Tag: Dakota Pesce

In today’s Gospel we hear of a poor widow who gives everything she has – two small coins – to the treasury. Although wealthy people gave more than two coins, Jesus says that the poor widow put in more than anyone else because she gave from her poverty rather than from surplus. Regarding what we are called to give, Pope Francis says, “Faced with the needs of others, we are called to deprive ourselves of essential things, not only the superfluous; we are called to give the necessary time, not only what remains extra; we are called to give immediately and unconditionally some of our talent, not after using it for our own purposes or own group”. Christ and the Church are not concerned with monetary generosity. Rather, they are concerned with generosity of the heart. When we give of our time, treasure and talent, are we giving that which is extra or are we, like the poor widow, giving our whole selves, our whole livelihoods? We are called to love one another as Christ loved the Church. Christ gave His life for the Church, so, in the same way, we are called to lay down our lives out of love for Him and His Church. That means something different for all of us. For some of us, it is religious life. For others it may mean working for the Church in lay ministry. And for others it means loving our families – our husbands, wives, children, siblings, and parents – and helping them on the path toward Heaven.

How fitting for today’s Gospel that we celebrate three saints – St. Clemente I, St. Columban, and Bl. Miguel Agustín Pro – who like the poor widow in the Gospel gave their all to the Church. St. Clemente I was an early pope who was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown off a boat into the Black Sea. St. Columban dedicated his life to Christ and the Church through the monastic life. Bl. Miguel Agustín Pro, like St. Clement I, was martyred. He was martyred in Mexico in the early 20th century. These three saints are examples of the ways in which we strive to dedicate our lives to Christ and the Church.

As we enter into this holiday season of thanksgiving and gift-giving, may we remember the one who gave His all in forgiveness of our sins.

“…since we are travelers and pilgrims in this world, let us think upon the end of the road, that is our life, for the end of the way is our home…Many lose their true home because they have greater love for the road that leads them there. Let us not love the road rather than our home, in case we should lose our eternal home, for our home is such that we should love it.”  (from St. Columban “The True Meaning of Our Whole Livelihood”)

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 “As the world turns, the Cross stands firm.”    -St. Bruno-

At the time I am writing this, we do not have definitive results from the Presidential Election. By the time you are reading this, it’s possible that there will be definitive results. However, I don’t think it matters much because today’s First Reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians reminds us that “…our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”. St. Paul urges the Philippians to model their lives after imitators of Christ rather than after those who “…conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ”. When we direct our attention toward our end in Heaven, we are able to confidently stand firm in the Lord despite any obstacle, uncertainty, or hopelessness we may be experiencing in our lives.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of a rich man and his dishonest steward. At the end of the parable, the rich man praises the steward for being prudent in worldly gains. After reading this over a few times, I was still confused. Is Christ telling us we should commend one another for our world gains, even if they were achieved dishonestly? No, that couldn’t be the message of the Gospel. What I think Jesus is essentially saying is: Imagine where we would be if we put as much effort into our spiritual lives as we do into earthly things. The steward and the rich man are those that St. Paul says are enemies of the cross of Christ because, “Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their ‘shame’”. They indulge in worldly goods and, rather than being ashamed of their misconduct, they are commended for their shrewdness. Their absorption in matters of this world distracts them from their ultimate end which is Heaven and they become children of the world rather than children of the light.

Jesus ends by saying “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of the light”. To the world, children of the light – those who follow Christ and live in accord with His teaching – seem foolish. They are not preoccupied with material things, but rather with their ultimate end which is the glory of Heaven. The children of the world, however, seem prudent to the world because their preoccupation with the world often leads to material gain like that of the steward in the parable. We are called to be children of the light and keep our attention toward Heaven, even if that means appearing foolish to the world.

In this time of unrest and uncertainty, may we appear foolish to the world as we stand firm in the Lord and not become preoccupied with earthly matters. May we remember that we await a Savior and glory in Heaven.

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“Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” 

In the first reading we hear Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians to be compassionate with one another. He calls them, and in turn calls us, to be imitators of Christ in everything we do. What St. Paul is urging us to do is not easy. Immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, and suggestive talk are all actions that we should rebuke. Rather than participating in deeds that distance us from Christ and His Kingdom, we are called to be thankful and compassionate. We are to live as children of light.

In today’s Gospel, Christ teaches us how to be compassionate. When he sees a woman who was “crippled by the Spirit” he calls out to her and heals her of her infirmity. In doing so, he angers the leader of the synagogue. The leader of the synagogue accuses Christ of not keeping holy the Sabbath because He cured the woman. Christ then rebukes him by calling him a hypocrite. Christ’s reasoning took me a very long time to understand. He asks the leader of the synagogue, “Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering?” I thought Christ was comparing the work they do with their animals to the work He did in curing the crippled woman. What I now understand is that Christ sees the watering of animals as compassionate. One would not deny an animal sustenance on the Sabbath in order to keep the day holy. Rather, one would be compassionate to the animal and grant the animal its need for water and food. In the same way, Christ did not deny the woman the compassion of healing her from her infirmity. By watering the animals their physical needs are met. In curing the woman, not only are her physical needs met but her spiritual needs are as well because we are told it was Satan who kept her in slavery and caused her infirmity. Curing the woman from her physical infirmity shows us that Christ came to cure us of our spiritual infirmities.

May we be Christ-like in our compassion toward others and may we always look for and find the face of Christ in one another.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that we should pray with faith and persistence. When we pray faithfully and persistently, we admit how much we need God in our lives.

Oftentimes we think of persistence in prayer as continually asking God for the same thing until He gives it to us. Sometimes that looks like “I promise I’ll stop gossiping if I get that promotion at work”. Sometimes it looks more serious like, “I promise I’ll come back to church if you allow my loved one to live through this disease”. But I think the prayer Christ is speaking about is the prayer in which we genuinely ask for His will to be done in our lives. Christ says, “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

We get so caught up in asking for material things, those things which we need most immediately, that we forget that the greatest gift God can give us is the Holy Spirit. When God doesn’t grant us the sign we prayed for, we think He denied us our desire. But God’s will is greater than our own and He knows what we need even when we do not. In those moments that we feel as though God has not given us what we prayed for, perhaps He has given us what we need: the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we have been granted the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to help us bear whatever cross we are carrying. We learn that ultimately, we need God and God alone.

Since I was very young, my mom has told me “God’s delay is not God’s denial”. As a kid (and sometimes even now) that’s a hard thing to accept. It helps to remember that His greatest gift to us is Himself and that is always enough.

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In today’s Gospel reading we hear the Beatitudes. Christ tells us, “Blessed are you who are poor…who are now hungry…who are now weeping…when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man”. Then he tells us to “Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!” That feels hard to do: leap for joy in the face of persecution or poverty or hunger or despair. I know most of the time when I’m experiencing any of that, the last thing on my mind is joy. But then, looking back on those times of sadness or persecution or any other type of hardship, I realize how much easier and how much more fruitful my thoughts and prayers would have been had I allowed myself to empty my heart of everything but God. For it is only in Him that true happiness and joy are found.

Today is also the feast day of St. Peter Claver who spent his life ministering to slaves in Cartagena. Thousands upon thousands of slaves were traded through Cartagena and St. Peter Claver, to the best of his ability, provided food, medicine, and drink to those who needed it. He chose a life of poverty, hunger, and persecution in order to serve those who had no choice but to live that way. St. Peter Claver is an example of why we should rejoice when we experience hardship: our reward will be great in Heaven!

May we always unite our own sufferings with those of Christ on the Cross and allow ourselves to open ourselves fully to His love and His mercy. Following the example of St. Peter Claver, may we rejoice in the face of poverty, hunger, despair, and persecution.

St. Peter Claver, pray for us!

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“It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God”  

-St. John Damascene- 

The quote above is long but I feel like this fully encompasses the beauty of the feast we celebrate today.

In today’s Gospel we hear Mary’s Magnificat: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” In carrying our Lord she is remarkably humble. She does not boast of her own merit but rather acknowledges herself as “his lowly servant” and praises God for giving her the grace to bear His Son. She knows oneness with Christ in a way we never will. She carried Him in her womb, taught him, and walked with Him during His Passion. It is for that reason that she did not suffer the pains of death and was assumed, body and soul, into Heaven. Since she was the first to be united with Christ in the flesh by His Incarnation, it is only fitting that should also be the first to be fully united with Christ, body and soul, in the Resurrection.

In the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissiumus Deus, in which Pope Pius XII defines the dogma of the Assumption, he says that he is “…confident that this solemn proclamation and definition of the Assumption will contribute in no small way to the advantage of human society…It is to be hoped that all the faithful will be stirred up to a stronger piety toward their Heavenly Mother…” In times of great suffering may we renew our devotion to our Heavenly Mother, for not only does her Assumption teach us about the Resurrection, but she also teaches us how to live our lives in unity with Christ while we are still on Earth.