7th Week of Ordinary Time 2025 - Tuesday - Childlike humility and embrace of trials

 

Today we read the familiar Gospel passage of the disciples arguing about who will be the greatest in Jesus’ kingdom, but it is clear that their idea of greatness is far from God’s. True greatness in God’s eyes isn’t about attaining a seat of power, status or privilege. Rather, true greatness involves becoming like a little child before God—true power involves becoming a servant to every one. "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."

 Why does Jesus redirect the attention of the disciples to the posture of a child?

 A child does not approach the world with calculated strategies to rise above everyone else; instead, children living trustingly secure in the care of those who love them. By inviting us to become like children, Jesus teaches us that His kingdom values humility, tenderness, and simplicity of heart.

 Moreover, Jesus spells out that the path to true greatness is marked by service, not by accolades. Being “first” in His kingdom means pouring ourselves out for others—looking for ways to uplift, comfort, and accompany those in need.

 In the first reading from Sirach, God’s Word also makes it clear that we will need to embrace hardships to become the people God made us to be. We will have to practice patience, conflicts, hardships, and personal sufferings. “Prepare yourself for trials…in fire gold is tested,”

 Together the readings speak of a purification that is needed. We are to purify ourselves from the un-childlike behavior—the power grabbing, the attempts to live independently from God. And we are to embrace the purification the Lord sends us through our trials. True Christian greatness grows from a heart purified by adversity and shaped by a servant’s love. When we let go of self-centered ambition, fear of suffering for the sake of goodness, but truly trust the Lord in them, and seek to become “the servant of all,” we become truly great in God’s sight for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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With humble hearts, we turn to our loving Father, and we present our needs for the Church and the world.

For the Church: That all her members may seek to leading lives marked by humility and service rather than worldly ambition.

For leaders in society and government: That they may put aside selfish interests and seek the good of the most vulnerable, serving their communities with honesty and compassion

For those who face trials and hardships: That, like gold refined in fire, they may grow in faith and hope through their struggles, trusting that God is with them and working for their good. And for Holy Father Pope Francis in this time of serious illness.

For our parish community: That we may actively seek ways to serve, uplift, and comfort those in need, especially the lonely, the sick, and the marginalized

For our deceased loved ones and all the souls in purgatory: That they may be welcomed by the Lord and share in the fullness of His Kingdom, especially N.

Heavenly Father, hear these prayers and answer them in your mercy, for we make them through Christ our Lord.

6th Week in Ordinary Time 2024 - Monday - Enduring Trials with Joy

 Just two days before the great season of Lent, we have the powerful words of St. James encouraging Christians to endure their trials with joy.

Now St. James was writing just 20-30 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, so to that first generation of Christians. Most of that first generation of Christians were Jewish converts to Christ who were being kicked out of their synagogues and facing the social, economic, and various other consequences for their choice to convert.  And so St. James, writing as an apostle who himself would go to his death for Christ, encouraged these new Christians to keep the faith amidst these trials, and even to endure them with joy.

What a perfect truth of our faith for us to ponder as we prepare for the season of lent, a season associated with trial, challenge, penance, endurance. It was a trial for Jesus to fast for 40 days. It was a trial for Jesus to take up his cross. And Lent helps us associate with Our Lord’s own trials, by taking up penances for the good of our own souls and that of others.

But James says do just endure trials. Rather, endure them with joy. How is that possible?

It is impossible to endure trials with joy if we are not rooted in our faith. 

Trusting in God's sovereignty and making acts of faith that God is in control--that God is working all things for the good of those who love Him is foundational. There can be no joy without faith.

Prayer is foundational in times of trial. Seeking God in prayer allows us not only to express our struggles, fears, and concerns to God, but to seek God’s will in our trials—to seek God Himself—God’s very presence with us in our trials. 

Viewing our trials as opportunities for spiritual growth in a key to joy. For as St. Paul writes to the Romans, our trials produce endurance, character, and hope and even joy.

The fact that we are not alone in our trials, but that we are part of the community of believers can make our trials not just more manageable but opens us to the joy of being inspired by fellow believers and the knowledge that we are inspiring to others. 

Expressing gratitude in the midst of trials produces joy. When we focus on the good we have, the strength that is given, the knowledge that our sufferings are opportunities for conformity with Christ, joy is produced. 

And finally, keeping an eternal perspective helps Christians see beyond the temporary sufferings to the eternal joy that awaits—we recognize that the Lord promised us eternal reward for those who take up their cross and follow him—that our earthly sufferings are inevitable and part of the royal road to heaven. 

Enduring trials with joy does not mean denying or suppressing emotions, or being pollyannish about our sufferings, but growing in our experience of God through our trials. May the Lord sustain us in our trials, help us endure them with faith, hope, and love, and to come to know the joy of the eternal kingdom for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

That the Holy Spirit may embolden us in the mission of the Church and help us to put our physical, intellectual, and spiritual gifts more fully in the Lord’s service. 

That legislators and government leaders may be guided by the Word of God to promote just laws and compassionate policies especially for the unborn, the elderly, and the most vulnerable.

That the upcoming season of Lent may be a time of profound renewal for our parish and the Church as we engage in the penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. 

For those preparing for the Easter Sacraments: may God’s Word help them to experience the grace of daily conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ.

For those who struggle because of addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind:  that God’s Spirit will rest upon them, relieve their suffering and lead them to wholeness and holiness. 

For the deceased members of our family and friends, for all the souls in purgatory and for…

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.

 

6th week of OT 2020 - Monday - Undergoing trials joyfully

Up until Ash Wednesday, our weekday readings will be taken from the Letter of St. James. As indicated by its opening verses, which we heard today, James is writing to a group of Christians undergoing trials in the faith—various trials. Some of those trials for James’ original audience included persecution from outsiders—from non-Christians, but James also addresses some strong tensions within the Christian community—gossip, favoritism, and factions were creating internal strife.

“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James’ words here are universally applicable to every Christian. For trial—suffering—is an inevitable part of life. Sickness, poverty, abandonment, grief, temptation, pressure from family or neighbor to hide our faith, just to name a few.

“Consider it joy” James says, when you face these things. Take the view that these things can strengthen you. View these things in light of God’s plan for your soul. That’s not always easy. We aren’t always thinking about God when we are suffering, but we should, says James. We need to adopt the perspective of viewing all things in light of God’s plan, and see the good that God can bring out of the evils we suffer.

For James, faith means more than belief in God; faith means a life lived in fidelity, commitment, and truth; an interior commitment to God expressed in concrete behaviors. We are to consider it joy when we face trials because here is an opportunity to commit to God, and that commitment brings perfection, wisdom, the ability to withstand greater trials in the future.

We do well to identify, in what areas of our life do we need greater faith? What sufferings, what trials, do we need to undergo with greater faith—greater trust? Where have failed to see the hand of God working in my life? How can I undergo my sufferings more joyfully—for the glory of God and salvation of souls?
 
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That Christians undergoing any sort of trial, may joyfully unite their sufferings to Christ and persevere in faith.

For Bishop Perez, as he is installed as Archbishop of Philadelphia tomorrow, for blessings upon his ministry, and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance to direct the appointment of a new Bishop for the Church of Cleveland.

That young people may seek Christ amidst all the perversions and distractions of the world, and for the protection of innocent human life from evil.

For healing for all those suffering disease, especially diseases without known cures, for the people of China and all people afflicted by the Coronavirus, and all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, and For the Holy Father’s prayer intentions for this month: that the needs of migrants and victims of human trafficking may be heard and acted upon.

For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith, we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.