The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.

As Christians, we are called to put on Christ and all his virtues. It is from his cloth that we are cut. We cannot be whole or holy without him. It is his compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience we are called to embody. And it is only through, with, and in him that we can learn to bear with and forgive one another. As Jesus forgave us through his sacrifice on the cross, so we must imitate him from our own crosses. So, let us be perfected through his love. Let the peace of Christ control our hearts so we might be one in body, mind, and spirit with him.

Have we put on Christ and all his virtues? Do we bear with and forgive others as God bears with and forgives us? Have we put on the love of Christ and allowed ourselves to be united with him in all things?

O Lord, may your peace control our hearts.

Amen.

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

God loves the goodness for He is good. God loves the righteous for He is upright. God loves justice for He is just. God loves kindness for He is kind. God loves the faithful for He is the Way. God loves the trustworthy for He is the Truth. God loves the joyful for He is the Life. In Him is the fullness of existence and redemption. We will never be disappointed if we remain by His side and allow Him to lead us where we need to go and inspire us to do what must be done.

Do we see the goodness of the world God created? How can we magnify that goodness and lead others to a closer relationship with our Creator? How can we embody all the virtues that have their source, center, and summit in our Heavenly Father?

O Lord, the earth is full of your goodness.

Amen.

Fifth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth. Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and glory, robed in light as with a cloak.

The Lord sends out His Holy Spirit to each and every one of us and through the Holy Spirit He offers us virtues, gifts, and graces. He pours out His Love and Mercy upon us and offers to make us holy, too. He wants our souls to be blessed and our lives to be good. He wants us to be great like He is great. He wants to clothe us in His Light and robe us in His Truth so we might walk His Way in confidence. He gives us more gifts than we can count. More than we could ever repay. And yet, all He asks of us is to be good and faithful servants and love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths and our neighbors as He loves them. Truly, He is majestic, glorious, and good.

Are our hearts open and welcoming to the Holy Spirit? Do we put the graces and blessings we receive through the Spirit to good use? How can we magnify the greatness and the glory of God for all whom we meet?

O Lord, send your Holy Spirit to renew our hearts.

Amen.

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

At the end of our lives, we will all be asked to render an account to God. There is nothing we can keep hidden from Him. Nothing He won’t see. We will see ourselves as God sees us... the good, the bad, and everything between. He will show us what we did right and what we did wrong. He will cut through all our illusions and reveal our true selves, virtues and vices, faith and doubt, hope and despair, love and hate. Thankfully, the sacrament of reconciliation can wash away our iniquities and cleanse us of our sins and if we make regular use of this source of grace we shall have nothing to fear from the Lord. We might not be perfect as our Father is perfect, but He will know we were humble and contrite and tried our best to be good and faithful servants and His Divine Mercy will be poured out upon us.

Are we leading our lives in such a way as to build up virtues and graces or are we tearing down our spirits with vices and selfishness? Do we make regular use of the healing sacrament of reconciliation? How can we cultivate spirits that are humble and contrite?

O Lord, give us the graces we need to render a good account for ourselves before you.

Amen.

Twenty-Seventh Saturday in Ordinary Time

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise.

As Paul said, through our baptism we were clothed with Christ. We are meant to make his virtues our virtues. His goodness, our goodness. His mercy, our mercy. His compassion, our compassion. We are to see with his eyes, hear with his ears, love with his heart, work with his hands, and walk wherever his feet will take us. We are to treat others as he treated them. Not according to their outward appearances, their social status, or their gender, but according to their human dignity. We are to know, love, and serve everyone as he knows, loves, and serves us.

How can we better cloth ourselves in Christ? What can we do to help others feel as if they belong to Christ, too? How can we make ourselves more Christ-like in the way we treat others?

O Lord, clothe us in your love, mercy, and virtues.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest

With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you. Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel; Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits.

Once restored from our sinful lives, we must do everything within our powers to retain our purity of body, mind, and spirit. This isn't always easy in today's world where we are constantly bombarded by words and images that tempt us to sin or revel in evil. However, if we are on guard against the world, then we will remain good and virtuous. We will be merry no matter the trials that come and plant the seeds of faith, hope, and love wherever we go. And in the end, if we are patient and humble, we shall produce good fruit for God and others to
enjoy.

What are we doing to retain our purity of faith, hope, and love? How can we strengthen these virtues? In what ways can we tend the vineyards of our souls and the souls of others so they bear good fruit?

O Lord, your love sustains and nourishes us so that we can produce good fruits.

Amen.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Every now and then, we need to reevaluate our lives and examine our conscience. We need to look at what we’ve done and failed to do. We need to ask ourselves what bad habits need to be replaced with good ones. We need to know what areas of our lives we need to improve. We need to root out those things that lead us to temptation and sin. We need to put away our old selves and their deceitful desires and instead put on Christ. We need to renew our hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies. We need to recreate ourselves in the holy image of God and the Way, Truth, and Life of Jesus.

What deceitful desires and sins do we need to get rid of? What holy yearnings and virtues do we need to put in their place? How can we be transformed more perfectly into Jesus Christ?

O Lord, help us to cast aside our old selves and put on you.

Amen.

Fourth Monday of Easter

"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning, and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'  If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?" When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, "God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."

We are all baptized with the Holy Spirit and through that baptism, we are given my gifts. We are given the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. We are given the virtues of faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, justice, and courage. We are given the love, mercy, and grace of God to see us through every moment of our lives. When we realize the treasures God has given us, we should have only one response... asking God what we are being called to do and then doing it to the best of our abilities. Even if we don’t understand why God is leading us in one direction or another, we have to trust in Him and let him lead us to where we need to be as Christians. We have to stop objecting, glorify God, and accept His Divine Will.

Do we give thanks for God for all the gifts He has given us through baptism? How can we lead Spirit-filled lives, embodying the Good News in all we think, say, and do? How can we be an aid to God’s Divine Plan and not a hindrance to it?

O Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

"I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed. Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man's beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law."

It can be difficult to disregard ourselves for the sake of our faith, but it is necessary if we want to receive the reward of eternal life. Throughout our lives we will be tempted in many ways to abandon or compromise our beliefs, to do evil, and turn our backs on God. We might be lured by pride, envy, wrath, greed, lust, gluttony, or sloth, but these sins lead to death. The only way to live forever is to choose faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice as the pillars of our every thought, word, and work. By building our lives around these holy virtues, we can overcome all temptations, avoid sin, and embrace the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Christ.

Are we willing to give up everything for God? How can we resist temptations to selfishness and sin? What are we doing to build our lives on virtue and self-giving?

O Lord, we are willing to disregard ourselves for your sake and the sake of your children.

Amen.

Thirty-Third Friday of Ordinary Time

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”

The temples of our hearts need the same cleansing as the Temple area in Jerusalem during Jesus’ time and just like Jesus, we need to drive out those things that are not in accord with God’s Will. We need to make ourselves into houses of prayer with the incense of our prayers rising up to God in thanksgiving and praise. We cannot do this if we harbor sins within our hearts. We cannot do this if we live lives of sin. To transform ourselves into worthy temples to God, we need to rid ourselves of our pride, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, greed, and sloth. Then and only then can we make room for God to enter into our hearts, minds, and bodies and triumph over sin and death.

What sins do we need to cleanse from our hearts? How can we prepare ourselves to be true houses of prayer? Are we ready to live lives of virtue?

O Lord, make us temples of your love, mercy, and grace.

Amen.

Thirty-First Saturday of Ordinary Time

The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?

There are many things in this world that can claim our attention. Money, popularity, and all sorts of distractions can lead us astray. However, if we have these things it does not mean that we will lose our way. Rather it is how we use these things that determines if we are good and faithful servants. How we handle dishonest money and popularity will determine how we handle honest riches and recognition. If we use these things wisely and well, then we shall grow in virtue and God will trust us with rewards beyond anything the world can offer us. And if we do not have money or popularity, then we shall be judged by how we handle our lack of these things. If we act righteously, then we shall be lifted out of our earthly poverty and given heavenly treasures beyond counting.

What worldly things are vying for our attention? How can we use our earthly riches, popularity, or talents wisely and well? How can we prove our trustworthiness in both great and small things?

O Lord, we want to be your trusted servants.

Amen.

The Third Saturday of Lent

Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity greedy, dishonest, adulterous or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.” But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Jesus warns his followers against becoming convinced of their righteousness and despising others. This is not to say that his followers shouldn’t be righteous, because we all should seek to do what is right, but rather they shouldn’t consider themselves holier-than-thou. Our piety is under constant attack by the Devil and one of his weapons is pride, which worms its way into our hearts by convincing us that we are better than others and encouraging us to despise them. However, the truly righteousness will never be convinced of their superiority, nor will they look down on others. Instead, they will do what God asks them to do and cultivate the virtues of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Most importantly, they will recognize themselves as sinners, seek God’s Mercy, and be compassionate toward their fellow sinners. When we live in such a way, we give glory to God and will be exalted before Him for being good and faithful servants.

Do we believe ourselves to be better than others or recognize we too are in constant need of God’s Mercy? What are we doing to ensure our piety is not corrupted by false pride? Are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving the pillars of our lives?

O Lord, be merciful to us sinners.

Amen.

Second Sunday of Advent

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Advent is a time of preparation and one of the things we are called to prepare is our hearts. We need to make them ready to receive the Lord and make straight the paths of our lives. There are many obstacles in our way, the primary of these being our own sinfulness. Our pride, greed, lust, wrath, sloth, envy, and gluttony get in the way. The narrow road to salvation is surrounded by temptations that will lead us astray. If we truly wish to prepare the way of the Lord in our own lives, then we will need to overcome our sins by building up good habits and filling in our lives with virtues. Our road to heaven starts with God’s Mercy, but we also need to walk that narrow path with contrite hearts and spirits of repentance.

Are we preparing the way of the Lord in our lives? What are we doing to make straight our paths to Heaven? What are the obstacles, sins, distractions, imperfections, etc., which are keeping us from doing God’s Will?

O Lord, help us to prepare our hearts for you.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

“Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

None of us know when the end will come for us and as such we should be constantly vigilant against temptation and sin. We, like the master of the house, must prepare ourselves through building up virtuous habits and being focused on knowing, loving, and serving God with all our whole hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. We also should live our lives in the hope that God will find us ready when He comes for us either in the second coming or at the end of our lives.

Are we prepared against sin? What can we do to build up our virtues? If we were to die today, would we be able to honestly say we have been good and faithful servants?

O Lord, give us the graces we need to be vigilant against all temptation and sin.

Amen.

Eighteenth Friday of Ordinary Time

For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct.

In the end, we will all be judged by Jesus. We will be repaid for every act of virtue and vice, for those things we did and those we failed to do. When we take our last breath we will receive a revelation about ourselves. Nothing we have done will go uncovered, the goods and evils we’ve forgotten will be remembered. In our heart of hearts, we will know what the just judgment should be for us. In that moment we will know how much God loved us and what we did and didn’t do to repay that love to Him and His children. We may end up in Hell (hopefully not), Purgatory (much more likely), or a few of us may go straight to Heaven (what a grace that would be!). However, no matter where we end up we will know we deserve every moment of torment, purification, or bliss. After all, we are the ones who made the choices that brought us to our place in the afterlife. Hopefully, we’ll make the right ones from here on out.

What virtues and vices do we have? How can we increase the good within us and decrease the evil? In what areas of our lives could we do a better job of being Christ-like?

O Lord, help us to live a good life so that when you come with your angels, you will repay us with the respite of Heaven.

Amen.