Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

There will be some times in our lives when we feel betrayed or abandoned. We might feel alone in the world. However, Paul reminds us we are not ever really alone if we stand firm in our faith. God stands beside us through good times and bad. He lends us His Strength when we need it. He lends us His Light when we are lost and alone. He lends us His Word to encourage and enlighten us. He lends us everything we need to conquer the obstacles that the world throws in our way. He does all of this because He loves us and He wants us to fulfill His Will so all the world might hear His Good News through us.

Do we feel abandoned or betrayed? How can we learn to trust God even when the night is darkest and the world is grim? How can we become God’s Strength, Light, and Word to those who need it?

O Lord, may the proclamation of your Gospel be completed through us.

Amen.

Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Sometimes we can forget the saints lived regular lives, just like us. They had friends and enemies and weren’t saints from the start, but rather became saints by how they dealt with their trials in this life and treated others. They experienced abandonment, betrayal, and harm. They also received support and help. The way they got through the ups and downs of their lives is the same way we do. They put their trust in the Lord and allowed Him to lend them strength. They proclaimed the Gospels through thoughts, words, and works so all could hear and witness the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Christ through them. It was not easy and required many sacrifices, but in the end they understood it was only by walking in the footsteps of Jesus that they could arrive at the Promised Land.

Who are our friends and enemies? Do we treat them as Jesus would? Do we trust God to give us the strength we need to overcome all our trials?

O Lord, give me the strength to proclaim your Good News through my every thought, word, and work.

Amen.

Wednesday of Holy Week

“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?”

We all betray God in one way or another during our lives. Sometimes we betray him through venial sins that cause us to stumble along the path toward heaven, but do not sever our ties to God. Other times we commit mortal sins and turn our backs on God and greatly harm our relationship with Him. No matter the sin we commit it is a betrayal to one degree or another. This is why it is so important to cultivate good habits that keep us from falling into vices. We also should avoid those things that lead us into temptation. We should try to visualize ourselves overcoming our temptations and making the right choice so that when we are faced with the choice, we will have trained our hearts and minds to choose the good over the evil. If we do sin, then we should seek to understand why we have sinned and do everything in our power to overcome the temptation next time. This includes going to reconciliation, confessing our sins, making a faithful act of contrition, doing penance, and firmly committing ourselves to sinning no more. We might not succeed in the latter, but it should be the ultimate goal of our lives because in the end we want to be faithful servants of God and not His betrayers.

In what ways have we betrayed God? What can we do to overcome and make amends for our sins? Do we make frequent use of the sacrament of reconciliation and its graces?

O Lord, help us to confess our sins with humble hearts and seek never to betray you again.

Amen.

Wednesday of Holy Week

What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?

Judas betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver—a cheap price—because of his greed. However, we too sell out Jesus in many ways. Some of us sell him for the false comfort of doing whatever we wish. Others sell him out for financial security. We also sell him out because we think we can do better or because we want something that belongs to someone else. We use the wages of sin to appease our appetites, but we soon discover an emptiness within ourselves which cannot be filled with worldly things—no matter how hard we might try. So we are left alone, eaten away by our own appetites, and like Judas one day we will be faced with a choice: remain unrepentant and kill ourselves through sin or seek forgiveness and live. It sounds like an easy choice, but it is far more difficult than we can possibly imagine because we become addicted to the material world and its temptations and lose sight of what is right and wrong. How can we seek forgiveness when we do not recognize our own sins? However, this is what we must do if we want to live, not just this life, but the eternal life which Jesus Christ offers us through Himself.

How do we sell out Christ? What are those sins which we are addicted to? How can we overcome them?

O Lord, we have sinned against you. Please, help us cast aside our sins and seek you out with contrite hearts.

Amen.

Tuesday of Holy Week

Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.

We might not be Judas, but we all betray Jesus when we sin. All of his disciples betrayed him in some form or fashion during the Passion when things got difficult for Christ and all who followed him. We too face similar, though usually less dire, challenges to our faith and we fail just as they did back then. Sometimes we betray Jesus with a mortal sin like Judas. Sometimes we allow peer pressure to push us into denying some element of Jesus’ message like Peter. Sometimes we run away from those who we fear might persecute us for living out the Gospel like all the other disciples. Sometimes we fail to do the right thing in favor of the easy one like Pontius Pilate. These are all wounds in our relationship with Jesus and in the end we are too weak to heal them on our own. We need God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace to mend what we have broken. Thankfully for us, he offers these healing actions to us constantly, even though we do not deserve it. So the next time we fall because of our imperfections or sins, we should not be afraid because although we lost our way for a moment, Jesus will always give us another chance to follow him just as he did with all the disciples who were willing to accept his forgiveness.

What are our imperfections and our sins? What are those things which keep us from following Christ? How can we overcome these impediments?

O Lord, we know we have betrayed you, but with your help we will follow you once again.

Amen.