Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time "Weary of Heart"

Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light." (Matthew 11: 28-30)

Introductory Prayer: Almighty and ever-living God, I seek new strength from the courage of Christ our shepherd. I believe in you, I hope in you, and I seek to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength. I want to be led one day to join the saints in heaven, where your Son Jesus Christ lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Petition: Lord Jesus, meek and humble of heart, help me to take on your yoke.

1. Come to Me: If you struggle daily to do what is morally right even when those around you take shortcuts, then come to Jesus. If the life of selfish pleasure and illicit gain seems exceedingly attractive, then come to Jesus. If you are burdened with your patterns of sin and weaknesses of character that affect your vocation as a spouse, a parent, a friend, a consecrated soul, a Christian…, then come to Jesus. If life seems unfair and God seems distant at best, then come to Jesus. He calls us not to a set of principles and noble ideals, but to his very person. We do not follow rules for the sake of rules; we follow Jesus. Only when we have first come to him will we understand the need for the rules which simply help protect the dignity of this relationship.

2. Learn from Me: St. Paul admonishes the Galatians to live in the freedom of Christ: "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). Yet in his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul invites us to be "slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart" (6:5). To be a slave means that I submit to the will of another or am subordinated (unwillingly) to one stronger than I in some way. One who is a slave of passion, vanity, selfishness or any other vice is subject to that vice as something more powerful than oneself. But Jesus calls us friends and not slaves (cf. John 15:14-15). So to be a "slave" of Christ means to entrust my life to him freely with the intention of following where he leads. Experience shows that he always guides us down the path that leads to our happiness and fulfillment, even when it entails the cross.

3. Rest for Yourselves: These words mean “rest,” not in the sense of cessation from work and struggle, but in the sense of peace of soul, joy and profound happiness. This is the rest that we all long for, the rest that will one day be uninterrupted in the bliss of heaven. We have each met individuals who experience this peace and joy despite their circumstances. Notice that Jesus does not promise to take away the burdens, the trials, the sufferings. But if we take his yoke upon ourselves, if we submit to his plan, his will, his love, he guarantees the joy. If you have never experienced it, then begin today; give him what you know in your heart he is asking of you. Although it may hurt at first, as does every yoke, this one brings the lightness of peace and the ease of joy.

Conversation with Christ: Blessed Lord, you lead me towards everlasting peace if I will simply follow, but following does not always seem simple. Give me the very things you ask of me: faith, generosity, courage, trust, love. With these gifts and your grace I will have the strength necessary for the journey.

Resolution: Today I will pray an extra decade of the rosary for the persons who are farthest away from Jesus. 

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time "Knowing the Father and the Son"

At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. (Matthew 11: 25-27)

Introductory Prayer: Almighty and ever-living God, I seek new strength from the courage of Christ our shepherd. I believe in you, I hope in you, and I seek to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength. I want to be led one day to join the saints in heaven, where your Son Jesus Christ lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Petition: Jesus, help me to seek you with a sincere heart.

1. Hidden from the Wise: Wisdom, knowledge and understanding comprise three of seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. So in itself, being wise and learned cannot be an issue. Jesus is here speaking of those whose pride and inflated ego make them wise and learned in their own estimation and for their own purposes. The mysteries of God are thus hidden from them precisely because they have focused their hearts and minds on themselves as the supreme good: "The greater a being is, the more it wants to determine its own life. It wants to be less and less dependent and, thus, more and more itself a kind of god, needing no one else at all. This is how the desire arises to become free of all need, what we call pride" (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, God and the World, p. 125). In the end, it is they who have closed the door to God since God will never close the door on us.

2. Revealed to the Childlike: Later in this same Gospel, Jesus will reaffirm this basic truth in another way: "Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). Even as adults we must never cease to be childlike, uncomplicated and duly dependent. Children are not naturally complicated and deceitful. Hiding behind masks and developing subterfuges is a tendency learned with time. Little by little we begin to calculate, use excuses, ration out our generosity, and stray from the simplicity and rectitude of the way God has marked out. We must strive to be sincere with our Lord and sincere with ourselves, seeking to please him above all things. Failure in our lives is due to insincerity, that absence of the total nobility and utmost loyalty needed to fulfill honorably what Our Lord asks of us.

3. Christ, The Revelation of the Father: Knowledge of the Father is the ultimate good man can possess because it corresponds to the deepest longing in the human heart for happiness. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that happiness lies in knowing that we possess the good we seek. We call the full knowledge of the good possessed "heaven," which is our ultimate goal in life. To whom would Jesus not wish to reveal the Father? Has anyone ever lived for whom Jesus did not desire to know the Father and be in heaven? Jesus´ actions – his preaching, his sacrifices and death on the cross – demonstrate that he wants to reveal the Father to everyone. However he also chooses to need you and me to help him achieve this goal. Do I really desire everyone to know the Father and reach heaven? My actions will answer that question for me.

Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord, grant me the grace to possess the wisdom and knowledge that come from union with you while maintaining the childlike dispositions that you ask. Help me to depend on you as a loving child. Mother Most Pure, make my heart only for Jesus.

Resolution: Today I will reflectively read Philippians 2:5-11.

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time "Harsh or Rash Judgment?"

Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." (Matthew 11: 20-24)

Introductory Prayer: God our Father, you are my shelter against the burning heat of the day and the storms of life. I know and I believe that I can count on your help when I stumble, that you will catch me when I fall and guide my steps firmly in faith toward the promise of eternal life.

Petition: Jesus, help me to seek you with a sincere heart.

1. Blessings and Responsibility: Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more (cf. Luke 12:48). With every blessing comes a degree of responsibility. The mighty deeds worked in these towns were not seen by everyone in Israel, let alone the world. Therefore, those who do see them have a greater responsibility than those who do not. Jesus reproaches them so as to awaken them from their stupor. Since the miracles have not moved them to a deeper faith, then perhaps the reminder that they will one day be answerable to God might. Do I need a similar fear of punishment to drive me from my sins, or am I more focused on pleasing God in the details of my life?

2. The Goal is Repentance: The goal of all of Jesus´ signs is to bring about a change of heart. Even in the Old Testament, the signs and wonders worked by Yahweh were intended to elicit a response of faith and trust from Israel. The danger for Israel, as for Jesus´ listeners and for us, is to become accustomed to these signs and to demand more signs, thus losing sight of their purpose – a redirection of our life from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness. Like Herod, we want to be dazzled by Jesus´ miracles, but we do not want to change our lives. Jesus never works a miracle in order to impress, but only to convert a heart back to God or to bring it into deeper union with God.

3. Reward or Punishment: We can learn a great deal from this strong phrase: Firstly, that we will be judged for our actions and our omissions; secondly, that judgment from God has varying degrees. Since God sees and knows perfectly, the judgment will be objective; those who knew less will be judged less strictly. In other words, Sodom, Tyre and Sidon will indeed be judged, but according to natural law and not according to Christian faith, which they did not have access to at the time. Finally, but not exhaustively, we can deduce that there will be different gradations in heaven and hell according to how well our actions corresponded to what we knew to be true and good. This knowledge should stimulate us to be more generous with God and more centered on things that are above. Our Lord will handsomely reward our smallest good deed.

Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord, open my eyes to the constant workings of your grace in my life. Never allow me to become complacent or to undervalue the tremendous gift of faith in my life. Thank you for reminding me of the importance of my daily decisions. Mother Most Pure, make my heart only for Jesus.

Resolution: Today I will read nos. 1783-1785 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, bishop and doctor of the Church "Love is Demanding"

Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man ´against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one´s enemies will be those of his household.´ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet´s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man´s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple-- amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.

Introductory Prayer: Almighty and ever-living God, I seek new strength from the courage of Christ our shepherd. I believe in you, I hope in you, and I seek to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength. I want to be led one day to join the saints in heaven, whereyour Son Jesus Christ lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Petition: Jesus, I want to love as you have loved me.

1. Not Peace but the Sword: Complacency can be defined as "self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies". This is a false peace, even a harmful peace. It is a self-satisfied peace that lulls us to sleep and can result in the loss of those things that are truly most valuable in life: God, faith, family, etc.... Jesus comes to interrupt that false peace by upending the tables of our lives (cf. John 2:15) in an effort to awaken us to the dangers that our false peace has blinded us to. As he drove out the sheep and oxen from the temple, so, too, he will use circumstances, trials and difficulties as his "sword" to drive out from our lives whatever is opposed to God´s goodness and our own dignity.

2. Nothing Before God: With this phrase we start getting an inkling of the type of sword our Lord is wielding. He is giving us a criterion that starts from heaven downward because he is trying to lift us from the earth upward. What natural relationship is closer than the one between a parent and child, especially a mother and child? Yet even this bond must be subordinate to the love we have for God. Why? Well, no creature, not even our parents, can bring us to the fullness of life and happiness that comes only from God. God wants us to love him, not because he needs our love but because we need him. He is objective reality, and we must always move from the subjective to the objective if we are to possess the truth. Jesus invites us to adapt our standards from the merely natural and passing to the supernatural and everlasting.

3. Love of God Is Inclusive Not Exclusive: Giving a cup of water to one of the least of our brothers and sisters will not go unrewarded, and therefore, unnoticed. In this way, Jesus shows that he is not calling us to a love of God that excludes others. The standard of placing God first does not exclude love for mother or father, sister or brother. Once we love God as he deserves, we will learn to love others as they truly deserve. In fact, we merit the vision of the God we cannot see by loving the neighbor we do see.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, following you demands my all, and at times it seems that I do not have the strength to give what you ask. Help me to stay close to you in prayer and in the sacraments so as to have the grace to live the standard of love and generosity that you ask. Mother Most Pure, make my heart only for Jesus.

Resolution: Today I will make three acts of self-denial and offer them for someone in need of prayers

 

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time "Jesus Breaks the Habit of Putting Limits on Our Love"

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ´Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.´ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers´ victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:25-37)

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the master of the universe, and yet you wish to listen to me and guide me. You know all things past, present and future, and yet you respect my freedom to choose you. Holy Trinity, you are completely happy and fulfilled on your own, and yet you have generously brought us into existence. You are our fulfillment. Thank you for the gift of yourself. I offer the littleness of myself in return, knowing you are pleased with what I have to give.

Petition: Lord, help me to be like the Good Samaritan.

1. Love Our Neighbor Above Ourselves: The people listening to Jesus would all admit that they should love God above all things. Maybe many didn’t practice it well, but they at least pretended to love him outwardly by living his commandments. Love of neighbor was another matter. The Jewish Law of the Talion put a limit on vengeful action: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But Jesus wants to take things to a whole new level – the level of brotherly love. He wants us to live a love for others inspired by the love he showed for us on the cross. We were his enemies, addicted to sin. He owed us nothing, yet he died for our sake. In times past, it was common to abuse the poor and the handicapped as people cursed by God on account of some sin. Now, Jesus proposes to love all, regardless of their condition. Do I strive to love this way?

2. It’s Not Enough to Love Those Close to Me: Probably most of us, like those listening to Jesus, accept that we need to love and serve God, and obey the commandments. But when it comes to loving others, we fail. Sometimes it seems that I have a difficult time loving even those who are closest to me. Those I see on a daily basis are often the ones that have to bear the worst in me. They suffer the most from my impatience, anger and lack of self-control. Why does this happen? Is it because the love I have for my family and closest friends is a selfish love? Is it because I am looking for what they can do for me instead of what I could be doing for them? Love’s response should always be that I haven’t done enough, that I can never do enough – because real love has no limits.

3. Love Your Enemies: Jesus also asks us to love our enemies. In the parable, the victim receives help from someone he, as a Jew, would have considered to be inferior and an enemy – a Samaritan. Although their lands were adjoining, historical circumstances caused them to carry grudges against each other and avoid each other as much as possible. Yet it is a Samaritan whom Jesus makes the hero of the parable. In seeing the man’s distress, and stopping to help and care for him, Jesus makes him the image of himself. St. Augustine says that the Samaritan represents Jesus and the victim represents humanity. When we couldn’t help ourselves, when we were estranged from God’s friendship because of our sins, God in his love stopped to help us. This is the love Jesus wants us to practice – the same love he practiced on the cross. "Go and do likewise," he tells us.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I am sorry for accepting your love for me on the cross while failing to love others in the same way. Don’t let me get discouraged by my little daily setbacks as I try to love more, but encourage me to be more like you, to be a Good Samaritan to all I meet.

Resolution: I will remove the limits I have placed on loving someone close to me – my spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters, close friends, co-workers – and be patient and understanding at moments when I don’t feel like loving.

Saturday, 14th Week in Ordinary Time "Persecution, for Heaven’s Sake"

Jesus said to his Apostles: "No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father´s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." (Matthew 10:24-33)

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the one constant in my life. You are my beginning and my end. I love you as my savior. I trust you as my closest companion. I hope in you as the one who will welcome me into eternal joy.

Petition:  Grant me, Lord, the courage to face persecutions, great and small, for the faith.

1. Forewarned is Forearmed  Jesus´ opponents called him a devil. Either ignorance or hardness of heart prevented them from seeing the good in Our Lord. Opposition to him continues to this day — only now, we receive the brunt of the attacks. Christ warns that his followers will be reviled, just as he was denounced. Hence, it´s no surprise that we are labeled "backward" for our pro-life stance, or "intolerant" because we believe in moral truths. Persecution underscores the authenticity of our faith. If we never face any opposition, we might not be living the faith well enough or publicly enough. How do I handle persecution for my faith?

2. What is True is Always True  Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed. Here, Our Lord assures us that all will be revealed in due time. Lies and fallacies move at the speed of light, thanks to the Internet. Truth seems to travel a lot slower. The problem isn´t new. “For the time will come," St. Paul warned in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, "when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths." Whether it´s the truth about marriage or the dignity of the human embryo, the truth will emerge in the public mind, eventually. Likewise, the truth of Christ has to take root in us if we are to have joy and a sense of meaning. The unhappiest moments of life occur when we stray from Christ´s path. Which vice most needs to be weeded out of my life?

3. Intolerable Tolerance  If we deny Christ, he will deny us at Judgment Day. That´s a sobering thought. So many times the temptation arises to muffle our faith, to give into human respect and keep silent in the face of evil. It can take many forms. We stay mum when a relative brags about moving in with her boyfriend. We say nothing when a fellow Catholic matter-of-factly defends abortion or contraception. Or we as parents fail to intervene when a child spends hours alone on the Internet. All this silence and inaction we chalk up to "tolerance." But Christ didn´t tell his disciples to "Go, be tolerant of all things." Rather, he implored: "Go and make disciples of all nations." Have I kept silent about something when I should have spoken up?

Conversation with Christ:  Lord, following you isn´t easy. Attacks can come on all sides: from family, friends, the media. I almost wish Christianity was easier, but then, it wasn´t easy for you, either. So help me avoid complaining. Grant me strength to be daring for you.

Resolution:  I will raise a delicate point with someone who needs to hear my Christian witness.

Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time "Divisions in the Family"

Jesus said to his Apostles: "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." (Matthew 10:16-23)

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the one constant in my life. You are my beginning and my end. I love you as my savior. I trust you as my closest companion. I hope in you as the one who will welcome me into eternal joy.

Petition: Grant me, Lord, a deeper union with you as the only one who will never fail me.

1. Trust, But Not Too Much: A key paradox of Jesus was that he loved us so much that he underwent the horrors of crucifixion to redeem us and give us a chance at salvation. Yet, he also knows our weaknesses. He knows how fickle the human heart can be. "Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well" (John 2:24-25). Likewise, Christ warns us not to put too much faith in other people. Like us, everyone else has weaknesses. Our faith in them should be relative and realistic. It shouldn´t be on the same level as our faith in Christ. Do I put "too much" faith in others? Do I realize that expecting too much from them leaves me open to needless anguish?

2. Betrayal for Siblings: Christ is the rock against which the waves of humanity crash. His demands cut to the heart of each of us, and require a personal response. How each person responds is a mystery. Some will say yes, some will say no. The division within each person can echo in divisions within families. Little wonder that kin can be our fiercest foes. Christ´s own show of steadfastness assures us that he remains more loyal than even family members. Can I accept that following Christ can cause friction with my loved ones? Can I offer up my trials for their salvation?

3. Love Without Sacrifice: Christ never promised his followers an easy life. If he had, there would be no shortage of disciples. He knows what really makes us mature in love: sacrifice. Sacrifice purifies us, ennobles us. Love without sacrifice is a fairy tale. To love means to share in another´s pain. "When men and women demand to be autonomous and totally self-sufficient," said Pope Benedict XVI in a speech February 9, 2008, "they run the risk of being closed in a self-reliance that … reduces them to an oppressive solitude." Similarly, if we close ourselves to God´s pleasure, we stay stuck in our littleness. Can I accept suffering for Christ as a way to break out of the cocoon of my comfort?

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, it´s not easy being your follower. Opposition can arise on all sides, even from within the family. Help me bear all this well, for love of you. Grant me the serenity to persevere in the faith. I offer my sacrifices for the salvation of those who oppose my following you.

Resolution: I will pray or make a sacrifice for a family member who is away from the faith.