Thursday, Week Four
What is a prayer that is very pleasing to God? Moses asked God to have mercy on the people even though they had sinned. And God listened to his prayer. When we call out to God and ask him to send us his mercy, he hears our prayers. In this type of prayer, we acknowledge his greatness and love and our sinfulness and need. We also show him our merciful heart towards others which attracts his mercy towards us.
Wednesday, Week Four
My Father is at work until now, so I am at work. Jesus says these words because he is the perfect image of the Father. What is the work that he is talking about? What work does the Father do? The Father’s work is creating, loving, restoring. Jesus came to show us the work of the Father. The work of Jesus is to teach us how to create, love, and restore because he has first created us, loved us, and restored us.
Tuesday, Week Four
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God. Water is a symbol of joy because it is a symbol of life. Just as we need water to live our physical lives, we also need God‘s love and mercy to live as his children. The next time you take a drink of water, imagine that you are drinking in the goodness of God. Every time you drink water, it can be a prayer.
Monday, Week Four
I am about to create new heavens and a new earth. God‘s love is creative. He can bring something out of nothing and he can also restore things to life. We can bring to him all that is dead or injured in us and his creative love will bring us new life. His desire is for joy and delight in the lives of all his people. This should be our desire as well.
Fourth Sunday of Lent
We implore you on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God, says Saint Paul in the second reading for today. Jesus suffered for us so that we could be reconciled to God. If we refuse to be reconciled to God, then we show ourselves ungrateful for all that Jesus has done for us. He suffered for our sins so that we could be made holy and whole.
Saturday, Week Three
Are we praying to ourselves? Or is the god that we worship really just ourselves? If you want to know who you are praying to, examine your life. Do you live your life like the Pharisee always comparing yourself to others and usually finding out that you are better than they are? Or perhaps you compare yourself to other people and envy them. Either attitude will make your prayer fruitless and bitter. O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Friday, Week Three
Why are these two Commandments of loving God and loving your neighbor so closely linked? There are many reasons, but I think that one of the most important is that when Jesus took on our flesh, he also took on all of our suffering and trials. Because of this, he identifies very closely with each one of us. When we show our love and compassion to another human being, we are truly loving that person and also truly loving God.
Thursday, Week Three
The readings today speak of hardness of heart. How can we avoid having hard hearts? If we don’t want our hearts to be hard, we have to allow them to be pierced. We have to let ourselves feel compassion and sympathy for those who suffer. We have to let ourselves feel sorrow for our sins. We have to look at Jesus and recognize who he is and what he has done for us. We have to see our ingratitude and decide to repent.
Wednesday, Week Three
Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. This verse is taken from a little later in the Gospel of Matthew than the Gospel that is read today. It helps to shed light on what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is the fulfillment of everything because he is Love. We cannot break even the smallest commandment of love. We need to be courteous, kind, and understanding. When we do all of these things and teach others to do them, it is then that we are truly great.
Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation!
Monday, Week Three
When we expect extraordinary things, we might miss out on the wonderful blessings that God wants to give us. Naaman the leper thought he would see an extraordinary sign when he went to see Elisha. When he was asked to do an ordinary thing, he became so angry that he almost went away and missed out on the healing God wanted to give him. In the gospel, the people try to kill Jesus and do not receive his blessings because he does not do things the way they think he should.
Third Sunday of Lent
Who is God? When Moses asks him, he answers, I am who am. This is a beautiful name because it means that he is existence. It is from him that everything flows. Every created thing has its origin in him, and every blessing comes from him. Our lives are participation in his life, and we are all bound together by our relationship to him.
Saturday, Second Week of Lent
Our Father is rich in mercy, and we are supposed to be merciful as he is merciful. How is he merciful? Jesus paints a picture of his amazing mercy. When someone has greedily demanded things from the Father and then has rejected him and moved far away from him, when he has spent his life in sin, and then repented because he had hit rock bottom, what does the Father do? He runs out to meet him before he has even said a word. He embraces him and kisses him and restores him to his place in the family.
Friday, Second Week of Lent
God is sending you messengers all day long through the events in your life and the words of other people. What do you do to these messengers? Do you respect them and give them your attention? Or do you do violence to the thoughts and counsels that they bring you and try to get rid of them? We are God’s tenants, and he is expecting us to take care of what he has given us and produce the fruit of love.
Thursday, Second Week of Lent
What is the sin that the rich man committed? He didn’t actually do anything to Lazarus. His sin, however, was in not noticing him, and being indifferent to him. He also did not realize that when God blesses someone with gifts, whether material or spiritual, God expects that the person he has blessed will share his blessings with those in need. We can often be guilty ourselves of not paying attention to the gifts in our lives and to those around us who need to be blessed by our generosity and kindness.
Happy St. Joseph’s Day!
We will resume posting on Thursday.
Tuesday, Second Week of Lent
What kind of sacrifice does God want? Does he want us to lay in sackcloth and ashes? Does he want us to fast on bread and water? The psalm today says that God wants a sacrifice of praise. What is a sacrifice of praise? God wants us to praise him in every thought, word, and deed. He wants us to praise him with our lives. What does that mean? It means that whatever we do, whether in work or play, should be done to please our Father in Heaven.
Monday, Second Week of Lent
What kind of measure are you measuring with? Are you measuring with a teaspoon? Or do you measure in gallons? Jesus is very clear that if you carefully measure out a small amount and make sure not to give too much, this will be what we will receive. If we want to receive the boundless mercy of God, we must be ready to pour ourselves out for others.
Second Sunday of Lent
It is very tempting while we live here on earth, to imagine that this is our permanent residence and to live very much just for this world. We can think it’s extremely important if we are citizens of this or that country, if we belong to this or that group, or if we achieve success in a certain area. But all of that is fading away. The only thing that matters is that we are all citizens of Heaven.
Saturday, First Week of Lent
God lets his rain fall on the just and the unjust. He has given his good gifts to everyone. If we want to be like our Heavenly Father, we must also give our good gifts to everyone: our smile, our kindness, our prayer, our help. We can’t keep these just for the people who are good to us. We need to be generous and let our love rain down on everyone even those who we think don’t deserve it.
Friday, First Week of Lent
Even though this is Lent, there is always something that is a cause for rejoicing in the Christian life. In the reading for today, God says that he rejoices when a wicked person turns away from evil so that he will have life. Jesus also says that there is rejoicing in heaven when a sinner repents. We are all sinners, but we participate in this joy of God and the joy of all heaven whenever we repent, and whenever we rejoice at the conversion and repentance of another.
Thursday, First Week of Lent
Six years ago, a priest asked us in a sermon if any of us had ever prayed to God for anything the way that Queen Esther did. At that time, there was something that I wanted very much. I wanted a miracle for my daughter. I decided that I would kneel as often as I could, and ask God to help her. Within a few days, the miracle (which seemed impossible) was granted. Let us trust God in all things and bring our needs before him. He himself tells us to ask, seek, and knock. He is ready to give us good things.
Wednesday, First Week of Lent
During Lent, we think a lot about sacrifices. We think about the things that we are going to give up or the things that we are going to do. But do we think about the heart that is going to accomplish these sacrifices? That’s what God thinks about. Saint Paul says that it doesn’t really matter what deeds we do if we do them without love. God doesn’t need us to do great things for him, but he does want us to become great people for him, people who know how to love.
Tuesday, First Week of Lent
Jesus does not want us to babble when we pray. Prayer is a conversation between you and the Holy Trinity. You can’t really have a conversation with anyone if you are not even interested in what you are saying. Jesus gives us the beautiful prayer of the Our Father, but he doesn’t expect that we will rattle it off without thinking. Every time we pray this prayer, we should make it our own by thinking about the words we are saying.
Monday, First Week of Lent
Come or depart? Which of these words do you want to hear? Today Jesus gives us the key to hearing the word come. You can hear the word come if you have used this word to welcome all those in need. If you have asked others to come and feel the love that you have for them. Jesus loves others so much that he will accept any small deed you do for them as if it were done for him. You can begin today to treat every person you meet with the love that you want to receive from Jesus.
First Sunday of Lent
Jesus had a very special mission to fulfill. His mission was to perfectly do the will of his Father and to bring salvation to the world. If he had given in to any of these temptations, then his mission would have been destroyed. By resisting these temptations of pleasure, greed, and power, he has given us the strength to do the same. We also have a mission. Our mission is the same as Jesus had. We also want to do the will of our Father and help to bring the kingdom of God to the world. Let us not turn aside to the things that destroy our mission because they can never satisfy us.
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
There is a saying turning the tables. It means that one person gets an advantage over another person. In today’s Gospel, Levi didn’t turn the tables. Instead, he exchanged his tax collecting table for a banquet table with Jesus. It might seem that he did not get an advantage. Now he would not have so much money. But friendship with Jesus is much more valuable than any possessions here on earth. All our possessions will be lost but friendship with Jesus lasts forever.
Friday after Ash Wednesday
What is the fast that God wants? He wants us to fast from selfishness. When we fast, we give up something that we like. But the reason we do this is to be more available to God and to other people. We don’t want our fasting to be like that of hypocrites who are always eager to brag about what they are doing. Our fasting should be an act of love that draws us into communion with God and others.
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Trees have roots that stretch deep down into the ground searching for water. If the roots can’t find any water and don’t receive any rain, after a certain time, the tree will die. What if a tree could decide where it wanted to be planted? It would probably decide to be planted next to a stream or river. We are not trees, but we can decide where we want to be planted. If we let ourselves be planted by the river of God’s mercy and love, we will never die.
Ash Wednesday
And your Father who sees in secret…
Your Father wants to see the real you. Sometimes we don’t want to show who we really are. We might think that other people won’t like us so we try to look smarter or tougher or holier than we are. Maybe we want others to praise us so that we feel important. But we don’t need to pretend. Our Father sees our weaknesses and our fears and our sins…and he loves us anyway. You don’t need to be afraid to turn to him and let him see you just as you are. He will never turn you away.