St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish
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Weekly Reflections
GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE
WEEKLY READINGS AND OBSERVANCES - ENGAGE PARISHIONERS IN DAILY MASS AND PRAYER
Readings for the week of February 16, 2025
Sunday: Jer 17:5-8/Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6, (40:5a)/1 Cor 15:12, 16-20/Lk 6:17, 20-26
Monday: Gn 4:1-15, 25/Ps 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21/Mk 8:11-13
Tuesday: Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10/Ps 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10/Mk 8:14-21
Wednesday: Gn 8:6-13, 20-22/Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19/Mk 8:22-26
Thursday: Gn 9:1-13/Ps 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23/Mk 8:27-33
Friday: Gn 11:1-9/Ps 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15/Mk 8:34—9:1
Saturday: 1 Pt 5:1-4/Ps 23:1-3a, 4, 5, 6/Mt 16:13-19
Next Sunday: 1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23/1 Cor 15:45-49/Lk 6:27-38
Observances for the week of February 16, 2025
Sunday: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday: The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order; Presidents’ Day
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday: St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Saturday: The Chair of St. Peter the Apostle
Next Sunday: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE
February 16, 2025
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 6:17, 20-26
I craved four things as a teenager: success in sports, food, fun and the attention of popular people. However, I noticed that as I acquired them, I was more unsatisfied than before. So, I’d strive even more energetically, achieve more, and the sense of emptiness was greater still. These four things started to feel like burdens or even curses. Soon after, I encountered Christ in my high school youth group. Experiencing his love was totally different than anything those four things previously produced. It produced a lasting happiness.
Jesus utters a kind of four-fold curse in this week’s Gospel of Saint Luke’s “woes”: “Woe to you who are rich…who are filled now…who laugh now…who are well-spoken of” (cf. Luke 6:24-26). How marvelous that these correspond perfectly to the four things that obsessed my teenage soul: riches, food, laughter and good reputation. The “woes” the Lord speaks are warnings: when those things are the purpose of your life, you’ll be miserable. He is saying, “You’ll be happy, or blessed, in the measure that these things do not determine the shape of our lives, and the kingdom of God does.”
To some degree, we’re all spiritual teenagers, addicted to one or more of those four “woes.” How splendid that the Lord wants his to bless us — that is, to satisfy us, make us laugh with joy, and in the kingdom of God, offer us what will truly satisfy us. But first let’s admit what is causing our “woes.”
— Father John Muir
(PRACTICING) CATHOLIC - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS
(PRACTICING) CATHOLIC – IN THE END, DOES IT MATTER?
By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman
Mini Reflection: Jesus was radical in his teaching that the “stuff” in life wasn’t all that important. It was radical for him to say that the worldly signs of success did not amount to a whole lot in the grand scheme of things and that suffering could sanctify us. Are we ready to be radical, too?
In the End, Does it Matter?
When I was a teenager, the priest I would go to for confession used to tell me, over and over: “In the end, we all get the same dirty hole in the ground.”
What he meant was, it doesn’t matter how rich or smart or well-liked we are. We’re all heading to the same place. This life comes to an end for every man. All the money he earns, all the stuff, all the worldly esteem, will at some point be of no further use. We all get the same dirty hole in the ground.
It was an important message for me to hear, because at the time, it all seemed so important: my after-school job and my FAFSA application and my grades. The admiration of my friends and teachers. I was so consumed with what I was going to become that I wasn’t spending a lot of time thinking about who I was going to become. But the who is the only thing that lasts until the next life.
And to be honest, it’s all still too important to me. Avoiding sadness and disappointment. Saving money and being liked. Focusing on “the five-year plan” when it comes to career, house plans, and a whole bunch of other things I can’t take to my dirty hole in the ground.
Jesus was radical in his teaching that the “stuff” in life wasn’t all that important. It was radical for him to say that the worldly signs of success — wealth, popularity, pleasure — did not amount to a whole lot in the grand scheme of things and that suffering could sanctify us. It was radical in the ancient world, and it’s radical today.
Are we ready to be radical, too?
EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS
February 17, 2019
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I was a child, I often thought of the Church as something mystical and supernatural. I wasn’t wrong in my understanding of the Body of Christ, for surely the Church has these characteristics. However, even though we speak about the foundation of all we are as Church being the “mystery of Christ,” Jesus became a man so that supernatural element could break into the natural world in a profound way. What we once could not see, we now see. What we saw as a God in a distant place now dwelt among us. It is one of the aspects of Catholicism that I have grown to appreciate the most as I have matured: for a Catholic, the supernatural is natural. The communion of saints is heavenly and earthly at the same time.
The Beatitudes instruct us about this reality. Pope Francis reminds us that holiness is “not about swooning in mystic rapture.” Holiness is about living in the real world and doing extraordinary things with our ordinary lives. Our stewardship way of life consists of actions in the natural world that have extraordinary repercussions.
Do not ever take your simple actions of generosity and love for granted. As disciples called to a life of stewardship, we participate in something more profound than what we can see. We are blessed to be called to follow Jesus, and we bring blessing to all those with whom we choose to share ourselves.
Planted Near Water
We all know that there are times when life can feel, as Jeremiah writes, empty and wasted. There are moments when we think we resemble a barren bush, thirsting in the desert sun.
That’s why it is imperative for us to know the location of our water source. I promise you, it’s closer than you think. God never planted a seed in barren ground.
For me, it’s the Mass. Going to Mass is where I find total peace and renewal. I don’t have any great theological explanation for this — Mass is simply where I can truly rest in God for a time, where nothing and no one in the world can touch me. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s in the toughest times that I need Mass the most — that my roots stretch harder for that water.
Woe to the rich, says Jesus — woe to the popular, to the content, to the happy. It’s not because He hates to see us smile. It’s because He knows our humanity. He knows our limitations. He knows that when things are going really well, we often stop looking for God.
What replenishes you as a disciple, as a steward, as a Christian? If it feels far away or hard to reach, why is that? How can you bring it closer?
We are all trees planted near water, to yield our fruit in due season. Let’s pray for the strength to know where our water source is, and
to seek it both in good times and in bad.
— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS
Why Do We Do That?
Catholic Life Explained.
Mardi Gras
Question:
Carnivale and Mardi Gras celebrations are linked to Ash Wednesday, Lent, fast and abstinence. Can you tell us more about the connections between these events?
Answer:
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the forty days known as Lent. Every year, Christians highlight this penitential season as a time of self-examination, reformation of one's life, and continued development of a deeper spiritual life. The recommended practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving become the focus of Lenten activity and ritual. Each of these spiritual practices is aimed at personal discipline as well as continued concern for the other, especially the poor or alienated.
Forty days is a symbolic biblical period of time, during which personal transformation occurs and out of which people surface as more spiritual, ready to carry out God's mission. Relying on God's providence and care, no matter how difficult life becomes, is crucial to Lenten spirituality. Fasting was initially stricter, permitting only one simple meal a day without meat, fish, or other delicacies. Such things were not even allowed in the house.
In order to prepare for this in an age of no refrigeration, people gathered to consume whatever was not allowed during Lent. This led to parties or celebrations originally referred to as Carnivale, literally meaning "goodbye to meat," or Mardi Gras, literally meaning "Fat Tuesday." The eating and celebrating ended on the Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday. Today we focus more on moderation in all things, as well as a strong concern the poor. What are you doing for the poor this Lent?
Prayer When Facing the Unknown
Dear Jesus,
When you call me to places where I am unfamiliar, be with me.
When you invite me to a mission I feel ill-equipped to handle, give me your strength.
Help me to leave everything and follow you.
Amen.
Prayer of Faith
Dear God,
Open my eyes to Your movement in my life. And, even when I don’t see it or don’t understand, help me to rely on the promises of Your love and mercy.
Amen.
Prayer of God’s Blessing
Bless me, Lord, mold my heart in imitation of Yours.
Bless me, Lord, help me to see people as You do, and to hear their needs.
Bless me, Lord, replace my understanding with Yours.
Amen.
Humor
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: Who was the only apostle, excluding Judas, who was not martyred?
Question: Who was the only apostle, excluding Judas, who was not martyred?
Answer: St. John.
Question: What do we call the successors of the apostles in communion with the pope?
Question: What do we call the successors of the apostles in communion with the pope?
Answer: Bishops.
Question: What country do the majority of Coptic Catholics live in?
Question: What country do the majority of Coptic Catholics live in?
Answer: Egypt
Question: Where did three children witness six apparitions of Mary, Mother of God in 1917?
Question: Where did three children witness six apparitions of Mary, Mother of God in 1917?
Answer: Fátima, Portugal.
Question: What is the term for sharing of the faith through witness of life and word?
Question: What is the term for sharing of the faith through witness of life and word?
Answer: Evangelization.