chicagocatholicman

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photo: David Castenson

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Receipts

(for someone who thinks they’re too far gone)

Today’s Gospel is an odd moment in the life of Jesus.

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus stops. Thinks about how the Romans are going to destroy Jerusalem in the years after His death (being God, He knows stuff like that). And weeps over the suffering to come.

It seems random. But it’s actually a glimpse into the heart of God.

Do we care when bad things happen to other people? Of course.

But you and I only get emotionally upset about someone else’s problems if that person matters to us. It’s how we’re built. It’s one of the many ways that we’re like our Maker.

The more someone matters to us, the more their problems hit us emotionally.

Weeping for someone else’s loss? It’s a sign of love.

One more thing about today’s Gospel. This is happening when Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem for the last time. This trip ends in a public torture killing (being God, He knows stuff like that).

In a moment when anyone else would turn and run, Jesus is more worried about how someone else is going to suffer.

The people Jesus is weeping for? Are the very ones who will crucify Him.

It’s that kind of love.

If you think you’ve done too much to ever be forgiven. That there’s no coming back. That you’re too far gone for God’s love.

Tell that to Jesus.

He’s got the receipts to prove you wrong.

Today’s Readings

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Don't shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him. - C.S. Lewis

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In a message to the G20 Summit in Brazil, Pope Francis called on the world’s wealthiest nations to work together to end hunger.

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“With God, everything; without God, nothing”: This maxim of her mother left a deep impression on Luz Maribel Jiménez, director of human resources at Carnicerías Jiménez, an award-winning Catholic family grocery store chain in Chicago.

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Haley interviews Word on Fire designer and photographer Clare Sheaf about an exciting new project: The Catholic Kids’ Cookbook: Holy Days and Heavenly Food. In this episode they discuss how to let the beauty of the liturgical year shape children’s hearts and minds, the importance of participating in holy seasons and special days in the domestic Church, and ideas for observing Advent.

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We live in a society devoid of heroes. Or, perhaps stated more accurately, we live in a society that is afraid of and dislikes heroes—those who call us to be better and who remind us that we could be more than we otherwise are. So, the many so-called heroes in modern society turn out to be empty shells—empty because they have no real sacrifice to make, such as the heroes of the Marvel universe, or because their moral characters are hopelessly compromised, as in a George R.R. Martin story. For that reason, the heroes on offer quickly vanish into the malaise of boredom that afflicts modern culture. True heroism requires sacrifice, and sacrifice requires love. Our culture is afraid of love, if only because love abolishes boredom, the ruling vice of our age.

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Tradwives” have been in the news quite a lot of late. Everyone, it seems, has something to say about them. A few months ago, reading up on the latest controversy, I found myself contemplating a question. Do I personally know any tradwives?

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Comiskey Park at 35th Ave and S. Shields Avenue in Chicago’s Bridgeport community. (1988)

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BEFORE you ask God for anything, THANK Him for everything.

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Heavenly Father, give me wisdom to manage my finances according to Your principles. Help me to make decisions that honor You and provide for my needs. Let Your provision be my security, knowing that You will meet all my needs. In Jesus' Name.

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U.S. Bishops’ President Calls for Prayers and Unity Following Presidential Election

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“A spring morning in South Side Chicago, 47th Street (Bronzeville).” Photographed 1941 by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.

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Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki, 75, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and has appointed Bishop Jeffrey S. Grob, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, as his successor.