Category: Uncategorized

***

Gospel: Matthew 25: 1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 
Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 
The foolish ones said to the wise,
‘Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.’ 
But the wise ones replied,
‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. 
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ 
But he said in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

This is a parable about endurance.

It begins on an equal playing field. Ten virgins lit their lamps, awaiting the bridegroom. After the bridegroom is delayed, all fell asleep. Finally, when the bridegroom’s arrival nears, the foolish and the wise are revealed.

The wise brought an extra flask of oil, while the foolish did not.

***

What might the Lord be saying to us?

***

As Christians, we must constantly replenish our spiritual reserves.

For example, it’s one thing to play peacemaker for a day. It’s another thing to be a peacemaker year after year. If we are going to strive for peace in our hearts, homes, and beyond, then we need an extra flask of oil, as it were.

It’s one thing to be generous with our time or talent for a day. It’s another thing to live life generously.

It’s one thing to forgive a slight misgiving. It’s another thing to have an attitude of forgiveness.

***

Where does this extra flask of oil come from? How do we develop spiritual reserves, replenishing us throughout our lives?

Pray. Spend a few quiet moments with the Lord each day, often enough in silence.

As the Lord says through the prophet Jeremiah, “I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

Simply open your heart and allow the Lord to fill it, again, and again.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Sunday Social (2) Fine Art America (3) Christianity.com

***

Gospel: Mark 6:17-29

Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias’ own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

John’s death foreshadows the death of Christ.

Consider the similarities.

***

Both John and Jesus were innocent. 

And, interestingly, neither of their executioners held any malice towards them. 

Mark tells us that Herod enjoyed listening to John the Baptist’s preaching while he held him captive. Pilate, too, was torn between killing Jesus, an innocent man, and satisfying the will of the bloodthirsty crowds.

Both John and Jesus were also persecuted for rebuking those in authority. John rebuked King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. Jesus rebuked the religious authorities for making God inaccessible to ordinary people.

And just as the guests in Herod’s court remained silent – and thus complicit – in John’s death, no one in the crowds protested the death of Jesus, either. In fact, many encouraged it, shouting, “Crucify him!”

***

Such a chilling comparison leaves a warning for us today.

***

Some people are decidedly for this world, forsaking the next. King Herod’s illicit wife, Herodias is a prime example. She wanted John dead because her heart was absorbed by revenge. 

Others are decidedly for the life to come. Both John the Baptist and Jesus came, “not to be served, but to serve,” giving their lives in testimony to the Truth.

Still others like King Herod are stuck somewhere in between this world and the next. But beware: one side eventually wins out. 

While there was some good in Herod – he was drawn to John’s preaching – his pride and fear of disappointing his peers won the day, causing him to slay an innocent man.

As Christians, we must be weary not to fall prey to the trap of Herod or Herodias. Rather, “seek first the Kingdom of God” like John and Jesus.

What might that look like for me today?

***

***

Image credits: (1) Saint John the Baptist Pointing to Christ, Bartolomé Estéban Murillo, Art Institute of Chicago (2) Greek City Times (3) Frank’s Blog

***

2 Thessalonians 3: 6-10, 16-18

We instruct you, brothers and sisters,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to shun any brother
who walks in a disorderly way
and not according to the tradition they received from us.
For you know how one must imitate us.
For we did not act in a disorderly way among you,
nor did we eat food received free from anyone.
On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked,
so as not to burden any of you.
Not that we do not have the right.
Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you,
so that you might imitate us.
In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that
if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.

May the Lord of peace himself
give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you.

This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s.
This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

Saint Augustine is one of the most influential thinkers the Catholic Church has ever known. Over five million of his words, either written or preached, have been preserved for nearly two thousand years.

One of his most famous works is his memoir titled, Confessions, which Augustine wrote while he was the bishop of Hippo in Northern Africa. In this book, he confesses his storied past, his dramatic conversion, and ultimately, comes to the conclusion:

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O LORD.”

***

No one had a greater impact on Catholic theology than Augustine until Saint Thomas Aquinas, who lived 800 years later. Like Augustine, Aquinas was a towering intellect and a prolific writer, who wrote more than 100,000 pages of his own philosophy and theology.

And yet, while celebrating Mass one day, Aquinas received a revelation that affected him so profoundly he never wrote another word. 

“The end of my labors has come,” he said. “All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.”

Three months later, Aquinas breathed his last.

***

What do the lives of these two towering Saints have in common? What can they teach us today?

***

While you and I could only dream of impacting the Church the way either Augustine or Aquinas has, our reward is still the same:

Eternal life in the kingdom of God.

Saint Paul reminds us in our first reading that there is work to be done, but, “the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.”

Whatever God has given us to do, may we do it all. The reward far outweighs the effort.

Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas, pray for us.

***

***

Image credits: (1) (2) Saint Augustine, by Claudio Coello (3) La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church