Twenty-Ninth Monday of Ordinary Time

Abraham did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do. That is why it was credited to him as righteousness. But it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him; it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification.

We should never doubt God’s promises, nor His Love for us. He will give us everything we need and empower us by faith so we can do good and avoid evil. Every day, He offers us the materials to build up our confidence in Him and make ourselves into temples of righteousness. God handed His Beloved Son over to death for our transgressions not to condemn us, but to raise us from the death of sin to the eternal life of justification through Christ. We might not always understand what God is asking of us, nor how we might accomplish His Will, but our Heavenly Father will never abandon us. And hopefully, we shall not abandon Him, but rather give glory to Him and trust He will provide all we need.

Do we truly believe in what God has promised us through baptism, namely salvation? How can we use what God has given us to build up our confidence in Him? In what ways can we give thanks to God for the justification He has offered us through the life, passion, death, and resurrection of His Son?

O Lord, empower us by faith.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

We have both worldly and heavenly responsibilities in our lives. We have responsibilities to our families, our friends, our neighborhoods, our states, our country, and our world. These include doing things we might not want to do, but ought to do out of respect for others. It also consists of repaying others for the goods they’ve done for us. Similarly, we have a responsibility to repay to God what belongs to Him, namely our faith and good works. Through baptism God has placed an indelible mark upon our souls that reinforces the Image of God that is imprinted in all our souls at the moment of creation. It reminds us all that we belong to God. We are His and to Him we must return to be judged and hopefully to be called His good and faithful servants.

Are we meeting both our worldly and heavenly responsibilities? How can we repay God for all the goods He has done for us? What can we do to deepen and ingrain the Divine Image of God within us so that we are more perfect signs of God’s Goodness?

O Lord, help us to meet our responsibilities to you first and then to the world around us.

Amen.

Twenty-Eighth Saturday of Ordinary Time

It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith. For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, I have made you father of many nations.

Righteousness comes from faith and is a gift given to us by God. This is why it is so important for us to pray from the gift of righteousness. We can’t do good and avoid evil without God’s Grace. We need His help in our every decision in life so we can discern what is wrong and right. When we live our lives by faith, our consciences are divinely inspired through the Holy Spirit and we are better able to follow God’s Commandments both old and new. In addition, placing faith at the center of our lives gives us a firm foundation to build off of as we construct our lives in accordance with the Way, Truth, and Life that Jesus taught us.

How can we grow in our faith? In what ways can we align our lives with the commandments of God the Father, the teachings of God the Son, and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit? How can we inform and exercise our consciences so that we grow in grace?

O Lord, grant us faith and righteousness.

Amen.

Twenty-Eighth Friday of Ordinary Time

Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. A worker's wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due. But when one does not work, yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.  So also David declares the blessedness of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record.

Believing in God’s Plan for us and following His Will lead to righteousness. Each time we choose to believe, we are credited and given the graces we need to fulfill our calling and perform our good works. Our faith leads to good works because it provides us with the perfect models of what it means to align our lives with God’s Providence. Both Jesus and Mary show us how to be righteous in our thoughts, words, and works. They are embodiments of love, mercy, and grace, ever-flowing with acts of charity and forgiveness. By conforming our lives to theirs, we grow in wisdom and the favor of God, becoming blessed in His eyes. By putting on Christ and imitating Mary, our iniquities are forgiven and our sins forgotten by our Heavenly Father, who sees them alive within us when we embrace our vocation to love Him with all our minds, hearts, and strengths and our neighbors as He loves them.

Do we believe in God’s Plan for us? How can we do a better job of following the vocation God has prepared for us? What can we do to conform our lives to God’s righteousness?

O Lord, we believe in your Divine Providence.

Amen.

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

Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his Blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

Jesus is our bridge from earth to heaven. It is through him that we are all redeemed from our sins and given a chance to live with God in heaven. Christ is righteousness made manifest and if we want to live holy and good lives, then we must do everything in our power to imitate him in thought, word, and work. His Truth gives us a guide to being authentic people. His Life gives us a blueprint on how to live our lives. His Way gives us a roadmap to heaven. We are justified by the saving graces Jesus purchased for us through his Life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection. It is through our witness to our faith and our sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ that we participate in the righteousness, love, and mercy that flows from Jesus’ wounds.

Do we recognize ourselves as sinner? Do we come before God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and seek to make amends for our failings by imitating Jesus? In what ways can we follow in Christ’s footsteps and manifest righteousness?

O Lord, you are the source of all righteousness.

Amen.

Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Sometimes we can forget the saints lived regular lives, just like us. They had friends and enemies and weren’t saints from the start, but rather became saints by how they dealt with their trials in this life and treated others. They experienced abandonment, betrayal, and harm. They also received support and help. The way they got through the ups and downs of their lives is the same way we do. They put their trust in the Lord and allowed Him to lend them strength. They proclaimed the Gospels through thoughts, words, and works so all could hear and witness the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Christ through them. It was not easy and required many sacrifices, but in the end they understood it was only by walking in the footsteps of Jesus that they could arrive at the Promised Land.

Who are our friends and enemies? Do we treat them as Jesus would? Do we trust God to give us the strength we need to overcome all our trials?

O Lord, give me the strength to proclaim your Good News through my every thought, word, and work.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek. For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous by faith will live."

We should not be ashamed of our faith. Our faith asks us to make many sacrifices that worldly people don’t understand. It asks us to put our passions in check and reign in our desires. It asks us to be counter-cultural in our choice of virtues over vices. It asks us to do good, even to our enemies. It asks us to remain pure in a world with so many opportunities to be impure. It asks us to place our trust in God and not ourselves or anyone or anything else. It asks us to praise and worship God and turn our backs on all those things we are tempted to idolize. It asks us to choose a life of service and love of God and His children over a life of self-interest. It asks us to be righteous in a world that preaches an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Most of all, it asks us to live by faith, hope, and love, rather than pride, envy, and wrath.

Are we doing all we can to answer God’s call to righteousness? How can we live out our faith more authentically? What can we do to become fonts of faith, hope, and love?

O Lord, we ask you to help us to grow in righteousness.

Amen.