Second Sunday of Advent

Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.

We should be eager to live virtuous lives... to do good and avoid evil. We should be eager to rid ourselves of our imperfections and resist all temptations. We should be eager to be at peace with God and ourselves and not caught up in the chaos of the world around us. Throughout each day we will be tested by distractions, doubts, sufferings, obstacles, and all manner of trials, but as long as we choose what is right over what is wrong and put our trust in God, then we shall find inner tranquility. The world might race around us and people might run here or there, but we shall remain where we need to be... centered in Christ. Earthly things may try to divert our attention from God and from good deeds, but we shall remain focused on the Way, Truth, and Life Jesus has shown us. It is not easy to live spotless lives and to be at peace, but as long as we seek reconciliation with God, we shall be given both... and much more: eternal life.

Are we eager to live out our faith? Are we willing to deny ourselves worldly things in order to remain unblemished? How can we better base our lives on the calm and steady rock that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

O Lord, purify us in the fires of your love and mercy and grant us your peace.

Amen.

Thirty-Third Tuesday in Ordinary Time

For you say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,' and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.

There is the constant temptation to believe we can be self-sufficient in this world. However, riches and material wealth doesn't make us self-sufficient. Instead, they can be dangerous by tempting us to misuse our wealth for selfish reasons and to mistake our worldly successes as a sign God favors us. God favors not the rich or the poor, but those who do His Will. He favors those who purchase His grace through prayer, alms-giving, and mortification. He favors those who clothe themselves in virtues and good works. He favors those who seek to remedy their spiritual blindness by trusting, hoping, and loving Him and His children to the best of their abilities. Most of all, God favors those who are earnest in their desire for repentance and who show mercy to those who trespass against them.

How can we grow in grace through prayer, alms-giving, and mortification? What can we do to clothe ourselves in God's Goodness? How can we gain the spiritual insights we need to overcome our spiritual blindness?

O Lord, we know you love us and are earnest in our repentance.

Amen.

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

We are at constant war with ourselves. The sins of pride, jealousy, wrath, lust, avarice, sloth, and gluttony do battle with us every day. They seek to tempt us into wrongdoing and lead us into destruction. When we fall into their traps, our virtue fails and we become selfish sinners performing every foul practice. Worse yet, these vices try to take our good motives and passions and twist them to their own ends. Faith, they try to turn into self-righteousness. Hope they try to turn into impudence. Love, they try to turn into obsession. They encourage us to ask for the wrong things or ask for the right things, but in the wrong way. They lead us astray by offering us falsehoods instead of truths and empty pleasures instead of fulfilling responsibilities. It is only when we listen to the Wisdom of God that we will know the peace that comes from being pure, merciful, and charitable.

What vices are at war within us? How can we protect ourselves from them? How can we align our passions with the Will and Wisdom of God and not our own?

O Lord, help us to ask for what is right and be at peace with you and your children.

Amen.

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.

The vocation of our lives as Christians is to be conformed to the image of Christ. This is why we take his name to describe us as a community of believers. It is from God that all good things come and it is through imitation of His Beloved Son that we do good and avoid evil. When we think, speak, and act like Jesus, we proclaim ourselves the brothers and sisters of Christ and accept all the responsibilities this relationship entails. We promise God to be holy, good, charitable, merciful, and virtuous to the best of our abilities. If we do this, then we will fulfill our purpose on this earth, be justified by Christ, and glorified at the Resurrection on the Last Day.

Are we conformed to the image of Christ? If not, then in what ways can we become more Christ-like in thought, word, and deed? How can we help others to become better Christians, too?

O Lord, conform us to yourself.

Amen.

Nineteenth Saturday in Ordinary Time

Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you. Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in death of anyone who dies, says the Lord GOD. Return and live!

God judges us according to our ways. If we are virtuous and loving, then He judges us as good and faithful servants. If we are full of vices and hatred, then He will cast us into the fires of Hell. He is merciful, but also just. He will not grant us His forgiveness if we do not seek it or if we take it for granted. He only gives his compassion to those who are compassionate and cast away all their crimes. He wants us to make for ourselves new hearts and spirits that are fashioned in His likeness. It is only by becoming models of Him that we can hope to return to Him and live forever. 

Are we virtuous or full of vice? How can we turn away from our sins and be converted? What can we do to fashion new hearts and spirits in the image and likeness of God?

O Lord, convert us from our crimes and make new hearts within us.

Amen.

Nineteenth Friday in Ordinary Time

You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was, because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you, says the Lord GOD. But you were captivated by your own beauty, you used your renown to make yourself a harlot, and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by, whose own you became. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you, that you may remember and be covered with confusion, and that you may be utterly silenced for shame when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.

We must always be on guard against ourselves. Selfishness and pride can lead us astray. They can cause us to misuse our time, talents, and treasures. The can take the beautiful image of God within us and disfigure it with sin and indifference. They can lead to bad habits and worse. Thankfully, God will never give up on us. He will try to bring us back into His good graces whenever we leave the narrow path to Heaven. This is why it is so important to learn to be selfless and humble. These virtues protect us against our darker inclinations and make it possible to resist temptation and be good and faithful children of God.

Are we on guard against our selfish and prideful inclinations? What can we do to protect the image of God within ourselves and live up to the New Covenant? How can we increase in virtue and decrease in vice?

O Lord, we thank you for pardoning all that we have done and failed to do.

Amen.

Seventeenth Friday in Ordinary Time

If you disobey me, not living according to the law I placed before you and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them, I will treat this house like Shiloh, and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth shall refer when cursing another.

When we fail to live according to God’s Commandments, choose sin over virtue, act with indifference to the needs of others, and turn a deaf ear to the Holy Spirit, then we become accursed. When we allow our hearts to swell with pride or believe ourselves to be holier than others, then we will be humbled by God and shown just how imperfect we are in His eyes. We are constantly faced with a choice to either listen to God, believe, and live the Way, the Truth, and the Life... or to ignore Him and suffer the consequences. There is no middle ground, not choosing is a choice that leads to destruction just as much as sinning does because lukewarm souls have no place at the table of the Lord. The only souls who do have a place are those who allow themselves to be lit on fire with the Holy Spirit and bear the light of Christ into the world with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.

Are we failing to live according to God’s Commandments? How can we be more faithful to listening to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit? What can we do to bring blessing to others and ourselves?

O Lord, make us a blessing, not a curse.

Amen.

Ninth Monday in Ordinary Time

Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.

Through His Divine Power, God has bestowed on us the gift of His Divine Image. He has made each one of us in His Likeness with all the goodness that comes from Him. The world may try to distract and corrupt us, but if we trust in God, then we shall be able to overcome our evil desires and escape from corruption. God even goes so far as to give us a roadmap to salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, who showed us how to supplement our faith with virtues, to grow in knowledge, to temper our passions with self-control, to endure all things for God, to devote ourselves to the proclamation of the Good News, to have mutual affection for God and His children, and to love with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.

Do we take the time to contemplate what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God? Are we following the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Christ? What can we do to overcome our evil desires and choose the good thoughts, words, and words of God?

O Lord, grant us the virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, devotion, mutual affection, and love that we need to be your good and faithful followers.

Amen.

Eleventh Tuesday of Ordinary Time

I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

The genuineness of our faith, hope, and love is tested every day. We are faced with great and small opportunities to show our trust in God and our willingness to do His Will in all things. We meet people who challenge our faith, attack our hopes, and mock our acts of charity and mercy. We also meet people who are in desperate need for someone, anyone to be the light of Christ in their lives. Jesus became like us in order to show us how to be more like him in our daily lives. He shows us that sacrifice for the good of others helps us to grow in holiness and store up spiritual treasures.

Are we genuine in our faith, hope, and love? How can we make ourselves more like Christ? What can we do to become rich in virtue?

O Lord, make us rich in virtue.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious

Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way, the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother.

When it comes down to it, we are either children of God or the Devil. We can't be both. They are completely incompatible. We either love virtue or sin. We either love God or ourselves more than anything else. We might fall and falter at times or waver between one and the other, but in the end we will be in one camp or the other. We will be loving and virtuous or selfish and sinful. It is important to remember why Jesus came into the world. It was to destroy the works of the Devil. If we end up doing the Devil's work, then we will be destroyed, too. However, if we do God's Work, we will be saved from our sinful selves and remain in God's loving embrace, always.

Are we children of God or the Devil? Are we doing everything in our power to remain in and with God? How can we make plain that we are God's children?

O Lord, we belong to you and you alone.
Amen.

Thirty-Third Saturday of Ordinary Time

“That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well.” And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

The Lord is the God of the living and He wants all of His children to live with Him forever. However, we cannot do this if we turn our backs on Him and choose to die in sin. To live with God means choosing virtue over vice, selflessness over selfishness, and good over evil. If we cannot do this, then we shall die and have no one to blame but ourselves. However, if we recognize Jesus as our teacher and live in accordance with his commandments to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths and our neighbor as Jesus loves them, then we shall have eternal life.

Are we choosing life in the Lord or death in sin? Do we give thanks to God for not only giving us life, but sustaining our lives? Do we recognize Jesus as our teacher?

O Lord, you are our life.

Amen.

Thirtieth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’”

Being a Christian doesn't guarantee us a place in heaven. We can't just say we believe, but not live it out in such a way as to make our very lives a proclamation of the Gospels and God's message of love, mercy, and grace. If we want to enter through the narrow gate to heaven, then we must strengthen our hearts, minds, and souls to do God's Will. When we fail to do this we make ourselves strangers to Christ and disfigure the image of God that resides within each of us. And so we strive to be better people, to know, love, and serve God and His children with all our hearts so that as humble servants we might enter Paradise and enjoy the heavenly feast with our Lord and Savior.

Are we striving to become holy people? Are our feet on the narrow path to God or the wide one to ruin? Will God be able to recognize us through our good works and virtues or be unable to recognize us because we've veiled ourselves in sin and selfishness?

O Lord, help us to strive to enter through the narrow gate.

Amen.

Sixteenth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

"A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

God continually tries to sow His Word in our hearts. It is up to us to make sure the seed of faith falls on good ground. If we do nothing to prepare our hearts to receive the Good News, then the seed will be eaten up before it gets a chance to grow, killed when our faith is tested, or strangled by our worldly worries. But if we enrich the soil of our souls with virtues, then we will produce good fruit. We will not only grow in faith, but bud in hope and bloom with charity. Our every thought, word, and work will yield a hundred, sixty, or thirtyfold. We shall live life abundantly and help others do the same.

What do we do to prepare our souls to receive God’s Word? How can we help others to prepare themselves? Are we enriching our lives with the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, or are we allowing our doubts, fears, and selfish interests to destroy our lives?

O Lord, cultivate my soul with your heavenly virtues and so that I can accept the seed of faith and yield a good harvest.

Amen.

Twenty-Seventh Friday of Ordinary Time

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

The stronger man is Jesus, who overcomes the Devil and scatters him and his minions. Jesus lays down the gauntlet to us in this gospel. He tells us plainly that we are either with him or against him. There is no middle ground. We cannot sit upon the fence and let opportunities to gather good fruits with Christ to pass us buy. If we do this, then in the end we will be empty handed. Whenever we have a great or small success in our spiritual lives we must remember it is not enough. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must instead double our guard. So let us welcome Jesus into our hearts so that he might defend us against sin and tepidity and show us how to truly know, love, and serve God and His children.

Have we let Jesus into our hearts? Do we let God help us overcome and scatter our sins? Are we with God or against Him?

O Lord, we are with you and ready to gather in your name.

Amen.