FrNikola

Our Lady of Sorrows (2)

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Today’s feast is a reminder of what sorrow means and how a Christian should face suffering and sorrow. We can have sorrow for something or someone, or with someone. The sorrow Mary experiences at the foot of the Cross is sorrow for sin. It is not her sin, but how sin has ravaged the life of her innocent son and how sin ravages us all, even when we are not responsible for it. Mary received special graces in her to life to protect her from the effects of Original Sin (see Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception), but those graces were won by her son on the Cross, who suffered and died due to sin. Mary’s sorrow comes from the love and gratitude she has for her son.

The sorrow Mary also experiences is the sorrow that stems from compassion. Compassion literally means “with suffering”: Mary’s sorrow comes from making her son’s suffering her own. The sorrow we share when a loved one is suffering makes a deep connection. It is a spiritual solidarity that helps the afflicted see that they are not alone. Our Lord himself in today’s Gospel entrusts the Blessed Mother to his Beloved Disciple so that she too would not have to suffer alone. Our Lady of Sorrows continues this mission of compassion: when we are suffering, she is there to console us and to suffer with us, and we thank her for that today.

Our Lord promised there’d be trials in the world. Let’s thank Our Blessed Mother today for suffering them with us and show compassion toward others who are afflicted.

Readings: Hebrews 5:7–9; Psalm 31:2, 3b–6, 15–16, 20; John 19:25–27. See also Good Friday, Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion (2), Our Lady of Sorrows, and Good Friday, Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (2)

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Today’s Feast invites us to look upon the Cross, whether upon a wall, laying upon an altar or desk, or hanging on a chain around someone’s neck, and remember what gives it meaning. For the ancient Romans it was a sign of cruelty and domination, a warning of the punishment for rebelling against the empire. For Christians it is a reminder of the rebellion of sin, just as the bronze serpent was for the Israelites of today’s First Reading, but of a rebellion not quashed through violence and humiliation, but silenced through love. A love of God for man despite his sin that would do anything to facilitate his reconciliation.

Following Christ, as he taught us, is done by taking up our Cross. Whenever we lose our bearings or question the meaning of our suffering we have only to gaze upon the Cross of Christ and we’ll regain our bearings and be able to give meaning to our suffering again, understanding not only what it means for us, but what it can mean for those for whom we offer it.

Let’s fix our gaze upon the Cross today, not only Our Lord’s, but ours, and renew our desire to take it up and follow Christ.

Readings: Numbers 21:4b–9; Philippians 2:6–11; John 3:13–17. See also Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Second Week of Easter,Tuesday.

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul presents the initial teaching that would mature over the course of Church history into the teaching of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. Through baptism we are incorporated into the Mystical Body, a Body united and vivified by the Holy Spirit. Like a body we are many, but in Christ and the Holy Spirit we are one, and, like a body, every member has a role to play for the good of the whole body, even though we don’t all have the same role. A healthy organism has all its parts working and working in harmony.

The Mystical Body explains our unity and our diversity, but is also explains our responsibility. Some parts of a body could be considered more glamorous (the face, the hands, etc.), but each person needs to determine their role, and, in the case of the Church, their calling for the good of the Church and her mission. Whether your calling is glamorous or not, the Mystical Body needs it and needs you.

Let’s pray today for unity and harmony in Our Lord’s Mystical Body today for the good of the whole Body and our mission of evangelization.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 12:12–14, 27–31a; Psalm 100:1b–5; Luke 7:11–17.

 

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday, Year II

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Before celebrating the Eucharist together the first Christians gathered for a meal called an agape meal, agape meaning a deep love in Greek. Paul in today’s First Reading is expressing his concern that the Christians at Corinth are treating the agape meal more like a cafeteria than as a family coming together to eat. It’s not even a potluck; everyone brings their own food and eats it, and some overindulge while others go hungry. What does that say for them when they come together to participate in the Eucharist, the sacrament of love?

Today’s parishes have parishioners that come from wide areas and walks of life, enjoying plenty or facing hardship. Many parishes describe themselves as Catholic “communities.” Paul encourages us today to examine whether the good will we show to our brothers and sisters in the faith goes beyond the parish parking lot after Sunday Mass. How do we see them in our neighborhood, the supermarket, or a restaurant? Do we really know how they’re doing? The Eucharist solidifies and grounds our love for God and our love for others, but we can just go through the motions if we don’t truly try to put charity into practice.

We don’t gather for agape meals before Mass anymore, but we can show our love for Our Lord by showing our concern for our fellow parishioners. Let’s strive to be a family of faith not just Sunday, but every day.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 11:17–26, 33; Psalm 40:7–10, 17; Luke 7:1–10. See also 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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The Pharisees and scribes criticize Jesus in the Gospel today because he is spending time with people who are sinners: tax collectors, who robbed them by charging unfair taxes and serving the Romans, who were mean to them and sinners, who did bad things and did not come to worship at the Temple. So Jesus asks the Pharisees and scribes to think of how happy they would be if they lost something valuable to them and then found it again.

Imagine if you lost your spending money for this week, and after searching and searching your locker you give up and take your books to class and there it is, stuck between two books! Wouldn’t you be happy?

Imagine if you lost your cat and you searched for hours and hours and came home sad and suddenly heard him scratching at the door to be let in. Wouldn’t you be happy?

Now imagine if it were your brother or sister or aunt or someone in your family. You would never stop looking. Never. You would always be waiting to hear from them.

In Heaven God knows that sinners are lost, and he wants to find them so badly, but they hide from him and go far away from him, just like the son in the Gospel today. And just like the Father of the Prodigal Son, God waits and waits for them to come back. Our Lord teaches us that all of Heaven shouts for joy when a sinner is found and comes back and gets on the road to Heaven again. Our Lord goes to the sinners in the Gospel today because if he doesn’t help them find God the Father again they will never find him. Like the son today in the Gospel, they go far away and become poor and sad, but when they come back, sorry for what they have done, all of Heaven is happy and God takes them back in as if nothing had happened.

When we do bad things, all we have to do is say we’re sorry and ask God to forgive us. We can come to confession for the big things, and for the little things of every day, all we have to do is come to him in our hearts and tell him we’re sorry. When we hurt others, it is so hard to say we are sorry, but when we don’t, we are left poor, alone, and lonely, because it is like we have left someone in our family. The other son in the Gospel today didn’t want to forgive his brother, and look how angry and alone he was.

Let’s ask Our Lord today for the grace to always have the love and humility to say we are sorry to those we hurt by our actions, and for the grace to live like true brothers and sisters.

Readings: Exodus 32:7–11, 13–14; Psalm 51:3–4, 12–13, 17, 19; 1 Timothy 1:12–17; Luke 15:1–32. See also 4th Sunday of Lent, Cycle C, 2nd Week of Lent, Saturday, and 31st Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday.