Thirtieth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.

God calls us to obey our parents and to honor our fathers and mothers. This is sometime difficult to do, especially since our parents are all imperfect. Just like us, they are sinners, too. They have their blind spots and their blemishes and sometimes it can be hard to love them. They aren't always the best influences, either. However, we should always strive to honor them in the sense of loving them unconditionally and doing our best to obey them when it doesn't lead us into sin. Our relationship with our parents mirrors the relationship between God and us. Sometimes we are difficult to love. Sometimes we are sinners. Sometimes we are blind and blemished. Sometime we are not the best influences on others. Still, God loves us and so we should love our parents, too, in spite of their imperfections. For if we love them, then we will be better able to obey our Heavenly Father and Mother so our lives might go well and we might live forever and ever with God in Heaven.

Do we obey and honor our earthly fathers and mothers? What about our Heavenly Father and Mother? How can we become better children of both?

O Lord, we seek to obey and honor you, our Heavenly Mother, Mary, and the parents you've given us in this life.

Amen.

Thirtieth Tuesday in Ordinary Time

He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his Body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church. In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.

We are loved by God as His own flesh. Just as the Son is loved by Him, so are we. He loves each of us through the Holy Spirit as a husband loves his wife. He loved us so much, He sent His Beloved Son to us... to teach us and sacrifice himself for us so we might be united to Him. God has made us part of His Holy Family through Christ and the Church and we in turn should act accordingly. We should put our trust in Him and love Him without reservation. We should seek to do His Will and bring others into our spiritual family. We should be afraid of doing anything that might disappoint God or harm our relationship with Him. After all, we are His children and should glorify, honor, and praise Him with every thought, word, and work of our lives.

Have we united ourselves to God like husband and wife? Have we aligned our thoughts, words, and works with His? How can we become more perfect members of His Body?

O Lord, we love you and wish to be joined to you as one in body, mind, and spirit.

Amen.

Thirtieth Monday in Ordinary Time

Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

We should seek to be imitators of God in all things, especially in the way we know, love, and serve others. We should be compassionate, merciful, and forgiving. We should be kind and good and seek to do what is right. We should offer ourselves as living sacrifices for the glory of God and the good of others. We must strive to live in love as Christ loved us. This requires a willingness to sacrifice ourselves for what is right and to suffer for God. It means living a life that mirrors Jesus' life from beginning to end. This isn't always easy, but it is a lighter yoke than the chains of sin and will lead us to everlasting life if we are willing to follow in Christ's footsteps.

How can we become more like Christ in our every thought, word, and work? How can we live in love? In what ways can we become more compassionate and forgiving?

O Lord, help us to become good and faithful imitators of you in all things.

Amen.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: You are my son: this day I have begotten you; just as he says in another place: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Although we might not all be called to be priests or religious or missionaries, we are all called to be Christ. In that way, we are all called to be the sons and daughters of God and to proclaim the Good News and participate in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Our every thought, word, and work should have the Gospels behind them so we might be living reflections of Jesus Christ, our high priest and savior. So too, we should place ourselves in the right mind before, during, and after Mass by offering ourselves as sacrifices upon the altar and giving God all our good works. In this way, we live up to our calling to be a priestly people and true sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

What honors has God given us? How can we make them holy? In what ways can we live out our calling to be a priestly people?

O Lord, thank you for making us your sons and daughters through Christ.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Saturday in Ordinary Time

Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole Body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the Body's growth and builds itself up in love.

Our lives should be spent growing into Christ. We are not perfect like him, but we should strive to be the best versions of ourselves. We might not be the good and faithful servants we are called to be, but we should make every effort to become so. Jesus Christ is our head and our goal. He inspires us through the Holy Spirit and leads us closer to his Heavenly Father so we might become worthy members of His Body. He unites us through love, mercy, and grace and supports us in our hope to become holy. He helps us to fulfill our purpose and build ourselves up. Without Christ in our lives, we have no purpose or function. Our bodies, minds, and hearts wither from abuse, disuse, and indifference. But with Christ, we can become what we were meant to be... the children of God and heirs to His Kingdom.

In what ways are we growing into Jesus? Are there things in our lives that are blocking our growth? How can we become more faithfully united to the Body of Christ and the Will of God?

O Lord, bring about our growth as members of the Body of Christ and build us up in love.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Friday in Ordinary Time

I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace; one Body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul urges us all to live in a manner worthy of the call of Christ. It is a calling that emphasizes our oneness in Christ. We are called to be united to our Heavenly Father through the Body and Blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The act of joining our hearts, minds, and spirits to God requires us to trust in Him, to be humble enough to submit our will to His, and to strive to preserve our unity. We are called to faith, hope, and love. We are called to be gentle and patient and bear with one another. We are called to live out our baptismal vocation and imitate Jesus Christ. We are called to be willing to be a prisoner for the Lord and put His Will before ours.

Are we willing to suffer and be imprisoned in order to follow God’s Will? How can we learn to bear with others in patience and mildness? What can we do in our lives to be more united with God and all His children?

O Lord, we wish only to answer the call you’ve given us to be united with you and your children in faith, hope, and love.

Amen.

Twenty-Ninth Thursday in Ordinary Time

I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

If we pray to God, He will save us through His Beloved Son and strengthen us with His Holy Spirit. He will give us every blessing so we might grow in faith, hope, and love. He will help to build up and support our inner selves and give us the confidence we need to believe He is always by our side. His Love will pour out upon us so our souls might grow in fertile soil, rooted in His commandments, teachings, and inspirations. He will nourish our faith, hope, and charity, giving us every grace to bear good fruits for Him and our brothers and sisters in Christ. He will fill us with Himself so we might reflect Him more perfectly and magnify Him in all we think, say, and do. So, let us prepare ourselves for Him and welcome Him as our Heavenly Father, our Beloved Brother, and our Holy Spouse.

Do we act as if we are members of God’s Holy Family? How can we become more faithful children to our Heavenly Father? Are we willing to let God into our lives so He might dwell within us, strengthen us, and fill us with His Love?

O Lord, we kneel before you and ask that you might grant us your strength and comprehension.

Amen