28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (October 11, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“In him who is the source of my strength I have strength for everything.”

Salesian Perspective

“I am experienced in being brought low, yet I know what it is to have an abundance. I have learned how to cope with every circumstance: how to eat well or go hungry, to be well provided for or to do without.”

How did St. Paul manage to deal with the ups and downs of life in such a centered, balanced and confident manner? More importantly, how can we manage to deal with the ups and downs of our own lives in such a centered, balanced and confident manner?

Among other things, we need a solid, profound trust in God. We need the kind of trust that enables us to see the hand of God in both good times and tough times alike.

Francis de Sales offered this great piece of advice. It is as relevant to our own desire to effectively roll with the punches that life may deliver on any given day as it was to the person to whom Francis originally addressed these words in 1603: “You should be like a little child who, while it knows that its mother is holding its sleeve, walks boldly and runs all around without being distressed at a little fall or stumble; after all, it is as yet rather unsteady on its legs. In the same way, as long as you realize that God is holding on to you by your will and resolution to serve him, go on boldly and do not be upset by your little set-backs and falls; there is no need to be put out by this provided that you throw yourself into God's arms from time to time and kiss God with the kiss of charity. Go on joyfully and with your heart as open and wisely trustful as possible; and if you cannot always be joyful, at least be brave and confident.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, pages 45 - 46.)

In another letter, Francis offered the following observation regarding our trust in God and our ability to deal with adversity in life: “It is far better to lift up our eyes to the hills whence help shall come to us, to hope in the Lord and willingly glory in our infirmities so that the strength of Christ may dwell in us……For those who put their trust in the Lord shall take wings like the eagle; but whoever loses heart shall come to nothing and vanish like smoke. The soldier who leaves the field trembling with fear no doubt finds rest but no greater safety than the one who goes on fighting.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, page 121)

There are many experiences in life that may leave us fearful, or at least, frustrated. What distinguishes happy, healthy and holy people from people who just try to get through life is the ability and willingness to trust that God loves us in all the ups and downs of life. In the words of Job, those who trust in the Lord know that while the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, always blessed is the name of the Lord.

And blessed, always, are all those who trust - and believe - in God……no matter what.

33RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (November 15, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“Well done. You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter, I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come share your master’s joy.”

Salesian Perspective

Judgment Day.

Has a sense of finality to it, doesn’t it?

Well, it should.

St. Francis de Sales wrote: “Consider the majesty with which the sovereign Judge will appear, surrounded by all the angels and saints. Before him will be borne his cross, shining more brilliantly than the sun, the standard of mercy to the good and of punishment to the wicked. By his awful command, which will be swiftly carried out, this sovereign Judge will separate the good from the bad, placing the one at his right hand and the other at his left. It will be an everlasting separation and after it these two groups will never again be together. When this separation has been made and all consciences laid bare we will clearly see the malice of the wicked and the contempt they have shown for God, and we will also see the repentance of the good and the effect of the graces they received from God. Nothing will lie hidden.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapter 14)

In the next life, nothing will be hidden. In this life, one thing in particular should never be hidden: our God-given gifts, abilities, talents, skills and graces.

Today's Gospel issues a stern and stark warning: we must not return unused the gifts (no matter how great or small) that God gives us.

To be sure, to invest these gifts in the lives of others requires our willingness to take risks. There are few guarantees in life. We cannot be certain on any given day how well we will use our gifts, to say nothing of whether or not our gifts will be appreciated, honored, accepted or welcomed by others. Still, we must endeavor to take prudent care of and make good use of our God-given time, talents and treasure in this effort: the risks that we take in generously share ourselves with others should not be rash or reckless.

But as risky as naming, embracing and investing our gifts might be, we must never allow the anxieties of an uncertain world to tempt us to do the unthinkable: to bury our talents. To act as if we possessed nothing with which to give honor to God or to meet the needs of others is far worse than any mistake we might generally make on any given day in using our abilities.

To be sure, we will make mistakes in our attempts to make good use of our God-given graces. But there is no greater mistake than to live our lives as if we had no gifts to use in the service of God or others by burying them: obscuring them from the light of day.

When in doubt, keep them out: for you – for God, and for others – to see. And, in the process, share your Master’s joy…today!

30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (October 25, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Salesian Perspective

Francis de Sales authored the Treatise on the Love of God. Had he lived long enough, he also intended to write a book on the love of neighbor. What is common to both is charity - the love of God and neighbor. Charity was, and is, in the mind and heart of Francis de Sales, the virtue of virtues. We are called to love our God in a neighborly way and called to love our neighbor in a God-like manner.

Needless to say, but say it we will, Francis de Sales has more than a little to share with us about the nature and practice of charity.

"Just as God created man in his image and likeness, so also God has ordained for us a love in the image and likeness of the love due to God's divinity…Why do we love God? The reason we love God is God himself…Why do we love ourselves in charity? Surely, it is because we are God's image and likeness…Since all people have this same dignity, we also love them as ourselves, that is, in their character as most holy and living images of the divinity…The same charity that produces acts of love of God produces at the same time those of love of neighbor….To love our neighbor in charity is to love God in others and others in God." (Treatise on the Love of God, Book 10, Chapter 11)

For St. Francis de Sales, the love of God and the love of neighbor are not two distinct experiences as much as they are two expressions of the same reality, two sides, as it were, of the same coin. (Recall Jesus’ command in last Sunday’s Gospel to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to render to God what is God’s.”)

“The great St. Augustine says that charity includes all the virtues and performs all their operations in us,” wrote St. Francis de Sales. “These are his words: ‘What is said about virtue being divided into four’ - he means the four cardinal virtues – ‘in my opinion is said because of the different affections that proceed from love. Hence, I do not hesitate to define those four virtues thus: temperance is love that gives itself entirely to God. Fortitude is love that willingly bears all things for God's sake. Justice is love that serves God alone, and therefore disposes justly all that is subject to human beings. Prudence is love that chooses what is useful to unite itself to God, and rejects all that is harmful.’” (Treatise on the Love of God, Chapter XI, Chapter 8)

"The one who possesses charity has one's soul clothed with a fair wedding garment, which, like that of Joseph, is wrought over with all the various virtues. Moreover, charity has a perfection that contains the virtue of all perfections and the perfections of all virtues." (Ibid)

In charity we find the meeting place of the love of God, the love of self, and the love of others. How well do we share this multi-faceted love with those we meet every day? Put another way, how well prepared are we to render unto that of Caesar and that of God in ourselves and one another?

CHRIST THE KING (November 22, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“As for you, my sheep, says the Lord God, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.”

Salesian Perspective

Judgment Day, Part 2.

Still has a sense of finality to it, doesn’t it?

It should.

St. Francis de Sales wrote: “Consider that last sentence passed on to the wicked: ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his companions.’ Weigh well these heavy words. Depart, he says. It is a word of eternal abandonment that God utters to those unhappy souls and by it he banishes them forever from his face. He calls them cursed…Consider the contrary sentence passed on the good. Come, says the Judge. Ah, this is the sweet word of salvation by which God draws us to himself and receives us into the bosom of his goodness…O welcome blessing, which includes all blessings!” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapter 14)

The parable in today's Gospel is noticeably clear: there will be a final judgment. What is also clear is that both the good and the evil failed to recognize how the seeds of this last judgment were planted in their everyday interactions with others. Re-read the text: both groups asked the question, “When did we see you…when did we welcome you…when did we visit you…when did we give you…?” Right up until the last day, both groups failed to grasp the intimate relationship between God’s judgment of us and our relationships to one another. Both groups failed to recognize the connection between the love of God and performing simple, ordinary acts of love for others.

This parable challenges us to recognize that the final judgment is not a one-time event: in the eyes of God – in the eyes of the God who judges justly - this judgment is an ongoing, daily event. God is extremely interested in judging how we use each moment of our lives, not simply the last one.

But while this parable speaks volumes about God's judgment, it also has a lot to say about our own judgment. In the end, the final judgment is heavily impacted by the kind of judgment we use in relating to one another, day in, day out, in the most unique, as well as the most ordinary, of life's events, circumstances, responsibilities and demands.

What do our affections, attitudes and actions toward others every day say about the final disposition of our souls? What does the way we live our lives on earth say about our lives in the hereafter?

You be the judge.

ALL SAINTS (November 1, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

"These are the ones who have survived the great period of trial..."

Salesian Perspective

“Let us join our hearts to these heavenly spirits and blessed souls. Just as young nightingales learn to sing in company with the old, so also by our holy associations with the saints let us learn the best way to pray and sing God’s praise.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 16)

We stand on the shoulders of giants. Over the last two thousand years countless men, women and children of many eras, places and cultures have spent their lives in the service of the Good News of Jesus Christ. From among these many, a smaller group of individuals have earned the distinction of being known as “saints.”

These are real people to whom we look for example. These are real people to whom we look for inspiration. These are real people to whom we look for encouragement and grace.

These saints – these real people - have blazed a trail in living and proclaiming the Gospel. The challenge to us is to follow their example in ways that fit the state and stage of life in which we find ourselves.

In case you haven’t yet figured it out, you, too, are called to live a saintly – a God-centered, self-giving - way of life in the very places in which you live, love, work and play every day. Francis de Sales wrote: “Look at the example given by the saints in every walk of life. There is nothing that they have not done in order to love God and to be God’s devoted followers…Why then should we not do as much according to our position and vocation in life to keep the cherished resolution and holy protestations that we have made?” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part V, Chapter 12)

What does it mean to be a saint? Surprisingly, it is much more down-to-earth and obtainable than we might think. Francis de Sales observed: “We must love all that God loves, and God loves our vocation; so let us love our vocation, too, and not waste our energy hankering after a different sort of life, but get on with your own job. Be Martha as well as Mary, and be both gladly, faithfully doing what you are called to do…” (Stopp, Selected Letters, Page 61)

In the view of St. Francis de Sales, sanctity – sainthood – is measured by our willingness and ability to embrace the state and stage of life in which we find ourselves. Saints are people who deeply embraced their lives as they found them, rather than wasting time wishing or waiting for an opportunity to live someone else’s life. Sainthood – sanctity – holiness – is marked by the willingness to embrace God’s will as it is manifested in the ups and downs of everyday life.

How are you being called to be a saint today?

26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (September 27, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“Let all parties think humbly of others...each of you looking to others’ interests rather than your own.”

Salesian Perspective

To live humbly, as St. Augustine said, is to live in the truth: the truth about God, the truth about ourselves, the truth about others. This living in the truth is no mere intellectual exercise: it is something that should make a profound difference in the way we live our lives.

St. Francis de Sales saw Jesus Christ as the perfect model of humility. What was the truth about Jesus? First, he was divine. Second, Christ did not selfishly cling to his divine nature. Third, Christ generously and freely shared his power (in conformity with the Father's will) with individual men, women and children in a particular time, in a particular space and in a particular place in human history. Fourth, so enamored of us was Christ that he shared his divinity with us by becoming fully human: experiencing birth, celebrating life, embracing death.

The mystery of his self-emptying is only fully understood in the light of his divine power. The significance of his humility is all the greater when seen as an expression of his absolute generosity. His service to us is all the more remarkable when we consider it should have been us serving him.

To be humble is to live in the truth as Jesus did. Like Christ, we must first acknowledge that since we are made in the image and likeness of God, we, too, are good. Second, we have to acknowledge that our God-given dignity is not meant to serve our own needs alone; rather, we are created to “look to others’ interests rather than our own.” Third, we acknowledge that as good and beautiful and holy as the created order may be, our ultimate glory is to live forever in heaven. Fourth, we walk in the belief that only those who lay down their lives in service each day will be raised up on the last day.

Our glory is not found in clinging to our God-given dignity and destiny. No, our power is most vividly and powerfully glorified when we use that dignity and destiny to reach out to one another in love. Like Christ, we are most powerful when we devote ourselves to pursuing the health, holiness and happiness of others.

Like Christ, humble servants know that they can be truly happy only by making their very best effort every day to “make complete” the joy of others. By emptying ourselves, we make more room for others…and in the process, coming to know the fullness of joy ourselves by becoming fully human as God intends.

To be sure, every knee must bend in heaven, on earth and under the earth before the presence of the Almighty. However, we who walk in the presence of God must also stand tall for and live in the truth: for God, for ourselves, and especially, for one another.

25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (September 20, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call to him while he is near.”

Salesian Perspective

Whether we are conscious of it or not, all of us seek the Lord in our lives. We look for God in our homes, our neighborhoods, schools and offices. We look for God in our successes and setbacks. We look for God in our hopes, our fears and our dreams. We look for God in all that we must accomplish today.

With all that we have on our plate, who has time for all this seeking? Truth is that seeking God is not about doing anything extra: seeking God is merely opening our minds, hearts, ears, eyes and imaginations to a God who is always with us in the midst of all the things that we have on our plate.

St. Francis de Sales wrote: “God is in all things and all places. There is no place or thing in this world in which God is not truly present. Just as wherever birds fly, they always encounter the air, so also wherever we go or wherever we are we find God present. Everyone knows this truth - intellectually - but not everyone is successful in bringing this truth home to themselves.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 2) Not only is God always where you are "but also present in a most particular manner in your heart and in the very center of your spirit. He enlivens and animates you by his divine presence, for God is there as the heart of your heart and the spirit of your spirit." (Ibid)

So the problem is not that God is not present in our lives; rather, we simply - and tragically - fail to recognize God's presence. Francis wrote: “Although faith assures us of his presence, yet because we do not see him with our eyes we often forget about God and behave as if God were far distant from us. While we intellectually know that God is present in all things, we fail to reflect upon this truth and act as if we did not know it.” (Ibid)

One of the most powerful and effective means to seek the Lord - to see the Lord who is always present - is prayer. No matter how busy, frustrated, lonely or elated we become, no matter how full our daily plate might be, we can always pray: a word, a phrase, a thought or image that reminds us that the God who created us, who redeemed us and who inspires is, indeed, Emmanuel, a name that means God is with us!

Why is this so important? When we are aware of the presence of God, we are more likely to treat one another in a loving, peaceful, caring, kind, truthful and gentle manner. By contrast, when we fail to recall the presence of God, we…well…we are more likely to behave in ungodly ways.

Seek...see the Lord who is always present in yourself...in others...in all the activities of each day. Remember to think, feel, dream, work and act accordingly!

24th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (September 13, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. Should a person nourish anger against others and expect healing from the Lord?”

Salesian Perspective

Have you ever been upset? Have you ever been angry? Have you ever been livid? Of course, you have! Anger (with its many faces and facets) is a fact of life……sometimes, in fact, a very volatile fact of life. Like any emotion, it cannot be denied or suppressed.

As emotions go, anger itself is not sinful any more than joy, fear or happiness would be considered sinful. However, how we deal with anger - or fail to deal with anger - determines whether our anger results in virtue, or vice: whether it ultimately results in something constructive, or something destructive.

Few of us plan to grow angry. Anger is an intense response or reaction to an injury or injustice, whether actual or perceived. As such, it often catches us off guard. Herein lies the difficulty with this ‘pesky’ emotion: precisely because of its spontaneity and intensity, anger can quickly get the upper hand……and even more quickly get out of hand. Anger can become, as it were, an uninvited guest that quickly becomes the master of the house. Francis de Sales observed: “Once admitted it is with difficulty driven out again. It enters as a little twig, and in less than no time it grows big and becomes a beam.” Francis de Sales counsels us: “It is better to attempt to find a way to live without anger, rather than pretend to make a moderate or discreet use of it. As long as reason rules and peaceably exercises chastisements or corrections, people can approve and receive them. However, when accompanied by anger or rage, these same chastisements or corrections are feared rather than loved.”

For her part, Jane de Chantal suggests: “Try to calm your passions and live according to sound reason and the holy will of God.” It is better to let our anger cool before making an important decision or embarking upon some action.

Most importantly, anger should not be nourished or fed. Repeatedly indulging in anger can have tragic results for us. When we brood over injuries, when we revisit old hurts, when we hold onto resentment, we cease being people who get angry: we gradually become angry people. Being addicted to anger has been described thus: it is like me drinking poison, but expecting everyone else to die. While our anger may indeed hurt others on the outside, the poison that it produces eventually kills us from the inside.

Heed these words from the Book of Sirach: "Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. Should a person nourish anger against others and expect healing from the Lord? As a stone falls back upon the one who throws it up, so a blow struck in anger injures more than one. Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then, when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven." (Sir 27: 25; 28: 2-3)

Avoid wallowing in or nourishing anger. Remember, anger is an emotion: it is not meant to become a way of life.

23RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (September 6, 2020)

Suggested Emphasis

“Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another.”

Salesian Perspective

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines debt as “something owed, such as money, goods or services; an obligation or liability to pay or render something to someone else.” The reader is then encouraged to see ghabh in the index of Indo-European Roots: “Important derivatives include give, forgive, gift, able…duty and endeavor.”

Life is full of debt, obligations and things that we owe to others in a spirit of duty. Some of the things that we owe to others include tuition, taxes, credit card debt, utility bills, work for our wages, insurance, health care costs…and the list goes on and one.

On another level, although less obvious, there is a whole host of other things that are even more important that we must render to others in a spirit of generosity: time, talent, respect, reverence, fidelity, honesty, care, concern, consideration, kindness, patience, justice, peace, reconciliation…and this list, too, goes on and on.

I suppose that if one stops to collectively consider all the things that he or she owes to others, it can be more than a little overwhelming. Perhaps best to boil it all down as does St. Paul when he advises us to “owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another.” The debt of love – the bond of love – is not only the most important obligation that we owe to one another: it also includes all the other things, virtues and actions that we owe to others…that we must render to others.

In a letter to St. Jane de Chantal, St. Francis de Sales wrote: “I must tell you that I have never understood that there was any bond between us carrying with it any obligation but that of divine love and true Christian friendship, what St. Paul calls the ‘bond of perfection,’ and truly that is what it truly is, for it is indissoluble and never weakens. All other bonds are temporal…but the bond of love grows and gets stronger every time. It cannot be cut down by death, which, like a scythe, mows down everything but charity…So this is our bond, these our own chains which, the more they are tightened and press against us, the more they bring us joy and freedom…nothing is more pliable than that; nothing, stronger.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, page 127)

Our lives are filled with debts and obligations that we owe to one another. In the midst of our daily attempts to meet these obligations, may God give us the grace to remember and pursue the debt that really matters.

The bond of love…and the obligations – and opportunities – that come with it.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 30, 2020)

We have just heard a very traumatic exchange between Peter and Jesus. I have always found it hard to listen to - and yet it points out very dramatically that suffering cannot be avoided by anyone who would follow Jesus.

Jesus reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways - a reminder that we need to hear frequently. Jesus also encourages us to conform our ways to God’s.

Jeremiah puts the struggles of a disciple in very emotional terms. He had accepted the role of prophet, but the words of violence and outrage that God had put in his mouth are not happy words. They have brought him pain and suffering and opposition. He feels that God has tricked him - and he knows that he let himself be tricked. Now, even when he tells himself that he isn’t going to speak up anymore, the word of the Lord is like a fire burning in his heart, and he gets very weary trying to hold it in.

He has found that obeying God’s call to be a prophet is no longer a matter of choice for him, even if it brings him pain. His pain is real, yet it’s easier for him to endure his pain than it is to struggle to resist his summons to speak on God’s behalf. His emotional outburst offers us great insight into true discipleship. Faith and fervor and the ensuing suffering are made very clear for us.

St. Paul approaches the suffering and sacrifice of a disciple from another point of view. Paul envisions the struggles as a battle between our inclinations and our inspirations. He pleads with us to see things more clearly (to judge what is God’s will) - and to depend on our better insights to guide our behavior. Our struggle to do this every day is part of living as a disciple.

The daily sacrifices involved in conforming our ways to God’s are the great means we have of taking up our cross daily and following in Jesus’ footsteps.

At the end of today’s gospel passage, Jesus reminds us that there is a reward for our willingness to conform our ways to God’s. We have a sharing in his Father’s glory. Taking the time each day to keep in touch with the desire for God burning in our hearts can help us to continue our struggle even when we may feel that we have been tricked by the Lord. Whenever we make the choice to lose our life for the sake of God, then we will find the only life that means anything - life with Jesus.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 23, 2020)

The passage we have just heard is pivotal in the Gospels. Everything that precedes this passage is preparing us for it; everything that follows it is an explanation.

Jesus asks his closest followers a fundamental question: “Who do you say I am?” Peter speaks for the apostles: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” They acknowledge that Jesus is the promised Messiah; he is the very Son of God.

This is a true moment of faith, proclaimed for the ages. Jesus makes it very clear that they are responding with the gift given to them by his heavenly Father, not just to the mere sum of their own experiences of Jesus. This becomes clearer as the Gospel progresses, and we see that they have much more to learn about how Jesus will be the Messiah-Savior.

At this point in the Gospel narrative, they have no idea that Jesus will suffer, die on a cross, and rise on the third day. Despite their lack of full understanding, Jesus uses this moment of faith to set the foundation of the Church on the “rock” of Peter’s confession of faith. He entrusts the keys of the kingdom to Peter: the symbol of authority in the community of believers. The Church will have power to continue when Jesus returns to his Father.

For the moment, Jesus orders his disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah because they have much more to learn before they can accurately communicate the full truth of faith in Jesus as Messiah. Once they have experienced Jesus’ death and resurrection and have received the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will tell them to go out to all the nations and proclaim the Good News of salvation.

We heard St. Paul sum up the wonder of God’s plan of salvation, meant for all people. His words are a reminder that we are part of the continuing plan as members of the community founded on the authority of Peter. As we continue to grow in our knowledge and experience of the good news, we can well echo Paul’s words: “O, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”

As we speak his words, let us be grateful for the gift of faith and renew our commitment to live by what we have come to believe - so that all we are and do is seen as coming from God, done through his grace, and leading us to give God glory today and every day!

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 16, 2020)

Today’s Scriptures call us to reflect on the greatness of God’s merciful love.

St. Paul reminds us that God desires to be merciful to all – no one will be excluded. Paul knows that God’s call to the Jews is irrevocable. He suspects there is irony in the working out of God’s plan.

When the Jews did not accept Jesus, this opened the way to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. God’s mercy desires to reconcile the whole world to himself – even his chosen people. The unfolding of God’s plan of mercy will reveal the greatness and faithfulness of God’s love.

The Samaritan woman in today’s Gospel is one example. Her simple plea – “Lord, help me” – reveals her faith in Jesus. Her persistence in faith is met by Jesus’ merciful response: “Your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

God never refuses humble love.

What are we to learn from today’s readings? The obvious lesson is the wideness of God’s mercy. As individual Christians and as a community of faith, we must be welcoming to all. Our God tells us: my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people. It’s too easy for us to be satisfied with ourselves and forget that God’s calls us to open our minds and our hearts to all the people around us, inviting them to join with us in faith and love.

God desires us to build up a community of faith and love, a community that reaches out with divine mercy – a mercy that knows no limits or partiality.

We are not to make the decision who will/will not will benefit from God’s mercy. God wants everyone to experience it through you and me.

Let us be humble and persistent in our faith and welcome all our brothers and sisters in love.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 9, 2020)

Today’s Scriptures remind us that God’s presence can be found in a tiny, whispering sound and in the winds and waves that toss the disciples boat on the sea. We are always in God’s presence; he is always speaking to us.

We heard Elijah recognize God’s presence in the tiny, whispering sound. Then he hid his face in his cloak and stood at the entrance of the cave that sheltered him as the Lord passed by.

In a very different circumstance, Jesus walks on the turbulent water and approaches his disciples’ boat. The disciples are afraid until Jesus speaks to them: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Then the ever-bold Peter wants Jesus to enable him to walk on the water. Jesus says, “Come.” When the strong wind distracts Peter, he begins to sink and calls to Jesus for help. Jesus takes Peter by the hand and chides him: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

While these two stories differ, they both speak of faith and trust in God’s loving presence. I’m sure each of us has had moments when the Lord has spoken to us in a “tiny, whispering sound.” And there certainly have been times when he has spoken in the turbulence of our life. God is always saying: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid. Come, take my hand and walk with me.”

Then we have the choice. We can “come,” trusting in God’s loving presence and care for us. Or we can become distracted by the turbulence and confusion around us and may be within us, and lose sight of the Lord who is caring for us.

It would seem to be wise if we learned ways to hear Jesus’ words more often each day: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” He is our sure hope!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 2, 2020)

Today’s Scriptures invite us to reflect on the graciousness of our God and his providential care for all his people.

Consider the wonderful invitation that our God gives us through the prophet Isaiah: “Come to me heedfully, listen that you may have life. Heed me, and you shall eat well.”

Our God knows our hungers and invites us to his banquet. Answering the invitation costs us nothing. All we have to do is come with an open heart, willing to listen and eat.

Like the disciples in the Gospel, we can bring our few loaves and fishes to the community. Jesus will bless them and invite us to share what we have with those around us. Everyone will be filled with plenty left over.

The abundance we share should make us mindful of the millions in our world who are hungry every day. We must look for practical ways that we can influence world leaders to share the plenty of the world with the many people who are starving.

For example, membership in Bread for the World enables disciples to lobby Congress to make greater efforts to feed the hungry of America and the poor and hungry of our world. As we listen to God's invitation to all to come and be fed, we must remember our responsibility to make this possible for the millions who find it so difficult to respond to his invitation on a very human level.

Each time we open ourselves to the loving invitation of our God and come and listen, eat and heed, we have a deeper experience of God’s abundant providence for all his people. That deepening experience will enable us to echo St. Paul’s confidence: nothing can separate us from the love of God

shown to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

We can conquer anything overwhelmingly through him who has loved us –

even the hunger of our world. May our faith and trust be deepened as our God feeds us in due season.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 26, 2020)

Today’s first reading gives us the origin of Solomon’s great wisdom: it comes from God as a gift in answer to Solomon’s humble prayer. God is pleased that his prayer is selfless - and he gives him far more than he requested.

This seems to be God’s habit with the humble.

In the Gospel, Jesus is encouraging us to ask for this gift of wisdom so that we will be able to discern what is really important when it comes to choosing how we will live as a member of the kingdom. Like the man who finds a treasure or the merchant who finds a valuable pearl, we must be willing to surrender all to be a part of the reign of God.

Our willingness to surrender our all will be based on the depth of our belief that “God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him.” God has called us to become the image of Jesus, and has already made this possible through His Son’s sacrificial death for us. Our final destiny is glorious because God has already made it so for us. Even now we have some taste of that glory in the midst of the trials and sufferings that are also a part of our calling.

As the Gospel reminds us, the reign of God is in process. The dragnet is collecting all kinds of things. We want to be found among the “worthwhile things” and not among the “useless” which will be thrown away.

Those who are learning as the reign of God unfolds must ask for the gift of wisdom, as Solomon did. Then we will have the insight needed to keep surrendering all as we continue toward the glory that God has prepared for us who are open to being transformed in the image of His Son.

Let us seek the gift of an understanding heart and use it well in all we say and do.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 19, 2020)

Today’s first reading from the Old Testament Book of Wisdom invites us into the mystery of our God.

Though our God is master of might, God judges with clemency and governs us with great leniency. The inspired writer is clearly pointing out to us that God’s mercy is directly proportionate to his power. God’s power is the source of divine justice and mercy.

What a wonderful revelation! We are always aware that our God is all-powerful – a God of justice. That awareness can often make us fearful of God.

Today’s reading helps us to understand that God’s power is a power for good. God’s power shows itself is a justice that is always merciful, compassionate, lenient – a justice that is urging us to repent and allow ourselves to be drawn closer to our God.

We need not fear the power of our God when we understand our God as he reveals himself in the Scriptures, and especially in Jesus. Our God’s power desires to draw us more completely into his mercy – make us more completely his children. All we need to do is choose to let God’s power into our hearts each day so that God can draw us closer to himself and share his loving mercy more fully with us.

As the writer of the Book of Wisdom reflected on God’s deeds of power and mercy in history, he understood that God is showing his people how he wants them to live. “Those who are just must be kind.” Whatever position of power we may have, our power must reflect divine power – a power that is loving, just, kind, merciful, compassionate, and lenient. God asks us to treat others as he treats us.

There is much in today’s Scripture readings that we can take to prayer this week. Our God desires to continue to teach us about what it means to live as his children.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 12, 2020)

What a beautiful image St. Paul paints for us today: all creation is groaning as it eagerly awaits the fullness of redemption when everyone and everything will be freed from its slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

The presence of the Spirit within us gives us hope as we join our groaning to the groaning of all creation.

Isaiah reminded us: just as the rain and snow effectively water the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, so too will the word of God do his will, achieving the end for which He sent it.

Jesus also compares God’s word to seed sown by the Divine Sower. The seed always bears some kind of fruit, serving some purpose, but in good soil it bears fruit abundantly.

The seed sown is much like the rain that falls - the extent of its ability to make fertile and fruitful depends on the ground that receives it. Even the short-lived wild flowers that bloom after a desert storm serve a purpose.

Jesus wants more for us.

He adds a warning to the parable: “Let everyone heeds what he hears.” That means that we must spend some time in prayer with his words in order for them to be most fruitful in our life. They are able to touch that place of groaning, of eager waiting, in each of us. They speak to that hope we all have as a gift of the Spirit in us.

May each of us be “good soil” today - soil which accepts the seed and the rain that God is sending us in His word. In our prayerful listening, may we have the courage to remove stumbling-stones and thorns that may be present in the soil of our heart. May we allow that seed to be watered well and become an abundant yield as we await with a sure hope the redemption of our bodies.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 5, 2020)

The prophet Zechariah pictures the coming of the Savior/King as a time of peace. Jesus, the Savior/King, has come.

We might ask, in light of all the turmoil in the world around us, where is the peace that he is supposed to bring?

Our question brings to mind that Jesus told us: I do not give you the peace that the world gives. What then is the peace that Jesus brings? He tells us this morning that his peace is only possessed by the child-like - those who are willing to learn from his gentle, humble lead - those willing to yoke themselves to him. The peace that Jesus is able to give is refreshment to the weary and to those who find that this worldly life can be burdensome.

To be humble like Jesus means to accept the gracious, compassionate love of God our Father for what it is - unconditional, always welcoming us into the love of our Father’s home. The Father loves us in the same way that he loves his Son Jesus. Our faults and failings are forgiven even before we ask, and our acceptance of his love is reason for rejoicing, for celebrating.

Gentleness will flow from accepting that God loves everyone else in the same way he loves me - unconditionally. This realization causes me to respect and even reverence others as the place where God’s love is at work - even if that other person is not yet aware that God is loving and working there.

Gentleness is learning to love others unconditionally - forgiving them even before they can say “I’m sorry,” reaching out to fill their needs even before they can say “I’m in need,”lifting their spirits even before they can say, “I feel down today.”

When I open myself to be grateful for God’s compassionate love for me and am willing to respect his love working in everyone around me, then I am able to experience the peace that Jesus brings. My soul will find rest from the weariness of the world’s competition and conniving. The burdens of living each day will be lightened. I will be better able to see the hand of God’s love at work in everything and everyone around me.

May each of us be wise enough to learn the secret of inner peace from Jesus who is gentle and humble of heart.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 28, 2020)

We just heard St. Paul remind us of the wonderful gift we received in Baptism.

We joined Jesus in his death to sin once and for all and we were given a share in his risen life, a life for God. Paul tells us that we must continue to think of ourselves in light of what happened to us in our Baptism: in Jesus we are dead to sin; we are living for God.

Our Baptism changed us into new people who share in divine life. The challenge for us is to choose each day to live as a redeemed person.

Today’s Gospel is Matthew’s conclusion to Jesus’ great missionary instruction to his disciples – to you and me. Our Baptism commissioned us to be missionaries – to live our new life in Jesus with enthusiasm and to share with others the good news we are experiencing so that they can experience it too.

Jesus reminds us that much of our missionary efforts will be done in little things: giving a cup of cold water in his name. He tells us that there is a profound implication to even the smallest act of unselfish love. In these little acts of kindness, we can mirror the loving kindness of our God. Our God in return gives us a reward immensely greater than our efforts deserve. That is the nature of God’s loving kindness.

Let us resolve once again to live more faithfully the new life we were given in our Baptism. Let us be more conscious of the little opportunities we are given to be God’s loving kindness to one another each day.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 21, 2020)

We heard St. Paul remind us that the sin of Adam has affected all of us - death entered the world. But Jesus has overcome death and his gift of the grace of salvation forgives the sin of Adam and our own sins and gives us new life - a sharing in the very life of God - a life that will continue beyond our death to this world.

God’s loving mercy goes far beyond the forgiveness we need. God gives us life unending. In light of God’s gracious mercy, why do we become so obsessed with sin and not with grace?

The surety of our faith in God’s mercy can give us the courage and the strength needed to face the opposition and intimidation that disciples of Jesus are bound to experience. Jesus tells us: Fear no one - not even those who have the power to destroy our bodies in this life. The same Father who cares so lovingly for the little sparrows cares even more for us.

Confidence can flow from our knowledge of God’s loving providence for us - a confidence that will allow us to speak boldly about the ways of God and proclaim by the way we live that Jesus is Lord.

Like Jeremiah, we may experience the plottings of those around us. But we will know that the Lord is with us, like a mighty champion. We can put ourselves in God’s hands and know that God will hold us safe.

The challenge for each of us is our willingness to witness to Jesus’ way of living each day, our willingness to sacrifice our own interests and concerns for His, our willingness to put our worries and anxieties about the difficulties of our daily life in Jesus’ hands - and confidently live by the gift of God’s gracious mercy shown to us in Jesus.

The challenge is great! And we might ask: “What about the reward?” “Anyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” Can we ask for more?

I think not.