For the love of money is the root of all evils…

 

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

In our first reading for today from St.Paul’s first letter to Timothy, we hear Paul continue to teach on how to live out a life as a Christian. We are to remain focused not on the riches of this world, but on things spiritual. We are to continue to look to Jesus as the example of how to live out our lives in love of God and love of neighbor.

St. Paul is reminding us to not to worry about accumulating money or material wealth. Paul clearly teaches that the love of money is the root of all evils. If we’re more worried about accumulating wealth and objects than about loving and serving God and helping those in our families and those in need, we have strayed from how God wants us to live our lives. Paul goes on to say that those who want to be rich will fall into the trap that will lead them to ruin and destruction.

Paul is teaching us that love of God should always be the center of who we are. There’s a saying that goes, “God will provide.” And certainly, God does indeed provide all our needs. All we need to do is to trust in him to provide for us.

Does this mean that we should be careless with the financial blessings the Lord has given us? Certainly not. We all have a certain amount of income that we are blessed with, thanks be to God, and we are to be responsible with the money and property we have accumulated over the course of our lives. But the money and accumulations we have been blessed with are not to replace our love for God and the love we are to show to others in our lives.  We are to use the money we have as a way of caring for ourselves and for those others God placed in our lives. As God has blessed us with certain financial blessings, we are to use these blessings to give glory and praise to God by using it in a way pleasing to God. Further we are to be generous with our money to certain charities that care for the poor and needy in our community.

Today’s reading from St. Paul to Timothy concludes with encouragement to live out our lives in pursuit of righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Living in this way, with Jesus at the center of all we do, will lead us to greater glory and praise of God.

I will walk with a blameless heart.

 

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

In our first reading for today from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy. Paul is explaining very clearly the responsibilities of those called to being bishops and deacons in the church. Of bishops Paul says they must be temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle… In other words, the bishop must live out his life in imitation of Christ. He needs to be humbled and self-controlled. He must be a visible example of Christ in his position as bishop.

St. Augustine once said, “The day I became a bishop, a burden was laid on my shoulders for which it will be no easy task to render an account.” St.  Augustine, familiar with the words of St. Paul to Timothy, knew that he must lead those Christians in his care towards Christ. He must be kind and not aggressive.

St. Augustine also said, “I must distinguish carefully between two aspects of the role the Lord has given me, a role that demands rigorous accountability.” Augustine would go on to say, “I am a Christian is to my own advantage, but I am a leader for your advantage.” He knew those Christians in his care would turn to him for guidance to lead them to follow Christ more faithfully. As bishop, he knew that he must be ready to clearly explain what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Today we commemorate the feast of St. Januarius. who was a bishop and martyr, in Naples. St. Januarius was martyred by the Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of 305. He lived out his call as Bishop and Christian by remaining strong in his faith in Jesus Christ.  Rather than deny his faith in Jesus Christ, Januarius chose to die for this faith in the Lord. He was first thrown to the wild beast, and then eventually beheaded. St. Januarius knew the words of St. Paul well of being self-controlled. He remained strong in his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.

St. Paul’s letter goes on to teach us further that whatever place we are in the Church, whether a deacon or women of faith, we are to attempt to live out our lives as Christians by loving God and loving our neighbors. We are all called to be living examples of what it means to be Christian. We are to be dignified, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in everything.

By living out our lives in this way, others will see that we are faithful Christians, and we can hope to lead them as well to a life in relationship with Christ.

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary | USCCB

Today the church commemorates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This feast is tied in with the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary nine months earlier on December 8^th. Mary had that unique gift of being conceived without original sin, thus preparing her to be the mother of the Savior. Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

 

With the special gifts and graces that God gave her, we hear in scripture how our Lady was ever ready to do the will of God. In Luke, chapter one, verse 28, the angel Gabriel addresses Mary, “Hail, full of Grace…” This is the phrase that the church turns to in her teaching that Mary was immaculately conceived, thus she was full of Grace. Following Gabriel’s greeting of calling Mary “full of grace” he indicates that she will be the mother of the savior. Mary’s response after Gabriel explained how it was to happen was, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” (Luke 1:38). This showed that Mary was ever open to the will of God. As a result of her openness to doing the will of God, Jesus was able to come into the world to bring us salvation. This was her “yes” to Gabriel and ultimately to God: “Be it done to me according to your word.”

It is through the working of God’s grace in Mary’s willingness to say “yes” to Gabriel that Jesus was able to come into the world. And further, through St. Joseph’s obedience to the angel in his dreams to take Mary for his wife, that we can learn how we are to live out our lives. We are called to follow the examples of Mary and Joseph: always open to do the will of God, no matter the costs.

Both Mary and Joseph said “yes” to things that seemed impossible or difficult for them to do. In the gospel for today, we hear of Joseph not fully understanding how the woman that he loved could be pregnant. He assumed that she was unfaithful to him and was ready to divorce her quietly in order not to bring shame upon her. But, being a righteous man, he was able to hear God speak to him through his dreams, and thus was able to say “yes” to God in being the foster father of Jesus.

We are all called to say “yes” to God in the various responsibilities of our lives. Whether it’s being a good and loving spouse, a good and loving parent, or a loving and obedient child to our parents. These are different ways that God is calling us to answer the call to bring God into the world. It is in loving those in our lives that we can bring the love of God into the world.

Let us always respond to God as Mary did: “May it be done to me according to  your word.”

XXII Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Today we have a recurring guest blogger:  Fr. Arthur F. Rojas, pastor of PRESENTATION OF THE B.V.M CHURCH, PORT EWEN AND SACRED HEART CHURCH, ESOPUS. For more information on this parish, check out their website at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary & Sacred Heart Churches - Port Ewen - Esopus, NY (presentationsacredheart.org) 

Scripture readings for this homily can be found at Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Submission to the blog of Dcn. Thomas Tortorella for the XXII Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Rev. Fr. Arthur F. Rojas © All Rights Reserved, August 30, 2023 ©

In Mt 16:21-27, the Gospel reading for Mass in the Ordinary Form on Sunday, September 3rd,

Our Lord reproves St. Peter to bring him to a deeper perception of what Our Lord will go through to redeem mankind from our sins. In the second reading (Rom 12:1-2), St. Paul exhorts us to be renewed in mind by not conforming ourselves “to this age” and instead discerning and following the will of God.

In the first reading (Jer 20:7-9), while St. Jeremiah the prophet rues the call to convey God’s message to his society and laments the trials he passes for his mission, St. Jeremiah knows that he was made by God for that very mission.

Lately, a survey of Anglican ministers in in The Times of London, England (www.thetimes.co.uk) recorded majorities in favor of discarding whatever Biblical and historically Christian elements remain of Anglican tenets on life, love, and morality to fall in line with public opinion of their patently post-Christian country. “You are not thinking as God does, but as human beings do.” Mt 16:23. Since their denomination was engendered by King Henry VIII’s self-interested rejection of Catholic doctrine on marriage and communion with the Holy See, perhaps we should not be shocked by the survey, especially as the Anglicans at their Lambeth Conference of 1930 permitted contraception, which was rejected historically by Christians of East and West and have further followed the spirit of the age instead of the Holy Spirit. Mt 16:23. With the documented decline of affiliation and participation of Anglicans in England and elsewhere, many studies attest also to the failure to stem decline among the mainline Protestant denominations for following similar paths in the United States and elsewhere. Mt 16:23.

Now there is a siren song coming from Germany and elsewhere urging our Church to follow the same path in order to stay “relevant” to contemporary society and not “lose” this or that group. Mt 16:23.

Too much can be made of journeys or accompaniment if the end, which is the sanctification of persons and peoples as well as the salvation of souls, is forgotten or de-emphasized. They forget that while the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was called from the womb by God to His prophetic service, we Catholics each and all have been transformed by the New Testament’s sacrament of Baptism into a priestly, prophetic, and kingly people (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1241). Our prophetic mission as Catholics, albeit performed in distinct yet complementary ways by the laity and the clerics, is to convey God’s ways of life, love, and goodness (a.k.a. the Magisterium), whether they are fashionable or not. These ways are not only in matters of life and love but fan out to all aspects of society.

As in the times of Arius, the first major heresiarch, and others who spread moral and doctrinal errors that would mislead many from high and low in society, may we Catholics rediscover, share, live, and defend the riches of the Truth that God has given our Church in Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition, and the Magisterium, starting with our personal and parish families and then out into the virtual and public lives of our society. Yes, it is easier in this life to “go along to get along” with the spirit of the age. Mt 16:23. But you and I were made for so much more than the esteem of this passing age on Earth. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” Mt 16:26. Our thirst for meaning, purpose, and truth can be slaked only by the Living God and His ways, as Psalm 63 reminds us in the responsorial psalm. May we look to the example of St. Jeremiah and other heroes of the True Faith such as the Apostles, St. Athanasius, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Thomas More, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Edith Stein, and people today such as Joseph Cardinal Zen, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, Dr. Janet Smith, and Dr. Anne Nolte to live our prophetic mission today.

Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour

 

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

In our gospel for today, our Lord is teaching us that we need to always live out our lives in anticipation for the ultimate meeting of the Lord, the Bridegroom, when He calls us to Himself from this life to the next.

The concluding line, “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour” reminds me of the old phrase, “Ready or not, here I come!” The wise virgins were always ready with the right amount of oil that was needed for the eventual coming of the bridegroom. They were focused on living out their lives doing God’s will and remained focused on the coming of the bridegroom in order to go to their final reward of heaven. The “oil” that the wise virgins were taking with them during their time waiting was that of loving God and following God’s commandments. They were accumulating the “oil” of righteousness and were pleasing to God as a result.

The foolish virgins appear to be self-centered or selfish, begging the wise virgins for their “oil”. During their lives they weren’t focused on the bridegroom coming to bring them to the heavenly banquet but rather living out their lives for their own selfish needs.

Our oil reserves—a measure of how spiritually ready and prepared we are for the return of Christ—are not a shareable resource. We can’t help each other be more prepared by somehow sharing our readiness with each other. It’s an intensely personal, individual resource. All we can do is build up our own reserves.

The ways we grow spiritually is by the frequent reading of scripture and the regular reception of the Sacraments of Holy Communion and confession. In this way we grow ever closer to God and helps us to grow spiritually closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us, like the wise virgins, be ready for the Lord when he comes to meet us. Let us live out our lives as God centered Christians. This way, when the groom comes to meet us, we will be ready to greet him.