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Knowing Christ, Our Peace / Conociéndo a Cristo, Nuestro Paz

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In the Bible I keep on my desk at work, today’s Gospel passage has the heading “The Lament of Jerusalem.” That makes sense. Throughout the whole passage, Jesus is certainly lamenting over the city of Jerusalem. It even says that He weeps over it before speaking about what will happen if Jerusalem does not begin to know “what makes for peace,” and it’s not pretty. 

It makes me wonder what Jesus would say and do if He walked past one of our cities today and saw the state of our culture. Talk about a lament. If we use this past Sunday’s Gospel as a measuring stick, we have nation turning against nation, people turning against one another, wars and so much more. It begs the question – do we ourselves know what makes for peace? Does our society know what makes for peace? Survey says … not really. 

There is such a desire for peace in the world today. That’s why many people will jokingly say that they want “world peace” for Christmas or their birthdays – because they see war, strife, discord and more in the world today. All of that adds up to a lack of peace. And often, they make this response jokingly, knowing full well that they will never actually get world peace as a gift.

Would we be desiring peace if we had peace already? Perhaps, because we know exactly what we’re asking for we would surely want more of it. But I have to believe that the reason so many people want peace in the world is because they don’t see peace or are experiencing a lack of peace for themselves. 

The reason Jerusalem did not know peace and soon would be in ruins was because it did not know Jesus or accept Him as the Messiah. Jesus is the one who brings peace. Especially in recent years, our society has rejected Jesus and everything to do with Christianity. 

So what can we do to bring Jesus Christ to the world, to bring peace into the world? We must take our mission of evangelization seriously – to “go, therefore, 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.” (Mt. 28:19-20) We must share the message of Jesus with the world so that the world comes to know Him and love Him and can experience the peace He offers. 

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En la Biblia que tengo en mi escritorio en el trabajo, el pasaje del Evangelio de hoy tiene el título “El Lamento de Jerusalén”. Eso tiene sentido. A lo largo de todo el pasaje, Jesús ciertamente se lamenta por la ciudad de Jerusalén. Incluso dice que Él llora por eso antes de hablar de lo que sucederá si Jerusalén no comienza a saber “lo que hace a la paz”, y no es bonito.

Me hace preguntarme qué diría y haría Jesús si pasara por una de nuestras ciudades hoy y viera el estado de nuestra cultura. Habla de un lamento. Si usamos el Evangelio del domingo pasado como vara de medir, tenemos nación volviéndose contra nación, gente volviéndose unos contra otros, guerras y mucho más. Plantea la pregunta: ¿sabemos nosotros mismos lo que contribuye a la paz? ¿Sabe nuestra sociedad lo que contribuye a la paz? La verdad que no.

Hay mucho deseo de paz en el mundo de hoy. Es por eso que muchas personas dicen en broma que quieren “la paz mundial” para Navidad o sus cumpleaños, porque ven guerra, lucha, discordia y más en el mundo de hoy. Todo eso se suma a la falta de paz, y a menudo, dan esta respuesta en broma, sabiendo muy bien que en realidad nunca obtendrán la paz mundial como regalo.

¿Estaríamos deseando la paz si ya tuviéramos la paz? Tal vez, porque sabemos exactamente lo que estamos pidiendo, seguramente querríamos más. Pero tengo que creer que la razón por la que tantas personas quieren la paz en el mundo es porque no ven la paz o están experimentando una falta de paz para ellos mismos.

La razón por la que Jerusalén no conoció la paz y pronto estaría en ruinas fue porque no conoció a Jesús ni lo aceptó como el Mesías. Jesús es el que trae la paz. Especialmente en los últimos años, nuestra sociedad ha rechazado a Jesús y todo lo que tiene que ver con el cristianismo.

Entonces, ¿qué podemos hacer para traer a Jesucristo al mundo, para traer paz al mundo? Debemos tomar en serio nuestra misión de evangelizar: “Id, pues, y haced discípulos a todas las naciones, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo, enseñándoles a guardar todo lo que te he ordenado.” (Mt 28,19-20) Debemos compartir el mensaje de Jesús con el mundo para que el mundo llegue a conocerlo y amarlo y pueda experimentar la paz que Él ofrece.

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Erin is a Cleveland native and graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is passionate about the Lord Jesus, all things college sports and telling stories and she is blessed enough to get paid for all three of her passions as a full-time youth minister and a freelance sports writer.

Feature Image Credit: Jonathan Meyer, unsplash.com/photos/e9IHjxScV48

St. Hugh of Lincoln: Saint of the Day for Thursday, November 17, 2022

Hugh of Lincoln was the son of William, Lord of Avalon. He was born at Avalon Castle in Burgundy and was raised and educated at a convent at Villard-Benoit after his mother died when he was eight. He was professed at fifteen, ordained a deacon at nineteen, and was made prior of a monastery at Saint-Maxim. While visiting the Grande Chartreuse with his prior in 1160. It was then he decided to become a Carthusian there and was ordained. After ten years, he was named procurator and in 1175 became …

Prayer to Saint Anthony of Padua, Performer of Miracles: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, November 17, 2022

Dear Saint Anthony,

Your prayers obtained miracles during your lifetime. You still seem to move at ease in the realm of minor and major miracles.

Saint Anthony, Performer of Miracles, please obtain for me the blessings God holds in reserve for those who serve Him. Pray that I may be worthy of the promises my Lord Jesus attaches to confident prayer.

[mention your special intentions]

Franciscan Mission Associates

All We Need, And More / Todo lo Que Necesitamos y Hasta Más

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Does your parish church have stained glass windows? From the outside, the windows look dark and dull, but when you are inside the Church, they are richly and brilliantly illuminated.

That is another kind of parable for the lesson of Jesus in today’s Gospel. We see Jesus Himself as the “nobleman” who went to obtain a kingship, giving ten of his servants a gold coin worth 100 days’ wages before he left, giving them specific instructions to “engage in trade” with them. After he became king, he returned to check the “return on investment,” as it were.

These coins can be seen as the talents and graces we are freely given. The Lord gives us everything and invites us to freely put our gifts and our lives in his service and the service of others. He asks us to use what we have (without comparing it to what others have!) to engage fully in life, to help others, and to glorify God. To those who do this generously, Jesus promises a generous reward!

But if we refuse to use what we have been given, it will be as if we have chosen to remain outside the church building in the cold, seeing it as a stone mountain into which we dare not enter. From outside, we cannot see the light streaming in through the colored windows or enter into the hymns of praise rising up from the People of God or partake of the rich banquet of the Body and Blood of Christ. We, therefore, keep ourselves separated from communion with God and His family!

Many things can keep us from fully engaging our gifts: fear, selfishness, ingratitude. We may not really know what we have or what we can do; we may be using our energies to satisfy our own wants and forgetting to look at ways to serve others; we may be blinded by a conviction that we really don’t have enough to give; we may be afraid of the risks of taking our spiritual responsibility seriously; we may be focused on counting the costs. All of these attitudes and more can impel us to “wrap our coin in a handkerchief” rather than “engage in trade”!

Where do we begin to shift engagement? We can begin by making sure that our relationship with God truly has first place in our lives. Then we can take a look at the duties and responsibilities before us, in our family and at work, and assess whether we are doing all we can for the people around us. Next, we can look at our parish, to see where we might be of service to further the mission of the Church!

We need not fear that we will run out of anything. If we are doing what God calls us to do, we are given more! When we engage our gifts and talents in His service, we will always have all we need.

¿Tu iglesia parroquial tiene vitrales? Desde el exterior, las ventanas se ven oscuras y aburridas, pero cuando estás dentro de la Iglesia, están ricamente y brillantemente iluminadas.

Ese es otro tipo de parábola para la lección de Jesús en el Evangelio de hoy. Vemos a Jesús mismo como el “hombre noble” que fue a obtener un reinado, dando a diez de sus sirvientes una moneda de oro por valor de 100 días de salario antes de irse, dándoles instrucciones específicas para “comerciar” con ellos. Después de convertirse en rey, regresó para verificar el “retorno de la inversión”, por así decirlo.

Estas monedas pueden verse como los talentos y las gracias que se nos dan gratuitamente. El Señor nos da todo y nos invita a poner libremente nuestros dones y nuestra vida a su servicio y al servicio de los demás. Nos pide que usemos lo que tenemos (¡sin compararlo con lo que tienen los demás!) para participar plenamente en la vida, para ayudar a los demás y para glorificar a Dios. ¡A los que hacen esto generosamente, Jesús les promete una generosa recompensa!

Pero si nos negamos a usar lo que se nos ha dado, será como si hubiésemos optado por permanecer fuera del edificio de la iglesia en el frío, viéndolo como una montaña de piedra en la que no nos atrevemos a entrar. Desde fuera no podemos ver la luz que se cuela por los vitrales, ni entrar en los himnos de alabanza que se elevan del Pueblo de Dios, ni participar del rico banquete del Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo. ¡Nosotros, por lo tanto, nos mantenemos separados de la comunión con Dios y su familia!

Muchas cosas pueden impedirnos utilizar plenamente nuestros dones: el miedo, el egoísmo, la ingratitud. Puede que no sepamos realmente lo que tenemos o lo que podemos hacer; podemos estar usando nuestras energías para satisfacer nuestros propios deseos y olvidando de buscar formas de servir a los demás; podemos estar cegados por la convicción de que realmente no tenemos suficiente para dar; podemos tener miedo de los riesgos de tomar en serio nuestra responsabilidad espiritual; podemos estar enfocados en lo que nos cuesta. ¡Todas estas actitudes y más pueden impulsarnos a “envolver nuestra moneda en un pañuelo” en lugar de “comerciar”!

¿Dónde empezamos a cambiar el compromiso? Podemos comenzar asegurándonos de que nuestra relación con Dios realmente tenga el primer lugar en nuestras vidas. Entonces podemos echar un vistazo a los deberes y responsabilidades que tenemos ante nosotros, en nuestra familia y en el trabajo, y evaluar si estamos haciendo todo lo posible por las personas que nos rodean. ¡Luego, podemos mirar a nuestra parroquia, para ver dónde podemos ser de servicio para promover la misión de la Iglesia!

No debemos temer que nos quedemos sin nada. Si estamos haciendo lo que Dios nos llama a hacer, ¡se nos da más! Cuando dedicamos nuestros dones y talentos a Su servicio, siempre tendremos todo lo que necesitamos.

Featured Image Credit: Bjorn Pierre, unsplash.com/photos/-clf0K7plGM

This reflection was reposted from Diocesan Archives. Author: Kathryn Mulderink, MA

St. Margaret of Scotland: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, November 16, 2022

St. Margaret of Scotland, or Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess born in Hungary to Princess Agatha of Hungary and English Prince Edward the Exile around 1045. Her siblings, Cristina and Edgar the Atheling were also born in Hungary around this time.

Margaret and her family returned to England when she was 10-years-old and her father was called back as a potential successor to the throne. However, Edward died immediately after the family arrived, but Margaret and Edgar continued to …

Prayer for Life: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, November 16, 2022

O God, our Creator, all life is in your hands from conception until death. Help us to cherish our children and to reverence the awesome privilege of our share in creation. May all people live and die in dignity and love. Bless all those who defend the rights of the unborn, the handicapped and the aged. Enlighten and be merciful toward those who fail to love, and give them peace. Let freedom be tempered by responsibility, integrity and morality.

Holiness / La Santidad

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Sometimes, Jesus changed his plans. But it seems the only reason he ever changed his plans was out of love.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus intends to pass through Jericho, but his loving desire to save Zacchaeus changes his plans. Zacchaeus is not a pious saint; he is a wealthy man, a chief tax collector, a sinner in the eyes of others. He is, in many ways, lost. But Jesus came “to seek and save what was lost,” and so he is eager to reward the effort of this poor sinner by telling him to “come down quickly” and inviting himself into his home.

Zacchaeus may not have understood his own motivation for climbing that tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. Maybe it seemed initially like superficial curiosity, maybe he had climbed trees before, being “short in stature.” But he follows that good impulse and Jesus meets him right there, and draws him more deeply into his gaze, into his heart. And Zacchaeus responds by receiving the grace that is being offered, repenting of his greed, repaying any extortion fourfold, and giving away half of his possessions to the poor.

Sometimes we become stuck by believing that we will never make real progress in spiritual things because of our own inadequacy, because we are “short in stature” spiritually. And it is true that, by ourselves and our own resources, we can do nothing. But we are not on our own! The Lord is just as eager to draw us into his gaze and into his heart as he was to draw Zacchaeus to repentance. The Lord always meets us more than halfway and brings us to the next level. If we take a step toward him, he takes two steps toward us. If we put forth an effort to know him, he looks at us and receives us. If we acknowledge our own weakness, he becomes our strength. If we hold up our brokenness, he heals us. Whatever we open to him, he fills abundantly!

So let us all resolve to never give into the temptation to be discouraged or to believe that we cannot become holy, or that holiness is not for us. Instead, let us put all our hope in the Lord, who lovingly came “to seek and save what was lost” and whose Divine Creativity never fails to find ways to draw us to himself.

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A veces, Jesús cambiaba sus planes. Pero parece que la única razón por la que cambió sus planes fue por amor.

En el evangelio de hoy, Jesús se propone pasar por Jericó, pero su deseo amoroso de salvar a Zaqueo cambia sus planes. Zaqueo no es un santo piadoso; es un hombre rico, un jefe de los recaudadores de impuestos, un pecador a los ojos de los demás. Está, en muchos sentidos, perdido. Pero “el Hijo del hombre ha venido a buscar y a salvar lo que se había perdido”, por lo que está deseoso de recompensar el esfuerzo de este pobre pecador diciéndole “bájate pronto” e invitándose a sí mismo a su casa.

Es posible que Zaqueo no haya entendido su propia motivación para trepar a ese árbol para ver a Jesús. Tal vez inicialmente parecía una curiosidad superficial, tal vez había trepado a los árboles antes, siendo “de baja estatura”. Pero sigue ese buen impulso y Jesús lo encuentra allí mismo, y lo atrae más profundamente a su mirada, a su corazón. Y Zaqueo responde recibiendo la gracia que se le ofrece, arrepintiéndose de su avaricia, pagando cuatro veces cualquier extorsión y entregando la mitad de sus bienes a los pobres.

A veces nos atascamos al creer que nunca lograremos un progreso real en las cosas espirituales debido a nuestra propia insuficiencia, porque espiritualmente somos “de baja estatura”. Y es verdad que, por nosotros mismos y con nuestros propios recursos, no podemos hacer nada. ¡Pero no estamos solos! El Señor está tan deseoso de atraernos a su mirada y a su corazón como lo estaba de atraer a Zaqueo al arrepentimiento. El Señor siempre nos encuentra a más de la mitad del camino y nos lleva al siguiente nivel. Si damos un paso hacia él, él da dos pasos hacia nosotros. Si nos esforzamos por conocerlo, él nos mira y nos recibe. Si reconocemos nuestra propia debilidad, él se convierte en nuestra fuerza. Si levantamos nuestro quebrantamiento, él nos sana. Todo lo que le abrimos, ¡Él lo llena abundantemente!

Así que tomemos la determinación de nunca ceder a la tentación de desanimarnos o de creer que no podemos llegar a ser santos, o que la santidad no es para nosotros. En cambio, pongamos toda nuestra esperanza en el Señor, que amorosamente vino a “buscar y a salvar lo que se había perdido” y cuya Divina Creatividad siempre encuentra formas de atraernos hacia él.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Father Rob), and seven grandchildren. She is President of the local community of Secular Discalced Carmelites and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 30 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio. Currently, she serves the Church by writing and speaking, and by collaborating with various parishes and to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is www.KathrynTherese.com

Feature Image Credit: Rita Laura, cathopic.com/photo/15994-via-crucis-al-atardecer

St. Albert the Great: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, November 15, 2022

The saint and doctor of the Church who would be known as Albertus Magnus was born sometime before the year 1200. He was probably born in Bavaria, a fact we infer because he referred to himself as “Albert of Lauingen,” a town which still stands today in southern Germany.

We do not know for sure all the details of his family origins, but we know he was well educated. He attended the University of Padua where he learned about Aristotle and his writings. This instruction in philosophy would …

Seeing is Believing / Ver es Creer

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I have a confession to make: I don’t notice things. I’ll have spent half an hour with someone, and they’ll finally ask, “So what do you think of my new glasses?” I never realized they were wearing new glasses—or a new haircut, or a new dress, or whatever the fairly obvious to anyone but me change might be. A friend of mine drives a very noticeable bright aqua Jeep, and she’ll say, “I drove right by you this morning and waved,” and of course, I had no idea. I’d like to think it’s because I’m constantly thinking deep thoughts, but I’m afraid that’s not the answer. I just don’t notice things.

Seeing is important. Seeing others, really seeing them, is an essential part of living in community. It enables us to transcend differences, to form bonds, to delight in shared values. And despite my apparent inability to notice the world around me, I always feel that the most traumatic loss of a sense would be the loss of sight. It’s difficult enough to navigate life with my eyes open; I can’t imagine doing it were they to be permanently closed.

And that’s where we start with today’s Gospel reading: with a blind man. You’ve probably noticed the number of blind people referenced in Scripture. There was little those afflicted could do by way of work, so most were reduced to begging. And so it was with Bartimaeus, who is on the roadside outside Jericho. He is poor, he is blind, and he is clearly a nuisance; when he learns that Jesus is passing and calls out, everyone around tells him to be quiet.

It’s a small story, but it’s worth taking a second look—noticing— what those storylines are. First, there’s the fact that this blind man, someone who clearly lived on the fringes of society, knew who Jesus was. He’s well-informed and attentive. He notices things. He notices the size of the crowd and knows what that means; and when he’s told who is passing, he knows exactly who Jesus is and what he can do.

Second, he is willing to claim his rights. He shouts; the good citizens around him try to hush him, but he shouts. He’s determined. He doesn’t let them tell him how he should behave. He doesn’t let them make decisions for him.

Third—and this is particularly interesting—Jesus asks him a question. “What do you want me to do for you?” Of course he wants to be cured! What else could he possibly want? But Jesus didn’t make any assumptions. He let the man choose. He showed this blind beggar the respect no one else had. He treated him as a valued human being and He cured him.

What do you want me to do for you? When we can ask that of others, instead of assuming we know best what someone else needs, then we too will be closer to Jesus, on that road to Jericho, and in our own modern lives. It really is all about noticing!

Quiero confesar algo: no me doy cuenta de las cosas. Habré pasado media hora con alguien y finalmente me preguntan: “¿Qué piensas de mis lentes nuevos?” Nunca me di cuenta que traían lentes nuevos, o un corte de cabello nuevo, o un vestido nuevo, o lo que sea el cambio bastante obvio para cualquier otro menos yo. Una amiga mía conduce un Jeep aguamarina brillante muy notable, y ella dice: “Pasé junto a ti esta mañana y te saludé”, y por supuesto, no tenía ni idea. Me gustaría pensar que es porque constantemente estoy pensando en pensamientos profundos, pero lastimosamente no es la razón. Simplemente no me doy cuenta de las cosas.

Ver es importante. Ver a los demás, realmente verlos, es una parte esencial de vivir en comunidad. Nos permite trascender las diferencias, formar coneciones, deleitarnos en los valores compartidos. Y a pesar de mi aparente incapacidad para notar el mundo que me rodea, siempre siento que la pérdida más traumática de un sentido sería perder la vista. Ya es bastante difícil navegar por la vida con los ojos abiertos; No puedo imaginar hacerlo si estuvieran cerrados permanentemente.

Y ahí es donde comenzamos con la lectura del Evangelio de hoy: con un ciego. Probablemente haya notado la cantidad de personas ciegas a las que se hace referencia en las Escrituras. Era poco lo que los afligidos podían hacer a modo de trabajo, por lo que la mayoría se vio reducido a mendigar. Y así fue con Bartimeo, que está al borde del camino a las afueras de Jericó. Es pobre, es ciego y claramente es una molestia; cuando se entera de que Jesús pasa y grita, todos a su alrededor le dicen que se calle.

Es una historia pequeña, pero vale la pena echarle un segundo vistazo y notar cuáles son los puntos principales. Primero, está el hecho de que este hombre ciego, alguien que claramente vivía al margen de la sociedad, sabía quién era Jesús. Está bien informado y atento. Se da cuenta de las cosas. Se da cuenta del tamaño de la multitud y sabe lo que eso significa; y cuando le dicen quién está pasando, sabe exactamente quién es Jesús y lo que puede hacer.

En segundo lugar, está dispuesto a reclamar sus derechos. Grita y los buenos ciudadanos que lo rodean tratan de silenciarlo, pero grita. Está decidido. No deja que le digan cómo debe comportarse. No deja que tomen decisiones por él.

Tercero, y esto es particularmente interesante, Jesús le hace una pregunta. “¿Qué quieres que haga por ti?” ¡Claro que quiere curarse! ¿Qué más podría querer? Pero Jesús no hizo ninguna suposición. Dejó que el hombre eligiera. Mostró a este mendigo ciego el respeto que nadie más tenía. Lo trató como a un ser humano valioso y luego lo curó.

¿Qué quieres que haga por ti? Cuando podamos pedir eso a los demás, en lugar de asumir que sabemos mejor lo que alguien más necesita, entonces también estaremos más cerca de Jesús, en ese camino a Jericó, y en nuestra propia vida moderna. ¡Realmente se trata de darse cuenta!

This reflection was reposted from Diocesan Archives. Author: Jeannette de Beauvoir

Feature Image Credit: Jon Tyson, unsplash.com/photos/rbz1hVh7_LM