Ears of faith

Sisters and brothers in Christ, in our CALLED TO BE ONE Marriage Class, we have a session on "Communication & Conflict Resolution", which is taught by Stephen & Laura. They tell the couples that studies show that there are levels of hearing. The first level of hearing is just soundwaves reverberating against the eardrum. The second level of hearing is hearing and repeating what one just heard. The third level of hearing is hearing and understanding what one just heard. Married couples must learn to hear and understand each other to avoid misunderstanding in their relationship and that takes time and practice. This applies to how we hear God's voice in our lives as well.

In today's Gospel, Jesus ends with parable with "Whoever has ears ought to hear." The "ears" our Lord is talking about is our "ear" of faith. Have we trained our ears - through Mass attendance, prayer, adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, receiving him in the Eucharist, etc. - to hear God's voice. Or have we allowed the noise of this world to drown out  God's voice in our lives. Or worst, have we chosen to ignore God when He speaks to us. .S. Lewis once said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. . ." However, are we listening? Are our "ears" of faith like "the path", the "rocky ground", or "the thorns"? If we answer "yes" to any of these, then let us pray and ask the Holy Spirit to form our "ears" of faith to "rich soil" so that we may not only hear God's voice but listen with a loving heart.

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Gospel of the Day

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Sisters and brothers in Christ

Sisters and brothers in Christ, I have two brothers who I adore and love dearly. We grew up playing LEGOs, Atari, Nintendo, rode bikes together, and watched afterschool cartoons and shared laughs. Over years, especially since coming into the Catholic Church, I have also gained spiritual brothers and sisters (my brother Knights, CRHP sisters and brothers, brother deacons, brother clergy, etc.). I am also blessed to be godfather (or spiritual father) to my godchildren, including my niece. These are my brothers and my sisters, as Jesus tells us in today's Gospel.

All of us, in our own way, discern God's will for us and our families and we do our best to help each other navigate this crazy world we live in. However, it can be challenging at times because of our human nature and experiences. In those moments when we find it difficult to love as we should, our Lord, in today's first reading, reminds us how ought to love one another as He loves us - do not persist in anger, have compassion for each other, pardon (forgive) one another, etc. When we do these things, it helps us to realize that we are on the same journey in life, seeking meaning and purpose, and helping each other to be the best version that we can be. After all, we are created in the image and likeness of our Father in heaven who is love and loves us.

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While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

God whispers, speaks, and shouts

Sisters and brothers in Christ, we seek signs from God of His existence in the world and, more intimately, of His presence in our lives. C.S. Lewis once said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. . ." Are we listening to God? The people of Ninevah, as we heard in today's Gospel, did not heard God until He sent Jonah through their city with a "megaphone", shouting: "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown." What did the people do? The Ninevites, including their king, listened to God, who shouted through Jonah, and repented.

Perhaps God has not shouted loud enough in our lives for us to hear and listen to Him. However, it is more likely that we hear God but choose (of our own free-will) not to listen to him. That is on us, not God, when the time of Judgment comes for all of us. So what is it the God asks of us, requires of us? We find the answer in today's first reading: "Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God." Sounds easy enough but it is not. We need the grace of God to help us "walk humbly" and do what is right and love goodness. Grace we can receive when we seek the Lord our God and listen to Him.

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Gospel of the Day

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this  generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”

Mary and Martha

Sisters and brothers in Christ, the familiar story of Mary and Martha, in today's Gospel, shows us what it entails to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Mary represents "being". Psalm 46:10 tells us: "Be still and know that I am God!" and, indeed, Mary "sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak." Martha represents "doing". When God approached his disciples, he called out to them and said, "follow me", and, indeed, they followed him.

Through our baptism, Jesus claims us as his and we become adopted sons and daughters of the Father through Christ. Our identity rests in "being" a child of God. However, through our baptism, Jesus also gives us a mission, the same mission that he gave his disciples - "go. . . and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

"Being" and "doing", two arms of discipleship; however, as Jesus tells us: "Mary has chosen the better part." Mary, who is "being" in the presence of God, chose the better part because who we are and what we are called to do in life flows from one source - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May we be like Mary and Martha because this world of ours needs to know that we are God's beloved and our purpose in life is to discern and do God's will.

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Gospel of the Day

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

Love for life did not deter them from death

Sisters and brothers in Christ, today's Gospel reminded me these verses from the Book of Revelation, which is prayed in Evening Prayer:

For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, Who night and day accused them before God. They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb And by the word of their testimony; Love for life did not deter them from death. So rejoice, you heavens, And you that dwell therein!

Even though the "Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death", even the threat of death did not deter our Lord from carrying out the mission that his Father in heaven gave him. Rather, Jesus continued to preach the kingdom of heaven and cure all those who followed him. We this is "heroic witness" through the history of the Catholic Church in her saints, many of whom were martyred for their faith and belief in God.

We are called to be "heroic witnesses" of God's love to those we encounter in our daily lives, by our words but, most of all, by what we do for our neighbors. How can we overcome our fear (whatever it may be) to help our fellow man in need? More importantly, how can we overcome whatever it is that is holding us back from following Jesus completely and loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind?

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Gospel of the Day

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

Keep holy the sabbath.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, do we keep holy the sabbath? Do we go to Mass and give our Lord and our God praise and thanksgiving for the precious gift of our life - with its imperfections and all? Or do we allow the idols in our lives to distract us and lead us away from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

It would seem that way as more and more people have stopped going to Mass or their places of worship on Sundays. Shunning the Lord and telling him "No" when he asks: "could you not be with me for an hour?" In doing so, they have forgotten who they are - beloved sons and daughters of the Father - and their true purpose in life - to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and mind.

Therefore, over the next three years of the Eucharistic Revival in the U.S., it is up to us - the "remnant" - to share this message from the Lord with our sisters and brothers, who have strayed from their Father in heaven, that they may come back to Him:

"Thus says the LORD: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you. . ."

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Gospel of the Day

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

Burdened? Jesus will give you rest.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, what weighs on our hearts. What burdens us? Is it feeling of unworthiness? Is it unforgiveness? What keeps us up at nights, tossing and turning? Despair?

Earlier this evening, I prayed over a young mother and she wept. As I prayed for her, I felt the weight of her world that she carries on her shoulders and it wears on her. I ask our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede for this young mother and wrap her in her mantle of love and keep her close to her Immaculate Heart. I prayed that this young mother always has the courage and strength to turn to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in her time of need and firmly believe. . . Jesus, I trust in you.

We turn to God in faith because He is our hope. He loves us. Jesus reminds us of this in today's Gospel, saying: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

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Gospel of the Day

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”