Tag: evangelio del dia

“Hear me, all of you, and understand.” | Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Whoever walks blamelessly and does justice; who thinks the truth in his heart and slanders not with his tongue. The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

Jesus responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

Clinging to human tradition, we disregard God’s commandment. Mark shows us how Jesus responds to the Pharisees and scribes, who criticize the disciples for not washing their hands before a meal. “Unclean,” is their contention. Mark goes on to tell us how all Jews carefully wash their hands to keep with tradition, along with many other traditional practices of keeping clean. Addressing defilement, Jesus emphasizes the importance of inner purity over external rituals. “Hear me, all of you, and understand,” Jesus says to the crowd. “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” Saint James puts it this way: “to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world” is the way to remain pure and undefiled before God.

God, help me discern where empty ritual is and dispense with it. External, observable practices can become a trap under the guise of reverence for tradition rather than participation in the Body of Christ. In the real presence of the Eucharist—the body and blood of your Son—teach me to remain in your love. “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me,” Jesus says. “In vain do they worship me.” The sins and evil intentions that Jesus names arise out of the heart. Lead me to purity of heart, Lord, and keep me in your truth, the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ your Son.

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 Parable of the Talents | Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield, For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 25:14-30)

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one–to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.”

“It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,” Saint Paul says, “who became for us wisdom from God.” Not many of us, he says, are wise by human standards but instead we owe everything to God so should boast not in our own accomplishment but in the Lord. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the talents, emphasizing sharing in the master’s joy when those he has given talents to invest them in small matters and see their value grow. The characters in the parable say to the master, “See, I have made more.” The servant who buries the talent is pitiable because everybody has experienced a sense of unworthiness before the Lord, but it is the same Lord who pours grace upon us to give us courage to make a new start. The French Catholic writer Leon Bloy said: “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” The talents, or graces, God gives us help us in this life know his joy and at the same time prepare us for the joy of eternal life in his presence. What do we imagine ourselves saying to the Lord when we meet him face to face?

God, give me wisdom through Jesus Christ your Son to recognize the talents you give me and to work with them well so that I can share in your joy. It is difficult to compare the graces others receive with my own, if I even recognize them. Yet, you draw from a supply of grace whose source is endless. The wisdom I receive is your wisdom; the lovingkindness I express is yours; the hope for sanctification and redemption, yours. Help me trust that these talents you give me grow according to my ability as I seek to know and do your will. Let your eyes be upon me, Lord.

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.

“Then the door was locked.” | Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations; he foils the designs of peoples. But the plan of the LORD stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 25:1-13)

“At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked.”

In the familiar parable of the ten virgins, Jesus likens them to the kingdom of God at the time of the Second Coming. The wise and foolish virgins represent all of humanity and depict the readiness each of us has—the oil that burns with love for the coming of the Lord. What Saint Paul describes as “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God,” the wise virgins have made their hearts attentive to, receiving the Lord out of devotion to him. When the foolish ones go off to obtain what they did not already have, they find the doors to the feast locked—a door that, despite their pleading, they themselves are responsible for keeping open through prayer and faith. “Therefore, stay awake,” Jesus says, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Spiritual vigilance and preparedness are vital.

God, help me choose to be ready today for your coming. In the unfolding of the events of the day, help me choose the message of the cross over human wisdom and strength. You yourself are wisdom and strength, and the psalmist praises this, saying, “He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.” It is your strength and wisdom that will make all the difference in whether I have the strength to stand before the Son of Man at his coming. Help me, Lord, be vigilant and ready to meet you in your kingdom.

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 the Passion of Saint John the Baptist

From the responsorial psalm: “Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 6:17-29)

Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.

Reluctant to execute John, Herodias looked for an opportunity to have him killed. During a banquet celebrating Herod’s birthday, Herodias’s daughter, also known as Salome, danced for Herod and the guests. At this, Herod promised to grant her any wish, even up to half of his kingdom, and she got what Herodias prompted her to ask for—the head of John the Baptist on a platter. John spoke out boldly against King Herod’s immorality and was brutally executed, also foreshadowing Jesus’ rejection, passion, and death for the sake of bearing witness to the truth. For the sake of proclaiming truth through the Gospel, how far does the Lord call us to go?

God, help me be recognize the true cost of discipleship in picking up my cross and confronting the Evil One as I face the spiritual battles the world presents. Guide me in my choices, not to serve immoral ends but to remain in your grace and to trust the judgment of others to your justice and mercy. Although he knew John was a holy and righteous man, Herod chose to please his wife and guests and have him killed. Help me see, Lord, your gifts of truth and goodness shining through the darkness and penetrating the gray areas where human judgment is prone to fail. “God is faithful,” Saint Paul says, “and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Saint John the Baptist, 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 Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 23:27-32)

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.”

Jesus continues to denounce the scribes and the Pharisees with a series of woes, expressing grief over self-obsessed religious leaders who are guilty of hypocrisy and murderous intentions. Like the scribes and Pharisees, God made all of us in his image, pure and beautiful. Yet, sin corrupts and death destroys that image, producing “dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.” Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees—and all who hear him—away from false displays of virtue and toward conversion, back to the beauty and goodness by which God first formed us in the image of love. As Saint Augustine said, “Inasmuch as love grows in you, so in you beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.”

God, the harsh words that Jesus directed to the scribes and Pharisees are not isolated in time and space but are for all people across the ages. Guide me away from false piety and show me Jesus your Son, present in the scriptures, in the real presence of the sacraments, and in the Body of Christ, the Church. That is where genuine relationship is, in the truth of the person of Christ. For the sake of your glory, Lord, open my eyes to my own shortcomings and make clear to me today how to turn to you more and more. Saint Augustine, 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 Monica

From the responsorial psalm: “Before the Lord, for he comes; for he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy. The Lord comes to judge the earth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 23:23-26)

Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for their handling of Mosaic law, the way they overemphasize unimportant aspects of it while neglecting more important matters. Judgment, mercy, and fidelity have greater weight than tithing. Inner purity and repentance matter; external appearances do not. And out of love, Jesus rebukes them for their misguided words and actions. Turning to God and living in his truth allows us to let go of the blindness of seeking external validation before others. Christ then has room to fill that space in a way that Paul describes in the first reading: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.”

God, help strengthen in me the desire for the greater things that Christ calls me to: right judgment, mercy, fidelity, repentance, hope, goodness, and purity. Show me through the opportunities you place before me how to put aside self-regard and instead put to use love and mercy in what I say and do. You loved me first, Lord, and heaven and earth are yours. “The Lord comes,” the psalmist says, “to judge the earth.” Let me leave judgment to you, Lord, so I am free to love you and do as you will. Saint Monica, 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.

“You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.” | Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. Sing to the LORD; bless his name. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 23:13-22)

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”

What Jesus says to the crowds and to his disciples, he says to everybody. Through their authority, the scribes and Pharisees have prevented people from entering the kingdom of heaven. In putting up obstacles, they open up paths to other spiritual realities and fail to find God’s presence. Where God is present, that is the path to follow, the way to the kingdom, whether here or in heaven. “You blind ones,” Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees, “which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?” Paul’s letter describes an attitude of love and thanksgiving, which opens the doors to the kingdom of heaven. What opportunities does God present to us today to open the doors to his kingdom?

God, help make me worthy of your calling to “bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith.” There are times when it is hard to get past the barriers that present themselves during the day, whether self-imposed or beyond my control. I want to gain admittance to your kingdom, here on earth and in the life of the world to come. Help me desire this more and more, Lord, for the sake of your glory. I have nothing to give you that you haven’t given me first, the giver of all good gifts. With my effort of faith, take from me all I do have, and in your mercy break it and bless it as I seek to enter your kingdom.

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.

“You are the Holy One of God.” | Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 6:60-69)

Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,” Jesus has just finished saying, “and I will raise him on the last day.” After saying this to a skeptical crowd in the synagogue in Capernaum, many of the followers of Jesus left him. Finishing what is known as the Bread of Life Discourse, and knowing there are some who do not believe him, Jesus says, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” He asks the Twelve if there are any among them who want to leave. And Simon Peter answers: “You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” These are the words of one who would later deny Jesus but also the one to whom Jesus said: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” Peter exemplifies for us the journey from wavering, weakness, and division to faith, authority, and unity.

God, help me understand today’s Gospel. In it, Jesus says that no one can come to him unless it is granted by you, his Father. Strengthen my faith so that I come to the conviction, like Peter, that Jesus is the Holy One of God. “As for me and my household,” Joshua said, ” we will serve the LORD.” Just as Paul speaks of Christ and the Church through the example of man and wife becoming one flesh, help me participate fully in the life-giving mystery of union with you through the Bread of Life, through love made manifest in the Eucharist. In the truth of humility, help me see my dependence on you for everything. Guide me to your Son as I come to believe in him more fully. “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.”

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.

“You are the Son of God.” | Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

From the responsorial psalm: “Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 1:45-51)

Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

When Philip tells Nathanael (known as the apostle Bartholomew) that they have found the Messiah, Nathanael is skeptical, saying, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip then gives him this simple invitation: “Come and see.” When Nathanael approaches Jesus, Jesus recognizes the virtue in him as one who is free from duplicity, or deceit. Nathanael is surprised and asks how Jesus knows him. Jesus tells him that he saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him. This then leads Nathanael to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel. Jesus responds by saying that Nathanael will witness heaven opened and angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. The simple invitation of Philip to come and see the Lord leads Nathanael to see firsthand the glorious splendor of God’s kingdom.

God, just as Philip called Nathanael, help me recognize the simple invitations I hear throughout the day to come to you. Help me approach the day not with skepticism and knowingness but with childlike faith that you see me at all times and call me to witness you in your glory. Lord, take the limited vision I have of doing your will and bless me with every grace I need to accomplish it. Nathanael recognized Jesus as your Son. As I approach the Eucharist and as the day unfolds, help me do the same.

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.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” | Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy and his wondrous deeds to the children of men, Because he satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with good things. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 22:34-40)

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Jesus is being tested. First the Sadducees and then the Pharisees approached him with questions about Jewish law. The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, had just approached Jesus about the marriage obligations of those at the time of resurrection. Now a scholar of the law hears of Jesus’ response and tests him by asking which is the greatest commandment. Jesus recites the Shema, the Jewish prayer that includes the phrase “you shall love the Lord” and is made up of three passages from the Hebrew Bible. The Shema’s name comes from the first Hebrew word of the prayer, shema, which means “hear” or “listen.” But then Jesus says something new: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In coupling these two commandments, Jesus teaches that they are not merely rules to follow but are rooted in the call to love. As the fulfillment of the commandments, carried out in words and action, love shapes our response to both God and neighbor and sets them in relationship to one another.

God, I hear the second commandment and realize how far I fall short in following through. It seems no heavy burden to love myself. The other parts are difficult, really impossible by my own power—to love you with all my being and to love others. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” How do I love you with my all without first knowing what it is to love another fully, and how do I do that without loving you with all my heart, soul, and mind? Show me, Lord, how to do both through your Son. Let Christ live in me so that I can love you and others as he did out of his whole being for the sake of your glory. Work with me, Lord; teach me your paths, and guide me in your truth.

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.