Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
I imagine the words of Jesus today may seem a bit heavy – especially at this time of year, when the summer heat tends to make many of us feel a little sluggish and lazy. Yet Jesus calls us to vigilance and readiness. Perhaps it’s precisely because it may be more difficult for us to hear this message now that the Church places this Gospel before us today as a reminder of what never fails to be important, namely, that we always be prepared for the Lord’s coming.
Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
In my family, there are two organized religions: Roman Catholicism, and the Pennsylvania State Lottery. (Some interfaith family members also attend the Church of Powerball.) I recall the first time the jackpot went over one hundred million dollars. It was in the late 80s, and although I was living in Washington at the time, my brother, Matt, was giving me regular updates on the effects of this huge prize. There were long lines to buy tickets; people taking trains from New York, Baltimore, and Washington, others flying in from California and Europe and even Japan; and a level of general excitement that continued to rise every time there was a drawing without a winner. He assured me that he had purchased a fair number of tickets himself, and asked me if I would pray for one of them to win. I dodged the question by asking him what he would do if he won, and he revealed to me a very detailed plan of action. He had obviously given the matter a great deal of thought.
Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
“When you pray, say, ‘Father, hallowed be your name’” (Luke 11:2).
Atop a mountain called Olivet, outside Jerusalem, there stands today a church with a strange name. It is called the Church of the Our Father. It stands over the spot where tradition holds that Jesus taught His prayer to the apostles.
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
In the sixth century, St. Benedict founded a dozen monasteries in Italy that would shape Europe for centuries to come. Carved over the entrance of the first Benedictine monastery at Subiaco is the famous motto, Ora et Labora: “Pray and Work.” In the death throes of the classical world, in the decay of ancient institutions and customs, St. Benedict located the foundation of spiritual growth and endurance in the balance of contemplation and activity.
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
“It is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.”
Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
“Let me just answer one more email.”
“I’ll be right with you. I just have to return one more phone call.”
“Hold on, my cell phone is ringing.”
“Sorry, this won’t take long…”
Sound familiar? All of us at one time or another has said this to a family member or friend who is waiting for us. Some of us make our companions wait quite a long time – the movie has already started, the specials at the restaurant have long run dry, the train has already left the station! Some of us never get out of the office, turn off the computer, or hang up the phone. All of us have been players in this “make ‘em wait’ game;” some of us have even made a career of it!
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – Year C
“Receive what you are, become what you receive, for this is the Body of Christ. Happy are we who are called to this banquet.”
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity • Year C
In my years as a priest, I have witnessed many amazing things. I have heard the sorrow of men and women who have come back to confession for the first time in a quarter of a century. I have watched Catholics rally around parishioners in need, go out of their way to comfort the mourning, struggle and sacrifice to raise their children in the faith. I have seen people’s lives turned around by prayer, watched people come out from under addiction, and witnessed remarkable acts of forgiveness. I have even seen people break years of a bad habit, and start to come to Mass on time.
Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time • Year C
What do you think God is asking of you today? What are you willing to give to God? Are there limits to your response? Can you name them? In what ways do you hold back, ignore, or even say no? Why?
Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
A few years back, on a warm Sunday in August, I was sitting in my sister’s backyard following a family barbecue. (It’s good to think of such things in the midst of a harsh winter, and be reminded that the fine weather will come again.) The rest of the family had gone, leaving me, my sister and her husband, and a young couple from next door. During a pause in the conversation, my four-year-old nephew, Matthew, who was sitting on my lap, slowly leaned over to the neighbor – who was very pretty and, let us say, dressed for summer – looked up into her face, and said in the voice of a twenty-year-old, “You have the prettiest blue eyes.” We all laughed, and the young woman said, “Well, thank you, Matthew! But my eyes aren’t blue. They’re green.” And without missing a beat, and in the same adult voice, Matthew replied, “Green is my faaavorite color!”