Memorial of Saint Monica

His master said to him, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.”

In the parable of the talents, the master calls the servant who buries his talent wicked and lazy. To the servant who received two talents and made two more, the master says, “Well done.” To the servant whom the master gave five talents, on hearing that he made five more, the master says the exact same words: “Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.” It’s not the amount of talent that the servants give back that matters; it’s the making good of the talents they received that counts. As a result, the first two servants share in the master’s joy.

Lord, help me recognize that everything you give me is a gift. Help me see and use your gifts to the best of my ability so I can share in your joy. Saint Monica, today’s saint, saw the talents in her son Saint Augustine and was relentless in prayer until she saw him use them fully, returning to you through his conversion. In this parable, Jesus, you say, “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Through your grace, Lord, keep me from growing spiritually destitute. Help me grow rich in inviting you into my daily life and in knowing and doing your will.

Stay with me today, God, in the people yo

u place in front of me. It is easy now to put myself in your presence, but no mean feat as the day wears on. The Psalmist says, “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield, For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust.” Be my help and my shield, and show me how to use my talents to give glory to your holy name.

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.

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Friday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

At midnight, there was a cry, “Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!” Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”

The bridegroom comes late. At midnight, at the hour least expected, there was a cry to come out to meet him. While driving a few days ago, I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Look busy. Jesus is coming.” If I knew when Jesus was coming, I’m sure I’d go all in at looking busy. The five foolish virgins are unprepared for the bridegroom’s arrival; the wise ones are ready. Again, like yesterday’s parable of the faithful and wicked servants, Jesus presents polar opposites: the wise and the foolish; the ones prepared for his coming and the ones unprepared. The bridegroom is long delayed, Jesus says, “for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Jesus, help me understand that I have the choice of being unprepared, looking busy but finding that the door has already been shut, or of being ready at an unexpected hour. Memento mori. Help me see every day what I need to take with me as I wait for your coming: a little flask of oil to light the lamp, the light of faith, keeping enough for myself to let the light burn. Either I am ready or I am not; either I go out to meet you, the light of lights, or I plunge into the dark to make up for lost time. Either/or: Is there no in between?

I know you want me to love you, God, with all my heart and soul and mind. Throughout the day, I think of you little, if at all. Like a child in a playground, I am unaware of time passing as I find new challenges and problems to solve. Give me the grace today, Lord, to keep the lamp burning within me, carrying within me all that I need to come out to meet you, early or late or sometime in between.

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.

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Thursday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

There is no mistaking what Jesus tells his disciples. Stay awake! At an hour you least expect, the Lord will come, and your life on earth will be over. The parable of the faithful and prudent servant and the wicked servant present an either/or scenario: you are ready for the Son of M

.an or unprepared for his coming. What makes the faithful servant faithful in the parable is the care of God’s gifts: the household and people in his household; and what makes the wicked servant wicked is his abuse of those gifts.

I want to understand, Lord, that I have these two options before me every day: to be faithful or to be wicked, to choose good or evil. How often, day after day, do I dismiss the either/or fallacy and believe myself to be somewhere in between in a gray area that is neither good nor evil? And then there are decisions that seem to have no bearing on whether I am prepared for your coming: which path I take for a walk, the way I slice carrots for dinner, how I grasp the steering wheel. But I think you mean, Lord, be watchful for you in my day in everything I do, whether inconsequential or necessary. Do I, will I, long for you during the day as in the Song of Songs? “Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”

Lord, thank you for the gifts you give to me today. On your return to me throughout the day through my thoughts and prayers and actions, find me doing your will and caring for my household and its abundant gifts and blessings. I will forget you during the day, not deliberately, but in the forgetfulness of daily life. Stay with me then and give me the grace to welcome you when I see as if from a distance that your return is near. Help me prepare for you; help me stay awake!

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.

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Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Today’s Gospel reading from John relates how the first disciples began to follow Jesus. After Philip becomes a disciple, he finds Nathanael and tells him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” The day before, Andrew and John began to follow Jesus and then Andrew’s brother, Simon Peter, also followed him. There is something here that sounds like how a group of friends first forge a friendship or how a rock group is formed around a common identity or aim. Unlike this, though, the disciples have no idea what they are in for in the days ahead as Jesus says to them: “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

God, help me understand what John the Baptist understood as he pointed your son out to the first disciples: he is the Lamb of God. In Nathanael’s response to Philip—“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”—I see a kind of cynicism that is similar to my own. The glory of the holy city of Jerusalem as described in the first reading gleams with splendor and has at the foundation of its walls the “twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.” Here is the glory of God at work in his followers, the first disciples; he takes them to himself and makes them the foundation of his holy kingdom.

Lord, thank you for this new day! Sometimes the anticipation of all that must take place and should take place—its pressures—overshadow that the day itself is a gift. “You will see greater things than this,” Jesus says. Let me see in this day the radiance of your glory outshine the shadow of uncertainty and skepticism and whatever is passing and false. Be with me, Lord, and let me remember the words of the psalmist: “The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.”

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.

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Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus sharply criticizes the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees. “Blind Pharisee,” Jesus says, “cleanse first the inside of the cup.” In calling them hypocrites, by association he also calls out anybody who neglects, as he says, “the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity.” Twice Jesus calls them blind guides, and I can only imagine their reaction when Jesus says to them, “Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!”

God, help me understand that your son addresses the scribes and Pharisees and others but also addresses me, calling me to greater self-discernment and dependence on you. Lord, thank you for Matthew’s account of the words Jesus directed to the scribes and Pharisees. In them, I see that I also have been the one “full of plunder and self-indulgence” and that to discern this is to rely more and more on your grace working in my life. I find in saying this that I put myself in check, as if to question whether I participate in some kind of off-the-rails scrupulosity. But to fail to profess that I invite God into every moment of my day with joy and hopeful expectation and that I am broken and a sinner is complete detachment from reality, pure fantasy.

Jesus, stay quietly within me today. Be that voice reminding me not to put on a show for others or myself. At the crucial moments of the day, place in my heart a spirit that is faithful, loving, and merciful.

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.

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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.

Jesus replies to a question from someone in one of the towns he passed through: ”Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Strive to enter through the narrow gate, Jesus tells him. Many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. He then tells the parable of the master of the house who locks the door and doesn’t let in the one standing outside. “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!” says the master of the house. And Jesus then says, “There will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.”

God, help me learn the meaning of strive to enter and wailing and grinding of teeth. It is not enough to slide by to remain in the kingdom of God. On the other hand, I would not want to see myself cast out from the kingdom of God against my desire and will. You are merciful, Lord, and your mercy extends from this life to eternal life. Do I merely eat and drink from your spirit in a passing acquaintance? “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Jesus, help me learn to be humble by asking for your help to continue striving to be in your kingdom and to manifest it.

Today, Lord, as I receive you in the Eucharist, body and blood, soul and divinity, give me the grace to be firm in my desire to seek you. Allow your grace to work through me to bring glory to your Father. Stay with me today, Lord.

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.

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Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church

“All their works are performed to be seen. . . . The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus’ words to the crowds and the disciples resound to the present day. Self-aggrandizement and seeking places of honor is a reality today as much as it was then. To be honored means sustaining and placing the burden of expectation on others and invites hypocrisy. Jesus says, “Don’t go that way.” Instead, seek to humble yourself and don’t fall for the lie that you are to be called master.

From the first reading, Ezekiel describes the vision he sees as the angel leads him to the gate of the temple where God dwells among the children of Israel, that is, all people forever. Ezekiel, looking upon the place where the Lord dwells, says, “And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD.” Help me understand, God, that honor is yours; that the works I perform are for you to see; and that it is not for myself but for you that I humble myself, that the glory in humbling myself is for your sake.

The day presses on, Lord, and I am drawn into accomplishing its various tasks. Stay with me today; stay within, and let the ones I meet throughout the day see you in me—whether in the way I smile or give selflessly of my time or in a loving embrace. Father in heaven, let the here and now of today be where you set the soles of your feet and dwell among your children.

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.

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Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Pharisees question Jesus about which commandment in the law is the greatest. A key word here is law, an area in which the Pharisees and Sadducees often challenged Jesus. Following the law as it had been passed down through tradition, the Pharisees sought to trip up Jesus by questioning him about the greatest law. His response? The whole law and the prophets depend on love of God and love of neighbor.

God, help me understand the greatest commandment, which is nothing but dry bones without spirit if limited only to human endeavor. It takes a relationship with God to bring them to life. In the first reading from Ezekiel, the Lord takes Ezekiel out to walk among a vast plain covered by human bones. Through cooperation with the commands of the Lord, Ezekiel puts sinews, flesh, and skin over the bones. But, although they were covered in skin, there was no spirit in them. And then the Lord says to Ezekiel, “Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord GOD From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.” Ezekiel then says, “I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army.” Here, every step of the way on the plain of dry bones, the Lord instructs Ezekiel to prophesy to bring his commandment to life. Alone, Ezekiel could do nothing to bring the bones to life. In the same way, without God’s love, there is little I can do to carry out his greatest commandment with genuine love.

Lord, you led Ezekiel to the plain to hear your word and see in every direction dry bones, beings dead in spirit that he would bring to life through your saving power. Today, when my spirit starts to fade and wither, feeling the sting of little deaths and disappointment, let me remember Ezekiel’s reply when you asked him if these bones can come to life. He said in reply to you, “I answered, ‘Lord GOD, you alone know that.’ ” Let me have the faith to love and trust you as Ezekiel did.

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.

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Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. . . . Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Today’s Gospel reading says that Jesus “again spoke to the chief priests and the elders,” meaning this wasn’t the first parable he had shared with them, most likely within a short time frame. The wedding feast recalls other dinners that Jesus describes in other parables, and the last line of the reading resounds: “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

God, help me understand what you mean by the Kingdom of heaven. Is it here and now or in time to come and always? Or is it both? I think Jesus refers to a little of both. He uses the word invitation six times in the reading and feast five times. For certain, there is almost a direct reference to the prophets who were mistreated and killed. But Jesus also speaks to every person who has ears to hear. I’m not sure what to make of the guest who came without a wedding garment, who was bound and cast into the darkness. Does Jesus mean by this to straighten up, live a good life, and match the self-identification with the occasion—coming to meet God in the Kingdom of heaven?

I know God wants me to recognize him throughout the day. God, give me the grace to know an invitation when I receive one—whether that might be family or a neighbor or a stranger—and respond by bringing the Kingdom of heaven into that moment. As the Gospel acclamation says, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

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.

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Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

“ ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Jesus tells the disciples the parable of the landowner who hires laborers for his vineyard. To the laborers he hired at five o’clock, he gave the same wage as the ones he hired at nine o’clock. The laborers grumble, and the landowner’s reply reveals his generosity. In the same way, God reveals his generosity in saving and shepherding his people. From the first reading through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord says: “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.”

God, help me understand that you are generous and loving in caring for your people regardless of whether they deserve it. Just as the landowner invites laborers late in the day to come work in his vineyard, so you invite us throughout life—early, often, and late—to work in your vineyard for the wages of salvation.

Lord, shepherd me today and let me hear your voice as you say to me, “You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.” At the end of the day, I sometimes look back and think, Where was I or what was I doing that I couldn’t know you were present? It’s as if the pressures and anxieties of the day whisked me along without my trying to discern which direction you lead me. But with you as my shepherd, Lord, I have no reason to fear anything, as the psalmist says, neither the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day. Let me trust that you guide me every day to give me courage and peace to move forward.

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.

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