Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr

The end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and sober-minded so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins.

As Christians, we should treat every day as if it will be the end of all things. We do not know the hour when our lives or the world will end. And so, we should do everything we can to fill our days with faith, hope, and love. We are all called to think the thoughts of God, to speak His words, and to do His good works. This requires us to be serious and sober-minded in our prayer lives and making sure we put aside some quiet time for God each and every day. It also asks us to be intense in our love and mercy so we can serve God and His children more perfectly. This isn’t always easy with all the distractions the world waves in front of us, but if we are to go to our ends with peaceful hearts, then we must die to ourselves and live through, for, with, and in Jesus Christ.

Do we treat each day we are given with the thanks we should? Are we serious about our prayers? How can we love God and others with more intensity?

O Lord, you are our beginning, middle, and end.

Amen.

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off. So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.  When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. 

Worship, fasting, prayer, and proclaiming the Word of God. All of these actions played pivotal roles in the success of the early Church and they can make a world of difference in our own lives, too. First, worshiping together as a community unites us in Christ through shared prayer and the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ. Fasting cleanses us from our attachments to worldly things and helps to disciple our passions so that we can put heavenly things before all else. Prayer opens our hearts and minds to God and allows us to enter into a dialogue with our Heavenly Father. And silent prayer helps us to let go of our worries and fears and let God speak to us in the solitude of our thoughts. Worship, fasting, and prayer help prepare us to proclaim the Gospel through our words and our works. They give us the graces we need to manifest God’s Love and Mercy and find fulfillment as disciples of Christ.

Do we make the most of the time we spend with God in worship and prayer? How can we make fasting a central part of living out our faith? In what ways do we proclaim the Word of God?

O Lord, set us apart and send us to where we need to be.

Amen.

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice. Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

The Sabbath, our Sunday, is meant to be kept holy. It is meant to be a time for giving glory to God and resting ourselves by spending time with Him at Mass and in other spiritual pursuits. It is a day when we are asked to hold back from our own pursuits, from unnecessary work. It is supposed to be a delight for us to honor the Lord’s Day. We can’t do this if we let worldly things take over the day. If all we do is waste it on selfish pursuits, then we lose out on the spiritual profit that can be gained by being in the presence of God and allowing Him to speak to us through the sacraments, reading the Scriptures, doing charitable works, and personal prayer time. It is not enough to go through the motions of going to Mass, we are asked to go forth and spread the Good News with delight. If we do so, then our spirits will be nourished and we shall be worthy of the heritage that comes from being a child of God.

Do we keep the Sabbath holy? What can we do to make the day even more delightful for ourselves and others? How can we nourish our spirits on the Sabbath so we can be stronger throughout the week?

O Lord, you have given us your Sabbath as a gift. Help us to use it to become better children.

Amen.

First Friday of Ordinary Time

For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this manner, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works; and again, in the previously mentioned place, They shall not enter into my rest. Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.

We are all called to rest in God. He is our seventh day, our Sabbath. It is in Him that we shall find eternal rest from the world. However, if we are disobedient and fail to live our lives according to His Good News, then we shall not enter into His Rest. In a world where we are constantly tempted to work toward earthly rewards, we can often lose sight of the need to rest our spirits and take time to simply be with God in prayer and solitude. But if we are always on the go and never reflect on our choices, successes, failures, joys, or sorrows, then how can we learn from them and grow in our faith?

Do we take time out of each day to rest with God? Do we keep holy the Sabbath Day? How can we make our lives more spiritually restful?

O Lord, we want only to rest in you forever.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Friday of Ordinary Time

When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

It is easy for us to understand worldly things. We can predict a lot of what will happen to us each day and yet we don't use that foresight to lead holier lives. We use it frivolously. Many of us have regular schedules that we follow and yet how often do we schedule in time to just be with God and pray? If we are asked when our favorite TV show is on, we know immediately the day and time, but how many of us know when and where we can go to confession, daily mass, or volunteer opportunities with our church? We are so knowledgeable about the world and yet so blind to the Will of God. Perhaps instead of making worldly plans, we should open ourselves to letting God pencil Himself into our lives and helping us to know how to interpret our days.

Do we make time to spend with God each day? What can we give up to make time for Him? How can we open our hearts so that God can help us to interpret His Will?

O Lord, give us the grace we need to interpret what you are calling us to do.

Amen.

Second Tuesday of Ordinary Time

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

In today’s gospel, we are reminded that the Sabbath was created for man, not the other way around. God wants us to take at least one day out of every week and make it holy. He also wants us to rest in His Love and Mercy on this day. This is why it is so important to celebrate the Sabbath. His Divine Presence at Mass renews us and gives us the graces we need to make it through the week. The spiritual food we receive through the liturgies of the Word and Eucharist, nourish our souls, make them stronger, help us lead healthier lives, and unite us in the spiritual body of Christ. If we do not take time for the Sabbath, we will go spiritually hungry, become too weak to do God’s Will, and wither away in sin and idleness. The Sabbath is a cornerstone of our faith and we should be perpetually thankful for the graces that flow from our participation in it every week.

Do we keep holy the Sabbath? Do we take time to rest in the Lord? Do we spend time not only receiving the God's Word and the Eucharist, but also make them part of our being?

O Lord, help us to keep holy your Sabbath.

Amen.

The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.  And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

We can learn a lot about how to live a holy life by following Anna’s example. We should spend more time in the presence of the Lord not only in church (via the mass, adoration, etc.), but also in fasting and prayer. We should also make a point to give thanks to God for every day He has given us in this life and speak to others about Jesus and the salvation he offers to all. It can be so easy to get caught up in the worries of the world and forget about spending time with God. We should seek out God’s presence in our lives and let Him speak to us through the sacraments and our daily reflections on the graces He has given us.

How can we better worship God, both day and night? How can we cultivate the habits of fasting and prayer? How can we express our thanks to God for all He has done for us?

O Lord, thank you for your redeeming graces in our lives.

Amen.