12 November 2025 - the returner

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"

The ten lepers had an illness that defined their entire existence. Even if they ever experienced momentary relief from the symptoms, they were still exiled from the wider society around them, outcasts and pariahs. When the painful and crippling illness was at its worst there was no one to whom they could turn except others who were so preoccupied with their own condition that they could do little to help. But these outcasts on the outskirts had still somehow heard of the healing ministry of Jesus. They had nothing to lose by seeking him out. They way they approached him respectfully. The words they used to plead with him seemed to indicate a genuine hope, a real readiness to receive what he might be able to give. 

And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.

The fact that they followed the instructions of Jesus and went before they were cleansed was a sign of faith on the part of all ten of them. It isn't entirely clear whether or not the nine who did not return realized what had happened before they found priests to confirm their cure. But it is clear that one of them did realize what was happening so deeply that he could no longer follow the instructions of Jesus to the letter. The priests could wait. They would still be there. But he might not get another opportunity to say thank you.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 

Within the Church all cleansed by the saving waters of baptism, all who confess their sins with contrition and receive absolution are forgiven, and all who receive Holy Communion receive the body and blood, soul and divinity, of Jesus himself. But not all, perhaps not most, are much changed by these realities. They have some effect, probably, on everyone. But not enough on most that it causes them to actually interrupt their routines with gratefulness and thanksgiving. There was something admirable about the attention with which the one leper who returned noticed what Jesus had done in him. 

Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."

Perhaps the fact that he was a foreigner helped. He wasn't so caught up in expectations and a sense of what he ought to do in regard to the priests that felt the need to respond to Jesus in an overly literalistic way. The letter always brought death when it was pushed too far. But the Spirit always brought life (see Second Corinthians 3:6). The priests represented a return to society and to the worshiping community. However, Jesus himself represented a new centrality of both community and worship. It was one thing to reclaim one's position in the old passing order. It was another to find one's place in the Kingdom. The debate between Samaritans and Jews about the proper place to worship was even then in the midst of being superseded. The one leper who returned was and fell at the feet of Jesus must have been, in some way, by that very act, worshiping in Spirit and truth (see John 4:24).

Newsboys - Praises

 

11 November 2025 - unprofitable servants

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?

We tend to feel sympathetic for the servant who endured the long day in the field but who had work yet to do before he could rest. But should the solid day's work he had done actually exempt him from serving the master? Was the master now somehow in his debt and such a way that he owed him leisure? Or was the master not still the master and he the servant? No doubt many who labor in the vineyard of the Lord expend considerable effort in what is involved in that work day to day. But their service to others does not exempt them of their own duty toward the Lord. As they tended to the sheep or the crops they then also need to tend to their own relationship with Jesus. They were not permitted to be lax in this regard. It is of considerable importance that they not only work for the master but also love him, and signaled that love directly. In some ways, it is true, feeding the sheep does count as feeding Christ. But when our work becomes in excuse to neglect our duties of devotion this is something else. This is important to remember because there is always a tension where we can lose ourselves in what is required of us and forget that which is supposed to be the core and foundation of our efforts. The primary symptom that this has been forgotten is a sense of entitlement, in which we believe that God now owes us this or that. But we never put God in our debt. The fact that we are called to serve him is a privilege rather than a burden. We should not try to find rest apart from him, but rather the rest that comes through being faithful to him. 

Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?

When we insist on putting ourselves first our priorities are misaligned and we can't enjoy the true rest promised to the followers of Jesus. We are called to order our lives to him rather than insisting that he reorder his life and Kingdom toward our particular idiosyncrasies. Not insisting on our own merit while serving in the field and serving at table help prepare us to appreciate and enjoy the full magnitude of the gift in which he himself waits upon us. We know that it is ultimately this gift of grace that is the climax and culmination of his plans for us. We receive a foretaste of it in the Eucharist. And it is this feast that we will enjoy forever in heaven.

 

Patricia Fauccett - God And Man At Table Are Sat Down

 

10 November 2025 - not everybody must get millstoned

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.

The fact that there will inevitably be temptations all around us in this fallen world does not give us an excuse to become a cause of scandal ourselves. Without this warning we might have assumed otherwise. If we were, as we in fact are, surrounded by a world preoccupied with power, lust, and dishonesty, how much could it really matter if we occasionally fell into such behavior ourselves? Would it not be sufficient if we met the mark most of the time, and at least maintained the need for virtue through what we said, if not always what we did? But to Jesus it was clearly one thing to fall ourselves, and another to normalize sinful behavior by our example. He taught that in response to personal sin one ought to be forgiven as many times as necessary, with seven in one day signifying perfection. But even though mercy is infinite and there are no limits on the forgiveness God intends to make available, even though sin itself is in some way inevitable, we must still do all we can to avoid causing scandal. Presumably this is more of a problem when we obstinately and willfully commit sins in full public view rather than occasionally falling to those sins against which we actively struggle. Paul didn't normalize anything when he called himself the chief of sinners. He wasn't giving his readers permission to go and sin boldly, knowing that grace would abound (see Romans 6:1-2). We may not have a leadership role like Paul. We may not be politicians or other public figures. But we all have the ability to set an example for others. Or not. And our choices in this matter come with heightened consequences. If we are pursuing forgiveness, both giving it and receiving it, we will likely be sufficiently sensitized to avoid scandal more often than not. We won't want to lead people down a path from which it is hard to acknowledge the need of mercy. It was for this, among other things, that Jesus condemned the Pharisees, saying, "For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves" (see Matthew 23:15).

And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

No doubt, upon hearing this urgency, the Apostles were beginning to wonder exactly for what they had signed up when they accepted the call of Jesus to follow him. They had just heard about inevitable human weakness and dire consequences. They had been commanded to pursue a level of willingness to forgive that was supernatural. It would have been terrible to attempt such a life on merely human strength. Importantly, they recognized their need for faith. Fortunately, no matter how many and deep were the roots of the mulberry tree of fallen human nature, a small amount of faith would be enough. What was not possible in the natural order because possible in the order of the Spirit. What was inevitable in the postlapsarian world was no longer inevitable in the Kingdom of God.

Love justice, you who judge the earth;
think of the Lord in goodness,
and seek him in integrity of heart;
Because he is found by those who test him not,
and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.

 

The Hillbilly Thomists - Leaning On The Everlasting Arms

 

9 November 2025 - cleaning house

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

If we are the temple of God, what does he find within the courts of our hearts that are meant to be set aside for his worship? Do we have modern equivalents of oxen, sheep, and doves being bought and sold? Is the hubbub of commerce drowning out the quiet voice of worship within us? What makes our spiritual temple too busy, too noisy, or too crowded for God? Is there something other than him taking up a majority of our internal world and leaving him only the leftovers? 

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.

There may be an empty veneer of spirituality reflected in the temple of our hearts. After all, these animals sold in the temple in the time of Jesus were there to be offered as sacrifices according to the law. Those who sold them, sold them so they could be used to that end. Those who purchased them did so for the sake of worship. Those who exchanged money helped to facilitate this since Roman coins could not be used for sacred purposes. And yet the atmosphere made it clear that the true purpose and original intention that all of this may have once had was lost. The commerce itself had come to dominate in such a way that individuals who actually desired to pray would have found it difficult to focus. The courts where all this was happening were intended to be a place where the Gentiles could worship, so that the temple could be a house of prayer for all people. But good luck worshiping in such an environment. One might as well try to do so at Walmart.

It doesn't have to be money. There are many things that can crowd God out of our inner world. And when this happens we discover that, like the temple in the time of Jesus, we not only don't have room for him, but we don't have room for other people. It is too noisy inside to communicate and far too cluttered with distractions to have peace. People in the temple mostly in some way benefited from all the chaos. And the fact that we ourselves reap some minor rewards for our chaotic inner life helps ensure that we don't challenge our own status quo. Jesus, however, knows that we are made for more. 

He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."

At first when Jesus overturns the comfort of our lives we may be offended. We may wonder what right he had to do so and demand a sign to show his authority. But the peace and quiet that follow his incursion into the protected space of our ego may be so welcome that we end up applauding and thanking him for his effort. We may suddenly see what all of the hype surrounding the potential of prayer is about when we finally have to bandwidth to actually attempt it. When this happens, we won't want to go back to the way things had been.

We should thank the Lord that he desires to live in us as in a temple, and that zeal for this house prevents him from leaving us to our own resources, dwelling in the pitiful conditions we have created. The fact of the matter is that it took zeal on his part to achieve this transformation in us, because it didn't come cheaply. It took the destruction of the temple of his Body to put our old self to death so that we could be raised up as living stones in a new and spiritual temple. Because Jesus endured what he did for us we can now offer new and spiritual sacrifices, living our lives as gifts of thanksgiving in return for that which he first gave us. When we become gifts for Jesus in this way he also uses us to bless others. We become the living water that flows from the temple, giving life and well-being to waters others stagnant and dead.

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.

Phil Wickham - House Of The Lord

 

8 November 2025 - who will give you what is yours?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

If we actually acquire wealth through intentional dishonesty on our part we ought to make restitution rather than spending it ourselves for any cause, however prudent. We are not being given permission to cheat others even for the sake of a praiseworthy goal. But Jesus does want us to understand the ways that all wealth is in some measure dishonest. This is partly because of systemic corruption that makes it almost impossible to participate in the economy without at least remote cooperation with evil. In regard to this problem with wealth we ought to do our best to avoid feeding the corruption and to invest in causes trying to make the world more just. But even this more noble use of wealth carries in it some measure of dishonesty. It carries the subtle hint the wealth itself has a power that can perfect the world. It insinuates the idea the problems are fundamentally problems of the markets, or of economic distribution, or of the divide between the rich and the poor. Wealth would have us believe that, although it caused these problems, it could solve them if we simply served it more faithfully. It tells us two things that are definitely false. The first is that money can overcome problems that are of a fundamentally moral nature. The second is that money can achieve anything permanently and definitively. In response to the first, we know that moral problems reside in human hearts where wealth is more likely to exacerbate rather than heal. And we know that even the most noble uses of wealth lead to solutions that are ultimately temporary. Even if a good project doesn't succumb to corruption its effects will eventually fade into history and no longer be felt in the present. This is why we must use our wealth prudently, as people with eternal destinies, for the sake of the Kingdom. It is the only goal that can last, and therefore matters so much that even other good things are trivial by comparison.

The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.

Why must we even contend with wealth one way or the other? Because by doing so we demonstrate our readiness for eternity. When we use our wealth for the sake of the Kingdom we demonstrate a beginner level of self-possession, where we are not being manipulated by wealth, but using it in moral freedom. When we can deal with the temporary resources we have been given, without the need for deceit or concealment, we demonstrate integrity, signaling our readiness to live in the world to come, where all things will be revealed, and where nothing can be hidden. Little by little, as faithful stewards, we eliminate the shadows in which our egos hide and emerge into the light. By contrast, those who insist on remaining in the shadows even in the temporal affairs signal their unwillingness to dwell in the light, whatever they may profess with their words. Fearfully, these true intentions of theirs are the ones that may be honored if they persist to the end.

If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?

If we want treasure in heaven we can't allow the treasures of earth to rule us, and, to the measure that we have been entrusted with them, we must not squander them. Just as with our time and our talents we are called to be faithful stewards of our treasures, demonstrating that Jesus really is the Lord of our lives. As we move from serving the ego self to devotion to him we are prepared, through grace, to receive the only reward that can last, the one gift worth receiving, and the only true wealth: God himself.

Pat Barrett featuring Christ Tomlin - As For Me

 

7 November 2025 - cheat your ego

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’

What will we hear when we stand before the judgment seat of God? We have been entrusted with much, with natural gifts and spiritual treasures. Jesus said that we will even be judged for careless speech, for every idle word (see Matthew 12:36). We don't have the strength our skill to gain or maintain the gift of life that only God can give. We aren't strong enough to dig. Hopefully we are not too proud to beg, since we know that God is often moved with compassion at our pleas for mercy. We know that our God is merciful. But we also know that he requires a response to his mercy. Even our begging will only go so far if it is only perfunctory and does not represent a real change of heart, a genuine desire for conversion. 

I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.

The dishonest steward realized that there was no sense trying to maintain a temporal advantage in the face of potentially permanent consequences. This led him to make choices we can't entirely endorse. But part of his plan can be useful to us. We can use the temporary things of this world in the light of our hope for eternity. We can use the wealth of this world, which is always in some measure "dishonest", for the sake of finding habitation in the world to come. Whenever we use our time, talent, or resources, for the sake of others, we are winning potential friends who can help pray us through our final purification and into heaven. Even if it is not always they themselves who do so, we are also reaching out to Jesus who is present in them. He will ensure that what we do for the poor and disadvantaged will not be unrewarded. 

He called in his master’s debtors one by one.
To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’

We often have a hard time relinquishing those things that were entrusted to us, even when by doing so we can help to give freedom to others. We seem ready to hold on to them even when they aren't doing anything for us at the moment, and even though we know that we can't keep them forever. But in the light of the knowledge of the certain of judgment, and the shortness of life in this world compared to eternity, perhaps we can loosen our grip.

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

As Christians we act prudently when our actions in this world are ordered toward God and the world to come. Again, it does not mean that we are free to engage in immoral acts like cheating in order to attain our goals. But it does mean that we see the relative value and impermanence of things like wealth and put them to use accordingly. Or we may put it thus: let us cheat our egos for the sake of others. Any strategies we can use to slip past the protective shell that keeps us trapped inside ourselves is probably worth a try. Any way we can fool ourselves into letting go and letting God have his way in us is likely better than trying to hold what we know we cannot keep.

For I will not dare to speak of anything
except what Christ has accomplished through me 

 

Ubi Caritas Et Amor

 

6 November 2025 - to seek and save the lost

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Jesus was a visible manifestation of the heart of the Father. He came because God so loved the world that he, the only Son, was sent to save it. The Pharisees were content to restrict God's mercy and to set limits on his love. They thought they were already walking in it themselves and had no significant motivation to share it. To them, most of the world seemed like a lost cause. But the Pharisees were not necessarily correct about their own relationship to God being entirely healthy. Their unwillingness to share it to others was compounded by the fact that they were typically unable to do much to help to bring others to God. Sinners and tax collectors were more likely to have a negative effect on them, rather than receiving anything beneficial from them. They weren't well equipped to make a difference, and even if they had been, their hearts weren't in it.

What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?

Jesus had an entirely different attitude toward the lost sheep of Israel. He didn't see them as a liability. He pursued them as only someone not concerned with normal human limitations would do. He could seek the lost sheep without risk to himself or risk to the ninety-nine that remained behind. The Pharisees had to be concerned with themselves and with those who already gave the appearance of a spiritual life. They only had so much attention they could apply to all of the things that clamored for their attention. Thus, they found competing claims threatening, and focused mainly on keeping themselves safe. They weren't about to go on expedition to dinners with sinners, because, after all, what benefit was that to them? But Jesus was different. He was free from the prison of selfishness that ensnared most of the world and was thus able to be entirely available to search for every sheep that went astray. 

It is only in Christ that we ourselves may become free from the prison of self and available for others. This is what Paul described in his letter to the church at Rome:

None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

When we belong to him we begin to share his joy when the lost sheep is located and the lost coin is found. In fact, the degree to which we do share this joy is a good indicator of the degree to which God's priorities have become our own. This joy is the beginning of that which will be fully realized in the heavenly banquet. It will be filled, not only with our own joy that we managed to make it home, but with the joy of God himself in the fact that he brought us safely into his presence.

We Belong To God