, in addition. As many of us might do, Job asks God, “Why me?” Today’s scripture provides God’s answer to Job’s question, namely pointing out to Job the vast differences between them. Job finally recognizes this fact and says, “Behold, I am of little account.” Recognizing that we are not God is an important part of learning to live as holy people.
Memorial of Saint Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church
There’s a line in a song that goes: “Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’.” During this week we have been reading the story of Job, and perhaps we have been amazed by his continued faith in God despite his dire circumstances. Job demonstrates a complete dependence on God; though perhaps hidden during his times of success, this dependence is illuminated when he encounters tough times. Today’s passage from Job could be summed up by the phrase, “Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’” in the sense that Job, having lost everything material including wealth and family, is left with God and perhaps even more aware of it than ever before. Rather than letting his misfortune lead him to despair, Job speaks confidently of his belief in God’s saving work.
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
How much time does the average person spend thinking of Angels or Demons? I often find myself shying away from such thoughts especially when it comes to talk about Satan. I would rather focus on the angels among us, using angels as a metaphor. Also, I would rather translate Satan the same way as the Jewish community; Satan from the Hebrew means adversary. Yet, here is a feast of the lead angels. Perhaps it could help to see angels both metaphorically and literally.
Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes it seems like there’s no clear reason for our lives. We may feel useless and our daily toil and worry seems to be of no avail. At such times life can appear to be meaningless and without purpose. As the writer of Ecclesiates writes: “Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2-3). Perhaps, like Job, we even curse the day we were born, thinking it better if we had never existed (Job 3: 1-15). But even if we don’t go that far, we can sometimes wonder why we bother getting out of bed in the morning. Wouldn’t it just be easier to sleep all day – to “drop out” of our busy lives? This is not even to mention the fact that good people seem to suffer and those who do great injustice to others often seem to escape without punishment or even seem to prosper.
Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, priest
Today our first reading comes from the book of Job in the Old Testament. This book – the story of Job – can evoke difficult questions for those who think about it. Why would God allow such evils to happen to such a good person? Why would God enter into a contest (of sorts) with the devil which involved ruining someone’s life? But perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves about Job is, what can we take from this story for our own lives? And when we consider that last question, we can see that Job stands as a model for us in many ways.
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am not sure if any of you read the daily cartoon, Pearls before Swine. The main characters in this cartoon are the rat, the pig, the goat and crocodiles. In last Monday’s clip, the goat asks the pig, “Do you have any religious beliefs? …Things you know in your heart are true?” The pig answered, “Just Nachofication.” The goat asks, “What is Nachofication?” The pig replies, “The belief that everything tastes better with melted cheese.” The goat looks disgusted as he turns around and exclaims, “I was hoping for something deeper than the church of cheese.” Perhaps, the cartoon is a commentary on contemporary society which sometimes seems all too shallow. I certainly do not want to make generic judgments about society, but I certainly want to pose some questions. If someone had to ask you the question, “What is at your core?” or, if your children or your parents or your friend had to ask you, “What are the hallmarks of your character?” or if God had to ask you, “Who are you? Or “Who are you becoming?” what would your answer be?