Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s reading from first Corinthians, Paul points out two connected ways that the Corinthian church is not upholding what it has been taught by Paul himself. 1) They have not understood that everything they have is a gift from God. 2) They act as if the Kingdom of God has come in its entirety already. These two aspects of Paul’s critique of the Corinthians are important points of reflection for us today.
Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church
When I was in elementary school, I learned a silly song about getting to heaven: "You can't get to heaven on roller skates, you'll roll right by those pearly gates..." was one of the verses. But another of the verses is not quite so silly: "You can't get to heaven in dirty jeans 'cause the Lord don't have no washing machine." Dirty jeans are yesterday's or last week's article of clothing; you can't expect to take that old garment with you when you begin your new life.
Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul continues to address the problems of the community of Corinth. Today’s passage challenges the conventional notion of wisdom, as Paul notes that man’s wisdom is foolishness to God. We might assume here that Paul is accusing the Corinthians of putting stock in the world’s wisdom, whereas, rather, all belongs to them because of Christ. Hence there is no place for divisiveness in community where some would place their faith in Paul, Apollos or Cephas. The community’s faith must lie in Christ. So also for us. Everything belongs to us because we belong to Christ.
Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
The challenge always before us is to let the daily readings draw us to new and deeper insights of the Lord and how these insights are part of God’s attempts to grow us. The imagery from today’s first reading captured my imagination and caused me to view the whole of today’s readings with new eyes. The images of being planted and watered, growing and serving the Lord jumped out at me throughout the readings.
Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
I’ve often wondered why it is that if God’s claim on us is so real, why this is not more obvious to us. Why is it that God chooses to reveal himself to human beings in such a seemingly awkward way of becoming a human being and then dying on a cross. Is it because of our sin that we don’t see the logic of this more clearly? Or is it because there is something inherently strange about it? Why is it that even during his earthly ministry Jesus seems to have expected that some people would respond positively to his message and others would not grasp who he is or what he is about?
Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
We continue to follow along in our first reading with Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. An understanding of the audience is crucial here. Paul begins his letter by seemingly praising the Corinthians, but it is not long until it is clear that his message is not simply that of a cheerleader. Rather, Paul is writing to critique some of their community practices that fall short of the Christian life. In today’s passage, Paul emphasizes that his message was not meant to display his own ability but rather to manifest the power of God. For the audience that he is addressing, this is a crucial point; the Corinthians are called also to know the crucified Christ and to live accordingly in a way that demonstrates God’s power rather than their own talents or status. So also for us. We are called to hear this message to the Corinthians and live a life focused on the crucified Christ.
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
This was the first time ever that I was shopping for new car tires. Of the numerous options, I settled for the top of the line Michelin tires. Partly I did this because the salesman at the counter told me that it would cost me $ 176. I could not get tires so cheap in India. My eyes popped out when he gave me the printed bill. He had meant $176 a tire. The total was $704 + tax. That was my one pay check! I I had to save my manly pride. I pretended I was cool and for the first time, I broke a principle I live by and charged it to my American Express. This, after all, is the land of the brave and the free. I am not sure if the salesman at the counter was impressed or not, but I learnt it the hard way – pride is expensive. Pride costs.
Memorial of Saint Augustine, bishop and doctor of the Church
Today’s readings reflect on God’s people—both their character and God’s expectations of them.
In today’s psalm, we hear the refrain “Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own” (Ps 33:12) We know that God chose the Jewish people to enter into a covenant with Him; he expected that they honor Him alone as God in return for His protection. But notice who does the choosing. It’s God who first chooses them, not they who choose God. Indeed they are “the chosen people,” not “the people who made a choice.” Of course, the covenant required that the people uphold their end of it, that they respond to God’s choice. They dedicated themselves to responding to God’s call.Late have I loved you, Beauty ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved you!
Memorial of Saint Monica
I cannot remember how many times I have said to myself, “How could I be so foolish?” The latest was when I asked a rather “well-rounded” lady if she was pregnant. To my total embarrassment, she was not. But, how could I, who has a Masters in Communication and Doctorate in Theology, be so stupid? Well, today’s scriptures may have some answers.
Thursday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Most of us would say that we have good intentions when it comes to living. We want to be honest and friendly people. But despite our goals and intentions for self-improvement, it is easy to slip into bad habits or even sinful behavior. We don’t always attend to the needs of those around us or pay attention to our health or regulate well our time on the Internet or watching television. We give into distraction not because we are bad people, but simply because it is easy to do. It is hard to “stay awake” to our larger goals and to maintain our focus on God and our end in heaven.
Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
As Christians how many of us have said one thing only to turn around and do the opposite. The word for that is hypocrite. There are few among us who have better radar for hypocrites than teenagers. They have an intuition for the genuine. Their idealism and passion for justice makes their age group often misunderstand parents and public alike. At the heart of it is their desire to work to change the world. To an outsider who is attune to their energy, their drive is a model from which we all can learn.
Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
I’ve been thinking recently about our earthly life and how far it seems to be from the eternal life that Jesus promises to his disciples in scripture. The Bible teaches that Jesus has conquered sin and death; yet, it does not so often look like this is the case. The world is full of disease, violence, war, famine, economic collapse, injustice, and natural disasters. Each of us from time to time experiences hardship; at times life does not seem to be very fair. An inspection of the world around us belies the truth of the Hollywood happy ending where everything is neatly tied up and the ‘good guys’ win. The vision of the heavenly kingdom in the book of Revelation provides a glimpse of what this heavenly life is like and it provides assurance that it is possible for us to attain it.
Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Faith is not something easy to define, nor is it something that we can say we simply understand. In today’s first reading, we begin the second letter to the Thessalonians, and we hear the greeting extended to them by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. The word “faith” emerges several times in this short text. Though the writers praise the faith of the Thessalonian church, they also say that they pray that God “bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith” (2 Thes 1:11). This seems to imply that faith is not just something that someone possesses; you don’t just have faith and that’s it. Rather, God’s grace works with faith, bringing to fulfillment the efforts of faith. There is a necessary interplay here. We can’t simply do faith on our own.
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - If You Could Design Heaven...
(Starting this Sunday, the Sunday reflection and homily will be the same.)
There are controversies simmering in our country on multiple fronts. Immigration, legal and illegal, is one of them; An Islamic centre at the new World Trade Centre in New York is another one; should babies born in the US be automatically given citizenship status is yet another one; and the age old controversy regarding race has come to the forefront in a brazen way the last couple of years. I am not going to try to answer these questions in this homily but I am sure that each one of has an opinion on each of these issues. But I guess, each person's opinion is a reflection on who they want included or excluded from membership in this country. Let us me say this at the very outsiet - 0ur opinion in these matters is not merely a political, social, or economic stand we take; our opinion in this matter is also a moral stand.
Memorial of Pius X, pope
Our sensibilities from reading and hearing the gospel stories are conditioned to think of the Pharisees only as hypocrites and show offs. This conception, however, misses some of the force of Jesus’ critique of these folk. They were not such easy targets. On the whole, they were considered the most pious Jews of their day, admired for their adherence to the law and their dedication to God. Nevertheless, their conflicts with Jesus centered around their overly legalistic adherence to the law. These were different interpretations of the Jewish tradition.
Memorial of Saint Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church
I find myself slightly fascinated by the fact that vampires are a "craze" these days, especially for teens and young adults. I don't find much of anything interesting about vampires, "the living dead," myself but I am very interested in why vampires provide such a cultural hold on others, in books, movies and video games. Strangely enough, I wonder if part of the answer might come from today's scriptures.
Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s readings, we see a theme of sin and redemption with God’s love shining throughout. The passage from the prophet Ezekiel is a well-known one: here God reveals his dedication to the people of Israel who have turned away from him. The Lord speaks of bringing the people back, cleansing them from their false worship, and giving them a “new heart” and a “new spirit” (Ez. 36:26). Even though the people have deserted God and worshiped other gods, the Lord remains faithful, and in this fidelity to his sinful people, God is willing to do the cleansing, to give the people another chance.
Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
In my household, there are three children. We thank God everyday for their presence in our lives and most of the time, they are a joy. We love to have fun with them yet as parents, we wear a variety of hats. One of the tougher roles is helping them stay balanced. We work hard to be aware of their habits and help them see the patterns they are creating for themselves when they focus only on their own desires. Sometimes when things are out of balance with one or all of them, we have to intervene in order to help them hit the reset button. This may mean going to bed sooner, digging in more on their homework or maybe even skipping desert so as to help them gain perspective on their choices.
Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Many thanks to Jeff Morrow who wrote many reflection over the years. Please welcome Joel Schickel who will be writing reflections every Tuesday).
The last few years have brought the question of the meaning of life home to me in a poignant way. Over this time I have grieved for a number of people close to me who have passed away. Meanwhile it has been a joy to see my daughter, who is now almost three years old, grow into a vivacious toddler. And my wife and I are now expecting a second child, due in December. Perhaps as a result of these experiences of death and new life, I’ve found my thoughts turning recently to the question of what it is that gives meaning to life, a question that is addressed in the scripture readings for today.
Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
In the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, Ezekiel describes the calamities that will befall the house of Israel. As is common in Ezekiel, the message is acted out dramatically in Ezekiel’s own life, with the death of his wife. This profound loss is like that which the people of Israel suffer in the destruction of their temple and the death of their children. And yet, Ezekiel’s instructions is for them not to mourn, rather, “you shall rot away because of your sins and groan to one another” (Ez. 24:23). This is certainly a strong statement. We might wonder if this is really how God plans to act towards his chosen people. Ezekiel’s role as a prophet, however, is to bring the people to reality, even if by dramatic means. Here he emphasizes the degree to which the people have forgotten God and gone against God’s will.