Today’s readings offer us a glimpse of Middle Eastern hospitality. Abraham and Sarah offer food, drink and shade to their visitors, unknowingly entertaining three angels of the Lord, who in return promise them the blessing of a child. In today’s reading we do not hear the ending of the story – that Sarah laughed at […]
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C†– July 21, 2013 Read More »
How do we overcome hatred, dislike and prejudice? How do we manage to love the unlovable? How can we reach the point of seeing all human beings, even our enemies, as neighbors we can love? How do we become like Jesus who prayed for His enemies, forgave those who crucified Him, and tells us to
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C†– July 14, 2013 Read More »
In the following Jesus, some teachings are harder than others to put into practice. “Love your enemies and do good to those who treat you badly,†comes to mind, as the supreme example. And here in the Gospel today we find another of those hard sayings. The Lord is giving His instructions to His disciples
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C†– July 7, 2013 Read More »
In many ways we cannot apply the realities of our Gospel reading to our everyday lives. To begin with, this unique and unrepeatable event, Jesus going up to His passion in Jerusalem. The majority of us cannot simply drop everything and follow Christ. Those who have families and responsibilities already have a vocation and a
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 30, 2013 Read More »
Now here is where we see the true difference between Jesus and me. I have no business forgiving offenses made against other people. It’s up to them, not me. But in Jesus cases the offense – on the deepest level – is against Him. You and I – if we receive God’s forgiveness – can
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 23, 2013 Read More »
Fathers must make sure their wives and children are fed—before they take any food. Fathers must go without so that their wives and families can survive. This at least is the ideal and what fathers and their families must strive for. Our fathers need to be pious. They need to know they cannot do it
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 16, 2013 – Father’s Day Read More »
The Lord whom we meet is a Lord of life, not death. As Jesus walks into the village of Nain, a procession of death is coming out. These two processions cannot be allowed to bypass one another. Compassion for a widowed, grieving mother causes Jesus to go up to her and to touch the bier
Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 9, 2013 Read More »
In the 17th and 18th centuries, a belief known as Jansenism was doing the rounds in the Church, especially in France. Basically this took a very serious view of original sin, and denied the role of human free will; the implications were that few people were thought worthy of receiving Holy Communion because few people
Corpus Christi Sunday – June 2, 2013 Read More »
The image of God that the Scriptures give us on this Trinity Sunday is not at all one of a lonely figure. Rather, God is shown as being a community of intimate love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus reveals. The Trinity is often presented as a difficult mystery, unconnected with
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – May 26, 2013 Read More »
“It was a huge change. They had been in hiding, scared out of their wits. Jesus had been arrested. Rumors flew that the high priests wanted Him crucified. The “Powers-that-be†wanted to send a message to all who would dare challenge their authority. The message was received, loud and clear. None of the disciples were
Solemnity of Pentecost – May 19, 2013 Read More »