To begin today, let’s recap our Gospel reading from Matthew. In the parable of the two sons, Jesus tells a simple story of two imperfect sons to illustrate the way of God’s kingdom. Everything the father had belonged to them as well. The father allowed his sons to work in...
Brothers and sisters, today, during the reading of the Holy Scriptures, we heard of God’s righteousness and mercy. We were told that we must seek righteousness in order to receive the mercy of God. We were told that the righteousness of man embraces living and dying for Christ. And, we...
In the Church today there are two groups of people: Those who believe we should forgive because otherwise God won’t forgive us. Those who believe we should forgive because God has already forgiven us. Each one of us here would do well to ask ourselves which group we belong to....
If your brother does something wrong… Jesus is speaking here to his disciples about correction within the community of believers. The manner of this correction is aimed at preserving communion even if, ultimately, the offender refuses correction and shows himself to be outside the communion of the Church. It is...
Last week –we heard the story of Jesus asking the disciples who they thought he was and his church that was built upon him. This week our readings tell of Christ’s sufferings for his disciples and their sufferings for him. Let’s begin by asking ourselves a simple question. What is...
What was it that Jesus was trying to do in his preaching? Almost every parable, every story he tells, his entire message is really about one thing – the kingdom of heaven. Think about it. Each parable begins with the words “The kingdom of heaven is like……” When he teaches...
Today’s Reading from the Gospel of Matthew, [Mt. 15:21-28] the account of Jesus and the Canaanite woman, is one of the rare encounters of Jesus with Gentiles. As you all heard earlier, when Jesus went to the district of Tyre and Sidon, [Mt. 15:21] in Southern Phoenicia, He was approached...
Every hospital bed is a little boat floating alone on a vast and dangerous sea. It is little because it is entirely at the mercy of the waves, defenseless. It is alone because it is little; there is room for only one passenger. Family members can come and sit on...
Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This feast recalls Jesus’ glorification before his crucifixion. We not only remember this event in the life of Jesus and his followers, but the deeper meaning of this event is that Christ rules all creation. The first reading from...
This is the third week in a row that Jesus offers the crowds a parable containing the image of a field. First there was the field in which the seed of God’s word was sown. Then came the field into which the enemy sowed the darnel seeds. This week we...