Sunday
August 25th

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Louis IX
St. Joseph Calasanz

1st Reading: Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b:
Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leaders, their judges, and their officers. When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people: “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” But the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord for the service of other gods. For it was the Lord, our God, who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a state of slavery. He performed those great miracles before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among the peoples through whom we passed. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

2nd Reading: Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32:
Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.

Gospel: Jn 6:60-69:
Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Reflection:
Even His disciples had a hard time accepting the words of Jesus. Jesus would not play nanny to those whose faith in Him was not strong enough to withstand the shock of knowing who Jesus really was. They would not be punished because they parted ways with their Teacher. Their ordinary lives would continue. But the path to greatness would disappear and the doorway to an opportunity of meaningful life would close. The Twelve who stuck it out with Jesus were radically changed. It would be enough for these Twelve to cast their lot to an unknown future with Jesus whom they loved and admired.

Do we really know Jesus that much, so much so that we are willing to follow Him till the end? Or perhaps we just follow by rote, or by blind obedience, or because this is what we have been doing from the time when we were born? If we check ourselves and understand who Jesus is to us then we can make an informed choice whether to follow Him or not until the end. And when trials and sorrows come because of that informed choice, then we will never waver but persevere to the finish. Lord God, introduce me again to Your beloved Son. For I cannot come to Him without You willing it. May I get to know Him better so that my following Him will have substance and weight. Amen.

Monday
August 26th

1st Reading: 2 Thes 1:1-5, 11-12:
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, as is fitting, because your faith flourishes ever more, and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater. Accordingly, we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God regarding your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and the afflictions you endure.

This is evidence of the just judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God for which you are suffering. We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel: Mt 23:13-22:
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’

Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’ You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it; one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it; one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it.”

Reflection:
For the next days, we hear the famous “Woes” that Jesus pronounced. Matthew presents eight of them, as if paralleling the eight “Beatitudes” or blessings that Jesus had proclaimed earlier (Matt 5: 3-12). They are indeed burdensome woes, made heavier by the fact that they are pronounced by Jesus who rarely quarrels or cries out (Matt 12:19; Is 42:2) and is gentle and humble of heart (Matt 11:29). Jesus came to bless and, if he is forced to condemn, there can be no greater woe for a person.

In today’s reading, Jesus’s sadness and anger blaze against people who not only refuse to enter the Kingdom, but prevent others from entering it either. It is bad enough to reject the good news; and it cannot get any worse when one deliberately prevents others from accepting the gospel even when they want to. Let us examine our hearts and see if our words and deeds prevent God’s people from receiving the good news and entering the Kingdom.

Tuesday
August 27th

St. Monica

1st Reading: 2 THES 2:1-3A, 14-17:
We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. To this end he has also called you through our Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

Gospel: MT 23:23-26:
Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

Reflection:
Many earnest and fervent Christians do not distinguish between hurting and harming people. But, in fact, there is a world of difference between these two actions. For example, if someone punches you on the jaw and makes you lose two healthy teeth, that someone not only hurts you but also harms you. However, if your dentist extracts two sick teeth of yours, he might hurt you but he will certainly not harm you, on the contrary. Similarly, if a knife is plunged into your abdomen: if it is handled by an assassin, it will hurt and harm you; but if it is handled by a surgeon, it might hurt you (when you wake up from the anesthesia), but it will not harm you, on the contrary.

Telling someone a hard and well-deserved truth in a spirit of fraternal correction might hurt that someone while at the same time helping that someone. In today’s gospel reading we hear Jesus calling the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites (3 times) and blind (3 times). Was he hurting them? Surely. Was he harming them? Not at all. On the contrary, he was giving them a shock treatment in the hope of waking them up from their dangerous self-complacency. That is what is called tough love. It hurts, but at times it can be extremely beneficial.

Wednesday
August 28th

St. Augustine

1st Reading: 2 THES 3:6-10, 16-18:
We instruct you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us. For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.

Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s. This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

Gospel: MT 23:27-32:
Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

Reflection:
In today’s gospel reading Jesus several times contrasts the inside (of people, of things) to the outside, each time blaming his opponents for neglecting the inside and cultivating only the outside. Now the interesting thing in Jesus’ image here is that they provide implicitly a method for eliminating hypocrisy from our lives. The method is foolproof. It is also very simple. Unfortunately, it is demanding. What method is that? It is simply this: to look inside! Look inside the cup and dish and tomb.

You will experience a terrible disillusion about your pretty self. You will discover that you are not the nice person you always thought you were. You will be awfully tempted to turn away from such a painful discovery and to stop your self-examination. But, if you persevere, you will gradually accept your dark side as it is. This will enable you to drop all your sham virtues and to stop pretending you are such a good person. Then you will feel an immense compassion for all sinners, whom you now understand from within and to whose company you now know you belong. This process of inner examination is the royal road to humility and the defeat of hypocrisy. It has been insisted on a thousand times by all the spiritual masters.

Thursday
August 29th

Beheading of St. John the Baptist

1st Reading: 1 Cor 1:1-9:
Paul, called to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the Church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Gospel: Mk 6:17-29:
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias’ own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” He even swore many things to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Reflection:
We are always impressed by science and scientists. After all, thanks to them we can enjoy such technical marvels as the cell-phone, the computer, the DVD, etc. We look in awe at a man like Einstein, “one of the most creative intellects in human history,” according to the Encyclopedia Britannica (III, 818). This man, who understood the complexities of our physical universe like no one else, was nevertheless an agnostic. He would have been unable to answer the three most basic questions that the Bible answers: “Where do we come from? Where are we destined to go? How do we get there?”

Einstein did not know the answers to these questions, answers that we learn at six years old from our catechism. That is what the apostle Paul is writing about when he describes his preaching. It was not clever or brilliant, steeped in human wisdom, designed to dazzle minds by means of intellectual pyrotechnics. No, it presented a man executed as a criminal on a cross—nothing to revolutionize theoretical physics. Yet, God’s power was saving us through that bleeding Son of his. For God’s ways are always infinitely more powerful than all our science and all our technology.

Friday
August 30th

1st Reading: 1 Cor 1:17-25:
Brothers and sisters: Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the learning of the learned I will set aside. Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?

For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Gospel: Mt 25:1-13:
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Reflection:
In today’s gospel reading the five wise girls had foreseen that the bridegroom might very well be delayed; consequently, they had taken the precaution of providing themselves with a reserve of oil. What does the oil symbolize in this story? Surely something fundamental to Christian life, since the fact of being without it entails exclusion from the wedding. Perhaps we should be thinking of everything that makes up our preparation for the great encounter with Christ, that is in short a Christian life lived fully in all its demands.

It is necessary that the lamp of everyday love, of patient hope, of the steadfast ripening of faith, burn in the depths of the heart. At the hour of our death, when we will fall asleep for the last time, the lamp of our life must be overfull with the oil of our self-sacrifice, or our services, of our welcome to others, of our love. And then, when our Beloved will come to wake us from that ultimate sleep, we will have quite enough light to follow him into the banquet hall. For the time being, the only wise thing to do is to worry about our lamp: do we pour in it enough oil every day?

Saturday
August 31st

1st Reading: 1 Cor 1:26-31:
Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.

Gospel: Mt 25:14-30:
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one– to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five.

“He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’

“His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'”

Reflection:
In Grade 1, our class was taken on a day-long picnic to the nearby town. Before I left home for the picnic, my father gave me a currency bill, with the advice: “Keep it safe.” After the enjoyable and memorable picnic, I returned home in the evening, walked up to my dad, and returned the currency bill to him. With no little surprise, he asked: “Why did you not spend it?” I replied with the naiveté of childhood: “You asked me to keep it safe!”

I had failed to read the mind of my father and missed out on much fun! The servant with one talent was not naïve, though. He was plain lazy and fearful. Perhaps he was jealous of those who got more. He had no love for the landlord; for, if he did, he would have worked at increasing the asset of the master. God, help me to gratefully use the talents you have given me for your glory, the sanctification of my soul, and the salvation of my sisters and brothers.