Bible Study for the 17th Ordinary Week 2025

This week’s memory verse: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. — Mark 11:24

  • 7/27 – Romans 8:26
  • 7/28 – James 5:16
  • 7/29 – Philippians 4:6
  • 7/30 – Matthew 6:6
  • 7/31 – Colossians 4:2
  • 8/1 – Jeremiah 33:3
  • 8/2 – Romans 12:12

Pray the Week: Lord Jesus, help me to pray with persistence so that all I need to walk in Your very footsteps may be made available to me. May my prayer never be self-serving, but rather focused on Your Father’s will. Amen.

Reflection for the 17th Ordinary Sunday 2025

“how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

In our first reading we hear of Abraham’s negotiation with God over the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

We might think that these evil cities with their many sins, their outright lack of any kindness or compassion, deserved to be destroyed. Why would anyone want them to survive? Abraham isn’t ignorant or clueless. He knows what is going on. Yet, Abraham seeks to give the possibility of some good and just persons in those cities the benefit of the doubt. He encounters God with those possibilities and stands in the gap to give them a chance. So, he calls out those possibilities even to the smallest of possibilities: “What if there are at least ten there?” God replies, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.” In other words, God listens to the pleading of His people. 

Jesus as God’s Son understands the relationship between people in need and God. When Jesus’ disciples ask Him to teach them to pray, He offers the perfect prayer, the Our Father.

In that prayer we first acknowledge Who God is and give Him fitting praise. We seek His will and offer our wills so that they may be conformed to His. Then we lay out our needs, our need for daily bread, a request for forgiveness, to be saved from every evil temptation, and a request to delivered from those evils.

The Church in Her wisdom helps us to understand this prayer in a deeper way. In the year 604 it added a short prayer following the Our Father which is technically called the Embolism. This is because the last petitions of the Our Father might be confusing: Lead us not into temptation and Deliver us from evil.

In the embolism we hear:

Deliver us Lord, from every evil,
and grant us peace in our day.
In Your mercy keep us free from sin
and protect us from all anxiety

That is so easy to connect with, to be delivered from evil, to live in peace, be protected from sin, and from every type of anxiety. This is what God knows we need and what we ask for so He created the Our Father so we might ask for them.

Jesus finally lays out a parable concerning asking, advising us to be persistent. He sets forth analogies concerning good gifts from those who love us.

God loves us greatly, beyond all measure, and holds gifts for us. He meets our needs, protects us – most particularly from anxieties – and as Jesus concludes He lets us know the best gift, the eternal gift of the Holy Spirit is ours for the asking. We receive His phenomenal gifts of wisdom, understanding counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

Treasure God’s gifts and never be afraid to ask, to be persistent, and never be afraid to believe that God will deliver on His promises.

Bible Study for the 16th Ordinary Week 2025

This week’s memory verse: But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. — 1 Peter 3:4

  • 7/20 – Psalm 46:10
  • 7/21 – James 1:19
  • 7/22 – Lamentations 3:26
  • 7/23 – Isaiah 32:17
  • 7/24 – Zephaniah 3:17
  • 7/25 – Ecclesiastes 9:17
  • 7/26 – James 3:17

Pray the Week: Lord Jesus, Quiet my heart and mind. Help me to accept Your word and to walk in Your path with a still soul. Grant that I accept the work of Your grace in my life and that I do not account achievement to my talents alone. Amen.

Reflection for the 16th Ordinary Sunday 2025

The Lord said to her, There is need of only one thing.

We are going to talk about something explosive today, TNT. We will get to that in a minute.

Before we get to the explosive, let’s look at what is going on in the house of Martha and Mary.

The Lord had great affection for Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus. We would see the Lord at their home several times in the gospels.

This occasion is sort of a lead-in to knowing them. One of the things believed about this family is that they were well-to-do, perhaps even wealthy.

On this occasion Mary listens attentively to Jesus as He proclaims the Kingdom of God, the promise of eternal life, resurrection of the dead, and the need for complete honesty in our relationship with God and each other.

Back in the kitchen Martha is taking charge of all the guest arrangements. She wants to put on the best for Jesus, His companions, and all the guests. Her talent was important here. She wants to be like Abraham and Sarah in providing for the Lord, perhaps hoping a special blessing.

We know Martha gets perturbed with her sister Mary and that she speaks openly with Jesus about her upset.

The Lord quickly sets things straight. He does so in such a way that Mary’s heart is changed. That’s the real miracle here, the miracle Jesus wants for all of us – changed hearts.

Jesus’ very presence brings new life. Later, at the death of their brother we will see Martha running out to meet Jesus and her declaration of faith in the Messiahship of Jesus and the resurrection. She is no longer back at home.

The family’s well-being is attested in the passages about Jesus’ dining with them before His crucifixion and death – the occasion where His feet were anointed by Mary.

Here comes the explosive part – the TNT we need to apply in our lives. The TNT we need to accept is that is Take No Talent to faithfully listen to Jesus, to believe all He says, and to follow Him.

Let us be those Jesus loves by taking a breath, quieting ourselves of what we think we must do, and simply accepting Jesus’ word. There is need of only one thing.

Bible Study for the 15th Week of Ordinary Time 2025

This week’s memory verse: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. — Ephesians 4:32

  • 7/13 – Romans 5:10
  • 7/14 – Hebrews 12:14
  • 7/15 – Colossians 1:20
  • 7/16 – Matthew 5:24
  • 7/17 – Colossians 3:13
  • 7/18 – 1 Peter 4:8
  • 7/19 – Matthew 5:9

Pray the Week: Lord Jesus, You have sent me out to do Your work since the moment of my baptism. You protect me and provide for me abundantly. Increase my trust in Your provision so that nothing distracts me from Your mission. Amen.

Reflection for the 15th/24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025

Note: In order to not repeat the Gospel of the Good Samaritan twice in one year, the Readings, Gospel, and Propers for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time are used for the 15th Sunday.

God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

The Ministry of Reconciliation, as described in the Bible refers to the Divine mandate given to believers to help others be reconciled to God. 

What a wonderful mandate for us to accept and engage in. 

This ministry is rooted in God’s act of reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus Christ and entrusting believers with the message of that reconciliation.

We saw in our First Reading Moses’ intervention of behalf of his people. God’s anger had flared due to the Israelites unfaithfulness. They didn’t just make a mistake or mess up. Rather, they utterly turned their back on God Who had just saved them from the Egyptians. As soon as they got a little bored waiting for Moses, in reality waiting for God, they decided to take their future into their own hands.

The Israelites were telling God that they were in charge, and He was not.

Moses determined to plead before God for them. It wasn’t that he was happy with them, or that he wasn’t disappointed in them, perhaps righteously angry, but he saw reconciliation as more important.

The shepherd in the Gospel, the woman in search of a lost coin, and the prodigal son’s father are all Jesus’ examples of people who placed healing, seeking, and reconciliation ahead of all else.

Jesus tells us that this is His will for us, His Father’s will, that we be ministers of reconciliation.

We could easily place anything involving ministry in the hands of the clergy or a select few professionals, but that would be a mistake.

It is incumbent that we take up the ministry of reconciliation daily. St. Paul regarded himself as the foremost of sinners, and therefore an example of Jesus’ forgiveness offered generously.

We are called to examine our conscience, taking account of the times we received reconciliation, and our duty to share in Jesus’ ministry.

We have Good News to proclaim which has brought us and entrusts us with bringing others back to Jesus.

Bible Study for the 14th Week in Ordinary Time 2025

This week’s memory verse: Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us — Ephesians 3:20

  • 7/6 – John 10:10
  • 7/7 – Luke 6:38
  • 7/8 – Matthew 6:33
  • 7/9 – Psalm 37:11
  • 7/10 – Philippians 4:19
  • 7/11 – 2 Corinthians 9:8
  • 7/12 – Psalm 23:5

Pray the Week: Lord Jesus, You have sent me out to do Your work since the moment of my baptism. You protect me and provide for me abundantly. Increase my trust in Your provision so that nothing distracts me from Your mission. Amen.

Reflection for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025

When you see this, your heart shall rejoice and your bodies flourish like the grass; the LORD’s power shall be known to his servants.

Imagine you are in Galilee, the seaside area where Jesus did a lot of His teaching. It is much like this place, where we are, at Kurs. There are hills, rivers, lakes, an abundance of life.

We are there with Jesus and He is sending us out, out of His immediate protection, out into the world. Even more than that He is asking us to take nothing, to simply trust that God will take care of us.

Can you imagine going on a trip without a change of clothes, I’m sure you have a few here at our encampment. I’m sure you’ve brought some money for snacks and other stuff. Jesus asked them to take no money, nothing.

Jesus asked them to head out without even making friends along the way. You will certainly make friends here.

Jesus was asking some incredible things – and they did what He asked. A little secret not in today’s gospel – they were very successful.

We find it very hard to trust, to expect things to be great. Yet, that is what God promises. He will take care of us. He will see to our needs. Beyond that, He will do it in ways that are abundant.

I ask that you think of something you really like. It may be a food, a game, a time shared with friends, a time with family. Then imagine that thing times ten thousand. 

That is the abundance the Prophet Isaiah was talking about. That is the abundance that God promises – and provides.

With God nothing is lacking. With God, no risk is without backup. If we are doing His will, He is there with us and He has our back.

We often doubt. We often wonder, will God take care of little ‘ole me. Jesus is showing us in a very practical way that He will take care of us. The disciples experienced God’s care, and they’ve passed it onto us.

It is essential that we take the time to trust in Jesus. That means a lot. It means doing as He asks without fear. It means stepping out of our comfort zone and simply saying yes to God.

Bible Study for the 13th Week in Ordinary Time 2025

This week’s memory verse: But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” — Matthew 4:4

  • 6/29 – Hebrews 4:1
  • 6/30 – Psalm 119:105
  • 7/1 – John 1:1
  • 7/2 – Matthew 24:35
  • 7/3 – Colossians 3:16
  • 7/4 – Luke 11:28
  • 7/5 – Isaiah 40:8

Pray the Week: Word of God, change me throughout and re-create me. Plant Yourself deeply in me so that all I am is but a reflection of Your life in me. Amen.

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Word of God 2025

As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God

Brothers and sisters, welcome on this great day in the life of our Church and our parish. 

Today we celebrate that blessed sacrament, which only our Church calls sacrament, the powerful and life-giving Word of God. We have cause for joy, a day to celebrate the great graces we receive through God’s holy Word.

Today we also celebrate three young people who will be regenerated, reborn into that life of faith wherein they and their godparents and family commit to walking in the way God teaches through His Word.

As Jesus speaks of today, the seed which is God’s word is scattered over us. It is scattered over Max, Lucuss, and Juliett. In the Sacrament of the Word we ask the Holy Spirit to inspire us so that the Word may take deep root in us.

The Word calls us to shake off the cheap allurements of the world and the worldly, and to live deeply in the Word. That is where real life is, where true depth and riches are found.

I’m going to do a little sci-fi and math here. I promise I won’t go too deep.

In Star Trek, the Wrath of Khan, we find the ship Khan has stolen and the Enterprise with Captain Kirk looking for each other. They are in a nebula where their screens and gadgets don’t work. They must go by what is in them. Think of how that applies today.

Spock tells Captain Kirk that Khan (the evil one) thinks two dimensionally. He does not recognize the fact that the ship can move in more ways than front/back, left/right. Rather, the ship can move three dimensionally. Left/right, front/back, up/down, and even at angles. 

We are called to recognize God’s Word as not just two-dimensional history; a flat retelling of what Jesus did. It is an invitation to life in Christ, participation in the Eternal Reality of Jesus Life. Jesus tells us that the Word must be alive, deep, and living and active in us. The Word transcends time, history, and dimension. We must allow it to build us up so we may truly live and bear witness to the saving life of Christ.