Month: July 2015

15th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord invites us to rest by taking up his yoke and learning from him. It seems like a strange way to rest: not many people associate taking a break with taking on more work. Our Lord is trying to be encouraging while being realistic: the burdens of life do not go away by being a good Christian. Some may argue that being a Christian is more of a burden. Jesus is teaching us today that it is not so much a question of getting rid of burdens as learning to manage them in a Christian way and with a Christian attitude.

Adam and Eve decided to take all the “burden” upon themselves, and we all know how that turned out, not just for them, but for all of us. We take burdens upon ourselves for fleeting and passing things–success, pleasure, power–and then we’re surprised when life just becomes a grind because we’re looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places. Our Lord wants to teach us the burdens of life that are really worth taking on, and how to handle them better: a yoke is an aid to supporting a load and directing it more easily, so taking on the yoke Christ offers us will help us bear the loads of life with more virtue and less frustration.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us distinguish between the burdens that are self-inflicted and those that help us achieve the things for those we love that are really worthwhile. Let’s not be shy about taking up his yoke to help us handle life’s trials better.

Readings: Exodus 3:13–20; Psalm 105:1, 5, 8–9, 24–27; Matthew 11:28–30.

15th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that certain mysteries of life are not going to be understood on the basis of brainpower and doctorates. God chooses to reveal himself and a profounder understanding of the world, of him, and of ourselves. Many of those insights would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve by the power of our reasoning alone. When we don’t understand a truth of the faith, like a child who trusts a parent, we communicate it and live it without concern for being duped or understanding it completely. That doesn’t mean we can’t try to connect the dots and understand the things Our Lord reveals to us, but, like a child, we know Our Father can give us some good advice and teaching for working things out.

Jesus reminds us today that we never stop being children of God, and, like good children with loving parents, we gratefully accept and communicate the truths Our Father reveals to us through His Son, Our Big Brother, who has testified to them all the way to the Cross and beyond. Since we never stop being God’s children we should never lose a childlike attitude: being loving, trusting, grateful, and always open to new wonders and discoveries, confident that Our Father will work out the details.

Let’s ask Our Lord to help us re-discover today the wonder of being his children.

Readings: Exodus 3:1–6, 9–12; Psalm 103:1b–4, 6–7; Matthew 11:25–27.

15th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

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It’s not often that the Lord becomes angry in the Gospels. Like a concerned parent faced with a misbehaving child who doesn’t entirely understand the consequences of his actions, Our Lord expresses his displeasure for the good of others, not out of hate. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum had seen many miracles and received special attention from Our Lord, yet they didn’t take the first step of conversion: repentance for their sins.

In using the examples of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, Our Lord is telling them how much more attention and preparation Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum had received. Tyre and Sidon were pagan cities that had negatively influenced Israel in the past and had led the people of God to idolatry. Sodom was destroyed for its iniquity and perversion. The first step in repentance is acknowledging that there is something for which you should repent: in contrasting the two sets of cities Our Lord is warning his audience that they needed to repent for their sins and that they risked a similar spiritual destruction if they didn’t.

Our Lord didn’t cast off his human nature when he rose from the dead: he can still be displeased with us, but for our own good. Let’s examine the blessings he’s given us in our lives to see whether we need to do something more or something differently in order to please him and to ensure our own spiritual well-being.

Readings: Exodus 2:1–15a; Psalm 69:3, 14, 30–31, 33–34; Matthew 11:20–24.

15th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

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When Our Lord calls us to follow him more closely, no matter what path of life he’d like us to walk, it is often not at the same speed or in the same way as those we love. Sometimes we can feel like we’re being treated like the black sheep of the family when we’re the only white one: we have to choose between the love of God and the love of our family in questions of sin, the only scenario in which love for God and love for our family can truly be in opposition. We pray that we never find ourselves in that situation, but Our Lord warns us in today’s Gospel that he can be a source of division. However, if he does shake things up in a family it is to help the conversion of one or more members be a source of grace and conversion for the rest. Each one in the end has to welcome the gifts of grace from God, so sometimes divisions will remain, and we must continue to love and pray.

We are all responsible for each other to draw closer to God, which is why we must not only foster openness to God’s will in our own lives, but openness to his action in the lives of our loved ones as well. When God appears to be calling a son or daughter to the priesthood or consecrated life, that can be a test of whether we put God or ourselves first: suddenly it seems that son or daughter loves Someone Else, and jealousy can ensue, but if we truly seek blessings and happiness for that son or daughter in faith we support them knowing that God’s path is the best one.

Let’s pray for all those “white sheep” out there in a family of black sheep, and also for those considering any vocation to be open to God’s will for their lives.

Readings: Exodus 1:8–14, 22; Psalm 124:1b–8; Matthew 10:34–11:1.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches the Twelve that to be an apostle means to give a Gospel example in order to foster a more effective proclamation. One example is poverty: today he tells them to take what they need, but to keep it simple. Our testimony of Gospel simplicity in the things we use is also a way we evangelize. We live this poverty in order to fulfill our mission as apostles. In the First Reading, when the priest accuses the prophet Amos of being a beggar preaching to make a living, Amos responds that he owned a flock and sycamore trees: he had property and possessions. He was a prophet because Our Lord sent him to prophesy, and like the Twelve in the Gospel today, being a prophet doesn’t involve being well equipped or focusing on making a living.

This Gospel poverty also helps us to see the true treasure we possess, a treasure so eloquently expressed today in the Second Reading by St. Paul: before the foundation of the world the Lord has wanted us to be holy and blameless before him. Holiness is the ultimate happiness, even if it seems tough at times, and a great peace comes from having our sins forgiven, making us blameless before Our Heavenly Father. He has adopted us as his sons and daughters. Lastly, he makes his will known to us as the best path to holiness and happiness: we may not like it at times, but it is a source of spiritual fruitfulness for ourselves and those we love.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for all the spiritual wealth he has lavished upon us, and ask him to show us, in the light of those spiritual treasures, what things we really need, and what things we don’t.

Readings: Amos 7:12–15; Psalm 85:9–14; Ephesians 1:3–14; Mark 6:7–13.