Thursday

22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel we are introduced to the potential and to the poverty of St. Peter. Throughout the Gospel we see faith and fear mixed in the man who would become, after Jesus’ Resurrection, the leader of the Apostles and the vicar of Christ on earth. After a long night of fishing an itinerant rabbi asks to use his boat in order to take advantage of the natural acoustics of being out on the water, and also to give his listeners a better view. Was Peter hoping Jesus would give him something? Was he performing an act of charity? The Gospel account isn’t clear, but he let Our Lord into his boat and, in a certain sense, into his world. As Peter soon found out, Jesus expected something much greater from him.

We don’t know if he listened to much of Our Lord’s teaching as he sat in his boat, since he was tired after a long night of fishing, but Jesus encouraged him to cast out the nets and Peter responded with trust, even if maybe he was just humoring him. The amazing catch was a response to Peter in a language he could understand. In that moment he realized Our Lord was asking him for far more than a shuttle service, and that he was not just another itinerant rabbi. Suddenly Peter knew that Our Lord understood his world too. Disciples usually asked their rabbis if they could be disciples, but Jesus came looking for his disciples in order to teach them to catch something far more elusive: men. Peter knew his weakness, but Our Lord knew it too. In the end, even though it presented a few more hurdles, Peter’s weakness did not prevent either of them from accomplishing their mission.

Our Lord wants to step into your world. He wants to build the bridge between yours and his. However he invites you, and no matter what your anxiety and concerns, accept his invitation and he will help you to succeed.

Readings: Colossians 1:9–14; Psalm 98:2–6; Luke 5:1–11.

21st Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord concludes his criticism of the Pharisees with a call to vigilance in the service of God. The example of the master returning to evaluate his servant’s stewardship can not only be applied to when Our Lord returns in glory at the end of time, but also to when we are judged by him at the end of our earthly life. We are stewards of everything we have received, and we have received everything, even life itself: not only material possessions, but relationships, the time given us, and the talents we have received. We are stewards of these gifts and Our Lord has great expectations for us.

Like the faithful servant we will be rewarded for responsible stewardship. However, there are consequences if we are not responsible stewards of the possessions, relationships, time, and talents that we have received. These passing things can enslave us and make us forget our obligations, and part of the pain that results from making them the end instead of the means is being separated from them forever due to our irresponsibility, like and addict deprived of his drugs. Jesus today encourages the disciples to be faithful stewards of the gifts he’s bestowing on them, not like the Pharisees who have squandered those gifts for their own conceited benefit and will have them taken away.

Let’s take stock of life today and see what gifts Our Lord has bestowed upon us and how he would feel if today he came and asked us to make an account for how we’ve used them.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 3:7–13; Psalm 90:3–5a, 12–14, 17; Matthew 24:42–51.

20th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel the wedding feast reminds us of Heaven, but also that although everyone is invited to the party, some in the end will not be found worthy to participate in it. After receiving a lot of rejection and hostility from those who were first on the list of invitees, the king broadened his invitation and, as the parable says, the good and the bad arrived. If this parable speaks to us of Heaven it’s also a reminder that God is merciful and good, but in the we have to do our part, even a little, if we want to be saved. Salvation is not automatic.

The man with no wedding garment had no answer for the king’s question: there was no excuse he could offer, and if the king was displeased, it means something was expected of that man that he didn’t do. That wedding garment symbolizes having done something to partake and appreciate the marriage feast. This poor man shows no signs of celebration whatsoever. Maybe he represents that Christian who goes through the motions all their life, but never really seeks to help himself or others to get to Heaven. We have to give Our Lord something to work with. The man with no wedding garment managed to get to the banquet hall, but he didn’t go far enough to stay.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for inviting us to his Heavenly Banquet by welcoming his invitation and getting ready for the party through a holy life.

Readings: Judges 11:29–39a; Psalm 40:5, 7–10; Matthew 22:1–14.

19th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reinforces a theme we pray about in the Lord’s Prayer: that we ask for forgiveness, but should forgive in turn. When someone doesn’t value mercy they not only don’t welcome it into their hearts, but are also unlikely to show much of it to others.

The servant forgiven an enormous debt by his master in today’s Gospel didn’t appreciate it. By turning on his fellow servant, who owed him a miniscule amount in comparison, he showed that he had not really accepted the gift of his master’s mercy. When we have wronged someone we want to be forgiven, but we should show our gratitude by forgiving those who trespass against us.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for all the mercy he has shown us–past, present, and future–by being merciful and forgiving toward others.

Readings: Joshua 3:7–10a, 11, 13–17; Psalm 114:1–6; Matthew 18:21–19:1.

17th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord describes the “Kingdom of heaven” with regard to the end game. If we understand the Kingdom as not only the work of salvation, but all the other natural goods that in some way result from that work–a healthy society, solid families, true concern for the spiritual and material needs of others, etc.–we can understand how it is not just identified with the people who are actively working to be a part of it and to extend it. All kinds of “fish” end up in the “net.” Like any society there are good members and bad members, and part of society’s duty is to help all its members be good members of society, even, when necessary, through penal measures applied to those who are bad with the hope of helping them to reform themselves and to not present a danger to themselves or to society.

At the end of history, when the work of the Kingdom has definitively run its course and reached everywhere Our Lord wants it to be (and that, in the end, is everywhere and everyone), no one will remain unaffected or beyond its reach. That could be a chilling thought if we didn’t remember that the Kingdom equates to salvation and a good and just order of things that spreads and takes hold forever. Each person in the end chooses how they’ll end up in the Kingdom, in that “net”: the bad will have squandered all their opportunities to be good and will be cut off from the goods of the Kingdom forever. The good, through their efforts and God’s aid and mercy, will enjoy a beatific life: they will possess God and receive all the promises Our Lord made on the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matthew 5:1–12) in full. We must work for the good of others, not just our own good, but in the end each person will stand or fall on his or her own merits and no one will be able to ride on another’s coat tails at the moment of Judgement.

Let’s thank Our Lord for all those opportunities he gives us daily to be good, and let’s pray and work for the conversion of sinners so that we may all one day be found worthy to be a part of the the Kingdom forever.

Readings: Exodus 40:16–21, 34–38; Psalm 84:3–6a, 8a, 11; Matthew 13:47–53.

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