Reflections on the Sunday Readings

  28 th Sunday of Ordinary Time 10-11-26 The Invitation It is interesting in the gospel, that many of the King‘s friends who are invited to come to the feast, find a reason why it is inconvenient at that time to come.     One says that he has gotten married and therefore is going on his honeymoon. 1      Another has bought piece of land and must go inspect it .    These may seem like a lot of strange excuses to reject the wedding invitation which they had indicated beforehand that they would accept.   In prayerful reflection we might wonder, does these rejections echo in any way the promises we made in our own Baptism or Confirmation years ago about our willingness to follow Jesus even if at times, it might be inconvenient or dangerous or embarrassing for us to do?                           Have you ever planned a party and invited lots of friends, but each one found a r...

                                                    29 th Sunday of Ordinary Time 10-18-26 In the first reading this weekend we read how Cyrus, the pagan king of Babylon, becomes the instrument through which God will work to free the Jews, from the bondage they experienced during their Babylonian exile which was imposed on them  by Cyrus’s predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar.   Through Isaiah words we understand that God inspired Cyrus to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem where they will  rebuild their city and temple  and thereby be able to worship God in their own way.    “For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name, (i.e., Cyrus) giving you a title, though you knew me not. I am the Lord and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:4-6)    Reflecting on this...

        26 Sunday of Ordinary Time    9-26-26 Our gospel this weekend refers to a very human characteristic that often many people find themselves doing.   They promise one thing but do the opposite.   Or they promise one thing, but then never go and do it. Such person can be said to have good intentions, but there is little action on those intentions.                                                                                                         Often with repentance it can remain only an intention until it is put into action. For example, a person keeps a letter of apology in a drawer for months, continually revising it, but never sending it (i.e., there is so action...

In the gospel today Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother when he sins against him? This is a difficult question particularly if the “brother” is repeatedly testing us.    We can become very angry, and emotionally paralyzed when we have been wronged many times, and we are unable to forgive.   We can feel we are justified in wanting revenge and incapable of forgiving the other person.    As it says in the first reading this Sunday, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” (Sirach 27:30).   Some actions done to us may be small things and we can forgive them easily.   Like when a friend bumps into us while we're carrying a cup of coffee and we spill the coffee over our clothes. Clothes can be washed and dried and cleaned easily. But when someone seriously wrongs us, repeatedly, our capacity for forgiving may be tested to its limit.     We might be tempted to say, “enough is enough.”   I...