Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Luke 6:20-26

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. 
For their ancestors treated the prophets
in the same way.

But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false 
prophets in this way.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s an African proverb, “When you pray, move your feet.” 

While God plays a role in this world, so do we. 

We are all responsible for making it a better place to live.

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Today we celebrate the life of Father Peter Claver, a priest from the 17^th century, who not only prayed for the world to change; he also moved his feet.

Distraught over the injustice of the slave trade, he moved from Spain to Cartagena, Colombia, vowing to become, “a slave to slaves forever.”

Every morning for 33 years, Father Peter went down to the shipping docks, where men, women, and children were unloaded after harrowing journeys across the Atlantic and sold into slavery.

While he couldn’t end that horrific practice, he courageously welcomed our brothers and sisters with food and water while preaching on themes from the Gospel – love, forgiveness, and eternal life.

By his death, he baptized over 300,000 people – and was the face of Christ for even more.

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Father Peter reminds us not to wait for someone else.

“When you pray, move your feet.”

Be the change you want to see today.

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Image credits: (1) br.pinterest.com (2) holymanna.blog (3) freepik.com

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Gospel: Matthew 1:18-23

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”

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Today the Church celebrates the first of those two days for Mary – her birthday. Hers is one of only three that we celebrate throughout the year. The other two belonging to Jesus and John the Baptist.

All three of them were born with a divine mission – a “why” for their existence. We can only imagine how different the world would be if any of them rejected God’s plans.

Consider how difficult it was for Mary, in particular. When the angel Gabriel appeared to her, revealing that she would become the Mother of God, she was only a teenager – scholars estimate fourteen.

She must’ve fretted over the great unknowns – her pregnancy, her wedding plans, her parents’ reaction, Joseph’s reaction, her future, and above all, caring for God in the flesh. 

But she reveals by her “yes” that she was not only faithful and pure of heart, she was also courageous.

Mary would continue to draw on that courage for the rest of her life, as she became Christ’s Mother and his disciple, following him faithfully to the Cross and beyond.

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Have we found our own “why,” God’s plan for our life?

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Perhaps the answer changes – or simplifies – over time. 

May Mary intercede for us, that like her we would discover God’s plan and courageously surrender to his will.

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Image credits: (1) playground.com (2) Quotefancy.com (3) Beads of Joy Blog II

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Gospel: Luke 6: 6-11

On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In ancient Palestine, most men made a living through manual labor. For example, Joseph was a carpenter. Paul was a tent maker. Peter was a fisherman. Tradition states that the man in today’s Gospel was a stone mason.

Like many other professions, masonry required the use of both hands. Thus, this man’s withered hand not only prevented him from working; it was also symbolic of his fate without an income.

Dead. 

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His injury also represented the withered hearts of the religious authorities, who were paralyzed by their harsh interpretation of the Law. While it was a good thing to heal this man’s hand, it was considered “work.”

And work was only permissible on six, not seven, days a week. The Sabbath was God’s appointed day of rest. This became what angered the Lord. People placed boundaries around the supreme law of charity.

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This Gospel scene poses a few points of reflection for us today.

Have our hearts become withered in any way? Do we ever place boundaries around charity? Do we miss opportunities to love, to forgive, to encounter Christ in our neighbor?

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On this Labor Day, we are also reminded of the inherent dignity of work. Just as the stone mason in today’s Gospel deserved to earn his daily bread, so do all who call America (or anywhere in this world) home. 

As Pope Leo recently stated, “The most important way to help the disadvantaged is to assist them in finding a good job, so that they can lead a more dignified life by developing their abilities and contributing their fair share.”

May we never forget that a healthy economy is often built upon the backs of ordinary people like this stone mason – people who not only deserve the opportunity to work, but also to earn a livable wage.

May Christ, himself a carpenter by trade,, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Time.now (2) clsfchurch.ca (3) SMART Local 71