Author: admin

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Gospel: John 11: 19-27

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

What makes this Gospel scene so tragic is the fact that Jesus knew that Lazarus was ill four days ago! But he waits until now – until Lazarus is dead – to visit him.

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

A true – and crushing – line. 

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Is a heartbroken Martha rebuking Jesus for his delay? Or is she demonstrating her faith in his power to give life?

Probably both. 

In that moment, Martha represents so many of us. She’s wavering between certainty and doubt, between fear and faith. She knows that Jesus had the power to save her brother.

But he chose not to.

And she’s struggling to understand why.

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It’s only with hindsight that we see Christ’s reasoning.

The raising of Lazarus becomes the final miracle that Jesus performs before the Last Supper, leading to his own death and resurrection. 

Before being laid in the tomb, Jesus wants to firm up his disciples’ faith. 

He wants them to see that he not only has the power to bring people back to life physically; he will raise us up eternally.

In the words of Saint Paul, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”

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When we feel like Martha – when we stand at the grave and weep – remember the bigger picture; Christ has been raised from the dead.

And so shall we. 

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Image credits: (1) Church of Jesus Christ (2) Medium (3) Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 47-53

Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.”
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Fishing nets are designed to scoop up everything in their path. They do not discriminate.

Naturally, when such a net is hauled into a boat, it contains all sorts of things: flapping fish, muddy twigs, and debris.

It’s up to the fisherman – not the net – to decide what he wants to keep and what he doesn’t.

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In the Gospel, Jesus likens the Church to a fishing net. 

We’re meant to cast ourselves far and wide, gathering as many people as possible into the Church. It’s not up to us to decide who does or doesn’t belong; that power belongs to Christ, the Fisherman. 

Yet how often are we tempted to play his role? To decide who’s in and who’s out; who belongs and who doesn’t.

“In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places,” Jesus says.

A place for you. A place for me. And, perhaps, a place for everyone and everything gathered into the net of the Church.

The Lord will make that decision at the end of our lives.

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Our mission as Church is to cast the net far and wide, to embrace our neighbors, and to allow the love of God – made manifest in us – to transform the people around us.

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Image credits: (1) Joel Littlefield (2) A Church for Starving Artists (3) Free Gift From God

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 16-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I received my first bible when I was thirteen.

“You’re a teenager now,” my grandmother said to me. “Half-way to being all grown up! It’s time for you to start reading the bible. Start with the Gospels: there’s Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John!”

It seemed like such a simple fact; there are four Gospels and my grandmother knew each of them by name. But I had never heard of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John before. I wondered if God existed, but had no idea then that he’d spoken to humanity in the bible.

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It was the most ordinary of moments – receiving my first bible – but my grandmother planted a seed in my heart that later blossomed into faith.

When I was sixteen, I read that bible from cover to cover. And so began my journey with Jesus.

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Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, Jesus’ grandparents.

I wonder what kind of seeds they planted in his heart; what they taught him about the world; or what lessons he learned from their lived experience. He may have rejoiced in the smallest things they said or did.

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And, by extension, I wonder what kind of seeds so many of you – grandparents, great aunts and uncles – have planted in the hearts of your grandchildren.

If my life is any example, then remember this: nothing is ordinary in the mind of a child. 

Children have a unique sense of awe; they lean on adults – especially their grandparents – for guidance as they go, in my grandmother’s words, “From half-way to all grown up!”

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May we all plant a seed in a young person’s heart today. And through the intercession of Saints Anne and Joachim, in time may it bear good fruit.

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Image credits: (1) For Your Marriage (2) St. Anne’s Catholic Church (3) Rainy Day Mum