T oday’s culture does not encourage reflection.  Go, go, go!  The disciples are classic examples of this.  They wanted to know how to be the greatest.  No time to pray for guidance.  Jesus, time and again, has to tell the disciples to come away with Him to a quiet place.

Memorial of St. Clare

Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Deuteronomy 32:3-4ab, 7, 8, 9 and 12

M atthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14  At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (2) And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, (3) and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; (10) "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. (12) What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?  (13) And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. (14) So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

*M editation by Daniel Patrick O'Reilly  

T oday’s readings seem to be about humility and being open to God’s guidance.  Moses tells Joshua and the Israelites that he will not cross the Jordan with them.  I’m betting there was a collective “gulp” at that news.  The leader for the last 40 years is saying this is the end of the line.  Moses tells them to be brave and steadfast and that the Lord will be with them.  The responsorial psalm (from Deuteronomy) says to proclaim the greatness of our God.  And in Matthew, the disciples want to know who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.  Jesus places a child in their midst and says whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven .

Son number two recently finished his first year of teaching high school.  He is in a program where he is teamed with an experienced teacher who mentors, advises and encourages him through the first year.  A few weeks ago Trevor presented to others in the program about his first year.  The ups, the downs, the good, the bad, what he had learned, etc.  Essentially, he reflected about the year.  It was very encouraging and rewarding to me to hear Trevor talk about his experience.  It emphasized to me how important it is to simply stop and think about what we are doing, why we are doing it and where we are going.

Today’s culture does not encourage reflection.  Go, go, go!  Every waking hour has to be filled.  If the page does not come up in five seconds, click on to the next.  I don’t have time to talk, so I’ll just text.  The disciples are classic examples of this.  They wanted to know how to be the greatest.  No time to pray for guidance.  Just give it to us.  How many do we have to heal?  Tell us in 20 words or less.  Jesus, time and again, has to tell the disciples to come away with Him to a quiet place.

Today’s readings were very convicting for me.  I like to think that I am on a journey with Christ.  However, recently I realized that I was leading the way and calling to Jesus to hurry and catch up.  I’ve been leading a Wednesday night children’s program at church for a long time.  It is a wonderful program.  However, recently I realized that I had turned a gift into a burden.  At the end of the evening, instead of thanking God for the opportunity to work with children, I was just thanking God that I had made it through the evening.  The good part is I realized something was wrong.  I was sure the church would have a hard time finding someone to replace me.  And my ego of course said they could not find anyone who would do as good a job.  Thankfully, God used one of the more powerful weapons in His arsenal (my wife) to convince me otherwise.  I had become spiritually unbalanced.  I have a strong desire to serve others.  But I had stopped asking God for guidance and direction on how to do just that. 

My prayer today is for all of us who need to slow down.  That we would take time and make ourselves available to God.  That we would open our hearts to whatever God would call us to do.  That we would ask God questions and wait on the Lord for guidance, wisdom and answers.

* S upplementary Reading

AmAzING CRoSS

… take up your cross, and follow me. – Matthew 16:24

H ad I followed my “own desires” I could have been a famous rocker. Or maybe a rich and powerful politician. Or a successful corporate executive. I actually had my chance in each of these fields. But no. I took up my cross and followed Jesus.

My budding singing and songwriting career I devoted to the music ministry of our community then and to my ministry now. My learned skill as a politician in dealing with different types of people, especially the  masses, I now use to bring people from all walks of life to the faith.

My lucrative position in the corporate world I left to become a fulltime preacher for the Lord.

Jesus said it. “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself and take up your cross.” But something’s amazing here.

Because denying myself and carrying my cross to follow Him gave me so much joy, freedom, blessing, love and fulfillment — more than what my own desires could have brought me.

Only the love of God could turn our crosses into our biggest blessings — our death into our resurrection!

Truly amazing! Alvin Barcelona (Kerygma)