Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin & Doctor of the Church
Job 1:6-22  + Luke 9:46-50
October 1, 2018

“Whoever receives this child in My Name receives Me….”

During Christmastide we are used to thinking of Jesus—the divine Word made Flesh—dwelling among us as an infant.  But today, near the start of Autumn, Jesus counsels us to receive Him as a child.  Clearly, then, spiritual childhood isn’t just for Christmas! Continue reading →

The Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]
Num 11:25-29  +  Jas 5:1-6  +  Mk 9:38-43,45,47-48
September 30, 2018

“It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.”

Jesus wants us to wake up when He boldly explains that “It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.” Continue reading →

Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time [II]
Proverbs 3:27-34   +   Luke 8:16-18
September 24, 2018

“Take care, then, how you hear.”

Today the First Reading at weekday Mass begins to come from the Book of Proverbs.  As proverbs tend to be pithy, their nature resembles that of Jesus’ parables.  Hearing the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage, we can imagine that He is speaking to us when He says:  “Take care, then, how you hear.  To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.” Continue reading →

The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]
Wis 2:12,17-20  +  Jas 3:16—4:3  +  Mk 9:30-37
September 23, 2018

… He said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in My Name, receives Me….”

A priest serving in a rural area was asked how many families were in his parish.  He jokingly responded, “About seven.”  His point was that most of his parishioners were from large, extended families, whose roots stretched back to the founding of the parish.  Sacred Scripture is similar. Continue reading →

Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time [II]
1 Corinthians 15:35-37,42-49  +  Luke 8:4-15
September 22, 2018

“This is the meaning of the parable.”

The parable Jesus preaches to us today is well-known.  Its meaning is clear because Jesus Himself explains the parable:  something He rarely does.  Given this explanation, we might apply the parable to ourselves as an examination of conscience.  While Jesus describes the different elements of the parable as relating to different groups of persons, one can reflect on these elements as relating to oneself at different times in one’s life.

“The seed is the Word of God”, that is, God the Son, as St. John tells us in the prologue to his Gospel account.  Our lives as disciples are all about allowing this seed to sink into our souls:  allowing God the Son entrance into our hearts and minds, so that He might bear good fruit within us.

When are we “on the path”?  When are we so shallow in giving our attention to Jesus that the devil snatches Him from our lives?  When are we “on rocky ground”?  When do we allow temptation to have the upper hand over Christ?  When are we “among thorns”, allowing our worldly concerns to choke off both God the Son and the graces He wills to bring into our lives?  During the offering of the Holy Eucharist, ask the Word made Flesh to help you till the field of your life so that it might be “rich soil”.

St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist
Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13  +  Matthew 9:9-13
September 21, 2018

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

Among the four evangelists, only Matthew and John were apostles.  Mark and Luke did not, as far as we know, ever meet Jesus during His earthly life.  Nonetheless, Mark and Luke were disciples of Peter and Paul, respectively, and from those two Mark and Luke received the apostolic witness to the Good News.

On this feast of St. Matthew, we also ought to keep in mind that while all four accounts of the Gospel are apostolic in origin, each presents a unique portrait of the Messiah.  If a man has four very close friends during his life, then after his death each of those four would likely write a different biography of their common friend.  Each account of his life would reflect the biographer’s interactions with him.

Today’s Gospel passage presents Matthew’s own account of how Jesus called him to serve.  Matthew is strikingly honest about his sinfulness.  In light of his own need for mercy, Matthew presents Jesus’s own vocation through the words that the Lord speaks at the end of today’s Gospel passage:  “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  God the Father called His divine Son to carry out this mission, and that Son extends here to Matthew a share in that mission.

The First Reading might seem fitting today because of St. Paul describing various roles within the Body of Christ, such as apostle and evangelist, both of which Matthew was.  However, consider the beginning of this passage, where Paul describes the Christian’s need for humility and patience, so as to bear “with one another through love”.  These words echo Matthew’s description of how Jesus called himself.

Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, & Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, et soc., Martyrs
1 Corinthians 15:1-11  +  Luke 7:36-50
September 20, 2018

“So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.”

In today’s Gospel passage we witness a conflict among the “sinful woman”, Simon the Pharisee, and Jesus.  In this passage, the Lord uses the sinner’s situation to try to bring the Pharisee to Him.  For your own spiritual life, to draw from this Gospel passage, you have to put yourself in the sandals of this sinful woman.

Until we look seriously at our sins, at their effects on our souls, and at their consequences (for ourselves and for others, both in this world and in the next), our experience of prayer will be diminished, and so therefore will the benefits of our prayer.  Too often in our prayer we’re like Simon the Pharisee instead of being like the sinful woman.  The Pharisee says to himself, “If [Jesus] were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”  By contrast, the sinful woman says nothing, but she acts with great love.  The Pharisee speaks to himself with doubt about whether Jesus is even a prophet.  But the woman acts with love towards Jesus, because she knows through faith that He is the Messiah who wants to wash away her sins.

If we wanted to sum up today’s Gospel passage, we could ponder just those two sentences that Jesus proclaims to Simon:  “her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”  In those words, Jesus teaches us two lessons.  First, the virtue of humility is the beginning of a fruitful prayer life.  Second, through that fruitful prayer the Christian finds the start of the contentment and peace of mind that remain elusive until we remain in God.

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time [II]
1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13  +  Luke 7:31-35
September 19, 2018

“But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Our society today is knowledge-rich but wisdom-poor.  Contrast knowledge and wisdom.

Knowledge today, as it’s commonly considered, is thought to be facts and figures.  Computers can put human persons to shame when it comes to sorting, categorizing and presenting information.  While we might dispute whether facts and figures are the essence of knowledge or merely some of its components, we often educate our children according to knowledge-based systems.

What would it mean instead to educate children, and to re-form adults, according to a pattern of wisdom instead?  Jesus in today’s Gospel passage hints that “wisdom is vindicated by all her children”.  These curious words suggest that wisdom “educates” not according to a knowledge-based system, but according to a person-based system.  Jesus teaches us that wisdom bears children; it doesn’t spit out data.  Wisdom can only be understood according to a personalistic view of human life, the Gospel, and the eternal life to which Jesus wants to lead us.  It’s wise for us to follow Him.

Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time [II]
1 Corinthians 12:12-14,27-31  +  Luke 7:11-17
September 18, 2018

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

This week, our First Readings at daily Mass present profound spiritual truths.  Yesterday in the First Reading, St. Paul preached about the importance of the Eucharist, and explained how it came from Jesus Himself on the night before He died.  The night before Jesus offered His Body on the Cross, He offered His Body through the Sacrament of the Eucharist to His apostles.

In today’s passage, we hear Saint Paul preaching again about the Body of Christ.  But He’s preaching about the Body of Christ in a little different way.  Today, when He preaches about the Body of Christ, He’s talking about us.  He’s talking about the Church:  “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”

When you were baptized, you became a member of Christ’s Body.  Your Original Sin was washed away, and the virtues of faith, hope and love were put into you, and through those virtues, you were made strong enough to be part of the Body of Christ.  You don’t have to be strong enough to be the entire Body of Christ, but God has called you to be just one part of His Body.

It’s God who does the calling, so you have to listen to His voice in your prayer, and ask what part He wants you to play within the Church.

When He answers, you’ll realize that God has called you to something very important.  That’s why you’ll continue to need those divine virtues of faith, hope and love that you first received on the day of your baptism.  These are the virtues that Saint Paul goes on tomorrow at Mass to preach about.  These are the virtues that make us strong enough to follow Christ, to be like Him, to be one part of His Body, the Church.