Love God Love Others

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.
Mt.22:37-39

Jesus answers the Sadducees trick question with a concise description of mankind's purpose in life... love God and love others.

Dare I add to Jesus' command by saying, I love God by loving others. Today is a fresh opportunity to do just that. If I am able to express love to another in word or deed, my day will have been successful. 

Jesus, help me be a channel of your love to the people I meet today.
Saint Stephen, please pray for me.

Stumbling Follower

Then Peter spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ 
Mt.19:27

Following on from the rich young man walking sadly away, Jesus teaches how difficult it is for us to let go of material things in order to follow him. Peter expresses all our concerns. What about us getting into the kingdom? Is it impossible?

Jesus assures Peter, and me, that the kingdom of God is attainable to all who follow him. It just won't be in the order we are used to. The first will be last and the last first. My focus is to simply keep on following. Yes, I will stumble. But the getting back up and doggedly following will result in what at first appeared impossible, my walking through the very gates of heaven. 

Saint Peter, the first stumbling follower, please pray for me.

Clear the Path

If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.

Mt.19:21

The rich young man leads a pious life but Jesus calls him to more, to a sacrifice he is unable to do. He is recorded as the only genuinely seeking person to walk away from Jesus sad.

I was a huge Beatles fan (showing my age). At great expense, my wife bought me the complete boxed set of Beatles albums. As I grew in my faith I started feeling uneasy about my Beatles mania. It wasn't so much their music that I worshipped , it was their lifestyle. For me, they had become gods. To rid myself of this I gouged a screwdriver across each record in the boxed set and then threw them in the bin. 

Extreme? Maybe. I certainly felt freer afterwards. My wife was sympathetic. She understood my motive. Now, I'm not saying Beatles music is from the devil. It's not. But  for me it had become an obstacle I had to remove. We all have different obstacles I guess and even these can change over the years. What's important is that I'm aware stuff can get in the way of me moving further up and further in. I don't want to be the one sadly walking away from Jesus.

Saint Pius X, please pray for me.

Let the Little Children Come

Let the little children alone, and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.
Mt.19:14

Jesus rebukes the disciples who are stopping children from coming to him. He elevates children to level of primary inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.

I help lead Children's Liturgy in our parish. For me, it is the most fulfilling of all ministries. Children are blank slates, carrying no baggage. They are so open to the Gospel it is breathtaking. Their openness and faith in the Good News challenges me. Truly they are ready candidates for the kingdom. 

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Forgive Outrageously

I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?
Mt.18:32,33

Jesus is answering Peter's question on how many times we must forgive. Peter thinks he is being generous  with suggesting seven times and I would agree. Jesus shockingly ups the ante. We should never stop forgiving.

This is another facet of the amazing grace of God over which Jesus keeps circling back. Why so much emphasis on grace, mercy and forgiveness? Because we're so bad at it. 

I like to think I'm a forgiving sort of chap, but I'm not. I love the black and white of the law. I love to see perpetrators suffer in their repayment. There's nothing much outrageous about my grace. Jesus expects better of me. As CS Lewis said, "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you."

Jesus, help me to let go of resentments and to forgive outrageously.
Saint Stephen, please pray for me.

Me and Church

For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.
Mt.18:20

Jesus makes a solemn promise to the Church. All we have to do is turn up, in his name, and he is there.

Does this mean our individual prayer is not received by Jesus? Of course not. It's just that he is present in a different way in a Christian gathering, in a way that is not better but in a way that is essential. Jesus never intended for most of us to be Lone Ranger Christians. We are intended to gather. I need others and others need me. 

This "group power" is found in my family prayer time, in my meeting with other Catholic brothers and in my parish. Thank God for Church.

Jesus, thank you for my Church. Help me be present to my brothers and sisters in faith and so present to you.
Saint  Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Die to Live

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Mt.16:24

Jesus clarifies what it takes to be his follower. Death of the old self and birth of the new.

We tend to think of a cross as a heavy burden. Jesus' listeners knew the cross for what it was, a cruel instrument of torture and death. Jesus' call to take up your cross would have been shocking to them. It should be shocking for us.

Being a follower of Jesus means dying, pure and simple. The old me has to die to allow the new me to live. This is a daily process, at least for me.

Saint Claire, please pray for me.

Be Generous and Live

I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.
Jn.12:24

In predicting his own death, Jesus teaches a fundamental truth of Christianity. In dying to ourselves we gain eternal life.

Death is only seen by Christianity as an attractive thing to attain. My natural inclination says it is something to avoid. Generosity calls me to die to myself, to give without counting. 

Jesus, you know my self obsession. Help me die to myself and be generous to others today.
Saint Laurence, please pray for me.

Obsess on Others

You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. 
Col.3:12

Saint Paul instructs the Church at Colossae in the type of life they are to live as believers. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience are the believer's hallmarks.

The virtues listed by Paul are contrary to the strength, aggression and hedonism lauded by the world. Yet, they are what we all hunger for. If I want a world of kindness and patience where people are more inclined to compassion and humility, then let it start with me.

Jesus, you know my grasping self centeredness. Forgive me Lord and help turn my obsessions off myself and onto others.
Saint Mary of the Cross, please pray for me.

Tell Jesus

John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.
Mt.14:12

John the Baptist's head has been cut off at the vengeful and macabre direction of Herod's wife.  John's followers, in their grief, do the only thing left to them. Go to Jesus.

When grief is at its peak and despair takes a hold, Jesus is waiting. I'm reminded of the two disciples, in their trauma over Jesus' death, stumbling along the road to Emmaus. The risen Lord meets them not only physically but also emotionally. In response to their incoherent outpouring of grief over the "things" that had happened, Jesus asks, "What things?" This starts the movement from intense sorrow to joy for the two disciples. 

I recall rushing to two dear friend's home on learning of the suicide of their son. At first we could only weep with them. Then someone said, "Let's pray". A corner was turned at that point as we poured out our sorrow to Jesus.

Jesus, you are the only one to turn to in our sorrow. Thank you Lord for your healing love.
Saint John the Baptist, please pray for us.

Compassion

And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. 
Mt.9:36

Jesus is preaching and healing in towns and villages. The desperation and sadness he encountered moved compassion within him.

Compassion: Concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. This was the hallmark of Jesus when on earth and is to be the hallmark of all who follow him. Others may shrug their shoulders and call it karma. A Christian rolls up his sleeves and helps the one who is suffering. 

The task can seem overwhelming. The key is to focus on one person at a time.

Jesus, help me have your compassion for the harassed and dejected I meet today. 
Saint John Vianney, please pray for me.

Hand on the Plough

Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Lk.9:62

Jesus sets the tone for what it means to be a follower of him. No rest, no burying your dead, no saying goodbye. 

Now, all these things are good in themselves, sometimes even necessary, so what is Jesus saying?  Maybe it's that following him is not a stroll in the park. There's an urgency to being Christian. When I find myself in cruise mode I'm usually losing altitude. 

Jesus, help me maintain energy and urgency in my faith so I can till more ground and more ground effectively.
Saint Dominic, please pray for me.

Treasure

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field...
Mt.13:44

Jesus is using parables to describe the indescribable value of heaven, not only of heaven but of God who resides there.

With both the treasure found in a field and the pearl of great price, the finders sold everything they had to obtain them. The treasure and the pearl were seen as worth much more than what the finders already had. 

I recall the time before I was Christian when I thought I had it all. It was only after meeting Jesus that I realised how tiny and poverty stricken my hedonistic world was. The seduction of the world had blinkered me. 

How do I stop sliding back into that tiny self centered space? A start is getting my gaze off the reconstituted dust of counterfeit sparkling trinkets and back onto the treasure. And where is the treasure found? Good places to start looking are in the sacraments, in my daily prayer time, in fellow believers. In truth, the treasure can be found anywhere.

Thank you Jesus for revealing yourself to me today. I keep my eyes on you.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Shine a Light

The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!
Mt.13:41,43

Jesus is explaining the parable of the weeds among the wheat. At the end of time there are only two possibilities for all people... heaven or hell.

We all believe in heaven and want to get there. The possibility of the fire of hell and me providing fuel for it is not quite so attractive. 

Jesus doesn't pussyfoot around this topic to spare my sensibilities. He is very clear that there is a place called hell and many, sadly, will end up there. My job is to make sure I, and as many others as possible, don't fuel its fires.

I have New Age family members who believe in a nirvana into which everyone will simply drift after death. I've even heard this belief within the Church. Where do I start to counter this heresy? I guess shine a light in the opposite direction. Introduce them to love in the person of Jesus. He has promised if I lift him up he will draw all to himself, even my New Age family members. 

Saint Alphonsus de' Liguori, please pray for us.