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The inner word

22 Feb 2015 - First Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Saint Paul reminded the Corinthians that with Silvanus and Timothy he proclaimed “the Son of God, Jesus Christ” to them. It was a message he himself received as an apostle. The “amen” from them went through Jesus to God. The gospel the Corinthians knew, then, was the real thing and they should not equivocate about it; it was not a matter of “yes-or-no” but always “yes.” How is your life and work an “Amen” and a “yes” to God?

Saint Paul Amen

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The inner word

08 Jul 2012 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

When I am weak, Saint Paul said, “then I am strong.” Many have taken this apparently contradictory statement to mean that in weakness is strength—that weakness is strength. Paul, however, was not coming up with his own version of a Beatitude—“those who are weak will be strong”! Rather he was pointing out that despite his human weaknesses and what he has suffered, God’s power was still working in him as an apostle of Jesus. Ask yourself, then, how God works through you even with your limitations.

Weakness strength Saint Paul

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Sign & sacrament

06 May 2012 - Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

The history of world religions is filled with treasures of wisdom and inspiration. Sadly it is also filled with strife, division, intolerance, and bloodshed. Before his famous conversion, Saint Paul, formerly known as Saul, had been a zealous persecutor of the early followers of Jesus. Helping Paul find acceptance among the apostles, Barnabas performed a great act in the service of interfaith dialogue and inclusiveness. The God we worship is beyond all denominational and doctrinal differences and disputes. The Creator of all must by logic be the God of all. In some small way today, reach out to a follower of another tradition in tolerance, and help heal the wounds that still exist.

Saint Paul persecution Acceptance

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The inner word

23 Oct 2011 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

In the first reading, the voice of God warns not to oppress the alien and the widow and take advantage of the needy. How do you promote the just treatment of the vulnerable? Saint Paul commends the Thessalonians for spreading the Word of the Lord. In what ways does your faith in God go forth? The essence of the law, Jesus teaches, is to love God with everything you are, and to love others as yourself. What do law and love have to do with one another?

Law Saint Paul spreading the Word

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The inner word

16 Oct 2011 - Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Isaiah tells of how God can make even a foreign king "his anointed," the messiah, and work through him. Where have you seen God work in expected ways and through unexpected people? Saint Paul writes of the Thessalonians' "work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope." Think of one example each from recent days and weeks where you have seen faith, hope, and love at work. At the end of his debate with his opponents, Jesus challenges them to be as dutiful to God as they are to the laws of the land. How does turning wholeheartedly to God resolve many questions and problems?

Isaiah Messiah paul Faith

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Exploring the word

31 Jul 2011 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

CERTAIN SCRIPTURE PASSAGES can make us feel rather foolish. Listening to the prophet today we realize we’ve all been thirsty—and yet have, at times, obstinately and self-destructively refused to “come to the water.” More often than we’d like to admit, we’ve squandered our resources on “what is not bread” and can’t hope to sustain us. “The hand of the Lord feeds us,” the psalmist insists; that doesn’t imply that you and I come to the table of plenty to be fed. Imagine being one of the 5,000 gathered before Jesus at that fateful hour by the Sea of Galilee. Your stomach is growling after a long day of teaching, and food is freely being offered around. Would you pass the basket without taking something from it? What an absurd choice that would be! Yet we do these things and some even more ridiculous. Because the banquet of God’s word is before us, full of rich fare, and we may ignore it. The sacraments are offered lavishly for our help week after week, and we may say: later. The community of faith gathers with its centuries-old deposit of faith, and we may choose to be lone rangers on the God-quest. What will separate us from the love of Christ? Paul asks. Not the deep life-crisis; not a worldly threat; not cosmic powers; and not even death. The only thing that can separate us from Christ is self-will—a thing that Paul does not mention in his list of dangers. Christ will not separate himself from us, but we can choose to separate ourselves from Christ, and it’s a relatively simple uncoupling. “The only thing that burns in hell is self-will”: So asserts the Theologia Germanica, an anonymous 16th-century document emerging from the same spiritual movement that produced the mystical theologian Meister Eckhart. Hell doesn’t have many fans these days, at least in its popular rendering as an eternal fiery torment. But when self-will pits itself against God’s will, we’re about to get burned, no matter what you care to call it. Jesus chose his Father’s will above his own and is now united by that common will for all eternity. When we separate ourselves from Christ, we’re making a far different choice. That demonstrates the remarkable autonomy of human freedom: You and I can do what even angels and principalities can’t do, what even death is unable to achieve. Jesus puts his very life in our hands, but we can refuse it. He passes the basket of plenty, but we can decline the invitation. He offers us love that’s stronger than death, but we can, if we insist, look elsewhere. 18th Sunday us from Christ is self-will—a thing that Paul does not mention in his list of dangers. Christ will not separate himself from us, but we can choose to separate ourselves from Christ, and it’s a relatively simple uncoupling. “The only thing that burns in hell is self-will”: So asserts the Theologia Germanica, an anonymous 16th-century document emerging from the same spiritual movement that produced the mystical theologian Meister Eckhart. Hell doesn’t have many fans these days, at least in its popular rendering as an eternal fiery torment. But when self-will pits itself against God’s will, we’re about to get burned, no matter what you care to call it. Jesus chose his Father’s will above his own and is now united by that common will for all eternity. When we separate ourselves from Christ, we’re making a far different choice. That demonstrates the remarkable autonomy of human freedom: You and I can do what even angels and principalities can’t do, what even death is unable to achieve. Jesus puts his very life in our hands, but we can refuse it. He passes the basket of plenty, but we can decline the invitation. He offers us love that’s stronger than death, but we can, if we insist, look elsewhere. Related scripture links A healthy approach to fear: Matt. 10:26-31; Luke 12:32; John 6:20; 1 John 4:18 Jesus on material concerns: Matt. 6:25-33; Luke 12:22-31 Our reconciliation in Christ: Eph. 2:14-18; Col. 1:19-20 Time cannot separate us: Heb. 13:8 Jesus is the power above other powers: Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:16-18 Sufficiency: John 4:13-14, 6:35, 8:12, 11:25; 2 Cor. 12:9-10; Phil. 4:19 Catechism links No charge for grace: CCC 2121 Eucharist: CCC 1322-1336, 1397

Authors Alice Camille

Bread separate from christ paul Hell meister eckhart self-will God's will

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The inner word

31 Jul 2011 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

In today's first reading, Isaiah prophesies that God's invitation to us is totally free and without any strings attached. Saint Paul says nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. And Matthew tells how Jesus was moved, not by people's perfection but by their needs. Do I find that too hard to believe? Do I feel I have to earn God's acceptance, approval, and love? If so, how does this keep me away from God rather than getting me closer? Do I agree with Saint Paul that, "Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ?" If I believed that with all my heart, how might my life be different?

Isaiah paul god's love matthew

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Who's listening?

31 Jul 2011 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

In one of his most eloquent passages, Saint Paul, speaking with great confidence and faith, asks a rhetorical question, "What will separate us from the love of Christ?" Nothing, as it turns out. His message brings great consolation: No affliction or power on this earth, and no thing in this world or the next can come between us and the love of God in Christ Jesus. This conviction, though, does not dismiss easily the losses and suffering of life. One thing your homily can do this week is to take people on a faith journey through their losses. Acknowledge their difficulties, but show them how God's love sees them through all pain and gives them the nourishment that satisfies their deepest hungers and thirsts.

Saint Paul god's love Faith

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Who's listening?

29 May 2011 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Today you can be sure that all people within earshot of your preaching have felt alone and lonely, abandoned by friends or loved ones at some point, and fearful of how they will make their way through financial difficulties, problems with their children, or personal illness. When the gospel is read, they will hear the good news that they are not orphans. Reinforce that message with your own reasons for hope, as Saint Paul suggests. Let them know that help is always available to us, no matter how desperate our situations may seem. All we need do is ask--God and one another.

Gospel Saint Paul message

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The inner word

22 May 2011 - Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

We all want answers, and it would be great if things were spelled out for us. But that isn't very often how it goes. What questions about my faith and the way things are trouble me the most? What definition of who Jesus is makes the most sense to me? When do I feel most confused? Do I feel chosen and precious in the sight of God, and as Saint Paul describes, am I allowing myself to be built into a spiritual house? In what ways do I do the works that Jesus did? What more should I do?

Faith Saint Paul jesus

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