27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4, 2 Tim 1: 6-8, 13-14, Luke 17: 5-10 Dear sisters and brothers, The late archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to say that as Christians we are God’s chosen people but from the way we live out our faith one would think that we are God’s [...]
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Amos 6:1a, 4-7, 1 Timothy 6:11-16, Luke 16:19-31 Dear sisters and brothers, Today the first reading and the Gospel try to teach us to care about what happens to others. It is a teaching that all of us need to hear from time to time. We want to [...]
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Amos 8:4-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Luke 16:1-13 Dear Sisters and Brothers, Last week, we heard how the prodigal son wasted his father’s resources in a life of dissipation. Today’s Gospel story is also about wasting the resources of another. Jesus tells it in order to guide us in [...]
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14, 1Timothy 1: 12-17, Luke 15: 1-32 or 15: 1-10 Dear Sisters and Brothers, Mercy Triumphing Over Justice After going through the story of the Prodigal Son, a Sunday school teacher asked the kids, “At the end of the story who is it that ended up [...]
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Wisdom 9:13-18b, Philemon 9-10, 12-17, Luke 14: 25-33 Dear Sisters and Brothers, On this Twenty-third Sunday of ordinary time, the church celebrates the spirit of commitment and self-sacrifice of Christ. The spirit of self-sacrifice motivates one do the unimaginable. It was this spirit that made Jesus give up [...]
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29, Hebrews 12: 18-19, 22-24a, Luke 14: 1, 7-14 Dear Sisters and Brothers, On this Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Church calls our attention to a very important Christian virtue, humility. It is an attribute and quality of God which all his children must strive [...]
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 66: 18-21, Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13, Luke 13: 22-30 Dear Sisters and Brothers, Our first reading today comes from the time when the Jews were recovering from their long exile and enslavement in Babylon. It was a difficult time. Their cities, homes, and farms had lain in ruins [...]
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jer 38: 4-6, Heb 12: 1-4, Luke 12: 49-53 Dear Sisters and Brothers, The first reading describes the persecution of the prophet Jeremiah. Having tries in vain to save his people, Jeremiah was now abandoned to his enemies. Christians have always seen him as a figure [...]
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Wisdom 18: 6-9, Hebrews 11: 1-2 8-19, or 11: 1-2, 8-12, Luke 12: 32-48 Dear Sisters, and Brothers, What does it mean to live a life of faith? The Letter to the Hebrew tells us that faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence [...]
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23, Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11, Luke 12:13-21 Dear Sisters and Brothers, “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.”—today most people find this way of thinking unacceptable. We want to live in this life, not in the life of the world to come. Many of us [...]