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Daily Reflection

Commemoration of All Souls John 6:37-40 Praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is a cherished part of our Catholic tradition, inviting us to entrust those who have gone before us to the loving mercy of God. We are human beings, created with both bodies and souls. Aristotle wrote, ‘The soul is the first principle of life in a living thing.’ Our life comes from the very breath of God, and we are made in his likeness. Although God does not have a human body, he has breathed something of his own divine life into us. For this reason, we are both physical and spiritual beings, blessed with a unique dignity among creation. Our minds and hearts can receive not only what is visible, factual, and provable, but also the deeper mysteries of faith, the realities of the world to come, and the invisible truths through which God draws us to himself. In today’s gospel, Jesus assures us that all who believe in him will have eternal life and He will raise them on the last day. Before we enter fully into the house of God, we must be made ready for his presence. Some souls leave this life already deeply purified; many of us do not. Because we are not yet perfect, we may need to be cleansed before entering the fullness of the beatific vision. Purgatory is the name we give to this merciful purification—a passage in which all that is not of God is removed, so that we may possess the holiness needed to enter his kingdom and behold our Creator face to face. We can look to scripture for references to praying for the dead: In the Second Book of Maccabees (12:46), for instance, we read that Judas Maccabeus made atonement for the dead. From her earliest days, the Church has lovingly offered prayers and the sacrifice of the Mass for those who have died. Saint Gregory the Great offers further guidance in his Dialogues: “He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.” This is why we pray for the dead. In charity, we bring them before the Lord, asking that his abundant mercy be poured out upon them and that every remaining wound of sin be healed in his love. Today, let us remember in prayer the souls who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is an especially beautiful and powerful prayer to offer for the deceased, placing them with confidence into the merciful heart of Jesus. You may also offer this traditional prayer as you lovingly call to mind family members, friends, and all who have gone before you: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.”

November 2

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In our Gospel today, Jesus told a parable of a great banquet. In His time, when a wealthy person was preparing a major feast, there were two invitations given. The first invitation was sent, and the guests would give their RSVP. Most responded “yes”, to be invited to a great feast was a privilege and honor. When the meal was prepared and ready, those who had accepted the first invitation would be notified that the time had come for the feast to begin. After receiving this second invitation, they would then come and participate. In the parable, many guests began making excuses once the feast drew near. Jesus highlighted three of the excuses given for missing the feast. The first said: “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.” The second said: “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.” The third said: “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” Who buys a field or a yoke of oxen without first seeing them? And if they made such a poor decision, why could they not wait one more day to see their purchase? And who responds I have married a wife? When yesterday? Then why accept the invitation to begin with? These were feeble excuses. Jesus says the master of the house was angry with these responses and tells his servants to go outside the city, to strangers and invite them to the banquet. Those outside the city were Gentiles. We might think, “How could these people be so foolish and wicked as to say they were going to come to this banquet and then fail to show up with these lame excuses?” Each one of us, followers of Christ, has made a pledge, a vow, a commitment to participate in the life of the church. How have we honored these invitations that we have accepted from God? All who are married made a vow to their spouse to maintain honor in the marriage. Everyone who baptized their child promised to raise their child to know, love and serve God actively practicing the Catholic faith. Every confirmed Catholic declared their desire to be a disciple of Jesus leading others to heaven by their witness and example. We make a profession of faith at every Mass. Do we live out this profession of faith or is it simply words we repeat? Often, we make commitments that we do not keep. Why does this happen? Because our eyes become fixed on the world, not on heaven. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). What did Jesus say, in the gospel, about the people who did not honor their response to attend the feast? To people who make the commitment and do not keep it, whose eyes are fixed on this world and not on heaven, who profess faith in Him but do not possess the faith they profess, He said, “None of these shall taste my supper.” They will not be allowed to enter the Great Banquet of Heaven. Jesus’ response should be a wake-up call. Today, let us reflect on our commitments asking the Holy Spirit to enliven our faith and actions to live out what we profess.

November 3

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Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo While Jesus gives a stern warning to those wishing to become His disciples in today’s Gospel, our first reading from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians instructs us on the proper perspective of a true Christian in a pagan, or in our case a post-Christian, world. The three core themes of today’s first reading are: working out our salvation, living without grumbling, and shining like stars. We first hear, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you." (Phil. 2:12-13) Our salvation is not a self-help project or a matter of trying harder. Jesus has already won the definitive victory over sin and death on the cross. To "work out" salvation means to let that victory take territory in your daily life. It is a response of "healthy, obedient fear"—not a terror of a demanding tyrant, but a profound awe of a loving Father, cooperating actively with the Holy Spirit who is already working within you. Paul then instructs us to "Do all things without grumbling or questioning." (v.14) Today’s post-Christian society is marked by a heavy spirit of cynicism, anxiety, and despair that leads to selfishness and a lack of trust in God’s love and providence. A complaining spirit makes us look like the rest of the world. Rather, a true Christian lives in a spirit of gratitude and unity with Christ. His is a radical and visible form of spiritual warfare that protects us from sin and division. By holding onto a life lived in unity with the Word of God, Paul writes that we will “shine like lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” (cf. v.15) Fr. John Riccardo frequently uses a powerful analogy for the Christian life in dark times: “If you are in a room so pitch black that you cannot see your hand in front of your face, and someone lights a single match, the difference it makes is staggering. [1] We are called to be the ones bringing the light of hope, truth, and the Gospel into an increasingly anxious world. [1] Today’s Question for Prayer and Reflection Who will we serve and follow - the path and destiny the Lord Jesus offers us or the path we choose in opposition to God's will and purpose for our lives? [1] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsermons.logos.com%2Fsermons%2F1460676-phillipians-2%3A12- &ved=0CAEQnM4VahcKEwiI35HLy-uXAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQJw&opi=89978449

November 4

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Philippians 3:3-8 Psalm 105 Luke 15:1-10 What a fantastic gospel today! Tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus. Always find it interesting that the term “tax collectors and sinners” are always separated. It was enough that one was a tax collector to be considered someone out of God’s favor, they did not even need to be sinning any other way. The Pharisees have a problem with Jesus hanging out with these people because the entire purpose was to stay close to God in relationship. If one were to sin, that person would need to make a sacrifice before they could worship in public…these folks obviously had not. Jesus shares the parable of the lost sheep, and the shepherd who goes off to find it. Sheep were of tremendous value. Raising them meant you could sheer them, sell the wool, let their fur grow back in and do it again. They could be sold for food. So when one went missing, it was a big deal. The shepherd leaves the other 99 together because he know they will be ok as long as the stay together. God finds each of us so very precious that He will risk everything, even His own Son, for us. He knows that when we stay together we will protect each other. And where do we do that? In the Church. In the Church we have accomplished incredible things over the years….when we do it together. Sin is the great divider. It fogs our perception of good and bad – and that skews how we treat each other. In these days, just as always, we need to stay in unity with God by staying unified in the Church. That does not mean we all have to think the same, on the contrary, disagreements are healthy because they raise thought patterns and that helps accomplish solutions. It all starts, though, with each of us taking a very intimate look at ourselves and discover those things that keep us apart from God – our sin – and repent of it. God is ready for us! Go get Him!. It’s a beautiful day! Go smile at God today!

November 5

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In today’s Gospel, we hear the parable of the Unjust or Dishonest Steward. The foundational principal Jesus gives us is that everything we possess belongs entirely to God, and we are merely stewards charged with using those resources for His Kingdom. From this principal four spiritual insights emerge. The absolute starting point of the Christian life is recognizing that God is the Master and true owner of everything. We tend to look at our wealth, our time, our talents, and our families and say, "This is mine." In truth, we own nothing. We are merely managers (stewards). Stewardship of God's property doesn't just mean not blowing money on reckless living; it means using the resources God gave us for the good of others. One of the most confusing aspects of today’s Gospel is why the master commends a dishonest manager. The reflection clarifies that Jesus is not praising the man's theft, but rather his decisiveness and urgency when facing a crisis. People in today’s business and secular world exert immense creativity, long hours, and relentless strategic thinking to secure their financial futures. Jesus laments that believers rarely show that same fire, urgency, or cleverness when it comes to securing their eternal futures. If we worked as hard for the Kingdom of God as we do for our retirement accounts, the world would look entirely different. The steward’s use of his current power and authority, namely, to ensure his future life, speaks to our Christian call to stewardship, almsgiving, generosity, and forgiveness. We are called to use the temporary, fleeting wealth of this earth to "buy" ourselves an eternal home—by pouring those resources into helping the poor, forgiving the debts of others, and building up the Church. This parable serves as a stark reminder that our time on earth is a limited deployment. One day, the Master will call each of us forward and ask us how we spent His money, how we used His time, and how we leveraged the gifts He trusted to our care. This reminds us of the Church’s teaching on the “Four Last Things,” Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. We will die. Death, while not the end spiritually, will take away our earthly life. We will face judgment, most likely our “particular Judgment” if we die before the end of the world. We will come before Jesus and He will ask us how we used the extraordinary gift of freedom to live our lives on earth. Did we choose to accept Jesus’ free offer of salvation and live accordingly? If so, Jesus will welcome us into Heaven. Or did we choose to turn away from Jesus’ salvation and live according to our own desires and standards for living? In this case, we have chosen to spend eternity in Hell. Jesus does not choose where we spend eternity. We do. Today’s Question for Prayer and Reflection How am I using my time, talent and treasure in my brief time in this life? Source for today’s reflection https://epriest.com/reflections/view/3240

November 6

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Today is Saturday, November 7th. It is the Saturday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time. “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” So, what is Jesus saying here? Frankly, I am not sure! So, I decided to do some research. It seems that Jesus is NOT speaking of dishonest wealth the way we may think of dishonest wealth. Jesus is NOT inviting us to be unethical – to embezzle or to steal. However, he is speaking about worldly wealth. The reality of it is we are “of the world” in the sense that we live in an imperfect human existence. There is the propensity to sin, due to our broken human state, and so the world is fundamentally unjust. As a result, all of its wealth has injustice and unrighteousness intrinsically attached. Economies around the world are very complicated, so there are a number of reasons for this. We may, as individuals, strive to be ethical and honest in the way we accumulate wealth, but we live within a world in which the distribution of wealth, resources and money is very uneven and unjust. So, what are we to do? First, we should seek ways to speak out against those injustices. Second, we should try to earn an “honest” living. Finally, and, perhaps most importantly, we should recognize that all that we have is a blessing from God and we should try to put what we have in the service of the Church and for the benefit of those who are less fortunate. The system may fail, per se, however, if we make “friends” with worldly wealth by utilizing it to serve God and others, we will store up treasure for ourselves in heaven. The real danger comes when we see worldly wealth as an idol, as mammon necessary to serve no one but ourselves. We are blessed to live where we live, in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. As such, we have been entrusted with great matters. How we live out that which we have been entrusted with lies within the ordinary decisions we make in everyday life. How we respond to opportunities to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, welcome the foreigner may seem inconsequential, but it matters. How we support the Catholic Church in her efforts to be a moral compass and advocate for social justice in the world today matters. Those are the simple, small matters that Christ is speaking of and entrusting to us in our time. We are invited today to ponder this – How am I accumulating my wealth? Hopefully, as ethically as possible given the world in which we live. Who am I serving in the way I earn my living – God or mammon? In what ways can I make “friends” with worldly wealth so that I can store up what matters most – treasures in heaven.

November 7

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