Gospel Acclamation: Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Shine like lights in the world as you hold on to the word of life.

Jesus once said that no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel basket or under a bed. That would be foolish. Rather, people put a lamp on the lampstand where it gives light to the whole house.

Jesus has made us into lights. When we are baptized, we are filled with sanctifying grace, with the divine presence. God Himself dwells within us, lighting us up from the inside out with His love. When we remain in a state of grace, that light remains in us, and we are to shine that light to the world, allowing the world to catch a glimpse of God and His love by our lights.

But do we shine like lights in the world? Or do we crawl under the proverbial bed or retreat into the bushel basket and hide the light of our Catholic faith because we fear to offend or long to be accepted by the world.

We are meant to sit on a lampstand and allow the light of God to shine through us. This isn't putting ourselves on a pedestal. It is living our faith and love with holy boldness and allowing God to use us as He will.

In order to be lights in the world, we must hold on to the Word of life, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. Only He can give us the grace we need to proclaim our faith while remaining humble and little so that He can shine through us.

Gospel Acclamation: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.

This commandment is both a precious gift and a demanding challenge. How has Jesus loved us? He gave Himself up to death on the cross to save us from our sins and open the way to eternal life. He has loved us to the extreme in a complete, self-sacrificial love that know no limits.

Now Jesus tells us to do the same, to love one another like that. And He is not just asking us or giving us the option. This is a commandment. We are to obey.

Of course, we wonder, and rightly, how in our weakness and sinfulness we can ever love other as Jesus has loved us. It seems like an impossible task, but Jesus never orders us to do what is impossible.

St. Therese of Lisieux once asked Jesus to love her sisters in her, for only then would she be able to really love them as He loves her. Here is the key. We must ask Jesus to love others in and through us, and then unite ourselves to His love. We must allow His love to flow through us and embrace that love. We must pray to our Lord for this grace, the grace to fulfill His commandment and love with His own love.

Gospel Acclamation: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Rejoice and be glad; your reward will be great in heaven.

Living our Catholic faith is not easy. In fact, at times it can be dreadfully difficult. The world scoffs at us, scorns us for our belief in God and our insistence upon holding fast to His moral laws. We are sometimes persecuted, sometimes ignored, sometimes slandered, sometimes hated. Yet Jesus experienced all of this before us, and He warned us that what happened to Him would happen to us.

Yet look at Jesus' promise here. We are to rejoice when we are persecuted for our faith. We are to unite our sufferings with those of Christ. We are to take up the cross and follow after Him. We are to keep on holding fast to our faith, growing in intimacy with God, speaking the truth, loving our neighbors, even those who are our enemies, and praying for those who persecute us. Then, Christ promises us, our reward will be great in Heaven.

Gospel Acclamation: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Come after Me and I will make you fishers of men.

In today's Gospel, Jesus extends an invitation to Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They are all fishermen, simple, hardworking fellows who catch their livelihood from the Sea of Galilee. But now their lives will change drastically if they accept Jesus' summons. These four men, however, drop everything and follow Jesus.

Jesus calls us, too. He invites us to come after Him, to walk in His ways, to follow His will, to perform His tasks, to serve His people with love. We are called to be fishers of men, to catch them and draw them to Christ by our words and actions.

How is Jesus calling you? How are you responding?