"The Camel and the Needle" - Today’s gospel (Mt 19:23-30) once again (see the gospels of 5/25/21: Mk 10:28-31) follows on the encounter between Jesus and the rich young man. Jesus says to his disciples that it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. This is only one of a number of verses in this passage that are more than a little problematic if taken completely literally.

"What Did Mary Ever Do?" - Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary has a long tradition in our Christian history. Poets, songwriters and artists have portrayed the Mother of God in words, music and art that have inspired millions. Mary has stood for the highest form of human virtue. Piety, purity, gentleness, compassion and loving obedience have made her a model disciple, generation after generation.

“With God All Things Are Possible” - I seem to get this Gospel reading each time it comes up! Matthew and Mark have very similar passages regarding Jesus’ teaching on divorce. Those passages, today’s passage from Mt 19 and its parallel in Mk 10, along with an additional brief but consequential teaching in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount in Mt 5:31-32 (where Jesus says that a man divorcing his wife causes her to commit adultery and that anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery), are the entire basis for the Church’s prohibition of divorce and remarriage.

Giving and Seeking... Mercy and Forgiveness - "The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant" is the chapter heading in one of my bibles for today's Gospel reading; in another "The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant" is the lede. The two titles, and the no-nonsense and no-nuance parable from Jesus the Teacher that gives them substance, are reminders that forgiveness is one of the manifestations -- lived, real, 'sacramental' -- of what it means to body forth the virtue of mercy.

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” —2 Cor. 9:6 - Today we celebrate the martyr, St. Lawrence. Much of what we know of St. Lawrence is legend. However, we do know that he used church resources to care for the poor. All our Scripture readings today focus on giving and forgiving.

“Unless You Change and Become Like Little Children, You Will Not Enter the Kingdom of God.” - With these words in today’s gospel (Mt. 18:1-5, 10, 12-14) Jesus answers His disciples’ question of who is of greatest importance in the Kingdom of God. And perhaps more to our point, the qualities needed to gain entrance. What difference does it make who is the greatest if we never get into the Kingdom in the first place?!

"Scandal and Sensitivity" When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” (Matthew 17:24) - Sometimes Jesus’ teaching revolves around practical common sense. In today’s gospel reading, as the plots against Jesus begin to build, the temple tax collectors slyly ask Peter whether or not Jesus paid the temple tax. Jesus knew they weren’t as interested in whether or not he paid as in “catching” Him at something.

“Lose Yourself and You Will Find Yourself” - We spend only today in the book of the prophet Nahum, which at only three chapters is one of the shortest books of scripture (though there are several prophets with three chapters but Hagai at two and Obadiah with only one, are the shortest books). The opening passage of today’s first reading from Nahum 1:15 is something of a direct quote from Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,” so beloved in the Christmas liturgy.

My Jesuit classmates and I chose part of this Gospel for our Vow Mass, so I have to declare that I have a special interest here. Jesus and his disciples are in the predominantly pagan district of Caesarea Philippi which was dominated by Rome. It was, therefore, both an unexpected, yet fitting, place for Jesus’ identity to be proclaimed. He came, after all, not only for his own people but for the whole world.

 “With an age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you.” (Jeremiah 31:3) - Both readings today illustrate that the Jewish faith tradition is not a missionary religion. Unlike many of our Christian faith traditions today, the Jewish people do not seek converts to their faith, because they are the chosen people.

“Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you across the water.” And Jesus replied, “Come.” The context of these lines, Jesus appearing to His disciples walking on water during a storm at night, is very familiar to all of us. And Peter is fine, too, getting out of the boat and walking on the water until he looks down.

Yesterday, July 31, was the Feast Day of St. Ignatius Loyola. Because it fell on a Sunday this year, the feast day was not celebrated by the Universal Church. (Sunday as “The Lord’s Day” always takes precedence over any memorial of a saint.) Yesterday also marked the end of the Ignatian Year (May 20, 2021 – July 31, 2022)

“See How He Loved Them!” - Everything we know about the sisters Martha and Mary are found in the tenth chapter of Luke and the eleventh chapter of John, both of which contain the gospel passage selections we can choose for today’s memorial. These two gospel accounts tell of two entirely different events.

"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old." - Matthew 13:52 - During these past weeks of unbearable heat in New Jersey, my husband Jim and I have enjoyed a late evening walk in our neighborhood to escape our air conditioned, shades-drawn cocoon. We took an alternative route the other day and came across a construction site where only recently there had been a shabby abandoned building. What new enterprise was afoot?

“I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told you.” (John 15:15) - We know from history that during Jesus’ lifetime, the Romans controlled the villages in and around Judea. At any time, soldiers could ride through and ransack homes and farms. Aware of this atrocity, people kept their prized possessions buried underground in their homes or in their fields. So, when they wanted to retrieve their possessions, they had to dig the earth for them.

"Wheat and Weeds. Parent and Child." - Today’s gospel passage (Mt. 13:36-43) is the conclusion of Jesus’ parable about the sowing of seeds of wheat by a farmer and his enemy sowing seeds of weeds in his field at night. The wheat and the weeds are allowed to grow together but are separated at the harvest. At this time the weeds are collected and thrown into a furnace to be burned. The weeds, of course, are the evildoers, the followers of the Evil One.

It’s a bit like having your friends recall every year the time you backed into and destroyed that parking meter! The gospel reading chosen for this Feast of St. James does not celebrate his most flattering moment: it tells of the time his mother, with the connivance of her sons, approached Jesus to ask preferential treatment for James and his brother John in the coming kingdom. If, on the other hand, Mark 1: 19-20 had been chosen for today’s gospel reading, we would have seen James and John leaving their nets immediately to follow Jesus at his call. A bit more flattering!

"Him Whom My Heart Loves" - On this the feast day of Mary Magdalene, I’ll make this reflection about her, since she has readings dedicated to her feast. Mary Magdalene is unique among women in the Gospels in that she alone, other than the Blessed Mother herself, is mentioned by name in every Gospel account (and prominently in most).

As we all know, there is a clear difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is rather passive – the hustle and bustle of our daily lives provides a cacophony of sounds most of which we filter out of our consciousness. Listening, on the other hand, is something very active.

“On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.” (Ps. 71:6) - Whenever Jesus tells us parables, he doesn’t share them just to entertain us. His purpose is to pick us up and shake us—if we allow him. When he puts us back down, we are not the same. We are different, because we have digested Jesus’ words and taken to heart the message within the story.