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2 Sat Jul 2022

Whom are You racing Against?

Whom are You racing Against?

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For 2 July 2022, Saturday of week 13 in Ordinary Time, based on Matthew 9:14-17
By: Sr. Kerstin-Marie Berretz OP calling in from Vechta, Germany

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1 Fri Jul 2022

A Famine of the Word

A Famine of the Word

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For 1 July 2022, Friday of week 13 in Ordinary Time , based on Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
By: Ann Garrido calling in from Rapid City, South Dakota, USA

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30 Thu Jun 2022

Speaking Up for the Truth

Speaking Up for the Truth

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For 30 June 2022, Memorial of The First Martyrs of the See of Rome, based on Amos 7:10-17
By: Fr. Evans Zulu, OP calling in from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

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29 Wed Jun 2022

Rock Formation

Rock Formation

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For 29 June 2022, The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, based on Acts 12:1–11

In his personal memoir of life in a Soviet prison camp, the Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote these extraordinary words: “Bless you prison, bless you for being in my life. For there, lying upon the rotting prison straw, I came to realise that the object of life is not prosperity as we are made to believe, but the maturity of the human soul.”[1]

What was it exactly that he learnt in the gulag that was the key to his maturity? Solzhenitsyn recounts: “gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts”. The moment Solzhenitsyn came to maturity was the moment when he realised his own need for personal conversion and inner transformation as a human being and that a change of mind (literally, metanoia) rather than a change of circumstances was the key to his inner freedom. This is why he could genuinely bless his prison cell in the end. His second realisation was that there is no more effective, quick and lasting path to growth in maturity than embracing suffering. here he echoes the sentiments of St Paul in Romans 5:3-5, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame”.

Today we celebrate the feast of St Peter and St Paul. These two men suffered and were shamed for their witness to the Gospel. But what I find so engaging about our two readings today – from the Acts of the Apostles and the Second Letter to Timothy respectively – is how they offer a window into the journey of personal maturity both men have arrived at by this point, when understood in the context of the wider canon of Scripture.

Most of what we know of St Peter comes from the Gospels. Here he is shown as a man who oscillated between fierce loyalty to Jesus and impetuosity in acting on it on one hand, undercut by a basic non-comprehension of the enormity of who Jesus really is and what His mission may demand. In today’s Gospel, we do see the confession of Peter that Jesus is Lord – but only two verses further on from the end of today’s reading, Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke him in response to Jesus’ warning about His coming Passion and death. Peter, impetuous and valiant, says: “Never, Lord! “This shall never happen to you!”. Recall too at the beginning of the passion drama when Peter jumps in to protect Jesus from arrest (John 18:10) in Gethsemane, still obtuse in not understanding or not acquiescing to the will of God.

We too have something to learn from Peter’s attitude here. The Baptist teacher Oswald Chambers remarked that “one of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?”[2]

The problem is, running away from your own suffering and encouraging others to do the same only makes another people suffer in the long run – if I don’t carry my own cross, it will end up being borne by another. There are no ‘get-out-of-the-cross free cards in this life. Consider the example of Malchus, the guard who had his ear chopped off because of Peter’s attempt at saving Jesus which would have cost humanity true salvation.

All that being said, by the time of our first reading today, we see a marked change in Peter’s attitude. Today’s passage begins with the execution of St James at the sword of King Herod, the first apostle to be martyred. There is every reason to think that St Peter expected the same fate. Everything points to the end game. Instead, he is arrested and put into prison – but the expectation turns from one of imminent death to death-in-the-near-future. What’s interesting is that there is no indication that Peter resisted the death of James nor to what seems to be his own coming end.

This is a testimony to Peter’s growth in maturity, his conversion – to be willing, even glad, to bear suffering for the sake of the Gospel and to allow others to freely do the same, even if it costs life itself. This time, Peter doesn’t fight, he doesn’t deny Christ and he doesn’t run away. Nor was he impulsive or grandiose in trying to seek out death in a heroic act of his own choosing. What is it that has changed for Peter between the Gospels and the book of Acts? Well, in the interim Peter has seen Jesus die and but also rise again. Peter’s inconstancy and fear of suffering have matured into a convicted faith which is the grounding of our surrender to God, even amidst the greatest trials. Peter now understands and he is not afraid anymore; he has found the peace of Christ.

Peter’s steadfastness under suffering is accompanied by the self-emptying of St Paul. Unlike St Peter, we learn about St Paul’s character mostly by his own writings in the New Testament letters. The first encounter we have of St Paul is in Acts 8, a man who had other men put coats at his feet (Acts 7:58), who rode atop a horse and looked down on others, a man secure in his own self-sufficiency and righteousness. By the time of his second letter to Timothy, we meet a man who has been cast to the ground in every way, ‘poured out’, stretched and emptied. How does this indicate growth in maturity? Doesn’t growth mean an increase? Yes, it does, but not in the ways we expect. Humility is both the foundation and the apex of the spiritual life – the higher we climb, we emptier we become – by which we increase our capacity for God. Oswald Chambers noticed that at this point, maturity is produced…on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him[3].

One final point: we are used by him for the sake of His body, the Church. As teacher David Powlinson points out, “spiritual maturity is not an end in itself but is a gift for others.” St Peter and St Paul are the two pillars of the Church: they of all people needed to mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Tracing their growth through suffering gives us something to reflect on in our own lives, and what is ultimately uplifting is that both readings end with each man declaring his certainty of God’s rescue.

[1] Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956.

[2] My Utmost for His Highest, What is That To You?

[3] Oswald Chambers: My Utmost for His Highest; What is That To You?

By: Sr. Rose Rolling OP calling in from Cambridge, England

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28 Tue Jun 2022

Stormy Fears

Stormy Fears

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For 28 June 2022, Tuesday of week 13 in Ordinary Time, based on Matthew 8:23-27
By: Sr. Mary Ellen Green, O.P. calling in from Woodruff, Wisconsin, USA

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27 Mon Jun 2022

Radical Discipleship

Radical Discipleship

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For 27 June 2022, , based on Matthew 8:18-22
By: Mary Erika Bolaños calling in from

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26 Sun Jun 2022

Whatever the Cost

Whatever the Cost

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For 26 June 2022, Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, based on Luke 9:51–62
By: Costantino Mamo, OP calling in from Durres, Albania

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25 Sat Jun 2022

Hungering in Our Hearts

Hungering in Our Hearts

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For 25 June 2022, The Immaculate Heart of Mary, based on Luke 2:41-51
By: Judith Anne O'Sullivan, O.P. calling in from Dunedin, New Zealand

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24 Fri Jun 2022

The Heart of the Good Shepherd

The Heart of the Good Shepherd

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For 24 June 2022, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, based on Luke 15:3–7
By: Louis Mary Passeri, OP calling in from Columbus Ohio, USA

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23 Thu Jun 2022

What Are We Born to Do?

What Are We Born to Do?

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For 23 June 2022, The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, based on Luke 1:57-66, 80
By: Connie Koch OP calling in from Mount Vernon, New York, USA

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