Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land's afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.

The Holy Spirit has many gifts to offer us and He does so with generosity and compassion. He desires for us to be wise, understanding, full of good counsel, strong in faith, knowledgeable, and fearful of letting the Lord down. He offers us eyes to see the Way, ears to hear the Truth, and hearts to live the Life of Christ. He gives us the guidance of our consciences to help us lead just lives and choose right over wrong. He wants us to be sealed to Him through righteousness and faithfulness and never leave His side. He wants only the best for us, but He will not force His Will on us. Instead, He lets us make our own choices to accept or deny His gifts of our own free will.

How can we strengthen the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us? How can we conform our lives to justice toward all and fidelity to God? Are we willing to bind ourselves to God, giving up earthly goods, in order to become good and faithful servants?

O Lord, send down your Holy Spirit and His gifts.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Friday in Ordinary Time

Lord, teach me your statutes. Teach me wisdom and knowledge, for in your commands I trust.

God has given us commandments for a reason. He has provided the Scriptures for a purpose. He has provided us a Church and its Traditions for an end. They are there to teach us wisdom and knowledge. They are there to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life. They give us an example to follow as Christians so we might bear God into the world around us and produce good fruits. If we ignore or deny any of these, we do great harm to ourselves. We uproot our lives and leave them to wither from apathy and rot from sin. It is only by keeping the commandments, living the Scriptural teachings of Christ, and accepting the Traditions of the Church that we can achieve our full potential as servants of God and become the saints we are called to be. So, let us do so willingly and faithfully and live up to our baptismal vocation to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths and others as God loves them.

Do we follow God’s statutes? Are we cultivating lives of holy wisdom and knowledge? How can we become more faithful to God’s commandments, Scriptures, and Church?

O Lord, teach us wisdom and knowledge.

Amen.

Second Sunday of Advent

And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

We all should pray for an increase in our ability to love. In addition, we need to pray for the knowledge and the perception to love wisely and well and to choose right over wrong. We need knowledge to understand what to think, say, and do to help others. We need the perception to recognize when and where we are needed. We need knowledge, perception, and love in order to follow the commandments and live holy and pure lives. When we have these three things, then we shall be fruitful in our faith and bear righteousness into the world. By doing this, we plant the seeds of love wherever we go, giving glory and praise to God and growing the faith of others.

Do we pray for love, knowledge and perception? How can we come to see what is truly of value in this world so that we might become pure and blameless? What can we do to increase in love and righteousness so that we can bear good fruits?

O Lord, increase our ability to love through knowledge and perception of your Divine Will.

Amen.

Thanksgiving

I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have a lot to be thankful for each and every day of our lives. We ought to be thankful for God’s gift of life for us and our loved ones. We ought to be thankful for the faith and hope He has sustained in us. We ought to be thankful for the love He has shown us. We ought to be thankful for the knowledge He has passed onto us and the ways He has enriched us through the Scriptures and the traditions of the Church. We ought to be thankful for the graces and spiritual gifts He has given us. Most of all, we should be thankful for His Divine Mercy and the compassion He has shown us by sacrificing His Beloved Son for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of our souls.

What else should we be thankful for? How can we show our thanks to God and to others? What can we do to live in a constant spirit of thankfulness?

O Lord, we give thanks to you for all you have done, are doing, and will do for us.

Amen.

Twenty-Fourth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is the greatest of spiritual gifts and the pinnacle of virtue. With faith we can move mountains, with love we can move the world. Love of God and neighbor must be at the heart of our every thought, word, and work. Without love, our faith rings hollow, our knowledge is made foolish, and our sacrifices are worthless. God so loved the world He gave us His Beloved Son to show us how to love more perfectly. He also gave us the Holy Spirit to guide our love. If we do not have love, then we are nothing. But with true and holy love, we shall become everything God desires us to be.

Are our lives guided by the example of God's Love as shown to us through the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? What can we do to cultivate the virtue of love and grow in the spiritual graces that blossom from it? How can we better know, love, and serve God and all His children?

O Lord, show us the more excellent way of love and give us the graces we need to follow it forever.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace. And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation. Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

As Christians, we all are awaiting and praying for the Second Coming of Christ and the Day of Judgment. This is difficult to do if we allow ourselves to be lead into sin or if we cling to our worldly goods more firmly than our heavenly ones. There is nothing in this world that should keep us from God. No man, no woman, no ideology, no earthly goods, nothing. This is why we are forewarned by Peter to be on our guard. The Evil One will test and tempt us throughout our lives trying to distract us, to lure us into sin, or to infect us with indifference to our fellow man. However, if we found our faith on the solid rock of Jesus, we shall remain stable through the storms, we shall grow in grace, increase in knowledge, and go through our lives without spot or blemish. We shall be at peace with God and God will mark us with the sign of salvation so that when the end comes... we shall be with Him forever and ever.

What are we doing to prepare for and bring about the Second Coming? What can we do to resist all the temptations of the world? Are our lives founded upon the firm rock of Jesus, our Lord and Savior?

O Lord, lend us your strength so that we might grown in grace and knowledge.

Amen.

Ninth Monday in Ordinary Time

Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.

Through His Divine Power, God has bestowed on us the gift of His Divine Image. He has made each one of us in His Likeness with all the goodness that comes from Him. The world may try to distract and corrupt us, but if we trust in God, then we shall be able to overcome our evil desires and escape from corruption. God even goes so far as to give us a roadmap to salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, who showed us how to supplement our faith with virtues, to grow in knowledge, to temper our passions with self-control, to endure all things for God, to devote ourselves to the proclamation of the Good News, to have mutual affection for God and His children, and to love with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.

Do we take the time to contemplate what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God? Are we following the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Christ? What can we do to overcome our evil desires and choose the good thoughts, words, and words of God?

O Lord, grant us the virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, devotion, mutual affection, and love that we need to be your good and faithful followers.

Amen.

Thirty-Second Thursday of Ordinary Time

In Wisdom is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, Manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unstained, certain, Not baneful, loving the good, keen, unhampered, beneficent, kindly, Firm, secure, tranquil, all-powerful, all-seeing, And pervading all spirits, though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle.

Here we have a description of the various traits of Wisdom and we would do well if we aligned our lives to manifest as many of these in our own lives. For God loves those who are wise. He wants us to be intelligent, holy, and unique in our faith. He wants us to be manifold by magnifying Him through our thoughts, words, and works. He wants us to be subtle in how we lead others to the truth. He wants us to be agile in our response to the needs of others and clear in our intentions. He wants us to remain unstained by sin and never baneful towards our enemies. He wants us to love the good. He wants us to be keen in mind and heart, unhampered by worries or doubts. He wants us to be beneficent and kindly. He wants us to be firm, secure, and tranquil in our hope. He wants us to believe He is All-Powerful, All-Seeing, and All-Present for us. This is a daunting task, but it is what we need to do if we want to be considered one of the wise and not one of the foolish.

Are we living up to our calling to be wise? How can we grow in our wisdom? Do we take time to gather the knowledge and understanding we need in order to form our consciences and become wise?

O Lord, make us into embodiments of your Wisdom.

Amen.

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.  The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.

Spiritual wisdom is something we should all strive for in our lives. It is build upon the pillars of knowledge and understanding. In order to become wise, we must seek the knowledge of how to know, love, and serve God and others more perfectly. So too, we need to understand the divine truths that are at the heart of our faith, the source of our hope, and the foundation of holiness. This spiritual knowledge and understanding are gifts from the Holy Spirit and they lead to a third gift... the wisdom to seek the good and avoid the evil and the insights to distinguish between the two. Being wise leads us to be spiritually prepared for anything we might come across as Christians and allows us to make prudent decisions about how best to live our lives so we are prepared for the coming of the Lord.

Are we actively seeking the knowledge we need to be holy? How can we grow in our understanding of the Good News as handed down to us through the Scriptures and teachings of the Church? What can we do to become wise in our love of God and others?

O Lord, grant us your wisdom.

Amen.

Twenty-Second Thursday of Ordinary Time

From the day we heard about you, we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.

The knowledge of God’s Will can be gained through many things. It can be gained through prayerful discernment. It can be gained through the support and encouragement of others. It can be gained through doing good works or seeing others do good works. It can be gained through inspirations from the Holy Spirit. It can be gained through reading the Scriptures. It can be gained through the traditions and sacraments of the Church. This knowledge brings with it wisdom, understanding, good works, strength, endurance, patience, joy, thanksgiving and many other blessings and graces. Most of all, it helps us to become God-bearing people, who manifest God’s Will in all we think, say, and do... making us into true holy ones and lights for the whole world.

How can we open our minds to the knowledge of God’s Will? How can we manifest our knowledge through our words and works? What can we do to become the best God-bearers we can be?

O Lord, make us fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.

Amen.

Seventh Saturday of Ordinary Time

An everlasting covenant he has made with them, his justice and his judgments he has revealed to them. His majestic glory their eyes beheld, his glorious voice their ears heard. He says to them, “Avoid all evil”; each of them he gives precepts about his fellow men. Their ways are ever known to him, they cannot be hidden from his eyes.

God has given us many things. He created us in His Divine Image. He gave us dominion over the earth. He has offered us knowledge and wisdom. He has shown us what is good and evil. He has made covenants with us and revealed His Justice and Mercy to us. He has warned us against sin and provided us with the grace to know, love, and serve Him and His children. He watches over us every day lending us the aid we need to become good and faithful servants. And it is up to us to see all these good things and to repay Him for all He has done for us. We do this best when we keep His Divine Image clean within our hearts. When we treat creation with the same respect and love He does. When we use the truth He has taught us to make prudent decisions. When we imitate His Justice and Mercy with our own words and works. When we warn others away from temptation and sin and help them to be holier. When we lend others our help without expectation of return. In this way, we avoid all evil and live up to our end of the new covenant.

Do we not only accept God’s justice and judgment, but seek to reveal it through our words and works? Are we avoiding all evil? How can we make God’s precepts of love, mercy, and grace into the foundation stones of our lives?

O Lord, make us into living covenants.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin

“Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.”

God forbid the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with the following words: “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.” Notice how the serpent begins his temptation of Eve. He exaggerates what is forbidden in such a way to make God’s command sound unreasonable. Of course, Eve corrects the serpent, but her reply misstates God’s commandment to include touching the fruit. Lastly, the serpent rejects the commandment completely and then promises that breaking it will make Eve like a god. This is how temptation works, it first makes God’s Will sound unreasonable, and then it leads us to exaggerate the burdens involved with following God’s Will. Finally, temptation asks us to reject God’s Will and replace it with our own opinions and desires. Dialogue with evil always ends in sin. This is why we should ignore our temptations, avoid listening to them, and instead turn away from them and focus our minds and hearts on God’s Will.

Do we exaggerate the burdens our faith places upon us? Do we listen to our temptations and let them convince us that we know better than God? How can we close our ears to the alluring voice of evil and instead follow God’s Will?

O Lord, we want to serve your will and not our own.

Amen.

Fifth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. The LORD God gave man this order: “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”

We often forget that the Garden of Eden had delightful and good food for Adam and Eve to eat and the tree of life to partake of, if they had chosen it. We so focus our attention on the tree of knowledge of good and evil, on what was forbidden, that we overlook all the good things God wanted us to have. He wanted us to have all our needs provided for and to live with Him in peace and harmony for all eternity. However, our ancestors choose the knowledge of good and evil over a life of holiness. This act introduced the sinful selfishness we know as original sin, which has passed down to us in the form of an inclination to sin. Thankfully, although we were cast out of the Garden of Eden, God had prepared a new path to eternity with Him and that path is the Way of Jesus, which we can only walk if we accept His Truth and live His Life. If we do these things, then something greater than the Garden of Eden will await us at the end of our lives... an eternity of being with God.

Are we producing good and delightful fruits or stealing fruits from forbidden trees? How do we express our thankfulness to God for all He has provided for us? What can we do to resist our temptations and do God’s Will?

O Lord, we wish only to eat the good and delightful fruit of your love and mercy.

Amen.

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.  I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.

As we stand on the verge of a new year, we are challenged by the Gospels to beware of the antichrists in our lives and to cling to the truth no matter what comes our way. The antichrists are all those people, activities, and things that take away from our time with God. They are the instigators of our selfish impulses. They promote sin and keep us from doing good. Each year we struggle against these worldly influences. Sometimes we fail and as we begin a new year we should make a fresh start by confessing our sins, doing penance, and avoiding sins. So too, we need to renew our dedication to living out the teachings of our faith, especially those we find most difficult because only the truth can set us free from selfish thoughts and lead us to the selfless lives we are called to live.

What are the antichrists in our lives? How can we overcome them? Do we follow the teachings of Christ, especially those that are most difficult?

O Lord, help us to know the truth and follow it all the days of our lives.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

We belong to Jesus. It’s as simple as that and yet we have such a hard time letting go of our independence. We try to do everything by ourselves. We only come to God when things get too heavy to bear on our own. However, we are never by ourselves. When we triumph, it is because God is with us and not because of our own efforts. When we persevere in times of trial, we do so because God is holding us up. We might not know God as we ought to or as we would like to, but one thing is certain: Jesus is with us in good times and in bad because we have been handed over to him and he never leaves his flock.

Do we try to do everything ourselves first? Wouldn’t it be better for us if we went to God first? How can we remind ourselves of Jesus’ presence in our lives in good times and bad?

O Lord, we have been handed over to you. We are yours now and forever.

Amen.