5th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Monday - Running to Christ with Urgency

 As we’ve considered before, there are a lot of reactions to Jesus in the Gospels. Some keep their distance, conspiring against him from the shadows. Some insult him or become riled at his words. 

This morning we hear how crowds run toward him. They don’t just saunter, they run. Not the first time or last time in this Gospel people run to him. Not many people I would run to see. 

People ran because they were powerfully drawn to the Lord. They saw that he was able to heal and to teach them, and it attracted them. They earnestly longed for what he offered: words of hope and comfort, revelation about the love of the Father, and the power of the humble, surrendered life. When news of his arrival hit their ears, there was an urgency to go and meet him. 

The Christian should experience a similar urgency on a daily basis. An urgency to spend time with the Lord in prayer and to bring to him the needs of our loved ones. An urgency to learn about our faith so that it can be shared and explained to others. An urgency to engage in works of charity when the opportunity arises. An urgency to repent if we’ve fallen into sin. Time is short and we should seek him while he may be found. As the old poem goes: “This earthly life is quickly past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

We can lose the sense of urgency when we begin to live for creature comforts. “I don’t want to do anything to upset me from being comfortable. I can pray tomorrow, do my spiritual reading tomorrow, go to confession next week.” But to quote playwriter Meredith Wilson, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.”

If we have lost the sense of urgency in our spiritual life, we do well to take the time and make the effort to rekindle that flame. Priests take a yearly spiritual retreat to keep that flame going. A spiritual retreat can never hurt. The upcoming season of Lent is like a retreat for the whole Church, to strip away the creature comforts, in order to rekindle the urgency for the spiritual life, the urgency to run to Christ.

May the Holy Spirit assist us in identifying all that keeps us from running to Christ with urgency every day, and to have the courage to divest ourselves to those obstacles in the spiritual life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

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.

That government leaders around the world may carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for freedom and the dignity of human life.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the grace to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors and enemies and those who persecute us, and to share the truth of the Gospel with all.  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, especially by inclement winter weather, storms, and natural disasters.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased clergy 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.

4th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Tuesday - Identifying obstacles to faith

 In our Gospel passage this last Sunday, we heard of the people of Nazareth reacting with great hostility to Jesus’ proclamation. They doubt his claim to be the Messiah, minimizing the possibility by asserting that he is merely the son of a carpenter. Then when he challenged them for hardening their hearts against him, they seized him to throw him over a cliff.

Today’s Gospel contains three different reactions to Jesus.

Jairus, a man of considerable eminence in hos own town, approached Jesus and fell at His feet, asking in faith for him to heal his daughter. In the incident that followed, when Jesus asked who had touched him, the hemorrhaging woman also approached and fell at his feet, her faith a conduit for healing. The servants of Jairus’ household, on the other hand, approach Jesus, and show little faith, doubting Jesus possessed the power necessary to save the little girl. 

Hem Of His Garment is a painting by Wayne Pascall 

I think the Gospels highlight so many different reactions of Jesus to help us identify how we are reacting to him. Maybe there were points in our life when we do react to him like the people in Nazareth, wanting to silence Him by all means necessary. Maybe, now, after coming to faith, we fluctuate. There are moments where we fall down at his feet in worship like Jairus, we reach out to the hem of his garment to be healed like the woman with the hemorrhage, and maybe sometimes, even after following him, even after hearing what he has done over and over, working miracles, delivering souls from evil, we still doubt he has the power to save us. Our faith fluctuates. Why?

What did Jairus have that we do not have? That’s important to identify. Personally. If there was something keeping you from that level of faith, isn’t important to identify it? Because whatever it is, it might be hindering the healing power of Jesus to be unleashed in my family or in my life.

Is it an attachment to sin? Is it a failure to practice self-discipline in my prayer life? Is it laziness? Is it my ego that defies the need for savior, that insists on trying to save itself?

During Ordinary Time, seeking to identify the things, the attitudes, the behaviors, that keep us from perfect faith, or at least, growing in faith, is to be an ordinary part of our meditations and self-reflections. Thanks be to God, our daily scriptures, once again, help us to identify the path of life, and wholeness, and healing, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -  

For a deeper openness to God’s will, readiness for service, attentiveness to those in need, endurance to do the will of God, and peace in our world and our hearts.  

During this Catholic Schools week, for all young people, for their teachers and catechists and parents who are the first teachers of the faith, and that the truth of the faith may be learned, cherished, and practiced in every Catholic school and Christian home.

For the discipline necessary to resist temptation and to cultivate the virtues of faith, hope, and love. 

For those who struggle because of addiction, discouragement, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for the souls in purgatory and for…N. for whom this mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.