Saturday

13th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Amos evokes imagery that could take us back to the Garden of Eden: a time where the earth’s blessings were abundant and effortless, before, as a consequence of the Fall, Adam and Eve condemned themselves and their posterity to having to eke an existence out of an unforgiving soil (see Genesis 3:17–19). Amos invites us to dream of a lasting and fertile land ready for a plentiful harvest that almost cultivates itself.

We don’t have to just envision such an image as one of the end times. When we live a spirit of Gospel poverty we see the things of daily life as blessings, and we are content with far less. We don’t fall into the rat race of always wanting the latest iPhone, a better car than our neighbors, or a mansion. In short, we realize how blessed we are to have anything at all.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us count out blessings and dream in Christian hope of the blessings that are to come.

Readings: Amos 9:11–15; Psalm 85:9ab, 10–14; Matthew 9:14–17. See also Friday after Ash Wednesday, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, and 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

12th Week of Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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Today’s First Reading captures the sentiments of the Israelites undergoing the Babylonian Captivity, recalled two days ago. They’re trying to come to grips with why the Lord handed them over to their enemies. What a great contrast with today’s Gospel, when a Roman centurion, part of the people who are occupying Israel centuries after their return from the Babylonian Captivity, is showing more faith in Our Lord and his power to heal than the Lord’s Israelite contemporaries.

Today we live a far different type of “conquest” and expansion. Today, thanks to Our Lord, all of us, whatever our ethnic background, are invited to form a part of the Kingdom of heaven, Christ’s Kingdom, and we pray with every Our Father that it come. That centurion foreshadows all of us with no drop of Jewish blood who met and became disciples of Our Lord and children of God through baptism. The Jews are not excluding from this opportunity, but as Our Lord taught them in today’s Gospel, faith is what will usher them into a lasting Kingdom that is secure from their true enemies: sin and death. Even the healing today of the centurion’s servant is a foreshadowing of the power of Christ the King.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for inviting us to form a part of his Kingdom, and help him to make his kingdom come and reconquer hearts for God.

Readings: Lamentations 2:2, 10–14, 18–19; Psalm 74:1b–7, 20–21; Matthew 8:5–17. See also 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

11th Week of Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In yesterday‘s First Reading we saw Joash whisked away from certain death and hidden in the Temple under the priest Jehoiada’s care until he could claim his rightful throne. Today, upon Jehoida’s death, Joash takes council from princes as bad as those who’d denied him his throne, and abandons worship of the very God who’d protected him and saved him. Joash did not learn the lesson of today’s Gospel: God in his Providence takes care of everything, all we need to do is seek his Kingdom and his righteousness and he’ll work out the rest.

Joash was appointed as a steward over the People of God; Judah was God’s Kingdom, and Joash, by abandoning the Lord, tried to usurp that kingdom from the Lord, a foolish proposition by anyone’s estimation. The Lord didn’t give up on him; he sent Jehoiada’s son, the prophet Zechariah, to warn him of his folly. Joash ignored Zechariah and killed him. As a result Joash brought so much misfortune upon Judah that his servants felt obliged to take justice into their own hands and make him pay for murdering Zechariah. In death, he was not acknowledged as a king at all, a complete reverse of fortunes at his own hand.

If we seek the Lord’s Kingdom and righteousness we have nothing to fear. Ask Our Lord to help you see the daily signs of his Providence in order to pursue his interests as your own.

Readings: 2 Chronicles 24:17–25; Psalm 89:4–5, 29–34; Matthew 6:24–34. See also 11th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

10th Week of Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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The story of Elisha’s calling to be a prophet in today’s First Reading reminds us that a vocation in the family means sacrifice for everyone involved, but it is a spiritual blessing. Elisha wants to make one last gesture of material concern for his family before answering God’s call through Elijah’s invitation: by “burning his bridges” through the destruction of his yoke and oxen he is providing materially for them one last time, but that doesn’t mean the Lord will not watch over them for their sacrifice.

When the Lord calls someone to follow him in the priesthood or consecrated life the family doesn’t become irrelevant. That vocation is a gift and sacrifice from the whole family, and a source of blessings. Many a Mother with tears of pride has thought of the day when she’ll meet her Maker and be welcomed as the parent of a priest or religious.

If our loved ones are happy and blessed, we are happy and blessed. Let’s help them follow the Lord in whatever he invites them to do.

Readings: 1 Kings 19:19–21; Psalm 16:1b–2a, 5, 7–10; Matthew 5:33–37. See also 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

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9th Week of Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul encourages Timothy to proclaim the word, and not just in favorable conditions. Timothy would face adversity; people would prefer easier, apparent truths to the truth they needed for their salvation.

This mission is a question of attitude as much as it is duty. In today’s Gospel one person gets it right: the widow, who is generous and gives her very livelihood. The scribes do things for the prestige involved, and the rich to a certain degree as well, since they are only giving out of their surplus. We may not have the same mission as Timothy, but we can have the same attitude as the poor widow: sharing our talents with sacrifice and devotion to those who need them.

Let’s ask Paul and Timothy to intercede for us today so that we can use out talents boldly for the cause of the Gospel.

Readings: 2 Timothy 4:1–8; Psalm 71:8–9, 14–15b, 16–17, 22; Mark 12:38–44. See also  34th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday, 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, and 9th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.