22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Life gives us many crosses and we have 2 choices: avoid them or embrace them.  Jesus embraced His cross and He asks us, His followers, to do the same.  When we try to avoid our crosses they begin to slow us down and sap the life out of us.  But when we invite Jesus in and embrace our crosses, He gives us the strength to live a strong and rich life even in the midst of our struggles and difficulties.  “Jesus, I give you my crosses today, come and give me Your strength to carry them with my head held high and to live a rich life.  Amen.”

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus brings his disciples to a great pagan temple today with hundreds of niches housing the statues of all kinds of different gods.  With all these other gods in the background, Jesus asks his disciples, point-blank, “Who do you say that I am?”  Most of us have been taught since we were young to answer,”Jesus is God, the Christ.”  While we might know the right words, our daily  actions and decisions also speak on our behalf about who Jesus is to us.  In the busy-ness of our lives, does Jesus ever become for us just another concern among all the many others?  Does Jesus fade into the background and fill another niche?  (I know that’s a tendency for me).  Or do our thoughts, decisions, and actions invite Jesus to stand front and center in our lives by proclaiming, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!”?

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Gospel today, a pagan woman approaches Jesus asking Him to heal her daughter.  Jesus’ actions should bother us: First, Jesus doesn’t respond.  Second, He rejects her.  Third, He insults her.  Then finally, when she refuses to stop, He works a miracle for her.  What is Jesus doing?  He’s coaxing out of her an extreme act of faith and perseverance.  Have you ever asked for a deeper faith?  Does it ever seem like some of your prayers haven’t been answered by God?  Maybe He’s trying to do the same thing with you that He was doing with this woman in the Gospel – maybe He’s trying to call out of you an extreme act of faith; maybe He’s trying to grow in you a heroic faith!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus comes to the disciples today walking on the water – that’s a Big Moment, a miraculous moment, one that’s hard to miss, and it strengthens their faith.  Elijah is told in our 1st reading that the Lord will be passing by: there is a great wind, a tremendous earthquake, a blazing fire, and yet, Scripture says, God was in none of those seemingly big moments.  Rather, God was in a tiny, whispering voice – a Small Moment, so small it could be easily missed, but just as real as a Big Moment…and I would say even more important!  God’s ordinary language is in Small Moments, countless little whispers to us throughout the day.  He gives us a few privileged Big Moments precisely so that we will continue looking and listening for Him in the hundreds of Small Moments every day.

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus tells us in our Gospel this week not to be anxious about food, clothing, or tomorrow.  There are so many things in life that we worry about…is it really that easy to just stop worrying?  We worry when we feel alone, but Jesus challenges us this Sunday to “seek first the kingdom of God.”  We are made, as humans, for deep, rich relationships.  When we seek a deep and rich relationship with God first (and then seek to honor the other relationships in our lives next), then all these things that used to cause us worry just won’t worry us anymore.

This Lent, don’t just give up chocolate or sweets, add something to your life in these amazing 40 days to bring you closer in your relationship with Jesus.

A resource you may find helpful: BestLentEver.com

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

What does Jesus mean when He says, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect”?  The Greek word for perfect comes from the root word telos, meaning ‘end’.  The Greeks called something ‘perfect’, not because it was flawless, but if it fulfilled its end, if it did what it was made to do.  God, from all eternity, is a deep, rich, loving, giving relationship.  We humans are made in the image and likeness of God: we are made to have deep, rich, loving, giving relationships.  When other things get in the way of our relationships – our job, our hobbies, our selfish interests – we are imperfect.  When we put our relationships first – with God, our spouse, our kids, our families, our friends – even though we aren’t flawless, we can still be perfect.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Old Testament God promised to Abraham a kingdom and a people.  Last week Jesus began to fulfill that promise of a kingdom by beginning the calling of his 12 Apostles.  These 12 would eventually form the Church – the new kingdom of God that will last into eternity.  This week, Jesus describes the attributes of those who belong to this kingdom, what kingdom citizens look like: they look like the 8 beatitudes.  How can I become more a kingdom citizen this week?  And how can I help others to become more of a kingdom citizen this week?

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

God loves bringing light into the darkness, and especially light out of the darkness.  Zebulun and Naphtali were the northern regions of Israel that were taken over by the Assyrians, and the people of God there lived under oppression for hundreds of years.  It is precisely to this region that Jesus goes in our Gospel, announcing the kingdom of heaven and coming as light into the darkness.  What is an area of your life that is a place of gloom, worry, anxiety, hopelessness, darkness?  God has always been bringing light out of darkness, and maybe that’s exactly what He wants to do for you!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”