PRI Reflections on Scripture | Wednesday of the 9th Week of Ordinary Time

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Monday of the 15th Week of Ordinary Time

Original Post Date: July 15, 2024 === Gospel Matthew 10:34-11:1 Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous  will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple– amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns. Reflection Two things strike me about this gospel passage. One, is we see Jesus in a way, frustrated. We see his humanity, his deep desire that people receive the truth, that he longs to give them. And he's constantly met with rejection. So he makes it clear to his disciples that this process of establishing a kingdom of peace is not going to be a peaceful process. There'll be tension. There'll be division. There'll be violence. But he reminds them that there's something in this whole thing that Jesus is trying to teach us about receiving something. You have to receive the message of God as it is presented in the person, Jesus. You have to allow that presence to enter into you and change you and transform you, and make you strong against those who would be against you. So Jesus wanted to make sure his disciples understood. This is not going to be a simple case of going in and doing miracles, everybody believes and then it's over. No, it'll take centuries. We're still in the process trying to figure out truth versus illusion. Closing Prayer Father, fill us with hope when things are difficult and divided and separated. Keep us in tune with your promise that what you have set out to do, you will accomplish, and we will live in the kingdom of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

HOMILY • The 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Original Airdate: July 16, 2023 Isaiah 55:10-11 | Romans 8:18-23 | Matthew 13:1-23 Opening Prayer: Oh God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray so that they may return to the right path, give all who, for the faith they profess, are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ to strive after all that does it honor.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Closing Prayer: Father, your gift of your presence is beyond our imagining.  Help us to see as you see, to hear what you hear, to know the truth that we are engaged in is going to bring the fullness of life to ourselves as we offer it to one another.  Bless us with this wisdom, and we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Saturday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time

Original Post Date: July 13, 2024 === Gospel Matthew 10:24-33 Jesus said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! “Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” Reflection The beginning of this passage speaks clearly that we are to become like the Christ, and that this process is filled with peril and darkness and struggle. And we're told over and over, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I've got you covered. I've got your back. I will not let anyone destroy you because you are loved. And everyone who can accept my love, who can believe thy love for them, is as intense as it truly is, then they will be able to love their brothers and sisters. But if they don't allow me to love him, they cannot do the work of the kingdom. Closing Prayer Father, we get caught up in trying to earn your love and prove to you that we're good enough to deserve your presence and your healing. Free us from all that knowing that you have this gift you long for us simply to receive. Give us an open, generous heart to receive the love, the gifts, the forgiveness, the grace that you want to sew upon us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Friday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time

Original Post Date: July 12, 2024 === Gospel Matthew 10:16-23 Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men,  for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Reflection Jesus told his disciples to be selfless, but now he tells them to be shrewd as serpents and beware of human beings, because they will try to destroy this message, and in the process destroy the messenger. There will be division and discord, and don't take that on as your fault, but know that this kind of work will continue until the end. You will never be finished. All you need to do is be determined, steadfast, and believe in what you're doing. Closing Prayer Father, give us patience. Give us understanding of what we are doing when we call people into your kingdom. And let us not be always thinking about success and everyone changing because it's never going to be finished. It's clear we'll be doing this until the time you come again to establish your kingdom. And we ask this in Jesu’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Thursday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time

Original Post Date: July 11, 2024 === Gospel Matthew 10:7-15 Jesus said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words— go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” Reflection Jesus, in his wisdom, makes sure that the disciples who are going out with this power within them are not getting caught up in their egos with it, saying, I'm going to go give this, and I'm going to see these people receive it, and it's going to be because I was able to do it. No, it's not about them doing it successfully. It's about them doing it generously. And if it's not accepted, they're not to fear or feel they've failed, but simply to move on and keep offering this to anyone whose heart is open. Closing Prayer Father, it is difficult for us to be a source of goodness without taking credit for it ourselves. Bless us with a selfless attitude as we go about sharing a gift that has only been given to us to be given freely to one another. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]