Heavenly Father,
you have given us the model of life
in the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Help us, O Loving Father,
to make our family another Nazareth
where love, peace and joy reign.
May it be deeply contemplative,
intensely eucharistic,
revived with joy.
Help us to stay together in joy
and sorrow in family prayer.
Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families,
especially in their distressing disguise.
May the eucharistic heart of Jesus
make our hearts humble …
The readings today became clearer to me once I realized it is also the feast of St.Teresa of Calcutta.
The First Reading tells us that old yeast, even a little, can leaven all the dough. This symbolizes the yeast of malice and wickedness of the times. Mother Teresa, as she was known during her lifetime, was a person of sincerity and truth, led by her faith in the Lord Christ Jesus.
St. Teresa is nicknamed the “saint of the gutters” because of her dedication to serve the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India. Mother Teresa died in 1997 when the name of the city was still Calcutta. When she was canonized her title became St. Teresa of Calcutta. The name changed to Kolkata to match the local language in 2001.
The First Reading speaks of a sorrowful soul who is not inflated with pride. We know from Mother Teresa’s correspondence with her confessor, that she experienced a profound darkness and dryness in her own soul, which occurred throughout her ministry with the poorest of the poor. St. Teresa wrote to her spiritual director that “loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible kind of poverty”. The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa in 1950, can now be found serving in over one hundred and thirty-three countries around the world.
In the Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees hoped to catch Jesus breaking the sabbath by curing the man with a withered hand. Jesus did so. St. Teresa helped the poorest of the poor in every type of poverty: emotional, financial, mental, physical, and spiritual. She did this because of her trust in the Lord’s call and her love and devotion to Him. Through her quiet, tenacious inner strength and faith, St. Teresa is a model for us all.
St. Teresa, you lived your life strong in faith and love of God. You reached out to help everyone you met, especially the poor and homeless. Help us to care about others and help them when they need us. Help us to grow together strong in our faith and love of God to be the best we can be. St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us. Amen.
Las lecturas de hoy se hicieron más claras para mí una vez que me di cuenta de que también es la fiesta de Santa Teresa de Calcuta.
La Primera Lectura nos dice que la levadura vieja, aunque sea un poco, puede fermentar toda la masa. Esto simboliza la levadura de la malicia y la maldad de los tiempos. La Madre Teresa, como se la conocía durante su vida, era una persona sincera y veraz, guiada por su fe en el Señor Jesucristo.
Santa Teresa es apodada la “santa de las alcantarillas” debido a su dedicación para servir a los más pobres en los barrios marginales de Calcuta, India. La Madre Teresa murió en 1997 cuando el nombre de la ciudad aún era Calcuta. Cuando fue canonizada, su título se convirtió en Santa Teresa de Calcuta. El nombre cambió a Kolkata para coincidir con el idioma local en 2001.
La Primera Lectura habla de un alma afligida que no se infla de orgullo. Sabemos por la correspondencia de la Madre Teresa con su confesor, que experimentó una profunda oscuridad y sequedad en su propia alma, que se produjo a lo largo de su ministerio con los más pobres. Santa Teresa escribió a su director espiritual que “la soledad y el sentimiento de no ser querido es la pobreza más terrible”. Las Misioneras de la Caridad, fundada por la Madre Teresa en 1950, ahora se encuentra sirviendo en más de ciento treinta y tres países alrededor del mundo.
En el Evangelio, los escribas y fariseos esperaban atrapar a Jesús deshonrando el día de reposo curando al hombre que tenía una mano seca. Jesús lo hizo. Santa Teresa ayudó a los más pobres en todo tipo de pobreza: emocional, financiera, mental, física y espiritual. Ella hizo esto por su confianza en el llamado del Señor y su amor y devoción a Él. A través de su tranquila y tenaz fuerza interior y fe, Santa Teresa es un modelo para todos nosotros.
Santa Teresa, viviste tu vida fuerte en la fe y el amor de Dios. Extendiste la mano para ayudar a todos los que conociste, especialmente a los pobres y las personas sin hogar. Ayúdanos a preocuparnos por los demás y ayudarlos cuando nos necesiten. Ayúdanos a crecer juntos, fuertes en nuestra fe y amor a Dios para ser lo mejor que podamos ser. Santa Teresa de Calcuta, ruega por nosotros. Amén.
Beth Price is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and a practicing spiritual director. Beth shares smiles, prayers, laughter, a listening ear and her heart with all of creation. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.
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The remarkable woman who would be known as Mother Teresa began life named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, she was the youngest child born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu. Receiving her First Communion at the age of five, she was confirmed in November 1916. Her father died while she was only eight years old leaving her family in financial straits.
Gonxha’s religious formation was assisted by the vibrant Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart in which she was very involved as a …
O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God,
to you belong praise, glory,
honour and all blessing.
Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation
and especially for our Brother Sun,
who brings us the day and the light;
he is strong and shines magnificently.
O Lord, we think of you when we look at him.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon,
and for the stars
which you have set shining and lovely
in the heavens.
Be praised, my Lord,
for our Brothers Wind and Air
and every kind …
Humility has been front and center in the readings these last two Sundays. Humility is often a misunderstood and maligned idea, but the readings today and last Sunday shed some light on what humility really means.
Last Sunday, we were advised not to exaggerate our abilities or consider ourselves more important than we are. Humility isn’t pretending we are worse or lowlier than we actually are, either. It is being honest about our strengths and limitations, both with ourselves and others, recognizing that all our gifts ultimately come from God.
This Sunday, we hear another aspect of humility: knowing our place in relation to God. How can we, in our limited human perspective, imagine that we know what God should do? That anything we know wasn’t first revealed to us by God? That anything we have didn’t come, directly or indirectly, from God? Furthermore, that anything we have, even relationships with loved ones, can be anything more than a pale comparison to the unfathomable gifts God gives and will give us?
One way I’ve heard people sum up this aspect of humility is by saying, “There is a God, and I am not Him!” There’s a kind of freedom in this aspect of humility – I can let God be God and take care of the things that are beyond my ability and understanding. I can turn to Him when my limited strength fails me and I cannot finish building my tower, and let Him guide me. I might even find that, if I would have had the humility to consult God first, I would have been building a bridge instead of a tower.
La humildad ha sido una idea céntrica de las lecturas estos últimos dos domingos. La humildad es a menudo una idea mal entendida y difamada, pero las lecturas de hoy y del domingo pasado alumbran lo que realmente significa la humildad.
El domingo pasado se nos aconsejó no exagerar nuestras capacidades ni considerarnos más importantes de lo que somos. La humildad tampoco es pretender que somos peores o más bajos de lo que realmente somos. Es ser honesto acerca de nuestras fortalezas y limitaciones, tanto con nosotros mismos como con los demás, reconociendo que, en última instancia, todos nuestros dones provienen de Dios.
Este domingo escuchamos otro aspecto de la humildad: reconocer nuestro lugar en relación con Dios. ¿Cómo podemos, en nuestra perspectiva humana limitada, imaginar que sabemos lo que Dios debe hacer? ¿Que todo lo que sabemos no nos fue revelado primero por Dios? ¿Que todo lo que tenemos no viene, directa o indirectamente, de Dios? Además, ¿que todo lo que tenemos, incluso las relaciones con los seres queridos, puede ser algo más que una pálida comparación con los dones insondables que Dios nos da y nos dará?
Una forma que he oído resumir este aspecto de la humildad es diciendo: “¡Existe un Dios, y yo no soy Él!” Hay una especie de libertad en este aspecto de la humildad: puedo dejar que Dios sea Dios y se ocupe de las cosas que están más allá de mi capacidad y comprensión. Puedo acudir a Él cuando mis fuerzas limitadas me fallan y no puedo terminar de “construir mi torre”, y dejar que Él me guíe. Incluso podría encontrar que, si hubiera tenido la humildad de consultar a Dios primero, habría estado construyendo un puente en lugar de una torre.
J.M. Pallas has had a lifelong love of Scriptures. When she is not busy with her vocation as a wife and mother to her “1 Samuel 1” son, or her vocation as a public health educator, you may find her at her parish women’s bible study, affectionately known as “The Bible Chicks.”
Feature Image Credit: chriszwettler, pixabay.com/photos/nature-adventure-hike-travel-6817376/
St. Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, was a descendant of the great Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo in Sicily. In her youth, her heart turned from earthly vanities to God. She left her home and took up her abode in a cave, on the walls of which she wrote these words: “I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.” She remained there entirely hidden from …
O Dearly beloved Word of God, teach me to be generous, to serve Thee as Thou dost deserve, to give without counting the cost, to fight without fretting at my wounds, to labor without seeking rest, to spend myself without looking for any reward other than that of knowing that I do Thy holy will. Amen.
Not all people are equal. Pretty controversial way to start a blog post right? But it is true that not all people are equal. Or maybe a better way to say it is that not all people are the same. Now, please don’t misread this, we are all beloved children of God and all have equal dignity. Each and every one of us was formed by the hands of the Creator and because of that very fact we all deserve love. But that does not mean we are equal in everything. Think for just a second about some of the noticeable differences. You may be male or female, tall or short, book smart or street smart, artistic or mathematical. Not all people are equal.
We hear as much in today’s First Reading where the apostles see themselves as unequal to the rest of the disciples. We also see it in the Gospel today where Jesus makes it clear that he is the Lord of the Sabbath and that the Pharisees are not. There is biblical evidence that not all men are equal. I propose that many of the problems we have in our society today come from this idea that we all have to be the same. It’s as if we look at our differences as holding us back because we have made inequality the dirty word of the 21st century.
But not all people are equal. God did not make us equal. Now again, we are all equal in our dignity as being made in the image of God, but beyond that we have many differences. I like to think of this by looking at our very DNA. Typically a human being is going to have an XY or XX chromosomal structure which is going to determine your sex. What is similar about these two patterns? They both start with the same letter. I like to think of that as the very life of God written into our bodies. We are all equal under God and made in his image and likeness. But then you get to the second letter in the genetic code. This is where the difference comes in. This one little letter will determine many different factors that will set us apart from others. But instead of seeing difference as a negative thing, I propose we look at it as a positive.
Damon Owens once said that man and woman were not created different from each other, but rather for each other. In other words, the differences we have and the “inequality” that exists in humanity, just might be necessary differences that can help us all build each other up. Think about your parish for a second. It contains a mix of people from all different backgrounds, races, creeds, and families. Every single individual is part of the family of God, but they also have unique and individual talents that can build up that kingdom. It’s the same with you. So I think our question today should not be how to be more like everyone else, but instead, how can we use the unique talents we have been given to serve others and to love God.
If it is hard to tell what makes you unique, then ask God. He is the one who created you with immense dignity, but also with that individual spark that makes you unique. I say we thank God that we are not all the same, jump into the difference, and build the kingdom one gift and one talent at a time. I will leave you with Paul who drives this point home. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” -1 Corinthians 12:4-7
No todas las personas son iguales. Una forma bastante controversial de comenzar una publicación de blog, ¿verdad? Pero es cierto que no todas las personas son iguales. O tal vez una manera mejor de decirlo es que no todas las personas son iguales. Ahora, por favor, no malinterprete esto, todos somos hijos amados de Dios y todos tenemos la misma dignidad. Todos y cada uno de nosotros fuimos formados por las manos del Creador y por eso mismo todos merecemos amor. Pero eso no significa que seamos iguales en todo. Piense por un segundo en algunas de las diferencias notables. Ya que sea hombre o mujer, alto o bajo, que tenga inteligencia para los libros o la calle, que sea artístico o matemático… No todas las personas son iguales.
Lo escuchamos mucho en la Primera Lectura de hoy donde los apóstoles se ven a sí mismos como desiguales al resto de los discípulos. También lo vemos en el Evangelio de hoy donde Jesús deja claro que él es el Señor del sábado y que los fariseos no lo son. Hay evidencia bíblica de que no todos los hombres son iguales. Propongo que muchos de los problemas que tenemos hoy en nuestra sociedad vienen de esta idea de que todos tenemos que ser iguales. Es como si consideráramos nuestras diferencias como un freno porque hemos hecho de la desigualdad la mala palabra del siglo XXI.
Pero no todas las personas son iguales. Dios no nos hizo iguales. Ahora, todos somos iguales en nuestra dignidad ya que somos hechos a la imagen de Dios, pero más allá de eso tenemos muchas diferencias. Me gusta pensar en esto mirando nuestro propio ADN. Por lo general, un ser humano tendrá una estructura cromosómica XY o XX que determinará su sexo. ¿Qué tienen de similar estos dos patrones? Ambos comienzan con la misma letra. Me gusta pensar en eso como la misma vida que Dios escribió en nuestros cuerpos. Todos somos iguales ante Dios y hechos a su imagen y semejanza. Pero luego llegas a la segunda letra del código genético. Aquí es donde entra la diferencia. Esta pequeña letra determinará muchos factores diferentes que nos diferenciarán de los demás. Pero en lugar de ver la diferencia como algo negativo, propongo que la veamos como algo positivo.
Damon Owens dijo una vez que el hombre y la mujer no fueron creados diferentes el uno del otro, sino el uno para el otro. En otras palabras, las diferencias que tenemos y la “desigualdad” que existe en la humanidad, pueden ser diferencias necesarias que nos ayuden a construirnos entre todos. Piense en su parroquia por un segundo. Contiene una mezcla de personas de diferentes orígenes, razas, credos y familias. Cada individuo es parte de la familia de Dios, pero también tiene talentos únicos e individuales que pueden construir ese reino. Es lo mismo contigo. Así que creo que nuestra pregunta de hoy no debería ser cómo podemos ser más como los demás, sino cómo podemos usar los talentos únicos que se nos han dado para servir a los demás y amar a Dios.
Si es difícil reconocer lo que te hace único, pregúntale a Dios. Él te creó con una dignidad inmensa, pero también con esa chispa individual que te hace único. Yo sugiero que agradezcamos a Dios que no todos somos iguales, entramos plenamente a esa diferencia y construyamos el Reino un don y un talento a la vez. Los dejo con San Pablo, quien resalta este punto. “Ahora bien, hay variedad de dones, pero un mismo Espíritu; y hay variedad de servicios, pero un mismo Señor; y hay variedad de actividades, pero es el mismo Dios quien las activa todas en todos. A cada uno le es dado la manifestación del Espíritu para el bien común”. -1 Corintios 12:4-7
Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”
Feature Image Credit: Markus Winkler, unsplash.com/photos/97Ncs6x3NTg
Pope Saint Gregory I, also known as the Great, was the Pope of the Catholic Church between 590 and 604 AD.
Gregory was born around 540 in Rome. The exact date of his birth is unknown. Although the Western Roman Empire had collapsed long before his birth, many ancient Roman families still commanded great wealth and influence in the city. Gregory was born into one such family. His great-great-grandfather was Pope Felix III who reigned from 483 to 492. (Astute readers may suspect this to be a …
Heavenly Father, I ask You in the name,
and through the Blood of Your Divine Son,
to rebuke Satan for taking captive
that which belongs to You.
I ask Jesus to place His Crown of thorns around
(Name the person)
so that those with wrong influences
will lose interest and depart.
Mary Mother of Jesus,
place your mantle of love around,
(your son and/or your daughter.)
Amen
St. Michael, protect them.