St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Today's Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus commemorates God's choice to come among us as a human being, experiencing every aspect of life except sin. Jesus had a human heart that felt the same emotions and struggles we do. He experienced pity, distress, and pain, ultimately dying on the Cross.

 

The significance of this is that when God chose to become human, He did not take the easy path. Jesus endured the same trials and challenges that we face, showing profound empathy. By doing so, God reveals His deep understanding of our human condition, drawing us closer to Him.

 

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus invites us to reflect on how we see Jesus in our prayers. Do we picture Him as a distant, abstract figure, or do we imagine the man who lived among us and shared our experiences?

 

As we pray to Jesus, let us recognize Him as someone who deeply loves us and wants to be close to us—someone we can truly relate to. Doing this allows our hearts to unite with the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

St. Barnabas, whose given name was Joseph, was known for inspiring others in the early Church. In today’s reading from Acts, we see him actively participating in this ministry. A profound and life-changing event was taking place within the Christian community in Antioch. The Gospel had been proclaimed to both Gentiles and Jews, sparking the birth of a new kind of Church—one that welcomed members from diverse Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds.

When St. Barnabas was sent to Antioch by the Apostles to assess the situation, he quickly recognized it as the work of the Lord and offered his support to this new development. His discernment was accurate; it was indeed the work of the Lord.

God’s work is not limited to the past but continues to unfold in new and creative ways among us. It is both a great gift and a responsibility to recognize divine inspiration wherever it is found, and to celebrate and encourage its effects. St. Barnabas had this gift, not because he was extraordinary, but because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. The Holy Spirit, our guide, plays a crucial role in helping us recognize the Spirit’s work. As St. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, spiritual things are discerned spiritually.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus showed His respect for Jewish tradition by honoring its practices and teachings. At the same time, He made it clear that His mission was not merely to preserve the past but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, bringing their true purpose to completion. Jesus valued the wisdom and guidance found in His religious tradition, yet He remained attentive to how God was calling that tradition to grow and develop. He balanced reverence for the past with openness to God’s ongoing work in the present.

Likewise, we are called to value the richness of our own religious tradition, drawing strength from its teachings, rituals, and community. At the same time, we need to remain open to the ways the Lord continually renews and inspires our faith, guiding us to deeper understanding and fresh expressions of devotion. By holding both appreciation and openness together, we allow our tradition to remain vibrant and relevant in our lives.

In today's Gospel, Jesus urges us, "Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." This call is both a challenge and an invitation. Jesus does not ask us to undertake this journey alone. He reassures us that the grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit are always present to help us. When we open ourselves to the Spirit's gifts—wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord—we become more attuned to the needs of those around us and better able to serve them with love.

Letting our light shine means living with integrity and compassion in our daily lives, whether in small acts of kindness or courageous stands for justice. Sometimes our actions may go unnoticed by the world, but they are always seen by God. Our example can inspire others in ways we may never fully realize.

When we unite with other people of faith and those who embody genuine goodness, our individual lights join together to form a radiant beacon. This collective witness has the power to dispel darkness and bring hope, comfort, and encouragement to those who are struggling. In a world often overshadowed by fear, cynicism, or despair, our shared commitment to living the Gospel becomes a source of faith, hope, and love for everyone we encounter.

The Beatitudes that Jesus taught in today’s Gospel can be described as a portrayal of Jesus’ character. When He spoke these Beatitudes, He painted a picture of Himself and what He desired from His followers. He is poor in spirit, relying on the Father for everything. He is gentle and compassionate, mourns when God’s will is not being done on earth as it is in heaven, hungers and thirsts for justice, and suffers to bring that about. He is merciful to sinners, has a pure heart desiring what God desires, and works to bring about peace between God and humanity, and between people.

By presenting this image of Himself through words, Jesus also showed what His disciples should strive to become. It’s the image we are called to embody. We can’t become people of the Beatitudes on our own; we need the help of the Holy Spirit, who works within us to shape us into the likeness of Christ.

Throughout the history of the Church, God has made the power of the Eucharist evident in many ways. For example, some saints survived for extended periods with the Eucharist as their only source of nourishment.

 

In the fourteenth century, St. Catherine of Siena often lived for months on the Holy Eucharist alone. In the fifteenth century, St. Nicholas of Flue spent his last 19 years living as a hermit. He offered spiritual advice throughout the day and prayed throughout the night. During all those years, he was unable to eat; the Eucharist was his only food.

 

In April 2004, then-Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Alejandrina Maria da Costa, a Portuguese peasant. Injured while escaping an attack, she was paralyzed at age 14. Afterward, she spent each day offering her sufferings and prayers to God for the conversion of sinners, until her death in 1955 at age 51. During her final 13 years, Alejandrina ate and drank nothing except daily Communion. She underwent countless medical studies, none of which found a natural explanation. Alejandrina said that Jesus told her, "You will live only on the Eucharist because I want to show the whole world the power of the Eucharist and the power of my life in souls."

 

These miracles are extremely rare, but their purpose is to show us that the Eucharist is divine food that Jesus gives us to make us more like Him. It's easy to forget how incredible this sacrament is amid the hustle and bustle of life. Today, let's renew our sense of awe and gratitude for such an indescribable, miraculous gift.

 

But we shouldn't stop there. We all know that people who eat well but don't exercise soon get out of shape. The same can happen in our spiritual lives. Each week, we receive this divine food, we pray, we hear the Word of God—but if we don't put them into practice, our souls can get out of shape, becoming self-centered and self-absorbed.

 

As is always the case with God, for Christ's grace to have an impact on us and make us more like Him, we must put in the effort to bring about that transformation. We must strive to live as Jesus lived.

 

This means giving of ourselves to others, just as Jesus gives Himself to us. We all know people who are suffering, confused, or in trouble. This week, strengthened by the Word we hear and the sacred bread we receive, let's become Christ's messengers to them. There is no greater joy in life than sharing with others the love we've received from Christ. Jesus Himself said this, as St. Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles: "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving."

 

Today, Jesus will give Himself to us once again in Holy Communion. When He does, let's thank Him for this tremendous gift and promise that this week—and beyond—we will follow in His footsteps.

St. Paul addresses St. Timothy "in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead." He urges him to preach the Word at all times. This is a reminder that our faith is not just a private reality that brings us comfort—it is also a public mission to spread the Word of God and all that it entails. Whether it is well received or resisted and challenged, we are all called to share the light of Christ.

St. Paul warns that there will be a time when people "will not tolerate sound doctrine" but instead will follow their own desires, turning away from the truth and straying into falsehoods. This is an important message for us to hear in today's world. It challenges us to reflect on our own lives: Do we seek the truth of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the guidance of the bishops chosen for us, or do we sometimes want to hear only what fits our own biases, prejudices, and ignorance?

In writing to St. Timothy, St. Paul knows his earthly life will soon end and that he will be "poured out like a libation," yet we hear no fear or anxiety in his words—only peace and victory. He says, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." He reminds us that Jesus Christ is the "righteous judge" who will reward righteousness to all who await His return with anticipation, hope, and joy.

The objective of reading, praying with, and studying God’s Word in Sacred Scripture is transformation. St. Paul tells us that Scripture, which is inspired by God, is given to us so that "the one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

 

In our daily lives, we are called not simply to pray and know God but to follow that with inspired action. We must bring the light of Christ into our communities, families, schools, workplaces, and communities. God’s Word is a spiritual tool that shapes us, corrects our paths when we stray, and empowers us to live lives of love, charity, justice, mercy, and peace.

The Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' time were obsessed with many rules and were real sticklers on all the details. From their perspective, knowing all the rules and nuances and keeping them was seen as a guarantee that you were living according to the will of God. It was easy and comforting, albeit requiring due diligence.

In our Gospel passage, a particular Scribe approached Jesus, asking which commandment He believed was the greatest.

Jesus didn't answer with any of the human-made commandments or the Ten Commandments. Instead, He indicated that love of God and love of neighbor were the two most important commandments. The Scribe understood and responded accordingly.

May we, too, understand that our love of God and our love of one another (all made in God's image) must be paramount in our hearts and minds as we seek to do God's will and trust that, in so doing, we will be moving closer to our promised redemption.

The Sadducees, who posed a question to Jesus in our Gospel passage, accepted only the authority of the first five books of the Old Testament. They did not find any mention of an afterlife in these books. They questioned Jesus about this, even though they knew his teachings were different. They presented a scenario in which the afterlife was viewed as a simple extension of our earthly life. However, Jesus explained that the afterlife would be fundamentally different.

 

Jesus spoke of eternal life not as a mere continuation of our earthly life, but as something entirely new and beyond our current understanding. St. Paul also described the afterlife as a transformation, saying that love lasts forever. Our love for God and for each other will not end at death, but will be perfected in heaven, fulfilling the purpose for which God created us.