Obedience:

God is calling us to express thanksgiving for all that we have been given: our dignity as sons and daughters of God, eternal life and forgiveness of sins. We express this thanksgiving by living according to his purpose by obeying his will.

“How deep is our Faith?”:

In today’s Gospel the crowd ridiculed Jesus because they did not believe that He could raise the dead. Our faith in God will not be deep if our attitudes and behaviours are too logical, too practical and too self-centered. Do we dare to trust God enough to perform miracles for us?

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The principal cause of all unhappiness is unregulated desires, wanting more than is needed or wanting what is harmful to the spirit. The modern world is geared to increase our desires and our wants by its advertising, but it can never satisfy them.

- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

~ St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 1:7

By the sacrament of Baptism, the Holy spirit communicates Himself to the essence of the soul and substantially dwells within it as in His temple. To this indwelling divine presence is attached certain virtues, gifts and privileges which are infused therewith into the soul. It is by the exercise of these dispositions called habits or virtues and the cooperation with the movements of the Holy Spirit in the soul that the soul is sanctified. Sanctification is nothing else than the soul acting habitually by the instinct of the divine ideal, the Holy Spirit.

~ Father Isaac Hecker, Servant of God, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (1819 - 1888)

He Forgives All:

God has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves.…He forgives all, and he heals all. He redeems and restores all those who turn to him and repent of their wrongdoing with their whole heart. Hang on to this truth. Place your hope in God, not in your own righteousness.

“How deep is our Faith?”:

In today’s Gospel the crowd ridiculed Jesus because they did not believe that He could raise the dead. Our faith in God will not be deep if our attitudes and behaviours are too logical, too practical and too self-centered. Do we dare to trust God enough to perform miracles for us?

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Not all of us are expected to die a martyr's death, but we are all called to the pursuit of Christian virtue.

- Venerable Pope Pius XII (on the Canonization of Saint Maria Goretti)

Brothers and sisters: You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.

- St. Paul, Romans 8:9

For unity, activity, and the choice of means, reliance should be had upon the bond of charity in the Holy Spirit, and upon His inspirations.

- Father Isaac Hecker, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (1819 - 1888)

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Zec 9:9-10
Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
Rm 8:9, 11-13
Mt 11:25-30

Do you feel weighed down or lifted up by taking on the yoke — the servanthood, the ministry, the loving outreach — of Jesus?

We have so many personal struggles, so many crosses to carry, so many people needing our attention, that of course we feel weighed down and exhausted. Yet in this Sunday's Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy! The burdens that he asks us to carry are not heavy!

How can that be?

When the burdens of life wear us down and tire us out, it's usually because we've taken on more responsibility than God has given to us. Or else it's because we're expending energy trying to get rid of a cross after Jesus has yoked us to it. If the burden leads to burn-out, God lets us get tired, because he's warning us: Slow down! Simplify your life! Make a change! Spend more time in prayer! If it leads to anger and resentment, God's showing us that our selfish desire for an easier life is making our lives actually more difficult.

We have to take care of our own needs before we can be useful to Jesus while yoked to his ministry. The yoke of Christ is burdensome only if we continue to give out more to others than we allow Jesus to give to us. He will give us what we need so that in our partnership with him (the yoke), together we can give to others what they need. Then our anger and resentment disappear and we experience holy pleasure in our tasks, because we're yoked to the goodness and the energy and the strength of Jesus himself.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

What are you doing that seems like a good idea but is wearing you out? Was it God's idea for you? At this time? This much of it? What can you do to slow down, simplify, make a change, and feel the strength of Jesus?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:

Become accountable for the answer to the above personal questions by sharing it with friends in your faith community: What changes ARE you going to make to allow Jesus to refresh and renew you? How do you think this will make a difference?

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Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Everyone has a favorite Bible passage. Today's Gospel is mine. The consoling words of Jesus are familiar: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened…."

I find it hard to say why I like this text so much. Perhaps it's because I've felt burdened at times in my life, or have known others who labor greatly under sorrow and suffering. I've heard these words addressed to myself, and in turn I've shared them with others in homilies at Mass, particularly at funerals.

But in addition to the Lord's encouragement that we come to him with our burdens, he invites us to "take up his yoke" and "learn from him." His meekness and humility show us a way to bear our burdens.

I've often marveled at the paradox in Christ's words: His yoke, his burden was the cross, and yet he calls it "easy and light." How does the heavy burden of the cross and suffering and death become "easy and light"?

Somehow, that transformation must happen in the act of surrender, in the "giving over" of our own daily labors, burdens and crosses to the Lord. Admitting to ourselves that we cannot carry them on our own, allowing Jesus to shoulder them with us; letting go of control—in that simple, childlike surrender, we discover the rest Jesus promises.

Scripture:

•See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he… (Zechariah 9:9)

•The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. (Psalm 145:8)

•If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies… (Romans 8:12)

•Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light. (Matthew 11:30)

Reflection:

•What is the promise of Jesus to those who follow his ways unreservedly?

•Does your experience of God correspond with Psalm 145?

•How do you experience the spirit of God that dwells in you?

The most visible joy can only reveal itself to us when we’ve transformed it within. (Rainer Maria Rilke)

God in His nature is most simple and cannot admit of any duplicity. If we then should be conformed to Him, we should try to become by virtue what He is by nature. We should be simple in our affections, intentions, actions, and words; we should do what we find to do without artifice or guile, being on the outside what we are on the inside. (St. Vincent de Paul)

Never to Die Again:

We cannot imagine what that moment was like when Christ broke from the tomb, glorious, never to die again. And that’s going to happen to us! By the same Holy Spirit we are destined to live forever: That’s fantastic!

'Good News' - Faith:

The Good News of Salvation that Jesus teaches must be accepted and believed wholeheartedly. We cannot live a materialistic and secular life of self-centeredness and yet be a follower of Jesus. A disciple of Jesus must have a sincere commitment to His Teachings and offer selfless service to others.

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True spiritual life consists in this: that man keep his eyes on God all the time, long for nothing but for God, keep nothing in mind but God, begin every single action in the Lord's name, and direct it to Him: in short, that he unify his whole being — mind, will, memory, senses, and actions — in God.

- Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria (1502-1539)

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

- St. Paul, Ephesians 1:11

Man not only has a destiny, but each individual of the race has a special destiny, a definite work to do; and this work is a great, an important, a divine work. For, whatever God appoints is great — great in its purpose, important in its accomplishment, divine in its results.

- Father Isaac Hecker, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (1819 - 1888)

Sons and Daughters of God:

You are of the royal family of the Messiah. That is the truth about who you are and why God, at every moment of every hour of every day and night, works for your salvation, works that you might inherit the kingdom forever. Don’t lose sight of your dignity. Don’t let the world nibble away at it or skew it or dilute it. Take hold of your dignity as a son or daughter of God, with both hands!

Emotions - Faith:

In today's Gospel the Pharisees were upset at Jesus for being with sinners. If our faith is deeply rooted in Jesus, we would be able to go beyond our prejudices, hurts, jealousies, anger and the like to reach out to those who need Christ most. Are we consumed by our emotions?

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At every step I feel the power of God. Wherever I am, whatever happens to me, I am in the hands of Divine Providence which watches over nations and over every individual!

- Blessed Joseph Kowalski (1911-1942)

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

- St. Paul, 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

[T]here is no question more worthy to engage the attention of those who have at heart the spread of the Christ's kingdom upon earth, than the question whether the Catholic Church will succeed in Christianizing the American nation.... [F]or the people of the United States are young, free, energetic and filled with the idea of great enterprises; a people who, of all others, if once Catholic, can give a new, noble, glorious realization to Christianity.

- Father Isaac Hecker, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (1819 - 1888)

Children of God:

When we were baptized, we were washed clean in the waters of the font and made children of God. That relationship with God is more real than the earthly families from which we came. We have a dignity that is unparalleled, a dignity for which God himself came to earth, taught, lived, suffered and died.

Doubt - Fear:

In today's Gospel Thomas doubted because he feared that his life was threatened. There were no visible proofs that Jesus had Risen from the dead. Our faith in Jesus can be weakened if we are over protective of ourselves. How much trust do you have in Jesus?

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If I bow to men's will, what shall I find to answer Christ on the day of the Judgment?

- Saint Philip of Moscow (1507-1569)

Brothers and sisters:You are no longer strangers and sojourners,but you are fellow citizens with the holy onesand members of the household of God....

- St. Paul, Ephesians 2:19

The spirit of the age has a tendency to run into extreme individuality, into eccentricity, license, revolution. But the typical life shows how individuality is consistent with community life.... But when it comes into conflict with the common right, the individual must yield to the community: the common life outranks the individual life in case of conflict. But the individual life should be regarded as sacred and never to be effaced.

- Father Isaac Hecker, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (1819 - 1888)

Called to Respond

As Christians, we are called to follow the example of Jesus who held nothing back, who gave it all for us.…We are called to respond to people in need not because they “deserve” our help by some merit of their own, but because it is what God calls us to do, because the person before us is a child of God, the face of Christ before us, even if nothing this person does or has done seems “deserving.”

Demons - Jesus:

In today's Gospel, the demons were terrified of Jesus, the Son of God. As believers we should never be fearful of any evil spirits. They can never harm us if our trust and love for Jesus is deep. To invoke demons for any 'gains/cures' would be greed and a mockery of your faith in Jesus.

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No one who denies personal guilt is happy, but there is not a person who has admitted it and been forgiven and lives in the love of God who is unhappy.

- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.

- St. Paul, Philippians 4:8

All ties that are not divine must be severed. I would be free, and stand only in eternal relations with others, and with all things around me. What must go at death, why not now?

- Father Isaac Hecker, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (1819 - 1888)

Suffering and Hope:

In the face of suffering, hardship and defeat, when all seems lost and God seems absent, surrender to God is about continuing to trust and believe that, despite all evidence to the contrary, God is still with us…and raises us up to new life…a life in which the scars of our pain are not erased or denied, but transformed into a sign of hope.

'Sudden Storms' - Faith:

In today's Gospel, the disciples were caught in a sudden storm. This could happen to us too e.g. unexpected illness,failures, tension in relationships etc. Be assured that Jesus is also present in the 'storms' of your life and will calm them. Trust in Him more fully.

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Jesus made himself the bread of life to satisfy my hunger for him, and he has also made himself the hungry one so that I may satisfy his love for me.

- Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

- St. Paul, Romans 12:11

Now it is not fancy, but an interesting fact of history, both ancient and modern, that there is a class of men, and of women, too, who cannot find their happiness in the common aims and pursuits of men. A hidden principle leads them to seek a better and more spiritual life. The longing after the infinite predominates in these souls, and all other ties must be loosed and sacrificed, if needs be, to its growth and full development.

- Father Isaac Hecker, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (1819 - 1888)