Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Saint John Vianney, whose feast day we celebrate today, is the patron Saint of priests. 

I ask you to pray for my own priestly ministry, that like John, I may joyfully labor for the salvation of souls all the days of my life.

In his words, that I may, “Give everything away and hold nothing back.”

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John was ordained in 1815 and lived in the quaint town of Ars, France.

Every morning before celebrating Mass, he would kiss the ground in front of his parish, reminding himself that every person who entered the church was a soul loved infinitely by God.

Thousands felt the Lord’s mercy through him. In fact, he’d spend 18 hours a day in the confessional, listening to pilgrims from across Europe. Having little time for food or sleep, he’d often live off of one potato a day.

John’s message to his people was always the same: God’s love for you is greater than any sin you can commit. Just come home. Be open. Be honest. Receive a new beginning.

Isn’t that a message we can all benefit from?

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God doesn’t stand at the judgment seat wagging his finger at us in condemnation. 

He gazes upon us with his arms wide open, seeking only one thing:

Our love in return.

Saint John Vianney, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Pray for Priests, Twitter (2) Pinterest (3) Children of the Eucharist

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 47-53

Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.”
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Fishing nets are designed to scoop up everything in their path. They do not discriminate.

Naturally, when such a net is hauled into a boat, it contains all sorts of things: flapping fish, muddy twigs, and debris.

It’s up to the fisherman – not the net – to decide what he wants to keep and what he doesn’t.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus likens the Church to a fishing net. 

You and I are meant to cast our arms far and wide, gathering as many people as possible into the Church. It’s not up to us to decide who does or does not ultimately belong; that power belongs to Christ, the Fisherman.

A power, he says, that will be used at the end of time.

Yet sometimes we can be tempted to lean into his role, to decide who’s in and who’s out; who belongs and who doesn’t.

“In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places,” Jesus says. A place for you. A place for me. And, perhaps, a place for everyone gathered into the net of the Church.

The Lord will make that decision at the end of our lives.

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Our mission is to cast the net far and wide, to embrace our neighbors, and to allow the love of God – made manifest in us – to transform them into what God has created them to be: a disciple of Jesus Christ.

When I cast my net today, who might I help bring into the community the Church?

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Image credits: (1) What Should Be The Mission of the Church? GotQuestions (2) Salt Strong (3) DiscernIt

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 44-46

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field.”

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Fields are ordinary places; people walk across them all the time without ever wondering what might be buried beneath their feet.

Who knows, they could be standing on top of buried treasure! But they’ll only find out if they pause, and take time to dig.

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In a similar way, human beings can walk through the fields of life rarely seeing the deeper dimensions of reality.

Sometimes we can be satisfied with surface-level interactions, taking the people and places around us for granted.

But if we took the time to dig deeper, then we might discover a hidden treasure: Christ around us, Christ within us.

As someone once said, “Whenever the Christ in me discovers the Christ in you, we’re standing on holy ground.”

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May we see the fields around us as holy ground.

Buried deep within is the “pearl of great price,” the presence of the Divine.

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Image credits: (1) Twitter (2) R. Joseph Owles, WordPress (3) Hike It Baby Family Trail Guide