Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me

For the scripture readings for today's mass you can go to: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080720.cfm 

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”

These are challenging words from our Lord. In order be his follower, we must forget ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him. He is to be the center of who we are if we wish to be true to our calling as Christians.

Just before this part of the gospel, Our Lord indicated that he was going to Jerusalem and endure great suffering at the hands of the elders, be put to death, and then rise on the third day. The apostles, especially Peter, had trouble accepting this. Peter said, “God forbid, Lord. Such a fate must never happen to you.” Peter, out of love for Jesus, was worried about such a horrible death that Jesus was going to face. Jesus quickly rebukes him and lets Peter know that we must think with the understanding of God, not of men. Jesus was making it clear that it is part of God’s plan for Jesus to go and be crucified and die for our sins. Further, Peter and the others disciples seem to miss the good news that Jesus will rise again on the third day.

The whole life and ministry of Jesus was to bring salvation to all people, and to have us turn from our sinfulness and selfishness and to turn to God for salvation. In these trying times with the virus still surrounding us, civil unrest shaking our cities, and the worries that come with everyday living, we need to be able to turn to Jesus and place all our cares and worries upon him. These are the crosses that Jesus is talking about. We need to take our cares and worries, carry them to Him, and he will be there to help us carry them.

It is natural to be worried about all the terrible things that are going on in the world and in our lives. But Jesus wants us to look beyond the pain and suffering and to know that He is present in every situation. Eventually there will be healing and peace.  

By praying and offering our prayers to God, eventually the virus will be gone from our society and there will be peace in our cities. But in order for this to happen we have to bring our crosses, in the form of prayer to Jesus, and ask Him to enter our society to bring that healing and peace that can only come from God.

Let us each day at mass offer up our cares and worries and offer our crosses to the Lord and ask him to help us carry them. And with the great Carmelite, St. Teresa of Avila, let us pray in these words: “Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, all things are passing, God is unchanging. Patience gains all; nothing is lacking to those who have God: God alone is sufficient.” Amen.

 

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

The Scripture for today's reflection can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/073120.cfm


By this point in the gospel of St. Matthew Jesus has already developed a reputation as being a great teacher and healer. His fame was spreading far and wide. By this point in the gospel Jesus has already been tempted by the devil in the desert, was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jorden, healed the woman who suffered from bleeding for 12 years, raised a dead girl from death to life, heals Peter’s mother-in-law, along with a few other healings that amazed those who saw them. He was also teaching about what it means to be in a loving relationship with God. People were attracted to Jesus because he was helping them feel loved by God and our Lord was able to help increase their faith in the fact that God loved them.

As was his right, Jesus spent some time teaching in the synagogue at Nazareth. The townspeople were quite amazed to hear the local carpenter’s son speaking as he did. “Where did he get his wisdom and his miraculous powers?” All his family were well known to the people and they knew he could not have got it from them but they failed to make the next step as to the real origin of what he was saying and doing. The people of Nazareth were so impressed with Jesus, yet they rejected him! He was just too much for them to deal with. A perfect example of familiarity breeding contempt and blinding the eyes to the obvious. And Jesus sadly comments that a prophet can get a hearing everywhere except among his own.

Probably all of us have had some experience, directly or indirectly, of this! In our call as followers of Jesus, we may find it easier to share our faith with people other than those in our family. People that we have become friends with in church seem to have a better understanding of who we are in our relationship with God then the people in our family who seem to think they know us better.

The gospel for today finishes off by indicating that Jesus was not able to work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith. Throughout most all the healings that Jesus performed, faith was central to the healing. Earlier in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 8, after healing the centurion's servant, Jesus says to him, “Your petition has been granted because of your faith.” Let us keep our faith in Jesus strong and solid, no matter what the obstacles may be in our families. Jesus will bring us closer to God through our faith and grant us the emotional and physical healing that we may need. All we need is faith that He will do it for us.

Lord Jesus, I believe. Help my unbelief. Amen.

Heaven & Earth

Scripture readings for the Friday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/112919.cfm

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Luke 29:33

As we come to the end of Ordinary time in the church year and approach Advent and the preparation of the Birth of Jesus on Christmas Day, we see in our readings talk of the end times and the final judgement of God.

In our first reading from Daniel we hear of Daniel’s visions of large beasts, all scary each in its own way. One is described as “terrifying, horrible, and of extraordinary strength…” (Daniel 7:7) This reading concludes with a description of what sounds like to be Jesus Christ, “One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven.” (Daniel 7:13) It goes on to say that “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingdom shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:14)

Then our gospel finishes with our Lord saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Luke 21:33) The Lord is constantly present to us in all the events of our life, both in the good times and the bad times. We may despair that the Lord is not present when we are going through tough times. We may not feel His presence in those times when we are struggling with personnel problems and issues in our lives. We may feel scared and alone during these issues in our lives. But the Lord is ever present to us.

Like the fig tree Jesus is talking about in todays gospel, before the buds burst open, we think that the tree is dead. Also, like in our life when we have problems, we assume God is not present. But then the buds burst open and there’s life. We feel God’s presence and we receive peace and comfort when we find resolution to our problems. We need to be people of faith, hope and charity.  By trusting that the Lord will be present in all instances of our life, it is then we can know and understand that He is ever present.

Let us thank God for the great gift of faith that we have been given, the sacraments we have been given, and the faith community we have to support each other in our journey in our relationship with God.

Lord Jesus, help us to be faithful when there seems to be no reason to do so. Amen.