Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever called someone or been labeled a hypocrite? In our current political landscape this accusation is being thrown around a great deal. Most reflective people realize we are all hypocrites at times. Consider Jesus’ words “let those without sin cast the first stone.” While this take on the golden rule is for all of us, there are times when we or others cannot help ourselves. Earlier this week at work I was reading the Matthew 25 and thinking about the incredible value of feeding the hungry. Shortly after I was asked to bring food vouchers to a visitor and found myself displeased at what a few moments before I named a virtue. The Lord hit me squarely and clearly between the eyes.
Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Yesterday in our first reading from 1 Kings, we heard the story of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel bringing about the death of Naboth in order that they could take over his property after he refused to give it up. Today the prophet Elijah confronts the ruler about this evil, and the life of evil that Ahab has chosen to live – not only by killing Naboth, but by worshiping idols and forgetting the Lord.
Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church
There are times when I read the gospel and I think, “Is He serious? Does Jesus really believe that we can live this way! I think that seems impossible!” Today’s gospel reading is one which I find to be probably the most challenging call that Jesus gives to His disciples. Although what Jesus states seems mindboggling to me, He not only shows us how to do these difficult things but He promises to help us to do the same. It is only with the grace of God that we can live a life where we can let God use our emotions, possessions, time and our very life to bring forth the kingdom of God.
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Fr. Satish is on Vacation visiting his parents in India. This homily was written 3 years ago. The message is still as relevant).
Today’s readings have two very poignant stories to reflect upon. Who does not know the story of David’s lust for Bathsheba, his conceited strategy to possess her, the prophet Nathan’s prophecy to convict him of his crime and David’s repentance? It is a classical biblical story of sin and reconciliation. And then we have the famed story of the woman at the feet of Jesus. The setting for this story is very important. The setting is the house of a Pharisee who has his own sense of sin and righteousness. Jesus overturns his ideas of sin and reconciliation. We have, then, two biblical classics to reflect upon.
Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle
I remember speaking with some friends shortly after college. We were feeling like we had matured a great deal because we didn’t cuss as much as we once did. As a matter of fact, we were talking about how we would cuss just to add emphasis, to communicate that we really meant what we were saying. We were a work in progress.
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel passage continues the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s gospel. Here Jesus challenges the people to move beyond the simple rules of the Ten Commandments into a fuller biblical justice. The subject of today’s passage concerns the commandment against killing. This is familiar to us as it would have been to the people whom Jesus addressed at the time. And most of the people listening to Jesus, like most of us hearing his words today, would say that we are not guilty of breaking this commandment.
Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Anyone involved in scouting or who has a fireplace has probably at one point knows how to make a fire. You need three thing fuel, oxygen, and heat. Elijah was prepared the fuel and the sacrifice and trusted that the Lord would provide the heat. Except he was tired of the people persisting in their unbelief, asking them how long might they straddle issue? Unmoved by the question Elijah pushes them further.
Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s a grim scene in today’s first reading. Israel is in the middle of a long drought. Thirst and famine are gripping the land. Elijah meets a widow and asks her for water and food. Her first response is filled with hopelessness: She and her son are about to enjoy their last meal together before starving to death, so she can’t give any food to Elijah. Rather than shining with the joy of the lord, she is a dark and dismal presence. Are you ever afraid to give to those in need because you feel you don’t have enough to spare?
Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
In this Year of Mercy it is easy to look back through our days and identify where we have not met our own expectations of how we should have been a better disciple of Jesus. This can be a good thing if it encourages us to surrender in a deeper way to God. The danger is that we can inadvertently be led into discouragement when we expect to accomplish this ourselves. The portrait of discipleship outlined by Jesus in today's Gospel is in fact impossible to accomplish by a human being--no matter how holy we see ourselves. In fact, that may be the entire point!
Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Very close friends of mine asked for my prayers for a grieving family, last week. Twenty-nine year old Marjorie had died suddenly. Marjorie was not ill. Her death was sudden and shocking to all, especially to her husband Patrick and three young children, Payton, Hailey and Mariah. The oldest child is only eleven and the youngest is four. I cannot imagine the sadness of the husband and three young children. When tragedy strikes, our instinctive question is, “Why?” As people of faith, we may even ask, “O God, Why?” I have celebrated countless funeral masses with this very question in mind. Even as a people who believe that Jesus died and rose again, as believers in eternal life - the pain of any tragedy is real and paralyzing.
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
As Catholics, we profess that Mary was Immaculate and today we celebrate the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. There are many misconceptions surrounding this belief. One such belief is that Mary was perfect. That is not the case in the truest sense of the word. Only God is perfect, for only God has no need of another to exist. Mary is professed to be sinless, but she was still utterly dependent on God. So what does Immaculate mean?
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Thursday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading and gospel passage both feature the word “with.” Now, granted, “with” is not the kind of word that normally stands out. It’s a preposition, meaning that it serves to make a connection between two other words or phrases. But it stands out today because the connection it makes seems so important. In St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy today, we encounter “with” in a well-known passage: “If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere, we shall also reign with him” (2 Tm. 2:11-12). These short sentences tell us something about life as a Christian. It is not life alone, it is life with Christ. Christians die with Christ, live with Christ, and ultimately, reign with Christ in heaven. We share Christ’s sufferings, Christ’s joys, and Christ’s final glory. Paul himself is performing this passage as he writes it; he is suffering for Christ in the hopes that others may share in this life with Christ. Again, the life of a Christian is not solitary. It is life with Christ and for Christ, with others and for others.
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today, we have a great feast that reminds us of the beauty and joy of bringing God to others. This is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when we remember Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist.
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Each of us has been given gifts and talents that we are called to share with the world. But if we do not have love as a foundation for what we do and say, then these talents have little meaning. Today’s readings remind us that God has abundantly blessed us through Jesus. Jesus and the love He shares with us through His life, death and resurrection, allow us to know God’s abundant love for us. When we allow the love of God to permeate all that we are, then who we are becomes a blessing of grace to the world around us.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
(This homily was written 3 years ago for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ).
As we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi the meaning of this feast most probably is a no-brainer for us. As believers we have the Eucharist at the very core of our Catholic life. We strongly believe that Christ intended that we have his real presence in bread and wine; that for this reason at the Last Supper Jess took the bread and wine and gave it to his disciples and said that it was his body and blood; and that by doing this in memory of Jesus, he becomes present to us in a real and concrete way. But what we consider undoubtedly to be integral part of our faith has also always been the topic of intense controversy. As early as Paul’s times (today’s second reading), there were misconceptions about the Eucharist. A few decades later John in his gospel would dedicate an entire chapter (Chapter 6: bread of life discourse) to remove doubts about the real presence of Christ in bread and wine.
Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Mercy comes in unexpected ways. For instance, shortly after my mother-in-law had twins (giving her four kids three and under, not to mention the three older ones!) my mother-in-law requested of the Lord, “God, give me Mercy!” Not long after she found out she was pregnant again. They named my sister-in-law Mercy. Mercy certainly comes in unexpected ways and Jude captures that in today’s first reading.
Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
I'd hate to be the fig tree in today's gospel (Mark 11:11-26). Through no fault of its own, entirely because it is the wrong season, it has no figs to offer when a hungry Jesus walks by. And for that crime, it is cursed and withers away in one day. You could say it went through a pretty extraordinary dry spell, in fact.
Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest
Today’s gospel passage from Mark is a healing story, and, as such, it might be easy to pass over it as unremarkable. A man suffering from an ailment (in this case blindness) petitions Jesus for healing, and Jesus responds by healing him. It’s a common plot, but that does not make the story uninteresting or unimportant. What stands out from this story is the closing line: “Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way” (Mk. 10:52).
Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Worldly wisdom suggests we should ‘win at all costs.’ We see it in our media, in our politics and in our society. Yet does this philosophy reflect a Christian perspective? Christianity considers the process of arriving at one’s goal just as important as the goal itself. So if achieving one’s goal means that people will be undermined, hurt or belittled, then the process or goal is likely not Christian at all.