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The Greatest of These is Love

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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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The Litany of June

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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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The Lord is in Charge

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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.

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Part of the Divine Romance

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So why does the Church celebrate a specific day for the Trinity? If only we knew: this aspect, this reality, of our God is so vital to our identity!

In Genesis 1:26, God says “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…”. If you look back through the chapter, God doesn’t say that about any other creation. We’re unique! But what exactly does it mean to be made after God’s image and likeness? We don’t get a clear understanding of this until much later in the Bible. Jesus, the perfect revelation of God, reveals the truth: God is actually an eternal relationship in the persons of the Trinity. And even before we knew this about Him, we were made in that image, and thus made for relationship!

The three persons of God are themselves familial terms: Father, Son, and Spirit. God the Father’s nature is that of self-gift (aka Love), which finds its perfect expression in pouring into another perfect person, God the Son. The Son perfectly reciprocates that love back to the Father. The power and bond that is formed is the Holy Spirit himself! The third person of the trinity is called a “spiration” (sounds like Spirit, eh?) of the love of the Father and the Son. Without getting too heady, all this to say that God’s love is not just some flat emotion, but an intricate action that comes from his very being!

From this eternal love, we were made! And we were made to be just like it! God formed woman from the man because he saw that man on his own was lacking something from God’s nature – relationship! And in the full union and self-gift between man and woman, love creates a third person as well – a new child. Our families are an expression of the Trinity! But even beyond marriage, all of us are called to be in relationship – vulnerability, journeying together, caring for each other, laughing together. All of those are also truly a spiration of love.

In today’s gospel, we read that God doesn’t keep this love within Himself. Rather He gave His Son to us, to be given up for us, because of our fallen nature. And the Son accepts this task from the Father and gives up his life. But he is raised and ascends back to His Father’s place and given the throne of glory. When they send forth the Spirit, we join in the divine romance. We become inheritors of the divine by joining the divine family! The mystery of the triune God is something that draws us deeper into seeking Him.

So we praise God for who He is: Three persons in One. And how He uses this aspect of His nature to connect with us as humanity and pull us into divinity. Maybe something we can learn from this celebration is to remember that we were made for relationship. Let’s not sabotage our friendships and families – may we always be bridges of peace. Let’s stay connected with those close to us, especially in this isolation during the pandemic. Let’s remember that we’re all in this life together – all of us created in the image and likeness of God. We stand together beyond skin color, economic status, or belief.

Songs for reflection:
Holy, Holy, Holy – Audrey Assad
This I Believe (The Creed) – Hillsong Worship
King of Kings – Hillsong Worship
Divine / Sailing / Time / Hymn – Phil Wickham
I Exalt Thee – Jesus Culture
Doxology / Amen – Phil Wickham
O Praise the Name (Anastasis) – Hillsong Worship

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Brendan is just your average Millennial hipster: He likes playing guitar, throwing frisbees, sipping whiskey, and grooming his beard. But he also has a passion for walking with teens and young Christ-followers, hearing every person’s story, and waking up the Church. Brendan works at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Lenexa, Kansas (near Kansas City) as a Youth Music Minister, fusing together his two loves of sharing Christ and sharing the power and need for good and beautiful contemporary praise. https://www.instagram.com/brendanbeardo/

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Be Persistent

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“..be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching…But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work on an evangelist; fulfill your ministry….” 2 Tim 4:2,5

My heart is heavy and I’m losing focus more than I usually do (which is saying something!). There is turmoil in the USA on many levels. This affects each and every person in my country.

 To fulfill our ministry as the first reading says, each of us has a lot of work to do. None of it is easy. The work starts on a personal level. Educate yourself by expanding your usual reading. There are links to several fine articles below that have fantastic resources throughout; read the ones you can, especially those on white privilege if that is how you identify yourself.

Dive into your own gut reactions to what you have seen, heard, and read over the last week. Examine the phrases and terms you use when speaking and writing about racism (in its many forms). Racism is learned. You are either racist or anti-racist; period. No ifs, ands or buts, exclusions, or special situations. You are either racist or anti-racist. Sit with that; let it sink in. Pray about what you have done and what you have failed to do focusing on racial issues.

Performing the work of an evangelist leads us to systemic change on all levels of our society here in the United States of America. It is time to fix what is broken in our social structure and in policies at all levels of our neighborhoods, local, state, and national communities; each and every one. It will take courage, humility, knowledge, wisdom, love, and prayer to come together and address the necessary changes for each situation.

Let us pray the words of  Pope Francis to begin this great and necessary work.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Help us to recognize the evil latent in a communication that does not build communion.
Help us to remove the venom from our judgements.
Help us to speak about others as our brothers and sisters.
You are faithful and trustworthy; may our words be seeds of goodness for the world:
where there is shouting, let us practice listening;
where there is confusion, let us inspire harmony;
where there is ambiguity, let us bring clarity;
where there is exclusion, let us offer solidarity;
where there is sensationalism, let us use sobriety;
where there is superficiality, let us raise real questions;
where there is prejudice, let us awaken trust;
where there is hostility, let us bring respect;
where there is falsehood, let us bring truth.  Amen.
May Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America, intercede for all those who work for peace and justice in your land and throughout the world. Amen.

How Long O Lord, Ps 13

White people let’s do our homework

I am tired

White privilege and what we can do about it

Reading James Baldwin can help heal wounds

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, Black Lives Matter

Pope Francis speaks about the death of George Floyd

youTube: Systemic Racism Explained

youTube: Let’s get to the root of racial injustice | Megan Ming Francis | TEDxRainier

How to raise an anti-racist white kid 

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Beth is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She brings a unique depth of experience to the group due to her time spent in education, parish ministries, sales and the service industry over the last 25 yrs. She is a practicing spiritual director as well as a Secular Franciscan (OFS). Beth is quick to offer a laugh, a prayer or smile to all she comes in contact with. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.

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Have We Fallen Short?

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“You have followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured.” (2 Timothy 3:10) 

This second letter to Timothy was written as an encouragement to Timothy to help him in his ministry, to help him prepare for some of the practicality of being a missionary such as planning ahead for succession. The letter doesn’t pull any punches, it isn’t going to be all fun and games. It is going to take patience, love, endurance to not only survive but thrive through the persecutions, and sufferings that come. We are told straight out that, “all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

There used to be jokes on the internet about us and our first world problems. We would bemoan the lack of a charger for our phones or that the stores were out of some luxury item to which we had become accustomed. Now, all of a sudden, these jokes aren’t so funny. Even if we aren’t in the thick of it, we are watching as freezer trucks are used to house the bodies of our fellow citizens who have not survived the pandemic. We see thousands of our countrymen waiting in line for food for their families. We are seeing video of men dying at the hands of those who have no respect for life. We are watching whole segments of our society rise up in protest because they are considered as less worthy of living a first-world life and we are seeing those who are using their anguished protests as an excuse to riot and loot. Not only are the first world jokes no longer funny, just maybe they never were. 

What do we do as Catholic Christians? How do we clarify the eyes of our hearts so that we see the face of Jesus in everyone we meet? I am not talking about being colorblind. I am talking about seeing a person for who they were created to be because that is where we find Jesus in them.

Today is the Memorial of St. Boniface. Once again, the Church in her motherly wisdom provides us with a Saint who has been there. “Boniface bears out the Christian rule: To follow Christ is to follow the way of the cross. For Boniface, it was not only physical suffering or death but the painful, thankless, bewildering task of Church reform. Missionary glory is often thought of in terms of bringing new persons to Christ. It seems—but is not—less glorious to heal the household of the faith.” (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-boniface/) Those last sentences, “Missionary glory is often thought of in terms of bringing new persons to Christ. It seems-but it is not-less glorious to heal the household of faith.” We need to recognize where we have fallen short as a people of God. We can point to amazing people in the Church who have spent their lives working for social justice, but have we? Do we go farther than donating our used clothing? Farther than dropping off food at the food bank? Those are good things to do, but are they enough? We talk about the New Evangelization in a post-Christian world. We are not ministering to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ, but to those who have heard of or even met Jesus but haven’t allowed him to change their hearts. What lies before us is a much different task. 

2nd Timothy helps us. If we immerse ourselves in Holy Scripture and we model ourselves after the Saints who have gone before us, the Holy Spirit will guide us in discerning between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. (CCC 2847) As we face head-on these challenges in our modern world, as we pray and study and lead, we will come to see Jesus in each and every person, from conception to natural death. We will begin to not simply profess Catholic social teaching, we will live it. Our lives will become our testaments to the living God and his call to unity. 

Eternal God, the refuge and help of all your children,
we praise you for all you have given us,
for all you have done for us,
for all that you are to us.
In our weakness, you are strength,
in our darkness, you are light,
in our sorrow, you are comfort and peace.
We cannot number your blessings,
we cannot declare your love:
For all your blessings we bless you.
May we live as in your presence,
and love the things that you love,
and serve you in our daily lives;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Attributed to St. Boniface

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Sheryl delights in being 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 whether it is studying for classes, deepening their prayer life or discovering new ways to serve together. 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 Brea, a Bernese Mountain dog and Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever.

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High Standards

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It is striking how little our readings today speak about anyone other than God. Saint Paul tells Timothy to “remember Jesus Christ,” and to be faithful to God by presenting himself as a “workman who causes no disgrace” (2 Tim 2:8, 15). The Psalmist sits humbly before the Lord, asking to be taught. Jesus reminds his listeners that God comes first and that we ought to love Him with our whole selves.

This serves as a good reminder of why we should do all that we do. Being a father of a nearly six-month-old daughter and a husband working overtime, this can be easy to lose track of. There are many things that can shift my focus away from the Lord. Many of these are actually good, but they can take too central a place. Pleasing my wife, providing for my family, caring for my daughter – any one of these can become the reason that I do anything else.

It is easy to get so caught up in financial concerns, personal growth, and my relationship with my wife that God is barely present in my thoughts. I seek to serve the Lord, but I am usually thinking of my family or myself. This is not terrible, but our readings today remind us that we ought to have higher standards.

Today, we are reminded that the reason we should be doing everything that we do is love for God. This is more simple than we might think. It is not that we need to stop loving our neighbor or working for the good of our families. We simply need to do these things in a specific way, with the proper perspective and goal. We can still do things for the usual reasons, but it should all be directed to God. Practically, our readings can give us some tips:

We can take our first cue from the Psalmist, whose only desire is to learn God’s ways. He recognizes that guidance and wisdom come from the Lord. Sitting before the Lord in a humble posture of listening is essential for putting God first. Without first desiring to learn from God, we cannot truly love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. We must sit at His feet, hear His Word, and carry it out. His ways should be our own; His Word should inform our words. Without this, we set the wrong foundation for ourselves.

Once we take the Lord’s instruction as our starting point, we can serve Him with fidelity. As Saint Paul explains in his letter to Timothy, we should be conducting ourselves honorably, “imparting the word of truth without deviation” (2 Tim 2:15). Rooted in the Word, we should speak what we hear, remaining in the Truth. Our relationship with God will be the basis for how we approach our lives, from our attitudes to our actions and conversations. All of these things should correspond to God’s commands and admonitions, and we should be sharing them with others.

Letting ourselves be formed by God and His commandments is great, but the fact is that we are not always thinking or talking about the Lord. Because of our duties of state, we cannot always speak directly about the Lord, teach the truth at every moment, or soak in Scripture for copious amounts of time. More often than not we are changing diapers, dealing with conflicts, planning for the future, or engaging in other mundane responsibilities.

Though it may seem like these moments are unrelated to our service to God, this is not the case. As with letting ourselves be formed by God, it is a matter of putting God first. We can still do our duties of state, but we can do them for the glory of God. As Christ points out by naming the second commandment after the greatest, the call to love our neighbor is not incompatible with the love of God. It simply needs to be subordinated to it.

Simply, what this means is that we ought to do all things for God’s glory. In offering it to God, everything that we do can become a prayer, however mundane. Once this is put into practice, every aspect of our lives will point to God. By listening to God, we set Him as our foundation. By speaking of His truths and commands, we share Him with others. By dedicating even a load of laundry to Him, we continue our sacrifice and give Him glory. If we can live in this way, we can truly love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.

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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.

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Are We Too Far Gone?

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Have we forgotten? Have we forgotten what it’s like to walk amongst a land of freedom, peace, and joy? A land flowing with milk and honey and dominion over the birds of the air and fish of the sea as gifts from our creator.

Have we forgotten the lonely pain that afflicted us striving to give of ourselves but coming up short from what the animals provide, an imitation of flattery, friendship, or affection?

Have we forgotten the deep sleep of our father as he lay to rest and was recreated with a newfound passion and joy? Have we forgotten the look that was given from the first couple in complete and utter love? No use, no ulterior motives, no you vs. me. Just complete trust and acceptance, understanding, and mutual respect.

Have we forgotten the feeling of the breath of our creator filling our lungs as we took each step in freedom from fear? Have we forgotten the experience of wealth beyond our wildest dreams? Not a wealth of this world, but of fulfillment, knowledge, and perfection.

Some would say the chasm between this portal of fantasy and folly is too far to be breached. The past is so far gone it is no longer a distant shadow, but a fading portrait of rumors and tall tales. Swimming around like a massive fish, getting bigger and bigger, but less and less true.

Some would go further and say we misremember our place. That we belong right there next to the animals, not with a dominion but as equals. Equals in freedom, intellect, and will. Debased to the point where our dignity doesn’t come from our creator but wells up from within ourselves. We make our own dignity and it can, therefore, be bought and sold, dragged and destroyed, hung up to dry like a pile of half washed clothes.

We are the “some” who would believe this faux image of man’s original light. The way we treat our fellow man has proven we have bought the bait. Our past not only washed away but erased like it never was. An empty tapestry of hopes and dreams and ambitions. We try to add more paint to cover up the mess, but it gets worse and worse till we cry out in pain for ourselves and others. Something must be missing. Something must have been forgotten. This can’t be all that the human person was meant to be?

“Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?”

That old dusty book grandma used to read to us late at night so we would quiet down or be stricken with the wrath of God? What could that possibly answer about our current predicament of hatred and fear? Misunderstanding and loneliness abound and some 2,000-year-old tired bedtime story is supposed to have the answer to our purpose? The pages begin flipping in a desperate attempt for something to lurch out and give the answer we so desperately need. Shuffling through the first few pages as the dust settles at our toes. Wondering, pleading, hoping. What is the answer? What does it mean to be human? Can we even begin to get back what we have seemed to have misplaced or completely forgotten? What is this modern-day thorn that pierces our very existence and threatens to choke us till we can’t breathe?

“Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness… So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them… God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

We pause with a deep quizzical look of reflection overcoming our face. The question still remains. What is our modern-day thorn? Is it our disbelief in the scriptures or is it our lack of faith in the restorative power of God?

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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The Truth is Utterly Amazing

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The daily readings now turn to the Gospel of Mark, and in today’s Gospel, the Pharisees have been sent to Jesus “to ensnare him in his speech,” to stir up controversy, to use his own words against him.

They lead up to their question by praising his truthfulness and objectivity, exposing their own hypocrisy, and trying to ensure that he will be sincere and straightforward. Then they pose what seems to be a perfect question, one he cannot answer without stirring up trouble: should they pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Yes or no?

If Jesus says yes, then he is condoning the demands of Rome, responsible for the subjugation of the Jewish people. He will lose favor with the Jews who resent the Roman occupation.

If Jesus says no, then he can be accused of rejecting the sovereignty of Rome and encouraging others to act against Caesar. He will be effectively exposed as a rebel against Rome.

These Pharisees are sure they have come up with the perfect question, that they have outwitted Jesus at last, that they have created the perfect trap. Yes or no? Of course, Jesus sees through their question and IS straightforward, but not in answering their question. Instead, he calls them out by asking, “Why are you testing me?”

He asks that a denarius (the usual daily wage paid to a workman at that time) be brought to him. Then he answers their question with a question (as he often does): “Whose image is this?” It is, of course, the image of Caesar, who was often worshipped as a god. Then Jesus gives the answer that utterly amazes them: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

He has sidestepped the false dichotomy they had proposed. He reframes the issue and recalls the listeners to their primary responsibility. It is a statement and a challenge: We are in the world and must observe our duties in the world, including paying our taxes; but we are made for heaven and must observe our duty to God with even more attention! The coin is made with the image of Caesar, and so it should be given back to Caesar; WE are made in the image of God, and so we should give our whole selves back to God.

Living in the world, we must be constantly reminded that our primary responsibility is to the God of Love, who chose us in Christ before the world began (Eph 1). Before God spoke creation into existence, we were chosen, desired, and willed by God!

Today, let us meditate on the truth that we were born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of GOD” (Jn 1:13) and we must set our minds “on things that are above (where Christ is), not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:2).

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Peace Amid the Storm

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Have you ever passed through times in your life where there was so much going on that your head just seemed to spin? Endless thoughts, headaches, trouble sleeping… Patience with the kiddos flies right out the window and you can see yourself getting more frazzled as the days go by.

I am right in the whirlwind as we speak, my friends. We are in the midst of trying to super-speed our remodeling projects so we can rent out our current residence while simultaneously working from home and trying to finish out the school year. Throw house hunting into the mix and WA-LA complete madness!

It is hard to stop the constant thoughts that bombard me and be still. So often throughout the day I just have to stop and take a deep breath. I have to remember to hug and kiss my little ones instead of letting harsh words fly due to my own state of mind. I have to start a tickle war instead of arguing senselessly with a three-year-old.

The one thing that has helped me through it all is my nightly rosary. After the kids go to bed and my husband jumps in the shower, I sit down in my comfy chair and gaze at one of my favorite images of my mommy, Our Lady of Guadalupe. The rhythm of the beads almost puts me to sleep most nights, but I find my soul is calm once again.

I find it interesting that we celebrate the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church today, June 1st when we have just spent a whole month dedicated to her. We just can’t get enough of Our Lady! She is the great transformer of hearts, the one who turns us back to her Son over and over again.

And as May turns into June and spring into summer, I hope my heart turns toward the Sacred Heart as well. I hope to emulate the Apostles in today’s alternate First Reading who “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer”.

So let’s start right now. I leave you with the traditional Irish blessing. May is still your souls when whirlwinds come and allow you to rest in Him.

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And rains fall softly upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

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Tami grew up in Western Michigan, a middle child in a large Catholic family. She spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, studying theology and philosophy, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Western Kentucky. She loves tackling home improvement projects, finding fun ways to keep her four boys occupied, quiet conversation with the hubby and finding unique ways to love. She works at Diocesan, is a guest blogger on CatholicMom.com and BlessedIsShe.net, runs her own blog at https://togetherandalways.wordpress.com and has been doing Spanish translations on the side for almost 20 years.