PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Original Post Date: July 30, 2024 === Gospel Matthew 13:36-43 Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” Reflection The story of Adam and Eve can lead one to misunderstand something very essential. God has not created people in a way that they are evil. God's creation is goodness. Wholeness. Fullness. Light. Life. And what he wants his disciples to understand with this parable he said, I want you to know that evil exists in the world. It does not come from you, but it is there, planted there by some evil force. And the work that we have is to first and foremost understand its goal. The goal of evil is to separate us from God, himself and from others. When we feel that, when we see that, that's when we call upon the grace of God to say, please help me understand that I am made to be one with you, with myself and my brothers and sisters. Closing Prayer Father, shame is a big part of our lives, and when we do participate in something that is wrong, that goes against our nature, we tend to begin to feel that we are somehow evil or broken or unacceptable. Help us to get past that shame and enter into the kingdom where we can see and feel the beauty and the dignity of every human being. 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 | Monday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Original Post Date: July 31, 2023 === Gospel Matthew 13:31-35 Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches." He spoke to them another parable. "The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened." All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world. Reflection The power of a parable is that it's a thought that you are given, that you stay with. You pay attention to an image. And what you do when you see that and turn it over and over again, it slowly grows and grows. And if it's the truth, it becomes part of who you are. And then there's something so important, so big in your life. It's a image, I think, of freedom that the gospel holds within it, but it needs to be pondered. And when it's pondered, it is so effective. So stay with ideas that are small and turn them over and over and listen to what they have to teach. Closing Prayer Father, you speak to us daily, incident after incident, words after words. We see something. We hear something. Keep us alert and attentive to what these things are. Gifts from you to help us grow into the freedom of God's children. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

HOMILY • The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Original Airdate: July 30, 2023 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 | Romans 8:28-30 | Matthew 13:44-52 Opening Prayer: Oh God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our rule and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure.  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, open our eyes.  Open our hearts, our minds, our will to your ways, to what you’ve promised, to what you have invited us into and want to work with us.  Bless us with hope, 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 | Feast of Saint James, Apostle

Original Post Date: July 25, 2025 === Gospel Matthew 20:20-28 The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him, "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom." Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can." He replied, "My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Reflection This seems like such a human story. And in the eyes of the other disciples, it seems that James and John basically put their mother up to this. We really want a position of power and authority. And it just shows how far they are, in a sense, from the Kingdom of God.  But what is so essential in this reading is an understanding that the great shadow of anyone in a ministry position that gives them this sense of power is so dangerous that anyone in the role of ministry has to be checking themselves over and over again, to make sure they're not caught up in seeking an authority over people, but only looking for ways in which to serve them. Closing Prayer Father, we are human, and we never lose our humanity, and there's always a pull, a desire to be seen as someone important. Someone valuable. It gives us a sense of worth, a sense of value. Free us from that addiction to always looking for approval. And never let us use it in a way that overpowers the rights of others in favor of what our ego longs for. 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 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Original Post Date: July 26, 2024 === Gospel Matthew 13:18-23 Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” Reflection We learn something about human nature here, that the work of becoming who God calls us to be, to be authentic, to be who we really are, is not an easy thing. And It takes work and takes time. But it seems that if we believe it, if we believe that the things he's asking us to do or to understand, if we know that that's true, then there's going to be a capacity to do this work of receiving the truth in a way that will not be destroyed by our human weaknesses. Jesus said, it’s the one who hears the word and understands it. That's the key. Closing Prayer Father, you reveal yourself as a God that is a Trinity. God the father, the creator. God the son, the Redeemer. Then you have this mysterious Holy Spirit, which is the one who is there with you to help you understand, to help you to see. That's the purpose of the Holy Spirit, to be that catalyst in us that opens our eyes to see what is true. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]