Tag: evangelio del dia

Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Reflection

“Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.”

What Jesus says in the Gospel reading, the first reading from Hosea expresses tenderly and lyrically: “I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.” By bringing the kingdom of heaven to others, Jesus and his disciples bring God the Father to those who hear his voice. As Father Burke Masters says in his reflection on today’s reading, “Jesus in his person is where heaven and earth meet.”

God, help me understand that when God addresses his apostles, he is also addressing me. It is overwhelming to think that the mission he sends his disciples on is to “Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.” Although I will probably never encounter a leper, I know what it means to see someone who is physically or mentally sick or even spiritually dead, possessed not by a demon but by seeking honor, power, pleasure, or wealth. This is where the kingdom of heaven is needed and where peace comes to others without cost.

It is sometimes so hard to find a few “stolen” moments to sit quietly in the morning with God. I know that God wants me to spend time with him, and so today I offer my works, joys, and sufferings as a way to pray constantly. God, help me bring this desire to its most complete fulfillment through your grace.

Today I want to see the merciful Father in Hosea who says, “For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you.” Although I don’t deserve God’s mercy, I want to recognize it and receive it to the best of my ability.

Today’s readings

Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Reflection

“Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the LORD.” (Am 11) “ ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ He heard this and said, ‘Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.’ ” (Mt 9:9-13)

In yesterday’s Gospel reading, Jesus as the Divine Physician healed the paralytic by forgiving his sins. Today, Jesus calls Matthew to follow him. Again, acting as the Divine Physician, he sees in Matthew and the other sinners who came, a sickness that calls for healing. The sickness is sin, but the sickness is also contained in the mystery of evil, which envelops all of human sin and is rooted in original sin and the cause of physical, mental, and spiritual woundedness. “In consequence of original sin human nature, without being totally corrupted, is wounded in its natural powers. It is subject to ignorance, to suffering, and to the dominion of death and is inclined toward sin. This inclination is called concupiscence” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church). God’s ultimate response to this is Jesus, who comes not to call the righteous but sinners.

God, you desire mercy, not sacrifice. Help me understand each day that mercy is an activity of the soul. Let me remember my ABCs: I can ask you for mercy, be merciful to others, and completely trust in your mercy (The ABCs of Divine Mercy).

I am like Martha, anxious and worried about many things. With you, Lord, I am not a quiet little lamb but a squirming bundle of energy waiting to be released. Jesus, I look at your dust-covered feet and know they carried you slowly from place to place in no particular hurry. I want to stop trying to hit goals for the sake of self-satisfaction, often resulting in frustration. Instead, I want to slow down and keep sight of you so that I can follow where you lead.

Today I am bound to go on at my customs post, carrying out my routine of working and being with family. Let me be attentive throughout the day to look out for Jesus passing by, and let my heart be willing to follow him, whatever that might mean. I want to invite Jesus into my house, my routines, so that I can receive and be glad for the mercy he offers me.

USCCB Readings

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles: Reflection

Jesus said, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus asks Peter to build his Church. This is the same man who denied Christ three times, and Jesus was aware of Peter’s weaknesses.

God, help me understand that although I am limited by natural gifts and life experience (and by sin and wrongdoing), you say to Peter, “I will build my Church.” The same goes for me. It is not under my own power that your Church will thrive but through God’s grace and the saving power of the Son of the living God. You know my shortcomings and provide for me when I am sorry for my sins.

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Jesus asks his disciples. I can hear Jesus ask me the same: Who do you say that I am? I know that Jesus is the Son of the living God, that he runs through every fiber of my being and through every relationship I have. If I truly acknowledge that, what would prevent God from being with me through every moment of the day? If the Creator of the Universe is there before me, what person or thing or activity would I put between me and him? But where is he—nowhere to be seen—that I could put him first? That he is unseen doesn’t matter. “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.”

Today I want to listen for Jesus’ words. I want to be able to slow down enough and go outside myself enough to hear him say, “And so I say to you, Jim. . . .” In the things and people I encounter today, I want to see Jesus’ divine identity present and respond to Jesus saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

USCCB Readings

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Reflection

“ ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.’ ”

Jesus, the Son of God, was present and active in the creation of all things great and small, including foxes and birds. Jesus describes the flowers in a similar way: “Notice how the flowers grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them.” I wonder if this brought Jesus quiet joy to recall all that he created and put those who heard him beside the foxes, the birds, and the flowers. For the sake of teaching the scribe and all humanity to serve God and proclaim his kingdom, Jesus drew on the example of creation and created things. It is as if Jesus says, “Don’t stress about what lies behind or ahead; I will provide for you today.” Follow me; don’t put it off.

Thank you, God, for the beauty in all of the creatures you created. Something as simple as birdsong reminds me that there is joy in existence, that it is a gift. If, during Adoration, I hear a robin sing through the walls of the chapel, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I heard time breaking into eternity. But I also heard eternity breaking into time, and for a moment couldn’t tell which was which. God, you are present; this much I know.

Today it might be helpful if I lower my expectations about how much I can wield and instead quiet down so that I can hear Jesus’ command “Follow me.”

USCCB Readings

Audio

Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Reflection

“And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ ”

I think of the Thomas Wolf novel You Can’t Go Home Again. In early adulthood, you might feel that as you go away to college and come back home, you find that everything seems different. Nothing at home is ever quite the same. That sense seems to grow over the next few years, punctuated by graduation, a first job, marriage, and children. You can’t go home again. Well, maybe. The question is, from the moment of birth until death, has earth really ever been home? When Jesus describes the finding of the lost sheep, he says, “with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors.” What home can Jesus mean except his Father’s kingdom, heaven? Who are the friends and neighbors but the beloved children of God, abiding in heaven? You can’t go home again? Well, yes you can.

God, help me understand that your son takes joy in doing your will and rejoices in returning the lost ones to you. On this solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the manifestation of Jesus’ love is All Heart—not as the world loves but caring for the lost sheep by giving us his body and blood, soul and divinity as the wellspring of all of the sacraments.

In “Birches,” Robert Frost says, “Earth’s the right place for love: / I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.” True enough. Love on this earth is all I’ve ever known. But this has never been home and will never be. I ask as a sinner myself, can returning home be as simple as acknowledging sinfulness and repenting? What is the result of that? He sets me on his shoulders and with great joy brings me home, to his Father’s home, to the only real home I will ever know.

Today, Sacred Heart of Jesus, let me follow you as you seek out the lost sheep and rejoice in finding them. Let me see what you do and I myself seek out and bring back the strayed, handing them over to you because I wouldn’t know on my own what to do with them. Even more, let me be found, and find me where I fall short. In the Gospel acclamation, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.”

USCCB Readings

Audio

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist: Reflection

“He asked for a tablet and wrote, ‘John is his name,’ and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.”

Zechariah writes the name of his son on a tablet, the same name that Elizabeth chose for him. In doing this, his tongue is freed and “he spoke blessing God.” Breaking from Jewish tradition, Zechariah and Elizabeth both choose a name that frees and opens them to new life in the Spirit. John is the living representation of that new life, the forerunner, of that new life that is about to come into the world.

God, help me understand how you work in the world and apart from it to bring about your will. The first reading from Isaiah proclaims, “I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!” God is not bound by human custom or tradition but works within it and outside of it, allowing for all to give glory to him.

May God, through the workings of the Holy Spirit, animate me and give me life. Without it, I am, as W. B. Yeats writes in “Sailing to Byzantium,” “a paltry thing, / a tattered coat upon a stick.” Not for my own sake, do this for me, God, but as a way to give you glory. Teach me to hear and do your will.

Today let me be supple and receptive to the Holy Spirit so that my tongue is free to speak God’s name and praise him. When John saw Jesus coming toward him, he recognized his divine identity and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Today let me recognize Jesus coming toward me.

USCCB Readings

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.”

Similar to the Our Father’s “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” Jesus expresses a rule to live by: if you don’t want to be judged by others or by God, stop judging others.

There is plenty every day that trespasses against my idea of what ought to be done and said. God, help me understand that it is so easy to see the faults in others and the urgency of correcting them when my own faults within me require the greatest attention.

God, I know you see the turmoil that I feel lies in the day ahead. I know you want me to be at peace and trust that if I do what I can and leave the rest to you, I will see the goodness in this day and not twist it into something that is not your will.

Today I pray for the grace to see that my judging is brought into the light so that through God’s grace, it is stopped before it spoken or acted out.

USCCB Reading

Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time: Reflection

“Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

In the last few words of today’s Gospel reading, Jesus asks directly that others “may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” In the Prayer of Jesus in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.”

God, help me understand how Jesus models holiness: the gifts you gave me I have so that I can glorify you by my words and actions. What pleases you? What power do I have to let my light shine before others, not for myself but for others; not for my sake but for your glory?

When I try to quiet down and hear you, God, I feel as if I am a bundle of unpotentiated action. My thoughts of what I might accomplish have the opposite, unintended consequence of dragging me down, holding me back. God, I know you want me to sit with you in peace, not squirming, not wishing to get up and get on with things, but to recharge, to bask in your presence and know your love.

“A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden,” Jesus says. Today I have the opportunity to make my city gleam and give glory to my heavenly Father. It’s so easy to mess up; to make a mountain out of a molehill on any given day. But today I want to recognize and show others the gifts that God gave me for the sake of giving him glory.

USCCB Readings

Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr: Reflection

Jesus said, “They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.”

Jesus says this in prayer twice within 52 words as if to emphasize that consecration in God’s truth keeps his own from the Evil One, from the world that hates them. More than anything on earth that we could possess, Jesus wants us to share his joy completely.

Just as a pilgrim passes from one place to another for sacred purposes, this gift of life that God gives allows for passage from earthly life to life in heaven. God, to think that I don’t belong to this world, is to trust in the life to come that remains unseen. Help me see the worth of the present world in terms of passing into everlasting life.

“Your word is truth, God.” In this pilgrim world that I don’t belong to, help me glimpse the life to come. Father in heaven, give me the grace I need daily to live a good life and calm any fear or unbelief I have in coming to stay with you forever. Consecrate me in truth.

Just as Paul leaves Ephesus, let me go throughout the day as a pilgrim, open to changes prompted by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I know there will be so-called interruptions today that give me the opportunity to move outside myself to recognize God’s presence in every moment of the day.

USCCB Readings

Audio

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter: Reflection

“Jesus answered them, ‘Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.’ ”

Jesus speaks these words as he prepares his disciples for the coming of the Advocate. It follows the disciples’ statement that they now believe Jesus because, as they say, “Now we realize that you know everything.” From there, the disciples go out into the world, where Jesus tells them to take courage because he has conquered the world.

God, thank you for the courage you give me, if I am able to see it, day after day despite that in the world I will have trouble. Jesus, you say you have conquered the world, and these words of yours I accept by faith as true. As far as I can accept this, there is joy in being at ease in the troubles of the world.

The disciples go out into the world to preach the Gospel, each to his own place. Yet, they are never alone just as Jesus is not alone because the Father is with him. Neither am I alone today. By sharing all that the Father gave to him, Jesus makes his Father our Father.

Today let me go out into the world in joy, as a child steps out onto the lawn on a summer day. Let my joy in knowing that you have conquered the world prompt others around to wonder at the cause of my joy.

USCCB Readings