Elizabeth A. Donnelly (Preacher Coordinator) is a frequent speaker and writer on Catholic affairs. She has served on several boards, including those of Jesuit Volunteers International, Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Bread for the World, and the Ignatian Solidarity Network. She received an MTS from Harvard Divinity School.Russ Petrus serves as co-director for FutureChurch, which sponsors the “Catholic Women Preach” project. He holds an MDiv from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, where he focused on liturgics and catechesis.About the Book: Catholic Women PreachThis series of three volumes, following the A, B, C Cycles of the lectionary, offer homilies by Catholic women from the around the world. This is taken from an ongoing project, “Catholic Women Preach,” https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/ which has featured videos every Sunday for six years. Though the texts are available on the website, this series will make them available in print form for weekly meditation, an inspiration for homilists, and a resource for courses in homiletics.A project of FutureChurch: see https://www.futurechurch.org/

Our reflection today focuses on the brief, yet profoundly insightful, first reading where we hear some very concrete, practical advice from the Book of Leviticus: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (19:18). Indeed, there is one debt that we will always owe and never be able to pay fully. The command to love remains constant; love can never say: “I’ve done enough.”

Our Gospel today and the Gospel of next Sunday together form an integral section of Jesus’ profound Sermon on the Mount. It is commonly called Jesus’ “six antitheses.” We know that an “antithesis” is an alternate assertion different from the original “thesis.” Thus, Jesus is giving a new, more profound interpretation of six basic elements of Jewish law.

Today we sit down with Maryknoll Missioner, Fr. Rick Bauer.Fr. Rick spent time in Mission in Namibia and is now introducing palliative care – the care of the spiritual and emotional aspects of those who are sick and suffering - overseas.After his residency and certification as a Chaplain from New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Fr. Rick is now in East Africa introducing palliative care to those with health issues including a large majority of those directly affected by HIV/AIDS.  Fr. Rick also talks about the transformative experiences he’s had in his Chaplaincy and how being an ordained, Catholic priest is aiding his ministry in helping patients understand that what’s happening to them is not a punishment from God and that it’s ok to be angry at God.As well, Father Bauer explains how you don’t have to be religious to be spiritual and receive palliative care.“Before my arrival, integrated spiritual care was not really part of medical care. Now it will be. And I will be able study how spiritual care impacts treatment and outcomes. This will take 18-24 months but I believe the results are going to alter the delivery of healthcare in Kenya, and maybe all of Africa.” Father Rick Bauer, M.M.

Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples and “sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go” (Lk 10:1). From among his many disciples, Jesus also chose twelve as his apostles. Jesus taught his disciples; he also sent them as his apostles, his missionaries to the world. They were to speak in his name and conduct themselves as models of peace, charity and humility, proclaiming that “the Kingdom of God is near” (Lk 10:9) ...ACCESS THE FULL EPISODE: https://maryknollsociety.org/mission-stories/journey-of-faith-february-5-2023/VISIT MARYKNOLL: https://maryknollsociety.org

Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary TimeMk 6:1-6Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished.

Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary TimeMk 4:26-34“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

Discussion on the systematic theology of migration that seeks to reframe the operative political, social and cultural narratives through a Eucharistic narrative. The heart of it revolves around the outer journey of migrants, the inner journey of faith, and the divine journey into our world.Drawing on accounts of migrants and refugees around the globe, author Dan G. Groody explores the relationship between faith and justice, theology and migration, and Christian spirituality and the challenges of the modern world.From a theological perspective, it is about the God who first migrated to our world in the Incarnation and the God who calls people to migrate back to our spiritual homeland as citizens of the Kingdom.This conversation explores the body of Christ as encountered inside of a church building in the sacrament of the Eucharist and the body of Christ as encountered outside of it in the least and the last of our world today (Mt. 25:31–46).In the context of the global migration and refugee crisis, it examines ways the divine and human intermingle on our earthly pilgrimage and transform us into the image and likeness of God to become bread for the world through the works of mercy.The Book: https://orbisbooks.com/products/a-theology-of-migration-the-bodies-of-refugees-and-the-body-of-christABOUT DAN G. GROODYDaniel G. Groody is a Holy Cross priest, vice president for undergraduate affairs and associate provost, and associate professor of theology and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame. He has authored many books and articles, translated into seven languages, including Globalization, Spirituality, and Justice, and is host of a podcast, “Heart’s Desire and Social Change” (heartsdesiresocialchange.com).

In this episode, Father Fred Hegarty, M.M. joins us to share his incredible story of mission in Chile during his 65 years as a missioner priest. At 91 years of age, Fr. Fred is able to take us back to his early days in Chile when he started out as a parish priest navigating dirt roads and mountain trails to share the Gospel with poor farmers and ended up becoming their advocate. Today, Fr. Fred continues to enliven the lives of all those around him. If empowering people with God's love is the measure of a missioner's success, it's safe to say, "Well done, Father Fred, keep up the good work."  

Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary TimeMk 3:1-6Then he said to the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent.

Today we sit down with one of the most recognizable and respected Maryknoll Missioners and U.S. Air Force Veteran, Fr. Robert Jalbert, M.M..Fr. Bob heads the Church Engagement Division here at Maryknoll where he and his team are creating and supporting a “culture of mission” in the Catholic Community in the U.S.During his Missionary career, Fr. Bob served in East Africa in both Kenya and Tanzania and today is actively involved in forming communities of missionary disciples around the world.  Fr. Bob, whose fluent in Russian, served in the Air Force in Italy and rural Turkey during the Cold War. What’s interesting is how his assignment and time overseas lead to his Vocational calling with Maryknoll. Episode NotesThe following prayer is referenced by Father Bob toward the end of this interview. We want to share it with you here: A Step Along the Way: Archbishop Romero’s PrayerIt helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.No statement says all that could be said.No prayer fully expresses our faith.No confession brings perfection.No pastoral visit brings wholeness.No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.No set of goals and objectives includes everything.This is what we are about.We plant the seeds that one day will grow.We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.We lay foundations that will need further development.We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.We are prophets...

In this thought-provoking work, Christopher J. Kellerman provides a rigorously researched, era-by-era history of the Catholic Church’s teachings and actions related to slavery.By telling stories of enslaved Catholics and Catholic slaveholders, analyzing arguments of theologians who either defended or condemned slaveholding, and examining documents of popes and councils, Kellerman’s book reveals disturbing answers to contemporary questions about the Church’s role in the history of slavery and especially in the Atlantic slave trade.For students, teachers, and all readers interested in how religion can be used both to oppress and to liberate, All Oppression Shall Cease gives a detailed account of the Church’s slaveholding past while issuing a call for the Church to take the necessary steps to reconcile with its history.Get The Book: All Oppression Shall Cease : A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic ChurchAbout The AuthorChristopher J. Kellerman, SJ, works in the Office of Justice and Ecology of the U.S. Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus. He recently served as visiting fellow and interim director at the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans.