Ordinary Time Cycle A

Fifth Sunday Ordinary Time A

February 5, 2023

Fifth Sunday Cycle A

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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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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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Seventeenth Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C

 

July 24, 2022

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Remembering what happened to... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God sees the evil that is going on in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham becomes an intercessor to God for the two great cities. 

 

We see how patience and merciful God is as He dialogs with Abraham. Imagine the patience God has with us.

We can even see a little humor as Abraham never gives up but keeps asking again and again if God will save the cities if just a few innocent people are found. God patiently responds to each question.

Abraham is a prediction of the great intercessor to come for us,  Jesus Christ.  Like Abraham, Jesus never gives up on any of us.  He has made intercession to His Father for each of us in his Passion, Suffering and death.  There is always hope for each of us.. We can always be given another chance.

 

Saint Paul writes his letter reminding the community that they have been called and forgiven through the intercessor, Jesus Christ, the son of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.   Notice that the way they are taught to pray is not just for themselves, but to include others. It is not an individual prayer for ones self, but is always inclusive of others.

 

It is similar to what Abraham was doing in his questioning, his interceding with God for the evil cities in the first reading. "If you only find a few good people...etc"

 

Our call, like that of Abraham and the disciples of Jesus, is to pray and intercede for others, not just for ourselves.

 

In the week ahead inclusive prayer might be a good practice, so that when we pray for ourselves, to also be inclusive of others  who might be in the same situation.

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Pentecost Sunday Cycle A B & C

June 5, 2022

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For some fifty days we have been daily celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord, Easter.  In spite of our times of spiritual failure, the Lord has shone us that death, sin, has been overcome.  There is always a way to find forgiveness and to once again move toward the gift given freely to us, eternal life.  So, why wouldn't we celebrate for some fifty days? 

Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  

Pentecost will end this season of Easter as the Paschal candle, the sign of the Resurrected Christ, is removed from its place in the sanctuary, and on Monday we begin the season of Ordinary Time.

  

 

 

 

The first reading tells of the Holy Spirit coming in a mighty wind from heaven and then tongues of fire that  would change the lives of those in the room when it happened.

 

The Apostles did not really understanding what had happened to Jesus. In spite of all they heard, experienced or been told, they were filled with doubt and fear.

 

The rough times in our lives that cause doubt and fear can seem like a strong wind,  and often it is only in retrospect that we recognize God, the Holy Spirit was working in our lives.

 

The psalm that we sing on this Sunday reminds us to always ask for the Holy Spirit, especially in those times when we doubt what God is allowing in our lives

Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

Come Holy Spirit

The words of this chant can be prayed over and over as a way asking for the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

In the second reading, Paul writes to the Corinthian community and tells them that they all have received gifts from the Holy Spirit and they are to use them to make God present in the world.  

Each and everyone of us has been given gifts to use to make God present, but how hard it seems at times to see our gifts.  They can be the most simple things like patience, forgiveness, compassion, a willingness to listen, a word of support, a smile and a "hello" even to a stranger, going out of our way for the other, even when it is not convenient, etc.

But we often think to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit is something spectacular.

Rarely, does God let us see the gifts we possess. And sometimes we even don't believe we have any of the gifts of the Spirit. What a lie.

Recognize that Jesus comes to us often, saying, " Peace be with you."

We hear this in the Gospel, and also that we are being sent into the world everyday and in every situation to make the mercy of God present to all we encounter.  Even in the most trying time and situation, we can pray that we will recognize Jesus is with us, giving us peace and the promise of the Holy Spirit, but like those in the the readings, we must wait. 

 

Let's hope this Pentecost will be, for each of us, a time to see the Holy Spirit inspiring us in all the events in our lives.

The Spirit is there even showing us our sins and giving us courage, time after time, to seek God's mercy and forgiveness, which will always be there.

Here are the words to the Sequence we will hear before the reading of the Gospel.  They can be another source of courage for each of us.

Sequence – Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your seven fold gift descend;

Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.

 

 

Pentecost will end this season of Easter as the Paschal candle, the sign of the Resurrected Christ, is removed from its place in the sanctuary, and on Monday we begin the season of Ordinary Time.

 

 

 

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Fourth Sunday of Easter Cycle C

May 8,  2022   Cycle C

 

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Good Shephard Sunday

 

 

In the Gospel that we hear today, Jesus is in the temple area talking on the feast of the dedication, the annual commemoration of the restoration of the Temple made by the Maccabees in 165BC.  

Perhaps today and the week ahead is a good time to reflect on His words ...

 Will we hear His voice in the days ahead???

Or to reflect on...

                                            What voice do we hear when things don't go our way?

 

 

In the first reading, St. Paul, along with Barnabas, are on their first missionary trip.
They are rejected by some of the Jews and St. Paul says it's time to turn to the Gentiles, the pagans, the non Jews, who will hear the voice of God.

St. Paul never gives up proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ, mercy and love to all, even to the enemy, and to the ones who do not believe.

St. Paul received his Mission from Jesus Christ when he was knocked off his horse and experienced quite a conversion.

 

Each of us were called to conversion by Christ at our baptism. We, like Paul and Barnabas, are to make Christ present for others, so that they too can hear the voice of the Lord and follow.

 

Saint Paul was able to hear the voice of the Lord and to follow, not just when times were easy and good, but also in times that were very difficult and frustrating.

When things are going well for us, how easy it is to follow the Lord or to not even to think about the Lord. 

 
But to hear the voice of the Lord and to follow Him when things are difficult and frustrating seems almost impossible.

But we certainly have the example of St. Paul and other saints who have given witness in times that were easy and times that were a real struggle with doubt and fear.  They have shown us that following Christ in good times and bad is the way to eternal life.

 

In the second reading, we get a picture of what heaven is like, filled with people who have struggled, have been martyred, and are now in heaven, are rejoicing around the lamb, Christ, the one who sacrificed himself, so that all of us have the opportunity to inherit eternal life. Following Christ will mean for each of us times of struggle and difficulty.

 

This coming week we will all have many opportunities to follow Christ, and to hear his voice.

The question is when times are difficult or stressful will we hear his voice?

 

Will we follow him even in those times that are difficult; the times we are called to pick up the cross and follow him?

Will we hear his voice?

And if we fail at times, then we have learned even more about ourselves and our own spiritual weaknesses.  That is the time, not to give up, but once again to turn to the Lord for forgiveness and to then continue the journey that the Lord has called us to take.

 

 

 

Mercy

Patience,

Forgiveness,

Compassion

Understanding

Etc.

To all, even the enemy

 

Click here to listen to the Homily I gave on this Sunday at St. Angela Merici in 2010

 

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Fifth Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C

February 6, 2022

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In every situation whether pleasant or unpleasant God is looking for someone to send and make Him present in the world.

Whom should I send?

 Will you be the one to answer  today and everyday?

 

 

 

 

The prophet Isaiah lived during the time of many difficulties for the chosen people.

They turned to the gods of the pagan people who were in the majority and were living around them.  They had turned away from God.

God was looking for a mouthpiece that He could use to bring the people back to Him.

 
Isaiah has a vision which we hear about in the reading.  Isaiah answers God's  call.

  I think we know that life was not easy for Isaiah. Yet he became the mouthpiece of God.

 

 

St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians is reminding them of the faith that he taught them some five years earlier. Needless to say the Corinthians were in the minority of the people living around them and they were being influenced by the pagans. 

 

As we listen to the reading of this letter, it can be a reminder for each of us.  It is so easy to forget that our baptism has called each of us, just as surely as He called St. Paul and Isaiah and all the baptized. It is important to realize that God is not necessarily calling us to take Him to a far-far off land, but to make him present in our every day situations. Our actions, and not just our words, can really make God present in a world that basically does not know Him.

 

Things such as compassion, forgiveness, patience, mercy,  listening, helping, etc. all make God present in the world.

God often does not call the strong, but the weak, the ones with difficulties and problems. St. Paul certainly fits into that situation.  He knows he was so against the Church in the beginning.

 
That can give each of us hope because God has certainly called each of us.

 

In the Gospel we hear about the calling of the first four apostles, Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were not the smartest or necessarily the brightest. And yet they were somehow able to leave their livelihood and respond to the Lord's calling, even in their weaknesses.  Let us pray for that same grace everyday.

So, it is back to us in everyday situation and everyday to answer..

.

And always, if we discover we failed to answer the call "Send me", in a particular difficult situation, then we have discovered something about ourselves just as Peter did in the Gospel.

Then we need to pray for a little more conversion, so that in the next situation we can truly say...

 

 

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Feast of the Holy Family Cycle A

December 26, 2021

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Readings

 

 

The author of this book in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, lived in the second century before Christ and was a pius Jew who was trying to show his people, in spite of all their trials, tribulations, doubts, fears, etc., how they were to live. It can and does help us to direct our lives today.  

As we listen to the words proclaimed today, we need to pray for the courage to, once again, not get defensive and say these words don't apply to me in our world today. But they are words that can call each us to look at ourselves even more deeply, and then call us to conversion, especially if the words are difficult for us to hear.

For sure, all families have trials and difficulties and we can often, when in the midst of these problems ask, why us, Lord.

 

 How can we possible respect each other in these situations?

While Paul was in prison in Rome, he hears that the faith of the Colossians, in the midst of trials and difficulties, was being threatened, and he writes this letter to them, giving them some practical help when their faith was under attack.  

Early Christians experienced their community as family. They needed each other.

Often it is in the family where we need to pray to be able to put Paul's words into action. He writes about having compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, etc; they are easy to talk about, but at times difficult to put into action in our own families. Families are not just where we grew up, but they can also be the family of our neighborhood, our family at work, our family of friends, etc. Yet these qualities that Paul writes about are exactly the qualities God has toward us at those times when we fail, when we are not the presence of Christ that we are called to be; in other words, the times when we sin.

Sirach, as we hear in the first reading says...

The family is the place where we can learn of these qualities of God, these qualities that Paul speaks in his letter to the Colossians. But as the Colossians were under attack, so are we in the modern world. The family is no longer seen as the very necessary place to discover God and for God to work in us. It is in the family where we can truly see ourselves, especially our failures, our sins, for which we need to pray for conversion to love the enemy even when at times it is a family member.

Yet we see more and more that the world says that today a strong family is the place to teach us all those qualities which St. Paul wrote about.

The world seems to indicate that both parents need to work so there will be more money, more security, etc. for the family.  Trust money, not God.

Or it says for the family members to break up and someone leave when the going gets rough.

It takes real courage to put the family first and to see it as the place God's work begins in each of us, love and conversion.

We love to think that there were not problems and difficulties in the Holy Family. 

  

Imagine, the Holy Family beginning to live their lives, and then Joseph is told to flee, to a country some 300 miles away, so the Christ child will not be killed.

Pack up quickly and leave.  Leave your way of making a living, your traditions and language, your relatives, friends, and neighbors, etc..

And Joseph trusts and the Holy Family leaves their security and flees.  Wow!

And we think we have problems,

 in the family or individually!

 

This gospel helps us to see that even the Holy Family, even holy Joseph and Mary, had to face great struggles...but they trusted God.  

Do we really think that as Christians we will not have problems, difficulties, and struggles.  Difficulties can certainly show and teach us how much we trust God.  

And if we discover that we have very little trust, then we know what we need to pray for, for ourselves.  

Convert me Lord so that I will trust all that comes my way.  Give me the grace to have the same trust that was in the Holy Family, everyday, in every situation and with all the people in my life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fourth Sunday of Advent Cycle C

December 19, 2021

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During the past three weeks of Advent we have been inspired by the readings to wait and watch for the coming of the Lord everyday.  At times I have not even thought about that until after an event or situation has occurred.  Unfortunately for me, it is always finding the Lord in looking back on my daily experiences. God in His mercy comes again and again.  There is hope as I continue to watch for Him daily.  He will not give up on me and we should never give up on Him.

The readings for this last Sunday of Advent seem to direct us to find the Lord daily in humble and poor situations.  We all know that Christ is present in the poor and the humble.  But, in our culture we don't spend time seeing the value of the humble and the poor, whether that is  people we encounter or in difficult situations in our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

In the first reading we hear from the prophet Micah.
He preached during the second half of the eighth century B.C.

 

 He was always preaching against the exploitation by the rich toward the poor.  He calls us to find value in the humble and the poor..  He shows that in the poor, in the humble, is where we can find God. How difficult it is a times to believe that we can encounter the presence of the Lord in the humble and poor or difficult situations.  

 

We live in a world that teaches us that  we can find  peace and happiness in being wealthy and powerful, not in being poor and humble.

The prophet says that the Messiah will come from a little unimportant village, poor and humble.  But many would have thought that the Messiah will be born in a large city, not in a poor and humble place.  He should be born in a comfortable, hospitable place.  But we know the Christmas Story.  The Lord was born in a stinking, bug infested, hole in the wall; a stable.  Who would think of finding the Lord, the Messiah, in such a place?

 

 

In the Gospel reading, Mary has just been told by the angel that she would give birth to the Messiah.  Imagine, a virgin, a woman, a humble and poor person would bring the Messiah into the world.  And Mary hears from the angel that and old woman Elizabeth, her relative has conceived.  Humble Mary travels some 50 or 60 miles to be with Elizabeth.  Will she find an experience of God after such a difficult trip?  But again, the experience of God is often where we least think it will be.

 

 

I continue to be amazed that it is in the humble and  in the lowly people and situations where we find the Lord.
Again and again scripture shows us this. It is not in the rich and powerful, in the expected,  but in the humble, the lowly and often the unexpected where we will experience God.  Sometimes this seems so contrary to what the world view presents to us.  

 

The second reading, a letter written to the Jewish converts to Christianity, to confirm for them that Christ fulfilled the Old Testament and that Jesus was the Messiah.

 

 

 Again Jesus is the humble one; the one obedient to God.

  He truly has come to do God's will, even to face persecutions, sufferings, and death.

 

For each of us are we willing to do the will of God. That means to humble ourselves and to accept whatever lies before us. But how difficult that is in the world that says no to this line of thought.  It says to us that you are to be right, you're not to suffer, you're to be wealthy, powerful, etc.

Perhaps as we now come close to the end of Advent 2021, we can ask for the grace not to be so scandalized when things don't go our way or when, for a while, life can be difficult. 

 

 

Where will you find the Lord in your life today?  

Watch for Him!

 

 

 

 

 

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Advent First Sunday Cycle C

 

November 28, 2021

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Advent is that time we prepare for the coming of Christ. That coming will  happen everyday, and for sure, at our death, but often we don't give that much thought.  So, this is the time to, once again, focus on the coming of Christ in our lives.  What keeps us from recognizing Christ every day?

The readings can remind us to take this time, before the celebration of His birth, to reflect on where we are in seeing Christ daily.

God loves us and always has great mercy and compassion when we turn to Him.  

Advent can be that period of time we are called to look deep within, and see where we are spiritually.  

It is so easy to simply reject this and say, "Well, maybe next Advent."  

Will we have a next Advent?

 

 

In the first reading Jeremiah has already spoken again and again warning the kings and the people that they have placed too much worship, attention, on political and worldly things.  The reading we hear today was written after all the warnings, and at the time when Jerusalem had been destroyed and the people taken into the captivity of Babylon (about 587 B.C.).  Things could not have been worse.  Yet, Jeremiah gives words of encouragement.  In spite of their lack of faith in God and placing their faith in worldly things, God did never abandon them.

The daily coming of Jesus is where we experience God's mercy and love.  Yet we can be like the people Jeremiah was addressing who simply would not listen until they were taken into exile and had to face all the devastating experiences that came.  

Advent Wreath First Sunday of Advent

 

That same not willing to listen can also happen to us, especially when all is going pretty well in our lives.  That is one reason Advent is so important for us so, we can experience the coming of the Christ not just at the celebration of His Birth, or at our own death, but every day.

Maybe the question becomes how can we experience Him daily?  

The starting point is to look at our own lives.  

Are we like the people in the first reading putting too much trust in this world.  

Are we believing that we will not die tomorrow?

 

 

 

In the Gospel reading we hear  Jesus say,

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap."  

 In other words, we won't experience the daily coming of Christ from our thinking that the world and its trapping will lead to the kingdom and to the experience of the coming of Christ.  

Will we listen this Advent?

 

So, how then can we experience the daily coming of Jesus, now, at his birth, at the end of our lives, and at the end of time?

 

The second reading gives us a hint as to the answer.  

The author, around 50 A. D., encourages the Thessalonians to continue to strive to love all.  That must have been a real challenge to those new Christians who we so persecuted and had experienced, like us, the ups and downs in life.  

But to experience the coming of Christ we, like the Thessalonian, must pray for the courage to look deep within and see, do we love?  Even the difficult person?  Even the enemy?  Even the one we disagree with?  Even the one who will not listen to us?  In other words, love to the enemy.

 

This can be a difficult challenge for each of us.  It is so easy not to look within and to make excuses as to why we don't love as Jesus has shown us.  

 

Perhaps, this is why the Church encourages us to use the sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation, during this time of Advent.  

Pray, with courage, to see ourselves as we really are, (our inability at times to love), and to turn to God who is waiting to fill us with his mercy and compassion.

 

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