July 27 Monday: Mt
13:31-35: 31 Another parable he put before them, saying, “The
kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in
his field; 32 it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the
greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable.
The context: Today’s
Gospel contains two of Jesus’ one-line parables about the Kingdom of God. The
parable of the mustard seed probably shows that Gentiles in the Church will one
day outnumber Jews. The parable of the yeast indicates that all are
invited to salvation, and that the power of the Holy Spirit working within the
Church will enable it to grow.
The small beginnings and great ending: Using a pair of
mini-parables of the mustard seed and yeast, Jesus explains how the Kingdom of
God, or rule of God, grows within us by the power of the Word of God and power
of the Holy Spirit living within us. When we surrender our lives to Jesus
Christ and allow his Word to take root in our hearts, we are transformed and
made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us. In the parable of
the mustard seed, the primary point of comparison is the contrast between the
smallness of the seed and the greatness of the result (“the largest of
plants”). The life-principle in a small mustard seed enables it to grow into a
large bush by a slow but steady process. The microscopic yeasts within a small
piece of leaven transform a thick lump of dough overnight into soft and spongy
bread. Christianity had a small beginning, like a mustard seed or yeast, with
Jesus and a band of twelve apostles in a remote corner of the world. But
through the power of the Holy Spirit living in individual Christians,
Christianity has become the largest religion in the world, spreading in all
countries embracing all races of people.
Life messages: 1)
We need to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, changing our evil ways and
tendencies to a life of holiness; from unjust and uncharitable conversations to
speaking with God and listening to Him (prayer); from a judgmental attitude
expressed in scornful criticism, and destructive gossip to a loving, welcoming
attitude live out in willing help, patience, and consoling, encouraging,
inspiring support.
2) We need to act like yeast, influencing the lives of
others around us: Just as Christianity in the past transformed the treatment of
women, children, slaves, the sick, and the poor by the power of Jesus’ Gospel,
we Christians, in our time, have the duty to transform the lives of people
around us by our exemplary lives, led according to the promptings of the Holy
Spirit. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
July 28 Tuesday: Mt 13:36-43: 36 Then he left
the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “He
who sows the good seed is the Son of man; 38 the field is the world, and the
good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil
one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of
the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and
burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 41 The Son of man will
send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and
all evildoers, 42 and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep
and gnash their teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. USCCB
video reflections:
https://youtu.be/uMK6GS3bCkc?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DCQlut1GkSO28iHCuAeFtWX
The context: Today’s
Gospel text is Jesus’ explanation of his parable of the wheat and weeds.
This parable teaches us that a very patient and compassionate God is hopeful
that the so-called “weeds” among us will be converted, and that we should not
be in a hurry to eliminate such elements from the Church, society, or the
family, on the basis of unwarranted and hasty judgment.
Through the parable of the wheat and the weeds, Jesus
assures us that we are the field of God. We are the ground Jesus works as
well as the seed he plants, and the seedlings he nurtures. We are the
people upon whom He rests his hopes, and the folk in whom He plants the seeds —
the Word of God. We are the congregation He anoints with the Holy
Spirit. In today’s parable, Jesus, presents a wise and patient God Who
allows the good and the evil to coexist in the world, so that the evil ones may
come to conversion before their time ends, and He must punish them. “Let
the seed and the darnel grow together till the harvest time.” In
other words, God awaits repentant sinners, giving them the strength to
acknowledge their weakness. God calmly recognizes that there is evil in
the world, but sees that evil as no excuse for the good people who have God’s
grace at their disposal not to do good. Through the parable of the wheat
and the weeds in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to be patient with those
who fail to meet the high ethical standard expected of a Christian. If we don’t
spend all our time wondering why there is so much evil in the world, we may
have a little left over for wondering why there is so much good!
Life message:
1) We need to practice patience. We need to be patient with ourselves and
with others, especially those who annoy us and those who offend us. 2) Let
us patiently and lovingly treat the “weeds” in our society as our brothers and
sisters and do all in our power to put them back on the right road to Heaven,
especially by our good example and our fervent prayer for their
conversion.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
July 29
Wednesday (Feast of St. Martha)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-martha/ :Jn
11: 19-27 or Lk 10: 38-42): 19
many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their
brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him,
while Mary sat in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died. 22 And even now I know that whatever you
ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise
again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the
resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and
the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and
whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She
said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he
who is coming into the world.” USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/tAjFts1EXdE?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DCQlut1GkSO28iHCuAeFtWX
The context: Today
we celebrate the feast of St. Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, who used
to welcome Jesus into her house at Bethany during his Jerusalem journeys.
Martha was a dynamo of action. Jesus loved her and her family. It was during
the last month of his public life that Jesus visited her house for the last
time. Jesus praised Mary for finding time to listen to him, while giving Martha
a gentle correction for complaining about Mary’s “laziness” while Martha was
rushing about frantically, preparing a grand meal for Jesus. Today’s Gospel
describes how Jesus later came to Bethany in secret during the seven-day period
of deep mourning for the sudden death of Lazarus. Although Lazarus had been in
the tomb four days, Martha, grieving the premature loss of her brother, sprang
into action and launched her heartfelt complaint that her brother would have
been healed if Jesus had come when notified that he was sick, but she assured
Jesus that she knew that the Father would give Jesus whatever he asked, even
now. Jesus consoled her declaring: “I am the Resurrection and the life;
he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and
believes in me shall never die.” Martha’s response was a great profession
of Faith in the Divinity of Jesus: “I have come to believe that you are the
Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world’” (John
11:25-27). With Peter’s, hers is the most explicit confession of Jesus as
Messiah. Mary, coming from the house at Martha’s message that the Lord had come
and wanted to see her, made the same tearful complaint Martha had. Asking where
they had laid Lazarus, Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb, then called him forth and
gave him back alive to Martha and Mary by a miraculous resuscitation.
Life messages: 1)
We need both Marthas and Marys in the Church – women of action and women of
contemplation. How would the Church survive if not for the Marthas and Bills
who sing in the choir, teach in the Sunday school, work with the youth, run the
altar guild, work with the homeless, and build the Church? The same is true
with the family. We need responsible people to do the work in the house: to
cook, to clean, to keep the house operating, to pay the bills, to keep the cars
running, not to speak of rearing the children and loving the spouse. Households
can’t survive without Marthas and Bills. Nor can offices, schools or
businesses. 2) But we must find time to listen to God speaking to us through
His word and time to talk to God. Where would we all be without the cloistered
monks and nuns who spend their lives praising God and praying for all of us?
Jesus clearly said: be hearers and doers of the word. Jesus
never reversed that order. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
July 30 Thursday (St.
Peter Chrysologus, Bishop, Doctor of the Church)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-peter-chrysologus/ : Mt 13:47-53: 47 “Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish
of every kind; 48 when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted
the good into vessels but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the close of
the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, 50
and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their
teeth. 51 “Have you understood all this?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he
said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven
is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what
is old.” 53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from
there. .“ USCCB video
reflections: https://youtu.be/w5mKVL6VrOk?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DCQlut1GkSO28iHCuAeFtWX
The context: Today’s
Gospel presents the third in a set of three parables Jesus preached on the
Kingdom of God/Heaven and the conditions for entering it. The parable of the fishing net: In
Palestine, there were two main ways of fishing. The first was with the
casting-net, which required a keen eye and great skill in throwing the net at
the correct moment. The second was with a dragnet or seine. Galilean
seine nets were tied to two boats and drawn through the water. The catch was
sorted only afterwards, with edible or kosher fish going to market
and unacceptable fish being thrown away. Just as a dragnet
collects good and bad fish indiscriminately, so the Church is bound to be a
mixture of all kinds of people, good and bad, useless and useful. This parable
encourages the Church to adopt an open approach to Evangelization. The parable
also teaches that the time of separation will come in the Final Judgment, when
the good and the bad will be sent to their respective destinies. This parable
is, thus, a counterpart to the parable of the weeds and the wheat. The concluding simile or mini
parable: Jesus concludes his parables by advising the listeners
to imitate wise scribes (Jewish religious teachers who specialized in Sacred
Scripture and its application to life). A scribe/scholar need not give up his
scholarship when he became a Christian; rather he should use his learning for
Christ. Christians are also expected to be like scholars who study both the old
wisdom of their ancestors and the new vistas of knowledge. They have a duty to
pass on to others the Christian teaching they have received in language their
hearers can understand.
Life message: We
need to learn tolerance and compassionate understanding.) The lesson of this
parable is that the Church is a mixed body of saints and sinners (good and bad
fish). There will be always a temptation on the part of some who feel
they are more “faithful” to separate themselves from the “unfaithful.”
But Jesus reminds us that the final judgment resulting in reward or
punishment is the work of God. Thus, we must learn to
be tolerant, patient, compassionate, and understanding of those who seem to us
to fall far below the requirements of the Gospel and the Kingdom. Let us
humbly admit the fact that only Jesus and Mary were not a mixture of good
and evil. Let us acknowledge as St. Paul did, “I am what I am with the
grace of God
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
July 31
Friday (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest)
https://blog.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit/lent-with-the-saints-ignatius-of-loyola : Mt 13:54-58 54 He came to his
native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished* and
said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?” 55 Is
he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers
James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 Are not his sisters all
with us? Where did this man get all this?” 57 And they took
offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except
in his native place and in his own house.” 5 8And he did not work
many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith. USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/9P3yywnqZG4?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DCQlut1GkSO28iHCuAeFtWX;
The context: Today’s
Gospel describes how, on a Sabbath, Jesus stood before the people in the
synagogue of his hometown, Nazareth, reading and interpreting what Isaiah
had prophesied about the Messiah and his mission. Jesus claimed that he
was the One sent “to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberation to captives,
recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed.” To the great
amazement and disbelief of his own townsmen, Jesus declared that Isaiah’s
prophecy was being fulfilled at that very moment “in your hearing,”
because the prophet was foretelling and describing Jesus’ mission and
ministry. Luke reports that the initial reaction of the people was surprise at
the power and eloquence of this son of their soil. They were amazed that one of
their fellow villagers could speak with such grace and eloquence and with such
authority. Luke says they were “amazed at the gracious words that came from
his lips,” because they knew him only as a carpenter from a poor
family, with no formal training in Mosaic Law. But their amazement turned into
displeasure when, during his “Inaugural Address” or “Mission Statement,” Jesus
took upon himself the identity of a prophet, different from the image of the
miracle-worker that people wished to see. Then their
displeasure turned into anger when Jesus claimed that he was the promised
Messiah of Isaiah’s prophecy. They challenged his Messianic claim,
asking, and “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” They could not
understand how a mere carpenter could be the Messiah who
would liberate them from Roman rule and reestablish the Davidic kingdom. Jesus explained
their attitude by saying “No prophet is accepted in his native place.”
Life messages: 1) We need to face rejection with
prophetic courage and optimism. Perhaps we have experienced the pain of
rejection, betrayal, abandonment, violated trust, neglect, or abuse, even
from friends and family members, when we reached out to them as God’s agents of
healing and saving grace. Perhaps we ourselves are guilty of the same
rejecting of God in His agents. Perhaps we, too, have been guilty of ignoring
or humiliating people with our arrogance and prejudice. Let us learn to correct
our mistakes and to face rejection from others with courage. 2) Let us not, like the people in
Jesus’ hometown, reject God in our lives. We reject God when we are unwilling
to be helped by God, or by others. Such unwillingness prevents us
from recognizing God’s directions, help and support in our lives, through His
words in the Bible, through the teaching of the Church, and through the advice
and examples of others. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
August 1
Saturday (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop, Doctor of the Church)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-alphonsus-liguori/ : Mt 14:1-12: 1 At that time
Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus; 2 and he said to his servants,
“This is John the Baptist, he has been raised from the dead; that is why these
powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put
him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; 4 because
John said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he
wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a
prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced
before the company, and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to
give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me
the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry; but
because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given; 10 he sent and
had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and
given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came
and took the body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
The context: Today’s
Gospel presents the last scene of a tragic drama with three main characters,
Herod, Herodias and John the Baptist. Herod Antipas, (4 BC – AD 39), was a
jealous and weak puppet-king with a guilty conscience. He feared the prophet
John because John had publicly scolded him for divorcing his legal wife without
adequate cause and for marrying his sister-in-law, Herodias, thus committing a
double violation of Mosaic Law. Herodias was an immoral, greedy woman, stained
by a triple guilt and publicly criticized by John. 1) She was an unfaithful
woman of loose morals. 2) She was a greedy and vengeful woman. 3) She was an
evil mother who used her teenage daughter for the wicked purposes of murder and
revenge by encouraging her to dance in public in the royal palace against the
royal etiquette of the day. John the Baptist was a fiery preacher and the
herald of the Promised Messiah. He was also a Spirit-filled prophet with the
courage of his convictions who criticized and scolded an Oriental monarch and
his proud wife in public.
God’s punishment: After the martyrdom of John, Herod was
defeated by Aretas, the father of Herod’s first wife. Later, both Herod and
Herodias were sent into exile by Caligula, the Roman emperor.
Life messages: 1)
As Christians we need to have the moral integrity and the courage of our
convictions as John had. 2) Let us remember that sins of revenge and cruelty
will never go unpunished. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
