Tag: daily Gospel readings

Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Reflection

“People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”  

Jesus is new wine. He is the fullness of God’s mercy, so his capacity outstrips any limitation I might place on him. “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” In the Eucharist, Jesus is both the reason for the feast and the feast itself.

God, help me understand your abundance. From the first reading: “The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it.” There is no lack of your abundance, no diminishment over time or from use. Now, in the heart of summer, I can’t help thinking of you as a bumper crop that is always in season.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Frances de Sales simply says, “Place yourself in the Presence of God.” Myriad thoughts occupy my mind, and I seem to skip from one thought to another. I know God asks that I spend time with him; in moments like this, I ask my guardian angel to pray for me as I try to sit still. Does it work? How would I know? But I ask God to be with me throughout the day, and I know he will be when I extend my hand toward him.

Today’s Gospel acclamation gets at that: “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” I sometimes wake up wondering where the joy has gone, why I don’t smile while thinking of what is in store for me. And what is in store for me doesn’t place me in a passive role. What God has in store for me, though, might be completely at odds with what I myself believe about the day. And that’s where I have to listen for his voice and trust in his superabundance. There’s more than enough! Can I just get that in my head? God’s grace overflows. With him is the feast, the fullness of a summer day: “Plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits.”

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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.

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Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Reflection

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’ ”?

The scribes who say that Jesus is blaspheming by saying to the paralytic “your sins are forgiven” don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Compared to the people who brought the paralytic to Jesus, who do have faith, they are critical of him and his ability to heal physical and spiritual illnesses.

God, help me understand how you work among your people. Among the stories of Jesus healing people, they come to him, almost always reaching out for him. That is to say, the Divine Physician does not force himself on us. “When Jesus saw their faith. . . .”

God, I believe; help my unbelief. I know you want me to come to you and ask anything in your name. Teach me to call you to mind throughout the day.

Jesus crossed the sea to meet the people in a boat, the church. I will make many crossings today to meet others. Will I judge or be forgiving? Will I harm or heal?

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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.”

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Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr: Reflection

“They came and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us!  We are perishing!’ He said to them, ‘Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?’ Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, ‘What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?’ ”

The Gospel acclamation for today’s reading says, “I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word.” In the Gospel reading from Matthew, when Jesus calms the storm, it is the Word Incarnate who calms the storm. Unlike human beings whose words are carried through into action in a limited way, Jesus, the Son of God, speaks actions into existence. “Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.”

Most of what I know and observe every day relates to human action in the world; consequently, I come to believe in the material limits of that action. God, help me understand your limitless power in the world. You speak, and your very word brings being into the world. Consider your justice, as today’s Psalm describes it: “no evil man remains with you; the arrogant may not stand in your sight.” With you, no evil remains; in your presence, arrogance is nonexistent because it is a lie. “I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word.” Yet, you respect free will and let all choose you or reject you—choose you a little, choose you wholeheartedly, or reject you altogether.

“Lord, save us! We are perishing!” These words of the disciples Jesus hears and responds to immediately. The little faith they had poured forth from them when they needed Jesus to intervene. It was a small thing for Jesus to calm the winds and the sea. The result: great calm. It is a small thing for Jesus to rebuke the daily fears and terrors. “I can’t,” I often tell myself throughout the day. When I ask for his help, Jesus speaks into reality the direct opposition to fear: “Oh yes you can!” And there is great peace in trusting he holds good to his word.

As I travel in this vessel, the sunlit day, I want to remember what unearthly power is in it with me. At the end of the day, let me see where God was present. Let me look back and see that I was the one who had little faith, the one amazed at the man “whom even the winds and sea obey.”

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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.”

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Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Reflection

And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Jesus’ words “But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” sound very much like “Ite, Missa est,” the words spoken by a priest or deacon at the end of Mass. One translation is “Go, the Mass has ended”; another might be “Go, it [the Mass] is sent.” The harshness of Jesus’ response is tough love, a way of saying that we should place God above all people and all things.

Help me understand, God, that the revelation to all of humanity of your Son—his birth, death, and resurrection—is pure gift and truth above all truth. The Creator of the Universe came to us, fully human and fully divine, to rescue us from sin and death. “Let the dead bury their dead.” God, above all, has conquered death and put it in its proper place, the grave.

“Start Seeing Motorcycles” is a long-running campaign for drivers to become aware of smaller vehicles on the road. I would think that God wants me to be aware of him in the same way, to start seeing him throughout the day by placing him in front of every thought and action. God, I want to start seeing you today! The Mass has been said and goes out. “Ite, Missa est!”

Jesus’ challenging command to go and proclaim the kingdom of God calls for deep conversion on the grounds that Jesus is the Son of God and that his Father in heaven is above all. Above all. Above family, above moral obligations, above love of persons and things. “No one,” Jesus says, “who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” It would take a lifetime and then some to begin to understand what it means to follow Christ in this way. God’s grace accelerates through the gift of understanding the means to attain this.

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Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Reflection

“ ‘Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.’ And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ ”

This short dialogue between Jesus and Mary offers a window into the relationship between Jesus and each individual person. Mary’s question, “Son, why have you done this to us?” is one I myself might ask of God countless times throughout the day. With anxiety and bewilderment, I wonder where God is in the midst of turmoil or uncertainty. “I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” Yet, Mary is quieted by her 12-year-old son. “Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” In the same way, I might quiet myself in times of trouble, assured that I will always be able to find Jesus in his Father’s house.

God, help me understand that troubles and anxiety will come but that I don’t have to go looking far to find peace, to find Jesus in his Father’s house.

By being present in his Father’s house as a boy, Jesus began to recognize his divine identity through obedience to his parents and to his Father in heaven. God, help me be able to find you today and simply be with you. I know you don’t want me to look for you with anxiety, so I ask the grace to see you through the ordinary trials of the day present with your Son, who asks, “Why are you looking for me?” You know my heart, Lord, and you know why I look for you. Help me find you!

Today a moment might come when I ask, like Mary, why God has done something in a certain way. I don’t need to think too hard about what is happening. In fact, he hasn’t done anything that brings harm or anxiety. The anxiety is in losing faith, not knowing how to find him, or in looking for him in the wrong places. “I must be in my Father’s house.”

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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.”

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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.

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