God who justifies

Thursday, October 29, 2009 Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Romans 8:31-39 Psalm 109:21-22, 26-27, 30-31 Luke 13:31-35

Romans 8:33  Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies;

I think we often forget this point.  We fear the people and circumstances of this world, forgetting that it is God who is the one who judges and justifies.  It is by God that we even have our breath.  There is nothing that anybody can do to us that God can’t undo or defend.  We must trust him.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always trust you no matter how dark the road looks.

Amen

redemption of our bodies

Tuesday, October 27, 2009  Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Romans 8:18-25 Psalm 126:1-6 Luke 13:18-21

Romans 8:23  and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Jesus was raised from the dead and came in the flesh, that is a body.  This is a required belief of the Christian faith, that Jesus came in the flesh.  Here Paul talks about the redemption of our “bodies”.  Not just our souls.  We must believe, even though we can’t see it, the redemption of our bodies.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to believe in the miracles that you do especially the redemption of our bodies.

Amen

led by the Spirit

Monday, October 26, 2009 Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Romans 8:12-17 Psalm 68:2, 4, 6-7, 20-21 Luke 13:10-17

Romans 8:14  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

There is a kind of contradiction in today's readings.  On the one hand we are called to suffer with Christ.  Then Jesus rebukes the religious leaders because they are hypocrites regarding the Sabbath rules.   The key, I think, is that we are being called to follow the spirit of the law.  We understand that the Spirit is the third person of the trinity, but we must also understand that the spirit of the law is a big part of what Jesus teaches us about.  Being led by the Spirit is being led by God, but also understanding the spirit and truth in the law and not just the letter of the law.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to follow you by following the spirit of the law.

Amen

fire upon the earth

Thursday, October 22, 2009  St. Peter of Alcantara, Priest (Optional Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Romans 6:19-23 Psalm 1:1-4, 6-6 Luke 12:49-53

Luke 12:49  "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!

We think, and rightly so, that Jesus was this very tolerant and loving person, and that he forgives everything and everybody. But, there is plenty of evidence that Jesus has a limit to his patience as well.  He wants to get to the end of the story. Putting up with our sin is not a pleasant thing for him.  We should pay special attention to the fact that He will judge those who have not followed him faithfully.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to follow you faithfully and receive your grace and mercy.

Amen

your lamps burning

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Romans 5:12, 15, 17-19, 20-21 Psalm 40:7-10, 17 Luke 12:35-38

Luke 12:35  "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning,

We would prefer that our lives be easy, that we not be put to the test regarding our faith, but the scripture calls us to keep our lamps burning even into the second or third watch.  Jesus comes when the times are challenging and we need him the most.  That is the time we must be vigilant and ready for him.  Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to keep the faith especially in the dark times when you may come to me.

Amen

but for ours also

onday, October 19, 2009 Saints Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf, Priests, Martyrs and  Their Companions (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Romans 4:20-25 St. Luke 1:69-75 Luke 12:13-21

Romans 4:24  but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

We like the idea that we too receive the credit for righteousness through faith, just as Abraham did. But, have we considered just what Abraham did?  Are we willing to kill our only child if asked to by God?  Do we trust God that much?

If we want to be like Abraham in righteousness then we must act like him in faith.

Father, help me by your Holy Sprit to trust you completely.  Help me to be willing to go and do what you ask.

Amen

Woe to you lawyers!

Thursday, October 15, 2009 St. Teresa of Jesus, Virgin, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Romans 3:21-30 Psalm 130:1-6 Luke 11:47-54

Luke 11:52  Woe to you lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."

I have friends that are lawyers and they are good people.  That being said, the profession lends itself to some temptations. When you think about it the law has two roles. one is to convict those who are evil and the second is to defend those who are good.  The problem is that if we are good we need no defense, so what happens is the law often defends the evil and persecutes the good.  Often times the law is just a code to wiggle out of getting the proper consequences for our behavior.  The law can just about justify anything.  That is not good in God’s sight.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to trust in you and not in the law which can lead me astray.

Amen

one such child

Monday, October 12, 2009 St. Seraphin of Montegranaro, Religious (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Psalm 98:1-4 Matthew 18:1-5

Matthew 18:5   "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me;

 

This may not look like an endorsement for infant baptism on the surface, but I think it is.  Those who deny that infant baptism is effective fail to understand what Jesus is saying here.  They rely on their intellect and their own faith to be the mechanism of their salvation.  But Jesus says that we must be as a child, and we must receive children.  That means that we must put away our pride and notion that somehow we earn the right to belong to Christ through our years of education and training.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to be humble as a child and turn from my prideful ways.

Amen

how much more

Thursday, October 8, 2009  Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Malachi 3:13-20 Psalm 1:1-4, 6 Luke 11:5-13

Luke 11:13  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

We can be very arrogant sometimes.  It is hard for us to imagine anybody having more compassion than ourselves or being more generous than we are.  But this is an important step in coming to God in relationship.  We must trust that he is more generous and more compassionate than we are.  Whatever good we have in us, he has more.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always remember that whatever good I have in me you have more.

Amen

let every one turn from his evil way

Tuesday, October 6, 2009  Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Jonah 3:1-10 Psalm 130:1-4, 7-8 Luke 10:38-42

Jonah 3:8  but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands

It is interesting that even the king of Nineveh knew that change was needed and that meant change in people’s behavior.  Today we hear a lot of people calling for change, but not in people's behavior.  They want to see everything else change in order to accommodate their sinful behavior.  What is needed is repentance and seeking God’s mercy.  True change in our behavior is needed in order to please God, not more government programs.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to seek to change who I am and what I do rather than to seek change to facilitate my sin.

Amen

to justify himself

Monday, October 5, 2009  St. Faustina, Virgin (Optional Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Jonah 1:1 -- 2:2, 11 Jonah 2:3-5, 8 Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:29  But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

The first thing to note here is that his man was a teacher of the law.  The law is all about setting boundaries.  It is not a guide to anywhere.  It can not lead us to God or salvation.  But, we often want to justify ourselves by the law, but since the law is not a guide this makes no sense.  Jesus calls this teacher of the law to a higher place by telling him to show mercy.  The law does not show mercy.  Mercy is from the heart.  The man must think with his heart and not just the law.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to think with my heart and to show mercy to my brothers.  Help me to not rely on the law.

Amen

more tolerable on that day for Sodom

Thursday, October 1, 2009 St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Nehemiah 8:1-12 Psalm 19:8-11 Luke 10:1-12

Luke 10:12  I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

We all know what happened to Sodom.  It got torched.  Today we are wrestling with the same sins and temptations that Sodom did.  But today the Kingdom of God has come near.  Today we have no excuse.  Are we doomed to a fate worse than Sodom.  This must be made known.  We have to take our faith seriously.  It isn’t some fable that we can put back on the shelf.  It is real and true.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to know you are real and your word is true.  Help me to keep the faith.

Amen