Sunday Reflections provided by the Archdiocese of New York - Office of Adult Formation

"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" From today's Gospel, Mc 4, 35-41.

"Where is God?" Perhaps this has been the question many have asked during this time of pandemic. We may even be asking God the same question as in the Gospel today, "do you not care that we are perishing?" Out of fear, the apostles reacted and honestly asked the Lord this question. At times our fear, anger, or frustration can make us question things in our life too. And although our emotions are natural reactions to our human limitations that can change over time, God remains the same

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is present with them, the Son of God, the man they had seen perform miracles, yet they doubted that our Lord cared for them and even thought that He was going to let them die in the storm. Jesus answers them, "Why are you terrified?", "Do you not yet have faith?". Once Jesus acknowledges the apostles' concerns, He challenges them to have faith.
A great example of faith in the face of adversity is St Maximilian Kolbe. He was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan. During World War II, he decided to remain in the monastery with some of his brothers to help the refugees. Sadly, as he refused to leave, his monastery was shut down, and he was arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Some may ask, "where was God here?", "Why did He let one of His priests be taken to a concentration camp?". God was in Fr. Maximilian Kolbe's heart. It is shared that one day as the concentration camp leaders were selecting men to be tortured, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe offered to take the place of one of the men who had a family and did not want to die. He died for another man that day. His witness to God's love by loving his neighbor that day made history. His action has touched millions of lives from that day forward. 

 Sometimes we ask where God is, but this is an excellent example of how God lives within us by the grace of the Holy Spirit from our Baptism. We are called to bring God to others throughout our lifespan. Perhaps there have been different opportunities for us to share God's love with others, but we haven't taken them. Let us not dwell on what we could have done but rejoice in the times we did and how it helped others, let us also embrace the opportunities that are to come. We may not be called to martyrdom in the same way as St. Maximilian Kolbe, but we can still die to ourselves and, in our realities, give witness that God is alive and that He does care. Let us pray today for the grace to accept those invitations, although they may challenge our comfort levels. 


To learn more about St. Maximilian Kolbe click here.
 

Thank you to all who have read our Office reflections. We are glad we were able to provide a valuable resource during the pandemic. As many more of us are now in our parishes we will complete our series of reflections on Sunday June 27th.  We encourage you to continue your journey of faith at your home parishes. To learn more  about Scripture we invite you to take classes through our New York Catholic Bible School. You can find the daily readings on the USCCB website. We encourage you to read them before Mass. For classes on the foundations of the Faith, Enlighten: Faith Education for Today’s Catholic may be a great option for you. Many blessings to you and your family. Thank you for all the ways you live out your faith.

"To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants..." From today's Gospel, Mc 4, 26-34.

"Faith can move mountains" a popular phrase that we often use to depict the power of faith, taken from the Gospel of Matthew's version of Jesus' parable of the mustard seed. It says, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Mt 17:20). Nothing would be impossible for us only because nothing is impossible for God. We believe that incredible things such as moving a mountain are possible after knowing that Jesus rose from the dead. If we were to put this parable in the context of our realities, what are these mountains in our lives today? What is the big challenge that we face every day? How are we facing it? Are we bringing it to prayer? Are we asking Jesus to carry the burden of it for us? The good news is that we are not alone, nor the first people in need of faith. 

We have the wonderful example of our saints to learn more about the challenges and the gift of faith. One saint, in particular, we would like to remember in this reflection is St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. St Monica is attributed with her son's conversion, who had been away from God committing mortal sin and trying out pagan religions. St. Monica prayed for the conversion of her son unceasingly, every day and without losing hope. One day, it finally happened, St. Augustine encountered Christ through his curiosity, "I heard from a neighboring house a voice, as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting, and oft repeating, ‘Take up and read; Take up and read’…I arose; interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book, and read the first chapter I should find…I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, in concupiscence. No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away." (Confessions, Chapter XII). 

It is essential to highlight that having faith is a way to love God. In loving God, we give Him our pride and independence. We choose to obey and be faithful. We can see this in St. Monica again, as she not only prayed and asked for the conversion of her son, but she also lived in the Truth of our Faith and endured much suffering. What a wonderful testimony of her life of prayer that St. Augustine would convert to Christianity and later become a priest and bishop. 

On this day, let us pray to maintain the faith and follow the teachings of our Mother Church even during difficult times. Let us remember that God initiates our faith, so let us ask Him for the gift of faith. Let us also ask for all those who have prayed for us and are praying for us that we may not know of...maybe one day, through their prayers, we will give witness of our conversions. 

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

"This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many." From today's Gospel, Mc 14, 12-16. 22-26.

The Old and New Testaments were referred to as the Old and New Covenants in the Greek language. When it comes to the Bible, covenants are bonds that God creates with us, His people, throughout salvation history. They are not isolated events but a narrative, an extensive story. For example, if we think about Noah and God's covenant at that time where God promised not to flood the earth again to the point of destruction, or with Abraham where God promises to multiply his descendants like the stars and let's not forget His promise to David that the Messiah would be one of his descendants. Since God loves us, He made these covenants with us, and as the history of our salvation progressed, so did God's promise. His fulfillment of providing our Messiah in Jesus Christ is what we celebrate in each Eucharist. 

In the Old Testament, we read of various sacrifices made to God. Leviticus chapters 1-7 describe the different types of offerings that were made in the Jewish tradition, such as burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Each type of sacrifice was offered in a specific way and had a unique meaning. These were all the sacrifices that God "enjoined on Moses at Mount Sinai at the time when he commanded the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai to bring their offerings to the LORD." (Lev 7:38). In Jesus' passion, God the Father renewed His promise of salvation for us. Just as it was prefigured in Genesis 22:8, "God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering," Jesus was the appropriate victim for the expiation of our sins, worthy and pure. As St. Paul affirmed in his letter to the Hebrews, "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb 10:4). Under the New Covenant, "we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb 10:10), ending the need for any more animal sacrifices.

In Jeremiah, we read how God promised to make a new covenant with His people, by which Israel would know Him and experience His forgiveness (Jer. 31:31-34 ). You may be asking yourself, "How do I take part in the new covenant?" We are reminded of the “how” during and after Mass as we are called to "Love and serve the Lord and each other." By striving to love God and each other in the best way we can, we bear witness to God's covenant with us and become living testaments of His love. In this way we take part in the saving mission of Christ for the world! On this solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ let us pray in thanksgiving for God’s salvific plan and for His great love for us.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

"When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted." From today's Gospel, Mt 28, 16-20.

Our Faith enables us to do the impossible because Jesus already did the unthinkable through His incarnation and resurrection. However, as much as Faith is a fundamental part of our Church, so is reason. “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth” (St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio). Our reason assists us in overcoming any difficulties in our Faith while living out our life on earth.

It is told that in the eighth century, a monk from the order of St. Basil in Lanciano, Italy, doubted the real presence of the Eucharist. According to tradition, on a day he was celebrating Mass, as he said the words of consecration, the host and the wine turned into visible flesh and blood. The transformed host was preserved, and over time various tests were done. Pope Paul VI permitted a series of scientific studies on the precious relics to verify their nature. In 1981 Dr. Odoardo Linoli, head physician of the hospital of Arezzo, found that “The Flesh, yellow-brown in color, has the structure of the myocardium (heart wall) and the endocardium, the membrane of fibrous-elastic tissue lining all the cardiac cavities. These have the same appearance as in the human heart. No traces of preservatives were found in the elements. The blood was also of human origin with the type AB. Proteins in the clotted blood were normally fractioned with the same percentage ratio as those found in the sero-proteic make-up of normal, fresh human blood.” (Fr. William Saunders, Arlington Catholic Herald).

Just as the priest from the Eucharistic miracle, we may find ourselves questioning certain aspects of our Faith at times. Anyone unsure of the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist would be able to use their reason to review the 1981 studies. To reflect more on the concept of doubt, let’s differentiate between two kinds of doubt, voluntary doubt and involuntary doubt. “Voluntary doubt about the Faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the Faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.” (CCC 2088). Voluntary doubt is treated as a sin since it involves God’s teachings through His Church. If we question the Church, we also question Jesus, who told us, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me”. (Lk 10:16). Since doubt can be harmful to our spiritual health, it is vital to “nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it.” (CCC 2088). When we find ourselves struggling to understand a part of our Faith, we should make an act of faith, ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, and research the topic. Ask your pastor, search for reliable sources such as papal documents, the Catechism, and writings from our early Church Fathers. While we are called to reject those things that are opposed to our Faith, we are not called to reject people that are not of the Faith.

 As we learn from St. Thomas Aquinas’s well-known quote, “We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both, have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it.” We are called to respond in Christ’s love to those who have a differing view.  In doing so, others will see how instead of giving in to our human inclinations of becoming angry or resentful, we choose to listen and respect the opinion and human dignity of the other. This action on its own can be a very powerful way of evangelizing. 

On this day of the Most Holy Trinity, let us ask God to help us understand His mysteries and give us more of God’s grace to love others more fruitfully. To read Father William Sanders full article, click here.

Pentecost Sunday

Last year we grew in a deeper appreciation of the invisible due to Covid-19. We can't see the virus or feel it in our hands, but we can see the effects it has had in our daily lives. Cardinal Dolan shared in his Pentecost homily in 2017 that "People of faith believe in the primacy of the invisible. God the Holy Spirit, unleashed that first Pentecost Sunday, reveals what is most enduring, meaningful, and sustaining in life... love and loyalty, friendship and faith, trust, honor, integrity, your word, your character, your reputation, your commitment, your promises, your memories, your dreams, your hopes." Twenty-twenty was a year where we grew to see the importance of the invisible. 

Last year taught us how to love our family better, the meaning of true friendship, the importance of having faith and of being committed to those you love, the magnitude of having hope. We had to dig deeper than we ever had to before, and we are better for it. As we move out of pandemic life, let us retain the lessons learned. This Pentecost let us seek the Holy Spirit from within. For "through faith you know that the Holy Spirit, though invisible, is the most potent force in our life and lives within." (Cardinal Dolan Pentecost 2011 homily.) Come Holy Spirit! 

Seventh Sunday of Easter


"As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth." From today's Gospel, Jn 17, 11b-19.

During Mass we profess our Faith and say the words from the Nicene Creed "He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father." This is part of the Faith that we know, and we could categorize it as "head knowledge" of God. Today we will reflect on what some may call "heart knowledge" of God, the way in which we have come to know Him.

Talking about the heart is a very profound subject because this is the most intimate part of a person. Our hearts help us form the human experience in its most vulnerable and genuine form: our desires, memories, convictions, and realities. Just as we need to put effort into studying to develop "head knowledge," we also need to put effort into our relationship with God to grow in our "heart knowledge" of Him. The most fundamental way for us to work on our relationship with God is in prayer.

To dive into our heart knowledge, let's think about the times when God has answered our prayers. It may be hard to think of them since we often think about the things we wish were different and of the prayers we "wish He'd answer." The reality is that each of our prayers is heard, yet not always answered in the way we hope for, or in the timeframe we expect. Digging deep and reflecting on the ways God has answered our prayers, small and big, we can notice that God deeply cares about us. He has healed some of our dear friends and family members. He has comforted us in times of stress or desperation, giving us peace. He has provided answers and hope when things seemed hopeless. In seeing how God has acted in our lives, we can see the heart of the Father: true love and care, and above all, faithfulness. 

As we come to know the Father better, we also come to know ourselves better. We see our faults and our gifts. Through living out our gifts, God invites us to honor Him in our daily lives. In seeing our faults, we recognize our call to conversion. "Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time, it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace." (CCC 1431). With hearts geared towards loving the Lord, we more easily take responsibility for our sinfulness and respond to our call to holiness.

The gift of conversion also strengthens our conviction of God's love. With full hearts knowing God's goodness, the Holy Spirit then enables us to better love our neighbor, especially those who are hard to love. By loving others with the heart of Jesus, we bring others closer to Him and fulfill our missionary call. What a wonderful process! 

As we approach Pentecost, let us recount the moments when we know we've encountered the Lord. Let us thank the Lord for His faithfulness and give the Holy Spirit permission to fill us more deeply with God's love and renew us. In preparation for a most fruitful Pentecost, we encourage the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for it is through the gift of the Holy Spirit that we are forgiven of our sins and at Pentecost renewed.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

"As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love." From today's Gospel, Jn 15, 9-17.

The word love is mentioned 20 times in today's readings. Although non-Catholics may not see our Church as a love-focused church, our readings today remind us that we very much are. The love of the Father for Jesus and for us, Jesus’ love for the Father and for us, Mary's love for Jesus and for us, and the disciples’ love for Jesus, for each other, and for others. We are called to live in this community of love. Jesus wants us to "remain in His love".
 
 Jesus will love us regardless of our sins. He showed us that on the cross. Today's Gospel specifies more concretely what it means to remain in His love. "If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,". Which commandments is Jesus referring to? Moses shared with us the 10 Commandments, Jesus affirmed the Commandments and gave us the Beatitudes to assist us in seeing that love is at the heart of our laws, and it is not always easy to do.

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they who mourn. for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mt 5: 3-12). 

The Beatitudes “shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations.” (CCC1717). With all the challenges of our present time, what an opportune time for us reflect on the Beatitudes. Perhaps we may do better with some beatitudes than others, but  let us not be discouraged with the times we may not have been merciful or peacemakers, but instead reflect on the times that we were given the graces to live any of the beatitudes fully. How fruitful was our  prayer life during those times? What was our sacramental life like? How can we get back to that?

On this Mother’s day, a day about expressing love and appreciation to our earthly mothers let us also reflect on the Beatitudes our mothers lived out in their lives. Which Beatitudes does/did she still need some help with?  Let us pray in thanksgiving for our mothers, for their love, and ask for our Mother Mary’s intercession for their continued growth in holiness. If she is in heaven, let us ask her to pray for us, that we may grow in holiness. If your family situation is messy and you do not find yourself on the best terms with your mother, ask our Mother Mary to join you in praying to Jesus for this intention. Mary is no stranger to difficult situations. She loved Jesus so much she stood by Him even while He carried his cross beaten and bleeding. In Christ Jesus, through Mary, let us remain in His love.