Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Luke 6: 27-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount. 
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When we consider some of the bigger challenges facing our world, like poverty, hunger, unpredictable weather, and violence, it’s easy to throw our hands up and say these problems are almost too big to be solved.

But the slave trade wasn’t any different.

It was a horrific practice adopted by empires and nations over the course of history. I’m sure many who were surrounded by it threw their hands up, saying change simply wasn’t possible.

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Today we celebrate the life of someone who never gave up. He tackled the slave trade head on; while he didn’t end it, he did something about it.  

Father Peter Claver was a Spanish priest from the 17^th century who became a missionary in Cartagena, Colombia, which was at the time, the epicenter of the slave trade.

For 33 years, Father Claver stood on the shores of Cartagena, meeting incoming slaves with food, water, and interpreters. He also baptized over 300,000 of them.

He was a flicker of light – the face of Christ – in what was an otherwise dark and scary place.

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While we may not resolve every – or any – issue facing our world today, we can all do something about it. 

We can address poverty one stomach at a time; homelessness one home at a time; loneliness one smile at a time.

So, what’s one thing I can do for someone else in honor of Father Claver?

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“For whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters,” Jesus says, “you do to me.”

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Image credits: (1) Jacobs Media Strategies (2) Angelus News (3) Lovely Quotes

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Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-23

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

    Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
        and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In the longer version of today’s Gospel, we hear the genealogy of Jesus, which includes some pretty surprising and scandalous figures – everyone from fools, to liars, con artists, adulterers, murderers, and prostitutes!

If we looked back over forty-two generations from our own family tree, there’s a chance we’d also find a bad apple or two.

But this is the genealogy of Jesus! 

Why would God knowingly include sinners to prepare the way for his first coming?

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To teach us a timeless lesson: that people often lead messy or difficult lives. Everyone makes mistakes; everyone has written a page or two they’d rather not repeat, even the ancestors of Jesus.

As Saint Paul says, “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.”

But just as the Lord used imperfect people to prepare the way for his first coming, so he intends to use all of us to prepare for his second coming.

It’s simply a matter of being open to his grace.

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So, how might we spread the kingdom of God just a little more today?

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A simple act of kindness can go a long way.

Or, in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is darkness, let me bring light; where there is despair, let me bring hope. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

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Image credits: (1) Linking Earth With Heaven Above (2) Become Orthodox, WordPress (3) Lord, Make Me An Instrument, Chris Cox

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Gospel: Luke 6: 12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people 
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Growing up, I remember playing backyard sports with my brother and his friends. I was often chosen last because I was the little brother; the tag-along; the runt of the group.

Everyone else was older, taller, stronger, and more experienced than me. It hurt being the least desired, but humanly speaking, it was a fair assessment of the group.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus chooses the most unlikely men to be on his “team.”

None of them were religious scholars; none of them were wealthy, nor famous, nor influential. They were commoners with their own share of flaws, giving Jesus every reason to choose them last.

Or not to choose them at all. 

Yet, together, they changed the world.

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What impresses me the most is the fact that Jesus unites these men in a single cause. Without him, some would’ve remained bitter enemies.

Simon, for example, was called “the Zealot,” because he likely belonged to an extreme nationalist group that was fighting for Jewish independence.

Meanwhile, Matthew was sleeping with the enemy, serving the Romans as a tax collector.

No doubt, these two men didn’t see eye to eye.

But they came together for Christ and changed the world.

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Such are the possibilities when ordinary people, even polar opposites, belong to God.

We can do extraordinary things when we set aside our differences and focus on proclaiming the Gospel.

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Image credits: (1) Arelor, Polar Opposites, WordPress (2) Appearance on Lake Tiberias, Duccio (3) JW.org