Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Every now and then, we need to reevaluate our lives and examine our conscience. We need to look at what we’ve done and failed to do. We need to ask ourselves what bad habits need to be replaced with good ones. We need to know what areas of our lives we need to improve. We need to root out those things that lead us to temptation and sin. We need to put away our old selves and their deceitful desires and instead put on Christ. We need to renew our hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies. We need to recreate ourselves in the holy image of God and the Way, Truth, and Life of Jesus.

What deceitful desires and sins do we need to get rid of? What holy yearnings and virtues do we need to put in their place? How can we be transformed more perfectly into Jesus Christ?

O Lord, help us to cast aside our old selves and put on you.

Amen.

Twenty-First Saturday of Ordinary Time

Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more, and to aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.

In a world that is so busy, it is especially difficult to live a tranquil life. There are so many distractions and temptations around us. We can get sidetracked quite easily if we aren’t self-disciplined. Also, there are so many ways to be connected with other people that it can become very difficult to mind our own affairs. There is a constant temptation to talk with others continually, which if not carefully controlled can lead to gossip, bad-mouthing, nosiness, and all sorts of sins against others. In addition, all these diversions from TV to computers to cell phones can keep us from doing the work God is calling us to do. If we are persistently distracted from our responsibilities and relationships with others, we lose sight of what is important in life. We get nothing useful or important done. We put off what is necessary and good for what is unnecessary or evil. This is why it is so important to build up good habits and virtues and keep them strong by making them a core part of our daily lives.

How can we live more tranquil lives? What can we do to avoid the distractions that derail our good thoughts, words, and works? How can we do a better job of minding our own business and doing the work God has prepared for us?

O Lord, help us to progress in faith, hope, and love and aspire to live tranquil lives.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, 
because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”

We can never pray enough, especially if we think of prayer as not only a mental or verbal activity, but also as a physical one. When we pray, it should be with our entire being, our every thought, word, and work. Our days should be a persistent prayer of praise to God for all He has done for us and our loved ones. If we do this, God will render a just decision for us out of love rather than annoyance. We can never ask God for too much help or seek His advice too many times. He is always willing to listen and aid us. We should not hesitate to speak to Him whenever we have the opportunity because He is the one Counselor who will never let us down.

Do we pray to God persistently? How can we build up the habit of prayer? Do we give thanks to God when He answers our prayers?

O Lord, we trust that you will render a just decision for us against our adversary,

Amen.

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.

Just like the unclean spirit, our sins can return after a good confession and make our lives worse than before. Because of this, it is important for us to be vigilant and to never rest on our laurels. Just because we were able to overcome a temptation doesn't give us a reason to relax where our souls are concerned. Indeed, we must train ourselves to be ever watchful against the sins that always seem to crawl back into our lives. If we do this, we will build up a wall of good habits that will keep our bad ones away. God may be merciful and always willing to forgive us, but it is up to us to keep ourselves spiritually clean and do everything in our power to know, love, and serve God and His children faithfully. We cannot do that if we allow our sins to reenter our lives. But we can succeed with vigilance and dependence upon the aid of the Holy Spirit, who is always ready to provide us the graces we need to overcome any obstacle along our way to heaven.

What are the sins we need to kick out of our lives? What can we do to keep them away? How can we build up our good habits so that the bad ones have no place in our hearts?

O Lord, we want you to dwell within us and nothing else.

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.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?

We are all called to take up our daily crosses. Running away from or otherwise avoiding them gains us nothing. The crosses we are asked to carry are different for each person and in accord with what we can carry. God never gives us more than we can handle, especially when we accept His help. Some of us carry crosses that test our faith, others our hope, and still more our love. The weight of these crosses can feel unbearable and even cause us to fall when we are weak, but we should not be discouraged. Even Jesus fell. The important thing is to get back up and keep walking the path God has prepared for us. In the end, we might have to make the ultimate sacrifice just as Jesus did, but as long as we let God lead us to where He wants us, then our lives will be a triumph, too.

Do we deny ourselves even the goods of our lives in order to take up our daily crosses? Are we willing to lose our lives for our faith? What can we do to cultivate the habit of getting back up from our falls into sin and temptation so that we can continue down the road to salvation?

O Lord, give us the strength to bear our daily crosses.

Amen.

Second Sunday of Advent

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Advent is a time of preparation and one of the things we are called to prepare is our hearts. We need to make them ready to receive the Lord and make straight the paths of our lives. There are many obstacles in our way, the primary of these being our own sinfulness. Our pride, greed, lust, wrath, sloth, envy, and gluttony get in the way. The narrow road to salvation is surrounded by temptations that will lead us astray. If we truly wish to prepare the way of the Lord in our own lives, then we will need to overcome our sins by building up good habits and filling in our lives with virtues. Our road to heaven starts with God’s Mercy, but we also need to walk that narrow path with contrite hearts and spirits of repentance.

Are we preparing the way of the Lord in our lives? What are we doing to make straight our paths to Heaven? What are the obstacles, sins, distractions, imperfections, etc., which are keeping us from doing God’s Will?

O Lord, help us to prepare our hearts for you.

Amen.