Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense.

 

Scripture for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Our first reading for today from Hebrews, chapter 10, was written probably just before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 a.d. It was a time of great persecutions towards the Christian community. It was certainly not an easy time to be a Christian. In our day and age, here in the United States, it is unlikely that any of us will end up in prison for our faith or lose our property due to our faith in Christ. But living out our faith currently is just as hard as it was back then. It can even be considered counter cultural.

We’re living in a society where violence is common and where respect for the rights of all people, including the unborn and the elderly, are not part of who we are. We’re living in what has been described as the Culture of Death. Faith in God and love of neighbor is not something that is now commonly practiced. Instead, hatred and animosity seem to be who we are as a nation.

We, as people of faith, are called to help change this society by how we live out our faith. We need to bring the love of God into all situations of our lives, whether it’s in our family life, or even here at church. We need to bring the love of God into all situations of our lives. It is by our visible living out of the gospel in our lives that other people will be attracted to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

In our gospel today, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. But once it’s grown, it becomes the largest of plants. We need to take our faith and love of God into our society and use it like that mustard seed to plant the love of God in all the situations of our lives. By bringing our faith and love of God to all we meet, we can turn hate to love, and help people know the love God has for all people. It will be then that the hate and violence will diminish, and the love of God and mutual respect will grow.

Lord, help us to be true examples of your love and presence in our society. Amen.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb…

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children | USCCB

Today the Church commemorates the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. It is the sad anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. It was on January 22^nd, 1973, by a vote of 7-3, that the Supreme Court legalized a woman’s “right” to have an abortion without any restrictions from the government. As a result of this decision, countless innocent children have been killed through abortion.

Abortion rights have been viewed as a woman’s right to do what she wants with her body.  This doesn’t take into consideration that there are now two bodies present: the woman’s and the baby’s. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read in paragraph 2270: “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”

We hear in today’s gospel from St. Luke that John the Baptist, in the womb of Elizabeth, leaped for joy when Mary approached, who at this point was already a few months pregnant with Jesus. Looking at the first chapter of Luke, we can see and understand that life begins at conception. First with the Annunciation, once Mary said yes to be the mother of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit came upon her, it was at that very first moment of conception that Jesus was truly present. And with John the Baptist, we see him active in Elizabeth’s womb, recognizing the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb. What a beautiful sight that must have been.

In our times, we have modern day prophets speaking out against abortion. Mother Theresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.” And Pope-emeritus Benedict said, “The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right -- it is the very opposite. It is a deep wound in society.”

On this Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the unborn, let us pray not only for an end to abortion, but also pray for those mothers who, for whatever reason, may feel they have no other choice but to end their pregnancy. We can get involved with groups such as the Sisters of Life  who make themselves available to women who feel they have no other alternative but to have an abortion.

Lord Jesus, may we have a greater love and respect for all life, from conception to natural death. Amen.

 

Your sins are forgiven; rise and walk

 

The scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we have the story of the paralytic and his four friends who went out of their way to make sure their friend was able to see Jesus. They didn’t let the crowd stop them from bringing him to Jesus, but rather went to extremes to have their friend lowered from the roof to be right in front of Jesus. They had no concern that they were destroying the property by breaking through the roof. They also didn’t care what other people thought of their actions with their friend in order for him to see Jesus. Their only concern was that their friend gets to see Jesus and receive the healing that he so desperately needed.

I can only imagine the look on Jesus’ face as they lowered their friend right in front of Him. He probably had an approving smile showing that he was happy with the faith they showed in lowering the friend to Him. Everyone else in the room probably had a look of shock on their faces.  Then Jesus would add to the shock of those in the room by telling the man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus, as God, has the power to forgive sins, but those in the room were scandalized because they only saw Jesus as a simple carpenter turned preacher from Nazareth. To them, only God can forgive sins, and for Jesus to do so was blasphemy. Jesus was using this healing as a teaching moment to those in the room.

The man on the mat, and his friends, already came to believe in the healing power of Jesus. Our Lord would go on to say, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority toforgive sins on earth” – he said to the paralytic “I say to you, rise, pick upyour mat, and go home.” (Mark 2:10) Jesus was using this as an opportunity to not only bring healing to this man, but to teach that he was not only fully human, but also fully God.

We all have our concerns and problems that we face in our lives. We can turn to Jesus for healing and forgiveness through the sacrament of confession. Jesus will be there waiting for us to grant us forgiveness. Plus, we can place the cares and concerns of all our family and friends into the loving hands of Jesus each time we come to Mass. Just place their concerns at the foot of the altar and ask the Lord to grant them healing and peace.

Lord Jesus, we know and believe that you are true God and true Man. Please grant us the healing and peace that we need that can only come from you! Amen.

I do will it, be made clean.

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday after Epiphany | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of a leper approaching Jesus with faith in order to receive the healing that he so desperately wanted. At the time of Jesus, leprosy was an incurable disease that was very contagious and deadly. As a result, people with it had to be segregated from society. It was their form of “social distancing.” This social distancing was in the Mosaic Law to protect others in the society from getting this terrible disease. As a result of having this disease, whenever they walked along the street, they had to call out “unclean” to warn people nearby that someone with leprosy was coming. It was a lonely and terrible life. So it took great courage for this leper to approach Jesus to ask for healing.

As with other healings, this leper had the faith in Jesus to know he would be healed. Jesus, not worried about becoming “unclean” himself, reached out to this man and touched him to grant the healing that the man desired. The man was instantly cleansed, and Jesus sent him to the priest to receive a clean bill of health and be able to re-enter society.

In our own society today, we have things that we need healing from that are just as bad as leprosy was back in the time Jesus walked the earth. Physically we need healing from the coronavirus. Even with the vaccine starting to become available, people are still getting sick, and everyone is feeling hopeless and fear that it will never go away. We also need healing from this political turmoil that has been afflicting our country over the last few months. The violence, fear and hatred that has come upon our country as a result of differing points of view is something that needs to stop. These are real diseases, physical and emotional, that we need to place in the hands of our Lord.

Let us place our cares and concerns into the loving hands of Jesus and say, “Lord, if you will, you can make us clean.” By placing all our cares and concerns into the hands of the Lord, we will receive the physical and emotional healing that we need. We just need to have faith in Jesus to carry out healing.

Lord Jesus, grant healing to our country and to our world. Grant physical and emotional healing to each one of us. And grant us the faith we need to know that you are present to us in all our needs.

 

I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord…

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of John getting the “third degree” from the priests and Levites. They see and hear that John is attracting large crowds. These people that John is attracting are turning from their sins and turning their lives over to God. Great crowds went to John because he helped them to realize God’s love for them and their need to repent and to turn back to Him, seeking forgiveness through baptism. They were seeing in John something they didn’t see in the priests and Levites: they were seeing someone who was open and honest about God’s love for them. Being humble about who he was, he was openly admitting that he wasn’t the Messiah, the Christ. John’s whole life and ministry was to bring people away from sin and point towards Jesus Christ as Savior. He said in today’s gospel, “…there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” (John 1:23) A few verses after what we hear in today’s gospel, John says of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)

Each one of us, in our vocation as Catholic Christians, are, like John, called to bring others to Christ. We are called to live a life of love of God and of love of neighbor, and to point out Jesus to those in our lives that may not be in relationship with God. We are called to help others see that God, through Jesus Christ, loves each one of us. We are called to help everyone we know that we are sinners and need God’s love and forgiveness through the saving power of Jesus Christ through the sacraments of baptism and confession.

John’s life was big and dramatic, attracting the attention of the priests, Levites and all the religious leaders. He even caught the attention of King Herod, who would eventually kill John for speaking the truth about Herod’s sinful relationship with his brother’s wife. As a result of speaking the truth to King Herod, John died. We may not be in a position of facing death for speaking the truth about Jesus Christ being Lord and Savior, but we are called to be open and honest with everyone in our lives about the fact that Jesus is indeed Savior, and that we all need to turn to Him seeking His love and forgiveness. There will be challenges in sharing this Good News about Jesus Christ with those in our circle of family and friends, but that’s what we are called to do.

One way of bringing others to Christ is to invite those in we know to come to Mass and to experience the presence of Christ through the proclamation of the Word of God in Scripture, and His presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Let Jesus do the rest. Then we, along with those we bring to mass, can say the words of John the Baptist: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Amen.