The Gospel acclamation for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time is, “If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.” (1 John 4:12). Take some time to consider this verse.
What are the things that you heard and saw this past week that caught your attention? What values, notions, and ideas did they express?
It can be tempting to rush toward opinions and judgments based on listening to and watching what others are doing, what they have to say about situations, and about what’s happening in society and throughout the world. Not only that, but also to not really take time to honestly consider, reflect on, and discern the values being represented.
It can also be easy to be drawn in by a thing or two that may seem of the utmost importance, only to be swept up and moved along without recognizing movement away from values, expressed notions, and ideas that truly align with and promote the sentiments of Love.
In the coming days try to notice the words and actions to which not only your ears and eyes are exposed or drawn, but also your heart. What is stirred inside of you? and how are these things a reflection of Love?
Continuing to take these things to prayer, seek to see them as God sees them.
No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. – 1 John 4:12
From where chaos comes, Base passion and design, Stirring ill will, division, Seeds sowing lies. Looking, always looking, To seep and settle in.
From where chaos spreads, Human passions and designs, From what we, as masters, embrace, What we give into, And what we withstand.
From where peace comes, Divine passion and design. Love weaving in and out, Through time and space. Ushering good tidings, Encouraging good will.
From where peace spreads, Human passions and designs, From what we, as servants, embrace, What we give into, And what we withstand.
“Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.” – Albert Schweitzer
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace. – James 3:16-18
In the Gospel passage for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mk 7:31-37), the people of a village bring a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment to Jesus and plead with him to lay his hand on him. What do you think made the people of the village do this? The deaf man could see, after all, and he could have found his own way to Jesus and asked for himself. What do imagine caused the people to get involved on the deaf man’s behalf? What are some things that lead you to get involved on the behalf of others?
We also read in this passage that Jesus “took him [the deaf man] off by himself away from the crowd.” (v. 33). Perhaps to remove the noise and distractions? Perhaps to engage in a more personal way with the man? Or maybe it was something else.
In the Scripture passage prior to this one, Jesus is trying to step away from the crowds when he is approached by the Syrophoenician woman asking for her daughter to be healed (Mk 7:24-30). This occurs after he has responded to the Pharisees questioning his disciples’ behavior; where Jesus replied in part, “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” (Mk 7:15). Considering this teaching and carrying it forward into Jesus’s interactions with the Syrophoenician woman and the deaf man, reflect on the way he receives and responds to people, situations, and what’s going on around him.
How do you receive people, situations, and what’s going on around you? What inner attitudes or dispositions do you carry into interactions? What’s going on in your heart, and how does it affect your response?
Coming back to today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Ephphatha!” (“Be opened!”), and as a result, the deaf man can hear, and his speech impediment is gone. He is healed from his affliction through Jesus’s command, or call, to openness. So why then, does Jesus tell the man not to tell anyone? And how might this fit in with the idea of evangelization?
Maybe Jesus is calling us to be open to what’s going on around us and what God is trying to tell us as individuals, to further open and transform one’s own heart toward greater understanding and compassion. And with that, reminding us that evangelization comes through the grace of God and at times is aided, or complemented, by kind and loving hearts that are both fluid with and fixated on God.
Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. – Isaiah 35:4
As a young person, August was synonymous with some last hurrahs and the winding down of what we considered summer; the passage of time between the ending of one school year and the beginning of another. The readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time offer an opportunity to consider more deeply, where God is in the in-between moments.
In the First Reading (Ex 16:2-4, 12-15), the Israelites are in between leaving Egypt and arriving to the Promised Land. They express feeling even more destitute than they did as slaves, complaining about the lack of provisions.
“Would that we had died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!” – The Israelites to Moses and Aaron, Ex 16:3
Oftentimes, the in-between moments can feel worse than the known moments that precede or follow them. God is aware of the complaints of the people as well as the position that Moses and Aaron are in, and God responds by meeting all of their needs (those of the people as well as Moses and Aaron), and thus helping them to hang on and continue the journey. How do you express your needs in prayer? And how has God provided for you in times when perhaps you felt like you couldn’t take more of whatever you may have been experiencing or felt stuck in between?
Looking to the Psalm (Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54), we are called to remember and to share the stories of God’s faithfulness.
What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, We will declare to the generation to come the glorious deeds of the Lord and his strength and the wonders that he wrought. – v. 3-4
It is our belief in God and our experiences of the Divine which strengthen and increase our faith. By recalling and sharing these experiences, we not only help to pass along faith and tradition, but also to build awareness and gratitude in ourselves and of those who journey alongside us, in terms of the personal ways in which God works, and the depth of God’s care and love for creation.
The response for the psalm is, “The Lord gave them bread from heaven.” (v. 24b). The people did not know what manna was and it is described as “fine flakes on the ground” (Ex 16:15). Take some time to reflect on what has been your bread from heaven—ways in which God has provided for you that perhaps you didn’t initially recognize, or were unexpected and/or different from what you thought you needed.
In the Second Reading (Eph 4:17,20-24), St. Paul exhorts the people:
“you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;” – v. 17
This is a key component to faith. That is the fact that, along the way in seeking to find and fulfill one’s purpose, human reasoning alone is not enough. For the human mind alone, cannot fully comprehend or discern what is best. The only way, as St. Paul says is to be renewed in Christ:
“…be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” (v. 23-24)
Recall a time when you felt stuck or challenged by a situation. What happened and how did your faith come into play? How might you be renewed in Christ regarding a situation you’re facing now?
Turning to the Gospel for the 18th Week in Ordinary Time (Jn 6:24-35), we are told about the crowds going out to find Jesus when they realize he is no longer in their midst. They end up finding him across the sea, and Jesus says to them:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” – v. 26-27
Jesus is referring to the crowd’s experience of eating their fill when he multiplied the loaves of bread and fish (Jn 6:1-15) and calling them, and us, to consider, or examine, what satisfies us, what is it that we are seeking, and to what lengths or degree do we go (or have we gone) to find or obtain it. Take some time to consider this in the light of what is currently going on in your life and in the world. What are you seeking and to what extent? How does this differ from or fit in with the past? How is God present to you in this process, and what comes to mind when thinking about it as an in-between moment?
Love is the bridge between you and everything. – Rumi
In the Gospel passage for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 3:20-35), Jesus says to his disciples and the crowd, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” (verse 24). This is in response to the scribes claim that Jesus is driving out demons by or through the prince of demons. Jesus’s words make sense. After all, one cannot bring peace and healing by or through chaotic means. With so much division and vitriol circulating throughout the world, it’s worth considering the heart in the matter.
In the days leading up to this Sunday, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary are celebrated. When you consider the heart of Jesus, what qualities come to mind? How about when you think about Mary’s immaculate heart?
Based on Scripture, what are some concrete ways that their words and actions reflect these qualities? How does Mary receive unexpected news or events such as the Annunciation, at the Presentation in the temple, and Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion? How does Mary react and respond to the young Jesus when she finds him in the temple after 3 days apart? What does Mary do, and how does she do it, when the wine runs out at the wedding feast in Cana?
What kinds of words does Jesus use and what is his attitude in his encounters with the pharisees and scribes, his disciples, and the crowds? What do Jesus’s actions express? And how does Jesus respond and react during the Passion?
Contemplating the heart of Jesus and the heart of Mary in the happenings of today’s world, how or where do you see the qualities of their hearts coming to life through words and actions? Take time this week to notice the heart behind your words and actions as well as those in the happenings directly around you, in your country, and in the world.
Prayer: Immaculate heart of Mary, intercede on our behalf, so that lies, deception, and all who seek to distort what is true, just, and honorable may be revealed. Sacred heart of Jesus, help us to see through your eyes, and to speak, act, and love, with your heart. Amen.
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. – Psalm 130:7bc
Circumstances come and go, Like trains arriving and departing. Slowing down to a standstill, Then picking up, increasing speed. Paying homage on one hand, Indifference on the other. Sometimes creeping in, Showing up unannounced, All at once, or not at all, And everywhere in between. They slip in, they slip out, They disappear, or they don’t.
Circumstances show themselves, Morning, noon, and night, But so do signs, big and small, They come and go as well. Some noticed, some not, but… Always on time, in time, If not a step ahead. They are all around us. Then, there is Love, Binding all together In this coming and this going. Love serves us well… If we allow it.
“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.” – John 15:16-17
What does it mean to be productive? And how does that definition differ based upon the task or subject matter involved?
Oftentimes, productivity is judged based on things that can be measured or compared. However, the most impactful or most productive things in life are not necessarily widely valued by society, nor can they always be measured or necessarily seen.
In the Gospel for the fifth Sunday of Easter (John 15:1-8), Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (verse 5). Jesus is providing an image that can be used to reflect on both the tangible and the non-tangible.
Think about personal interactions you have had over time and how they have impacted you. We all have experiences where what someone says or does, or doesn’t say or do, has affected us in one way or another. Where or what is the fruit of these experiences? What was in your heart at the time, and what’s happening now as you recall them?
Jesus says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” (John 15:7-8).
Consider Jesus’s words in this Gospel as an invitation to contemplate how we, as human beings, treat, engage, and communicate with each other, and what comes of it. What fruit is being nurtured and growing out of the way we are with each other? How is love reflected? And what tweaks or changes might be appropriate so that the Way does not get lost along our way?
Moving forward, how might Jesus’s words better inform your thoughts, actions, and decisions? What is it that you desire? Spend some time praying with this and whatever insights are revealed.
The human heart is always drawn by love. – St. Catherine of Siena
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