Tag: love

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 3:13-17)

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to Nicodemus, who asks him in an earlier passage how one can be born again after growing old. Jesus tells him that one must be born from above and that no one except the Son of Man, Jesus himself, has gone up to heaven and come down from it. Jesus also tells Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” In perfect union with the Father yet fully human—true God and true man—Jesus explains to Nicodemus the purpose of his incarnation: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Father in heaven, help me hear and trust in the words of Jesus. Just as you and your Son are one, you desire that we become one with you in eternal life. In the person of Christ is the inseparable union of divine and human natures. Your desire that we might not perish but have eternal life lies hidden in the mystery of your being; it is love itself. Lord, help me comprehend that eternal love for all who would believe, came at the cost of lifting up your Son on the cross for the sake of our salvation. Let his Passion be strength to me. In dying, he destroys death; in rising, he restores life. Give me the desire to be in union with you and through your grace be unafraid to take up my own cross.

From the Gospel acclamation: “We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.”

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

“Woe to you when all speak well of you.” | Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:20-26)

Jesus said to his disciples: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

In speaking to the great crowd of disciples who came to hear him, Jesus begins his Sermon on the Plain first with the beatitudes and then with the woes. As he begins speaking, Luke tells us that he raises his eyes toward his disciples. This image of Jesus, who appears first to reflect before speaking, echoes his retreat to the mountain to pray before choosing the Twelve Apostles. As he looks among the crowd, it’s not difficult to imagine that he looks up to see before him many men, women, and children who live in poverty. His first words, “Blessed are you who are poor,” are supportive and compassionate. He goes on to speak to the hungry, the sorrowful, the outcasts, and he says as he looks at them: “Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.” In addressing the woes of humanity—the conditions of wealth, satisfaction, unbridled pleasure—Jesus reverses the goals or values of this world in order to draw people to God’s kingdom.

Father in heaven, I want to understand today’s readings as they relate to my life. Who is Jesus addressing when he looks up to speak to the disciples? He looked at them with love and spoke his sermon long ago, but the risen Christ continues to speak today to everyone who would hear him. I have many blessings—more than I can count. Does that mean I will someday grieve and weep and lack honor in the eyes of others? That could be and might someday be the case. And what then? Jesus will speak to me still: “Blessed are you.” And then I take in the words of Saint Paul, who says, “Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly.” I think either way, Jesus says, “Come to me in the Eucharist. Hunger for me; thirst for me; strive to make me your joy.”

“From the responsorial psalm: “Rejoice and leap for joy! Your reward will be great in heaven.” Hear me in your mercy, Lord; let me hunger for your Word. Saint John Chrysostom, 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.

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

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.

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 16:21-27)

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Jesus calls Peter Satan only a short time after he tells him “you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” Peter, who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, rebukes Jesus for hearing and doing the will of the Father; namely, to undergo his passion, death, and resurrection for the salvation of the world. In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes on to tell Peter: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” There is no other way to eternal life except in the mystical body of Christ—through Him, with Him, and in Him.

Father in heaven, help me recognize my cross and pick it up. Give me the opportunity to be aware of you today in the people you place before me, through prayer, and in receiving the Eucharist. Rather than turn away from my cross, give me the grace to make it a means of participating in the redemptive suffering of your Son. In the mystery of this participation, instill in my heart with your love the hope of the resurrection and eternal life in the world to come.

From the second reading: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

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.

Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

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.”

Today’s Gospel contains the well-known parable of the talents, which Jesus shares with his disciples to teach them about the importance of using their God-given gifts and resources wisely and faithfully. The first and second servants do well in using God’s gifts; the third, does not do well. While the first two servants were faithful stewards, the third acted out of fear and hid his talents. It’s hard not to look with pity on the third servant. His fear paralyzed him. Yet, it was not success or profit the master sought in entrusting his possessions to the servants but an open and faithful trust in him, a share in his joy.

God, help me choose to receive and use your gifts not out of servile fear but out of love in response to love. You are the giver of all good things, and I strive to use your gifts faithfully but tend toward disuse or misuse of them. Because your love and generosity extend boundlessly beyond my imagination, teach me to be faithful to you, living in your love and unafraid of the outcome. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says of those animated by God’s gift of spiritual freedom in charity “[they] no longer stand before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son responding to the love of him who “first loved us.”

From the Gospel acclamation: “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” Lord, I want to be your good and faithful servant. Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, bring me into the presence of Jesus 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.