Tag: eternal life

“Return to me with your whole heart.” | Ash Wednesday

From the responsorial psalm: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (6:1-6, 16-18, today’s readings)

“But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

Jesus teaches the disciples how to give alms, pray, and fast. First he tells the them how not to do it, as the hypocrites do, and then he tells them in what way to do it and why. He defines hypocrites as those who “perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” Whether giving alms, praying, or fasting, those who do it for public recognition, Jesus says, have already received their reward. When done without drawing attention to them, the Lenten observances of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting become a private conversation between the original giver of the gift and we who give back to God what is his. “And your Father who sees in secret,” Jesus says, “will repay you.” Lent is a time of remembering Whose we are and making our way back wholeheartedly to be reconciled to him, the font of mercy.

God, strengthen me today and throughout Lent as I consider the Gospel acclamation: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Jesus calls attention to you six times as he teaches the disciples the way to fast, pray, and give alms. In teaching these observances, Jesus leads us into a genuine, private relationship with you, Our Father. Give me the grace of sincerity and humility this Lent as I seek to deepen my connection with you, Lord, rather than seeking recognition from others. Help me keep pure my attitudes and intentions behind anything I do out of authentic piety. You are the giver of every good gift, Lord; show me how to make a wholehearted return to you.

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.

The hope of eternal life in the age to come. | Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his justice; for God himself is the judge. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (10:28-31, today’s readings)

Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age.”

Among what is given up in the present age for eternal life in the age to come, Jesus says that those who have given up this for his sake and for the sake of the Gospel will “receive a hundred times more now in this present age.” With this, there will be persecutions but “eternal life in the age to come.” In following him, Jesus teaches what it means to follow and not follow him: “But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Jesus, Incarnate Word, is the fulfillment of the words of Sirach, who says, “For the Lord is one who always repays, and he will give back to you sevenfold.”

God, I hear in Peter’s declaration to Jesus the voice of one who has committed himself entirely: “We have given up everything and followed you.” Yet, Jesus calls out of Peter and all who follow him a greater sacrifice of praise that Sirach and the psalmist speak of. In your voice, the psalmist writes: “He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me.” Of all the good gifts you give me in turn to offer to you, there is no greater sacrifice of praise than to offer “the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ.” In praise, thanks, and adoration, Lord, I ask for the grace to do always what is pleasing to you. Jesus, I trust in you! Saint Casimir, 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.

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” | Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:46-52)

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

Jesus goes on to ask Bartimaeus what he wishes for him to do, and he replies, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus tells him that his faith has saved him, and immediately Bartimaeus sees and begins to follow Jesus on their way. Bartimaeus is prepared to receive healing from the Lord by his faith. First, he calls Jesus “Son of David.” Then the disciples lift him with encouragement to respond to Jesus’ call. And on encountering him, Jesus says that his faith has saved him. In response to that call, Bartimaeus’s sight is healed, and he begins to follow Jesus. Be attentive today to the ways the Lord calls you to him. What is your response?

“But he kept calling out all the more, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.'” God, help me listen out for you today, whether I experience encouragement from someone or hear in my heart the words “What do you want me to do for you?” Strengthen my faith to hear you and receive your healing. Throughout the day, Lord, help me see your presence more clearly, making ready the way to enjoy eternal life with you. As Saint Peter says in the first reading: “Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

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.

“For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” | Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:32-45)

Jesus summoned [the disciples] and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes clear the path of discipleship. As Jesus tells them of his suffering and death in Jerusalem, James and John ask to be given a special role of power. Jesus teaches them that instead the greatness he exemplifies comes from serving others even to the point of suffering and death, as he predicts about his own coming passion and crucifixion. What Jesus says about being mocked, spit upon, scourged, and put to death James and John seem not to hear. But Jesus shows them that following him is about service, not the exercise of worldly authority. As Jesus teaches that following him calls for humility and serving others, he turns on its head the pursuit of worldly power and status. “If anyone wishes to be first,” Jesus says, “he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

God, give me the gift of wisdom to reject the all-too-subtle temptation to power and authority. As Saint Thomas Aquinas writes, the four typical substitutes for God are wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. Any one of these slips into my daily thoughts, often in the form of “If only I had enough” or “If only I were given.” With humility, help me call to mind the simple phrase from the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” And the super-substantial bread of the Eucharist, help me realize that what I hold in my hands and take in is the body of Christ in the service of love to our salvation. Saint Paul VI, 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.

“. . . and the last will be first.” | Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:28-31)

Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age.”

Picking up from where yesterday’s Gospel left off, today’s passage begins as Peter responds to Jesus’ teaching about selling material possessions, giving to the poor, and only then following him to enter the kingdom of God here and now, and to be a partaker of eternal life. Peter affirms that he has given up everything for the sake of the Gospel and for Jesus, who then reveals something of the reward awaiting him in heaven: “there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters . . . who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age.” In teaching that “many that are first will be last, and the last will be first,” Jesus encourages us to trust in God’s fidelity and promises and emphasizes the ultimate reward of eternal life in the age to come.

God, help me keep in mind Peter’s response to Jesus and to his encounter with the rich man: “We have given up everything and followed you,” Peter said. Having followed Jesus for the rest of his life, Peter trusted and hoped in the Lord. This is the same man who would later write these words of encouragement as our first pope: “Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus 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.

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”| Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The Lord is gracious and merciful.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 5:17-30)

Jesus answered the Jews: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Today’s Gospel continues where yesterday’s left off. Because Jesus told the man he cured to pick up his mat and walk, some of the Jews who learned of this began to persecute Jesus for encouraging the man to work on the sabbath by carrying his mat. When Jesus is questioned, his persecutors accuse him not only of breaking the sabbath but making himself an equal to the Father. But as the Father does, the Son also does. Jesus does the will of his Father, and like the Father, he “raises the dead and gives life,” and as the Son of Man he will call all who are in tombs to come out, either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation. The Son does the work of the Father; as a just judge, he works to accomplish his Father’s will.

God, help me imitate Jesus, who says, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” I have many questions about how I am to work today, how the day and how the week will play out. From the untold number of decisions I will make today and act on, give me the grace to remember that my work is to do your will, and the grace to understand and accomplish it. What possible hesitation or fear do I have of working throughout the day if I am committed to knowing your will and doing it? Father, you gave me life and sent me for a purpose no one else can fulfill. For the sake of your glory, Lord, help me do your work today.

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.

“Do you want to be well?” | Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 5:1-16)

After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.

In Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate, Jesus sees a man who is blind, lame, and crippled, and has been ill for thirty-eight years. Nobody assists him to reach the healing pool of Bethesda, which means “house of mercy” or “house of grace.” When Jesus first encounters him, he asks if he wishes to be well and then tells him to pick up his mat and walk. “Immediately,” John says, “the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.” Jesus then slips away through the crowd as Jews witness the man carrying his mat on the sabbath. When they are able to identify Jesus as the one who told the man to pick up his mat, they begin to persecute Jesus for profaning the sabbath. There are things worse, Jesus suggests to the man he cured, than being ill for decades. Worse than that is sin and its burdens; worse than that, those who reject and persecute Jesus, the very one who has the power over sin, illness, and death.

God, just as Ezekiel witnesses the life-giving water flowing from the sanctuary and its healing effects, the man by the pool experiences divine restoration and healing through the command of your Son: “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” More than divine marching orders, Jesus’ command is a response to the question he poses: “Do you want to be well?” In your initiative, Lord, you quietly invite me with the same question to receive your healing. Give me the grace today to answer honestly, Do I want to be well? I would do well to accept all you offer from your house of mercy.

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.

“You may go; your son will live.”| Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 4:43-54)

Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

The Galileans welcome Jesus as he enters Galilee because they had seen the miracles he performed while at the feast in Jerusalem. From among the people whose faith in him was strong, Jesus encounters a royal official whose child was sick to the point of death. In seven words, “You may go; your son will live,” Jesus cures the child of the illness, and the official learns of this from a messenger while he is on his way back home. As a result, John tells us “he and his whole household came to believe.” In this miracle, Jesus gives us a glimpse of the love of the LORD that Isaiah speaks of in the first reading: “Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create.”

God, just as the father reveals great faith in the power Jesus has with mere words, give me the grace of complete trust in you in this world and in the life of the world to come. Trust is essential. As the psalmist says, there is nightfall in this life; there is the pit, the netherworld; there is weeping. And while facing this, just as the father faced his son’s death, what is the song the psalmist hears in his mind and heart? “O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world; you preserved me from among those going down into the pit. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” Be with me, 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.

“Where are you staying?” | Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 1:35-42)

“Behold the Lamb of God” flickr photo by Lawrence OP https://flickr.com/photos/paullew/39681315841 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi”— which translated means Teacher —, “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”

Jesus asks the two disciples of John what they are looking for. In looking for the Messiah, they find Jesus. In finding Jesus, they ask an unusual question: “Where are you staying?” Jesus invites them to come with him. Andrew and another disciple spend the day with Jesus. Filled with excitement, Andrew goes to find his brother Simon and tell him that they have found the Messiah. The passage begins when John the Baptist watches Jesus walk by and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” In looking out for the Messiah, the disciples are prepared to understand the meaning of Jesus’ question and respond with their own question. The answer, they come to learn, is that the Lamb of God is the Son who comes down from heaven but stays with his Father.

God, help me understand the connection between Jesus, Lamb of God, and Saint Paul’s preaching that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came as the sacrificial lamb and knew death of the body for the sake of all people. In rising, he made possible baptism in the Holy Sprit, in which we die to self and rise to new life in Christ. Paul makes clear that we have been purchased at a price so that we may be a temple of the Holy Spirit and that we are not our own. “The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power,” Paul says. Lord, you offer us the same resurrection as Jesus your Son. In one spirit with you, the body given up is saved for eternal life. “Therefore, glorify God in your body.”

From the responsorial psalm: “I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God.”

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.

“Behold, your mother.” | Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows | 9.15.23

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 2:33-35)

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

From the cross, Jesus entrusts to Mary the maternal care of John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. By doing this, Jesus extends this gift from the cross to all people who believe and follow him. At the same time, he says to John: “Behold, your mother.” As Jesus entrusts his mother to the care of the beloved disciple, and by extension, to the care of the Church and all believers, he directs our gaze to divine love. The twofold charge to behold Mary Our Mother and to be beheld by her refers to a relationship like that between God the Father and Jesus his Son. John’s response exemplifies what our response should be to Jesus’ loving invitation: “And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.”

Father in heaven, thank you for sending your Son into the world—into the midst of evil, sin, and death—to save us from the darkness of sin and to destroy death through the death and resurrection of your Son. Thank you, Jesus, for the profound words you spoke as you were dying on the cross. You entrusted your mother to the disciple John and to all disciples, making her the spiritual mother of all Christians. Mary, Lady of Sorrows, you entered into the Passion of your Son, united with him at the foot of the cross. Pray for us sinners; teach me to love your Son as you love him. Mother of mercy, hear our prayers!

From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary; without dying you won the martyr’s crown beneath the Cross of the 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.

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