Category: Inspiration Daily

It might help to briefly summarize the Book of Job, since the book is so condensed in the readings we hear this week. After Job is afflicted, losing everything and everyone he loves most, losing bodily health and physical comfort, he is visited by three of his friends. They come to comfort him, but after sitting with him in silence for days, they chastise him. They see only guilt when God allows a man to be afflicted. The reading today comes after multiple rounds of discourse, in which Job’s friends repeat the idea that Job must have sinned, otherwise he wouldn’t be so afflicted.

Job knows that he is blameless. He intelligently summarizes his friends’ arguments and points out that he is known for being upright. Job’s repeated refrain is this: “I know that God is good and just, and that He has the right to do whatever He wants. But I have not sinned, and I don’t understand why He is letting me be afflicted. Let me state my case to Him, and let Him listen to me.”

It is in this context that Job says the words in our reading: “But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust” (Job 19:25). Job does not say this after hearing good news. He says this at the lowest point of his life, without family and berated by friends. There is no reason for him to believe that things will get better. Yet, he still trusts God. He does not necessarily believe that his fortunes will be restored. But he trusts that God has a reason for His actions. He trusts that if God would hear him out and explain Himself to him, the answer would be sufficient. Even in excruciating pain, Job knows that God is good.

The seventy-two disciples in today’s Gospel have to practice a different sort of trust in God. Jesus sends them out “like lambs among wolves” — not good prospects for safety (Luke 10:3). Yet, He tells them to cure the sick, and also to raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons (see Matt 10:8). How are they supposed to do this as lambs among wolves? Jesus does not say. But He expects them to work these miracles. As Job had to trust God in the midst of the most difficult experiences of his life, the seventy-two had to trust that Jesus could work miracles through them. And He did, as they report when they return.

These faithful disciples of Our Lord cause us to look within ourselves: Do you really trust God? Do you believe that He knows what He is doing and that it is good, even if His actions seem unreasonable? Do you believe that He can work miracles in you, even in the midst of danger and uncertainty? Do you trust Him, even when there appears to be no reason why you should?

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Puede resultar útil resumir brevemente el Libro de Job, ya que el libro está muy condensado en las lecturas que escuchamos esta semana. Después de que Job se ve afligido, perdiendo todo y a todos los que más amaba, perdiendo la salud corporal y la comodidad física, lo visitan tres amigos suyos. Vienen a consolarlo, pero después de sentarse con él en silencio durante días, lo castigan. Solo ven culpa cuando Dios permite que un hombre sea afligido. La lectura de hoy viene después de múltiples rondas de discursos, en los que los amigos de Job repiten la idea de que Job debe haber pecado, de lo contrario no estaría tan afligido.

Job sabe que es inocente. Resume inteligentemente los argumentos de sus amigos y señala que es conocido por ser recto. El estribillo repetido de Job es este: “Sé que Dios es bueno y justo, y que tiene derecho a hacer lo que quiera. Pero yo no he pecado, y no entiendo por qué permite que yo sea afligido. Déjame exponerle mi caso, y que me escuche”.

Es en este contexto que Job dice las palabras de la lectura de hoy: “Yo sé bien que mi defensor está vivo y que al final se levantará a favor del humillado” (Job 19,25). Job no dice esto después de escuchar buenas noticias. Lo dice en el punto más bajo de su vida, sin familia y reprendido por sus amigos. No hay razón para que crea que las cosas mejorarán. Sin embargo, todavía confía en Dios. No cree necesariamente que su fortuna será restaurada. Pero confía en que Dios tiene una razón para sus acciones. Confía en que si Dios lo escuchara y se explicara, Su respuesta sería suficiente. Incluso en medio de un dolor insoportable, Job sabe que Dios es bueno.

Los setenta y dos discípulos en el Evangelio de hoy tienen que practicar un tipo diferente de confianza en Dios. Jesús los envía “como corderos en medio de lobos”; no con buenas perspectivas de seguridad (Lucas 10,3). Sin embargo, les dice que curen a los enfermos, que también resuciten a los muertos, que limpien a los leprosos y que expulsen a los demonios (ver Mateo 10,8). ¿Cómo se supone que deben hacer esto como corderos en medio de lobos? Jesús no lo dice. Pero espera que hagan estos milagros. Así como Job tuvo que confiar en Dios en medio de las experiencias más difíciles de su vida, los setenta y dos tuvieron que confiar en que Jesús podía obrar milagros a través de ellos. Y lo hizo, como cuentan cuando regresan.

Estos fieles discípulos de Nuestro Señor nos hacen mirar adentro de nosotros mismos: ¿Realmente confías en Dios? ¿Crees que Él sabe lo que está haciendo y que es bueno, incluso si sus acciones parecen irrazonables? ¿Crees que Él puede obrar milagros en ti, incluso en medio del peligro y la incertidumbre? ¿Confías en Él, incluso cuando parece que no hay razón para que lo hagas?

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Now that I have two little boys I am often thinking about all the times in Scripture that children are depicted as the height of sanctity. On one hand, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I see my two year old climbing on top of our table and getting close to jumping off and immediately think to myself, “Why are we supposed to be more like children?”

But on the other hand, it is really easy to see how Christ calls us to be more like children in today’s Gospel. They have such a beautiful innocence, they are humble because they rely on their parents for almost everything, they are more loving than anyone, and they have a contagious joy that fills the home.

There are certainly difficult moments when raising children, especially two that are under two, but the beautiful moments far outweigh the difficult ones and they even give the difficult ones purpose. When I watch my two year old laugh out loud at the wonder of bubbles or my two month old smile when he figures out his voice for the first time, I am in love.

I have to imagine that this is a small glimpse of the way God sees us all. We are all so small and insignificant compared to the glory of God, however, he chooses to love us unconditionally. We are completely dependent on God and he chooses to love us and protect us and keep us in his care. Sometimes we do things that don’t make sense. God loves us through those moments too. Like a good father guiding his children through life, God is with us.

I think perhaps today’s Gospel is meant to be read as a love letter from a father to his children. He is not so much asking us to go back to a time where we weren’t as aware of things or didn’t have knowledge of the truth, but rather, he is asking us to trust. Like the child who trusts his parents completely, God wants the same trust and humility from us so he can take care of us.

This is perhaps why the Catechism in paragraph 142 states, “By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, the obedience of faith.”

God wants all of us. He wants us to trust him with everything that we are. This becomes difficult if we think we can do it all on our own and become our own god. But if we have the humility of a child and trust in our loving father, then God is able to love us the way that he desires, with pure, full, unconditional love.

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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Ahora que tengo dos hijos pequeños, a menudo pienso en todas las veces en las Escrituras donde se describe a los niños como la cumbre de la santidad. Por un lado, esto no tiene mucho sentido. Veo a mi hijo de dos años trepándose en la mesa a punto de saltar y de inmediato pienso: “¿Por qué se supone que debemos ser más como niños?”

Pero, por otro lado, es muy fácil ver cómo Cristo nos llama a ser más como niños en el Evangelio de hoy. Tienen una inocencia tan hermosa, son humildes porque confían en sus padres para casi todo, son más cariñosos que nadie y tienen una alegría contagiosa que llena el hogar.

Sin duda, hay momentos difíciles cuando se crían los hijos, especialmente dos que tienen menos de dos años, pero los momentos hermosos superan bastante a los difíciles e incluso les dan un propósito a los difíciles. Cuando veo a mi hijo de dos años reír a carcajadas ante la maravilla de las burbujas o a mi hijo de dos meses sonreír cuando descubre su voz por primera vez, quedo enamorado.

Tengo que imaginar que esto es un pequeño vistazo de la forma en que Dios nos ve a todos. Todos somos tan pequeños e insignificantes comparados con la gloria de Dios, sin embargo, Él elige amarnos incondicionalmente. Somos completamente dependientes de Dios y Él elige amarnos, protegernos y mantenernos bajo su cuidado. A veces hacemos cosas que no tienen sentido. Dios nos ama también en esos momentos. Como buen padre que guía a sus hijos a lo largo de la vida, Dios está con nosotros.

Creo que tal vez el Evangelio de hoy debe leerse como una carta de amor de un padre a sus hijos. No nos está pidiendo tanto que volvamos a un tiempo en el que no éramos tan conscientes de las cosas o no teníamos conocimiento de la verdad, sino que nos está pidiendo que confiemos. Como el niño que confía completamente en sus padres, Dios quiere la misma confianza y humildad de nosotros para poder cuidar de nosotros.

Tal vez por eso el Catecismo, en el párrafo 143, afirma: “Por la fe, el hombre somete completamente su inteligencia y su voluntad a Dios. Con todo su ser, el hombre da su asentimiento a Dios que revela. La sagrada Escritura llama ‘obediencia de la fe’ a esta respuesta del hombre a Dios que revela.”

Dios nos quiere a todos. Quiere que le confiemos todo lo que somos. Esto se vuelve difícil si pensamos que podemos hacerlo todo por nosotros mismos y convertirnos en nuestro propio dios. Pero si tenemos la humildad de un niño y confiamos en nuestro padre amoroso, entonces Dios es capaz de amarnos como él desea, con un amor puro, pleno e incondicional.

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

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When the disciples are tasked with feeding five thousand men across from the Sea of Galilee, they are understandably dumbfounded: How can they feed so large a crowd with no food of their own, not much money, and five barley loaves and two fish? Yet, they do not bat an eye when Jesus tells them to prepare the crowd for a meal. Instead of relying on their own intuition and arguing with Jesus about the absurdity of feeding over five thousand people with such a small amount of food, they simply do what He says, knowing that He will provide for His people.

The disciples understand our Gospel acclamation, that “one does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). They have no idea how to approach the situation, but they have learned to trust in Jesus’ direction, even for matters of physical survival. His direction is better than anything they could come up with, even if it seems absurd at the time.

This outlook complements that of the psalmist, whose sole aim is to dwell in the house of the Lord rather than in other, more familiar places. And in our First Reading, we see Gamaliel saying something similar: “If [the gospel message] comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:39). He does not want to resist something that might come from God, even if he does not understand it.

Gamaliel, the psalmist, and the disciples see the point of remaining fixed on God, trusting in His direction even when it is difficult. They know that if God ordains something, guiding it with His hand, it cannot fail. If He gives direction, it will not be followed in vain. To dwell in His house is better than all else.

This is a profound trust that we need to adopt in our own lives. There is a subtle self-reliance that creeps in when we spend too much time seeking security by our own efforts alone. We plan far ahead, without consulting God concerning what He wants for our lives and for our loved ones. Inevitably, our best laid plans fail, and we make new ones, which fare no better. If we are not used to consulting God and trusting that He truly has things under control, we rely on worldly methods to maintain security, prestige, and wealth, so that we can have everything necessary for a good and peaceful life. Seeking easy steps to success, we look to social media and popular wisdom to solve our problems. If these solutions are divorced from spirituality, they never bring us the peace and security we seek.

Ultimately, we need to trust in what God has already told us through readings such as these. Even and especially when things look confusing and hopeless, God is in control. We must listen to Him and seek His will in these moments through prayer, Scripture, the sacraments, and spiritual direction, trusting in what He tells us, even if we cannot understand the reasons for it. We cannot expect to fully understand the ways of God, but that does not mean that they are inferior to the ways we can come up with on our own. Dwelling in His house is the goal, and His direction and protection are best for us in all situations.

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Cuando los discípulos tienen la tarea de alimentar a cinco mil hombres al otro lado del Mar de Galilea, se quedan estupefactos: ¿Cómo pueden alimentar a una multitud tan grande sin comida propia, sin mucho dinero, cinco panes de cebada y dos peces? Sin embargo, no se inmutan cuando Jesús les dice que preparen a la multitud para una comida. En lugar de confiar en su propia intuición y discutir con Jesús acerca de lo absurdo de alimentar a más de cinco mil personas con una cantidad tan pequeña de comida, simplemente hacen lo que les manda, sabiendo que proveerá para Su pueblo.

Los discípulos entienden nuestra aclamación evangélica, que “No sólo de pan vive el hombre, sino también de toda palabra que sale de la boca de Dios.” (Mt 4,4). No tienen idea de cómo abordar la situación, pero han aprendido a confiar en la dirección de Jesús, incluso en cuestiones de supervivencia física. Su orientación es mejor que cualquier cosa que se les haya ocurrido, incluso si parece absurdo en ese momento.

Esta perspectiva complementa la del salmista, cuyo único objetivo es morar en la casa del Señor y no en otros lugares más familiares. Y en nuestra Primera Lectura, vemos a Gamaliel diciendo algo similar: “si lo que se proponen y están haciendo es de origen humano, se acabará por sí mismo. Pero si es cosa de Dios, no podrán ustedes deshacerlo. No se expongan a luchar contra Dios” (Hechos 5:39). No quiere resistirse a algo que podría venir de Dios, aunque no lo entienda.

Gamaliel, el salmista y los discípulos ven el punto de mantenerse fijos en Dios, confiando en Su orientación incluso cuando sea difícil. Saben que si Dios ordena algo, guiándolo con Su mano, no puede fallar. Si orienta a alguien, sus indicaciones no serán seguidas en vano. Morar en Su casa es mejor que cualquier otra cosa.

Esta es una confianza profunda que necesitamos adoptar en nuestras propias vidas. Hay una autosuficiencia sutil que se cuela cuando pasamos demasiado tiempo buscando seguridad solo con nuestros propios esfuerzos. Planeamos con mucha anticipación, sin consultar a Dios sobre lo que quiere para nuestra vida y la de nuestros seres queridos. Inevitablemente, nuestros planes fallan y creamos otros nuevos, y no nos va mejor. Si no estamos acostumbrados a consultar a Dios y confiar en que realmente tiene las cosas bajo su control, nos apoyamos en métodos mundanos para mantener la seguridad, el prestigio y la riqueza, para que podamos tener todo lo necesario para una vida buena y pacífica. Buscando pasos fáciles hacia el éxito, recurrimos a las redes sociales y la sabiduría popular para resolver nuestros problemas. Si estas soluciones están separadas de la espiritualidad, nunca nos traerán la paz y la seguridad que buscamos.

En última instancia, debemos confiar en lo que Dios ya nos ha dicho a través de las escrituras, como las lecturas de hoy. Incluso y especialmente cuando las cosas parecen confusas y sin esperanza, Dios tiene todo bajo control. Debemos escucharlo y buscar su voluntad en estos momentos a través de la oración, la Escritura, los sacramentos y la dirección espiritual, confiando en lo que nos dice, aunque no podamos entender las razones. No podemos esperar comprender completamente los caminos de Dios, pero eso no significa que sean inferiores a los caminos que podemos encontrar por nuestra cuenta. Morar en Su casa es la meta, y Su orientación y su protección son lo mejor para nosotros en todas las situaciones.

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“When they heard this, they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.”

The Apostles were so convicted by their experience of Jesus Christ, that they continued to tell his story even when those in power wanted to put them to death. Let that sink in for a moment. They wanted them put to death. And the Apostles did not stop. 

We live in a time when we are taught not to discuss religion and politics. We have witnessed people shamed and brought down for standing up for their convictions. It is a time of “political correctness” and “cancel culture”. 

This hits home hard for me. It is hard for me to even write these words. I am ashamed to admit that there have been times in my life when I have not brought up my faith because I was afraid it would make for an uncomfortable dinner conversation. I have neglected to share the grace I have received, because I wasn’t sure how the person would react, they might think I was weird or worse. I had a job once where I was cautioned to tuck in my crucifix because I was around people who didn’t like Catholics and I complied. No one has threatened my life, but there have definitely been times when I didn’t tell the story of Jesus Christ and the wonders he has worked. For that I am ashamed. 

A personal encounter with Jesus Christ has the ability to transform us. A personal encounter with Jesus Christ is able to take us outside of ourselves and move us into meaningful encounters with others. It is our mission to go out into the world and tell the story of Jesus Christ and his mercy. We are not to tell it once and then go back home, we are to tell the story over and over. More than that, we are to live the story. We are to live in such a way that mercy is our hallmark; where telling others how much they are loved is part of just who we are and how we operate. 

So I will take comfort from John’s words in the Gospel. “He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.” As I bend my will to conform more and more to God’s will, I can trust that God will not ration his gift of the Spirit so that each day I can start anew and along with the Psalmist “bless the Lord at all times.” Even when it feels uncomfortable. 

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