Posts

'I am with you always . . .' Sunday Reflections, Ascension, Year A

Image
Ascension Cupola, San Marco, Venice Italian Mosaic Artist [ Web Gallery of Art ] Ascension, Year A The Ascension is celebrated on Ascension Thursday, 21 May, in England & Wales, Scotland. In the USA it is celebrated on Ascension Thursday in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, Philadelphia. In all of these places Ascension Thursday is a Holyday of Obligation. The Ascension is observed on Sunday, 24 May, in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Philippines, USA (apart from the jurisdictions mentioned above). Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)        Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   Matthew 28:16-20 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada) Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw

Celebrating in a Crisis?

How is it even possible to be grateful during these dark days of the Coronavirus?   I mean, people are really suffering.   Some people are getting critically ill and thousands of people are dying. I was thinking about this today as I was reflecting on Psalm 149, which is the Responsorial Psalm for today’s Mass. During a Catholic Mass, we hear a reading from the Book of Psalms.   On weekdays, the “responsorial Psalm” comes between the first reading and the Gospel (there is no second reading during the week.)   On Sundays, the responsorial Psalm comes between the first and second reading. Psalm 149 is very thought-provoking and inspirational when you look at history. This song reflects back to Exodus when God’s people were saved as they left Egypt and had to cross the Red Sea.   Moses and the Israelites sang out to God in gratitude for his triumph over the Egyptians who had been chasing them (the Egyptians drowned by divine intervention).   They were so happy that the

What Are You?

Image
WHAT ARE YOU? CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT

Share What You Have with a Spirit of Generosity

Image
God created this world, and all that it offers, for the benefit of everyone, and not for a select few. This concept actually has a name: The Universal Destination of Goods. Its underlying meaning is that “created goods goes hand-in-hand with the moral obligation to help those in need.”  1  Therefore, it is important to share with others what you have in the spirit of generosity. Spirit of Generosity We’ve heard it all before, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” What does that result in? It results in income inequality, and a greater divide amongst the members of society. Do you think that God placed you on this earth to see how much money you could accumulate? Or, did He place you here, to see how much toilet paper you could hoard?  I think not! If we were to calculate riches based upon the number of virtues you could master, then we’re talking about what is important to God. Developing a spirit of generosity would be a good place to start. If we all mastered virtues

Resurrection evidences. (Spanish) Resurrección: ¿verdadera o falsa?

Image
“ Y si Cristo no resucitó, vana es entonces nuestra predicación, vana es también vuestra fe.” 1 Cor 15:14. La resurrección de Jesús es la base de la fe católica y la certeza de la divinidad de Jesús. San Pablo bien hace en subrayar la importancia del hecho, pero ¿dónde encontrar pruebas históricas de este gran acontecimiento que cambia todo el sentido de nuestra vida y del mundo entero? Los propios Evangelios proveen evidencias de hechos que apuntan a la resurrección de Jesús como su única explicación. Pero supongamos por un momento, que solo fue una invención calenturienta de los apóstoles o de algún otro personaje de la época. Para lograr que su esfuerzo calculado de mantener la ilusión y probar que Jesús era el Mesías esperado debían tener elementos y argumento sólidos acordes al pensamiento de la época. Y en los sucesos se notan errores graves al plan:  leer más...  

'I will not leave you orphaned.' Sunday Reflections, 6th Sunday of Easter, Year A

Image
The Last Supper Rubens [ Web Gallery of Art ] John 13:1-17:26 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)             Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 14:15-21 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada) Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.  In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  They who have my commandments and