The rich can give much.
The poor widow gave all she had.
Giving from one’s surplus is good and giving from one’s essentials is even better.
The intention of the heart in giving should match one’s ability to give.
It’s really not about the value of the gift as it is about what one is trying to do.
Do we have the generosity to return to God a proper portion of what we have been given?
“All That She Has”, used with permission, by Howard Lyon Fine Art. Please visit www.howardlyon.com.
With these words, Jesus combines the supreme mandate of the Old Testament and the essence of His teaching.
Jesus shows us that the intentions of our hearts are the first and foremost thing that should guide us in all things.
If the intention within us is focused on the love of God and neighbor, we too can come closer to the Kingdom of God.
We need to love and act accordingly.
Are we correctly oriented and ready to act?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103121.cfm
Jesus healed the sight of Bartimaeus, a blind man.
He can also heal us of our inability to see Him clearly.
Jesus’ miracles attracted many followers because people saw the power of God in Him.
Bartimaeus was overwhelmed by his gift of sight yet many didn’t believe the fact that Jesus healed him. They had no faith.
Jesus will perform miracles in our lives. We can be healed of all sorts of spiritual, emotional, and physical ailments.
Will you let your faith in Him save you too?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102421.cfm
Jesus teaches challenging requirements for those who follow him.
Sometimes the requirements can seem so difficult, that no individual can meet them.
But Salvation is the province of God and not something to be earned by human beings.
Jesus promises that God’s faithfulness will reward those who have given up much for the advancement of the kingdom.
Is it not time to review how we are trying to follow what Jesus teaches?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101121.cfm
Jesus tells us to take His teachings for what they really are without qualifying them. This straightforward simple acceptance is as a child might do.
He was speaking directly about the issue of divorce, which is so common today.
In His time, divorce was devastating to a wife, particularly if she had no other source of social or financial sustenance.
It can also be devastating now for couples who go through a divorce.
Let us pray for couples experiencing difficulties in their relationship that they may find a resolution.
Let us pray for those who experience divorce, that God will heal them and guide them to a peaceful future.
Art used with permission – Rev. Fr. Ronald Patrick Raab, CSC- Visit his blog at www.ronaldraab.com
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100321.cfm
Be tolerant of others who do good works and orient themselves to God’s plan.
Pay attention to what you are doing. Do not lead others astray.
If something about you causes you to sin, fix it! Whatever it is, it is not worth your salvation.
Jesus values us as members of His body of believers and depends upon us to help advance the kingdom.
Do you understand this? Do you believe this?
Will you act upon it?
Jesus reminds us that success is measured by how we follow Him, not by how others think of us or how easy our lives are.
The disciples were looking out for their earthly place of importance, and in heaven as well.
Jesus, using a child as an illustration of powerlessness, tells us that serving the least among us is a start to our success.
He reminded the disciples that He would make the ultimate sacrifice, His death, for the benefit of mankind.
How do we measure the success of our lives?
Jesus questions His disciples about who do they say that He is.
Peter affirms that He is “the Christ”, the Savior.
But Jesus demands more than an affirmation of who He is, both from the disciples and from us.
“Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up His cross, and follow Me.
If we recognize Jesus as our Savior, must we not also do as he asks to follow Him?
Jesus’ Ministry was always about teaching and healing.
His compassion for the poor and sick was evident everywhere he went.
It is easy to derive another message from this healing.
He cures real deafness and special deafness as well.
He cures real speech impediments and failure of our speaking the truth and his message.
Can you hear and speak?
Jesus tells us that insidious evil can come from within.
The heart is considered the source of human thought and emotion. The heart is the center of our being.
The basic message is intention. One can say “I didn’t do it”, but did you think it?
External religious practices and social niceties are not substitutes for a clean heart.
What steps should we take to purify our hearts?
The followers listening to Christ could not accept what He was saying, they listened with disdain & disgust.
He foretold His Ascension, indicating the body they ate would be His Resurrected Body. It would be spiritual food, for spiritual life, now and after death.
Christ did not prompt his statement to say this was only a symbolic description, nor did he retreat from his statement. He allowed those who wanted to leave to do so.
As a matter of faith, we face the same dilemma and choice today – lifeless symbol or real presence?
Will you see the Body of Christ shared in the Eucharist as a mere shadow of its real substance or will you choose the path of faith and commitment as Peter did?
Mary was born without sin and she was not subject to total death as we know it.
She was assumed into heaven body and soul.
Mary holds a special place in our faith as the absolute model of disciple. She has been called the first Christian.
We pray to Mary to ask her to help us in our struggles with our lives.
On this special feast of her Assumption will you bring your needs and request to her to ask for her intercession?
The Jews had trouble accepting Jesus’ words – How could He be the spiritual food come down from Heaven?
They knew His earthly Father, His mother, where He lived, what He did… He seemed like one of them.
Jesus was about to reveal one of the central mysteries of our faith to His followers.
It was a mystery so difficult to understand and accept that He would lose some of His followers that day.
Do you accept the mystery of the real presence of Jesus in the gift of the Eucharist?
What does it mean to you?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080821.cfm
“Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
The Jews had trouble accepting Jesus’ words – How could he be the spiritual food that has come down from Heaven?
They knew His earthly father and mother, where He lives, and what He did. He seemed like one of them.
Jesus was about to reveal one of the central mysteries of our faith to His followers.
It was a mystery so difficult to understand and accept that Jesus would lose some of His followers that day.
Do you accept the mystery of the real presence of Jesus in the gift of the Eucharist? What does this mean to you?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080121.cfm
The people were hungry for food and for the words that would give them life and hope.
The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes was a prototype or a foreshadowing of the miracle of the Eucharist.
Jesus continued to feed His people with His teachings, His love, and His giving of self as He does now with us.
The Eucharist is a great miracle, in that we receive the actual body and blood of Christ – it is the greatest gift Jesus gave us.
How do we connect our hunger for life and Jesus with the Eucharist?
Do we see the real potential it has for us?
The people were distracted and leaderless.
Jesus understood their dilemma and sought to help them cope.
He knew that they needed a new vision and a new sense of hope.
He had them settle down so that He could teach them about the hope they needed.
Business and distraction can also affect our lives. Can we settle down long enough to hear again what Jesus has to teach us about our lives?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071821.cfm
The Apostles were to preach repentance, drive out demons and heal the sick.
What a daunting task!
Jesus prepared them to be rejected.
We also are sent to spread the gospel in whatever way we can, in whatever time, place, or group that we find ourselves in. We, too, at times will be rejected.
We need to trust in God’s plan for us. Can we balance this trust with our own fear of rejection?
Jesus was rejected by many in His own synagogue in Nazareth.
Their expectation of a Messiah did not permit them to accept a different plan from God, that is Jesus.
How hard it can sometimes be, to get out of our own way and see the brilliance of God’s plan.
Jesus stresses the importance of faith to open one’s self to recognize something really different to be open to his healing and message.
Have we too placed limits on Jesus because of our perceptions of who He is and what He can do?
With Jesus all things are possible.
He even has power over life and death. He can also help with the trials and sicknesses of life.
Jesus’ ministry on Earth was to bring healing and a new trust in God as a beacon of hope.
He is always so very close to us that he can detect our reaching out to Him in need.
Can you trust in Jesus enough to open up your heart to Him and ask Him for what you need?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062721.cfm
Jesus calmed the sea and assured the disciples that they were safe.
He challenged them to have faith because they had seen what He did and could do.
Now they saw that even the wind and the sea obeyed His commands.
Do you not believe that Jesus can calm our reaction to the sometimes violent storms in our lives.
Are we prepared to also remember who He is and what He promised us?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062021.cfm
This is a mysterious metaphor of how God acts on Earth now and in the future.
It seems to start small like a mustard seed but it will eventually grow to overshadow all else.
The kingdom of God will yield fruit according to God’s plan.
The kingdom is not only in the future but is also unfolding now.
We are included in the kingdom. We are, indeed, challenged to support its spread.
Are we watching and praying for guidance?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061321.cfm
Jesus healed the leper out of compassion.
He will treat us accordingly.
There is much healing and forgiveness in this world.
We must do what we can in our interaction with those around us.
We can imitate Christ by responding as we can.
Will you do this?
He constantly healed the bodies and souls of those who asked.
He healed physical ailments and domination of the spirit by demons.
He saw the need for healing and spiritual nourishment in the world around him in His time.
Jesus is still with us and invites us to a closeness with Him and healing of our bodies and souls.
Pray that His spirit comes to us and heals us and those for whom we pray.
He frequently said, “your faith has healed you”. Will we place our trust in Him?
What has been prophesied has been fulfilled.
The Good News is at hand.
Jesus preached the Gospel of redemption and salvation.
The Kingdom is close for all. Repent and believe.
Are you ready?
The Prophet Samuel listened.
The disciples also listened to the Lord Jesus.
We begin a new liturgical year with the stories of our origin.
We will hear the teaching of Jesus and see the example of the disciples and can respond as Samuel did.
Are we listening?
The Lord rules the earth yet He comes to us through the least among us.
He shows us that His kingdom is a reality; not just an idea.
We are offered entrance to the realm through our care of those in need: the hungry, the sick, the naked, the impoverished, the imprisoned, and the unborn.
Such care and outreach is work toward the gift of paradise.
Is your focus aligned with the Lord’s?
Can you recognize His brothers among you?
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112220.cfm
The Lord God has created us to do His will in this life and to join Him in eternal life.
We have been given a rich faith and it affords us spiritual wealth.
We are expected to live that faith and to bear fruit by sharing it with others.
Our riches will be beyond imagination if we do this.
If we do nothing, neither we nor our world will be enriched.
Are you up to the task? Will you fulfill the mission Jesus asks of you?
Our future depends upon our present attitude and actions.
Jesus’ teachings turn traditional thinking upside down.
We are to choose paths of lowliness, not self-aggrandizement.
Choose paths of mercy, peace, and righteousness.
Rejoice and be glad!
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102520.cfm
We may have to make difficult choices.
Turning to God, seeking His will can help us.
His laws are written on our hearts.
The Holy Spirit is His voice within us.
Can we find the key to settle our inner unrest?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101820.cfm