Twenty-Fourth Week

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul tries to explain to the Christians at Corinth what the Resurrection will be like for them. Most of his imagery describes something in perfect condition and full bloom. What will a glorified life be like? Will we all be like Golden Age superheroes? Maybe not just in the way we think of them usually: superpowers and perfect bodies. When we are risen the world will be saved definitively. No new threats, either within us, due to our sin or our poor health, nor in the world, suffering and wondering what evil may be around the next corner.

The last part of the parable in today’s Gospel also gives us an idea: “they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.” Sometimes we think of the “super” part of the equation, but we forget about the “hero” part. In a glorified life we will be heroes because we’ll have conquered evil inside us and in the world. We’ll enjoy no longer being short-tempered or weak willed. In short, the virtues we’ve striven to heroically live will become second nature.

With hope in the glorified life that awaits us, let’s strive to be heroes in virtue and help Our Lord save the world.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 15:35–37, 42–49; Psalm 56:10c–14; Luke 8:4–15. See also 24th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday and Friday.

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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Why does Paul insist so much on faith in the Resurrection in today’s First Reading? Why do we insist so much on faith in the Resurrection at all? The Resurrections is not just a teaching; it is a crucial event at the core of salvation history. As Paul himself recalls in his letter to the Romans (see Romans 5:12-21), death came into the world when sin came into the world; it is a consequence of sin. Death is the ultimate sentence for the crime of our sins; even when we plead ignorance for what we’ve done, we know that someday that sentence will be carried out.

With the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ we know that death does not have the last word. Christ’s Resurrection conquered sin and death. We pray in the liturgy that life does not end with death; it only changes. We believe that because of the Resurrection. Even when it seems the tide of evil swells in this world, in Christ we know that evil will not prevail. The Resurrection is proof of that, an event testified to by countless Christians down the centuries, even at the cost of their life.

Faith in the Resurrection helps us to renew our earthly life and prepare for eternity. Let’s ask Our Lord to show us today where our outlook on life could use an injection of that faith.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 15:12–20; Psalm 17:1b–d, 6–7, 8b, 15; Luke 8:1–3. See also 24th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday.

 

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.