Feast of Christ the King

The parable of the separation of the Goats and Sheep needs a careful reading. On the surface, many might think that the 'goats' are condemned because they would not serve, but the issue was that the would only serve the Lord ("When did we see you and not minister to your needs?"). The 'sheep' serve, being compassionate simply because it is the right thing to do. We cannot reduce what we do as a response to seeing the Lord, but more simply to do what is right and just. At times, we might avoid doing what is right and just simply because we don't 'feel' the Lord calling us to do it, but this is an error. We must know that in serving, we are serving the Lord, even if we don't see it.

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

We have been given so much treasure, and we will be judged not one how much we have or how much we returned to the Lord, but rather on whether we tried or not. The first two responded to the master's gift by doing their best, and one is not judged as inferior to the other - both receive the same words of praise. But the third servant does not even try. He hides the money. Not only is it that he does not appreciate the money, he does not even appreciate the master. Note his words are thinly veiled insults.

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

The parable of the virgins teach us to be prepared. The five wise ones looked ahead and prepared by bringing extra oil for their task, while the foolish ones were not prepared. Failure to plan is a plan to fail, as they say. It seems that the Lord can prepare us for our vocations, and the wise ones are those who ask the Lord to help them be prepared.

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus emphases the importance of humility, which is standing grounded in the truth. We are not to seek places of honor or praises of others, but simply do what the Lord asks. Those in positions of leadership are to lead with compassion, not simply ordering edicts that are too onerous to bear with no regard. Note that Jesus Christ does not condemn the scribes and Pharisees for their proclamations, but it was their lack of concern and follow-through on their part. Those who seek positions of leadership, it would seem, do not seek something wrong if their intention is to help others find salvation. Leadership that accepts Christ as Lord and Master and God the Father as our creator and Father, and aligned with God's will, is a true gift.

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

The loving Father has created all that surrounds us. He asks for the proper share of our labor - our thanksgiving, our praise, our worship. How easy it is to become 'practical atheists' - to profess belief in God, but to live without any reference to Him (except maybe an hour or so a week). The Lord is jealous for us - we belong to Him, not the world He created for us. Let us give Him the proper produce of what He has given us: hearts that long for Him.

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Father calls us to virtue, and we have to respond. Ideally, we would say yes to the Lord, and live virtuously. But even if we initially say 'no' the Lord invites us to conversion, to say 'yes'. In the end, it is not the ones who simply say yes that will be saved, but the ones who do what He requires. While there is still breath, there is still a chance for conversion. And what does a life converted to the Lord look like? It looks like Jesus Christ, who humbled himself and set aside the rights He had a the Son of God to become a slave for us. The Lord is not calling us to abandon our humanity, but rather to embrace it as Jesus Christ embraced it. He is calling us to empty ourselves of pride, and to serve one another.

September, 2011, edition of Vocations Views Online!

I have posted the newest volume of the Vocations View Newsletter. Click to go to the page, or Right click to download!

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

God in His justice requires perfection, but His mercy forgives us for our sins, but only if we forgive others. It is not forgetting or letting the person continue to hurt, but of letting go of the poison that we might hold. Forgiveness is a choice to let go of the pain and hurt that another has caused, a choice to let God and His Mercy guide us.

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus gives the model of fraternal correction, one that protects the reputation of the people involved. We have a moral obligation to call others to conversion - as we hear God telling Ezekiel in this first reading. That is a tremendous task, and requires that we ourselves are on the path to conversion, that we are living right. These readings remind us that it is not enough to have right belief orthodoxy, but we must also have right action orthopraxy.

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Take up your cross…" "Do not conform yourselves to this present age. By about the transformation of your minds." These are ways of living our vocations out. We pay attention to what we are saying "Yes", and to what we are saying "No". Christ embraces His cross, not as a meaningless gesture or means of self-annihilation, but as THE means of fulfilling His mission of salvation. So, too, should we. But this requires us to see life through the eyes of eternity, not of the present age. The present age tells us what is now is all that matters, and to avoid pain and suffering (which it sees as meaningless), and to seek pleasure by any means. But we seek the transformation of the mind - the way of living that metamorphosizes how we live and interact with the world around us.

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Who do you say that I am?" THe question demands an answer, and how we answer requires us to respond by living it out!

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A gentile woman asks the Lord to heal her daughter, but the Lord initially says, "No". The woman did not go away, but asks again in faith, and the Lord blesses her. She simply would not give up, but asked in faith until she got an answer. We might take a lesson from this woman. We need to know who we are and where we stand with Jesus, and to ask Him in faith for His grace.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Just as the Lord called St. Peter out of the boat, so to does He call us. We are invited to leave behind the place of comfort and walk with Christ. With our eyes fixed intently on Him, we can walk safe and secure through all the storms of life… but when we take our eyes of of Him, focusing on the stuff that is coming at us, we will surely be overwhelmed. So, let us keep our eye on Jesus Christ.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A man finds a hidden treasure… a merchant finds a pearl of great value… Solomon asks not for riches, but wisdom. What's the connection - they all are willing to give everything else up to have what they desire. Christ asks us the same question that the Father asks Solomon. What are we truly looking for? Would we know it when we see it? That is why our prayer and discernment is so important. It purifies our desires, assuring that what we desire is truly good and beautiful, worthy of our given all to 'have' it. Unlike the rich man who ceases to follow Christ because of his wealth, can we give all to follow God?

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Word of God is effective, and will fulfill its purpose. But note that while the word is effective, the ground of the human heart may not allow the seed of the Word enter in and grow there. There are times when our hearts are packed down, unable to receive the seed. At times, we may have let other things fill up our lives that there is no depth to the let the seed sink in. Other times, we let the seed get choked out by the anxieties of the world. But when we have allowed Christ to prepare us, to remove our shallowness and anxiety, we can receive the word and let it grow in us, responding to the Lord's loving call for our lives.

Pentecost, 2011

Come, Holy Spirit, and fill us with your gifts. Bring to their fullness your fruits. Inspire us to follow the Son, and help us discern the Father's will for our lives.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Do not let your hearts be troubled... it is too easy to let fear and anxiety enter our hearts. But faith in Christ means not letting these rob us of our peace. In a world filled with false prophets and false promises, when we place our faith in Christ, we come to know Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. He reveals the Father to us, but also reveals what it means to be human. So, when the storms of life blow, we turn to the Lord in confidence, admitting the fear, but finding the strength in Christ to not let it rob us of our peace.

As St. Teresa of Avila wrote (translated by HW Longfellow):

Let nothing disturb thee,
Nothing affright thee
All things are passing;
God never changeth;
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth
In nothing is wanting;
Alone God sufficeth.

Palm Sunday

It must happen this way, to fulfill Scriptures... Jesus declares this, but all the same asks the Father that if it is possible, to let this cup of suffering pass, but the Father's will, not His, be done. This is the alignment of His human will to His divine will. He willingly goes to the Cross, dying for the salvation of the world.
We must do the same thing, align our wills to the Father's will for us.

Fourth Sunday in Lent

A blind man is given his sight by the Lord, and the 'Jews' (those in leadership) are shown to be blind. Jesus heals the man, and is given faith in the Lord at the same time. The means of the healing is interesting: The Lord made mud, and put it on the blind man's eyes - Jesus is re-creating him, giving new eyes. As we continue our Lenten journey, we are called to be like this man - to let Christ give us the eyes of faith.

First Sunday of Lent

Adam and Eve grasp the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and in doing so, give in to temptation. Surrounded by the wonderful fruits of the Garden, they still desire the forbidden fruit, with the seeds of doubt planted by the serpent. The Lord Jesus, after 40 days of fasting, surrounded by the nothingness of the desert, resists Satan's temptations. He does so by quoting Deuteronomy. In His replies, he hints at how we might resist temptation too. Man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God - we must fast from food, feed on the Scriptures. We will not put God to the test, but admit our own limitations. We shall worship the Lord God alone and serve Him.