Thirtieth Monday in Ordinary Time

Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

We should seek to be imitators of God in all things, especially in the way we know, love, and serve others. We should be compassionate, merciful, and forgiving. We should be kind and good and seek to do what is right. We should offer ourselves as living sacrifices for the glory of God and the good of others. We must strive to live in love as Christ loved us. This requires a willingness to sacrifice ourselves for what is right and to suffer for God. It means living a life that mirrors Jesus' life from beginning to end. This isn't always easy, but it is a lighter yoke than the chains of sin and will lead us to everlasting life if we are willing to follow in Christ's footsteps.

How can we become more like Christ in our every thought, word, and work? How can we live in love? In what ways can we become more compassionate and forgiving?

O Lord, help us to become good and faithful imitators of you in all things.

Amen.

Twelfth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them. Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD that they would follow him and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book. And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.

We are all part of the New Covenant. We all know what our responsibilities are. We are asked by God to know, love, and serve Him with our whole hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. We are called to know, love, and serve our neighbors as He loves them. Every day of our lives we either choose to renew our baptismal promises or reject them. We either follow God and His teachings or we turn our backs on them and worship false gods.  There is no middle ground. We either choose to live for God or for ourselves. If we choose ourselves, then we shouldn’t be surprised if we are unhappy and empty of consolations. If we choose God, then we shall have an inner happiness and peace that cannot be upset by any suffering.

Have we taken the time to read Scriptures? What can we do to make the scriptures into a daily part of our faith lives? How can we renew our baptismal promises to know, love, and serve God and all His children?

O Lord, we will follow you and all your teachings.

Amen.

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

Becoming fruitful followers of Christ requires us to do three things: know, love, and serve God and His children. In order to know God, we have to be open to the commandments of the Father, the teachings of the Son, and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. In order to know God’s children, we have to listen to them and empathize with them. In order to love and serve God and others properly, we need to understand the Word of God and what it is asking of us as followers of Christ. Our knowledge and understanding of the Good News shows us the Way to live Christ-like lives and helps us to bear good fruits through our thoughts, words, and works.

Are we open to listening to the Word of God, even in the midst of our busy lives? What can we do to help ourselves to understand the Word of God? How can we know, love, and serve God and His children in fruitful ways?

O Lord, grant us the graces we need to be fertile soil for your Divine Word.

Amen.

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

“Then he removed him and raised up David as their king; of him he testified, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish. From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’”

Paul makes a clear connection between God’s promises to the Israelites and the fulfillment of those promises in the person of Christ and the Church founded on Jesus’ teachings. Although we might not realize it, we too have been given promises by God through the New Covenant. He has promised to always be with us, to give us the graces we need to become good and faithful servants, and to save us from sin and death. In return for these things, He asks us to put our faith and trust in Him, to place our hopes in the gifts He has given us, to and to repent of our sins and do penance so that we can be as loving and merciful as God is to us.

Do we trust that God will provide and protect us? Do we place our hope in Him? Are we ready to amend out lives so that we can come to know, love, and serve God and His children to the best of our abilities?

O Lord, we want to be people after your own heart and to carry out your every wish.

Amen.

Twelfth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him. When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.

Jesus sees Peter’s mother-in-law is ill and heals her, then goes on to heal many others who are brought to him. We can learn a lot about what it means to love by reading the scriptures and then imitating Jesus’ actions. When we see someone in need, we should have the same response as Jesus does. We should seek to comfort the afflicted and do everything we can to help them heal. So too, we should be willing to sacrifice ourselves to help them as best we can. Jesus did not turn people away because he was too busy, too tired, or needed a break. He did everything he could to help those in need and so should we.

Who are the people in our lives who are most in need? How can we know, love, and serve them? What are we willing to sacrifice for their benefit?

O Lord, you have taken away our infirmities. Help us to do the same for others.

Amen.

The Fourth Thursday of Easter

Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.

None of us is greater than Jesus. Our passions, wants, and goals come in a distant second to the Will of God and the gospel teachings of Christ. It is when our passions, wants, and goals are aligned with these things that we fulfill our purpose on earth and become true messengers of the Lord. We should dedicate ourselves to knowing, loving, and serving God and His children with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. It is for this that we came into the world and it how we should spend our lives from beginning to end. We are most blessed by God when we give ourselves over to His Divine Plan and think, speak, and do everything in His Holy Name, just as Jesus did in his life.

Are we truly dedicated to knowing, loving, and serving God? How can we cleanse ourselves of the sin of pride and become more humble in spirit? What can we do to become better messengers of Christ?

O Lord, bless us and make us your humble messengers.

Amen.

The Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"  Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."  So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Jesus’ kingdom does not belong to this world and if we want to be part of it, then we cannot belong to this world either. We must foster within our souls a holy detachment from worldly things and people. Our trust should be in God and our energies should be focused on knowing, loving, and serving God and His children to the best of our abilities. We are also called to listen to God’s voice within our hearts and testify to the truth even if doing so causes us to be persecuted or undergo other troubles in our lives. It is far more important to suffer temporary trials and tribulations and become a child of God’s heavenly kingdom, then to be worldly creatures and suffer eternal separation from God because of our selfishness. As followers of Christ, we should always choose life with God over death in sin.

Do we believe Jesus is our King and Savior? How do we make our beliefs known through our thoughts, words, and works? Have we formed a spirit of holy detachment from the things and people of this world?

O Lord, you are our King and we belong to you.

Amen.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

We are not here to condemn our fellow children of God, but rather to help God save them through our thoughts, words, and works. Jesus gives us the perfect example of loving others in spite of their sinfulness and the way they treated him. It did not matter to him whether the people he was tending to were good or evil. He only wanted to be a model of selfless love and gracious mercy toward all. We should strive every day to be just as loving and merciful to all those whom we come into contact with be they family, friends, neighbors, or strangers.

Do we condemn others or love them no matter what? How can we do a better job of helping God save those around us? Are we grateful for all of the graces God has given us in order to save us from our selfishness?

O Lord, save us from our sins and failings.

Amen.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

What we believe about Jesus matters greatly in our lives. If we believe Jesus came down from heaven to be a model for us and to sacrifice himself to save us, then this belief demands we come to know, love, and serve God and His children as best as we can just as Jesus did. He reveals to us how to live our lives and if we do not put his words into action, then we are hollow inside and not hallowed. Who we believe Jesus to be makes all the difference in how we treat others and relate with God. His very incarnation challenges us to become manifestations of God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace to others.

So who do we say Jesus is? Is he our God-man Savior or just a man? Do we follow the teachings of Christ and put his words into action?

O Lord, you are the Christ, let our every action proclaim this truth.

Amen.