Tag: bible

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

About the reality of angels—”their angels,” as Jesus says—he leaves no doubt. They look eternally on the face of our heavenly Father. Our holy guardian angels—guide us, protect us, and pray for us!

From the responsorial psalm: “Let my prayer come before you, Lord. Daily I call upon you, O LORD; to you I stretch out my hands. Will you work wonders for the dead? Will the shades arise to give you thanks? Let my prayer come before you, Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 18:1-5, 10)

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

Jesus responds to the disciples’ question about where greatness lies. In inviting them to humble themselves, he places a child before them to serve as an example. The kingdom of heaven is theirs and those whose humility is like theirs. Jesus asks us to receive the childlike in his name, and through that we receive him. About the reality of angels—”their angels,” as Jesus says—he leaves no doubt. They look eternally on the face of our heavenly Father.

St. Gertrude’s Prayer to One’s Guardian Angel: O most holy angel of God, appointed by God to be my guardian, I give thee thanks for all the benefits which thou hast ever bestowed on me in body and soul. I praise and glorify thee that thou condescended to assist me with such patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the assaults of my enemy. Blessed be the hour in which thou were assigned me for my guardian, my defender and my patron. In acknowledgment and return for all thy loving ministries to me, I offer thee the infinitely precious and noble Heart of Jesus, and firmly purpose to obey thee henceforward, and most faithfully to serve my God. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church

From the responsorial psalm: “O LORD, my God, by day I cry out; at night I clamor in your presence. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my call for help. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 9:51-56)

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

Luke tells us that Jesus was resolutely determined to go to Jerusalem by passing through a Samaritan village. When Jesus learned that they would not welcome him, he goes another way. James and John seem to seek vengeance, but that is not a place where the grace and peace of Christ dwells. After rebuking them, Jesus and the disciples go to another village as they make their way toward Jerusalem, the place where he would ultimately undergo his passion and death. As close to Jesus as the disciples were, they struggle to follow him in his mission, one rooted in mercy, not vengeance.

God, help me understand the way to hold on to the Holy Spirit even as I encounter conflict and rejection. Jesus is not wishy-washy in his plans. Jerusalem was his destination, and he let nothing prevent him from reaching it, where he carried out your will through his passion, death, and resurrection. Give me the grace to stay off of the many paths that lead away from you and instead keep my eyes on my ultimate destination. And what is that destination? As Saint Thérèse said, “I leave myself in the Arms of Our Lord. We must abandon the future into the hands of God.” Saint Thérèse, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

From the responsorial psalm: “Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 9:46-50)

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”

Although beset by a host of tragedies and evildoing from Satan, Job remains faithful to the Lord as he hears from a messenger all that he has lost, including possessions and sons and daughters. “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away,” Job says, “blessed be the name of the LORD!” The disciples vie for a place of honor as his followers, but Jesus recognizes the deception that pride leads them into. By placing a child in their midst, Jesus shows the disciples that humility matters and that accolades and honors don’t. The least among you is the greatest.

God, help me understand my place within my family and my community. Give me the grace to discern how to receive Jesus in the people you place before me. The least, the poorest, the heartbroken—help me see them and at the same time see Christ in them. Help me put aside the pursuit of honor so I can more readily hear and respond to your will in bringing forth your kingdom. Saint Jerome, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Do not prevent him.” | Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48)

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.”

The second reading from Saint James describes the natural consequences of storing up earthly treasures—material comforts, luxury and pleasure, and attachment to silver and gold—all of which corrode or fall to dust. In the first reading, a young man tells Moses that others besides him are prophesying in the camp. “Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!” Moses tells him. In the Gospel, the beloved disciple John tells Jesus that others are driving out demons in his name. Jesus tells him: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” Those who try to make the treasures of the world increase see them divide and decrease, but those who share God’s love for the sake of his glory see that treasure multiply without end.

God, help me not be subject to the foolishness and enslavement of envy. Help me stand firm in refusing the enticements of the world and its riches. Let me receive joyfully and with gratitude the cup of water you give me to drink. The life Jesus invites me to enter into means choosing to turn away from things that draw me in and instead focus on what endures, what gives joy to the heart—and that is fear of the Lord, or humble acknowledgment of my dependence on you for all of your good gifts. Let me remember from Proverbs where to go to find the treasure that endures: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”| Saturday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days. And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 9:43B-45)

While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

The events that Luke relates in the Gospel all take place in quick succession and include the feeding of the five thousand, the healing of people possessed by a demon, and the Transfiguration. Amazed witnesses to all of this, the disciples fail to understand what Jesus tells them about his coming passion and death. Yet, what they fail to understand Jesus asks them to pay attention to. Unaware of the martyrdom that some of the disciples would face, they are unable to reconcile that the Son of Man would be handed over to men. But in hanging on Jesus’ every word, they would remember that the crucified Christ, obedient to the Father even to death, would destroy death and rise triumphant to new life to save us.

God, help me understand what Jesus prepares me for as he speaks to the disciples. Although you call few to martyrdom, I want to take to heart the words of Jesus when he asks that I pay attention to what he is saying. In the world, there are plenty of people ready to hand over those who follow Jesus and the teachings of the Church. There are those who would persecute and kill missionaries who preach the Gospel. As Saint Lawrence said, who witnessed to the truth of the Gospel: “We have come to Japan only to preach faith in God and to teach salvation to little ones and to the innocent and to all the rest of the people.” God, help me understand persecution and suffering in light of rising to new life through Jesus Christ your Son. Shelter me, Lord; in every age, you have been our refuge. Saint Lawrence Ruiz, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“But who do you say that I am?” | Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest

From the responsorial psalm: “LORD, what is man, that you notice him; the son of man, that you take thought of him? Man is like a breath; his days, like a passing shadow. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 9:18-22)

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Just as Herod heard all the commotion about Jesus and wondered who he was, Jesus questions the disciples about who people say that he is. They say nearly the same that Herod said—John the Baptist, Elijah, an ancient prophet who has arisen. But then Jesus asks Peter—an everyman, one of us—in a way that is meant to be heard deep in our hearts: “But who do you say that I am?” When Peter answers that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus warns them sternly not to tell anyone. The Son of God, the I AM come down to earth asks anybody and everybody the same question: “Who do you say that I am?”

God, help me see Jesus as Peter sees him. While in prayer, Jesus asks the disciples who people say that he is. After Peter answers him, Jesus lays out the whole plan of salvation—that he would willingly endure his passion, be killed, and raised on the third day. The disciples are perplexed at this. Your ways, Lord, are not my ways and I also fail to understand. Give me the grace to trust in your providential care, as the first reading expresses: “He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without man’s ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done.” Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And he kept trying to see him. | Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 9:7-9)

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.

In encountering John the Baptist, Herod heard the words of one of the greatest prophets and then beheaded him. Herod’s view of reality was severely limited because of what he refused to hear and take in. Just as he kept trying to hear John the Baptist before killing him, he kept trying to see Jesus even as he sought to have him killed. Eventually paving the way for Jesus’ crucifixion as he meets and mocks him, Herod stands before Jesus but even in that moment fails to see him. What we hear in the first reading describes Herod’s spiritual condition after hearing John and seeing Jesus: “The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.”

God, help me see the futility of confidence in my plans and comfort in my possessions. Teach me to number my days aright that I may gain wisdom of heart. If I look at Herod and see only his complete failure to recognize the Son of God standing in front of him, I have missed something greater. In all the toil and labor of a lifetime, what good is there in it unless the futility of it all causes me to remain faithful to you in hearing and doing what pleases you? What else lasts or matters? “I am the way and the truth and the life,” I hear Jesus say. Lord, let me take refuge in you. Saints Cosmas and Damian, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Take nothing for the journey.” | Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Falsehood I hate and abhor; your law I love. Your word, O Lord, is a lamp for my feet.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 9:1-6)

Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the Good News and curing diseases everywhere.

Jesus sends out the Twelve with authority he gives to them to exorcise demons, cure diseases, and proclaim the Gospel. His specific instructions to take nothing for the journey guide the apostles in the way of radical dependence on God for food, clothing, and shelter. These extreme measures of detachment give the apostles power to heal, cure, and preach. Yet, in the extremes Jesus invites the Twelve—and all of us—to return to a kind of normalcy between extremes that we hear in the first reading: “Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, “Who is the LORD?” Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God.” The mission of the Twelve is not our mission but at the same time it is in so far as we cure, heal, and proclaim the Good News in the name of Jesus.

God, give me the grace to be satisfied with the food you give me for the day’s journey. To be the means of healing and proclaiming the Gospel, Jesus says, “Take nothing for the journey.” You know, Lord, I have everything I need and more, so help me understand how I can put into practice what Jesus commands. Help me see the reality of my dependence on you for everything I need so that I don’t say, “Who is the LORD?” You, Lord, are the source of fullness and detachment from constant, nagging want. Whatever house I enter today, for your sake, give me strength to be to others the person Jesus sends me out to be.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs

From the responsorial psalm: “I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. Show your wondrous mercies, O savior of those who flee from their foes to refuge at your right hand. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 8:1-3)

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.

Luke depicts Jesus and the Twelve as they travel from village to village. With him, Luke tells us, were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others. From them came the resources and provisions needed in his mission to preach the Gospel and heal people. If his many disciples were following him only for the sake of this life, what is it they hoped to gain? They followed Jesus because even before his passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus had the words of eternal life. “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,” Saint Paul says, “we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Where would we be—empty in faith and false witnesses—without the resurrection of Christ?

God, help me throughout the day’s journey as I desire to follow Christ wherever he goes. In my own mind, the schedule is set and I want to face the work and challenges that lie ahead. Give me the grace to broaden my vision to greater things than this. I want to know who it is I ask to be with me at every moment, not only here and now but until the end of time. Help me recognize Jesus Christ your Son in the events of the day and in the faces of those you place in front of me. “On waking,” the psalmist prays, “I shall be content in your presence.” Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; that awake we may keep watch with Christ. Saints Andrew and Paul, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Your sins are forgiven.” | Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, ‘His mercy endures forever.’ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 7:36-50)

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of a sinful woman who anoints Jesus’ feet with her tears and perfume while he is dining at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. The woman stands behind Jesus, weeping at his feet and bathing them with her tears, expressing a depth of contrition. She hears Jesus say the words: “Your sins are forgiven.” The woman’s sorrow for her sins demonstrates profound love and gratitude for the forgiveness she has received. Jesus then explains to Simon that those who are forgiven much will love much. While the other people at the table question who this is who even forgives sins, Jesus says to the woman: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

God, help me leave judgment to you. Help me see my own shortcomings and bring them to the feet of Jesus. Just as the woman approaches Jesus with humility and contrition, give me the grace to approach you with a deepening recognition of my need for your grace. You are not distant, Lord, but very near and within reach. Saint Paul reminds me that Christ entered human history to save us, that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.” Strengthen my faith, Lord; let me know your mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.