Why did Jesus first call two sets of brothers: Andrew and Peter, James, and John? A few years ago, I met a man in one of the parishes I was serving. His story still inspires and encourages me, and hopefully, it does the same for you. The punchline of the story is that he remarkably found his abandoned and lost faith back the minute his mother died," and that awesome experience, which sent him looking for a church where he could pray, is what brought me to meet him.
Maintain absolute faith; remember to pray constantly and show kindness. During this advent, there are prayer opportunities and other resources that will be made available on the parish website and emails. Please find time to engage with them. Remember also to read the gospel of Mark, which is the gospel for year 2021. Jesus says, behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone opens the door for me, I will come in and live with him or her.
Maintain absolute faith; remember to pray constantly and show kindness. During this advent, there are prayer opportunities and other resources that will be made available on the parish website and emails. Please find time to engage with them. Remember also to read the gospel of Mark, which is the gospel for year 2021. Jesus says, behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone opens the door for me, I will come in and live with him or her.
Thanksgiving is about two lofty virtues and ideals: love and care. We give thanks to God for loving and caring for our nation, families, and friends. There is no doubt that we have received the snow, the rains, and the sunshine, producing an abundance of food. We have also received life, good health, healing, new babies to the families, successes, and achievements, even challenges and failures for good reasons that may not immediately be known to us.
There is no doubting this gospel narrative in which Jesus takes a surprising but very decisive action to drive out those who were selling in the temple court can disturb some people, given that Jesus, the God-man, embodied love, compassion, and forgiveness.
Today's gospel passage narrates the second instance, which expressed the intensity of love for the city of Jerusalem. These tearful moments that the Lord experienced reflect only one thing: Jesus loves us as persons and our nations intensely; he is willing to express this intense love in human tears to tell us how much we need him for the peace we seek.
We get a repeat of last weekend’s gospel, but the Lukan version. If you can recall details in Matthew's version, you notice a variation in the servant's talent amounts. Matthew reported differences in the talents: five, two, and one; Luke referred to no such distinctions; each servant received one coin.
Today's gospel homes in one of the essential life questions: how much is enough for a person in life. All our days, we look forward to getting as much of anything in life as we can, including life itself. It seems that our human nature continually shares in the deep struggle about how to gauge what we can consider enough for us so that we can alley the fears that others are receiving or getting what should come to us.
The thing that sets true Christians apart is that most of the time, it is what Jesus values that they also value, and what Jesus is concerned about is their concern too.
Sometimes, we tend to remain in our comfort zone, trying our best to stay away from any wrongdoing, but also not caring about anything or anyone else. As demonstrated by the man with one talent, such an attitude can amount to the sin of omission, where we see ourselves doing well without doing good. The real increase in life comes when we step outside our comfort zone and extend ourselves, where doing well also involves doing good to others.
Sometimes, we tend to remain in our comfort zone, trying our best to stay away from any wrongdoing, but also not caring about anything or anyone else. As demonstrated by the man with one talent, such an attitude can amount to the sin of omission, where we see ourselves doing well without doing good. The real increase in life comes when we step outside our comfort zone and extend ourselves, where doing well also involves doing good to others.
What we believe in becomes real to us. Our acts are not different from our thoughts any less than our thoughts separate from our beliefs. I today's gospel, Jesus reminds his disciples to believe that he will come again and get ready for him by the way they live.
Imagine how wonderful the world will be if the voice of each life in the womb or on earth touched our ears in these words of Paul, “Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
How should Christians conduct themselves towards others- private individuals, familiar faces, strangers, and public officers? In today's first Reading, Paul continues to lay out acceptable standards of behaviors for Christians that align with the gospel of Jesus.
Our life as Christians is affected by and large by all the changing events and things that are happening in the world around us where we must live out our faith faithfully. Towards that end, St Paul cautions all Christians against turning away from sound doctrine and embracing false ones as they navigate their Christian life in the modern world.
An excellent approach to help us understand the ten virgins' parable is to begin asking some questions. Did the wise virgins selfishly act towards the foolish ones by refusing them the oil? I don't know what you think, but here is the related question, why didn't the foolish virgins stay without their lamps, knowing that five of them had their lamps to serve the purpose of giving light to the room at the arrival of the bridegroom.
An excellent approach to help us understand the ten virgins' parable is to begin asking some questions. Did the wise virgins selfishly act towards the foolish ones by refusing them the oil? I don't know what you think, but here is the related question, why didn't the foolish virgins stay without their lamps, knowing that five of them had their lamps to serve the purpose of giving light to the room at the arrival of the bridegroom
St Paul experienced both sorrow and joy, both distress and comfort. He knew how to manage himself through both and achieve the contentment he desired for himself. He learned the secret to living through both circumstances because the Lord was his greatest joy.
Losing and finding things after searching for them is not rare. Sometimes, it is the simple things we can easily ignore, say a particular dress or a pair of socks you feel you must wear, or dropping a pill on the ground; these can get us frustrated when we cannot find it easily. We sign of relief and joy greet us the moment we lay hands on it after spending time searching.
All our material possessions, decisions, actions, and expressions emerge from the will. So it is in surrendering the will ultimately to God so that we do not choose to do what we want but what God desires that we can say that we have renounced everything to follow him.