Tag: Jesus

Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:12-19)

And [Jesus] came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.

After spending the night in prayer, Jesus chooses the Twelve Apostles, including Judas Iscariot, who would betray him. After choosing them, Luke tells us that the apostles come down the mountain with Jesus, where he stands on a stretch of level ground. There he meets a great crowd of his disciples and a large number of people. From the mountaintop where Jesus prays, he carries with him and transmits to the people on level ground the divine love between the Father and the Son. They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases and unclean spirits. The miracles Jesus performs come from communication with his Father and is immediately passed on to the people, as Luke says, “because power came forth from him and healed them all.”

Father in heaven, please help me understand the trust that Jesus placed in you as he prayed to you on the mountain. The choosing of the Twelve came through your Son’s discernment through communication with you in the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the same Holy Spirit, help me share in the love between you and the Son, placing my trust in his divinity. As Saint Paul says of Jesus in the first reading: “For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power.” Give me the grace to listen out for your Word with the same ardor with which the crowds sought out Jesus to hear him, be healed by him, and follow him.

From the responsorial psalm: “I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever.” Through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, Lord hear my prayer.

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.

Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:6-11)

On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.

The scene Luke sets in today’s Gospel presents the trickery of the Pharisees in their attempt to catch Jesus transgressing Mosaic law. Without their approaching Jesus directly, the Pharisees have playing out before them what they believe is a perfect dilemma: Will Jesus cure on the sabbath? Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus understood their intentions, and asking the man to stand before them, he said to the Pharisees: “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” Jesus asks the man to stretch out his hand, and he cures him. But the Pharisees become furious, and they discuss together, as Luke says, “what they might do to Jesus.”

Father in heaven, I turn to you in today’s readings to know you better, to come nearer to the source and end of love itself. “Only in God be at rest, my soul, for from him comes my hope,” I read in today’s psalms. You, Lord, are the sabbath rest that my soul seeks. Just as the man with the withered hand put his trust in Jesus, I also stretch out my hand to receive your mercy and healing. Taking refuge in you, enveloped in your love, give me the opportunity today and the grace to be a refuge to others and to be a witness to the mercy and self-sacrificial love of Christ.

From the first reading: “It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”

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.

“There am I in the midst of them.” | Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 18:15-20)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

In today’s Gospel as in the first reading from Ezekiel, God shows his desire to bring all people to him in unity. Jesus tells the disciples to admonish and resolve any wrong done to them among their brothers and sisters, emphasizing forgiveness and mercy. “If your brother sins against you,” Jesus says, “go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.” Jesus continues to speak of fraternal correction and guides the disciples toward reconciliation through the witness of mediators and before the Church. Through Christ’s presence and the action of the Holy Spirit, the process of reconciliation and decision-making among members of the Church is oriented toward God. Jesus promises that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is present among them.

Father in heaven, be my help today in orienting my words and actions toward you. Give me the opportunity to realize it is reconciliation to you and with others that you always offer because you are love itself. Let me take sin for what it is, an obstacle in receiving and expressing love. If necessary, help me do as you ask Ezekiel to do: “dissuade the wicked from his way.” So when sin divides, and it will, guide me to address offenses with the aim of reconciliation and resolution. As the psalmist says, you are our God and we are the people you shepherd, the flock you guide. I ask you for the grace to seek unity and reconciliation with others as you do with your people. “Love does no evil to the neighbor,” says Saint Paul, “hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.”

From the Gospel acclamation: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

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 Peter Claver, Priest

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:1-5)

Jesus said to the Pharisees in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

Jesus responds to the Pharisees who criticize the disciples as they walk through a field, picking the heads of grain and eating them. It’s not difficult to imagine this scene. The Pharisees are on their way somewhere, and they stop in their tracks when they notice the disciples doing something unlawful. In response to the criticism of his disciples’ conduct, Jesus argues that human needs, including satisfying hunger and performing works of mercy, take precedence over the sabbath. In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus says: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies the Pharisees’ confining legalistic understanding of the sabbath and offers a deeper understanding rooted in mercy, compassion, and fulfillment of the Father’s will.

Father in heaven, you look first to the care of your people over manmade rules, rules that become distorted through fallen human nature. When I am overzealous to go to the defense of a house rule or certain habit, help me slow down and think through what I am about to say or do. Is there instead an opportunity for me to be like your Son and offer mercy? When I am keen to point out someone’s wrongdoing, give me the grace to recognize that everything I have is from you. In the sabbath, as with all your good gifts, help me be merciful as you are merciful. Saint Peter Claver, pray for us!

From the Gospel acclamation: “I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through 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.

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 1:18-23)

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

Matthew describes the events leading up to Jesus’ birth from Joseph’s point of view. Aware that Mary is pregnant, Joseph plans to divorce her quietly rather than expose her to public shame. But God communicates a different plan to Joseph through an angel, telling him: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” God breaks through all of the boundaries in which Joseph existed and acted—societal, moral, and spiritual—to allow him to choose to take Mary into his home and to adopt Jesus, Emmanuel, as his son.

Father in heaven, help me reflect throughout the day on the birth of Mary, Mother of God. Through the Holy Spirit, Mary gave birth to the incarnate Word, God made man. Give me the grace, like Mary, to proclaim your greatness and rejoice in you, who are alive and active in the world to come to our aid. Help me remember to let you work through me today beyond the ordinary scope of what I hope to accomplish. In her Magnificat, Mary said: “the Almighty has done great things for me.” Let me be grateful for the promise of your mercy and all your good gifts.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.” Blessed Virgin Mary, hope and daybreak of salvation, show us the way to 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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaVQ82g2C4

Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 5:1-11)

Jesus 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. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

Peter had been working hard all night in a futile attempt to catch fish, so he must have taken Jesus’ words “Put out into deep water” with a grain of salt. But after bringing in a large catch of fish—a miraculous sign of God’s extraordinary generosity—he confesses his sinfulness and responds immediately to Jesus’ call to follow him. “When they brought their boats to the shore,” Luke tells us, “they left everything and followed him.” By using the metaphor of fishing, Jesus demonstrates that discipleship is not limited or limiting, but they are called to cast their nets wide and bring people from all walks of life into the Kingdom of God.

God, help me understand today’s Gospel message. I so often get caught up in the plans I have for any given day only to find that I accomplished little of what I strived for. Peter’s reply to Jesus, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man,” reminds me that unless I listen out for your voice and do what is pleasing to you, my efforts are in vain. Give me the grace of humility to work today not for attaining and exceeding my own expectations but to be attentive to your Son. Just as Jesus approaches Simon and Andrew and invites them to follow him, he also calls me to work with him to accomplish your will.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Come after me, says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men.” Lord, make known your ways to me as I set out on this day.

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.

Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:38-44)

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

In a single day, Jesus performs a series of miracles that include healing Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever, curing people who had various diseases and illnesses, and casting out demons from many. At daybreak the next day, Jesus begins his journey to other towns, doing the will of his Father by proclaiming the Kingdom in his words and actions. In doing this, Jesus invites us to seek his healing power and at the same time participate in his mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

Father in heaven, just as Jesus had your will as his purpose, I have the same. Just as he was sent by you to proclaim your kingdom, I have that same task. Help me recognize you today in the opportunities you place before me. Give me the grace to be a witness of hope to your love and mercy.

From the responsorial psalm: “The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.” Lord, I trust in 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.

Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:31-37)

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm.

In the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon calls Jesus by his name and place and also recognizes his divinity, the “Holy One of God.” With a few words, Jesus exorcises the demon, and the man is left unharmed. “Be quiet!” The demon cannot withstand the authority of Jesus and the reality-forming words that he speaks. “Come out of him!” The people who witness this are amazed and say to one another, “What is there about his word?” The spirit knows that Jesus was from Nazareth and raised there. Like the people of Capernaum, the unclean spirit probably also knew that Jesus was the son of Mary and Joseph, a carpenter. And it beheld that at the same time Jesus’ divinity coexisted with his humanity. While the people were amazed, the unclean spirit is convicted in God’s presence and cannot remain standing within it.

Father in heaven, no evil can remain hidden in darkness in the presence of your light. In the relationship of the Trinity, Jesus your Son is “God from God, Light from Light . . . by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” Whenever I am threatened by overpowering darkness, come to my aid to quiet evil in all its manifestations and banish it in the name of Jesus. Through the grace of the sacraments, help me remain in your light. As Saint Paul says in the first reading: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day.”

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?”

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaVQ82g2C4

Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:16-30)

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

From the close of today’s Gospel reading, Luke relates how Jesus is driven out of town by the people in the synagogue. What did he do to receive this treatment? At the beginning of the passage, minutes before this, Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah the words “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” and to people amazed at his gracious words, he says: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing,” thus revealing himself as the Messiah. But the people of Nazareth are unable to accept Jesus’ claims and become hostile toward him. They reject him, skeptical that “the son of Joseph” could not possibly be the Messiah. How does this relate to those of us who live among family or within tight-knit communities?

God, help me understand today’s Gospel in relation to my own experiences among the people whose lives I touch. I sometimes feel trapped in the skeptical milieu of modern communication—social media, instant access to communication, layer upon layer of interpretations of events. Help me recognize that despite living in this age, the world is yours and all that is in and that truth is not a philosophy or dictum or creed but a person—Jesus Christ your Son. Your kingdom is present and it is to come. When I am met with hostility because of my faith in the Church, help me remember the words that Jesus read from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

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.”

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.