Author: admin

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Gospel: Luke 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Nearly every birth in the Bible is about the reaction of the parents as much as it is the destiny of the child.

Consider the difference between the Blessed Mother’s reaction to the angel Gabriel versus Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.

Both Jesus and John the Baptist were conceived under the most unlikely circumstances, and both were foretold by the Angel Gabriel. Mary was a virgin and Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, was elderly and barren. 

While Mary believed what Gabriel proclaimed to her, Zechariah’s heart was clouded by doubt. “How can this be?” he questioned. “For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years!”

Zechariah didn’t believe in the impossible. So, he was struck mute until his child was born.

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This lesson appears throughout the scriptures: God does the impossible. Yet how often are we like Zechariah? We question the Lord, favoring human logic over the power of the divine.

“Lord, time is running out. Will you answer me?” … “How can I carry this cross? My health is declining.” … “How can I climb this mountain before me? It looks daunting.”

I had similar thoughts before being ordained a priest. Although I felt undoubtedly called to ministry, the mission placed before me was intimidating. 

How could I share the Gospel effectively? How could I minister to the sick and the dying? How could I comfort their families? How could I reconcile souls with Christ? And, eventually, lead an entire parish?

Yet look at what the Lord has done with us and through us. 

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Perhaps this is the word for us today. There are certain moments in life when, like Mary and Zechariah, we are all called to trust in God’s Providence, even what lies before us seems impossible. 

As the LORD says through the prophet Ezekiel, “I have spoken and I will do it.”

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Image credits: (1) ACI Africa (2) Saint John the Baptist as a Child, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (3) Redbubble

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Gospel: Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine.”

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There are a few phrases in the Gospels that can get lost in translation. This is one of them. 

Sometimes taking the Lord’s words out of context, or trying to impose our own meaning upon them, can be misleading.

So, what exactly does Jesus mean? 

Perhaps it’s best to pull his words back layer by layer.

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We begin with opposing images: throwing what is sacred before dogs, and pearls before swine.

The Jews considered dogs and pigs to be unclean animals. Thus, an easy – and incorrect – interpretation of this passage might lead us to conclude that only Christ’s Jewish followers were the “holy” ones; the rest of humanity, the Gentiles, were like swine.

Defiled. Condemned.

But we know from later Gospel texts that this is not true. As the Lord himself says, “I have come that they [all of us] may have life in abundance” (John 10:10).

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A deeper discernment of this text might lead us to consider that Jesus is not making a distinction between Gentiles and Jews, rather those who are holy versus those who are defiled within the Christian community.

It’s an unfortunate truth, but there will always be a “Judas” among us. The weeds will grow with the wheat until the Lord returns. Only then will his judgment upon the world be definitive, separating good from evil once and for all.

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However, we might take Christ’s words even further. While it’s easy enough to distinguish between those who are “holy” versus those who are “unholy,” Christ’s words should provide a word of caution to us all.

As one Russian novelist wrote, “If only it were so easy, but the dividing line between good and evil cuts through every human heart.” There may be holy and unholy sides to us all.

May the Lord in his mercy come to our aid, removing from us that which does not serve him, making our soul like a shiny pearl, pure and blameless in his sight.

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Image credits: (1) Merriam Webster (2) Turner Fine Art (3) Instagram

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Gospel: Matthew 7: 1-5

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Sight is a curious thing. 

Our eyes allow us to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation – the glow of sunrise, the twinkle of the stars at night, the blue of water, the face of our beloved. 

But it can also be misused to judge and criticize the imperfections of other people without noticing our own.

This is the irony of the eye. 

It cannot see itself. Nor can it look inward. Eyes can only look outward, allowing us to see one of two possibilities: beauty or imperfection. 

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Which of the two do I tend to focus on? 

In particular, what do I see when I look upon other people, either beauty or imperfection?

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No one is perfect.

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

Sometimes it is right and necessary to correct a friend, a neighbor, or a colleague who has done wrong.

But before criticizing someone else, the Lord commands us to take an honest look within, making sure that we are not guilty of the same offense – or a greater one – lest we be hypocrites.

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Perhaps today we can set the tendency to notice imperfection aside, focusing on what always surrounds us: the glow of sunrise, the twinkle of the stars at night, the blue of water, the face of our beloved.

The beauty of God’s creation.

You and me.

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Image credits: (1) Facebook (2) The Parable of the Mote and the Beam, Domenico Fetti, Metropolitan Museum of Art (3) Thegoodsayings.in