Sunday's Readings

When human shepherds fail the flock of God, judgment comes.

Joy is a neglected necessity. Lift up your hearts! Even in silence, the heart may sing and rejoice, and live in hope and trust. Joy has come in Christ. He lives forevermore. Go on in trust and hope, and dance before the Lord.

The Lord will shine in his holy Church. The Lord will live in homes and communities. The Lord will take his seat in the temples of human hearts. Although waiting to attain the full glory of the Lord, a measure of it is already present. Go on in hope.

We are like Zacchaeus, who, though hearing well, could not see Jesus. What are we to do and how are we to keep watch? Doing his very best, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree.

No right prayer, therefore, will sound like this: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income”

Faith is not, in the end, advanced by seeing God only as the agency of goodness measured by human ease and pleasure. In this case, all misfortune, testing, trial, and pain would be evidence of where God is not.

The rich have their temptations, but they also have opportunities for great gain in godliness. This takes discipline and humility and a determined generosity rooted in mercy. This is hard, but not impossible.