Tag: innocence

“I am with you always.” | The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

From the responsorial psalm: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 28:16-20)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

The last words of the Gospel according to Matthew, this passage gives us Jesus’ parting words with the disciples. Only eleven disciples are present since Saint Matthias had not yet been chosen. Although they had not yet seen the risen Christ, Matthew tells us that Jesus ordered the disciples to go to the mountain. On first seeing him after the resurrection, they nonetheless face interior doubts even as they worship him. At that moment, Jesus approaches them to reveal in words what he has accomplished through the resurrection. As he approaches, he tells them as the second person of the Trinity: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” For that reason, the disciples are able to go forth preaching and baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the fulfillment of his earthly mission, Jesus is also able to say to the disciples and to all who believe in him, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

In the Gospel acclamation, we pray: “Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come.” Father in heaven, guide me today according to your will. Help me call to mind throughout the day the last words of Jesus. Unbound by time, the risen Christ is able to say that he is with us always—”until the end of the age.” In obedience to you, he was able to approach the disciples and invite them to go out to all the world, teaching all that he commanded them. Give me the grace to do the same as I ponder the mystery of the Trinity and understand the relationship I am invited into union with. Glory to the holy and undivided Trinity, now and forever!

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.

“Let the children come to me.” | Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “O LORD, set a watch before my mouth, a guard at the door of my lips. For toward you, O God, my LORD, my eyes are turned; in you I take refuge; strip me not of life. Let my prayer come like incense before you.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:13-16)

People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them.

Jesus places childlike faith and trust in him as the primary way to belong to the Kingdom of God. What the disciples try to prevent, probably following customary treatment of children at that time, Jesus turns upside down and encourages. Not only does he tell the disciples not to prevent them from coming to him, he also sets them above all others as an example of how to open the heart to receive the Kingdom of God in order to enter it. And what does Jesus do when we draw near him? He embraces and blesses us with his divine presence. “Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” we hear in the Gospel acclamation, “you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.”

God, strengthen my faith and trust in you. As a child’s faith and trust in their parents is strengthened in their loving touch and embrace, let me not hold back in coming to you for your touch. As I approach you in the Eucharist, Lord, help me come to know the love that never abandons me is placed in my hands to receive. There before me in the Blessed Sacrament your loving embrace awaits. In your blessing, protect me and give me the grace I need to humbly accept my dependence on you for everything that is good. Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, 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.

“So they are no longer two but one flesh.” | Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

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.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 9:41-50)

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

In today’s Gospel, some Pharisees approach Jesus and question him about divorce according to Jewish law. Jesus immediately makes clear to the Pharisees that marriage, a sacred covenant between a man and a woman, was not meant to be dissolved. No human being, Jesus says, should undo what God has done. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it this way: “The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble. He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law. Between the baptized, ‘a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death.'” (CCC 2382) Jesus upholds the sacredness and permanent bond of marriage and emphasizes the original plan of God for the union of man and woman.

God, help me comprehend the fullness of Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. Marriage in the Church is a sacrament and in your mercy is meant to be permanent. There is no mistaking Jesus’ words in private to the disciples. Help me also know your mercy in the teachings of the Church in cases of annulment, that the Church has the authority to determine whether in truth a marriage lacked something essential from the beginning, rendering it null and void. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of marriage, which you authored from the beginning of creation. Keep in your care those you have joined in this sacrament, and for the sake of your glory, guide to all truth those who seek 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.

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Though in his lifetime he counted himself blessed, “They will praise you for doing well for yourself,” He shall join the circle of his forebears who shall never more see light. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 9:41-50)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.”

In the consecutive Gospel readings for this week, Jesus refers to children and to the innocent when he says, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” The consequences for causing the innocent, the pure of heart, to sin is self-destructive. In response to this and from a place of love, Jesus teaches us that outright rejection of such an act—even to the drastic extent of cutting off the offending member—would be better than to cause another to sin. “It is better for you to enter into life maimed,” Jesus says, “than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.” Lesser offenses also call for renunciation and detachment in this life because we belong to Christ and in order to have hands to receive and give the cup of his mercy.

God, help me comprehend that in Jesus I hear your word directly. “Receive the word of God,” the Gospel acclamation says, “not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God.” Since it is Jesus your Son who speaks these words, give me the gift of fear of the Lord to sharpen the awareness in me that all is your gift and because of that, I tread always on holy ground. Lord, you are all good and deserving of all my love. Give me the grace, today and always, to belong to Christ and live in his peace.

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.