Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, 
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion? 
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ 
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? 
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 
In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Even when we put this Gospel into the correct context, it’s difficult to live.

In ancient Jewish culture, this verb “hate” meant to “choose” one thing over another. If we are to be Jesus’ disciple, then we must choose God over our family, our friends, even our own life.

One way I try living out this command is by following a simple formula: 1, 2, 3.

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Put God first. Others second. Myself third.

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For me, that means beginning my day with at least an hour of prayer.

Then I come here to church and celebrate Mass – both with you and for you.

It’s how I put God first.

The rest of the day is spent in the office, at the hospital, in parishioner’s homes, meetings, or wherever else ministry takes me. I put all of you second.

By day’s end, I take an hour or so for myself.

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How might you apply that formula – 1, 2, 3 – to your own life?

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Put God first.

Someone else second – a spouse, a child, a friend in need.

And yourself third.

Mysteriously, doing so leads to life in abundance.

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Image credits: (1) Spreadshirt (2) Bible Verses to God (3) Quote the Walls

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Gospel: Luke 14: 15-24

One of those at table with Jesus said to him,
“Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.”
He replied to him,
“A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
‘Come, everything is now ready.’
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him,
‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;
I ask you, consider me excused.’
And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen
and am on my way to evaluate them;
I ask you, consider me excused.’
And another said, ‘I have just married a woman,
and therefore I cannot come.’
The servant went and reported this to his master.
Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,
‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.’
The master then ordered the servant,
‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.
For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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We’ve all made different commitments in life and some of them are quite demanding.

For example, there’s marriage, family, friends, work, ministry, sports, leisure, and so on. If we ordered them from most to least important, which commitment would come out on top?

Which one would be second?

We don’t really need to answer the question with words – how we spend our time speaks for itself.

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In today’s Gospel, we encounter three people who’ve made the same commitment – to attend a friend’s dinner party.

However, when the time for the party arrives, each says to the host, “I ask you, consider me excused.”

One just purchased a new plot of land. Tending his fields became more important than attending the party.

Another just purchased five yoke of oxen. Caring for his animals suddenly became more important.

Another was just married. Being alone with his wife became more important than attending the party – even though they could’ve gone together.

Being attentive to your wife, tending your fields, caring for your animals – these are all good things. But each of these three people fell victim to a timeless temptation: choosing what is good over what is great.

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This imagery the Lord is using of hosting a dinner party is symbolic of God’s invitation to all of us to join him every Sunday at this Eucharistic feast.

Often, we say “yes,” as we should.

But when do we find ourselves saying, “no?” What, if anything, becomes more important than worship?

It could be one of the many other commitments we’ve made: work, our child’s sports schedule, even feeling tired after a dinner party the night before. When this happens, the Lord falls from first to second place in our lives.

Still, Jesus reminds us, there’s nothing more important than receiving Him together at this Eucharistic feast… Or is there?

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Image credits: (1) Medium, Steven Covey (2) MyPostcard (3) St. Benedict’s Parish

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Gospel: Luke 14: 12-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; 
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Every so often, we hear stories about people who apply the Gospel to their daily lives in a very literal way.

For example, Mother Teresa’s parents took today’s Gospel passage to heart. “When you hold a lunch or dinner,” Jesus says, “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”

Whenever they held a large family gathering at their home in Albania, Mother Teresa’s parents would send her and her siblings out into the streets to invite those who could not repay them – literally the sick and the homeless.

I can only imagine what kind of conversations they had around that table. 

Those dinners instilled in Mother Teresa from a very young age a passion for the world’s poorest – and, in many ways, set the tone for the rest of her life.

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Like Mother Teresa’s parents, can you remember a time when you took God’s Word literally – and acted on it? What effect did it have on your life?

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As it’s written in the Letter to the Hebrews, “The Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword… able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”

Find a biblical passage that speaks to you today… and act on it.

Who knows, it may change your life.

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Image credits: (1) Pinterest (2) On The Jesus Way, WordPress (3) The Friar