Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Nehemiah 8:1-4,5-6,7-12  +  Luke 10:1-12

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few….”

The Church often quotes verses from today’s Gospel passage in her promotion of vocations.  However, these seventy-two to whom Jesus speaks are appointed and sent for a specific reason.  They are sent “ahead of” Jesus, not in His name or in His person.  They are sent “in pairs to every town and place He intended to visit.”  They are “advance teams”, if you will.  In the general sense in which they are sent ahead of Jesus, we can consider these 72 as symbolizing all baptized Christians.  What Jesus says to them speaks today to each of us Christians. Continue reading →

St. Francis of Assisi
Nehemiah 2:1-8  +  Luke 9:57-62
October 4, 2017

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

The two most important moments of your life are now and the hour of your death.  Likely we’ve known some who live as if death will never arrive, living only for “now”.  The spiritual goal is constantly to relate the two to each other:  that is, now, and the hour of your death.  The world around us, especially schools that want to churn out what they call “achievers”, encourages us instead to relate every now to goals that we plan for:  goals to be realized next week, or next month, or next year, or when we retire.  Those are short-sighted if they’re not set within the larger context of one’s death. Continue reading →

Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Zechariah 8:20-23  +  Luke 9:51-56

He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem….

Jesus sets out for Jerusalem.  The name “Jerusalem” literally means “city of peace”.  It’s there that Jesus will be condemned to death for our sins, and from there led to Calvary, a hill just outside the city limits.  Calvary is the only way that leads to our destination:  the Father’s city of eternal peace, the heavenly Jerusalem. Continue reading →

The Holy Guardian Angels
Zechariah 8:1-8  +  Matthew 18:1-5,10
October 2, 2017

“…their angels in Heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

Our Guardian Angels shed light upon the path that we must walk.  When our struggles each day seem too great, our guardian angels extend a ray of hope down upon us from God.  They allow us to see the face of Our Crucified and Risen Lord, who having shared in our suffering helps us share in His Resurrection, even in the midst of suffering. Continue reading →