Reading to Approach the Week

Romans 12:9–13

Paul is just awesome. This is one of my favorite passages I’ve read in the last few months. If someone asked me to describe what living a Christian life looks like, this is one of the first readings I’d point to. It’s powerful yet concise and it shines so much light on the meaning of our mission. It reminds us why we live the faith, why we trust God’s word, and why we venture into the unknown confident in His mission for us.

Use Paul’s words here to serve as an action item list for living the faith.

• Love without hypocrisy. No pretending, no surface level kindness, but a deep, Christ like love that clings to the inherent goods we discussed a few weeks ago and refuse to compromise with evil.
• Honor one another. In a world obsessed with self-promotion, we are a called to “outdo” each other in lifting others up.
• Stay on fire for God. “Do not be slothful in zeal” reminds us faith isn’t something we coast on. We’re called to live ready, alert, and active in service.
• Rejoice, be patient, pray constantly. Hope gives us joy, patience steadies us in trials, and prayer keeps us connected to the source of strength.
• Generosity and hospitality. Our faith should overflow into tangible care for others, especially those in need.

This passage also quietly dismantles one of the most common criticisms of Christianity and religion overall. We are commonly described as “nice people” but naive, following outdated ideas or empty superstition. Paul shows that our mission is anything but naive. It is intentional, disciplined, and anchored in action.

To reject this kind of life is not enlightened, it’s often the result of being jaded by the evils of the world, of having hope worn down by disappointment. But Paul calls us to resist that cynicism. Genuine faith is neither blind nor soft. It is lived out in the grit of love, the rejection of evil, and the steady, hopeful work of serving the Lord in all circumstances.

Sunday Mass Reflection

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading – Wisdom 18:6–9

Faith Before Deliverance

This passage takes us back to the night of the first Passover. God’s people acted on His word before they saw the promise fulfilled, trusting that He would protect them while judgment fell on Egypt. Their unity in faith and obedience became the foundation of their deliverance. It’s a reminder that true faith moves us to prepare and act before the outcome is visible. God’s promises are certain, and those who trust Him can stand firm even in the face of danger. We are called to the same readiness and trust in our own trials today.

Second Reading – Hebrews 11:1–2, 8–19

Trust in the Journey

“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Abraham is held up as the great example obeying God’s call to leave his homeland, journeying without knowing the destination, and trusting promises that seemed impossible. He believed God could do what He said, even to the point of offering up his son Isaac, confident that God could restore life. His life shows that faith is not a feeling, but a decision to trust and obey despite uncertainty. We’re invited to take that same journey of trust in our own walk with God.

Gospel - Luke 12:32–48

Ready and Accountable

Jesus reassures His disciples that the Father delights to give them the Kingdom, but He immediately calls them to live ready and watchful. He warns that those who have been entrusted with much will be held to greater accountability. Readiness means living each day as if Christ could return at any moment, serving faithfully with what we’ve been given. This is not a call to fear, but to active stewardship and vigilance.

Homily Reflection

This Sunday’s readings all circle around one truth. That faith is an active, daring readiness.

It is not blind superstition or wishful thinking. It is a courageous trust in God’s promises that moves us to act, even when we cannot see the full picture.

Faith Misunderstood

Bishop Barron began with a line from theologian Paul Tillich: “Faith is the most misunderstood word in the religious vocabulary.”
​When people critical of religion talk about faith, what do they say?
“I’m for reason and evidence based thinking. I’m for science. Faith is believing without evidence. It’s naive. It’s superstition.”

Bishop Barron says hearing this makes him want to tear his hair out, because that’s not what faith is. The Church actually rejects superstition, naive credulity, and irrational thinking because they are beneath reason.

We believe Jesus is the Logos. The mind, reason, and logic of God made flesh. If something is illogical, it’s opposed to Christ. Faith is not anti-reason. It begins where reason has taken us as far as it can go, and God says “Now trust Me enough to take the next step.”

Faith and Risk

To illustrate this, Bishop Barron compared it to John Adams and the Declaration of Independence.
He recalls the scene of the John Adams show where they are in Independence Hall, the air charged with thunder and lightning outside. The Founding Fathers knew that signing the Declaration meant pledging “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” and likely facing death by hanging if caught. They could not see every outcome, but they knew the risk was worth it.

Later, in 1778, Adams sailed across the Atlantic in dangerous waters with his 12 year old son, John Quincy, to aid Benjamin Franklin in Paris. British warships prowled the sea and capture meant execution. Still, they went. Later, Adams sent his young son at just 14, on an even riskier mission to serve as secretary to the ambassador in Russia.

Bishop Barrons point is that these leaps into the unknown shaped history. Without them, our country might not exist.

The Hero’s Pattern

Almost every great hero story follows this same arc and Bishop Barron is known to reference Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit every few weeks but this week he also added Spiderman and Star Wars... Nice.

• A comfortable starting point: Peter Parker with Aunt May, Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, Frodo and Bilbo in the Shire.
• Then a disruptive call to adventure. A dangerous mission or an impossible quest.

Would it be easier to stay where it’s safe? Absolutely. But if they had, nothing new would have been gained. Risk opens the way for new life, new light, and blessings for generations to come.

John Adams could have stayed home. Abraham could have stayed in Ur. Bilbo and Frodo could have stayed in their hobbit holes. But they stepped out.

Abraham: The Father of Faith

Hebrews gives us the model. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was to go.”
​Abraham was 75 years old when God said, “Go to the land I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation.” You'd think at that age he would be pretty content staying put but he chose to follow God's word.​
​Did Abraham understand all the details? No. But because he trusted and went, the people of Israel were born, Christ came into the world, and the Gospel now reaches every nation.

Faith is not for the timid. It’s the life of a pilgrim who trusts the map God gives, even when the road ahead disappears into darkness.

The Mottos of the Faithful

Bishop Barron pointed to two great saints who captured this spirit of faith:

• St. Ignatius of Loyola – “Semper Maior” Always Greater. Never settle. Always be ready for the next call God gives. Faith doesn’t let us get too comfortable but it keeps us moving toward God’s greater plan.
• Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati – “Verso l’alto” To the heights! Pier Giorgio was a mountaineer. Climbing is dangerous, exhausting, and often lonely but the view at the top makes every step worth it. Faith works the same way. The Church will canonize Pier Giorgio Frassati on Sunday, September 7, 2025, along with Carlo Acutis, at St. Peter's Square in Rome.
  ​

People of faith are not cautious spectators. They are those who climb higher, go further, and venture deeper to God's call

To Whom Much is Given

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus ends with the piercing line "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."

Reading passages like this are why I’ve been more invigorated to confidently try and live out God’s word to the best of my ability. I truly believe God gives us what we can handle and through the adventure of handling our trials, we are shaped into the people God has meant us to be.

The blessings God gives us, whether it’s faith, resources, talents, relationships, or opportunities are not for us to hide or hoard. They are given to us for the benefit of the mission he has entrusted to us individually. That means every challenge is a test of stewardship and the chance to grow into a better person.

Faith as a Blueprint for the Journey

God calls us into trials not to break us, but to shape us. And He hasn’t left us without guidance.

• Wisdom shows us God’s people trusting His promise before deliverance came.
• Hebrews shows us Abraham stepping out without seeing the whole path.
• Luke's Gospel calls us to be ready, vigilant, and faithful with what we’ve been given.

Faith is not just believing God exists. It’s saying “yes” when He calls, stepping forward with courage, and trusting that every trial is drawing us closer to the people he has given us the opportunity to be.

This week’s challenge:

• Where is God calling me out of comfort and into trust?
• What “much” has He given me, and how am I putting it to work?
• And when the next test comes, will I see it not as punishment, but as an invitation to the hero's journey Bishop Barron reminds us of.

Saint of the Week: St. John of Damascus

Feast Day: December 4th

Lived: 675–749| Damascus - Palestine

Patron of: Pharmacists, theologians, painters

Who He Was

St. John of Damascus was one of the most brilliant defenders of the faith in a time and place where Christianity was being overwhelmed by Islam. A man who combined deep scholarship with fearless public witness. Born into a prominent Christian family in Damascus, he lived under Islamic rule at a time when the Church was shrinking under political and cultural pressure.

John received one of the finest educations of his era, excelling in philosophy, science, and theology. This training could have given him an easy, comfortable life in government service but instead, he used it to fight for the truth of Christ and the Church.

What He Did

1. Defended Christianity under Islamic rule
​John understood the rising influence of Islam firsthand. He didn’t stay silent. He wrote with precision and courage about the truth of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ to directly address and refute Islamic teaching. He showed that Christianity was not irrational, but the fulfillment of both reason and revelation.

2. Champion of sacred images
​In the 8th century, the Church was shaken by the Iconoclast Controversy, when the Byzantine Emperor banned religious images. Many wavered under political pressure, but John wrote powerful defenses of icons, showing that because God took on flesh in Jesus Christ, it is right and fitting to depict Him and the saints.

3. Author of The Fount of Knowledge
​This monumental work became a theological blueprint for centuries. It systematically laid out Christian teaching, defended the faith against skeptics, and addressed heresies with clarity and logic. It’s still considered one of the great works of Christian theology.

Why He Matters Today

St. John of Damascus lived in a culture where Christianity was dismissed, mocked, suppressed and yet, he stood firm. He didn’t just talk about having faith he lived it with conviction, reason, and courage.

Today, as we see secular ideologies and moral relativism push faith to the edges of public life, John’s witness speaks directly to us. He shows that:

• Faith is not superstition, it’s the marriage of truth and reason.
• We cannot compromise on the essentials of the Gospel just to “fit in.”
• Defending the truth requires both intellectual clarity and personal holiness.

He embodied Paul’s call in Romans 12:9–13: genuine love, rejection of evil, zeal in serving the Lord, hope in trials, constant prayer, and generosity toward others all while holding fast to the truth of the Logos, the divine reason made flesh.

Closing Thoughts

This week’s readings and reflection have been a reminder that faith is not a soft, sentimental thing. To exhibit true faith, you must be active, courageous, and ready.

Paul’s words in Romans 12:9–13 give us a clear blueprint for how to live that faith every single day.

And St. John of Damascus shows us what it looks like when that blueprint is lived out in the real world in a time and place where the faith was under heavy attack, where compromise would have been easier, but where truth mattered more. He didn’t just defend the faith with words but lived it with clarity, courage, and charity.

The world will always have cynics, always have voices calling faith “nonsense,” and always try to bend the Church to fit its agenda. But this week, we are reminded that the call of Christ is not to blend in but to hold fast to what is good, to follow Him into the unknown, and to trust that every trial is shaping us into His image of our true selves.