Ordinary Time

19th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year II

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In multiple Gospel accounts the disciples debated among themselves who is the greatest and how to become so, but today they have the openness to ask Our Lord, and he tells them that if they don’t have the attitude of children they won’t even make it into the Kingdom of Heaven. Through Baptism we are adopted as sons and daughters of God; we become his children, and a good child seeks to please his or her Father in everything, and counts on his or her Father to provide everything he or she needs.

If acting like a child of God is necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, Our Lord reminds us today that having the humility of a child is a measure of greatness in the Kingdom. Humility is one of the most precious virtues in the eyes of God: it flies in the face of earthly ambition and vainglory. Alongside humility greatness in the Kingdom is measured by our dedication to even its smallest member. Children were accepted in Our Lord’s time, but not often appreciated. It’d be easy to argue that writing off one sheep out of hundred is okay, but Our Lord invites the disciples to show a greater level of dedication, letting no one be lost.

Let’s ask Our Lord to help us not only form a part of his Kingdom, but to be great in his eyes through our humility and dedication.

Readings: Ezekiel 2:8–3:4; Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131; Matthew 18:1–5, 10, 12–14. See also The Guardian Angels, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, and 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday.

19th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday, Year II

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After a dire reminder to his disciples of his impending Passion a conversation on taxation and a miracle pay-off seems somewhat banal, but if we scratch below the surface we see something a little deeper. The translation used in liturgy speaks of the king’s “subjects” being exempt from paying taxes, but the more literal translation of the original Greek is “sons.” Our Lord shouldn’t be expected to pay the Temple tax because it is the House of his Father. However, he knows that those asking for the tax probably don’t believe that he is the Son of God, so he accedes to their request.

The miracle to pay the tax is almost comical, but it shows that not only the Temple, but all of Creation is the Lord’s house. Our Lord knows his home down to a coin in a fish in hidden in the sea because he knows his Creation and he has made it his home. It makes the tax collectors’ request even more insignificant, but it also underscores the grandeur of Our Lord who is not shy about condescending to such a simple request.

Our Lord is so simple and humble that in his closeness to us he rarely needs to remind us of how majestic he is. Let’s not lose sight of that and adore him as he deserves.

Readings: Ezekiel 1:2–5, 24–28c; Psalm 148:1–2, 11–14; Matthew 17:22–27.

19th Week in Ordinary Time, Sunday, Cycle C

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Today’s Gospel ends with a warning, but it doesn’t begin with one. Our Lord is inviting us today to be magnanimous in our service, not miserly and calculating. Our Lord encourages us today by reminding us that the Kingdom is ours: he describes the moment when the master actually waits on the servants because they’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty and he is so pleased with them. Our Lord wants to give us all we need and more. The key is to be a faithful and prudent servant. We have to remember that we’re not the owner; we’re stewards entrusted with something that doesn’t belong to us, and we have to account for our stewardship.

We can never forget that we’re servants and stewards. We don’t control it all: flat tires, food poisoning, bad weather remind us that not everything is under our sway. We don’t own it all: even when we have the latest iPod there’s always a better model on the way, a newer car, but also a new and unpaid bill. Our Lord teaches us today that true freedom comes from letting go. The Kingdom is true freedom, if we seek it first, everything else will work out, because our treasure, the treasure for ourselves and those we love, is in Heaven.

Let’s resolve to be faithful and happy servants today, because Our Lord’s servants become his friends, and he promises those friends a joy that no one will take from them. Ask Our Lord today to help you see where your heart lies so that you can keep it fixed on the treasure that never fades.

Readings: Wisdom 18:6–9; Psalm 33:1, 12, 18–19, 20–22; Hebrews 11:1–2, 8–19; Luke 12:32–48. See also 29th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday and Wednesday.

18th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches us that the cross is a part of our life whether we want it or not, and what matters is how we face it and why we face it. No matter how often we try to accumulate things in order to ensure  comfort, something prevents it from happening. Some people are wealthy, or healthy, or in charge of their lives, yet they feel something is missing. Our Lord reminds us today that we can have the whole world, yet not possess what is truly important: an enduring and fulfilled life. That enduring and fulfilled life doesn’t exist in this world, yet this world is the path to it. It depends on how we live in this world.

Our Lord teaches us today that the only way to achieve what we truly desire is to take up our cross for the sake of a higher cause: his cause. It’s no coincidence that in this same reading he speaks of the impending arrival of the Kingdom of God: with his very Incarnation the Kingdom has arrived, and on the Cross it begins to achieve fruition as the “conquered” becomes the conquerer of sin and death. Nahum in today’s First Reading describes the point of arrival: peace for the People of God, security forever, and the destruction of evil. He describes Israel (Jacob) as a vine that was damaged by ravagers, but not destroyed: it was pruned by sufferings, yet it endured. Our Lord was ravaged on the cross, but not defeated, and from that Tree of Life an enduring and fulfilling life is made possible, if we take up his cause and imitate him. The alternative is the ravaged world described by Nahum in the second part of today’s reading: the more we seek fleeting things, the more we flee from our crosses and suffer lasting misery, because if we put our stock only in the things of this world,. they will, sooner or later, pass away.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us see our crosses not as burdens, but as opportunities to help construct a better world in his name. Through our crosses, in his service, we can achieve a better life for ourselves and for others. Let’s take up our cross and take up the cause of Christ.

Readings: Nahum 2:1, 3, 3:1–3, 6–7; Deuteronomy 32:35c–36b, 39a–d, 41; Matthew 16:24–28. See also Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday and 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

18th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year II

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The Lord promises the Israelites through Jeremiah in today’s First Reading that the next covenant he forges with them will be different. The first covenant he made with them was on Mt. Sinai after he had led them out of Egypt, and even as he was writing it on stones for Moses up on the mountain the Israelites were violating it down below in the camp. The new covenant would be written on their hearts, not on a piece of stone.

Our Lord brought about this new covenant in his blood, as he himself said in the Last Supper and we remember in every celebration of the Eucharist. We renew this covenant every time we participate in the Eucharist. It is a covenant born from a profound encounter with God in Jesus Christ. That inner intuition that makes us strive to please him and chides us for displeasing him is the covenant written on our hearts. It is not just our conscience, but the Holy Spirit also working within our hearts.

Let’s show our love for the Lord today by making an extra effort to listen to that voice in our heart that leads us to please and serve him.

Readings: Jeremiah 31:31–34; Psalm 51:12–15, 18–19; Matthew 16:13–23. See also 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, and Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

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