Reflection for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time and Youth Sunday

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Lord, what about
me?

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.

People were asking Jesus a lot of questions as He made His way to Jerusalem. They questioned their future. They wanted assurance about their future as a nation and as individuals. It is a question we have all asked – ‘what about me?’

We all want to be sure. The youth in our midst, in our families and in our community are asking that very question.
Jesus wasn’t giving easy assurances. He is God and God cannot help but be honest. He told them: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

Jesus was telling them and is telling us that our future is dependent on our aligning ourselves with God’s will and God’s way. He is saying that it takes work, commitment, dedication, faithfulness, and often treading the rocky narrow path.

Our young people will be returning to school in the weeks ahead, and some are already off to college. As they return they will be facing those tough roads. They either have, or will come to realize that school takes work, commitment, dedication, and faithfulness.

The question before us this Youth Sunday is whether we are equipping our youth with the commitment, dedication, and faithfulness needed to reach eternal life. Are we bringing them to Jesus, training them in God’s will and God’s way, and making them strong enough to enter through the narrow gate?

Young people have a deep-seated desire to know God. They wonder what He is all about. They hear His call faintly, and they thirst for Him. They want the water that will quench their thirst, water the world cannot offer. They instinctively know that there is a way that leads to inner peace and a contentment that lasts forever. They wish to align themselves with the One who offers that way – but who is it? Where is it? Where can they find the assurance that will secure their future?

We cannot spend Youth Sunday simply praising our youth. We have to resolve to do our very best to help them enter through the narrow gate, and be strong enough. They are asking the question – maybe unspoken, maybe without even consciously knowing it – but yearning. Their hearts and souls seek Jesus. They ask – ‘what about me?’ We must take action and show them the way, not just by pointing, but by taking them by the hand as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. Showing them – This is the way to go.

Bible Study for the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
  • 8/18 – 1 Kings 19:11-13 – Lord, grant me ears to hear You, and the ability to realize Your presence in the subtleties of everyday life.
  • 8/19 – Hebrews 12:28-29 – Lord, consume me and fill me with Your Spirit. I long for Your kingdom that cannot be shaken.
  • 8/20 – Exodus 3:2 – Lord, the fire of Your love is ever before me. Grant that I may accept Your all consuming love which does not destroy but leads to life.
  • 8/21 – Zechariah 2:4-5 – Lord, grant that I may rely on You as my protection. Grant me confidence so that I may live fully within Your Holy Church.
  • 8/22 – Malachi 3:1-3 – Lord, refine and purify me so that I may be made righteous in Your sight.
  • 8/23 – Luke 9:54-56 – Lord, grant that I may not use the fire of Your word as a weapon, but rather as light that offers hope and redeems the world.
  • 8/24 – Jeremiah 23:29 – Lord, grant that I may be changed by the fire of Your word. Break away my sinfulness.

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, set me on fire for You. Fill my heart with love and passion for, as well as dedication to, Your will.

Reflection for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

set me afire

That’s one tough
prophet!

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”

Jeremiah was one tough prophet. He made everyone angry – but not for the purpose of inducing anger.

Jeremiah was a priest born in Israel around 650 BC. The Lord spoke to him and told him that he would be His prophet. Jeremiah was afraid, but the Lord promised to make him strong. God gave Jeremiah the words he was to use.

Jeremiah did as God asked. Afraid as he was, and knowing God’s message wouldn’t be well received, he went and told the people what the Lord was asking of them. He did this for 40 years among great difficulty. Jeremiah was attacked by his brothers, beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and false prophet, imprisoned by the king, threatened with death, as we saw today – thrown into a cistern by Judah’s officials, and was opposed by a false prophet. The people mocked him.

God’s words to the people called them back to faithfulness – they needed to worship God, and only God. God asked them to express sorrow for their unfaithfulness. If they would do this God would bless them once again.

We wish there might have been a happy ending, but there wasn’t. The people continued to worship false gods. They world not listen to Jeremiah or God’s other prophets, choosing instead to listen to false prophets because they gave the people what they wanted. Because of this continuing unfaithfulness, Jerusalem fell.

Jeremiah’s experiences made him lament. The key to understanding how Jeremiah felt is in understanding how much he loved God. He suffered primarily because of this love. He not only said what God wanted said, but felt God’s anguish at the people’s unfaithfulness. Jeremiah knew that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t stop speaking out. He said: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”

Jesus asks us to have that kind of closeness to Him, that deep and passionate love. God indeed is a burning fire – and Jesus wants us to be filled with His fire. This isn’t just perseverance in faith, it isn’t even a life dedicated to God – it is more. It is a life that is so in tune with God that we cannot hold it in. It is a life that has to bring God’s fire into other’s lives. It is a fire that burns away the words of today’s false prophets. Faithfulness to God can be tough. We have to be that kind of tough.

Bible Study for the 19th Week in Ordinary Time
  • 8/11 – Romans 12:6 – Lord, thank You for the gifts that are unique to me. Grant me the grace to share them with Your Holy Church and with all I encounter.
  • 8/12 – Galatians 3:28 – Lord, thank You for breaking down barriers. What we share in faith is greater than any obstacle. Help me to overcome perceptions of separateness seeing the greater unity You have created in Your body.
  • 8/13 – 1 Peter 2:9 – Lord, You have called me and set me apart, not alone, but as part of Your body, the Holy Church. Help me to live a life possessed by Your love and witnessing to Your mighty work.
  • 8/14 – Genesis 1:27 – Lord, I praise and thank You for creation – the work of Your hands.
  • 8/15 – 1 Corinthians 12:12 – Lord Jesus, in Your body I have purpose and meaning, the opportunity to contribute and make a difference, to share the opportunity to come to a life that is complete and everlasting. Help me to continue in the work and role You have set before me.
  • 8/16 – Jeremiah 1:5 – Lord, You know me completely, through-and-through. There is nothing I can hide. Give me the grace to live differently, to minimize my failings, and to reject sin.
  • 8/17 – Philippians 2:15 – Lord Jesus, I am a sinner and I fall regularly. Help me to stand again by Your grace. Renew and wash me in the blood of the Lamb so that I may not be a stumbling block, but rather a light to others.

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You set me apart and made me part of Your body. Grant me the grace to live differently because of You.

Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

hope_bird

Is it ok,
to be different?

All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

St. Paul speaks of Abraham and the Prophets. They lived lives of faith – holding onto the promise of what was to come, the fulfillment of God’s promises in the coming of the Christ, the Messiah. Paul refers to these men and women as aliens and strangers on earth.

Alien, stranger, and foreigner all carry the same connotation: being outside of or distinct from a group; one who does not belong to the group; a person with an emphasized difference in allegiance or citizenship.

All those who held unto faith in the coming of the Christ were that: aliens, strangers, and foreigners. They did not long for the place they had come from – looking back with regret and loss – but rather they looked forward to what was to come. They desired a better homeland, a heavenly one.

Of course God blessed them for their faith. It may not even have been a blessing they saw – for some certainly suffered. Rather He blessed them with the promise of what was to come and how their names would be held in earthly and heavenly esteem for their part in bringing it all about. God promised to prepare a place for them in the kingdom where they would sit around Him in everlasting glory and joy. We saw this last week in celebrating the Transfiguration – Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus resplendent in glory.
How does this apply to us? It applies in that it is more than ok to be different. We can and should live as aliens, strangers, and foreigners even among those who are closest to us. We are to set ourselves apart in the carrying out of God’s will, in living the life Jesus asks us to live.

We have God’s promise like the prophets and patriarchs did, plus something even greater – knowledge of the promise fulfilled in Jesus’ coming. We have the Christ with us. He lives in our bodies – from hearts that love and welcome to hands that serve, minds that ponder, voices that sing, pray, and praise. Fitting in with the world is for those who place their faith and citizenship here. Be different – only in being different do we show our faith and allegiance to God and gain His promise.

Bible Study for the 18th Week of Ordinary Time
  • 8/4 – Psalm 62:10 – Lord, grant that I may not set my heart on acquisition or earthly gains, but that in whatever blessings I receive I may see a way to share them generously.
  • 8/5 – Psalm 119:36 – Lord, grant that my greatest treasure may be Your word.
  • 8/6 – Ezekiel 33:31 – Lord, grant that I may not just listen to Your word, but rather that it take root in my heart and mind so that I may carry it out in everything I do.
  • 8/7 – 1 Timothy 6:10 – Lord, grant that I may not set about planning and prioritizing, but rather that I allow You to plan and prioritize my life.
  • 8/8 – 1 Corinthians 10:24 – Lord, You have brought so many people into my life. Grant that I may be a good and compassionate friend and foremost one who draws them to You.
  • 8/9 – Philippians 2:20 – Lord, You set before me bishops, priests, and deacons who love You and Your people. I thank You for giving them to me as shepherds. Help me to listen to them and follow them toward You with a generous, open, and accepting heart.
  • 8/10 – 2 Timothy 3:2-3 – Lord, prevent me from being judgmental and from counting the sins of others. Grant that by my life and example people may come to follow You; setting aside all selfishness.

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, grant me a generous heart and a willingness to love others consistent with Your way.

Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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I can’t help myself.
Isn’t it ok?

“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

The theme of our readings and gospel all center on doing things for the right reason, having the right priorities. They obviously focus on avoiding greed as the antithesis of proper living, “…the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”

As Christians we are to guard against placing our priorities wrongly. As we reflect on Carson’s baptism, we should recall our baptism. We descended into the waters of baptism, dying to the world and buried. Emerging we came into new life in the resurrected Christ. As people living in the resurrected Christ we have new priorities.

St. Paul says this plainly: For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. He reminds us that our focus must be changed – and we need to be reminded because we forget: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.

The problem we face in setting priorities as Christians is how far and how fast we need to go in re-ordering our reasons, focus and priorities.

Can we find a word that simply expresses the overwhelming love and dedication we are supposed to have for Jesus Christ? It has to be a word that describes a love and dedication that is more than something that just bubbles under the surface, but rather radiates out of us, making our lives evidently different to all those we meet. Perhaps the right word is “crazy?” Crazy can mean mentally deranged; demented; insane; senseless; impractical; totally unsound. It can also mean intensely enthusiastic; passionately excited.

So how do we get to the kind of crazy that shows an enthusiastic and passionate life with Christ? It starts with commitment and practice. Baptism is the first step in commitment and dedication. From there, with the help of our parents, we practice – in Church, by reading scripture, and in regular prayer – learning Jesus’ way, focusing on educating ourselves about Jesus’ direction for our life, and working in community to do His will. With that education and practice we learn to live the right way and with the right priorities.

When we get to the kind of crazy that radiates passions in line with Jesus’ priorities we become restorers of hope in the midst of our families, workplaces, neighborhoods, and in the wider world. We find that we cannot help ourselves in a way that is absolutely ok – more that ok – it is wonderful. It is crazy right.

Bible Study for the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
  • 7/28 – 1 Chronicles 16:11 – Lord Jesus, grant that my time in prayer may help me to know You better. open my eyes to Your constant presence and revelation.
  • 7/29 – Proverbs 15:29 – Lord, help me to repent of all sinfulness. Hear my prayer as I seek to conform my life to Yours.
  • 7/30 – Psalm 4:1 – O Lord, hear my prayer. In Your graciousness grant me all I need to live in union with You and Your will.
  • 7/31 – Romans 8:26 – Holy Spirit, my heart cries out in a confusion of needs. I cry out for all in trouble. I cannot make sense of my own needs and requests. Help me to trust in Your understanding and intercession.
  • 8/1 – Philippians 4:6 – Lord, I thank You and praise You for listening to my prayers.
  • 8/2 – 1 Timothy 2:8 – Lord Jesus, bless and protect Your Holy Church. Make each parish a house of prayer and peace without any anger or argument.
  • 8/3 – James 5:16 – Lord, help me to confess my sins in Your Holy Church and to pray for all I have hurt. Heal me so that my prayer may be powerful and effective.

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, teach me to pray. Help me to listen to You in prayer and to carry out Your will. Grant the petitions I offer in love.

Reflection for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Let me say this…
But what if?

Then [Abraham] said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” [The Lord] answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

Today’s first reading from Genesis is the story of Abraham’s negotiations with God. Abraham didn’t know what was coming in his discussions (prayer) with God. He was, however, open to listening to God. Abraham’s ears were open to what God had to say. This is an essential aspect of prayer. Prayer is more than just words. We have to put ourselves in God’s presence and be open to His promptings and invitations. Being he was open, God invited Abraham to the negotiating table.

The Lord was looking on the extreme wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah and was getting ready to judge them. But before he did, he said; “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” God was giving Abraham the chance to be a great diplomat, negotiator, and arbiter.

We all know someone who can get the best deals. They can dicker at yard sales; resolve disputes; get a new car at a great price; negotiate contracts and come out on top. They have the gift of words – and for some reason people just seem to say yes to whatever they ask. Weather or not we are good with those things; God gives all of us an opportunity to be great negotiators in our prayers.

Abraham started by listening to what God was saying. He considered God’s voice, and thought out its implications. Abraham had self-interest in saving the city – his nephew Lot lived there. Abraham wanted Lot and his family to be protected and he could have asked for their safety – but he never mentioned it to the Lord. Instead, his relationship with God gave him a heart of compassion, a heart that cried out for ANY person who was righteous and who would perish along with the wicked.

Abraham’s relationship with God also helped him to understand God’s character. He appealed to God’s character – His justice: He said: “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”

Prayer is most effective when we listen and understand the God we serve – knowing His nature and character. It is effective when it comes from a heart of love built up through prayer, worship, and service. It is effective when we keep pressing. Like Abraham we have to stay on it. The degree to which we press God for something reveals our heart. How much do we want God’s will done upon the earth? Finally, like Abraham we must be willing to be used of God. Pray by listening to God, being loving, knowing Him, pressing Him, and doing what is needed. This is great negotiation – prayer!