(Jer.14:17-22; Ps.79:8-9,11,13; Mt.13:36-43) “Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low.” If the prophet’s “eyes stream with tears day and night, without rest, over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of [his] people, over her incurable wound,” how many more tears will there be “at the end of the world” when the “weeds are collected and burned”? For in our first reading Jeremiah sees “those slain...
Jul 29, 2024•4 min
(Jer.13:1-11; Dt.32:18-21; Mt.13:31-35) “You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you. You forgot the God who gave you birth.” So Moses says of the people he led through the desert. So Jeremiah is told of the Lord’s chosen at the time of the Babylonian exile. So it is with those who are deaf to Jesus’ parables. And so we, too, forget the Lord whenever we turn from Him in sin. So close were the Lord’s children to Him and His blessings: “As close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so had I...
Jul 28, 2024•4 min
(Jer.7:1-11; Ps.84:2-6,8,11; Mt.13:24-30) “Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place.” We hear again today of the failure of “the temple of the Lord” and its sacrifices to bring the Israelites to the eternal presence of God. For though the Lord “sowed good seed in His field,” though He made His temple a house of prayer, it has become “a den of thieves” in the eyes of His chosen. And the Lord “see[s] what is being done.” And because they “steal and murder, commi...
Jul 26, 2024•5 min
(Jer.3:14-17; Jer.31:10-13; Mt.13:18-23) “At that time they will call Jerusalem the Lord’s throne; there all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the Lord at Jerusalem.” I would like today to focus the attention particularly of the Lord’s chosen race on the following prophecy of the great Jeremiah: “They will in those days no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord!’ or miss it, or make another.” For I must in obedience to the Spirit of Truth ask the question: If the t...
Jul 25, 2024•5 min
(Jer.1:1,4-10; Ps.71:1-6,15,17; Mt.13:1-9) “O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.” So does the seed grow, and bear fruit in the sight of the Lord. Our psalmist declares, “On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.” Indeed we are planted in our mother’s womb and we grow by the grace of the Lord. And as our bodies grow so gradually from the womb of our mother, so our spirits, too, grow from the womb of our Mother, ...
Jul 23, 2024•4 min
(Mic.7:14-15,18-20; Ps.85:2-8; Mt.12:46-50) “Then extending His hands to His disciples, He said, ‘There are my mother and my brothers.’” The Lord’s blessing rests upon all who worship Him in spirit and in truth, and it comes to us primarily through the forgiveness of our sins. For the Lord extends His hands to His disciples first of all to “cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.” This is His principal work, He whose name means “God saves.” And by such compassion poured upon us, by His “tr...
Jul 22, 2024•4 min
(Mic.2:1-5; Ps.10:1-4,7-8,12,14; Mt.12:14-21) “When the Pharisees were outside they began to plot against Jesus to find a way to destroy Him.” Is it not of these David sings when he declares, “He lurks in ambush near the villages; in hiding he murders the innocent; his eyes spy upon the unfortunate”? And though He withdraw from them this day, though He will silently subject Himself to torture and death at their hands, be assured that the Lord is “planning against this race an evil from which [th...
Jul 19, 2024•5 min
(Is.38:1-8,21-22; Is.38:10-12,16-17; Mt.12:1-8) “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.” “When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die.’” When the Jewish race was about to perish for lack of love, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to the Pharisees and declared, “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice.” And if they heed not His word, they indeed shall die. But wi...
Jul 18, 2024•5 min
(Is.26:7-9,12,16-19; Ps.102:13-21; Mt.11:28-30) “The Lord looked down from His holy height, from heaven He beheld the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” Yes, “we cried out in anguish under [His] chastising. As a woman about to give birth… we conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind.” Empty were our works; dead in sin were we. But the Lord took pity on His people. Though “oppressed by [His] punishment” and as prisoners in chains, the time arr...
Jul 17, 2024•5 min
(Is.10:5-7,13-16; Ps.94:5-10,14-15; Mt.11:25-27) “Shall He who instructs nations not chastise, He who teaches men knowledge?” Again we learn the basic teaching of the Lord: The exalted are humbled and the humbled exalted. In our first reading “the Lord of hosts” promises to “send among His fat ones leanness” – condemning Assyria for the pride it takes in its “own power”; and in our gospel Jesus “offer[s] praise” to His “Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” declaring, “What you have hidden from the...
Jul 16, 2024•5 min
(Is.7:1-9; Ps.48:2-9; Mt.11:20-24) “Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!” “Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail.” For “great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God” and “renowned is He as a stronghold.” But the faithless shall be as the rebellious nations which came against the Lord and His anointed: these “shall not stand” but “shall be crushed.” Though “the kings assemble, [though] they come on together” against the “city of ...
Jul 15, 2024•4 min
(Is.1:10-17; Ps.50:8-9,16-17,21,23; Mt.10:34-11:1) “Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean!” Elsewhere in Scripture we read, “The Lord chastises those whom He loves” (Heb.12:6), and this truth is made evident in our readings today. The Lord commands us through the prophecy of Isaiah, “Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good.” Our psalm continues the same theme, declaring again in the voice of God, “You hate discipline and cast my words behind y...
Jul 14, 2024•5 min
(Is.6:1-8; Ps.93:1-2,5; Mt.10:24-33) “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,’ they cried one to the other. ‘All the earth is filled with His glory.’” Hear the angels’ song. It is their praise, which fills the heavens like fragrant incense, that our psalmist proclaims: “The Lord is king, in splendor robed; robed is the Lord and girt about with strength.” Exalted is the majesty of the Father in heaven, upon whom no eye can gaze, and so of His Son. And rightly does the prophet Isaiah – “a man of u...
Jul 12, 2024•5 min
(Hos.14:2-10; Ps.51:3-4,8-9,12-14,17; Mt.10:16-23) “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.” Hosea instructs the Israelites, “Take with you words, and return to the Lord,” and this David does in his psalm of sorrow. In “sincerity of heart” he begs the Lord’s forgiveness for his sin and finds that the Lord creates “a clean heart” for him. “In [Him] the orphan finds compassion,” and so the humbled king receives the Lord’s cleansing grace. Because the Lord does “forgive all i...
Jul 11, 2024•4 min
(Hos.11:1,3-4,8-9; Ps.80:2-4,15-16; Mt.10:7-15) “I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you.” And He comes to us as do the disciples today, blessing each home as He enters. And “if the home is deserving, [His] blessing will descend upon it. If it is not, [His] blessing will return” to Him. Be careful to receive the blessing of the Lord, for if you reject Him, He will leave you, shaking the dust from His feet, and “it will go easier for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of jud...
Jul 10, 2024•4 min
(Hos.10:1-3,7-8,12; Ps.105:2-7; Mt.10:1-7) “Jesus sent these men on mission as the Twelve.” And in these men the Lord founds His Church, choosing “first Simon, now known as Peter,” as the Rock upon whom the Building rests, and in like fashion all the twelve apostles, upon whom He places His Spirit. And so the foundation is set. And so none can separate themselves from these and their teaching, for in them and in this Church, Jesus Himself resides. It is in their place the bishops stand; it is th...
Jul 09, 2024•5 min
(Hos.8:4-7,11-13; Ps.115:3-10; Mt.9:32-38) “Our God is in heaven; whatever He wills, He does. Their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men.” In Israel, the people have turned from worship of the living God and “with their silver and gold they made idols for themselves, to their own destruction.” As the golden “calf of Samaria” is “destined for the flames,” so they “shall be like them, everyone who trusts in them.” So empty are the lives of those who worship wood and stone, and to inevit...
Jul 08, 2024•5 min
(Hos.2:16-18,21-22; Ps.145:2-9; Mt.9:18-26) “When the crowd had been put out He entered and took her by the hand, and the little girl got up.” How like Hosea’s prophecy today is the Lord’s raising of Jairus’ daughter in our gospel. For the Lord speaks through His prophet, saying, “I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart,” and Jesus does this when He puts the crowd out of the house before whispering to the little girl to arise. And as the Lord declares in our first reading, “I will...
Jul 07, 2024•5 min
(Amos 9:11-15; Ps.85:9,11-14; Mt.9:14-17) “I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel.” Of the city of David, the Lord promises, “I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” Beautiful imagery is given indeed through the prophet Amos to illustrate the renewal of the land now fallen: “The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it.” Indeed, in His great grace the Lord vows, “Never again shall they be pl...
Jul 05, 2024•5 min
(Amos 8:4-6,9-12; Ps.119:2,10,20,30,40,131,Mt.4:46; Mt.9:9-13) “Many tax collectors and those known as sinners came to join Jesus and His disciples at dinner.” It is just such as these that Amos prophesies against in our first reading; it is sinners such as Matthew whom he addresses when he declares, “Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land!” For the apostle the Lord calls today is a tax collector, one of those famous for extorting money from his fellow Jews ev...
Jul 04, 2024•5 min
(Amos 7:10-17; Ps.19:8-11; Mt.9:1-8) “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Amos says of himself in our first reading: “The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people, Israel.” And so he can say, “Now hear the word of the Lord!” And so he can speak for God. And so he can reveal the Lord’s will to the people, calling them to return to His presence. Like the prophets is the law, of which David, another shepherd called by God – himself to be k...
Jul 03, 2024•5 min
(Amos 3:1-8,4:11-12; Ps.5:4-9; Mt.8:23-27) “The lion roars – who will not be afraid! The Lord God speaks – who will not prophesy!” Yes, the Lord prophesies against Israel today like a lion rending and roaring: “You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your crimes.” He brings upon His chosen “such upheaval as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: [they are] like a brand plucked from the fire.” In no uncertain terms does He cry out thr...
Jul 01, 2024•5 min
(Amos 2:6-10,13-16; Ps.50:16-23; Mt.8:18-22) “Consider this, you who forget God, lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.” What we should realize from our readings today is that the Word of the Lord is severe. Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, etc. – His chastising hand is upon us in the words He speaks to our sinful hearts. He does not nod and smile as we walk our errant ways, but calls us onto the strait path He treads. In our first reading and psalm the Lord recounts the sins of...
Jun 30, 2024•5 min
(2Kgs.25:1-12; Ps.137:1-6; Mt.8:1-4) “Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, led into exile the last of the people remaining in the city.” And so the exile is complete. Not a soul remains in the holy city. And their captors “burned the house of the Lord, the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem.” Not a stone is left standing one upon another. Not even the government appointed by the king of Babylon could remain. And they even “tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.” Now s...
Jun 27, 2024•6 min
(2Kgs.24:8-17; Ps.79:1-5,8,9; Mt.7:21-29) “The rains fell, the torrents came, the winds blew and lashed against his house. It collapsed under all this and was completely ruined.” Yes, “the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege,” and “Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother, his ministers, officers, and functionaries, surrendered to the king of Babylon, who… took him captive… None were left among the people of the land except t...
Jun 26, 2024•6 min
(2Kgs.22:8-13,23:1-3; Ps.119:33-37,40; Mt.7:15-20) “Lead me in the path of your commands, for in it I take delight.” The people of Judah and Jerusalem have been unfaithful to God and to the covenant made with Him, and so the time of their exile draws near: soon this remaining tribe of Israel shall join the others in being cast from their promised land. But today we hear of a faithful king, Josiah, who makes a kind of final effort, a final sign of faithfulness among the people, as he seeks to res...
Jun 25, 2024•5 min
(2Kgs.19:9-11,14-21,31-36; Ps.48:2-4,9-11; Mt.7:6,12-14) “I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.” Brothers and sisters, “renowned is He as a stronghold,” the Lord our God. And faithfully does He watch over His chosen one. Our psalmist proclaims, “Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God.” He extols the glory of Mount Zion, of Jerusalem, “the city of the great King,” for the blessings of God upon it. Here is His temple and ...
Jun 24, 2024•5 min
(2Chr.24:17-25; Ps.89:4-5,29-34; Mt.6:24-34) “Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has abandoned you.” How quickly Joash the king of Judah, who so recently had restored true worship in the temple at Jerusalem, “transgress[es] the Lord’s commands.” After Jehoiada the priest died, the people “forsook the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and began to serve the sacred poles and the idols.” And so, “wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.” So great is their apostasy that not only would t...
Jun 21, 2024•5 min
(2Kgs.11:1-4,9-18,20; Ps.132:11-14,17-18; Mt.6:19-23) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your body will be filled with light; if your eye is bad, your body will be in darkness.” And “how deep the darkness” is upon Athaliah. For her eye is evil, her “light is darkness,” as so desperately she seeks to “lay up for [herself] an earthly treasure” by unjust and murderous means. Seeing that her son, the king of Judah, has died, she attempts to hold on to his crown by killing all the...
Jun 20, 2024•6 min
(Sir.48:1-14; Ps.97:1-7,12; Mt.6:7-15) “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Our psalm sings of the greatness of our God; in our first reading we hear of how this greatness was revealed in the prophets Elijah and Elisha; and in the Lord’s Prayer we call for this greatness to be present in our midst. “Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes round about,” our psalmist declares in praise of God. “His lightnings illumine the world.” How great indeed is He: “The mount...
Jun 19, 2024•5 min
