Episodes
4 hours ago
4 hours ago
As Paul saw it, when he and Barnabas were thrown out of the synagogue and banished from the territory, what appeared to be a failure actually helped to spread the Gospel. Paul quotes Isaiah: "I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth."
Paul's approach is a good one in any crisis or change, trusting that the whole process is under the loving providence of our God.
His approach is one that we should take as well, especially during uncertain times.
Let us pray for a deep trust in God's goodness, confident that He will guide us and give us strength and wisdom if we open our minds and hearts to His grace.
2 days ago
2 days ago
At the Last Supper, Jesus tells the Apostles that while He is leaving them, He is returning to the Father from whom He came. He promises that He will return one day to take them with Him into His Father’s house; that is our destiny. Jesus came among us to show us the Way to the Father, His whole mission.
The many rooms in His Father’s house symbolize universal hospitality. The kingdom of Heaven is not a place for a select few; it is a place of welcome and peace for the many. All people are called to follow Jesus because He is the Way to the Father for all who follow Him. He promised that, when raised from the earth, He would draw all people to Himself.
So, let us pray that we will follow Jesus as the Way from this life, with all its challenges and trials, to the life of Heaven, a life of eternal joy and peace.
3 days ago
3 days ago
We know little about St. Mark. He was not one of the original Twelve Apostles but knew them. There is a strong suggestion that, as a young boy, he witnessed Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Mark’s Gospel is the first of the four New Testament Gospels and is shorter and more to the point than the other three.
Today’s passage from St. Mark’s Gospel recounts the story of the Apostles embarking on the continuation of Jesus’ mission on earth. This mission is not exclusive; Jesus commissions every one of us to step forward and spread His message of love and mercy to all people. Through our Baptism, we are all entrusted with the role of being ambassadors of God’s action in our world.
Let us pray that we, like the Apostles, will take the command to preach the Good News earnestly by our words, actions, and attitudes.
4 days ago
4 days 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.
5 days ago
5 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.
6 days ago
6 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.
7 days ago
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter
7 days ago
7 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.
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Homily for Saturday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
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.
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Homily for Friday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Friday Apr 19, 2024
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.
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Homily for Thursday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
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.