Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary - The “Right” of Gratitude

Jesus said to the apostles: "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ´Come here at once and take your place at the table´? Would you not rather say to him, ´Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink´? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ´We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!´"

Introductory Prayer: Jesus, I believe in you, my Lord and my Creator! You have given me everything, and you owe me nothing. You have forgiven me everything when I owed you more than I could ever pay. I trust in your forgiveness and love, Lord.

Petition: Jesus, help me to be grateful to you.

1. Proud Attitudes: How often are we offended by how others treat us, by a lack of gratitude, respect or appreciation? However justified the reactions of our sensitivity, what lies at the root of our complaints is pride. Looking out from my own broken creaturely condition, I can’t help but see myself for more than I am and expect more respect from everyone – including God. Yet, before God I am but a poor, tiny and dependent creature. From him I receive all that I am and need. How can I demand anything from him? Even worse, how can I complain when I recognize that I am an ungrateful sinner who has denied the rights and love of my Creator?

2. The Fundamental Relationship: Our culture has become one of “entitlement.” We view ourselves as having rights – “just” expectations –, and we expect that much is owed to us. Thus we see children demanding what they want, spouses expecting their preferences to be respected, and the belief that government must provide us with everything. God gets thrown into the fray as well, so that he, too, must deliver according to our attitude of spoiled children. What we forget is that we have received everything from God and we owe him everything. Jesus’ image of the slave and master is not just a metaphor. Although his free and generous gift of redemption raises us up to the level of children and friends, he owes us nothing. Our fundamental relationship with God must be that of a grateful creature with a loving creator. We must start there.

3. Humble Attitudes: Far from asking us to act as “worthless slaves,” Jesus wants to free us from the pride that enslaves. The virtues of service, gratitude, honor and obedience may not be popular today, but they forever reflect the heart of a child of God. Jesus embraced all these virtues and the attitudes of humility that they require. My first duty in life is to serve and obey God. My duty of gratitude can never be exhausted, for he gives me so many gifts – life, faith, family, etc. –, and he leads me to a love that is self-giving rather than demanding my rights before God and others.

Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord Jesus, help me to embrace my condition as creature with humble simplicity. Open my mind and heart to the many endless expressions of your generous love. Teach me a gratitude that thinks more of you than of me.

Resolution: I will pray for the grace to show gratitude to God in my daily activities, striving to make these acts of gratitude occur.

Monday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time - Uprooting Sin

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Jesus said to his disciples, "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ´I am sorry,´ you should forgive him." And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to (this) mulberry tree, ´Be uprooted and planted in the sea,´ and it would obey you.

Introductory Prayer: I believe in you, Lord Jesus, as the only one who can fill my heart. I believe in the power of faith to change my life and the lives of others. I trust that you will grant me the light and strength to cast out sin from my life. I come to you in prayer so that I can love you even more with a firm but serene opposition to sin. 

Petition: Lord, may I desire “death before committing one sin.”

1. Causing Others to Sin: The negative effects of sin are many: offending God, damaging my conscience and soul, hardening my heart, forming bad habits, losing grace and will power, creating distance and difficulty in prayer, etc. But no result of sin is more damaging than that of scandal, where my sin leads others to sin. Why is this so serious? As a Christian I am called to live and teach Christ’s life to others. Scandal falsifies and contradicts my vocation and mission in life. We all have “little ones” entrusted to us: children, family members, those new to the faith, those searching, those who are especially weak…. If I am truly dedicated to lead them to Christ, then sin and scandal will have little room. How real and determined is my dedication?

2. Rebuke and Forgive: We must fight sin wherever we find it. How much more difficult does this become in a world where tolerance is ranked above virtue! Even in family life we are tempted to let things go and not create friction and uneasiness. But if sin is our greatest enemy, then we must always cast it out. The key is to do everything with the heart of Christ, a heart of love: ready to forgive the sinner, never judging their heart, but never minimizing an evil action. How well do I teach moral truth? Do I distinguish the sin from the sinner? Is Christ’s love always my motivation and dominant message?

3. Faith Uproots Sin:  All of this -- fighting personal sin and helping others conquer it -- seemed a bit much for the apostles. They begged for an increase of faith. Faith of any size embraces God’s understanding of the evil of sin and seeks to live accordingly. Yet sin is not overcome easily, and mere understanding is not enough. We must uproot sin from our lives and reject it constantly in the lives of others. Only Christ’s love provides the strength we need, and often the perseverance in battling the same sins over time only comes through the strength that comes from Christ’s love. Only through Christ can our hearts be filled and not return to old habits of sin. 

Conversation with Christ: Give me, Lord, the courage to fight sin in my life. Grant me your heart, Lord, so I can fight and suffer without cowardice, without taking time out and without discouragement, even if others do not understand or thank me. Help me to uproot sin from my life and put you first.

Resolution: I will fight to eradicate sins against charity in my family or work life. I will avoid it and call others to do so too in a gentle but firm manner.

Thirty- Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Confidence in God

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ´If someone´s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.´ Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ´Lord´ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

Introductory Prayer:Lord help me to put aside the concerns and distractions I have now. Help me to focus on you for the next few moments. I believe in you. I believe that you are with me and that you hear me. Open my mind to your words. Open my heart to your concerns. What would you have me do for you today? 

Petition: Lord give me confidence in you and your providence.  

1. Openness to God. The Sadducees were a Jewish group drawn from the priestly and aristocratic classes. In contrast with the Pharisees, they denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels, and they accepted as authoritative only the written law. Here they sought to ridicule belief in the resurrection of the dead, basing their argument on the law of levirate marriage. They pose a question to Jesus not to discover God’s will for their life, but to win an argument. This is a reminder for us. Prayer begins with a general disposition of openness to God. I come to him. I seek his word for my life. I seek him. So my first step is to ask him for the grace to be truly open to hear him speak to my heart. 

2. Our Life is Hidden in Christ. Jesus’ response to the Sadducees invites us to turn our minds to contemplate the mystery of our life in eternity. So often we are caught up in the pressing needs of everyday life, our work and our families. We are stuck in the here and now, without a thought for the hereafter. But it is precisely the hereafter that is the goal of our life. This is where we are headed. It is the goal that gives direction and meaning to activity. If my goal is to drive from New York to Chicago, I know I need a car, some money for gas, and a map. If I forget my goal, the car, the gas money, and the map lose their meaning for me. I drive around without heading anywhere, and my driving loses its meaning. My life is hidden in Christ, and so I need to seek him here and now with all of my strength.  

3. We Are Children of God. Jesus reveals the mystery of our future. “They can no longer die, for they are like angels.” Like the angels, we will possess an indestructible life. Christ gives us a share in his own life. In him, we are children of God. This truth should fill us with great confidence. God is our father. He cares for us. He knows the good things that we need. We can speak to him as a child asks her father for the things she needs. What father would give his son a snake when he asks for a fish? What father would hand his daughter a scorpion when she asks for an egg? 

Dialogue with Christ: Lord, you know me and you know everything about me. I place before you the needs of my heart, the concerns of my family and friends. Help me to be open to your will in my life. Let me not turn away from you or reject you. Let me not become blinded by the arrogance of my own opinions and ideas. Help me to keep you always before me as the goal of my life, the pearl of great price which I joyfully sell all I own to possess. 

Resolution: I will not become worried or anguished today. I will turn my heart to Jesus. 

Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time - The Choice Between God and Mammon

Jesus said to his disciples: "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." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, "You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God."

Introductory Prayer: Father in heaven, I come to you today to praise and worship you. In my faith, I reach out to you, knowing that you love me and are leading me to heaven. I trust in your mercy and boundless love.

Petition: Lord, help me to break the disordered attachments in my life.

1. Earning Trust: Parents know well what this means! Discovering that your teenage child’s story about being at a friend’s house studying was just that — a story — makes for a very unpleasant realization. Trust has been broken. After the “grounding” takes effect, the speech is then delivered: “Here’s what you do if you want to earn back our trust…” Certainly the family car won’t be lent out again until progress in the small things has been seen. That’s the message Jesus has for us today. Our sins are like the trust-breakers of the teenage kid. They show we aren’t ready for God’s greatest gifts, so we have to start with the small things. Each grace we respond to opens the door to receiving another grace. If we are trustworthy in very small matters, we can be trusted with the greater. Following through on the everyday graces will someday lead to the grace of graces: the Beatific Vision.

2. God and/or Mammon: Part of earning trust with God is getting our priorities straight. Taking a God-AND-mammon approach to life is similar to trying to say the rosary while watching television. The Hail Mary’s may come out, but they do so with as much reflection as is put into breathing. We simply can’t have our cake and eat it too. Foolishly entertaining any bad habits (our personal version of mammon) that erode our commitment shows God that we are not spiritually mature enough to be fully trusted. On the other hand, when we take a determined step to break these attachments, we make a big step forward. God must come first! 

3. Human Eyes See Only Part of the Story: Naturally, this effort to live a God-centered life is going to generate mixed reactions. The Pharisees scorn Jesus for this: To them, he seems totally naïve about money. Like them, if we see things only from a merely human perspective, big chunks of reality elude us. Jesus is the one who has the complete picture. We can trust him completely to lead us in the right direction. We won’t need to hedge our bets with human props for our sense of security.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for helping me to realize that your grace is more important than anything I could ever have in this world. Break the hold of mammon in my life so that I might serve you with greater purity of intention.

Resolution: I will make that sacrificial donation to charity that I have been putting off.

Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop - What Is This I Hear about You? The parable of the Steward

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ 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 are the children of light.”

Introductory Prayer:  Jesus Christ, where else can I turn each day but to you? One day, I will make that final turn to you, and it will last for all eternity. Yet as in everything else, you set the pace, you take the initiative, and you are the protagonist. You will turn and look my way first and I, as I strive daily to do, will respond and gaze back into your eyes. This moment of prayer is a rehearsal for that final turn to you.

Petition: Lord, help me to respond better to your love.

1. What Is This? “What is this I hear about you?” Of course, this is just a parable. In actuality, God doesn’t need to “hear” anything about us since he is all-knowing. Yet, he may very well say to us, “What is this?” as he looks over the record of our lives and reminds us that we are accountable for all our free actions. Let us take a look, in our prayer now, at the face of this Father who asks, “What is this?” Does it perhaps express concern over a wound in our soul, over something that has marred the beauty of our image as sons and daughters of this Father?

2. A Full Account: Yes, we will have to give that full account. The sacrament of reconciliation, prepared by thoughtful and prayerful examinations of conscience, affords us the opportunities to give that account, piece-by-piece, as a preparation for the final audit. What a grace! Are we taking advantage of it?

3. Squanderer: Could the Good Lord accuse us of being squanderers? This isn’t the only place in the Gospels where the word appears. Recall that the Prodigal Son was accused of squandering his father’s wealth. Certainly to squander is to misuse, to use unwisely, to waste, or to use extravagantly. What about all the graces that God has given to us: our faith, our Catholic Church, the sacraments, the scriptures, the example of the saints, the rich deposit of Catholic tradition, the means that have been placed in our hands today, the time we have been offered, the talents we have been given? Are we squanderers? How can I respond better to the many gifts Our Lord has given me? How can I better “invest” my talents for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven?

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus Christ, awaken me to your gifts and make me zealous and generous in using them for the good of the brothers and sisters you have put at my side. Through my daily examination of conscience, help me to be a good steward so that one day I may arrive with you and enjoy you in paradise as my eternal reward.

Resolution: I will employ the time of my examination of conscience today to thank God for all the graces and blessings he has bestowed upon me. I will make a careful accounting of what God has placed in my hands.

Memorial Saint Martin of Porres - Grace Lost and Found

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable. “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. “Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe that you came into this world to redeem sinners. I hope in you, and in your power to transform my soul, by your grace, from sinfulness to holiness. Lord, I love you and offer you the longings of my heart to put you truly first in my life. I want to love you with all my mind, heart, soul and strength.

Petition: Lord, save me from my sinful habits and help me grow in virtue.

1. “This Man Welcomes Sinners and Eats with Them”: Jesus is willing to sit down and share a meal with me. In other words, my Lord and Redeemer overlooks my unworthiness in order to speak with me. This attracts my attention. I know my guilt yet I do not feel judged, and so I draw near and listen to him. In so many of my misguided actions, I have sought personal benefits which I do not deserve. I accept, even demand favors from those around me, while hypocritically not respecting their needs or the common good. Often there is no difference between my lifestyle and that of a “tax collector” or “sinner.” Still, Jesus is willing to lower himself and share a meal at my table, despite the criticism and rebuke he receives on my account. I can connect with him at his level, since he has lowered himself to mine, in order to lift me up.

2. “Rejoice with Me Because I Have Found My Lost Sheep”: For Christ, every soul has value. Every soul has been created through him, in God’s image and likeness. No sin, while this time of mercy lasts, can escape the reach of the Redeemer’s infinite love. Christ has shed his blood and passed through death in order to save those souls who have died in their sins, and he restores them to life. All that I have to do is hear his shepherd’s voice that calls out to me and finds me where I am. I need only to let myself be found, let him take me up in his arms, let him dispel my darkness and fear by the warmth of his love, and let him return me to the fold. “Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace” (CCC, 654). Every sin confessed, and every new virtue acquired, is a triumph of God’s grace in my soul.

3. “Rejoice with Me Because I Have Found the Coin That I Lost”: In Christ, there is communion. No Christian is left to stand alone. God’s grace in a soul radiates out to others. This is one of the most beautiful fruits wrought by Christ’s redemption: A soul is brought into union with his Mystical Body. Communion between the members of Christ’s Body produces joy, and I am meant to proclaim it. In the same way that others rejoice whenever the light of God’s grace shines in my soul through good works (Cf. Matthew 5:16), so too, I should lift praise to God whenever I discover his goodness in others. “Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: ‘Go and tell my brethren.’ We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection” (CCC, 654)

Conversation with Christ: Lord, you do not judge or discriminate against me, so long as I am willing to listen to your voice and respond to your promptings. Please continue to grant me your merciful grace, so that your call to holiness will triumph in the life of my soul. Let me rejoice with others.

Resolution: Today I will consciously choose to exercise a virtue that will help me break one of my sinful habits.

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day) - Man of the Mission

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it (on) the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him (on) the last day.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for your unconditional love for me. You never give up on me, even though I have sometimes kept my distance in following your plan for me.

Petition: Help me to realize that I always need to approach you especially when I feel unworthy or uncertain.

1. Entrusted to Christ: God has chosen to use us as his instruments to help bring his salvation to others. He knows us perfectly and is well aware of all our frailties. At the same time he also knows the talents we were given to help us fulfill the task. That is why Jesus taught us to approach the Father with confidence. Sometimes we can mistakenly get the idea that Christ is our merciful intermediary who saves us from the fiery wrath of the Father of Justice. Yet we see here that the Father is paternally protective of us and in fact is the one who takes the initiative and sends us to Christ.

2. In good hands: The Marines pride themselves to the fact that they will leave no man behind on the battlefield; that they will surrender no man’s body into the hands of the enemy. God the Father gave Christ similar orders. When a Marine risks his life to rescue the dead corpse of his buddy, as edifying as it is, one is tempted to ask, “Is it really worth it?” Christ gave up his life to save our eternal life and gives us all the grace we need to keep our souls from the clutches of the devil. Could we not also ask, “Was it really worth it?” “Is my life really worth all that much to him?” Christ answers with a definitive “Yes! Absolutely!” We could confidently state that God is more interested in my salvation than I am? If so, what plans might he have for me?

3. On a mission: It is amazing that in his plan of salvation, God the Father would entrust his Son into the care of his creatures, Mary and Joseph; and equally astounding is the share of responsibility he entrusts to every Christian in the salvation of many souls. Just like a soldier, a Christian without a clear idea of his mission is ineffectual. Christ wishes to leave no man behind. This is clear not only by his death, but also by the extremes he went through in his life to save sinners. Am I aware of the many souls Christ has put in my hands? Have I already surrendered over some souls to the enemy because they seem hard to work with?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me to see the value of a single soul. Show me how to love the souls entrusted to me with a personal love. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your love. If I had not discovered your love, I would have remained a slave of my own whims and desires. But knowing your love helps to put aside my self-centeredness and to love others.

Resolution: I will make a special sacrifice today for all the souls entrusted to me.