July 30, 2023: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus shares two parables in the Gospel passage for today about great treasures. 

Ultimately, our faith is truly a pearl of great price.

It is our way of entering into and growing in relationship with God Who loves us and has sought to bring us through the Paschal Mystery into His glory.  It is with this faith that we have the eyes to see everything from God's perspective.

God is just, and though He punishes, He provides a way for us to mercy and life.

With the eyes of faith, we also recognize what is most worthwhile.  It's telling that God granted King Solomon the opportunity to ask for whatever he wanted.  And while he asked for wisdom, Solomon already possessed a great measure of it to recognize that was the greatest thing to ask for when presented with such an opportunity from God.

So let us seek the greatest treasures of all, be filled with love for His commands, and follow His ways, seeing from His perspective.

For everything we do to grow in our relationship with God is worthwhile.

I reflected on these readings 18 years ago while preparing for Confirmation, in which I sought to be ready for the sealing in the Spirit, including the gift of Wisdom that would help me live most worthwhile.

I also celebrate the great wisdom that my Great Aunt Carmen has gained over the years that has led her to share her life, love, and faith with so many. As she turns 90 on her birthday today, we have so much to celebrate.

Truly, our lives are worthwhile when lived from God's perspective so we live for what is of the highest value.

July 23, 2023: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Though God has justice for wrongdoing, He is also gracious and provides a way for mercy and redemption.

The first reading is full of language describing this, and ends on a great note by saying people have hope because He permits forgiveness of sins.

The parable of the weeds illustrates how God may permit sin for now, but then will bring redemption at the end of the age, when the weeds and wheat are separated, and His people shine.

Even now, the Spirit is at work in us, aiding us through our struggles against sin, praying in us with "inexpressible groaning" in ways that we don't fully understand, and yet are working us toward redemption.  The Spirit is at work even to remove the weeds in our hearts so that we can be reconciled to God and one another as we bear one another's faults while working to build the Kingdom that starts small and grows abundantly within us.

July 22, 2023: Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

St. Mary Magdalene knew the power of God's love in her life.

First, Christ cast multiple demons from her.

She devoted her life to serving Christ.

And she was given the honor of being the first witness to the reality of the Resurrection at the Empty Tomb on that first Easter Sunday morning.  At a time when a woman's testimony wasn't valid in court, God gave her the important role of announcing that Christ had conquered death victoriously.

This reality impacts all of us, even as Christ brings healing to each of us individually.  As healed and redeemed people, we follow in the way of St. Mary Magdalene and announce the Good News that lives in us.

July 16, 2023: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God speaks His Word and acts His Word simultaneously.

He sends it forth to the Earth, just like the rain and snow as Isaiah describes, and it accomplishes His purposes.

People respond in different ways, like the different types of ground on which the sower's seed falls in the parable.

Since God's Word is so mighty, we are called to have hearts with rich soil where the Word will bear fruit, so that as it accomplishes God's will, it bears fruit in us.

I visited Father Hurlbert, a former pastor at Ascension Parish, attending Mass at Nativity Parish, where he is now.  He insightfully discussed how healthy plants bear seeds that produce fruit.  Just so, those of us with a vibrant faith life pass on the faith to the next generation so that they grow abundantly and bear fruit.

We indeed are the firstfruits of the work of redemption, which St. Paul describes in the 2nd reading, which not only impacts us, but all of Creation.

God continued a mighty work of redemption through Our Lady of Mount Carmel, whose feast is today.  And he did it also through San Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary who founded the first California Mission at San Diego on July 16, 1769.  He founded a string of missions, all in the name of proclaiming the Gospel.

And so we are called to have rich soil in our hearts so that the Gospel is alive in us, even shown in how we live the Gospel as a blessing to the world around us.

July 9, 2023: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The prophet Zechariah speaks of the coming of the King with great joy.  This King comes to us humbly, on a donkey.  And He brings lasting peace to all the earth.

We see this prophecy in the coming of Jesus, especially in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  He brings peace because of His close relationship with the Father, which He reveals to us.  When we humble entrust ourselves to the God Who gave Himself for us in Jesus Christ, we know His peace, because we rest in Him.  And we share in the Divine Life of the Trinity:  The Father and the Son love each other, and the Holy Spirit proceeds forth from that love.

And the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us so that our lives are transformed as we repent from ways of death and enter into the fullness of Life God grants us.  We celebrated this great reality three months ago on Easter Sunday, April 9.  And we continue to rejoice in it today, Sunday, July 9, because God has revealed to us great mysteries, showing that He alone brings purpose and joy to life.  When we turn from thinking that worldly things can satisfy us, we will truly rest and share in that joy.

July 2, 2023: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are called to follow Christ with devotion that surpasses even our love for those in our family.

We do so recognizing God is the source of all goodness in our lives, just like in His goodness, at the word of Elisha, God provided a child for the Shunamite woman, who had been so good in serving Elisha, acknowledging He was a prophet.

God shows His greatest goodness to us in sending us His Son, Who brought us salvation.  We join with Christ in baptism into His death and rise to newness of Life that we live following Him wholeheartedly.

At this time of year when we celebrate the independence of the United States, we recall that our faith teaches us we have been set free for the purpose of being who we are meant to be in God's sight, which we discover when we give of ourselves.