Author: admin

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Gospel: Matthew 23: 13-22

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.
You do not enter yourselves,
nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You traverse sea and land to make one convert,
and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna
twice as much as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say,
‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,
or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
one who swears by the temple swears by it
and by him who dwells in it;
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God
and by him who is seated on it.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Someone once said, “You may be the only bible a person ever reads.”

As Christians, you and I are meant to digest the Word of God so deeply that it becomes part of who we are.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus accuses the religious authorities of doing the very opposite. They’ve essentially hijacked religion, turning it into a system of rules, leading people to believe that God cares more about the purity of their hands than the purity of their hearts.

“Woe to you!” Jesus says.

The meaning of this word, “woe,” in Greek not only carries a sense of deep wrath, but also sorrow. The fact that the religious leaders of his day have prevented people from encountering the love and mercy of God made Jesus sorrowfully angry.

So, he condemns them with seven different “woes.” Some have called this Gospel passage, “Christ’s rolling thunder.” Nowhere else does Jesus issue such a strong, sustained rebuke. In fact, the religious leaders are the only ones whom Jesus condemns in the Gospels.

This is a damning truth, considering the fact that Jesus prayed for – and even forgave – his executioners! But this is how seriously the Lord holds religious figures accountable – or, for that matter, anyone who claims to know him.

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“You may be the only bible a person ever reads.”

So, how has the Word of God come alive in your heart? How is the compassion of Christ revealed in your speech? How does the love of God reveal itself through your actions?

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As Teresa of Avila reminds us, “Christ has no body on earth now, but yours.” May we use our eyes, our voice, our hands and feet to reveal the infinite love and mercy of God, lest Jesus cry out, “Woe to you!”

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Image credits: (1) Jesus Christ- The World’s Savior and Redeemer (2) The Sydney Morning Herald (3) Strength with Dignity

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Gospel: John 6: 60-69

Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said,
“This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them, “Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending
to where he was before? 
It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.”
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one who would betray him. 
And he said,
“For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me
unless it is granted him by my Father.”

As a result of this,
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? 
You have the words of eternal life. 
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Once in an interview, the French philosopher, Jean Paul Sartre, a cradle Catholic, was asked if the rumor were true. “Have you left the Catholic Church?” 

“Yes,” he replied, “that is true.”

“Have you joined another religion?” the interviewer inquired.

“No,” he says, “I have lost my faith. I have not yet lost my reason.”

Sartre felt like many in today’s Gospel did. After Jesus presented himself as, “The bread come down from heaven,” whose “flesh” we are supposed to eat, the crowds replied: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat? This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

Notice they took Jesus literally, as we should, too. 

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Today’s Gospel is the final excerpt from chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, commonly referred to as the, “Bread of Life Discourse.” 

We’ve been reading through this same chapter for the last five weeks, which might seem repetitive. But John is trying to make abundantly clear what Jesus is doing: he is establishing a new, eternal covenant between God and his people.

A covenant fulfilled by the spilling of Christ’s own Body and Blood.

The use of blood to seal a covenant was not foreign to the Jews; this happened multiple times throughout their history. Consider the two most significant covenants in the Old Testament – the Passover and the giving of the Ten Commandments. 

Both were sealed in blood. 

With the giving of the Ten Commandments, for example, Moses was commanded to sprinkle blood on the altar, then on the Israelites, which meant, if either side were unfaithful to the covenant, then blood must be shed.

Because no Jew could keep the commandments perfectly, the Lord later proclaimed through the prophet Jeremiah: 

“The days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. They broke my covenant. But I will be their God and they shall be my people.”

Jesus is claiming that this new covenant is fulfilled in him. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” 

Unable to accept his words, the crowds abandon Jesus in droves, prompting him to ask his disciples: “Do you also want to leave?”

Peter doesn’t fully understand what Jesus is saying, either. Still, he responds in good faith, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 

Unlike the crowds, Peter and the other disciples have given up everything to follow Jesus. At this point, they’re all in.

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At the Last Supper, Christ’s words begin to make sense to them. 

As he celebrates the Passover, Jesus takes a loaf of bread and a cup of wine, and says, “Take this, all of you and eat of it… this is my Body… This is my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant. Do this in memory of me.”

Thus, the Eucharist becomes the new covenant promised through the prophet Jeremiah. 

It’s why attending Mass matters. Here we receive Jesus. Here God recommits himself to us – and we to him! Here we say with our ancestors, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD… for he is our God.”

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Still, many wonder, why must Jesus give us his “flesh” to eat? Why is his Word not enough?

The Eucharist reverses the ancient curse caused by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Remember, they break their communion with God through a disobedient act of eating.

God said to Adam, “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, except from the tree of knowledge. When you eat from it, you shall die.” As a result, sin and death entered the world. 

At Mass, we restore that communion lost through our first parents also through an act of eating. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,” Jesus says.

With our “Amen,” we become what we receive.

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Unlike Sartre, who claimed to have lost his faith – what did he really gain? – when we reach the edge of reason and mystery alone remains, may the words of Peter become our own, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

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Image credits: (1) (2) Medium (3) St. John the Baptist Catholic Church

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Gospel: Matthew 22: 34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When preparing couples for marriage, I always ask them: “What is love?”

It’s beautiful to see how unique each response – and relationship – can be.

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If a couple struggles to formulate an answer, I offer one of my favorite definitions of love, coming from Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet.

You may remember the balcony scene when a young Juliet gazes down upon Romeo and says, “Romeo, the more I give to you, the more I seem to have.”

That’s the strange, scary, exhilarating truth about love: the more we give, the more we have.

I call it the law of self-donation, which has been written into all of creation.

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If you walk outside and look up, what will you see? The sun does not shine on itself; it gives its light away, warming and brightening the earth.

Trees do not eat their own fruit; they offer it for the nourishment of others. Meanwhile, their branches reach for the heavens, growing leaves, offering others shade from the noonday heat.

Rivers do not drink their own water. Flowers release their fragrance.

Living for others – giving oneself away – is a law of nature written into all of creation, including every human heart.

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In what ways do I give myself away? How do I live like the sun and the stars?

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“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,” Jesus says, “and your neighbor as yourself.” These are the greatest of the commandments.

May we embrace this law of self-donation, living like all of creation. 

The more we give, the more we will seem to have.

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Image credits: (1) Life Coach and Spiritual Guide (2) The Conversation (3) philosiblog