Sunday
September 15th

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Lady of Sorrows

1st Reading: Is 50:5-9a:
The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let that man confront me. See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong?

2nd Reading: Jas 2:14-18:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

Gospel: Mk 8:27-35:
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly.

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”

Reflection:
Feelings of love sometimes precede understanding because it is a feeling of tenderness and goodwill whose basis has yet to be fully grasped. Peter and the Twelve no doubt loved the Lord. It was easy to love Him especially as He was gaining a large following and His mission works were almost all a resounding success. But when Jesus pointed them to a possibility that He would undergo hardships and sufferings, fear crept into their love and they became uneasy. Why spoil a day when love oozes carelessly and spontaneously? And so Jesus had to teach them again what true love really meant.

It is not just about feelings. It is also about understanding that no matter the circumstances, true love remains steadfast and unwavering. Perhaps we need a time to reflect on the real basis of our love for people. It is good to be aware of our reasons for loving. Although some loves are unfathomable and remain obscure still the exercises of being mindful of our love would help clarify why we act that way when it comes to people or things we love. Lord, teach my heart steadfastness and truth when it loves. Make me mindful of those I profess to love so that I may care for them deeply and sincerely. Amen.

Monday
September 16th

Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian

1st Reading: 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33:
Brothers and sisters: In giving this instruction, I do not praise the fact that your meetings are doing more harm than good. First of all, I hear that when you meet as a Church there are divisions among you, and to a degree I believe it; there have to be factions among you in order that also those who are approved among you may become known. When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the Church of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you.

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

Gospel: Lk 7:1-10:
When Jesus had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, “He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.”

And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come here, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Reflection:
This captain is a remarkable man, indeed! Being a gentile as well as Roman official, it would be hard to win the praise of the Jewish elders. But the elders come and speak to Jesus in favor of the captain. They attest to his goodness, his love for Jewish people, and respect for the Jewish faith. Moreover, a captain must have matters of far more serious concern than the illness of one of his servants. But for this man, the wellbeing of his ward is a value, and hence, worth his time and effort.

But Jesus commends him for something far superior: for his deep faith. The captain recognizes the holiness and authority of Jesus. In deference to Christ‘s holiness, the captain refrains from coming in front of him. In recognition of Christ‘s authority, the captain knows that if Christ utters one word, the powers in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth will obey. This gentile‘s faith is so meritorious that his words have entered the Eucharistic liturgy. Every time we prepare to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Communion, we make his prayer our own.

Tuesday
September 17th

St. Robert Bellarmine

1st Reading: 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a:
Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now the body is not a single part, but many. Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it. Some people God has designated in the Church to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then gifts of healing, assistance, administration, and varieties of tongues. Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

Gospel: Lk 7:11-17:
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”

The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.

Reflection:
Did the sight of the woman and her dead son evoke the future scene of Pietá in the mind of Jesus? Perhaps it did, and he felt the pain his widowed mother would undergo when she would lose her only son. Perhaps it was this event of the future that prompted Jesus to reach out to this woman, even without being asked, and raise the son, and give him back to his mother. Was Mother Mary present with his disciples when this event happened? I hope she was, for this would have touched her heart, and when the sword would pierce her heart again at the death of her son, she would have recalled it and found peace and hope. God, give me a heart like that of your Son that feels the pain of people and respond to it with love.

Wednesday
September 18th

1st Reading: 1 Cor 12:31-13:13:
Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Gospel: Lk 7:31-35:
Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Reflection:
Jesus knows how to be witty when He replies to His accuser. He does this while having a good laugh out of it from time to time. So it is not all the time heavy and emotionally laden conversations between Him and His detractors. Jesus could be playful sometimes. This reminds us that once in a while. humor has the capacity to lighten a heavy discussion. When positions have hardened and reason is not listened to anymore, a nice touch of irony might elicit some laughter to drain away the tensions and bring the opposing camp back again to the discussion with a clearer mind. It does not always pay to be serious all the time. Jesus showed us that even He had use for something laughable sometimes.

Thursday
September 19th

St. Januarius

1st Reading: 1 Cor 15:1-11:
I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the Apostles, not fit to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Gospel: Lk 7:36-50:
A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Reflection:
“Your faith has saved you.” These words are strange conclusion to today’s gospel episode, which has dealt only with forgiveness and gratitude until now. And yet, Jesus is quite right. At the root of any conversion, there is an act of faith. In fact, the hardest thing about conversion is precisely this act of faith. Strictly speaking, it is not too difficult to see oneself as a sinner. With a modicum of lucidity, the fact leaps to the eye. To perceive oneself as spiritually leprous, despicable, unacceptable, can be a matter of sheer honesty. But after that, to believe that God can accept the unacceptable being that I am requires faith.

St. John knew this well, for he wrote: “As for us, we have acknowledged God’s love for us and we have believed in it” (1 Jn 4:16). Yes indeed, however strange this may seem, to accept being loved by God when one is unlovable requires a great deal of faith. The sinner of this gospel episode has made this gigantic leap into the void: However great a sinner she was, she believed that God could love her as she was. She believed that “God was greater than her heart” (1 Jn 3:20). That is why she is told at the end: “Go in peace.”

Friday
September 20th

Sts. Andrew Kim & Paul Chong and Companions

1st Reading: 1 Cor 15:12-20:
Brothers and sisters: If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, nor if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Gospel: Lk 8:1-3:
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.

Reflection:
At the time of Jesus it was not uncommon for well-to-do ladies to financially support rabbis and their disciples out of their own property. But, as Dr. Ben Witherington, a specialist on the status of women in the New Testament, writes: “But for women to leave home and travel with a rabbi was not only unheard of, it was scandalous. Even more scandalous was the fact that women, both respectable and not, were among Jesus’ traveling companions” (ZNW 70 (1979) 244-5). Jesus was a Jew of his time, yet he did not accept the prejudices of his contemporaries with regard to women. Neither should we, as his disciples, accept the prejudices of our time with regard to women.

There is still a long way to go before women are treated as the equals of men in every sphere of human endeavor. As Pope John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Letter to Women (June 29, 1995): “Thus far as personal rights are concerned, there is an urgent need to achieve real equality in every area: equal pay for equal work, protection for working mothers, fairness in career advancements, equality of spouses with regard to family rights and the recognition of everything that is part of the rights and duties of citizens in a democratic State.”

Saturday
September 21st

St. Matthew

1st Reading: Eph 4:1-7, 11-13:
Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace: one Body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ.

Gospel: Mt 9:9-13:
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Reflection:
When Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for consorting with publicans, those enemies of the nation, those traitors and collaborators of the detested Romans, Jesus does not defend them. No, on the contrary, he fully concurs with the Pharisees that the tax collectors are sinners in need of redemption. However, he insists, that is all the more reason for him to consort with them. If they are spiritually sick, as the Pharisees rightly maintain, then they need a spiritual doctor, and he is the spiritual doctor they need.

Jesus concludes with the implicit question: Can you reproach a doctor for keeping company with the sick? No, as Jesus states quite clearly: “I have come to call, not the self-righteous, but sinners.” Some Christians think their sins are what can keep Jesus away from them. The opposite is true. The greater the sinner, the more Jesus as doctor of the soul will keep pursuing them in order to save them. Let us never be afraid to approach Jesus, whatever our sins might be. His greatest joy is to forgive us and restore us to health. He’s a doctor; he loves to heal.