Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth. Show forth, O God, your power, the power, O God, with which you took our part; For your temple in Jerusalem let the kings bring you gifts.

We all have gifts we should bring to God. Some of us have gifts of the body. Others gifts of the mind. Many of us have gifts of the spirit. No matter what these gifts are, we, like the Three Wise Kings, are called to bear them to God. We are to offer the gold of our good works to Him. We are asked to pay homage to Him through the frankincense of our prayers. We are meant to give him the myrrh of our acts of mercy. The wondrous thing about giving all our goods and gifts to God is He always returns them to us... magnified and glorified. He makes our poor offerings rich. So, we should be not afraid to offer up our little things to Him because He sees not that they are small, but that they are given to Him with great love.

What gifts and goods do we have that we can offer to God? How can we bring God into our daily actions both great and small? What can we do to prepare our gifts so they are given in the most humble and loving way?

O Lord, we bring you our gifts.

Amen.

Saturday in the Octave of Easter

I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior. The joyful shout of victory in the tents of the just.

When we are in need of strength and courage, all we have to do is ask for them and God will provide. If we need joy or justice, all we have to do is seek them out in the Lord and He will grant them to us. If we desire mercy and love, then all we have to do is knock at the door of Jesus’ Sacred Heart and he will let us in. God is good and He will never ignore us. If our prayers are seemingly unanswered, then perhaps God is answering us in an unexpected and better way. Because He loves us, He does not always give us what we want. He knows better than us what we would do with our requests and sometimes we aren’t ready for our prayers to be answered.

Do we give thanks to God for not only when He answers our prayers, but also when He answers them in ways we don’t expect or might not even like? Do we ask Him for the graces to be strong and courageous in the faith? How can we be as just and merciful as God?

O Lord, we shout for joy for you have answered us with love and mercy.

Amen.

Thirty-Second Saturday of Ordinary Time

“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.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.  Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Persistence pays off, especially in our spiritual lives. Just like the widow, we shouldn’t give up on our desire for a fair judgment in regards to our hopes and our dreams. Sometimes God might not answer us in the way we desired Him to, but He will answer us and His judgment will be just and exactly what we need at the time. When we pray for answers or help from God sometimes we can grow impatient and wonder why He isn’t answering us, but perhaps we are missing His clues and walking past the answers right beneath our noses. Or maybe He is giving us an answer that we just don’t want to accept and so we ignore His judgment and cling to someone or something that keeps us blinded to what is right in our lives. It is up to us to be persistent in our prayer life, but God will be the ultimate arbiter of the answers we receive and as long as we accept them when they come, we will grow in faith and wisdom.

Are we persistent in our spiritual lives? Do we trust that God will answer our prayers to our benefit, even when those answers go against our initial desires? Will Jesus find faith in our hearts when he comes again?

O Lord, render a just decision for me in all that I pray for.

Amen.

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”

The synagogue official comes to Jesus asking for Christ to heal his daughter. Along the way Jesus’ cloak is touched by a woman in need of healing. When Jesus senses the power go out from him he stops and asks, “Who has touched my clothes?” The woman tells him the whole truth. All the while, the synagogue official keeps silent. He could have complained to Jesus for stopping and “forgetting” his daughter for something as silly as someone touching Jesus in the crowd. When the news arrives that his daughter is dead, the official could have blamed the woman for making a scene and delaying Jesus. He could have let his loss cause him to cry out to Jesus, “Why couldn’t you have come without delay to my daughter?” However, he doesn’t do any of these things and instead when Jesus tells him to be not afraid and to have faith that is exactly what he does and he is rewarded for his patience and trust. His daughter is raised from the dead and his suffering has turned into joy.

Do we get upset at God when He seems to delay His answers to our prayers? Do we ask Him why He has forgotten us or delayed His help? How can we cultivate a spirit of patience and trust in God’s Providence?

O Lord, help us to be not afraid and to have faith in you.

Amen.