“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Luke 12:49-53 (NABRE)

Even families will be divided — such is the controversy surrounding so great and mysterious a message as the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is an embedded irony in this reading. How can so much division occur due to the proclamation of the good news of mercy, grace, and salvation? Does not Jesus call us to be abundantly forgiving (Matthew 18:22)? And yet, even if we preach and live out this message, so much division occurs over something so freeing and beautiful. This does not point to some structural deficiency in the moral demands of the Gospel, as if they are somehow ineffective and misguided recommendations that do not work when practically applied. Rather, Jesus’s message reveals that we are far more willing to maintain our sinful attachments, even if a better alternative, a way out of that servitude of sin and misery, is lovingly presented to us.

This simple illustration of familial division prompted by the acceptance or rejection of the Gospel reveals profound truths about our bizarre tendency to sin. If we pause for a moment and think about why we sin, it does not make any sense why we would! Why would we reject eternal life or a deeper and more intimate relationship with a God who created us and loves us so, so profoundly that it is beyond anything we could ever experience toward or from another human being? Why would we risk getting locked into crippling habits of vice that destroy and bring chaos into our lives and damage our relationship with others? Despite the fact that we know this, we still sin! Thinking about this in light of our passage from Luke, we can begin to understand why so much division would be caused over such a beautiful, true, and good message of the expansive, unconditional, affectionate, and personal love that God has for each of us and the joyful freedom from slavery to sin and the blessed rest of Heaven that He wants us to attain.

We tend to reject what is good and do things that don’t make any sense, similar to how dogs return to their vomit (Proverbs 26:11). Thankfully, a central part of that controversial Gospel message that we follow is forgiveness and abundant grace!

Thank your for reading. Peace.

Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. 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. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Luke 12:35-40 (NABRE)

A pleasant surprise this must have been for the servants. People are usually not in a bad mood after celebrating a wedding.

In a similar way, the Second Coming of Jesus can be a welcomed surprise for us. Sometimes, we might feel a certain anxiety with preparing for His return. We might pressure ourselves into living a fraught, perfectionist existence. The journey of faith then becomes overly burdensome, full of “what-ifs” rather than certainty of and confidence in our God who gives, without measure, grace and peace to us.

Yet we have Jesus Christ, who will come back to us and take us to Himself, so that where He is we also may be (John 14:3). We sometimes forget that Jesus actually wants us to be joyfully ready at His return. He comes to us. He brings us to Himself. Notice: God makes the first move, and we freely respond.

God has such a deep, deep desire for us to join Him in Heaven. The strongest attraction and desire of love you may experience toward someone, the most flaming yearning you might have is so, so small compared to what God desires for you. Give God a chance. Work with Him so that you might be ready. Remember: the master of the house rewards his watchful servants with His joyful companionship. God desires the same for us.

To live the Christian life is not a solo endeavor. You have so much help and encouragement from our omnipotent and all-loving Father in Heaven.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, ‘Now as for you, you have so many things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Luke 12:13-21 (NABRE)

A common theme in Luke’s Gospel: to prioritize unseen spiritual wealth over material goods. But is such wealth so invisible?

Wealth makes itself known. Cramped inner cities crippled with urban blight and dotted with homeless camps reveal saddening financial poverty. Upon the balmy foothills surrounding the city, luxury cars and a multi-million dollar fortresses of homes indicate a veritable abundance of material opulence. Countries with low Human Development Index scores can be easily told apart from wealthier nations. Those more visible indicators of abundance or poverty make known a hidden reality of gold vaults and bank account figures — or lack thereof. It all comes back to knowing them by their fruits.

Narrowing our scope to the individual, the same principle applies. Our spiritual wealth makes itself known. Jesus reminds us of this elsewhere when He says, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). To have the Fruits of the Spirit, such as love, joy, kindness, and self-control, evident in our lives reveals a spiritual wealth that far surpasses the importance of all of the money in the world combined. To strive to practice virtue — like chastity, temperance, and patience — both affects us and is made evident to others. This all ties back to the New Commandment of Jesus: to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34). When we are rich in what matters to God, that wealth reveals itself and spills out in love for others. To strive for the riches of the Kingdom is to obey the gentle commandment of Jesus.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you, then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Luke 11:1-13 (NABRE)

That God is our Father is an amazingly mind-blowing concept.

In this passage, Jesus emphasizes the family dynamic of the Church. Elsewhere in Scripture, the Church is described as the “household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Clearly, this familial language is something that God wants us to carefully consider. If we think about the positive aspects of our earthly families, be it abstractly or from experience, we are greeted with ideas of provision, security, and intimacy. These are core qualities of a good family. In our spiritual family, we can expect no less, but more. At the origin and destiny of this family is the living and eternal God. As individual members of God’s family, we are given such close and constant care and attention. We have, as a Father, a God who is omniscient. He knows, better than we ourselves know, the innermost promptings and desires, fears and joys, strengths and weaknesses, and scars and fresh wounds of our hearts. In obvious conclusion, He already knows everything. It is easy to project our own experiences of dealing with our broken human parents onto God. We sometimes think that we are lost in the crowd or willfully ignored at times. We sometimes think that there is no possible way that God has such a deep desire to heal us and bring us to rest in His house in Heaven.

And yet, we need to remind ourselves that we are thinking “not as God does, but as human beings do” (Matthew 16:23). God is love, and He acts like it, too. We can always count on family (ideally, that’s the case, at least). And we’re talking about our earthly families made up of sinners. How much more can we count on God? We are allowed to see Him as the perfect dad to us. We can trust Him as such. We can call upon Him and talk to Him as such. That is what He wants from us.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Luke 10:38-42 (NABRE)

I wonder what Jesus was saying to Mary as she listened to him.

We are not told that Jesus was necessarily teaching Mary a doctrinal precept about the kingdom of God or giving her a moral exhortation. Of course, these are important and had a place in the teachings of Jesus. However, it is interesting to note that the text mentions that Mary was simply sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him speak.

This describes two relationship dynamics working at the same time between Jesus and Mary: the teacher-student and the friend-friend. Here we are given a model for our own relationship with Jesus. We look up to him as one having authority over us (he is God, after all) and being worthy of our careful attention and committed religious devotion, but we can also see him as one who is a friend to us. We look to him for teaching and commandment, but also see him as one with whom we can simply speak about our everyday troubles and joys. It is true that God desires relationship with us. He does not want to hear from the costume that we wear when we are around other people. He wants to hear from unique you as you are right now. This is the person that God wants to wash clean with grace and mercy and lead on a path of Christian freedom away from sinful habits and toward eternal and intimate union with Him in Heaven.

I think we could all use from giving Jesus company by sitting at His feet and simply listening to him speak. Not that he needs it, but that we need it.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke 10:25-37 (NABRE)

The call to love all as neighbor can be answered in any situation, no matter how extreme or seemingly trivial.

Jesus invites us to choose to radically love. This is an adventurous and prepared love, one that is ready to help us adapt and respond to whatever life throws at us. The Samaritan traveler probably did not plan on rescuing a dying victim of robbery and assault when he set out for his journey. This is why it is so important to make a daily habit of practicing love. As they say, practice makes perfect. The grace of God can lead us to be able practitioners of Christian love. Thus we can be ready when unforeseen circumstances arise that require our action. It may not look like being the first person to find and look after a victim of violence until professional help arrives. It could look like answering a midnight phone call from a friend in a crisis situation who is asking for advice or desperately seeking words of hope or affirmation. These actions require us to get outside of ourselves, which is often a monumental task. Regular prayer, reading of Holy Scripture, examination of conscience and resolution to change, and participation in the life of the Church aid us in being these prepared workers of love.

Love must be an ongoing habit! Our regular attention to those who we know are going through a rough patch is just as important. So is checking in on those people who we think are doing fine. Help has many appearances, and it could be as simple as an invitation to Mass! Invitations are so powerful. We are our brother’s keeper. Being attentive to others’ spiritual needs is of such great importance.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

After this the Lord appointed seventy[-two] others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ Whatever town you enter and they do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.

The seventy[-two] returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Luke 10:1-12; 17-20 (NABRE)

For such a serious mission, one would think that Jesus would send a larger and better-equipped group. Well, as we are often reminded, we do not think as God does, but as human beings do (Matthew 16:23).

As is typical in the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus emphasizes the importance of our spiritual wealth over that of material wealth. He sends out the seventy-two with meager provisions, but with a weighty spiritual license to prepare the way of the Lord. These men probably looked a bit unkempt and rather poor during their travels, like the sort of people we usually cut a wide swath around when passing by on the sidewalk. Jesus reminds them upon returning from their mission not to focus on their effective authority over demonic spirits, but to rather look past the affairs of their earthly missionary work and to be focused on heaven. Such an alignment of priority helps us to order our lives properly, which in turn affects how we serve others. To have faith in God and hope in the resurrection of the dead and heavenly life (super)naturally leads to us living a life in accordance with the demands of love. This is spiritual wealth that anyone, no matter their socioeconomic status, can have.

These missionaries were entirely dependent on the provision of God through the generosity and hospitality of others. Time and again we are reminded of the fatherly care of God throughout Holy Scripture. For our spiritual and material needs, God wants to provide. He is eager to shower us with the grace and mercy that we need and is attentive in caring for our physical needs. We can trust God. Jesus gives us an extreme example of trusting God for provision by sending out the seventy-two on a highly important mission in the manner he commanded. Always, always, always trust in God. Never doubt His ability or desire to care for you!

Thank you for reading. Peace.

When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

As they were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “[Lord,] let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” [To him] Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:51-62 (NABRE)

To follow, or not to follow? That is the question.

We see in this passage a description of what Jesus wants from us. Luke emphasizes the need to be generous to Jesus by placing beside each other the accounts of the inhospitable Samaritan village and Jesus’ interactions with his would-be followers. Here we find an exhortation to be hospitable to Jesus by opening our hearts to him and allowing him to make his dwelling in us. Jesus desires this closeness and intimacy with us as we follow him. Each of his interactions with the three would-be disciples teach us, with amazing profundity, a valuable lesson in living the Christian life.

First, we are taught to give Jesus our heart. The hearts of many in this world can be likened to the inhospitable Samaritan village. At times, we ourselves act in such a way by turning away from God in our sin. However, with the effusive grace and mercy of Jesus, we have the opportunity to welcome him into our hearts and give him an abode within us. Such an assent to grace helps us to proclaim the kingdom of God, just as Jesus instructs the second would-be disciple to do. If we have a living faith in Jesus, then we express it in acts of love and change how we live to conform entirely with what Jesus wants from us. This kind of an encounter with Jesus leaves us eager to share our experiences with others and invite them into having a similar relationship with the Lord. Time and again we see in the Gospels that those who Jesus healed went out and proclaimed what he had done for them. This is the essence of the heart of an apostle. We are changed by the power of Jesus and we put on new garments, leaving the old ones behind and not looking back at our previous manner of living, just as the third would-be disciple is told to do.

Jesus always has a lesson for us in Scripture.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

He received them and spoke to them about them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of [about] fifty.” They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

Luke 9:11B-17 (NABRE)

Behold, the only miracle story that is found in all four Gospels. This should grab our attention and make us think.

First, we see Jesus practicing his own teaching. In Mark 10:42-45, Jesus tells his disciples to seek greatness in the kingdom of God through serving others and to refrain from abusing their authority in the Church by ruling over others with harshness and bombast. In revealing his divine power by simply feeding others, Jesus sets a precedent of love for all of us (but especially for those in positions of authority) to follow.

Next, we see in this passage a little example of Church life. The Letter to the Hebrews is dripping with teaching on the high priesthood of Jesus. It reminds us of the work of Jesus in the heavenly temple and his intercessory ministry on our behalf. The Church is the Body of Christ, and Jesus is obviously diligent in caring for his own body. The needs of the Church, down to the individual member, are not lost on Jesus anymore than the hunger of the crowd. A chief example of the attentiveness and care of Jesus is found in the bundle of Sacraments that he gave us. Two of these sacraments are Eucharist and Holy Orders, both of which are necessary for the celebration of the Mass. This passage is often described as a foreshadowing of these sacraments, as the disciples distribute the bread to the crowd, much like our priests give us Holy Communion. So much grace is available to us in the Mass, just like there was so much food available to the crowd when Jesus fed them with the loaves and the fish. We are in great need of grace, but we should not think that God is stingy in giving. On the contrary, he is overly generous, as we see in this miracle story! We should always approach Mass with confidence in the generosity of God.

Thank you for reading. Peace.