Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church

"LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things by your command. Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to their senses." The LORD's fire came down and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and it lapped up the water in the trench. Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our daily jobs, sufferings, and struggles that we lose sight of God. We start to give our time, talents, and treasures to things that lead us astray... away from God. We make false idols out of all manner of things from money to TVs to computers to everything else. However, we must resist this temptation with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. We must make our lives into an offering to God and not to evil. We must fall to our knees in prayer and renew our baptismal promises. We must be confident that "The Lord is God!" and will never abandon us... even when we fail to follow Him as we should. We must trust that God will bring us back our senses after we sin and help us to confess, do penance, and sin no more.

Do we need to be brought back to our spiritual senses? What false idols do we need to reject from our lives? How can we prepare ourselves to be a living altar dedicated to our Lord and our God?

O Lord, prepare our hearts with your grace so that they will be completely dedicated to you.

Amen.

Third Friday of Advent

After the boy's father had sacrificed the young bull, Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said: "Pardon, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD.  I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD."

When God gives us something, be it a talent, a grace, or any other gift, our first reaction should be to give something to God in return. We can offer up the talents He has given us as a living prayer to Him. We can thank Him for all the graces He has given us from the first moment of our conception to our last breath on earth and the promise of eternal life afterwards. We can make our lives into living sacrifices to the Lord, transforming ourselves into faithful offerings to our God, Most High. We can dedicate ourselves to the Lord and allow Him to do with us what he needs to have done.

What are we giving to God in recognition for all He has done for us? How can we be more faithful in presenting ourselves, our thoughts, words, and works to God? How can we become more dedicated to our Heavenly Father?

O Lord, we turn our lives over to you as dedicated sacrifices.

Amen.

Thirty-Fourth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

In the lifetime of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever. That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain without a hand being put to it, which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold.

Everything man-made has a beginning and an end. Only God is eternal. Wealth, power, possessions and other worldly things will eventually fail us, crumbling to dust. Our bodies will fail, our minds weaken, and death will overtake us. However, if we found ourselves upon the rock of Christ and live in accordance with God’s commandments, Jesus’ teachings, and the Holy Spirit’s inspirations, then we shall have a solid foundation which will resist all trials and sufferings. If we choose to model ourselves on Christ, then we might die, but we shall be given eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.

Are our lives founded on worldly or heavenly things? Have we modeled our lives on the Life of Christ? How can we build our thoughts, words, and works upon the solid rock of faith in God?

O Lord, make our hearts into mountains dedicated to you.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar and joyfully offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of deliverance and praise. They ornamented the facade of the temple with gold crowns and shields; they repaired the gates and the priests' chambers and furnished them with doors. There was great joy among the people now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed.

Here we have a description of the aftermath of the purification and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, but what does this have to do with us? More than we might think if we consider ourselves... bodies, minds, and souls to be temples to God. If that is the case, then we can recognize the need to purify and rededicate ourselves after we fall into sin. And when we do so through the sacrament of reconciliation, we should celebrate like the Israelites did. We should come to the altar of sacrifice, offer our prayers, alms, and mortifications to God as burnt offerings and sacrifices of deliverance and praise. We should adorn ourselves with thoughts, words, and works of charity and mercy, giving glory to God who is the source, center, and summit of all goodness. We should be overjoyed that we have swept clean our hearts and made them ready to be temples to our Lord and God.

How do we purify ourselves after we sin and rededicate ourselves after receiving reconciliation? Do we celebrate and give thanksgiving to God for all He has forgiven us? How can we adorn ourselves with good words and works?

O Lord, we offer ourselves as living temples to you.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest

I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

We are all called to dedicate our lives to God. And each of us are asked to live out that dedication in unique ways according to our own gifts and talents. Some of us give God honor through our thoughts, passing on ideas that add to the collected wisdom of the Church and lead others closer to God. Others give God honor through our words, spoken in evangelization and encouragement, fortifying the faith, hope, and love of others. All of us give God honor through our works of charity and mercy. The wonderful thing is that each of us have something unique which we and only we can offer to God and it is up to us to allow Him lead us to the times, places, people, and actions which will fulfill His Divine Will.

Are we dedicated to God or to worldly things? What can we do to give testimony to God’s Goodness through our own thoughts, words, and works? How can we make manifest the Light of Christ when, where, and how God wants us to?

O Lord, we dedicate our lives to you and offer to you all that makes us who we are.

Amen.

Fourth Wednesday of Advent

“Pardon, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.” She left Samuel there.

Just as Hannah consecrated Samuel to the Lord, so does Mary consecrate us. Everything we are and have is God’s and it is in Him that we find our fulfillment. Both Mary and Hannah were willing to offer up their beloved sons to God and likewise we need to be willing to give up whatever is most beloved to us. We are all called to dedicate ourselves to God and let Him think, speak, and work through us. If we do this, then we shall become good and faithful servants living sacramental and prophetic lives.

Have we dedicated our lives to God? Are we willing to sacrifice our most beloved people, places, and things to know, love, and serve God? How can we repay God for all He has done for us?

O Lord, we give ourselves to you through the hands of your Holy Mother, Mary.

Amen.

Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.  That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

The Sadducees tried to trick Jesus and call into question the concept of resurrection, but they fail because Jesus understood their tactics and responded in an unexpected manner. He did not give the Sadducees an answer that would trap him, but rather an answer that points to a deeper truth at the heart of their question. He makes clear that God is the Lord of the Living, not the dead. God is present in all times and so for Him all are alive. Only mortal sin can deaden us to God and that because we willfully choose to be cut off from God through our choice of selfish sin over selfless servitude to our Savior. Those who know, love, and serve God and His children will always be alive in God’s sight. As such, let us make a point to always have God as the source, center, and summit of our lives so that we too might one day be resurrected.

Do we live our lives as if God is always present? Do we think, say, and do everything in a manner worthy of life everlasting? What sins are holding us back from living lives dedicated to God?

O Lord, find us worthy to attain to your coming and the resurrection of the dead.

Amen.