There shall be no strange god among you nor shall you worship any alien god. I, the LORD, am your God who led you forth from the land of Egypt. Sing with joy to God our help.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:54-58, today's readings).

But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house." And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.

The psalm for today presents the words of the Lord to the Israelites. "There shall be no strange god among you. . . ." In the Gospel, Jesus is in his hometown of Nazareth among neighbors and family friends, when they say of him: "Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter's son?" They name Mary, and his brothers and sisters, family members, and say out of bewilderment. "Where did this man get all this." Among his own townspeople, Jesus would have been no stranger, yet they rejected him despite witnessing his words and miraculous works. The greater truth that some would come to believe is that Jesus was no strange god among them but the Son of the Most High.

Father in heaven, I know that Jesus is present in many ways, foremost in the real presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Help me see Jesus also present in the faces of the people I encounter today and in their words and actions. Those closest who bear Christ and manifest his presence are often the ones most taken for granted. Give me the grace, Lord, to pause and see in them, as Saint Paul said, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious." Let me consider how Christ is in my midst, right her in my native place. Saint Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Blessed they who dwell in your house! continually they praise you. Blessed the men whose strength you are! They go from strength to strength. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:47-53, today’s readings).

Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age.”

Jesus makes a comparison of the kingdom of heaven that the disciples would have been intimately familiar with. The bad catch that is thrown away would have particular meaning to them as well as the good, which they put into buckets. Jesus shares this parable to bring to mind the end of the age, the final judgment. To discern good and bad in relation to the end of the age is to know God’s will and move forward with it in the present moment, just as the Israelites moved forward whenever the cloud of the LORD’s glory rose among them on their journey in the desert. “But if the cloud did not lift,” we hear in Exodus, “they would not go forward; only when it lifted did they go forward.” In his Word and in the glory of his resurrection, Jesus is with us as we discern through prayer and move throughout the day.

God, help me take to heart the parables as they apply to today’s events. Open my eyes to the coexistence of good and evil in the world and their separation in the final judgment. To take from the parables what Jesus says to me as a follower is to trust in his every word. As the Israelites watched for the cloud to rise before the day’s journey, I want to see your glory made manifest as I give witness to your kingdom through my life. “Blessed the men whose strength you are!” the psalmist sings. “They go from strength to strength.” Strengthen my desire, Lord, to make myself a dwelling that calls attention to your glory. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Extol the LORD, our God, and worship at his footstool; holy is he! Holy is the Lord our God.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:44-46, today's readings).

Jesus said to his disciples: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."

The two short parables Jesus shares with the disciples communicate the nature of the kingdom of heaven and reveal its effect on the person who finds it. Jesus mentions twice that it is found and twice he says that the person sells all he has in order to buy it. To the one who finds it, the kingdom of heaven is the treasure that renders all else worthless; it is the one investment that yields joy in this life and unending security in heaven. The kingdom of heaven is right now and yet to be; it is far above on God's holy mountain and in the deepest recesses of our hearts.

God, in the parables of the buried treasure and the pearl of great price, I see Jesus express two types of encounters with the kingdom of heaven. A treasure might be stumbled upon or found after years of searching; the pearl is found after a lifetime of learning the worth of other pearls. By your grace, Lord, the kingdom of heaven is pure gift to the one who hopes in you or actively seeks you out. And what you have to give, you have made known generously through your Son. Throughout the day, help me call to mind the Gospel acclamation with joy: "I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me."

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.