In times of trouble, God lifts us up and offers us so much. That is abundantly clear in the three readings of today’s Mass.  Different in authorship, different in style and content, they were originally destined to different audiences and cultures, but from early in the Christian experience, they touch the lives of all.

Today’s readings represent God, the Spirit and Jesus Christ, constantly at work in our world, a world perennially troubled by a wide variety of conflicts and struggles: global, international, interpersonal, and personal; economic, cultural, moral, racial, political and military.  Oftentimes, these conflicts threaten to destroy all of our desires and hopes to resolve them.

Yet, these biblical readings, and the very Eucharist we celebrate “around” them, challenge us to hope.  Through three prophetic biblical figures, God encourages our best expectations.

The prophet Zechariah urges us to expect much of Zion’s King, an image of Jesus Christ the Messiah.  Victorious in his simplicity, this Messiah will transform the world: He will destroy the culture and instruments of war, and He will proclaim a lasting peace.

The apostle Paul writes with faith and eloquence of the crucial role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Urging us to allow the Spirit to enter and move in our lives, Paul assures us that we will not “die in the flesh,” but rather “live in the Spirit.”

The evangelist Matthew, through the words of Jesus, exhorts us to be like innocent children, totally open and available to God’s love.  He asks us to “let go and to let God,” to surrender our burdens and weariness to the loving power of God, and to accept the rest and peace that God so yearns to give us.

We are living in a time of great trouble: economic, social, political and personal.  We are greatly afflicted by the Covid virus and the fear and pain that it is inflicting so many of us.  The Word of God in the readings today, and the Holy Spirit who always opens us up to that Word, raise us up, strengthen our hope, and offer us peace.

This weekend, Fr. Lloyd Baugh SJ will preside at our 10 am Sunday Mass.

Regarding the re-opening of St. Monica’s church for Mass and the other Sacraments, we are all looking forward to the day in the near future when this will happen.

The parish committee to Prepare the Re-opening is at work, determining and implementing all the complex steps that we need to fulfill so that we can get the approval of the Archdiocese to re-open. Please check our website regularly for more information.

t’s “Summertime,” but this year, the “Livin’” may not be that easy, like in the musical Porgy and Bess.  Let us continue to pray for each other and for our parish, let us pray for those who are shut-in, alone and afraid, for the elderly, the sick, the homeless.  Most of all, let us lift up our children and the unborn to Our God of Life and Hope, so that He may bless them, protect them and love them.

Lloyd Baugh SJ

Associate Pastor