Articles for Ordinary Time

  “Brother and sisters: Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). This new covenant, given to us by the Son, is better because the because of what it brings about and how it is brought about.…

  In today’s Gospel, we see the great desire of the people to seek out Jesus. They came from far away just to see him and touch him so that they may be healed. At that time, the people and even Jesus—for he was worried about being crushed by the crowd—were limited by humanity. But…

  In today’s Gospel, Jesus poses a question to the Pharisees that I found to be very profound. He says, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” This is profound to me because it is easy to see the good…

  “Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones” (Hebrews 6:10). In today’s reading from Hebrews, we see that God looks upon all we have done and are doing and remembers…

  “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Oftentimes, we are called to do what we at first do not want to do or are maybe just too scared to do. At the…

  In today’s readings, we see how God acts in our lives; he calls us and then exceeds our expectations. Our God is not a God who is distant, but rather a God who enters into our lives and brings us closer to Himself, and then raises us up to become more than we could…

  Often, cradle Catholics, usually women, will come to me and admit that they do not feel that sinful. The sentiment is sincere, and it is not that they do not sin, but rather that they feel somehow their conversion was minimal. Having never overcome some grave sin or falling away, can they experience the…

  We are used to Jesus performing dramatic miracles, but certainly less familiar with dramatic means to His miracles. When the friends of the paralytic man opened up the roof and lowered him on a stretcher into the home where Jesus’ was, it could have seemed tactless, overbearing, and for the paralytic himself, embarrassing. The…

  The Letter to the Hebrews says a very curious thing today: “We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.” It’s that beginning of the reality that sticks out to me. Why is the beginning so important for Christian life and ministry? Realistically, human…

  In contemporary culture, we have made individual happiness the end-all-be-all. Even well-formed Christians have had the live-and-let-live mentality of, “if it doesn’t bother me, I can’t intervene.” But happiness is fleeting and subjective. I remember being in a college classroom and a classmate saying that, logically speaking, God could not punish you for a…

  My Dad was a small-town attorney and municipal judge. In his office, he had many law degrees and awards up on the wall. If you were to go there back then, you’d also notice a very strange framed picture among those prestigious plaques. It was a drawing I had made at five years old.…

  Every year, as we draw near to the end of the liturgical year, the Church in her wisdom gives us a series of readings like today’s readings, which speak of the fantastic events surrounding the End Times and remind us of the coming of God’s Kingdom. But why does she do this? Holy Mother…

  In today’s psalm, we hear the verse, “My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (PS 84:2). This verse from psalm 84 is a powerful reminder for me—and it can be for you, too—that we are not meant to be…

  As we approach the end of the calendar year, we tend to pause for a moment to reflect on the year we’ve experienced. We tend to spend more time reflecting on the positive moments of the year, like graduations, weddings, and birthdays and spend significantly less time focusing on misfortunes, injustices, or violence that…

  Today’s readings give us a rather jolting instruction on what it means to live out heaven on earth. Luke’s gospel today is an especially tough pill to swallow for anyone who had hoped for an easy life on this earth. Christ boldly commands us to be ready to endure tribulation for His sake, even…

  Our readings today speak of the end times. This topic is not always an easy one to meditate on, and we may find ourselves avoiding it altogether. We live in a world that, at times, may look a lot like the end times described by Christ in today’s Gospel. Nations rising against nations, natural…

  Today’s Gospel tells us the story of the poor widow who could only offer two small coins into the treasury, whereas the wealthy people were able to offer much more. However, Jesus says that the poor widow put in more than all of the rest because she, from her poverty, offered her whole livelihood.…

  In the Gospel today, we hear “Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe.” This is an example and a reminder of how we need to depend on Christ. When we depend on ourselves and try to become independent, we lose sight of…

  The gospel reading today provides an excellent look into the hope of a heavenly future. In this narrative, we see Jesus accosted by the Sadducees, who are merely seeking proof that there is no resurrection through the lens of marriage. However, Christ uses this same lens of marriage to reveal the even greater reality…

  In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us of the remarkable gravity of the sin of scandal when he says: “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” When we scandalize…

  The readings today may be difficult to understand. Yet, by looking closely, a beautiful message runs throughout them. In the first reading, we see a figure on the throne: God the Father. He holds a scroll with seven seals. Seven is the number of perfection, so only a perfect being can open the scroll.…

  I tell you, everyone who has, more will be given, but the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Lk 19:26 We are all called to lives of holiness and share one common vocation—the universal call to holiness to be saints. All the saints stand before the Face of…

  The first reading from Revelation today is a stark reminder of what we might expect at the end of times. The eschatological theme implores us to live our lives in a worthy manner, for we “will never know at what hour I will come upon you.” An unfortunate reality of our society today is…

  “What do you want me to do for you?” This is the question Jesus asks the blind man in today’s Gospel. The passage today tells us the story of the blind man outside of the walls of Jericho who, although he is silenced by the crowd, calls out to Jesus over and over for…

  Famous Catholic biblical scholar Raymond Brown once warned that we should not dismiss Christian apocalyptics too easily. Those who believe they can predict the Second Coming of Christ might not be correct. Still, we do believe that the Lord will return, that this world will come to an end and that the living and…

  “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” What are we to think about the decline of faith in our times? Among the young, among our families, our relatives, friends, and the population in general? Is it really a loss of faith or is it misplaced faith? Human beings require…

  “Come, you who are blessed by my Father” This saying of Jesus is wonderfully exemplified in the life of St. Martin of Tours. Forced to serve in the army at 15, he became a Christian catechumen and was baptized at 18. He is famous for having cut his cloak in half for a beggar,…

  “The coming of the Kingdom cannot be observed…” This reply of Jesus to the Pharisees’ question about when the Kingdom of God is coming reminds us of the very human desire we have to know what’s going to happen. In the case of the Pharisees the question occurs against the background of the Roman…

  “But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.” Today’s celebration commemorates the dedication of the cathedral of the pope, St. John Lateran. In her preface, the Church prays: “For in your benevolence you are pleased to dwell in this house of prayer in order to perfect us as the temple of the…

  “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.” God is among us, in Jesus his son, as a servant. Furthermore, we can be certain that Jesus desires to be the servant of our people, our nation. He came to save us all. He has invited you and me to…

  “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” Fraternal correction is perhaps one of the most neglected practices of the Christian life. Pope Benedict XVI referred to it as “fraternal correction in view of eternal salvation.” He notes that today “we are very sensitive to the idea of charity and…

  The Seed of Eternity The Sadducees in our Gospel today represent many people today who live as if this life were all there was. But like today, there was another part of the Jewish people who did not accept this unbelief. This belief has been put beautifully by the Jewish rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel:…

  The first reading from yesterday and the gospel reading today go hand in hand. “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Do you serve the Lord to the best of your…

  Some of my family members thought I was crazy for joining a monastery, and that I would be wasting my life away. But from my point of view, I can see the exact opposite. In our first reading today, we hear, “For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even…

  Jesus begins the parable of the lost sheep with a question. He asks who among us would not leave 99 sheep alone in the desert in order to go and find that one lost sheep. I have considered this question carefully, and my answer is, “I would not.” I say this because I know…

  Today we celebrate the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. This is the remembrance of all of the Faithful Departed who have died in God’s Friendship, but are still undergoing the purification of Purgatory. Now, Catholic teaching on Purgatory is one of the harder teachings for some people to accept, but that is often because…

  If you google “Catholic Saint of the Day,” a number of good sites come up. But one of my favorites is Catholic.org. I like this site for the saint of the day because as I sit down today (October 23) to write this reflection, the first saint listed is St. John of Capistrano. But…

  Most of us love a good party. Whatever the occasion—a birthday, a wedding, an “its Wednesday” celebration—we enjoy inviting family and friends over for good food and fun times. And we enjoy being invited by family and friends to the same. So when in today’s gospel, Jesus seems to say we should not be…

  In my parish in Kingston, Jamaica, each year on Good Friday, we would do the Stations of the Cross through the streets of the Church’s neighborhood. We would have the drum corps lead us from station to station, and at each station, we would stop and sing, and say the prayers for the station.…

  We began this week on Sunday with Jesus telling us the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee proudly bragged about what a good person he was. The tax collector beat his breast and said, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us another parable.…