Month: November 2019

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When speaking about this Gospel, Pope Francis said, “Faced with the needs of others, we are called to deprive ourselves of essential things, not only the superfluous; we are called to give the necessary time, not only what remains extra; we are called to give immediately and unconditionally some of our talent, not after using it for our own purposes or our own group”

Today’s Gospel is one of those readings that hits me in the gut–hard–every time I read it. God, by giving His only Son as a ransom for our sins, taught us how to love sacrificially and unconditionally. The image of the Crucifix is the image of love because it is an outpouring of love that allows for us to be cleansed from our sins and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The image of the poor widow who offers her whole livelihood is the image we should imitate when we offer ourselves to Christ at the foot of the Cross.

Christ presents this poor widow as a model of charity and generosity. In a time when widows were considered totally defenseless, Christ raises her up as an example of how to live a virtuous life. He chose to point out a woman who is the meekest of the crowd because he sees her, not for her poverty, but for the love and faith she shows. She does not do so in order to gain praise but rather to give praise. In giving her whole livelihood, she submits herself to the Will of God and trusts in His goodness and mercy.

My favorite part of this Gospel is that it serves as a reminder that Christ knows each one of us. He knows our hearts. He knows exactly how much we have and exactly how much we give. We have no need to impress Him or try to prove our worth by means of grand gestures. In the same way that he saw “wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury,” so too, “he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.”

We take nothing with us when we go, so why do we spend so much of our lives collecting things? We collect clothes and movies and books. We save up for the fastest car or the biggest house or the best vacations. But the fact of the matter is, one day we are going to answer God’s question of, “And what did you save for me? What did you collect for me?”

As we approach Thanksgiving this week may we be grateful for all the blessings in our lives and may we take the opportunity to love sacrificially and unconditionally because, as St. Mother Teresa said, “I have found the paradox; if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” The sacrificial love we show will only produce more love.

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Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.

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I think sometimes we lose the depth of scripture because we have 2,000 years of theological insight and historical data to help us interpret what is being said. The beautiful then becomes commonplace, just another story we have heard over and over again. But put yourself in the place of the early Christians for just a second, or better yet, put yourself in place of the good thief on the cross.

Here, everyone is screaming for a sign. “If you are truly the Son of God, save yourself.” These taunts seem very similar to those of Satan in the desert, don’t they? Perhaps not a coincidence. The accusers get louder, and Jesus does nothing. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords lets it all happen. Now, of course, we know from 2,000 years of theological insight and because of the historical fact of the resurrection, that Jesus had a plan, but the good thief did not.

Let that sink in. Here is a man on death row who has heard some ramblings about Jesus but does not have a relationship with him. Here he is in his last moments, and what he sees with his eyes is that Jesus does not have real power, but what he knows in his heart is much different. Despite what it may look like or appear to be, God was working in this man’s heart. He was allowing his heart to open enough to have expectant faith that what Jesus said in his public ministry for three years was all true. This leads to one of the most profound expectations of faith we hear in scripture, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Notice, this wasn’t a question; It wasn’t a plea for forgiveness; It was a cry of belief, of pure faith. It was this faith that saved him. The evidence was stacked against him, but he cried out with an expectation that God was who he said he was. The Church knows this reality when it comes to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is hard to believe in because it still looks like bread and wine. Even the Church has the famous line written by Aquinas, “Faith will tell us Christ is present when our human senses fail.”

Could you imagine what would happen if every Catholic approached communion with this expectant faith? “God, everything around me is trying to say that you don’t exist, and you don’t care, but with your grace, I can open my heart and cry out AMEN!” The word amen actually means I believe. How often do we approach the Eucharist and either doubt God’s power or just let it become commonplace like those 2,000-year-old Gospel stories? Let’s all take a cue from the good thief and cry amen with expectant faith, that God is who he says he is, and he is truly present to us in the Eucharist. Give it a try. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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When I was studying for my Master’s degree in leadership, I remember one of my professors emphasizing not to get hung up on the complaints that people bring, but to listen behind the questions and follow the thread of what they were saying to get to the real issue.

Jesus is a beautiful example of this style of leadership in today’s Gospel. The Sadducees and the Pharisees approach Jesus to try and trip him up with a question about the resurrection, marriage, and Jewish Law. They don’t like this itinerant preacher who is drawing such crowds and they want to discredit him. They come up with a convoluted “what if” which is intended to trap Jesus into questionable teaching regardless of the answer given.

But Jesus doesn’t get hung up on their question. He listens behind the question to address the underlying issue. You see, the Sadducees and the Pharisees were uncomfortable bedfellows. While the Pharisees were the experts on Jewish Law and insisted on a very literal interpretation, the Sadducees were an elitist type of aristocrat. They also interpreted the law in a very literal sense, but they maintained their position at the top of the pecking order by cooperating with the Roman order. They became so convinced of their place in the scheme of things, that they had lost faith in the resurrection. They believed that the messianic kingdom was already in place. Belief in the resurrection, both among the Pharisees and others, was growing and this belief was motivation to not accept the social order of the day and to look for the kingdom to come. Belief in the resurrection was a threat to the Sadducees’ way of life.

To our modern ears, the whole exchange sounds lengthy and full of odd sounding phrases which can be mystifying. Part of this is because Jesus doesn’t answer their carefully crafted question, he goes behind the question to the real issue. They didn’t believe in the resurrection and their lack of faith keeps them focused on preserving the social order. Marriage has become a means for fulfilling the law rather than a sacramental relationship instituted to image God’s love to the world.

Jesus starts right out by telling them they don’t know what they are talking about. “The children of this world take husbands and wives.” This life is only a preparation for what is to come, the world where “in the resurrection from the dead [they] do not marry because they can no longer die.”

The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God’s covenant with man: “Authentic married love is caught up into divine love.” (CCC 1639) Marriage is an image of God’s unfailing love. “God who created man out of love also calls him to love-the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being.” (CCC 1604) Marriage is not about status or social convention, marriage is the image of “the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man.” After the resurrection we will no longer need the image of God’s love because we will be finally at home in the actual presence of His love!

Jesus shows them again how little they know, “…being children of the resurrection they are children of God.” Jesus isn’t here to establish a kingdom with a hierarchy of nobles and peasants, Jesus came so that we might be part of the family, children of God.

I think too, we need to be careful to not be modern day Sadducees and Pharisees. Too often (especially on social media) we get into debates about things which may not really matter in the long run. Should we hold hands or keep praying hands during the “Our Father”? Do we kneel to receive communion or do we reverently bow and accept the gift of our Lord and Savior? I am not entering into the fray or claiming one is better than the other, but I do think that if Jesus was responding, he wouldn’t be as worried about the position of our hands as the formation of our hearts. He might also be surprised that we are even paying attention to what others are doing instead of focusing our own heart and attention on Him. Let’s not get caught up in the social order of today, but prepare our hearts for the kingdom to come.

After all we are family, God’s family. And in families there is room for all sorts of ways of doing things. There is room in the Catholic family for quiet worship and loud praise. There is room for hand holding and for holding our hands in prayer. We can disagree on these things but we still come home for the holidays. We still have a need to be in relationship with one another and with the one who created us. So the next time you get a question, try to slow down and listen beyond the question to what lies behind it. Follow that thread and you will find it is the thread of God’s love which ultimately connects and binds us to each other and to Him.

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for us!

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Sheryl delights in being the number 1 cheerleader and supporter for her husband, Tom who is a candidate for the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. They are so grateful for the opportunity to grow together in this process whether it is studying for classes, deepening their prayer life or discovering new ways to serve together. Sheryl’s day job is serving her community as the principal for St. Therese Catholic School in Wayland, Michigan. Since every time she thinks she gets life all figured out, she realizes just how far she has to go, St. Rita of Cascia is her go-to Saint for intercession and help. Home includes Brea, a Bernese Mountain dog and Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever.