Author: admin

***

Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

“Your faith has saved you.”

We can certainly say this about the Saints, whose stories not only inspire us, but remind us of what human beings are capable of when a willing heart is filled with God’s grace.

***

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Frances Cabrini.

Just last week, a group of parishioners and I made a pilgrimage to her shrine, celebrating Mass at her tomb.

Frances is one of only ten canonized Saints to have called America, “home.” Although born in northern Italy in the 1850’s, she immigrated to the United States after being sent by the pope to care for sick and orphaned Italian immigrants in New York City.

By the end of her life, her mission expanded far beyond New York; she established 67 different institutions to care for the poorest of the poor, not only in the US and Italy, but also in Central and South America.

Nine years after her death, sisters from the religious order she founded, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, even took root in China.

***

What strikes me most about Frances’ life was her ability to overcome fear for the sake of the Gospel.

For example, she nearly drowned in a canal as a child, leaving her with a terrible fear of water. Imagine what must’ve been racing through her mind – the fear, the anxiety! – after seeing the ocean for the very first time, realizing she was about to cross it.

Frances made that months-long pilgrimage across the Atlantic 23 times over the course of her life.

She once said, in so many words, “I do not ask God to take my fear away. Rather, to expand my heart. If I love more than I fear, then I shall overcome.”

And overcome she did. She turned fear into love; darkness into light; chaos into order; doubt into faith; sick and restless orphans into children of God.

***

May Frances intercede for us, that God would expand our hearts with his grace, never allowing fear to prevent us from doing his will.

Saint Frances Cabrini, pray for us.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Pin Page (2) Catholic News Agency (3) Hope With God, Facebook

***

Gospel: Luke 17: 7-10

Jesus said to the Apostles:
“Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

One important theme in the bible is stewardship. A steward is someone who has been entrusted with managing something important that belongs to another. 

In the Old Testament, the prophets were stewards of God’s Word. They were entrusted with listening to, then sharing God’s message with Israel. Often that message involved repentance, or turning back to God.

Other figures, such as Noah and Moses, were stewards of God’s covenants. 

Noah was responsible for guiding God’s animals into the ark before the great flood. Moses was the steward of the 10 Commandments, ensuring Israel remained faithful to their end of the covenant.

***

In the New Testament, Jesus often speaks in parables, using stewardship as a way to describe all of humanity’s responsibility to guard and govern God’s creation.

This not only involves caring for the physical world around us, but also the relationships we hold most dear.

For example, both a husband and a wife are stewards of their marriage.

Priests are stewards of the Sacraments.

We are stewards of this parish.

All of us are stewards of the gift of faith, which God has planted in our hearts.

***

What we do with these gifts matters.

Think of the parable Jesus gives about the three stewards entrusted with their Master’s fortune. 

One was given 10 talents, another 5, another 1. Those entrusted with 5 and 10 talents doubled their Master’s fortune, while the steward entrusted with 1 talent buried it in the sand. He was harshly condemned.

God expects us to care for the gifts he has given us – Sacraments, creation, a marriage, friendships, fortune, faith – not because we expect anything in return; rather, because everything we have been given is ultimately his.

Using today’s Gospel imagery, we are merely “unprofitable servants,” doing what we are obliged to do. 

What am I a steward of? How will I care for that today?

***

***

Image credits: (1) St. Lawrence Catholic Church (2) Faith Lutheran Church (3) Coram Deo

***

Gospel: Luke 17:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard!
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day 
and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’
you should forgive him.”

And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

A few years ago, a story went viral about a retired Army veteran named Anthony Maggert, who was driving to Walter Reed Hospital for a routine doctor’s appointment. 

On his way, Anthony noticed a car pulled over on the side of the road with a flat tire. Without hesitation, he stopped to help. 

To his surprise, the person with the unfortunate flat was General Colin Powell, an American hero and fellow Army veteran. 

The two quickly became friends as Powell recognized in Maggert that instinctive selflessness written into the DNA of our nation’s veterans, who freely risked their lives in defense of our democracy. 

In Maggert’s case, he served three tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan, losing one of his legs along the way.

***

It’s hard to imagine equaling Maggert’s sacrifice, although some extraordinary men and women have. 

But two ways we can all thank our veterans today is to be grateful for this wonderful nation we all call home. Then pay that gratitude forward. 

Find some small way to sacrifice your time, treasure, or talent for a neighbor in need. Change a tire, pay a visit, cook a meal, thank a veteran, beat your swords plowshares and your spears into pruning hooks. 

Recognize, at least today, if not always, that beneath whatever differences we may have, we are not only Americans, we are also one family – brothers and sisters in Christ.

***

***

Image credits: (1) California American Legion (2) WINK News (3) Vietnam Veterans of America