Daily Prayer for October 2

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Psalm 31:1–2, NIV

Lord our God, give us your Spirit, we beseech you, that we may find your paths on earth and live in the hope and certainty that everything is in your hands, even when we see much that is unjust and evil. May we remain under your protection, living by your commandments and in your Spirit. For your Spirit witnesses to the truth and longs to change and lift up our lives. Your Spirit longs to reach all people who have felt your touch, longs that they may come to you and have life. Amen.

 

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Life Isn’t Fair / La vida no es justa

Life isn’t fair! How many times have we heard or said this phrase in our lifetime? From a young age we think that the world isn’t fair and oftentimes, the authority figures in our lives are quick to remind us of that fact. You would perhaps think that it would be different with God. That once we have a conversion and commit our lives to Christ that life would be fair from then on out right?

The first reading today from Ezekiel makes it clear that life does indeed become fair when we commit ourselves to Christ, but maybe not in the way we think of fairness. Like a good and loving Father would do, Ezekiel reminds us that when we complain about life being unfair, it is perhaps our attitude that needs a paradigm shift. He reminds us that it is our way of life that is not fair and due to this we have to deal with the consequences of our actions. 

It’s no secret that the battle cry of the last few generations has been freedom. We want freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want, to whomever we want, with little to no consequences for our actions. The Lord gives us a new route to true freedom, not the superficial freedom that we think will satisfy but ultimately leaves us enslaved. I would say, and I think Ezekiel confirms this, that true freedom is not so much doing whatever we want to do, but doing what we ought to do. In other words, when we live in accord with how we were created, being made in the image and likeness of God, we are most fully at peace and most fully free.

Think about it, if we believe that God created us, then it is in living in accord with God’s laws that we are most fully happy. No different from the child who does as their parents ask is most fully happy and fulfilled. It may seem unfair at the moment because we want what we want, but in the long run we know that this type of freedom that Christ offers will bring us true joy.

Freedom is a tricky thing because in allowing true freedom, God allows the possibility for sin and death. But as the Catechism reminds us in paragraph 1730, “God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel, so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him.” God gave us freedom in order that we might fully live in his life, that we might choose it, that we might want it. Let’s pray for the grace to use our intellect and will to make the right decisions that ultimately lead us to true peace and joy.

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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¡La vida no es justa! ¿Cuántas veces hemos escuchado o dicho esta frase en nuestra vida? Desde una edad temprana pensamos que el mundo no es justo y, a menudo, las figuras de autoridad en nuestras vidas rápidamente nos recuerdan ese hecho. Tal vez pensarías que sería diferente con Dios. Una vez que tengamos una conversión y entreguemos nuestras vidas a Cristo, esa vida sería justa de ahí en adelante, ¿verdad?

La primera lectura de hoy de Ezequiel deja en claro que la vida se vuelve justa cuando nos comprometemos con Cristo, pero tal vez no en la forma en que pensamos en la justicia. Como haría un Padre bueno y amoroso, Ezequiel nos recuerda que cuando nos quejamos de que la vida es injusta, quizás sea nuestra actitud la que necesita un cambio de paradigma. Nos recuerda que es nuestra forma de vida la que no es justa y por eso tenemos que lidiar con las consecuencias de nuestras acciones.

No es ningún secreto que el grito de batalla de las últimas generaciones ha sido la libertad. Queremos libertad para hacer lo que queramos, cuando queramos, a quien queramos, con pocas o ninguna consecuencia de nuestras acciones. El Señor nos da una nueva ruta hacia la verdadera libertad, no la libertad superficial que pensamos que satisfará pero que finalmente nos deja esclavizados. Yo diría, y creo que Ezequiel lo confirma, que la verdadera libertad no es tanto hacer lo que queremos hacer, sino hacer lo que debemos hacer. En otras palabras, cuando vivimos de acuerdo cómo fuimos creados, siendo hechos a imagen y semejanza de Dios, estamos más plenamente en paz y más plenamente libres.

Piénsalo, si creemos que Dios nos creó, entonces es viviendo de acuerdo con las leyes de Dios que somos más plenamente felices. No es diferente del niño que hace lo que sus padres le piden y es más feliz y pleno. Puede parecer injusto en este momento porque queremos lo que queremos, pero a la larga sabemos que este tipo de libertad que ofrece Cristo nos traerá el verdadero gozo.

La libertad es algo engañoso porque al permitir la verdadera libertad, Dios permite la posibilidad del pecado y la muerte. Pero como nos recuerda el Catecismo en el párrafo 1730, “Quiso Dios “dejar al hombre en manos de su propia decisión”, de modo que busque a su Creador sin coacciones y, adhiriéndose a Él, llegue libremente a la plena y feliz perfección.” Dios nos dio la libertad para que vivamos plenamente en su vida, para que la elijamos y para que la deseemos. Oremos por la gracia de usar nuestro intelecto y voluntad para tomar las decisiones correctas que finalmente nos lleven a la verdadera paz y alegría.

De parte de todos nosotros aquí en Diocesan, ¡Dios los bendiga!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

Feature Image Credit: Piret Ilver, unsplash.com/photos/98MbUldcDJY

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Ez 18:25-28

Thus says the LORD:
You say, “The LORD’s way is not fair!”
Hear now, house of Israel:
Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?
When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,
it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die.
But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed,
and does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life;
since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Reading 2 Phil 2:1-11

Brothers and sisters:
If there is any encouragement in Christ,
any solace in love,
any participation in the Spirit,
any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests,
but also for those of others.

Have in you the same attitude
that is also in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

or Phil 2:1-5

Brothers and sisters:
If there is any encouragement in Christ,
any solace in love,
any participation in the Spirit,
any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests,
but also for those of others.

Have in you the same attitude
that is also in Christ Jesus.

Alleluia Jn 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
“What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
He said in reply, ‘I will not,’
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir, ‘but did not go.
Which of the two did his father’s will?”
They answered, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him.”

– – –

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus


St. Therese of the Child Jesus

Feast date: Oct 01

On October 1, Catholics around the world honor the life of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, or St. Thérèse of Lisieux on her feast day.  St. Thérèse was born January 2, 1873 in Alençon, France to pious parents, both of whom are scheduled to be canonized in October 2016. Her mother died when she was four, leaving her father and elder sisters to raise her.

On Christmas Day 1886 St. Thérèse had a profound experience of intimate union with God, which she described as a “complete conversion.”  Almost a year later, in a papal audience during a pilgrimage to Rome, in 1887, she asked for and obtained permission from Pope Leo XIII to enter the Carmelite Monastery at the young age of 15.

On entering, she devoted herself to living a life of holiness, doing all things with love and childlike trust in God. She struggled with life in the convent, but decided to make an effort to be charitable to all, especially those she didn’t like. She performed little acts of charity always, and little sacrifices not caring how unimportant they seemed.  These acts helped her come to a deeper understanding of her vocation.

She wrote in her autobiography that she had always dreamed of being a missionary, an Apostle, a martyr – yet she was a nun in a quiet cloister in France. How could she fulfill these longings?

“Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I knew that one love drove the members of the Church to action, that if this love were extinguished, the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel no longer, the martyrs would have shed their blood no more. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places…in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last I have found it…My vocation is Love!”

Thérèse offered herself as a sacrificial victim to the merciful Love of God on June 9, 1895, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity and the following year, on the night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday, she noticed the first symptoms of Tuberculosis, the illness which would lead to her death.

Thérèse recognized in her illness the mysterious visitation of the divine Spouse and welcomed the suffering as an answer to her offering the previous year.  She also began to undergo a terrible trial of faith which lasted until her death a year and a half later.  “Her last words, ‘My God, I love you,’ are the seal of her life,” said Pope John Paul II.

Since her death, millions have been inspired by her ‘little way’ of loving God and neighbor. Many miracles have been attributed to her intercession. She had predicted during her earthly life that “My Heaven will be spent doing good on Earth.”

Saint Thérèse was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997 – 100 years after her death at the age of 24. She is only the third woman to be so proclaimed, after Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa of Avila.

St. Thérèse wrote once, ‘You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”

Daily Prayer for October 1

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer…Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:12,15, NIV

Lord our God, we thank you for your gospel, the great, good tidings we may carry in our hearts to give us joy in this present time, even though on all sides people are in anguish and agony. We thank you that your gospel fills our hearts with compassion, enabling us to help carry what many have to suffer. Show us our need of you so that we can receive your help. If we must be the first to suffer all kinds of pain and distress, may we do so joyfully because we have been promised blessing in the midst of all the pain. May we continually honor your name, praising you for the good news of your kingdom, for the promise that everything must work together for good through Jesus Christ the Savior. Amen.

 

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A Wall of Fire / Un Muro de Fuego

“But I will be for her an encircling wall of fire, says the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.”

The readings today remind us clearly who Jesus is and who sent him. In the first reading, the prophet wants to go to Jerusalem and take the measure of the place. But God says there is no need to do that, as Jerusalem will be encircled by a wall of fire with glory in her midst. That is how great and honored Jerusalem will be, how much God loves his people. 

In the Gospel, Jesus tries to tell his apostles how he will suffer in Jerusalem, but they do not understand even though they have been amazed by what Jesus has done. They are confused by the thought that a man so great would have to suffer. And yet, suffer he does. Right there in Jerusalem, and then he rises and ascends in glory to the Father. Indeed, glory comes after suffering.

That is the word for us as well. We are often wrecked by suffering, asking, “Why, Lord, why?” The short answer to why is that this is the human condition brought on by sin. But our faith shows and tells us that suffering can end in glory. Just as God says to Zechariah about Jerusalem, “But I will be for her an encircling wall of fire, says the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.” I think he says the same to us. 

He is with us, shielding us from the worst, surrounding us with his strength, and showing us his glory. This is an invitation to trust and surrender. To put our faith in the One, True God who cares and protects us, even when we feel hopeless. When you are in despair, pray that verse from Zechariah 2:9, and imagine God all around you offering protection and showing you his glory. The protection is his love, and the glory is the outcome that far surpasses our own thoughts about the best way things should turn out in a given situation. 

Let us recall St. Jerome with admiration on feast day today, a Doctor of the Church who translated the scriptures from Hebrew into the vernacular.

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“Yo mismo la rodearé, dice el Señor, como un muro de fuego y mi gloria estará en medio de ella”.

Las lecturas de hoy nos recuerdan claramente quién es Jesús y quién lo envió. En la primera lectura, el profeta quiere ir a Jerusalén y medir el lugar. Pero Dios dice que no hay necesidad de hacer eso, ya que Jerusalén estará rodeada por un muro de fuego con gloria en medio de ella. Así de grande y honrada será Jerusalén, cuánto ama Dios a su pueblo.

En el Evangelio, Jesús trata de decirles a sus apóstoles cómo sufrirá en Jerusalén, pero ellos no entienden a pesar de que han quedado asombrados por lo que Jesús ha hecho. Los confunde la idea de que un hombre tan grande tenga que sufrir. Y, sin embargo, sufre. Allí mismo en Jerusalén, y luego resucita y asciende en gloria al Padre. De hecho, la gloria viene después del sufrimiento.

Esa es la palabra para nosotros también. A menudo somos destrozados por el sufrimiento y nos preguntamos: “¿Por qué, Señor, por qué?” La respuesta corta a por qué es que esta es la condición humana provocada por el pecado. Pero nuestra fe nos muestra y nos dice que el sufrimiento puede terminar en gloria. Así como Dios le dice a Zacarías acerca de Jerusalén: “Yo mismo la rodearé, dice el Señor, como un muro de fuego y mi gloria estará en medio de ella”. Creo que nos dice lo mismo.

Él está con nosotros, protegiéndonos de lo peor, rodeándonos con su fuerza y mostrándonos su gloria. Esta es una invitación a la confianza y la entrega. Poner nuestra fe en el Dios Único y Verdadero que nos cuida y protege, incluso cuando nos sentimos desesperanzados. Cuando estés desesperado, reza este versículo de Zacarías 2:9 e imagina a Dios a tu alrededor ofreciéndote protección y mostrándote su gloria. La protección es su amor, y la gloria es el resultado que supera con creces nuestros propios pensamientos acerca de la mejor forma en que las cosas deben resultar en una situación dada.

Recordemos con admiración en la fiesta de hoy a San Jerónimo, Doctor de la Iglesia que tradujo las Escrituras del hebreo al vernáculo.

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Deanna G. Bartalini, M.Ed.; M.P.A., is a certified spiritual director, writer, speaker and content creator. The LiveNotLukewarm.com online community is a place to inform, engage and inspire your Catholic faith. Her weekly Not Lukewarm Podcast gives you tips and tools to live out your faith in your daily life.

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Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Reading 1 Zec 2:5-9, 14-15a

I, Zechariah, raised my eyes and looked:
there was a man with a measuring line in his hand.
I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered, “To measure Jerusalem,
to see how great is its width and how great its length.”

Then the angel who spoke with me advanced,
and another angel came out to meet him and said to him,
“Run, tell this to that young man:
People will live in Jerusalem as though in open country,
because of the multitude of men and beasts in her midst.
But I will be for her an encircling wall of fire, says the LORD,
and I will be the glory in her midst.”

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people and he will dwell among you.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12ab, 13

R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd guards his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Alleluia See 2 Tm 1:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Christ Jesus destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 9:43b-45

While they were all amazed at his every deed,
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”
But they did not understand this saying;
its meaning was hidden from them
so that they should not understand it,
and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

– – –

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

St. Jerome


St. Jerome

Feast date: Sep 30

Saint Jerome, the priest, monk and Doctor of the Church renowned for his extraordinary depth of learning and translations of the Bible into Latin in the Vulgate, is celebrated by the Church with his memorial today, September 30.

Besides his contributions as a Church Father and patronage of subsequent Catholic scholarship, Jerome is also regarded as a patron of people with difficult personalities—owing to the sometimes extreme approach which he took in articulating his scholarly opinions and the teaching of the Church. He is also notable for his devotion to the ascetic life, and for his insistence on the importance of Hebrew scholarship for Christians.

Born around 340 as Eusebius Hieronymous Sophronius in present-day Croatia, Jerome received Christian instruction from his father, who sent him to Rome for instruction in rhetoric and classical literature. His youth was thus dominated by a struggle between worldly pursuits –which brought him into many types of temptation– and the inclination to a life of faith, a feeling evoked by regular trips to the Roman catacombs with his friends in the city.

Baptized in 360 by Pope Liberius, Jerome traveled widely among the monastic and intellectual centers of the newly Christian empire. Upon returning to the city of his birth, following the end of a local crisis caused by the Arian heresy, he studied theology in the famous schools of Trier and worked closely with two other future saints, Chromatius and Heliodorus, who were outstanding teachers of orthodox theology.

Seeking a life more akin to the first generation of “desert fathers,” Jerome left the Adriatic and traveled east to Syria, visiting several Greek cities of civil and ecclesiastical importance on the way to his real destination: “a wild and stony desert … to which, through fear or hell, I had voluntarily condemned myself, with no other company but scorpions and wild beasts.”

Jerome’s letters vividly chronicle the temptations and trials he endured during several years as a desert hermit. Nevertheless, after his ordination by the bishop of Antioch, followed by periods of study in Constantinople and service at Rome to Pope Damasus I, Jerome opted permanently for a solitary and ascetic life in the city of Bethlehem from the mid-380s.

Jerome remained engaged both as an arbitrator and disputant of controversies in the Church, and served as a spiritual father to a group of nuns who had become his disciples in Rome. Monks and pilgrims from a wide array of nations and cultures also found their way to his monastery, where he commented that “as many different choirs chant the psalms as there are nations.”

Rejecting pagan literature as a distraction, Jerome undertook to learn Hebrew from a Christian monk who had converted from Judaism. Somewhat unusually for a fourth-century Christian priest, he also studied with Jewish rabbis, striving to maintain the connection between Hebrew language and culture, and the emerging world of Greek and Latin-speaking Christianity. He became a secretary of Pope Damasus, who commissioned the Vulgate from him. Prepared by these ventures, Jerome spent 15 years translating most of the Hebrew Bible into its authoritative Latin version. His harsh temperament and biting criticisms of his intellectual opponents made him many enemies in the Church and in Rome and he was forced to leave the city.

Jerome went to Bethlehem, established a monastery, and lived the rest of his years in study, prayer, and ascetcism.

St. Jerome once said, “I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ: ‘Search the Scriptures,’ and ‘Seek and you shall find.’ For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”

After living through both Barbarian invasions of the Roman empire, and a resurgence of riots sparked by doctrinal disputes in the Church, Jerome died in his Bethlehem monastery in 420.

Daily Prayer for September 30

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33, NIV

Dear Father in heaven, in the world we are full of fear; in you we have peace. We pray that your Spirit may give us the joy of your heavenly kingdom and the strength to live in your service. Remember those who suffer pain, who still have to walk paths of fear and distress. Grant them help, to the glory of your name. May we be united in hope and in expectation of what you will give through your great goodness and faithfulness. Amen.

 

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I Saw You / Te Vi

I will never forget hearing this reading for the first time, being almost nine months pregnant with my first child. I pondered the significance of this Gospel, and later my husband and I decided that this should be the name of our oldest and firstborn son. What was so touching in the story was that Jesus “saw Nathaniel.” This simple phrase holds a deep and powerful meaning of how Jesus is always with us, even today. 

This exchange between Jesus and Nathaniel in the Gospel also reinforces the importance of us seeking Christ and clinging to our Catholic faith. What could a parent desire more than a child with faith? Faith is a gift from God! For some of us, faith seems “easy,” and we have never walked away or wavered in believing like Nathaniel. For others, it requires effort to see Christ working in our lives, and we might need to pray a lot for the Lord to provide us with more grace to increase our faith. 

Just think of the difference between Nathaniel in this story and St. Thomas, also a key follower of Christ. St. Thomas didn’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead and declared that he would only believe if he could touch his very wounds (Jn 20: 24-29). St. Thomas needed to place his finger in the wounds of Jesus and feel the incision marks on Jesus’ side to believe, while Nathaniel just believed because Jesus saw him. 

We are blessed to believe when we don’t see or have proof, but it doesn’t mean it is always easy! We can see in this Gospel story that having faith is more than just “knowing and believing” but instead, trusting and always seeking Christ no matter what life looks like at that moment. Our Catholic faith requires us to know Christ, love Him, and serve Him to the best of our ability. 

We read in the Catechism that faith is a gift directly from God. “Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth” (CCC 153). What a gift to have the example of Nathaniel as a reminder to seek new graces in our lives and to pray for others so that we, too, can be touched by God and increase our faith.

Today is the feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the archangels. These angels are considered saints because they chose to follow God and worship Christ. Today is a powerful reminder that these great archangels are here to help you battle Satan and defend us against all evil. Why not seek God in a new way by asking Him to increase your faith and also seek out the protection of these angels? 

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Nunca olvidaré escuchar esta lectura por primera vez, con casi nueve meses de embarazo con mi primer hijo. Reflexioné sobre el significado de este Evangelio, y más tarde mi esposo y yo decidimos que ese debería ser el nombre de nuestro hijo mayor y primogénito. Lo que fue tan conmovedor en la historia fue que Jesús “vio a Natanael”. Esta simple frase tiene un significado profundo y poderoso de cómo Jesús se porta siempre con nosotros, incluso el día de hoy.

Este intercambio entre Jesús y Natanael en el Evangelio también refuerza la importancia de que busquemos a Cristo y nos aferremos a nuestra fe católica. ¿Qué podría desear más un padre que su hijo tenga fe? ¡La fe es un regalo de Dios! Para algunos de nosotros, la fe parece “fácil”, y nunca nos hemos alejado o vacilado en creer como Nathaniel. Para otros, requiere esfuerzo ver a Cristo obrando en nuestras vidas, y es posible que necesitemos orar mucho para que el Señor nos dé más gracia para aumentar nuestra fe.

Solo piense en la diferencia entre Natanael en esta historia y Santo Tomás, también un seguidor clave de Cristo. Santo Tomás no creía que Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos y declaró que solo creería si pudiera tocar sus mismas heridas (Jn 20, 24-29). Santo Tomás necesitaba poner su dedo en las heridas de Jesús y sentir las marcas de incisión en el costado de Jesús para creer, mientras que Natanael simplemente creyó porque Jesús lo vio.

Tenemos la bendición de creer cuando no vemos o no tenemos pruebas, ¡pero eso no significa que siempre sea fácil! Podemos ver en esta historia del Evangelio que tener fe es más que solo “saber y creer”, sino confiar y buscar siempre a Cristo sin importar cómo se vea la vida en ese momento. Nuestra fe católica requiere que conozcamos a Cristo, lo amemos y lo sirvamos lo mejor que podamos.

Leemos en el Catecismo que la fe es un don directamente de Dios. “La fe es un don de Dios, una virtud sobrenatural infundida por Él. Para dar esta respuesta de la fe es necesaria la gracia de Dios, que se adelanta y nos ayuda, junto con los auxilios interiores del Espíritu Santo, que mueve el corazón, lo dirige a Dios, abre los ojos del espíritu y concede ‘a todos gusto en aceptar y creer la verdad.” (CIC 153) Qué regalo tener el ejemplo de Natanael como un recordatorio para buscar nuevas gracias en nuestras vidas y orar por los demás para que nosotros también podamos ser tocados por Dios y aumentar nuestra fe.

Hoy es la fiesta de los Santos Miguel, Gabriel y Rafael, los arcángeles. Estos ángeles son considerados santos porque eligieron seguir a Dios y adorar a Cristo. Hoy es un poderoso recordatorio de que estos grandes arcángeles están aquí para ayudarte a luchar contra Satanás y defendernos de todo mal. ¿Por qué no buscar a Dios de una manera nueva pidiéndole que aumente su fe y también busque la protección de estos ángeles?

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Emily Jaminet is a Catholic author, speaker, radio personality, wife, and mother of seven children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mental health and human services from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.  She is the co-founder of www.inspirethefaith.com and the Executive Director of The Sacred Heart Enthronement Network www.WelcomeHisHeart.com. She has co-authored several Catholic books and her next one, Secrets of the Sacred Heart: Claiming Jesus’ Twelve Promises in Your Life, comes out in Oct. 2020. Emily serves on the board of the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference, contributes to Relevant Radio and Catholic Mom.com.

Feature Image Credit: #ArqTl, cathopic.com/photo/1325-light-sign-of-faith

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