GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE
June 14, 2026
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 9:36-10:8
A few years ago, I met a woman in my parish who was a successful lawyer. Yet in her free time, she poured her energy into a nonprofit she founded to advocate for children with special needs. When I asked what inspired her, she spoke of her niece, who was born with disabilities. Her niece was both a glorious gift and a constant challenge. Out of that painful, beautiful experience, she felt called to create something lasting for other children and parents. The nonprofit thrived, not because she had mapped it all out, but because she was deeply moved to act.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is “moved with compassion” for the crowd, for they were “like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) So he calls his disciples, ordinary men with no special qualifications, and sends them to heal, preach, and cast out demons. Their mission flows not from their skills but from his authority and the Spirit’s gifts.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that the Spirit continually pours out charisms, special graces for the good of the Church and the world (cf. Lumen Gentium 4 & 12). These often arise from the unfolding of our lives: from what breaks your heart, what fills you with hope, what suffering has shaped you. The Spirit works through those very experiences to equip us with gifts that build up others.
What is your charism? Well, what needs around you call you to loving action? This could be where Christ is sending you. Allow your heart to be moved like Christ’s. Then get to work.
— Father John Muir
PRAYER – FOR EVERYDAY AND EVERYBODY
Blessing for the Summer
Praise God!
Pour Your mercy upon this season, Lord! As the days fill with sun, fill our hearts with the fire of Your love. As we gather to share story and song, campfires and connection, be with us. Bless our work, our rest, and our play in Your goodness.
Amen.
(PRACTICING) CATHOLIC - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS
By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman
Fear No One
In the 1883 painting “Mass in a Connemara Cabin,” a small congregation of shabbily dressed faithful is huddled together in a sparsely appointed room. A priest extends his hand over them in blessing. One woman presses her forehead to the ground in prayer.
This painting, created in 1883 by Aloysius O’Kelley, depicts a “station Mass,” offered for the community in a private home. Though this practice originated in the period of the Penal Laws, when Catholic worship was illegal in Ireland, it persisted even after the “emancipation” of Catholics in the 19th century.
I have used quotation marks around the word “emancipation” because we must never forget that just because something is made legal does not mean it is made popular. And it certainly is not made safe.
In the moments that pass immediately after this scene concludes, the altar candles will be extinguished and the faithful will disperse, carrying the Body and Blood of Christ into a world suspicious of him, suspicious of them.
And yet here they are, kneeling. Foreheads pressed to the floor.
This painting sits on my family’s prayer table as a call to reflection. I make my living writing Catholic things for Catholic publications. The people who read what I write are bound to agree with me — they’re usually reading my words in a church. I must confess that in my personal life, I am far less bold. I fear controversy. I dread giving offense. I buckle beneath the weight of discipleship.
It doesn’t matter that most Americans identify as “Christians” — the world we face when we leave Mass is every bit as resentful of true Catholic teaching as the world that lies beyond O’Kelley’s Connemara cottage. And while I do not fear those who can kill my body, I do fear those who can kill my reputation.
“Mass in a Connemara Cabin” illustrates how my ancestors worshiped: in secret, in shadow.
I worship in the daylight.
Which of us acknowledges Christ more fully? More courageously?
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time / June 14, 2026
SUNDAY'S READINGS
First Reading:
Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep
my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. (Ex 19:5)
Psalm:
We are his people: the sheep of his flock. (Ps 100)
Second Reading:
But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)
Gospel:
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved
with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt 9:36)
my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. (Ex 19:5)
Psalm:
We are his people: the sheep of his flock. (Ps 100)
Second Reading:
But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)
Gospel:
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved
with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt 9:36)
Virtues, Explained! Affability
There was a certain sister in the Carmelite convent who particularly tried the patience of St. Therese of Lisieux.
But instead of avoiding this person, St. Therese instead made a point of smiling at her whenever the two met.
“Charity must not consist in feelings, but in works,” wrote St. Therese. “I set myself to doing for this Sister what I would do for the person I loved the most.” In doing so, she learned to see “Jesus hidden in the depths” of this woman’s soul.
St. Therese was growing in the virtue of affability when she did this. Affability is attached to justice, writes St. Thomas Aquinas, and demands “that we behave pleasantly to those among whom we dwell.” (Sum., II:II, 114, Art. 2)
In being affable, we make ourselves friendly, approachable, and agreeable to those around us, regardless of how they make us feel. “How good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together as one,” writes King David in Psalm 133.
WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO NORTH AMERICAN MARTYRS PARISH
Our Mission Statement:
We, the North American Martyrs Parish, a strong community of faith, Nourished by the Holy Eucharist, Guided by the Holy Spirit and Trusting in the grace of God, Dedicate ourselves to live God’s Word and Let the light of Christ shine through our Community. We strive to provide sound religious formation for people of all ages; To care for the spiritual, social well-being of one another With particular attention to the stranger and the poor in our midst.
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ John 20:21
Upcoming Events
MAKE PLANS TO JOIN US AT ONE OF OUR CEMETERIES ON July 1ST AT 6PM AS WE PRAY FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOULS OF OUR LOST ONES.
ST ALBERT ------ ST BRENDAN ------ ST PIUS X
