Mass Readings – Tuesday of the 6th Week of the Year (Sts. Cyril & Methodius)
Jesus recalls how a little yeast can transform dough – making it grow larger into something new. In our spiritual lives this process can work for both good or evil, and we are invited today to embrace God’s grace into our hearts, changing us into daughters and sons of God.
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Study: Reflect on a moment when you felt completely and entirely loved. How did that experience shape your life?
Pray: Is there a person in your life right now who is difficult to love? Ask the Lord for an infusion of grace!
Serve: How can you say “I love you” with an action? How can you show others the love in your heart?
Mass Readings – 7th Sunday of the Year
A couple of major themes surface in our readings this week:
In the first reading and Psalm we see the Lord’s command to love one another. This might catch some people by surprise; after all, the Old Testament is filled with examples where the people of God are anything but loving to those they encounter! Point: love of neighbor is a clear commandment of God.
The Gospel of Matthew sets the bar higher as Jesus builds on this command and calls us to conversion. We are not only called to love our neighbors and family, but we are also called to love our enemies and persecutors! Like last week, Jesus takes the commandments of the Old Testament and moves far beyond them. We are called to love with our whole heart…loving one another the way God loves us.
The second reading goes in a different direction. We hear from St. Paul that our bodies are temples of the living God, and as such we encounter the Spirit of God in the person of everyone we meet.
A consideration for today: put the love of God into practice! We are cherished, treasured, forgiven and esteemed by the Lord – who loves us even on our worst days. Following this example we can act accordingly…loving those around us with the love of Jesus Christ.
Monday Conversation – 19 Minutes
“What are you giving up for Lent?” is a question that all too often finds us without an adequate answer. Take time now in these next few days to reflect on how we want to make a sacrifice – Body, Mind or Heart – that speaks to our Soul!
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Mass Readings – 6th Sunday of the Year
The Book of Sirach, the Psalm response, and the Gospel of Matthew all highlight the crucial power we have to choose the course of our lives. May we put Christ at the center of our hearts, so that everything we say and do will be touched by his grace.
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Mass Readings – Saturday of the 5th Week of the Year
Adam and Eve experience the natural consequences of sin as they face new challenges in their lives and leave the Garden of Eden; Jesus looks on the crowd with pity and responds to the natural consequences of their needs with compassion – inspiring us to face the consequences of our own sins with the compassion of Christ.
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Mass Readings – Friday of the 5th Week of the Year (St. Scholastica)
The temptation of Adam & Eve illustrates for us how sin can erode our relationships with God and one another. As we come to understand their temptation, we seek the Lord in our moments of trial, asking for the grace (and when necessary, forgiveness) of Jesus Christ.
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Mass Readings – Thursday of the 5th Week of the Year
A Greek woman who is Syrophoenician by birth expresses a mother’s love through her simple and direct faith in the healing power of Christ. Her one line response to Jesus inspires us to embrace our faith with conviction and power as we face the challenges in our lives.
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Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 5th Week of the Year
Jesus points out that it is within our hearts that destruction and defilement take place. The solution? Turn away from sin, making a change of heart so that the grace of Christ can make us whole.
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Mass Readings – Tuesday of the 5th Week of the Year
Jesus reminds us in the Gospel of Mark that we are called to keep our focus fixed on God, so that all our actions – big or small – do not take on a life of their own but always point back to the Lord.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
Study: Reflect on a time when you had to make a decision that had profound consequences. What helped you decide wisely?
Pray: Do you have a major decision in life right now? Bring your concerns before the Lord for wisdom and guidance.
Serve: How can you empower another to make good and holy choices today?
Mass Readings – 6th Sunday of the Year
Let’s start with a quick recap of the readings:
The first reading from the Book of Sirach makes it clear that we have the freedom to make choices in our lives for good or evil, life or death. This concept of Free Will – that we are so free that we can reject even God himself – comes with sobering consequences: Those who choose life will find it, and those who choose destruction will find it…
The Psalm response encourages us to choose the Lord. As we seek to know the Lord through Prayer, Scripture, Fellowship and Sacraments we conform our hearts to Christ. Following the Lord means that we seek instruction, learn God’s commands, and then apply our faith in all aspects of our lives.
The second reading reveals the mystery of God’s wisdom, hidden through the ages and revealed in Christ, which is granted to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Spirit – requested by Jesus and given by the Father – that our minds and hearts receive the Good News and act on it with conviction and power.
Finally, in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus sets a new standard of living. Using four precepts of the Law of Moses, the Lord demands that we go farther than what was formerly prescribed:
The Lord makes it clear that he is doing something new, building upon the precedent of the Law and moving far beyond it. Jesus calls his disciples to a deeper level of commitment, moving beyond the moral code to a morality that is written upon our hearts. We find ourselves more aware of the destructive power of sin, turning away from its snare and embracing a life in Christ.
And thus we find ourselves back at the first reading. We have a choice. No matter what has gone before we can make a break from the past and choose life! Today we seek Jesus and ask for the grace we need to choose Him with all our heart.
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Catholic Inspiration – Podcast Archives of Homilies & Talks
Three Great Things 