Wednesday, July 2, 2025

 

Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 21:5.8-20a; Matthew 8:28-34)

Today’s first reading displays positive and negative qualities of both Abraham and Sarah.  Abraham made a huge mistake in having relations with Hagar, his wife’s slave.  However, he has compassion on her and his son when Sarah wants them to be sent away.  He seeks help from God who gives him assurance that they will prosper.

Sarah knows that a home with two families is not a healthy environment.  But she acts heartlessly as she demands Abraham to “drive out that slave and her son.”  Fortunately for Hagar and Ismael the Lord comes to their aid when he hears their cries.

The story provides rich spiritual lessons.  All of us are a mix of positive and negative qualities.  We must heed the Lord so that our vices do not dominate our actions.  It also warns us about doing evil to achieve good.  Such action makes matters worse.  Finally, it reminds us to call upon the Lord in prayer when we feel desperate.  He is waiting to help us.

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

 Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 (Genesis 19:15-29; Matthew 8:23-27)

 General George Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff during World War II and later Secretary of State responsible for the Marshall Plan, was renowned for his self-control.  After making critical decisions that affected thousands of lives, Marshall could peacefully take a nap.  He was not careless but trusting in the Lord’s working in his life.  In today’s gospel Jesus proves himself to be a person of infinitely greater composure.

 Jesus’ disciples are amazed that the storm snaps at his command.  It is almost as remarkable that he could sleep in a small boat being rocked by a tempest.  The story is meant to teach more than Jesus’ authority over nature and his serenity.  It is also a lesson in Jesus’ presence to the Church after the resurrection.  The ship in the storm symbolizes the Church in its infancy.  It is being challenged in every direction – persecutions, heresies, contentious questions like accommodation of non-Jews.  The portrayal of Jesus sleeping represents the temptation of thinking that he is indifferent about these challenges.  All the disciples have to do to secure his help is beseech him in prayer. 

 We too at times may feel overwhelmed by the circumstances in which we find ourselves.  Perhaps we have promised to do more than now seems possible to accomplish.  Or maybe our children bring home problems that we thought happen in only the most troubled of families.  We too can find recourse in the Lord Jesus.  As he calmed the storm for his disciples, he will assist us in our need.

Monday, July 1, 2025

 

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 18:16-23; Matthew 8:18-22)

A very successful pastor was awarded a ranking position in the diocesan chancery.  When he saw his mother he shared the good news.  His mother, however, looked worried.  When he asked her why the long face, she said, “If you don’t visit the sick and bury the dead visit the sick and bury the dead, how will you get to heaven?”

Often our mothers teach us more about Christian ethics than classes in the finest universities.  They are usually the ones who instill upon us the Lord’s love and mercy.  This is the message conveyed so dramatically in today’s first reading.  Abraham may believe that he is giving God a lesson in mercy when he banters with God about saving the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  But God is eternally kind and infinitely merciful.

We must never forget this message, even when we see bad things happening to good people.  We should remember that no one is entirely just.  We all sin against the Lord who created us.  Yet God sent His Son to die in a way more terrible than any evil people experience so that our sins may be forgiven.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

 

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

(Acts 12:1-11; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19)

You may have wondered: why are the two preeminent saints of the early Church celebrated together? It seems that both Saints Peter and Paul deserve a separate day to honor them. After all, Peter was Christ's first vicar, and Paul was his greatest promoter. Indeed, different aspects of Peter and Paul are celebrated separately. The See of Saint Peter is commemorated on February 22. Likewise, January 25 is dedicated to the conversion of Saint Paul.

However, there are reasons to commemorate Peter and Paul together. There is a tradition that they were martyred at the same time. More importantly, they are both associated with the Church of Rome as its patron saints. This church has the distinction of being first among all others in constancy of faith. Furthermore, both have become larger-than-life figures, symbols for Christians throughout the centuries.

Saint Peter symbolizes authority within the Church. Although the Acts of the Apostles attests to his great preaching ability, he is associated with the institutional Church. Today's Gospel shows him receiving from Jesus "the keys of the Kingdom," which in themselves are symbols of authority. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus promises Peter his support. He says: "...I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail, and that you may strengthen your brothers."

Saint Paul, although the preeminent evangelizer, can be even more closely associated with the theology of the Church. In his letters to the various local churches, he originated such key Christian concepts as justification by faith in Christ and the universality and exclusivity of salvation through Christ. It is little wonder that Paul has been called the "second founder of Christianity." There is another characteristic of the two patron saints of Rome that is perhaps more significant for us. They both shared an inestimable love for Jesus Christ. Paul was so identified with Christ that he wrote to the Galatians: “…it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). At Jesus' prompting, Peter declared three times, each time more solemnly: “…I love you.” This is the same kind of love that moved Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta to declare: “I was Albanian by birth. Now I am a citizen of India. I am also a Catholic nun. In my work, I belong to the whole world. But in my heart, I belong to Christ.”

We should foster this love within ourselves. It is not difficult when we consider with faith that Christ not only gave his life to justify us from sin; that he is not only the Son of God and our brother by virtue of the Incarnation; but that he is also our daily companion, enabling us to live in peace until we may attain the happiness of eternal life.

Friday, November 27, 2025

 

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

(Ezekiel 34:11-16; Romans 5:5b-11; Luke 15:3-7)

In his last encyclical letter Dilexit Nos Pope Francis wrote of how contemporary humans, bombarded by technology, live at a hectic pace.  We have become used to fulfilling our wants instantly.  Quoting St. John Paul II, Pope Francis said that people are in danger of losing their very center, which is their heart.  Wise people are wary of Artificial Intelligence because it promises to take decisions and actions even farther away from our hearts.

Pope Francis recommended a return to the heart, not the individual heart but one united to the heart of Jesus.  Jesus will form it in compassion, a way of opening the heart to others.  In synch with the heart of Jesus, the person forgets selfish desires as he or she lives for others.

Today we celebrate the compassionate, loving heart of Jesus.  The gospel pictures him telling his critics of a shepherd who hustles to find a lost sheep.  He wants them to know that God loves each human person like the shepherd loves each of his sheep.  Assured of God’s love, his critics might recover their own hearts in loving others.