The Kingdom of God

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of the Kingdom of God being compared to that of a seed being spread on the land and how it grows from day to day to full maturity. As we read this gospel, we can reflect on our own lives and see how the Word of God, like a seed, has touched each one of us and has helped us grow ever closer to the Lord. I know for my own life, my relationship with God has grown over the years and is now different and deeper than it was years ago.

The seed of faith in each one of us started with our baptism. For most of us, we were baptized as children. Our parents had faith in God and their faith was so important to them that they wanted to share that faith in God with us through our own baptism. That was when the seed of faith was planted in each one of us. Further, we had a simple faith in God based on what we learned through our religious education growing up. The seed faith was planted by our parents bringing us for baptism, and then it grew thanks to the priests and nuns that we knew growing up teaching us our faith in Jesus Christ. The faith was simple then. But as we grow older, our faith, like plants in a garden, grows ever stronger as we develop a better understanding of our relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s how the Kingdom of God grows in each one of us. It is through reading and understand our faith through scripture and by understanding the teachings of Jesus Christ as taught by the Catholic Church that we grow in faith.

As we continue to grow and mature in our faith, we are, like a gardener, are called to water our faith with the regular attendance at Mass. Further, we are called to the regular use of confession for the times we fall short of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Then, like the mustard seed mentioned by the Lord, our faith will grow from being small to the largest of all plants.

Do whatever he tells you

 

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

On this Second Sunday in Ordinary time, we hear in the gospel about the Wedding Feast at Cana. This couple must have been really special people to have such important guests as our Lord, our Lady, and the Lord’s Disciples present.

As the gospel unfolds, the dialogue between our Lady and the Lord catches my interest. Mary tells Jesus about the shortage of wine. Jesus responds in, what I consider, a harsh way: “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4) Our Lady doesn’t let that tone stop her and tells the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus, being obedient to his mother, performs his first miracle. Jesus saves the day, and the couple not only has wine: they have probably the best wine ever!

There’s a couple of things to meditate on in this reading. First, we see our Lord being obedient to his loving mother. Her concern becomes his concern. The couple turns to her with their problem, and she in turn turns to Jesus to help solve the problem. We can learn from this as well. When we have our own problems, we can take them to Mary, who will in turn take them to Jesus to respond in a way that’s best for us.

The second part of my reflection is what our Lady says to the waiters: “Do whatever he tells you.” This instruction to the waiters is something that we, too, can learn from. Mary is telling each of us in our day-to-day living out of our faith in Jesus Christ: “Do whatever he tells you.” We do what Jesus tells us by following the commandments of God as understood by the Catholic Church. The commandments are very simple. As Jesus points out in scripture: we are to love God with our whole mind, heart and soul, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Further, we are to follow the precepts and teachings of His Holy Catholic Church by regular attendance at mass and the frequent use of confession.

In doing so, we are doing what the Lord is telling us, and we are growing ever closer to Him and to his mother.

Jesus saw their faith

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of the paralytic being healed and how his friends didn’t let the crowd stop them from bringing him to the Lord to be healed. I can only imagine the amused look on the Lord’s face seeing this paralytic being lowered in front of him to be healed. These friends would do anything to help their friend in need and they knew of the healing power of Jesus.

Jesus also used this as a teaching moment for those around him. He could have just raised his and healed the paralytic. Instead, he says, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:15) The scribes right away accuse the Lord of blasphemy. After all, who can forgive sins except for God. The Lord Jesus Christ, being true God and true man, has that power to forgive sins. The scribes and those around Jesus only saw Jesus, the man. They were unable to know yet that Jesus was also true God. And this is one of the many healings that started to get Jesus in trouble with the Jewish leaders. They viewed him as only a man. They were too blind to believe that Jesus was Messiah and God.

We, like the friends of this paralytic, can also turn to Jesus for our own healing and the healing of those we hold dear. We have many issues and concerns in our lives that we need to bring to Jesus for help and healing. Further, there are those friends and family members that we are concerned about that need physical or spiritual healing. We can bring these concerns to the Lord in prayer. In effect, we are placing our concerns and the concerns of our family and friends at the feet of Jesus for healing.

With each day, as we approach the Lord in prayer, let us pray for ourselves, for our own physical and spiritual healing, and for those in our family that may be suffering from illness or are spiritually away from God for whatever reason. Let us ask the Lord for the gift of healing for all our concerns.  The Lord will work his healing in ways that will be best for all those we are praying for. Then we too can say, as the people in today’s Gospel said, “We have never seen anything like this.” (Mark 2:12)

Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday after Epiphany | USCCB

In our gospel we hear of the healing of the man with leprosy. He heard of the healing power of Jesus and was desperate to be healed of this dreadful disease. In the time of the Lord lepers were segregated from society because of their illness. To protect the health and wellbeing of everyone, lepers had to live outside of society in leper colonies. And if they entered an inhabited area, they would have to announce “unclean” to those they were approaching so that those they came close to would not contract this horrible disease. And since they were considered unclean, anyone they touched, according to Jewish law and understanding, became unclean themselves.

So, it took a lot of courage for this leper to come close to Jesus to beg for this healing. Approaching Jesus with the faith that Jesus can cure him, he begged Jesus to make him clean. Then Jesus, touching the leper, cleansed him of leprosy. I’m sure those that saw Jesus touching this leper were shocked that Jesus would touch someone unclean. This is why the Lord instructed the leper to “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” (Luke 5:14)

This leper not only received the gift of physical healing from Jesus, but also the gift of forgiveness of sins. Jesus healed him not only physically, but spiritually. We can learn from this healing story about our own lives. We are all sinful people in need of the forgiveness and healing from Jesus. We need to recognize our own sinfulness and turn to Jesus and pray, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” The best way to do this is through the sacrament of confession. It is through this sacrament that Jesus will reach out to us, through the priest, and heal us of our sinfulness.

We all need Christ to cleanse us and to forgive us and to restore us. In the Scriptures for today, leprosy is a picture of the uncleanness of sin. And God alone has the power to cleanse us from sin.

So, let us turn to Jesus through the Sacrament of Confession and say, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Christmas Weekday | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of the forerunner of Jesus Christ: John the Baptist. He was the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. All throughout John’s life, John was aware of who Jesus was.

Looking back at Mary’s visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, John’s mother, in Luke, chapter 1, verse 44, we hear Elizabeth say to Mary, “For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” So, even in the womb of Elizabeth, John was able to recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior.

As Catholics, we hear these words of John at every Holy Mass. As the priest holds up the consecrated Host he says, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” We see in the consecrated hosts the same Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that John saw more than 2,000 years ago. And then we reply, like the centurion in Matthew, chapter8, verse 8, by saying, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to enter under my roof. But only say the word and I shall be healed,” Do we truly leap for joy, like John in Elizabeth’s womb, when we see Jesus being held before us by the priest? After all, we are seeing Jesus, body, blood, soul, and divinity, being held before us.

Further, as Christians, we are called to imitate John the Baptist by first recognizing Jesus when we see Him before us at Mass, and then we are called to share this good news of Jesus Christ with everyone in our lives, family and friends. Everyone who sees us should know that we are followers of Jesus Christ by how we live our lives. By sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with others in our lives, we are being like John the Baptist. We are saying to them, Behold the Lamb of God.

St. Theresa of Calcutta once said, “Deepen your prayer life and you will grow in holiness and obtain many graces for the souls entrusted to your care.” Let us continue to do as Mother Theresa says, and we will then be able to lead others into relationship with Jesus Christ.

Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.

A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs | USCCB

Today we commemorate the Feast of Holy Innocents, those innocent children who were killed because of the insecurity and jealously of King Herod. Herrod hears about the newborn King of the Jews and feels threatened. 

We can only imagine the fear and grief of the parents of these innocent children as they watched helplessly as their children were slaughtered. On one hand, it’s shocking to know that God permitted this.  On the other hand, on a level of deep faith, we must strive to understand the witness that these innocent children gave.

In effect, Herod was the first person to reject Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Herod felt threatened by someone who, because He's God, could have brought him peace and happiness. Instead, Herod lashes out and goes on to try to eliminate what he considers a threat to him being King. Herod responds with violence!!

As we reflect on King Herod's reaction to Jesus being born, let us remember that we too are called to embrace and accept Jesus as our Newborn King. Jesus is Lord and Savior. Jesus came into the world to bring us salvation and forgiveness of our sins. We should not fear Jesus coming into our lives but rather invite Him into our hearts and lives to lead us towards heaven.

Let us also pray for those children who die as a result of abortion or suffer as a result of child abuse. These are the Holy Innocents of today. We need to pray for those most innocent and vulnerable of people in our society: the unborn and those children suffering at the hands of abusive adults. We need to be proactive in finding ways of protecting these Holy Innocents. 

Let us this day pray the following prayer: "Lord, I surrender all hurt, pain and confusion to You.  I unite myself, this day, with the sorrow of those who lost these little children and I trust that their lives, as they reign now in Heaven with You, are a sign for me of things to come.  Your birth into our world was the greatest sign that You are our Savior and that You can turn all things into good.  Jesus, I entrust my life to You and know that You will right every wrong.  Jesus, I trust in You."

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Third Week of Advent | USCCB

As we get closer to the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we hear the gospel narrative of the angel Gabriel approaching Mary with the good news of her being the mother of the Messiah. She was confused at first. Mary was looking at the natural way in which a woman would conceive a child. In today’s gospel we hear her say, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" (Luke 1:34) Once the angel explains that it will be through the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary understood and gives her consent, her “yes”, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38)

Mary has a strong faith and trust that God will be with her through what she knows will be a very difficult situation. She’s not yet living with Joseph, so she’s concerned about what people will think. But, instead of worrying about what people will think, she places her trust in God. I’m sure she was scared about what will happen, but her faith and trust in God allowed her to come to terms with being the mother of the Messiah. God’s presence in her life brought peace and tranquility, knowing that God is with her.

Mary and Joseph are two examples of how we are to live our lives in service to God. They both were very devout people devoted to God, and when God comes to them to bring the Messiah into the world, they placed their fears into the loving hands of God and trusted that God will be with them in all the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus.

Mary was called to bring Jesus into the world in a physical sense by being His mother. We, too, are called to bring Jesus into the world that needs to know that He is Lord and Savior. We are to pray daily, read scripture often, and, as often as possible, receive our Lord in Holy Communion. Once we receive the Lord in Holy Communion, we, too, are called to bring Jesus into the world, to our family, and to our friends. It is in this way that we can bring His love and peace into a world that needs to know His presence among us.

As we approach Holy Communion, let us, like Mary, say, “I am the servant of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”