• TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR
MONDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.23:13-22) It is so easy to be awed by the large Churches, majestic liturgies. The libraries that have stored our cultural heritage throughout the years, the museums in which is the history of the western world, are all jewels of which the Church should be proud. It is so easy to identify these with the Church. The Church lies somewhere else. It is in the hearts of the lonely, the forgotten, those who acknowledge their need for God. We should be awed these as the presence of God among us.
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.23:23-26) Complacency is a constant threat to our relationship with the Lord. It is the mind set that does not see the possibilities of growth. Or worse, does not want to grow. This attitude is a threat in any relationship. We get too comfortable, it becomes too easy. Complacency does not see the incompleteness within, it has set limits on the working of God. Complacency is a denial of happiness
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.23:27-32) Our relationship to the Lord is not a question of “how much we do” but rather of “who are we.” To put it another way, it is a question of being rather than doing. Our actions should be based on a God centeredness. This meeting with the Lord is what fills up the inside. We may do many good things, and I am sure the Lord will be happy with them, but to have them based on Him being the center is the fullness of all we do.
THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.24:42-51) We spend so much time waiting. We wait in the super markets, doctors’ offices, toll booths…we wait for good things to happen, we wait hopefully that bad things will not happen. There seems to be always something for which we are waiting. We can use that “waiting time” or let it go to waste. Waiting is not passive but active. We look to the future and in doing so in some small way make that future present. In looking to our future, the coming of the Lord, we should be the agents of making that future a now thing.
FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR
(Matt.25:1-13) The oil of good works, but more importantly it is the oil of seeing the bridegroom now. We can focus too much on the future and not see the present. Conversely we can live in the present to such an extent that there is no future. We live the future today, we live today in the light of the future. The Lord will come again, the future, we must greet Him today.
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.25:14-30) We have to let go of some things in order to grow. One basic reality of life is that things do not stay the same.
As Native Americans say: we never put our feet into the same river. The Church of the 1950’s is both the same and not the same as the one we are living in. It is the same because the Creed is the same, the foundation of our faith, it is different because we are being asked to live the Creed in a different way. The great gift of faith is alive, not dead. We can never go back to the “way things used to be”. To try to do that is denying the working of God in His
Church.
TWENTY SECOND WEEK OF THE YEAR
MONDAY OF THE TWENTY SECOND WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 4:16-30) About whom is the Lord speaking? Quite obviously it is Himself. Does it stop there? I think not. He is reminding us all that the Spirit has come upon each and every one
• TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR
MONDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.23:13-22) It is so easy to be awed by the large Churches, majestic liturgies. The libraries that have stored our cultural heritage throughout the years, the museums in which is the history of the western world, are all jewels of which the Church should be proud. It is so easy to identify these with the Church. The Church lies somewhere else. It is in the hearts of the lonely, the forgotten, those who acknowledge their need for God. We should be awed these as the presence of God among us.
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.23:23-26) Complacency is a constant threat to our relationship with the Lord. It is the mind set that does not see the possibilities of growth. Or worse, does not want to grow. This attitude is a threat in any relationship. We get too comfortable, it becomes too easy. Complacency does not see the incompleteness within, it has set limits on the working of God. Complacency is a denial of happiness
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.23:27-32) Our relationship to the Lord is not a question of “how much we do” but rather of “who are we.” To put it another way, it is a question of being rather than doing. Our actions should be based on a God centeredness. This meeting with the Lord is what fills up the inside. We may do many good things, and I am sure the Lord will be happy with them, but to have them based on Him being the center is the fullness of all we do.
THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.24:42-51) We spend so much time waiting. We wait in the super markets, doctors’ offices, toll booths…we wait for good things to happen, we wait hopefully that bad things will not happen. There seems to be always something for which we are waiting. We can use that “waiting time” or let it go to waste. Waiting is not passive but active. We look to the future and in doing so in some small way make that future present. In looking to our future, the coming of the Lord, we should be the agents of making that future a now thing.
FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR
(Matt.25:1-13) The oil of good works, but more importantly it is the oil of seeing the bridegroom now. We can focus too much on the future and not see the present. Conversely we can live in the present to such an extent that there is no future. We live the future today, we live today in the light of the future. The Lord will come again, the future, we must greet Him today.
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR (Matt.25:14-30) We have to let go of some things in order to grow. One basic reality of life is that things do not stay the same.
As Native Americans say: we never put our feet into the same river. The Church of the 1950’s is both the same and not the same as the one we are living in. It is the same because the Creed is the same, the foundation of our faith, it is different because we are being asked to live the Creed in a different way. The great gift of faith is alive, not dead. We can never go back to the “way things used to be”. To try to do that is denying the working of God in His
Church.
About Me
- fr.Bill,ofm
- It really is about time I got to do this profile. Because of the nature of the animal there are going to be a lot of "I" please excuse. I was born in NYC many years ago. I entered the Franciscan Order, Holy Name Province, in July 1960.ordained a Franciscan Priest in 1966. Shortly after Ordination I was sent to Japan where I spent the next glorious 28 years working as missionary. In 1994 I went to India to work with lepers, Unfortunately, I got sick and had to cut my stay short.The next stop was the Holy Land. Two more very happy years. Finally, after 30 years out of the country I returned to the States. My first posting was to a Chapel in a shopping mall outside of Albany NY. In my spare time I worked with the fillipino Community in Albany and also with the collegiates at Siena College. In 2002 I was transferred to St.Francis Inn, a soup kitchen run by the Franciscans of the NY Province.