What we know of St. Elizabeth comes from the Gospel, the book of Luke, in particular. In Luke, Elizabeth, a daughter of the line of Aaron, and the wife of Zechariah, was “righteous before God” and was “blameless” but childless. Elizabeth is also a cousin to the Virgin Mary.
Zechariah, desiring a child, went to pray in the temple and was told by the angel Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He …
Glorious Prince of the heavenly hosts
and victor over rebellious spirits,
be mindful of me who am so weak and sinful
and yet so prone to pride and ambition.
Lend me, I pray,
thy powerful aid in every temptation and difficulty,
and above all do not forsake me
in my last struggle with the powers of evil.
Amen.
True to the nature of parables, this parable raises more questions than it answers.
In the parable of the Dishonest Steward, the steward of a wealthy man finds out he is about to lose his job because he has been wasteful of his master’s property. Unprepared for any other work, he decides to use his remaining time in the master’s employ to secure his future. He calls on the master’s debtors and reduces their debt, thereby gaining their gratitude and protecting his own future interests.
The parable ends with the master praising the steward for acting prudently. “And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.”
Wait…what was that? Aren’t we supposed to be honest? Didn’t the steward deserve to lose his job for mismanagement? Didn’t he shortchange his master in his service of self? How can he be praised for acting prudently when he was acting against the virtuous guidelines for how we are to live in the Kingdom of God? What happened to, “Do unto others…”?
To act prudently, is to act with care and thought for the future. Jesus, who is our Master, isn’t praising the steward for his dishonesty. Jesus is highlighting that the steward is acting consistently with his goals. Acting entirely in his own self interest is entirely consistent with how the steward has lived his life. After all, he is losing his job for putting his own interests ahead of his master’s. He ends his employment in a consistent, coherent manner.
This is the point. Those who see the current world only in terms of what they can gain from it are more consistent in their behavior than those of us who see this world through the lens of the Kingdom of God.
In this month of November where the Church asks that we pray for the Souls of the Faithful departed, do we also pray and prepare for our own time after death? Do we live in such a way now, that it is clear that we are acting with care and thought for a future in God’s presence? Do we examine our daily behavior to be confident it is consistent with the future we desire? Do our actions reflect the Word we love? Can it be said of us, “Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him.”?
Fiel a la naturaleza de las parábolas, esta parábola plantea más preguntas de las que responde.
En la parábola del mayordomo deshonesto, el mayordomo de un hombre rico, descubre que está a punto de perder su trabajo porque ha derrochado la propiedad de su amo. Sin estar preparado para ningún otro trabajo, decide utilizar el tiempo que le queda como empleado del maestro para asegurar su futuro. Llama a los deudores del amo y reduce su deuda, ganando así su gratitud y protegiendo sus propios intereses futuros.
La parábola termina con el amo alabando al mayordomo por actuar con prudencia. “El amo tuvo que reconocer que su mal administrador había procedido con habilidad. Pues los que pertenecen a este mundo son más hábiles en sus negocios que los que pertenecen a la luz.”
Espera un momento… ¿qué fue eso? ¿No se supone que debemos ser honestos? ¿No merecía el mayordomo perder su trabajo por mala conducta? ¿No defraudó a su maestro en servicio a sí mismo? ¿Cómo puede ser alabado por actuar con prudencia cuando estaba actuando en contra de las pautas virtuosas de cómo debemos vivir en el Reino de Dios? ¿Qué pasó con “Hagan a los demás…”?
Actuar con prudencia, es actuar con cuidado y pensando en el futuro. Jesús, quien es nuestro Maestro, no está alabando al mayordomo por su deshonestidad. Jesús está destacando que el mayordomo está actuando consistentemente con sus metas. Actuar enteramente en su propio interés es totalmente consistente con la forma en que el mayordomo ha vivido su vida. Después de todo, está perdiendo su trabajo por anteponer sus propios intereses a los de su amo. Termina su empleo de manera consistente y coherente.
Este es el punto. Aquellos que ven el mundo actual solo en términos de lo que pueden ganar por sí mismos son más consistentes en su comportamiento que nosotros que vemos este mundo a través de los lentes del Reino de Dios.
En este mes de noviembre donde la Iglesia pide que oremos por las Almas de los Fieles difuntos, ¿también oramos y nos preparamos para nuestro propio tiempo después de la muerte? ¿Vivimos de tal manera ahora, que es evidente que estamos actuando con cuidado y pensando en un futuro en la presencia de Dios? ¿Examinamos nuestro comportamiento diario para estar seguros de que es consistente con el futuro que deseamos? ¿Reflejan nuestras acciones la Palabra que amamos? ¿Se puede decir de nosotros: “Quien guarda la palabra de Cristo, en él se perfecciona verdaderamente el amor de Dios”?
Sheryl is happy to be 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. 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 Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever and Lucy, our not-so-little rescue puppy.
Feature Image Credit: Josh Appel, unsplash.com/photos/NeTPASr-bmQ
Saint Charles Borromeo was born on October 2, 1538 at the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore near Milan. His father was the Count of Arona and his mother a member of the House of Medici. He was the third of six children born to the couple.
At the age of 12, the young Count Charles Borromeo dedicated himself to a life of service to the Church. His uncle gave to him the family income from the Benedictine abbey of Saints Gratinian and Felinus. Even as a youth, his integrity was obvious. He was …
Most faithful St. Dymphna, you remained true to your baptismal promises to the very end. You are, therefore, honored, known, and loved after 1,400 years by people you have aided all over the world. We do not know how long or short a time is left to us of this life here, but help us in any case to be faithful to God to the end. Please gain for us the grace to live one day at a time as if each were to be our last. Amen.
What was it about Jesus that drew people near to him? I guess the whole Son of God thing must have helped. But this is something I think about often as someone who wants to evangelize as best I can. If we are called to be like Christ then I think it is worth a ponder about what made people flock to Jesus.
In today’s Gospel, we hear that tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus. I don’t think it’s an accident that the Gospel for this past Sunday was Jesus inviting Zacchaeus to his house. Then a few verses later you have tax collectors and sinners hanging on his every word. Now, I know it’s cliche to just say Jesus was present to them. We are present to plenty of people who don’t want to talk to us or listen to what we have to say about God. But Jesus was present in a very specific way. He wanted to join in their day to day lives.
Notice that when Jesus calls Zacchaeus he doesn’t just tell him to repent and believe. He invites himself into his very life, into his family, into his house. He wants to engage with who Zacchaeus is as a person. Now, of course, the repent and believe line was coming, but first Jesus just wanted to get to know this tax collector. And it wasn’t long before the other tax collectors started talking.
I think about this a lot when it comes to Evangelization. I love cooking so I have been thinking about some ways that I can evangelize through the simple offering of food. We have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. What a perfect time to make a meal for your neighbor and invite yourself in. If for nothing else, you’ll get to meet some great people. Even better, you may get to share the reason for the hope within you.
I challenge you and myself this coming Christmas season, that instead of buying a boring generic gift for someone you barely talk to, this time make them a meal and get to know them. Invite yourself in as Jesus did, and you may be surprised that they want to invite your story in as well.
From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!
¿Qué tenía Jesús que atraía a la gente a él? Supongo que ser el Hijo de Dios debe haber ayudado. Pero esto es algo en lo que pienso a menudo como alguien que quiere evangelizar lo mejor que pueda. Si estamos llamados a ser como Cristo, entonces creo que vale la pena reflexionar sobre lo que hizo que tantas personas acudieran a Jesús.
En el Evangelio de hoy, escuchamos que los recaudadores de impuestos y los pecadores se acercaban a Jesús. No creo que sea casualidad que el Evangelio del domingo pasado sea sobre Jesús invitando a Zaqueo a su casa. Luego, unos pocos versículos más adelante, tienes a los recaudadores de impuestos y a los pecadores pendientes de cada una de sus palabras. Ahora, sé que es un cliché decir simplemente que Jesús estuvo presente para ellos. Estamos presentes para muchas personas que no quieren hablar con nosotros o escuchar lo que tenemos que decir acerca de Dios. Pero Jesús estuvo presente de una manera muy específica. Quería unirse a ellos dentro de sus vidas cotidianas.
Vemos que cuando Jesús llama a Zaqueo, no solo le dice que se arrepienta y crea. Se invita a sí mismo a su propia vida, a su familia, a su casa. Quiere comprometerse con quién es Zaqueo como persona. Ahora, por supuesto, la línea de arrepentirse y creer estaba por venir, pero primero Jesús solo quería conocer a este recaudador de impuestos. Y no pasó mucho tiempo antes de que los otros recaudadores de impuestos comenzaran a hablar.
Pienso mucho en esto cuando se trata de la evangelización. Me encanta cocinar, así que he estado pensando en algunas formas en las que puedo evangelizar a través de la simple ofrenda de alimentos. Se acercan el Día de Acción de Gracias y la Navidad. Qué momento perfecto para preparar una comida para los vecinos y auto-invitarte a entrar. Si no es por otra cosa, podrías conocer a algunas personas muy buenas. Aún mejor, puedes llegar a compartir la razón de la esperanza dentro de ti.
Te reto a ti y a mí mismo esta próxima temporada navideña, que en lugar de comprar un regalito genérico y aburrido para alguien con quien apenas hablas, esta vez prepárale una comida y conócelo. Invítete a ti mismo como lo hizo Jesús, y te sorprenderás de que ellos también quieran compartirte su historia.
De parte de todos nosotros aquí en Diocesan, ¡Dios los bendiga!
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: Jed Owen, unsplash.com/photos/EgG6wcsjFtE
St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579. Martin was the illegitimate son to a Spanish gentlemen and a freed slave from Panama, of African or possibly Native American descent. At a young age, Martin’s father abandoned him, his mother and his younger sister, leaving Martin to grow up in deep poverty. After spending just two years in primary school, Martin was placed with a barber/surgeon where he would learn to cut hair and the medical arts.
As Martin grew older, he …
To you Saint Martin de Porres we prayerfully lift up our hearts filled with serene confidence and devotion. Mindful of your unbounded and helpful charity to all levels of society and also of your meekness and humility of heart, we offer our petitions to you.
Pour out upon our families the precious gifts of your solicitous and generous intercession; show to the people of every race and every color the paths of unity and of justice; implore from our Father in heaven the coming of his kingdom, …
All Souls’ Day is a wonderful opportunity to pray for the dead, uniting our personal intentions to the prayers of the Mass. The month of November also gives us the opportunity for indulgences when praying for the dead. Most of us know that this is an important part of the Christian life, even a work of mercy, but suffrage for the dead has become less practiced in modern times.
In the old Requiem Mass, said at funerals, memorials of the dead, and on All Souls’ Day, the priest repeated this petition for the dead at least three times: “Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.” At the Offertory prayer before the preparation of the altar, the priest prayed: “Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of Hell and the bottomless pit. . . . Let the holy standard-bearer Michael lead them into the holy light. . . . Lord, in praise we offer you sacrifices and prayers, accept them on behalf of those who we remember this day: Lord, make them pass from death to life, as once you promised to Abraham and his seed.” At the Sequence before the Gospel, the faithful were reminded of the Last Judgment and implored God to spare them from damnation.
Today, we can forget that the faithful departed need our prayers. We focus on verses such as “The souls of the just are in the hand of God” and “I shall raise him on the last day” and pass over “As gold in the furnace, he proved them” and “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death.” All of these verses are present in the options for All Souls’ Day, but sometimes we forget how important it is to pray for the dead, that God may soon grant them eternal rest.
The faithful departed do have heaven to look forward to, an eternity of union with God. But for most of them, we cannot be sure if they have arrived yet, which means that they are experiencing intense suffering in Purgatory. In Purgatory, they experience a pure love of God, but they see more clearly than ever their imperfections, and are torn apart with pain over being separated from Him. It is our prayers and sacrifices that help these faithful to be purged of their sins that keep them from embracing God.
We should still rejoice in the ultimate fate of the faithful departed, and should give praise to the Lord for His great mercy in preparing a place for the just. At the same time, we should not stop praying for them. The souls in Purgatory eagerly await the heavenly banquet, and they richly reward those who help them to get there more quickly. Such small things to us as offering a Mass or praying a Rosary on their behalf go a long way for them.
El Día de los Muertos es una maravillosa oportunidad para orar por los difuntos, uniendo nuestras intenciones personales a las oraciones de la Misa. El mes de noviembre también nos da la oportunidad de indulgencias al orar por los difuntos. La mayoría de nosotros sabemos que esta es una parte importante de la vida cristiana, incluso una obra de misericordia, pero el sufragio por los muertos se ha vuelto menos practicado en los tiempos modernos.
En la antigua Misa de Réquiem, dicha en los funerales, en memoria de los difuntos y en el Día de los Muertos, el sacerdote repetía esta petición por los difuntos por lo menos tres veces: “Dales el descanso eterno, oh Señor, y que brille la luz perpetua. sobre ellos.” En la oración del Ofertorio antes de preparar el altar, el sacerdote oró: “Señor Jesucristo, Rey de la gloria, libra las almas de todos los fieles difuntos de las penas del Infierno y del abismo. . . . Que el santo portaestandarte Miguel los conduzca a la luz sagrada. . . . Señor, en alabanza te ofrecemos sacrificios y oraciones, acéptalos en nombre de aquellos que recordamos este día: Señor, hazlos pasar de muerte a vida, como una vez prometiste a Abrahán y su descendencia.” En la Secuencia antes del Evangelio, se les recuerda a los fieles del Juicio Final e imploran a Dios que los librara de la condenación.
Hoy en día podemos olvidar que los fieles difuntos todavía necesitan nuestras oraciones. Nos enfocamos en versos tales como “Las almas de los justos están en la mano de Dios” y “Yo lo resucitaré en el último día” y pasamos por alto “Como oro en el horno, los probó” y “Ciertamente fuimos sepultados con él por el bautismo en la muerte.” Todos estos versículos están presentes en las opciones para el Día de los Muertos, pero a veces olvidamos lo importante que es orar por los muertos, para que Dios les conceda pronto el descanso eterno.
Los fieles difuntos están esperando entrar el cielo, una eternidad de unión con Dios. Pero para la mayoría de ellos, no podemos estar seguros si ya llegaron, y es posible que estén experimentando un intenso sufrimiento en el Purgatorio. En el Purgatorio experimentan un amor puro de Dios, pero ven más claramente que nunca sus imperfecciones y se desgarran de dolor por estar separados de Él. Son nuestras oraciones y sacrificios los que ayudan a estos fieles a ser purgados de sus pecados que les impiden abrazar a Dios.
Todavía debemos regocijarnos en el destino final de los fieles difuntos, y debemos alabar al Señor por Su gran misericordia al preparar un lugar para los justos. Al mismo tiempo, no debemos dejar de orar por ellos. Las almas del Purgatorio esperan ansiosas el banquete celestial, y recompensan ricamente a quienes las ayudan a llegar más rápidamente. Cosas tan pequeñas para nosotros como ofrecer una Misa o rezar un Rosario para ellos es una gran ayuda para sus almas.
David Dashiell is a freelance author and editor in Nashville, Tennessee. He has a master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University, and is the editor of the anthology Ever Ancient, Ever New: Why Younger Generations Are Embracing Traditional Catholicism.
Feature Image Credit: Gime Salvatelli, cathopic.com/photo/12327-fuego
Bishop and martyr. Originally a Greek, he became bishop of Pettau, in Pannonia (later Styria, Austria). He was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). Victorinus was also the author of several biblical cornrnentaries, although he may have been an adherent of Millenarianism, a heresy of that time.