September 29, 2019: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In tones similar to last week's liturgy, God calls us to use our wealth for good purposes, and not focus solely on amassing wealth for our own pleasure.

The rich man, like those criticized in Amos, took pleasure his wealth, and totally neglected the needy, like Lazarus who was at his front door.

God stands ready to judge those who heed not the needs around them, and like Mary proclaims in the Magnificat, He will reverse the fortunes of this world, bringing the comforted to great despair in the next life, as He brings great comfort to those afflicted in this life.

We can use our wealth for good purposes when we live in the virtues and righteousness to which St. Paul calls Timothy.

Even as we are promised the fullness of Eternal Life one day, we share in a portion of it even now.  So let us lay hold of this Eternal Life that God calls us to, and pursue the ways of faith, the great gift granted to us by God.

September 22, 2019: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I remember during a retreat a few years ago, we focused on the parable of the dishonest steward.

It’s quite odd that Jesus would commend someone acting dishonestly, but when looking closer at the context, we realize that Jesus narrows in on the steward’s earnestness in gaining for himself.  Jesus then says that spirit of earnestness is a model for how we should strive in advancing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

We should not seek to profit for ourselves, but go above and beyond in helping those in need, recognizing that God extends special care for the poor and needy, raising them up.  May we answer the call to help those in need and be part of how God cares for them.  Let us seek to be one people of God, in the spirit in which St. Paul writes we should offer prayers for everyone and live quietly and peaceably.

As I think about first coming to St. Teresa’s 10 years ago, and the many relationships I forged in that community, especially with Dan and Ann Ruggaber.  They helped meet my need of community to offer consolation while away from home, and aiding me in attaining a purpose-filled life in advancing the Kingdom in great earnestness.

September 15, 2019: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

While God is just, He is also merciful, in a radical, reckless way.

It doesn't matter how far we've strayed from Him in sin.  He is always ready to welcome us back when we repent and turn again to Him, so vast is the power of His grace and mercy, which nothing can overcome.

When we come back to Him, we are back in the abundant Life He has granted us through salvation.  There is truly reason to celebrate when sinners repent and turn to Him, because it is a manifestation of His Life.

May we open ourselves to the ways God showers His mercy and grace on others, aware of how much He had for us.

September 14, 2019: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Jesus Christ was crucified upon the Cross, a horrible punishment given to the worst of criminals by the ancient Romans.

Yet God redeemed this instrument of torture to be a means of salvation, so that in joining Christ in dying, we could enter into the abundance of new Life that the Cross brings.

Such a reversal brought in the power of redemption is truly God's power of triumph.

September 8, 2019: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus is calling us to a new way of life that demands much of us, that we devote our lives to Him as the primary focus.

I remember hearing these reading at the Mass on the Grass held at St. Teresa's during my college years, when we had Mass outside.  And at the outdoor Mass at Ascension Parish this weekend, I heard them again, including the once every three year proclamation of a reading from Philemon.

It was from that reading that Father Hurlbert noted that God doesn't force us to obey Him:  He gives us the option to freely choose Him.  We grapple with what it costs us so that we may have strength of character and faith to follow after Him, persevering in those demands, knowing He makes a way for us, and prospers the works we do by faith, so that we can live with purpose and meaning.  It is like Mary, who Nativity is today: She said "Yes" to God's plan and fulfilled a significant role in God's plan.

It is also like those first Spanish settlers who came ashore on September 8, 1565, and when they founded St. Augustine, Florida, they celebrated Mass to demonstrate their thanksgiving and devotion to God.  From that first Mass in the present-day United States, we continue to offer thanksgiving as a sign of devoting our lives to Him.

September 1, 2019: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the past, God's people were afraid to approach Him as He manifested Himself in terrifying glory on Mount Sinai.

Now, we can access God in a less terrifying way as we draw near the Heavenly Jerusalem.  There, we encounter a festal throng, and Jesus, the mediator of the new Covenant, Who makes it possible to draw so close to God by faith.

Similar to last weekend's readings, though, this faith compels something of us.  It calls us into a new way of Life, based on humility, as we follow after the One through Whom we have access to the Father.

We are not to seek the best for ourselves, or to have repayment for our kindness.  We are to seek to give of ourselves, putting others in a place higher than us, as we strive on toward the Heavenly Jerusalem where we will ultimately receive the reward of glorifying God in His very presence as we have done so on Earth to those around us.