Luke 10:41: Recent Episodes
Fr. William Rooney
John 4:5-42 Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.” At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?” They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
Lk 6:17, 20-26 Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with a great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”
Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7 Beloved: The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good. When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
Lk 1:39-45 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
Brothers and sisters, how can we rejoice like Saint Paul? The first step, I believe is to admit that we are prisoners. Our prisons can be sins, addictions, bad habits, weakness. But also, we frequently suffer the effects of original sin such as physical illness and mental anxieties. So, we also suffer the effects of the sins of others in our society; sins cause a lot of trouble. They imprison us. We need as savior. But still with Saint Paul we have to rejoice. Why? Because, although the situation is so difficult, the Lord is already very close. He's already with us, he's come. At the same time, it will come. Rose is the color of the dawn that comes after a long cold winter night. For a Christian still on his journey in the world, joy and happiness come from hope. The Christian does not wait on a particular thing in the world, but the Dawn who has already dawned. Hope is the firm determination to go back and face the east to greet the son of man who is coming. Therefore, hope changes us now while at the same time directing us to the future that is not yet fulfilled.
Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God (Mt 22:21) We Christians are not indifferent to the political realm – far from it we care deeply about working to protect human life, promote peace, and provide for the general welfare. We cannot accept Christ’s love while despising or being indifferent to our fellow human beings. Because of this, we also like many people of good will may have experienced a sense of anxiety or a lack of peace. Our Christianity informs our actions in everything we do and that includes our choices in the voting booth. In all of this, nevertheless, there is a danger of becoming too consumed with the things of the world. The Bible is replete with stories of God intervening in love for his people. Despite this evidence, we often we let ourselves become so afraid and anxious, and this leads to a whole host of personal sins which impact our salvation much more directly than the outcome of a political race. No matter who wins the election, we can be sure that God will provide everything we need to be with him forever. Questions for us to ponder: 1. Have I let politics become a God for me? How has this anxiety contributed to sins in my personal life? Do I trust that God is sovereign? 2. How can I inform myself politically? What are resources which can help me to form a Catholic conscience with regard to the important issues? 3. How do I react when people disagree with me politically? How can I reflect the love of God to them? Today’s readings can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101820.cfm You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
Questions for us to ponder: 1. When am I most defensive? When defnsivness occurs what need am I seeking to fufill? How can I relate it to God? 2. How do I view God? In what areas of my life to forget that he is our Father and treat him more like a tyrant? What lies do I believe about myself and about him? What is the truth opposed to these lies? Have I allowed any false images to influence my behavior? 3. Do I go to God, Our Father, each day in prayer? How do I approach him in prayer? Do I ask him for holy indifference flowing from my trust in him? Today’s readings can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091320.cfm You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
Questions to Ponder: Do you long for heaven? How do you actively seek the kingdom of heaven? What are the sources of aniexty in your life? How do you these things take away your peace? What can you do to remind yourself each day that you are made for heaven? https://www.missalemeum.com/en/2020-09-06
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone Matthew 18:15 “Reckon him no more amongst the number of thy brethren. But yet neither is his salvation on that account to be neglected. For the very heathen, that is, the Gentiles and Pagans, we do not reckon among the number of brethren; but yet are we ever seeking their salvation” – St. Augustine Questions for us to ponder: 1. Have I given into the relativism of our cultural situation? 2. When it is necessary to correct another how well does my approach align with Jesus’s call to charitable fraternal correction? 3. Do I shy away too much from conflict when I should speak to a brother or sister? Or do I, on the other hand, concern myself with things that are not my business to correct? What am I doing to work to foster charity? 4. Do I engage in gossip, either in person or online? If so what am I doing to overcome this sin in my life? Today’s readings can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090620.cfm You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (23th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. (Lk 17:16) The thanksgiving we offer during Mass must be extended. Our lives are meant to take on the character of the thanksgiving of the liturgy. God wants us to give thanks ultimately for our good, because he knows it will help us become what we are meant to be. Only in thanksgiving are we made whole are we wholly saved. Leo the Great: “For not to give Him thanks in all things, what else is it but to blame Him in some degree. Man’s folly too often dares to murmur against his Creator, not only in time of want, but also in time of plenty, so that, when something is not supplied, he complains, and when certain things are in abundance he is ungrateful
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Mt 16:24) The Prophet Jeremiah is in anguish because the words of the Lord, which could be instruments of salvation if heeded, fall on deaf ears and hardened hearts. Peter echoes Jeremiah’s anguish today. He rejects the Cross. He does not want the anguish of witnessing his friend fail. We should remember that this is often our human reaction as well. But this is not the end of Peter’s journey; Peter learns to think according to the will of God and literally takes up his cross dying in imitation of him. Brothers and Sisters, the cost of discipleship is high; in fact, to follow Jesus means to imitate him: where the Master goes, the disciple follows. This means we must be willing to accept the Cross in our lives; we must accept the anguish of failing in integrity. But it is precisely from this anguish of having failed in every human sense of the word, that testimony is given. The folly of the Cross becomes the salvation of all. Brothers and sisters, to share in his anguished heart which beats for every human soul. What greater joy could be found? Questions for us to ponder: 1. What/where have I encountered the Cross in my life? Where do I encounter failure from a human perspective? How has God used that failure to bear witness to the hope we should have in him? 2. Where or to whom am I called to be a prophet of hope today? 3. What sinful habits or tendencies do I tend to use to avoid the Cross in my life? Today’s readings can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/083020.cfm You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
Wishing to justify himself, the man asked, "and who is my neighbor ?" (Luke 10:29) Christ himself is the Good Samaritan who finds you and me wounded and naked on the side of the road and heals us and raises us up. He makes us his neighbors and friends. We are called to invite others to become our neighbors by being their neighbors as Christ did for us. Then we must invite them to meet our best Friend, the Good Samaritan, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever Questions for us to ponder: 1. Do I recognize Christ as the Good Samaritan who comes to me? What wounds do I need to let him heal and bind? Have I left the inn of the Church – if not physically, spiritually – by willfully commiting grave sin? 2. Do I recognize that Jesus is both my Lord and my friend? (How) Am I spending time with my Friend through prayer and regular reception of the sacraments? How can I actively work to grow in the virtues so I can be a better friend? 3. When am I most tempted to act like the priest and the Levite and refuse to treat someone as my neighbor? How can I act differently in the future? Today's readings can be found here: https://www.missalemeum.com/en/2020-08-23 You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (12th Sunday after Pentecost, Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
Summary For her benefit and for our benefit, the Lord draws faith out of the Canaanite woman. She becomes a remarkable example of what trusting prayer in faith looks like: Faith which is prompted by God coming to meet us first; Faith which does not deny our own needs while at the same time being compassionate towards others; faith that is persistent in asking for what we need and what others need; faith that asks for intercession from others; faith that is, above all else, humble, which recognizes with gratitude the gift God gives us. For when we desire in prayer, nothing other than the will of God, then it will be done in our lives. Questions to Ponder When have you experienced silence from God? How have you reacted to God's seeming silence? How might God be working in your life to greater faith right now? What are areas of your life in which it is difficult to trust the Lord? What "harsh words" might the Lord use to rouse your faith? Who can you ask to pray for your intercessions today? Who can you pray for? (go do it, now!)
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him (Matthew 14:31) We should never try to hide our needs from the Lord. Sometimes we are afraid to let Jesus know our weakness or needs for fear that he will reject us because of them. We have the mistaken illusion that we need to be perfect before we go to God. But this fear and shame before the Lord, though truly felt, is not in accord with who God has shown us that he is. In fact, it is precisely in our weaknesses that he comes to find us. Questions for us to ponder (with the Lord): What are my weaknesses, vulnerabilities, wounds? Where am I about to drown and in over my head? Have I taken those to the Lord? If not, why not, what am I afraid of? If I am burdened by sin have, I taken it to the sacrament of Confession? Who are the people that God has putting in my life with whom I can be appropriately vulnerable and ask for help when needed? Where is God calling me to be brave and step out of the boat? Today's readings can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080920.cfm You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
“God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength” (1 Cor 10:13) Simply bask in the fact that God loves you. Your sin, your past temptations, your present struggles, none of them can change the fact that God loves you. He’s loved you from the beginning, and he will always love you. You are his son or daughter. Christ compassionately weeps when he sees us in sin because he loves us. He is always present and desires to enter the temple of our hearts and cleanse it of the robbers who wish to cause us harm. Questions for us to ponder: Am I honest with myself about my temptations and the vices in my life? How am doing at truthfully acknowledging my thoughts, feelings, and desires (even if they are not all holy)? Do I honestly relate my struggles and temptations to the Lord? Are there areas of temptation that I struggle to be honest about? How do I feel loved by God? What are signs of his love for me? What prevents me from responding to his love? Today’s readings can be found here: https://ususantiquior.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/propers-for-ninth-sunday-after-pentecost.pdf You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (9th Sunday after Pentecost, Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
“There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” (Matt 14:16) Perhaps in encountering an impoverished person, we fear recognizing our own poverty and need: the truth that human beings exist fundamentally in relation. This fact is made perfectly clear in the incarnation, the enfleshment of Our Lord Jesus, who is God, needed his Mother. As we pass through our daily lives in the City of Austin, we encounter a vast multitude of people who do not know Jesus and who have never received the bread which will satisfy. The Lord’s words should resound in our ears: “there is no need for them to go away, give them some food yourselves.” Questions for us to ponder: 1. How do I react when I encounter poverty and the impoverished? 2. Do I recognize my own poverty? Can I name and honestly acknowledge to God the areas where I need help? 3. How have I bought into the lie of the self-made man or woman? 4. How can I reflect Christ’s compassion to those I encounter? Do I take responsibility for my own actions towards the poor? Today’s readings can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080220.cfm You can subscribe to future audio versions of homilies here: https://frwill.fireside.fm/ (18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite)
If our perception of who God is incorrect, we will not live correctly. Nothing matters more than our knowledge of Christ. In light of recent events, this has very practical consequences for the way we treat others and ourselves. The disunity – the lack of communion in our country and world, made clear by recent events – has many causes. But taken from the highest point of view, it is the result of our living as if God did not exist or as if he was a God uninterested in our world - the exact opposite of what we hear in the Gospel (God so loved the world... Jn 3:16) Communion in our human family, if it is to be lasting, must begin with our communion with God. This comes about by entrusting ourselves to Him. Going to him in love and realizing that he loves you and me and every other person he has ever created with a love beyond all our imagining. We will only do so if we believe God to be love. "Nothing could be more untrue than the often-repeated statement that we all worship the same God; or that other, that whatever we worship is the same. Nothing matters more than having a true knowledge of Christ. We become what our conception of Christ is: God made us in His own likeness, but we have an extraordinary power of changing ourselves into the likeness of the idols we make, of those caricatures of God which we set up on the altars of egoism and worship. In the degree of falseness of our conception of God, we restrict and narrow our interests and sympathies; we grow in intolerance and hardness or in a flabbiness which turns to a rot of sweetness like a diabetes of the soul. In the degree of the truth of our conception of Him, our minds grow broader, deeper, and warmer; our hearts grow wiser and kinder; our humour deeper and more tender; we become more aware of the wonder of life; our senses become more sensitive; our sympathies stronger; our capacity for giving and receiving greater; our minds are more radiant with a burning light, and the light is Christ." C. Houselander (1944). The Reed of God. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press. 130 Unity #peace #love #communion #justice
Our thirst for God expresses God’s thirst for us, which He fulfills through the gift of himself in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Callan Sweeney invites us to consider the God who gives himself in the face of treachery.
Leisure the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper (https://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Basis-Culture-Josef-Pieper/dp/1586172565/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) An excellent intorduction to the Seven Capital Vices is Glittering Vices by Rebecca DeYoung. (https://www.amazon.com/Glittering-Vices-Seven-Deadly-Remedies/dp/1587432323/ref=sr_1_2?crid=FB7EYUZUU7P5&keywords=glittering+vices&qid=1584046883&s=books&sprefix=glittering+%2Caps%2C340&sr=1-2)
An excellent intorduction to the Seven Capital Vices is [Glittering Vices by Rebecca DeYoung. ]((https://www.amazon.com/Glittering-Vices-Seven-Deadly-Remedies/dp/1587432323/ref=sr12?crid=FB7EYUZUU7P5&keywords=glittering+vices&qid=1584046883&s=books&sprefix=glittering+%2Caps%2C340&sr=1-2)
An excellent intorduction to the Seven Capital Vices is [Glittering Vices by Rebecca DeYoung. ]((https://www.amazon.com/Glittering-Vices-Seven-Deadly-Remedies/dp/1587432323/ref=sr12?crid=FB7EYUZUU7P5&keywords=glittering+vices&qid=1584046883&s=books&sprefix=glittering+%2Caps%2C340&sr=1-2)
In this first episode of our Lenten series on the vices we talk about virtue and vice in general, how Christ is the model of virtue, and how pride is the root of all the vices in our lives. An excellent intorduction to the Seven Capital Vices is [Glittering Vices by Rebecca DeYoung. ]((https://www.amazon.com/Glittering-Vices-Seven-Deadly-Remedies/dp/1587432323/ref=sr12?crid=FB7EYUZUU7P5&keywords=glittering+vices&qid=1584046883&s=books&sprefix=glittering+%2Caps%2C340&sr=1-2)