Category: Uncategorized

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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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Auto-immune diseases – such as type-1 diabetes and arthritis – confuse the body’s natural defense system, so that the body can no longer tell the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy cell.

Normal cells are mistaken for a threat, causing the body to attack itself, leaving a person reeling in pain.

These days, when we gaze across the world of politics, race, religion, and culture, it’s easy to see this “auto-immune” mentality at work.

People will fight against each other over just about anything. What we fail to realize is that, beneath it all, most of us are good. We’re all made in the image and likeness of God, and we all want the same basic guarantees: food, shelter, peace, security, and love.

In a word, we want to live.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives one of his most famous parables, The Good Samaritan, which challenges our understanding of what it means to be a neighbor, or a member of this world we call home.

Consider the parable through the eyes of the wounded stranger, who has been robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Unlike the other characters in the story, he is not identified by his profession, social class, religion, or ethnicity. 

He could be anyone – a Jew or a Samaritan; rich or poor; someone’s brother, a husband, a son. As he faces his death, the ethnic and religious boundaries that likely defined his life are suddenly erased.

He doesn’t care who helps him; all that matters is that someone helps him. A Jew, a Samaritan, anyone capable of compassion because that is what matters in his hour of greatest need.

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Perhaps we need to live our lives with more of that perspective.

Not with the arthritic spirit of division, rather on what unites us: the short passage of time; our ability to be compassionate; our desire to live; and our common need for a good neighbor, not only in our hour of greatest need, but everyday.

Will you be my neighbor? If so, what might that look like today?

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Image credits: (1) Won’t You Be My Neighbor Review, We Live Entertainment (2) WH Marcetson, The Cripplegate (3) Catholic Medical Mission Board

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Gospel: Luke 17: 5-10

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied,
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, ‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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To some, today’s Gospel might seem a bit misleading. 

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” Jesus says, “you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and cast into the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

I’ve never wrapped my arms around a mulberry tree, but I imagine I’d look like a fool if I knelt down, said a prayer, then tried pulling it out of the earth. After a tug or two, my arms would be bleeding and my muscles burning, causing me to lose heart and give up.

Yet, how many of us have tried summoning the strength to uproot something from our lives and have failed? 

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Exasperated, we turned to prayer.

We prayed to get into a particular high school or college, but we got rejected. We’ve prayed for a job, but remain unemployed. We’ve prayed for an addiction to end, yet it still tugs at our flesh. We’ve prayed for the cancer to go away, but it hasn’t. 

It’s easy for us to reason that God hasn’t answered us because we’ve either not prayed hard enough or don’t have enough faith – not even the size of a mustard seed! – which can make us want to give up. 

That’s why today’s Gospel passage can seem puzzling.

Jesus is not guaranteeing instant results; nor is he trying to discourage our faith. Whatever trust we place in him is precious! Often, the faith we have is enough, even if it’s the size of a tiny mustard seed, but there are two reasons why the “tree” may remain rooted in our lives.

It may be difficult to uproot, or God may allow it to remain.

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The longer a tree is alive, the deeper and more widespread its roots become. And so, it is with us. If we’re struggling with a particular habit, having nurtured it for years, then the time it takes God to uproot it limb by limb can be daunting… and painful.

If we’re praying for the grace to forgive, or to have some deep seeded anger uprooted, our heart needs to soften, allowing God to gently remove the root cause of our pain.

If we’re sick and praying to be healed, God may uproot our illness immediately through the Sacraments, or through the slow drip of medicine and science. In either case, trust is needed.

So, is there a “mulberry tree” in my life, a burden I want lifted?

Even if tiny, the seed of faith you have is enough. It’s simply a matter of watering it, nurturing it, and clinging to it patiently as God works day by day. 

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Here’s another, albeit more difficult, perspective to consider. What if God does not want to remove a particular “mulberry tree” from our lives? Mysteriously, it may serve a purpose.

Saint Paul believed that all things could draw us closer to God – not only good things, but also our woes, sorrows, and trials. As he says in his Second Letter to the Corinthians:

“A thorn in my flesh was given me, an angel of Satan to beat me, to keep me from being too elated… Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

Instead of using the imagery of a mulberry tree, Paul calls it a thorn, a small speck of metaphorical wood driven into his flesh, causing him great pain.

So, what was this thorn?

We don’t know exactly, but it could’ve been a variety of things causing him to suffer.

It could’ve been the “thorn” of false preachers seeking to undo his work; the “thorn” of imprisonment; of persecution; of rejection; of physical beatings; of abandonment; or the frequent threat of death. 

Paul prayed that this thorn would be dislodged from his life, but it wasn’t. God allowed him to wrestle with it because it humbled Paul and caused him to rely not upon himself, but upon Christ. 

So much so that Paul claimed, “I have been crucified with Christ and the life I live is no longer my own. It is Christ living in me.” 

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Whether or not God uproots the “mulberry tree” from our lives, Jesus reminds us today: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

May he give us the same grace he gave to Paul – to surrender, humbly accepting whatever may come.

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Image credits: (1) King David, WordPress (2) Time Out (3) Desert Streams Ministries

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Gospel: Luke 10: 13-16

Jesus said to them,
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented,
sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
at the judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.’
Whoever listens to you listens to me.
Whoever rejects you rejects me.
And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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The disciples are sent out on two missionary journeys prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

First, the Lord sends out the Twelve Apostles in chapter 9 of Luke’s Gospel. They are given the mandate to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to spread God’s peace. Later, they return rejoicing that, “even the demons are subject to us.”

In chapter 10 of Luke’s Gospel, the Lord doubles-down and sends out seventy more of his disciples to do the very same thing. Thus, the kingdom of God begins spreading.

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In between these two missionary journeys, Saint Luke wedges in the “woes” of Jesus. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!”

We do not know much about these towns, aside from the fact that the Lord must’ve preached to and healed people there, yet they did not come to faith or amend their lives.

Thus, Luke reminds us that sharing the Gospel is not always fruitful; sometimes our efforts fall upon deaf ears and closed hearts. 

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What might this difficult, even sad, Gospel passage say to us today?

We all have loved ones – parents, a spouse, children, or peers – who have seen God at work in our lives and have heard the Gospel message, yet they remain indifferent or outright against the Church.

This is an undeniable source of pain for many. We can invite, preach, teach, and pray until our hair falls out and yet, it seems, sometimes our efforts fall upon deaf ears. While some of this is predicted by the Lord, what the Church needs today are new tools of evangelization.

As the Body of Christ, we must discern: “How do we bring people back to faith? How do we share the Gospel with people who’ve never heard it? How do we soften hardened hearts?”

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Part of the answer involves being willing to share our faith. While words will not solve every problem, Saint Peter reminds us: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.”

If someone were to ask you, “Why do you go to Mass, as opposed to just praying from home?Why do you believe in Jesus?” Or, selfishly, “What’s in it for me?” … What might you say?

Like the disciples sent forth in the Gospel, your answer may give them a reason to hope.

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Image credits: (1) The Conversation (2) Forward in Christ (3) Pioneer Bible Translators