“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered,
“Not seven times but seventy-seven times.”
- Matthew 8

Ninteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Sunday is the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus cautions us to be ready for the coming of the Lord. “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.”

Monday is the Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest. Wednesday is the Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr. Thursday is the Memorial of Saint Clare.

This week we begin reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a prophet to the people in exile in Babylon. He uses dreams and powerful symbolic visions - at first denouncing their infidelity and then offering hope for restoration and new life.

In Matthew's Gospel this week we reflect upon God's mercy and our call to imitate God's love. Jesus predicts his passion and miraculously resolves a conflict over temple tax. It is not the temple tax for which he will be executed, but for what he reveals about God's love and mercy to sinners. Jesus tells us we should "become like children": innocent, loving, trusting, humble. Jesus tells us the hard work we should go through to reconcile with a sinner. He says that whenever we are gathered together, in his name, he is with us. He tells us to forgive - over and over again - and tells the parable of the servant who is forgiven but won't forgive a fellow servant. Jesus speaks about the permanence of the marriage commitment. Children were not regarded very highly and the disciples tried to bar them from bothering Jesus. Jesus welcomes them - and all the powerless they represent: “for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Sunday is the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire.” He warns us that the divisions we see, even in our own families, are too often caused by the choices people make about his mission.

Daily Prayer This Week:

Prayer of the Church: Collect for 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Finding intimacy with our God is not limited to people who can go away on a retreat. We can all be contemplatives in action, if only we can focus on our relationship with the Lord in the background, every day. This week we can feed on the words of life which Jesus gives us. And, we can ask for the graces we need, in the midst of our busy lives.

Throughout this week, we can wake up and go through our morning routine asking for the grace that God's mercy might flow through us this day. One day, I might take notice of those in my life who need my forgiveness. I might pay attention to the one who frustrates me or has hurt me or has hurt those I love - real people I know (living or dead) or the anonymous people who represent the systems, institutions and structures that seem unjust or sinful. There are people who benefit from war, the poverty or slavery of others, the sacrilege against the dignity of life itself, the drug trade and the destruction of the environment. I can actually take the grace filled moments of brief intimacy with Jesus this week to forgive! This week of mercy can be a powerful blessing for our whole lives.

This can be a wonderful week for us to remember how many times we are called to forgive. And, we might want to take a few extra moments to reinforce this by re-reading the parable of the servant who has been forgiven himself but refuses to forgive. If we are really stuck in our struggle to forgive, we can find times to beg for the grace: “Dear Lord, you keep forgiving me, please let me experience the intimacy of forgiving as you have forgiven me.”

Throughout this week, we'll be embracing little children and other “little ones” because we will be delighting in being one with him and his being one with us. And, we'll give thanks and praise.