Author: admin

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Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-23

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

    Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
        and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In the longer version of today’s Gospel, we hear the genealogy of Jesus, which includes some pretty surprising and scandalous figures – everyone from fools, to liars, con artists, adulterers, murderers, and prostitutes!

If we looked back over forty-two generations from our own family tree, there’s a chance we’d also find a bad apple or two.

But this is the genealogy of Jesus! 

Why would God knowingly include sinners to prepare the way for his first coming?

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To teach us a timeless lesson: that people often lead messy or difficult lives. Everyone makes mistakes; everyone has written a page or two they’d rather not repeat, even the ancestors of Jesus.

As Saint Paul says, “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.”

But just as the Lord used imperfect people to prepare the way for his first coming, so he intends to use all of us to prepare for his second coming.

It’s simply a matter of being open to his grace.

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So, how might we spread the kingdom of God just a little more today?

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A simple act of kindness can go a long way.

Or, in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is darkness, let me bring light; where there is despair, let me bring hope. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

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Image credits: (1) Linking Earth With Heaven Above (2) Become Orthodox, WordPress (3) Lord, Make Me An Instrument, Chris Cox

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Gospel: Luke 6: 12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people 
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Growing up, I remember playing backyard sports with my brother and his friends. I was often chosen last because I was the little brother; the tag-along; the runt of the group.

Everyone else was older, taller, stronger, and more experienced than me. It hurt being the least desired, but humanly speaking, it was a fair assessment of the group.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus chooses the most unlikely men to be on his “team.”

None of them were religious scholars; none of them were wealthy, nor famous, nor influential. They were commoners with their own share of flaws, giving Jesus every reason to choose them last.

Or not to choose them at all. 

Yet, together, they changed the world.

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What impresses me the most is the fact that Jesus unites these men in a single cause. Without him, some would’ve remained bitter enemies.

Simon, for example, was called “the Zealot,” because he likely belonged to an extreme nationalist group that was fighting for Jewish independence.

Meanwhile, Matthew was sleeping with the enemy, serving the Romans as a tax collector.

No doubt, these two men didn’t see eye to eye.

But they came together for Christ and changed the world.

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Such are the possibilities when ordinary people, even polar opposites, belong to God.

We can do extraordinary things when we set aside our differences and focus on proclaiming the Gospel.

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Image credits: (1) Arelor, Polar Opposites, WordPress (2) Appearance on Lake Tiberias, Duccio (3) JW.org

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Colossians 1:24 – 2:3

Brothers and sisters:
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.
But now it has been manifested to his holy ones,
to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles;
it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.
It is he whom we proclaim,
admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
For this I labor and struggle,
in accord with the exercise of his power working within me.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you
and for those in Laodicea
and all who have not seen me face to face,
that their hearts may be encouraged
as they are brought together in love,
to have all the richness of assured understanding,
for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The Word of the Lord.

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“For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you,” Paul says in our first reading to the Colossians.

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What’s causing Paul such agony?

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He wants nothing more than to journey to Colossae to support these early Christians, who are struggling in their faith. 

But Paul’s stuck in prison, chained to the floor. Imagine how frustrated he must be.

He also fears his own death is near. Although he’s a heroic man, nobody looks forward to a torturous death.

There’s a chance that Paul might be spared if he renounces his faith. Certainly, Satan – and the Roman Emperor Nero – would want nothing more than that. Having Paul deny Jesus would be like breaking the end off of a spear; the early Church would’ve been devastated.

But Paul will not give up. He runs the race of life to the finish and keeps the faith. His courage and his faith – so evident in his writings – become his legacy.

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So, what can we learn from Paul’s final days?

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There are some things in life that we cannot control.

In Paul’s case, while he was imprisoned, all he could do was pray and leave the rest up to God.

At times, that’s all we can do, as well; pray and leave the rest up to God.

Secondly, Paul knew his life was bigger than himself; he shaped an entire generation of Christians. Similarly, we must see beyond ourselves, trusting that our faith influences others, whether or not we realize it.

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Saint Paul, priest and martyr, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Saint Paul in Prison, Rembrandt (2) Aleteia (3) Overwhelming Pride, WordPress