Category: Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel, we read that the Pharisees questioned why Jesus sat for a meal with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus responded: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” 

Jesus’ words should be a huge relief to us, for we are all sinners. We all need the salvation that He came here to offer us. 

And through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we can be absolved of our sins. We can tell God we’re sorry. And we can promise to try to sin no more.

Yet He knows we will sin again. And invariably we do. So we pick ourselves up and try again. That’s all He asks—that we keep working at following His laws and becoming closer to Him.

And sometimes we envy those who got to sit at the table with Him, who had the chance to talk with Him, who heard His voice, and who listened to His stories. Maybe we even think: If only I could sit down to dinner with Christ, how much different my life would be.

But we can! We can sit down to dinner with Christ every day in the celebration of the Mass. At Mass, we listen to His word. We sit in His presence. We sing hymns of praise. We pray and tell Him we love Him. And, if we are free of mortal sin, we can eat of His flesh and drink of His blood.

There is nothing more amazing than that!

As Catholics, we are so incredibly blessed to be able to partake in the Eucharist, for the Eucharist really is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. 

What a gift!

If we truly contemplate this miracle, we would be running to the confessional then skipping to church so we could receive Communion. 

But even once we’re there in Mass, we find ourselves getting distracted. Maybe the music is of poor quality. Maybe people are making noise. Maybe we can’t hear the homily. So our minds begin to wander away from the table and away from Christ. We are no longer eating with Him but drifting aimlessly and alone.  

It is at these times that we need Him the most. 

When this happens, ask Him to draw you back to the table. Tell Him how much you love being with Him. 

And as you think about that meal where He spoke to the Pharisees, understand that he was talking about you. 

He came here for you. He came here for me. We are the sinners He died for. Let us never forget that.

Contact the author

The First Reading and the Responsorial Psalm tie in really well together today. In the First Reading, we hear the story of Hagar and her son Ishmael, the son of Abraham. In this story, Abraham sends the two away with just some water and bread. They wander in the wilderness and soon have eaten the bread and drunk the water. Despair sets in. 

Hopeless and fearing that her son will die, Hagar sits down and cries. But then an angel of God speaks to her, telling her that God has heard the boy’s cries and that He will protect him. She opens her eyes to find a well of water. 

Then, in the Responsorial Psalm, we hear that “the Lord hears the cry of the poor.” 

These words and this story should buoy us, for they are meant to give courage and hope.

Yet, life is often difficult or full of loss. That loss may be of a friend or family member, of a child, of a spouse, or of an ability. We cry and wonder why these things happen. We pray. We beg God to help us. Sometimes we may even think that He isn’t listening. Or if He’s listening, He doesn’t care. And just like Hagar, we can easily fall into despair.

But destructive thoughts like these are surely the work of the devil, for he wants us to wallow, to curse God, and to feel angry. That’s how he wins us over. He fills us with such resentment and such misery that we push God away. We begin to doubt His love. And the devil smiles.

However, these verses from the Bible—indeed, the whole Bible itself—prove God’s love and compassion for us. He wants us to know that He hears our prayers and our cries. He wants us to know that He’s always listening and paying attention. And He wants us to understand that we matter to Him. 

God knows our whole story—our beginning, our middle, and our end. We are not privy to the end. So we must learn to have faith and to follow Him even when we don’t understand, trusting that He surely walks with us during our times of despair. It is during these times that we need God the most. It is during these times that we cannot give up. And it is during these times that we must pray unceasingly.

God gave Hagar and Ishmael a literal well of water to quench their thirst and to save their lives. He gave us His Son. And it is from that well that we must learn to drink, for it is that well that will save us.

Contact the author