Those who proclaim God's message sometimes face great difficulty. Jeremiah is thrown into a cistern because the people in Jerusalem don't want to hear his demoralizing words calling for surrender.
Jesus says that these difficult circumstances should not surprise His followers because His words have such a powerful force to them that it will cause division. No one can remain neutral: either people will embrace the message of the Truth, or despise and resist it.
In the midst of this reality, we fix our eyes on God, so that we may persevere in the course before us, remaining faithful to Him who sent Christ to endure great difficulty to rescue us from sin and bring us into His Kingdom, as He has done for all the saints who have gone before us.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
August 7, 2016: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Kingdom of God is coming, and God wants us to be ready for His arrival.
He has given us the great gift of Faith by the Paschal Mystery that directs the focus of our lives toward awaiting His arrival, because this great gift compels us to live in a way befitting of it: We focus on building treasure in Heaven, and keeping busy in those activities that glorify God and benefit of others, that truly we experience the blessings of being His people. Faith drives us toward a Heavenly Reward, which we don't have a grasp of, but we know for sure it's real, and we aim for it.
While we don't know when He's coming, we live in a way that acknowledges that reality, in a state of constant readiness, eager to behold our God when He comes.
He has given us the great gift of Faith by the Paschal Mystery that directs the focus of our lives toward awaiting His arrival, because this great gift compels us to live in a way befitting of it: We focus on building treasure in Heaven, and keeping busy in those activities that glorify God and benefit of others, that truly we experience the blessings of being His people. Faith drives us toward a Heavenly Reward, which we don't have a grasp of, but we know for sure it's real, and we aim for it.
While we don't know when He's coming, we live in a way that acknowledges that reality, in a state of constant readiness, eager to behold our God when He comes.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
July 31, 2016: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The author of Ecclesiastes spends much of the book wrestling over the meaning of life, in the face of meaninglessness. He comes to the conclusion that is espoused and expounded upon by the other readings. By His Paschal Mystery, Christ has freed us from sin, has made us anew, and now secures us a place in Heaven. Our lives now find purpose in striving for Heaven and accumulating Heavenly treasure, not being so fixated on earthly matters. Jesus refers to a focus on wealth and enjoying its pleasures as foolishness, because it's so temporary. Rather, He calls us to focus on building treasure in Heaven, which is everlasting, to the praise of God.
Focusing on Heaven above was fitting when attending Mass at St. Peter's in Cripple Creek, CO, at an elevation of nearly 2 miles above sea level, and even as the guest priest asked for support for his mission work in Kenya.
Focusing on Heaven above was fitting when attending Mass at St. Peter's in Cripple Creek, CO, at an elevation of nearly 2 miles above sea level, and even as the guest priest asked for support for his mission work in Kenya.
Monday, July 25, 2016
July 24, 2016: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
God has won for us salvation from our sins and new life in Him, by Christ's dying and rising in the Paschal Mystery. And He invites us to draw close to Him, to be in a relationship with Him. He wants us to plead for His mercy, confident that He will give it. He wants us to persistently seek Him, as demonstrated by the parable of the person who comes to a friend at night, seeking food for guests.
We must be persistent, because it's all about actively seeking God. He wants us to pray as a way to grow in relationship with Him. Prayer may not always get us the answer we want, but it gives us His presence, which brings us alive in Him, in a whole new way.
Father Hurlbert very insightfully noted in his homily at Ascension this weekend that the one type of prayer in which we're always guaranteed the answer we seek is in the sacraments. For example, when we call down the Holy Spirit on the bread and wine, they actually become the Body and Blood of Christ. In reconciliation, we verily receive God's mercy, which we seek. Indeed, we encounter the very presence of God Himself.
We must be persistent, because it's all about actively seeking God. He wants us to pray as a way to grow in relationship with Him. Prayer may not always get us the answer we want, but it gives us His presence, which brings us alive in Him, in a whole new way.
Father Hurlbert very insightfully noted in his homily at Ascension this weekend that the one type of prayer in which we're always guaranteed the answer we seek is in the sacraments. For example, when we call down the Holy Spirit on the bread and wine, they actually become the Body and Blood of Christ. In reconciliation, we verily receive God's mercy, which we seek. Indeed, we encounter the very presence of God Himself.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
July 17, 2016: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The readings call us to get to work--the work of growing closer to God. That is what gives meaning to everything in life, when we see it as an opportunity to be present to God and glorify Him.
Part of this is having an attentiveness to our circumstances that makes us aware of God's presence in them. This kind of awareness is what makes Abraham act immediately when three visitors arrive. Aware of their Divine nature, he offers Them gracious hospitality.
Martha keeps busy in waiting upon the Lord Jesus when He comes as a guest, but loses sight of how meaningful it is to be in His presence because she's so busy in the act of waiting on Him. When she openly expresses her frustration with her sister, who should have been helping her, Jesus draws her attention to what is most important--that which Mary keeps aware of as she remains at His feet, being present to Him and the gracious words He offers. (The commentary in the lector workbook I use notes that in that society it was not a woman's place to be at the feet of a rabbi, and a woman was expected to be serving in the kitchen. Truly Jesus is bringing about a new social order.)
Father Hurlbert put it well in his homily at Mass, saying that any work we do for God should keep us busy like Martha, but we should come out of it like Mary, with a greater awareness of God's presence. In so entering His presence, we are more aware of the Mystery that God has drawn us into, that we, made righteousness, may abide in His presence.
Part of this is having an attentiveness to our circumstances that makes us aware of God's presence in them. This kind of awareness is what makes Abraham act immediately when three visitors arrive. Aware of their Divine nature, he offers Them gracious hospitality.
Martha keeps busy in waiting upon the Lord Jesus when He comes as a guest, but loses sight of how meaningful it is to be in His presence because she's so busy in the act of waiting on Him. When she openly expresses her frustration with her sister, who should have been helping her, Jesus draws her attention to what is most important--that which Mary keeps aware of as she remains at His feet, being present to Him and the gracious words He offers. (The commentary in the lector workbook I use notes that in that society it was not a woman's place to be at the feet of a rabbi, and a woman was expected to be serving in the kitchen. Truly Jesus is bringing about a new social order.)
Father Hurlbert put it well in his homily at Mass, saying that any work we do for God should keep us busy like Martha, but we should come out of it like Mary, with a greater awareness of God's presence. In so entering His presence, we are more aware of the Mystery that God has drawn us into, that we, made righteousness, may abide in His presence.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
July 10, 2016: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
God speaks His Word to us, now in Jesus Christ who speaks from within our hearts, that we might respond to His invitation of love: His Word ultimately calls us to turn outward to show love to other people. Regardless of who they are, they are all the same in that by showing them mercy, and loving them from the heart, they become our neighbor. Indeed, there is much room for us to expand our horizons in embracing so many others as "neighbor" in the exchanging of mercy.
This love comes as God, the Creator, has reconciled all through the redemptive blood of His Son Jesus Christ. By the Paschal Mystery, God shows us love, and so we love Him back, and then turn to love others in showing them mercy in action.
This love comes as God, the Creator, has reconciled all through the redemptive blood of His Son Jesus Christ. By the Paschal Mystery, God shows us love, and so we love Him back, and then turn to love others in showing them mercy in action.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
July 3, 2016: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
God gives us comfort and assurance that He will come to us and lavish us with His abundant care. We can trust in Him and rejoice because He is bringing us a Kingdom. We who are His disciples now have our lives directed by working to bring forth this Kingdom in our world, and one day, we will enter it.
It is a Kingdom that is ours when we commit our lives to the Cross, by which we have been made new. At this time of year when we the people of the United States celebrate our freedom, we Christians recall, as Paul writes in stirring words in Galatians 6, the glorious freedom won for us in the Cross of Christ.
It is a Kingdom that is ours when we commit our lives to the Cross, by which we have been made new. At this time of year when we the people of the United States celebrate our freedom, we Christians recall, as Paul writes in stirring words in Galatians 6, the glorious freedom won for us in the Cross of Christ.
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