Episodes
22 hours ago
Homily for Wednesday of the 4th Week of Easter
22 hours ago
22 hours ago
In the Church at Antioch, the Holy Spirit inspired prophets and teachers to send Barnabas and Saul on a special mission to spread the message of Jesus to the wider world.
The Church continues to seek to unite all people as one worldwide family in Christ. Each local church is called not just to maintain itself but to serve other groups, whether near or far away. We seek to be as generous with others as God has been with us.
May our prayers and actions, as ambassadors of God's love and providence, spread the knowledge of God's love and help others with their needs.
2 days ago
2 days ago
What a contrast to the reception of the Apostles in the areas surrounding Jerusalem that we hear about in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles today. Despite being in fear for their lives, especially after the death of Stephen, they are out and about spreading the Good News. And despite the threats against those who converted to Christianity, the Apostles were winning them over.
What was at work was a sense of joy and commitment. Despite all the dangers, they conveyed commitment by risking their lives to spread the Good News of Jesus; they exuded joy in their faith in Him. This joy was so evident and powerful to the people they preached to that many couldn't help but joyfully and wholeheartedly accept faith in Jesus Christ.
As we know, all of us are called to preach the Good News of our salvation in Jesus. Do we do so with a sense of joy or a sense of fear? Do we do so with an understanding of the freedom of God's children or with a sense of obligation? Do we do so with a spirit of the letter of the law or with a spirit that embraces the commandments of Jesus to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves? Do we do so with a sense of judgment, or the mercy and compassion Jesus showed when he ate with the sinner?
Let us strive for a commitment and joy that will draw others to our faith. Let's be the beacon of light in the darkness, just like the Apostles were in their time.
3 days ago
3 days ago
In our Gospel reading, Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd who protects and holds the flock together. The message is crystal clear: we need Jesus in our lives. We require the influence of Jesus in our lives to follow God's will and live a life of faith, hope, and love. If we disregard Jesus in our lives, we fail to access these wonderful gifts God has bestowed upon us. As a result, we will be unable to share them with others, and we will be unable to complete our mission of spreading the Good News to everyone we encounter.
4 days ago
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter
4 days ago
4 days ago
The story of Adam and Eve teaches us that their lack of trust in God led to their fall. However, Jesus came to restore that lost trust and lead us away from our self-centered, fear-filled, and sinful lives back to His flock. He gave up His life to atone for our sins, demonstrating that the Father deserves our trust.
He is the Good Shepherd, the One who cares more about our lives than we do, and the One who came to serve and give His life as a ransom for ours. We can find forgiveness, protection, and guidance toward a fulfilling life through Him.
Trusting in God is not always easy, but it is always possible.
We have been given the gift of faith; we must have the courage to use it.
After he was elected Pope, Pius XI visited the study of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XV, who had attempted to bring an end to World War I. Pope Pius began to feel the immense weight of his new position, so he fell to his knees in prayer. When he looked up, he noticed a framed picture of Jesus on the desk, in which He was calming the storm at sea and speaking the reassuring words, "Peace, be still." From that moment on, the new pope kept the picture on his desk as a constant reminder of Christ's calming presence.
St. Paul of the Cross wrote: "Stop listening to your fears. God is your guide and your Father, Teacher, and Spouse. Abandon yourself into [Him]. Keep up your spiritual exercises and be faithful in prayer." Christ, our Good Shepherd, deserves nothing less than that.
We all trust Jesus, but we can learn to trust Him more. If we trust Him more completely, we will follow Him more closely, and He will fill our lives more fully with strength, grace, and joy.
There are two easy ways to grow in this life-giving trust.
First, through prayer. Every time we pray to God to thank Him for His blessings, ask Him for help, or praise Him, we connect with His goodness. That connection strengthens our trust because knowing God better makes it easier to trust Him.
Second, through telling others the Good News of Christ's Gospel. Just as in today's first reading, Peter explained that Jesus is our Savior, our Good Shepherd, so we are called to share with others the treasure of faith we have received.
We all know someone who is facing difficulties in life. Now is the perfect time to extend our support and reach out to them. We can remind them that Jesus rose from the dead so that he could be their strength and guide them through life's struggles so they don't have to face these struggles alone.
When we share our faith and spread the light of hope, we help others find the strength to overcome their difficulties. Our trust in God grows when we help others, as the light of a thousand candles brightens a room far more than the light of just one candle.
5 days ago
5 days ago
Today's Gospel passage revolves around the conversations that followed Jesus' statement that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will attain eternal life. However, this statement was too much for some of His followers, who left. In leaving, they were like the seed that fell on the path, the rocky ground, or among the thorns. Their faith wasn't strong, and they lost interest in Jesus' message.
After this incident, Jesus questioned the Twelve if they would also leave Him. Peter, in response, made a powerful statement of faith, saying, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
For someone with such a strong faith, there would be no reason to leave Jesus, despite the challenges, distractions, and difficulties that come with being His followers, for in Christ, we have everything we truly need.
A prayer of St. Julian of Norwich might also be ours. I often begin my day with this prayer, and I have shared it before:
"God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for you are enough for me, and I can ask for nothing which is less which can pay you full worship. And if I ask for anything else, always I am in want; but in you do I have everything."[1]
[1] Julian of Norwich, Showings, 1978, Paulist Press, New York, NY, p. 184.
6 days ago
6 days ago
Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
The refrain from our Responsorial Psalm today is the basic command to all the Baptized: go forth to the world and share with others the Good News of our salvation in Christ, the Good News of the Gospel, and the Good News of our mission as ambassadors of Jesus's healing presence in the world.
Our first reading tells us the well-known story of Saul (later Paul) on the road to Damascus. He has a terrifying encounter with Jesus that leaves him traumatized. In his recovery, he hears everything about Jesus, and as soon as he feels better, he begins to tell the Good News with great zeal, and he will do so for the rest of his life.
May we, too, fulfill that call with energy, dedication, and faithfulness to our responsibility as Baptized members of Christ’s Body, the Church.
7 days ago
7 days ago
Today's readings focus on the role of God's Word, Baptism, and Eucharist in nurturing the followers of Jesus. In the first reading, a pilgrim from Ethiopia, who had just returned from a pilgrimage to the Jerusalem temple, was moved by a passage in Isaiah and asked questions. This led to his Baptism into the Church by Philip. In the Gospel passage, Jesus promised to give bread for the life of the world, which refers to the Eucharist.
In most parishes, the usual sequence is Baptism, followed by the introduction to Jesus through the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul's letters, and Jewish Scriptures. This leads to the receiving of Holy Communion. The connection between the Word and the Eucharist remains strong for the baptized.
During Mass, there is first the Liturgy of the Word, which nourishes our faith, and then the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which we come to out of our nourished faith. The bread of the Word prepares us for the bread of the Eucharist.
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
Homily for Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
The deacon Philip shared the Gospel with the people of Samaria and received a warm welcome. In Luke's first volume, Jesus attempted to speak to the Samaritans, but they rejected Him because He was on His way to Jerusalem. However, after hearing the Gospel from the lips of the cheerful and open-hearted Philip, they welcomed it with great joy. This shows that God's word can flourish even where it was initially rejected. Even if we sometimes turn away from the Lord, He never turns His back on us. In fact, we have Jesus' word that He will not reject anyone who turns to Him.
Easter celebrates God's complete faithfulness to His Son, Jesus, and to us all. This encourages us to trust in Him. Even after we have rejected Him in some ways, He will never reject us. Although we often fail to respond to the grace of Jesus Christ, He still offers Himself to us as the Bread of Life. He continues to promise that if we come to Him, we will never hunger; if we believe in Him, we will never thirst.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Homily for Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
As Jesus said, "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit," Stephen also prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He then prayed and asked the Lord not to hold the sin against them. The message is that Jesus' followers should adopt His attitudes.
Today, the Risen Lord continues to live in and through us, His followers. He invites us to receive Him as our Bread of Life and live by the guidance of His Spirit.
When we come to Him in the Eucharist, we receive spiritual nourishment and strength to live by His example. Jesus says, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger."
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Homily for Monday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Monday Apr 15, 2024
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus distinguishes between bread that quickly grows stale and the bread, the food, that lasts into eternal life. He had fed the people with bread and fish since physical hunger had to be satisfied. Still, as they continued looking for more food, He invited them to think of spiritual food to satisfy their deeper desires. He came not just to feed people physically but to give them the spiritually nourishing food of God’s presence.
Jesus reminds us that while we need material things because we are material beings, our search must go deeper. There is more to life than satisfying our physical needs. We have a deeper, spiritual hunger that must be satisfied to live our lives fully and be at peace with ourselves and others.
Jesus Himself offers us the food of eternal life, satisfying the deepest hunger of our hearts. Our quest for fulfillment must ultimately lead us to God; as St. Augustine eloquently put it, “Our hearts cannot find true rest until they rest in God.”