From Our Pastor's Desk
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From Our Pastor's Desk
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LOVE WITHOUT LIMITS
Today the Pharisees are back on the offensive again, putting Jesus to the test. “Which is the greatest of the commandments?” they ask. Jesus’ answer will change history for centuries: “You shall love God above all things, and your neighbor as yourself. ” Christian charity means loving the way God loves. There is no room for doubt as to how we should fulfill this new commandment; it ’s enough to be imitators of Christ and so become a model for all believers. Sisters and brothers: 1. The human heart has been created to love. The problem starts when we have to choose one love over others: who should we love? What should my love be like? What do I do when my experience of love does not fill me? Christ offers us the prototype of true love. It ’s what Christians call “charity”: it has no trace of egotism and comes with the best guarantees. The more love a Christian gathers in his heart, the better he reflects the image of God that he carries within. 2. Which is first, God or neighbor? We must place these two loves on the scale and see which weighs more. Our experience tells us that the love of God passes through our love for our fellow men and vice versa. When our love for others is upright and just it is a concrete expression of God ’s love. But God ’s love does not compete with other loves, for his love is on an entirely different plane than all other loves. The love of God seems more emotional, while love for neighbor is costly. It demands constant renunciation and generosity. Maybe it ’s the lonely old man who lives in the house across the street and could use a hand around the house. Maybe it ’s that coworker who is always making me look bad, but who I should still keep loving, understanding, and forgiving, despite it all. 3. Gospel love is a synthesis of love for God and love for my fellow man. It cannot be reduced to one or the other of these loves, for that would be like cutting Christianity right down the middle. True love for God necessarily expresses itself in real service to concrete men and women: to have a compassionate, merciful heart towards strangers, the marginalized, widows, orphans, and immigrants. Christian love goes far beyond mere philanthropy. We Christians are called to live in love. He who lives in love cannot love one person and hate another, for love molds all of his relationships. God ’s love for us is a kind of friendship. A love that reconciles sinners, transforms them interiorly, and renews them. Ruben Dario once wrote: “We must remember that we are brothers/ we must remember the sweet Pastor/ who, when crucified, scourged, exhausted/ implored pardon for his executioners. ” If love is authentic, it must be made concrete in the practice of the commandments. The human heart knows this divine path, for it was made in the image and likeness of God. God gives us this love as a grace; it is not a spontaneous fruit of our hearts. This is why we must insistently ask for it in prayer. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests BEING HONEST WITH GOD
The Pharisees come up with a new plan to try to trap Jesus during one of their debates by bringing up the hot topic of paying taxes. They inquire, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Jesus ably distinguishes between the rights of God and human authority; clearly pointing out that we are bound by our conscience to be honest with God and with others. Brothers and sisters: 1. Jesus is praised the most for his honesty by his enemies: “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status”. Christ isn’t fooled. Moreover, he makes use of the Pharisees’ challenge to teach us a lesson about our religious and political behavior. Instead of causing division he reconciles people by means of sound reasoning. “He said to them ‘whose image is this and whose inscription?’ they replied ‘Caesar’s’ at that he said to them, ‘then pay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.’” 2. The coin that the Pharisees showed Jesus had two sides: on one side was the face of Caesar and on the other was the numerical value of the coin. But although there are two sides, there is only one coin. “Give to God what is God’s” is not an alternative to “giving to Caesar”. A Christian should work for progress and well being, but always in accordance with the Gospel precepts. Moreover, when the Church proclaims the Gospel she is reminding society that God should always come first. In our own Christian lives we also need to value spiritual realities a little more and be a little more detached from material possessions. 3. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” means recognizing the legitimate rights and duties of civil authorities and setting up the right balance between the religious and human spheres. You shouldn’t “give to the Caesar of economy” by treading on the rights of life, work, education, and the dignity of the human person. You shouldn’t “give to the Caesar of power or success” by sacrificing other people who die of hunger and thirst or who are victims of war and terrorism. This is why we ought to work today to improve and transform the world according to the justice and charity that Christ taught us. We have to work to form a social conscience which moves us to create a community of peace, harmony, service and progress—a society which has both rights and duties to respect life, take care of the environment, and protect the family, culture and religion of all people. Brothers and sisters, isn’t this a good occasion for making an honest comparison between Christ’s attitudes and our own? We can with the help of his grace. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priest INVITED TO THE BANQUET
The principle message of the parable is this: We have all been invited to heaven, but whether we get in or not depends on each individual person. To achieve heaven! Arriving there is the most important job of our life. What’s the good of a comfortable lifestyle, a successful career if we lose our soul? As St. Teresa of Avila says about true wisdom, “In the end, the one who gets it is the one who is saved; and the one who isn’t saved doesn’t understand anything at all.” Brothers and Sisters: 1. The parable of this wedding banquet gives us the image of a God who calls all people to share a great feast with him, but does not receive the response he was looking for. The banquet is ready, yet few are interested in coming. Some respond indifferently to the invitation because it does not suit their tastes, others openly reject it, and there are still others who devise a plan to boycott and systematically destroy every single moral value to be found in human society, saying that “all expressions of religion should be eliminated, its symbols destroyed, and its voices silenced.” 2. Nevertheless, God’s way of acting always respects human freedom. The King’s guests refuse to come to the banquet because they’re centered on material goods, such as their work or business. In a similar way, many people turn away from the faith on account of hedonism or ideologies which envelope them. The modern world is suffering from a spiritual illness. If atheism could have its way it would “kill God,” or at least make him disappear from society altogether. Nietzsche, who considered himself an atheist, exclaimed: “What have we done? Haven’t we thrown ourselves headlong into the abyss in every sense of the word? An abyss that is before us, beside us and all around us? Does an above and below still exist? Aren’t we wandering aimlessly through an infinite nothingness?” 3. God continues to hope in us. He has sent his invitations to everyone, to “the good and the bad” alike. Conversion through grace and charity is the key to sharing in the banquet of the Kingdom of God. If this is lacking, we will “be thrown into the darkness outside,” like the man who wasn’t wearing a “wedding garment.” What does the “wedding garment” stand for? Charity. St. Gregory the Great was right in preaching that there were some in the Church who have faith, yet still lack charity. We are all guests at the banquet of the Word, he says, because we have the faith of the Church and nourish ourselves on Sacred Scriptures. Ask yourselves if you come dressed in the wedding garment; take a look at your thoughts and examine your hearts to see if you harbor grudges against anyone, if envy burns inside of you because of someone else’s happiness , or if you maliciously brood over secret desires to harm your neighbor. There’s a Spanish saying that goes like this: “If you don’t resemble the person you love, it’s because you don’t love those whom you resemble.” When it comes to love, people in love are already similar to each other or they become similar. True love brings us to give of ourselves without holding anything back, without deceptions, without limits, and without hypocrisy. Let us ask God to be this way. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests WHAT KIND OF WINE GROWERS ARE WE?
Jesus explains the history of salvation for the third time in a row to the priests and Pharisees: a story of God's infinite love for his people and their stubborn unfaithfulness. Christ uses a parable to write an autobiography of his death and resurrection. Brothers and Sisters: 1. The owner of the vineyard sent his own Son to the tenants with the hope that they would at least respect and receive him. Yet, the temptation was irresistible: "Let us kill him and acquire his inheritance". Two thousand years ago they did just that when they killed the Son of God. They couldn't put up with him, and they believed that they could silence forever his extremely inconvenient words by killing him. They believed that if they could succeed in silencing him then they could live in peace and enjoy a privileged status. However, they were mistaken, for "the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone." Christ extends his Kingdom on earth through the mystery of his cross and Resurrection. A new people is arising destined to bear much fruit. The Church receives the inheritance due to the people of God. 2. God continues sending messengers who call for action. The Pope, the missionaries, and the committed lay faithful are the conscience of the world through the testimony of their lives. Nonetheless, they are rejected and ignored because they don't go well with a materialistic or liberalistic way of life. The "good men" of Israel were those who outwardly fulfilled the Covenant by going to the synagogue and saying their prayers, but who neither fulfilled the spirit of the law nor accepted Christ. And what about us? The greatest scandal of our times is Christians who live mediocre and comfortable lives. They are the real enemy of the faith and the Church, since they undermine it from within its own ranks. 3. In a certain sense, we all make up part of the band of murderous vineyard workers. We have killed the Son of God, and find ourselves in a world that sees thousands of men and women dying of hunger and thousands of children who never reach adulthood. We find ourselves amidst juvenile corruption and the exploitation of women. We encounter astrologers and magicians who say that they can tell the future through the constellations. This is the inheritance of a world which insists upon killing the Son of God. What would happen if we recovered the inheritance of the Son? His inheritance is aimed at happiness and the human person achieving fulfillment on the natural and spiritual levels. If only we could revive the image of Christ and faithfully transmit him to others through the testimony of our lives, then it is very likely that those around us would also take on the commitment to live a new lifestyle as children of God. Brothers and Sisters, this parable was written for us. Is our behavior like that of the murderous tenants? Are we neglectful, unfaithful, barren workers who thwart the plans of God? Do we truly believe in Jesus Christ, accepting and making his ways our own? In the Eucharist, we celebrate the life of the Risen Christ, the "True Vine" that bore much fruit for his Father. Moreover, from this abundant harvest he has also made wine for us, so that we may drink it and then bear much fruit in him. Let us receive him fervently in Holy Communion. Amen. GENEROUS SERVICE God is love
Love does not contradict justice, but rather, enhances it. The parable of the laborers helps us see the heart of Christ. Beyond all expectations, he gives the same opportunity and reward to all. The mission of a Christian consists in freely loving and serving others without reserve. How far we are from meeting this ideal! Brothers and sisters: 1. God loves us for who we are and not for what we do. This parable isn’t aiming at teaching us how to be landowners, workers, or laborers, but it speaks to us about life in the kingdom of God. It’s hard for us to accept that God’s ways are not our ways. Christ comes to us as a generous landowner who doesn’t pay according to how much we get done, but from a free and unmerited love. “Not as we deserve, but according to your goodness.” This is the good news of the Gospel. 2. We’re making a big mistake when we seek to apply our human standards of justice, which are always unjust, to God. Instead of trying to become like God, we try to make him more like us: applying calculations, taxes, expenses, and salaries. We want to make a deal with God. We want instant payment for the time we dedicate to his work, which practically reduces us to the level of employees who fulfill certain rites without any personal commitment, who pray without putting any heart into it and who participate in the Sacraments without any fervor. We want a “just” God, who gives each one his due; the one who does more deserves more, and the one who does less, less. We want a meticulous account of all that we’ve done so that we can be paid proportionally, fairly. 3. The God of this parable is a generous God who doesn’t limit his gifts to what we deserve. He gives without expecting anything back; he chooses to love us for who we are and not for what we do. The laborers weren’t irritated on account of being underpaid; but they felt they were victims of some injustice because they witnessed the landowner’s love and goodness towards the others. There are Christians who believe that religion is about what they give to God. But no, religion is about what God gives to us. This is the mindset of mercenaries. They don’t capture how dangerous it is to demand “what is just” from God. The true laborer, after the Lord’s heart, doesn’t care about his salary. His delight is to work for the Kingdom of God. It is a gift to be called to serve Christ. But when our encounter with God through faith happens after a long waiting period, we’re speaking of a free and generous gift. We should always look to the things that are above, opening our hearts to welcome the gift of God and tell him: Thank you Lord! This is what we are going to do now as we continue the Celebration of the Eucharist. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests We often ask ourselves: What must I do to live my Christian life the way God wants me to? If we pay attention to the gospel each Sunday, we will find the answer quickly, and it will motivate us. Today Jesus reminds us of something crucial and fundamental: we are all brothers and sisters. We do not show our love for our neighbor by kind, praising words alone, but also, when necessary, with words of encouragement or even correction. Sisters and Brothers: 1. We are all responsible for one another. If we truly are brothers and sisters we cannot act as if we had nothing to do with one another. It is often so easy to just criticize each other instead of helping each other by good example to live like Christians. What most helps people to follow Christ is seeing others living out their faith, hope and love. We all know this through our own experience. A true Christian should share the weight of his neighbor’s successes and failures, his growth or his sin. The sins of our neighbor are not just “his own problem”, but they are in some way “ours”. Precisely because we love our neighbor so much his sins should feel like a failure not only on his part, but on ours. 2. Jesus teaches us the importance of correcting our neighbor at the right time. In the first reading the Lord urges the prophet Ezequiel not to be silent, because his silence would make him responsible for the ruin of his people. God made him a “watchman” among his people, so that he would sound the alarm when necessary and remind them not to stray from the ways of God. What is the use of a watchman who does not sound the alarm? What is the point of a guard dog that does not bark at strangers? But no one is a stranger to a Christian: he should feel responsible for the well being of all. “If your brother sins, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.” Since we are responsible for our brothers and sisters, we must be willing to enter into their lives, whenever we can help – but always with love. 3. We are all brothers, sons of the same Father. Today’s gospel begins with these words: “If your brother…” This is the key for how we should behave with others: not indifferent, not superior, but as brothers. Yes, we should correct our brothers and sisters with love: just as a father is not always silent, but speaks to his children and encourages them and sometimes scolds them; as a teacher is with his students; as a friend is to a friend; as Christ was, who knew when to correct his disciples – especially Peter – with delicacy and vigor, and so help them mature in the right direction. With love, from love. To end, let us not forget that when we are the ones who receive words of correction, we must react well. At the time it hurts when others must tell us that something is not right, but later we see that it helps us to improve. Others often know our defects much better than we do. With the help of God, and with our own sincere effort to help one another, we will feel more and more like brothers and sisters each day. Amen. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests THE FIRST AMONG HIS BROTHERS
Today’s texts emphasize the place that Peter holds within the Church. He is the first among his brothers. He professes his faith in Christ on their behalf, but he also has the responsibility of building the Church on solid foundations and defending the patrimony of the faith. Sisters and Brothers: 1. Peter is the protagonist of today’s Gospel, and so we must reflect on the mission entrusted to the Holy Father: governing the Church and sanctifying the people of God. We live in difficult times, where materialism and relativism are threatening the Church from all sides. In some countries persecution is intensifying and the number of martyrs is growing. This could easily cause general confusion and discouragement. 2. When the words of a wise man are backed up by the witness of a holy man, it becomes for us a Grace of God and sure reference in doctrine and customs. The Pope invites us to not be afraid: in the words of Pope Saint John Paul II, “Open wide the doors of your heart to Christ!” Each and every Christian should respond with fidelity to his teachings and with childlike love for his person. 3. The responsibilities and attributes entrusted to Peter are represented by three symbols: “rock”, “keys”, and “to bind and to loose” Rock: Peter is the rock that guarantees the stability of the Church. “You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church.” Peter and his successors were entrusted with this mission for the sake of the Christian community. Keys: He who holds the keys of a house or city has the responsibility of protecting it. With regard to the Pope, these are powers of administration and government in the spiritual realm. Peter is the guardian of the faith and customs of the Church. The keys symbolize the authority of “opening and shutting” that Peter has been given. To bind and to loose: this metaphor uses legal language that ordinarily designates what is permitted or prohibited. In gospel language, however, it means the capacity of discerning in order to distinguish what is the will of God from what is not. It is not a power of domination but of service to the community. The Pope is the reference point and the guarantee of doctrinal and moral orthodoxy, because Christ Himself confirmed his primacy in Peter: “The Pope is he who presides through Charity” 4. In today’s Gospel Christ asks us once again: “And you, who do you say that I am?” We know we cannot answer this question with human reason alone. Rather, it is a challenge that each one must respond to by learning to live in harmony with God and abandonment to his interior workings of hope and love. It is an act of freedom, a decision of faith. Only when the grace of Christ unmasks our egotism are we prepared to give the answer He most desires to hear: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And so we are born into new light.. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD A MISSIONARY HEART
Today’s liturgy questions the comfortable position of Christians who think that it’s enough to just be good without trying to be better, Christians who do not lift a finger to make the world a better place. Being missionaries is part of the essence of our calling, just like the simple friars who evangelized the new world five centuries ago, or the missionary youth and families of our own time who go from door to door reaching out to those whose faith has faded. Christ died to ransom each and every person. At the end of the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus reminds us that salvation is for all people: “It is the Father’s will that not one of these little ones be lost.” Sisters and Brothers 1. To whom shall we be missionaries? To those who are farthest away. “The farthest away” are the nonbelievers, the inconstant Christians, and the indifferent. They are all who live in a state of existential disgust. Deep down they are waiting for someone to tell them about the Lord and bring them closer to Him. All men, whether they know it or not, are seeking God, and even as they stumble onward, they hope to find Him. A Christian’s attitude must be one of openly looking for God in these brethren who are far from God, and of accompanying them on the path of salvation. To discover the face of Christ en every human being, regardless of their situation, their past, or their state of life. 2. Our missionary outreach to our distanced brethren must be marked by open and respectful dialogue, carried out with gradually, with intelligence and patience. We must not be rigid. Faith is proposed, not imposed. We must be open to all men, without any discrimination based on race, culture, or religion. Nevertheless, this does not mean we turn our missionary zeal into “indifferent syncretism”. This would lead us to accept all sorts of things against the faith and deny or diminish the values of salvation that Jesus Christ brought to us. 3. Not all of us have the chance to travel to far-off lands, cultures, or religions, but yes, we can still live out our missionary calling in the most familiar circumstances. We can be missionaries in our family, our work, our social life, and any place where we can promote what unites us and fight against division and alienation. This attitude of communion becomes visible when we are able to see the positive in others, when we embrace them and value them as a gift from God in our life. It means knowing how to give our brothers and sisters space and help them carry their burdens. It means rejecting the selfish temptations that constantly beset us, engendering competition, mistrust, and envy. Sisters and Brothers: May the Word of God commit us to be better Christians in our daily life by being open with sympathy and trust to all our brothers and sisters, believers and non-believers, leaving aside any kind of aggressive attitude. The world needs coherent and attractive witnesses of Christian life: The Lord tells us, “Do this and you will live.” Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, retreat is very important in our Christian life. It can be defined as a definite time spent away from one’s normal life for the purpose of reconnecting, usually in prayer, with God. In today’s gospel account, Jesus retreats. ‘Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves,’ we hear. It seems that Jesus needs to get away from it all, and what better place to get away from it all than a mountaintop? This retreat comes at a turning point in Jesus’ ministry – and, coincidentally or not, this happens about half way through the gospel according to Matthew. For months, Jesus has been traveling the Galilean countryside, and occasionally beyond its borders; preaching, healing, performing miracles, proclaiming and the good news of kingdom of God. But then the focus and the mood shifts. It all starts when some Pharisees and Saddcuees ask Jesus for a sign from heaven, basically questioning his authority. Who are you, Jesus?
This must have led to some self-reflection on the part of Jesus, for shortly thereafter, Jesus asks his disciples. ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And then, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ He made the first prediction of his passion, death and resurrection and has told his disciples the need for them to deny themselves, carry their cross and follow him. Jesus needed to strengthen them to face what was to happen to him in Jerusalem. The disciples needed a confirmation that Jesus’ evaluation of the will of God is correct. He took Peter, James and John from their ordinary day life up the mountain to have a deeper revelation of the person and mission of Jesus. They climbed the mountain of prayer. On that mountain, they experienced another side of Jesus that they have never seen. “His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.” And they got the confirmation from the voice in the cloud that said “listen to him”. Our spiritual exercise are meant to help us to listen to Jesus who speaks to us about God’s plan for us. When we learn to listen to God, we grow in faith because the Word of God enlightens us and nourishes our faith. My dear friends, retreat is a time when the Lord calls us from our ordinary day life, from our experiences and situation, joy, anxiety, fears, securities, to be with him on the mountain. To experience the Lord who is committed in forming his character in us. We all get tired and need time to think afresh about our image of God, our commitment to him and our mission in the service of the Kingdom which Jesus entrusted to us. There are moments that what we need most is to find a new enthusiasm and a new affirmation from the Lord. who wants to say to speak to you. May the grace of God lead and direct us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD |
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