Category: Gospels

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Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Sketch by Brie Schulze

The rich young man somehow knows enough to call Jesus good, but something is lacking in his discernment.  The rich young man wants to live out his human life in comfort, following the rules (basically) so that the comfort can continue in eternal life.  He is asking Jesus for a confirmation that he is already on the right path.  He isn’t actually looking for guidance, he is completely self-assured.  Jesus first corrects him on his perception of goodness.  The rich young man has a very mundane, human, and horizontal perspective on life.  Jesus is not simply another human teacher, He is God.  When the rich young man says, “good master,” what he is really saying is, “I’m good, and you’re good just like me.”  Jesus tells him that no one is good but God alone.  This criteria for goodness is a bit upsetting: it means that no one is “a good person,”  but we say and think that all the time.  Our petty little human goodness is rot compared to the rich goodness of God. read more

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Trinity Sunday

Holy Trinity 12×12″ Oil on Canvas by Brie Schulze

Priests are fond of reminding everyone on this particular Sunday, if they choose to actually preach about the Trinity, how hard it is to avoid heresy. The secret is to keep it short. I’m sure that appeals to most of the people in the pews, but we could end up living our Christian lives as though the Trinity was some sort of enormously complicated and “risky” mystery that we had better not try to understand. Now while it is true that we will never understand the Trinity (even in heaven!), we shouldn’t let that stop us from having our hearts and minds expanded if not blown away while we are still here below. Jesus’ whole mission coming in the flesh was to make the whole mystery of God – the Trinity – accessible to us. When Philip complained about just wanting to be shown the Father, Jesus didn’t respond, “Sorry Philip, I know it’s hard to understand, there are a lot of Theological complexities involved, and you’ll never understand anyway so just believe it and don’t worry that it doesn’t mean anything to you.” Jesus actually said, “Do you still not know me Philip? Whoever sees me has seen the Father.” Fortunately, the key to a meaningful encounter with the Trinity has nothing to do with understanding it rationally. read more

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Saint Philip Neri, Priest

St. Philip Neri by Brie Schulze

St. Philip certainly had a rare gift.  He was filled with the love of God to such a great extent that he became irresistible to all those whom he met.  He had a great desire to love people for who they are because he experienced the love of God in an extraordinary way.  He gives us the consoling example that our religion is not first about a form or practice of piety but rather about a heart that burns to love and meet people as they are, and burns to love God as He is.  Sometimes we hear ourselves saying, “if only this person was <blank>” or “if God is so good why doesn’t He <blank>.”  We extinguish the fire of love in our hearts by requiring God and others to conform to the way we would prefer them to be.  The secret to Philip Neri’s heart was how it would burn through all expectations and requirements He could have put on others and on God. read more