Ordinary Time Cycle A

Fifth Sunday Ordinary Time A

February 5, 2023

Fifth Sunday Cycle A

Readings no longer available here  

 

 

 

We have heard or read this quotation from Matthew's gospel many times.  

The readings for this Sunday can help us to know each day what we are called to do.

 

 

 

 

In the Gospel, Jesus is giving the Sermon of the Mount to his disciples.  As we sit in Church this Sunday, Jesus once again gives us His Words.  They can change our spiritual lives.

 

 

 

 

Are we willing to listen?

Are we willing to change so we will more often make God present to every person and event that comes into our lives?

Or do we simple refuse to think that we are called everyday in every situation to make God present to others?

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the time of Isaiah, the people were being reminded of what they were to do for others to show that they loved God and were thankful to Him for bringing them out of slavery and caring for them.  So, the message is not new.

 

 

 

St. Paul writes to this Christian Community and reminds them that they were called to make God present everyday. Because of our baptism, like that of the Corinthians, we were chosen by God at our own Baptism to make God present in our world today.

 

Think about the responsorial  Psalm as you listen or read the Psalm we respond to at Eucharist this Sunday.  

It describes what we are called to be and to do?

 

But maybe we simply think that there is no more we can do.  

 

How can I feed others?  

 

How can I be light?

 

It simply means going out of our way for others.  

It means always saying hello or something to those we don't really know as we pass them in all our daily activities.  Even a smile to the stranger can be that bread or light to others.  

 

We can even ask God for the grace to convert us, so that we do not let one person that we encounter this day go by us without a smile, or a hello, or even to go out of our way for that person.  Perhaps even saying to God as we pass a person, "God bless that person" .

Of course there will be times we are called to do much more, but to begin to start simply we can make spiritual discoveries about ourselves.  

Maybe we will discover that we are more self centered than we ever thought. That will mean not to give up, but to pray for our own conversion.

 

 

Let's fulfill the call God gave us in Baptism.  

It is never too late.

 

 

 

 

 

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Fourth Sunday of Easter Cycle A

January 29, 2023

Fourth Sunday Cycle A

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This, the Fourth Sunday 

One of the most ancient depiction of Jesus was found in the catacombs.  

Below is an icon of the one found on the wall of the catacomb.

 

 

In the First Reading, we hear of how fearless the apostles were after the Resurrection and Pentecost experience; where before they were afraid and fearful.  Now after Pentecost they plainly spoke out, without fear of arrest, suffering, rejection, or even death. Wow!  

What about us?  

Are we willing to make Christ's message of love, mercy, and compassion to the other, even to the enemy present in the world? 

We live in a world that often indicates that to go out of our way for the other is foolish!  

We can be so influenced by the world around us, that we fail to understand the message of the Good Shepherd.

 

 

We are to go out of our way for the other . 

Why are we afraid to be merciful,

even to those who do not deserve it.

Why are we unable to have compassion on the undeserving?

Why do we try to escape from those who give us difficulty?

 

 

Now is the time to pray  for ourselves, so that we are able to see, that at times, we do not make Christ present for others.  

The problems and struggles are always a gift from God.

 

 

 

It is through them we see that we often fail; that we need to keep praying for a Resurrection and Pentecost experience, and become like the Good Shepherd, going out of our way for the other,  even for the dumb sheep that we encounter in our daily lives.

That may very well be the person who is difficult or the person we don't care for.

In the second reading Peter is speaking to newly baptized Christians who were struggling slaves.  They were told to not to be afraid of struggles and difficulties.

Peter is also speaking to each of us today . In case we did not know it we are all, at times, slaves to the ideas of this world.  

 

 

 

The Gospel helps us to see that Christ calls us to go through the gates that we will all meet in this world

We are often fearful to go through the gate in this world (the struggles of this world).

 

But Jesus is always watching for us as the Shepherd who is the gatekeeper.

He is always encouraging us to go through the gate, through the struggles and disappointments.

He is leading us on, no matter how many times we have failed in the past.

This time go through the gate...

Courage!!!

 

 

We are the lost sheep that Christ comes for, encouraging us to go through the gates that separates us from the wall of this world and that of eternal life.  

 

 

 

 

Come, follow me!

 

 

Courage.

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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A

 January 20, 2023

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kness?

 

In the Dar           Are you in darkness?  

Are you waiting for the light?

  Or have you given up?

 

 

 

 

Isaiah speaks to a people in the 8th Century B.C. who were a minority among the Assyrians.  They were unable to practice their faith and many had lost their faith. 

 This prophet says that a people who walk in darkness will see a great light.  There is hope for the future.

Each of us, can at times, be like the people in this first reading.  Things just don't  go as we planned.  We seem to be in darkness.  We even give up.  But I think the reading encourages us to understand we will come into a great light. 

 

 

 

I am always amazed that after the darkness, the events in my life that seem so difficult, have passed; I can look back on them and there seems to be a sort of light or understanding that gives me an understanding of what I have learned about myself.  In that difficult situation  did I trust that these words of Isaiah are fulfilled?   That no matter what, we no longer walk in darkness. 

 

 

Christ the light has appeared and offers each of us eternal life. 

What can hurt us? 

With Christ there is no darkness, only eternal life.

 

 

 

In the second reading Paul speaks to a community that is in crisis following different leaders.  "I am for Paul, I am for Apollos, etc.  Paul says come into the light and that is Christ.  The one who makes the light of Christ appears is not the one to hang on to, but only on Christ who brings the light, not the messenger.  The light brings unity not division. 

Christ brings unity.

 

The gospel certainly calls us into the light.  

Are we willing to look at our spiritual self honestly and come into the light.

That is where the kingdom of God is.  But how difficult that can  be. 

We can easily think I don't sin, well not very big. 

We really don't want to look at ourselves. 

 

But when we have the courage and the grace to look at our failures, our sins, we are in the light and very close to the kingdom of God. 

In every daily situation we are called, as were James and John, to leave everything, our plans, our thinking I am right and know best, our way of doing things, our giving of ourselves only when it it convenient, etc. and to follow the Lord, which amazingly will bring us in the light about our spiritual selves.

When the Lord passes today, as He will everyday,  will you follow Him?

 

 

Audio of the Gospel and my Homily given at St. Angela Merici when I first Retired

Click here for audio of my homily

 

 

 

2nd Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle A

January 15, 2023

Second Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle A

 

 

 

 

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In the first reading, the people were in exile in Babylon.  They had lost everything. 

 They were at an all time low and Isaiah gave them the hope that God would not abandon his people; that One would come that would bring salvation for the whole world. 

They were once again given hope. 

 

Perhaps this can be also for us when we are in a down state. 

God will not abandon us. 

 

In the second reading written somewhere around  50 AD, Paul went to preach in Corinth which was a Roman colony and was morally corrupt.   

Even to those pagans in Corinth, God would send a messenger to bring the news of forgiveness and salvation. 

Paul was that messenger  for them. 

These words could also apply to us. 

We are called to make the compassion and forgiveness of God present to others. 

We are commissioned to carry on what Paul was sent to do. 

We, of the current age, are to make God present in the world.

 

 

In the gospel, John recognized that Christ was the one sent from God.

 God has kept his promise not to abandon his people.

 

 

 

 

Each of us through our baptism were called to make God's mercy and forgiveness present in the world today.

We are to make Christ present for others.

Once again today, we can renew what we were commissioned to do through our call at Baptism

 

 

 

 

We can make God present to others through ...

our understanding,

our mercy,

our patience,

our tolerance,

our forgiveness, etc.

 

 

 

We can pray for the Holy Spirit to help us to do what have each of us have been called to do

to make God present in the world today..

 

 

 

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The Epiphany of the Lord

January 8, 2023

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Are we willing to travel in life to meet the Lord,

not only in times that are good and great, 

but also in times when the journey of life is very, very difficult?

 

 

 The readings for this Epiphany are for all of us who, at times, have found ourselves on our life's journey in darkness,  in confusion,  in doubt, in frustration.

 

The first reading was addressed to the Hebrew people who were in the Exile of Babylon.  They, too, were struggling and faced with difficulties. The prophet gave them courage when their lives seemed meaningless and hopeless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At times it is so easy to give up and not continue our journey.  

Our journey can be difficult as life was for St. Paul who wrote to the Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome awaiting death.

 

The Ephesians were mostly Gentiles, those who the Jews considered as not chosen by God.  

Paul encouraged them to continue the journey in spite of the difficulties, and he reminded them that they had been chosen by God as are we by our Baptism.

 

 

In the Gospel of Matthew we meet the three Magi.  They were pagans and did not even worship or know about the God of the Hebrews, yet they were inspired to make a very difficult journey to find the Lord.

  

 

Lord give us the grace and courage given to the Magi so that we can too

can make our our way on the journey in our life and find you and the Eternal Life that you give.

 

No matter how often we may struggle on our journey, may the Magi give us the hope that shows you, God, are for all people, even for us in our moments of failure,fear, sin, and doubt.

 

 Our life's daily journey will lead us to  Christ and his gift of Eternal Life.

May we never give up, just as the Magi never gave up.

Alleluia

 

 

 

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Christmas Mass Readings 2022

 

 

Christmas 2022

 

  

There are  4 different sets of readings depending on the mass you will attend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Below are my very informal audio clips I made while reflecting on the Christmas readings .  

 

Remember they are unedited.  

I hope, that if you wish to listen to them, they will helpful.

 

Click on the one below that you wish to listen to.

 

  Audio Reflection Midnight Mass 

 

 

 

  

Audio Reflection  Mass At Dawn 

 

 

 

 

Audio Reflection Mass During the Day

 

 

 

We know that all of us, at times, go through difficulties.

Pray that those who are in those difficult times may hold on to the hope that the coming of Christ makes for all of us. 

In spite of the times of difficulty, God will never abandon us.  

The temptations of the devil are strong in trying to make us believe,"You poor thing.

 How can this happen to you?" 

Tell the evil one to go to Hell.  

The Messiah has come today and every day.  

In our baptism He has called us by name.  

He gives us again the greatest Christmas gift we could ever want, the promise of Eternal Life

.  Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers and please keep me in yours.

Fr. Doug 

 

 

 He Is Born

 

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Fourth Sunday of Advent Cycle A

 

 December 18, 2022

Fourth Sunday of Advent

 

On this 4th Sunday of Advent

The 4th candle on our Advent Wreath is lit.

 

 

The prophet Isaiah is asking King Ahaz not to turn to other political powers, but to trust God. 

King Ahaz, of the southern kingdom of Judah, was fearful of an attack from the northern kingdom of Israel (which had separated from the southern kingdom; the northern kingdom had made friends with Syria).

 

 

 

 

 

Ahaz feared that there would be an attack from the Northern Kingdom supported by the powerful Syria).  

 

 

In spite of Isaiah's words to trust in God, he refused and would not even to ask for a sign from God that he should trust God.  

 

Ahaz doubted God and had put all his trust in the pagan king of Assyria to protect Judah.

 

What a struggle it can be to trust God in times that are difficult.

 

 

St. Paul writes to the first Christian community made up of converted Jews and Gentiles, who also faced many struggles, difficulties, sufferings, etc.  He reminds them that they have been given a mission to make God present to others with the words and actions of Christ.

 

 

 

In the gospel, Joseph is faced with a very difficult situation. Jewish tradition says that a women who becomes pregnant before marriage is to be stoned to death.  What should he do with Mary, now pregnant?

 

 What is Joseph to do?

How can God work in this impossible situation? 

 

Joseph trusted the word that the angel has given to him, no doubt words from God.  And we know the result of Joseph's trust.  

 

       The Messiah is born for all humanity!

 

We, too, need to ask for the grace to have the courage to trust God, especially in those difficult times and situations, so that  Christ will be born in us, so we too can make Him present to the world.  

Think that is impossible?

 

 

We have seen God bringing the messiah, his Son, into the world in very difficult situations.

Nothing is impossible for God when we trust that He is working in our most trying and difficult situations; even with difficult people; even with His call to love the enemy.

 

 

Courage.

Wait and watch for the Lord every moment,

even in those impossible moments.

Then you will be ready for a

 

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Gaudete Sunday-3rd Sunday of Advent Cycle A

December 11, 2022

Gaudete Sunday

 

 

The priest has the option of wearing Rose/Pink vestments

 

 

 Gaudete is the word that means...Rejoice

 

There are times for each of us when we might think...What is there to Rejoice about???

Today's readings can really speak to us.  

 

In the first reading that same hope and promise that was made to the Hebrew people coming out of their horrible exile in Babylon is given to each of us. Isaiah  tells what God will do for his people.

Remember that God had taken the Hebrews out of their slavery in Egypt in the 13th century B.C. and then again taken them out of their exile in Babylon in the 6th century B.C.

 

God will do the same for us. He will always take us out of our slavery, our exile of our disbelief, our sins.

Remember God worked through the pagan King Cyrus who freed the Hebrews from their Babylonian exile.  They would find it difficult to believe that God would work through a pagan, a non believer, but He did.

 

But how hard it is to wait for God.

We want instant things from our God.

 

St. James, in the second reading, says to this early Christian Community to be  patient. God will come even for us in our difficult situations.  Are we willing to wait and watch for the Lord to come every day.  That is what this season of Advent it all about.

 

Wait & Watch

 

 

 

 

In the Gospel St. John the Baptist, while in prison, finds out that Jesus is  the Messiah, the one to come.  

John is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.

 

Those times of struggles and difficulties may well be the preparing us for the coming of the Lord into our lives.  Perhaps our struggles will help us to see our own disbelief that God will care for us.  That can be a real gift showing us our need to pray for a change of heart or for our own conversion.

 

Courage

Wait and Watch for the Lord

He is coming everyday for each of us.

 

Rejoice and always and wait for the Lord

 

Gaudete

 

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Second Sunday of Advent-Cycle A

 

December 4, 2022 

 

 

 

 

 

We continue to wait and watch for the coming of the Lord especially this very day, at our death, and at the end of time.

But are you tired of waiting???

 

 We pray that God will help uis in a difficult situation, with a difficult or impossible person when there seems to be no answer. 

We have waited a week, even a month. 

Then we have given up.

This was just like the people of the Hebrew Scriptures that Isaiah  was addressing.     

 

They had  given up on God and turned to other gods. 

They had turned to the idols of foreign nations where they lived, not to God to solve their problems. 

To them and to all generations Isaiah gives hope of what is to come.

Don't we do the same? 

When things don't go our way is it not easy to turn to anger, or selfishness, or judgement to solve the problem when we will not wait for God.

Or when life gets really rough isn't it easy to turn to our idols, our foreign gods, especially if God has not taken the problem away.  Alcohol, drugs, sex, addictions to TV, smoking, etc. can be the foreign idols that seem to solve the problem that God has not solved in the time we gave Him.

Sometimes we give up.

In Paul's letter to the Romans  Paul tells those in that community to look at the history of the Chosen People. 

God always came to save them, time after time. 

He does not give up on that people or on us.  

Sometimes we have to pray for patience to trust and wait for God's action.

In the Gospel   John the Baptist says that the Lord is coming. 

 

Prepare!

He will come. 

Are we willing to wait and watch everyday for Him?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thirty Third Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C

November 13, 2022

 

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"By your endurance (perseverance) you will gain your lives."

 

 

 

Have you given up on looking at your spiritual life?
Have you even stopped thinking about it on a daily basis?

 

 

Many of the people in the first reading, having returned from exile in 450 BC,  failed to see what God had done for them.

They were abandoning their believe in God.  They just wanted to live the good life.  The prophet tells them the end will come.  Return to God.

 

The prophet Malachi was encouraging them to not forget how God had forgiven them and taken them out of the Exile in Babylon, and brought them back to Jerusalem. 

 

 

 

 

 

Saint Paul was addressing   the same problem in the Christian Community to which he wrote .  Some were forgetting what God had call them to through their Baptism.  They were not to just sit around, as some had done, but they were to make God present in the world by their lives and actions.

 

 

At times we can see our own exile of our sins, of our dysfunctions, of our addictions and just plain give up or even worse, just ignore them.

God wants to feed us with his forgiveness, but we do have to work at continually looking deeply at ourselves, at our failures to fulfill the call we were given at our Baptism to make God present, and that can be very hard work. We may even get lazy and falsely believe that we do not sin or we do not sin very big.  What a deception!

 Just think about the following...

Love the other as yourself, every person as yourself.

 

Sin is always a tragedy and we do sin. God, again today, will bring us out of our exile, our sins. That is what Christ is about, again and again, day after day.

But we do have to look deeply at our spiritual self and not be scandalized by what we see. We will do this again and again until we die.  Don't give up.  The force of evil will always hint at us to give this up.  

Don't listen to that voice.

 

Remember God does not give up on us. 

 

 

 The last line of the Gospel this Sunday says...

"By your endurance, perseverance,

you will gain your lives."

 

 

Courage.

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