Eighteenth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people. We have sinned, we and our fathers; we have committed crimes; we have done wrong. Our fathers in Egypt considered not your wonders.

God favors us in many ways and yet sometimes we forget how much He does for us. When something doesn’t quite go our way or when we are asked to take a leap of faith or make a sacrifice, we can sometimes rebel against Him. We choose selfishness and sin over self-sacrifice and virtue. We grumble and complain against God rather than glorify and praise Him. We have a worldly attitude toward God, asking, “What have you done for us?” Instead, we should be asking, “What are you, O Lord, asking of us?” And when He responds, we should take that leap of faith and say, “Yes!” This is what Mary did in her most holy life. It is what the saints and martyrs did. It is the only way for us to share in God’s promise of salvation and enter into the Promised Land.

Do we spend time each day thinking about all the blessings, graces, gifts, talents, and other marvelous deeds God has done for us? How can we repay God for all the goods He has given us? What can we do to bring blessings and graces into the lives of those around us?

O Lord, help us to remember your presence in our lives and be ever thankful for it.

Amen.

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory.

Sometimes our hearts can become mountains. They can become piled up with all sorts of doubts, worries, anxieties, and worldly cares. These can become so heavy within us that it is hard to do anything. However, God is willing to melt these things away and free us from our burdens. All we have to do is seek God in prayer and in the sacraments of His Holy Church and ask for the graces and blessings we need to leave behind all our worldly concerns. Then, we can focus on what is truly important, proclaiming God’s Goodness, Mercy, and Love to all the nations. And being charitable and just in our words and actions so all peoples can see God’s Glory through us.

What is weighing on our minds and hearts? How can we let go of these burdens and allow God to lift them away from us? What can we do to help lift other people’s burdens?

O Lord, melt our worries away with your love and mercy.

Amen.

Eighteenth Monday in Ordinary Time

Sing with joy to God our help. “My people heard not my voice, and Israel obeyed me not; So I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts; they walked according to their own counsels.”

There are many things in this world that can drown out the voice of God. Other people can lead us astray. TV, computers, games, and other forms of entertainment can distract us from what we should be doing. Our goods and possessions can come to possess us. We can suffer setbacks and difficulties without once turning to God for help. We complain about what we have, we envy what others possess, we are consumed by consuming. Our hearts are hardened with hatred, prejudices, sins, and evil thoughts. However, all these things can be overcome if we turn to the Lord, pray for His intercession, and are willing to listen to what He is asking us to do with our lives. It might not be where we want to go, but it is what is best for us and the sooner we accept this and humble ourselves before God, we sooner we will have peace and spiritual prosperity.

What are the things in our lives that are drowning out God’s voice? What can we do to free ourselves from these spiritual dead ends? How can we walk in God’s counsel rather than our own?

O Lord, we sing to you, who helps to soften our hearts with love and mercy.

Amen.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator. 

We all have parts of our lives that need to be put to death in order to live like Christ. Some of us fight against immorality, others impurity, still others with passions and evil desires. We all have our areas of idolatry where something other than God takes center stage in our hearts and minds. We need to stop lying to others and ourselves and take off these old, sinful selves and put on the yoke of Christ. It is only by doing this that we can be renewed in faith, hope, and charity. It is the only way we can come to know, love, and serve God and His children as they deserve. It is the only path that will lead us to become true reflections of the Holy and Divine Image that resides within each of us.

What do we need to put to death in our lives? How can we rid ourselves of all those things that tarnish the image of God within us? What should we do to take off our sinful selves and put on Christ?

O Lord, help us to put to death our sins and imperfections.

Amen.

Seventeenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

O God, let all the nations praise you! The earth has yielded its fruits; God, our God, has blessed us. May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!

God has blessed us in many ways. He is the source of all our good. He is the center of all our joy. He is the summit of all we should strive to be. If we cultivate our relationship with Him, then we will grow in faith, hope, and love. We will blossom with kindness and bear good fruits as long as we drink from the font of holiness and let the light of truth sustain us. If we have deep roots into our faith, then when dark nights or dry spells come into our lives, we will continue to thrive on the holy waters within our hearts. And when good times come, we will yield thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold.

How can we make God the source, center, and summit of our lives? What can we do to bear good fruits? How can we allow God to sustain us through the difficult times of our lives?

O Lord, help us to yield good fruits.

Amen.

Seventeenth Friday of Ordinary Time

Sing with joy to God our help. Take up a melody, and sound the timbrel, the pleasant harp and the lyre. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast.

Feast days like Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi are celebrated in memory of important events in the Life of Christ and our Church’s History. They are meant to remind us of our spiritual roots and give us a foretaste of the endless joy that is promised to all of God’s good and faithful servants. Of course, there are many more feast days than we probably realize. There are feasts for the Blessed Virgin, Mary, for various Saints and Martyrs, and even all the angels in Heaven. We would do well to remember these days as we go through our daily lives and join in the feasts that make up or faith. After all, we are part of a Church that exists beyond just the earth, but stretches through Purgatory and into Heaven. So, let us join in the songs of the saints and sing in thanksgiving for Our Heavenly Father, who wants us to feast with Him forever and ever.

Do we keep aware of the feast days of the Church? Do we celebrate them as we should? What can we do to be more in tune with the choir of saints, who has gone before us?

O Lord, we sing with joy to you, our help.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God! My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

We should live our life on Earth with the goal of joining God in Heaven. Our hearts should pine to be with God for all eternity. We should yearn to see His Holy Face. We should cry out for the living God to live within us and to help us become good and faithful servants. We should desire to become a dwelling place for the Lord in preparation of entering into His Heavenly Abode when we pass from this earth. To gain eternal life with God we must be willing to lose our worldly one without hesitation or counting the cost.

Do we live our lives with the ultimate goal of reaching God’s Kingdom? Do we yearn to be with God always and forever? How can we welcome God into the dwelling places of our hearts?

O Lord, our souls yearn for you.

Amen.