Mass Readings – Saturday of the 24th Week of the Year
Autumn offers a good time to reflect on the harvest – the produce we have taken from the land. The Gospel today also offers an opportunity to reflect: what kind of harvest are we cultivating in our hearts?
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Mass Readings – Friday of the 24th Week of the Year
Names remind us that we are unique persons, made and redeemed by God. The names of the three women in the Gospel today reveal that the Lord continues to call disciples who will go out and proclaim the Good News.
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Mass Readings – The feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
Matthew accepts the call of Jesus and goes out bringing others to the Lord. May his example inspire us to do the same!
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Whatever our shape or size, age or ability, we all have gifts that God has placed within us. As we acknowledge our gifts may we use them to show our love for God and one another.
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Mass Readings – Tuesday of the 24th Week of the Year
Jesus revives a dead man and returns him to his widowed mother in the sight of a large crowd. This powerful miracle anticipates the Lord’s resurrection that we might be restored in our relationship with God. A powerful miracle, indeed!
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Study: How have I reacted in the past when someone I know has been particularly blessed or fortunate? Am I supportive or jealous?
Pray: Ask the Lord for the grace and wisdom to celebrate sincerely with others when they have received special gifts or opportunities.
Serve: How can you support others in their moments of blessing? How might you be generous with gratitude for another person’s good fortune?
Mass Readings – 25th Sunday of the Year
Consider the following possible situations and scenarios:
All of these scenes have one thing in common: through an encounter with generosity and/or opportunity another individual benefits and possesses rewards that we do not share.
How do we react? How do our attitudes and actions change toward those who have received unexpected (and sometimes unearned) generosity? While I know that I hope that I would be good natured, polite, friendly, and supportive – a part of me echoes with the sentiments of the workers in today’s Gospel.
There is a sense of justice, a feeling that we should get what we deserve that goes against the grain of the message today. The last workers got the same wage, even though they only worked a fraction of the time. It’s not fair!
In reality, the story went beyond fairness. No worker was cheated. No worker was denied a fair and agreeable wage. The Master simply wanted to be generous out of concern and care for others.
The fact is, God is generous to all of us. There are moments when we have fallen short of the Lord’s justice through sin and temptation. Yet like the workers today, we receive God’s generosity even when we have not earned it. May we live accordingly.
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Note: This blog was originally published on September 14, 2014.
Mass Readings – 24th Sunday of the Year
It’s non-negotiable. Forgiveness is a key ingredient in the Christian life and without it we cannot receive the grace that the Lord lavishes upon us. Who do we need to forgive? To whom do we need to ask for forgiveness? May we call upon God’s grace for the strength we need to be people who put forgiveness into practice.
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Mass Readings – Saturday of the 23rd Week of the Year (Sts. Cornelius & Cyprian)
Through a series of illustrations Jesus points out that our faith is witnessed through our action. Our words can indicate the state of our hearts, but the actions we carry out reveal the depth of our conviction.
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Mass Readings – Our Lady of Sorrows
Following immediately after yesterday’s Feast of the Holy Cross, the readings today focus on Mary as she endured the “sword of sorrow” as she stood at the Cross of her son. Her sorrow reaches out through time and space to all people who have been overwhelmed by grief. May her example help us to face our moments of pain with a sure and steadfast faith in Jesus Christ.
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The Descent from the Cross, Rogier van der Weyden, 1435, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.
Note: This is one of the most moving paintings I have ever stood before.
Mass Readings – Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
How many times throughout our lives have we made the sign of the Cross? Stop and think: at Mass; meal prayers; morning & evening prayers; special gatherings; and moments of blessing and grace. This simple action, which we teach to children at an early age, invokes a connection with the passion of Jesus.
We adorn our homes with the Cross. A crucifix is a common gift to a new home; they are placed in bedrooms and common areas as a reminder that Jesus is the source of our help and strength.
We adorn ourselves with the Cross in many ways: a crucifix on a chain; a cross in our pocket; earrings; rings; bracelets; and all the extra cards, bookmarks, figurines, and miscellaneous items that remind us that Jesus died on a Cross.
The Paschal Mystery – the death and resurrection of Christ – speaks to the heart of our faith. Out of love for us God sent Jesus, who gave his life on the Cross that we might have eternal life. Through his suffering and death, we recognize that God has made a pathway possible that we might all journey through this life to the gates of Heaven.
The Cross teaches us many lessons:
* Life is difficult, and at times painful
* Weakness and sin are part of our experience
* God identifies with our pain
* God dies that we might have life
At the core of our teaching the Cross stands as the testament of God’s love for us. On one hand the Cross is an embarrassment – after all, why would God (all powerful, all knowing, supreme) choose to be humiliated? Does that not mean that God is weak? Why could God not take away our sins in a way that showed majesty and splendor?
Yet on the other hand, the Cross is a statement that God meets us where we are in life. In our weakness, in our humiliation, in our low moments of doubt and sin God comes to us. Jesus, like us in every way but sin, understands our pain because through his Cross he shares in the suffering of the world. He knows us, and loves us even more.
Every time we make the sign of the Cross may we recall what the Lord endured for us. May the Cross be our strength as we trust in God’s love, and may we seek to follow that love as we journey through this life toward the world to come.
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Catholic Inspiration – Podcast Archives of Homilies & Talks
Three Great Things 