Category: Uncategorized

***

Gospel: Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14

The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

Chapter 18 of Matthew’s Gospel deals with Christian ethics. Jesus tells us how we are to behave in this world, using two familiar images – both of which provide points of reflection – a child and a sheep.

***

First, the Lord tell us to turn – or return – to the innocence that we had as children. Back then, life was simple. We trusted our parents implicitly; we were arrestingly honest; humble; we saw the world with awe and wonder, and that made us joyful. 

Perhaps it’s an urban legend that children laugh 300 to 400 times per day. But adults certainly laugh less than children. Part of what Jesus is calling us to do is to find joy in simple things, to laugh more, and to trust God the way your children trust you.

***

Secondly, see yourself as a sheep.

Sheep have a natural herding mentality. They know instinctively that they cannot survive on their own. Their strength does not come from within; rather, from their closeness to their shepherd.

Throughout our lives, we must fight against the temptation of self-reliance; we cannot make it through life alone. 

We need the strength that comes from living in community – in this community – and above all, the strength that comes from staying close to Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

***

Am I joyful like a child? Do I laugh often? Do I trust the Lord implicitly?

Like a sheep, do I make every effort to stay close to my shepherd, or at times do I wander?

***

“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” the disciples ask Jesus.

Those who are joyful like children and stay with the flock.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Daily Dependence (2) Adobe Stock (3) Psephizo

***

Gospel: Matthew 17: 22-27

As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
And they were overwhelmed with grief.

When they came to Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said,
“Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes,” he said.
When he came into the house, before he had time to speak,
Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?”
When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him,
“Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

Who do you know more about, Saint Francis of Assisi or Saint Clare?

***

Most of us would probably say, “Saint Francis of Assisi.”

He was a lover of animals; he started the Franciscans; he was an itinerant preacher; he lived in Italy; and he wrote that fabulous prayer, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”

***

But what about Saint Clare, whose feast day we celebrate today? 

Both Francis and Clare were born into wealthy Italian families. Both jettisoned their fortunes to follow the Lord. Both are considered Saints. They were also best friends.

Clare was drawn to Francis’ deep spirit and jovial nature. In fact, they became so close that she founded a second order of the Franciscans, the Poor Clares.

To this day, both religious orders remain active around the world, some 800 years later.

What draws me to Saint Clare is the fact that she’s the lesser known of the two. Although both she and Francis helped to rebuild and reform the Church; although they both left everything behind to follow Jesus, Francis receives most of the recognition.

And for Clare, that was okay. She didn’t need the spotlight; she was content playing a supportive role, seeking only to glorify God. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, and I must decrease.”

***

Clare’s life leaves us several questions to ponder.

Like Clare, do I seek to glorify God with my life? Am I content with being unnoticed, or do I need recognition for doing good?

Do I have a holy friend like Francis of Assisi, someone who points me closer to God? Am I that friend for others?

***

Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Home of the Mother Youth (2) Renovaré (3) iStock

***

Gospel: Luke 12: 35-40

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

“What time is it?”

This is a question people ask throughout the day. “Am I early?” … “Am I late?” … “Did you read my email?” … “When is dinner?” … “When will this sermon end?”

“What time is it?”

***

Time is a curious thing. 

In our youth, time feels like it drags on forever. For example, children not only count their birthdays, but also their half-birthdays. 

“How old are you?” One might ask. 

“I’m three and a half!”

Teenagers count down their time to getting their driver’s license, to their next date, to graduating from high school. 

Young adults dream about their futures, plotting the time it’ll take to make their next career move. Middle-agers often reflect on time-gone-by, how life did – or didn’t – go according to plan… and what to do now.

The elderly often walk down memory lane, lauding the days of long ago, when life wasn’t moving at breakneck speed.

Time is fast and slow. It drags on, while slipping through our fingers.

We never have enough of it, yet we sleep 1/3 of it away. And none of us knows just how much time we have left.

***

The Greeks had two different notions of time. There was chronos, the tick-tock type of time that we focus on throughout our day. And kairos, an appointed time, a moment of unique consequence when a person’s entire life changes.

Think of winning the lottery; a marriage proposal; a pregnancy; a health-scare; or, in the Gospels, the invitation from Jesus to, “Follow me.” When a kairos moment like this emerges, we must act.

Imagine Saint Peter standing along the Sea of Galilee, mending his fishing nets on an otherwise ordinary day. Suddenly, Jesus of Nazareth approaches him and invites Peter to become his disciple. 

In terms of tick-tock time, this encounter may have taken a matter of minutes… or less.

But Peter’s “yes” forever changes the direction of his life, as well as the course of world – and salvation – history. 

***

In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges the way we think of time through a parable. 

“Gird your loins and light your lamps,” he says, “and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.”

I’d imagine the faithful servants spent their time tending to their master’s estate, while the unfaithful servants took their time for granted, breaking into the master’s cabinets, taking what wasn’t theirs, indulging in selfish pleasures.

For each servant, the master’s return was a kairos moment, forever changing the direction of their lives. 

***

So, what might this mean for us?

God places a claim on our time, expecting us to use it well. As Pope John XXIII wrote in his diary as a young priest, “Everything God has given me to do, I intend to do it all.”

How do we spend our time? Do we use it in ways that glorify God? Do we take it for granted?

Is this Gospel passage a kairos moment, where the Lord is urging us to take a risk, to follow him in a new direction, a call to change our ways?

***

Think of the barn builder from last week’s Gospel. He believed that he had so much wealth and time on his hands that the only thing he could imagine doing was building larger barns for himself. Once they were built, he planned to, “Rest, eat, drink, and be merry!”

But God called him a “fool,” demanding his life back that very night. 

I’d imagine this man might’ve had a host of excuses while standing before the Lord about how he used his time, but the reality is that he lived his life as a practical atheist, not thinking about God or his neighbor’s wellbeing once, only himself.

If the Lord came for us tonight, would we welcome him like the joyful servants awaiting their master’s return? Or, like the barn builder, would we feel cheated, as if a “thief” had broken into our lives, taking what was not his?

***

Time is a curious thing. 

We often ask, “Am I early?” … “Am I late?” …

“When will this sermon end?”

Jesus encourages us to also consider how we use our time here on earth. “Is it time to double-down? Or time to change our ways?”

***

***

Image credits: (1) BBC (2) National Institute of Standards and Technology (3) ppt Online