Tag: discipleship

“His heart was moved with pity for them.” |Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Teach me today and show me your ways in the many gifts you give, the many opportunities you provide to make your presence known. Guide me in your ways, Lotd; teach me!

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)

So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he 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.

Jesus and his disciples are tired and seeking rest after a period of ministry. Although they try to withdraw to a place of solitude, the crowds follow them. Seeing the people, Jesus shows compassion toward them despite his exhaustion because they are like sheep without a shepherd. It is not difficult to imagine Jesus as he disembarks from the boat— his first glimpse of the people, his compassionate response, and the disciples’ observation of him. What he has to give them is his sustaining presence through his words and actions. Mark tells us he begins to teach them many things. Jesus sees the need for the disciples’ rest, but he prioritizes ministering to the crowds who are seeking him, the Good Shepherd.

God, help me see that it is you who guide and care for your people through the grace of Jesus Christ your Son. Teach me today and show me your ways in the many gifts you give, the many opportunities you provide to make your presence known. Guide me in your ways, Lotd; teach 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.

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen.” | Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow, taking them in your hands. On you the unfortunate man depends; of the fatherless you are the helper. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 12:14-21)

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

As Jesus cures the people who come to him, he warns them to keep quiet about the miracles he performs. Matthew tells us that this is to fulfill what the LORD had spoken through Isaiah. As the Pharisees sought to put Jesus to death, the prophecy of Isaiah has the Son of God proclaiming justice and hope to the Gentiles with a voice that does “not contend or cry out” and is not heard in the streets. The justice and victory Jesus brings to Gentiles and to every person is his passion, death, and resurrection in obedience to the Father, who delights in his beloved Son.

God, here we see Jesus hushing the people he cares for and cures. Jesus withdrew when he learned the Pharisees sought his death, yet people followed him. For every one he heals, he tells them to keep quiet about his miraculous works. Your beloved Son remained hidden to completely fulfill what you had spoken through the prophets. Let me see this today as a dual example: Jesus completely fulfills all of the Old Testament prophecies as the Servant of the Lord, and he does this through complete trust in your will and obedience to it. By way of the cross, he brings salvation to all.

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.

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” | Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Those live whom the LORD protects; yours is the life of my spirit. You have given me health and life. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 12:1-8)

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

In the first reading from Isaiah, the LORD shows mercy to King Hezekiah, hearing and responding to his prayers. He says to him, “I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you.” As the disciples are walking through a grainfield on the Sabbath, picking the heads of grain and eating them, the Pharisees criticize them for breaking the Sabbath law. As the Lord of life, Jesus is merciful toward the disciples in the same way the LORD shows mercy to Hezekiah. Jesus tells them the story of King David and his men who ate the consecrated bread in the temple when they were hungry. The Son of Man, the LORD who speaks through Isaiah, is “Lord of the sabbath.” Through his mercy, compassion, and teaching of the spirit of the law, Jesus challenges the Pharisees’ tight adherence to the law that obstructs their ability to know the Lord and experience his mercy.

God, help me take to heart the words of Jesus today as I face crucial moments when I would have my way supplant yours. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” Jesus says to the Pharisees. Give me the grace to remain in you, not hard of heart, but willing to bend as you give me the opportunity to be a means of mercy to others. Violation of the law, unlawful actions, guilty transgressions—all of these accusations of the Pharisees—are at their root the same tools of judgment that I can be all too quick to wield when I observe the wrongdoing of others without attempting to understand the situation. Lord of all, help me realize that just judgment is yours alone; guide me in the way of lovingkindness and compassion.

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.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” | Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “You, O LORD, abide forever, and your name through all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to pity her. For her stones are dear to your servants, and her dust moves them to pity. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 11:28-30)

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Today’s Gospel follows immediately after yesterday’s reading, where Jesus praises the Father for revealing to little ones the mysteries of the God’s kingdom, which the wise and the learned fail to comprehend. His invitation to take rest in him is extended to all, yet the connection between the two readings suggests that those who hold childlike trust in the Lord would readily find rest in welcoming his presence throughout the ups and downs of each day. The yoke that Jesus offers is not abandonment of one’s responsibilities but his constant willingness to share in our burdens as he remains beside us.

God, as I see the day ahead give me the grace to put aside my cares about every little detail. Help me be attentive to the ways you guide me in, aware that you are with me. In the first reading, Isaiah recognizes the limitations of human effort, what we can and cannot achieve. “Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,” Isaiah says, “the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth. But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise; awake and sing, you who lie in the dust.” Strengthen my confidence, Lord; you know what I need. It is you I long for even when I am not aware of it; help me today call to mind the invitation of Jesus to take his yoke upon 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.

“No one knows the Son except the Father.” | Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “For the LORD will not cast off his people, nor abandon his inheritance; But judgment shall again be with justice, and all the upright of heart shall follow it. The Lord will not abandon his people.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 11:25-27)

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Spoken through Isaiah, the words of the LORD describe the cunning of the Assyrian kings: “By my own power I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.” Jesus turns that on its head by revealing his relationship to the Father. Wisdom does not lie in worldly cleverness or self-proclaimed genius but in childlike reliance on God. And Jesus exclaims this joyfully, recognizing that behind this is the Father’s love: “Yes, Father, such as been your gracious will.” In full knowledge of the divinity they share as distinct persons of the trinity, God the Father and the Son have a relationship unlike any human bond of father and son. Yet, that boundless love and its mystery—greater even than the love a child receives from father and mother—is opened up to all of us, to “anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

God, help me trust that the love with which you love me is all-knowing and unending. Entire lifetimes fail to reveal full knowledge of others, the depth and breadth of their soul, no matter how close they are to us. Yet, you know me completely as you and your Son know each other completely. In awe as I look up at this mystery, I can admit only childlike understanding. Along with that, give me the grace to see the joy that comes along with not knowing and simply trusting, just as I trusted my parents to care for me when I was a child. Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” says the Gospel acclamation, “you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the 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.

“They would long ago have repented.” | Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 11:20-24)

Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.”

Jesus compares towns he visited to the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon, known in his time for their wickedness. Seeing the miracles Jesus performed in these cities, its people remain unrepentant, failing to turn to the Lord. The Gospel acclamation expresses it in this way: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Unlike the people of Tyre and Sidon, who did not see the mighty deeds Jesus performed, the people of and Bethsaida did. Because of that, they are accountable for having witnessed God present among them and yet remaining hard of heart. We hear Jesus firmly say to them—and to all who fail to acknowledge and follow Jesus as the Son of God: “Woe to you!”

God, the pronouncement of these words of Jesus echoes throughout time to all who would hear them. Having called the people of his day to repentance and faith, he does the same today. Give me the grace to see how you work in the lives of your people throughout any given day. In the celebration of the Eucharist, there is no less the presence of Jesus than in the days when he walked the earth. He is present body and blood, soul and divinity, at the altar in the consecrated bread and wine. In this timeless moment when heaven is brought down to earth, strengthen my faith and call me to turn to you more and more. “Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised,” the psalmist sings, “in the city of our God.” Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 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 think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.” | Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 10:34-11:1)

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Picking up from where Saturday’s Gospel left off, today’s reading shows Jesus giving further instructions to the Apostles. The key to understanding the seemingly harsh words from today perhaps lie in what he says beforehand and in where he indicates true life lies: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” To acknowledge Jesus Christ as the way and the truth and the life cannot be anything but divisive because he himself is truth, whose name is I Am and not “it is.” Commitment to the person of Christ calls for radical detachment from what we love best in this life, including family, for the sake of greater gain. But in following him, what we gain back even stronger through him is grounded in his truth. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

God, help me call to mind throughout the day what I know is right. As I have hesitation to go a certain way, make clear to me to know whether it is your will and give me the fortitude to carry it out. Jesus said, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” Setting love for you above all else, Christ in his graciousness models the way he relates to you as his Father. Let that be paramount as I relate to others today. How is it and in what ways will you show me the opportunity through others to receive you? Holy Spirit, help me see in that moment how to care for others’ needs. Saint Bonaventure, 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.

“So they went off and preached repentance.” | Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 6:7-13)

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” 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.

In today’s Gospel, we hear Mark’s account of the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles. As he prepares them for his mission, Jesus tells them not to provide for themselves but to trust in God’s providence in the welcoming people they would encounter. In accordance with the Father’s will, Jesus guides them toward stripping away all that is not of God so that they may bring witness to others for the praise of his glory. Emphasizing this facet of sharing the Good News, and including not only the apostles but all the faithful, Saint Paul says in the second reading: “In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.”

God, guide me in the way of success, not in the ways of the world but in your ways. The measure of success is fidelity to you and not results. As the world has it, there is always more to gain in a restless pursuit to the end, and I find frustration in that time after time. But you call me to something else entirely, to what Saint Paul referred to as “every spiritual blessing in the heavens . . . to be holy and without blemish.” As Mother Teresa said, “God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.” Help me, Lord, know the hope that you call me to, and give me the courage to respond to you faithfully in accordance with your will.

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.

“Even all the hairs of your head are counted.” | Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “And he has made the world firm, not to be moved. Your throne stands firm from of old; from everlasting you are, O LORD. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 10:24-33)

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

Jesus continues to instruct the apostles he sends out on a mission to proclaim the kingdom of God. The Gospel begins today as Jesus reminds them that if the world has hated him, they can expect to be treated similarly. Do not be afraid of them, Jesus says, but proclaim the kingdom of God boldly. Yet, Jesus goes even further—beyond bodily fear—to emphasize the eternal care of the Father—his Father, the apostles’, and ours. With tender love, Jesus teaches the apostles about the intimate love of his Father, for them and their immeasurable worth: “So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

God, I hardly know what to say on hearing this. Out of love, Jesus shares this message with the apostles, and by extension, with all who acknowledge him as your Son. Count me in, Lord; give me the grace to see that my true worth is not in how others regard me or in how I regard myself but in how you look at me and know me better than I know myself. Through this, especially in the challenges and trials of the day, help me give courageous witness to you and the love and mercy you extend to who call on your holy name. Protect me, Father; guide 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.

“Do not worry about how you are to speak.” | Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. My mouth will declare your praise.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 10:16-23)

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans.”

As Jesus sends out the apostles, he is explicit about the persecutions they will experience as they face leaders and authorities of his day. Witnesses of the Gospel to pagans, they will be led before courts, synagogues, governors, and kings. After saying all of this, Jesus tells them not to worry about how they are to speak or what they are to say but that the Spirit of the Father will speak through them. The persecution they will face is not merely in the public sphere but among family members—brother against brother, father against child, and children against parents. But Jesus tells them, “whoever endures to the end will be saved.” Although counterintuitive, the worst-case scenario Jesus presents to the apostles is the means of their salvation and participation in the life to come through his death and resurrection. Jesus takes great care in ensuring the apostles that despite the hardship and persecution, he is with them.

God, help me see in today’s Gospel what is within reach and relevant to me. The people I face today are not persecuting governors or courts or kings but those who are closest to me, those I face at work and at places close to home. I ask, Lord, to know how to give witness to the Gospel—to give conscious attention to you and your ways throughout the day and to the world’s ways use only what is necessary. That is where life is and where I want to give witness to my trust in you; left to myself and without your initiative, I quickly turn for fulfillment to things. Help me recall during the day the words you spoke through Hosea: “Straight are the paths of the LORD, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.”

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.