His Word Today: Saints Cornelius and Cyprian

Good morning everyone,

Today, the Church celebrates the Memorial of two holy men who lived during the third century.

Life has always been difficult for those who choose to follow Christ.  Evidence of this is abundant especially during the first centuries of the Christian era.  The Roman emperors, who exercised temporal power at the time did not take kindly to anyone who would not submit to their orders.  We see evidence of this in the stories of today's heroes.

During the third century, the Roman emperor Decius decreed that all those who would not renounce their Christian faith should be killed.  Fabian, who was Pope at the time, was killed, along with many others, but there were some who denounced their faith and were spared.  This was yet another attempt to defeat the Church.  The thought was that without a pope, the Church would die away.  Emperor Decius even went so far as to prevent the election of a successor to Fabian, but some priests managed to secretly carry out an election.  While the emperor was at war, Cornelius was elected to succeed Fabian as Bishop of Rome.

There were added complications too.  A priest named Novatian and his followers believed that those who had renounced their Christian faith could never return to the Church, even if they had repented, so Cornelius assembled a council of bishops to settle the dispute.  The council affirmed Cornelius' belief and condemned Novatian's theory.  Cornelius spent two years as Pope before he was arrested under the emperor's command and banished.  He died in exile in 253.

Cyprian - who was Bishop of Carthage in North Africa - was a supporter and a friend of Cornelius.  Cyprian was a native of Carthage, born in 210.  He served as Bishop of Carthage for almost 10 years, but only really experienced peace for the first year of that term.  The persecutions that were carried out under the emperor Decius began around 211, and like Cornelius, Cyprian too had to address the challenges voiced by Novatian.  Persecutions also continued after Decius' death and eventually, Cyprian was arrested and tried for being a Christian.  When he was read his death sentence, he replied by exclaiming: Blessed be God!  He was martyred in 258.

Cornelius and Cyprian were friends.  Like the disciples, they helped each other to live faith-filled, self-sacrificing and loving lives.  We too are called to help our friends to live lives of faith so that we can all remain close to God, and we can be reassured by the words of Jesus' prayer for the disciples: Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one (Jn 17:19).  These are words that Jesus continues to pray for all of us.

Have a great day.

Love, mercy and forgiveness

Today's scripture readings all remind us of the boundlessness of God's mercy.  In our flawed humanity, we continually stray from the path that we already know leads to eternal life, but God's compassion and forgiveness are much stronger than his justifiable anger.  God never gives up on us.

The first reading speaks of the Israelites turning away from God in order to worship a golden calf (cf Ex 32:8).  On the surface, it might seem difficult for us to relate to this reality, but we are constantly bombarded with voices that entice us to acquire more and more superficial possessions: new cars, bigger homes, more stylish clothing, jewels, gadgets ... and so on.  Each one of these can be a modern-day golden calf, ultimately luring us to turn our attention away from God.  How easy it is at times to give in to such temptations!  Yet, God calls us, in the silence of our hearts and the intimacy of prayer, to forsake these false gods and to return to Him.

Saint Paul provides a prime example of one who truly understands the tenderness and mercy of God, gifts that are always ours for the asking.  Speaking of his own personal experience, he says: I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me (1 Tim 1:12).  Each of us can repeat these words if we ourselves have come to know them to be true in our own lived experience.  In the end, it is Christ Jesus who constantly strengthens us and prepares us for the mission he entrusts to us.

Saint Luke focuses our attention today on the pain of loss and the rejoicing that follows when that which has been lost has been found (cf Lk 15:11-32).  The most powerful element of this passage is the story of the lost son who abandoned home and family in favour of reckless living.  Perhaps we can identify with this pain ... or perhaps we can more easily see ourselves in the elder son's discontent and envy when the father warmly welcomes his brother home.  Maybe, there is a bit of both these characters in us.

Today, let us pray that our heavenly Father will grant us the grace to answer the call to recognize and to welcome his love, his mercy and his forgiveness.

His Word Today: Saint John Chrysostom

Good morning everyone,

Today, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom (349 - 14 September 407 AD).  He served as Archbishop of Constantinople and was an important Early Church Father.  He is most well-known for his preaching and public speaking and for the creation of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom (the liturgy that is observed by many of the Eastern-rite Churches).

The title Chrysostomos, which has been translated as Chrystostom, translates as golden-mouthed: a reference to his celebrated eloquence.  If we were privileged enough to hear him speak about the gospel passage for today's Mass (cf Lk 6:39-42), perhaps he would focus on Jesus' words: Can a blind person guide a blind person? (Lk 6:39).

Day after day, we are enlightened and guided by the Word of God.  This Word helps us to continue the journey of faith that is the appropriate response to Jesus' invitation: come, follow me (Mt 4:19).  As we celebrate and thank the Lord today for the gift of Saint John Chrysostom, let us pray for the gift of divine sight so that we can perceive the presence of our God and help others to see him too.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: Surprise

Good morning everyone,

The words Jesus spoke to his disciples could easily be spoken to us today.  In fact, we believe that Jesus continues to speak through his Word which is living and active for those of us who read it, even to the point that it can surprise us and challenge us.

Evidence of this can be found in the first lines of the gospel passage for today's Mass.  Jesus calls us to ... love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you (Lk 6:27-28).  These are challenging words for all of Jesus' disciples.  It is not easy to love those who seek to destroy us, or to follow any of the other advice offered in this phrase, yet this is the way that Jesus encourages us to make a difference in our world.

If Jesus could imagine these behaviours to be possible for us, should we not trust him to know what is best for us?  Should we not look to him for guidance?  After all, he said that he would never leave us alone.  Let us look to him today and ask him to help us to use our words and actions today to do what others will never expect of us: to do good even to those who would seek to do us harm.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: POV

Good morning everyone,

In today's gospel passage (Lk 6:20-26), we are invited to see the world - and the people in that world - from a different perspective.  As the saying goes: we are encouraged to see the world as Jesus sees it, and not necessarily as we might see it at first glance.

Jesus teaches us that those in our world who are poor are blessed; those who are hungry will be satisfied; those who are weeping will laugh; those who are excluded from conversations, from advancements, from recognition of any kind ... are precious in the eyes of our God.

These are simple yet challenging words.  Perhaps today, they will help us to look at the world around us just a little bit differently.  Maybe, they will help us to see the people we meet in a different light.  God thinks with larger horizons than we do ... and this is a good thing because he is constantly calling us to grow.  Life can be lived differently depending on our point of view.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: Calling

Good morning everyone,

The gospel passage prescribed for today speaks of the calling of the disciples.  Saint Luke says that Jesus went to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God (Lk 6:12) before he chose his disciples.

The work that Jesus was doing at the time was a response to the promptings of the Father's guidance.  In fact, all acts carried out by people of faith are meant to be just that: a response that is guided by the will of the Father.  This is the way that we distinguish the difference between acts of the human will and acts that are in fulfilment of a higher will.

Those of us who seek to respond to the guidance of our heavenly Father must learn how to listen for His guidance.  We must all learn how to come away from the normal settings of our daily lives - so often cluttered with noises that stop us from hearing the voice for which we must constantly listen - so that we can pay attention to the voice that teaches us how to follow in His footsteps.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: Rigid

Good morning everyone,

Today, the gospel passage shows us a moment during his ministry when Jesus confronted the rigid manner in which some people applied the Law.  On a certain sabbath day, Jesus went into the synagogue ... there was a man there whose right hand was withered and the scribes and Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath (Lk 6:6-7).

Above all else, Jesus wanted to help this man.  He was aware of the Law that forbade any work on the sabbath, but he wanted to point out the distinction between becoming a slave to the Law as opposed to understanding the Law as being created for our good.  This is the reason why he asked a series of questions: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it? (Lk 6:9).

We must always be willing to follow the law, but we must also be equally as vigilant so that we do not become ensnared by the law, for to do so would be to run the risk of turning away from the possibility to do good ... even to save life.

Have a great day.