Weekly Reflections
GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE
Readings for the week of July 13, 2025
Sunday: Dt 30:10-14/Ps 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37 (see 33)/Col 1:15-20/Lk 10:25-37
Monday: Ex 1:8-14, 22/Ps 124:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8/Mt 10:34—11:1
Tuesday: Ex 2:1-15a/Ps 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34/Mt 11:20-24
Wednesday: Ex 3:1-6, 9-12/Ps 103:1b-2, 3-4, 6-7/Mt 11:25-27
Thursday: Ex 3:13-20/Ps 105:1 and 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27/Mt 11:28-30
Friday: Ex 11:10—12:14/Ps 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18/Mt 12:1-8
Saturday: Ex 12:37-42/Ps 136:1 and 23-24, 10-12, 13-15/Mt 12:14-21
Next Sunday: Gn 18:1-10a/Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 5 (1a)/Col 1:24-28/Lk 10:38-42
Observances for the week of July 13, 2025
Sunday: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday: St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
Tuesday: St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Wednesday: Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Thursday:
Friday: St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest
Saturday:
Next Sunday: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE
July 13, 2025
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 10:25-37
I used to be a bad neighbor. I’d get wrapped up in my life and ignore those around me. Then I found sage advice from Benjamin Franklin to this effect: to be a better neighbor, ask someone to do a favor for you. It’s counterintuitive, isn’t it? Tell strangers that I need their help? Yuck. I’ll risk looking needy. Worse, I’ll be indebted to them. But I tried it, and it works like a charm. Recently I asked my neighbor Alan for a hacksaw, and Inga for an egg. They kindly obliged, and our friendship is growing.
This week we hear a scribe of the law cynically ask Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). Like him, we prefer to keep the list of our “neighbors” as short as possible. It requires less interruption and inconvenience. But when Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, he exposes the lonely, cold-heartedness tendency of the scribe’s (and our) heart. My “neighbor” is anyone I encounter who manifests a concrete need. There isn’t time to require any other credential because human need opens us to the happy reciprocity which is love.
Jesus’ words challenge us this week to ask a neighbor for help in some small way. How marvelous that God himself shows us how. He moves into our world and asks us to love Him with small deeds of love. Maybe that’s where Ben Franklin got the idea
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time / July 13, 2025
SUNDAY READINGS - EXCERPTS TO PLACE IN YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
First Reading:
No, it is something very near to you,
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out." (Dt 30:14)
Psalm:
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life. (Ps 19)
Second Reading:
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation. (Col 1:15)
Gospel:
You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself. (Lk 10:25)
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass ©2001, 1998, 1970 CCD. The English translation of Psalm Responses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK - INVITE PARISHIONERS TO REFLECT AND RESPOND TO SCRIPTURE
1st Reading Question:
Moses taught the Israelite that the Lord is not remote but nearby to each of us. When was a time you felt especially close to God?
2nd Reading Question:
Today’s reading is a poem composed by Paul to describe the divinity and supremacy of Jesus. How do you express your thoughts about Jesus to others?
Gospel Question:
In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus teaches the lawyer
that a neighbor is anyone you treat with mercy. Who might you treat with mercy this week?
LIVE THE LITURGY - INSPIRATION FOR THE WEEK
Everyone is our neighbor — those we love and those we can’t stand, the people we agree with and the people whose opinions we hate. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that we must not only see ourselves in every person we meet — we must see him, too
(PRACTICING) CATHOLIC - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS
Mini reflection: As Christians we know that everyone is our neighbor. It’s drilled into us from the first time we hear this reading. But do we approach the victims that we see? Or do we draw away from the suffering of others in fear and confusion, thinking: “That’s not my problem”?
Crossing the Street
It takes a cold, hard, godless heart to step over a wounded man on the street.
But in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite didn’t step over the half-dead traveler. I think we picture them doing so, in our collective imagining of this well-known story, but the words of the Gospel are quite clear. “When he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side,” Jesus says of both.
So they saw him. They saw his need. It made them uncomfortable; it confused them — many scholars have said that Judaic law concerning the touching of dead bodies might have made them reluctant to approach — and so they decided the simplest way to file this situation in the Not My Problem category was to cross the street.
But that still leaves a half-dead guy on the road. And we all, 2,000 years later, still think of the priest and the Levite as cold and hard and godless — even if they didn’t want to be, even if they didn’t think of themselves that way — because the bottom line is, they didn’t see the half-dead guy as their problem.
As Christians we know that everyone is our neighbor. It’s drilled into us from the first time we hear this reading.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I find myself crossing the street a lot more than I should.
There is so much pain and suffering in the world. We certainly can’t begin to alleviate it all. But we have to start with the pain and the suffering that we see, that’s right in front of us — even if it’s something we really, really want to ignore. Even if we find it inconvenient or confusing or scary or weird.
The heroism of the Good Samaritan wasn’t in his selfless actions, although those were certainly commendable. It was in his courage. “He approached the victim,” Jesus said.
Can we approach the victims we see? Do we have that courage?
EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS
So many times in my life, I have failed to start something because I had not yet adequately prepared. I would have started working out or going for a jog, but I needed to get the right shoes. I would have started eating right if only I could find the time and money to buy the right foods. I would have started that journaling project, but I couldn't without a really nice leather-bound journal. I would have, I would have, and I would have!
I know many people can relate. We offer up excuses for so many things. Sometimes we even get to the point where we do start something, but by then, we have already lost so much time.
Some of us are thinking about taking a stewardship way of life seriously, but we are just not ready yet. We would be more generous if we can first get out of debt. We would give of our time, but we have to wait until the kids get older or until we fully research our options. The truth is, we don't have to be in any particular state of life or have any specific financial portfolio to start giving our very selves to God. God takes us as we are now. No resume needed. Why waste so much time thinking about getting started and becoming serious? Time is a gift given to all of us. As we think and prepare endlessly, we are practicing poor stewardship. The time to start is today. Who wants to answer God one day at the gates of Heaven saying, "I would have."?
What Jesus Doesn’t Say
“If Jesus wanted us to (fill in the blank), he would have said so.”
We hear this argument applied to every controversial topic under the sun — and even some not-so-controversial topics, too. Whenever someone is trying to make a case for a decision they have already made, they call in Jesus’ scriptural silence on the matter as their expert, unimpeachable witness.
And sure, there’s much Jesus doesn’t talk about in the Gospels. But by this logic, we would have to assume that Jesus doesn’t care, for instance, if we drive well over the speed limit (he doesn’t discuss cars and highways in the Bible) or what we do online (he never mentions the Internet or websites at all!), when we know that certainly is just not the case.
Like the scholar of the Jewish law who challenges Jesus to define who exactly his “neighbor” is, we can argue semantics all we want. But if we rest in prayer and look deep into our hearts, we know what path we need to take, and it’s usually not the easy one.
I find that I do this plenty in ways that are far more subtle. I lament that the situation facing me is not sufficiently “black and white.” I become frustrated by the shades of moral grey and toss up my hands, claiming I don’t know what the right answer is, insisting that I can’t be blamed for the ramifications of whatever decision I make.
What I need to be doing in these situations is asking God for His guidance, even if it makes me nervous. I need to be like the scholar. He was brave enough to ask, even though I think he knew he wouldn’t particularly like the answer. Let’s strive for that same courage.
Why Do We Do That?
Catholic Life Explained.
What Is Mammon?
Question:
When Jesus says, “You cannot serve both God and mammon,” what does he mean? What is mammon?
Answer:
When you hear Scripture proclaimed each Sunday, remember it wasn’t originally written in English. Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek — these ancient tongues were the original language of our Old and New Testaments. Most of the time, all of the words are translated into our native language. Sometimes, a word or two is left in the original language. Such is the case in this Scripture passage.
Mammon is an ancient Aramaic word referring to money, wealth, or profit. Earthly wealth isn’t bad in itself, nor does it automatically exclude us from being a disciple of Jesus. But what dominates our life? To serve money — that is, to seek accumulation of wealth for its own sake and to structure our lives around it — is morally problematic. What good is our wealth if it isn’t at the service of others? What good is our wealth if its pursuit leads us to selfishness, obsession, greed, envy, and comparison? There are many things that can be opposed to our service of God — power, prestige, popularity. Ultimately, something in our lives will be our master. But there is only one God worth serving.
Prayer for Charity
Give me the grace, Lord, to truly see those around me: the overlooked, the uncomfortable, the odd and disliked.
Your kingdom is one of belonging, help us to be the types of neighbors who see and respond with Godly generosity.
Amen.
Prayer for Evangelization
As You reach out to the world, Lord, let us be Your hands!
As You answer those crying, send us.
Let us be Your people, answer to prayers prayed, comfort to the afflicted.
May we be laborers in Your harvest.
Amen
Prayer of Pastoral Care
O God,
Bless the souls You have entrusted to our care. As You hear every one of their prayers, help us to hear them, too. Answer their prayer intentions and personal needs through us and our ministry, as we all seek to do Your will.
Amen.
Prayer for the True Presence
Jesus,
What a gift we have in your True Presence: the assurance of your friendship, your company, your grace, your love.
Increase our thirst for you as you, also, desire to draw closer to us.
Amen.
Memorare Prayer
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help,
or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee,
O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Amen.
Prayer to the Holy Trinity
Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who calls us into communion with Him,
a life of grace and mystery, reconciliation and unity.
Amen.
Prayer for Pentecost
Holy Spirit of God —
Disturb this room with your presence today, filling us, empowering us, emboldening us.
Descend upon us with your gifts, your inspiration, and your promptings.
Lead us to where we should go, stirring within us the movement of God.
Amen.
Prayer for Peace
Fill us with Your peace, Lord, as you promised in Your word.
Peace in our comings and goings,
Peace that You are working and moving,
Peace for what has happened, the places we find ourselves today, and in the future to come.
Amen.
Growing the Gospel For Our Children
Tap the button below the poster to print the games and puzzle's
(each game uses 2 sheets of paper)
CATHOLIC TRIVIA – JUST FOR FUN
(Click the down arrow for the answer!)
Question: Which Old Testament prophet foretold the Virgin Mary and her conception of Jesus?
Question: Which Old Testament prophet foretold the Virgin Mary and her conception of Jesus?
Answer: The Prophet Isaiah.
Question: Where is St. Peter buried?
Question: Where is St. Peter buried?
Answer: The current location of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Question: What is the instrument used to sprinkle holy water on the congregation during Mass called?
Question: What is the instrument used to sprinkle holy water on the congregation during Mass called?
Answer: The aspergillum
Question: What does the celebrant say at the conclusion of each Mass?
Question: What does the celebrant say at the conclusion of each Mass?
Answer: “The Mass is ended, go in peace.”
Question: What is the official name for the seats inside of a church used by the general congregation?
Question: What is the official name for the seats inside of a church used by the general congregation?
Answer: Pews