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.
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If you read all of the readings for the Vigil as well as for today’s celebration, you’ll notice a few passages that deal with the Ark of the Covenant. In the first reading for the Vigil, we find a passage dealing with King David returning the Ark to the people of Israel, bringing it to Jerusalem. In today’s first reading from the Book of Revelation, we again find the Ark, this time in heaven. Now the Ark was often used in battle, and so it’s interesting that the Ark appears in Revelation right before a depiction of spiritual warfare, battle with Satan who is depicted as a large dragon. When we turn to the Gospel reading from today, the account of the Visitation from St. Luke’s Gospel, we find another parallel with the Ark of the Covenant. St. Luke depicts the visitation in language that is reminiscent of David’s recapturing of the Ark.
Memorial of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr
Much ink has been spilled over what exactly Jesus means in today’s gospel reading. What is it precisely that Jesus is highlighting about the children that gives us insight into the Kingdom, which he says belongs to those “such as these”? (Mt 19:14). I think that there are several insights that can help us live as better disciples in today’s world.
Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
When I teach my undergraduate Christian Marriage course, I always have students asking why the Catholic Church prohibits divorce - and what's up with annulment anyway? Isn't it just a Catholic form of divorce? Today's scriptures point toward some of the whys and the complexities of Catholic teaching about marriage and divorce.
Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings contain two contradictory messages. On the one hand the prophet Ezekiel condemns and denounces the people of Judah for their rebellious life and predicts their exile into Babylon. On the other hand, the gospel reading communicates the necessity of forgiveness – not just seven times but seventy-seven times (to be read seventy times seven). How shall we reconcile these two seemingly contradictory readings? The answer lies in the fact that these two passages describe two different relationships. Ezekiel was referring to the relationship between God and Judah and Jesus was referring to our relationship with one another. The first relationship is a relationship between unequals – God and human beings. Jesus was talking about two equals – the relationship between one human being and another person. God is all holy and human beings are totally vulnerable to sin. Even from a superficial level we can understand that to forgive or not, condemn or not, save or not is God’s prerogative. God has a choice in the matter. God does not have to forgive us. Fortunately, God does so but only in God’s infinite goodness and love. God does not even have to save us. God does so in God’s mercy and compassion.
Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just get along? The answer of course is yes. The deeper question is why can’t we? We are all different and each of us is created for unique purposes. The rub arises when we think that we as individuals are more important than the parts we play within the larger body. We are but ; we need to recognize and accept our role within this body. The readings today are an exercise in contrast in dealing with people inside the body who are malevolent to the body existence.
Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr
It is no secret that we are currently undergoing hard economic times. All the more reason for us to consider giving more to the poor than we already do. When we think about the poor, we often think about people far away whom we will likely never meet, or perhaps a beggar on the street whom we have in fact met. But there are many who are poor in a variety of ways among us at all times. Moreover, there are many ways we can give to the poor.
Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“Heaven and earth are filled with your glory” is the refrain for today’s responsorial psalm. This draws attention to two realms of Christian belief: both heaven and earth. And indeed, there is a certain “otherworldly” quality to the worldliness of Christians; we are meant to be occupied both with heaven and with earth.
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
he second reading for today comes from the Letter to the Hebrews and is a portion of chapter 11, often known as the “Hall of Faith.” In it the author recounts the obedient faith of our forerunners. We hear about the faith of Abraham, the father of faith. Abraham believed God and left his country even in his old age. He trusted that God would provide him an heir, even though he and his wife were beyond childbearing years. God miraculously provided an heir for Abraham, and then asked Abraham to sacrifice his only beloved son. The early rabbis saw in the faith of Abraham during the binding of Isaac for sacrifice, an image of hope in the resurrection. This is because Isaac was given back to Abraham. God did not allow Abraham to complete the sacrifice and kill his son. Rather, God spared Isaac, and thus his life was in a sense restored.
Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading we have a passage from the prophet Habakkuk. This is one of the shortest books in the entire Bible, composed of only three chapters. Habakkuk wrote during a tumultuous time for Judah—Babylon was breathing down its neck, winning decisive victories all around its borders. It wouldn’t be long before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity in 597 BC.
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
There have been many books released in the past couple years that proclaim "the God delusion," that "God is not great," and that Jesus must be some kind of strange myth dreamed up by those who want power. Under the guise of reason these books put forth arguments that are very tempting for our day, and that are not all that new. People have been discussing modern atheism and questioning God's existence for the past two centuries, but as today's letter from Peter (2 Peter 1:16-19) attests, people have been directly questioning who Jesus is ("cleverly devised myths") ever since he died and rose again. On this feast of the Transfiguration, which is a feast celebrating that Jesus is revealed as divine and human to us mere creatures, the scriptures have much to say to us about modern-day and historic atheism.
Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Often those who convert to Catholicism from another Christian denomination find opposition from family and friends who challenge Catholic beliefs. One of these beliefs is the papacy, and the Scripture passage that supports this Church doctrine is today’s gospel reading. This passage is sometimes known as Peter’s confession because he professes his belief that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah), Son of the Living God. Jesus responds by calling Peter blessed and saying that he will build his Church on Peter, a name that means rock. Nor is this the only passage that highlights Peter’s leadership and place of primacy among the apostles. Whenever the apostles are listed, Peter is always at the head of the list, and Judas is always listed last. So it is with good reason that Catholics acknowledge Peter’s leadership and the authority of the pope in leading the Church.
Memorial of Saint John Vianney, priest
M. Scott Peck’s book, “The Road Less Traveled” starts out memorably with the sentence “Life is difficult.” Aside from stating the obvious, this line gives context to a book that sets out to explore the nature of loving relationships and how they affect our spirit and our serenity.
Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah appears to tell of doom and destruction. The tone quickly changes, since we are reading only an excerpt of a much larger passage. In our passage today, God speaks of the destruction, but then God foretells a time of healing and renewal. Yes the people will suffer in exile, but then they shall return to the land and the city shall be rebuilt. In the broader context including the rest of the passages from chapter 30 which have not been included in our reading, we see that the sufferings depicted are themselves a part of the healing. Israel is being chastised, disciplined, punished, as a child, but not destroyed completely. Israel has done wrong, and will have to reap the consequences. But, God, as Israel’s Father, will have mercy on them and will not destroy them but will restore them.
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading from the prophet Jeremiah tells the story of a sort of prophecy competition between Hananiah and Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s message to the people has consistently been a negative one, warning the people of suffering. Hananiah, meanwhile, promises peace to the people, and the recovery of their own self-government. Jeremiah desires this as much as any other person of Israel would do. But Jeremiah does not think it is necessarily realistic, especially because the people have not repented as they ought to have done in their situation. It’s easy to see that Hananiah would have been a more popular prophet than Jeremiah. Who wants to hear about death, destruction, woe, and misery when you can look forward instead to a brighter future of freedom, peace, and prosperity? Jeremiah, then, represents what the people don’t want to hear.
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Most of us have at some time been drawn to the existential questions: “What am I doing here?” or “What is life about?” “What is the meaning of all this?” It is so easy to be caught up in the drone of everyday life: wake up, eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, go to work, come home from work, watch television, go to bed, and repeat. Life seems to drag at times or even seem pointless or meaningless as we do the same things over and over again.
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, priest
Today’s readings encourage us to reflect upon our ability to listen, especially to words that we don’t want to hear, and to discern the voice of God.
The prophetic profession is not easy. Even the valiant Jeremiah of today’s first reading had protested to God that he was too young to be a prophet when God called him (see Jer 1:6). It’s not easy because it often demands delivering God’s word to people who don’t want to hear it. Jeremiah has warned the Jews that their infidelity to the covenant will lead to their destruction (Jer 26:13). In return, the leaders want to kill him.
Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the readings for today we see a parallel drawn between Jeremiah and Jesus. For both Jeremiah and Jesus, some key people found their teachings too difficult to accept. In Jeremiah’s case, the priests and prophets called for him to be put to death for speaking what God had told him to say. In Jesus’ case, we are told that it was those from his home town who found it most difficult to accept him as a prophet. There is really nothing surprising in this reaction to Jesus. Often it is the people who think they know us best who are the ones that have the strongest preconceptions about who we are and what we are capable (or not capable) of doing. Following the will of God might involve breaking with such expectations. I’m reminded here of the numerous saints – including Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, Ignatius Loyola, and Teresa of Avila – who felt the need to separate themselves from the expectations that their families had set for them in order to follow a call they had received from God.
Memorial of Saint Martha
In the United States today, we have a negative association with giving up. We are told from the time that we are little that we can be whatever we want and do whatever will make us happy. We are told that we can achieve the American dream, so long as we work hard and stay focused on our goals. And while this bears some reflection of truth, it can lead us to think that life is all about us: “If it is to be, it is up to me.” In fact, this is not the case. We can’t always control what happens to us, and when we look back at our life, we often find that we weren’t as in control as we thought we were at the time.
Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
In praying with the readings today, the phrase that kept coming to mind was “that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” For Jeremiah, in today’s first reading, lemons seemed to be abound. Jeremiah found that being the Lord’s mouthpiece came with a cost. The decision Jeremiah had to discern and the one that is continually before us as well remains, “Are we willing to suffer the cost, or do whatever it takes to pay for the pearl of great price?”