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 →

Saturday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Genesis 27:1-5,15-29  +  Matthew 9:14-17
July 6, 2019

   “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?”   

It’s the disciples of St. John the Baptist—and not the saint himself—who appear and speak in today’s Gospel passage.  Nonetheless, today’s passage offers us similarities and contrasts between Jesus and John:  one of them the Word made Flesh, and the other the voice of the Word.  In this, we as disciples of Jesus—as members of His Mystical Body—ought to reflect on how John’s role is our own. Continue reading →

Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time [I]
Genesis 23:1-4,19;24:1-8,62-67  +  Matthew 9:9-13
July 5, 2019

   “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”   

Today’s Gospel passage presents to us the vocation of Saint Matthew.  The word “vocation” literally means a “calling”.  A vocation is something “vocal”, which comes from the Voice of God (or perhaps better, the Word of God).  That might not seem earth-shattering news.  But what we sometimes forget is that a Christian vocation is not announced by Christ to a Christian at a single initial moment. Continue reading →