Reflections

 

Twenty-First  Sunday in Ordinary Time – 22 Aug 2010

“People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south
and sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God.”

It is those who do the will of God
whom God will save
regardless of their race or religion,
their gender or color,
their wealth or their political philosophy.
God’s house, as Teresa of Avila said, ‘has many mansions.’ 

The Solemnity of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary – 15 Aug. 2010

“My soul is glad because of God my Savior, for he has remembered me, his lowly servant.”

I have been called by God,
just as clearly as Mary was,
 to do my part in the plan of salvation.
My own ‘fiat,’ my own recognition
that my call from God is also a personal one
is of the essence of Christian commitment. 

Nineteenth  Sunday in Ordinary Time – 08 Aug 2010 

“Your heart is where your riches are.”

If I want to know what I really value in life,
I need to ask myself what I think about most.
Is it love, goodness, commitment,
the will of God–
or is it money, status, lust, power?
It is the spiritual life that directs the heart to God.

 

Eighteenth  Sunday in Ordinary Time – 01 Aug 2010

“Guard yourself from every kind of greed because your true life
is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.”

What is inside of me
is not determined by the things
I have managed to accumulate.
The riches of my life
depend on the way I live life,
not what I acquire in it.

Seventeenth  Sunday in Ordinary Time – 25 July 2010 

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

Prayer is not something that happens simply with the uttering of formulas.
Real prayer engages us wholly — our minds, our bodies, and our hearts.
It must be done reflectively and continuously. 

Fifteenth  Sunday in Ordinary Time – 11 July 2010

“A teacher came up and asked Jesus, ‘What must I do to receive eternal life?’”

We wonder about a question
Jesus makes so clear.
The relationship
between life here and life to come.
all depends on the way
we love—both God and others.
It’s all so simple—so complex. 

Fourteenth  Sunday in Ordinary Time – 04 July 2010

“There is a large harvest but few workers to gather it in.”

The work of God is the work of us all.
Without a commitment to ministry
the Christian community
will become just one more organization
fed by money, for the sake of profit,
and committed to itself.
The world has too many of those already. 

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 27 June 2010

“He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’”

Each of us is called to ‘follow Jesus,’ we know.
But the question is how should I do it?
This Gospel gives us an answer
that is simple and certain:
Follow Jesus–the brave, the truthful, the loving–
in everything, at all times, all your life. 

Twelfth  Sunday in Ordinary Time – 20 June 2010

“What about you?” Jesus asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

Determining who Jesus is for us
is the question
and the work of a lifetime.
Why?
Because the answer to this question
determines how we live
and who and what we finally become.

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – 13 June 2010

“A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him.”

When we refuse to step over social boundaries,
when we associate only
with our own kind,
we miss the chance to grow spiritually.
Those most unlike us
have more to teach us than our friends.

The Ascension of the Lord – 16 May 2010

“The message of repentance and forgiveness of sins
must be preached to all nations,
beginning in Jerusalem.”

Jesus wants us to know
that it is not perfection that we must be about.
What is really important are our efforts to do better,
always better,
that claims God’s love and forgiveness.

 

Fifth  Sunday of  Easter – 02 May 2010

“After Judas had left, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man’s glory is revealed;
now God’s glory is revealed through him.’”

Everything in life–
both good and bad–
is, in the end,
meant for our growth,
meant for our good,
if only we are willing to see it that way.

 

Fourth Sunday of  Easter – 25 April 2010

“My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.”

To be real followers of Jesus
we must come to know Jesus,
to become immersed in his word,
to study the way he dealt with people,
to make him the model of our own life. 

Third Sunday of  Easter – 18 April 2010

“He said to them, ‘Haven’t you caught anything?’
‘Not a thing,’ they answered.
He said to them, ‘Throw your net out on the right side of the boat.
So they threw the net out and could not
pull it back in because they had caught so many fish.”

Life is not always where we think it is.
When changes disturb us
we need to remember that Jesus
may well be showing us
where we are really meant to be,
where success really is for us. 

Second Sunday of  Easter – 11 April 2010

The Risen is the crucified one. There is no doubt about that.
The way of the master must also be the way of his disciples.
We have to bear the marks of Jesus,
the marks of a life committed to others.
Our announcement, like his, has to be an announcement of Peace.
Let us not be afraid. He is with us.