Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; Your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, Their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.

All of God’s commandments and teachings are for our own good. We might find them difficult to follow, but that doesn’t mean we should disobey them. We might not understand them, but that doesn’t mean we should turn a deaf ear to them. Instead, we should strive to do good and avoid evil because even though it might be hard, it is the right thing to do. Similarly, we should place our faith in God’s teachings in the hopes we shall one day come to an understanding of those teachings we have trouble understanding. By doing these things, we place our trust in God above ourselves. We say, “As you wish, Lord.” And He, in turn, will give us all the graces we need to prosper in our spiritual journey and have our names written in the book of life.

Do we trust all of God’s commandments and teachings are for our own good, even when they are most difficult to follow? Are we willing to follow God’s Will wherever it will take us? Are we willing to make the leaps of faith we need to in order to go where God is leading us?

O Lord, teach us what is good and lead us to the Promised Land.

Amen.

Seventh Friday of Ordinary Time

Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes.

God has taught us everything we need to know to be holy people. He gave us the Scriptures to teach us. He gave us His Beloved Son to show us. He gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us. He gave us His Church to shelter us. We know His Commandments from keeping holy the Sabbath day to not coveting your neighbors’ goods. We know the Golden Rule to love God and one another as God loves us. If we keep His Commandments and love with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, then we will be blessed and enter into eternal life with God, Our Heavenly Father.

Do we ask for and seek guidance in how best to live the Christ-like life? What can we do to better learn and practice the statutes of our God? How can we lead others to follow God’s commandments?

O Lord, guide us in the way of your commands.

Amen.

Eighteenth Thursday in Ordinary Time

I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

God’s Divine and Natural Laws are written upon our hearts. His Holy Spirit reminds us constantly of what is good and evil through our consciences. We have an innate understanding that God is our loving and protective Father. He will not abandon us. He is our God and we are his people. He is a gracious God, who forgives us and helps us to grow in faith, hope, and love. If we live our lives according to the commandments and the golden rule to love God and our neighbors, then we shall find ourselves welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven as good and faithful servants.

Do we live our lives in accordance with God’s Commandments? Do we listen to our consciences and the Holy Spirit? How can we be as forgiving of others as God is to us?

O Lord, you are our God and we are your people.

Amen.

Second Friday of Advent

I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; Your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, Their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.

All of God’s commandments and teachings are for our own good. We might find them difficult to follow, but that doesn’t mean we should disobey them. We might not understand them, but that doesn’t mean we should turn a deaf ear to them. Instead, we should strive to do good and avoid evil because even though it might be hard, it is the right thing to do. Similarly, we should place our faith in God’s teachings in the hopes we shall one day come to an understanding of those teachings we have trouble understanding. By doing these things, we place our trust in God above ourselves. We say, “As you wish, Lord.” And He in turn will give us all the graces we need to prosper in our spiritual journey and have our names written in the book of life.

Do we trust all of God’s commandments and teachings are for our own good, even when they are most difficult to follow? Are we willing to follow God’s Will wherever it will take us? Are we willing to make the leaps of faith we need to in order to go where God is leading us?

O Lord, teach us what is good and lead us to the Promised Land.

Amen.

Sixteenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.” Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.”

God has given us everything we need to fulfill our end of the New Covenant, just as He gave the Israelites what they needed to fulfill the Old Covenant. He has given us the Scriptures to guide us and the Church to shepherd us. He has given us His Beloved Son as a sacrifice and sign of His Covenant with us. In return, He asks for our faith in His commandments and teachings. He asks us to place our trust in Him and not the world or ourselves. He asks us to love Him and others as He loves us. The Passion and Death of Jesus sealed the New Covenant with the Body and Blood of Christ and we in turn seal our end by following the Scriptures and traditions of the Church, especially when we make present Jesus’ sacrifice when we partake in the Blessed Sacrament.

Are we thankful for all God has given us through the New Covenant? Are we living up to our end of the bargain? How can we live more covenantal lives?

O Lord, everything you have said we will heed and do.

Amen.

Sixteenth Friday of Ordinary Time

In those days: God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The first commandment is one which makes clear where our minds, hearts, and souls should be focused during life… upon God. He is the one and only thing we need to know, love, and serve in this world. He is our Creator, Master, and Just Judge. He will look at our lives and measure them out not according to our worldly successes, but by how much we kept the commandments and gave Him the first and last place in our hearts. Thankfully, God is merciful and forgiving because we often fail to give God what is due to Him. We let the world lead us stray and into worshiping false idols. But God is patient and give us every chance to avoid His strictest punishments and instead enjoy His Mercy in this life and His Divine Presence in Heaven.

Are we following the commandments? Have we given God the first and last place in our hearts? What can we do to avoid those things that are false idols?

O Lord, you are our God, who delivers us from the slavery of sin and death.

Amen.

Tenth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.

Paul makes a clear distinction between the ministry of death, which came from the Ten Commandments, and the ministry of the Spirit. The Ten Commandments are mainly restrictions on our actions and focus on punishment for crimes against God, while the Golden Rule given by Jesus and enkindled in us through the Holy Spirit is life-giving. Paul isn’t saying the Ten Commandments should be ignored, but rather that their glory is surpassed by the Holy Spirit’s gifts. The Ten Commandments are good to follow, while the inspirations of the Holy Spirit are even more so.

Do we follow the glorious Ten Commandment’s? Do we follow the even more glorious inspirations of the Holy Spirit by knowing, loving, and serving God and His children to the best of our abilities? Are we putting the gifts of the Holy Spirit to good use?

O Lord, let your glorious Holy Spirit inspire and guide us to become better servants to you.

Amen.

Thirty-Second Tuesday of Ordinary Time

Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’

Following the commandments, doing good, and avoiding evil are all things we are obliged to do as Christians. If we do them, we cannot expect God to be impressed or indebted to us. We are merely doing what we are supposed to do. We are indeed unprofitable servants. We have no claim to anything beyond the fact that if we do our duty, then we can be thankful to God for giving us the teachings and graces to do what is right.

Are we following the commandments, doing good, and avoiding evil? Do we recognize that we are unprofitable servants with no claim to consolation or reward for doing our duties? How can we put aside our pride and accept the fact that we are lowly servants of the Lord?

O Lord,  please have mercy on us, your unprofitable servants.

Amen.

Twentieth Friday of Ordinary Time

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

When Jesus is asked to give the greatest commandment, he starts with loving God and ends with loving our neighbors. We can never love too much as long as our love is based on selfless charity, rather than selfishness. This is why it is so important for us to nurture the virtue of love on a steady diet of humility and perseverance. Not everyone we meet will love us. Some of them may come to hate us. However, as Christians, we can never allow their lack of love or hatred to sway us away from loving them as God loves us. If God, is willing to love and forgive them, then we must do the same. We might not like them, but thankfully love is a choice that we can make in spite of how we feel about someone else and how they treat us. Love is an act of free will that frees us from the chains of bitterness. It is our key to a happy life, no matter what we might suffer along the way.

Do we love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds? Do we love our neighbors as ourselves? How can we overcome our dislike for certain people and come to love them as God does?

O Lord, we love you and all your children.
Amen.

Tenth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

The greatest of God’s commandments are to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and to love our neighbors as God loves them. Everything else boils down to these commandments and so we are called to proclaim and teach them to others. If we fail to do so, then we shall lessen ourselves in the eyes of God. However, if we are willing to sacrifice everything to obey these commandments and teach them through our words and works, then we shall become the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Of course, in order to effectively teach others how to be obedient to God’s Will, we have to surrender ourselves to Him and be willing to let go of those things, especially our selfishness, that might tempt us to break these commandments. If we can do that, then we shall become living examples of what it means to love God and our neighbor and will build up a treasure of merits in heaven.

Do we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Do we love others as God loves them? How do our thoughts, words, and works show others how to live out these greatest of commandments?

O Lord, teach us to obey you and give witness to your commandments to love.

Amen.

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

When we follow our Father’s commandments, we are blessed. When we listen to what Jesus teaches us through his life, we are blessed. When we believe what God tells us through the Holy Spirit, we become blessed. We are surrounded by opportunities for blessing every day of our lives and the more we are open to these opportunities, the more we grow in faith, hope, and love. Mary is a great model of how to live a blessed life, a life that proclaims the greatness of the Lord and rejoices in God, our Savior. She shows us through her words and works what it truly means to humbly trust in God and to know, love, and serve Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. This is why we call Mary blessed and if we wish to be blessed too, then we ought to surrender ourselves to the Lord, recognize the great things He has done for us, and always keep holy His Name.

Do we believe in the commandments of the Father and the teachings of Christ? Do we keep ourselves open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the opportunities God presents us? How can our lives better proclaim the greatness of the Lord and rejoice in our Savior?

O Lord, we believe in you and want only to be your lowly servant.

Amen.

Eighth Saturday of Ordinary Time

“I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”–they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Jesus’ authority comes from his divinity and his relationship with the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit. Together, the Holy Trinity can do all things. We, like Jesus and John, also have heavenly origins. God gave each of us the breath of life through the Holy Spirit. This breath enlivens and inspires us, allowing us to become kings of service, priests of sacrifice, and prophets of the truth. Of course, if we choose to follow the commandments of the Father, the way of Jesus, and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, then we should expect to be questioned, opposed, and even persecuted by the world. However, as long as we listen to God and trust in His authority over our lives, then we shall be able to overcome these obstacles and do what is right and good.

Do we believe in Jesus’ authority over our lives? Are we willing to follow the Father’s commandments, Jesus’ way of life, and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit? What can we do to fulfill our calling to be prophets of the truth?

O Lord, we believe in you and your authority over us.

Amen.

Seventh Friday of Ordinary Time

“Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

We can harden our hearts in many different ways. We can do so by becoming cynical. We can do it through pride. We can even do it out of what we believe is right. Adam and Eve hardened their hearts when they ate of the apple. They decided for themselves what was right and wrong, denying God His place as Eternal Judge. There may be things we don't understand about our faith, but that is why we should constantly pray, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." Today's gospel is a hard teaching for many people. This is understandable. We all know there are good reasons to leave a marriage: abuse, infidelity, etc. However, the Church follows the words of Christ in this and makes clear that civil divorce does not break the bonds of marriage. There is a permanence to the vows of marriage that not even the Church can break. Yes, there is annulment, but it requires proof that the marriage was never valid because the bride or groom did not enter the marriage with full consent, maturity, faithfulness, or intent of having children. These aren't easy to prove in many cases, which is why the Church encourages people to go through marriage preparation before saying their vows. This is to drive home the fact that both parties need to take their vows seriously and not enter the union lightly.

Have we hardened our hearts to any truths of the gospels? Are we tempted to decide what is right and wrong rather than letting God be the Divine Judge? Do we respect the fact that we will not always understand the teachings of Christ, but that it is okay to believe in spite of our doubts?

O Lord, soften our hearts and help us believe in your good news.

Amen.

Third Thursday of Advent

Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.  Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generations.

Why is Matthew so interested in the lineage of Christ? It is to show that Jesus is the culmination of God’s covenant with Abraham and the fulfillment of the royal line of David. Jesus is the New Covenant and the New King and with him comes all the graces and authority of both. His covenant will be a binding one upon all people through every generation. His message of loving God with our whole hearts, souls, minds, and strengths and our neighbors as He loves us is at the core of His Good News. We are all called to live our lives in accord with these new commandments and if we do not, then we shall not have a share in the Heavenly Kingdom. However, if we do listen and put into action God’s Will for us, then we shall grow in faith, hope, and charity and one day we shall be able to stand before God and he will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servants.”

Do we live our lives in accord with the gospel message of the New Covenant? Do we accept Jesus’ claim to be the rightful king of our hearts? Do we strive to be good and faithful servants every day of our lives?

O Lord, may we be counted among your faithful children when the time of judgment comes.

Amen.

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate."

Sometimes we harden our hearts to the commandments of God because they are “too hard.” However, all of God’s commandments are for our own good. They teach us how to be reverent, respectful, and responsible to God and all His children. This one commandment against divorce hasn’t been a popular one from the time Jesus first gave it, but he wasn’t preaching the gospel to be popular. He was preaching it to save souls, to give an example of holiness, and inspire us to better lives. This goes beyond the issue of divorce to the issue of trusting in God. This doesn’t mean staying in an abusive relationship (physical or otherwise), but rather that we shouldn’t enter or exit a marriage or any relationship without trying everything within our power to love each other properly.

Have we hardened our hearts to certain commandments of God? If so, then how can we soften our hearts and come to trust in Him more than our own judgment? Have we taken Jesus’ example of living out his Father’s Will to heart?

O Lord, soften our hearts so that we might come to know, love, and serve you and your children as we should.

Amen.

Seventeenth Thursday of Ordinary Time

The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.

The net of the gospel and its commandments is all around us. There is no escape and we should not be looking for one. Instead, we should look at the commandments of God as leading us to a greater purpose. They help us to conform ourselves to the gospel. They keep us away from the sin. If we live lives that are good and holy, then in the end we will end up in Heaven with our Lord and God. If we seek only worldly things and sin without remorse, then we shall be tossed away. These are our only choices in this life: to be good and saved through the aid of the Holy Spirit or to be evil and damned through a snares of the Devil. There is no middle ground. And refusing to make this choice is a choice all the same.

Are we the good fish or the bad? Do we conform our lives to the gospel’s message or deny it? Do we live our lives as if we will be caught up in the net of Kingdom of Heaven at any time or think ourselves invincible?

O Lord, draw us to you and help us to be good and faithful servants.

Amen.

Thirteenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.

Jesus’ gospel message is new. It cannot be contained by the laws of Old Testament. It demands a new way of thinking and living. Jesus tells us that we must make ourselves into wineskins in order to preserve ourselves. His love, mercy, and grace demand it. He will not let himself be contained in the legalistic code of the Law. Instead he writes his commandments in his own flesh and blood and calls upon us to make ourselves into an acceptable sacrifice to God and for our fellow children of God.

Do we see the commandments of Christ as legal obligations or as spiritual fulfillment? How do we receive and preserve the word of God? How do we receive and preserve the Body and Blood of Christ?

O Lord, make us into fresh wineskins so that we might preserve your gospel and be preserved by it.

Amen.

Twelfth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

If we want to find life, then we will need to find the constricted road and enter into Heaven through the narrow gate. This is the image Jesus leaves us with in today’s gospel and it is one we should always keep in mind. It is easy to be lukewarm, to sin, and to be apathetic. It is much harder to be consistently good and stay on the path of love that Jesus trod before us. He gives us the golden rules to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and to love our neighbors as He loves us. And it is between these two spiritual guideposts that we find the narrow path. If we stray but a little from either commandment we get lost and find ourselves on the wide road to destruction. Thankfully, if we do stray, we can always return to the path through the sacrament of reconciliation.

If the narrow road is to be found between our love of God and neighbor, then how are we fairing? Do we love God as we ought to? What about our neighbors?

O Lord, lead us along your constricted road and through your narrow gate to heaven.

 Amen.

Tenth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

The commandments of God are many. We have the commandments given to Adam and Eve, the Ten Commandments, and the Mosaic Laws. Each of these commandments was expanded upon by those that followed them, until finally Jesus fulfills them all with his two simple, yet demanding commandments to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths and our neighbors as Jesus loves us. Our lives are defined by how well we live out these laws of love. We are the least children of God when we turn away from selfless love and embrace our selfish desires. However, if we live out our vocation to love God and our neighbors we will be the greatest heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.

How do we express our love for God? What do we do to show our love of our neighbors? Do we teach God’s commandments to others through our words and works?

O Lord, give us the strength to obey and teach your commandments.

Amen.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Jesus commands his followers to go make disciples of all nations in the name of the Holy Trinity and to teach them to observe the commandment to love God and our neighbors as Jesus loves us. But he does not send us on this mission alone. Our Father is with us, protecting us from evil. His Son, Jesus, is with us, loving us unconditionally. The Holy Spirit is with us, inspiring us to do what’s right. With the Holy Trinity for, with, and within us, we can do all good things.

Are we going forth and making disciples of the nations through our thoughts, words, and works? How often do we reflect on the role of the Holy Trinity in our lives? Do we thank the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for being with us always?

O Lord, help us make disciples of all nations, to baptize them in the name of your Holy Trinity, and to teach them to observe all you have commanded.

Amen.