The Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed.  And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.  He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?  Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"  Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."

There is a vast difference between living our faith as an obligation or as a blessing. The ten lepers came to Jesus to be healed, hoping he'd cleanse them, but when he sends them to show themselves to the priest nine of them do so, but never return to give thanks. Only the Samaritan returns to give glory to God and thank Jesus. He doesn't actually go to the priest as Jesus told him to, but rather he realizes once he is healed that there is something greater than the priest and returns to Jesus. The other nine did what they were told, but we know nothing else about them. They followed the regulations for lepers and proved to the priest they were clean, but they didn't return to Jesus. They might have followed his commandment, but they didn't take their healing to heart and respond to it as true disciples. This is why it is so important for us to view our faith as a blessing and not an obligation. If our faith is an obligation, then we never truly enter into its depths. However, if it is a blessing, then we will give thanks to God for it and never take it for granted. And then, when we meet Jesus at the judgment, we shall also hear the words, "Your faith has saved you."

Do we see our faith as an obligation or a blessing? Do we glorify God in a loud voice and fall at his feet when he helps us? How can we remind ourselves that our faith is a gift that we should be thankful for and not see as a burden?

O Lord, thank you for the blessing of our faith.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?" Jesus said to them in reply, "Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?" Then he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath."

We are surrounded by laws be they religious, city, state, or national and for the most part it is a good thing to follow these laws. However, when a law interferes with doing the right thing we need to make a value judgment and decide whether the dictates of our conscience outweigh our responsibility to follow the laws of our society. This is not to say that we should go around breaking laws because we feel like it, but rather that when a law is unjust, we should be willing to stand up against it and try to reform it through the political process. In the same regard, when we are faced with an opportunity to do good, but in order to do that good we must break a law, then we have to determine if the fruits of the good we wish to do are greater than the problems caused by our breaking of the law. In today's gospel Jesus reminds us that there are times when following the law can do greater harm than good and it is in those moments that we should feel free to do what is good over what is lawful.

Are we so consumed by rules and regiment that sometimes we miss opportunities to love God and others? Do we pray for God's guidance when we must make a choice between doing the right thing and what is lawful? How can we cultivate a conscience that is willing to obey just laws, but also willing to break the law when we have a very good reason or when it is unjust?

O Lord, give us the courage to do your will no matter what might stand in our way.

Amen.

Eighth Monday of Ordinary Time

“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Knowing, loving, and serving God isn't just about ticking off boxes on a list of commandments. It is a way of life that requires us to give of ourselves without reservation or hesitation. It is a way of life that requires good works as well as prayers. It is a way of life that means making sacrifices and being willing to mortify ourselves. These requirements move us beyond just fulfilling the letter of the laws to fulfilling their spirit. This is the most important thing: to go sell whatever worldly things we have and follow God to heaven.

Are we following the letter of the commandments, but not their spirit? What is lacking in our faith lives? How can we gain the strength to sacrifice what we have in order to follow God?

O Lord, may we be willing to sacrifice everything and follow you.

Amen.