“My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr | USCCB

In our gospel today we see the righteous anger of Jesus towards those buying and selling things in the temple area. These were people that were ignoring the fact that they were on sacred ground and should be focusing on the praise and worship of God. They were more interested in making a profit at the expense of the temple while ignoring the fact that they should be focusing on God and His presence there.

What are our intentions as we enter church each time we come for Mass or prayer? Is it for true worship of God, or are we more concerned about other things in our lives? It’s good to bring our cares and concerns to place at the foot of the altar for the Lord to help us through whatever difficulties we may be facing. But we need to remember that we are at church also for the worship and praise of God. Are these distractions from outside taking our attention away from God? Are we making them to be more important than our praise of God? We need to remember that once we enter church we are on sacred ground and are in the presence of our creator.

As we enter church, we need to be ready to place our minds and attention on worshiping God. We need to take time to quiet our minds from all distractions from outside that may take our attention away from Him who loves us. We need be still in the presence of God and prepare for our encounter with him through the reading of scripture and in Holy Communion. Silent prayer and reflection on the scripture that is to be read at mass is a good way to get us into the right frame of mind in worshiping God.

Each time we enter church, let us reflect on Psalm 46, verse 11, Be still and know that I am God!

AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

 

We have a guest blogger today. Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, OFS) is a lector and EM at St. Pancras Church in Glendale, NY, a singer in the choir at St. Margaret's Church in Middle Village, NY, a professed Secular Franciscan & Formation Director at St. Adalbert's Secular Franciscan fraternity in Elmhurst, NY & an itinerant speech/language therapist who works with preschool children with delayed language development. In addition to her ministries & work she seeks to promote the GOSPEL & the GOSPEL OF LIFE, especially in writing & frequently on FACEBOOK.

On Election Day as I worried & prayed about the outcome of this election, I was reminded that, like all my brothers & sisters in CHRIST, I am a woman of dual citizenship.

As Lee Greenwood wrote in his famous song "GOD BLESS THE USA", "I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free..." & very loyal to being a law-abiding citizen of the USA, exercising my right to vote.

But as St. Paul wrote in his epistles, "our citizenship is in heaven". So, we are BOTH citizens of heaven, first & foremost, & THEN citizens of the USA. And, as St. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, we (meaning ALL CHRISTIANS & not just St. Paul & his ministry companions, which I had confirmed by the priest who presided at the 9AM Mass at St. Adalbert's on Election Day) are "AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, God, as it were, appealing through us" to exhort people to be reconciled to GOD.
We need to take our dual citizenship in HEAVEN AND in the USA AND our role as an AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST very seriously, & regardless of the outcome of elections we must always live as dual citizens & as ambassadors for CHRIST.

In the LORD'S PRAYER/OUR FATHER, which we probably pray countless times, sometimes with full consciousness & sometimes by rote, we pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Although until Our LORD JESUS returns to set up the Kingdom of heaven on earth at His Second Coming, Our LORD'S Kingdom will still be, as He told Pontius Pilate, a kingdom "not of this world", & we will still need to live in an earthly country that is NOT a theocracy & NOT a Catholic country, & we will have to respect the religious freedom & religious pluralism that is part of the rights of others in the USA as well as our own rights to be protected, as Christians (and even more so as Catholics), we still need to demonstrate what it means to live IN the world BUT NOT OF the world, and that is how we must live our lives & provide good examples of living as citizens in the Kingdom of heaven by our behavior, actions and words & our very character and in our voting decisions as well.

Hopefully as we live in the tension of dual citizenship we can have a positive impact on our country & help promote values that make our world more closely align with & resemble heaven until the day dawns when Our LORD returns & we can rejoice in singing the familiar words from the Book of Revelation put to music by George Frederick Handel in the HALLELUJAH CHIRUS from Handel's MESSIAH: "The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of Our LORD & of His CHRIST, & He shall reign forever and ever."

Let us love one another

 

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

As we come to the close to the end of the Church year, the gospel readings that we’ve been hearing have been focusing more so on the end times when the Lord will come back in all his glory. The Lord in today’s gospel tells us, “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.” (Luke 17:33) What the Lord is calling us to do here is to remain focused on love and service of God. We are to place our whole life into the loving hands of God.

Further, we are not to make worldly things more important than that of our service and love of God. There will always be things that happen in the world that will take our focus away from God’s presence in our lives. There will always be wars, there will always be crime and poverty in our country and around the world, and there will always be political debates that divide us as we recently heard with the hatred and attacks going back and forth between the candidates and their followers. These are things that the Lord is not pleased to see and hear. It is in these political fights that takes our focus from the love God has for all of us.

In our first reading, Saint John is teaching us something that the Lord Jesus Christ has always emphasized: Let us love one another. (2 John 1:5) John goes on to say that we need to “walk according to the commandments.” (2 John 1:6) As Jesus has always pointed out, the commandments are broken down very simply: Love God with your whole mind, heart and soul; and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving our neighbors is not always an easy thing to do, especially when we allow political bickering to interfere with our love for each other.  By living out our lives with the love of God and love of neighbor, we will then have nothing to worry about when the time comes for the Lord’s return whenever that may be. The Lord will see our love of God and love of neighbor and bring us to the glories of heaven.

As we approach the Blessed Sacrament, let us put aside all hatred and animosity that we may have towards other people, and ask the Lord to help us to love all people as He loves us.  

If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop | USCCB

In our gospel for today Jesus is pointing out the obvious regarding human nature: "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur..." (Luke 17:1) There's always temptation that may lead us to sin. We need to realize that when we do sin, we should be ready to turn back to the Lord and seek forgiveness from Him and from those we may have hurt by our sinfulness. The Lord is always there to grant us love and forgiveness. 

The challenging part of this gospel is where the Lord asks us to be always ready to forgive those that sin or hurt us. "And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him." (Luke 17:4) I don't know about you, but I find that difficult to do. But this is what the Lord is calling us to do. Does that mean we keep going back to that person who hurts us in order to get hurt again? I don't think the Lord is asking us to do that. But He is asking us to be ready to be always forgiving. I think that it's okay to maintain our distance from those who do hurt or sin against us. 

For our own spiritual and mental well-being, I think the Lord will understand us keeping our distance from them. In the act of contrition, which we say when we go to the priest for confession, we include the phrase, "And to avoid the near occasion of sin." If being with someone that constantly hurts us leads us towards the sin of resentment and a lack of forgiveness for that person, I'm sure the Lord will understand keeping distance from them. Praying for them and forgiving them is what the Lord is calling us to do but keep your distance from them.

In conclusion, pray for those we have difficulty in forgiving and pray for ourselves to do what the Lord is calling us to do: to love God with our whole heart, and to love and forgive others and Jesus is asking us to do.

"There will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we see the Pharisees and scribes, as usual, judging those who are attempting to turn back to God and repent of their sins. The Lord, in his love and mercy, is reaching out to those who have fallen away from the faith. He was accepting them and their repentance to turn back to love of God. The Lord was judging not their appearance, but rather was judging their hearts. Unfortunately, these were people that the Jewish people and leadership looked down upon. 

The tax collectors were the ones that were collecting the taxes for the Roamn government, and thus had turned away from their faith in God. Then there were those other sinners who, for whatever reason, stopped their practice of living out their Jewish faith according to the laws of Moses. The Pharisees and scribes condemned them and showed them no mercy.

With God there is love, mercy and forgiveness. We all know people that have turned away from the practice of their faith. The reasons vary from person to person. We need to pray for them that they may turn back to a loving relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We also should try to encourage them to come with us to church with open arms and a loving heart. We are not to judge them by their appearance or the way they may have lived in the past, but rather we need to show them the love and acceptance that God has for them. Jesus is calling us to love them and be as accepting of them as He is of them. God's love and mercy is for all people, not only for those who show up each week at church. The Lord Jesus is always waiting with an open heart and open arms offering love and forgiveness for all people.

Further, let us not be like the Pharisees and scribes complaining about those returning to the practice of their faith. Rather, let us rejoice when someone returns into relationship with God and seeks forgiveness. Let us be as merciful to them as Jesus is.

Let us rejoice with the angels over those who are repenting of their sins and returning into a loving relationship with God.

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

As we get closer to the end of the liturgical year, the gospel readings are focusing more so on the end-times. Today we hear people asking, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Luke 13:23) They seem to me to be more worried about other people entering heaven rather than their own relationship with God. The Lord then teaches to enter through the "narrow gate." (Luke 13:24) This, I believe, teaches us to remain focused on the Lord, and to be sincere in our love for God and for others. We're not to worry about other people's relationship with God, but rather our own motivation in following Jesus. It's not always easy to do, but it's what the Lord is calling us to do.

Jesus would go on to mention about the hypocrites who claimed to be his followers but were not sincere in their love for God. They claimed to have eaten and drank in his company. The Lord's response? "‘I do not know where [you] are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’" (Luke 13:27)

The Lord in today's gospel is teaching us to check our motivation in being His followers. Are we doing so just because we're trying to buy our way into heaven? Or are we doing so out of true love of God and neighbor. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not easy. In order to follow the Lord, we need to pick up our crosses and follow him. It's not easy, like going through a wide gate, but rather, we are to walk carefully through the narrow gate. We need to remain focused on the Lord and our love for Him and following his commands of always loving God and loving our neighbors. It is in this way that others may see our sincere love of God, and then they themselves may feel drawn to act in a way pleasing to God. Is it easy? No! But certainly, it'll have great rewards. 

You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come

 

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

In our Gospel for today the Lord is encouraging us to live out our lives in readiness for His eventual 2^nd coming. This could be either the end times when the Lord comes at the end of the world, or the day when we eventually meat the Lord at the end of our lives. Jesus is calling us to live a live a life with Him as the center of who we are, always doing His Holy Will by how we follow Him and the Commandments of God and the precepts of the Church. He’s calling us to follow Him joyfully, always knowing that he’s present to us in all we do. He’s not attempting to scare us into doing the right thing in how we live our lives. He’s just reminding us to continue to love God with our whole being.

We are called to be faithful and prudent servants, living out our lives knowing that God is ever present to us. We, as faithful and prudent servants, are called to have God as the center of who we are. We are to love God always and to love those in our lives.

In our lives we are called to the regular use of the Sacraments, by receiving Holy Communion often, and by the regular use of confession for the times when we may have fallen short. In the gospel, the Lord points out the way of life of those who have turned away from the ways of God. They mistreat other people; they eat and drink to the point of excess and being drunk. These are ways of living the Lord is encouraging us to avoid. But if we do fall short, the Lord is there for us in the Sacrament of Confession to receive his forgiveness and love.

So, as we approach the end of the year 2024, let us always remember to keep the Lord ever in the center of our Lives, and remember that even though we may not know when we will meet the Lord face-to-face, we will be ready to face Him with Love and gratitude for the love he has for us.

The Kingdom of God is at hand for you!

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist | USCCB

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Luke. He was born of a pagan family and after meeting St. Paul and hearing his preaching on the Lord Jesus Christ, he converted to the Christian faith. Paul was very much influential in the life of St. Luke. As a result, St. Luke would go on to compose one the gospels and would go on to describe the early activity of the church in the Acts of the Apostles.

Paul himself was a convert to the Christian faith due to his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul was an early persecutor of the faith in Jesus Christ but after the vision of Christ on that Damascus Road, he would preach about salvation in Jesus Christ, and as a result, St. Luke came to faith, and we now have his works in scripture.

It is through St. Luke and St. Paul that we, too, have come to our Christian faith. Christ worked through them and all the early apostles and disciples to spread the good news to the whole world. We, too, are disciples of Jesus Christ and the Lord is asking us to share with those in our life and with all we meet, “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.” We may not be called to go from town to town as the early disciples were called to do to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, but we are called to bring Christ into the world by how we live out our Christian calling of Loving God and loving neighbor. This is how people will encounter the Lord Jesus Christ.

By seeing us and how we live out our Christian faith, they may feel called to find out more about our faith. It is then that we can share the good news of the Kingdom of God. We don’t need to hang out on street corners with bibles in hand asking people to turn from their sinful ways. We just need to be the visible signs of people who are followers of Jesus Christ, called to love God as he loves us, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It will be then that they will encounter Jesus Christ.

 

Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest | USCCB

In our gospel for today, the Lord is putting his disciples to the test. “Who do people say that I am?” Their response is, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then Jesus asks a more direct question: “Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answers correctly, “The Christ of God.” Then Jesus says something that I find a bit odd: he directed them not to tell anyone. Then he went on to indicate that he will be killed by the chief priests and scribes and rise on the third day. This was his reason for being here: to suffer and die for our sins. Then rise on Easter Sunday morning.

My take on the part of not telling anyone at that time is that his mission wasn’t quite finished yet. He still had things to do before going to Calvery to fulfill what his Father had called him to do. It was after he rose on Easter Sunday, once He was facing his disciples and they were experiencing the risen Lord, that he would tell them to go and make believers of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In our relationship with the Lord, we know full well that Jesus is the Christ of God. We are called to develop that relationship with him by our daily prayers, our daily meditation on scripture, our regular reception of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and confession and doing our works of mercy and charity towards others. We are called to bring Christ into the world by how we live our lives in loving God and loving others. We are to be a visible sign of Christ’s presence in the world.

Let us always remember to keep Christ in the center of who you are and when approaching the Lord in Holy Communion, let us silently say to him, “You are the Christ of God.”

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

 

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

In our first reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians we hear of the many ways we can serve the Lord. We are all united in the fact that we have been baptized into the faith and have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we all have different talents serving God. Some are called to be leaders, some teachers, and so on. We are all called to bring the Love and Healing of Christ in different ways to the people around us.

As important as our leaders in the Catholic faith are, all of us are not called to be priests, deacon or nuns. Most of us are called to follow Christ in married life and are to witness our faith in Jesus Christ by how we love and care for our spouses and children. By loving and serving our spouses and children in our lives, we are reflecting the love of Christ has for each of us. As spouses and parents, our Lord is calling us to bring our faith into our families and to help our family be God centered. We are called to lead our families towards heaven by teaching them about the love and mercy of God and to be obedient to the commandments of God as taught by the Catholic Church.

Further, many of us are called to be witnesses of the faith in Jesus Christ in the workplace. We are called to live out our faith as examples of what it means to be a Christian in a world that may not know what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. By showing love and kindness to those we work with reflects what it means to be a Christian. By bringing Christ’s love into the workplace, we are acting as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is through this love and respect for others that we can proclaim the gospel.

Pope St. John Paul 2 is quoted as saying, “This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the time to preach it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living, in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern 'metropolis'… The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference.”

So, preach the gospel always. When necessary, use words.

Can a blind person guide a blind person?

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | USCCB

In our gospel for today, our Lord continues his teaching that we should not be so much worried about the sinfulness of other people we know but in how we are living out our call to be His followers as Christians. We all know and deal with people that appear to be not living out their lives in relationship with God. Our Lord is teaching us that we should worry about our own relationship with Him, whether it’s good or bad, rather than worrying about other people and their relationship with God. We are all sinners. Worrying about other people and their sins, while not worrying about our own sinfulness is being hypocritical.

Our Lord in today’s gospel asks, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” (Luke 6:41) We’re so caught up in seeing the sinfulness in other people that we fail to see our own sinfulness.

We are called to live out our lives in loving service to God and to love our neighbors (even those people we consider our enemies) as we love ourselves. In yesterday’s gospel reading from Mass our Lord taught us, “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28) Pretty tough words from our Lord, but words we are called, as Christians, to follow.

In chapter 6 of the gospel of St. Luke, the Lord is teaching us to focus on the love God has for everyone, including those people we may not like. Further he’s calling us to a better relationship with Him through how we live out our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. The whole message of Jesus Christ is that of LOVE. Love not only for God, but also for us to love everyone in our lives, whether we like them or not. We are called to be loving and forgiving with everyone as we expect God to be loving and forgiving with us. It’s not easy to love those we don’t like, but the call of Christ is to love them, regardless of whether we like them or not.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying, “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”

Let’s bring that love of God to all we meet today! This way people will know we are Christians by our love.

We Proclaim Christ Crucified

 

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

In our readings for today we hear from St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians and from the Gospel of Matthew about two things we need to be: followers of Jesus Christ and to be God centered people.

In the first reading from St. Paul, we hear Paul talk about the challenges of being a follower of Christ. Most people do not understand why we follow Jesus. All they see is someone who was crucified on the cross on Good Friday more than 2,000 years ago. Paul says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…” These are people who have rejected belief in God and are living out their lives with no thought of finding salvation in Jesus Christ. They are centered on themselves and have no concern for anyone else. They feel that it’s foolish to believe in the Lord and to believe that he not only died on Good Friday but rose on Easter Sunday. To them it’s a “stumbling block” and “foolishness.” They continue to live out their lives rejecting salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the gospel we hear of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. The wise virgins were always ready for the “Bridegroom” and focused on when it was time for him to call them to the banquet. The foolish ones were too distracted by other things rather than on being ready for when the Lord comes to call them to the banquet. Do we live our lives focused on being ready for the time when we meet the Lord at the banquet in heaven? Or do we just live out our lives by ignoring the eventual time when we will meet the Lord face to face?

As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to always live out our lives as God centered Christians by receiving our Lord in the Eucharist often and by the regular use of confession when we fall short of our call to love God and to love our neighbor.

The people in our lives may think we’re foolish for our faith in the salvation that comes from Jesus Christ. But we are always to remain focused on the Lord in our lives and pray for the conversion of those we hold dear in our lives that they, too, may turn to the Lord to seek salvation and forgiveness of their sins.

XXI Sunday of Ord. 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 reflection can be found at Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Submission to the blog of Dcn. Thomas Tortorella for XXI Sunday of Ord. Time

© All Rights Reserved personally by Rev. Fr. Arthur F. Rojas, August 21, 2024 ©

 

            As a pastor, I know well the temptation to water down the hard truths of the Gospel in my preaching and teaching to keep people coming to Mass and our other rites and further to sustain our parish practically and prayerfully.  I can only imagine how this temptation besets my fellow pastors as we all try to keep our parishes going in body and soul whilst the Catholic Church and other faith communities are still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and even worse, from the blithe disregard of the needs of the human soul as well as our constitutional rights to the free exercise of religion, freedom of assembly, and free speech by various public authorities, leaders of public opinion, and corporate bigwigs – among others - as they mismanaged the pandemic and its aftermath.  Luke 12:48.

 

            I wonder if Our Lord Jesus was tempted to some linguistic sleight of hand regarding His assertions of His Real Presence in the Eucharist, per John 6, the source of our Gospel readings in the Ordinary Form these last five weeks and concluding today in Jn 6:60-69.  Although we Roman Catholic priests promise celibacy before receiving Holy Orders, that does not mean that we let go of wanting to love or wanting to be loved (and liked), including by our parishioners.  As almost all His followers deserted Jesus in John 6, I can imagine the heaviness in Our Lord’s question to St. Peter and the other Apostles, “Do you want to leave?”  Heaviness, I dare to imagine.  But He did not change His teachings. 

 

            Consider St. Peter’s response in Jn 6:68, “Master, to Whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  What a choice His Eminence, Cardinal Dolan, made when he chose “Ad quem ibimus” (Latin for “To whom shall we go?”) as his episcopal motto!  Our Lord not only probes the faith of the Apostles in Jn 6 but also asks how much faith will be on Earth when He returns.  Cf. Luke 18:8 (“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on Earth?”).  When encountering the preaching and teaching of the hard truths of the Gospel, especially on the controversies of today, and not getting hung up on how - or for how long - the message is made, may we strive to answer Our Lord’s question made to you and me while the Gospel today is proclaimed or sung at Mass, as St. Peter replied in Jn 6:68.  May Our Lord’s questions meet your response and mine that Jesus will find your living faith (and mine), even if that entails trial and tribulation on Earth, so that we may attain holiness in this life and then our eternal salvation.

Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?

 

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

In our gospel for today, we hear the very familiar “golden rule” from the Lord: Love of God with your whole heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37)

It doesn’t get any more basic than that: we, who call ourselves Christian, are called to love. To love God and to love neighbor. It’s not always an easy rule to follow, but if we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, follow it we must.

The Lord concludes in today’s gospel, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 23:40) How much clearer can we get?

Central in our faith in Jesus Christ, we need to give God all glory, honor and love. We are called to have God as the center of who we are. We are to make time during our days to pray and give thanks to the Lord God to show that we indeed love Him as our Creator. We show Him this by our daily time in prayer. From the time we wake in the morning to the time we end our day; we are to remember that our time here in this life is a precious gift from God. We should make time every day to pray and give thanksgiving to God for this gift of life. Even if it at short periods of time throughout the day, we should take time to read scripture and to give thanks and glory to God. Even during the busiest times of day, by just taking a moment to say, “Thank you, Lord, for being with me throughout this day” we are showing God the love that we have for him.

The second part of this golden rule is the hardest: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) First, we need to have a healthy love for ourselves. We can’t truly love others if we don’t have that healthy love of ourselves.

Further, it’s not always easy to love those around us as God expects us to. We need to remember that all people are made in the image of God and are loved by God. We, in turn, are to love them as we love ourselves. That’s not always easy, and there may be times when we need to distance ourselves from these people that we find it hard to get along with. It’s okay to keep our distance from them to protect our own spiritual & emotional wellbeing, but we are called to love them and to pray for them and their welfare.

As we go through our days, let us always try to love God with our whole minds, heart and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And when we fall short of these goals, let us turn back to God to seek forgiveness for the times we fall short.

 

Ep 41 An Intentional Crisis

Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Scripture for today's reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church | USCCB

In our gospel for today the Lord is teaching us about the trust we need to have in God and to always place God as central to who we are and how we are to live our lives. Wealth and money should never become more important than our relationship to God. Wealth and money are just tools for us to get by in our day-to-day existence, but we are never to make it into an idol. 

Our Lord is teaching that it's difficult for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven because his/her main concern is the wealth and making sure that it provides the security they need to live a comfortable life. In realty, it's God that can give us that security and peace of mind. All we need to do is trust in the Lord.

Further, the Lord goes on to say, "And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:29) What I think the Lord is teaching is that we are to use our financial wealth (whether we have a lot or a little) wisely. Be prudent in our finances, but also be willing to share it with either the church or other charities that may be in need of financial help. In turn the Lord will grant you peace and security. But you are never to make the financial wealth more important than your relationship with God and with neighbor.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

 

I submitted to my Lay Carmelite Chapter's newsletter a reflection on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and wanted to share it here.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46)

August 15 is the day that Catholics have long celebrated what is called the Dormition (falling asleep) or Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The Feast of the Assumption celebrates both the happy departure of Mary from this life by her natural death, and her assumption bodily into heaven.

Venerable Pope Pius XII confirmed this belief about the Virgin Mary as the perennial teaching of the Church when he defined it formally as a dogma of Catholic faith in 1950, invoking papal infallibility to proclaim, “that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” As a result of this dogma, as Catholics, we are expected to believe and to accept this teaching of the Church.

Most people outside of the Church assume that we, as Catholics adore and worship Mary as God. We don’t worship her, because worship is only reserved for God. But we do venerate Mary as Mother of God. The nature of Jesus is “true God and true Man.” Mary is not only the mother of the human part of Jesus, but of him entirely. Thus the title of “Mother of God.”

As we look at the Gospel from Luke, chapter one we hear of Mary saying “yes” in becoming the Mother of the Savior. Then, when she finds out her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, was pregnant with John the Baptist, she rushed to help her cousin during her time of need.

We, as Lay Carmelites, are called to imitate Mary in every way. Mary said yes to what God was asking her to do: to be the mother of the Lord. What is God calling us to do to bring Christ into the world?

All of us are called to serve God in different ways. Not as spectacular as Mary, but we are, like Mary, to be “Christ-bearers” when we go into the world. First, at Mass we receive our Lord: body, blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist. Then, we are to leave Church, carrying Christ into the world, to serve those in our lives in the same way that Mary served Elizabeth. It’s in the simple ways that we bring Christ into the world, whether it’s loving and taking care of our family, or by showing love and respect towards those we may work with or encounter in our day-to-day existence. We are to show the love of Christ to all we meet.

As we go on with our lives each day, let us, like Mary say, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

What God has together, man must not separate

 

The scripture reading for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we see once again how the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus to prove that he's preaching and teaching against the law of Moses. They feel threatened by him because people are being drawn to him due to his teachings on the love and forgiveness of God. The Pharisees are more interested in protecting their way of life and their control the people that come to the temple.

In today's Gospel Jesus teaches very clearly that marriage is between a man and a woman and that the two, once married, become as one. The Pharisees were looking at it in a very selfish way. They twisted the law so that the man has all the rights, and the woman is left in the cold with nothing. 

They ask Jesus, if marriage is forever, "why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?"(Matthew 19:7) Jesus responds, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives." (Matthew 19:8) Jesus would go on to teach that "whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery." (Matthew 19:9)

The teachings on marriage that we hear in today's Gospel helps us to understand the importance of the sacrament of Marriage. Marriage is meant to be until death do you part, in good times and in bad times in sickness and in health. That's why the Church is careful in helping couples prepare for the sacrament of marriage. The Church encourages couples to go through pre-Cana. It is during pre-Cana that the church teaches that there needs to be love between the man and woman, and God needs to be in the center of the relationship, both during the courtship and during the marriage. Evey marriage needs to be God-centered. A couple should never rush into the marriage, but rather be patient in their time together before the marriage happens. 

One thing the Lord points out is "unless the marriage is unlawful." What does that mean? Well, there are times when people rush into a marriage for all the wrong reasons. Whatever those reason may be, the couple may not have made a clear and good decision to be married. They may have felt pressured into getting married, when in reality they may have felt it was the wrong thing to do. These are the examples of an "unlawful" marriage and may be a reasonable cause for an annulment. 

Let us pray for all married couples to better understand that their marriage is to be centered on their love for one another and on God. With God in the center of their relationship, things will always work out.

And be kind to one another...

 

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

In the readings for this Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary time we have so much to meditate upon in our relationship with God. 

In the first reading from 1 Kings 19, we hear of Elijah journeying into the desert, feeling depressed, praying for death. "This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." (1 Kings 19:4) Then the angel came to him, not once, but twice, fed him, nourished him with water, and Elijah was healed and able to continue in his service of God. This is an example of how God is with each one of us. When we think we are at our wits end, God is there to heal us in whatever way we may need healing.

In the Gospel from John chapter 6, we hear the continuation of the Bread of Life discourse. We hear the words of Jesus, "I am the living bread come down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." (John 6:51) In this teaching from the Lord, he very clearly is teaching about the Holy Eucharist that we receive at every mass. In Holy Communion, we receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We are being nourished by this Bread from Heaven.

What I would like to reflect on now is something that I feel we tend to forget. Paul to the Ephesians says, "All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice." (Ephesians 4:31) With all that is going on, not only here in the political scene that we're facing as we approach the elections in November, but also in the Middle East, there is no love or understanding at all taking place. Instead, it's all that Paul is describing. Until EVERYONE learns to get rid of all these things Paul mentions, we will never have peace in this world.

And what does Paul ask us to do? He says, "And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ." (Ephesians 4:32) That's a pretty tough thing to do, isn't it? We all have people in our lives that have hurt us that we want nothing to do with. So, it's hard to be kind and compassionate to these people that have hurt us so. But that is what the Lord, through St. Paul is calling us to do. Kindness, compassion and forgiveness, whether in our own families, or towards others who may be different from us is our calling from God. Hatred towards anyone is always wrong. We're all made in the image of God and, as a result, we need to the love those people that God has placed into our lives.

If you find it hard to do as Paul suggests, maybe the best thing to do is to pray for those we find it hard to forgive and love.  And we should pray for ourselves that we can learn to be as forgiving and loving as God wants us to be towards everyone.

XVIII Sunday of 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) 

Submission to the Blog of Dcn. Thomas Tortorella for Aug. 4, 2024 (XVIII Sunday of Ordinary Time).  (c) All Rights Reserved personally by Fr. Arthur F. Rojas (c)

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

      With so much that has happened in America and abroad recently and the Gospel reading coming from John 6 (a.k.a. Bread of Life Discourse to the scholars of Sacred Scripture) on the Sundays of August this year in the Ordinary Form, the second reading of today (Eph 4:17, 20-24) enjoins us to respond to having "learned Christ," Who is present in the Blessed Eucharist, by eschewing pagan and anti-Christian mentalities as part of changing the course of our daily lives.  When I invited our parishioners and neighbors of good will to take part in our Day of Reparation at Sacred Heart Church on July 31st, partly in response to the mockery of the Last Supper at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games at Paris, France and partly to build on the National Eucharistic Congress that just ended at Indianapolis, Indiana, amidst various positive and perceptive responses received, alas there was one reply in which the author appeared to have been persuaded by the media spin of certain persons to cast the event as a Dionysian re-enactment instead of what at least one person involved admitted to concerning the Last Supper and Christianity itself.  (“Lesbian in center of blasphemous Olympics ceremony says she portrayed ‘Olympic Jesus’” by Clare Marie Merkowsky, July 30, 2024, www.lifesitenews.com, accessed July 31, 2024).  Thus, our day of reparation was “unnecessary,” according to that person.  Kyrie eleison!

 

            Between what the French bishops and American prelates such as (Arch)Bishops Salvatore Cordileone, Robert Barron, and Andrew Cozzens had commented as well as remarks from Muslims such as Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei regarding the event at Paris, compared to the special pleading by elements of the mass media to contain the international indignation, praise God for those parishioners and others of good will who attended Sacred Heart Church on July 31st for the most necessary effort of reparation and intercession before the Eucharistic presence of the Lord Jesus in our tabernacle.  The Real Presence of Christ in that tabernacle was confected at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, of which the first Mass was the same Last Supper mocked at Paris by agents of today’s Jacobins.  As someone who in childhood and youth watched Olympiad after Olympiad on television with my family, this event at Paris seals for me the transformation of the Olympic Games to something far apart from family-friendly fare for the eyes and ears.  With the state of the Olympics today, of which this blasphemy is only one Woke symptom, why would “one nation under God” (Pledge of Allegiance) willingly participate or support such an endeavor?

I desire mercy, not sacrifice

 

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

In our gospel for today we see another confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees weren’t concerned about the hunger the disciples were feeling.  They were just looking for a way to trap Jesus and prove that Jesus and his disciples were not obeying God’s law. It was out of jealously and hatred towards Jesus that they were doing this.  Further, the Pharisees were using the Law to maintain their power over the Jewish people. They weren’t concerned about love or mercy towards their fellow Jews. They were just worried about their places of honor among the Jewish people.

The law of Moses was indeed important to the Lord Jesus, but as a means of bringing people into a good and loving relationship with God. The Mosaic laws were meant as a means of helping people turn away from sin, and to turn towards a loving God.

Further, our Lord has taught us that there are two important commandments: Love of God and love of neighbor. Loving God means that we are to be merciful to those in our lives that may be living a life we may not approve of. Family members and friends may be away from relationship with God for any number of reasons. But we are to show them the love and mercy of God to help them to know that God indeed loves them. By treating others in our lives with the love and kindness of God, we are indeed bringing God to them in whatever situation they may be in. Further, we are not to judge them harshly, as the Pharisees were doing in today’s gospel. Instead, we bring the love of God into every situation and pray for those who we know and love for them to be open to the God in their lives. We are to be a conduit for our family and friends to bring them back to a loving God. We are not to judge them, but we are to love them as God does0 and let them know that God is present to them in all their needs.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

 

Today we commemorate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a feast closely associated with the Carmelite Order. This feast and the Carmelite Order can trace its roots back to the 12^th Century when a group of Hermits, dedicated to our Lady, formed a community on Mount Carmel in present day Israel. This is also the location long associated with the Old Testament prophet Elijah. It was there that Elijah, in a confrontation, with the false prophets of Baal, showed that there is but one God in Israel.

These 12^th century hermits looked to Mary as their spiritual mother and patroness, and over time, the devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel spread throughout the Catholic world. This order also would develop into what we now know as the Carmelite Order. Thanks to the Carmelite Order, we have such saints as St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower.

These Hermits came to know that it was through Mary that they can come to know her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. It is through Mary, always pointing towards her Son, that they were able to come into a deeper relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior. I’m sure they meditated on the gospel of John often where Christ says to the apostle John, “This is your mother.” Then, as you recall, John, from that moment, made a place for Mary in his Home. These hermits also knew well the passage from St. Paul to the Galatians that “God sent his son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subject of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.” It is through Mary bringing Christ into the world that we are adopted brothers and sisters in the eyes of God.

Further, we are called to take Mary, in a spiritual sense, into our homes. We are to allow Mary to reach into our hearts for us to follow more closely her Son, Jesus Christ.

It is also customary on the feast of Our Lady of Mont Carmel to be enrolled in the Brown Scapuar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. According to tradition, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite friar, in the 13th century and gave him the scapular as a sign of her protection and intercession. The scapular has since become a widely recognized symbol of the Carmelite tradition and a popular sacramental among the faithful.

By wearing the Scapular, we are reminded of not only our devotion to Mary under the title of Mount Carmel, but to remember our baptismal promises to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. The scapular is not a lucky charm, but a reminder that we are followers of Jesus Christ and are called to live out our lives according to the teaching of the Catholic Church through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. These teachings of Christ, taught through the Catholic Church, are very clear: we are to love God with our whole mind, heart and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Let us offer all our intentions and concerns to Mary on this feast to intercede for us. We are to give to Mary these intentions and concerns and ask her to bring them into the loving presence of Jesus to respond in a way that’s most beneficial to us and to those who we are praying for.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.