A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and home

 

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

There’s an old saying that goes, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” We hear in our gospel for today how the people that Jesus grew up with rejected Him and His teachings. They were saying, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?” I can imagine them saying, “Who does he think he is?” The gospel goes on to say that they took offense at Him.

These are people that thought they “knew” Jesus throughout His life. Before His public ministry He went about His work as a carpenter. He didn’t appear to be anyone special. He went about His day-to-day life performing the tasks necessary as a carpenter. I’m sure, also, he was a regular at the synagogue on the sabbath. So, they “knew” him. They just didn’t think of him as anyone special. Then the next thing they know, Jesus was going all throughout the area teaching about the love that God has for all people and performing miracles. They found it hard to wrap their minds around the fact that this person, this Jesus, was more than just an uneducated carpenter. They were deaf to the truths he was teaching and blind to the miracles He was performing in God’s name. But Jesus didn’t let this rejection stop Him from continuing with His ministry of God’s love to others beyond His hometown.

We, in turn, can learn from Our Lord in how we live out our faith. We are called to follow Jesus and grow ever deeper in faith. There may be people in our lives that reject us for this faith in Jesus Christ. They may know things about our past that may not be so flattering. We, as sinful people, have a past that we may not be proud of, a past that other people may know and remember. But once we turn away from whatever sins we may have committed and put Jesus as the center of who we are, we are then called to share this good news of God’s love with those in our lives. People may ask, “Who do you think you are? You were never always that way!” Our turning towards God should be an ongoing conversion and an example of how others can lead a life of in relation with Him. We will always struggle with temptations that may attempt to bring us away from God, but we need to place these temptations in God’s hands to help us grow deeper in our relationship with Him. There will be those in our lives that may not understand us as we pursue this relationship with God. But don’t let that stop us. We are called to continue to get closer to Him through frequent prayer and meditation on scripture. Also, as we continue to grow in our relationship with God, we are called to make frequent use of the sacraments. In addition to receiving the Eucharist often, we should use the sacrament of reconciliation for the times we fall short in our following the Lord. Finally, let us pray for those in our lives that may not understand our relationship with God and are away from Him. Pray that they may come to know and understand the love, peace and forgiveness that can only come from God.

The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it

 

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

Our readings for today’s mass, from Exodus and from the Gospel of St. Matthew, is about how to live a life in relationship with God and with those people we come into contact with in our day to day living.

In our first reading we hear the 10 commandments as given to Moses. The commandments go into great detail as to how we should live our lives. In the gospel of St. Matthew, 22:36-40, when the Lord was asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” As people attempting to live a God centered life, this is how we are to live: love of God and love of neighbor. It’s not easy, but that is what God is calling us to do.

In the gospel, we hear from Jesus as to how hard it is in living out our lives in obedience to these commandments of God. In our lives we have distractions from the glamours and riches of this world as well as the various problems of our lives that takes our attentions from the fact that God should be the center of who we are. In the past year we dealt with the distraction of the pandemic that caused so many deaths of people we knew and loved. It’s times like this that our Lord was referring to when he indicated that worldly anxiety would choke the word of God in us. We were worried about our own health and well being and that of those we hold dear. We may have started to feel that God was not present to as we dealt with this deadly disease. We may have questioned as to why God would allow such horrible things to happen. The answer is not always clear. It’s hard to understand and to trust that God is present when so much suffering and death has occurred.

As challenging as it is, we are called to take our faith in Jesus Christ and face these problems with trust that God will always be with us, even in times of suffering and pain. We need to place our cares and concerns into His loving hands to ask for healing and understanding.

We are called to be open and trusting of God is in our lives, even when things happen that we don’t understand.  It is through the reading of the Word of God in Scripture that can receive understanding of what God is trying to teach us, and then we can bear fruits and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

Lord Jesus, help us to remove any obstacles to your word in our hearts and help us to bear great fruit for you! Amen!

You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved

 

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

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not easy. We hear in our gospel today of Jesus warning His followers that people will hand them over to the courts and they will be scourged. Further our Lord spoke of family members, parents, and children, turning in relatives for being His followers. With that in mind, being a follower of Jesus does not seem to be very appealing, does it? What are the rewards of following Jesus if all this will happen to you? The answer is that our Lord promises something greater than the rewards of earthly benefits. Eternal salvation. “Whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Today we commemorate the Blessed Chinese Martyrs from the 19^th century, Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and his companions. Saint Augustine was a Catholic priest and was martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ in 1815. He preached Jesus Christ at a time and place that wasn’t accepting of the good news of Jesus Christ, and as a result, he was put to death. His sharing the Gospel and the fact that he was a follower of Jesus Christ was more important to him than his earthly life. Along with Saint Augustine there were 119 more people willing to give up their lives as Martyrs for their faith in the Lord. They chose to remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ and be martyred rather than save their mortal lives by denying Christ. There were bishops, priests, religious sisters and brothers, lay people, boys and girls and children of many ages that were put to death for their faith in Jesus Christ. Through their torture and death, they bore the riches of Christ in word and deed. They knew and embraced the words our Lord spoke today, “You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Two examples given by Pope John Paul II of these martyrs is Fourteen-year-old Anna Wang and Eighteen-year-old Xi Guizi. Anna, as she offered to have her head cut off, said, “The gates of heaven is open to all.” Xi Guizi, upon facing martyrdom, said, “Every part of my body, every drop of my blood will bring to your memory that I am a Christian.”

All of us are called to that strong faith in the Lord. We may not be facing cruel torture and death for our faith, but we are called to share our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with others in our lives, including family and friends, no matter the cost. As you share your faith in Jesus Christ with others, the Holy Spirit will be with you with the right words to bring the love of Christ to those we are called to share our faith with. As you share your faith with others, pray that they, too, will receive the gift of faith.

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them...

 

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

In our gospel for today we hear of Jesus healing a demoniac and continuing through out the towns and villages proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and curing every disease and illness. Jesus was bringing the love and healing to those that needed to know the love of God. The Pharisees failed to understand what our Lord was all about. Jesus had the pity and love that was most needed towards those people who felt isolated and alone. The Pharisees were about holding onto their status in society. Our Lord was all about leading people into relationship with God, no matter what their status was in society.

Our Lord went on to talk about the laborers for the harvest. Laborers are those that bring the love of God to society. They can be priests, deacons, nuns and missionaries, but they are also those laborers in the medical field. During this past year during the pandemic, the doctors, nurses and all health care professionals that were there for those suffering and dying as a result of COVID were the laborers brining the love and healing power of God to those in most need of feeling the loving presence of God. By their constant presence to those in most need of God's love and healing, they were there for them. Jesus was indeed working through these front line workers. 

May God continue to bless and protect those health care providers who made the health and well being of others more important than their own safety and helath.

Wake Up From Your Wokeness

A prophet is not without honor except in his native place...

 

The scripture readings for today can be found at Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Today's gospel reminds me of the old saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt." People  that have known Jesus his whole life found it hard to accept the fact that he was more than just the carpenter, the son of Mary. They knew him growing up and saw him grow and mature into manhood. To them he was just one of them. To them, he was nothing special. They couldn't understand how someone they consider so ordinary could be in fact a prophet, or even the Messiah!! To them, he was "just Jesus, the carpenter!"

How many of us can relate to this rejection of Jesus by the people who thought they knew him so well? Many of us, while growing up, may have lived just ordinary lives and were never really living a God centered life. We weren't leading lives that were "bad," but God just wasn't that important to us. We were just living out our lives without any thought of having God in the center of who we are. We were just "ordinary!" Once we came to realize that God should be the center of who we are, our family and friends started to say, "Who does he/she think he/she is?" And thus reject our sincere efforts in living a Godly life. After all, these people that may have known us for our whole life, or at least a long time, can think that our developing relationship with God is "not real."

Jesus would go on to continue His ministry to those open to the fact that He was indeed not only a prophet, but the Messiah. I'm sure our Lord prayed for those that had rejected him, but that didn't stop from bringing the love of God to others that were open to hear His message of love and forgiveness. 

We, too, are called to continue to develop our relationship with God in a way that is good for us in order to gain salvation. Further, we are called to share the love of God with everyone we meet, whether they accept the message or not. And, if by chance, they reject our message, just pray for them that they too one day know the loving presence of God in their lives.

Jesus said to him, “Follow Me”

 

The Scripture readings for today's blog can be found at Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear Jesus call St. Matthew, the tax collector, to be His follower. Tax Collectors during the time Our Lord walked the earth were very much hated by the Jewish people since they were not only collecting taxes for the oppressive Roman Empire, but they would also use extortion in order collect these taxes from their fellow Jews. As a result, understandably, the Jews hated the tax collectors. The Jews felt that these tax collectors had abandoned their Jewish faith and were beyond redemption. They were considered great sinners and didn’t deserve to be part of the Jewish community.

The Pharisees were unable to look at these tax collectors and see that they too were people made in the image of God and deserved to receive salvation as well. Jesus was able to see beyond their sinfulness and bring forgiveness and healing to Matthew and the other tax collectors and those others that were considered sinners by the Pharisees.

Like Matthew, we are all called by Jesus to follow Him and to turn from our sinfulness. All of us, due to our sinful human nature, have fallen short of God’s love and need His forgiveness. Further, there are those we may know that seem to be away from God. They may not be living in a way we feel they should. But God judges the heart and can touch them where they are at to encourage them to return to relationship with Him. We just need to be merciful to them, pray for them, and invite them back into that loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are called to remind them that our Lord is saying to them, “Follow me.” We are called by our Lord to show the same mercy to them that He has for them. People turn away from God for any number of reasons. But we are called to be understanding and merciful to their need to return to God in love and forgiveness. Our Lord clearly says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

The best way to return to the Lord and receive the healing and forgiveness of our sins is through the Sacrament of Confession. The Church encourages us to make regular use of confession to receive the healing mercy of God. Further, we should try to encourage those others in our lives that may be away from God to turn back to Him through confession. This way they, too, can be in the loving embrace of God. Today, let us see Jesus pass by… hear Jesus say, “Follow me”.. and feel Jesus heal us from our sin.

Desperate for God