DAILY PRAYER

“Carry it through now to a successful completion, so that your ready resolve may be matched by giving according to your means.  The willingness to give should accord with one’s means, not go beyond them.” (2 Cor. 8:11-12)

The seventh commandment obliges us to respect our neighbor’s things.  There is a primal instinct in us to defend our ‘stuff”; even though we may see the need to share our of our abundance and the needs of others.

Though we may fancy ourselves as generous, our base instincts get the best of us.

We prefer to spend frivolously and waste money than to share with the needy.

For the Christian, there are two ‘fundamental laws of love.’   One is that we do for others, that which we would prefer they would do for us in similar circumstances: (read Luke 10: 27).   Two, is that which is the most perfect love— that we love one another as Christ has loved us: (read John 13: 34-35)

“For your sake, our Lord Jesus Christ made himself poor though he was rich so that you might become rich by his poverty.” (9)

“I assure you, this poor widow has put in more than all the rest.  They make contributions out of their surplus, but she from her want has given what she could not afford—every penny she had to live on.”  (Lk. 21: 3-4)

“Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you… for I was hungry and you gave me food…”  (Mt. 25:31-46)

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 92:6 “How very deep are your thoughts!  A senseless man knows not, nor does the fool understand.”

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Sts. Peter & Paul Read: Acts 12:1-11  2 Tm 4:6-8, 17-18  Mt 16:13-19 (Pss Prop)

DAILY PRAYER

“Herod proceeded to arrest Peter also. He had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each.” (Acts 12:3-4)

We celebrate  the memory of the two greatest evangelists and apostles of all time.  They were the fundamental pillars upon which Christianity was initiated: St. Peter and St. Paul.

This incident about Peter recounted in the Book of Acts is very interesting. One of the three Herods the New Testament made infamous – Herod Agripa – after having ordered the death of the apostle James, ordered the arrest of  Peter to ingratiate himself with the Jewish leadership.

“The angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell… saying, ‘Get up quickly’… ‘Put on your belt and your sandals’… ‘Put on your cloak and follow me.’”  (Acts 12:7-8)  And the angel led Peter out of the jail.

When morning came, there was great confusion among the soldiers, for they did not know what had happened to Peter – nor did they understand that the Lord was at his side.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 64:2 “O God, hear my anguished voice; from the foes I dread protect my life.”

St. Peter, d. 64 in Rome; Galilean fisherman; spokesman for the Twelve who became “Prince of the Apostles;” wrote two epistles; patron of all fishermen.

St. Paul, d. 67 in Rome; Pharisee who became the “Apostle to the Gentiles;” responsible for much of the Christian Scriptures; patron of all lay ministers, Cursillo, Catholic Action, and the national patron of Malta and Greece. Both are mentioned in the first Eucharistic Prayer.

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St. Irenaeus Read:    2 Kgs 25: 1-12      Mt 8: 1-4  

DAILY PRAYER

“When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.  And then a leper  approached, did him homage, and said, ‘Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.’  He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I will do it. Be made clean.’ His leprosy was cleansed immediately.”  (Mt 8:1-3)

Miraculous healings go against nature, but are not “permanent,” rather they are meant to enhance and encourage faith in the one who was healed, the witnesses and all those who hear the tale from then on.  Healings make others grow closer to God and to strengthen the Gospel message.

This is true of Jesus’ miracle of the Fish and Loaves.  He gave food to the hungry as a means of teaching them of God’s great power and their need to trust in Providence. 

This is not to say that God will not, in His mercy and goodness, grant healings today.  He very well might — if it is accord with His holy will.  It is not to say that He will not allow the great talents of doctors and scientists (knowledge proceeding from His Creating Hands) to lend their curative powers. 

If our Christian goal is to be with Him forever in life eternal, our immediate goal should always be the fullness of His Kingdom.

All our supplications and intentions should reflect this.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 106:4 “Remember me, LORD, as you favor your people; come to me with your saving help.”

St. Irenaeus, d. 202; from Smyrna; disciple of Polycarp; for 25 years Bishop of Lyons; wrote against the Gnostics, especially in ‘Adversus haereses.’

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St. Cyril of Alexandria Read:  2 Kgs 24: 8-17     Mt 7: 21-29

DAILY PRAYER

“Anyone who hears my words but does not put them into practice is like the foolish man who built his house on sandy ground… It collapsed under all this and was completely ruined.”  (Mt 7:26-27)

Jesus is not just one teacher among many.  If we want the truth, He is the Teacher; there is no alternative. “Whoever puts faith in me believes not so much in me as in him who sent me… I have come to the world as its light, to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining in the dark.”  (Jn 12:44-46)

There is no greater torture for the soul than to futilely seek God or to be filled with doubt and insecurity in our standing with God.  It potentially leads to an existential crises.  

In Jesus, there is no doubt, and the soul finds rest.  His teaching is sure and strong.  The doubting, the “gray nuances,” are our inventions. Our thinking, when done apart from Jesus, is clouded and unclear.  Our whim and egotistical attitudes will only bring us to ruin and isolation.  Many would have us believe we know nothing in Jesus, all is relative.  Nothing could be further from the Truth.  “No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life.”  (Jn 8:12)

If we want Jesus’ words and teachings to have any effect, we must be obedient. “Anyone who hears my words but does not put them into practice…”

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 25:4 “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths.”

St. Cyril, d. 444; defended Mary as “THEOTOKOS” (God-bearer) at the Council of Ephesus (431) against the Nestorians; a spokesman for orthodoxy.

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St. Josemaría Escrivá Read:    2 Kgs 22: 8-13; 23: 1-3        Mt 7: 15-20

DAILY PRAYER

“Be on your guard against false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but underneath are wolves on the prowl.  You will know their deeds.  Do you ever pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from prickly plants?  Never?”  (Mt 7:15-16)

We are a living testimony for, or against, Jesus Christ.

This is no less true for the family.  Children belong to God, and He reserves His rights.

The parent who sets their children against the other parent is doing irreparable harm to their child’s psyche.  But they do much worse still if they neglect to educate their children in the faith, Sacraments, service, or teachings of Jesus.

A “wolf in sheep’s clothing” is the lie that we have to provide all material and worldly goods first before we take care of the spiritual goods of the Lord.  By showing this indifference to our faith in word and deed, what we do is reject God’s plan in our daily affairs and forever teach our children to do the same — God takes up an auxiliary place in our hearts. And we succeed in extinguishing the flame of faith in our child’s heart.

Glorious is the mission of parenting, but how quickly and easily it is misdirected or undermined by not following and living the holiness that God asks of us.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 145:4 “Generation after generation praises your works and proclaims your might.”

St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás, d.1975. Spanish priest founder of Opus Dei. Taught all are called to holiness by God in their ordinary life. He was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, who declared Josemaría should be “counted among the great witnesses of Christianity.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“Enter through the narrow gate.  The gate that leads to damnation is wide, the road is clear, and many choose to travel it.  But how narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it!”  (Mt 7:13-14)

Job had said: “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?  Are not his days those of a hireling?  He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages.” (Job 7:1-2)

Even during tribulation and pain, our existence continues to be a good and marvelous gift.

We do not consider it moral to deprive life even from advanced terminally ill patients.  We believe that life is a gift given from God and must be cherished until natural death.

This fragile and passing existence was given to us as an invitation to the true life: “I solemnly assure you, the man who hears my word and has faith in him who sent me possesses eternal life.  He does not come under condemnation, but has passed from death to life.”   (Jn 5:24)

The person who amasses wealth (or possessions), has to devote all their time, energy, sacrifices, and thought to the acquisition, maintenance, enjoyment, and conservation of those things.  There is time for little else.

“Narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it.”

‘Narrow’ and ‘rough’… because of the exaggerated sense of pleasure and need for the things we desire — while failing to respect the truly valuable gifts that we have received from the Lord.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 34:10 “Those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.”

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Birth of John the Baptist Read:  Is 49: 1-6   Acts 13: 22-26   Lk 1: 57-66, 80  (Pss Prop)

DAILY PRAYER

“’No. He will be called John.’  But they answered her, ‘There is no one among your relatives who has this name.’  So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, ‘John is his name,’ and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.”  (Lk 1:60-64)

Even when the two were still in the wombs of their mothers, Mary visited Elizabeth, who greeted Mary with the exclamation: “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.”  (Lk 1:43-44)

When his time had come, John presented Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. He called on the people to repent of their sins and to do penance.

The first disciples were loyal followers of John the Baptist.  It was John who persuaded them to seek Jesus out: “John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’ The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.” (Jn 1:35-37)

John the Baptist is a model of piety, strength, and courage in the proclamation of the Lord’s message. The Baptist still calls the wayward for a conversion of the heart to Christ.

“You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.”  (Lk 1:76-77)

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 84:12 “The LORD withholds no good thing from those who walk without reproach.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.  Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” (Mk 4: 37-38)

Crisis and adversity are an integral part of life.   Accidents will happen.  Catastrophes will strike.  Natural and man-made disasters are just around the corner.  You are healthy, then you are sick and then you die. 

These skilled fishermen were in fear because of the unusually severe weather they were in and because of the effects of the storm, they were filled with angst. 

Yet Jesus could not appreciate their fear nor join in with them.  Rather, “He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm.” (39)

Jesus taught them their lack of faith would be to their detriment.  “Then he asked them, ‘Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?’” (40)

When we face life’s difficulties we have a choice: to trust in the Lord and know that He will take care of us — emotionally and spiritually resting in His divine Hands.  Or will we shout in panic “We are perishing! Don’t you care?” 

He cares.  Yet He also expects a mature response from us — A response He later modeled for us as He faced a terrifying situation:  “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.”  (Mt 26:39)

“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”  (41)

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 116:10 “I kept faith, even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted!’”

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Sts. Paulinus, John Fisher, Thomas More Read: 2 Chr 24: 17-25     Mt 6: 24-34

DAILY PRAYER

“No man can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be attentive to one and despise the other.  You cannot give yourself to God and money.”  (Mt 6:24)

When a rich young man asked Jesus for the secret of eternal life, the Lord suggested to him that he make himself poor:  that he sell all that he had and distribute his goods to the poor… to free himself from other commitments — and thus be able to follow Him. (Mk 10:17-26)    He was called by the Lord to be an intimate follower — yet he could not!  If he had responded generously to the Lord’s call, he might have been one of the Apostles…  but now we don’t even know his name.

The comfortable loose sight of the eternal in their hearts… The things of God unconsciously take second place.

Things, power, and pride put us in a position of exaggeratedly attending to ourselves; and they tend to minimize the fundamental commitment that we must have to know, love, and serve our God and our neighbor.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 39:5 “A phantom only, man goes his ways; like vapor only are his restless pursuits; he heaps up stores, and knows not who will use them.”

St. Paulinus, d. 431; husband and father who gave his possessions to the poor; dedicated bishop and pastor, especially during the terrible invasion of the Visigoths.

St. John Fisher, d. 1535; chancellor of Cambridge University; bishop of Rochester; dedicated pastor of souls; beheaded for defending the primacy of Rome.

St. Thomas More, d. 1535; married layman, humanist, and chancellor to Henry VIII; wrote ‘Utopia’; beheaded for opposing the king’s divorce of Catherine.

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DAILY PRAYER

“Do not lay up for yourselves an earthly treasure….  Make it your practice instead to store up heavenly treasure, which neither moths nor rust corrode nor thieves break in and steal.”   (Mt 6: 19-20)

The desire to have things is a great obstacle between Christ and us.  The almost rabid desire for things that consumes our daily living in our society leaves little or no room for the spiritual.

We can all fall into the same ambitions.  The difference lies in that some can satisfy them and some cannot.

Those able to acquire the resources to satisfy their multitude of whims are at a severe disadvantage spiritually.  Jesus’ message will seem very foreign indeed. “I assure you, only with difficulty will a rich man enter into the kingdom of God.”  (Mt 19:23)

The riches of Heaven are not compatible with material riches.  Treasure in heaven is gained by the selfless sacrifice of worldly concerns.

“Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes less one; three times I was beaten with rods; I was stoned once, shipwrecked three times; I passed a day and a night on the sea.  I traveled continually, endangered by floods, robbers, my own people, the Gentiles; imperiled in the city, in the desert, at sea…” (2 Cor 11:16-33)

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 49:15 “When a man grows rich, the wealth of his house becomes great, when he dies, he shall take none of it; his wealth shall not follow him down.”

St. Aloysius, d. 1591 at age 23 caring for the sick; renounced a princely inheritance to enter the Society of Jesus; patron of youth and students in Jesuit schools.

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