Category: Parish News & Events

Today we read of jealousy and lifting others up in Christ. In the First Reading, the 70 elders begin to prophesy and it was amazing! But when the two elders that WEREN’T there begin to prophesy, Joshua asks Moses to stop them. 

Moses’ response is:

Are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!
Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all! (Numbers 11:29)

Something similar occurs in the Gospel reading when the apostles come to Jesus, telling him that there are others that are performing miracles in Jesus’ name but they aren’t following the disciples.

Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:38-43)

In both cases, we are reminded not to be jealous of others’ gifts, nor should we be jealous when people are given the same gifts as us. Just because someone may not have come to the same gift, talent, or gift of the Spirit, does not mean that we should say they’re wrong or don’t deserve it. God’s glory is meant for all, not only for those who experience things exactly as we do. It is meant for all people. 

It is so easy to get caught up in our human ways and to want all the powerful glory of the Lord, all the wondrous gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the sacrificial love of Christ, for ourselves but… that kinda defeats the purpose! 

When we are radically in love with and in relationship with Our God, we know that it is something to be shared. So next time you feel that green hue of jealousy begin to take hold, tell yourself: “I’m so excited for that person, and all those they touch in their life, to know you. I can’t wait for them to receive the gift of eternal life. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of that person. Thank you for the experience of you through that person.”

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Today’s Responsorial Psalm is, “The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.” To more completely recognize the beauty, reassurance, and power of this promise, it may help to know a bit more about the work of a shepherd. 

The shepherd is responsible for the flock’s welfare and safety. Sheep aren’t as dumb as they are often typified; however, they can still get themselves into a lot of trouble. Well-meaning sheep, who merely want to graze upon the green pasture, can graze away from the flock into harm’s way.  Sheep can become lost, putting them in grave danger from predators or even stumble off a cliff while fixated on eating the grass before them. 

The shepherd’s ultimate concern is flock perseverance. The sheep’s natural predators, such as wolves, coyotes, foxes, and mountain lions, either seek the sheep out of hunger or stumble upon those that have lost their way.  St. Peter warns us that sheep are not the only ones with a natural predator in need of protection: “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). 

There was a time when I was ignorant to the “snares of the devil” (2 Timothy 2:26) to the point of even denying his existence, which is his greatest snare. The more unaware of danger we become, the more vulnerable we are. Like the sheep, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gratefully pursued and guarded me. Protecting us from the predator means preserving us for Heaven. He values every single soul, and there is great rejoicing for each claimed for eternal glory.

Maybe a less known fact about shepherds, they are often trained to assist the sheep with health issues. Just like sheep, we are susceptible to diseases. Humans, being multifaceted beings face more than just physical ailments. We must contend with our emotional and spiritual well-being as well. Jesus, the Divine Physician, is more than adequately equipped to tend to those needs.   

In addition, like the shepherd, who “will make frequent checks on the ewes at all hours of the day and night, and may assist the ewe if birthing problems occur,” Jesus is ever-present with us, and we find additional guardians in his angels and in his saints. 

Shepherd herding was a very lowly position, required a strong sense of protection for their charges. The Biblical accounts of shepherds consistently portray them as dedicated, perhaps due to the well-being of the sheep being not only important to them but their families and communities as well. The more you know about the characteristics of a good shepherd, the more gratitude will fill your heart over the Good Shepherd—Jesus—the one who guards his beloved flock.

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The Responsorial Psalm for today talks about hope in the Lord. It implores: “Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against a faithless people.”

It seems our world today is full of faithless people—people who place possessions over others, people who devalue human beings, people who spend days mired in anger, people anonymously spitting vitriol online, and so much more.

We see them and their behaviors, and it literally hurts.  

But the Lord wants us to remember to always have hope in Him and hope that our culture can return to a culture of life. 

He knows how tired we get. He knows the weariness of living in a world where human beings rejoice at the “right” to kill vulnerable people—whether they be in the womb or a hospital bed. He understands that sometimes we have no fight left in us to battle the evil of today. 

But the Psalm continues: “You, O God, are my strength.”

And in that, we must rejoice! Like a cold drink of water on an extraordinarily hot day, that realization renews us.

What an amazing feeling it is to know that God wants us to lean on Him. He wants us to seek Him out when we feel like we have nothing left to give others. 

So that is what we do. We go to Him in prayer. We sit quietly in Adoration. We say a decade of the Rosary. We read His words in the Bible. We talk to Him like a friend.

And we become energized. We realize that hope is more than just wishing for things to change. Hope is rooted in Christ.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

Through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we can put away the hopelessness we feel and replace it with hope. We can stop looking at all the negative things in this world and create positive things. We can stop focusing on evil and instead be that source of good that the world so desperately needs.

In short, we must stop allowing the bad things of the world to consume us. Christ does not want that for us. That is why He gives us strength. That is why He wants us to have hope. 

So when you feel weary, when you feel exhausted, or when you look around at the world and feel utterly hopeless, remember that Christ fights for us, and He will never stop. His love is unending, and you matter to Him. We all do.

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