Reflections on the Gospel Reading for the Day

When we align our will with God’s, we experience freedom.

Jesus continues to call out those Pharisees who follow their own will and put themselves in places of honor instead of God, and then one of the scholars of the law interjects: “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”

Jesus did not soften his words or hold back. He went right at the scholar and convicted him as well, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them” (Lk 11;45-46).

Jesus is clear about his mission, about what the kingdom of God is not and what it is. Jesus is shining a light on the practices of those Pharisees and the scholars of the law that are not fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. I believe that there were those who were. Yet, for those he challenged, he did so in the hope that they would see the darkness that was blinding them. Unfortunately, unlike Bartimaeus (see Mk 10:46-52) who knew that he was blind and wanted to see, this was not true for many whom Jesus confronted.

How about us? Are we aware of our blind spots? Are we willing to allow Jesus to shine his light and love in our direction? Will we cover our eyes because the light is too bright and withdraw further into the shadows, or will we remain still and allow our eyes time to adjust so that the brightness of the Mystery of God will reveal to us that which has kept us bound? Will we justify or rationalize our behavior or will we be transparent, repent, believe in the Gospel, and walk further into the light and the embrace of Jesus? Will we stand in the brilliance of God’s love and truth and let the fire of his love burn away all that is not of him?

Let us resist the path of those Pharisees and scholars of the Law who imposed heavy burdens without being willing to help others along the way. It is important for us to know the Catechism, the Bible, Canon Law, participate in the sacraments, and be people of prayer and service. The purpose of each of these pursuits are not for themselves along though. We do so that we will come to know Jesus and the love he shares with the Father who is the Holy Spirit. We have been created for nothing less than to participate in the very love of God, to become divine through our participation in the life of Jesus. This love and relationship with God increases when we confess our sins, are forgiven, and then having received God’s mercy, share what we have received with others.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. In fact, his interpretation and expansion of the law was much more demanding than the Pharisees or the scribes. The difference was and continues to be, that, Jesus meets us where we are and loves us where we are. He does not lower the bar but raises it. He wants us to realize that we can only follow God’s law with him. Without Jesus we won’t be able to even come close. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, but with him, all things are possible.

In admitting our weakness and revealing to Jesus our poverty, he then gives us the strength mature, for he is our “rock and salvation” (Psalm 62:2-23). He is the solid foundation upon which we can stand and build. “The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer – and don’t forget this because it’s very important – should be that he work and prepare himself with determination and every possible effort to bring his will in conformity to God’s will” (St. Teresa of Avila).

In aligning our will with Jesus, we are empowered to fulfill the prescriptions and practices that God has commanded, not for God’s sake but for ours! God’s prescriptions that we receive in the Old and the New Testaments are not to restrict but to free us from our slavery to sin.

In identifying and renouncing our sins, we will experience freedom from the false truths, diversions, distractions, and attachments that the enemy has been poisoning us with. Through daily reading, meditating, and praying upon God’s law and putting them into practice we become like a tree planted near a fresh running stream that will never wither and fade. Our roots will run deep and continue to receive nourishment and sustenance we were created for: the eternal spring of the Holy Spirit which purifies and heals us.

Jesus beckons us to come out from the shadows and into the radiance of his light. As we experience his love and mercy, he encourages us to continue to move out of our comfort zones, attachments, and slavery which is paralyzing us. Jesus calls us to experience freedom. When we trust him and walk with him, our souls will experience the rest that it is starving for, the peace that we yearn for, and the love we have been created for.

Photo: As each sun sets, may we repent from our sins and die to our false selves, so that we may rise the next day with the light of Jesus in our hearts!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, October 15, 2025

The antidote for our hypocrisy is to accept our poverty.

The Lord said to him, “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools” (Lk 11:39).

Jesus’ harshest critiques were for acts of hypocrisy. He did so to show, in no uncertain terms, how dangerous this was, especially for religious leaders. These men were entrusted with the care of God’s people. They may have observed the proper rituals, spoke, and dressed to match the part but this all meant nothing if their hearts were hardened such that they were closed to the love and will of God. This situation was more perilous when they themselves became obstacles and stumbling blocks to those who sought God. Jesus indicting them as fools meant that they were bereft of the wisdom of God they projected to have.

In the depths of our very being, we seek and yearn for the transcendent, the infinite. We are spiritual seekers. We seek God while at the same time we experience suffering, injustice, and hypocrisy at the hands of the very ones who are our leaders in both the religious and political sphere. This is why Jesus convicted those who abused their positions because he knew the significant damage that they could inflict.

No one is perfect, our leaders nor ourselves. We all fall short of the glory of God, even those of us who seek and aspire to live by the Gospel. If we put anyone up on a pedestal, they, sooner or later, are going to fall, and the higher up they go, the greater the fall. God is to hold priority of place. We are to seek God first. God is to be our foundation, the light shining on the hill, our guide, and source.

One way we can sidestep the trap of hubris is by resisting the urge to project all is well and good, that we are fine when we are not. None of us are super men or women. If we think we can go it alone, on our own power and persistence, we will fall sooner or later. A hyper sense of self-reliance means we seek God and each other less for help and support.

When we turn to Jesus to reveal our weakness and our sin, we can experience his transformative and healing power in our lives. To be vulnerable, to allow Jesus to shine his light into our inner darkness takes courage, but when we open all of our lives to him, we will identify and be able to release our own “plunder and evil”. The Holy Spirit can also help us to trust one another with our weaknesses, faults, and shortcomings.

We are healthier and stronger when we accept our own spiritual poverty, where we need help, and reach out to ask for assistance. We are better when we entrust ourselves to Jesus and a core group of people we trust, firmly ground ourselves in the love of God and one another. We grow stronger when we support the unique gifts of each other while at the same time hold each other accountable. Isolated and in the darkness, our sin festers and grows. When brought into the light, sin starves and withers away.

Jesus challenges us to resist projecting an image of perfection when all is not well on the inside. When willing to reveal our weaknesses, sins, suffering, and pain, we can receive help, heal, and let go of carrying the weight of seeking an internal perfectionism. Healed and transformed from being the center of the universe, which we never were or never can be, we can let go of having to project an image of perfection. We can instead be free to be ourselves as God calls us to be and radiate his love as we receive his love. Instead of driving people to the nearest exit, we can begin to welcome people back home to be forgiven, healed, loved, and transformed.

Photo: Not a cloud in the sky. Would that we can say, no sin on our soul! We can get closer by seeking the cleansing healing from sin when we are willing to confess regularly and often.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Turn away from seeking signs or wisdom. Seek Jesus instead.

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah” (Lk 11:29).

To understand what Jesus means, we need to understand the sign of Jonah. Jonah was sent by God to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, to call them to repent from their wicked ways. The Jews not only considered Nineveh to be a place of decadence, wickedness, and godlessness, but the heart, the capital city of Assyria. Its military which had invaded Israel and conquered the northern kingdom around 721 BC.

We can understand Jonah’s initial refusal to follow God’s lead. Not only did he not want to go to Nineveh, but Jonah also did not want them to receive mercy. He wanted God to punish and destroy the nation who he considered an enemy. Those who have read the Book of Jonah, know that Jonah finally acquiesced, and within hours of his proclamation to the citizens, including the king, they repented and God showed them mercy.

Jesus draws a parallel between the people of Nineveh and his listeners. The people of Nineveh heard and repented to a reluctant messenger. The Ninevites, Gentiles, the sworn enemies of Israel, received God’s mercy when they repented. Now, in their midst was one greater than Jonah, the Son of God, and they were demanding of him a sign. The sign of Jonah was repentance. Jesus, from the beginning of his public ministry, preached the same: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).

Many did not listen to Jesus. We would do well to listen to Jesus’ message. Repentance is a foundational spiritual discipline. We are called to consistently and daily examine our conscience and to come to accept that we live in a fallen world. This is not a pessimistic view. This is an awareness of the reality of our present condition.

By accepting that we live in a fallen world, that there is only so much that we can do by ourselves, we will begin to recognize that we need a savior. The next step that we can make is to acknowledge that we need to repent, to identify and turn away from our sins, and turn back to him who can save us. For apart from him, we can do nothing, yet with God, all things are possible.

St Mother Teresa recognized the need for Jesus and stressed this when she taught her novices that she was not interested in numbers and she was not interested in having a branch of social workers. She and those who followed Jesus were to be missionaries of God’s charity. They were to serve Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor. To do so they participated in daily Mass for an hour so they could bring Jesus and see Jesus to those they encountered each day. After returning from their time of service they participated in adoration for an hour. Empowered and renewed by Jesus, blessed by his mercy and love, they could serve Jesus in those they met in the harshest of conditions.

Jesus calls us, as he did his listeners, to resist seeking signs as did the Jews and wisdom as did the Greeks, but repent and give our lives to him. By emptying ourselves of our preconceived notions and opening our hearts and minds to follow his lead and be conformed to his life, we can be about doing God’s work. As long as we stay connected to him, he will guide and give us the means to accomplish that which he sends us to do.

We stay connected to Jesus by allowing his light to shine in our hearts and minds so that we can better identify our sins. Not to be condemned, but convicted of them so that we, like the Ninevites, will repent and turn our focus back to God. Our goal is to enter a daily rhythm of resisting temptations and when we fall repenting from them as soon as possible.

Slowly our selfish and disordered pursuits will cease to be our priority, we will no longer put our own interests at the center. Instead, we will accept Jesus as the core of our lives, that he may be the guiding light of our thoughts, words, and actions. For we are “called for freedom,” to be freed from our sins so that we can “use this freedom” to “serve one another through love” (Galatians 5:13 ).

Photo: Jesus calls us to repent from anything that separates us from him and his Father so that we can experience the love of the Holy Spirit. Are we willing to repent?

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, October 13, 2025

“Your faith has saved you.”

“Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine” (Lk 17:17)?

Jesus makes this statement to the Samaritan who fell at his feet praising God and thanking him for his healing. The other nine received the same physical healing. Some of them may have seen this man turn back and go to Jesus, yet each one of them continued on their way to see the priests as Jesus had directed them. The purpose of this was so that they could be pronounced clean, and so re-enter the life of communal worship and living among their people. I am sure they were ecstatic to do so.

Jesus healed all ten of their leprosy without even saying a word of healing. The catalyst to receive this miraculous healing was their obedience to Jesus’ command to show themselves to the priest. They did so without hesitation and as they walked they all experienced healing. Yet, one of them sensed something deeper still.

Could the others have experienced something similar? If so, many were probably so excited about the healing that they did sense anything beyond the healing. Others may have sensed something but dismissed it, and a few, may have noticed the Samaritan turn back to Jesus, but could not or would not change course to return to say thank you.

The Samaritan that comes to Jesus in gratitude experienced something deeper than his physical healing. He recognized God’s activity in his life and so praised God at Jesus’ feet. He then also praises Jesus, placing Jesus on the same level as God and opening himself to a relationship and communion with him. Jesus acknowledged this step of faith. This man heard an invitation from within, in the quiet of his heart, and resisted any distraction that may have tried to dissuade him. Jesus then said, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19).

In following the gratitude that welled up from within, this man received more than just physical healing that day, he received salvation, “your faith has saved you.” This means not just that his body was restored and made whole again, but that the separation from his relationship with God had been reconciled.

God invites us in so many gentle and small ways in the silence of our hearts to be more engaged: in a relationship with him, in our own lives, and the lives of others. We too can crowd out the invitation by keeping ourselves busy, distracted, and/or diverted. We can hear the whisper but discount it outright for many selfish reasons, we can also be led astray by the cacophony of mind noises that is fed by our fears, prejudgments, or apprehensions. Yet, we can also be like this Samaritan. We can hear and experience the invitation of God, act on his lead, surrender to Jesus, and be saved.

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Painting: “Jesus With the One Leper Who Returned to Give Thanks” by William Brassey Hole

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, October 12, 2025

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28).

Jesus is not discounting his mother nor putting her down in any way by his response. Especially because Mary is the exemplar of not just someone who, but one who other than he, consistently heard the word of God and observed it. Probably even before but the earliest record of this we have is Mary saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your will” (cf. Luke 1:38). She was instrumental in collaborating with God’s will to bring about the salvation of the world in her willingness to bear his only Son.

The wonderful gift of what Jesus said is also an invitation to all of us. If we ever felt at some point that we never fit in somewhere, if we did not quite belong, or we didn’t measure up to someone’s or our own expectations, we need no longer feel that way. Jesus is inviting us to have a seat at the table. And the good news is that there is unlimited seating! If we feel anxious or out of sorts, are discerning a heavy decision and feel paralyzed, dealing with a relational conflict and not sure how to respond, the Holy Spirit provides a way.

All we have to do is hear the word of God and observe it. Simple as that. And yet there is so much keeping us busy, distracted, and diverted from spending time reading, meditating, and praying with God’s word. We might look at the Bible as just another book because there is so much that is more enticing, inviting, and engaging. What God has made us for though is not merely finite but infinite pursuits, to seek the things of heaven. 

The Bible, initially in his youth, did not offer much to St. Augustine. After many years though seeking and indulging in the things of the world, even the pursuit of truth, and still feeling empty, he found great solace in reading the Bible which only increased when he “transcended the literal sense.” The literal sense being that which he read and understood with his mind and reason. In allowing himself time to ponder, the Holy Spirit touched him in the depth of his soul and “enabled him to find at last the answer to his deep inner restlessness and his thirst for truth” (Pope Benedict, General Audience, January 9, 2008).

We too are restless and tired existing in a world that entices us with so many other voices and attractions. Yet, the daily discipline of reading and praying with the Bible provides peace and rest for our souls like nothing else can. Slowly and gently our intimacy with God grows when open up our Bible each day. When we not only read the words, but also meditate and pray with them, we transcend the literal and experience God’s living stream flowing in our veins. We are refreshed and renewed. 

Photo:  One of my joys each day is to spend time in God’s word, and share from my own pondering. Picture of today’s Gospel reading from The Word on Fire: The Gospels.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, October 11, 2025

 

For Jesus or against, to not decided is to decide.

In today’s gospel account, Jesus is accused of collaborating with Satan because he has cast out a demon. Jesus quickly counters the absurdity of the claim by stating that, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house” (Luke 11:17).

If there is one thing that Satan, the one who accuses, the father of lies, and his demons are unified on, it is to promote disunity, isolation, and chaos. They will seek any way to break through our defenses, our weaknesses, tempt, and mislead, to get us to even doubt the truth. They also seek to isolate us from one another. Here Jesus is healing a person from being possessed and it is made to look like he is in league with the devil.

Jesus reveals the error and builds on it with the truth, “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). The kingdom of God reveals and casts out demons, uncovers lies, and reconciles division. Jesus in his perfection comes to purify, cleanse, and to restore the true Father’s original purpose of harmony, oneness, and unity.

The closer that Jesus gets to Jerusalem, the opposition to him appears to be growing. Jesus offers those listening a choice: Recognize him as the Son of God who acts in the name of the Father and join with him, or reject him and side with the enemy. Jesus’ does not leave a middle ground. If one does not decide, “the last condition will be worst than the first” (Luke 11:26). Even those healed by Jesus, if  they do not commit their lives to him and fill themselves with the love of God, there is room for evil to creep back in.

We are given the same choice with each choice we make. Do we take a moment before deciding to ask is this the will of God? Are our thoughts, words, and actions, divisive, hurtful, unkind, or are they unifying, empowering, and loving? If we can admit any ways in which we have turned away from God or chosen any from the list in the first category, the good news is that we can repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is important to recognize our need for healing, which helps us to be more prudent, and ask Jesus for forgiveness and help to begin again.

For those choices that land in the second category, let us thank Jesus for working through us. In both ways, we recognize the truth, and we continue to build on the love that Jesus offers. When we trust him, we grow in relationship with him, and can better share the love he offers us with others.

We are free to choose and receive the consequences of our choices. Let us choose to turn away from anything not of God and follow Jesus today. Let us choose to be loved and to love in return.

Photo: Stained glass window in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Poquonock, CT.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, October 12, 2025

Perseverance and trust are two key attitudes that will help us in prayer.

“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” (Lk 11:9).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues to teach his disciples and us about prayer. The key point he is emphasizing is to be persistent in our prayer and to trust in God. He is our Father who cares for us more than any human can. He cares and will provide for us more than our own earthly parents or friends.

Yet, we can be at times frustrated in prayer because when we do make the time to pray, we may feel or think that nothing is happening or has happened. We may pray for a specific petition for our self, or for a particular intention for another and felt, or thought, that there was not an answer from God. One may pray a sincere, seemingly selfless prayer for a loved one, a child, a spouse, a friend, to be healed and the person still dies. They may be deeply hurt because they did what Jesus said; they asked, they pleaded and begged, but felt they did not receive the healing; that which they sought for, was not given and, instead what they found was nothing but pain and heartache from loss; they knocked until their knuckles were raw and experienced no one on the other side.

Our attitude and orientation to prayer matters. When we sincerely turn our hearts and minds to God in prayer, something happens between us and God, though it may be beyond our cognitive grasp to understand or our sensory awareness to experience. There may indeed be emotional highs and consolations experienced in prayer, but if seeking those is the primary motivation for prayer we will find ourselves more frustrated than not. There may also be lows in prayer, dryness, even desolations, and even feeling God’s absence are also a reality. Emotions are fleeting and not a good barometer when measuring the effectiveness of prayer.

Another big misconception is that we pray to God as if he were a gumball machine. It may seem a silly analogy but how many of us really do pray and worse, only pray that way, and when we do not receive the specific thing we asked for, at the time specified, when we wanted and as we wanted, we brood and think God doesn’t care or does not, in fact, even exist. We may even slip into the barter posture. God if you grant me this, I will do that. If we are only open to receive what we want on our terms, again we are setting ourselves up for frustration.

The very desire to pray is the beginning of our awareness of God’s invitation, for God is the one who reaches out to us first. The answer to what or who we ask, seek, and knock is found at the end of the Gospel reading for today: “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” (Lk 11:13)?

God knows what is best for us, he sees our potential, he wants us to experience joy and be fulfilled. How can we best live our lives in this world to attain that reality? We do so by receiving the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? The infinite, communal love expressed between God the Father and God the Son. Our goal in prayer is to enter into God’s reality, the infinite communion of Love.

We pray first and foremost to help us to grow in relationship with God. This happens through our participation and conformation to the life of Jesus. When we take time to learn, meditate, pray with, and put into practice Jesus’ teachings as his disciples did we will start to see as he sees, we will come to see the truth of empty promises, apparent goods, substitutes to fill our emptiness and faulty defense and coping mechanisms that we have been utilizing as guideposts to merely survive and get through life.

When we stay consistent in an authentic life of prayer, God won’t bend to our will, but we will change. Instead of God becoming smaller to our demands, he expands our hearts and minds to be capable to receive his love. As we mature, we will begin to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (cf. Galatians 5:22-23)?

Why may God not appear to answer a prayer for our healing or for a loved one with a chronic condition or one who is dying? I do not know. But we need to resist running from the pain of loss and be willing to trust that God has not abandoned us but is with us. The tears that arise from our suffering can then become a healing salve, a doorway into the open arms and embrace of Jesus who awaits us in the depth of our grief and pain. Even our loved ones who have died have not come to an end but have experienced a new beginning. JoAnn often would say in her last few weeks that she was just changing her address.

Ultimately, what we ask, what we seek, and what we knock for when we pray is to be loved, to belong, to be a part of someone greater than ourselves. We have been created as a living, craving hunger, and desire to be one with God and each other. This is true for the atheist and the mystic alike. We have been created to be loved and to love.

The Holy Spirit is the gift of prayer that is open to us all. He is the love shared between the Father and the Son, that we too can experience. This is why he is the answer to our prayer, though sometimes to be aware of his presence takes perseverance. It may not be that God is not answering, but that we are not patient enough to receive the answer. We need to be patient enough to be still and know God. Prayer is about building a relationship and like any other relationship, that takes time and work.

To mature in our relationship with God not only takes perseverance, we also need to trust him. One of the enemy’s chief tactics is to sow the seeds of doubt and mistrust. Trust in God’s love for you. Trust that he hears every prayer. Continue to show up each day and pray. Even if you feel nothing is happening, God is working within you, fighting for you, helping you to feel safe, heal and grow in trust. It is also important to spend regular time in quiet, for God’s primary language is silence.

“Leave it all to God and leave your interests in His hands. He knows what is fitting for us… No matter: tell Him honestly, candidly, and ask Him to help you trust Him.” – St. Teresa of Avila

Photo: St. Teresa of Avila from St. John of the Cross Catholic Church

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, October 9, 2025

When we pray, the “Our Father”, may we lift our hearts and minds to our Father.

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and he shared with them the prayer we know as the “Our Father” or “The Lord’s Prayer”. This version from Luke is a bit different than the version from Matthew that we are used to. Praying with different words can help us to be more attentive and mindful. We also need to be careful when we pray to resist the temptation to only say words and forget that the words we are praying are directed to a Person, in this case, Our Father.

This very prayer was given to the Apostles, who passed it on, and it has continued to be prayed and passed on generation after generation such that we have received the “Our Father” again in this moment!

God’s word is alive. It touches our hearts and minds, and reaches each of us in our own unique moments of sorrow, challenges, and desolations, as well as our successes, joys, and consolations. Another good point to remember when approaching prayer is to resist the temptation to change God. Instead, let us allow him to transform us by his loving embrace.

I invite you to give yourself some time now to slowly and prayerfully pray this prayer again. Pay attention to each word, meditate upon them, direct them to, and spend some quiet time with our Father.

“Father, hallowed be 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” (Luke 11:2-4).

Photo: Some quiet time in prayer before being blessed to celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony with a special couple at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church this past Saturday.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Let us choose the better part, slow down to receive, and reflect the light of Jesus.

“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” (Lk 10:41-42).

My wife, JoAnn, and I used to have more than a few spirited discussions on this Gospel passage each time that it arose because, at first reading, it appears that Jesus does not show any empathy or regard for Martha’s gift of hospitality nor for all the work that she is doing. All the men are sitting around listening to Jesus, and Mary… she is doing the same, and who is left to do all the work? Martha.

Blessed to serve as a permanent deacon for ten years, I saw my own, as well as other deacon’s wives, carry extra weight and burdens in support on the home front to allow their husbands the time to serve, many of us who also still held full time jobs. Not only deacon’s wives, this reality is also true for many wives who are full-time homemakers, run in-home businesses, or carry a job outside the home, as well as care for the children, overseeing the bills, the day to day grind, and so find themselves at times, feeling under-appreciated, undervalued, and not respected for all they do.

Husbands can do a better job of being present, more patient, respectful, and attentive to their wives and be more of an equal partner on the journey. For those married as well as single, the point Jesus is making, that he makes throughout the Gospels is to put God first, then family, work, and our unique vocation. The expression of that is going to be different for each station in life. There will be more time constraints for parents of infants. No matter how little time we may have, we must pray daily, we must be still and sit at the feet of Jesus. As we do so, we will find that the time we did not think we have, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be properly ordered.

This prelude acknowledges the reality of how much we juggle in every age. There is much to do and much to be done. Jesus was not disregarding Martha’s hospitality. Especially in the Gospel of Luke, there are many instances in which Jesus empowers women so far beyond the cultural reality of his time. We read this as we do any biblical account from our twenty-first-century mindset. Contextually, the men sitting at the teacher’s feet in a different room, the women cooking, and most times eating separately were commonplace for those in the ancient near east of the first century AD. Mary was the only person out of step with the times.

The interpretive key to understanding this account is what Jesus said. He pointed out that Martha was “anxious and worried about many things.” Mary could have been one of those worries, and not so much that Mary wasn’t helping in the kitchen, but because she was breaking the social norm of sitting with the men. When Martha calls Jesus to redirect Mary, she probably expects him to support her plea. Yet, Jesus acknowledges that: “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:42).

Mary, sitting and having her primary focus on Jesus was the posture of a disciple. Jesus was not only allowing her to do so, he was commending her for doing so. I can visualize Martha being taken aback at first, but then slowly feeling the muscles in her face relax as the lightbulb went on. We don’t know, but could she in that moment have experienced that peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding, and the anxiety and worry left her? Feeling the peace, instead fear in approaching Jesus as Mary had done, did Martha then take her apron off, throw it to the side, and sit down next to her sister and also become his disciple?

There is biblical evidence that beyond the Twelve, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, were Jesus’ friends. When Jesus came four days after the death of Lazarus, as soon as Martha heard Jesus was outside, she, not Mary, came immediately out to Jesus, and in that exchange, it was Martha who made the claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (cf Jn 11:27). Would she have had this insight, the same as Peter, if she was still holding a grudge from this encounter?

Our modern reaction and push back to this Martha and Mary account in Luke may not so much be a reflection on Jesus but how poorly men have treated women over the generations and how poorly women continue to be treated even today. No matter their ages, young, old, and everywhere in between, women are human beings created in the image and likeness of God. No one has the right to abuse, demean, disparage, devalue, or exploit any woman. Women are to be appreciated, heard, respected, cherished, and valued.

God has given each of us gifts to participate in his Father’s plan. May we resist the temptation to fear coming close to Jesus and taking time out to sit at his feet, to engage in mental maelstroms, to be “anxious and worried about many things.” Instead, when we experience the beginning tremors of any stress or strain, instead, be still and rest in Jesus’ presence as Mary, and hopefully Martha, did.

In this way, any anxiety will begin to dissipate as we experience feeling safe in his presence and experience Jesus’ love. Doing so will help us to better know Jesus, his voice, and his teaching, know and follow his will, love others as he loves us, and live our lives respecting, encouraging, and supporting one another with the gifts and guidance that God has given us.

One woman who may have learned the Martha and Mary account well was Lydia. Luke and Paul encounter her and some other women in the city of Philippi. When Paul preached, Lydia, “listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.” She then asked to be baptized with her household, and then invited them into her home (cf Acts 16:11-15). She listened and pondered God first, then acted.

When we choose the better part of sitting at Jesus’ feet before making a decision, we can experience less chaos and more of his peace and guidance. Instead of living in a perpetual state of chronic stress and anxiety, we can instead choose to breathe, rest, receive and abide in God’s love. Then from that place of stillness, like Mary and Lydia, and I believe Martha, instead of reacting, we can make a choice based on God’s guidance.

Photo: Mary, Jesus’ mother, was the premier disciple for she “pondered” the mysteries she experienced with Jesus “in her heart” (Luke 2:19) and “heard the word of God and observed it” (Luke 11:28). She also chose the better part and so like the moon that reflects the light of the sun, Mary reflects the light of her Son. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Are we willing to do likewise, and show mercy as the Good Samaritan did?

It is interesting that the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and here in today’s Gospel account, a scholar of the law, instead of genuinely seeking to learn the truth from Jesus, they all “test” Jesus. They seek to prove him wrong, trip him up, or attempt to present him in a compromising light.

The scholar indeed knows the law well. He knows the foundation of the law which Jesus himself calls the greatest commandment in Mark and Matthew. In combining Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, the scholar answers his own question that one can “inherit eternal life” by loving “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” (Luke 10:27).

Jesus commends his answer and acknowledges his understanding. Jesus then shares an important point to any law or teaching: “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). It is not enough to know, we must put what we know into practice. Otherwise, there is no fruit. What we “know” will atrophy, it will whither away and die if we do nothing with what we have learned.

Not only does the scholar miss the point, he continues on his course to press Jesus further, seeking to “justify himself” by asking who is his neighbor. Jesus without missing a beat, sings the song of the Good Samaritan. In it Jesus presents who ought to be the heroes, the priest and the Levite, two law abiding Jews. Each know the law but each are unwilling to take the risk of breaking the law of ritual impurity by touching a dying man. Or they do not want to risk their own safety and refuse to fulfill the deepest root of the law, loving their neighbor as themselves. So they walk on. Jesus does not give the reason for their refusal to help.

The one who is willing to come close, the one who fulfills the letter of the law is not a scholar, a Pharisee, one of the high council, or even a common Jewish man or woman, but a Samaritan. Samaritans were considered enemies for different reasons. They were not pure-bloods. They were of the northern tribes of Israel and many of the Jews that survived the Assyrian occupation intermarried with the Gentiles. They also worshipped, not on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, but on Mount Gerizim. Sprinkling in some violent interactions and you have a recipe ripe for division and distrust.

Yet, it is this Samaritan who lives out the fullness of the law of God by loving his neighbor who is in need. He not only comes close to check on him, he provides aide, brings him to an inn where he can rest, heal, and all on his dime. Did the scholar go and do likewise? We do not know. Just as when the rich young man walked away sad after Jesus invited him to sell all he had and follow him, we don’t know if he ever came back. Are we willing to treat each other with mercy as did the Good Samaritan?

We can know the Catechism inside and out, know the Bible chapter and verse, we can attend daily Mass, but it does not mean that much if we do not allow what we have learned to shape and soften our hearts and our minds such that we come to know Jesus, his Father and the love shared between them, the Holy Spirit. Our faith is about experiencing God’s love and loving one another as he loves us.

To grow in our relationship and experience of God’s presence we need to slow down, slip away from the fast pace and the instant gratification mill. What we receive in our time of reading, studying, meditation, prayer, and worship, we need to ponder and sit with, put into practice, and share with one another as God leads. “God works in depth, in the slow time of trust” (Pope Leo XIV).

We are not perfect. We all fall short of the glory of God. The enemy seeks to distract, divert, trip, beat us down, and leave us for dead, just as we read about the man on the Jericho road. The good news is that in our times of desperation, when we find ourselves down and almost out, the Good Samaritan is Jesus. He is not only willing to come close, if we are willing to allow him, he will lift us up, restore us to health, save, redeem, and give us new life.

As Jesus does for us, let us go and do likewise for each other.

Painting: “The Good Samaritan” by Dan Burr

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, October 6, 2025