16th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2025 - Misaligned or drawn deeper into the Divine

 Last week, from Luke’s Gospel we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan: an instruction from Our Lord to go beyond our comfort zones to help others.  Immediately following the parable of the Good Samaritan, Saint Luke gives the account of our Lord’s visit to Martha and Mary, which we heard today.

The two stories complement each other well. For on the one hand, we are taught in the Good Samaritan Story, how disciples of Jesus Christ are to go out into the highways, and pick up and care for the wounded and those in need.  

On the other hand, Martha and Mary teach us another indispensable dimension of discipleship. Martha was busy with all the details of hospitality and Mary was sitting at the feet of Our Lord, listening to his word.  Martha was tending to the physical needs of the Jesus—she was in a sense the good Samaritan caring for someone’s needs, and that’s good. But it is Mary who is praised by the Lord. The Lord said, “Mary has chosen the better part”.

Yes, we have to care for those in need, yes we have to lift up the wounded, yes we should tend to the physical needs of our guests. Faith needs to be seen in our works; faith without works is dead, after all.

But we cannot lose sight of the one most necessary thing: we must remain grounded in our relationship to God by sitting at the feet of Christ. We must nurture that close, personal, intimate relationship with God through prayer, meditation, and contemplation.

There’s a story from the Missionary Sisters of Charity, the order of consecrated religious sisters founded by St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta.  One of the charisms of the Missionary Sisters of Charity is to take care of the poorest of the poor.  They literally lift starving discarded people out of the gutter and give them food and shelter and comfort.  They are literally saving lives. Yet, every day, the Missionary Sisters of Charity make a holy hour: they pray for an hour every day, usually around 6am, in front of the blessed Sacrament.  

Well, one day, a young novice goes to Mother Theresa, and says how she thinks that the holy hour is a waste of time; there are people starving to death on the streets while the sisters are in the chapel praying.  “Sister, you seem very troubled” Mother said.  “I am, Mother, this holy hour is a waste of time.”  “Because you think this,” said mother Theresa to the young novice, “you need two hours.”

St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church, remarked similarly, “"Everyone of us needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy—then we need an hour."

Francis de Sales and Mother Theresa understood the importance of work and charity, but also they knew how easy it is for us to become burnt out, misaligned, and disconnected from God without the daily prayer that sustains us.

Martha was no doubt doing good work in the Gospel today. But the Lord corrects her—reorients her. Why? For one, she comes into the room complaining. Never a good way to enter a room and begin a conversation. Complaining, as depicted in Scripture, is often associated with a lack of faith and trust in God's provision and sovereignty. I’ve met Christians who have complained to me before saying hello. 

Martha complains: Lord, don’t you care that my sister isn’t helping me? Jesus, don’t you care about the same things I care about? Already, we detect, a misalignment of Martha’s will and Jesus’ will. And this misalignment has brought her unhappiness and resentment, as is always the case when our hearts are misaligned. Martha then seeks to force her will, not only on her sister, but upon Jesus himself: “tell her to help me.” She demands that God must bow to her. Sadly, I’ve met a lot of people like that, too. I’ve no doubt acted like that at times. But that sour narrowminded willful ego-centrism is antithetical to the way of Christ. 

This is why Mary has chosen the better part. Before complaining, before acting, before demanding, she has knelt down to open her mind and heart to the mind and heart and life of Jesus. She has sought to align herself. Not my will, by Thy will be done.

Thinking that OUR earthly priorities, our earthly pursuits, are more important than spending time with Jesus is among the greatest mistakes we can make in the Christian life. For, it makes an idol of our work. Martha is preoccupied with the earthly and missing out on the heavenly.  Martha has her priorities backwards. And this is why she is unhappy and unexhausted. 

Now we might want to defend Martha here, “someone had to do the work. Someone had to serve the meal.” No. That is not the point of the story. We should not justify being busybodies. This story is to help us seek first the kingdom of God. Not my will. Not how I think things should get done. It’s not meant to enable us to justify impatience. If God is not the builder, the workers labor in vain. 

God has a lot of work for us here at our parish. I’m sure of it. Souls waiting to meet Christ in the Catholic Church if they could only meet Him in us. But narrowminded Marthas often do more harm than good. Men can be Martha’s too by the way, brothers. Because Men can fail to be rooted in prayer and can become just as controlling and filled with bitterness and self-centeredness instead of the Spirit of God.

But when we have opened ourselves up to God through prayer, the soil of our soul is watered by grace and illumined by God’s word, and real transformation occurs, so much so that the Lord Jesus can be detected in our decisions and words and activity. 

So begin the day with prayer. Begin on the right foot. Make time for real authentic meditation upon God’s Word throughout the day. Pray before you work, pray as you work. Include God in your meals, your chores, your leisure and rest. When we are directed to God through prayer, our lives become charged and changed by God’s presence: His peace calms us, his joy radiates from us, his wisdom guides us, and his love burns within us. Even our work, even our sufferings, can then become transformed into an encounter with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Every day we are faced with the choice to be more like Martha or more like Mary— misaligned or drawn deeper into the life and love of God.  Let us renew our commitment today to the daily prayer we need to seek the one thing that really matters, Jesus Christ Our Lord, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

July 16 2025 - Our Lady of Mt. Carmel - Reaching the mountain which is Christ

 

There was an English mountain climber named George Mallory who participated in the first three British expeditions to climb Mount Everest in the mid-1920s. When asked, “why did you want to climb Mount Everest?” He would answer, “because it is there.” About 800 people climb Mt. Everest each year, and for whatever reason, they too felt some drive to reach the highest peak in the world. 

Today’s collect prayer for the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel speaks of reaching the mountain which is Christ. We asked God that the glorious virgin Mary would come to our aid and protection, that we may reach the mountain which is Christ.

The prayer no doubt references the Mountain associated with today’s memorial: Mount Carmel, located along the coast of the Mediterranean sea in northern Israel.

Early Christian hermits climbed Mount Carmel, not simply because it was there, but because they wished to encounter Christ. The hermit withdraws from the distractions of the world in order to encounter Christ, to make the ascent of the mountain which is Christ. 

What does it mean to ascend the mountain which is Christ?

In Scripture, mountains are often places of encounter with God—Moses receives the law on Mount Sinai, Elijah hears the whisper of God on Mount Horeb, and Jesus Himself is transfigured in glory on Mount Tabor. To ascend the mountain is to seek that place where heaven touches earth, where God reveals Himself, and where we are called to be transformed.

Jesus is like a mountain because He IS the place where heaven meets earth, where God is joined to man, in his very person. In Christ, the infinite becomes visible. The Word becomes touchable. The invisible God becomes Emmanuel, God-with-us.

To ascend the mountain which is Christ, then, is to enter more deeply into union with Him—to be drawn into the mystery of the Incarnation, to be conformed to Him in our thinking, our loving, our suffering, our living. This ascent is not just about thinking lofty thoughts or withdrawing from the world, but becoming more fully united to the One who bridges heaven and earth.

And Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, knows this path better than anyone. She is the one who bore Christ in her womb—who literally brought heaven to earth. She shows us how to climb—not with pride or presumption, but with humility, faith, and total openness to God’s will.

So on this feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we ask her to guide us in the climb. Not just to look up at Christ from a distance, but to enter into His life. To receive Him in the sacraments, to reflect Him in our lives, and to be lifted by grace to that place where, even now, heaven and earth are joined—in Jesus Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Celebrating the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we turn to the Father who, in the Incarnate Son, has joined heaven to earth. Through Mary’s intercession, let us bring our prayers with confidence.

That through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Church may always lead the faithful to deeper union with Christ through prayer, sacrament, and devotion. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all who seek the Lord: That those who feel far from God may ascend the mountain of faith, discovering in Jesus the true meeting place of heaven and earth. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who carry heavy burdens—the sick, the grieving, the poor and afflicted: That Mary, Mother of Mercy, may accompany them up the steep path and lead them to Christ, the source of healing and hope. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our beloved dead: That, through Mary’s intercession, they may be brought into the glory of Christ’s presence on the eternal mountain of the Lord. Let us pray to the Lord.

Loving Father, you gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of prayer and discipleship. Through her intercession, draw us closer to your Son, that we may reach the mountain of holiness and live always in your presence. Through Christ our Lord.

July 9 2025 - St. Augustine Zhao Rong and martyred companions of China (& Legion of Mary)

 

Today we honor and celebrate the heroic martyr St. Augustine Zhao Rong and his martyred companions. You may not be that familiar with them, as they were only canonized in the year 2000.  They are 120 Catholics who were martyred between the years 1648 and 1930.  They were lay people, clergy, and religious, ranging in age from 9 to 72.  87 of them were native born chinese, and the rest were foreign born missionaries.

The story of the Church in china is a long and often troubled one.  Christianity arrived in the 600s. Depending on China's political situation over the centuries, Christianity was free to grow or was forced to operate secretly. The 17th century was particularly brutal. 

It was then that St. Augustine Zhao Rong, a Chinese soldier became familiar with the Catholic Faith. The soldier had been ordered by his government to escort a Catholic bishop to be martyred in Beijing. Augustine was so impressed and moved by the bishop’s faith that he requested baptism.  He soon entered the seminary and was ordained a diocesan priest.  In 1815, he was arrested, tortured, and martyred.

The other martyrs we remember today include parents, catechists, laborers, and priests.  33 of the martyrs were missionaries from foreign lands who had traveled to the far-east to help plant the Christian faith in China: among them were Franciscans and Dominicans and Jesuits—men and women who heard the Master’s call to witness to him in the face of death.

I discovered recently that Christians continued to be put to death in China through the 1960s. 

You may have heard of the Legion of Mary, that wonderful apostolic association founded in 1921 by servant of God Frank Duff. Well in the late 1940s, Christianity began to flourish in China through the efforts of the Legion of Mary. Irish priest Fr. Aeden McGrath founded about 2000 Legion of Mary groups, leading to the Communist Regime in October 1951, officially labeling the Legion of Mary as “counter‑revolutionary” even "public enemy number one".

Legion leaders and members underwent arrest, imprisonment, and execution. For instance, Francis Shen, president of the Shanghai Senatus, was arrested in 1951 and executed in 1960 after being convicted of teaching faith in prison.

Today we hear about the underground Church in China, the parishes and communities that refuse to submit to the state-run Chinese Church and remain loyal to the Pope. The Chinese government imposes frequent raids, arrests, forced disappearances of clergy, and fines on the underground Church. My guess is that those courageous underground Catholics have strong ties to the Legion of Mary—God bless them.

Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed prayers and support for China’s Catholics since his election a few months ago. We do well to remember our brothers and sisters there, and all those who suffer persecution for the Gospel. They remind us to remain courageous when we face pressure to compromise our faith. Even in the face of common temptation, their witness strengthens us to hold fast to Christ for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Our Savior’s faithfulness is mirrored in the fidelity of his witnesses who shed their blood for the Word of God. Let us praise him in remembrance of them:

For Pope Leo XIV that he may guide the Church into renewed unity and zeal for her mission, and that the Church, especially in China and other areas where she is persecuted, may remain strong and united in her witness amidst sufferings.

For the conversion of hearts, especially among governments who persecute believers, that like St. Augustine Zhao Rong those who once persecuted Christ may come to embrace him.

Inspired by the martyrs who followed in Christ’s footsteps by carrying the cross, may we endure courageously our earthly trials and all the misfortunes of life, and that the sick and the suffering, the poor and afflicted may be sustained in their trials.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Heavenly Father, by the witness of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and his companions, you have poured out the Spirit of courage on your Church. Grant that we too may stand firm in faith, bear true witness to Christ, and serve your people with love—even unto suffering. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

14th Week of Ordinary Time 2025 - Monday - Places of Divine Encounter

 

The places where we encounter God are holy to us, aren’t they? Our childhood church, a holy shrine, the parish church where we attended with our family, the tomb of a patron saint, maybe a chapel in which important spiritual growth occurred during a particularly trying time.

For Jacob, in our first reading, the place of divine encounter was a mountain-top at a place which came to be known as Bethel: Beth-el, the house of God. At Bethel, Jacob had a particularly vivid dream in which heaven opened and he encountered the Divine, the God of Abraham and his father Isaac. 

The encounter with God gave his life purpose; he knew that God would be with him always, that God was directing his life, and would direct his family for generations to come.

This sort of encounter with God is not unique to Jacob. Perhaps you have had a similar encounter with God. I have. An encounter, an experience with God that deepens faith—an encounter that helps you to know that God is with you—an encounter that gives you a sense that God is bigger than your trials and troubles and fears.

The daughter of the royal official and the woman with the hemorrhage in the Gospel today, had similar encounters with God, in the person of Jesus Christ. These encounters were healing and life-giving. Wounds, physical, emotional, and spiritual are healed when God is encountered. 

In commemoration of his encounter with the Divine, Jacob constructed a stone pillar to thank God for the blessing he received—and in a sense to renew the experience of the Divine. Christians return to the stone table—the altar—week after week to do the same. At the stone table—we thank God for the blessings of our life—and we experience the Divine in the Eucharist—an encounter that brings healing and meaning to our life.  The altar is an anchor as it is a window and a doorway. 

And, it is where we receive our mission. Following our encounter with God here, we are sent out to gather others in—the lost souls, searching souls, saddened souls, wounded souls, that they may encounter Jesus here too, and experience his healing, his forgiveness, and his blessing, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That the wounded and lost may discover the love and life of Jesus Christ in Catholic Church. 

For spiritual healing and mercy upon those who have fallen away from the Church. For the conversion of atheists and non-believers. 

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

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

Heavenly Father, hear our prayers. May the grace of Christ Your Son, the Divine Physician, bring healing of our sinfulness, and make us worthy of the kingdom of heaven, through the same Christ our Lord.

13th Week of Ordinary Time 2025 - Wednesday - Truth and Action

 During these normal weekdays of Ordinary Time, we read sequentially through the Gospels from the beginning of the Lord’s public ministry to right before his Passion.

Reading through the Gospel of Matthew, we notice a structure that repeats throughout the book. The Lord gives a teaching, then there is action. Teaching and action. Teaching and action. The Lord teaches in parables, conveying truths about discipleship, and then he goes out and acts—performing miracles and exorcisms, bringing comfort and deliverance to the afflicted. Through his actions, Jesus demonstrates that he’s not some charlatan who only offers empty words. His words are backed up by action. 

Why should you believe him? Why should you heed his words—his warnings, his challenges, his moral guidance? His actions back up his words. Certainly, an important lesson for all of us. That as Christians, we are to preach and teach in Christ’s name, but our actions must back up our words.

Catechesis, evangelization, religious instruction, counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, sharing the Gospel, must all be backed up by action—works. Works of charity. Works of mercy. Concrete penances.

The Word of God attests to this. “Faith without works is dead” writes, St. James. You’ve no doubt heard the aphorism attributed to St. Francis, friend of our patron, St. Clare. “Preach the Gospel, always, sometimes use words”. If Francis didn’t actually say that, he might as well have because his life was one of constant works of mercy and penance. His evangelical poverty gave credence and testimony to his words. And the same must be for all of us. 

Teaching and Action. Words and Works. Since the end of the Easter season, we had been reading from one of those long teaching sections, the Lord’s famous Sermon on the Mount, comprising chapters 5 thru seven of Matthew. But this week, we began reading from one of those action sections, chapter 8.  Like those other many action sections, we find the Lord performing healing miracles and exorcisms—works that bring deliverance to others.

Today we heard how the Lord delivered to demon possessed men from their bondage. And you might think, what power do I have to exorcize demons? Well, again, those works of charity can break bonds in people’s lives. When they witness us feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, that softens there heart to Christ.

But on the other hand, we don’t have the power to cast out demons on our own. This is why that teaching part is also important. When we cultivate the Truth of Christ in our hearts, by listening to the Teacher in our own faith formation, when we allow him to teach us in our daily meditation and prayer and our reception of the sacraments, then his life within us grows, so that when we encounter the demon possessed soul, he’s the one that does performs the exorcisms, he’s the one that casts out demons, through us.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace, your goodness, and your life, cultivate your life within us through your truth, and make us people of divine action, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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We bring our prayers of petition to the Lord.

For the Church: That she may faithfully teach the truths of Christ and live them out through works of charity, mercy, and justice, giving powerful witness to the Gospel in every place and age.

For those bound by sin, addiction, or spiritual oppression: That through the power of Christ and the witness of Christian charity, they may find freedom, healing, and new life.

For all victims of war, for peace in the Holy Land, an end to the violence and the consolation of the suffering. May God come to the assistance of the communities and families devastated by terrorism and war; and may world leaders work together for peace.

For the sick, the poor, and the suffering: That they may be comforted by Christ’s presence and aided by the loving works of His disciples.

For the faithful departed: That, purified by God’s mercy, they may rejoice forever in His Kingdom of peace and light. Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord Jesus, you came to teach us the way to the Father and to deliver us from all evil. Hear our prayers and make us faithful disciples who live your truth through loving action. Through Christ our Lord.