Tag: Prayer

Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

From the responsorial psalm: “Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; Take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted, the son of man whom you yourself made strong. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 17:9a, 10-13)

As they were coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Jesus speaks to the disciples immediately after his transformation on the mountain, where Moses and Elijah appear to him. According to Jewish belief, Elijah would appear again before the coming of the Messiah. Jesus makes clear that Elijah has appeared again, referring to John the Baptist and his message of repentance and baptism. Just as people failed to listen to John, they will fail to listen to Jesus, rejecting him and putting him to death on a cross. In indicating that the disciples understand Jesus, Matthew expresses in his account that John brings to fulfillment the role of Elijah in the continuity between the greatest of prophets and the mission of Jesus.

God, help me understand more deeply that regardless of what reality looks like on the surface, you have a plan. Jesus reveals this to the disciples, and in revealing it to them, reveals it to me. As the psalmist prays, in turning to you, we see your face and are saved. “Take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted. . . .” In today’s Gospel, Peter, James, and John had just witnessed the Transfiguration, and they were full of questions. In pondering your glory, Lord, help me turn more and more to your saving power, your plan for me; let me see your face. Saint John of the Cross, 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.

Maximilian Kolbe Shrine—Blessed Sacrament

“To what shall I compare this generation?” | Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 11:16-19)

Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.'”

Jesus describes to the crowds two depictions of the kingdom of God. In neither of them do people of his generation participate in the revelation of God’s presence. They regarded John’s ascetism as insane and the full participation of Jesus within the community as sinful and indulgent. That leaves for them by their own choice an existence in limbo, neither here nor there. “But wisdom is vindicated by her works,” Jesus tells them. And Isaiah, speaking the word of the LORD, says, “If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea.” To be forgotten by God is to choose to live apart from him in an oblivion that willfully stands outside of his presence.

God, help me listen to your commandments. As you say through Isaiah, teach me what is for my good, and lead me on the way I should go. If the hope of prosperity isn’t enough to lead me on or seems uncertain, give me the grace to desire always to remain in your presence. You, the Holy One of Israel, sent Jesus your Son as incarnate wisdom to lead us out of darkness and into the light of your face. Isn’t that enough to follow where he goes? Saint Lucy, 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.

Maximilian Kolbe Shrine—Blessed Sacrament

“Hail, full of grace!” | Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the LORD God, the creator of heaven and earth. You are the highest honor of our race.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 1:26-38)

But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

When the angel Gabriel visits Mary, she has been from the moment of her conception, full of grace. Mary is troubled to receive the message that she will bear a son, that she will name Jesus, and that he will be called Son of the Most High. A virgin, Mary questions how this can be, and Gabriel explains to her that the power of the Most High will overshadow her. In Mary’s fiat, accepting God’s will without fully understanding how his overshadowing will unfold, we have an example of one who is full of Grace and accepts God’s will, letting it be done according to his word. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Mother, said this to Juan Diego and comes to all of us through his account of the apparitions: “Hear me and understand well, my little son, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother?”

God, help me trust you through the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Troubles come, troubling events unfold. Yet, Mary shows me how to respond to all the troubles the world can mount upon me in full force. Because she trusts in you and is completely obedient to your will, she is confident in your love and able to say, “Let not your heart be disturbed.” And so that I can ask her to intercede for me in full confidence, who does Mary say that she is? In her words, she is “in person, the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God.” Our Lady of Guadalupe, 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.

Maximilian Kolbe Shrine—Blessed Sacrament

“You will find rest for yourselves.” | Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

From the responsorial psalm: “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.  O bless the Lord, my soul!”

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

Jesus said to the crowds: “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.”

The Lord who invites us to come to him when we are burdened and need rest is the same one in whom Isaiah tells us, “They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength. . . . They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” And this is the same one we hear of in the Gospel acclamation: “Behold, the Lord comes to save his people; blessed are those prepared to meet him.” So when the labor and burden and weariness do come, we have a source of infinite strength in the Lord who asks us to take up his yoke and find rest.

God, it would seem easy for me to remember to come to you today as the day wears on and I grow tired. But it’s often the opposite. I try harder to make the best of time, eagerly using the gifts and opportunities you give me, just as I should. Yet, why is it so hard to pause and allow myself to learn from you and to recognize that if I let you, you will be beside me to consecrate every effort and to consecrate time itself as your work unfolds? Give me the grace to pause throughout the day, attentive to the way and the truth and the life who invites me to rest in him.

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.

Maximilian Kolbe Shrine—Blessed Sacrament

“Will he be slow to answer them?” | Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commands. His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth; the upright generation shall be blessed. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 18:1-8)

“For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?”

In the parable of the persistent widow, Jesus emphasizes the importance of persevering in prayer. Jesus uses the example of a dishonest judge who is initially indifferent but ultimately grants the widow justice because of her constant pleading. This illustrates that even if God seems slow to respond, our persistent prayer will eventually be answered by our loving Father. The parable concludes with a question about the strength of our faith in our experience of God’s justice and mercy. “But when the Son of Man comes,” Jesus says, “will he find faith on earth?”

God, help me see what today’s Gospel and psalm reveal about your justice and its work in the lives of those who act justly. To pray always and not become weary requires persistence and faith in your justice and mercy. “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says,” Jesus tells the disciples. As I recognize the limitations of human justice, give me the grace to depend more strongly on you for my daily needs and for the constant need of my soul, which seeks union with you whether or not it recognizes that. As Saint Gertrude did, let me be thankful, Lord, for your mercy in preparing me to know the infinite mystery of your justice manifested through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ your Son. Saint Gertrude, 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.

Perpetual adoration live stream Kolbe Shrine.

“So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” | Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:26-37)

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”

Jesus continues to tell the disciples about the coming of God’s kingdom—that it is already among them and is yet to come in the final judgment. He stresses constant vigilance for that day when one who is in the field “must not return to what was left behind.” Similar to what we hear in today’s psalm, Jesus asks the disciples to open their eyes to the awesome majesty of the coming of God’s kingdom in its full glory. The particular way that Jesus guides the disciples rests on salvation history in his retelling of the story of Noah and the wife of Lot, who became a pillar of salt as she looked back at Sodom, a place of sinfulness and corruption. Jesus invites us to turn our eyes on the kingdom of God already present and to be vigilant for the return of Christ and the final judgment.

Father in heaven, you see what I have before me today and know my desire to make the best of your gifts of time and opportunity. Amid the day’s activities, let me not forget that all of these things I am attached to can suddenly be taken from me. All that I see and can respond to means nothing unless I respond in love to the love with which you first loved us. As John says in the first reading, if I walk according to your commandment to love one another, I remain in Christ’s teaching, the teaching of the Father and the Son. Lord, take the little faith that I have and bless me as I seek to do all that you command.

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.

Perpetual adoration live stream Kolbe Shrine.

“Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.” | Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:20-25)

Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.”

Jesus is asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God will come. He tells them that the kingdom of God cannot be announced and is not here or there but among them. Perhaps privately, Jesus then tells the disciples that they will long to see the days of the Son of Man as they had been even as they look for the coming of the kingdom in the fullness of time. Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus responds in kind to their question about the coming of the kingdom. To the disciples and warning them not to pursue what is false, he reveals that as the Son of Man, he brings down from heaven the kingdom to gather us as one to the eternal kingdom in heaven.

God, help me understand today’s readings. You remain outside of space and time. The words of Jesus your Son express the interconnectedness of time—what has been, what is, and what will be—so that no one hesitates to wait for you to appear. Although invisible and not be found in my surroundings, give me the grace to realize and respond to your gift of the kingdom that is already here in the present moment. As I move throughout the day, let me ask you to remind me of every opportunity you give me to remain in your kingdom even as I long to see it come. “I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord: whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”

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.

Perpetual adoration live stream Kolbe Shrine.

“We have done what we were obliged to do.” | Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

Free me, Lord, from the snares of self-glorification as I look to act out of love for you rather than submission to any agenda whose aim is exalting myself. “For You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of the Father.”

From the responsorial psalm: “Trust in the LORD and do good, that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security. Take delight in the LORD, and he will grant you your heart’s requests. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:7-10)

“When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

In the parable from today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the relationship between a master and a servant to teach the Apostles about humility and duty. The servant, having worked all day, is expected to continue serving the master without expectation of thanks or reward. Although difficult to hear and put into action, the emphasis is on fulfilling one’s obligations, which does not call for special recognition; it is what is expected of a servant. By conveying this message to all of us, Jesus steers us away from seeking attention and praise and toward humility, service to God and others, gratitude, and faithfulness. Whatever makes possible the fulfilment of duties in a way that gives glory not to self for the shoring up of external validation but in service to God and obedience to his will—whatever that is, which God makes evident—ask God for the grace to accomplish it.

God, help me pay close attention to decisions I make throughout the day and why I make them. Am I doing things for the sake of recognition and reward, or am I quietly doing what you have called me to do in service to your holy will? Free me from the snares of self-glorification as I look to act out of love for you rather than submission to any agenda whose aim is exalting myself. “For You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of the Father.” Saint Josaphat, 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.

Perpetual adoration live stream Kolbe Shrine.

“Where are the other nine?” | Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin

Keep me in your care, Lord. Give me the grace to give you thanks always for being at my side to give me courage as I move through every moment of the day. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us!

From the responsorial psalm: “He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side With your rod and your staff that give me courage. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:11-19)

As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

Lepers see Jesus as he travels through Samaria and Galilee. The ten lepers remain at a distance and call out loudly to him, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” In a few words, Jesus heals them, saying, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As the lepers go, they are miraculously healed of their leprosy as they obey Jesus’ command through their faith and action. But only one leper—a Samaritan, a foreigner—returns to thank Jesus, falling to his knees. Jesus says, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” Through his faith and gratitude, the leper receives complete healing in mind, body, and soul. As the day progresses, will there be time to stop and thank God for the work he accomplishes through us as we do his will.

God, let me consider the Gospel acclamation: “In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” I am sure that throughout the day I will experience what I believe are dark valleys, paths that appear to lead to no good end. Even in those circumstances, stir up in me the desire to take comfort in you, knowing you are present with your rod and your staff to guide and protect me. Keep me in your care, Lord. Give me the grace to give you thanks always for being at my side to give me courage as I move through every moment of the day. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, 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.

Perpetual adoration live stream Kolbe Shrine.

“If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” | Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

From the responsorial psalm: “Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:1-6)

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”

Jesus recognizes the inevitability of sin. In the same breath, he warns the disciples of the dire consequences of causing “one of these little ones” to sin—that it would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and that he be tossed into the sea. Although we choose to sin through free will, our brothers and sisters and all of those around us can lead us into the temptation of sin, whether through counsel, command, consent, provocation, or praise. About these very same people, Jesus says, “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” Forgiveness calls for repentance from the offender countless times as they say sorry, yet this might never come to be. The Apostles on hearing this, perhaps recognizing the high bar Jesus places before them, ask him to increase their faith. And it only takes a little—faith the size of a mustard seed to be an instrument of God’s mercy. Faith in the mercy of the Father allowed Jesus to say from the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

God, help me dwell today on the Gospel and on the first reading. Saint Paul describes a blameless steward who is in service to you: “blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, holding fast to the true message.” Arrogance, irritability, aggression, and other sins do not call for acceptance and approval but forgiveness for those who repent of them. Guide me Lord; make me blameless and a lover of goodness, holding fast to you in faith. Teach me to forgive even those who wound without knowing what they do. Saint Martin of Tours, 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.

Perpetual adoration live stream Kolbe Shrine.