First Friday Holy Hour - July 2024 - The invitation to follow Christ in mercy and sacrifice

 

Like St. Matthew in the Gospel today, the Lord has given us an invitation: “follow me”. And that invitation has led us here, to the Lord’s Eucharistic presence.

With those two simple words, “Follow me”, Jesus transformed Matthew’s life. And Matthew? He responded without hesitation, leaving behind his old life to follow Christ.

Leaving something behind in order to follow Christ always leads to the transformations God wants for us. 

In the Eucharist, we see the same Jesus who dined with tax collectors and sinners. He continues to invite us – sinners though we are – to His heavenly banquet. Just as He transformed bread and wine into His body and blood, He seeks to transform our lives through the Eucharist—in our adoration of the Eucharist and of course our reception of the Eucharist at mass.

The Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with sinners. Yet here we are, sinners ourselves. As Jesus said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do." In the Eucharist, we find our divine physician, healing our souls and nourishing us for our journey of faith.

Christ's words, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice," take on profound meaning in light of the Eucharist in which Jesus offers Himself as both the mercy we receive and the sacrifice that saves us. He invites us not because of our worthiness, but because of His limitless love and mercy.

As we adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, let us reflect:

How is Christ calling us to follow Him more closely through our devotion to the Eucharist?

What must we leave behind to respond more fully to His invitation?

To whom are we being challenged to extend the same mercy to others that Christ extends to us?

How is God calling me to sacrifice more fully my time, talent, and treasure for the mission of the Church?

May this time of adoration deepen our love for the Eucharist and strengthen our resolve to follow Christ. Let us allow the transformative power of His presence to change us, just as it changed Matthew, so that we may become living witnesses of His love and mercy in the world for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

July 1 2022 - St. Junipero Serra - Abandoning Comfort for Service

 

Earlier this week, our Gospel reading contained the strange warning of our Lord to the scribe who was considering discipleship: "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." In other words, Jesus is saying, “I’m homeless. Will you follow me, even if that means giving up your home? Will you follow me even if it means never being able to go home again?”

In today’s Gospel, the Lord calls the tax collector Matthew, to follow him. For Matthew, this would mean leaving his livelihood, and also a real change of lifestyle. No doubt, as a tax collector, he lived a very comfortable life. He was well-connected, well-paid, especially, if he was anything like the typical tax collector, extorting his fellow Jews on top of gathering taxes for his Roman overlords.

“There’s no way I can change,” Matthew must have considered. But he trusted the Lord had something the world could not offer.

Throughout the year we celebrate saints who up and down the centuries who left their homes and comfortable lives to follow the Lord. Today we celebrate St. Junipero Serra who did just that.

Junipero Serra had been a university professor in Spain, but he gave up his position to come to California to teach the Native Americans about the Lord Jesus. So while our founding Fathers were fighting for our nation’s independence on the east coast, Franciscan Priest Father Junipero Serra was traveling up through Mexico to present-day California.  There he devoted himself to building churches and schools for the poor and the native people, catechizing those in his care and raising up dedicated priests to continue the Lord’s work.

St. Junipero Serra, you may remember, is the first saint to be canonized on American soil. He was canonized just in 2015, when Pope Francis visited the U.S.. And during the canonization Pope Francis praised St. Junipero Serra’s willingness to abandon the comforts and privileges of his native Spain to spread the Christian message in the new World. 

What a wonderful example we have in Junipero Serra; for no doubt, the Lord is calling us to leave behind what is comfortable—the comfort of our familiar routines, at least—to preach the Gospel and to witness to the Gospel to the strangers in our midst. May we follow the Lord into the unknown territories, carrying his light and his truth and his love to all those we encounter today. May we find excuses to leave our homes to spread the Gospel today for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may be deeply committed to the spread of Christ’s Gospel, and for the success of the Church’s missionary activity.

For our nation, as we celebrate our independence this week, that we may be always grateful for our freedom, but more importantly, may we use that freedom for God’s will, rather than our own.

For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, discouragement, loneliness, and those who are alienated from their families.  May they know God’s mercy and be gathered to the eternal kingdom of peace. 

For all those who suffer illness, and those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, that they may be comforted by the healing light of Christ. 

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

Graciously grant our petitions, we beseech thee, O Lord; may your grace sustain us always in your service, through Christ Our Lord.

 

 

September 21 2021 - St. Matthew - I desire mercy, not sacrifice

 

When the Pharisees ask his disciples why the Lord eats with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus tells the Pharisees to go and learn the meaning of the passage, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Let’s dwell on that. 

What’s so special about that line from the prophet Hosea? How does it explain the Lord’s behavior?

Hosea had been sent as God’s prophet to the Northern Kingdom during its final days. Although the North was experiencing economic prosperity and growth, on the inside it had grown corrupt, morally decrepit, and adulterous. The problem wasn’t just leadership, either.  As a people, the Israelites had also broken their covenant with God. Not only had they given themselves over to idolatry, Hosea writes that they had also “plowed wickedness,” “reaped injustice,” “eaten the fruit of lies,” and trusted in their own ways (Hosea 10:13). They had turned to other gods for answers (Hosea 4:12) and other nations for assistance instead of God (Hosea 7:11). 

Yet, they continued to offer sacrifice to God in the Temple. It was like they wanted it both ways. They thought they could maintain right relationship with God through the offering of Temple Sacrifices while also maintaining a corrupt, idolatrous, adulterous lifestyle. 

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice” is a call to interior conversion, and that is being offered to all people. Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners because he is drawing near to all people, announcing that God’s mercy is readily available to them, if they turn away from their sins, and endeavor to love God with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, through Him. 

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice”, I’ve come for those who recognize themselves as sinners in need of mercy, in need of forgiveness, in need of transformation, not those who think themselves perfect, or who can make themselves perfect through simple human efforts.

Man cannot be in right relationship with God just because he offers the right sacrifices on the right days of the year. His life, his attitude toward his neighbor, including his fellow sinners, needs to be animated by true, authentic, love. Most of the pharisees reject the Lord’s teaching here, refusing to understand and heed his words, and they will remain “white-washed tombs” as the Lord calls them.

But Matthew, the tax collector, whose feast we celebrate today, heads the Lord’s call, his invitation to new life, to mercy. May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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That the members of the Church may seek every deeper union with the Lord through humble repentance of sin. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those trapped in cycles of sin or addiction, that they may heed the Lord’s invitation to forgiveness and freedom.

For an end to indifference to God and human dignity in our government and educational institutions, businesses, and personal attitudes.

During this month of September, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, we pray for all those who grieve, and that we may grieve sufficiently for our sins.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the 

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

13th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Friday - God brings good out of evil

 Scripture is full of examples of God bringing Good out of Evil. In the story of the sons of Jacob, for example, Joseph is betrayed by his brothers, thrown in a well, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, only to be put in the position where he is able to save his family from starvation. 

Over and over, we see the people of Israel falling into the evil of sin and depravity, only for God to reveal his Goodness and Mercy by delivering Israel from slavery and exile.

In today’s readings we see two such stories. God is able to bring something good out of the death of Abraham’s wife Sarah. After all those years, Abraham finally comes into possession of the land promised to Him by God which would become the seed bed of his great progeny. And we even get a glimpse of the new life for the line of Abraham, as Abraham’s son, Isaac, is blessed with a wife.

So, too, in the Gospel. The Lord brings about conversion, and a new way of living, out of the sinful life of the tax collector Matthew. Where there was sin and evil and collaboration with the enemies of Israel, God is able to bring new life and goodness and blessing.

And yet for Joseph and Israel and Abraham and Matthew, the goodness God wishes to bring about in our lives often requires giving something up. For Israel to be delivered from slavery, it had to give up its sin. For Abraham to possess the promised land, he had to give up his homeland. For Matthew to possess discipleship and apostleship, he had to give up his old sinful occupation.

The Lord is able to bring good out of the most tragic events, and in the life of the hardened sinner. But more often than not, something must be given up, left behind. Something at odds with the life of God needs to be set aside. 

What do I need to set aside, leave behind, walk away from, in order for God to manifest his goodness in me, to breathe new life into my stagnate ways, new blessing, new intimacy with Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the bishops of the Church will act as true prophets through their faithful teaching, their courageous witness, and their self-sacrificing love. Let us pray to the Lord.

As our nation celebrates independence and freedom this weekend, for the grace to use that freedom to pursue our highest good in every dimension of our civic and national life. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the Church’s missions amongst the poor and unevangelized throughout the world, that the work of Christ may be carried out with truth and love. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who share in the sufferings of Christ—the sick, the sorrowful, and those who are afflicted or burdened in any way.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. Let us pray to the Lord.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

September 21 2020 - St. Matthew - Becoming Vessels of Mercy

Matthew was a rather unlikely character to be called by Jesus as an apostle, but then again, one could say that about the group of unremarkable fishermen.  Matthew was a Jew who collected taxes from his fellow Jews on behalf of the occupying Roman forces.  

The Jews considered the occupation of a tax-collector an outrageous disgrace, as they were known cheating their own kind and working for the enemy; tax collectors were named in one breath along with murderers, assassins, thieves, robbers, criminals, and prostitutes. People were shocked to hear Jesus call such a man into his band of intimate followers.   Shocking, too would have been the Lord’s teaching that tax-collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God” before the Sadducees and Pharisees, those who considered themselves to be good pious Jews.

The Call of Matthew, the tax-collector, is a reminder that all people, from all walks of life, no matter your sinful past, are called to follow Jesus in the ways of righteousness. Tax-collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom of God before the Sadducees and Pharisees precisely because they were willing to give up their former lives, their preconceived

notions about God, and their sins and follow Jesus. 

As the Lord entered the house of the tax collector in order to invite Matthew to conversion and discipleship, the Lord sends us into the houses and lives of our neighbors and fallen-away family members who do not follow Christ, to invite them to new life of Christ. 

This certainly requires great humility on our part, that we may never appear self-righteous. Our effectiveness in calling others to Christ, is proportional to our identification with Him and union with Him in grace and mercy. “I require mercy, not sacrifice” is the call for each one of us to embody mercy. 

The Sadducees and Pharisees did not understand Jesus and recognize him as God because they did not understand mercy. They were unwilling to become vessels of mercy.

But when we cultivate mercy, through works of charity animated by faith, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience,” as St. Paul writes we become effective instruments of the Lord in calling sinners to righteousness, in building up the Church, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the members of the Church may seek every deeper union with the Lord through the works of mercy, humility, gentleness, and peace. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those trapped in cycles of sin or addiction, that they may heed the Lord’s invitation to forgiveness and freedom.

For an end to indifference to God and human dignity in our government and educational institutions, businesses, and personal attitudes.

During this month of September, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, we pray for all those who grieve, and that we may grieve sufficiently for our sins.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the 

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

15th Week in OT 2019 - Friday - "I desire mercy not sacrifice"

“I desire mercy not sacrifice” This was the second time in Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus uttered those words: “I desire mercy not sacrifice”, words Our Lord quotes from chapter 6 verse 6 of Hosea the Prophet.

The Lord had spoken those words to the Pharisees a few chapters earlier when he sat at the table of St. Matthew. He told them to go and learn the meaning of those words.  ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’

Had the Pharisees gone and learned the meaning of these words, the Lord would not be repeating them now. For Our Lord clearly demonstrates, that He and his disciples, picking grain because they were hungry, were not violating the Sabbath. For their hunger, their human need trumped the Pharisees interpretation of the 3rd commandment. The Pharisees had forgotten, or missed the point, for the whole purpose of the commandments.

The Pharisees began to hunger not righteousness, just the appearance of it.  They hungered, not for God, they acted not for love, but for their own egos. Jesus teaches Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and to be righteous, to be in right relationship with God—we seek to fulfill God’s commandments not simply out of blind legalism, but out of love, for Him and our neighbor. Our Lord isn’t saying that we should ignore the commandments of course, but to follow them for the right reasons, reasonably and with a pure heart.

Our Blessed Lord opens us to rediscover that the deepest meaning of life is found when we love God and neighbor attentive to our neighbors real human needs and the desire to obey God out of love. Love of God and neighbor is the road to our deepest human flourishing and to eternal life.

Charity is appropriate anytime, anywhere, for God is Love always and everywhere. When we engage in Charity—in the works of mercy—and follow God’s commandments out of love for Him, we enter into the life of God.

May we be attentive to the call to mercy and love in every dimension of life and become living reflections of God's love in the world for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the members of the Body of Christ may manifest God’s love for the world by engaging in the works of mercy always and everywhere.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That our young people may be preserved from the evil and perversions of the world and seek to grow in holiness.

For all whose lives are marked by suffering, sickness, disease or debilitation, may they come to know the healing and peace of Christ.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.