Friday

15th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading King Hezekiah seems to have an unspoken question and an unspoken request, and the Lord addresses both. The unspoken question is whether his illness is terminal, and the Lord responds through Isaiah that it is time for Hezekiah to put his affairs in order. Hezekiah doesn’t get angry with God; he doesn’t ask why, even though he has done many good works in his lifetime. He accepts what the Lord has told him with sadness, but without bitterness or recriminations.

He offers those good works to the Lord, as well as his life. His unspoken request is that he might be healed, but he knows that he is in the Lord’s hands. It may seem that the Lord changes his mind, but the Lord often sends a messenger to elicit a response on our part, just as he told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, but in the end didn’t let him go through with it. Similarly, Hezekiah is invited to trust in the Lord no matter what the outcome may be; he shows acceptance and trust in the Lord, after having led a good life, and is blessed with fifteen more years of life and protection against the Assyrians.

When we are afflicted and we see Our Lord’s hand in it somehow, how do we respond? If we haven’t lived as good a life as Hezekiah then the first step is conversion, to start doing good works, expecting nothing in return, as Hezekiah did. We know Our Lord reads our hearts and gives us what we need, even when sometimes it is not what we want. Let’s trust in him and he will act.

Readings: Isaiah 38:1–8, 21–22; Isaiah 38:10–12d, 16; Matthew 12:1–8. See also 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday and 15th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday.

14th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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There are still many places throughout the world where Christians must follow Our Lord’s admonition to flee persecution. Believers in some countries are ostracized by their family and friends for being Christians, and in others are subjected to violence, imprisonment, and death, even at the hands of their loved ones, for what they believe. Imagine a culture where the Good News is seen as bad. When there is no societal support, either in public or in private, we must be prudent, and also entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit in order to persevere.

Shrewdness and simplicity don’t seem to go together, but Our Lord expects us to show both. Christians are accused at times of being mindless sheep, but if we consider the impressive cultural contributions made by Christians throughout history this caricature simply does not stand. It is our simplicity that ensures we don’t turn our shrewdness into a lack of charity and concern for others; it keeps us from becoming jaded in the face of persecution and ridicule, as well as helping us to maintain a healthy dose of common sense that is so necessary when facing outlooks on life today that are more and more sophistical.

The Holy Spirit helps us maintain a balance between shrewdness and simplicity, even when our convictions are on trial. Let’s ask the Spirit to give us the words that proclaim the Gospel in good times as well as bad, and to watch over Christian refugees suffering throughout the world due to their faith.

Readings: Hosea 14:2–10; Psalm 51:3–4, 8–9, 12–14, 17; Matthew 10:16–23. See also 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday and 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday.

13th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Amos warns those who’d cheat Israel for their own benefit that they’ll incur the greatest famine of all: a lack of the word of God in their lives. That may seem on the surface to be fine if the food and drink keep coming, but not having the word of God in your life is basically having no true or lasting meaning to call your own. Eventually the Old Testament prophets fell silent in the few centuries preceding the coming of Christ; Israel had to await its savior with no more prophets until John the Baptist.

In today’s Gospel we see the Word of God coming into Matthew’s life in a simple but powerful way. The fast from God’s word is over for Matthew and he eagerly accepts the word of God by following Our Lord and becoming not only his apostle, but one of his evangelists. In turn he brings the Word of God to his friends, who also have the opportunity to break the fast of their distance from God.

Fasting from the Word of God is never a good thing. If you’re feeling the emptiness, ask him to feed you with his Word and his sacraments again.

Readings: Amos 8:4–6, 9–12; Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131; Matthew 9:9–13. See also Saturday after Ash Wednesday, 1st Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, and  St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.

10th Week of Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches us that chastity starts in the heart. The eyes are the windows to our soul, and if we start ogling and fantasizing a radical response is needed if we are to preserve our chastity and keep our hearts pure, since no one can intervene regarding the hidden desires of the heart except ourselves.

A highly sexualized culture should not provoke our surrender, but our vigilance. The key to living chastity of heart is to form the habit of de-sexualizing what we perceive, and knowing our weakness when this is impossible. The object of desire in front of us is someone’s sibling, spouse, or parent; by de-objectifying them they are perceived as persons again who deserve the same esteem and respect we’d expect for ourselves.

Let’s ask Our Lord today for a greater purity of heart.

Readings: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11–16; Psalm 27:7–9c, 13–14; Matthew 5:27–32.

10th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year II

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that charity matters just as much as justice does. We’re easy to anger when we feel someone has wronged us, but it is exactly in those moments where we should strive not to fall into rash condemnations. It’s no coincidence that we begin each celebration of the Eucharist with a Penitential Act for what we’ve done, and exchange a sign of peace before we receive Holy Communion. We may still be upset, but if we have the inner disposition of trying to forgive or seek forgiveness it’ll give us a deeper peace, a peace that can be nourished by receiving the Eucharist into reconciliation.

Our Lord today also invites us to consider the other’s position when we’ve been wronged or have wronged. We need to put ourselves on “test trial” to see how right we really are, and how wrong the other might actually be. It may be a moment of humility where we realize that maybe we weren’t as entitled to what we thought, or might be overreacting to a slight that was more imagined that real.

Let’s ask Our Lord for the meekness and humility that helps make charity matter in our lives.

Readings: 1 Kings 18:41–46; Psalm 65:10–13; Matthew 5:20–26. See also 1st Week of Lent, Friday and 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday.