Pastor's Corner | The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus.

“Almighty God, give me wisdom to perceive You, intelligence to understand You, diligence to seek You, patience to wait for You, eyes to behold You, a heart to meditate upon You, and life to proclaim You, through the power of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” 
+ A prayer of St. Benedict

The Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Monday, July 7 

Holy Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26

Prayer: O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Contemplation: It took considerable courage and risk for the ruler of a synagogue to openly go to Jesus, for in doing so he invited the public scorn of his neighbors and kin.  Even the hired mourners laughed at him in scorn.  Their grief was devoid of any hope.  Nonetheless, Jesus took the girl by the hand and delivered her from the grasp of death.  In both instances we see Jesus’ personal concern for the needs of others and his readiness to heal and restore life. In Jesus we see the infinite love of God extending to each and every individual as he gives freely and wholly of himself to each person he meets.  Do you approach the Lord with confident expectation that he will hear your request and act?  Seek him, find him, pray to him, for he alone is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Why would anyone seek the advice of a talk show host, blog, or a self-help book when Jesus is the only one who can help you anytime, anywhere, in your hour of need.

Tuesday, July 8

Holy Gospel: Matthew 9:32-38

Prayer:  O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Contemplation: How could Jesus’ miracles cause both scorn and wonder at the same time from those who professed faith in God?  Don’t we often encounter the same reaction today, even in ourselves!  The crowds looked with awe at the wonderful works which Jesus did, but the religious leaders attributed this same work to the power of the devil. They disbelieved because they refused to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Their idea of religion was too narrow and closed to accept Jesus as the Anointed One sent by the Father. They were too set in their own ways to change and they were too proud to submit to Jesus.  What about you?

Wednesday, July 9 | St. Augustine Zhao Rong

Holy Gospel: Matthew 10:1-7

Prayer: O God, who in your wonderful providence have strengthened your Church through the confession of the Martyrs Saint Augustine Zhao and companions, grant that your people, faithful to the mission entrusted to it, may enjoy ever greater freedom and witness to the truth before the world. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Contemplation: We need not look too closely to see that in the choice of the twelve apostles there is a characteristic feature of God’s work: Jesus chose very ordinary people. They were non-professionals, had no wealth or position.  They were chosen from the common people who did ordinary things, had no special education, and no social advantages.  Jesus wanted ordinary people who could take an assignment and do it extraordinarily well.  He chose these men, not for what they were, but for what they would be capable of becoming under his direction and power.  Remember that the Lord takes what ordinary people, like us, can offer and uses it for greatness in his kingdom.  Do you believe that God wants to work through and in you for his glory? Do you believe in the power of God’s kingdom? Are you exercising this power properly and regularly?

Thursday, July 10

Holy Gospel: Matthew 10:7-15

Prayer: O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Contemplation: One of the messages in today’s Gospel is that the people of God must never fail in their duty to give the worker of God what he or she needs to sustain themselves in the Lord’s service.  Do you pray for the work of the gospel and do you support the Church with your material and financial resources? Jesus ends his instructions with a warning: If people reject God’s invitation and refuse his word, then they bring judgment and condemnation on themselves.  When God gives us his word there comes with it the great responsibility to respond.  Indifference will not do.  We are either for or against God in how we respond to his word.  God gives us his word that we may have abundant life in him.  He wills to work through and in each of us for his glory. God shares his word with us and he commissions us to speak it boldly and simply to others. Are you a living witness to the truths and joy of the gospel by word and example to those around you?

Friday, July 11 | St. Benedict  

Holy Gospel:  Matthew 10:16-23

Prayer: O God, who made the Abbot Saint Benedict an outstanding master in the school of divine service, grant, we pray, that, putting nothing before love of you, we may hasten with a loving heart in the way of your commands. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Contemplation: What Jesus is telling us in today’s gospel comes down to this: This is my task for you at its grimmest and worst; do you accept it?  This offering means a lot of blood, toil, sweat, tears, and heartache. We tend not to think of this when Jesus our Lord and Savior commissions us in his service.  Nonetheless, our privilege is to follow in the footsteps of the Master who laid down his life for us.  Recall what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “The way of Christ ‘leads to life’; a contrary way ‘leads to destruction.’” (CCC #1696) Now, once more, are you willing to accept hardship and suffering in following in the footsteps of Jesus our Lord – footsteps which lead to a simpler, less complex life on earth while leading us on the path to eternal life?  Or are you looking to be popular with the people of this earth – “get along” for the sake of getting along, while turning your back on the laws of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ?  Will you deny him as Peter did?  Or will you stand up and stand firm against the tide of all that is contrary to the laws of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ?  It’s your call – make the right one!  God’s laws and Christ’s teachings are timeless. Can we say that about anything else on this earth? 

About Saint Benedict: (Medal of Saint Benedict on the right) Born in Nursia, Italy, he was educated in Rome, was repelled by the vices of the city, and in about 500 fled to Enfide, 30 miles away. He decided to live the life of a hermit and settled at mountainous Subiaco, where he lived in a cave for three years, fed by a monk named Romanus. Despite Benedict’s desire for solitude, his holiness and austerities became known and he was asked to be their abbot by a community of monks at Vicovaro. He accepted, but when the monks resisted his strict rule and tried to poison him, he returned to Subiaco and soon attracted great numbers of disciples. He organized them into twelve monasteries under individual priors he appointed, made manual work part of the program, and soon Subiaco became a center of spirituality and learning. He left suddenly, reportedly because of the efforts of a neighboring priest, Florentius, to undermine his work, and in about 525 settled at Monte Cassino. He destroyed a pagan temple to Apollo on its crest, brought the people of the neighboring area back to Christianity, and in about 530 began to build the monastery that was to be the birthplace of Western monasticism. Soon disciples again flocked to him as his reputation for holiness, wisdom, and miracles spread far and wide. He organized the monks into a single monastic community and wrote his famous rule prescribing common sense, a life of moderate asceticism, prayer, study, and work, and community life under one superior. It stressed obedience, stability, zeal, and had the Divine Office as the center of monastic life; it was to affect spiritual and monastic life in the West for centuries to come. While ruling his monks he counseled rulers and Popes, ministered to the poor and destitute about him, and tried to repair the ravages of the Lombard Totila’s invasion. He died at Monte Cassino on March 21.

Antiphons and scripture passages courtesy of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Daily meditations and contemplations adapted from Biblical Meditations for Lent by Rev. Carroll Stuhlmueller, C.P.; prayers are from The Roman Missal, Catholic Book Publishing, 2011; information about saints, solemnities, feasts and memorials courtesy of the Catholic Culture website. frlumpe:2025