Tuesday 27th June

It takes two 

When patriarch Nestorius refused to accept Mary as Theotokos—Greek for “God bearer”—it was Cyril of Alexandria who took him on. Nestorius insisted that Mary, as human, could only bear another human—not God—thus disputing the Incarnation. Cyril would insist upon the “hypostatic union” of human and divine in Jesus. Or, as proclaimed by the Council of Ephesus: Jesus is always and ever “one person” with “two natures.” But another type of union also stirred Cyril. Use his words as your meditation today: “As two pieces of wax fused together make one, so [the one] who receives Holy Communion is … united with Christ.”

Today's readings: Genesis 13:2, 5-18; Matthew 7:6, 12-14 

Wednesday 28th June

Room for everyone at the table 

Saint Irenaeus, living a scant 100 years after Jesus, was a staunch defender of orthodoxy and church unity: “The Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it.” Yet he also made room for those who, through no choice of their own, lived and died without having heard the Good News: "Christ came not only for those who believed from the time of Tiberius Caesar, nor did the Father provide only for those who are now, but for absolutely all [persons] from the beginning, who, according to their ability, feared and loved God and lived justly.” Focus on loving God and living justly and there will be a place for you at the heavenly feast.

Today's readings: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Matthew 7:15-20 (373)

Thursday 29th June

Let your life be transformed 

It’s hard to imagine the development of the church we know today without Saints Peter and Paul. Saint Peter was among the 12 apostles, one with a starring role in the gospels. Saint Paul’s spiritual encounter with Jesus transformed him into a tireless Christian evangelizer and likely author of what eventually became half of the New Testament. Peter and Paul were contemporaries who were leaders in the church and both were martyred around the year 64 as a result. Jesus utterly transformed their lives, leading them to build up the fledgling Christian church. What can you do today to help build the church?

Today's readings: Acts 12:1-11; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19 

Friday 30th June

Water the seeds that have been planted in you

The early followers of Jesus found themselves in a strange new world. Sure, it was the same dusty streets and ebb and flow of life they always had known. Yet nothing was the same. The disciples had to navigate a world in which they found life in the risen Christ but also persecution and even death at the hands of those determined to punish and erase Christianity. Today the church remembers these protomartyrs as being “seeds of life,” as early Christian author Tertullian noted. Their faith and witness continue to grow the church. What seeds of life have been sown in your faith journey?

Today's readings: Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22; Matthew 8:1-4 

Saturday 1st July

We leave a mixed legacy

When we think of 1776, we think of Anglo colonists up in arms along the East Coast. But on the other side of what is now the continental United States, a very different process was taking place. Spanish Franciscans led by Junípero Serra were establishing missions along what is now the California coast, then Spanish territory. While the legacy of the missions is a mixed one, and rightfully open to scrutiny, near the end of his life Serra made an arduous trip from the California coast to Mexico City and demanded legislation protecting the indigenous people and the missions from military abuse. The result was the first step toward a bill of rights for Native Americans. It might have been Saint Teresa of Ávila who said, “God writes straight with crooked lines.”

Today's readings: Genesis 18:1-15; Matthew 8:5-17