Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 10-17

The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?”
He said to them in reply,
“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted
and I heal them.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Pope Benedict once likened the Catholic Church to a large stained-glass window.

From the outside, stained-glass windows look dark, dusty, and gloomy. It is only from within  that they become radiant, often revealing a story from the bible or explaining a mystery of our faith.

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Similarly, those who gaze upon the Catholic Church from the outside – or without faith – may see an institution that’s backward; outdated; or gloomy. 

The Church’s teachings, like the divinity of Christ, his Promised Presence in the Eucharist, God as a Trinity, the grace of the Sacraments, or certain moral teachings don’t seem to make sense or have a strong connection to a person’s daily life.

But if you enter into the Church with faith, these mysteries are illumined. 

Suddenly, the Mass no longer looks like a group of people eating pieces of bread and drinking cups of wine; they are, in fact, receiving their Savior. Baptism is not another version of baby bath time; it’s the moment a child receives eternal life.

Moral boundaries are not impositions on our freedom; rather, the path to freedom.

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As Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.”

This does not mean that we understand everything the Church teaches all at once; often it’s a gradual process. But those who make an honest search for Truth will find it.

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If each of the Church’s teachings were like a stained-glass window, then what are examples of ones I already see from within? Conversely, are there any I still struggle to understand?

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May Christ bless our eyes, ears, mind, and heart so that we may see and understand all he teaches us. 

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Image credits: (1) (2) Strasbourg Cathedral, Wikipedia Commons (3) StockCake

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 1-9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I’m sure we all want our hearts filled with that fertile soil which Jesus blesses in today’s Gospel. It bears thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.

But fertile soil is only fertile because first it has been broken. 

In order to make soil fertile, you must crush it, break it open, and repeatedly separate it. After this period of chaos, the ground is ready to receive life.

When placed inside that broken soil, seeds begin to grow. Any plant that bears good fruit was once a tiny seed placed inside soft, fertile soil.

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The same is true for us. When we experience heartache or sorrow, our hearts are broken open like fresh soil. That wound within bears fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.

But Jesus tells us that we have a say in what type of fruit that will be. 

Without faith, our hearts can dry up like dirt, leading to bitterness and anger.                         

But with faith, we can mysteriously begin to bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.  

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For example, knowing the sorrow that death brings, can allow us to grow in empathy, ministering to others in a more compassionate way. 

Knowing the twinge of hunger can motivate us to feed others who have empty stomachs.

Knowing the pain of loneliness can inspire us to visit others, who may otherwise feel forgotten. 

In the words of one spiritual writer, Jesus can transform us into, “wounded healers.” I’ve found this to be true in my own life: God has used some of my more painful experiences to make me a more merciful minister of the Gospel.

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May the Lord take whatever is broken within us and bless it, so that we can bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.

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Image credits: (1) Redeeming God (2) Ibid. (3) Archdiocese of Los Angeles

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Gospel: John 20: 1-2, 11-18

On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
“Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he told her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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The experience of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb reveals that Easter is meant to both console and stretch us.

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According to John’s Gospel, Mary is the first to arrive in the eerily dark and quiet cemetery that first Easter morning. Even before the sun crept over the hills, she was on the go. 

Realizing that the stone had been rolled away, Mary fled in panic, rushing to tell Peter and John. They followed her back to the tomb, but for some reason, the men decided to leave.

Mary, crushed by the death of Jesus – and now his unexplainable absence – sits down and weeps. 

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I suppose she peeked into that darkened tomb simply to remind herself that Jesus wasn’t there. Suddenly, angels appear to her, inquiring what her grief is all about.

Mary doesn’t recognize the divine figures because her eyes and face must’ve been inflamed from crying so many tears; not just that morning, but the night before, and the night before that. 

Then Jesus himself approaches her, and the result is the same. She cannot “see.” 

That’s where humanity’s first experience of Easter begins. In the blurriness; the confusion; the darkness. Mary, abandoned by Peter and John, grieves much like her Master did three days prior.

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I suppose the question we’re supposed to ask is, “Why?” 

“Why” from a thousand different angles. Why death? Why must we suffer? Why does Easter begin in the dark? Why can Mary not recognize Jesus at first? Why can she not physically hold him, even if for a moment?

Answers to such questions reside somewhere within the shroud of mystery. But Mary’s experience of Easter reminds us of some very important lessons in faith.

There is no Easter without Good Friday; there is no hope without loss; divine consolation comes when we weep, but only after we search for the Lord.

“I have seen the Lord,” Mary proclaims. May her experience of Easter become our own. In the words of the Psalmist, “May your mourning be turned into dancing.” 

For Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

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Image credits: (1) Hearing God’s Whisper, WordPress (2) Fritz von Uhde, Noli Mi Tangere (3) Christ is Risen, St. Anthony, Sacramento