Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
This summer my husband and I and our four children, ages 12 to 5, were blessed to be able to attend a family retreat. We spent 5 days intentionally spending time together, praying together, laughing together and refocusing our family on Christ. We spent this time reconstructing our domestic church.
Today’s Gospel calls to mind this experience for me. We came into this retreat as many families do – losing sight of the immense blessing each member of our family is. We were taking each other for granted, snapping at each other and quite honestly being selfish and unkind towards one another. At one point the retreat focused on forgiveness. What a powerful gift we have in forgiveness. We hear Christ tell the apostles, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” I think sometimes we lose sight of how immensely powerful this loosing and binding can be, especially in our families. It’s so important to set time aside and practice the art of both sincere apology and sincere forgiveness. I know that when I have asked forgiveness from someone and truly feel forgiven, I can quite literally feel myself getting looser, feeling less bound up – feeling free. While it’s important to do this for all our relationships I think it’s especially important in our families.
Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The gospel today brings up the idea that there is something childlike about Christian faith. This raises the question of the main differences between children and adults. It occurs to me that being an adult comes with certain privileges but it also includes many responsibilities that children do not have. Adults have more autonomy and they can make more decisions for themselves, but they are also responsible for their decisions in ways that young children are not. Adults may have other people – family and friends – who depend on them for material and emotional support in ways that children do not experience. And adults perhaps have more to worry about – making ends meet, providing for their families, and planning for the future.
Jesus addresses his words in today’s gospel to his adult disciples, yet he points out that it is necessary to be childlike in one’s faith. It seems to me that it is specifically humility that Jesus is putting forth as something for us to strive for as Christians.
Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s lectionary features the beginning verses of the Book of Ezekiel, highlighting his wild prophetic call. Some imaginations have surmised that what Ezekiel envisioned were actually UFOs – “spinning wheels and rims, shooting up into the sky.” Amidst this celestial dance are creatures emitting sounds akin to sonic booms. When the “crafts” stop shooting about and simply hover, the thundering voice of the Almighty warns the Judeans to straighten up (or else).
Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
Today is the Feast of St. Lawrence. Not much is known about his life. As a deacon in Rome, he managed church goods and distribution of alms to the poor. Today’s readings fit with St. Lawrence. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that God abundantly provides grace so that what good we do is abundant too. St. Lawrence must’ve believed that. One legend tells of a time when the prefect of Rome ordered him to show all of the Church’s wealth within three days. Consequently, St. Lawrence gathered a large group of the poor, the sick, widows, orphans, and others who were most vulnerable in society. He then proclaimed, “These are the treasure of the Church.
Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s optional memorial for St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein (her given name) is fitting especially for today’s gospel reading. A German Jewish Philosopher who converted to Catholicism and entered the Carmelite convent having been greatly influenced by the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila (Carmelite mystic and Doctor of the Church). Pope John Paul II canonized Edith Stein in 1998 as a confessor and martyr of the church given her death in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942 as a “Jewish-Christian” in solidarity with the Jewish people. In the words of Robert Ellsberg (in his book, All Saints) the remarkable thing was her understanding of that death, “in solidarity with her people, as an act of atonement for the evil of her time, and as a conscious identification with the cross of Christ.” (p. 345)
Memorial of Saint Dominic, priest
As a disciple of Jesus, we are called to follow Him, however, sometimes knowing exactly what we are being called to do can be a challenge. There may be choices that seem like reasonable options, but I oftentimes stop to consider, “Is this what I want, or what God wants for me?” How do we learn to think like God does or have the mind of Christ?
Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
In today’s Gospel, we see a stark contrast between the attitude of Jesus’ heart and that of his disciples toward a woman in need. This startling account highlights how very much we, too, stray from the heart of God. Our Lord’s Gospel always functions as a mirror, inviting us to peer into it and examine ourselves. We might ask ourselves today, do I tend to be merciful or unmerciful?
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Transfigure us, O Lord, transfigure us, O Lord.
Break the chains that bind us; speak your healing word,
and where you lead we'll follow. Transfigure us, O Lord.
—Bob Hurd, 2002, Published by OCP
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle of Jesus found in all four gospels, it was that important for the earliest Jesus believers. With eucharistic overtones, it suggests the “end time banquet” when all have plenty and everyone is invited to the table, no one excluded.
Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel seems gruesome. John the Baptist was beheaded and then his head was put on a platter. Behind all that, Herod seemed plagued by other people’s opinions. He wanted to kill John but feared the people who regarded John as a prophet. Herod arrested John because of his wife and became distressed over beheading John after impulsively promising Salome to fulfill any request she (and her mother) had. Other people determined Herod’s actions. This Gospel passage can inspire us to reflect on the motivations behind our own actions.
Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever noticed in the Gospels when Jesus performs miracles, there is always a correlation to the faith of the receiver of the miracle? Today, we read, “And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith” (Mt 13:58). The people of Jesus’ own hometown, the ones who maybe ‘knew’ him the best, turn out to be some of his biggest skeptics. Jesus’ miracles tend to either reveal his great mercy or his divine identity as the Son of God. I think it’s important to distinguish between Jesus’ ability to perform mighty deeds in our lives and our willingness to receive the gift. How often do we get in our own way? How often do we set or project expectations onto someone that blocks our vision of reality when that person is not what we expected?
Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
The reading today from Matthew’s gospel at first sounds good and then is rather unsettling. The idea that the Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea that catches every sort of fish sounds good! We’re all in!
But then Jesus goes on to say that once the net is brought to shore then the good fish are kept and the bad fish are thrown away. Not so good.
And then it just gets worse. Jesus talks about the end of the age at which time the angels will separate the good and the bad, with the bad getting thrown into a fiery furnace. Yikes!
So, my question is: who are the good and who are the bad? Who’s going to be thrown away or, worse, tossed into the fiery furnace?
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Throughout the Gospels Jesus uses parables to help his disciples, and in turn us, to understand his teachings. In today’s Gospel Jesus focuses on two parables that he presents to help us understand the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven.
We hear first that “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Did you catch the way in which this person sells everything? He does this joyfully! He has found something so valuable that he holds nothing back. He sees how valuable this treasure is that he sells everything he has in order to own it, and he sells everything joyfully. When we are asked to give of what we have to help bring about God’s kingdom, is our attitude always one of joy? May we pray and work to cultivate this virtue today.
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s reading from Matthew (13:36-43), we hear about the artful nature of growing weeds alongside our crops. This is one of only a few instances where Jesus actually takes the time and energy to break down one of his parables – a sign to us that we should listen closely (and Jesus reminds us to do this too at the end of his explanation). What should we be listening for? Well, there is quite a lot to take away from this reading, but I’ll tell you what I hear Jesus telling me when I read this passage: be careful when weeding in other people’s fields.
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Today God commands Jeremiah to obtain a brand new linen loincloth to wear. Now, this is odd enough. The “bottom-line” (no pun intended) it was an intimate undergarment, worn close to the skin and out of view — as personal a piece of clothing one could own. Then, Jeremiah was instructed to “go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock” (Jeremiah 13:4).
Some time later, after the loincloth had had time to succumb to the elements, Jeremiah was instructed to go retrieve it. When he did, he discovered that the delicate linen fabric had rotted and decayed. The garment was useless. And that was the whole point.
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
I don’t garden much or know a lot about plants, but the little that I do know helps me better understand Jesus’ farming imagery in his parables. Whenever I weeded, I’m always surprised and amazed as to how far weeds’ roots are or how spread out they really are or how hard it can be to take them out. Sometimes I don’t know which plant is a weed and which one was intentionally planted. In today’s Gospel, Jesus used metaphors of harvest and weeding in the Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat.
Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t thought much about Mary, Jesus’ mother, as a little girl, or about her parents and how they raised her. I’m aware that Mary’s mother is St. Anne and her father is St. Joachim, and have seen some lovely images of St. Anne holding Mary on her lap, but beyond that I haven’t really thought much about Mary’s childhood.
Today the church celebrates the feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, which gives us the opportunity to reflect on their role as parents and the importance of them passing on their faith, which was a Jewish faith, to Mary. The first reading from Sirach (44:1,10-15) refers to those who live on/endure through the fruit of their virtuous lives and through their families because of God’s covenant with them.
Feast of Saint James, Apostle
Today the church celebrates the feast day of St. James. This has particular meaning for me, since back in 2016 I visited the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela (the final destination of the Camino de Santiago located in northern Spain) where the body of St. James is reposed. St. James is often pictured as a pilgrim because he is said to have traveled to Spain to share the Good News of Jesus. Like St. James, we are also pilgrims on a journey following Jesus’ lead to love and serve.
Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Our first reading today allows us into the intimate encounter between God and the prophet Jeremiah. We’re invited into God’s call on the life of this incredible prophet. What a privilege to read these words and to be part of this holy summons. It’s awe-inspiring! And . . . AND, God’s call is not for Jeremiah alone. God calls each and every one of us into ministry by virtue of our Baptism. Like Jeremiah, let us today give God our generous YES; let us respond to God’s call whatever our state in life, whatever our vocation.
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“God will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Yet today, many of us are often unaware of our sins. We may feel inadequate or be aware of our weakness, but we are quick to forget our sins. If we don’t know our sinfulness, it will continue to weigh us down in secret. Our Lord offers something better. The Spirit can cast light upon our sins, so that Jesus can free us from them. A good examination of conscience isn’t one that makes us feel small or pathetic; it is one that opens us to God’s uplifting, cleansing Love.