Tag: Catholic

Greetings on this the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30

Summary

Life is a journey. There are those who invest in the common journey and those who do not.

A man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Who can find a woman of worth? Far beyond jewels is her value (Mt 25:14, 15; Pv 31:10).

• Where is he going? In a spiritual reading, we might imagine the Master’s absence not as abandonment, but as trust.: his work continues through those to whom he entrusts responsibility.
• Did he abandon all that he is responsible for or did he entrust others in their part of the shared journey? He entrusted the faithful to keep his benevolence present even as he attends to other lost sheep.

The master doesn’t leave us to ignore us. He leaves us to grow into our destiny of increasing our faith, improving our compassion and learning that our agency to act is our responsibility.

• He trains us to be stewards.
• He trains us in the ways of compassion expressed as appropriate use of time, talents and resources.
• The woman of worth shows what faithful stewardship looks like when it becomes ordinary life.

Reflection

Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober (1 Thes 5:6).

Personal Reflection

We share in the journey of life in the ordinary and spiritual senses, both. We invest in one another. We enrich the journey with our care and compassion.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111526.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: 3 John 5-8; Psalm 112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Luke 18:1-8

Got diverted to other necessary ministry tasks.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? (Lk 18:7)

Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey (3 Jn 1:6b).

Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance
(Ps 112:5-6)

Help who? Let the Holy Spirit tell you who. You can’t say there isn’t someone.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111426.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States]
Readings: 2 John 4-9; Psalm 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18; Luke 17:26-37

Summary

As it was in the days of Noah … Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot… (Lk 17:26a, 28a), no-ah-body cared or they didn’t care a-Lot.

Anyone who is so “progressive”* as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son (2 Jn 1:9).

Since the phrase has been co-opted by Nobody Cares, and Doesn’t Care A-lot, it is helpful to describe what the phrase refers to:

NABRE Commentary: Anyone who is so “progressive”: literally, “Anyone who goes ahead.” Some gnostic groups held the doctrine of the Christ come in the flesh to be a first step in belief, which the more advanced and spiritual believer surpassed and abandoned in his knowledge of the spiritual Christ. The author affirms that fellowship with God may be gained only by holding to the complete doctrine of Jesus Christ.

It is the problem of Gnosticism.

Gnosticism is a loose collection of ancient religious and philosophical ideas that flourished around the 2nd century CE. It centers on the pursuit of gnosis—direct, personal, interior spiritual knowledge—rather than faith, dogma, or institutional authority (Google AI).

Reflection

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it (Lk 17:33).

Just like in Noah’s day, in Lot’s day, and in the early Church, there is a struggle between appetite (and novelty) against the unifying, cogent theology of faith, dogma and institution. Lose the idea that ‘I” am central to theology. It is a theology of “We”.

Personal Reflection

Let’s spend this day in thanksgiving for Mother Church, the Apostolic Succession, and the ancient struggle of keeping ourselves right-minded.

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! (Ps 119:1b).

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111326.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
Readings: Philemon 7-20; Psalm 146:7, 8-9a, 9bc-10; Luke 17:20-25

Summary

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

Asked … when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become … I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you… no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord (Lk 17:20-21; Phil 10, 12, 16).

Reflection

Did you see that?

That! Aw, you missed it.

In our gospel portion today, people miss the presence of God. He’s there and active and working between, among and for each of us.
But we fail to see it.

In Paul’s letter, he had to remind them Onesimus is beloved of God and of Paul himself. They didn’t see his worth, as a man, as a brother. Yet he is. Redeemed, just like the rest of us. When we fail to see the kingdom already here, we miss the coolest things:

The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.

The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.

The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
(Psalm 146:7, 8-9a, 9bc-10)

Personal Reflection

Keep your eyes open today.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111226.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Strage Inutile (“useless slaughter”)

Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
Readings: Titus 2:1-8, 11-14; Psalm 37:3-4, 18 and 23, 27 and 29; Luke 17:7-10

Summary

As for yourself, you must say what is consistent with sound doctrine. Trust in the LORD and do good, that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security. Take delight in the LORD, and he will grant you your heart’s requests. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’ (Ti 2:1; Ps 37:3-4; Lk 17:10b).

Franciscan Reflection (Leo the Great)

At a time when there is widespread criticism of Church structures, we also hear criticism that bishops and priests—indeed, all of us—are too preoccupied with administration of temporal matters. Pope Leo is an example of a great administrator who used his talents in areas where spirit and structure are inseparably combined: doctrine, peace, and pastoral care. He avoided an “angelism” that tries to live without the body, as well as the “practicality” that deals only in externals.

Saint Leo the Great

Reflection

As we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good (Ti 2:13-14).

Personal Reflection

A Sound Mind in a Sound Body.

In all we do or say, it must be grounded in sound doctrine and with the Common Good in mind and modeled after the “Signs” of Jesus.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111026.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
Readings: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22

Cleansing of the Temple

[He said] to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” [After being challenged] Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken (Jn 2:16, 19, 22).

The Wonderful Stream

Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and there! I saw water flowing out from under the threshold of the temple… For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building (Ez 47:1a; 1 Cor 3:9).

Personal Reflection

We celebrate the Lateran Basilica in Rome today. Our spiritual home.

As one family in Christ we can recall his love for us with one voice.
It is the Father’s house. A temple.
You are the bricks that make up the structure.
From it flows the Waters of Life.

So it is your home, it is you, it is your gift to the world.
Let’s not make it anything else.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110926.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Wisdom 6:12-16; Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Summary

Resplendent and unfading is Wisdom, and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and Sisters … For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Stay awake and be ready! For you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ (Wis 6:12; 1 Thes 4:13a-14; Mt 24:42a, 25:11-12).

It is a joy to see the Church follow Jewish teaching tradition by juxtaposing two themes so as to, in so very few words, allow us to understand the parallelism of a secular and faith filled life and, succinctly, the remedy therein.

Reflection

Falling Asleep

There are two types of falling asleep in our sacred readings today. Falling asleep in the way of death and of inattentiveness leading unto separation from the divine. Falling asleep (death) does not separate you from God. The other, maybe!

Lord, Lord

A double plea – Lord, Lord – signifies the urgency of the statement. For example, when Jesus says, “Amen, Amen, I say to you” there is an urgency built into the written words that should come through that is more easily expressed in person verbally. And in a related way, the divine calling out to Abraham, Moses and Samuel all are recorded as a double name calling, to wit, Moses, Moses! This ancient rhetorical device is known as epizeuxis – intense urgency, deep intimacy, or passionate emphasis (wiki). In the Old Testament the phrase is, in some cases, interpreted as Lord God.

Wisdom

Wisdom helps us know the difference.
Wisdom reveals, by her gifts, that through of the death and resurrection of Jesus we are united with God.

So in this life being awake to the saving act of God is to have oil for your lamp. Living a life — not stumbling in the dark — but alit with love.

And, in the lasting gift of contemplation, we are left with the questions:

Questions

• Do the foolish virgins get to heaven or not?
• Are they left outside forever looking in and regretting their inattentiveness?

Answers:

• At one level the parable is surrounded by other parables which express the finality of death and the consequence of a life poorly lived. This is the immediate understanding.
• At another level we are given the hope of being found and known, somehow, through the mercy of God.

A single leading Amen, means that God has the authority and power to enforce this outcome. The fictional figures are not a census of the damned. They are the symbol of the importance.

Personal Reflection

This is our mirror moment. When I look at myself, do I see someone who is truly awake? Do I see someone professing Christ both interiorly and exteriorly? If we are unsure, then our shared prayer must be: Wisdom, lead me the way!

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110826.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Philippians 4:10-19; Psalm 112:1b-2, 5-6, 8a, 9; Luke 16:9-15

Summary

Who will trust you with true wealth? (Lk 16:11b).

Reflection

Make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings (Lk 16:9). To be a friend means to be in right relation with someone or something.

Recapitulating Jesus’ directions: Establish a right relation with wealth, know its limitations and its temptations. When you do this, you will rightly know to be in right relation with God and find yourself being welcomed to heavenly places.

What is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God (Lk 16:15b).

Jesus provides the contrast: Self-justification. This self-centered rationality places us in inferior relation with wealth and God. Jesus further develops the negative contrast in The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9ff.

1. I TAKE MY POSITION BEFORE GOD.
2. I am not like everyone else (really now?).
3. I am not greedy.
4. I am not dishonest.
5. I am not an adulterer.
6. I am not a tax collector.
7. I fast twice a week
8. I pay tithes on my whole income.

Oops!

This is true wealth: But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 18:13-14).

Personal Reflection

Think of this question in a new way: Who will trust you?

The question is from the divine heart… Can I trust you?

Oh!

Don’t spin out of control with the impossibility. Chill.
I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:13, 19).
Enter into right relation with ordinary wealth and the eternal wealth of love.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110726.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry