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500 years after his death, St. Ignatius is globally admired and honored, but not for his military exploits and his loyalty to the King of Spain as he desired. Rather, he is known for God’s work in Him, the true King of Glory. 

During his early years, St. Ignatius thirsted for popularity, acclamation, and purpose to crown his ego. Like all of us, he sought to be more deeply known, secure, and loved; he just didn’t know it. When his worldly pursuits were stripped away due to injury, he found himself like one of the fish in today’s Gospel, caught up in God’s net like all the others but separated into the pile of the wicked. 

St. Ignatius had a wake-up call and his experience invites us to open our minds and hearts as well. His gift to the world was responding to God’s advances and modeling how to cast wide our nets to receive all that God has to offer. 

He left us a comprehensive blueprint on how to unite ourselves to Jesus, the King who truly satisfies. This concept is widely known as “Magis”. Often used to falsely teach young college students to seek excellence for themselves, St. Ignatius’s intention was to teach us how to anchor ourselves more deeply into the mystery of God. His spirituality is centered on seeking more of God, all for His glory, in our daily lives, leaving us fully alive in and with God. His spiritual exercises and prayers have transformed my journey and continually teach me how to make Jesus my one and only King. 

It is a humbling consolation that God’s favor extends to every kind of creature, visible and invisible, but especially to His beloved mankind. No matter how far away we are from God, He still casts wide His net to draw us into His Kingdom, even people like Augustine, Ignatius, Mary of Egypt, and many others who wandered far from His heart at times. He still showers His graces upon us to give us the love and admiration that fulfills our deepest longings. Dear brothers and sisters, be not afraid. Cast wide your nets.

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The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

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What is the Kingdom of Heaven like to you? If you were praying with this Scripture, that might be a question you ask yourself. Or possibly, what is the emotion that you have when you think about the Kingdom of Heaven? In these two short verses from Matthew’s Gospel we see joy, excitement, maybe even wonder in the person who finds a buried treasure and a pearl.

It is almost childlike, the excitement. Children get excited about the simplest of things. Splashing in the rain, planting seeds, their favorite dinner, or going to the playground – it’s all a joy. As we grow, we seem to temper our excitement, lest we look immature or seem silly. Why? 

Jesus is offering us the Kingdom of Heaven. Is our response one of joy, excitement and hope or is it more tepid, ho hum, or “yes, I know”? He is giving us everything! Eternal life, abundant joy, mercy, forgiveness, wholeness, peace, and hope – He offers all of this and much more. Why are we not jumping for joy? Why are we not digging up the field to find the treasure or opening every shell to find the pearl?

As I read this Gospel and ponder these words, I am asking myself these very questions. Where is my joy? I could give you a list of my trials right now. And you could write your own list. These verses invite, compel, practically beg us to stop looking at our trials and look to the Kingdom. Will our trials go away? I think some do, while others change. But the trials are there; we live in a fallen world. 

Looking to the Kingdom, to Jesus, to faith – that is where our hope is and where we find our pearl. And when we have found it, our trials are a bit lighter and easier to bear. Not gone, not forgotten, but more manageable. Instead of fighting within ourselves to fix it all, we turn toward Jesus and allow Him to be with us. He is our treasure and in Him, we find the grace to move forward in our daily life. We fix our eyes on the Kingdom while in the world. 

Today, write down all you see when you fix your eyes on the Kingdom. This is your treasure. This is your pearl of great price. 

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I really struggle with the law of inertia. You know, that rule of physics that states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest tends to stay at rest. Yup, that’s me. If I am working on a project at my house I just want to keep going and going and don’t want to stop. Yet, if I’m sitting at my desk at work, I really don’t want to get up. Just let me stay there and do my job and don’t ask me to do anything else.

But the last few words of that law state, “unless acted upon by force.” Whether it be exhaustion from working all day causing me to sit down, or my boss asking me to get up and complete a task, some force motivates change.  

In our First Reading God sent his word through Jeremiah to enact change in the people of Judah: “Thus says the LORD: If you disobey me, not living according to the law I placed before you and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them, I will treat this house like Shiloh, and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth shall refer when cursing another.” Yet apparently they struggled with inertia even more than I do because instead of moving toward repentance they declared to Jeremiah, “You must be put to death!”

Our Gospel reading shows us an example of the exact opposite. The raising of Lazarus was one of the most amazing inertia-reversing moments in history. Through the force of our almighty God, a man was raised from the dead! 

Not many of us will face either of these two realities in our lifetime, yet we are consistently called upon to make changes to become more Christ-like. To change our attitudes, to change our words, to change our decision-making, to change our actions. Due to original sin, “inertia” makes it hard to focus our minds and hearts on God, but He is the “force” that can enact change in us. 

May we remember to call upon our amazing God every day, that He may grant us the grace to make changes in our lives for the better. Then perhaps that old law of physics won’t burden us so much anymore. 

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Over the winter, my husband asked me to buy a couple more shovels so all the boys could help clear the driveway. The first time he asked me, I said they could take turns and share. The second time he asked me I pretty much ignored him, and the third time I repeated the same response as the first: “Why do they all need their own shovel? Can’t they take turns and share? We already have three! How many more do we need?” But, to appease him, I proceeded to put two more in my shopping cart. 

When he went to pick up the grocery order, he was surprised to see them being loaded into the car. “We have two new shovels!” he exclaimed when he got home. I raised an eyebrow saying “just what I wanted to do, spend money on a couple pieces of plastic.” 

While I admit my reactions were less than saintly, the whole scenario reminded me once again of my brother’s oft repeated phrase to his kids: “You just don’t suffer enough.” We have lost our pride in hard work to the point that it has become old fashioned. We have lost the sense of satisfaction that comes with searching for answers to the hard questions because they can be found at the click of a button. We have lost the ability to share. And all of this has caused us to look more and more inward. 

One night,  my middle school son shared with me that they had covered the topic of loneliness at youth group. They discussed the difference between solitude and isolation. Solitude is taking time apart to reflect, pray, recharge and regroup. Isolation is purposefully excluding yourself from others, choosing to no longer associate with others.  For many, being alone is easier. It means you don’t have to put on any masks to be accepted by others. Yet, from the beginning of time God tells us that it is not good for man to be alone (see Gen 2:18). In relationship with others, we learn and grow, our hearts expand and yes, sometimes we suffer.

Englishman Ronald Knox, an Anglican convert to Catholicism, was a priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. He was known to say that the first two gestures of the Sign of the Cross form the letter “I” and the last two cross it out. As a Christian, “I” am not the principal person in the equation. I must increase, be crossed out, so that Christ may increase in me for the good of others. 

We can look at our sacrifices and sufferings as the mustard seed and the yeast mentioned in today’s Gospel parables. The seed is planted and then grows; the yeast is mixed in and then rises. So too, every time we set our own desires aside and look for the good of the other, virtue and grace grow within us. In this way, we can bear fruit for the Kingdom of God, so that many others might also “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (Psalm Response).

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Several months ago, our pastor asked my husband and I to mentor couples who are preparing for marriage. As I read through his email, I chuckled to myself, thinking what a coincidence it was. My parents had mentored engaged couples for years. In fact, as a permanent deacon, that was my dad’s main ministry. Since his marriage to my mom was far from perfect, it gave me hope that maybe my husband and I could be of some help to the couples we are assigned to. In fact, perhaps we could be of more help due to our struggles, giving witness to our fidelity to each other despite the ups and downs of life. 

Even as we met with our first engaged couple for the first time, my husband was just a couple weeks away from his second major back surgery. Although it would eventually relieve him of some pain, it would also cause him pain. His three month recovery process would have him using a walker, then a cane, all the while wearing a restrictive back brace. He would need help using the restroom and showering, getting out of bed and getting dressed. All the while, I, his partner “in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health” was called to care for him, encourage him and support him. 

Jesus never promised it would be easy. He knew the reality of life on Earth. He lived through the hardship. And He promised to help us carry our burdens. 

Perhaps one of the heaviest burdens we bear is our sins. We make resolutions, and then break them. We try to be better and then fail. We try harder and then fail again. Perhaps the reason this burden becomes so heavy is because we try to carry it on our own. We forget about the power of prayer and the grace poured out in the sacrament of Confession. God wants to make “our yoke easy and our burden light” but sometimes we fail to call out to Him for help. 

We see God’s loving mercy so clearly in today’s readings. In the first reading, God promises to withhold destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah if He were to find only 10 just people therein. In the second reading, Paul reminds us, “even when you were dead in transgressions…he brought you to life along with him” through the forgiveness of sins. In the Gospel, Jesus assures us, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  

Time and time again in the Scriptures, God tells us how much he wants to be there for us. Even though the actual weight of our burdens may not change, the fact that He is there by our side, makes them so much lighter. So whether we be living the ups and downs of married life or struggling through an illness or battling with a recurring sin, may we truly believe what we proclaim in today’s Psalm Response:  “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.”

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In this parable, Jesus presents us with a very different view of weeds. If I were a master gardener, which I am not, my main concern at all times would be weeds. In today’s Gospel Jesus says that it is better to leave the weeds alone and let the wheat grow right next to them. Isn’t that like life today? Each day, we are dealing with all the weeds surrounding us. How do we handle them? Do we trample over them or push them out of the way, or do we go about our business as if they didn’t exist? 

We could consider the wheat as the Word of God that is intertwined with our daily life to strengthen us and help us to grow closer to God. He nourishes us with His spiritual food. He is living water for our thirst. From the grain to its fullness, wheat is nourished and strengthened. It doesn’t let the weeds take over, but thrives and maintains its purpose.

Pope Francis tells us: “Cultivating and caring for creation is an instruction of God which he gave not only at the beginning of history, but has also given to each one of us; it is part of his plan; it means making the world increase with responsibility, transforming it so that it may be a garden, an inhabitable place for us all. ” (General Audience, June 5, 2013).

But what about those weeds? Aren’t they a nuisance? Let’s liken them to people. Have you encountered individuals who could be described as weeds? Could we be described that way? Weeds are annoying, hinder you from flourishing in life, try to block your true path, and even attempt to take over. We often find ourselves in weedy situations. To keep the weeds away, we must rely on our faith. 

Sts. Anne and Joachim, whose feast we celebrate today, strengthened Mary through the Word of God. Through the psalms, prayer, and spiritual nourishment provided by her parents, Mary grew in faith. We, too, must stay close to God in all we do to remain strong and focused on our life’s mission. We can pray to God to manage the weeds in our lives because it is not our role to try to remove the weeds but rather to surrender them to God.

God sent His son Jesus as our wheat, our Bread of Life, our spiritual nourishment to strengthen us and help us grow. What will we decide to be, wheat or weeds?

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My son recently got a personalized license plate that says “IM THRD” or I’m third. I’m proud of him for having this mindset and happy for the reminder when he comes over. It’s so easy to wear self-serving blinders, especially when so many around us do the same. In today’s Gospel we are told that Jesus came to serve and we are expected to do the same.

I don’t think that only means serving at a food kitchen or homeless shelter. I think serving is much bigger than the once a year or even once a month Saturday morning at a food pantry. Too often, we are told that is how we should serve others and the daily opportunities for service are overlooked. I disagree with this attitude. It took me a long time to accept that God has not called me to go to a nursing home and read to older adults or serve at my local food pantry (which is an awesome organization.) For many years, I felt guilty that I didn’t want to do it. I wondered what was wrong with me and why my heart was hard. 

Turns out there are a lot of other ways to serve in my life every day, ways to put myself third after God and others. It just takes keeping my eyes open for things I can do to make someone else’s day a little easier. Maybe I unload the dishwasher so my husband doesn’t have to. Maybe I clean that spoon someone left out in the kitchen at work. Maybe I prioritize someone else’s problem over mine. 

Once I started looking, I discovered lots of ways to be the server instead of the served. I suspect if you ask Jesus for assistance, He will show you ways too.

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“Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it.”

Christ addresses His Apostles here right after He preaches to the crowds about the parable of seed sown in good soil. The Apostles are asking Him privately about His use of parables, and His explanation is simple: “Because knowledge has been granted to you, but not to them.” At first, we might think that Christ’s words make it sound like only the “elite” get to know the truth. That’s not a very happy thought! What if we aren’t part of the “club”? Shouldn’t everyone know the truth?

But as Christ explains, we realize that He isn’t saying that the Apostles are elite. The fact is, He wants to share the truth with everyone, but not everyone wants to receive it. After all, some truths are hard to hear. The parable Christ just told about good soil also reveals what happens when seed falls on bad soil. The listeners who haven’t tended well to the “soil” in their hearts are probably not too happy to hear that they need to change!

Christ can’t tell those big crowds about the truth in a more direct way because they have closed their eyes. In other words, it’s not because they aren’t qualified to hear the truth, but because they aren’t willing. What sets the Apostles apart from the rest? How are they able to know the truth outside of parables? Because they are willing. Each Apostle willingly left behind his old way of life to follow Christ. They committed their lives fully to His teaching. And Christ reveals the fruit of their choice: “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich.”

The Apostles began by accepting the first truth that Christ is more important than anything. Ever since then, they’ve come deeper into truth with Him. In contrast, the people who aren’t open to receiving that first truth more easily lose their sense of truth entirely. 

Christ’s parables provide “glimmers” of truth to hearts that have been mostly hardened against Him. But the Apostles’ hearts are open. They can see Truth more clearly. That is why He calls them blessed. We are called to have the same openness to Truth. Some of those truths might be painful or challenging at first, but if we don’t start with them, we will never experience the fullness of Truth that He wants to share with us.

How can you and I be open to a little bit more of His Truth today? In prayer, in conversation with others, in examining our daily lives and the things we prioritize? Where can we sense that we are being called deeper into truth today?

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The parable of the four soils has been a long-time favorite. Since my children were small, I have prayed that “we would till fertile soil in their hearts so that seeds of faith sown there could take strong root that would flourish in the days of sun and stand strong in the days of storm.” It has been a prayer of hope for them, that theirs would be lives rich in faith. I imagined back then that this was my one shot. The seed would be sown, and, by golly, the soil better be ready. But, as is so often the case, life-living humility taught me differently.

Today’s parable is not necessarily describing four separate people hearing the word of God. One gets it, and the other three are out. Instead, it can also be describing the Word of God being sown in the same person at four separate times in his or her life. It describes our journey of faith.

First, the seed that falls on the path marks the times we missed God completely. Too distracted by our own wants and needs, too sure of our own glory to recognize His, we were not ready, and we never even heard it. Then another time, after our pride has been shaken by humility, the dry soil has cracked a bit. That same message lands this time, and it’s clearly good. Faith springs up quickly, but pride and arrogance are hard to shake, and they quickly choke out that new growth. The soil has been turned, though, and at the next hearing, the seed of faith takes stronger root; it grows until the din of the world around it — distraction, temptation, heartache, opposition — drowns out the word of God, and the plant wilts.

With each of these passes, the soil is becoming richer. God makes all work for good, so our hearts are turned and tilled as the remnants of our losses and missteps are mixed in like nutrient-rich compost, until the day we again hear that word of God. This time it lands within this rich soil. The same seeds that have missed us or failed to flourish before, now grow abundantly, bearing fruit.

Nearly 30 years later, I understand that this parable is not a “one-shot” deal, you either have the soil ready or too bad. Yes, I still pray for the hearts of my children and now my grandchildren. I still sow seeds of faith in person whenever I can and in prayer always. Beyond that, though, I have learned to trust the Sower. God is tilling the soil of their hearts just as he continues to till mine and yours, and He will never stop sowing the seeds of faith. I still pray for rich soil, but I  have learned to be even more grateful for the Sower who never gives up.

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Mary Magdalene’s love for the Lord is so deep that she follows him everywhere, even to the Cross and the tomb. After the burial, on the day after the Sabbath, while the Apostles are grieving and hiding for fear of being arrested next, Mary is heading out to the tomb before dawn. What did she hope to find there? Jesus was dead, anointed and wrapped in a shroud and buried, and the tomb had been closed and sealed.

Whatever she is hoping to find, she is surprised to find something else entirely. The stone is unsealed and rolled away. The body of the One she loves is not there! She runs to tell Peter and John and then returns to the tomb to weep outside, wondering and waiting. For what? Perhaps to confirm what she has already confirmed, she looks again into the tomb and is surprised anew. There are two angels sitting there where the Body had been, and they ask, “Why are you weeping?” Mary states simply that “they” have taken the body, and she does not know where they have taken it.

She turns around and is surprised again, seeing someone else in the garden. She thinks it is a gardener, and he asks the same question as the angels: “Why are you weeping?” No doubt hoping he may have some information about what happened, she asks him to tell her where he is.

Then Mary is surprised again, when she hears her name spoken, and she recognizes that this “gardener” is actually the Lord! How could she have failed to recognize the One she loves?! Because she is looking for a dead body; she could not yet know that Jesus is risen, alive, glorified! And when she does recognize Him, she wants Him to remain right there with her, so that her heart can be satisfied.

But Jesus tells her she must not hold on to Him, because He must first ascend to the Father. He has more work to do (over the next 40 days) in order for His Kingdom to be well-established in this world so that the work of salvation can continue. He must first give His Apostles authority and firmly establish the Church to conserve and hand on the Gospel and the Sacraments. He must then return to the Father so that they can send the Holy Spirit to safeguard and enliven the Church until the end of time, to transform the whole world.

What about us? What are we looking for when we seek Jesus? When we are looking in the wrong place, expecting the wrong thing, even demanding that He respond in a certain way, we (like Mary) may find ourselves distraught and weeping. But when we are open to His presence in whatever way He wills to reveal Himself, our seeking will always be rewarded, because we will receive Him as He is and receive what He is giving us right here, right now.

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