Friday, July 31, 2026

 

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, priest

A Jesuit website offers five bits of advice gleaned from the life of St. Ignatius Loyola, whom the Church celebrates today. They may help us discern God’s will for us.  First, our daydreams matter.  They indicate what God is saying to our hearts.  After he was injured, Ignatius found himself thinking about being a soldier of Christ, rather than of the Spanish king. 

Second, we can discern God’s calling incorrectly.  It doesn’t matter as long as we persist in seeking the Lord’s guidance.  Ignatius thought his vocation was to serve in the Holy Landi until he went there where the Franciscans, the guardians of the area, turned him away.

Third, we need humility to pursue lifelong learning.  When Ignatius discerned a vocation to the priesthood, he went back to school – grammar school – to learn Latin! He studied with schoolboys, not scholars, to achieve his goal.

Fourth, making friends with good people makes a great difference.  We should entrust our inner lives only with wise and kind people.  They will help us to know ourselves better and to do what is best for all.  Finally arriving at the university, Ignatius befriended Francis and Peter Faber, both of whom were also later canonized as saints.

Finally, communication may significantly help others.  By “staying in touch” we might provide critical support for others.  Ignatius wrote nearly 7000 letters to others Jesuits as well as to royalty, bishops, and those seeking spiritual guidance.

One might say that St. Ignatius of Loyola “invented spiritual direction” by writing the Spiritual Exercises.”  Here are five simple applications of his wisdom.

Thursday, July 30, 2026

 

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 18:1-6; Matthew 13:47-53)

Preachers today often speak of God’s “unconditional love.”  Rightly understood, the term indicates that God only wants human flourishment.  Unlike humans, God doesn’t reserve His affection for some and withhold it from others.  Yes, God has a special love for the poor, but this does not mean that He does not care as well for the rich. 

Yet it seems that some run too fast with the idea of God’s unconditional love.  They say that it assures everyone a place in the Kingdom.  They make the unfounded claim that nothing anyone does might alienate him or her from eternal life.  A funeral director, who heard many homilies about God’s mercy, said that universal salvation was one of the results of Vatican II!

But, of course, the bishops at the Council arrived at no such conclusion, nor could they do so today.  It would counter Jesus’ teaching in this mass’s parable.  Not all of the huge catch of fish merit keeping.  Some are worthless and are to be discarded.  Nevertheless, we might pray that the “worthless fish” take note and change their ways the second time around.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

 

Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

(Jeremiah 15:10.16-21; John:11:19-27)

There’s a running debate on who is the more prominent friend of Jesus in the gospels – Martha or Mary.  Luke seems to give preference to Mary who, as he says, “has chosen the better part …”  However, some preachers, such as the renowned Meister Eckhart, argue in favor of Martha.  In the Gospel of John, however, Martha seems to easily outpoint Mary.

In the passage read today, Martha not only shows a greater compulsion to meet the Lord, she also makes very significant Christological claims.  First, Martha recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah, “… the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  At the same time, she assents – the first person in all the gospels – that Jesus is (that is, embodies) “the resurrection and the life (eternal life).”

Comparing the saints is, for the most part, a fool’s errand.  They are all great because they all loved the Lord with all their being.  Each of us can find patrons among in the panoply of saints to emulate and petition help.  Today we have three excellent ones: Martha who served the Lord, Mary who listened attentively at his feet, and Lazarus whom Jesus himself calls his friend (John 11:11).

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

 

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 14:17-22; Matthew 13:36-43)

In today’s first reading Jeremiah describes a war-strewn, devastated Jerusalem. The death and destruction will remind contemporary readers of nuclear war classics like On the Beach and The Road.  There will be no winners of a nuclear war.  Rather, all survivors will be left in grief, horror, and fear of their imminent ends.

The gospel hints at how to avoid nuclear war.  First, evil must be recognized, not only in a nation’s enemies, but – as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn advised – in every human heart.  Then, as the gospel implies, the nations must learn to tolerate those whose ways they find repugnant and build a strategic defense plan in case hostility overruns civility.

St. Augustine in his monumental work, The City of God, sketches a plan for peace among nations.  He advocates that governments recognize their duty to defend their people; that they use force when necessary to prevent evil from taking hold; and that their cause be just for going into battle and that their soldiers hold the right intention for participating in it. 

Monday, July 27, 2026

 

Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 13:1-11; Matthew 13:31-35)

The image of a loin cloth to signify God’s love for His people sounds outrageous to modern ears.  But it does describe a radical intimacy as perhaps only a Hebrew prophet could get away with saying to a religious audience.  Jesus uses a more reserved image for God’s love.  He describes it as the ardor that would make a father wait patiently for a wayward son to return home and then would plead with a defiant son to partake in his joy.

Still acknowledging God’s love can be difficult.  Victims of torture, for example, often feel abandoned by God.  It is said that even the great St. Teresa of Avila once complained, "Lord, if this is how You treat Your friends, no wonder You have so few." 

But we must never forget how God Himself became human and suffered a cruel death. Although he was as innocent as a day-old infant, he surrendered himself to be crucified.  He became our ransom, that is the price for our freedom.  His startling and unfathomable love has given us not only the Church for support but also the Holy Spirit for our guide and eternal life for our destiny.