Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 19: 16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Jesus looks upon this rich young man…and “loves” him.

He must’ve delighted in his zeal for religion, and in his effort to be, “perfect as his heavenly Father is perfect.”

But look at what happens as the Lord “loves” him.

Jesus peers into the rich young man’s heart, and invites him into deeper holiness. “You are lacking in one thing,” he says. “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor…then come and follow me.”

The man walks away sad, “for he had many possessions.” Though he was pious, the Lord occupied second – not first – place in his heart, a constant challenge for any believer.

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Like this rich young man, Jesus looks upon us and “loves” us. He sees our zeal for God and all of the good works that we do to honor him in our neighbor.

But he also sees those things that may impede our spiritual growth. That’s what love does by its nature; it seeks to remove things that block further intimacy between two souls. 

What impedes my spiritual growth or keeps me from growing in intimacy with the Lord?

Perhaps my prayer has become ordinary; routine; dry. Maybe I try compartmentalizing my life, allowing faith to influence some – but not all – of my decisions. Maybe there’s a particular person, memory, or habit that draws me away from the Lord.

Or I simply don’t give God enough time.

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Unlike the rich young man who walked away sad, may we try to let go of our “riches” and follow Jesus today.

Doing so always makes us happier, holier people. 

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Image credits: (1) OnReligion, Pantocrator (2) Christ and the Rich Young Ruler, Heinrich Hofmann (3) Hungry for God’s Word?

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Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! 
My daughter is tormented by a demon.” 
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. 
Jesus’ disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” 
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.” 
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.” 
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith! 
Let it be done for you as you wish.” 
And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When visiting religious shrines like Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, often you’ll see people making desperate displays of faith. Pilgrims will come from around the world to place their prayer intention in the hands of Our Lady or a particular Saint.

For example, while I was in Fatima two weeks ago, I noticed an elderly woman crawling on her knees towards the chapel of the apparitions. She had to be at least a hundred yards away. At her pace, it could’ve taken another thirty minutes, even an hour, to reach Our Lady.

I didn’t know when her journey began or why she chose to crawl. But seeing this elderly woman drag her aching bones along the hardened pavement sent chills down my spine. 

It made me stop dead in my tracks and pray for her intention. 

Maybe she hoped for the conversion of a loved one. Perhaps she was haunted by a choice made years ago and still longed for forgiveness. 

Or, like the mother in today’s Gospel, maybe she had a daughter dramatically in need of healing.

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“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!” the mother says. “My daughter is tormented by a demon.” 

That’s the worst pain any parent can experience – watching your child suffer while feeling helpless, knowing there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

The Gospel does not tell us what other methods this mother has already tried to cure her daughter. But the fact that she turns to God for help – as opposed to blaming him for her daughter’s illness – is a sign of deep faith.

Yet, she’s not initially rewarded the way we might imagine. In fact, she receives a very cold response.

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First, Jesus ignores her. 

Then the disciples dismiss her. “Send her away,” they say to Jesus, “for she keeps calling out after us.”

It’s a chilling scene.

But she persists. “Lord, help me.”

When Jesus finally speaks to her, it seems he does so condescendingly. “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”

Still, this mother humbles herself further. “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” She senses that just a morsel of Christ’s power can heal her daughter.

Amazed by her faith and utter humility, Jesus blesses her, saying, “O woman, great is your faith!”

Then he gives her what she wants. “Let it be done for you as you wish.”

This becomes one of only two miracles that Jesus performs at a distance. This mother doesn’t need to rush home to know her daughter is well; Jesus’ word is enough, allowing her to part in peace.

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Compare the depth of this woman’s faith with the shallowness of Peter’s faith in last week’s Gospel.

Remember, Peter and the other disciples were sailing across the Sea of Galilee, when suddenly they got caught in a storm – one so strong they feared they would drown. Meanwhile, Jesus was praying on solid ground by himself. 

When he finally appeared to them, Peter questioned the Lord’s identity – “Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water.”

So, Peter stepped out of the boat and shortly thereafter began to sink. “O you of little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt?” 

Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, focusing on the wind and the waves, instead. Meanwhile, this desperate mother remains fixated upon the Lord until he calms the demonic storm enveloping her daughter.

“Great is your faith,” he says to her (unlike Peter), “let it be done for you as you wish.”

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So, what might all of this mean for us? 

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Like the persistent mother in today’s Gospel, or the little old lady in Fatima crawling on her knees, sometimes a desperate, but confident, display of faith moves the Lord to act.

But we conclude our prayer as the Lord himself did while staring into the heavens from the storm of the Cross:

“Into your hands, I commend my Spirit.” 

Let it be done unto me as you wish.

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Image credits: (1) please LORD, Prayer for Anxiety (2) The Woman of Canaan at the Feet of Christ, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix (3) J.John on Twitter, X

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Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Scholars have tried to calculate just how much debt these two characters owed. In dollars and cents, you might say one owed millions to the king, while the other owed a few pennies to his master.

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The parable begins with the multi-million dollar debt being forgiven by the king. Relieved, the once indebted man returns home.

Suddenly, he begins strangling one of his servants who owes him a few pennies.

How can someone who’s just received forgiveness for a massive debt be so petty? The story sounds ridiculous, as Jesus intended it to be. 

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What might the Lord be saying to us?

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Asking God to forgive us our trespasses is like a servant asking to be relieved from a multi-million dollar debt – one so large we could never repay it.

Yet the King forgives us every time we approach him.

Why, then, can we be so petty with our neighbor?

A colleague gets underneath our skin; a person cuts us off on the road; a family member does something that leaves us nursing a grudge for weeks, even months or years.

“If your heavenly Father forgives you,” the Lord says, “then you also should forgive one another.”

“How many times?” Peter wonders in today’s Gospel. “As many as seven times?”

“No,” the Lord says, “seventy-seven times.” Meaning, without limit.

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By God’s grace, may we all have hearts that open – to both being forgiven and to forgiving those who trespass against us not seven times, but without limit.

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Image credits: (1) The Christian Broadcasting Network (2) Tabletalk Magazine (3) unveiledwife.com