Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”

Jesus gives two answers to the Pharisees’ question about when the Kingdom of God would come. The first was publicly given and tells the Pharisees that the Kingdom of Heaven is among them in the presence of himself. However, to his disciples Jesus talks about the second coming of Christ. He reminds them that they should not be like the Pharisees and wonder about the when of the second coming, but rather that they should be vigilantly focused on doing God’s Will until his return. He tells them to ignore all the signs because all they will do is distract them from their greater calling. Lastly, he warns them that he will suffer greatly and be rejected. Bringing the good news to others does not necessarily mean that they will receive it with open hearts and so we must be willing to suffer for God’s glory just as Jesus did in his life.

Do we realize that God is always with us? Are our lives focused on the Kingdom of Heaven or kingdom of the Earth? Are we willing to suffer in order to bear the gospel to others?

O Lord, we unite our sufferings to yours for your greater glory and the hope of Heaven.

 Amen.

Eleventh Saturday of Ordinary Time

No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

We can't serve God and the world at the same time. One or the other takes priority, which one is up to us. We can choose to know, love, and serve God or we can choose to live worldly lives. We might try to convince ourselves there is a middle ground, but there will always be conflicts of interests between God and the world and we will constantly face a choice of who or what is our true master. Hopefully, we are strong enough in faith, hope, and love to choose God. But if not, then let us pray to be given the strength to break free from the chains of worldly interests and desires so we can live free as the children of our Lord.

Who or what is our current master? What can we do to resist the tempting calls of the world around us? How can we break free of those things that keep us from devoting ourselves to God?

O Lord, we want only to know, love, and serve you, our true master.

Amen.

Eighth Saturday of Ordinary Time

“By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”– they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”

We cannot hedge our bets when it comes to God. We either believe or don’t. We might have doubts, but in the end we either choose to let God help our unbelief and allow ourselves to believe… or we turn our backs on God. Each of us must answer this question for ourselves: Was Jesus’ teachings and baptism of heavenly or human origin? If we believe the latter, then we set aside God and simply see Jesus as at best a decent man or at worst a charlatan. If, however, we choose to believe Jesus came down from Heaven, then we must also accept his teachings whether we agree with them or not. There is no cafeteria in Heaven where we can pick and choose our beliefs, there is only one banquet that everyone partakes from… made up of the fruits of the Truth, the Way, and the Life. We might not understand or like the taste of some of these fruits, but they are given to us out of love and we would do well to accept them because they come from God, Who loves us.

By what authority did Jesus live his life? What do we truly believe about the origins of his power? How can we show God that we believe in Him, even if there are certain aspects of the faith we have difficulties accepting?

O Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.

Amen.

Fifth Saturday of Easter

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.”

Too often we try to be liked and loved by everyone, but that’s not why we are here on earth. We are here to do God’s Will and to know, love, and serve Him and his children with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. Sometimes this requires us to say something someone might not want to hear or do something others might not understand. We have to be willing to accept persecution both great and small.

If we do not belong to the world, then why do we give the world so much of our time and energy? How can we remind ourselves that we are here to serve God and not the world? Are we willing to be hated in order to do the right thing?

O Lord, we belong to you. Your love is all that matters.

Amen.