Today, the gospel tells us of the fear of the apostles of Jesus in asking him a question to clarify their confusion. Since they feared asking, they did not learn anything. The offshoot of that fear was causing them more suffering than necessary. Find out more about this matter in the homily.
Today, the gospel tells us of the fear of the apostles of Jesus in asking him a question to clarify their confusion. Since they feared asking, they did not learn anything. The offshoot of that fear was causing them more suffering than necessary. Find out more about this matter in the homily.
WE need to ask this question many times. Otherwise, we might unconsciously treat Him as simply one of us or part of creation, when in fact is the absolute Other, beyond our universe. He is transcendent. But at the same time He is found so much in the interior of any creature anywhere in the universe because without Him that creature or creatures would fall into nothing. We need this reminder often. When we sin, we relegate Him many times to the corner, away from our concerns. He is God and we owe Him absolute obedience and attentionl.
We learn today about the terrible case of Herod the Tetrarchof Galilee when he coldly addressed the public “problem” of Jesus Christ. He wantedvery much to see Jesus. So, when they discussed him, people surmised that Jesuswas a prophet of the past arisen, even the recently decapitated John the Baptist.Herod acknowledged that fact. He had him executed. Interestingly, he never morallyevaluated his action. Learn more about it in the homily.
Today, we are reminded by our Mother the Church about each of us members of the Mystical Body of Christ that we have been sent. You read that correctly. As members of the Catholic Church, as Catholic Christians, we are essentially sent by Our Lord Jesus Christ, just like He sent the apostles to fulfill a mission. What does that mission entail? Find out in today’s homily.
When I visited the Holy Land several years ago, one of the first sites we visited was the wall of Jerusalem. We saw the Golden Gate. Quite evident to us were the many graves lined up in front of that sealed gate, awaiting the second coming of the Messiah. The people on those graves wanted to be there, close to Him. It is difficult to find someone who does not want to sit or stand close to a celebrity or someone who is a VIP. If we want to be close to Jesus, then we need to hear His word and act on it.
Lamps are supposed to give light. Light is needed to see well our way. Jesus is compared to light. He is the Logos, or the Word of God. Hence, He is properly understood as Light. He is God's Wisdom to guide us to our proper destination. Without Light, we get lost and get misguided or deceived and get lost from the way.
Today, the Lord poses before us this choice between God and Mammon. He avers to us that we cannot serve them both. That is an either-or choice. But never both! The reason is that we actually do not get to give everything to God, who deserves and demands all of us to love and serve Him, because we will give something to mammon. What we tend to do is get the best of both, so to speak.
The seed is the word of God. In this particular moment of our salvation history, the word is the very only Son of God, the Logos, according to St. John's gospel Prologue. For Jesus to produce fruit, He needs us to be good soil.
The Lord normally asked men to follow Him. Today, the gospel tells us that those women mentioned followed and accompanied Jesus and His men to provide them with their resources. Those women had the bold spirit of initiative to attend to what they as women could contribute to help our dear Jesus and His Apostles focus on preaching and guiding souls.
Today, the Lord shows us a perspective we seldom appreciate. He reveals that those who have asked God to forgive their many sins and have been forgiven, will love Him most. The sinful woman in the gospel today poured on Our dear Lord so much affection showing she loved Him very much because of her many sins. Jesus forgave her on the spot because she loved much.
God is the Hound of Heaven. The analogy comes from a breed of dogs, legendary for their ability to look for items or persons because of their keen ability of smell. God keeps on searching for all of us till we heed Him and return to Him. He does so in so many ways, like when we are captivated by beauty, good, the rottenness of evil, etc.
Jesus resurrects this man to return him alive and well to his widowed mother. It is because of compassion that He did so.
The Church directs our attention today to the Mother of Jesus at the foot of the Cross. Because of what was happening to her Son she also suffered. The gospel brings us to reflect on the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary. There was this old man Simeon who prophesied about the Baby Jesus and His Mother.
Today, the Church reminds us about the Cross of Jesus Christ. It was the instrument He employed to save mankind from sin and death. From His death, Resurrection, and Ascension, we receive all the graces needed to help us get to Heaven. Hence, we appreciate the importance of the Cross as a ladder to climb to eternal life with the Blessed Trinity. Jesus converted this ancient symbol of torture, death, shame, and domination into a trophy to be desired because He sanctified it and made it desirable insofar as our personal salvation would require. It is a symbol of hope for us.
Our Lord calls each of us to seriousness in following Him. During His life here on earth, He constantly called out the hypocrites among the Jews who were shallow in their religious practice. Calling on the Lord is not enough. Knowing the Lord in His teachings is not enough. They won't do, until we practice what we know.
Today, the Holy Mother Church encourages us to call upon the Blessed Virgin Mary by using her name Mary much more. Let us call her, asking for help and her protection. Our problem is that we rely more on ourselves and our strengths. We imitate young teenagers who are embarrassed by their friends because of the presence of their moms when they go to school. We hate their teasing us because we look immature, still depending on our mothers. Even if that may be somewhat true, there is absolutely nothing wrong in flying to the Blessed Virgin Mary always. God wants it!
Our actions have great consequences. One of them is that they give us an indication of how we will be treated in return. This requires us to be more personally responsible for them.
Perhaps what we could learn from our Muslim brethren, who are so radical that some are willing to blow themselves up with so many others as suicide bombers. What motivates them to go to such extremes? The carnal reward that is promised to them! While this arrangement and assumption is antithetical with real religion, what we could learn to do is to think more of the reward God has in store for us. Is it selfish to think this way and to motivate ourselves to reach Heaven?
Our Lord in the gospel chooses His Apostles. All of them deserted Him when He most needed them. One of them betrayed Him and committed suicide. What do these details have to do with us, modern apostles of His?