Fourth Sunday of Advent
There is a word I have come to love – availability. It has been part of my contemplation in reading today’s scripture and preparing this homily. I like how the word sounds. It has a ring of positivity, of hope, and of optimism. It is a happy word. Availability has meaning for me because, as pastor of five parishes, I have been very conscious and conscientious about my availability to people. I have strived to not let the administrative demands of multiple parishes and schools overtake my role as a priest, friend, intercessor, and counselor. People come to me and say, “I know you are very busy. I didn’t want to bother you.” And that bothers me. I do not want people to think that I am too busy to pray for them, too busy for their concerns, their journey, their thoughts.
Third Sunday of Advent
Last weekend, on the Second Sunday of Advent, I reflected on the theme of “Biblical Joy”. One of the premises of my homily last week was this: “Joy is an attitude God’s people adopt, not because of happy circumstances, but because of their hope in God’s love and promise.”
Today is “Gaudete Sunday,” or “Rejoice Sunday” and I would like to continue reflecting on theme of Christian joy.
Second Sunday of Advent
Yesterday, I facilitated an Advent retreat. The retreat was titled, “The Seven Joys of Mary.” The inspiration for that title comes from one of the titles for Mary in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary – “Cause of our joy.” The church addresses Mary as the cause of human joy.
I am picking up the theme of joy again today because Advent scripture readings and prophecies anticipate the joy of the coming of the Messiah. For example, the prophet, Baruch says on today first reading: “…for God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with his mercy and justice for company” (Bar 5:9).
Here then is a brief reflection on the theme of biblical joy.
First Sunday of Advent
The liturgical cycle has brought us once again to the season of Advent. The Advent season is unique in the sense that it anticipates something we have already experienced. The Christ-child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas is the same Christ we anticipate at his second coming. One part of the celebration looks to the past while the other anticipates the future. This makes us an ‘in-between people’.
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. Each liturgical year, we have a different set of gospel readings. For year B, which we have today, the word “king” and “kingdom” three times each. Also in this reading, the word “nation” appears. Pilate said to Jesus, “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?" (Jn 18:35). Often, we completely de-politicize the gospel. However, think about it. Jesus was brought before the political establishment of the time, by the religious establishment of the time, to be judged, condemned, and finally crucified. Jesus’ condemnation and death as much a political event as it was a religious event.
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Last week I administered the Sacraments for the last time to Mary Cronin. She has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She has been given only a few more days. I gathered with the whole family - her husband, siblings, children, and grandchildren to pray. There were about 20 people in the room, including three-month-old baby Jules. Mary was very aware and responsive to the power of the sacraments. But something else drew my attention. The entire time it took to administer the Sacraments and pronounce the words of Christian farewell, baby Jules was making the cutest baby sounds. The paradox of the moment was stupendous. The cycle of birth and death being played out in the room was so apparent. We Catholics call this the Paschal Mystery.
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
We have two stories in the first and gospel readings today, and they are both stories of poor widows. In the Biblical times, widows occupied the lowest rung of society. They were counted among the aliens, the gypsies, the poor and the orphans. Generally, they were objects of other people’s charity. For this reason, the Law provided for their sustenance, allowed them special privileges, and cursed everyone who exploited them (Deut 24:17–27:26).
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Something is happening within Catholicism in the United States. On the one hand, over the past few decades, many people have disaffiliated themselves from organized religion, and Catholicism has been particularly affected. On the other hand, there is a movement from a section of Catholics who find new energy in the more traditional Catholicism characterized by the Latin Mass, mantillas, Communion rails, Communion on the tongue, a heightened emphasis on doctrine, rituals, vestments, incense etc. People who think this way are convinced that Catholics disaffiliated themselves from Catholicism because of the loss of Catholic identity and the dilution of Catholic rituals and doctrines since Vatican II.
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Can the blind lead the blind? If we go by today’s gospel reading, perhaps, the answer is yes. Was Bartimaeus blind? Sure, he was. Are we blind? It depends. Mark has a unique way of understanding blindness. His definition of blindness depends not on what people can see with their eyes but on their relationship with Jesus, the Christ.
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Where could you go and say, “I want you to do for us whatever I ask of you?” Tell me one place where life works like that. Yet, that is exactly what James and John said to Jesus. They said, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you" (Mk 10:
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
After a gap of a few years, I am now back to facilitating the Confirmation program for our teens. I am in need respite from all the administrative stuff. At the first meeting with the candidates last Tuesday, I gave them a questionnaire. One of the questions that I asked the teens was, “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” There are some truly spectacular answers. I am not sharing them because I don’t have the permission. But today, I am going to ask you the same question. “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?”
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am the least qualified to preach about today’s scripture. I am not married. I do not have children, and I have never experienced divorce. I am not going to pretend to know either. Hence, this homily is a theological reflection on the human person, on human relationships, particularly marriage.
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Everybody needs money. We have all heard that money may not make us happy but it certainly makes life a little easy. Money will not buy us salvation but does get us groceries. There is money, there are riches, and there is wealth. All of us have some money, some are wealthy, some are rich, and there are those few who are scandalously rich. Money, riches, and wealth comes with its share of challenges. Because of the uncertainty of life and our lifespan, for example, it is difficult to know how much money is enough. Contentment is hard when it comes to money, riches, and wealth. But we also know that greed and exploitation is rampant and has created staggering global economic inequalities.
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We have seen images of the earth taken from space. From up there, the world looks very different from down here. There is even that Bette Midler hit, “From a Distance.” But even more inspiring for me is the sketch of the crucified Christ by John of the Cross. This is the sketch that inspired Salvador Dali’s “The crucifixion of Christ.” Since I wrote my homily last week, a thought has been ruminating in my mind – that there are two world views: one from down here and one from the cross. Things look different from up there. Everything has to look different from up there. Otherwise, the cross has no meaning.
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I have titled my homily, “The Good, The Bad, and The Paradox.’ As I read today’s gospel, I see three parts. The first part goes really well. The second half goes really bad. In the third part, we have a paradox. In my three points for today’s homily, I would like to focus on “the good, the bad, and the paradox”.
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
The details in the story of the healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment in today’s gospel (Mk 7:31-37) are truly interesting. We can either read this healing as another one of Jesus’ healings or pay attention to these details and discover the deeper realities at in play. Lets take the latter approach
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a common phrase these days, “I believe in God but not in organized religion.” Or, I have heard people say, “I am a spiritual person but not religious.” More and more people are finding this to be an attractive alternative.
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Finally, after four weekends, we have reached the end the Bread of Life discourse. We could only wish that the discourse ended well. But it does not. It ends letting the readers know that many of Jesus’ disciples “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him” (Jn 6:66).
John’s conclusion to the Bread of Life discourse is not merely a conclusion to the discourse. It the end of this section of John and the beginning of a new. Now the plot thickens. The dice is thrown. People will make choices regarding Jesus. That choice will disrupt life. That choice will determine eternity.
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
This is the fourth week of our reflection on the Bread of Life discourse. In my introductory homily, I remember saying that there is a movement in the discourse – from physical bread, to the more spiritual Bread of Life, to the Bread of Life as flesh, and then back again to the realism of true food. The Bread of Life discourse begins with physical bread and ends with Jesus saying, “My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink”(Jn 6:55).
That the bread and wine at every Eucharist is truly the body of blood of Jesus is one of the most challenging beliefs of Catholic doctrine. Perhaps, we can find some consolation in the fact that we are not alone in our difficulty. In the early church, John’s community dealt with the same issue. Last week we reflected on Jesus’ words, “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). The people were quick to ask, “"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (Jn 6:52).
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” That is the question I am dealing with today. How can the bread of life be body and blood? Is the bread and wine at Mass indeed the Body and Blood of Christ? How does mere bread and wine become the real presence of Christ?
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We are in the third week of the five-week-series on the Bread of Life discourse. We began two weeks back with the multiplication of loaves. Last week, Jesus invited people to transcend the barley loaves and “work for the bread that endures up to eternal life” (Jn 6:27) - the Bread of Life.” In today’s gospel reading, there is yet another transition – from Bread of life to “flesh”. Jesus says, “…the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).
Today, I would like to reflect on this transition from bread to “flesh.” Here are my three points.