We are glad that you found us, the DEACON-5! Here, we will be posting daily Gospel reflections, Mondays through Fridays, each day written by a different permanent deacon in our group. We pray that you find inspiration and a touch of God’s love for sharing some time with us. Please feel free to leave a comment or a prayer request for us!
Blessings to you all! Deacon Ray Gallego, Deacon Mike Hidalgo, Deacon Paul Machuca, Deacon George Mora, Deacon Carlos Porras, Deacon Ray Emnace and Deacon Chuck McDaniels
An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Reflection: In today’s passage, Our Lord addresses the disciples after He “realized the intention of their hearts.” This is a very important line. Essentially, Jesus noticed that the desire for boastfulness was just beginning. By analogy, when a weed begins to grow, it is easily pulled up by the roots. But if it is left to grow for a while, then the roots are more difficult to pull up, and doing so often affects the other plants and ground around the weed therefore, it is with sin. By gently bringing a child into their midst and stating that “the one who is least among you is the one who is the greatest,” Jesus was helping them to remove this “weed” of the sin of vainglory before it took deep root in their lives. As Jesus continues His conversation with the disciples, He continues to act with gentleness, addressing their slight error in their reasoning.
This is important to understand, because our Lord always desires to address our sin the very moment it begins. If we are open to His subtle promptings of grace, gently redirecting our actions the moment we begin to go astray, then our attentiveness to His loving rebuke will help keep us from becoming more deeply rooted in our error. Establishing a practice of constant self-reflection greatly helps with this. Establishing this habit means we do not see our Lord as a harsh and critical Judge; rather, we see Him in His gentleness and care. This image of Jesus gently bringing a child before the disciples to teach them about true greatness should help us to realize that we should never fear these gentle promptings of grace.
Ask the children if they think they have any gifts. They will probably be as confused as adults are when responding to this question. Children know about buying gifts. Place a gift bow on each child’s head and suggest that rather than buying gifts for their parents or new teachers, they try to be gifts to their parents and their teachers. Would someone want to get them as a gift? Help the parents to remember what gifts these children were and are. So … are you (we) a gift to Our Lord?
Action for the Day: Address the small sins with which you are struggling. Of course, all serious sins must be firmly dealt with first. But once all serious sin is rooted out of your life, be attentive to the gentle and merciful promptings of grace by which Jesus wants to root out every small sin at its beginning and even every spiritual imperfection.
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection: Today’s Gospel invites to reflect on the deep question Jesus asks his disciples and each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?” This reminds me of my past career as a police officer. On several occasions, when I would stop a motorist for a traffic violation, I would ask them for their drivers license and registration. At times, the driver was supposedly somebody important or somebody whom I should have know or recognized, but I had no idea of their identity. After I informed the driver of my reason for stopping them, the driver would ask me, “Don’t you know who I am?” Maybe he knew the mayor, the police chief or some other important person. The driver would say this because they did not want me to cite them for the violation. I would answer their question of, “Don’t you know who I am?” with no, I do not know who you are and I am sorry your mother never told you.” I would come back with a traffic violation citation and tell the driver, “Sign here please.”
Of course, this would not be our response to Jesus’ question. We know who Jesus is, the Son of God. Our response is like Peter’s response, “The Christ of God.” Hopefully, our response comes from personal conviction of having faith in and a personal relation with Jesus.
The beginning of the Gospel spoke of Jesus praying in solitude. Our response to Jesus’ question needs to be rooted in prayer, asking our Lord for the grace to help us see that He is our source of faith, spiritual clarity and strength.
The last part of this Gospel, Jesus connects his role as Messiah to suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. As followers and believers, we know that this may mean accepting life’s hardships. When facing hardships, we are called to trust in our faith to help us through these hardships. We are called to surrender, “Letting go and letting God” help us to transformation.
Action of the Day: Begin every day with prayer, connecting with God, our Father. Ask for the grace and faith to strengthen our relationship with the Lord, and to recognize Him as our Lord and Savior. By accepting and trusting in God, we can embrace life’s challenges and get through them, trusting in God’s ultimate plan, not our plan.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 9:7-9
(Glory to you, O Lord!)
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.
The Gospel of the Lord (Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!).
Reflection: To live simply and humbly with God
Today we hear of the Gospel reading that pertains to the great puzzlement of Herod the tetrarch as to who Jesus is, as he feared that John the Baptist may have been raised from the dead. A little back story. Herod was the governor of Galilee and Perea, and he put John the Baptist in prison for saying that it was unlawful for him to marry Herodias, the wife of his brother. Herod liked listening to John, but he refused to change his ways and humble himself before God. Later, he regrettably had John the Baptist beheaded at the behest of his wife, because of his pride and some promises that he could not break. This same pride also led later to Herod’s demise as shared in the book of Acts as he refused to give glory to God.
Herod’s ways and pride could be compared to a person’s desire to possess anything and everything of this world. The insatiable desire to satisfy the senses, of seeing more, to hear more, to consume more, to possess more and more material things, to brag of possessions and achievements, including having more and more prestige without being satisfied with the blessings received. Seemingly unable to reach contentment as to what is really needed life, and not sharing gratitude and giving glory to God.
And what is really needed in life? The book of the prophet Micah says it best as shared on chapter 6:8,
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.”
In other words, live lives to share kindness, mercy and compassion, to live simply and walk humbly with God. May this be our daily mantra to live the rest of our days guided by the Holy Spirit…to respond to Jesus daily call to holiness… to humbly love one another.
Action for the Day:
In silent prayer, recognize all the blessings in life that we have received from God, and humbly give thanks. Heavenly father, we are nothing without you. Thank you for loving us and for allowing us to be one of your many many multitudes of creation. All we have are yours. All our abilities, our ways, our gifts, all we possess and have, what we owe and own are from you alone. Guide us through your spirit to humbly share our blessings throughout the rest of our days. Thank you, Lord Jesus for your presence in our hearts.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (9:1-6) Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the Good News and curing diseases everywhere.
Reflection: In today’s Gospel of Luke, Jesus calls the Twelve together, empowers them, and sends them out with a very specific instruction: “Take nothing for the journey”. However, stripped of material security, they were instead clothed in a far greater armor—He gives them power and authority to heal and to overcome evil. The power He gives them is, the Holy Spirit—an internal grace. As baptized Catholics, you and I, are given that exact same call. Through our Baptism and Confirmation, we are given the grace to bring Christ’s love, peace, and healing, into a broken world. You don’t need a degree in theology, to be a missionary in your own family, workplace, or neighborhood. You just need a heart, willing to say “yes” to Jesus. Then go on your mission, counting on Christ’s internal grace. Why did Jesus instruct His disciples, with a radical command to detach from everything? “…neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.” Perhaps, He wants His disciples to depend entirely on God’s Divine Providence. When we pack our lives with excess—whether it’s material possessions, a desire for constant control, or deep anxieties about the future—we leave very little room, for God to move. Traveling light means, trusting that God will provide exactly what we need, exactly when we need it—just ask anyone who has walked the Camino de Santiago, how true that is to pack light. Four of the men I fellowship, that I Group weekly, are witness of that, when they walked the Camino in 2018. [Dcn. Paul, Dcn. Bill, Ernie-RIP, and Claude-RIP]. This brings us directly, to Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, affectionately known worldwide, as Padre Pio, who’s Memorial is today; a witness of whose entire life, was a living mirror of this Gospel. Padre Pio was a humble Capuchin friar, who owned practically nothing. He lived in a simple monastery, wore a plain habit, and spent his days in prayer, and hearing confessions. Yet, because he traveled so light and kept his heart entirely open, God filled him, with incredible spiritual gifts, to heal the sick and bring souls back to the Church. His focus was never on his own comfort, but entirely on the Kingdom of God. Padre Pio famously gave us a saying, that perfectly summarizes the trust required, in today’s Gospel: “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, pray for us…
ACTION FOR THE DAY: Take a moment today, to find a place free of distractions. Sit there for a moment, looking at your own life. Then, hear Jesus asking you, to do the same thing He asked, of the Twelve and of Padre Pio:
Identify what is weighing you down: What “extra tunics” or heavy bags of worry, resentment, or material distractions, are you carrying?
Leave room for grace: Give those burdens over to Christ, and trust, that He will give you the grace to handle, whatever comes your way today.
He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”
He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
Reflection:
Today’s Gospel is quite short, but it does pose some dilemmas for us. First, did Jesus really have “brothers”, meaning other sons of Mary? Second, would Jesus really dismiss His own blood relations in such a way? Third, how can we understand this short passage and apply it today?
I’ve written about this particular Gospel several times by now, and wanted to add just this one extra comment on the “brothers” of Jesus (since this encounter also appears in Mark’s Gospel, though told differently). I’ve mentioned before that the language spoken at the time used one word which is rendered “brother” to mean close relations (cousins) as well as siblings. These “brothers” of Jesus are likely His cousins, and not children of Mary. The other point we can mention concerns Jesus, giving His mother to the beloved disciple John at the foot of the cross in John 19:26-27. Hebrew society would never allow that to happen if Mary had other children – one of them would have been expected to care for her. That didn’t happen, so obviously, Mary had no other children, other than Jesus.
And, as to that second and third question I posed, I would suggest this: the stories we have from the Gospels were first written in Aramaic or Greek and translated for us to have them in English. There are certainly a number of “turns of phrase” that don’t make that translation very well. Furthermore, we have to always bear in mind that the Gospel stories, and indeed *all* Scripture is there for us to learn something about the love of God for each one of us. It’s hard with our modern minds, but we have to try to keep the “big picture” in mind. The “big picture” here is that being a part of God’s family (and being a “brother” of Jesus) is not about blood relationship. It is about living out the faith that we profess, “acting” on the word of God, and shining Jesus light of love and mercy to all we meet.
I’m reminded about family in particular, as Linda and I went to my uncle Rich’s funeral in Northern California this past weekend. My parents did not really maintain close contact with their relatives that I recall. I only saw my uncle & aunt & cousins a small handful of times in my youth. But, I knew that they were part of my family, even if I didn’t see them. I wish now that I had tried to make a better effort to stay in touch with them. The last time I had seen them was a couple of years ago when we happened to be in the area, and I remember the warmth of their welcome. The point I’m trying to make is that we are called to share that kind of love and warmth with all of God’s children, and to love without limit or expectation. That’s what Jesus asks of us, and when we live our faith out, we have the chance to participate in Jesus’ mission to the world. What a wonderful joy that is!
Action for the Day:
Pray for all who have wandered away from the faith, or who have never heard the Good News of Jesus, that they may listen with an open heart and mind, and experience that same love and care that we do. Pray, too, that if you have a chance to share about how Jesus has worked in you, you are able to share from the heart, and extend His Kingdom. Or, as St Francis is famously said to have commented: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.”
