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“This man is John the Baptist.” | Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.” Lord, in your great love, answer me.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 14:1-12)

But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

In today’s Gospel, King Herod hears about the ministry and miracles of Jesus and mistakenly believes that Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead. Herod had previously imprisoned and eventually beheaded John the Baptist because Herodias wanted John killed. Matthew uses this story to explain how John the Baptist was beheaded, and it highlights the consequences of Herod’s ruthlessness. At his birthday celebration, quite possibly drunk, he swore to the girl that he would give her whatever she asked. He became distressed when she asked for John’s head and by upholding pride was trapped into following through on his promise before his guests.

God, help me understand the ruinous consequences of pride, the deadly sin of refusing to let go of power, honor, or wealth. There is something more to the story of Herod that I want to call to mind and keep with me today. Herod arrested John the Baptist because he had openly criticized his unlawful marriage to Herodias, who was his brother’s wife. So deeply has sin and dysfunction distorted Herod’s reasoning, that he believed Jesus was John risen from the dead, as if he were a ghost who had come back to haunt him. Keep me in your care, Lord; guide me in your ways and keep me from sin and its deadly consequences. Lord, in your great love, hear and answer me.

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.

“Where did this man get all this?” | Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “But I pray to you, O LORD, for the time of your favor, O God! In your great kindness answer me with your constant help. Lord, in your great love, answer me.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:54-58)

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.

In Nazareth, Jesus is met by many who know him by name and have seen him grow up in the house of Joseph and Mary. They contrast the wisdom he has with his simple origin and identify him in relation to family members—the carpenter’s son, the son of Mary, and mention of brothers and sisters. How could this man know what he knows? Just as it is easy to take for granted the gifts and wisdom of those closest to us, Jesus’ own townspeople do the same. The result, Matthew tells us, is that Jesus did not perform many miracles there because of their little faith in him.

God, help me consider two things from today’s Gospel. Help me see and appreciate how you work through those closest to me that I might otherwise take for granted. Even more, give me the grace to realize that in order for mighty deeds, or miracles, to take place I have to have faith in Jesus your Son and Jesus son of Mary. Help me trust in him as I move throughout the day, knowing that in him is the source of all knowledge and wisdom. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

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 you understand all these things?”| Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

From the responsorial psalm: “Put not your trust in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. When his spirit departs he returns to his earth; on that day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt13:47-53)

Jesus said to the disciples: “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.”

Jesus continues to teach the disciples about the kingdom of heaven through parables. A treasure buried in a field, a pearl of great price, and now a net thrown into the sea. All of these parables have in common the need for followers of Jesus to see in him the inestimable value over things of the earth. Just as the psalmist recognizes the littleness of human plans as they perish at one’s death, so Jesus guides the disciples and all who would hear him in the ways of eternal life. “Do you understand all these things?” Jesus asks the disciples. They tell him yes. And he replies, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” Having heard him, where will Jesus be found in the midst of this day?

God, help me not be disturbed at all today by earthly plans that perish at the end of this life. Instead, let me seek again the buried treasure and the pearl of great price in every opportunity you give me today to praise you for the sake of your glory. You are the potter, we are the clay; your words spoken through Jeremiah make this clear. Jeremiah says of the potter he watches, “Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.” Make in me, Lord, a new creation when things turn out badly. “Indeed,” you say, “like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.” Saint Alphonsus Liguori, 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.

“A pearl of great price.” | Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

From the responsorial psalm: “Praise the LORD, O my soul; I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:44-46)

Jesus said to his disciples: “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.”

In this parable, Jesus speaks to each person in an quiet yet urgent voice to stir a desire to seek him. The kingdom of heaven is already here, and it is yet to come. Pope Francis describes this in two ways, searching and sacrifice. The kingdom of God must be sought out, and the essential attitude to acquire it is “searching, journeying, working hard.” When the treasure is found—the very person of Jesus—a great sacrifice is called for so that the discovery produces spiritual fruit. “It is not a question of disdaining the rest,” Pope Francis says, “but of subordinating them to Jesus, putting him in first place; grace in first place.”

God, with the help of your grace and through the intercession of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, help me see you everywhere throughout the course of the day. When I imagine that the buried treasure and the pearl lay just ahead of me today to seek out and find, I am joyful in knowing you are near. Help me renounce and detach from all that is not you. Give me the wisdom and courage to make the necessary sacrifices to put Christ your Son in first place, eager to serve you in hearing and doing your will. Saint Ignatius, 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.

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun.” | Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:36-43)

“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

In response to the disciples, Jesus explains the parable of the weeds and the wheat. The Son of Man, Jesus tells them, is the one who sows good seed. “The weeds are the children of the Evil One,” he says, “and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.” In the end of the age, the Son of Man will send his angels for the final judgment. Among the worst places to be in this depiction of Jesus is one of those who causes others to sin. In alarming clarity, Jesus himself describes the reality of the devil and evil spirits. To cooperate with them, to turn away from God, is to sin and position oneself to cause others to sin—a place of misery. But God has a place for the righteous, a place in the Kingdom of the Father, where those who hear and obey him will shine like the sun in everlasting bliss.

God, for the glory of your name, help me remember to come to you without hesitation in this life so I am prepared to give you unending thanks and praise in the life of the world to come. Jeremiah says, “Is it not you alone, O LORD, our God, to whom we look? You alone have done all these things.” Help me look to you alone, Lord, to remain in your word and to turn away from the Evil One. Deliver me, free me from death, and forgive my sins for your name’s sake. Saint Peter Chrysologus, 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 Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

From the responsorial psalm: “Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god’ and angered me with their vain idols, I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’; with a foolish nation I will anger them.” You have forgotten God who gave you birth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 11:19-27)

“Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

As the friends of Martha and Mary comforted them after their brother’s death, Martha hears that Jesus is coming and goes out to meet him. Martha, the one whom Jesus says is anxious and worried about many things, meets Jesus as Mary sits at home, probably overcome with grief. Martha tells Jesus that if he had been there, Lazarus would not have died. Yet, she shows faith in saying to him, “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” When Jesus tells her that he is the resurrection and the life and that whoever believes in him even if he dies will live, he invites Martha to profess her faith. “Do you believe this?” Martha begins by saying, “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” After his passion, death, and resurrection, how much more poignantly Christ asks each of us this question in his full presence in the Eucharist and in the Blessed Sacrament.

God, as I consider the dialogue between Jesus and Martha, I am struck by her faith in Jesus after her brother’s death. The faith is grounded in her trust in the relationship Jesus has with you as his loving Father. “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God . . .” Be with me today, Lord, as I hesitate to trust in your goodness and providence. Make clear to me that, like your Son, you hear and answer my prayers no matter how minor or grave any situation might seem to me. Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 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 Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:18-23)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

Jesus explains to the disciples the meaning of the Parable of the Sower. For each type of soil the word falls on, Jesus says that it is heard. Four times Jesus repeats the phrase “the one who hears the word.” What happens to it after it is heard—the receptivity to it and placement of it—makes all the difference. As the word is sown among the broad and well-trod paths, lack of understanding leaves it vulnerable to the Evil One taking it away. If the condition of the soul is not prepared to receive it, the joy in hearing it doesn’t take root and falls away or is choked in the entanglements of anxious daily life and lured to other pursuits. But to those who both hear and understand, Jesus tells us, the fruit it bears “yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

God, help me ponder throughout the day how the word fell among the family of Joachim, Anne, and Mary. Conceived without sin, Mary first received your word from her parents, who would have marveled at her receptivity and care of it. The Evil One could not take from her what she understood, being immaculately conceived and without the distortions to faith and reason that sin subjects the soul to. Witnesses to the joy that took root in Mary, her parents would have seen how joy and fidelity persisted through the incarnation and all the way through the passion, death, and resurrection of her Son. Because of her perfect humility, worldly anxiety and the lure of riches could not touch her. Mary is the example to every soul who prepares rich soil for the seed to take root, grow, and bear fruit to give witness to you, Lord—to proclaim your greatness to all generations. Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us! 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.

“We can.” | Feast of Saint James, Apostle

From the responsorial psalm: “Although they go forth weeping, carrying the seed to be sown, They shall come back rejoicing, carrying their sheaves. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 20:20-28)

The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

In response to the mother of James and John, Jesus asks them if they can accept the suffering that Jesus himself will face. Asking them whether they are prepared to give over their lives as they suffer in the service of the Lord, Jesus wishes to know their sincerity of heart. In their affirmative response, Jesus sees their devotion to him and to his mission and so says, “My chalice you will indeed drink.” In obedience to the Father, Jesus tells them that anything more is not his to give. When the other ten hear of the request of James and John, they become resentful. But gathering them together, he says, “Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” In the same way, Jesus tells them, he came not to be served “but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

God, help me see how Jesus invited James and John to model their lives after his. He asked them if they desired to drink the same chalice of suffering that he would drink, and he invites me to do the same. How is it that I would willingly take up suffering in a life of service to you, Lord? What is there in that invitation that would keep me from fleeing in the opposite direction? I am comfortable; I don’t suffer much. Yet, I know suffering has come and will come again. If suffering is inevitable, let me welcome Christ as it comes because he alone brings life in the shadow of death. In the midst of every kind of suffering, Saint Paul says, we do this for your glory. We have in our mortal bodies your surpassing power, “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.” Saint James, 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 some seed fell on rich soil . . . ” | Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live for ever.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:1-9)

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The familiar parable of the sower is clear in its meaning: Christ is the sower, and the place we make for him within us is for the word to sprout and grow. A common interpretation of Gospel passages that describe Jesus and the disciples in a boat is that the boat symbolizes the Church. From a boat, Jesus shares this parable to the large crowds that gather around him. The word goes out from sea to land—all land everywhere, from now until the end of time. For each type of soil that fails to make an adequate seedbed, Jesus provides an answer to the daily problems every one of his followers might have. The seed that falls on a path only to be eaten by birds: take great care to gather it and prepare it for planting. The seed that falls on rocky ground: prepare and nurture the soil so it can to take root. The seed that falls among thorns choke it; remove the tangles of daily life that obstruct and choke the word of God. Make yourselves ready, Jesus suggests, for a place where God can go to work in you to produce fruit “a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

God, every time I hear this reading, I begin to think of which type of soil I am. As I listen, I realize I am every type. Often I have made little of the seed that simply lies on parched ground, exposed and uncared for as if it had no worth. Other times, I have been the rich soil, having made a place for you to provide everything I need to give glory to your name. Jeremiah excused himself for being too young to speak, but you told him, “Say not, ‘I am too young.” To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear. . . . See, I place my words in your mouth!” Lord, you know me and have a task for me today. In all my words and actions of this day, help me make a place for you to remain—so that you yourself dwell in me and place your word within me.

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.

“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” | Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Will you not instead give us life; and shall not your people rejoice in you? Show us, O LORD, your kindness, and grant us your salvation. Lord, show us your mercy and love.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 12:46-50)

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

In his response, Jesus may at first seem harsh and short-tempered. Yet, his reply does not exclude his mother and his brothers but draws on his relationship with them to teach the crowd. Matthew describes Jesus’ gesture of stretching out his hands toward his disciples to indicate that those who follow him do the will of his Father. That sweeping gesture includes those who followed him then and those who follow him now. Through the risen Christ, God invites all of us to belong to the same human family.

Heavenly Father, help me do your will today. Show me clearly how to be a brother to Christ in my words and actions. Having contemplated the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at the National Eucharistic Congress, I am grateful for being with him and receiving his sustaining nourishment in Communion with thousands of other members of the Body of Christ. Grant me the grace to remain in your presence even as I go out into the world. I can imagine Mary and the family of Jesus wishing to speak with him, knowing who he was and where he came from. Help me have the presence of mind today to know who you are and what your will is for me with the gift of time you give me today.

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.