Category: Uncategorized

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Genesis: 4: 1-25

The man had relations with his wife Eve,
and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
“I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.”
Next she bore his brother Abel.
Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD
from the fruit of the soil,
while Abel, for his part,
brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not.
Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.
So the LORD said to Cain:
“Why are you so resentful and crestfallen.
If you do well, you can hold up your head;
but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door:
his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.”
When they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
He answered, “I do not know.
Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The LORD then said:  “What have you done!
Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!
Therefore you shall be banned from the soil
that opened its mouth to receive
your brother’s blood from your hand.
If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce.
You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Cain said to the LORD:  “My punishment is too great to bear.
Since you have now banished me from the soil,
and I must avoid your presence
and become a restless wanderer on the earth,
anyone may kill me at sight.”
“Not so!” the LORD said to him.
“If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.”
So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight.

Adam again had relations with his wife,
and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth.
“God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel,” she said,
“because Cain slew him.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Auto-immune diseases – such as type-1 diabetes and arthritis – confuse the body’s natural defense system, so that the body can no longer tell the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy cell.

Normal cells are mistaken for a threat, causing the body to attack itself.

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In our first reading from the Book of Genesis, Cain asks God the first question ever posed by human beings, which comes after he murders his brother, Abel:

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Cain and Abel were the first offspring of Adam and Eve, revealing that, from the very beginning, there has been a seed of division sown into the heart of humanity.

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When we gaze across the world of politics, race, religion, and culture, it’s easy to see this “auto-immune” mentality still at work.

But this was not God’s will from the beginning. Rather, after creating Adam, God concludes: “It is not good for man to be alone.” So, he builds Eve out of Adam’s rib.

It is still “not good” for man to be alone, and by extension, for humanity to live divided. When we live in harmony, we reflect the inner life of God who is One in Three Persons. 

Conversely, when we fight against one another, we tarnish God’s plan of universal brotherhood and peace.

As Christians – and people of good will, in general – we are called to help restore what was lost; to overcome that division that started with our ancestors. 

But we need the gift of the Holy Spirit, because God’s Spirit allows us to love until it hurts; to forgive wrongdoings; to bring peace where there is division, light where there is darkness.

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In what ways can I overcome that “autoimmune mentality,” working for harmony, instead – in my heart, in my home, and in the community around me?

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Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Enkindle in us the fire of your love and we shall renew the face of the earth.

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Image credits: (1) Got Questions (2) Scholarship Institute (3) Christianity.com

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Gospel: Luke 6: 17, 20-26

Jesus came down with the Twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with 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.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
            “Blessed are you who are poor,
                        for the kingdom of God is yours.
            Blessed are you who are now hungry,
                        for you will be satisfied.
            Blessed are you who are now weeping,
                        for you will laugh.
            Blessed are you when people hate you,
                        and when they exclude and insult you,
                        and denounce your name as evil
                        on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
            But woe to you who are rich,
                        for you have received your consolation.
            Woe to you who are filled now,
                        for you will be hungry.
            Woe to you who laugh now,
                        for you will grieve and weep.
            Woe to you when all speak well of you,
                        for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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A businessman once approached Mark Twain and said: 

“Before I die, I intend to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I want to climb to the top of Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud.” 

To which Twain responded, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay right at home in Boston and keep them?”

Actions speak louder than words.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives an updated version of the Ten Commandments, often called the Beatitudes. Each Beatitude begins with three words: “Blessed are you.”

While these teachings are found in both Matthew and Luke’s Gospel, there are two key differences.

First, Matthew describes Jesus as preaching this sermon high up on a mountain, while Luke describes Jesus as being down on a plain.

Secondly, Matthew recounts the Lord as always speaking in the affirmative – “Blessed are you” – while Luke balances blessing with woe, “Woe to you.”

Why would Luke write a different account from Matthew? What is his account saying to us?

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Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes is often called The Sermon on the Mount because he describes Jesus climbing a mountain, then delivering his sermon from on high, giving the impression that the Lord is preaching from somewhere between heaven and earth.

But if we are looking up at Christ, then he is looking down on us, making the Beatitudes seem like lofty ideals, heavenly teachings, which we can only aspire to live out.

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Luke’s account, however, is called The Sermon on the Plain, because he describes Jesus as coming down from the mountain. Then, “standing on a level stretch of ground,” Jesus begins to teach.

“Blessed are you who are poor… who are hungry… who are weeping… who are hated, excluded, and insulted on my account,” he says.

If we imagine the Lord saying these things to us at eye-level, or even beneath us if he is seated, then the impact is dramatically different. Here the Beatitudes are not lofty ideals delivered on a mountaintop; rather, they serve as our very foundation.

Luke leads us to consider several things:

Where do we see Jesus standing, high on a mountaintop or down on a plain? Is religion something that we only aspire to live out, or is it the very foundation of our lives?

Where we do we see ourselves standing, high up, above the poor and suffering, or down on the plain, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of humanity?

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Luke’s Beatitudes are undoubtedly about today. They’re about this community coming together, addressing the needs of the sick, the sorrowful, the poor and marginalized among us – not only materially, but also spiritually.

Thus, they also lead us to consider, what are we doing to seek and save the lost? How are we bringing the Gospel to those who are weary, or have yet to hear it?

These are some of the guiding questions our pastoral council is considering while working on the draft of our next strategic plan, which will affect all of us and will require raising up new leaders.

Maybe the Lord is calling you.

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Unlike Matthew, Luke balances his four Beatitudes with four woes. 

Blessed are the poor, but woe to the rich. Blessed are the hungry, but woe to those who are filled. Blessed are the weeping, but woe to those who are laughing. Blessed are those who are hated, but woe to those who are praised.

Jesus is not saying that we must be poor or hungry in order to be blessed. However, we must live in solidarity with those who suffer, bringing them comfort by what we do.

As Saint Teresa of Avila once wrote, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet, but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he sees, the hands with which he blesses. Christ has no body now but yours.”

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“Before I die, I intend to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land,” a man once said to Mark Twain. “There, I want to climb to the top of Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud.” 

To which Twain responded, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay right at home in Boston and keep them?”

Shouldn’t we stay here and do the same?

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Image credits: (1) Local Vineyard Church (2) Church of the Incarnation, Richmond, VA (3) 365Give

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Genesis: 3: 1-8

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.

When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden
at the breezy time of the day,
the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God
among the trees of the garden.

The Word of the Lord.

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The opening chapters of the Book of Genesis provide the foundation for a Judeo-Christian understanding of the world. Here we are introduced to themes like: creation, humanity, good, evil, suffering, and death. All of which remain, to some extent, mysteries. 

However, there are many parallels between Genesis and the Gospels, helping us to understand the deeper dimensions of Christ’s public ministry.

Consider two examples today.

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First, God creates Adam, then he gives Adam one commandment: “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die” (Gen. 2:17).

This gives the impression that God already knows Adam will disobey him. Yet, in the very next verse, God decides to create Eve. The universe continues to unfold.

Adam and Eve live peacefully in the garden until Satan, the ancient serpent, slithers around the tree of knowledge, convincing Eve to eat from it, as we hear in our first reading today.

This act of disobedience breaks humanity’s relationship with God.

Jesus reverses this curse thousands of years later in John’s Gospel by telling the crowds: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6:54). 

Thus, communion with God was lost – and is now restored – by eating. 

Adam and Eve ate disobediently from the tree of knowledge, while Catholics now obediently consume Christ’s flesh and blood in the Eucharist.

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Secondly, Jesus’ public ministry stands in stark contrast to the evil actions of Satan. 

Whereas Satan ruptured humanity’s ability to see God and to hear his voice in Eden, Christ restores the faculties of a man – and by extension all of us – in today’s Gospel, allowing us to see Jesus as Lord, and to listen to his voice.

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While themes like creation, suffering, and redemption are ultimately mysteries, as we study the scriptures, we begin to make sense of them. As it’s written: “Wisdom will enter your heart, knowledge will be at home in your soul” (Proverbs 2:10).

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Image credits: (1) Security Sales and Integration (2) Micha Redding (3) Hillspring Church