Tag: faith

“Put out into deep water.” | Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Your right hand saves me. The LORD will complete what he has done for me; your kindness, O LORD, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 5:1-11, today’s readings)

After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.

Luke describes the calling of the first disciples, namely Simon Peter, James, and John. Commenting on this passage, Saint John Paul II said, “Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” By saying this, he reminded us that God continually calls us to live a deeper, more purposeful life. Simon Peter’s response to Jesus is an example of faith and humility; an experienced fisherman, Peter would have known well when and where to catch fish. Returning to the shore, Peter professes Jesus as Lord, not fit to be in his presence. Jesus says to him, calling him to his mission of evangelization: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

God, help me understand that you dwell in depth and mystery yet are ever present in the sacraments of the Church, especially in the real presence of the Eucharist. My own will, like Peter’s, moves from what it knows and toward what it knows. Give me the grace to hear and understand your will in the depth of my heart and then act on it. Guide me away from the mediocrity of determining that my life’s purpose is self-circumscribed. From the deep, unseen places where you are and through the body and blood of Jesus, guide me toward accepting your will and doing what you ask of me. Make clear to me, Lord, what it is you wish me for to do.

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.

“His heart was moved with pity for them.” | Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 6:30-34, today’s readings)

When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

After the apostles return to Jesus and report all that they accomplished and taught, Jesus recognizes their need for rest and retreat after a round of strenuous ministry. He invites them to come away to “a deserted place and rest a while.” But as they try to find a secluded place, a large crowd follows them. The compassion Jesus reveals his boundless empathy and care for his people, and he provides for their needs with the comfort of his presence and teachings. As his followers, it is no stretch to say that the disciples see and follow Jesus as he once again does the work of God among the crowds.

God, in the midst of the day’s events, help me remember that you are always at my side. Just as Jesus invited the disciples to retreat from their busy ministry to restore their spirit, help me recognize when I need to step back and consciously choose to rest. Through your grace, teach me to respond to the needs of other as an instrument of your peace. Help me think about the words of Saint Paul from the first reading: “Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

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 Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

From the responsorial psalm: “O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple. As your name, O God, so also your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Of justice your right hand is full. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Mark describes in detail how Jesus sends out the Twelve to preach, heal the sick, and exorcise demons. He sends them out in pairs with specific instructions for what they are to take with them, which is practically nothing. This turns their reliance entirely to God and to the hospitality of the people they stay with. He says, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.” This line alone contains profound teaching not only for the apostles but for every one of us. To enter into a house and stay means to be at peace in the place you are and not to seek a constant upgrade or rely on another, greater source of security and shelter. To “stay until you leave from there” also means to glorify God in the authority he gives us by being present in mind, body, and spirit in order to carry out his work as disciples.

God, I can only imagine what Jesus would say to people of today as he sends them out to proclaim the Gospel. So much of what I have goes far beyond basic needs. Yet although material things have good, legitimate uses, they are useless if they prevent me from entering in and staying with you. Saint Paul says in the first reading that Moses, on hearing you—”a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them”—was terrified and trembling. How much good there is in putting things down that make noise but don’t speak. Give me the grace, Lord, to stay where I am today and be grateful for the hospitality I receive from others as I witness to your goodness and mercy. Saint Paul Miki and martyrs, 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 Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

From the responsorial psalm: “But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear him, And his justice toward children’s children among those who keep his covenant. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

As Jesus return to his hometown of Nazareth, he receives mixed reactions from people who have known him and seen him grow up in the home of Mary and Joseph. Some of those people who knew him well regarded him with disbelief. What this suggests about faith is that that a lack of it can limit the recognition of and response to divine power at work in our lives. The rejection Jesus experiences in Nazareth is a reminder of our own understanding and discernment of the complexities of faith in light of what is familiar to us.

God, help me understand how thin the veil is that separates the reality of your presence from what I see with my eyes. Often, I go through the day attentive to what I perceive through my senses, yet you are no less real or no less present than the outdoors just beyond my dining room window. Give me the grace to grow in my faith that the same Jesus who lived among his neighbors, friends, and family is the risen Christ alive today at your right hand and truly present in the sacraments. Saint Agatha, 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.

Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, Who touched me?” And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.

Mark tells us about two intertwined miracles performed by Jesus: the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage and the raising of Jairus’s daughter from the dead. Jairus, a synagogue leader, falls at Jesus’ feet and begs him to go to his young, dying daughter. As Jesus makes his way, a woman who has been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years approaches him with a condition that has worsened over time. Believing that if she can just touch Jesus’ clothes, she will be healed of her affliction, she touches his garment and is immediately healed and tells Jesus “the whole truth.” Jesus then goes to Jairus’s daughter and hears that she has already died. He continues anyway, and despite facing ridicule for saying she is only sleeping, Jesus takes the girl by the hand, tells her to arise, and she immediately rises to new life. Jesus heals in two ways: by responding to Jairus’s desperate plea and by restoring the woman through her quiet faith. In both miracles, faith is the key.

Father in heaven, let me remember to come to you today whether for long-held afflictions or for acute, urgent needs. The quiet faith of the woman and the distressed prayer of Jairus both reveal ways to call out to you for your grace and healing. Strengthen my faith, Lord, and let me trust that when I bring myself before you, you already know what I need and will provide.

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.

“All that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” | Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

Following the calming of a storm at sea, Jesus and the disciples arrive at the region of Gerasenes and encounter a man possessed by demons. Living among the tombs and restrained by chains and shackles he smashed, the demon-possessed man meets Jesus at the shore. Night and day, Mark tells us, the man cried out and bruised himself with stones. Recognizing Jesus by name, the demons identifying themselves as Legion, beg Jesus not to torment them. Granting their request, Jesus sends the demons into a nearby herd of pigs, which immediately rush down a steep bank into the sea. The man returns to his right mind, and the witnesses and nearby townspeople beg the man to leave, who first attempts to go with Jesus and then travels to the Decapolis to proclaim what Jesus has done for him. The people are amazed, and word of Jesus begins to spread. Sometimes life would have us living among tombs, possessed by inner demons. If Jesus drove out Legion, he can drive out any of those who name themselves or any who dwell in us in anonymity. “Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.”

God, stay beside me this moment and throughout the day as I meditate on the power of Jesus Christ your Son to name and cast out any evil within me. Thanks be to you, Lord, for the gifts of baptism and reconciliation and the true food and true drink of the Eucharist. Jesus commanded the possessed man to do one thing. Let me open my heart in gratitude to his command and find joy in it: “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Help me remember your compassion, Lord, as I place my trust in you.

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.

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

From the responsorial psalm: “Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in! Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (today’s readings)

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted—and you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

The words of Simeon to Mary are powerful, and from Mary’s viewpoint must have been very disquieting. For her to hear that Jesus will figure into the lives of many in Israel and that he will be a sign of contradiction is unsettling enough. To add to that, Simeon tells her that she herself will be pierced by a sword. This foreshadows the suffering Mary will endure at the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus. And for what purpose? “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” At the end of the passage, Luke says this about all the years ahead that Jesus would spend in the home of Joseph and Mary after they presented him to the Lord: “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.”

God, help me understand what Simeon and Anna understood about Jesus. As they awaited the consolation of Israel throughout their long lives, they witnessed him firsthand, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” Confident in his faith at seeing his salvation, Simeon was able to say, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go.” Give me the grace, Lord, to receive the Eucharist with the same faith, realizing that you are truly present in the form of bread and wine—that it is the king of glory, the Lord, that I take and receive and let dwell within me. “Who is this king of glory? It is the 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.

“Quiet! Be still!” | Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the bonds of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

In the first reading, Saint Paul mentions the word faith—what he defines as “the realization of what is hoped for”—six times as he recounts the faith of Abraham, who followed God and received the fullness of God’s promises. Using the word just once, Jesus questions the disciples after he calms the storm. And with a single word, the same one with which Jesus silences demons, he calms the storm by saying “Quiet!” While the disciples stood in awe of Jesus’ mastery over the elements, we know what they didn’t know about him yet: he is the risen Christ, the Son of God, who destroys death and restores life. The disciples ask him beforehand, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus answers as he always does when we question his sovereignty over every moment in our lives: “Do you not yet have faith?”

God, throughout the day, help me remember three words Jesus spoke to the disciples: “Quiet! Be still!” In order to hear that voice, I have to remain in the boat with him in the midst of storms. Give me the grace to remain there and not cast myself into sea swells. I’m sure that sometime in the future for a yet-unknown reason, my prayer will be “Don’t you care, God?” In that moment, Lord, don’t let me lose sight of you seated in the stern. Remove all fear, and strengthen my faith. Blessed Virgin Mary, 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.

“Of its own accord the land yields fruit.” | Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest

San Giovanni Bosco - A black and white photo of a man wearing a hat

From the responsorial psalm: “Trust in the LORD and do good, that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security. Take delight in the LORD, and he will grant you your heart’s requests. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”

Of its own accord, the seed of the kingdom of God sprouts and grows and ripens for the harvest. Jesus speaks in parables to the crowds so that they receive and let take root the word of God as children receive the love and guidance of parents. “With many such parables,” Mark tells us, “he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.” Jesus’ revelation of the kingdom is more than the sharing of factual information; it is an invitation to participate in its wonder and mystery. In receiving the word, as Saint Paul puts it, we are “among those who have faith and will possess life” as the smallest of seeds grow to the fullness of grain that is harvested and gathered.

God, your kingdom is here and now and yet to be. In it, “we live and move and have our being.” Help me today to hold on to a childlike sense of faith and wonder at your presence in the world and in the events of the day that are close to home as they unfold. The Gospel acclamation reminds me that “you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.” Let me turn my attention less to the things that I can make grow and thrive and more to your eternal will being done as things take place seemingly of their own accord. Lord, let me take refuge in you; sustain and save me. Saint John Bosco, 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.

“To the one who has, more will be given.” | Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 4:21-25)

He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Jesus continues teaching the disciples, placing his focus on the purpose and impact of his message by making two comparisons: the light from a lamp and ears for hearing. What Jesus reveals is not meant to be hidden away but instead given a place of prominence so that the revelation illuminates all of the lives it touches. “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you” is to say that you receive what you put in, whether attentive to his words or indifferent or dismissive of them. Jesus calls us to actively listen to him and respond to his teachings, which is essential to growing in faith and understanding of his message.

God, as Saint Paul encourages in the first reading, let me do today as I approach you with a sincere heart and absolute trust. So many moving pieces go into a day that it is sometimes hard to see the light that shines right in front of me or to listen attentively for your quiet voice amid a bustle of activity. “Take care what you hear,” Jesus says. And anyone who has hears, which is everybody, ought to hear and see what his revelation makes visible. Lord, keep me far from being the one who has not. Give me the grace to receive still more from you as I measure out the breadth and depth and height of your word. “Such is the race that seeks for him,” the psalmist prays, “that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.”

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.