Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus said, “Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. . . . You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus speaks about the end times, when nation will rise against nation and catastrophic natural events will occur. Also to come, Jesus says, are “awesome sights and mighty signs [that] will come from the sky.” Before that, though, many will come in God’s name saying “I am he” and “The time has come.” Jesus warns us not to follow them; that is not of God or from God. What is instead, is the name above all names, the one who will give us irrefutable wisdom and security through our perseverance in the faith.

God, help me understand a simple truth that I am aware of but often don’t acknowledge: things fall apart. Whether out of fear or my focus on the present, I don’t often dwell on the end times; that is, my own death and the time of redemption, the Second Coming of Christ. How much less I have to fear when I consider that Jesus refers to the resurrection—my resurrection because of his—that not a hair of my head will be destroyed. Yet, the temple in Jerusalem and all the greatest architectural and sacred treasures of the world will someday fall to dust. Lord, you invite each of us through perseverance in faith to risen life, to a new creation that will endure forever. As C. S. Lewis said: “Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

Mary, Mother of God, today I will bring my fears, prayers of thanksgiving, and intentions to you in praying the rosary. I know you welcome me always so that you can show me the way to your son. Thank you, God, for your great goodness! Glory to you! Bless me with your presence, and help me persevere.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.  Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading that for those who call out to him day and night, God renders justice speedily. By saying this, Jesus draws a direct connection between constant prayer and speedy justice. In my experience, I know that God hears my prayers, but I wait a long time to see a response to them or any kind of justice as a result of my prayers. What is apparently contradictory, is not contradictory at all. God works in his own time and in his own way, and what seems like an eternity to me is to God like a flash of lightning. God’s time is not my own. I know it must be that his will is accomplished even as I pray but am unable to see results.

God, help me understand and be at peace with how you accomplish justice on earth; that is, how your will is carried out in my life and the world around me. Figuring out your timetable is futile and irrelevant, but learning to trust you and believe that you hear me and act in my life is absolutely vital. “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

God, you sent your Son to every one of us out of love and mercy, and he will come again in glory. These invisible realities I hold in faith; strengthen me through your grace to accept them as truth. Thank you for your goodness, Lord, and let me remember to return to you throughout the day in my prayers, words, and actions. You are my Father in heaven, and I want you to be well pleased with me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa4V1KhXtpM

Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

Jesus said to his disciples: “Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples the story of Noah, how during his time people were going about their customary ways of eating, drinking, and marrying when the floods came and destroyed them all. “Similarly,” Jesus says, in the days of Lot, “they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” Although the angels told Lot and his wife not to look back, Lot’s wife did look back and turned into a pillar of salt. “Remember the wife of Lot,” Jesus says. How clearly does the meaning of this ring out in the words of Jesus? “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it”? Do I move forward in my faith, or do I look back on the desolate ruins of my past?

God, help me understand today’s Scripture readings. What do I gain by trying to grasp what instead I should let go of? My hope is to let go of what I should lose so that I can gain what endures by striving to hear and do God’s will. As Saint John says in the first reading: “Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. Anyone who is so ‘progressive’ as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.” Today, we remember Saint Martin of Tours, a fourth-century priest and bishop, who was known for saying near the time of his death: “Lord, if your people still need me, I do not refuse the work. Your will be done.”

Today, God, let your spirit work in me. I am eager to face the strife of the day when I can put to the test the words of Jesus: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.” Through your grace may I have the courage when my faith is tested to lose my life for the sake of gaining Christ. Thank you, God, for your great goodness!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of God in today’s Gospel reading in a mysterious way that seems almost self-contradictory. The Kingdom of God, Jesus says, cannot be observed yet at the same time is among us. The Greek word entos, from which midst is translated (also translated as among) means “within” or “inside.” Within each of us is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God within us. Later in the Gospel passage, Jesus says that the appearance of the Kingdom of God (the Son of Man) will leave no doubt about its presence among us: “For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.” That said, the Kingdom of God is both within (invisible) and external (visible in the sky) when Christ comes again.

God, help me understand the mystery of your kingdom. How will I see it today, whether looking within or looking outside of myself for its manifestation in others and in opportunities you present to me? Through your grace let me live in the light of Christ today. In the words of Saint Leo the Great: “Recall how you had been wrested from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God. Through the sacrament of baptism you were made a temple of the Holy Spirit.”

Thank you, Lord, for your gift of the Holy Spirit, present in the sacraments. Help me order my day with the gift of discernment so that I can please you in all I do and say as a child of your kingdom. Be with me, Lord.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2W-KSOPWWBY