From Our Pastor's Desk
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From Our Pastor's Desk
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UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD
Final results can leave us all anxious: competitive sports, the end of a school year, a business enterprise in which all is waged, and the end of the world. The first Christian community believed that the second coming of Christ was close and that He would come as the great inquisitor. Today's liturgy looks at the end of life and to what will occur later, with a clear recommendation: to be prepared. The end times will be difficult times: "For some, the verdict will be that of salvation, but for others - it will be condemnation". Sisters and brothers: 1. When we suddenly find ourselves in difficult times, due to the mysterious or to the unknown, these times may provoke a mixture of fear and hope. This occurs to us when we glimpse the imminence of death. Death is not the end of life. We do not live to die, as the philosophers sentence us; but we live and die to live in fullness, as our faith implies and as hope manifests. Jesus speaks to us today about the world's end and our final judgment. The Lord will come as a judge. In light of this truth, we can face our human existence in two ways: that of the follower of Christ who renounces all - in order to live love without measure; or we may choose to live life enjoying all the pleasures of the present time - as if there was nothing to follow after death. 2. In light of faith, the end of the world is the triumph of life over death. So what will happen to us? How will our life's efforts end, our struggles, our aspirations? Someone dared to affirm that - life is just a brief parenthesis between two nothings, if all we expect from life is nothing. So what final meaning do all our struggles, efforts, and confrontations make? If we see all in the light of faith,a ray of hope will ignite. Thus life, history, and our world - are not just a useless passion; we are not trapped, nor are we yoked to an endless well where an eternal repayment is due. There is salvation. 3. When will this all occur? Revelation speaks of an imminent event, that "is already at the door". It could occur at any moment. For the time is brief. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its destiny. In light of the final event, all the values of life appear in their just dimension. We look with bravery at this destiny that expects us to understand how it is imminent. We decide our future every day, and that is why we should prepare ourselves as of now. When will that end be? When we want it to come, when we are ready and willing to make it a reality when we live as Jesus taught us, in accordance with the beatitudes. Brothers and sisters: From today’s Gospel, we must retain in us the invitation to walk according to the Gospel, supported by the saving Word of Jesus Christ, without seeking to know the day or the hour. Our actual call is a call to faithfulness; like the first Christians, we are called to be faithful in the hour of persecution, and then the fullness will come, but it will come when Our Father wills it. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests Thirty - second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B
Readings: 1 Kings 17:10-16, Psalm 146 “Praise the Lord, my soul!”, Hebrew 9:24-28, Mark 12:38-44 or 12:41-44 THE POOR WIDOW Today we speak a lot about solidarity; it is an article that will sell. It is preached in homilies, it is the theme of Lent, and a convincing argument the stars use to entice the multitudes: Charitable Concerts, Campaigns against the Hunger in our world. Yet, is there one that will take the bread from his mouth to feed the hungry? Even the widow from the Gospel understood this, how one must love in times of hunger: she gave her all and thus, she remains without eating. God is not the Lord of "quantities", but of qualities. He knows how to multiply the two coins and how to make sure that "the pot of flour and the flask of oil are never empty". Sisters and brothers: 1. To be a widow is a symbol of solitude and of emptiness. Elías went to a widow and with her - a miracle was produced. Elías asked her for something to eat and she gave him everything that she had without reserving anything for herself. So God became an excellent provider for her, to see that she never lacked food for nourishment. All the power of God - in the service of a poor, weak, abandoned and ignored woman! The other woman is also poor and insignificant. We don't know her name. She was also a widow and she went to the temple. Her two small coins clinked with a special sound. Here we have two histories with a very clear lesson: To be sure that the heart of God is touched, one does not have to be important, nor know a lot, nor be educated, nor be prestigious with resplendent clothing. It only matters that we give what we have, and believe in His promises without holding back anything. 2. The greatness of the humble little lady of the town contrasts with the misery of the Pharisees that criticize her. When she silently deposits her coins, she is praying and loving. Her material contribution is insignificant, yet her gift is total. Jesus admired this gesture and he praised her, because he does not measure our human acts with our scale. We generally remain at the level of appearances, but the Lord searches the heart. The one that gives of his/her excess, does not give life. The one that gives from their own sustenance, of what that person needs to live, then that person gives something of their life; they give of their utmost for others. 3. "One gives a lot when he gives his all, even though that all - may be just a little bit". One gives a lot when one loves a lot. Christian charity is authentic when it is practiced in accordance with God's values, and as consequence, life then acquires a marvelous fruitfulness. "There is more happiness in giving, than in receiving". We are beginning to forget what compassion is. It is to be able "to suffer with" the needy and radiate compassion with another one's suffering. We look at people from the surface, as if they were objects, without being able to approach their pain. When one is already sufficiently satisfied with their small world of well-being and comfort, it is difficult to understand the suffering of others. Brothers and sisters: The example of the widow that gave everything that she had, should stimulate our generosity. However, it should be done simply and discreetly. When we begin to think beyond material goods, we will find in numerous situations where our Christian charity can become a reality. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests WITH ALL YOUR HEART
“One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Love is a very serious matter; that is why it is natural to take it on fully and totally: “You shall love with all your heart”. Why with “all”? Because love cannot bear limits or be measured. You cannot love “a little”. That’s why St Bernard insisted that “The measure of love is to love without measure.” Brothers and Sisters, 1. This totality is what measures our happiness and the value of our life; only in love can man rescue his life from capsizing. Jesus speaks of the heart, soul, and strength because it implies all our capacity of understanding, all our emotional strength, all our dynamism of acting. When love for God and neighbor is like this, it alone is enough for us. As Saint Augustine says: “Love and do as you will.” Love is total in another sense: it embraces all of Christian morality and Christian spirituality. The other virtues are only aspects of charity; if we practice them without charity, they become sterile. Self-giving, generosity, obedience, and poverty become authentic values only when they are ways of loving. 2. The greatest and most consequential word a father can speak to his son is: “I love you”. Love is beyond what is human or terrestrial; it is God’s initiative. C.S. Lewis, in Four Loves, writes, speaking of charity, “natural Gift-love is always directed to objects which the lover finds in some way intrinsically lovable …. But Divine Gift-love in the man enables him to love what is not naturally lovable; lepers, criminals, enemies, morons, the sulky, the superior, and the sneering.” 3. Today, Christians ask about their identity: What does it really mean to be Christian? What is most important? Jesus did not respond with the first commandment, but rather with the first two, which together form but one commandment. This is the novelty. It’s not about two commandments in a hierarchical order, but one sole commandment. What’s important is not the order, but the logic: The love God has for us is the source of our love for him and our neighbor. We want to be loved for our intelligence, beauty, generosity, honesty, and efficiency. When we see someone offering us supreme love and charity, this produces an incredible impact. Receiving is harder and perhaps more meritorious than giving. Just like the scribe of the Gospel, we must ask ourselves again, “What is most important? What truly saves our lives, gives true peace to our conscience, remains after the fleetingness of human life?” With this, being brothers and sisters is not difficult. Is it so difficult to leave in each brother or sister that crosses our path a token of love, kindness, respect, appreciation for their dignity, encouragement, and commitment, to the construction of a more human and fraternal world? It will be difficult, but it is essential, primary, first, because “to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests |
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