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Retreat | Stations
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The Tenth Week of Ordinary TimeSunday is Pentecost Sunday, as the readings and the whole Church celebrate the coming and ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit among us. Jesus breathes on his jittery followers and tells them, "Peace be with you" and fills them with courage. Monday is the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, a relatively new feast on the Church calendar - a title given to Mary at the Second Vatican Council and a feast created by Pope Francis. Tuesday is the Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle. Thursday is the Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church. The first readings this week are from Paul's Second letter to the Corinthians. We take up the Gospel of Matthew, which will be part of our readings for Ordinary Time. The week offers us the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus urges us to not hide our gifts under a bushel basket but to recognize that “you are the light of the world.” Jesus transforms what the people had been taught. We are to go beyond not killing; we are to love our enemies. He tells us that he has “not come to abolish laws but to fulfill them.” Jesus tells us that if we haven't forgiven someone, we should leave our offerings on the altar and go forgive those with whom we need reconciliation. He speaks about adultery saying, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.” By the end of the week, we hear Jesus encouraging us to live honestly, making elaborate promises and oaths unnecessary.“Let your ‘Yes' mean ‘Yes,' and your ‘No' mean ‘No,'” he says. The words we use are less important than the life we lead.
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Daily Prayer This WeekThis week we can find a lot of encouragement in the Pentecost readings. The disciples, this most human group of Jesus' followers, have opened their hearts to the Holy Spirit and found new courage. They shed their fears and boldly began doing what they longed to do - spread the good news. We, too, can find that courage in our lives. The same joyous strength that opened their hearts can touch ours in ways we can hardly imagine. We only have to ask! As we go through our week, in the smallest moments of the day, we can beg God for the strength of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we awaken in the morning, sort laundry or do the dishes, we can change our attitudes toward these chores and see them as sacred moments of invitation from the God who loves us with such fire and compassion. Dear Lord, you know how filled I am with fears. Let each moment of anxiety today be a reminder to open my life, my heart and my soul to the love and courage you offer me. I know that if only I could trust in you more, it would change my life. "He went away sad, for he had many possessions!" Let me turn these apprehensions over to you. I beg you to give me the wisdom and strength I need to trust more and to fear less. Teach me that it's OK to stop clinging to the fears I have known for so long and that I can embrace the freedom you offer me. Let me be less fear-ful and more generous. We can find the courage to proclaim the good news as the disciples did at Pentecost, simply by asking God for that strength and then living as if we received it. Some day this week, each of us will have the opportunity to be the salt that makes relationships and faithful living, have its flavor. We will have our chances to be light in the midst of the darkness that crosses our paths. We can ask Jesus those days - whether in the morning, or in brief background moments during the day - to have us not lose our flavor or to cover our light. And, all of us will face the greater responsibility of being a disciple of Jesus: avoiding anger, finding the path to reconciliation, and loving genuinely and honestly. |