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

“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

Jesus reminds us that just because we know, love, and serve God and His children we should not expect to be given honors and compensation. We are merely doing what we should be doing as disciples of Christ. We also should remember that all of our good works have their source in God. We are merely His instruments and unprofitable servants. This can be hard for some people to accept, but just because we are good doesn’t mean we deserve anything from God. Instead, we should focus on serving Him as well as we can and do everything He asks us to do.

Do we recognize that all our good thoughts, words, and works have their source and inspiration in God? Are we willing to be unprofitable servants and serve Him always and in every way no matter the cost? Are we listening to God’s Will and doing as He commands us?

O Lord, you are the source of all good. Inspire us to be good and faithful servants.

Amen.

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

The temple Jesus was talking about was his body, which was a living temple to his Heavenly Father. In the same way, our bodies are temples to God and we should take care of them and protect them from misuse. Just as Jesus drives out all of those who are misusing the temple, so must we drive out all of the sins and influences in our lives, which keep us from attending to our heavenly duties. We should not lose sight of our calling to be living temples of God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace. It is only by becoming Godbearers that we can fulfill ourselves and be found worthy of resurrection on the last day.

What are the things in our lives that distract us from fully embracing our calling to become living temples to God? How can we drive these worldly things, imperfections, and sins from our hearts? Are we consumed by zeal for our Heavenly Father’s house?

O Lord, consume us with zeal for you and your heavenly kingdom.

Amen.

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation."

Being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t mean we should seek honor for ourselves or exult ourselves above others. Instead, we are asked to be more like the poor widow and give everything we have to God. We are not supposed to make our charitable and merciful acts for the specific purpose of having them seen, but rather because it is the right thing to do. Sure someone may see us doing good and honor us for it, but that shouldn’t be the point of our deeds. Like Mary and the poor widow, we should do God’s Will without counting the cost and without expectation of honor. We are not to become puffed up peacocks like the Pharisees, but rather to be little ones of God thinking, speaking, and doing what our Heavenly Father asks us to do through the Holy Spirit.

Do we seek honor and exultation or do we seek God’s Will? When we commit acts of charity and mercy, do we expect others to recognize or thank us? How can we learn to be little ones of God, always doing what is right without counting the cost or expecting anything in return?

O Lord, we give you all we possess. Do with it what you will.

Amen.

Thirty-First Saturday of Ordinary Time

“I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 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? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant 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.”

Jesus tells his followers to make friends with dishonest wealth so that when it fails them they will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. This message reinforces Jesus’ teaching that we should renounce worldly possessions in favor of heavenly ones. In the end, the dishonest wealth of the world will fail us all. However, if we cannot be honest in our dealings with worldly things, then how can we hope to be trustworthy with the true wealth of Jesus’ Good News? This is why Jesus tells his disciples to make friends of dishonest wealth. He is not telling them to be dishonest in seeking wealth, but rather to learn how to be honest in their worldly dealings so that those dealings do not lead them astray.

Are we trustworthy in worldly things? What about heavenly ones? Are we able to renounce our worldly possessions in favor of our heavenly ones?

O Lord, we only wish to serve you.

Amen.

Thirty-First Friday of Ordinary Time

He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’  He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.

The steward in this parable has squandered his masters property and is about to be removed from his position. However, instead of calling in the debtors and forcing them to pay him his usurious fees so that he might have money, he waves the fees and has each debtor write a new promissory note. These new notes are written for the amount owed to the master minus the steward’s normal fees. He does this to ingratiate himself with his master’s debtors giving up his fees for the gratitude of others. Jesus remarks about the prudence of this sacrifice and how we can learn from this steward about how to handle those in debt to us. We can either demand repayment plus interest for short-term gain and the animosity of those in our debt or we can forgive those who are indebted to us and perhaps gain their long-term admiration. Not that we should forgive others with the expectation of some later return. This would not be truly forgiving another’s debt to us, but rather changing the manner of repayment. Instead, we are asked to forgive and forget and then let the other person decide how to react to our generosity. Perhaps by our example, they too will learn to do the same to others in their lives and we will have been an instrument of God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace.

What have we squandered in our own lives? Who are the people we believe to be in our debt? How can we forgive and forget their debt to us?

O Lord, let us be prudent in our dealings with others and be able to forgive the debts others owe to us without counting the cost or expecting anything in return.

Amen.

Thirty-First Thursday of Ordinary Time

“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

It’s easy to love and relate with those whom we like. It is much more difficult to love those whom we do not like. However, this is what Jesus is calling us to do. He is asking us to go out of our way for those whom are lost in sin. We can’t do that if we judge the lost and decide they cannot be saved or are too much trouble to deal with. Instead, we need to love everyone as best we can and show them the mercy Jesus would if he was with us. We need to be willing to go the extra mile to know, love, and serve those who are in most need of God’s Love and Mercy. Thankfully, we are not alone. Jesus is with us and always willing to give us a hand.

Are we willing to search out those in need of God’s Love and Mercy? Do we make Jesus present to others through our thoughts, words, and works? Do we love everyone, even those we dislike, just as Jesus would?

O Lord, let us help you to find your lost sheep and bring them back into the fold.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?  Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.   In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

We are constantly tempted to become attached to people and possessions, to rush into things without counting the cost, or to force an issue out of pride. We need to learn how to renounce our attachments, passions, and prideful hearts. These can lead us away from God’s Will by blinding us to what God is calling us to do. We cannot be the disciples of God and still be followers of the world. We live in the world, but shouldn’t be so invested in it that we cannot put aside our relationships, possessions, and successes to follow God’s to wherever He is calling us. It is His Divine Plan, which should take precedence over our worldly ones, not the other way around. So let us be willing to let go of worldly things and let God lead us to heavenly ones.

Are we overly attached to a particular person or possession? Have we taken stock of our spiritual lives and made sure we have all that we need to build up Christ within us? Are we willing to set aside our passions and pride to do the right thing?

O Lord, help us to renounce everything that stands in the way of becoming good and faithful disciples to you.

Amen.