Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
You cannot give away what you do not possess. And you cannot give away what you’re unwilling or unable to relinquish. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about those two corollaries. Our first reading today reminds us to receive God’s vast love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness and from that abundant fountain, live and serve in the overflow.
Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
In the six verses that precede the reading from Luke for today, Jesus gives instructions to his disciples about how to follow him. The first takes the form of a warning: do not become an obstacle or stumbling block to someone else’s faith. In other words, don’t do anything that might encourage someone else to turn away from God. If I give someone else reason to doubt God or I encourage them in some way to sin and, thus, be in wrong relationship to God, I am a stumbling block to their faith. The second is a call to hold accountable the brother or sister who sins and, even more, to forgive them no matter how many times they sin so long as they repent each time. That could mean enduring a whole lot of someone else’s sinning and offering up a whole lot of forgiveness to boot!
Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
The New Testament “pastoral letters” consist of I & II Timothy & Titus. Timothy & Titus were the right and left hands of Paul. Today we hear the beginning of Paul’s letter to Titus.
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
In today’s second reading, Paul tells the Corinthians that we are God’s building. He uses this metaphor to teach that God’s Spirit is within us and that our foundation should be Jesus Christ. For us today, Paul challenges us to look within ourselves to see what we base our lives on. Is it money? Pride? Fear? Anger? Love? What is the foundation upon which we build our lives? If we are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us as Paul writes, then we must be a place where God’s love can thrive.
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Prudence is the first of the cardinal virtues in the Catholic Church. Merriam-Webster offers a few definitions for prudence: the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason; sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs; skill and good judgment in the use of resources; caution or circumspection as to danger or risk. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, prudence “is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it” (1806).
Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you may struggle with the same challenge as Paul (and I): Confidence in “the flesh;” in other words, confidence in the self. In all Paul’s writing, ‘the flesh’ points not to our physical nature, but to our ‘self’ as it exists independent of God. It alludes to our will, our rationality, our emotion, our human-informed capability for both vice and virtue. In the first reading when Paul talks about “confidence in the flesh,” he’s talking about the human ability to be good, or to ‘save yourself.’ There’s a tendency among many people (especially we who are trying very hard to be good) to believe that our salvation counts on our goodness. That our ‘flesh,’ our being on its own, can and MUST act rightly if we are to have a good life and eternal life. If we act wrongly, bad things will happen. It totally depends on ME. In a funny way, it’s self-centered; this belief inflates our sense of self-importance. Paul confesses to being like this before his conversion. Lots of religious people think this way. Most days, I think I do. It can be a problem.
Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
In our CGS sessions the students often choose to sing the song, Christ is light. The song is sung to a simple tune and goes like this - “Christ is light, in him there is no darkness. Come to Him and He will give you light.” This simple song comes to mind when I read today’s readings.
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
When I was in middle school in 1966, the Medical Mission Sisters put out an album “Joy is Like the Rain” that became very popular. The final cut on the album was “Wedding Banquet”, which was based on today’s Gospel. The refrain still sometimes echoes in my head and I’ve been caught singing it out loud sometimes: “I cannot come to the banquet don’t trouble me now, I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow, I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum, I cannot come, I cannot come…”
Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop
Mohandas K. Gandhi once remarked, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.” Why would the great Mahatma, a man of morality and humanity, level such a sharp rebuke?
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
Dealing with death is difficult. My uncle recently passed away unexpectedly, and my family struggled with his passing, especially my aunt (his wife) and cousins (his sons). However, my aunt was hopeful that she would be able to get through this. I believe that she has this perspective because our faith teaches us that death is not the end and that there is something greater for us after death. Today’s first reading tells us that “The souls of the just are in the hand of God” (Wisdom 3:1), and St. Paul in the second reading teaches us that “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in the newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Solemnity of All Saints
When I was in Catholic elementary school as a young girl, I remember the teacher one day asking the class who would like to be a saint. I recall that not many, if any, hands were raised in response to that question, and I struggled with it myself. I knew I had the desire to be a saint, but to acknowledge that in front of a class of my peers was just too uncomfortable for me. So I didn’t raise my hand, and I felt badly about it, but was too shy or insecure to admit it. She then went on to explain that if we hoped to go to heaven then we really were hoping to be saints. I think that even many adults have the idea that to be a saint you have to practically be perfect, or at least “very, very holy,” in an unattainable kind of way. That is probably why I was particularly drawn to St Therese of Lisieux, not only because she seemed more real and “human” by the fact that there were photographs of her, including in her childhood, but also because she “achieved” sainthood through the simple way of doing everything with love. I learned that we are all called to be saints and that those who have “died in the Lord” and are sharing in God’s glory are part of the communion of saints, even if they haven’t been canonized.
Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Every morning we wake up and get dressed for the day. We consider the weather and the activities we will be doing to guide our clothing selection. In today’s first reading, St. Paul describes how we should be clothed as a follower of Christ. What should we wear, and how do we “put on” these outer garments of Christ to protect us from the challenges we will face?
Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Today I’m choosing to focus on our first reading; specifically, St Paul’s reference to the Fourth Commandment. As I reflect, I’ll share from an evocative book I’m reading, entitled, Citizens Yet Strangers: Living Authentically Catholic in a Divided America, by Kenneth Craycraft. The Fourth Commandment, according to Church teaching, goes way beyond merely the honoring of our parents and reveals to us that the family is the nucleus of society. God calls each of our families to be communities of love ordered toward him. Today, may we grow in understanding our family’s true identity and may we deepen our commitment to nurture our families to be “intimate communities of life and love.”
Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
In this harvest season, we experience the fruitfulness of abundant vegetables in our markets, squirrels gathering fallen acorns and pumpkins decorating our homes and flavoring beverages and desserts. A giant oak tree, pumpkin patch vines, and sunflower plants—each originated from just one seed. God’s creation in nature, gives us abundant examples of the vibrancy of God’s Kingdom—it is living and active and grows.
Feasts of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Saint Paul wrote to his foundling community at Corinth that he was the “least of the apostles.” Yet the New Testament reveals more about Paul, his person, his missions, his struggles, and his writings than all of the others combined.
The word “least” may better apply to Simon & Jude. In the Synoptics (Mark, Matthew, Luke) these two apostles have the dishonor of being listed towards the bottom — just above Judas. But maybe we know more about them than we realize.
Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading, Paul teaches the Ephesians about Christian community. Each of the faithful is a member of the Body of Christ and has a unique role in it.
Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
I am always fascinated when we read a list of virtues or a set of instructions for how to live as we do today. In the first reading, Paul “urges” the Ephesians (and all of us) “to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received” (Eph 4:1). Great! Here is a simple checklist, all very clearly and simply laid out for me—Christian living for Dummies. Just do these few things and you’re all set for heaven.
Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
I don’t know about you, but I find the passage before us today from Luke very challenging. I have consulted my commentary for help, and the wisdom there is that Jesus is saying that when people take his teachings seriously, as Paul did when he said things like there is no longer Jew or Greek, there will inevitably be divisions, even within families. Some will embrace his Gospel; others will reject it. And such differences will bring pain. I do take that point.
Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
In my recent book club our discussion found its way to the idea of integrity – doing the right thing because it is simply the right thing to do. Some say that this can be defined as doing the right thing when no one else is watching. Today’s Gospel reading makes me think of this same idea. Luke talks about the master who goes away and leaves his servant in charge. Even though the master is gone and cannot see what the servant is doing, he expects that the servant is following the master’s expectations and direction. He expects his servant to be a person of integrity.
Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Most people are able to recall a time when they excluded others. Most people can also recall a time when they were excluded. These can be among the most poignant and painful memories, especially for kids and young adults. This happens in religion as well. We might remember that after Jesus commanded the crowd to “love you neighbor,” their first response was, ‘who is my neighbor?’ People want to know who they can exclude. This reality is the starting point for our first reading.