Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Hos 11:1-4,8e-9; Mt 10:7-15

One of the aspects that I have grown to greatly appreciate about Latin religiosity is its emotional and devotional content. In my Anglo spiritual tradition, both in my youth as a Protestant and later as a Catholic, my religiosity is reserved. Reverence, hushed voices, and shiny shoes are the custom.

I remember one of my first visits to a Hispanic parish Texas. After the service, a man approached a statue of Jesus, whose hands were stretched out downwards as if waiting to receive a package. The man took hold of Jesus’ hands and began to pray. I found the scene to be touching and instructive about devotional practices. Further, I was sure that such a gesture would not have occurred in an Anglo parish.

While I do struggle with emotions in my spiritual practice, I am sure that God has strong emotions for me and his people. Today’s first reading is proof of this. God talks passionately about his people, as a parent talks about his child. 

Today, I shall spend time being loved by God and loving in return. I will not be hesitant to express my love for God.



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Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Hos 10:1-3,7-8,12; Mt 10:1-7

At the school, we have just completed exams and are preparing for winter vacation. This week is about handing back the exams and getting the semester grades finalized. Of course, some students are not happy with their grades. Some students try to argue their way out of a bad test grade. Some seek out an 11th hour extra credit opportunity to help aright their semester.

Regardless of their approach, just about all the students who are unhappy with their marks ask me why they got the grade they did. I am amused and bemused by this question. Why are the students asking me why they got the grade they did? They know why – they did not study and/or do the work necessary for the grade they wanted. 

This is human nature. I can see the same tendency in myself at times. I want to reap something other than what I sow. I want success without effort. I want spiritual progress without practice. Just like my some of my students, I want to reap the benefits of life with the work necessary to cultivate what I seek. 

In today’s first reading, God tells us: “Sow for yourselves justice,/reap the fruit of piety;/break up for yourselves a new field,/for it is time to seek the LORD…” We are counseled to take advantage of our time to do the work necessary for the blessed life we want. While God’s grace does work in us, we are called to cooperate with God in forming good habits for our discipleship.



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Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Hos 8:4-7, 11-14; Mt 9:32-38

Next week, I’ll be in the United States for a convocation of Holy Cross Brothers. We are meeting to discuss a possible new organizational structure. Hopefully, we will discuss more than the proposed structure, turning our attention to the reasons for such an entity – mission and vocation.

It is no secret that lay religious life in the United States is in shambles. By lay religious, I mean non-ordained,  consecrated men and women – religious brothers and sisters. By shambles, I mean that vocations are nearly inexistent and that identity is lacking. This is especially true for religious brothers.

Brothers receive little attention. Most Catholics do not know what a religious brother is. Further, on parish and on diocesan levels, the brothers’ vocation is often not promoted, in favor of the priestly vocation. My vocation has repeatedly been viewed as suspect from well intentioned Catholics who cannot understand why I, as a vowed, celibate, theological trained man, am not serving the Church as a priest. 

Despite these challenges, I do believe that lay religious life is important to the Church, and especially male lay religious life. As a man, I technically have the option of becoming a priest. Yet, by God’s call and personal desire, I serve the Church and the world as a layman. As a brother, I model the vocation that all lay people share – to evangelize the world. I do this by living, praying and working in community with my fellow brothers and the other lay people with whom I serve. 

If the vocation of lay religious life is in shambles, it is because there is neither a great understanding nor an appreciation for the vocation and role of lay people in general. To those (priests, sisters and lay Catholics) who have told me that they do not understand the vocation of a brother in the Church, I respond that they do not understand the vocation of a lay person in the Church. Unfortunately, the importance of the priestly vocation has been promoted often at the expense of other vocations. Also, the ongoing debate over women’s ordination has further marginalized other vocational choices, especially that of the brothers’. Hopefully in our meetings next week, we, the Brothers of Holy Cross, will discuss how we can revitalize the lay religious vocation in the U.S. and confront the challenges presented to us by the Church and our culture.

In today’s Gospel, we read that the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few. Jesus calls his followers to join in the work of announcing the Gospel to the world. This is the special vocation of the laity. Let us pray today that all of us may work for the Lord of the Harvest. And let us pray for greater awareness and appreciation of the variety of ways God calls people to live their Christian lives.



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Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle

Eph 2:19-22; Jn 20:24-29

The story of Thomas is touching and human. Not with the other disciples when Jesus appears after his resurrection, Thomas refuses to believe what his friends tell him. Thus, Thomas is associated with doubt, hence the expression “doubting Thomas.”

I suppose the expression could also be “doubting Matt”. I imagine that I too would have a hard time believing such an incredible story. After all, I struggle with more mundane aspects of faith, like God has brought me to such and such a place in my life, or that God loves this person (who I can not stand) just as much as me. I have a hard time believing in each moment that God is working for the good for those called according to his purpose, as the Bible says. And yet, maybe these more mundane aspects of faith are just as incredible as the resurrection event.  

Yes, I too doubt. And I am thankful that from time to time Jesus comes to me and offers to me his hands and side, people and events, that remove all doubts from my mind and heart. Indeed, blessed are they who believe without seeing. And thankful are they who receive help from the Lord in order to believe.



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Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24; Mt 8:28-34

I’m a film buff. Love the movies. Not surprisingly, one of my favorite activities in the community house in Austin, where I lived before coming to Chile, was movie night. Every Friday night, a number of brothers would gather in the TV room and watch a movie together.

Since I am a movie aficionado with wide ranging tastes, I was often consulted about possible selections for the up-coming week. I remember being really taken with one movie I saw in the theater, which was later nominated for an Academy Award. When the movie came out on DVD, I made sure that it was chosen for the next Friday night. I went so far as to promote the virtues of this film, ensuring a larger than usual crowd for the screening.

One detail that had escaped my attention during my promotion of the film was its harsh language and violent content. The brothers, who are sensitive souls and, largely, of a rather mature age, did not quite appreciate this aspect of the film. I could see and feel their discomfort. While many agreed that the movie was interesting and had something to say, they could not relate to the characters, and thus the film, due to the violence and language. They had rejected such traits from their own lives and were bothered by seeing and hearing such things in the film.

The brothers are the opposite of the demons in today’s Gospel. The demons are so disturbed by Jesus’ presence that they long to flee. They even ask Jesus to be driven into a herd of swine. They have a visceral reaction to the presence of Jesus and what he represents. Likewise, the brothers had a visceral reaction to what they witnessed in the film. They felt the conflict between their values and those of the film.

The experience with the brothers and the film raised questions inside of me. Why wasn’t I so bothered by the film? Where was my visceral reaction? Am I so accustomed to such language and televised violence that I am unaffected? If so, what does that mean? These are good questions that I am still working with.

Today, I ask for the grace to be viscerally aware of my faith and my values. I pray to grow in spiritual sensitivity and to conform more of my life to the model of Jesus. 



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Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12; Mt 8:23-27

I don’t like to feel that things are coming apart, that disaster is imminent. Granted, I am rarely in a case where disaster is actually imminent or where my life is coming apart. The anxiety I feel is normally an exaggeration of my circumstances. Nevertheless, I do not like to feel that. I like smooth sailing, not chaos.

At times this semester, I have felt like my ship was sinking. Yes, I am an experienced teacher, but a young one. And I have entered a new school, in a different culture, and have taught in a non-native language. It has been rough. There have been moments where I thought that the carefully laid plans I had made would be wiped away. And there were times when they were. I have felt very much like the disciples on the boat, riding out the storm of cultural transition, praying for salvation.

The good news is that these past few months have been a blessed time as well – blessed, because, placed in a vulnerable situation, God has been God for me. I think that this is what God wants most of all – to be God for us. In the worst days of my time here, God has sent people to comfort me and help me. I have not been alone.

Today, I thank God for the blessings of this semester. I thank God for being God for me. And, I thank God for the people he has sent into my life when I have needed them the most.  



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Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16; Mt 8:18-22

I like rules – they are very handy. They allow me to know what I have to do and allow me to evaluate my actions. Rules take the mystery out of expectations. Further, I feel free to play the game of life within certain boundaries. It’s like football – as long as I’m within the lines, I can use my creativity to succeed.

Religion has a lot of rules too. They demarcate what is helpful behavior for the spiritual path. The goal of an organized spiritual system – a religion – is to aid people on their way to re-connecting with the sacred.

Still, there is something that is more important than rules in the religious quest. It is attitude. Both the first reading and the Gospel speak to that today. In the reading from Amos, it seems that God is less concerned about some of the rule breaking that Israel has done and more concerned about their attitude towards the most vulnerable in their society. In the Gospel, Jesus questions that attitudes of some would-be followers. Jesus wants them to make him their priority above social status and custom.

I do believe that religious rules are helpful and should be followed. I just think that rule following cannot be substituted for internal commitment. The rules will guide us. Yet, we must have the inner drive to walk the path with fidelity.  



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Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Acts 12:1-12; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 17-18; Mt 16:13-19

This morning, my thoughts turn to those who have modeled faith for me. I think of many of the brothers in my community who in the community room, in the class room, and outside of any room showed me how to place my trust and confidence in the Lord. I think of my friends – in high school, college and afterward – who walked with me and I with them as we have tried to negotiate growing up, while staying true to our beliefs. And I think of my family, especially my parents, who modeled love and faith amid the daily struggles of life.

I think of all these people because they are my apostles. I think of these people because they are my witnesses – people who have shared with me their lived encounters with the Lord and have invited me to fall in step with them.

I am aware this morning that I am not a Christian alone. I walk in the company others. And, the faith that I have, in part, is the result of the witness of others. I am thankful for the apostles that have come into my life.  



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Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

Lam 2:2, 10-14, 18-19; Mt 8:5-17

I am aware that I have a certain degree of power. As a teacher, I have influence over my students. As a member of a religious community, I have influence concerning house policies and interpersonal dynamics. As an individual, I can choose how I spend my time and how to respond to situations. Indeed, I have a certain degree of power in my life and in my sphere of influence. The question is how I use this power. This is the question of authority.

In today’s Gospel, the centurion recognizes Jesus’ authority and power to heal. Jesus is a person who can direct his power to an end. Thus, the centurion is confident that what Jesus says will happen. What is interesting is what Jesus does with his power – how he exercises his authority. Jesus heals. Jesus restores people to their relationships with God and others.

I too have power. The question is how I exercise my power. Today, I am called to use my power as an instrument of healing and reconciliation. I shall seek out opportunities to say the kind word, offer to help out around the house, and aid others in their projects. 



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Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

2 Kgs 25:1-12; Mt 8:1-4

I do not often pray with my imagination. Usually, I think about a word or a phrase that grabs my attention from the the reading or the Gospel of the day. Then, I talk to Jesus about it and how it applies to my life. I conclude with making a resolution for the day, based on my thoughts and conversation with Jesus. Yet, today’s Gospel passage truly lends itself to imaginative prayer.

I am not a leper, but I do hold on to a lot of stress in my life. I am at the end of the semester and there is a lot of tests to give and to grade. The students are under a lot of stress and that rubs off on me. Plus, I still have the stress of my transition to Chile and my new school. I am a person carrying burdens who wants relief – who wants to be healed.

And so I see Jesus, and I approach him. He knows me and my needs. I say to him, Lord, if you wish, you can heal me – you can grant me peace. Jesus looks me in the eyes with love, stretches out his hand, and touches me. I will do it, he says. Be at peace. And I rest in that peace.

Maybe you are stressed out too. Or maybe you seek something else from the Lord today. Whatever it is, approach the Lord with confidence. Ask him. He will do it.



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