August 25, 2024: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

On the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 23, 2009, I attended Mass at St. Teresa's Catholic Student Center for the first time, a day after coming to Valparaiso University to start my college education.

I heard the same readings at Mass today, once again in Valparaiso.

Jesus has presented a profound message about His Body and Blood throughout the course of John 6, and it compels a response from those who hear Him.  Some, unable to comprehend what He said, discontinue as disciples and return to their former way of life.

Then Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks them if they want to leave.

St. Peter responds with a firm statement of commitment, acknowledging that Jesus is the Holy One of God, speaking the words leading to Eternal Life, as the Word.

In the first reading, Joshua also compels the people to make a choice, and states that he and his household will serve the Lord.  The people, aware of all that God has done to bring His people to the Promised Land, state their commitment to serve the Lord.

When I heard these words 15 years ago, God was presenting me a choice to commit to my part as a member of the Church community.  Fully aware of how God was making Himself present to me through the community of St. Teresa's, I responded by getting involved.

Today, Bishop McCLory celebrated a special Mass for the 50th Anniversary of St. Teresa's.  He said that making a commitment is not a one time matter, but something God calls us to do continuously.

And so when we come before the altar to receive His Body and Blood, we answer the call again to be part of His church community, responding in love to the One Who has loved us and given of Himself for us, an image reflected in the martial union of husband and wife.

Keeping constantly aware of how God makes His sacrificial love present to us, we always have reason to respond and remain committed to our relationship with Him, and then go forth in our mission to share that love with all the world.

I know that I am blessed to have had a part in the 50 years of ministry that St. Teresa's has offered, because it truly has impacted my life and sent me forth to live out the encounters I had with God during my years at St. Teresa's.

August 18, 2024: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

St. Paul exhorts the faithful to live in the spirit of thanksgiving.

God has given us so many abundant riches, as described in the first reading from Proverbs.  This banquet points toward the greatest of these riches God has gifted us in the Very Life of His Son Christ, Who is the Bread of Life.

Like Bishop Barron states in his homily for this Sunday, it was quite a paradigm shift for Jesus's audience.  They adhered to rules that forbade eating any animal with its blood, which was its life, still in it.  Now Jesus, the Word of God Made Flesh, creates a new way of life.

More than just a gift, the Eucharist is God Himself, as God transforms food and drink to be His presence.  When we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, He truly lives in us, and we have Eternal Life.  As we strive toward the fullness of Eternal Life in Heaven, we experience it now as we live, reflecting God's character.

August 15, 2024: Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

For centuries, the Church has held to the doctrine defined in 1950, that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life.

As the first disciple, she experienced what we hope to experience, that we will be in the fullness of life with God, both body and soul.

We follow the way to Eternity through the Church, which Christ, born of Mary, established.

On our way to Heaven, we rejoice with Mary in the mighty works God has done for us, manifesting salvation before us through the Son Who is present with us, the reason for our hope.

August 11, 2024: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God is always seeking to sustain His people in their great need.

He did so for the Hebrews journeying through the desert.  He did it again for Elijah the prophet as he fled Jezebel.  An angel twice insisted He get up and eat.

Ultimately, God provides for us in the fullest way in Jesus Christ, Who declared Himself the Bread of Life.  Yet like the Hebrews murmured in the desert, grumbling against God, some gathered before Jesus are hardened against His declarations.

Truly, God is the One Who draws people to Himself.  He provides the way to Eternal Life by offering Himself as the Bread of Life that brings us into Eternal Life now.

It is a way that calls us to love God and show that love to others, leaving aside behaviors that cause hurt and fostering Christ-like behavior of goodness.

Christ is truly a fragrant offering pleasing to the Father which has become a blessing to us, Who partake of His offering.

August 6, 2024: Feast of the Transfiguration

Throughout history, God unveiled great revelations to His people, including through the prophets.

He reveals the fullness of His glory in Jesus Christ, and the Transfiguration gives a pre-Paschal Mystery glimpse of it.

This wondrous event truly speaks to the reality behind the reality, as Father Bobby said at Mass today at St. Leonard.

While we continue through the ordinary circumstances of life, we're driven by a reality that we know is true because of the glimpses God has given us.

We continue on our way to Heaven, to live as truly alive because we're bound for glory, and we've experienced it now.

August 4, 2024: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When God's people, the Hebrews, journeyed in the wilderness to the Promised Land, they despaired because they lacked sufficient food.  God, in His grace and mercy, provided them quail and manna. It was a sign of how they had to depend on God to sustain them.

Now, God has come to us in His fullness in Christ.  When talking with the people in Capernaum in the Gospel reading from John 6, they referred to the bread from heaven that Moses gave them.  Christ then indicated He is the true bread from heaven, the Bread of Life Who came down to bring life to the world.

Truly, we depend on Jesus to satisfy us in the fullest way, so that we will never hunger or thirst.

Furthermore, as St. Paul writes, we are transformed to leave behind our former way of life, living as renewed people, exhibiting God's righteousness.  He imparts it through Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.  He gives us His Life and then we are called to share it with the world.