Wednesday’s Wink from Above 10/21/2026 “The Mustard Seed, the Canaanite Woman, and President Abraham Lincoln: Courage & Humility”

 

Many times, we don’t follow Christ not because we lack Knowledge, but because we lack the Courage. For us to “Live Jesus” we need to allow His grace to form and inform us. We need to have the courage to allow the grace of Jesus Christ to guide our lives and our decisions.

St. Matthew wrote in his Gospel [chapter 17], “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

 

Faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. The important question is What mountain does Jesus want us to move? The Lord wants us to move the daily mountains we meet throughout our lives, our obligations and burdens.

The Canaanite women appears in Matthew’s Gospel [chapter 15] where she displays deep and total FAITH in Jesus as she pursues the answer to her prayer [her child’s healing].   Jesus seems to be rude and mean to the Canaanite woman. And then she appears to outwit Jesus. But she didn’t outwit Jesus. Their  meeting “…challenges us to take a much bigger view of our world & the people who inhabit it.” [Connections, 08-17-08]

The Canaanite woman reminds us that female-male isn’t important in faith, rich-poor or immigrant or native born isn’t important BUT unwavering trust in Jesus & His Gospel is IMPORTANT, not that we have the faith of a mustard seed BUT that we act on, that we live the Faith that we have been given at our Baptism, Faith of a disciple of Jesus Christ, true God & true Man.

 

 

This story may help us understand the Courage to be Humble. “Carl Sandburg, in his book Lincoln: The War Years, tells about Colonel Scott who requested a leave to attend the funeral of his wife who accidentally drowned. President Lincoln refused the request. Early the next morning Lincoln came to Scott's hotel room and admitted to the amazed officer, ‘I have had a regretful night and come now to beg your forgiveness.’ Then Lincoln took the officer in his own carriage to the steamship and sent him on his way to the funeral.” [Sermons.com John R. Brokhoff, Jesus ... Who?, CSS Publishing Co., Inc.]

Although he had the heavy burden of the Civil War on his shoulders, Lincoln showed the Courage to be Humble. The Canaanite Woman despite being  despised by the Israelites was Humble and Courageous while she persist in her faith in Jesus. The Canaanite Woman, Abraham Lincoln in different ways lived with TRUST in Jesus, we are called to do the same.

In our culture today, Faith is shunned and ridiculed by many but like the Canaanite Woman and President Lincoln we should TRUST the Lord and live our FAITH with Courage in a Humble Way.  

May God Be Praised.

Wednesday's Wink from Above 08/12/2026 Homily Cycle A 8/02/2026 from [18th Sunday] - Offered at OLPH "Meaning - Why are we here?"

 

"Meaning - Why are we here?" 

Scripture Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080226.cfm

Jesus Blessed, Broke, & Gave food to those gathered.

Blessed – gave Thanks!

Broke – reminding us that all we have is a gift from God!

Gave – Jesus shared!

 

The Eucharist is simple yet profound -

simple yet a sacrament -

simple yet a mystery –

simple yet cosmic.

 

The Eucharist is a gift that is beyond us while being readily available to us, for us. In “Come Be My Life: The Private Writings of the ‘Saint of Calcutta’” We read, “… one of the great challenges of the darkness was this absence of a vivid sense of God’s presence in prayer; it was something she still longed for.” [p.270] Many of us experience the “absence of God’s presence” in prayer; in life.

 

This story may aid us with today’s readings & contemplating the true meaning for our lives, Two Hungers: One Little & One Big: “The Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert talk about two ‘hungers.’ There is the Great Hunger & there is the Little Hunger. The Little Hunger wants food for the belly; but the Great Hunger, the greatest hunger of all, is the hunger for meaning….” Meaning is to find out why are we here, where are we going? [Sir Laurens van der Post, South African cultural anthropologist, statesman, & author]

Our culture is increasingly secularized, & there is a danger that living our faith will become only private, “The church must advocate too for a public conscience, not just for the private conscience.”  [Ron Rolheiser, St. Louis University Sunday Website]

Today’s Scripture readings offer us light & meaning in the darkness for our lives. Isaiah invites us to “…come to the water …. Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life.”

Fr. John Foley’s beautiful hymn Come to the Water emphasizes today’s reading from Isaiah. “come to the water …. Come, without paying & without cost drink wine & milk.” Take a few minutes to listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1gKmZBtoiI

And St. Paul reminds us that nothing can “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our …..”

The Gospel Verse teaches we do  “… not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” The Word of God that we heard from Matthew that Jesus is deeply saddened by the death of John the Baptist & He seeks quiet time to mourn, so He withdraws to a deserted place. But the crowd was hungry for meaning & they “followed Him.” When Jesus gets off the boat He sees “… the vast crowd [and] His heart was moved by pity for them.” St. Augustine wrote [Confessions], “You have made us for yourself & our heart is restless until they rest in You.”

Father prayed as we began Mass, “Draw near to your servants, O Lord, & answer their prayers with unceasing kindness…” [Collect] The vast crowd in today’s Gospel represents us - seeking meaning. 

A man walking in the desert heard a voice say, “Pick up stones & pebbles, put them in your pocket, & tomorrow you will be both sorry & happy.” The man listened, gathered a handful of stones & pebbles & put them in his pocket. The next morning, he reached into his pocket & instead of stones & pebbles, he found diamonds, rubies & emeralds. He was both sorry & happy—happy that he had taken some, but sad that he hadn’t picked up more.

As we walk through life God offers us the opportunity to pick up the stones/pebbles of Prayer, the Scripture, & the Sacraments. Jesus feeds us in unimaginable abundance, so we can Reprint His Gospel with our lives & become saints. Christ nourishes us for this life with the Eucharist, the preeminent gift of Himself. 

After W.W. II - W.H. Auden published a poem “The Age of Anxiety” about the search for identity, the age-old search that St. Augustine pointed to us.  As we search in our time & we need to TRUST that God will guide us & God’s answer us in God’s time.

The Lord calls us to strive to be saints, people who do the ordinary things of life for God. 

Jesus Blessed, Broke, & Gave food to those gathered;

Now for a few minutes, in silence, think about the ordinary things you do & offer them to God & then you will find meaning.

 

For a few minutes, in silence, think about the ordinary things you do & offer them to God & then you will find meaning.

 

May God Be Praised!