July 2023

Let your heart be moved.

Be changed by the Word of God.

Be changed by the word of God.

“Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Is 55:10-11)

There is the word of God, words recorded in Sacred Scripture, that reveal who God is and what it means to live in right relationship with God and others. And there is the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who shows and shares God’s love perfectly and who invites us, calls us, compels us to live as God desires. We are called to listen to God’s word and to see God’s love manifested in Jesus, the Word of God, so that we may be of one heart and mind with the Lord, bearing the fruit of God’s love, justice, and peace in our lives, cities, and world.

All ears

We all know there is a difference between hearing and listening. Sometimes, perhaps often, we physically hear the things people are saying to us. We may hear the word of God proclaimed at Mass or in prayerful reading. We might hear the sound of a bird calling or child singing. But we do not always listen. With the word of God, we should be all ears. As St. Benedict says in his Rule, we should listen with the ear of our heart. We listen for the meaning of the passage in light of the circumstances of our lives and all that has been revealed through Scripture and Tradition.

Eyes wide open

Jesus looked beyond the surface and saw the pain, suffering, confusion, and sorrow of the people in his midst. He did not let anything stand between him and those who needed him. In seeing, he responded with God’s mercy, forgiveness, and healing. As Christ’s people, we are called to open our eyes to the needs of those around us. We must honestly examine our lives, admit that we are sometimes weak, selfish, complacent, or trapped by fear. With eyes wide open we see the ways we might show God’s love through our attitudes and actions and resolve to respond as the Lord desires.

Hearts moved by love

Our Sunday readings this month challenge us to not only hear the word of God, but to take it deeply to our hearts, and to act on it. The word of God, we are told, is like a seed. Do we cultivate our hearts as good soil in which God’s word may take root and grow? Do we open our minds to the challenge of living as Christ’s people? Do we bear good fruit, as disciples and stewards who hear the call of Christ and respond with our lives? The Gospels may sound harsh at times, as Jesus describes the difference between those who are faithful and fruitful and those who are not. Yet when we allow God’s Word to take root in our hearts, responding will not be burdensome, but rather, our lives will bear an abundant harvest of love in the world.

Faithful and fruitful

With our ears, eyes, and hearts open to the Word and the word, our lives will be transformed. Our hearts will be moved. We will become more like the One whose word we hear. Our listening to the Word of God will change us! We will be Christ’s people in the world.

June 2023

Real presence

One of the greatest mysteries of our Catholic faith is that Christ is truly, really present in the Eucharist. During consecration, the ordinary elements of bread and wine are transformed into the extraordinary - the very Body and Blood of our Lord. And with this great mystery, we recognize another: as the gifts are brought forth, we bring our very lives to the altar, asking God to consecrate them, to make us holy. In receiving Holy Communion - Christ’s Body and Blood -  the ordinary stuff of our lives is to be transformed, as we become more fully members of Christ’s Body.

Through participation in the Eucharist, we are given all we need in Christ’s gift of presence with and for us. We are drawn into communion with the Lord, who knows our needs, desires, hopes, and dreams, and who feeds us, body and soul, nourishing us to live as Christ’s people in our daily lives.

As Eucharistic people, we are called to give in turn, as stewards of all we are and have and will be. “Here people enjoy a unique union with Christ and, in him, with one another. Here his love -- indeed his very self -- flows into his disciples and, through them and their practice of stewardship, to the entire human race.” (SDR, 34)

It doesn’t end with the final blessing. We are sent out in Christ’s mission of love. Through his passion and death, Jesus sacrificed all for us. In communion with Christ, we are called into communion with one another. We are to see the needs of others, especially the most vulnerable, and are called to act - to sacrifice, to go out of our selves in service, ministry, and care. Without cost we have received; without cost, we are to give.

May 2023

Each of us has only so many hours in a day, and we do not know when our last day on earth will be. We make many choices in the course of our days and weeks, months and years. How will we use our time? What needs our attention? Who needs our presence and care? We may build something that matters, or waste the opportunities we have in favor of passing things. Through our decisions and actions, we build a life, the total sum of all that we are and do.

Jesus shows us that there is more to life than the focus on ourselves and those closest to us that often consumes our time and attention. That life that you’re building? Make it about more than your narrow concerns. Let yourself build something that has much greater impact. In the second reading for May 7, St. Peter says, “like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 2: 4-5) What we build and how we build it is an expression of what is most important to us.

When we turn to Christ, the living stone, our priorities change. In faith, we grow in a desire to give for the sake of others, to sacrifice beyond what we think we can, trusting that God will take our offering and build something wonderful. In the words of Blessed Theresa Gerhardinger, God’s cause becomes the only concern of our hearts. Christ calls us to build up the reign of God through our actions and interactions, in what we say and what we do. We may choose to give our time and resources to help others build a better life. We may contribute to parish ministries and Church initiatives to serve the poor, promote peace and advocate for justice. If we pour ourselves out, our hearts will be filled. If we resolve to build the reign of God, the reign of selfishness, material wealth, and need for security dissolve into the promise of a brighter tomorrow. We have but one life in which to make a difference. Build something for lasting impact.

April 2023

Mary Magdalene had experienced her worst day at Jesus’ crucifixion. The one whom she had come to love and in whom she put her faith had suffered and was brutally killed before her very eyes. Still reeling and weighed down by Jesus’ death, she went to the tomb with the other Mary to carry out the heavy responsibility of anointing Jesus’ body for burial.

The disciples who were walking to Emmaus had experienced their worst day, too. With Jesus’ death, their hope had died as well. “But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.” Perhaps that is why the worst days remain in our memory so profoundly. In the moment of extreme pain, grief, and disappointment, our hope is shaken. We simply do not know how to carry on.

Jesus met Mary Magdalene and the other Mary on the way. He reassured them in the midst of their fear and told them to share the good news with the disciples. He met the two who were walking to Emmaus on their way as well, even as they were walking away from Jerusalem and the company of the other disciples. He consoled them in their dejection, and helped them understand the fullness of God’s love, which is poured out  in and through Christ.

Everything changed for Mary and the disciples through an encounter with the risen Lord. They were “fearful yet overjoyed.” Their hearts burned. They did not forget their worst day, but it was redeemed through the resurrection of Jesus. They found light and hope in place of darkness.

Jesus meets us on our way, too, and wants us to encounter him in sacrament and word and the loving care of family and community. Our Lord wants us to hear his voice saying, “do not be afraid,” and be assured that we have great hope through his resurrection, the hope that our worst days - days of grief, fear, and disappointment - do not have the final word, the hope that in Christ, the best is yet to come.

March 2023

Open your ears.

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Listen. We began the season of Lent in the desert with Jesus. There, Jesus faced temptation and showed us how to avoid sin by staying focused on God and God’s ways. From the desert, we go to a high mountain, where we hear the voice of God urging us to listen to Jesus.

Pray. During Lent, we set aside time for prayer, time to listen to God and search our life in response to God’s loving presence. Christ speaks to us in word and sacrament, through loving relationships, in joyful and challenging times. We must be ready to listen.

Reflect. What is your desert? What tempts you? From what do you need to turn away in order to listen to the Lord more attentively and make a greater place for Jesus in your life?

Open your eyes.

“Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.”

See. During Lent, we are invited to open our eyes, to pay attention to the grace of God in our midst and see the needs of others. In the gospel we hear on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, the man did not ask to be healed. Jesus saw his need and reached out to him. As a result, the man who was born blind could see, but those around him were blind to the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ. They couldn’t believe what was before their very eyes. We may see the face of God in the poor and vulnerable, the eyes of a child, the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist. We must be ready to open our eyes to perceive God’s presence and to see others through the eyes of God, as precious and wonderful in his sight.

Fast. In Lent, we fast from a favorite food, beverage, screen time, or activity in order to experience more fully our hunger for God and to become more willing to live as God’s holy people in the world.

Reflect. How often do you fail to see the goodness of God’s love? In what ways might you more fully accept and share the mercy and forgiveness Christ freely gives?

Open your heart.

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Feel. Lent is a time in which to open our hearts to Christ, to risk trusting in God and allow Jesus to change us. The Samaritan woman did not at first understand what was happening to her as she spoke with the Lord at the well. Yet, she did not run away, and opened her heart to Christ. Not only was her heart moved and her life changed, so were the people of her town whom she told of her encounter with Jesus.

Give. During Lent, we give our time, money, and support to those who are poor, lonely, sick, in prison, the most vulnerable among us. We share our faith in Jesus and the impact of our faith in word and in deed, with friends, family, and especially with those to whom we reach out in charity this season.

Reflect. How might you open your heart to encounter Jesus this Lent? Who needs to know Christ’s love and mercy through your giving and sharing? How might you go beyond yourself in care, compassion, and charity?

February 2023

BE HOLY. BE PERFECT.

Jesus’ words in this month’s gospels are challenging: Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies. Forgive and be reconciled. Pray for those who persecute you.  Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Discipleship can be demanding, yet following Jesus is also freeing. In faith, we learn to let go of the constant pursuit of things that do not last. Our lives are less filled with conflict and more focused on things that matter. We have greater perspective, an eternal perspective, in meeting life’s circumstances. When we are tempted to turn away from God’s ways and instead turn toward the Lord, we find peace and fulfillment on the path of holiness.

BE SALT AND LIGHT.

We all have times when we are stressed and tired or make our way through life without enthusiasm. The first disciples who walked with Jesus probably had those days as well. They may have grown weary on the journey. They might have missed their former lifestyle and questioned their decision to follow Jesus. Jesus encouraged them, challenged them, and urged them to stay on the path of faith, knowing that doing so is the way of truth and life, life filled with grace and meaning.

“You are the salt of the earth,” “You are the light of the world,” Jesus said. Jesus wants his disciples to be alive in faith, transformed by the Holy Spirit. As people empowered with the Spirit, we may add rich flavor and light where life is dull, lackluster, exhausting, dark.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS

If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.

Before you are life and death, good and evil.  Our Sunday readings this month, including this strong message from the book of Sirach, urge us to choose to be the people God desires, to strive toward selflessness, generosity, forgiveness, mercy, and love.

As disciples, when we bring faith to life, we are filled with purpose, sharing in Christ’s mission to transform the world through selfless love. We are called to live faith deeply, boldly, showing others the impact of our belief and trust in the Lord in our daily lives. Choosing to live as Christ’s own in the world is demanding and at the same time, it is the way of perfect love. The choice is yours. Whichever you choose will be given you.