24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The most encouraging, effective and result producing words kids can hear from their parents are: “I love you; I’m proud of you.”  In our Gospel today Jesus shares three parables, all portraying the illogical, unreasonable, outlandish love that the Father has for each one of us.  No matter what we’ve done, no matter how far we’ve wandered away, the Father never stops seeking us out.  And when we finally let ourselves be found, He says to us, “I love you; I’m proud of you!”  Jesus heard His Father say those words to Him; can we hear our Father the time say those words to us?

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“My child, conduct your affairs with humility.”  Humility is one of the most important and misunderstood virtues. Humility is NOT walking around with your head bowed down, or being quiet/submissive/weak, or downplaying things you’re good at.  Humility is acknowledging the truth; it’s living in reality.  It’s an interior attitude recognizing that everything we have comes from outside of us – ultimately from God.  Living out of this reality means that certain things need to be strongly fought for and proclaimed without worry of what others think (Side 1), while other times we just need to take one on the chin (Side 2).  So if you’re feeling daring, ask for humility this week!

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

We respect and expect hard work and dedication in so many areas of life; why should the spiritual life be any different?  Jesus says to us today, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.”  Are we striving?  Are we even trying?  Our relationship with Jesus Christ and our spiritual life require time, effort, hard work and dedication – just like anything else we value in life.  The gate is narrow because it’s in the shape of Jesus.  If you look in the mirror each morning and ask, “Do I look like Jesus?  How can I look more like Him today?” If you look in the mirror each night and ask, “How was I like Jesus today?  Where can I do better tomorrow?”  Then you will find yourself becoming more and more Jesus-shaped every day, and when you get to that gate you’ll be just the right size!

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Athletes in the Olympic games put in endless hours of practice, pushing their bodies to the furthest limits – mentally and physically beyond what most people could handle – so that they can be the best in the world.  Paul says today that all of us Christians are also in a contest and we are to “persevere in running the race that lies before us, while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.”  As we run Jesus warns that we will experience push-back, adversity, that His message and our way of life will bring division because people won’t like what we are doing or what we have to say – the Prophet Jeremiah was left for dead, Jesus was crucified, Paul was beheaded.  But are we willing to fix our eyes on Jesus and keep running the race, no matter what kind of resistance we meet?  Because that is what separates the mediocre from the great.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Faith is not simply believing in God.  If it were, then even the devil would have faith.  Faith, rather, is trusting in God, trusting that He will take care of us, trusting that He will do what He says…even if it’s not exactly when we’d want or expect it.  Today Abraham is held up as a model of faith.  Through his example, we are invited to a new way of seeing our life and the world – through the lens of radical trust in our Father.  What’s one area in your life where you have a lot of worry or anxiety, an area where you could use more trust?  Say a prayer to God each day this week, asking for more faith, more trust, asking to see His hand at work through it all!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

So many things in this world and in our life are simply passing by: when we spend too much of our precious time, energy, and thoughts on them, when we give them more weight than they deserve, it’s like chasing bubbles – some day they will pop and disappear forever, leaving us empty.  But Paul challenges us to seek what is above, and Jesus urges us to become rich in what matters to God.  We all know what’s really important in life, we know those things that truly last…but those take real work.  It’s a lot easier to get distracted by the bubbles.  What’s one way this week that you can stop chasing empty things and start investing in those actions that will make you rich in what matters to God?

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our conscience is God’s voice speaking deep in our hearts, guiding us along the path, urging us to do the right, dissuading us from the wrong.  The only problem is that over time we learn how to rationalize that voice away to get to the conclusions that we want.  We are reminded today in our readings that we were created through Christ, made with God’s law and voice inside of us, and that Jesus challenges us, in the story of the Good Samaritan, not to outthink ourselves, but to return to the simplicity of following the voice of God deep within us – our conscience.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today in our Gospel Jesus sends 72 out ahead of him to prepare the way; today you have been sent out ahead of Jesus to prepare the way.  In the midst of the joyful celebrations of the 4th of July this weekend, we are challenged to keep an eye open for anyone around us who is hurting, who has a heavy heart, and to help lighten their load…if only just a little.  In this way we can bring the light of Christ to hurting hearts, preparing the way for explosions of God’s grace!  Even the biggest fireworks are started by a tiny, little flame.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The learning process never ends – we continue learning our whole life long.  Our life of faith is meant to grow our whole life long as well: “disciple” means “learner”.  In our readings today God calls certain people to follow Him – the big call.  But we also see God asking daily favors of those who already follow him – the small calls.  As disciples of Jesus, God is calling us, in big ways and small, to deeper faith, to lives of service, to lives of prayer, to following these spontaneous and often inconvenient calls that bring about His Kingdom in our lives and on this earth.  What small calls does He have in store for you this week?

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Have you ever been accused of being like your parents?  Usually, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  On this Father’s Day weekend, Jesus asks his disciples, and us, “Who do you say that I am?”  If we take Jesus at His word, then we believe that He is the Son of God the Father, and that in Jesus we are also sons and daughters of a heavenly Father.  Jesus was like His Dad: “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”  As followers of Jesus, as sons and daughters of God, do we live and act and talk in such a way that others can accuse us of being like our heavenly Father?!