Author: admin

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Gospel: Matthew 23: 8-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples:
“Do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Perhaps the two most influential thinkers in the history of the Catholic Church are Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas, who lived 800 years apart.

Saint Augustine lived in northern Africa in the 4^th century and is most famous for his memoir, Confessions, in which he documents his storied past, his dramatic conversion, and ultimately his conclusion: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord.”

The Church has preserved these, and over five million other words either written or preached by Augustine, for nearly two-thousand years.

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Similarly, Saint Thomas Aquinas, whose feast day we celebrate today, was a prolific writer who built upon the writings of Augustine. Incredibly, Thomas wrote more than 100,000 pages of philosophy and theology. His depth and clarity of thought remain unmatched.

Yet, one day while celebrating Mass, Thomas received a vision of heaven that affected him so deeply that he never wrote another word.

“The end of my labors has come,” he said. “All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.”

Three months later, Thomas died peacefully.

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What can the life and example of these towering Saints say to us today?

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First, make every effort to know, follow, and love Jesus Christ. We will remain restless and unsatisfied until we do.

Secondly, there is no sacrifice we can make for God that outweighs our heavenly reward. Even the compendium of Thomas Aquinas – 100,000 pages of the best writing the Church has ever known – is, in his words, straw compared to the beauty of God.

So, how might we satisfy our restlessness by growing closer to the Lord today?

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Image credits: (1) Dominicana Journal (2) The Gospel Coalition (3) AZ Quotes

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Gospel: Mark 3:31-35

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply,
“Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Immediately following the resurrection of Christ, the Apostles embraced their mission to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth, starting in Jerusalem. As Peter says in the Acts of the Apostles:

“This man, you killed using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up!”

Their message was startling and life-changing.

While large numbers of people converted to Christianity, a significant number of these converts were also martyred for their faith. Mysteriously, their deaths only made the Church grow. 

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One reason why Christians were martyred was because of their unwillingness to bend their knees to worldly power. As a result, people like the Roman Emperor Nero spread lies and misinformation about them, creating a culture of fear and suspicion.  

For example, Nero labeled Christians as “cannibals,” accusing them of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of their God. While misunderstood, that ancient accusation only affirms the Catholic belief in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. 

Christians were also called “incestuous,” because they referred to one another as “brothers and sisters,” a practice taught by Christ in today’s Gospel.

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus asks the crowd. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

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Jesus taught his followers that he came to establish a new family, God’s family, the Church – a community whose relationships are not bound by DNA, nor do they dissolve in death. 

Rather, we are equals who treat each other accordingly – never as inferior, as enemies, or as unwelcome rivals, rather as brothers and sisters in Christ. Recently, Pope Leo stretched this teaching, saying we should treat all of humanity with such kindness.

Imagine the people whom you might interact with today – those whom you love and those whom you may struggle to love. Follow the example of the first Christians, treating all of them as a brother or sister. For whatever we do to them, we do to Christ himself.

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Image credits: (1) The Stepmom Project, WordPress (2) Compelling Truth (3) thidolbabbler.com

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2 Timothy 1:1-8

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy, 
as I recall your sincere faith
that first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and that I am confident lives also in you.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

The Word of the Lord.

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On paper, Saint Paul’s accolades are impossible to repeat: 

The Risen Christ appeared to him; Paul helped to write half of the New Testament; the greatest missionary of his age; and a man of exceptional spiritual and physical endurance.

But there’s one thing that I find endearing about him. Although he had no children of his own, Paul had the tender heart of a father. 

He ordained a number of men to the priesthood, including Timothy, whom he refers to as his, “spiritual son.”

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In our first reading, we hear part a letter, which Paul writes to Timothy, revealing several important truths about their relationship.

First, Paul writes to encourage Timothy, who seems to be struggling in his faith. “I remind you,” he says, “to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.”

We don’t know exactly why Timothy was struggling – it could have been the effect of Paul’s absence, who’s writing to him from prison; the weight of persecution; or something as simple as dryness in prayer or burn out.

But, “I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day,” Paul says.

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He continues with tender-hearted affirmation, reminding Timothy that he follows in the footsteps of other faithful Christians, including his own grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice, who came to faith before him. Their faith, “dwells in you.”

Then he concludes by challenging Timothy – as I suppose as any father would – to, “bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”

Such is the nature of a healthy father-son relationship: there is tenderness and affirmation, but also high standards.

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I’d imagine Paul has the same fatherly love for each of us. While he assures us of his prayers, he also reminds us that our work is not complete. “Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel.” 

What might that look like for us today?

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Image credits: (1 Saint Paul Writing his Letters, Museum of Fine Art Houston, Public Domain ) (2) Agape Bible Study (3) Catholic Campus Ministry