Category: Parish News & Events

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“Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

In hearing the conclusion of today’s Gospel, I cannot help but think about the events taking place in our country over the past couple of weeks. Between the horrific killing of George Floyd and those protests that devolved into violence, it appears that we have forgotten the greatest commandment to “love one another; even as I have loved you.”

If we truly loved one another as Christ has loved us, we would see each human being as our brother or sister in Christ, regardless of race, ethnicity, social status, and the many other labels that society tries to slap on us. If we truly loved one another as Christ has loved us, we would recognize the inviolable human dignity that each person has, being made in the image and likeness of God.

But, what happens when we fail to love? When we fail to see every person as a brother or sister in Christ? When we fail to see their dignity as a human person? When we fail to follow the greatest commandment? Well, it is then that we struggle to follow even the least of the commandments that Jesus has given to us. That’s when sin becomes as prevalent as it is in the world today, when it takes root in our hearts when we struggle to follow Jesus’ commands.

Paragraphs 1868-1869 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church help us to see the connection between personal sin and social structures of sin. “Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:

-By participating directly and voluntarily in them;
-By ordering, advising, praising or approving them;
-By not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
-By protecting evil-doers.

Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sin gives rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine goodness. ‘Structures of sin’ are the expression and effect of personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an analogous sense, they constitute a ‘social sin.’”

What is there to do, then? How can we uproot the sin in our own hearts to help bring about change in our lives and in our society? We must pray for the conversion of hearts – our own hearts and the hearts of others. We must look interiorly, identifying those areas of our own life where we struggle with sin and put in the conscious effort to fix those areas. But, most of all, we must love. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, love conquered sin and death. Now, when we love, we will conquer hate as well.

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Erin is a Cleveland native and graduate of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Following graduation, she began volunteering in youth ministry at her home parish of Holy Family Church. Her first “big girl” job was in collegiate sports information where, after a busy two years in the profession on top of serving the youth, she took a leap of faith and followed the Lord’s call to full-time youth ministry at St. Peter Church. She still hopes to use her communication arts degree as a freelance writer and statistician, though. You can catch her on the Clarence & Peter Podcast on YouTube as well as follow her on Twitter @erinmadden2016.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to be salt of the earth and light of the world. He points out that when someone lights a lamp, they do not put it under a basket or in a place that conceals the light, but on the lampstand where it can give light to the whole house. We must be and use our light in this way. We must shine our light before others and be of good deeds. This is what glorifies our Heavenly Father. This is what He is calling us to. 

Today, there are many opportunities to shine our light. In our broken world, how are you doing this? Are you educating yourself on why black lives matter? Are you showing charity to your neighbors who may be different from you? Or are you trying to ignore the current matter since it may not affect you? Are you shining your light or placing it under the basket, hiding it away? There are many different ways to shrine our light, to be salt of the earth today specifically in our actions and words as Christians. What good deeds have you done to glorify our Heavenly Father? What good deeds do you feel called to do at this time? The first step to this is prayer. Ask Him to show you and guide you.  I have been truly struck by this Litany of June written by Catholic poet, Clare McCallan. This prayer may be the first step as we strive to be salt of the earth and a light to the world.

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Briana is the Pastoral Minister at St. Mark Church in Cleveland, OH. She is also a district manager at Arbonne. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to serve the Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese

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“God’s in charge.” This may seem like a trite phrase, but it’s the substance of our readings today, and it has a real impact. It’s easy enough to see this in the first reading, where God causes a multiple-year drought through the prophet Elijah. The drought is a direct response to Ahab’s sin of idolatry, taking the Baals as gods instead of the true God of Israel. It is a reminder that not only is God real, but He sees our infidelity and acts swiftly.

This is an important message, especially today. Many Catholics (myself included), shrink from embracing the full demands of the Gospel. This could mean not living up to the moral teaching of the Church, not witnessing to the Faith in front of family, or growing lethargic in our devotion. Coming out of quarantine, most of us are not technically required to attend Sunday Mass. But will we continue to keep holy the Sabbath day? This commandment was never revoked. Even if the Sunday obligation is suspended, we are still bound by the third commandment. If we keep the commandment, will we do so eagerly, or begrudgingly? Now that we have had months to stay at home, it is easy to come up with excuses not to go out and live the Gospel.

It is even easier to do this when we consider the economy (as in arrangement) we are in. Before the time of Christ, the Lord dealt swiftly and decisively with sin. He was ready with drought, famine, earthquake, plague, you name it. These would often come immediately after the sin had been committed, to make the connection between sin and punishment abundantly clear. In the New Covenant, God is no less watchful, but He has decided to save much of our punishment for either Purgatory or Hell. As a result, we can be tempted to forget that God still plans to seek justice for the sins committed against Him. Let us remember that the Lord is still in charge.

On the other side, Jesus reminds us in our Gospel that we will be abundantly blessed when we defer to God’s providence. Once we acknowledge that the Lord is in charge in our attitudes, we are set to receive abundant graces. The Beatitudes represent the characteristics of a saint: poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, desire for righteousness, mercy, cleanliness of heart, peacemaking, and persecution for righteousness’ sake. In each of these, there is an acknowledgment that God is in control. We step back and allow Him to act, rather than stepping forward to run the show.

By poverty of spirit, we allow ourselves to detach from the things of this world. Realizing that all things exist in order to turn us to heaven, we embrace the heavenly and dwell on the things that are above. This invites God to take a more active role in our daily lives.

If we mourn properly, we do so acknowledging that the Lord is the master of our fate. He holds the souls of the just in His hand. In meekness, we allow the Lord to increase while we decrease, giving Him the glory. By desiring righteousness, we align our priorities with God’s, recognizing that His values and commandments ought to be followed at all times. He is given charge of our action.

Showing mercy to others opens our hearts to God’s direction, but it also leaves justice to God, whose prerogative it is to avenge at the end of time. Cleanliness of heart and peacemaking help us to avoid tainting our souls with sin or staining the world with unnecessary conflict. They allow God to reign in our hearts and our world. If we bear persecution for the sake of righteousness, we silently but humbly acknowledge that this struggle is not the final horizon. Pain on this earth will come, but ultimately we know that God commands our destinies.

With this perspective in mind, we can see the difference between king Ahab and a follower of Christ. The king thought his own way to be best and likely did not think that his deeds would be seen and avenged by the Lord. He relied on himself and on the Baals, and for this, he was punished. A follower of Christ lives the Beatitudes, enabling himself to be open to God’s providence and to recognize His sovereignty. He does not follow his own designs, but God’s. As the Psalmist proclaims, “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2). Let us all adopt this same attitude.

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David is the Associate Director of Liturgy for a group of parishes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When he is not spending time with his wife and infant daughter, he is writing on philosophy and theology for various online publications. You can find some of these in Crisis Magazine and the Imaginative Conservative, and you can contact him at ddashiellwork@gmail.com.