Presence Patience and Faith

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of Saint Monica, invite us to use our sense of the Presence in our lives to empower patient faith in the plan of God for our lives.

Guide our Way

The Reading: from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians presents a Greeting and Thanksgiving.

* [1:1–9] Paul follows the conventional form for the opening of a Hellenistic letter (cf. Rom 1:1–7), but expands the opening with details carefully chosen to remind the readers of their situation and to suggest some of the issues the letter will discuss.

* [1:1] Called…by the will of God: Paul’s mission and the church’s existence are grounded in God’s initiative. God’s call, grace, and fidelity are central ideas in this introduction, emphasized by repetition and wordplays in the Greek.

* [1:6] The testimony: this defines the purpose of Paul’s mission (see also 1 Cor 15:15 and the note on 1 Cor 2:1). The forms of his testimony include oral preaching and instruction, his letters, and the life he leads as an apostle. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 145 proclaims the “works of God” make God present and invite human praise.

 

* [Psalm 145] A hymn in acrostic form; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Acrostic poems usually do not develop ideas but consist rather of loosely connected statements. The singer invites all to praise God (Ps 145:1–3, 21). The “works of God” make God present and invite human praise (Ps 145:4–7); they climax in a confession (Ps 145:8–9). God’s mighty acts show forth divine kingship (Ps 145:10–20), a major theme in the literature of early Judaism and in Christianity. (Psalms PSALM 145 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew calls our attention to The Unknown Day and Hour for the Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant.

* [24:42–44] Cf. Lk 12:39–40. The theme of vigilance and readiness is continued with the bold comparison of the Son of Man to a thief who comes to break into a house.

* [24:45–51] The second part of the discourse (see note on Mt 24:1–25:46) begins with this parable of the faithful or unfaithful servant; cf. Lk 12:41–46. It is addressed to the leaders of Matthew’s church; the servant has been put in charge of his master’s household (Mt 24:45) even though that household is composed of those who are his fellow servants (Mt 24:49).

* [24:45] To distribute…proper time: readiness for the master’s return means a vigilance that is accompanied by faithful performance of the duty assigned.

* [24:48] My master…delayed: the note of delay is found also in the other parables of this section; cf. Mt 25:5, 19.

* [24:51] Punish him severely: the Greek verb, found in the New Testament only here and in the Lucan parallel (Lk 12:46), means, literally, “cut in two.” With the hypocrites: see note on Mt 6:2. Matthew classes the unfaithful Christian leader with the unbelieving leaders of Judaism. Wailing and grinding of teeth: see note on Mt 8:11–12. (Matthew, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)

Candice Tucci, OSF, comments that Jesus lets us know that interiorly, we can meet and overcome the threats that attempt to distance us from God’s love and grace because God is already present in mystery and spirit. Like Saint Augustine who lived his early life far from godly ways, have our Saint Monica(s) praying for us. We have people ready to help us find our ways to move forward. We have God. Pray. Like Saint Monica, never give up on a conversation with God, Jesus or Spirit.

Be aware! Every day is an invitation to a conversion of heart. Every day is a day to turn our hearts toward God in becoming who we are called to be and do. Saint Monica believed her life mission was praying for the conversion of her son, Saint Augustine. When it was achieved through the grace of God, she felt her life complete. Will we come to know the satisfaction of our lives complete? Saint Paul assures us; God will keep you firm to the end. God is faithful. You are enriched in every way. You are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of Christ Jesus.

Let us pray:

I will praise your name for ever, God.

Generations after generation praises your works. (Tucci, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes You do not know the day, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).

"But his meaning is like this: If ordinary persons knew when they were going to die, they would surely be striving earnestly at that hour. In order therefore that they may strive, not at that hour only, he does not tell them the hour or day. He wants to keep them on their toes looking for it, that they may be always striving. This is why he made the end of each person's life so uncertain. In this passage he openly implies that he himself is Lord. Nowhere before has he spoken of this so distinctly. But here he seems to me also to be putting to shame those who remain careless about his lordship. They take much more care about a thief taking their money than about their own soul. Those who care about their house and do not want their possessions stolen take measures against the thief. They watch; they are prepared for the thief. So it is with you. You do not know when he will come. But you know assuredly that he will come. If you do not continue to watch, you will not be ready on that day. You will be unprepared. Destruction will come in your sleep. If the person had known when the thief was coming, he would have been prepared. So be like the one who is prepared at all times, so you will escape free. Having then mentioned the judgment, he directs his thoughts next to teachers, speaking of honorable and dishonorable actions. His discourse closes with that which is alarming, for he speaks first of those who do right, then of those who continue in sin." (excerpt from the THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 77.2-3) (Matthew, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the texts today. Corinth was a port city with everything, including prostitution and a lot of difficulties. Immorality is the major theme. Paul addresses a group to whom Christ Jesus was not that important. Incarnate Divinity was a decadent concept and not important. Referred to as “Proto Gnostics”, they assumed a special spiritual knowledge and Paul cites Jesus as the source of Spiritual Gifts with the Holy Spirit in proper perspective. After the destruction of the Temple (70CE), Matthew addresses the end of the world being at hand. One sign of the end times was the resurrection of the dead. Some lost the idea of a final return of God and started celebrating and drifting away living everyday as the last day. Friar Jude reminds us to be prepared for the Master. There will be an accounting. We should be ready.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 24 :42-51 asks what does it take to be a “faithful and prudent servant”? Both a little and a lot. A little because the servant in the parable wasn’t doing anything special—only what his master expected of him. So it is with us. On any ordinary day, we’ll encounter plenty of opportunities to offer the “food” of a relationship with Christ to the people who cross our paths.

We don’t have to go searching for them. But it also takes a lot because it means staying “awake” and “prepared,” always ready to share about God’s goodness and give of ourselves when the opportunity arises (Matthew 24:42, 44).

God has given you the privilege of sharing his “food” with the people around you. And he has already given you an abundance of this food. How will you share it today?

“Jesus, thank you calling me to be your servant!” (Meditation on Matthew 24 :42-51, 2026)

Father Richard Rohr first encountered the concept of the true self and false self from the Trappist monk Thomas Merton (1915–1968), who had a mystical experience on the corners of Fourth and Walnut (now Fourth and Muhammed Ali Boulevard) in Louisville, Kentucky. Most people spend their entire lives living up to the mental self-images of who they think they are, instead of living in the primal “I” that is already good in God’s eyes. But all we can “pay back” to God or others or ourselves is who we really are. This is what Merton is describing. It’s a place of utter simplicity.

But when we are nothing, we are in a fine position to receive everything from God. As Merton says, our point of nothingness is “the pure glory of God in us.” If we look at the great religious traditions, we see they all use similar words to point in the same direction. The Franciscan word is “poverty.” The Carmelite word is nada or “nothingness.” The Buddhists speak of “emptiness.” Jesus speaks of being “poor in spirit” in his very first beatitude (Matthew 5:3).

A Zen master would call the true self “the face we had before we were born.” Paul would call it who we are “in Christ, hidden in God” (Colossians 3:3). It is who we are before we’ve done anything right or anything wrong, before we even have a conscious thought about who we are. Thinking creates the separate self, the ego self, the insecure self. The God-given contemplative mind, on the other hand, recognizes the God self, the Christ self, the true self of abundance and deep inner security.

[1] Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Doubleday & Company, 1965, 1966), 142. (Rohr, n.d.)

We invite the Spirit to be our guide as we seek patience with the turmoil in the world and continue to serve the siblings of Christ as the Master exhorts until our last day.

References

Matthew, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/24?42 

Meditation on Matthew 24 :42-51. (2026, August 27). The Word Among Us. Retrieved August 27, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/08/27/1654889/ 

1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/1?1 

Psalms PSALM 145 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). The Glory of God in Us. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 27, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-glory-of-god-in-us/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Are You Ready to Meet the Lord? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 27, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Tucci, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved August 27, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-27-2026 

Contemplative Life and Joy

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our journey and the opportunities we have to be agents of support and life to the people in our environment.

Contemplate Life

The Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans exhorts us to Freedom from Sin and to Life in God.

* [6:12–19] Christians have been released from the grip of sin, but sin endeavors to reclaim its victims. The antidote is constant remembrance that divine grace has claimed them and identifies them as people who are alive only for God’s interests.

* [6:17] In contrast to humanity, which was handed over to self-indulgence (Rom 1:24–32), believers are entrusted (“handed over”) to God’s pattern of teaching, that is, the new life God aims to develop in Christians through the productivity of the holy Spirit. Throughout this passage Paul uses the slave-master model in order to emphasize the fact that one cannot give allegiance to both God and sin. (Romans, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 124 heightens the malice of human enemies by linking them to the primordial enemies of God’s creation.

* [Psalm 124] A thanksgiving which teaches that Israel’s very existence is owed to God who rescues them. In the first part Israel’s enemies are compared to the mythic sea dragon (Ps 124:2b–3a; cf. Jer 51:34) and Flood (Ps 124:3b–5; cf. Is 51:9–10). The Psalm heightens the malice of human enemies by linking them to the primordial enemies of God’s creation. Israel is a bird freed from the trapper’s snare (Ps 124:6–8)—freed originally from Pharaoh and now from the current danger. (Psalms, PSALM 124, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke advocates that Vigilant and Faithful Servants prepare for the End Times.

* [12:35–48] This collection of sayings relates to Luke’s understanding of the end time and the return of Jesus. Luke emphasizes for his readers the importance of being faithful to the instructions of Jesus in the period before the parousia.

* [12:45] My master is delayed in coming: this statement indicates that early Christian expectations for the imminent return of Jesus had undergone some modification. Luke cautions his readers against counting on such a delay and acting irresponsibly. Cf. the similar warning in Mt 24:48. (Luke, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

Maggie Knight is reminded of one of the meditations in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. She encountered it through Kevin O’Brien, SJ’s book The Ignatian Adventure, which includes George E. Ganss, SJ’s traditional translation of the Principle and Foundation from the Spiritual Exercises. It begins:

“What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I do for Christ? May all decisions and actions help me praise, reverence, and serve God.”

For me, returning to these questions helps keep my focus where it belongs. If I use them as a touchstone, it becomes much harder to serve any master other than the Lord. Of course, living this out is easier said than done. But this simple reminder has become both powerful and comforting in my own life.

Paul’s reminder in Romans 6 and the wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises both seem to call us to the same truth: real freedom comes from choosing God and living as His servants.(Knight, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “God's great promise for faithful and wise servants,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).

"'Blessed is the servant whom the Lord will find so doing when he comes. A great promise is extended to the Lord's faithful and wise stewards. It is like the promise he made to those to whom he said, 'Take authority over five cities' or 'take authority over ten cities' (Luke 19:17-19). For to be made the head 'over all his possessions' is nothing other than to be made an 'heir of God and coheir with Christ' (Romans 8:17) and to reign with Christ. The Father has given him everything he himself possesses, as Christ said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me' (Matthew 28:18). The Son of the good Father who is given authority over all his Father's possessions also shares this honor and glory with his faithful and wise stewards, so they also might be with Christ above every creature and authority. This is what he meant when he said, 'Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.'" (excerpt from the COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 62) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments Paul speaks that justified through faith we cannot reject a moral life for licentiousness. We are aiming to be a slave to the Love of God that requires a moral good life. In Luke, we are reminded that we don’t know the hour when the Master returns. Therefore we need to build up the kingdom with our gifts and talents. Our punishment will be based on our response. “Much is required of those given much” We avoid need to avoid the trap of living just for ourselves.

Fr. Mike Schmitz mirrors the story of 1 Maccabees and Israel’s expectations of continued success onto our own lives, emphasizing that God’s marvelous plan exceeds our expectations and what we think should happen next in our lives. He invites us to worship and give to the Lord with freedom and generosity in response to God’s sacrificial love for us. Today’s readings are 1 Maccabees 14, Sirach 34-35, and Proverbs 23:22-25.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces E. Trey Clark, a Professor of Preaching and Spiritual Formation, who considers the rich history of Black contemplative preaching.

Black contemplative preaching is shaped by the holistic spirituality, communal orientation, and vibrant orality that is part of the rich Africana heritage—even when embodied outside of predominantly Black contexts. Moreover, Black contemplative preaching unites the head and the heart, the personal and the communal, and spiritual formation and social transformation as it bears witness to the liberating and life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ. While recognizing that contemplation is ultimately a gift, Black contemplative preachers seek to guide people to experience loving communion with the divine, while also pursuing the flourishing of Black people and all of God’s creation.… 

It is essential to note that Black contemplative preaching is not a recent development. Its deep roots can be traced to the lineage of biblical prophets such as Moses, Isaiah, Mary, and Jesus himself. Moreover, it stems from a tradition of African mystics, including St. Anthony, Moses the Black, and St. Mary of Egypt. It is also part of a larger history of mystic preachers in the Christian tradition that includes Augustine of Hippo, Hildegard of Bingen, St. Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart, Dona Beatriz, Kimpa Vita, and others. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the “Cloud of Witnesses” in our tradition that model for us the fullness of life in being the faithful servant of Jesus Way.

References

Knight, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-22-2025 

Luke, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/12?39 

Psalms, PSALM 124. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/124?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/black-traditions-of-contemplation/ 

Romans, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/6?12 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Be Ready to Answer - the Lord Draws Near. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/