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Readings for Today. Listen to our other podcasts.
In the sacrament of Confession, God holds you as a beloved child.
Whose side are you on?
Whose side are you on? That’s really what the readings are about today. Whose side are we on? Are we on the side of Jesus or not? Do we stand with our Lord or not?
The situation in the first reading is not so great. Jeremiah really has an impossible task. I think I’ve mentioned before he was known as the weeping prophet. People ignored everything he said. He gave advice when asked, only to see it not followed. He watched the people to whom he was preaching, the number of them, get smaller and smaller through exiles, and ultimately wound up in the final exile into Egypt with the cripple, the lame, anybody that was not deemed worthy of sending into exile.
And then we have the gospel, where Jesus is going around speaking, teaching, preaching, giving example, and being questioned at every turn. Now that’s Jeremiah, and this is the time of Jesus, but I think it’s important for us to look at our own time.
You may be aware that I post on my website updates from Ukraine. We have Dominican friars who are in Ukraine. They’ve actually been in Ukraine almost since the beginning of the founding of the order in the 13th century. It’s one of the longest, continuous ministry places that we’ve been. And the Vicar Provincial there, they’re part of the Polish province, has been providing updates as to the reaction of the people during these years of war.
But what’s interesting to me is what he says about what they miss most, what the biggest challenge is in the midst of war. It’s not war. It’s the fact that the Eucharist and confessions are not readily available. How does that compare with what we see in our own culture, in our own country? We have so much in this country. We are not at war for it.
Do we long for the Eucharist and confessions, or do we long for something else? Are we able to recognize that we are very divided in this country, and that none of us has all the answers? Can we rely on Jesus to help us to see where it is we must go and what it is we must do? And do we see the celebration of the sacraments at the core of what it means to be Catholic and to be a parish, or do we see something else?
Jesus called people into deep and personal relationship. Such is the place, the goal of our own lives. That before a church, before a parish does anything else, it celebrates the sacraments. It makes opportunities available for people to grow in faith. And then from that, it loves neighbor in a way that is so convincing that people want a relationship with Jesus themselves.
On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.
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