Fourteenth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. The LORD brings to naught the plans of nations; he foils the designs of peoples. But the plan of the LORD stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations.

Divine Providence is something we cannot fight against. It brings low the best laid plans. It reminds us we are dependent on God and not in complete control of our lives. This is a good thing because all too often we want what is worst for us. We lose sight of what is good and holy in favor of what is evil and easy. We let our temptations lead us into sin and enslave ourselves to the world in various ways. However, God’s Divine Plan is one of true freedom. The type of liberty that leads us to become generous and loving people. People might say God forces us along His Way, but we still have the choice to accept His direction for our lives or fight against it. If we fight against it, we lose opportunities to be good and faithful servants. If we choose to accept God’s Will, then we will grow in holiness and bear abundant fruits. So, let us place our trust in God’s Divine Plan and decide to follow God where He wants us to go.

Do we struggle against God’s Plan for us? How can we become more faithful to the Way, the Truth, and the Life God is leading us toward? What can we do to design our lives in accordance with God’s Will?

O Lord, we place our trust in you.

Amen.

Sixth Thursday of Ordinary Time

From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth. Let this be written for the generation to come, and let his future creatures praise the LORD: “The LORD looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.”

God wants to free us from the chains of sin and prison of death. He does everything in His power to give us the graces we need to resist temptations, do good, and lead Christ-like lives. He didn’t need to do any of this for us, but He choose to do it anyway because we are made in His Divine Image and He unconditionally loves us. He wants us to choose freedom with Him over slavery to our worldly desires. Hopefully, we end up choosing life over death.

What are the sins and worries that chain and enslave us? How can we break free of these things and be released from our bondage? Do we praise God for all the help He has given us to free us from sin and death?

O Lord, release us from all evil.

Amen.

Sixth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

The Lord will bless his people with peace. The God of glory thunders, and in his temple all say, “Glory!” The LORD is enthroned above the flood; the LORD is enthroned as king forever.

Peace is something most people strive for. We don’t like arguments or confrontations. We want people to live in security and without fear of harm to themselves or their loved ones. When asked about wishes for the world, many people will say they wish for peace. And yet, the world is full of war, conflicts, and arguments. We might wonder why God allows this, but it always comes back to mankind’s free will. We could not love without it, but the flip side is true without free will we couldn’t hate, either. We have to take the good with the bad of free will… and hope one day the good wins out. If not in this world, then in the next.

Are we striving for peace in our own lives? Are we using our free wills to foster love and not hate? How can we bring peace to those around us?

O Lord, help us to use our free will to be people of peace.

Amen.

Thirty-Second Thursday in Ordinary Time

I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed by you, brother. Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ to order you to do what is proper, I rather urge you out of love, being as I am, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus. I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment, who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.

Although God could force us to do what is right, He doesn't. He lets us make good and bad choices out of respect for our free will. This doesn't mean He fails to give us guidance. Far from it! He has given us a conscience to warn us against evil. He has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us to live our faith with hope and love. He has poured out His saving graces upon us through His Beloved Son, Jesus. He has the full right in Christ to order us to do what is proper, but He wants us to do what is right out of love and not just obligation. We might not always understand why God asks certain things of us, but He always asks for what's best for all His children. It might involve some sacrifice on our part, but in the end what we give up will pale in comparison to the consolations we will receive in Heaven for being a good and faithful servant to God and His children.

How can we prepare ourselves to do what is right? In what ways can we learn to be more attentive to our consciences and the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Are we willing to give up our time, talents, and treasures to do God's Will?

O Lord, out of love we give ourselves to you and your Divine Will.

Amen.

Twenty-First Thursday in Ordinary Time

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. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We have been enriched by God in every way and yet we often take His gifts for granted. He has given us life. He has given us His Beloved Son. He has given us graces and talents. He has given us knowledge, wisdom, and free will. He has given us every spiritual gift we need to grow in faith, hope, and love. He has given us many good things from the moment of our conception and will continue to do so for all eternity if we let Him. He has given us His friendship and wants nothing but the best for us. However, He will not force us to give Him thanks or to accept His gifts. He allows us the freedom to choose between our selfish selves or Him. Hopefully, we'll make the right choice and live our lives in fellowship with Him forever and ever.

Do we give thanks to God for all the blessings He has given us? Are we using our time, talents, and treasures for the glory of God and the good of others? What can we do to become more faithful followers of our most generous God?

O Lord, we thank you for all the spiritual gifts you have given us.

Amen.

Thirteenth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim! Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate; Then it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will have pity on the remnant of Joseph.

To be truly free, we must be willing to give up our selfish and sinful pursuits and choose to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. This free choice can be a difficult one and the Devil will do everything he can to convince us that we are enslaving ourselves unnecessarily. He will try to convince us it is better to rule ourselves, then to be ruled by righteousness and goodness. However, his assertion is a lie... as are all his temptations. The choice we are given may be made of our free will, but in the end, we are choosing who will be our master... God or the Devil. Good or Evil. Justice or Injustice.

Are we seeking good and avoiding evil? How can we cultivate a deeper love of the good and a hatred of evil? What can we do to make the right choice and choose God over ourselves?

O Lord, we choose you above all.

Amen.

Twenty-First Friday of Ordinary Time

Brothers and sisters, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God—and as you are conducting yourselves—you do so even more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

In order to follow Jesus, we need to control ourselves. We need to have not only a well-informed conscience, but also the willpower to do good and avoid evil. We can have all the wisdom in the world, but if we don’t have the strength of character to choose what is right over what is wrong, then what good is our knowledge? Self-discipline is something we must work at constantly, strengthening it like a spiritual muscle. We cannot let ourselves become lax or we lose ground and weaken in our resolve and become more and more vulnerable to temptation and sin. The best way to build up our willpower is to recognize how living in accord with God’s commandments increases our ability to love not only God and others, but ourselves. This is because when we have control over ourselves in body, mind, and spirit, we love with our whole being.

Do we have control over ourselves? How can we become more disciplined in body, mind, and spirit? What can we do to build up our willpower in all things?

O Lord, we want only to conduct ourselves in a way pleasing to you.

Amen.

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Sometimes we might wonder why there is evil in this world. However, it wasn’t God who brought sin and wickedness into His creation, but the Devil and our own pride. The temptation to believe we know better than God is one we constantly are faced with in great and small ways. Evil exists because God gave us the freedom to choose between right and wrong, but this free will is also a blessing because it also allows us to love and do good. God could have chosen to uproot evil in the human race, but that would have robbed us of our Divine Image and made us into something less than human. Without choice, we cannot love God or His children or do good works because there is no other option and love and goodness cannot be forced upon us. And so God lets evil exist, not because He wants it to, but because He doesn’t want to violate our humanity or rob us of His Divine Image.

What are the weeds in our lives? How can we uproot them and become more faithful servants? What can we do to use our free will for good?

O Lord, burn away our imperfections and sins, leaving us only with the fruits of your divine image within us.

Amen.

Fifth Friday of Lent

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. O LORD of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart, Let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause. Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD, For he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!

God is our champion. He will help us overcome every obstacle and rescue us from every trial through His Love, Mercy, and Grace. He is constantly watching over us and protecting us from evil. He will never abandon us. He may allow us to be tested and our hearts and minds probed, but He does so because of free will. He will not force us or others to sing His praises and as such evil creeps into the world through our sins and in turn we find ourselves persecuted by others and challenged by circumstances beyond our control. However, God is with us... always at our side to lift us up when we fall on hard times and rescue us from the power of the wicked.

Do we turn to God when we are faced with difficulties in our lives? Do we trust that God will protect us from our foes and save us from our trials? In what ways do we sing to God and praise Him for the good He has done for us?

O Lord, our mighty champion, rescue our poor lives.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how good the light was.

All of God’s creations are good. It is the free will of man that introduced the possibility for evil into it. Our Heavenly Father gave us that gift because as good as His creation was, it couldn’t be truly loving of Him without the ability to choose to accept or reject His call to love Him and His creations. We were given free will to reflect the Divine Image and choose to do good, but it is also what allows us to tarnish His Image within us and choose sin. We should not blame God for the evils of the world. He gave us free will out of love for us, knowing it would open the door for us to follow our own selfish and harmful paths. But it also opens the window of opportunity to truly know, love, and serve God and His children like no other creation. Yes, God’s creations are good, but if we choose to become lights for the whole world, then He shall see us as very good indeed.

Do we recognize the goodness in God’s creations? Do we use our free will to know, love, and serve God better or to disfigure His Image within us? How can we inform our consciences so that we make better use of our free will?

O Lord, give us the graces we need to respect your creations and to be very good.

Amen.

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.

Just like Jesus, we were sent to this earth not to do our wills, but the Will of God. He wants us to know, love, and serve Him out of our own free choice and to do the same for all His children. He does not want to lose any of His children and it is up to us to do everything within our power to ensure that those who are entrusted to us won't be lost, but rather will rise again on the last day. We cannot do these things if we act selfishly and reject God's call to be a beacon of His love to the world. It is only by embracing this role that we will come to completion and know what it means to be whole in Christ.

What can we do to ensure that we do not reject anyone who comes to us? Are we willing to place God's Will before our own? How can we make sure we do not lose anyone who has been entrusted to us by God?

O Lord, we will do your will and not our own.

Amen.

The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Jesus does not want us to hate our fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, sisters, or even our own lives at least not in the way we might think of hating. Rather he is asking us to whom are we loyal to? Are we loyal to God first and foremost or are we loyal to family, friends, and those who give us what we want in this life. If we choose God, then we will be better able to know, love, and serve God and others. This may seem counter-intuitive to some, but when we do God's Will we serve others more than when we serve them directly because our actions bring God's grace into their lives. In addition, Jesus challenges us to take up our crosses and follow Him. God does not want us to suffer, but our sins cause suffering for others and ourselves. He could stop suffering by taking away our free will, but He doesn't do that because love depends upon the ability to freely choose another over ourselves. Because of God's respect for our freedom, we have to accept our cross in order to be Jesus' disciple. He does not force it on us. And if we do accept it, then although we might suffer, we suffer joyfully and secure in the knowledge that God will never abandon us.

Are we loyal to God, to others, or to ourselves? How can we foster a fidelity to God that will allow us to not only choose to be loyal to Him, but also to accept the crosses that come to us because of this choice? Are we willing to suffer in order to know, love, and serve God and others?

O Lord, help us to be loyal to you and to carry our crosses as faithful disciples.

Amen.