St. Bonaventure, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
Exodus 1:8-14,22  +  Matthew 10:34—11:1
July 15, 2019

   The Egyptians, then, dreaded the children of Israel and reduced them to cruel slavery….   

Today we begin at weekday Mass to hear from the Book of Exodus.  We’ll continue to hear from this book for about three weeks.  Today’s passage from Exodus is from its first chapter.  Moses does not appear.  What we hear today forms the backdrop for his entrance. Continue reading →

The 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
Deut 30:10-14  +  Col 1:15-20  +  Lk 10:25-37
July 14, 2019

“And who is my neighbor?” 

In the year of Our Lord 529, Saint Benedict laid the foundation for one of the greater monasteries in the history of the Catholic Church.  Monte Cassino, southeast of Rome, is both very accessible and very easy to spot as you journey towards it.  It sits on the crest of a small mountain, surrounded on three sides by valleys.

One of Father Benedict’s most famous rules for his monks is that “in the person of the stranger, Christ is served”.  Every person who knocks on the doors of a monastery is to be treated as if it were Jesus himself knocking on the door.  Every year on July 11th, the Church celebrates one of the feast days of Saint Benedict, the father of monastic life in the West.  St. Benedict exemplified in his life the invitation that Christ is making to the lawyer in today’s Gospel passage.  Christ makes this same invitation to you and me. Continue reading →

Saturday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Genesis 49:29-32; 50:15-26  +  Matthew 10:24-33
July 13, 2019

   “…not one [sparrow] falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.”   

Jesus preaches today about Our Father’s providential knowledge and will.  God knows all things.  We know this abstractly, but perhaps we fail to consider all that this truth of our Faith means. Continue reading →

Friday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Genesis 46:1-7,28-30  +  Matthew 10:16-23
July 12, 2019

   “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves….”   

Jesus was always realistic during His earthly life.  So it’s no surprise that He says to His Apostles, “I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves”.   His words were true in the first century, and are so also today. Continue reading →

St. Benedict of Norcia
Genesis 44:18-21,23b-29;45:1-5  +  Matthew 10:7-15
July 11, 2019

   “Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.”   

One of the items on my “bucket list” is to spend a considerable amount of time writing about The City of God by St. Augustine of Hippo.  He lived in a cultural setting similar to ours.  The book is a contrast between the City of God and the city of man.  His comparison of the two leads to many reflections on the nature of divine Providence.  Many of these reflections consider how God chooses to bring moral good out of moral evil. Continue reading →

Wednesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Genesis 41:55-57;42:5-7,17-24 +  Matthew 10:1-7
July 10, 2019

   Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority….   

Today’s Gospel passage speaks about reaching out to those who are hurt and sick.  We hear Jesus sending his twelve apostles to go out and heal “every disease and every illness.”  More than just a prophet, Jesus has authority not only to call back the repentant to Himself, but also to heal them. Continue reading →

Tuesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Genesis 32:23-33  +  Matthew 9:32-38
July 9, 2019

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

We usually associate the cry that Jesus utters in today’s Gospel passage with the need for vocations in the Church.  But Jesus also speaks through these words about the harvest of one’s own heart, and the fruits of one’s soul.  In each person is a soul created by God, and each soul is capable of being completely filled, as much as it is able:  to be “perfected” by God’s grace. Continue reading →

Monday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Genesis 28:10-22  +  Matthew 9:18-26
July 8, 2019

   “Courage, daughter!  Your faith has saved you.”   

In today’s Gospel passage are two people who see how God wants to be in their lives in time of need.  So many people turn to Christ in need.  When we are honest with ourselves, we know that we would like to ask Christ’s help for so many things in our lives.  It’s true that petitionary prayer—in which we ask for something from God—is not as selfless a form of prayer as adoration.  But God wants us to present our petitions to Him. Continue reading →

The 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
Isaiah 66:10-14  +  Galatians 6:14-18  +  Luke 10:1-9 
July 7, 2019

I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.

Saint Paul tells us today about a spiritual gift that he received from God.  This gift is called the “stigmata”, which refers to the Christ’s wounds from the Crucifixion.  Very few saints have received this gift.  But in case we’re tempted to think of the stigmata as something merely cosmetic—that is, as if it were only scars—we ought to realize that along with the wounds of His crucifixion came also the physical pain of such wounds. Continue reading →