Author: admin

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Gospel: John 4: 43-54

At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast.

Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him,
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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It’s been said the deepest pain a human can experience is the death of a child.

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In today’s Gospel, a desperate father approaches Jesus, begging him to heal his son. Adding to the anguish of the story, this man has traveled from Capernaum to Cana in search of Jesus, a 20-mile journey. 

Imagine walking 20-miles, knowing your child at home is deathly ill.

Upon finding him, the father begs Jesus for a miracle. Jesus, staying in place, simply says, “You may go; your son will live.”

This man believes what was spoken and starts his journey home.

That’s the key. 

He makes no further demands of Jesus; he asks for no other sign. Jesus made a promise – the boy is healed – and this father believes him.

His peace comes through belief.

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That 20-mile journey home becomes a beautiful image of the Christian life.

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Our Christian journeys begin at baptism. 

In that Sacrament, the Lord promises us eternal life. He himself says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”

The rest of our days are meant to be like that father’s 20-mile journey home – filled with belief, hope, and joy.

So, how’s my journey going? Do I find comfort in my faith? Or am I still searching for Jesus, looking for greater peace?

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Like the father in the Gospel, our peace comes through belief.

The more we believe the words Jesus has spoken, the easier – and more comforting – our journeys home become.

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Gospel: Mark 12: 28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
    Hear, O Israel!
    The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 
    with all your soul, 
    with all your mind, 
    and with all your strength.
The second is this:
    You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
    He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
    with all your understanding, 
    with all your strength,
    and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
 

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In Jesus’ time, there were two major schools of thought. 

Some Jews wanted to expand the Law as much as possible. They were meticulous and exceptionally detailed; so much so that, in addition to the 10 Commandments, they created 613 extra rules to follow!

Other Jews treated the Law like an accordion. They wanted to collapse it down to its very essence.

This is the approach that Jesus takes.

Collapsing the Law, he says the entirety of it – and by extension all of Christianity – can be summarized in a single word: love.

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But what exactly is love?

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Love’s a bit like humility; it’s hard to define. But you know it when you see it. You know it when you feel it. And you know it when you don’t.

Throughout the centuries, poets like Dante have tried to define it with varying degrees of success. For example, he once wrote, “Love is what moves the sun and the other stars.” 

Nice, but a bit too abstract to me.

Shakespeare, on the other hand, got it right.

In one of the most famous scenes from Romeo and Juliet, a young Juliet gazes down upon Romeo from her balcony and says to him:

“Romeo, the more I give to you, the more I seem to have.”

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That’s the very essence of love: the more we give, the more we have.

Juliet lived in a world of “we,” not “me.”

Married couples and parents understand this well. Think of how delighted you are when you see your children succeed.  

Or the delight teachers experience when they teach their students how to read.

Or the sense of meaning we find when giving the perfect gift, forgiving a neighbor, or volunteering to help the most vulnerable among us.

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If Juliet is right, then the more we give to anyone, the happier we become. 

This is why love fulfills the Law; it’s the force that moves the sun and the other stars. 

So, how can we love another person – how can we give more of ourselves away – today?

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Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-19

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Dorothy Day was a social activist who became a Catholic after giving birth to her first child. 

Holding her newborn tenderly against her chest, she realized there had to be someone to thank for the gift of life.

But Day not only came to believe in God’s existence; she also conformed her life to that belief, deciding to live above a soup kitchen in New York City for the next several decades.

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Most people wouldn’t jump at the chance to call a soup kitchen “home.”

But Day made it her mission to serve the poorest in New York City, because she understood that the same God who created her child was the author of every other life, making all humans equally deserving of love.

As she once wrote, “Christians are commanded to live in a way that doesn’t make sense unless God exists.”

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Do we live that way, as if our lives don’t make sense unless God exists?

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Consider the question in the context of the core Christian tenets: salvation; charity; generosity; forgiveness; hope.

Do our lives reflect these values?

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This is how we fulfill the Law, as Christ proclaims in the Gospel, by living in a way that doesn’t make sense.

Unless God exists.

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