Come Away By Yourselves

Matthew's response to his vocation demonstrates a great deal of trust in Jesus.  His Gospel emphasizes Jesus's deep appreciation of faith and his disappointment at its absence.  Trust in Jesus should be absolute, lending a great certainty to our faith in his Church and in all of his teachings.  "Faith is the evidence of things unseen."  This means that at times we will have to trust more in Jesus than in the evidence of our own senses or the apparent evidence of our own judgment. 

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Christ's Triumph on the Cross defeated sin and death.  It was a triumph of love over selfishness.  This victory needs to be repeated in our own lives, in our own carrying of the Cross.  Sin and selfishness have to be defeated in us and this entails the acceptance of suffering and sacrifice; in a word the acceptance of the Cross.   Suffering is inevitable in life, but whether it is redemptive and sanctifying or futile and permanent is truly up to us.  

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The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a cause of Christian joy and wonder.   Our Lady's birth reminds us of the historical reality of our faith.  Mary was and is a real woman who lived a normal human life just like ours.  Through her, in her, our God became man to redeem us.  Her birth precedes and enables his infant birth.  In our own way, God can be born once again in us.  This happens when we imitate Mary's humility and obedient love. 

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The infinite transcendence of God is a challenge to our faith and love.  Jesus uses shocking language to teach us just how radically different our love for God should be compared with all of our other loves.  Developing a more adequate love for God first requires believing in his radical transcendence and his primacy.  It also requires the humility to admit that we do not yet love him as he deserves.  From  this faith and humility, we can move to improve the quality of our love for God: with prayer, with Charity, and with soul-freeing self-denial.   

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Jesus continually calls us to an alert vigilance.  He does this to make us aware of the great opportunities of love and service that fill our ordinary lives.  At the beginning of a new school year, it is good to foster an eager alertness in our souls, an excitement for the work that lies ahead of us.  If we find ourselves dull and without energy, we can start by asking Jesus for more strength, more enthusiasm.  If our lethargy persists, we can pray and practice a greater love of interior struggle as an opportunity to love heroically. 

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Jesus tells us to pray to have the strength "to stand before the Son of Man."  When we die we will be judged by God.  This is a hard truth but also a truth that saves us.  If we ask God for the courage to see ourselves as we really are now, we will be prepared for our death and God's judgment.  Reliance on God's grace, fostering sincerity with ourselves and others, living charity, and regularly examining our conscience are all ways to avoid self-deception and to prepare for our definitive meeting with God.  

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Originally published 8/15/2020.

The Assumption of Our Lady is one of God's wonderful works.  It provides an opportunity for us to increase our faith in God and to contemplate our Lady's presence with her Son in heaven. 

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Jesus promises his disciples a joy "that no one will take from you."   To be joyful we have to be attentive and sensitive to the great goods in our life.  Among these are God's constant love for us and our own ability to love and serve him in return.  Pride obscures our vision of true goods.  To serve joyfully and find joy in serving, we need to foster humility.

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Large, desperate crowds would press in on Jesus to hear and touch him.  He was the focus of all of their attention and desires.  Our Lord should be just the same for us: central to our lives.  We meet Jesus in the Eucharistic Bread, in Sacred Scripture, in our habitual presence of God, and in others. 

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Originally published March 2021

As Good Friday approaches, we reflect on Jesus' death on the Cross.  In his Passion and death, Jesus turns suffering into love.   Love gives his suffering meaning and makes it fruitful.  Jesus invites us to likewise accept suffering as a means to loving God and others. Suffering is unavoidable in this life, the real question is what will we do with it?   

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