In today's Gospel, Matthew 13: 44-52, we are told 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. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. when it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
Notice several things: that heaven can be found here on earth, that you and I are capable of finding heaven and then hiding it again, that heaven here on earth, or beyond, is not cheap. Both the person who found it buried in a field and the merchant who searched for "fine pearls" sold everything they had to "buy" the treasure which heaven is! Am I willing to search for heaven here on earth? And what does heaven here on earth look like? I think heaven here on earth is found by the person who is willing to be his/her true self and do whatever necessary to be true to oneself. It's the artist or musician, the garbage collector, the mother/father, the grandmother/father, the teacher, nurse, engineer, the photographer, civil rights advocate who, like John Lewis, risks everything for what one felt called to become for the sake of what is right and and true and beautiful. It is the young man/woman who marries his/her soulmate even when one's parents or siblings or friends object. It is the homosexual person who comes out of the closet and is proud to be the person God created him/her to be! It is the person who divorces one's first husband/wife to protect oneself and one's children from abuse and marries another, risking misunderstanding, rejection, even by one's church!
Finding heaven here on earth is truly like casting one's net out into the deep and finding "fish" of all kinds. Some are good "fish" and some are not and need to be "thrown" out of one life. The price of selecting what is right for oneself and therefore experiencing a taste of heaven here on earth may mean "selling all that one has" and starting over!
What do I need to "sell"? What do I need to "throw away" so as to taste heaven here on earth? What price do I need to pay? I need to know that the freedom and peace God's will for me involves me making choices that are right for me and, most times, that leads to opposition! Do I avoid what is right for me to avoid being misunderstood by friends or family members? Is that why I so seldom experience heaven here on earth?
Lord, may I risk being the person you are calling me to become! May I sell what I need to sell to buy that precious pearl of being my unique self, my true self where the kingdom of heaven is buried!
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Carrying the Dying and the Rising of Jesus in our Bodies
In today's first reading, 2 Cor 4: 7-15, St. Paul reminds the Corinthians, and us, that we "are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. for we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us." But so is the Spirit, the spirit of faith. We know "that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us...in his presence."
Death is all around us via the covid-19 virus and we are warned that this situation will only get worse! Sadly some people still believe our president who, in the beginning of this outbreak, named it a "hoax." The majority of people, however, have come to realize that the information about the virus has to be taken seriously and that, by no means, is the coronavirus a joke. Thousands of people, all over the world, have died from this virus and continue contracting the disease every day. Thousands continue dying from the illness.
Yes, death is all around us! But so, too, is the Spirit. We carry the dying and the rising of Jesus in our bodies. In the midst of the presence of death, is the presence of Jesus. We are not abandoned. And, in faith, we know that death is not the end of our lives but the beginning of our lives in eternity!
As difficult as times are right now, we know, in faith, that Jesus is in the boat with us. He may seem asleep but is not. He bids us come to Him, as He bade Peter to come to Him over the waters. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink, Jesus reached out His hand and saved him. He does the same for us.
Let us keep our eyes on Jesus and not sink under the onslaught of those who are venting their anger in our streets, destroying property, killing fellow citizens, striking out wildly at those who speak the truth. Jesus saves! Jesus is God! We are not!
Death is all around us via the covid-19 virus and we are warned that this situation will only get worse! Sadly some people still believe our president who, in the beginning of this outbreak, named it a "hoax." The majority of people, however, have come to realize that the information about the virus has to be taken seriously and that, by no means, is the coronavirus a joke. Thousands of people, all over the world, have died from this virus and continue contracting the disease every day. Thousands continue dying from the illness.
Yes, death is all around us! But so, too, is the Spirit. We carry the dying and the rising of Jesus in our bodies. In the midst of the presence of death, is the presence of Jesus. We are not abandoned. And, in faith, we know that death is not the end of our lives but the beginning of our lives in eternity!
As difficult as times are right now, we know, in faith, that Jesus is in the boat with us. He may seem asleep but is not. He bids us come to Him, as He bade Peter to come to Him over the waters. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink, Jesus reached out His hand and saved him. He does the same for us.
Let us keep our eyes on Jesus and not sink under the onslaught of those who are venting their anger in our streets, destroying property, killing fellow citizens, striking out wildly at those who speak the truth. Jesus saves! Jesus is God! We are not!
Sunday, July 19, 2020
The Spirit's Aid
In today's second reading, Romans 8: 26-27, we read that the "Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the spirit because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will."
How consoling this passage is for me. I view the world each day! I listen to the news each evening! I groan! And the Spirit groans within me, interceding for me, and us, according to God's holy will. It is, I know, God's will that people turn from evil and do good, that good seed is sown each day, not weeds, as mentioned in today's Gospel, Matthew 13: 24-43. It is God's will that each of us triumphs over evil and is not destroyed by it! It is God's will that I grow in faith, hope and love; that my faith is strengthened by the victories He's achieved for me and that I learn from my mistakes, not despair or give up striving to do better! It is God will that I find Him in each of the day's events, in each person I encounter and within myself. God does not give up in His determination to make me whole and holy. As I groan in my efforts to "climb the mountain of the Lord," so, too does the Holy Spirit and so I "inch" forward , one step at a time, toward my eternal goal: union with God here and forever and with one another in love in the same way!
God be praised!
How consoling this passage is for me. I view the world each day! I listen to the news each evening! I groan! And the Spirit groans within me, interceding for me, and us, according to God's holy will. It is, I know, God's will that people turn from evil and do good, that good seed is sown each day, not weeds, as mentioned in today's Gospel, Matthew 13: 24-43. It is God's will that each of us triumphs over evil and is not destroyed by it! It is God's will that I grow in faith, hope and love; that my faith is strengthened by the victories He's achieved for me and that I learn from my mistakes, not despair or give up striving to do better! It is God will that I find Him in each of the day's events, in each person I encounter and within myself. God does not give up in His determination to make me whole and holy. As I groan in my efforts to "climb the mountain of the Lord," so, too does the Holy Spirit and so I "inch" forward , one step at a time, toward my eternal goal: union with God here and forever and with one another in love in the same way!
God be praised!
Saturday, July 18, 2020
A Bruised Reed God Will Not Break; A Smoldering Wick God Will Not Quench! (Isaiah 42: 1-4)
In today's Gospel, Matthew 12: 14-21, St. Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah's description of Jesus: "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. he will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope."
Those are consoling words in contrast to the message from Micah, 2: 1-5, in which the prophet issues a warning against the wicked of our world, saying: "Woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches. In the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and they take them; they cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance. Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am planning against this race an evil from which you shall not withdraw your necks; nor shall you walk with head high, for it will be a time of evil."
In the Gospel of today, Jesus meets evil head on: "The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place."
None of us will escape the evil that exists in this world. Every night on the news we are reminded of evil persons plotting to hurt another person, so it seems, or actually has brought evil upon another. The responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 10, also speak of this world's evil when the psalmist says: "Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted, who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived. For the wicked man glories in his greed, (is this not what we see on the news each night) and the covetous blasphemes, sets the Lord at nought. The wicked man boasts, 'he [God] will not avenge it'; 'There is no God,' sums up his thoughts. His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. ...[H]is eyes spy upon the unfortunate." The psalmist then reminds us that God is not blind to anyone's wickedness or the effects of his/her wickedness upon another person, especially the poor and vulnerable. The Psalmist says of God: "You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow, taking them in your hands. On you the unfortunate [person] depends; of the fatherless [and motherless] you are the helper." God quickly comes to the aid of the poor and vulnerable of this world.
Let us never forget that God sees, God cares and God weeps with us! Though God does not magically destroy wickedness and its effects, God is there to walk through it with us, to carry us, if necessary. God is there to strengthen us, to hold us up, to bless us in ways that confound the wicked! It may seem as though the wicked are getting away with their evil intents and deeds. However, God is a God of justice and at some point, here or hereafter, justice will be served to those who engage in evil! "A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory." O, the greatness and the mercy and the love of our God! It knows no measure!
Lord, I know that you are at work in the "good Fridays" of our day, though I see you not! Justice will prevail and will triumph, as it did not Calvary. Jesus triumphed in the resurrection from the dead on that day; those who killed him walked away saying: "Truly, this is the Son of God!"
Thursday, July 16, 2020
Let us bring our burdens to the Lord!
In today's Gospel, Matthew 11: 28-30, Jesus invites to bring our burdens to him: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
Let us bring to the Lord the burden of seeing the coronavirus "march" through our communities, threatening the well-being of our loved one, of ourselves. Let us bring to the Lord our labors to bring this pandemic to an end. Let us bring to the Lord our efforts to get people to understand that this virus is deadly and not a hoax!
We bring to you, Lord, those on the front lines in our emergency rooms and our ICU departments. Many are at the breaking point physically and emotionally as they do everything possible and yet lose a patient. We bring to you, Lord, the burden of not being able to be at the side of a loved one dying of the virus out of fear of ourselves being stricken and being the next victim. We bring to you, Lord, the burden of seeing individuals resort to violence when asked to wear a mask in public. Yes, Lord, we are exhausted and need to find rest in You. Our strength is running low.
In the responsorial psalm, Psalm 102, of today's liturgy, the psalmist says: "From the heavens the Lord looks down on the earth." In confidence, we say to the Lord: "You will arise and have mercy on Zion (insert the name of your city), for it is time to pity her. For her stones are dear to your servants, and her dust moves them to pity. The nations (insert the name of your country, your nation) shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings (governors, presidents, prime ministers) of the earth your glory, when the Lord has rebuilt Zion (name your city, your country)and appeared in his glory; when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer." We are those destitute people, Lord!
We thank you, Lord, for You "have looked down from [your] holy height, from heaven [you] beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners [us], to release those [us] doomed to die" (Psalm 102).
Let us bring to the Lord the burden of seeing the coronavirus "march" through our communities, threatening the well-being of our loved one, of ourselves. Let us bring to the Lord our labors to bring this pandemic to an end. Let us bring to the Lord our efforts to get people to understand that this virus is deadly and not a hoax!
We bring to you, Lord, those on the front lines in our emergency rooms and our ICU departments. Many are at the breaking point physically and emotionally as they do everything possible and yet lose a patient. We bring to you, Lord, the burden of not being able to be at the side of a loved one dying of the virus out of fear of ourselves being stricken and being the next victim. We bring to you, Lord, the burden of seeing individuals resort to violence when asked to wear a mask in public. Yes, Lord, we are exhausted and need to find rest in You. Our strength is running low.
In the responsorial psalm, Psalm 102, of today's liturgy, the psalmist says: "From the heavens the Lord looks down on the earth." In confidence, we say to the Lord: "You will arise and have mercy on Zion (insert the name of your city), for it is time to pity her. For her stones are dear to your servants, and her dust moves them to pity. The nations (insert the name of your country, your nation) shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings (governors, presidents, prime ministers) of the earth your glory, when the Lord has rebuilt Zion (name your city, your country)and appeared in his glory; when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer." We are those destitute people, Lord!
We thank you, Lord, for You "have looked down from [your] holy height, from heaven [you] beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners [us], to release those [us] doomed to die" (Psalm 102).
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
God's Inheritance Is Never Abandoned
In today's first reading, Isaiah 10: 5-7, 13b-16, Assyria is a "rod in anger" and God's "staff in wrath". Through the prophet Isaiah, God says: "Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath I order him to seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets. But this is not what he [the empire of Assyria] intends, nor does he have this in mind: rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of nations not a few. For he says: 'By my own power I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd. I have moved the boundaries of peoples, their treasures I have pillaged, and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned. My hand has seized like a nest the riches of nations; as one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth; no one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!'"
God is furious at Assyria's claim and will to destroy other nations. Clearly, though, Assyria will suffer consequences for its fury toward other nations, including God's chosen people. Did God use Assyria to chastise His people, to bring them back to the fold, to bring them to repentance? We can say "yes" in the sense that God uses the evil which any nation or any person encounters as a means to chastise us and bring us to repentance, to turn us from idolatrous ways. However, to those bringing harm and tragedy to another country or persons, in this case the empire of Assyria, God says the following, as noted in this passage from Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send among his fat ones leanness, and instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire."
In the responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 94, we cry out on behalf of victims of violence: "Your people, O Lord, they trample down, your inheritance they afflict. Widow and stranger they slay, the fatherless they murder. And they [those raging war and committing acts of violence] say, 'The Lord sees not; the God of Jacob perceives not.' Understand you senseless ones among the people; and, you fools, when will you be wise? Shall he who shaped the ear not hear or he who formed the eyes not see? Shall he who instructs nations not chastise, he who teaches men knowledge? For the Lord will not cast off his people, nor abandon his inheritance."
We are God's inheritance and, as such, we will be chastised when we do wrong but never abandoned. The psalmist reminds us that God's "judgment shall...be with justice, and all the upright of heart shall follow it."
God is furious at Assyria's claim and will to destroy other nations. Clearly, though, Assyria will suffer consequences for its fury toward other nations, including God's chosen people. Did God use Assyria to chastise His people, to bring them back to the fold, to bring them to repentance? We can say "yes" in the sense that God uses the evil which any nation or any person encounters as a means to chastise us and bring us to repentance, to turn us from idolatrous ways. However, to those bringing harm and tragedy to another country or persons, in this case the empire of Assyria, God says the following, as noted in this passage from Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send among his fat ones leanness, and instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire."
In the responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 94, we cry out on behalf of victims of violence: "Your people, O Lord, they trample down, your inheritance they afflict. Widow and stranger they slay, the fatherless they murder. And they [those raging war and committing acts of violence] say, 'The Lord sees not; the God of Jacob perceives not.' Understand you senseless ones among the people; and, you fools, when will you be wise? Shall he who shaped the ear not hear or he who formed the eyes not see? Shall he who instructs nations not chastise, he who teaches men knowledge? For the Lord will not cast off his people, nor abandon his inheritance."
We are God's inheritance and, as such, we will be chastised when we do wrong but never abandoned. The psalmist reminds us that God's "judgment shall...be with justice, and all the upright of heart shall follow it."
Monday, July 13, 2020
Are We Listening?
In today's first reading, Isaiah 1: 10-17, God strongly rebukes Israel: Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me...though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's please, defend the widow.."
We are no less sinless than were the Israelites in the time of Isaiah. Immigrants, refugees, the poor and oppressed, people of other nationalities and cultures, people of different sexual orientations, people of color are many times, I believe, victims of unjust practices, are wronged by our leadership. Their pleas for justice and to be granted their basic human rights are, in many cases, I believe, ignored. Their cries to be treated rightly, in many cases, fall on deaf ears and hardened hearts. God says to us, as He said to the Israelites: "Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, (the plea of immigrant children in wired cages separated from their parents), defend the widow (and those immigrants seeking safety from murderous dictators in the countries from which they are fleeing)." "Learn to do good," God, I believe, is saying to our leaders, by providing testing for those fearful of having contracted the coronavirus and by giving medical personnel the equipment needed to treat covid-9 patients. "Learn to do good," God, I believe, is saying to all of us, by doing what is within our power to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Are we listening to those who are wronged by sexual predators, by jealous lovers, by angry narcissists, by greedy and corrupt individuals, by persons seeking control and power over others, including clergy, by abusers of children and women and, in some cases, of men?
Am I, are you, aware of ways in which we might, intentionally or unintentionally, be engaged in evil deeds? God says to us: "Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes. Cease doing evil; learn to do good"? From the wrong we do, intentionally or unintentionally, may we learn to do good, listening to the twitches of our consciences when we engage in wrongdoing!
We are no less sinless than were the Israelites in the time of Isaiah. Immigrants, refugees, the poor and oppressed, people of other nationalities and cultures, people of different sexual orientations, people of color are many times, I believe, victims of unjust practices, are wronged by our leadership. Their pleas for justice and to be granted their basic human rights are, in many cases, I believe, ignored. Their cries to be treated rightly, in many cases, fall on deaf ears and hardened hearts. God says to us, as He said to the Israelites: "Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, (the plea of immigrant children in wired cages separated from their parents), defend the widow (and those immigrants seeking safety from murderous dictators in the countries from which they are fleeing)." "Learn to do good," God, I believe, is saying to our leaders, by providing testing for those fearful of having contracted the coronavirus and by giving medical personnel the equipment needed to treat covid-9 patients. "Learn to do good," God, I believe, is saying to all of us, by doing what is within our power to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Are we listening to those who are wronged by sexual predators, by jealous lovers, by angry narcissists, by greedy and corrupt individuals, by persons seeking control and power over others, including clergy, by abusers of children and women and, in some cases, of men?
Am I, are you, aware of ways in which we might, intentionally or unintentionally, be engaged in evil deeds? God says to us: "Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes. Cease doing evil; learn to do good"? From the wrong we do, intentionally or unintentionally, may we learn to do good, listening to the twitches of our consciences when we engage in wrongdoing!
Sunday, July 12, 2020
A Heart that Is Fertile and Fruitful: God's Will for Us
In today's first reading, Isaiah 55: 10-11, the Lord tells us through the prophet that "[j]ust as from the heavens the rain and s now come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end fore which I sent it."
God is a humble God Who works with us. God waits for our cooperation! God sends His word to us just as He sends rain and snow to nourish the ground so that whatever seeds we plant for our physical well-being have a chance to come to fruition. The seed of the Word, which God sends to nourish our spirit-self, also needs fertile soil, a heart prepared in such a way that the seed of God's word can take root and bear fruit that will last for all eternity: love, justice, truth, forgiveness, generosity, fidelity, peace, and joy.
What bars my heart from being open and ready to receive God's Word? The "soil" of my heart may be too rocky and thus the seed does not take root. I may not have allowed God to water it, staying too busy, to involved in things I consider more important than taking time for solitude. I may be so enamored by the things which the world offers and which the world says I must have to be happy that I do not take time for things that really bring joy and happiness to the soul: being faithful in my marriage or in my religious or priestly life, being generous with giving time and attention to the ones---my spouse or my children or grandchildren, my fellow religious or fellow priests, one's parishioners--to whom I have committed my heart by my marriage vows or vows of religious or priestly profession. I may be so bowed down by worries and anxieties--problems I am trying to resolve without calling upon the Lord--that the "soil" of my heart chokes off the Word of God and or blocks graces that God "rains" down from heaven to assist us in doing His will!
Lord, may I turn to You, knowing that You wait for me and that in Your hands are all I need to live a fruitful life: a life of love and peace, a life of self-sacrificing love for the sake of others' well-being.s
God is a humble God Who works with us. God waits for our cooperation! God sends His word to us just as He sends rain and snow to nourish the ground so that whatever seeds we plant for our physical well-being have a chance to come to fruition. The seed of the Word, which God sends to nourish our spirit-self, also needs fertile soil, a heart prepared in such a way that the seed of God's word can take root and bear fruit that will last for all eternity: love, justice, truth, forgiveness, generosity, fidelity, peace, and joy.
What bars my heart from being open and ready to receive God's Word? The "soil" of my heart may be too rocky and thus the seed does not take root. I may not have allowed God to water it, staying too busy, to involved in things I consider more important than taking time for solitude. I may be so enamored by the things which the world offers and which the world says I must have to be happy that I do not take time for things that really bring joy and happiness to the soul: being faithful in my marriage or in my religious or priestly life, being generous with giving time and attention to the ones---my spouse or my children or grandchildren, my fellow religious or fellow priests, one's parishioners--to whom I have committed my heart by my marriage vows or vows of religious or priestly profession. I may be so bowed down by worries and anxieties--problems I am trying to resolve without calling upon the Lord--that the "soil" of my heart chokes off the Word of God and or blocks graces that God "rains" down from heaven to assist us in doing His will!
Lord, may I turn to You, knowing that You wait for me and that in Your hands are all I need to live a fruitful life: a life of love and peace, a life of self-sacrificing love for the sake of others' well-being.s
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, our God!
In today's first reading, the prophet Isaiah has the following vision: "I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filing the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; reach of them had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft. They cried one to another, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! all the earth is filled with his glory!'" Seeing this vision, Isaiah realized who he was and exclaimed: "'Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!' Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. he touched my mouth with it and said, 'See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness if removed, your sin purged.'"
At every Catholic Mass, we proclaim: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." And shortly after that prayer, the Lord God does come down upon our altar in the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ when the priest ask the Spirit of God to transfigure the gifts into Christ Jesus. And God does just that through the consecrated hands of the priest, a gift of his ordination to the priesthood.
Holy, holy, holy" is our God. who, at every Catholic Mass, stoops down from the heavens and, in Holy Communion, enters our bodies, minds, and souls, transforming us into Christ Jesus. We are then sent out into the world to be the hands, the feet, the heart and minds of Christ to all we serve! And we are sent out, not alone, but with Christ living within us and working through us!
At every Catholic Mass, we proclaim: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." And shortly after that prayer, the Lord God does come down upon our altar in the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ when the priest ask the Spirit of God to transfigure the gifts into Christ Jesus. And God does just that through the consecrated hands of the priest, a gift of his ordination to the priesthood.
Holy, holy, holy" is our God. who, at every Catholic Mass, stoops down from the heavens and, in Holy Communion, enters our bodies, minds, and souls, transforming us into Christ Jesus. We are then sent out into the world to be the hands, the feet, the heart and minds of Christ to all we serve! And we are sent out, not alone, but with Christ living within us and working through us!
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Choosing the One True God and His Will for Us
In today's first reading, Hosea 11: 1-4a, 8e-9, the Lord confronts His people for placing strange gods before Him: "When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me, sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like the one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though i stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their leader."
The Israelites abandoned God and followed other nations in their worship of false gods. They wanted a king, rejecting God as their king, and fell into idolatry like so many others around them. We, too, have a tendency to worship idols: wealth, pleasure, sex, consumerism, materialism, power and control, technology, TV, entertainment--anything that we allow to consume our attention and occupy our time above God is idol worship. With what, we need to ask ourselves, do we spend most of our time to the extent that we do not take time to pray, to study the Scriptures, to meet out responsibilities to build up God's Kingdom on earth, to foster unity among those with whom we live, to save those suffering starvation--starving physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially--in ways we are able to bring relief? To and from what do I seek comfort and peace more than I do from God, my Creator?
Let us heed the words of today's responsorial psalm: "Let us seek your face, Lord, and we shall be saved"(Psalm 80) from our misguided pursuit of happiness in place of seeking happiness in You above all! Save us, Lord, from pursuing security in accumulating more and more material things, in increasing excessive wealth, that crowds out our awareness of You and of our responsibilities to love
others as we truly love ourselves and to love them above material comforts.
The Israelites abandoned God and followed other nations in their worship of false gods. They wanted a king, rejecting God as their king, and fell into idolatry like so many others around them. We, too, have a tendency to worship idols: wealth, pleasure, sex, consumerism, materialism, power and control, technology, TV, entertainment--anything that we allow to consume our attention and occupy our time above God is idol worship. With what, we need to ask ourselves, do we spend most of our time to the extent that we do not take time to pray, to study the Scriptures, to meet out responsibilities to build up God's Kingdom on earth, to foster unity among those with whom we live, to save those suffering starvation--starving physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially--in ways we are able to bring relief? To and from what do I seek comfort and peace more than I do from God, my Creator?
Let us heed the words of today's responsorial psalm: "Let us seek your face, Lord, and we shall be saved"(Psalm 80) from our misguided pursuit of happiness in place of seeking happiness in You above all! Save us, Lord, from pursuing security in accumulating more and more material things, in increasing excessive wealth, that crowds out our awareness of You and of our responsibilities to love
others as we truly love ourselves and to love them above material comforts.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
His Heart Was Moved with Pity
In today's first reading, Hosea 8: 4-7, 11-13, the Lord is frustrated with His people for the many ways in which they have abandoned His precepts, created their own gods, worshiped idols and chosen a variety of paths that have led to their own destruction. In grief, God says to His people: "Cast away your calf , O Samaria! my wrath is kindled against them; [h]ow long will they be unable to attain innocence in Israel? the work of an artisan, no god at all. Destined for the flames--such is the calf of Samaria! ....Though they offer sacrifice, ..., the Lord is not pleased with them. He shall still remember their guilt and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt." The responsorial psalm, Psalm 115, confirms Hosea's message in saying that our idols "are silver and gold, the handiwork of men. They have mouths but speak not; they have eyes but see not; they have ears but hear not...."
We are those people!
In the Gospel, Matthew 9: 32-38, Jesus encounters us in the demoniac who is unable to speak and cast out the demon. Jesus walked around to "all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd...." Jesus walks around our towns and villages, our cities and suburbs, teaches in our churches and synagogues, cures all of our diseases and illnesses, those of mind and body and spirits. "His heart is moved to pity", seeing us "troubled and abandoned, sheep without a shepherd"! He says to us, as He said to those He encountered in all of Israel, Samaria, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Galilee: "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest--ask Jesus--to send out laborers for his harvest" (Matthew 9: 38).
We are those people!
In the Gospel, Matthew 9: 32-38, Jesus encounters us in the demoniac who is unable to speak and cast out the demon. Jesus walked around to "all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd...." Jesus walks around our towns and villages, our cities and suburbs, teaches in our churches and synagogues, cures all of our diseases and illnesses, those of mind and body and spirits. "His heart is moved to pity", seeing us "troubled and abandoned, sheep without a shepherd"! He says to us, as He said to those He encountered in all of Israel, Samaria, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Galilee: "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest--ask Jesus--to send out laborers for his harvest" (Matthew 9: 38).
Monday, July 6, 2020
Espoused by God for Eternity!
In today's first reading, Hosea 2: 6, 17b-18, 21-22, the Lord says to us: "I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt....I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord."
Recall your excitement when your bridegroom got down on one knee and, looking up to you with a diamond ring in his hand, asked you: "Will you marry me?" and you said "Yes!" You were in seventh heaven, so to speak! Or, if that has not been your experience as of now, imagine a future bridegroom here on this earth, proposing to you. Your heart will leap in joy, I believe!
In this Scripture passage from the prophet Hosea, it is God, the Almighty, the King of the Universe, the Holy One, saying to you, and to me: "I will lead [you] into the desert and speak to [your] heart....I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know [Me,] the Lord," your God! Wow! God wants you, wants me, has chosen you, has chosen me, as His spouse forever, as His Bride, as His beloved! It is not a perishable diamond ring that God put on your finger or my finger but He clothes you and me with a robe of justice, of righteousness, of love and of mercy, of fidelity and promises that we will shall know Him, the God of all Being, our Creator, Redeemer and Lover!
What an awesome God! And what a commitment on God's part! What love! What mercy!
Recall your excitement when your bridegroom got down on one knee and, looking up to you with a diamond ring in his hand, asked you: "Will you marry me?" and you said "Yes!" You were in seventh heaven, so to speak! Or, if that has not been your experience as of now, imagine a future bridegroom here on this earth, proposing to you. Your heart will leap in joy, I believe!
In this Scripture passage from the prophet Hosea, it is God, the Almighty, the King of the Universe, the Holy One, saying to you, and to me: "I will lead [you] into the desert and speak to [your] heart....I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know [Me,] the Lord," your God! Wow! God wants you, wants me, has chosen you, has chosen me, as His spouse forever, as His Bride, as His beloved! It is not a perishable diamond ring that God put on your finger or my finger but He clothes you and me with a robe of justice, of righteousness, of love and of mercy, of fidelity and promises that we will shall know Him, the God of all Being, our Creator, Redeemer and Lover!
What an awesome God! And what a commitment on God's part! What love! What mercy!
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Jesus:Partner of Laborers and Those Who Are Burdened
ULY 5, 2020
Jesus, the Partner of Laborers and Those Who Are Burdened
In today's Gospel, Matthew 11: 25-30, Jesus invites us to come to Him, saying to us: "[A]ll you who labor and are burdened...I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." The heaviness of the burdens we are carrying is lessened, as Jesus is partnering with us. Whatever burden we are carrying, Jesus is not ashamed or embarrassed to "get his hands dirty," so to speak. He will help us through the messiness of our lives, no matter what! Willingly and meekly He takes our burdens upon Himself. In fact, He will carry not only our cross up the steep "hills" for us, but also carry us personally!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)