Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Luke 11: 1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Prayer is essential to the life of a disciple. But sometimes we don’t know how to pray… or what to say. Let me share what I prayed this morning: 

“I thank you, Father, that I’ve not been greedy; I’ve not been selfish; I’ve not been rude to my neighbor; I’ve not spoken ill of anyone; I’ve not coveted what isn’t mine.”

“But now I must get out bed!”

(I’m only kidding).

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I’m sure we all start the day with good intentions, but they become harder to keep once we put our feet on the floor, which is why Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer, which is the only prayer he ever taught us.

It’s filled with rigor and virtue, but it can lose some of its strength because we pray it so often; it can become rote.

In this brief prayer, we are literally asking God for the strength to resist all temptation throughout the day. That means resisting the desire to judge, to gossip, to entertain lustful or greedy thoughts, to steal the last word in an argument, and so on.

Hence, we’re expressing our desire to be pure.

We are also declaring our willingness to forgive everyone who offends us today – that may include the person who cuts us off in the parking lot, who speaks poorly about us at work or online, who takes us for granted, and so on.

If every Christian who prayed the Lord’s Prayer today meant what they said, even with these two petitions – to avoid all temptation and to readily forgive – imagine how different our society would be.

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“I thank you, Father, that I’ve not sinned in any way today… But now I must get out of bed.”

As we pray the Lord’s prayer, may we mean what we say … and do it.

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Image credits: (1) The Lord’s Prayer, Fine Art America (2) The Valley Catholic (3) Information Palace

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Luke 10: 38-42

Jesus entered a village 
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. 
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? 
Tell her to help me.” 
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. 
There is need of only one thing. 
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Someone once said to me, “You may be the only bible a person ever reads.”

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Our words and actions either lend credibility to the Christian faith or detract from it.

Today we celebrate the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, a man who lived his life by the bible he read. No one had to read the Gospels to learn about who Jesus is; they could just look at Francis.

We all know his story: He was born into a wealthy Italian family in the 13^th century, but he left everything behind in order to live a life of poverty and obedience. By the end of his life, he helped to reform the Church.

Perhaps what is less known about Francis is how literally he took Jesus’ words.

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One afternoon, in the middle of the public square, a teenage Francis declared before the bishop his desire to be of service to the Church. So, the bishop instructed him to renounce his father’s fortune.

On the spot, Francis removed the clothing he was wearing and placed all of his money on top of them.

Naked, he professed his faith – and lived it out for the rest of his life.

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On his deathbed, he said to his religious brothers – the first Franciscans – “I have done what is mine to do. Now you must do what is yours to do.”

That’s a timeless reminder to us all.

What has God given me to do?

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Whatever it may be, do it well. You may be the only bible a person ever reads.

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Image credits: (1) www.stfrancisofassisiparish.org (2) Ordo Fratrum Minorum (3) LetterPile

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Gospel: Luke 10: 25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, 
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied, 
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Mother Teresa was once walking the streets of Calcutta, when suddenly she passed by a homeless man dying on the street.

He smelled sour. Maggots were nibbling on his body.

Naturally, she became repulsed by the sight and smell, so she moved to the other side of the street in order to avoid him and go about her day.

But within a matter of seconds, she regretted her instincts as she remembered Christ’s words, “Whatever you do unto the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.” 

This man was Jesus in a sour, disfigured disguise.

So, she turned around and knelt next to him. He was so starved that Mother Teresa – a woman barely five feet tall – was able to pick him up and carry him back to her home for the dying.

Upon arriving, the man looked up into her eyes and breathed his last.

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Within that short, powerful vignette, we find two sides of the human heart. 

There’s our natural, instinctive side that ignores other people’s suffering; that urges us not to get our hands dirty; that says we cannot make a difference in the grander scheme of things; that stays focused on our own schedule and our own needs.

Then there’s the side pierced by faith.

The Holy Spirit moved Mother Teresa’s heart that day, reminding her that every person on earth can be considered her neighbor, even a helpless man dying on the streets.

Looking back, Mother Teresa said, “We can do nothing extraordinary, only ordinary things with extraordinary love.”

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How can I access that pierced side of my heart and follow her example, loving my neighbor in an ordinary way with extraordinary love?

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Whatever we do to that person, we do to Christ himself.

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Image credits: (1) Pinterest (2) America Magazine (3) Pinterest