19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

In today’s Gospel (Luke 12: 32-48), Jesus talks to the disciples about being prepared for the coming of the Lord. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms.... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Here’s a commentary on this Gospel passage given by Pope Francis in a 2016 Angelus Addresss:

Bronze oil lamp (North African ca. 400 AD design) by Frank Egan

In the passage of the Gospel for today, Jesus speaks to his disciples about the attitude they should have regarding the final encounter with him, and explains how the expectation of this encounter should push us toward a life full of good works.

... Jesus today reminds us that awaiting eternal blessedness does not free us from the commitment to make the world more just and more inhabitable. In fact, precisely our hope of possessing the Kingdom in eternity drives us to work to improve the condition of our earthly life, especially that of our weakest brothers. May the Virgin Mary help us to be people and communities who are not limited to the present, or worse, nostalgic for the past, but rather, projected toward the future of God, toward the encounter with him, our life and our hope.

Corpus Christi, Year C

On this Feast of Corpus Christi, celebrating the Lord's gift to us of himself in the Eucharist, we ask that the unity for which Christ prayed at the Last Supper may be granted to our broken world.

Below is part of Pope Francis's homily from the Corpus Christi Mass:

Tonight, once again, the Lord distributes for us the bread which is His body, He makes a gift of Himself. We, too, are experiencing the “solidarity of God” with man, a solidarity that never runs out, a solidarity that never ceases to amaze us: God draws near to us; in the sacrifice of the Cross He lowers Himself, entering into the darkness of death in order to give us His life, which overcomes evil, selfishness, death.

Last Supper miniature, Psalter Alsace (Strasbourg), ca. 1220-40

Jesus this evening gives Himself to us in the Eucharist, shares our same journey – indeed, He becomes food, real food that sustains our life even at times when the going is rough, when obstacles slow down our steps. The Lord in the Eucharist makes us follow His path, that of service, of sharing, of giving – and what little we have, what little we are, if shared, becomes wealth, because the power of God, which is that of love, descends into our poverty to transform it.

Let us ask ourselves this evening, adoring the Christ truly present in the Eucharist: do I let myself be transformed by Him? Do I let the Lord who gives Himself to me, guide me to come out more and more from my little fence, to get out and be not afraid to give, to share, to love Him and others?

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.... Whoever does not renounce his possessions cannot be my disciple, says Jesus in today's Gospel (Luke 14: 25-33). In his Angelus talk, Pope Francis speaks of following of Christ:

Following Jesus does not mean taking part in a triumphal procession! It means sharing his merciful love, entering his great work of mercy for each and every man and for all men. The work of Jesus is, precisely, a work of mercy, a work of forgiveness and of love! Jesus is so full of mercy! And this universal pardon, this mercy, passes through the Cross. Jesus, however, does not want to do this work alone: he wants to involve us too in the mission that the Father entrusted to him. After the Resurrection he was to say to his disciples: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you”... if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” (Jn 20:21-22).

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. These words of Jesus to his disciples in today's gospel (Luke 9: 18-24) are not always easy to hear. And yet, this is what he asks of us. During the Way of the Cross at Brazil's 2013 World Youth Day, Pope Francis told his young audience:

Christ carrying the cross, Titian ca 1565.

“We have come here today to accompany Jesus on his journey of sorrow and love, the Way of the Cross, which is one of the most intense moments of World Youth Day. At the end of the Holy Year of Redemption, Blessed John Paul II chose to entrust the Cross to you, young people, asking you “to carry it throughout the world as a symbol of Christ’s love for humanity, and announce to everyone that only in the death and resurrection of Christ can we find salvation and redemption.”

...[T]he Cross of Christ invites us also to allow ourselves to be smitten by his love, teaching us always to look upon others with mercy and tenderness, especially those who suffer, who are in need of help, who need a word or a concrete action; the Cross invites us to step outside ourselves to meet them and to extend a hand to them. Dear friends, let us bring to Christ’s Cross our joys, our sufferings and our failures. There we will find a Heart that is open to us and understands us, forgives us, loves us and calls us to bear this love in our lives, to love each person, each brother and sister, with the same love.