Article for Easter

  This memorial was added to the calendar for the Monday after Pentecost at the direction of Pope Francis in 2018. As with all of the titles that honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, this one is not new. Pope St Paul VI in 1964, at the Vatican Council II promulgated the Blessed Virgin Mary as…

  Today we celebrate Pentecost: the 50th day of our Easter celebration, the conclusion of the Paschal Season, which goes all the way back to the beginning of Lent. This is the time when we reflect again on our redemption and what it all means and who we have become, that is, we are God’s…

  St. Paul has arrived in Rome. During his final two years, he will have private lodgings (guarded by only one soldier), and he will be permitted to have visitors. But what about the communities he founded in Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica (to name a few)? What about Barnabas, Silas, Mark, Luke,…

  The last few days have provided snapshots of St. Paul’s last missionary journey. He knew even before arriving in Jerusalem how things would end. We all knew. There was no self-glorification and no self-pity. He had worked too hard for things to end so pathetically. There was his conversion to Christianity and the pain…

  Unlike St. Matthias, who knew Jesus from his baptism to his Ascension, St. Paul had not been a disciple of Jesus. In his ignorance, he persecuted The Way until he experienced the kindness and charity of a fearful Ananias, who brought him into the Christian community at Damascus. Barnabas was entrusted with Paul’s initial…

  The ministry of Jesus was primarily to the Jewish people. The apostles at first stayed close to Jerusalem to shore up the community of followers. It made sense to begin there, because the Jews believed there was only one God (monotheism). This faith tradition also awaited the coming of a Messiah. There was at…

  Before his Ascension, Jesus commissioned those whom he had chosen to continue his ministry of spreading the Gospel message. But one who had been chosen, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Jesus. St. Peter assembled the Christian community in Jerusalem and, referring to Psalm 109:8, determined that someone should be chosen to replace Judas. What sort of…

  Jesus built his Church upon St. Peter, the rock and cornerstone. He was the first Apostle to the Gentiles. However, the Church needed a firm foundation from which to evangelize, and St. Peter spent much time in and around Jerusalem teaching, preparing disciples for ministry, and fundraising for the missions. The Lord found another…

  The ministry of Jesus began with humility. God became one like us, and he learned under the tutelage of his parents. His life’s work began at 30 years of age and spanned three years. His target market was the Jewish people, who already believed that there is only one God. Jesus looked for and…

  “The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.” (v.27) God loves us because we have accepted his Son, whom he sent into the world, the one sent to reveal God’s love for us. Our acceptance is put in terms of belief –…

  You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. Pope St. Paul VI, in his exhortation on Joy, gave the Church a practical way to work at turning grief to joy. Here are his words at the end of his exhortation.        …

  “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” Jean Corbon, in his book, “The Wellspring of Worship,” makes an interesting statement:            “The silence of the resurrection is here more than ever the mystery of the kingdom…

  “The Spirit of truth” … will declare to you the things that are coming.” Yes, and these things have come! But they are not “these things” but this “thing”, the reality, Christ! The Lectionary used at mass speaks of this reality: “’The purpose of the homily at Mass is that the spoken word of…

  “It is better for you that I go…” …so that the Holy Spirit could come! This gift from the Father and the Son is indispensable in the face of a very secular and sometimes hostile culture. Because of Christ’s coming this “world is on trial. The Paraclete is the prosecuting attorney. He will prove…

  “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.” Jesus tells us, in another place in St. John’s Gospel: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” As…

  “I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” (v 11) Before this, Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,…

  The message that Jesus speaks to us today is difficult to hear. He speaks of the hatred for the Gospel that he experienced, and which put him on the cross. And he assures us that we will experience the same hatred. And he says to us “they will do these things because they do…

  Today we celebrate the feast of the Apostles Philip and James. Thanks to this we have a special Gospel passage for today. In this passage Philip tells Jesus, “show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Thanks to Philip, Jesus, in his response to Philip, brings some clarity to his relation…

  In today’s gospel, when Jesus tells us “if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,” it may at first seem to us that he is saying that his love is conditional, that it depends on our obedience. But he immediately follows this up by saying “just as I have kept my…

  Today we have an optional memorial in honor of St. Joseph the Worker. When I was serving as a priest in Kingston, Jamaica, we would transfer this memorial to May 23, which is Jamaica’s National Labour Day, celebrated on this date to honor the beginning of a Jamaican labor movement that led to Jamaica’s…

  In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to us, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” This peace that Christ gives us is larger and stronger than the world and the peace that the world can give. This is because Christ’s peace…

  Jesus says to us today, “whoever loves me will keep my word.” This is because we can only love what we know, and because we know Christ, we recognize the truth of his words. That doesn’t mean that it is always easy. In chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, Jesus is teaching the…

  In today’s gospel passage, Jesus tells us, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” This is a beautiful thought, that we are connected to Christ, and that his life flows into us and gives us a share in his Divine life. We shouldn’t think of this as being metaphorical. Rather, it is very…

  So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. Acts 13:52. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God. Ps. 98.3. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater…

  What God promised our fathers he has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. Acts 13: 32-33. R. You are my Son; this day I have begotten you. Ps. 2. 7. I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.…

  So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. 1 Peter 5:7 R. (2) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord. Ps. 89. 2 These signs will accompany those who believe Mk.16:16. In philosophy, a massive debate has raged for ages about the…

  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13.1. R. O God, let all the nations praise you! Ps. 67.4 I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in…

  …and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. Acts 11: 23, 26. R. All you nations, praise the Lord. Ps.117:1a The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. John 10: 24. Once I visited France and stayed…

  “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” Acts 11:18. Ps. 42. “Athrist is my soul for the living God.” “I am the gate for the sheep… Whoever enters through me will be saved. I came so that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.” John 10: 8,10. When I…

  “He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” Acts 4:11 “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.” Ps. 118, 1. “Beloved, we are God’s children now,” 1 Jn 3: 2. “I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”…

  Many of Jesus’ disciples reject him and return to their former way of life because they cannot accept what he is teaching them. This teaching regards his divinity, that he will bring about new and eternal life, and his gift to us of the Eucharist. The people cannot accept what turns out to be…

  Saul thought very highly of himself. He knew the teachings of Judaism and lived his life according to the precepts of the Law, and this made him bold in persecuting the early Church because they were spreading dangerous teachings that he believed were untrue. He did not know Jesus or the salvation he had…

  The Holy Spirit will lead us to people and places that we never expected. Philip followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and was led to the encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch. At this time, the followers of Jesus had not yet expanded beyond the Jewish people, and the Spirit takes this opportunity to…

  By calling himself the Bread of Life, Jesus troubles the Jewish people who have revered Moses as the greatest of all people to have walked the earth. Moses gave them the Law, he spoke face-to-face with God, and he led the people through the desert, during which the Lord provided them with Manna –…

  When Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst,” he is not referring to physical hunger and thirst. Rather, he is referring to spiritual hunger—the hunger of the heart for meaning and understanding, the longing for companionship and for…

  Stephen was not one of the Apostles who followed Jesus but rather came to faith after the Resurrection. Even so, he inherited the work of Jesus and embraced the Gospel to the point that he was granted grace and power to work mighty deeds in the name of Jesus. He imitated Jesus to the…

  Study of Sacred Scripture is highly valuable as it informs us about many of the details surrounding the composition and maintenance of the Biblical texts, but study alone will fail if it is not accompanied by prayer. The Disciples received an understanding of the Scriptures when the Risen Jesus came among them and revealed…

  The various Gospel accounts of the encounters of Jesus and His disciples on the sea are powerful. Away from the security and sure-footing of the land, the sea can be tumultuous and unpredictable, which leaves the disciples vulnerable. St. John recounted: “It had already grown dark and Jesus had not yet come to them.”…

  The Responsorial Psalm refrain says, “One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.” Several years ago, I challenged a young man to identify his deepest desire. When he didn’t know what he desired, it helped us see that his lack of clarity was the root of many of his struggles.…

  When did we start caring so much about what other people think about us and what other people are doing? Our preoccupation with what is or might be going on in other people’s minds certainly occurred before social media, but social media most likely exacerbated the problem. Peter and the Apostles respond to the…