Author: admin

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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

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2 Corinthians 4: 7-15

Brothers and sisters:
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,
we too believe and therefore speak, 
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Everything indeed is for you,
so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people
may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

The Word of the Lord.

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The Hoover Dam is situated in the desert, between Arizona and Nevada. When constructed in the 1930’s, the goal of the dam was to provide water – and by extension, life – to vast areas of the Western United States.

To this day it remains an essential source of water and hydroelectric power.

Inevitably during the construction of the dam, over 100 people lost their lives due to dehydration and disease.

When the dam was completed, a tablet was set in the wall with the names of the men who died and the inscription: “These died that the desert might rejoice and blossom as the rose.”

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While all of these men worked to earn their daily bread, perhaps some of them also knew the value of their labor; perhaps some were willing to suffer, even to offer their lives, for the sake of generations to come.

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This is the Christian attitude that Paul writes about extensively in his pastoral letters, including in our first reading today.

Christians were commonly killed in the first three centuries after the death and resurrection of Christ – Saint Paul and Saint James, whose feast day we celebrate today, included.

But Paul urges Christians to remember that, even should their faith and ministry cost them their lives, future generations will find Christ because of them.

You might say, “No cross…no crown.”

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On this Feast of Saint James, may we all unite our suffering to the Cross of Jesus – whether that’s from fending off temptation, staying loyal to the Lord, or persevering in the desert of prayer.

Much like those men who constructed the Hoover Dam, our labor for the Gospel will give life for generations to come.

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Image credits: (1) Pinterest (2) Wikipedia (3) Inspirational Christian Blogs