Posted on

Have Faith

Thank you all for the feedback about our Inspiration Daily program. I will be making some of the positive changes that were suggested over the next few weeks. If you didn’t have a chance to fill out our quick five question survey, please do so HERE, or feel free to email me at tshultz@diocesan.com with any feedback. God Bless you all and thank you for reading!

-Tommy Shultz

 

Click here for daily readings

The last line of today’s Gospel made me a little bit uncomfortable. “He was amazed at their lack of faith.” I felt a little bit called out. I am a believer, but I know there are times where I lack faith in my all-knowing, ever-present God. I also know that I am not the only one.

We all question God. We have no right to do so, but in our lives we are faced with issues that make us really wonder if God has anything do with us. It could be the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the diagnosis we never expected. Whatever it may be, we are tested and we lose faith, even if only for a moment.

Yet we return to God. Why? Because we are able to see his blessings in everything that remains once the dust has settled. Although a loved one has died, we love those still here more fiercely. Although we may lose a job, we may find another better suited for us. Although we are sick or in pain, we still have life. We are constantly and consistently surrounded by God’s love, his grace, his mercy, his joy. All around us are reminders of God’s presence, both simple and unbelievably amazing.

Right now, I am struggling with the fact that I broke my ankle. I feel helpless and I must sadly admit that for a moment, I was angry at God. It wasn’t his fault that I bought a longboard and stepped off the wrong way. However, I do believe that God had a part in the joy I felt when riding the longboard (for less than an hour, but still). He was the breeze on the hot day, the sunshine on my face, the sparkle in Lake Michigan. He was there.

And he is here. In our lives, we are given free will. We are given the choice between joy and agony in all that we do. We can see the bright sunshine on a summer day, or we can see a sunburn waiting to happen. God is present whether we choose to see him or not. Choose wisely.

Heavenly Father,

You surround us with your love at all times.Help us know your peace when we are troubled. Help us feel your love when we are hurt. Help us celebrate your joy when do not understand. Help us welcome your plan when we cannot see it. All knowing, ever present God, Help us to not lack in faith so that we may feel your presence in our lives.

Amen.

Veronica Alvarado is a born and raised Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has published various articles in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, the Catholic Spirit, and other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.

Posted on

Hear This, You Who Trample Upon The Poor!

I double booked for today and I wanted to make sure to send this great article on caring for all people, especially the poor and marginalized.

Please also take a second to fill out our SURVEY to let us know how you are liking Inspiration Daily. God Bless!

-Tommy Shultz

 

Click here for daily readings

The first reading today, from the prophet Amos, is a pointed exhortation against the oppression of the poor and economic injustice:

“Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! ‘When will the new moon be over,’ you ask, ‘that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the containers for measuring, add to the weights, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!’

On that day, says the Lord GOD, I will make the sun set at midday and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentations. I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth and make every head bald. I will make them mourn as for an only son, and bring their day to a bitter end…” (Amos 8:4-6, 9-10).

This is an exhortation echoed throughout the scriptures so strongly that oppressing the poor and defrauding workers of their just wages are two of the four sins that “cry out to heaven” (Catechism 1867). St. James reiterates the severity of this command in a way that should make us all pause:

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter” (James 5:1-5).

This emphasis on economic justice and the poor continued in the early centuries of Christianity and the Church Fathers gave exhortations against the wealthy that fall right in line with St. James. Perhaps most notable is from St. John Chrysostom who said, “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.”

The Church has always taught that the poor are to be given preferential treatment (Catechism 2448). This is because Jesus explicitly identifies Himself with the poor when He makes the radical claim that whoever feeds the hungry and clothes the naked are feeding and clothing Him. Thus we are called to “recognize [Christ’s] own presence in the poor who are his brethren” (Catechism 2449).

All of this should cause us to pause and intentionally examine how we personally treat the poor. The Church commands that we see all our economic decisions as moral decisions. Do I pay attention to where I shop and how they treat their employees? Do I care where the products I purchase are made and if the laborers are treated humanely? Do I support politicians and policies that undermine the dignity of the poor and vulnerable?

I think if we answer those questions honestly that we will all find ourselves failing to live up to Christ’s expectations…and that’s good!Recognizing that we are sinners is the first step towards repentance. And while God clearly condemns the wicked, His mercy is always more abundant. We see this in the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, a man who cheated and stole from the poor on a regular basis. But Zacchaeus  repented of these sins and said to Jesus:

“‘Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost’” (Luke 19:8-10).

This is echoed in the Gospel reading today where the Pharisees condemned Jesus for eating with sinners and tax collectors and Jesus responded with His famous line,“I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).

So let yourself be condemned by the first reading today. For it is when we recognize ourselves as sinners that we can truly repent. Then when you receive His presence at the Altar you will be able to recognize that same presence in the poor and oppressed.

Paul Fahey is a husband, father, and a parish director of religious education. He can be found at his website, Rejoice and be Glad: Catholicism in the Pope Francis Generation.

Posted on

Giving All We Have

Click here for daily readings

Today’s readings are what everyone worries about: money. “Do we have enough to …” “Should we donate to this group or that?” “How will the government’s policies affect my savings?” “How am I going to pay for college for my kids?” “After my accident the bills keep on piling up.” “Will my savings run out during retirement?”

Even sisters worry about money, at least sometimes. Recently I read about Meg Hunter-Kilmer who in her late twenties, after two theology degrees and five years of teaching, left her job, sold everything she had, and now lives out of her car. She trusts God. No. She TRUSTS God. She certainly makes me think again about my own level of trust.

But today’s readings are about more than just trusting God. The first reading addresses extortion, injustice, and cheating for the purpose of destroying others. In an environment of purposeful deceit to get ahead at the expense of others’ basic human rights, the word of the Lord evaporates. There is a famine for hearing the word of the Lord which is nowhere to be found.

This reading ties together honest care for others, a reverencing of their life and human needs, with the security of God’s leadership and presence in our midst. As we look around us today, as we witness the degradation of the immigrant, the tearing apart of the family, the financial schemes that pit rich against poor, we need to make sure that we aren’t unwittingly swept up in the worry about money at the expense of worrying about our neighbor.

In the Gospel, the religious people considered people like Matthew, a tax collector sitting in his customs post, as a sinner. Jesus saw him and asked him to “follow him.” And. Matthew. Did. He left his money and followed a call that spoke to all the longings of his heart. He even spent his money on Jesus, throwing him a dinner that night in his house and inviting his friends.

Both Matthew and his tax collecting friends as well as the religious leaders of the day were in need of the divine Physician, the One who healed with mercy, the One who lived facing the broken “other” with an open and inviting heart. Jesus’ heart was unencumbered by the riches of financial or righteous wealth, so he could move freely among everyone else who carried the burdens of moral illness.

So when Jesus says we’ll be happy when we live as free as the flowers that luxuriantly populate our fields, here today and gone tomorrow, he tells us that we need to follow him the Word of God, and live as he, facing our neighbor, spending our lives in their service and for their good, trusting all our own needs to him.

Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, an author and spiritual mentor, offers personalized and professional guidance for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She draws from the spiritual tradition and her own lived experience to lead seekers deep within themselves and through their personal history to deepen their intimacy with and trust in God; live with greater joy, peace, and interior freedom; and encounter the Lord in their past and present life experiences to find healing, grace, and newness of life. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey. Sr. Kathryn’s forthcoming book Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments will be released in September 2018.

Website: touchingthesunrise.com.

Open Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/

Posted on

Your Sins Are Forgiven

Click here for daily readings

“Your sins are forgiven”. Four words that are so very powerful. These words give me such peace when the priest confessor says them to me as I receive a blessing at the close of each and every confession. These four words tell me I have been reconciled with God. It brings great joy, and usually tears, as I hear them spoken to me. As Jesus says to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven” (MT 9:2b).

In today’s reading, Jesus tells the paralytic man to “rise…and go home” (MT 9:6c). There is an action here. The man must leave and go home. From the confessional, I too must leave the presence of the Lord and go back into the world. I can’t just sit in the moment forever. After my confession and absolution, I have been asked by the priest to share my story with others, say some prayers, reflect on specific scripture readings, and a few other things, all requiring some action on my part. I believe each of us is called to go out and do something because we live in communities. We are to be witnesses to others, charged to do so by our baptism, as a light in the world.

Yes, I can go home and sit by myself – which I do regularly. God, however, does not want me, or you, to be alone all the time. We come together to be fed by the Word of God and Body of Jesus each time we go to Mass. At the end of Mass, we are all told to ‘go out and share the Good News’. You don’t have to do anything earthshaking. It can be as simple as smiling, coordinating Vacation Bible School (or buying supplies), helping a co-worker in a way you don’t normally assist, or speaking up when you see an injustice occur. Yes, absolutely tackle the big project or take the first step to healing a personal or societal ill on any level. You can take your gift of forgiveness and pray it forward by praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the sins of the world.

We are so very blessed as Catholic Christians. Now, take those blessings out into the world and share the Good News. Each new day, every new journey begins with one step, no matter the size. Take a breath, say a prayer and keep walking the Way with courage, child.

Beth Price is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and spiritual director who has worked in several parish ministry roles during the last 20 years. She is a proud mother of 3 adult children. Beth currently works at Diocesan. You can contact her at bprice@diocesan.com

Posted on

We Belong to God Alone

Click here for daily readings

Today is an exceptional day in the history of America. Many, many things come to mind in commemorating our independence as a nation that did not exist until 1776. Our history is not as extensive as the history of European and Asian countries, but we have accomplished a lot in a mere 242 years. It is good to be optimistic about where we have come and where we, as a nation, still have to go.

Today’s readings are difficult to unpack. We have God chastising us for thinking He will be satisfied with blood offerings and oaths; demons challenging Jesus to get rid of them; swine herders in Israel telling Jesus to go away. They were more concerned with their livestock than with the lives of the two men Jesus released from the grip of the demons. Wow! What does it all mean?

Well, today’s readings are telling us that God is in charge of all of creation, all of the natural world. The Psalmist writes:
“For mine are all the animals of the forests, beasts by the thousand on my mountains. I know all the birds of the air, and whatever stirs in the plains, belongs to me.”

People of faith know that all of our natural world, including all of humanity, belongs to God, and God alone, although you might not know it living in 21st century America. Many in our country believe they are in charge of everything: their lives, families, work, even their bodies. Are we living as did the swine herders, telling God to leave, to remove Himself from our country so we can take care of everything ourselves? We look to doing things our way, not God’s way. We look to getting everything we want when we want it and how we want it, often not showing concern for how that will affect others. The result is chaos and confusion.

All belongs to God – we belong to God. When we remember this, chaos and confusion disappear, and the path becomes clearer to us for God never leads us astray. Amos tells us to seek good and we may live, so that God will truly be with us and justice will prevail and we can be freed from our own demons.

Love all you meet and care for creation as God’s great gift to you. Work daily, one simple human interaction at a time, to move hearts to an America that rejoices in the freedom of all, based on the simple concept of Love. Love of and from God. Love for ourselves and each other. God’s Law can only bring life. I believe it is not an impossible dream. God will not give up on us!

Stay strong and God bless America.

Jeanne Penoyar, an Accounts Manager here at Diocesan, is currently a Lector at St. Anthony of Padua parish in Grand Rapids, MI. While at St. Thomas the Apostle, Grand Rapids, Jeanne was a Lector, Cantor, Coordinator of Special Liturgies, Coordinator of lectors and, at one time, chair of the Liturgy Commission. In a past life, secretary/bookkeeper at the Basilica of St. Adalbert where she ran the RCIA program for the Steepletown parishes. And she loves to write! When relaxing, she likes reading and word puzzles.

Posted on

One Nation Under God

Click here for daily readings

This week, I cried for our world. I watch the news, I follow social media, I talk with coworkers, so I am painfully aware of our world’s struggle. I am aware of the situation happening to immigrant children in our own country. I am aware of the religious persecution. I am aware of racial bias. I am aware of refugee struggles and rejection. I am aware of the fight for basic humanity. Where is the basic humanity?

I cannot understand why people do not simply care about each other. Who are we to judge one another? Are we not brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of our differences? Who are we to deny others of the same freedoms we, ourselves, fight for? We are all struggling in one way or another and yet we are often very picky of who we will and will not lift up.

Today’s first reading says, “Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as capstone.” (EPH 2:19-21)

Last week was Catholic Religious Freedom Week and tomorrow is the Fourth of July, an anniversary of our nation’s independence. We should use today to reflect upon what tomorrow truly means. What does our freedom and independence mean? It means our country is a melting pot, filled with cultures, races, and backgrounds that are all able to come together in a single country.

We are all one in God’s eyes. There is no “us” and “them” in Catholicism. Just as our country is one nation under God – not one American nation under God, not one North American Nation under God, but just ALL one nation under God – we are all children of God. When Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, he further explained what he meant by literally everyone being our neighbor using the parable of the good Samaritan.  You see, we are all strangers on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is up to us to be the Good Samaritan that treats all with mercy.

For more information on the Catholic Church’s stance on Religious Liberty, click here.

For last week’s Religious Liberty daily prayers and reflections, click here.

Veronica Alvarado is a born and raised Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has published various articles in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, the Catholic Spirit, and other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.

Posted on

Think of God

Click here for daily readings

Does it ever scare you how easily it is to fall into bad habits? Reading about some of the transgressions of the time in the Book of Amos today, I realize once again how alive and applicable Scripture is to us today. We just as easily “trample the heads of the weak” or “profane his name” through impure acts. Even though God called us “good” from the moment he conceived mankind, it is so easy for us to be “bad”!

Being a parent has brought so much light on this tendency and the great need I have for grace. When I was single it was so easy to volunteer, go on mission trips, say kind things, help others with a project, have a regular prayer life and be a good person in general. But once I became a mother, all that was stripped away in favor of a life of 24/7 care of little ones. Not only was I no longer able to travel or volunteer or keep up a prayer routine, but any adult company in general was hard to come by. My friends had also married and had children and we all became absorbed in our own lives. I found it easier and easier to succumb to frustration, anger, finger pointing, and a desire to control.

Then I came across a reflection where the author discussed a heresy declaring that a person could gain heaven through his/her own effort, negating God’s grace. Recognizing the tendency in myself to drive, organize and manage things, I began to ponder whether I was ever guilty of this mindset. I have always been a bit of a “goody two shoes”, so to speak, attempting to follow the rules and do acts of charity, but for the past several years, sheer exhaustion and the constant outpouring of self has made grace much more of a necessity and virtue much harder to come by.

While continuing to mull over this thought, I read on and come to the Psalm: “Remember this, you who never think of God.” WHOA! That is not someone I want to be! Is He talking to me?? I certainly hope not! I much prefer to read “He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way, I will show the salvation of God.” Yeah, yeah, that sounds much better… that’s who I want to be.

So with a renewed resolve I make a conscious decision to think of God more, ask for His grace more and rely on it more often. For only in Him and through Him can I even begin to be good…

Tami Urcia is wife and mother to her small army of boys. She works full time at Diocesan and is a freelance translator and blogger (BlessedIsshe.net and CatholicMom.com) She loves tackling home projects, keeping tabs on the family finances, and finding unique ways to love. Tami spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree. Her favorite things to do are spending time outside with the kiddos, quiet conversation with the hubby, and an occasional break from real life by getting a pedicure or a haircut. You can find out more about her here.

Posted on

Miracles are Real

Click here for daily readings

I am an extreme optimist, or maybe optimist is already an extreme? I could be on a sinking cruise ship and be thankful that I will get to see the 80% of the ocean that we have not yet explored. Ok, maybe I am not that extreme, but I always try to think the best of people and circumstances. I have this crazy notion that human persons have an innate goodness and that no matter how depraved or unethical we become, we cannot entirely douse that flame.

At first I thought today’s Gospel was a perfect reading for an optimist. It speaks of the goodness of God and how if any person has a trial, illness, demonic possession, or any other iniquity, God will come and take care of the problem. Then I realized a very important truth about our faith. Miracles are not optimistic they are REAListic. The optimist tends to look at the glass half full, the pessimist looks at it half empty, but the realist looks at it and says that it is a glass of water. And the fact of the matter is that miracles are real. “Miracles are not contrary to nature but only contrary to what we know about nature” (St. Augustine).

We are living in an age where miracles are more important than ever before. “Miracles were necessary before the world believed, in order that it might believe” (St. Augustine). Well I think it’s safe to say we need to remind people that God is active in this world. When news headlines are riddled with division, depression, death, and destruction, miracles counteract with the divine power of God.

It’s easy as Catholics to know miracles exist, just look at the mass. I think it is difficult however to know miracles can be personal to our lives. Sure they existed in the lives of the saints that lived a long time ago in a galaxy far away (click here for some amazing examples of miracles that have happened to various saints), but God’s power has diminished every year since His death right? Or even if it hasn’t, he has no personal interest in me right?

Well the thing about the word of God is that it is living. It doesn’t die even if we put it up on a shelf. I encourage you to read the Gospel one more time and put your current life and situations into the story. What do you want God to heal? How do you need to rely on Him? Do you have faith that He has power and wants the very best for you? Tell him, after all, “We pay God a compliment when we ask great things of Him” (St. Teresa of Avila).

Be like the almost two thousand saints who have been canonized since John Paul the Great became Pope and trust that God wants to work in your life here and now. I am sure these saints struggled with thinking that God personally cared for them at some point in their lives. The difference is that they eventually gave up on their own power and relied on God to the grave and beyond. Let’s pray for grace so that one day Jesus can say to us as well, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.”

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. 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. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

Posted on

Conversions Woven Throughout Life

Click here for daily readings

On this feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul I look back upon the journey the Lord has led me on and where He has me going. It seems like my life has been filled with conversions; some conversions very much so interior (and only noticeable to myself) and some major exterior conversions visible to all.

In the Gospel reading for today Simon Peter proclaims the true identity of Christ, demonstrating his proclamation of faith in all that the Lord has revealed. With this profession of faith, Jesus gives Simon Peter the new title of “Peter”. What is the significance of this name change? We see this happen many times throughout scripture.  We can look at the patterns (Old Testament and New Testament) and we can see that something very big happens with a name change: a call to conversion through a change in the God given mission bestowed upon the person. Peter became the root that our Apostolic Faith was set upon, growing in strength of faith as “the rock” upon which our faith is established in Christ. Paul became a warrior for the Kingdom, converting from his days of persecuting Christians and growing a heart with so much love for Christ that it could not be contained.

Whatever your vocation to love may be, wherever God has you right now, you are called to conversion. He may have you on the road accepting small conversions (letting someone go ahead of you in traffic, holding the door for others, taking more time to read scripture daily, connecting with family, etc.) in order to lead up to the great and beautiful conversion that will be an integral part of your life’s story, your love story with our Savior.  

I recall when my mission changed on the night of Easter Vigil 2015, when I was given the name Peter after St. Peter the Apostle (my confirmation saint). While going through the RCIA process that prior year, and by studying the Church years before that point, I could always identify with Peter in how he denied Christ three times. I myself denied the call to become Catholic three times before finally giving my fiat to the conversion He was drawing my heart to. I will experience another name change in October of this year by becoming Mrs. Shultz, with my conversion involving making a gift of myself to my soon-to-be husband and the domestic church we will establish together with God as our center.  

When I think about my vocational conversion, my conversion to the Catholic faith, and all the little conversions leading up to where I am now I am reminded of how beautiful it is that God wants to take us exactly the way we are and call us to greatness. He does not call those who already have everything they need to complete a mission, but rather He calls those that have open hearts to receive all the graces needed to be able to live out the mission they have been given for the Kingdom.  

Be encouraged by the examples of St. Peter, a fisherman that ended up being the rock the Church is built upon, and St. Paul, a past persecutor of the faith that ended up being a devoted servant of our Lord and Savior that shared the Gospel with the world. God took these two men, who started out not equipped to fulfill the missions before them, and gave them all the graces they needed to live their lives for Him. If you give God open arms and an open heart, accepting life’s little conversions along the way, God will equip you for greatness in the mission He has placed you on in this life. When we lovingly accept this mission with faith and trust that is when our journey towards sainthood surges to new heights, for we are all called to join our hearts to Heaven and answering these calls make this joining of heart and Heaven a reality. St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us!

“On the day of my conversion Charity entered into my heart and with it a yearning to forget self always; thenceforward I was happy.”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Nathalie Hanson is a special education teacher and a joyful convert to the Catholic faith with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).  She loves to share her passion for Catholicism with others, including her conversion story and how God continues to work miracles in her life through her OCD.  Nathalie is engaged to her best friend, Diocesan’s Tommy Shultz, and she is beyond excited to become Mrs. Shultz this October. Her favorite saints include St. Peter the Apostle, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II.  If you have any questions for Nathalie, or just want her to pray for you, you can email her at rodzinkaministry@gmail.com.

Posted on

Exile and Return

Click here for daily readings

Earlier this week at daily Mass we began hearing readings from the second Book of Kings. We’re being introduced to ancient kings from Assyria and Babylon who have one intent: to overthrow the Kingdom of Judah and take captive Jerusalem and despoil the Temple.

These are challenging readings because of the foreign names — Sennacherib, Hezekiah, Hilkiah, Ahikam, Nebuchadnezzar, Jehoiachin and others — but also because they capture a wide swath of biblical history in the rise and fall of successive heirs of Kings David and Solomon. The Chosen People have made themselves vulnerable to being overthrown because they themselves have been overthrown. They have forgotten God. Their kings have forsaken their vocation as shepherds.

In today’s reading, the nearly 1,000-year reign of the Royal Kingdom of Judah, followed by the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel come to an end. Scripture records the events dispassionately, almost like modern-day journalism. Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon, leads a siege of Jerusalem and conquers it. He captures King Jehoiachin of Judah and sends him into exile, along with the leading people of Jerusalem. Most tragically, Nebuchadnezzer’s army plunders the Temple and all the sacred objects used for the worship of God. With Jerusalem decimated and a foreign king now reigning over the Promised Land, all hope seemingly lost, the chronicler of these events notes this: “None were left among the people of the land except the poor” (2 Kgs 24:15).

Holy Mother Church next offers us the mournful, penitent prayers of these poor and exiled in Psalm 79 for our meditation: “O Lord, how long? … We are brought very low … Help us, O God our savior … Deliver us and pardon our sins…”

No matter where our sins may lead us or how far we feel we have strayed from the Savior’s mercy, may we turn to the Lord just like the psalmist and cry out, “Help us, O God our savior… Deliver us and pardon our sins.”

Father Tim S. Hickey is a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford currently serving as a mission priest in the Diocese of Dodge City, Kansas. A native Kansan, he was schooled at Benedictine College, Marquette University and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Prior to becoming a priest, Father Hickey was editor of Columbia magazine for the Knights of Columbus. He writes occasionally for Magnificat’s seasonal special issues and for Communion and Liberation.

Posted on

Remain in Me

Click here for daily readings

“Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord”, is the responsorial psalm for today. I don’t know about you, but I need this constant reminder. I must focus on the decrees of the Lord because it is too easy for me to think, ‘yea, yea, I know all that. Let me tell others what I think the Lord is saying to them in their own situations.’ Wrong! That is not the way to bear good fruit. As the Alleluia refrain reiterates, “Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord; whoever remains in me will bear much fruit” JN 15:4a, 5b.

These passages always reminds me of 2 of my all time favorite saints. Mother Teresa (aka St. Teresa of Calcutta) and St. Francis of Assisi. As a member of the Secular Franciscans, I am part of 300,000 professed lay people who love and support the Church with a focus of the life and witness of St. Francis. St. Francis produced much good fruit because of his faithful obedience and love of God. Take a look at the following article to learn a bit more about the Saint and his charisms here

Mother Teresa bore much good fruit in her life by following the decrees of the Lord. This one young woman, who began by listening to the voice of God while traveling on a train, is a beautiful example of a good tree. St. Teresa’s commitment to “remain in me, as I remain in you”, was a testament to her dedication. In her book, “The Simple Path”, Mother Teresa shares a prayer that hangs on the walls of the Sisters of Charity homes around the world. I share it with you today because it has become a touchstone for me over the last 20+ years due to its simplicity. That being said, it is a prayer that has borne fruit for me; for you, dear reader, it may not strike an accord, or bear good fruit. It is for you to decide.

The Simple Path

The fruit of silence is PRAYER.

The fruit of prayer is FAITH.

The fruit of faith is LOVE.

The fruit of love is SERVICE.

The fruit of service is PEACE.

-St. Teresa of Calcutta

Beth Price is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and spiritual director who has worked in several parish ministry roles during the last 20 years. She is a proud mother of 3 adult children. Beth currently works at Diocesan. You can contact her at bprice@diocesan.com

Posted on

Trust in the Lord

Click here for daily readings

Imagine you are an ancient king, responsible for a vast area and the lives of many people. Neighboring kings have joined forces and are destroying nearby kingdoms, and now send the message that you are next. What would you do? Would you panic? Would you begin scrambling for a solution? Would you remind yourself that you are in charge and if something must be done, you must do it? Would you try to negotiate a treaty or run and hide yourself in the mountains and wait out the destruction? Would you rally your troops to defend the kingdom and lead them into battle or find safety for what you treasure?

This is the situation in today’s first reading from 2 Kings. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, did none of those things. When he received a message from the king of Assyria, who was threatening doom, Hezekiah went immediately into the temple of the Lord and put all his hope in the God of Israel. He first praised God as the One above all others, the One Who is over all the powers of earth. Then he begged the Lord to consider the threat of Assyria, and how they are a taunt against the one true God. And then he humbly asked God to save the kingdom of Judah from the power of the Assyrians – but not for their own sake, but “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” Hezekiah begged the Lord to show his power so that others might believe. God responded with the promise that the Assyrians would not win, that the Lord himself would “save this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” God, faithful to his promises in every generation, struck down 185,000 soldiers and sent them packing back to Nineveh. Hezekiah won by putting all his trust in the Lord.

This brings us, by an indirect path, to the Gospel for today. We know many of these words, as they have become adages in our language: pearls before swine, do unto others, the narrow gate. Our familiarity with the phrases might obscure for us some of the subtleties in the message. Jesus is very clear about something that we can be a little foggy about: “the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.” When I read that, I am shaken by the truth that many are following the way to destruction. This turns my understanding of the world on its side. I want to believe that most people are good and generous most of the time, that most people follow the rule to “do unto others,” and so they are on their way to eternal life. The Lord’s words tell a different story. “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” How can this be?

It’s simple, really. The narrow gate and constricted road are not the way of niceness, or the way that our culture sees as “successful.” To understand it, we must look beyond the surface, so that we see it is the way of complete trust in the Lord, rather than self-reliance, no matter how “successful” that makes us.

It is the radical trust that goes to prayer before mustering an army, that trusts in the Lord to fight our social and emotional battles rather than insisting on fixing everything ourselves, that entrusts all the people we love and all their situations to the goodness of God before reaching in with our very limited human resources. It is the deep trust of a child to her loving Father, even when that Father is unseen. It is the loving trust that allows us to finally let go of our worrying and questioning; the love that casts out fear and sets us free.

Most of the people I know ARE good and generous and kind. But God sees into the heart, and he knows the narrow places in each of us that we do not even know ourselves so He knows whether, deep down inside, we rely on ourselves and our own weapons and tools and resources or, like Hezekiah, truly put all our trust in the Lord.

This does not come easily to our fallen human nature, and it is certainly not “the way of the world.” Let us each ask God to show us the ways we insist on taking care of things ourselves, and to give us the grace to entrust each of these things completely to him, so that we at last truly trust in him and are set free to do His will rather than our own.

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.