Dominican Friars
Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

A Word of Hope

21 Feb • Lose your life to save it

A Word of Hope

In today's Gospel, Jesus challenges the crowd that those who wish to become his followers must be willing to lose their lives in the process so that they might find life. This new life in Christ will be worth the struggle and the sacrifices. What are we willing to sacrifice for it?

Based on Mark 8:34-9:1:

Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’ And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’

(New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org)

A Word of Hope with dove

Every day the Chicago Dominicans offer "A Word of Hope" video to bolster our faith through these trying times. We welcome any feedback you have at hope@opcentral.org . You can see them all below, or you can see other preaching by a particular person by clicking on his name, and you can have them emailed to you each morning by signing up for our email service:

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    20 Feb • God's ways are not our ways

    In today's Gospel, Peter is reminded that God's ways are not our ways when he confesses that Jesus is the Christ but then rebukes Jesus when Jesus says that he will be rejected and killed for it. When God is doing something we don't expect or even want, it is time for us to trust that God has greater plans than our own. This can be disturbing, but it ultimately leads to a greater blessing.
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    16 Feb • Seeing the Kingdom of God

    In Luke's version of the Beatitudes, Jesus matches "blessed are you poor" with "woe are you rich," because riches obscure the Kingdom like a thick fog obscures a view. Jesus came to blow away the fog and reveal God's compassion which is available to all, but best seen by those who hunger for it.
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    15 Feb • The abundance of God's compassion

    4000 people (1000 from all four directions) came to hear Jesus preach for three days, and in the end, had no food. Before they left, Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes so that there was an abundance of food for all, symbolizing the abundance of God's blessings for all the world. We carry on this mission today when we as Church and individually feed those in need.
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    12 Feb • What makes us pure or impure?

    Jesus taught his disciples that nothing that enters us from without can make us impure. Rather, the malice and bad thoughts in our hearts that come out in our words and actions make us impure. This is a call to us to let go of the superficial things of religion and examine our own hearts and actions.
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    9 Feb • Graced to be more

    After a miraculous catch of fish, Peter tells Jesus, "Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man." Instead, Jesus invites him to be his disciple and opens him up to be more than he thought he ever could be. That is what grace can do for us.
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    9 Feb (extra) • Journey of self-discovery

    In an extra video for today, we hear about the call of the Prophet Jeremiah. God knows Jeremiah better than he knows himself, and Jeremiah will discover his own strengths as he lives out this call. Let us find ourselves by following our call.
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    8 Feb • Shepherds needed

    Today we celebrate the great Saint Josephine Bakhita, a former slave who converted to Christianity and joined the Canossian Sisters, and was known as a saint in her own day because of her faith and cheerfulness. In today's Gospel, Jesus and the apostles try to get away to a quiet place, but the crowd finds out and are assembled when they arrive, so Jesus teaches them because "they are like sheep without a shepherd." In our troubled, chaotic times, the world needs more shepherds.
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    7 Feb • Grace restores possibilities

    Herod had John the Baptist killed because he felt cornered by previous bad choices. Sin reduces our possibilities, leading us into one bad choice after another. Grace opens us up to see the infinite possibilities for the good that exist at any moment.
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    6 Feb • Repentance for the sake of healing

    Jesus sent out the twelve two by two to proclaim repentance and to heal people. Most of us know something in us is not what we want it to be. This call of repentance is a joyful wake up call to us that Jesus is ready to help us overcome our own darkness.
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    5 Feb • Collaborate in your own healing

    In today's Gospel Jesus returns to his hometown. After being initially impressed, the town turned suspicious of him, and Jesus could not do any great miracles because of their lack of faith.Two lessons: 1) jealousy is not helpful and not of God, and 2) we have to trust God in faith for God to be able to heal us.
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    3 Feb • God's healing can reunite us with our loved ones

    Jesus healed a Gerasene demoniac who then wanted to follow him. Instead, Jesus sent him back to his own family. The healing that comes from Jesus doesn't just cover over our sins, but empowers us to reunite with those we have hurt and bring them with us back to God. Is there someone with whom you need to reconcile?
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    2 Feb • Pointing to something beyond

    As Jesus is presented in the Temple, the prophets Simeon and Anna see that his presence points to something beyond the moment—it point to eternity. Today we also celebrate consecrated religious persons whose lives point as well to the blessings of God in eternity.
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    30 Jan • Light easily overcomes darkness

    Jesus told his disciples to let their light shine and not hide it under a bushel basket. Light easily overcomes darkness. It only takes the light of one candle to overcome the darkness of a room. So if we put our light on a lampstand—the light he gave us—darkness has no chance.
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