Tag: grace

Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 9:32-38)

A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke. . . . Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

In today’s Gospel, Matthew portrays Jesus’ ministry of healing and proclaiming the kingdom, highlighting his power over evil, his compassion for the suffering, and his desire to bring salvation to all. It also emphasizes the need for more laborers in the mission of the Church and the importance of prayer. He says to the disciples: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” As Jesus surveys the crowd, his compassion for them is a model for each of us for how to respond to those in everyday encounters who are troubled and abandoned.

God, help me recognize your Son’s compassion as an invitation to go to him at all times for all things but especially when I feel troubled and abandoned. In response to his heart moved with pity, what greater act of faith is there but in complete trust to receive his mercy? As Saint Paul says of your Son: “So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your lovingkindness and mercy. Give me the grace today to come to you without hesitation when I am troubled about even the smallest thing. Saint Benedict, 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.

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 9:18-26)

A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him
and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured.

In the Gospel for today, Jesus is on his way with the disciples to the house of an official, whose daughter has just died. The official tells this to Jesus, saying, “But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Immediately, Jesus and the disciples rise to follow him to his house. As Jesus makes his way, the woman suffering hemorrhages finds him and in touching the tassel of his cloak is immediately healed. Both the official and the woman place their complete trust in Jesus’ ability to heal. Just as the woman’s faith leads to healing, the official’s faith is tested and is also rewarded. Jesus puts out the ridiculers, and those who remain are witnesses to the miracle of the daughter’s resurrection.

God, help me understand that your Son demonstrated power over sickness and death. In recognizing that astounding authority, the official is an example of great faith in the face death, which Jesus conquers. The woman in the Gospel teaches me that with great faith only a little effort opens up the vast reach of your love and mercy. Give me the grace to approach you with faith and complete trust for whatever I need.

Thank you, God, for your word and for the death and resurrection of your Son. Thank you for the gift of faith, which I ask you to strengthen. From the responsorial psalm: “Because he clings to me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress. In you, my God, I place my trust.”

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.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 11:25-30)

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

In today’s second reading from Saint Paul, he compares the Spirit and the flesh. Living according to the flesh leads to death, while if living by the Spirit, “you put to death the deeds of the body” and you will live. In the Gospel, Jesus exclaims in praise the same message through his relationship to the Father. The little ones Jesus speaks of have a childlike faith that acknowledges what it means to live in the Spirit; namely, “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son.” No one knows the Father as Jesus, meek and humble of heart, knows the Father.

God, as the psalmist says, you lift up all who are falling and raise up all who are bowed down. Help me remember to come to you when I feel burdened and heavy with the cares of this world. In receiving the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ, I want to live courageously in the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body. “Learn from me,” Jesus says. Help me take on the humility and meekness of Christ, who lived every moment of his life in your gracious will. Taking on that yoke, uniting myself to him, help me learn to find rest in assimilating myself to him.

“I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.” Lord, through your Spirit that dwells in me, reveal to me through your Son what you hide from the wise and the learned.

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.

Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 9:14-17)

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Jesus addresses the disciples of John as they ask him about why they fast but Jesus’ disciples do not. Jesus compares himself to a bridegroom, suggesting that fasting would be inappropriate for his disciples while he, the bridegroom, is present with them. But a time will come, Jesus tells them, when the joy of his physical presence is no longer a reality. Then they will fast. Jesus also uses the analogy of a new patch on an old garment. The newness of Jesus’ message requires a fresh approach, not merely patching the old ways of doing things. Jesus’ comparison of new wine and old wineskins suggests that the newness and vitality of Jesus’ teaching can’t be contained within the rigid framework of fasting and rituals.

God, in your Son’s words there is a message of mercy that I want to fully understand. Jesus, the bridegroom, is no longer visibly present but is truly present in the Eucharist. Yet, among John’s disciples, there was repentance and fasting. In the same way, I recognize the need for that when I sin by placing love of anything or any person above you. The psalmist expresses this about you by saying, “For I know that our LORD is great; our LORD is greater than all gods. All that the LORD wills he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps.” Lord, give me the grace to recognize and receive your mercy through the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist.

Stay with me today, Lord. Help me call you to mind throughout the day, remembering your 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.

Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

When it was evening, they brought [Jesus] many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus enters Capernaum and encounters the centurion whose servant was at his home, paralyzed and suffering. Amazed at the centurion’s faith and without going to see the servant, Jesus heals him with the words “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” As Jesus enters Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law lies in bed with a fever. As Jesus touches her hand, Matthew tells us, the fever left her. In both of these miraculous healings, Jesus merely says a word or touches to restore the servant and Peter’s mother-in-law. Matthew says that “by a word” Jesus drove out demons and healed the sick. With complete faith in the Lord and with only a word from him, what is there he cannot accomplish?

Lord, help me recognize your power to heal, your willingness to extend your healing to all, and the importance of faith in receiving your healing. Just as in yesterday’s reading as Jesus says to the leper “I do will it,” today he shows his compassion, authority, and his mission to bring salvation to all and to restore them to him. God, with the same faith as the centurion, give me the grace to say, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”

From the Gospel acclamation: “Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

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.

Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately.

The leper who approached Jesus suffered greatly from his disease. In Jesus’ time, leprosy was commonly understood to be a punishment for sin. Therefore, in curing the man immediately from his leprosy, Matthew shows us that Jesus had authority to heal both body and soul. By coming to Jesus, the leper is a great example of his trust in Jesus’ ability to heal him and that faith is essential in our relationship with God and his ability to heal us through his grace.

God, help me understand that the relationship the leper had with Jesus, coming to him in faith and trust, is exactly where I need to be with you. Through the recurrence of sin, I can delude myself in believing that what I have done is beyond your forgiveness. In saying, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean,” the leper comes to Jesus in childlike faith. Jesus’ reply to him shows that what you will is for all to be restored in wholeness to you. In a state of grace, the leper hears Jesus command him to show himself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses. In the same way after receiving absolution in Confession, I go with joy in a state of grace to offer myself to Jesus as I receive him in the Eucharist.

Thank you, Lord, for your gift of healing physical and spiritual illnesses through your grace, through the sacraments. When I have sinned, let to come to you in faith to receive your divine 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.