Anger and insults do depress, destroy, and kill. So, Jesus cautions that "whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna."
“Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.” This prayer of David should encourage us to pray, pray now, and pray more to ask God, who “hears the cry of the poor” for help ( Cf. Psalm 34).
A week has gone by since the Lent started on Ash Wednesday, and I was inspired to see so many of you at Mass to receive the ashes and enter the season of Lent. As we hope to see the season come to a full circle at Easter, continue to engage in all the many spiritual activities to stay afloat in holiness with daily meditation and the Eucharist.
In today's gospel, the disciples came to ask Jesus to help them to learn how to pray, and he taught them the "Our Father," which most of us get to know how to pray from childhood.
Friends Lent is a moment for fixing and restoring broken relationships- with God, family, friends, and self, affected by sin, misunderstanding, anger, jealousy, envy, disappointment, sadness, pride, and self-pity.
The readings for today's Mass implies that we should not cage our faith in religious formalities and so doing cover God with injustice. If our external religious observances have no internal correspondence, then what we are doing is caging our faith. What that means is that God becomes the unintended object of our actions.
It is generally believed that when going to an unknown location, talking to someone who has been there before helps. Both Moses and Jesus give us insights into this belief.
Friends, at the turn of each year, Mother Church gives her children a day to mark ourselves with ashes. This ancient practice of using ashes recorded in several books in the Old Testament has been kept because of the meaning it attains in Christianity.
If we are to reduce and even overcome this failing and destructive capacity within us, then we must be willing to stay closer to God who can make good again what we destroy in us and others. It is also the reason he gave us the Eucharist, the Bible, the Church, Sacraments, the Season of Lent, and many more to make use of them to gravitate towards our best versions as God intended.
Jesus tells a group of Pharisees in today’s gospel that this generation will not receive evidence from heaven concerning him. The Lord says, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."
Whether to a husband, wife, children, parent, friend, or a stranger, love and compassion are needed to support our life and relationships. It must not surprise us that Jesus showed deep love and compassion to the leper. The leper had come to him alone because his condition didn't permit him to be around people openly.
Whether to a husband, wife, children, parent, friend, or a stranger, love and compassion are needed to support our life and relationships. It must not surprise us that Jesus showed deep love and compassion to the leper. The leper had come to him alone because his condition didn't permit him to be around people openly.
However, this profound gospel event must be linked to the creation narrative in the first reading to appreciate its meaning and relevance to us. The first reading tells how the man and the woman wanted to "see," which was why they didn't heed God's orders. "You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil," the serpent lied to the woman.
A recent survey by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) found that almost three in 10 Americans said that "If elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions." No doubt, all manner of violent beliefs and expressions starkly contrast the underlying peaceful and constructive use of language that we find in the readings today.
God's ultimate purpose for us is fullness of peace, which is intertwined with how we carefully listen to hear His instructions for us and follow them. That is why the peace that emanates from God is also not discoverable in books, computers, and libraries, but through obedience. The Lord said to the man, "From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die."
The way to honor God truly from the heart is to find him in everyone you meet today and let him influence your love and service towards others in your work, relationship, and responsibilities.
Friends, here we are with another blessed day. Let’s follow the example of Jesus today and engage in small things to make a difference in people’s life.
In today's gospel, Jesus sends out the disciples to go and preach what they have experienced and heard from him: love, compassion, kind-heartedness, humility, and service. Part Jesus' instructions to them was, "Take nothing for the journey but a walking stick–no food, no sack, no money in their belts." That meant they were to go simple and stay simple.
In the first reading we are told to accept God's discipline. “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” The same exhortation is found in Job (Cf. 5:17) and Proverbs (Cf. 3:11).