Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear once again the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. They asked the Lord, "What is the greatest commandment?" Jesus answers very clearly that we are to love the Lord God with our whole heart, soul and mind." Then he adds, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Reflecting on these answers from the Lord, we can and should ask ourselves how well we are doing what the Lord clearly tells us we should be doing per the commandments. 

We, as Catholic Christians, make every attempt to attend Sunday mass and give worship to God and to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. But I know for myself, I am easily distracted from what's happening at the altar with the other things that are happening in my life. Instead of placing my cares and concerns at the foot of the altar for the Lord to respond and help me with whatever issues I'm facing, I'm instead trying to resolve the problems myself while mass is going on. As a result, I'm missing out on what's happening at the Altar: Jesus becoming truly present in the bread and wine.  As a follower of the Lord, I need to learn to place those concerns into God's hands and trust that He'll respond in a way that is best for me. This is the best way for me to show God that I love him with my whole heart, soul and mind.

The second part of Jesus' response is to love our neighbors as ourselves. That can be very challenging. There are people in our lives we truly love and find easy to do as Jesus commands, but then there are those people that get on our nerves and know how to "press our buttons."  We are called to love those people as well. It may be best for our own emotional well-being to keep our distance from them, but we are to love them, nonetheless. We are to pray for them and their well-being, but it's okay to do it from the distance. 

What are the challenges you face in responding to Jesus' command of love of God and love of neighbor? What are you doing to try to be obedient to what the Lord is teaching us?

During this upcoming week, in addition to worshiping and loving God as the Lord describes, maybe we can choose a person we find difficult to love and to pray for that person's intentions. This prayer may not only have positive effect on that person, but will certainly help us grow closer to God.

Many are invited, but few are chosen

 

Scripture for this reflection can be found at Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel today we hear of the familiar parable on the Wedding Feast. Many people were invited, but many declined to come to the feast. The wedding feast can represent our relationship with God. God calls everyone into relationship with Him. But, as in the parable, many people find other things more important than having that relationship.

God calls each one of us into relationship with Him, and it’s important to keep him at the center of your life. Other things in our lives, no matter how attractive they may be or how important we may think they are, are not as important as having an intimate relationship with God. We all have daily responsibilities that we need to tend to, but we need to remember that as we carry out our responsibilities, not to ignore God. When facing a problem, or even experiencing something good and positive, we need to remember that God is present to us. With any problems we have, turn to God in prayer to help you resolve the issue at hand. If it’s something positive that has happened, give praise and thanks to God for the blessings received.

Regarding the “white garment” this represents how we have responded to God’s call in our life. It represents how we live out our lives as baptized Christians: with faith towards God and love for those in our lives. God judges the heart, and if we’re not living out our lives with love of God and love of neighbor, our “white garments” will be soiled.

As we reflect on this section of Matthew’s gospel, let us reflect on how we are responding to God’s call in our lives. Does he have our full love and adoration? Or are we indifferent to God’s presence in our lives.

Kingdom of God has come upon you

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In today's gospel we hear of Jesus healing someone possessed with an unclean spirit. Immediately those around him accuse him of being in league with the evil one. They were demanding to see signs that he was indeed from God, and not from the devil. They were demanding a sign from heaven to prove that he was of God. 

Jesus points out the foolishness of their accusation that he drives out evil spirits though the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Jesus clearly points out that a kingdom divided against itself can't stand. 

What's amazing about their demand to see a sign from heaven is the fact that all throughout his 3-year ministry he was healing people who were sick, there were other examples of Jesus expelling demons, plus feeding 5,000 people only with a couple of loafs of bread and a fish. These are all signs from heaven that for anyone who have eyes to see with. But for whatever reason, these people coming to him today have blinders on and continue to reject Jesus as the Messiah. 

As we read this gospel, let us not be like those questioning Jesus and his motives for healing someone. Let us accept him for who he his: our Lord and Messiah. He'll be there for us in each of our difficulties to bring us the healing that we need. Jesus says in today's gospel, "Whoever is not with me is against me..." Let us always be WITH Jesus and turn to him in all our needs. 

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens.

 

Scripture reading for this reflection can be found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092526.cfm

In our first reading for today from Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 we are taught about the importance of patience. There will always be good things and bad things happening to us. There will always be some amount of suffering and some amounts of happiness. It’s part of life! There will always be time for happiness and sadness. We just have to be able to accept them as part of God‘s plan in our lives.

Living a God centered life is important to being able to find this peace and happiness, no matter what happens. In the good times we need to be grateful to God for his blessings. In times of suffering, we need to turn to him for healing or help in whatever the situation may be.

In our gospel from Luke chapter 9 we hear Jesus asking the disciples who they think he is. They respond, “The Messiah of God.” As we go through the good times and difficult times of our life, let us always focus on Jesus as our Messiah. Let us always be grateful to him for the good things in our life and turn to him for help when things get difficult to deal with.

Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082926.cfm

Today we commemorate the beheading of St. John the Baptist, the precursor to Jesus 

John the Baptist is cousin to Jesus Christ. John is the son of Saint Elizabeth. Even from the time when Elizabeth and Mary met at the visitation, John, in Elizabeth’s womb, was leaping for joy at the presence of Jesus in  Mary’s womb. He knew, even in the womb, that Jesus was present. 

Years later when John was baptizing in the Jordan River, he saw Jesus approach and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” These are familiar words that we, as Catholics, hear at every Mass as he holds up the consecrated host. 

John’s whole life was to tell people to turn away from sin and point them towards Jesus Christ. He was not afraid to speak the truth, even if it got him in trouble.

In today’s gospel from Mark John was not afraid to tell of the sinfulness of Herod in  committing adultery with his brother’s wife. This cost John his life. 

John’s whole life was to live in God’s presence, and was never afraid to speak the truth, even if it meant loosing his life. 

We are, in on our own vocations as Christians,  called to be like John the Baptist. We need to be always willing to point people towards Jesus as true God and true man. And we are to always speak the truth that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. Furthermore, we need to be brave enough to let people know when they are sinning, even if it means that it’ll cause us problems or issues with the people we love. 

Let us pray to the Lord to have the courage of John the Baptist to bring others to Christ. 

Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

 

 Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080926.cfm

In our first reading for today from the first book of Kings we hear of the prophet Elijah. In the chapter just proceeding this he was on Mt. Carmel and showed that there’s one true God. He proved that there was no god other than God. The people were following the false god Baal. At proving that there is only one true God, the people were upset at Elijah and started attacking him and he escaped. In today’s reading he was feeling alone and forsaken. Searching for the Lord, he didn’t hear him in the wind or the crashing rocks. Rather he heard the Lord in the tiny whispering sound. 

We can follow Elijah‘s example by looking for the Lord not in big dramatic ways, but in the silence of our prayers. It is then the Lord will speak with us. 

In the gospel for today, Matthew chapter 14, we hear of the Lord going off by himself to pray. It is there that the Lord opens his mind and heart to the Father  to continue his ministry. Then, knowing the disciples were in the midst of the storm he walks on the water towards them. The disciples were scared, thinking he was a ghost. Peter said if it is you, Lord, bid me to walk to you on the water. As long as Peter‘s eyes were on Jesus, he was walking on the water. Then, as soon as he got distracted, he started to sink. Jesus reaches out to him and saves him.

The lesson for today’s readings is to keep our eyes always focused on God through Jesus Christ. No matter what problems or storms we are facing, we can always turn to God to be with us and to help us.

The LORD sustains him on his sickbed, you turn down his bedding whenever he is ill.

 

I am approaching my fourth week for recovering from my knee replacement surgery. During the last four weeks of my recovery has been a form of Retreat and teaching me to be patient. I pray the divine office every day and on Friday afternoon I came across Psalm 41. Verse six reads as follows. “The LORD sustains him on his sickbed, you turn down his bedding whenever he is ill.” This has been very reassuring and has helped me get through the pain that I had a few weeks back. Thankfully, the pain has diminished greatly. 

Then in the gospel for today I heard, “…and he cured their sick.”  (Matthew 14:14). During this month of healing, the Lord has been restoring me to health, not only through the doctors and nurses, but also through my wife, Dinorah. She’s been there every step of the way, showing me patience and love, even when I was cranky and impatient because of the pain. Dinorah is a true blessing from God. 

I’m also grateful for a visiting priest to St. Michael’s, Fr. Samuel, for bringing me Holy Communion and the Anointing of the Sick; for Fr. Robert Rodriguez from St. Lucy’s who took time to visit me, give me Holy Communion and hear my confession; my brother deacon, Candido for visiting, and for my pastor, Fr. JP for visiting me, and finally Sr. Mary who brought Holy Communion on a few occasions.

Though it’ll be a while before I’m healed, I see the Lord’s presence in all these people. 

Dear Lord, bless all those who have contributed towards my healing and help me to full recovery.