“I didn’t sign up for this,” I whispered under my breath as I checked the delivery schedule one last time before sending it to our partner logistics. I’ve always hated administrative work because I was bad at it, but it was the task I ended up with when we opened our online bakeshop. I was in charge of everything that was not baking—and I messed up a lot.

I’d always been a visionary, an “activator,” and a strategist, but I would have a team who took care of the details. In this case, I did tasks that forced me to dig within for a new skill set. God called me to this particular task and season. I have a role to play in this booming business. And whom God calls, He equips. I was the one limiting myself all along.

Friend, are you called to do a new thing today? God couldn’t put you in that new appointment if He didn’t think you could do it. You can. Let God equip you. Let God use you. Karren Renz Seña (karren.sena@gmail.com)

reflect

What new challenge do you need to rise up to? God put you to it; He can bring you through it.

Lord, thank You for believing in me even when I don’t believe in myself. Thank You for Your appointment. Thank You for Your trust.

St. Theodora of Alexandria, pray for us.

First Reading | Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14

Moses must have been at his wit’s end. The people have let him down again and Aaron is their head leader. Perhaps Moses is even tempted to give up on them. Yet he remains committed and intercedes for them before God. Moses is a true leader who refuses to abandon his flock in their time of need. Let us pray that the leaders of the Church can make hard decisions necessary for the Church to grow and reestablish itself as one of the premier institutions in the world.

⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. ⁸ They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshipping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ⁹ I see how stiff-necked this people is,” continued the Lord to Moses. ¹⁰ “Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.” ¹¹ But Moses implored the Lord, his God, saying, “Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? ¹³ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’” ¹⁴ So the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19

R: I will rise and go to my father.

³ Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. ⁴ Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. (R) ¹² A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. ¹³ Cast me not out from your presence, and your holy spirit take not from me. (R) ¹⁷ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. ¹⁹ My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. (R)

Second Reading | 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Paul reminds Timothy that the basis of our ministry is the mercy and choice of God. It is not about us; it is about God and His desire to save all people. Pope Francis wants us to respond to our baptismal calling and build evangelizing communities of missionary disciples. This is the task we have all been given. What is your role in God’s overall plan?

¹² Beloved: I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. ¹³ I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. ¹⁴ Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life. ¹⁷ To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel | Luke 15:1-10 (or Luke 15:1-32)

We should reflect on the story of the prodigal son at least weekly so we may be convinced of following the example of the father in the story. The real focal point is his love and mercy—his willingness to forgive his wayward son and not hold his sins against him. This is in stark contrast with the response of the older brother who cannot understand his father’s position. Let us pray we will have forgiving and merciful hearts to all who hurt us so we can truly imitate the love of God for us.

Gospel Acclamation

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

¹ Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, ² but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So to them he addressed this parable. ⁴ “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? ⁵ And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy ⁶ and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. ⁸ “Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ ¹⁰ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read JEREMIAH 15 - 18 today.

Are You Sorry?

On March 13, 2015, Pope Francis announced the Holy Year of Mercy which began on December 8, 2015 and ended on November 20, 2016. Pope Francis said that he wanted the whole Church “to rediscover and make fruitful the mercy of God, with which all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time.” To highlight the year, he had an exclusive conversation with Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli on his reasons for declaring the Year of Mercy. The product of that conversation was his bestselling book The Name of God Is Mercy.

In the introduction of that book, Tornielli described how mercy is the hallmark of Pope Francis’ ministry and how this is illustrated in the story of a young priest named Gaston that appeared in the novel To Every Man a Penny.

A captured soldier was about to be executed and the priest Gaston heard his confession. The soldier confessed his passion for women and the countless amorous adventures he engaged in. The priest explained that he needed to repent to be forgiven and the soldier remarked, “How can I repent? It was something I enjoyed and if I had the chance I would do it again, even now. How can I repent?” Then the priest Gaston, with such love and mercy said, “But are you sorry that you are not sorry?” The young soldier said, “Yes, I am sorry that I am not sorry.” Upon hearing it, the priest gave the soldier absolution.

“Are you sorry that you are not sorry?” Let that sink in. And imagine Jesus saying that to you. Like the young soldier, our repentance is not always perfect. We know we will commit the same sins over and over again. We feel that confession is a useless exercise. But God’s mercy does not demand perfection. At the barest minimum, Jesus wants to know if we are sorry that we are not sorry. Read today’s Gospel. Jesus gives not one, not two, but three parables of mercy to show that sin does not disqualify us from the love of God.

To feel sorry that we are not sorry is the beginning grace penetrating our soul. To feel sorry that we are not sorry shows we are not beyond redemption despite our repeated shortcomings and attraction to sin. Fr. Joel O. Jason

reflection question

The name of God is mercy. He does not have mercy. He is mercy. His mercy does not depend on our conduct but on His character.

Jesus, I am so sorry that I am not always sorry for my sins. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _______________________________________________