Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel reading raises some very important questions. And it gives us some very important answers. The questions are human and the answers are divine. Here are the questions: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and “Who is my neighbor?” The answers are given by Jesus himself. These questions and their answers are the topic of my homily.
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Last week in my homily for the Solemnity of Peter and Paul, I had said, “Life has meaning when we are willing to live and die for something bigger than ourselves.” I had said that at the end of our lives, like Paul, we too should be able to say, “I have competed well. I have run the race. I have kept the faith.”
The scripture readings today help us to reflect on the meaning of Christian living a little more deeply. I would like to reflect on this in three points.
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul. The general rule even with Marian celebrations is that it moves to another weekday if it falls on a Sunday. But the importance of this feast is such that not only is it celebrated as a Solemnity but that it also is celebrated as an unmovable feast. No one has to impress upon us the importance of these two men who were apostles in their own right. There is no doubt that without them, the history of the Catholic Church would be written differently. In fact, the New Testament canon of scripture would be different without them.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
There is practice at Catholic funerals which I find very comforting. Before the casket is lowered into the ground, family and friends are invited to take a flower from the flower arrangement set on top of the casket. The flower becomes a reminder and often a sacramental presence of their beloved deceased.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
I read in a recent science magazine article that 99% of the deep ocean bed remains undiscovered. Oceans cover 71% percent of the earth’s surface and they house 99% of the earth’s biosphere. This means that much of the living organisms are not yet known to us. Similarly, humans only know 5 percent of the Universe. Scientists tell us that 70% of the Universe is made up of dark energy and 25% of the Universe is dark matter. Just 5% of the Universe is ordinary matter - your family, our house, and your car, your body and organs, the food you eat and the animal world, the air and the sea, the Sun, the Moon and the galaxies. Everything we know — everything we see — is just 5% of everything in the Universe. To make it all more intriguing, this Universe is expanding but also accelerating. Despite the technological advancements of the last century, even with computers at our fingertips and the worldwide internet and space-based observatories mapping the far reaches of our Universe, there is still so much that we don’t understand.
Pentecost Sunday
There is something about Pentecost that leaves me a little wanting. We hear about the dramatic happenings at that first Pentecost and I want that for us today. I want all of it – the mighty wind, the tongues of fire, the speaking in tongues, people outside hearing us in their own language. I want all of it.
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Ascension: A celebration of Hope
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. The danger of a feast like the feast of the Ascension is precisely this – that with Christ’s ascension into heaven we may think of God being up there, unconnected to the world here below. Perhaps we can spend all of life like the disciples gazing into the sky (Act 1:11). So I began writing this homily by asking myself the question. What significance does the ascension of Jesus hold for me today? What relevance can Ascension have for us today?
Sixth Sunday of Easter
With the death of Pope Francis and the election of Leo XIV, the Church finds itself in a phase of transition. While much has been revealed about Leo XVI’s priorities and the direction the Church will take under his leadership, we Catholics believe that there is something bigger than the papacy – the mission that Christ entrusted to the Church. A papacy is at the service of Christ and the gospel.
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Most often when somebody says, “I have a new …” or “There is a new …” it is always said with a smile. People are generally happy with new things. The other day, someone wanted to get their new car blessed. When I went to bless it, I was surprised that it was not a new car. It was a new car for this person. But she was excited. We like things new - a new home, a new job, a new car, a new baby, a new life. Sometimes we even ask people, “What’s new?” There is a ring of hope to the word new.
Third Sunday of Easter
At a critical juncture in the life of Jesus, in the life of the apostles, and the life of nascent Church, Jesus asked Peter the question: “Do you love me?” Why this question? Why not, “Do you remember everything I said?” OR “Are you up to this?” If I was in Jesus’ place, my question would be, “You just denied me three times! Can I still trust you?” Why was the question, “Do you love me?”
For the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Its Missa Est is Posting a Tribute to Pope Francis. Below is the link:
The Resurrection of the Lord
I occasionally visit the parish religious education classes for our young people. The kids are allowed to ask me any question. Recently one of them asked me, “If God made us, who made God?” Another question was, “What do you do in heaven? It sounds boring.” I told the kid, “You get to play video games all day!” This kid really wants to go to heaven. Another kid did not have a question. He just said, “I don’t think Jesus rose from the dead! It is not possible.”
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
As we enter Holy Week, we are entering into a week that dramatizes the stark realities of the human condition. Within the Jesus story we find intrigue, malice, prejudice, hatred, betrayal, bribery, corruption, and bloody murder. Intertwined in this sad story is the life of a man who took the consequences of human sin upon himself and transformed it into love, forgiveness, peace and eternal life. He did so by becoming the “suffering servant” of God – a concept introduced to us both in the first and second readings. By becoming the “suffering servant,” Jesus changed the very meaning of human life. Human quest for permanent happiness and eternal life can only be fulfilled in Jesus.
Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year C Readings)
Let me tell you how important the story of Jesus' encounter with the woman taken in adultery is. What if I told you that this passage does not originally belong to the gospel of John. The style in which the story is written reads more like it belong to the Synoptic gospels. Moreover, the place where it has been inserted in the gospel of John seems artificial. The story was part of the oral tradition. But the editors of the gospel of John found it necessary to preserve it in the written tradition. It is a true and treasured witness to Jesus of Nazareth.
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Scrutiny Year A Readings
Last Sunday, when reflecting on the gospel reading, I had said that the story of the Samaritan woman was a Divine drama played out on the human stage. I had also said that the central plot of this drama is, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). The primary motif used was living water – “a spring of living water welling up to eternal life,” which really is love of God poured out into our hearts.
Third Sunday of Lent (Year A Readings)
The story of the Samaritan woman is such an attention-grabbing story. This mystery woman draws our attention like few other characters in the gospel. I have written many homilies with the Samaritan woman as the central character. Today though, instead of putting her centerstage, I would like to reflect on her story in light of a larger story. The story of the Samaritan woman, in reality, is a Divine drama played out on the human stage. The central plot is very simple. “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). There is everything in this drama. There is love, there is a hero, there are villains, there is betrayal, there is sacrifice, there is tragedy, there is redemption, and there is a happy ending. But most of all there is hope. The Samaritan woman personifies the hope of the human race. No one who enters this drama is left hopeless. In fact, as Paul says in today’s second reading, “…we boast in hope.”
Second Sunday of Lent
Two weeks ago, news of a potential Eucharistic miracle at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Morris, Indiana, made the headlines. The report is that on Friday, a host was dropped during daily Mass. The host was put into water and left in the tabernacle to dissolve. Later the priest found another host that had been dropped and placed it in the tabernacle as well. But the next day, when the sacristan was preparing for Saturday Mass, she found traces of blood in the dish. The incident has not been determined as a miracle yet. Such incidents are first investigated by the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith before they are certified as miracles. But the buzz the news created was intense. I had many Catholics say to me, “Did you hear about the Eucharistic miracle?”
First Sunday of Lent
I want to begin my homily by saying that the first reading for the very first Sunday of Lent is rather intriguing. It describes the establishment of the ritual for the feast of the “Firstfruits”. How do we interpret it, especially since the gospel reading recounts Jesus’ forty days in the desert. What has Firstfruits got to do with Jesus in the desert or for that matter, Lent?
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
For the last two weeks, we have been hearing from Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Plain. As Luke reaches the end of the Sermon, he makes some concluding statements. I would like to reflect on just one of them. Luke says, “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher” (Lk 6:40). Jesus is the teacher, and we are the disciples. Today, we are being invited to be like the teacher.