St. Theresa Parish

Reflections on the Weekday Gospels

Provided by the LaSalette Ministries

MONDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 5:1-12

"Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven is great."

We seem always to be in search of the elusive reward, those achievements that will bring us applause, honor, and recognition. The reward will tell us that we are better than we thought we were. When we get our reward we will have finally attained our rightful place in this world. No matter how hard we try, how much we achieve, we can never seem to fill that void within that tells us that something, or Someone, is still missing. Not only does it fail to satisfy that inner longing, the reward seems to leave us emptier than ever. Jesus tells us that only the meek, the oppressed, the poor and the persecuted find the truly satisfying reward. They are indeed happy in their discovery that God's love alone can fill the void. The pursuit of possessions, fame and fortune cannot do so. Heartfelt love of God and neighbor for their sakes can. 

Our Lady of La Salette asks us to take a good look at all our possessions and those rewards we prize so highly. Compared to God's love and compassion these possessions of ours will seem like so much "spoiled wheat and rotted potatoes!" Mary asks us to give all these away and acknowledge her Son as the source and summit of our salvation and happiness. Then we will know our true worth. Then we will realize what real gladness and rejoicing mean. The kingdom of heaven will be ours, at least in anticipation. 

What is that void that always needs filling in my life? What is it that fills my life with meaning and purpose?

TUESDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 5:13-16

"You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world."

Jesus tells us what he really thinks of us! The judge of all is plainly calling us "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world." Normally, we would at-tribute such titles to Jesus alone, praising him as the light that shines in our dark­ness, or the living Bread that sustains us. But today Jesus holds us up to view and asks that we look at ourselves as our God in heaven sees us - as gifts to be dearly valued and unsparingly shared with others. "Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." Imagine what the world would be like if we lived out the truth of who we are, the image and likeness of God, and the astonishing fact that God saw fit to call the entire creation "very good" (Genesis 1:31). 

On the holy mountain, Mary appears to Melanie and Maximin in a globe of bright light. She invites them to "come closer" and share in that brightness. Echoing her Son, she reminds us that we are the light of the world, and that if we could see ourselves in the light of God's love for us we would obtain heaven. As she van­ishes into the light, she urges us to relay that message to all her people, a reaffir­mation of what her Son told us long ago: "You are the light of the world!" 

Do you find it easy or difficult to accept the praise Jesus speaks of you in today's gospel? Are you sharing God's gifts of" salt" and "light" with others?

WEDNESDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 5:17-19

"I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill."

Jesus affirms that what he is about is doing the will of his Father. It is not God's will that the earth should be destroyed, but redeemed. It is not the will of God that we should be cast out of heaven, but that we should draw ever closer to our eternal happiness. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:16-17). Jesus fulfills the law by restating the greatest commandment, the commandment that sums up the entire law and the prophets: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. ... You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37, 39). 

The Beautiful Lady of La Salette asks us to "come near and not be afraid." The question is why are we so terrified of this good news? What is it that holds us back from the saving arm of Mary's Son? Maybe it is that, in order to renew the world of God's creation, we have to give up the world that we ourselves have created and are quite complacent in - even if it is filled with false hopes and empty promises. Maybe we are dulled by our routines, schedules and duties, so much so that the good news of a better world interferes with those things that have taken on tremendous importance to us. Like Jesus, Mary confronts us with a choice: to stay in our own little world and suffer the consequences, or be con­verted, believe in the good news of salvation and fulfillment, and get a healthy taste of "the real world!" 

Are you living in "the real world"? Can you come nearer to God ... and not be afraid?

THURSDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR   Matthew 5:20-26

"Go first and be reconciled with your brother or sister,
and then come and offer your gift."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "Give until it hurts," and Jesus seems to say "Forgive until it doesn't hurt anymore!" Forgiveness is a basic attitude, a calling, a vocation. Reconciliation is not simply a one-time occurrence. We can-not simply forgive and forget, as the saying goes. Forgiveness is like a surgeon's scalpel that reopens old wounds in order to clear out the infections of anger, bitterness and resentment. At the same time, forgiveness is a soothing ointment, liberally applied, to cleanse and heal old or new wounds. Jesus bids us "forgive seventy times seven times" (Matthew 18:22). Forgive, even though everyone does not request it. Forgive even though everyone does not deserve it. This gift, Jesus offers as a key to heaven; our eternal happiness can begin now if we so choose. 

The oldest and best known title of Our Lady of La Salette is Reconciler of sin­ners. In her apparition she assures us that she "prays without ceasing for us," thereby affirming that forgiveness - rather than an occasional act of kindness or isolated instance of bigheartedness - is a lifelong vocation for the Christian. "And this is from God who reconciled us to himself in Christ, and has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation. ... God was in Christ not counting our trespasses against us" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). 

Have I ever been the one to take the first step in bringing about reconciliation with a friend, a neighbor, a relative? Is there someone in my life I cannot bring myself to forgive?

FRIDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR      Matthew 5:27-32

"Better to lose part of your body than to have it all cast into Gehenna."

Jesus uses strong language here. The reality of the kingdom of God compels us to search our innermost impulses and to uproot all those longings that could hinder its growth within us. Jesus is applying the greatest commandment, the command that we should love God, our neighbor and ourselves in such a way that whatever violates it or could lead to its violation be seen as evil. The human heart, he well knew, is capable of the basest and the noblest of instincts and deeds (see John 2:24-25). He condemned the inner thought even unaccompanied by outward effect. Internal anger is already murderous, he warned, because once ignited they can intensify and become murderous. Lustful looks are already un­faithful because they can inflame passion and lead to infidelity. The Savior's heart addresses the original goodness of our hearts. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). 

Mary at La Salette makes use of strong language. She speaks in plain terms: "How long I have suffered for you." "If the harvest is ruined, it is only on account of yourselves." "A great famine is coming." "Children under seven will be seized with trembling and die in the arms of those holding them." The bitter conse­quences of our refusal to change our ways and convert are painfully evident as we take leave of the twentieth century, the most violent in recorded human his­tory. May the seeds of destruction and violence never find fertile soil in our hearts. 

What dark impulses and reflexes within you need to be cast off? In what ways is the kingdom of God coming in your heart and life?

SATURDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR    Matthew 5:33-37

"Say 'Yes'when you mean 'Yes' and 'No' when you mean `No'.'"

We learn to lie at a very early age. Although we were taught that "honesty is the best policy," telling the truth is what usually got us into the most trouble. Lying offers an easy way of escaping the truth's harsh consequences and eventu­ally becomes a way of life. So much so that we become addicted to reflexes that blind us to the truth. As we well know, this induces a state of constant denial. What Jesus tells us is what men and women of wisdom have been telling us for ages: "Be true to yourself." However painful truth may be, facing it, owning up to it, is redemptive. The truthful person doesn't have to take oaths or swear to God or anyone else. Truthful people are taken at their word. Truth leads to trust and the trustworthy earn valued respect. 

It is the Woman of the Word, honored as the Seat of Wisdom, who speaks to us from that stone bench high in the French Alps. Her reassuring "Don't be afraid" to the children, the angel Gabriel had first spoken to her. "Be it done to me as you say," she had replied. A Yes she ratified all her life until its culmination at the foot of the cross. She pondered the word constantly and it bore fruit in the generous soil of her Immaculate Heart. Founded to make her apparition known to all her people, the La Salette Missionaries are to preach Mary's message "more so by the example of their own lives than by their words." 

What keeps you from facing the truth? What keeps you from telling the truth?

MONDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 5:38-42

"Offer no resistance to injury." 

The word "injury^" calls up all sorts of mental images, from a cut on a finger to injuries sustained in a serious accident. Wouldn't a person want to offer re­sistance to injury? Isn't it the normal thing to do? It is the pain and suffering that come with injuries that people shun. This goes to the core of our being. Jesus, however, did not shun injury or suffering. He embraced it for the good of all. The inconvenience and bother of reaching out and attending to a fellow human being in need draws us out of ourselves. 

Earning a modest living as a farmer in the mountain villages around La Salette was an ungrateful task. Very hard work with scant little to show for it. Mary urges these poor people to return to the practice of their faith, promising them newfound closeness to God, consolation and hope. 

How can the injury we embrace and the suffering associated with it bring us closer to God? In what way can embracing injury and its attendant suffering bring us closer to one another?

TUESDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 5:43-48

"You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Jesus' call to "perfection" in today's gospel, we think is almost impossible. How can we be as perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect? The command that Jesus gives us is a continuous action. It is something that we continually work toward. Our human nature is always in need of conversion and healing. Jesus offers us healing that can bring us closer and closer to our goal of perfec­tion. We are not saints, but we strive for the wholeness that only Jesus can give. 

At La Salette Mary sought to encourage Maximin and Melanie and us to seek wholeness. Wholeness can only be found in her Son. When we pray for our en­emies, we are working toward that wholeness. Running in circles is not the an­swer. Changing the subject is not the answer. Neither is blaming others. Unless we change our hearts wholeness will elude us. And how do we change our hearts? By praying. Prayer changes our hearts. 

What reconciliation needs to be worked toward in my life? What healing needs to be attempted with estranged family members, coworkers and friends?

WEDNESDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

"For people to see."

We are very familiar with our gospel today. As part of its annual instruction on the proper observance of Lent, the church proclaims this gospel on Ash Wednesday. Jesus tells us it is not the exterior action that matters most but the innermost intention of the person performing the act of fasting, penitence, or prayer. Our heavenly Father not only sees our actions but the intentions and mo­tives behind them. 

Mary at La Salette grieved that the people of the day only practiced their faith to mock religion. Their hearts and souls were not a part of it. They spoke Jesus' name not in prayer but for swearing when they were angry or upset. By keeping inward sentiments of adoration, love and trust out of their worship, it was a grudg­ing and reluctant service they offered their Maker. 

When doing a good deed for someone, or giving to a charity, or attending Mass, am I doing so with a truly sincere intention? Am I doing the action with an ulte­rior motive in mind, for my own gain?

THURSDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR Matthew 6:7-15

"This is how you are to pray."

Jesus' emphasis is on the quality of prayer rather than its quantity: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew, in his gospel, gives us the ideal example of Christian prayer which is ascribed to the Lord himself and which has always been a prominent feature of the Christian liturgy. There is prob­ably no other prayer in the church that has been so often and extensively com­mented on, meditated on and written about than the Lord's Prayer. It contains every type of prayer: praise, adoration, petition, supplication, confession and for­giveness of sins. It asks for the strength and the grace to forgive others. Finally it is a prayer of exorcism, a prayer for deliverance from the oppression of evil. 

Mary at La Salette told Melanie and Maximin to pray this prayer in particular. Mary encourages us to pray the words her Son himself taught his followers, a timely reminder that, first and foremost, we are his disciples, called to share in his spirit and carry his mission forward. 

When I pray the Lord's Prayer how aware am I of the various forms of prayer it contains? Am I moved to forgive as I ask my Father in heaven to forgive me?

FRIDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 6:19-23

"Where your treasure is, there your heart is also."

How often we have heard this phrase! But do we really understand its meaning? It means keeping material things in their proper place and spiritual things at the center of our concerns and lives. The material treasures we store up bring us a fleeting satisfaction and enjoyment. It is usually in the striving for the material treasure that we find the most pleasure. Once we have obtained it, we become bored and seek yet another treasure. Spiritual treasures, at the center of our lives, serve to anchor us. They bring us serenity and stability amid the dis­tractions and annoyances of everyday living. 

The distractions and evils of contemporary society can lead us to dejection and disheartenment. They can cause us to lose our inner peace and serenity. Mary encouraged Melanie and Maximin to become well anchored in prayer, so that the enticements of the world would not blind them to true values. Prayer and spiritual realities at the heart of our lives can give us welcome light and hope. 

Have you heard Our Lady of La Salette's call to cultivate your inner life'? Can you honestly say that you give spiritual goods the nod over material goods in your own life?

SATURDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 6:24-34

"Do not worry about tomorrow"

The AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) program is centered on two days of the week that one should not worry about: yesterday and tomorrow. One is al-ready over, its hopes and joys, its gains and failures are gone. Tomorrow is not yet here, neither are the joys or disappointments it can bring. In today's gospel Jesus gives us the same message: "Which of you by worrying can add a moment to your life span'?" Jesus tells us to remain anchored in the present moment. In the present moment we can seek God's will for us and endeavor to carry it out. At-tempting to do God's will for me today should be enough to be concerned about. 

"Come near, my children; don't be afraid." These were the opening words of Mary at La Salette to Maximin and Melanie. Once these children's fear and worry had vanished they were able to be present to the graced moment in their lives. Mary as an ambassador for her Son urges us to be fully present to the graced moments in our own lives. 

Have I allowed my spiritual anxiety and fear to be dispelled so I may hear God's word more clearly? What might God's will for me be this very day?

MONDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 7:1-5

"The measure with which you measure will be used to measure you."

How often we like to think our way of seeing or doing things is the right way. Others are wrong. We like to make ourselves superior to others because this boosts our own ego. In the Christian way of life things are quite different. The way for us to avoid judgment, Jesus tells us, is not to judge others. We find this mandate very difficult because seeing the faults in our brothers and sisters is easier than seeing them in ourselves. An unknown author once wrote: "There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behooves any of us, to find fault with the rest of us." 

At La Salette Mary, whose entire life was devoted to the person and mission of Christ, speaks to the two children about conversion, conversion to the person and mission of her Son. Those who follow him share their Lord's mind and do his deeds. They look upon others with understanding and show them compassion. 

What plank in my eye is now obstructing my view of certain other people? What plank in my eye is blocking my vision of my mission in Christ?

TUESDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 7:6, 12-14

"Treat others as you would like to be treated."

Often, we have two standards: the way we like to be treated and the way we treat others. There is usually a great divergence between the two. Jesus tells his disciples to be calculating and discerning. What is worthwhile should not be wasted on lesser opportunities or with the reckless. The road that leads to perdi­tion is indeed enticing and inviting. It can easily attract. But it inevitably leads to a dry and arid wasteland. The road to what is life giving is often difficult and presents many obstacles. However, when we invest our best talents and gifts in this effort, the outcome is life giving for ourselves and for others as well. 

Mary chose to leave a memorial of her visit to La Salette. The spring that sprang forth following her visit to that privileged site, and which has not ceased flowing since then, remains a sign and symbol of all that is life-giving, of all that sustains life. The life Mary refers to is eternal in her Son. Following him in faithful dis­cipleship is the road that leads to abundant and full life. 

What gifts and talents has God given me as special means to eternal life? Am I aware of double standards in myself as I relate to others?

WEDNESDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 7:15-20

"By their fruits you will know them."

Jesus gives us a warning: "Be vigilant where the behavior and actions of others are concerned." Again, if we are discerning, we will recognize the goodness and genuineness of people by their behavior, by what they do. Jesus used the ordinary experiences familiar to the people of his day to illustrate his teachings, comparing the kingdom of God with nature and agricultural realities. A healthy plant or tree, for example, will yield healthy fruit. The essence of goodness within the plant or tree manifests itself in the fruit it bears. Decay, too, is telltale. 

So too did Mary at La Salette graphically call the attention of Melanie and Maxi-min to spoiled wheat, worm-eaten walnuts and rotted grapes, reflections in na­ture of what was happening in their day, in the lives of the people around them. The evils of today's society: crime, drugs, murder are as many indicators that the core of our society is in need of conversion and healing. 

What good fruits do you recognize in your life that help in the building of the Kingdom of God? How much care and prayer do you bring to the choices and decisions you are called upon to make?

THURSDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 7:21-29

"Only the one who does the will of my Father will enter the kingdom."

Jesus was the example par excellence of doing his Father's will. This he com­pares to building a foundation on rock rather than on sand. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus learns that his relatives are outside asking for him. He sees this as an opportunity to declare: "Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:35). The one who hears God's word and acts on it, Jesus assures us, is mother, sister and brother to him. Knowing God's will for me and my life is seldom easy. This requires careful discernment. I pray for the grace and insight to know the Father's will for me. The answer will often speak to my heart rather than my ears. I will intuitively know and recognize the goodness of God's will for me. 

In her life on earth, as her Son testifies, Mary heard the word of God and always acted on it. In her apparition at La Salette she urges her people to build their faith lives on the solid foundation of God's commandments: submission to the Cre­ator, reverence for God's name, observance of the Lord's Day. 

Do I seek Mary's intercession as I discern God's will for me? Who are the people in my life that awaken in me a sense of spiritual realities?

FRIDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 8:1-4

"If you will to do so, you can cure me."

Jesus is the divine physician. He does want to heal us. Like the leper and so many others in the gospel that Jesus cured,  there was one prerequisite: they recognized that Jesus could do it. They put faith in his power rather than in their own.They appealed to his compassion and gentleness. Jesus wants us to be healed of our anger, our pride, our self-centeredness that often keep us from seeing his will and that of the Father for us. Trying to let go of these personality defects allows the healing power of the Lord to enter and penetrate to the core of our self. 

In her exercise of prophetic ministry Mary at La Salette diagnoses her people's spiritual illness and prescribes a remedy. Her entire message, through strategic repetition, calls attention to this medicine: "As for you, you pay no heed. ... You paid no heed." Our moral condition can be cured, she tells us, if we resolve to be alert, attentive, vigilant, watchful in the future. If we learn to pay attention to really important, to eternally important matters. 

Is it a sign of strength or of weakness to seek healing? You say to the Lord: "If you will to do so, you can cure me" If he should answer: "Do you will to take the prescribed medicine?" How would you reply?

SATURDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 8:5-17

"I assure you, I have never found this much faith in all Israel."

Jesus came not only for his own - the house of Israel - but for all people. A centurion, a Roman pagan interceded with him to cure one of his servants. The centurion recognized the greatness of Jesus. And recognizing the authority Jesus had, he did not feel it necessary that he enter his house - perhaps to spare Jesus the ritual impurity attached to his entering the house of a Gentile. He has faith and trust in Jesus' words. This is enough for him. Jesus responds with high com­mendation and praise. He has never seen as much faith in all of Israel. The basis of it all was the centurion's unwavering trust that Jesus could and would do this. 

We would not be off the mark to say that Mary shed tears at La Salette over her people's lack of faith and loss of trust. In the unfolding of today's gospel story these very traits draw Jesus' commendation and praise: "It shall be done because you trusted." Our faith and trust, themselves gifts of God, open the compassion and power of Christ to us. 

Do I believe that the Lord's word can work powerfully in my personal life? Am I confident that the Lord will show me his compassion?

 MONDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR        

Matthew 8:18-22       

"Follow me."

Multiple choice test.. On the surface it would seem easy to follow Jesus. Anyone who counts himself or herself a true believer would readily and gladly do whatever Jesus might ask if he came down and spoke his request di­rectly. But he doesn't do that. Instead he invites us in today's world to discern among multiple choice actions we must accomplish to follow him faithfully. For guidance as we make our choices we look to prayer, our own inner light, and especially the input of our brothers and sisters in the faith.

The children of La Salette were given a mission. To make known Mary's mes­sage of reconciliation with her Son. That first day the mission was glowingly clear. Each day afterward they had to decide over and over again to follow him Many times they were offered excruciatingly difficult choices. To betray their calling or face the threat of death or imprisonment. The first miracle of La Salettewas the apparition itself. The second was the fidelity with which the children followed their calling.

Do I understand my own calling with great clarity? If not, am I reaching out t( others for help in discerning what it could be

TUESDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 8:23-27

"What sort of man in this?"

The Titanic feeling: The apostles were not quite out in the middle of the ocean about to be struck by an iceberg. But for them the situation seemed just as desperate. Fear gripped their bodies and terrified their souls. Would their lives be snuffed out by this rampaging power of this freakish storm? Suddenly Christ, answering their alarmed plea for help rebuked the winds and the sea. All became calm." What sort of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?" In the simplest terms: the sort of man who answered those who called out to him. He does that for us in the midst of the most terrifying hours of our lives. How could he not? After all did he not call us his friends (see John 15:15)?

The world that Maximin and Melanie inherited was one that was being torn by violence at the dawn of industrialization and in the lingering twilight of the French Revolution. Society had been torn from its three-thousand-year-old moorings and an agrarian way of life was experiencing violent upheavals. Jesus sent his Mother to calm us, to reassure us, to tell us "not to be afraid, for she had great news to tell," It was simply that her Son remains deeply present to suffering humanity. "What sort of man is this?" In ways that our theology cannot explain he is the one suffers with us even in eternal glory.

At the darkest hours of my life, how did my faith in Jesus sustain me? Can I share with another how frightened I was, how reassuring he was?

WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 8:28-34

"They implored him to leave the neighborhood."

Thanks for the help, Jesus. Now, please leave. Demons are for real. Jesus, the great prophet, came among his people to deliver them from the demons that were plaguing them. And those demons, like demons of all times, kept the people shackled. In doing his Father's work, Jesus came forward to purify. to cleanse, to set free. And the latter is well exemplified in this gospel passage In return for all the good things that he did, he got the usual prophet's reward. He was, rather unceremoniously, asked to leave

At La Salette Mary came to speak to us about the demons of the era. She was the great prophet speaking in her Son's name, targeting the evils attendant upon a dying, if not entirely dead, faith in far too many. She invited us to follow ill her Son's footsteps and in hers too. To be prophets, denouncing, not only with our words, but especially by our actions; casting out the evils of addiction, corrup­tion, materialism, poverty, racism, and violence. Being aware all the while that like Jesus, and Mary at La Salelle, our reward may be simply to be asked to leave. Actually, it may even be the true litmus test of our success. Not a happy thought!

What demon is clicking my own spiritual growth these days? What prophetic words are welling up in my heart these days and are waiting to he uttered by me.

THURSDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 9:1-8

"A feeling of awe Came over the crowd"

They were blown away. That would have blown us away too. This paralytic was healed not only of his infirmity, but also, and more importantly, he was healed of his sins. There was universal applause from the crowd for the healing .. but for the forgiving some scribes mumbled, calling this blaspheming. Jesus, effect, was making himself the equal of God. That was a bit too much to stomach

Our Lady at La Salette talked about humanity's sins (read: yours and mine). The: arc to be forgiven if we but ask. That is a miracle in itself, but in addition, she promised that "rocks and stones will turn into mounds of wheat." We are cleansed and made whole. And when we get in touch with the deepest part of ourselves, we are in touch with the hidden part that touches God and is touched by God. Ii those rare but gifted moments of great spiritual insight, we cannot hut he in awe of the wondrous work the Almighty does in us. Those graced moments suffuse u with the deepest feelings of awe and wonder.

Bow open am I in living my spiritual life to the graced moments described above Am I still awed by God's work in me, even to the point of tears at times?

FRIDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR           

Matthew 9:9-13         

'"And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners." 

Jesus is out to get us. If ever there were words in Scripture that are both shocking and comforting, they are the ones cited above. First of all, one would think that the virtuous need help and support also. And since they arc doing so well you would think that they would be Jesus' first target audience. Who better than he knows that the more dazzling the virtuous are the better name Christian­ity will have! Wow, what a reputation the church could have if Jesus took a differ­ent tack. We would be a true holiness church. Second, doesn't it make all the more sense that the sinless should be the ones to interface with Jesus? Why should Jesus' own reputation be soiled by the people he associates with? But thirdly, it is a great comfort that he does in fact seek out sinners. Because of it we can look forward to getting serious help in our straggles toward goodness, for he says we are number one in his book. How 'bout that?

At La Salette, very much in her Son's mode, Our Lady came to seek out sinners. Those who were doing everything to turn away from the hand of love and friend­ship her Son was extending. They were her target audience as well. She speaks powerfully about her suffering and prays for all who are far from being virtuous. At one time we thought the church was exclusively meant for the good and the holy ones. And to receive Holy Communion was a sure fire sign that we were being rewarded for good behavior. We now know that the Eucharist is food and drink for hungry and thirsty wayfarers, for wanderers who falter along their way.

I I was born before Vatican Council II do I still automatically think that God will give me a second look only if he finds holiness in me? Have I completely out­grown my childhood image of God?

SATURDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 9:14-17

"Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins." 

Wine making, anyone? Although precious few of us know much about wine making, and even less about wineskins, all of us have a fairly good idea what point Jesus was making. If we are to make any type of progress on our spiritual journey we have to understand the interior transformation that is called for. The new wine of Jesus' love and forgiveness cannot be poured into the old skin (container) of our obdurate and hardheaded selves. If our gas tank is leaking, constantly refilling it will not fix things, The hole is bound to get bigger. Unless we radically change our focus, pouring God's love into our self-centered selves will never lead us to embrace our world.

At La Salette Our Lady invited us to what? To conversion. As you know, conver­sion does not simply mean making minor adjustments. It means a radical shift away from the way we operated in the past - a 180 degree turn. What does it take for this to happen? Often times a major setback in our health, plans, financial fortunes; most often, personal failures in our most valued relationships. Our hearts are broken. We are deeply hurt and perhaps even feel abandoned. Since God's ways are not our ways, a heart broken is a heart opened wider. The needy of the world can more easily walk in on us. The Living God can find in them a welcome mat not found there before. Radical setbacks, paradoxically, can make close en­counters with our God more likely.

Can I consider past heartbreaks in my own life and recall the feelings of empti­ness and abandonment they brought? Has heartbreak created new skins in me into which God's love can be poured?

  MONDAY OF THE FOURTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Matthew 9:18-26

"She touched the fringe of his cloak." 

Pay attention. These two miracles offer us great insight as to Jesus the man. An important religious official came to see him imploring that Jesus do some­thing about his daughter. She had just died, yet did the man state his belief that she was not for all that beyond Jesus' power to save. Jesus and his disciples immediately were off on this mission of mercy. Jesus certainly was single-minded, but not so focused that he could not sense power leaving him as another touched his cloak in a confident bid for healing. What amazing presence to people even in times of personal stress!

Mary at La Salette tells us that God has not lost that desire to be present to us in all the moments of our lives. Although taken up with the providential guidance and maintenance of the ongoing miracle of creation - an expanding universe whose size is beyond calculation, this same God notices a father and child discussing spoiled wheat in the eorner of a remote field.

What recurring events in my life stress me the most? And who are those people I tend to neglect at those moments?