Posts from July 2024

The gospel passage for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time offers us a way out of a lot of the apprehension and restlessness we experience whenever faced with a daunting situation and we tip toward dejection or even mental paralysis. And I am talking about challenges much, much smaller than having to feed a crowd of about five thousand men, without counting women and children. (cf. John 6:1-15) The huge mistake we keep making is as old as the world itself. It…

Whenever we heed the soft voice of care and empathy whispering in our soul, we might feel so great and so uplifted that we ignore our need to rest and get re-energized. This is what happened to the first Twelve. Boosted by the enviable feeling with which the Lord rewards good deeds, they were eager to share with him their successes and feats. (cf. Mark 6:30) The crucial aspect of our human nature, which needs to be pointed out, is…

A Christian evangelist who went about preaching the Gospel was once asked his occupation by a stranger, and he answered, “I work for the Lord.” “Oh, really,” said the other man; “and how much does that pay?” “Not very much,” the evangelist admitted, and then he smiled and added, “But you sure can’t beat that retirement plan.” We might say that all the great missionaries and evangelists from the Church’s history are now enjoying their retirement in the Kingdom of Heaven. They were faithful…

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6 After…

“…they shall know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 2:5) This is my unconventional definition of a prophet. A prophet is a person selected and anointed by God to be charged, imbued, possessed and transformed by his divine words to such a degree that it becomes impossible for his audience to continue to live their lives as if he had never confronted them with those words. Without a single exception, God’s words are more than challenging; they all come…