Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs

The Lord remembers his covenant forever. For he remembered his holy word to his servant Abraham. And he led forth his people with joy; with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.

God doesn’t go back on His promises. When He says He’ll do something, He does it. When He says He won’t do something, He doesn’t. His “Yes,” means, “Yes.” His “No,” means, “No.” Thankfully for us, God has promised to love us like His children and to be merciful to us. He wants what is best for us and will do all He can, short of forcing us, to lead us to everlasting life with Him. He helps us to be good and faithful and holy people. He lifts us up when we are down. He lights our way when we are in darkness. He leads us forth with shouts of joy. He has picked us as His chosen ones. To accept this great gift, all we need to say is, “Yes,” to Him and mean it with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.

Do we go back on our promises? If so, then how can we make our “Yes,” mean, “Yes,” and our “No” mean, “No”? What can we learn from the authentic life of Jesus, who showed us most perfectly how to be true to our words?

O Lord, help us to remember that you always keep your word.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church

As God is faithful, our word to you is not "yes" and "no." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me, was not "yes" and "no," but "yes" has been in him. For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him; therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.

Sometimes our plans change. Our honest “Yes!” to someone else’s request, might suddenly become an unintended “No.” The course of our lives is not always set by ourselves. There are times when God, outside forces, and even enemies pull us down a different path. This might cause others to be disappointed in us. We can even become disappointed in ourselves for not being able to fulfill a promise. However, no matter what happens in our lives, expected or unexpected, we need to recognize each situation as an opportunity to grow in the faith and become better servants to God and all His children. God will forgive us if our good-intentioned promises fall through as long as we tried our best to follow through on our word.

Do we try to follow through on our good promises? Do we realize how even the obstacles that pop up in life are opportunities to grow in faith, hope, and love? Are we trying our best in every good thing we do?

O Lord, let all our promises be founded upon bearing you into the world for all to see.

Amen.

Tenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.

It's amazing how much truth can be captured in one sentence. Let your "Yes" mean "Yes," and your "No" mean "No." This saying is something we all should take to heart. It can be so easy to say, "Yes," to something, but then change our minds. We break promises. We forget. We let fears, doubts, and anxieties keep us from following through with our plans. We can be too hasty in saying, both "Yes" and "No." We should put more thought into our decisions and make sure we are making the right choice from the beginning. We shouldn't make decisions lightly or with the knowledge that we are only saying "Yes" or "No" with no plan to follow what we say. This is not to say there aren't times when we should change our minds, especially when new information is discovered. Being too stubborn to change our minds is also a fault. However, changing our minds should be something we take very seriously precisely because we put effort into our initial decision.

Does our "Yes" mean "Yes" and our "No" mean "No?" Do we take time to properly weigh our decisions and responses to others? Do we take our decisions to heart and follow through on them to the best of our abilities?

O Lord, let our "Yes" mean "Yes" and our "No" mean "No."

Amen.

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Although today’s gospel speaks of the aftermath of the incarnation of Christ, we celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary today because without her fiat there would have been no incarnation (at least as we know it). Mary, who was born without sin, is given a singular grace among all mankind. She is given the choice to bear the savior of mankind. She is not forced to bear Jesus, instead she freely accepts the gift of the incarnation into her womb. This acceptance makes possible the story of our salvation and this is why Mary is held in such high regard and venerated by Christians. Her assent to the our Heavenly Father opens the doors of grace to all of us and we would do well to remember her model and seek to learn from her virtues of faith in God, hope in His mercy, and love of Him and all His children.

Do we ask for Mary’s intercession in our lives? Do we seek to act in accord with God’s Will just as she did in her own most obedient life? Are we willing to say “yes” to our Heavenly Father just as Mary did?

O Lord, let us take Mary into our homes and our hearts.

Amen.

Twenty-Second Tuesday of Ordinary Time

He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.

When someone speaks with authority about a subject we tend to listen to them. So why then, do we have such trouble listening to the Lord and putting into practice the gospel messages He has given us? Perhaps it is because we are distracted by worldly things or do not understand the meaning and responsibilities of His good news. It can be difficult to keep ourselves open to the workings of God. However, we cannot give up. We must continually strive to know, love, and serve God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. What Jesus is asking of us may be amazing and seemingly impossible for us to do, but his authority reassures us that as long as we place our trust in him, then all things are possible, even those we feel the least comfortable with.

Do we listen to God? Are we putting into practice his gospel message? Do we believe that with God all things are possible?

O Lord, your authority calls us to go beyond ourselves and make our lives a living, “Yes!” to your will.

Amen.

Tenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the Evil One.

We all say things we wish we could take back. We all have made promises we’ve broken. We’ve all said we’d do something and then failed to do it. We’ve even told people we can’t do something, and then went ahead and did it anyway. This is because we speak before we think things through. We should always try to take a step back and weigh our options. We should ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” Deep down we probably know what the right thing is, but sometimes we can convince ourselves that we know better than God. This is why Jesus warns us against swearing oaths. Because sometimes we will agree to do something and then discover that it’s not the right thing to do. But because we have sworn to do it, we do it disregarding our conscience. Jesus isn’t telling us not to change our minds, but rather to think about what we promise to do so that we don’t have to change our minds. It isn’t bad to do the right thing, in spite of your promises, but it is far better thing to promise to do what’s right from the beginning.

When have we said yes to the right thing, and then failed to follow through? When have we said no, and then realized that saying yes was the right thing? Do we speak before we think and pray about our situations?

O Lord, let our “yes” mean “yes” and our “no” mean “no.”

Amen.