Catholic News & Perspective

Thriving in the daily dash

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:22:04 GMT

by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker in Family Faith on the Go

St. Thérèse of Lisieux exemplifies an approach to life that focuses not on crossing things off a list, but on being fully present in each moment and making everything we do into a gift of love.

We can begin to emulate her — and find some respite from the complexity in our lives — by realizing, as she did, that we can accomplish only so much on our own. When we try to do everything ourselves, we become enmeshed in an ever-increasing workload. But when we allow God to give us guidance, and when we rely on his strength and wisdom, we can see our priorities more clearly and do what really needs to be done each day.

“Little Flower” Thérèse’s priorities weren’t exactly the same as ours, since she was a cloistered nun and we live in families. Since her “little way” was rooted in a simple, although not simplistic, life, we can adapt it to our own circumstances:

Learn to love your limitations
Little things mean a lot
Put people first
Remember that we are on God’s time

St. Thérèse knew that there never will be enough time or energy to do everything. But she also knew that when we place our days into God’s hands, we will have the resources we need to do everything we are supposed to be do. Using her “little way” as our guide, we can coax the raging lion of complications into becoming a purring house cat of simplicity.

This article comes to you from ( Our Sunday Visitor) courtesy of your parish or diocese.

The Good News leads to seeing with eyes of faith

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:20:37 GMT

What really matters? Most of us have had an experience that causes us to ask this question. Our lives are filled with activity, much of it necessary, some of it surely not. On most days many of us feel we have little time for anything beyond a quick prayer, a fast-food meal, and then total collapse at the end of the day (yet statistics indicate we seem to find endless hours to watch television). And then something happens: a death or diagnosis of serious illness; a natural disaster that takes with it human life and property; unemployment or underemployment affecting physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. That “something” may happen to us, to someone near us, or to someone around the world, but in that moment, as circumstances suddenly change, our perspective is changed as well, and we may ask, “What really matters, after all?”

The Good News of Jesus Christ focuses our attention beyond the mundane, toward that which is of lasting value. When our lives are directed by our relationship with the God of Love, we order our actions, words and attitudes to reflect that Love. That is the real meaning of our life in Christ, and the call of disciples and stewards. By seeing with the eyes of faith, we gain holy perspective and realize that our stewardship of life, time and resources is the means by which we show Christ’s love in the world.

This article comes to you from Grace In Action ( Our Sunday Visitor) courtesy of your parish or diocese.

September 18, 2023

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:19:25 GMT

Lk 7:1-10

The Jewish elders bring word to Jesus about the Roman soldier’s slave. They appeal to Jesus on behalf of the centurion saying that he deserves help because he has been a friend to the Jews. Upon encountering him on route, Jesus sees that he is more than an ally, he is a man of great faith.

To believe in you, to have faith and trust in your ways is a gift for which we are grateful.

This article comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.

The best legacy

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:18:07 GMT

“It is perhaps the best legacy we can pass on: the faith! To educate in the faith, to make it grow. To help children, young people and adults to know and love the Lord more and more is one of the most exciting aspects of education. It builds up the Church!” – Pope Francis

Reflection: Each baptized person has a right to being educated in the faith and a responsibility to assist in passing the faith on to others. How do you continue to learn and grow in knowledge and love of Jesus Christ? Which of your gifts might help your local parish educate and form children, youth, and adults in the Catholic faith?

This article comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.

The reality of sin and forgiveness

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

by Catherine Cavadini

A boggy marsh: This is how Dante imagines the reality of anger in his “Inferno.” Greed looks like the eternal weight of a heavy stone pressing against one’s chest. Our readings for this Sunday present these sins in contrast to the blissful happiness of forgiveness .

Matthew’s Gospel offers us other images. Sin, in Matthew 18, is likened to a debt. Indeed, sin is a lack — it is lacking in love. In contrast, Matthew 18 likens the kingdom of heaven to the forgiveness of all debt, of all sin : “Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan” (vs. 27). This imagery gives us a way to envision sin and forgiveness for what they truly are.

In fact, if we might make a brief scriptural tangent, we could look to the prophet Hosea for an even stronger image of sin and forgiveness, also delineated through a financial transaction. Hosea’s wife, Gomer, leaves him for a life of prostitution (cf. Hos 1:2). The Lord tells Hosea that he should go and purchase his wife back — he must literally redeem her as he returns to purchase her in the place she worked. “So I acquired her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley” (Hos 3:2). Imagine how Gomer must have felt in response to such an act of forgiveness!

Returning to the readings for this Sunday, we are asked to do likewise. Sirach tells us: “Forgive your neighbor the wrong done to you; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven” (Sir 28:2). And Christ himself teaches us to pray this way: ” [Our Father…] forgive us our trespasses [our debts, our sins!], as we forgive those who trespass [or debt or sin] against us” (cf. Mt 6:12-14).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls this particular petition of the Our Father both “astonishing” and “daunting” (Nos. 2838, 2840). Both of these descriptors are tied to the small word, “as” that connects the two parts of the petition: “Father … forgive … as we forgive.” Indeed, as the Catechism points out, this little “as” echoes across the Gospels: “Love one another as I have loved you”; “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Perhaps, we begin to see the astonishing and daunting character of this petition for forgiveness! This “as” is no small task; it is nothing less than our conversion and our growth in holiness.

To delineate this, the Catechism dramatizes our praying of the Our Father: “With bold confidence, we began praying to our Father. In begging him that his name be hallowed, we were in fact asking him that we ourselves might be always made more holy. But though we are clothed with the baptismal garment, we do not cease to sin, to turn away from God. Now, in this new petition, we return to him like the prodigal son and … recognize that we are sinners before him. Our petition begins with a ‘confession’ of our wretchedness and his mercy. Our hope is firm because, in his Son, ‘we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins'” (No. 2839).

This confession of sin and petition for forgiveness is the first step in “doing likewise.” Returning from the heavy and marshy prodigality of our sin through confession, we desire mercy and forgiveness. We desire God’s kingdom . Thus, we must love “as” the king loves, and so we must forgive “as” he forgives through an imitation of God’s mercy. God’s “ outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us. Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see” (Catechism, No. 2840).

This article comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.