Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 13, 2022)

A barren bush in the desert or a tree planted by running water – which of these images reflects your choices in life? Have you chosen to trust other people or are you trusting in the care of the Lord?

Jeremiah reminds us that, if we choose to trust in the Lord, then together we can face whatever life brings to us. God is with us, nourishing us even in the heat and drought of daily living.

Jesus asks us to take our trust in the Lord with us into our world and find ways to share it with the less fortunate – people who are poor, hungry, suffering and alienated. Jesus’ presence and message is meant for those who are ready and willing to focus on God rather than themselves, in order to experience the blessings of God given through others rather than holding on to the good things of life for themselves.

When you and I have learned to trust in God’s care, we are willing to share whatever we have with the poor, to give whatever nourishment we can to those who are hungry, to bring moments of joy and care to those who suffer, and to welcome into our circle of friends people who feel left-out. As disciples of Jesus, we are to be evidence of the kingdom of God present among us – by the way we live each day.

When we have learned to accept our own poverty, hunger, sufferings and alienation as human beings and are open to the many ways that God’s care has touched our lowliness and drawn us into his circle of friends, then we are better able to be more like God in caring for the lowly around us. Then we can be good news to our brothers and sisters.

During this ordinary time of the year, we are being taught about being better disciples. We are being taught to grow in more confident trust in God – that God is loving us and caring for us at every moment as his children.

St. Francis de Sales offers us an image that we can take to prayer each day:

“In all your affairs lean solely on God’s Providence, by means of which alone your plans can succeed. Imitate a little child, whom one sees holding tight with one hand to its father, while with the other it gathers strawberries or blackberries from the wayside hedge. Even so, while you gather and use this world’s goods with one hand, always let the other be fast in your Heavenly Father’s hand and look round from time to time to make sure that He is satisfied with what you are doing, at home or abroad. Beware of letting go, under the idea of making or receiving more—if He forsakes you, you will fall to the ground at the first step. When your ordinary work or business is not especially engrossing, let your heart be fixed more on God than on it; and if the work be such as to require your undivided attention, then pause from time to time and look to God, even as navigators who make for the haven they would attain, by looking up at the heavens rather than down upon the deeps on which they sail. In so doing, God will work with you, in you, and for you, and your work will be blessed.”

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time February 13, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflections

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

February 13, 2022

 Today’s readings remind us of the life-giving qualities received by those who follow God’s teachings and who trust in God’s goodness. St. Francis de Sales similarly notes: “The greater our trust in God, the more life-giving is our spirit. If we are to allow God’s love to operate in us, we must make room in our heart so that the Holy Spirit may flood our heart with holy love. When our concerns and responsibilities are full of anxiety and fear, we limit our ability to act in the way God desires us to act.”

 What are we to do if we have the desire to serve God but lack sufficient strength to put that desire into practice? Offer this desire to God. God renews our desire as often as is necessary to make us persevere in our desire to do God’s Will. Placing our trust in God’s goodness makes us eventually capable of acting on our desire to belong to God.

 I am not saying that you must always feel this determination to belong entirely to God. We may always have feelings of reluctance to the events in our life that God does not desire but permits. Do not be troubled by such feelings, for few people are able to get rid of them. Yet, you ought to constantly recognize that you belong to God even though you do not always feel that way. We must deliberately choose to keep ourselves focused on the goal to belong to God alone. As we focus on pursuing our goal, our reluctant feelings will gradually be transformed as we allow God’s love to flood our heart.

  Let us frequently place our good will in God’s hands, and God will renew our true willingness as often as is necessary in this mortal life.  Those who place themselves peacefully in the hands of God’s Providence let themselves move forward, like a person sleeping in a ship that never stops moving forward on a tranquil sea. Blessed are they who put their trust in God, for confidence in God brings life to their human spirit!

 (Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales).

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time February 6, 2022

In today’s readings we experience Isaiah, Paul and Peter coming to recognize that their past sins did not prevent them from becoming true disciples of God. St. Francis de Sales notes: “No doubt, there is a sense of shame when we have been disloyal to God. These feelings of shame are very good when they are used in a constructive way. Shame is only useful if it leads us to rise to an intimate union of our heart with God.”

 We must never remain in shame, or with a sad and unquiet heart. As St. Paul teaches, we “must discard the old nature and put on the new.”  We must clothe ourselves with God and lift up our hearts in holy confidence to God. The foundation of our trust is in God and not in ourselves. Our well being derives from letting ourselves be led and directed absolutely by God’s Spirit, who transforms us through divine love.

 While the saints saw in themselves many imperfections, this did not stop them from doing God’s work. God left in several of the dear disciples many marks of their evil inclinations for some time after their conversion, all for their greater good. For example, Peter who stumbled many times after his initial calling failed miserably in denying God.

 We cannot expect to be a saint in an instant. We must little by little and step by step acquire a self-mastery that the saints took years to acquire. Be patient. Leading us by the hand, God does with us deeds that call for our cooperation Some trees bear fruit every year, others every three years. Let us be content that God will let us bear our fruit sooner or later.

During this long pilgrimage on earth, God’s Goodness is willing to lead us and carry us. Yet, God always wants us to take our little steps alone, doing on our part all that we can in virtue and good works, helped by God’s love.

 (Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time February 6, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflections

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

February 6, 2022

In today’s readings we experience Isaiah, Paul and Peter coming to recognize that their past sins did not prevent them from becoming true disciples of God. St. Francis de Sales notes: “No doubt, there is a sense of shame when we have been disloyal to God. These feelings of shame are very good when they are used in a constructive way. Shame is only useful if it leads us to rise to an intimate union of our heart with God.”

 We must never remain in shame, or with a sad and unquiet heart. As St. Paul teaches, we “must discard the old nature and put on the new.”  We must clothe ourselves with God and lift up our hearts in holy confidence to God. The foundation of our trust is in God and not in ourselves. Our well being derives from letting ourselves be led and directed absolutely by God’s Spirit, who transforms us through divine love.

 While the saints saw in themselves many imperfections, this did not stop them from doing God’s work. God left in several of the dear disciples many marks of their evil inclinations for some time after their conversion, all for their greater good. For example, Peter who stumbled many times after his initial calling failed miserably in denying God.

 We cannot expect to be a saint in an instant. We must little by little and step by step acquire a self-mastery that the saints took years to acquire. Be patient. Leading us by the hand, God does with us deeds that call for our cooperation Some trees bear fruit every year, others every three years. Let us be content that God will let us bear our fruit sooner or later.

 During this long pilgrimage on earth, God’s Goodness is willing to lead us and carry us. Yet, God always wants us to take our little steps alone, doing on our part all that we can in virtue and good works, helped by God’s love.

 (Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 30, 2022)

St. Francis de Sales reminds us that God’s words to Jeremiah are words said to us: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”

God loves us immensely, and he has a plan for each of us. God gave us a share in Jesus’ ministry as prophet in our baptism. We have been appointed to remind those around us that God loves all of us and has redeemed us for himself through the blood of Jesus. Because we are baptized, we are called to live in a prophetic way.

We Oblates, as professed religious, have accepted an additional prophetic role. By living faithfully as poor, chaste and obedient men in community, we are to remind our brothers and sisters that God’s great desire for union with us extends beyond our earthly life into eternal life. Letting Jesus live in us each day keeps us focused on God’s loving presence and his desire to be one with us. We Oblates are called to live in a prophetic way.

St. Paul reminds us that love – God’s love within us – is the foundation of our prophetic way of living. When we allow ourselves to be fully embraced by God’s love, then God’s love can overflow into the world around us.

God’s love within us will show itself in our willingness to be patient and kind, our willingness to put others’ interests before our own, our willingness to put up with the faults and failings of others. We will be better able to control our anger and choose not to brood over injuries real or imagined. Because we believe that God is present and working in all the events of our day, we are better able to see the possibilities for good and better able to accept the challenges and disappointments of life with a peaceful heart.

Jesus warns us that prophets are not always welcomed and accepted, so we shouldn’t be surprised when we aren’t. We must learn each day to choose to focus again on God’s ever-present, unconditional love and ask for the grace to respond faithfully by loving.

Whenever we feel a little discouraged in our efforts to be faithful prophets, let us place confident hope in the words of St. Paul: “At present, we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present we know partially; then we shall know fully, as we are fully known” by our God. Let us ask for the grace to be a gentle and humble prophet today.

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 23, 2022)

During this third year of Sunday readings, we will hear the Gospel of Luke proclaimed during ordinary time.

Luke begins his Gospel by telling us that he has investigated carefully the events of Jesus’ coming among us. He wants to write them down in an orderly sequence for Theophilus, a person who loves God, so that he (and we) may realize the certainty of what has been taught to us by word of mouth.

Luke is writing his Gospel about forty or fifty years after Jesus’ death and rising. So far, the life and teachings of Jesus had been passed down by word of mouth. Luke is moved by the Holy Spirit to write out the events of Jesus’ life so that the ever-growing community of believers may have greater certainty about them as they share the good news with new members.

Luke begins Jesus’ public ministry in a synagogue. We heard Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah and then tell the people that God is fulfilling this prophecy in him. He has just been anointed by the Spirit in his baptism in the Jordan. Now he comes to bring good news to all who trust in God’s goodness. What he will say and what he will be doingis meant for those who have been suffering – captives, the blind, the oppressed.

God has heard their cries and honors their faithful longing for salvation. God has sent Jesus to bring them liberty, recovery, freedom. He has come to proclaim a time that is God’s.In Jesus, all who have waited will experience the loving-kindness, the mercy, the compassion of God.

You and I suffer our own forms of captivity, blindness, and oppression. Have I, have you, been waiting for God? Do we trust in God’s goodness and care for us? Luke reminds us: Jesus is God’s loving-kindness, God’s mercy, God’s compassion, present among us. How is Jesus speaking to you, to me, in our suffering? What is he asking of me, of you? How is Jesus’ gracious presence with me, with you, good news? How can his presence make a difference in the way you and I want to live today?

This is a year acceptable to the Lord. Jesus desires to love us and journey with us. Are you, am I, willing to make an unconditional journey with Jesus, trusting that he is leading us home to our Father’s house? If we are, then let us make a conscious choice each day to call on Jesus often during the day and use the grace that he will surely give us.

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 16, 2022)

As a first step in "going public" goes, this first demonstration of Jesus' divine power is, to say the least, an understatement. No miraculous healing. No exorcism of demons, no raising someone from the dead. Instead, he simply prevents the caterer from running out of wine at a wedding reception.

Many might consider this a misuse - nay, even a waste - of Jesus' saving power. Initially, even Jesus himself seems to feel that his power could be used better - and later - elsewhere.

Not Francis de Sales. He sees that there is more to this miracle than meets the eye. Here is an example of how God's power permeates all human experiences, even the most ordinary. We are speaking here of the practice of the "little virtues," a notion precious indeed to St. Francis de Sales and a hallmark of his understanding of Christ's saving power. In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote: "It may well be that a very small virtue has greater value in a soul in which sacred love reigns with fervor than martyrdom itself in a soul in which love is languid and feeble." (Book 11, Chapter 5) Put another way, the little virtues, the expression of care or concern in seemingly ordinary circumstances, may be "found more pleasing in God's sight than great and famous deeds performed with little charity or devotion."

Still, there is a place for great displays of love: "I do not say that we may not aspire to outstanding virtues, but I say that we must train ourselves in the little ones without which the great ones may be false or deceptive." (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 159)

Jesus may have been tempted to believe that changing water into wine was beneath his divine - perhaps even his human - dignity. In the end, however, the needs of others were more persuasive than the desire to make a "big splash" in the eyes of others. Ironically, it may have been Jesus' willingness to employ his heavenly powers for such a down-to-earth request that enabled his disciples to "begin to believe in him."

His greater, more famous and once-in-a-lifetime displays of power would, indeed, come later. But whether on the cross of Calvary, or at a simple wedding in Cana, the power, the promise and the person were one and the same.

The moral of this miracle? Nothing is too small for the Kingdom of God.

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time January 16, 2022

Today’s Gospel focuses on God’s presence in Jesus as He transforms water into wine, symbolic of our transformation in Christ. St. Francis de Sales similarly notes:

Jesus came to create a new humanity. He began his ministry to transform the human person by manifesting God’s goodness with a miracle at a joyful banquet. At the Wedding Feast of Cana, Jesus transformed water into wine to meet a need of the newly wedded couple. Then at another banquet before His death, He instituted the Eucharist so that we might be nourished and become like Him.

In the transformation of water into wine, and the institution of the Eucharist, God’s goodness in the Person of Jesus is made present to us. Christ’s presence in our lives turns the water of our tepid love into the wine of God’s love. Divine love invigorates and strengthens us as we journey toward wholeness in living Jesus.

In today’s Gospel, Mary, convinced that Jesus would provide the wine for the wedding couple, presents their need to her Son. We too must confidently ask God for our spiritual and temporal needs. In the Lord’s Prayer we ask daily that God’s Kingdom come, and God’s Will be done. But Jesus also told us to ask God to give us our daily bread.

When we are disheartened and feel desolate, we must present our needs to God, convinced that God will answer us according to our needs. We can say to God: “It is enough for me to present myself to You as I am. You will provide for my miseries and necessities as You see fit.” While God never gives us an excess of our self-centered wants, God never fails to supply what is necessary for our well being, if we are open to God’s presence in our life.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales, especially The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales, L. Fiorelli, ed.)