Ancient belief: 1) People of all religions have believed in the immortality of the soul, and have prayed for the dead.
2) The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of temporary bondage (Sheol) from which the souls of the dead would receive their final release. The Jewish catechism Talmud states that prayers for the dead will help to bring the deceased greater rewards and blessings. Prayer for the souls of the departed is retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourners’ Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that he/she may be purified.
3) Jesus and the apostles shared this belief and passed it on to the early Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium-50).
4) The liturgies of the Mass in various rites dating from the early centuries of the Church include “Prayers for the Dead.”
5) The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice. Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: “When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar” (St Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 13 Sections 35-37).
6) The Synods of Nicaea, Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidence to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls. 2 7)
Theological reason: According to Rv 21:27, “nothing unclean shall enter heaven.” Holy Scripture (Prv 24:16) also teaches that even “the just sin seven times a day.” Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls with venial sins in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, called Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
Biblical basis 1) II Mac 12:46 is the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Mac 12:39-46) describes how Judas, the military commander, “took up a collection from all his men, totalling about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin of ering” (II Mac 12: 43). The narrator continues, “If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them.” 2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day” (II Tm 1:18).
Other pertinent Bible texts: : Mt 12:32, I Cor, 3:15, Zec 13:19, Sir 7:33. The Church’s teaching: The Church’s official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent).
Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and the fire of Christ’s Love. They also speak of Purgatory as an “instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual. How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC #1032) recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. It also encourages “almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.” Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed, have Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for them. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Nov 3 Tuesday: St. Martin de Porres, Religious. For a brief account click on https://franciscanmedia.org/saint-0f-the-day-saint-martin-de-porres/ religious/ Lk 14:15-24: 15 When one of those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; 17 and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, `Come; for all is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, `I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ 19 And another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ 20 And another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, `Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, `Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, `Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'” The context: Jesus was participating in a banquet where he advised the host to reserve admission to the “poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind” and so to become eligible for God’s reward at the resurrection. One of Jesus’ fellow-guests commented on the blessedness of those who are invited to attend the Heavenly banquet hosted by Yahweh to honor His Chosen People. Jesus used the occasion to highlight the cost of refusing God’s invitation for the Heavenly banquet with lame excuses by telling the Parable of the Scorned Banquet hosted by a very rich and influential landowner. 4 The Parable: The invited VIP guests, who had accepted the first invitation to participate in the banquet, refused the second invitation sent a few days before the banquet, giving lame excuses like the inspection of a newly-bought field, the testing of a newly-bought five yoke of oxen and honeymooning with a newly-married wife. The angry landowner instructed his servants to invite everyone in the surrounding areas in order to fill the banquet hall. Jesus directed this parable to the Jewish religious and civic leaders who had accepted the Covenant but had refused to accept his invitation for God’s salvation, the endpoint of the first Covenant, and had attacked his preaching and healing ministry. Jesus explained through this parable why he was befriending tax collectors and sinners, promising them eternal salvation and participation in the Heavenly banquet. Life messages: 1) God invites us through Jesus and his Church to the banquet of the word of God, to the banquet of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and to the banquet of His grace through His Holy Spirit via the Sacraments. 2) Let us examine ourselves to discover whether we, too, are refusing God’s invitation and giving lame excuses to show how busy we are because of our work or career duties, our addictions to games, entertainments and hobbies or our preoccupation with family matters. 3) We may not get a better chance or more opportunities to accept God’s invitation to pray deeply, to join the Eucharistic celebration or to do serious study of and reflection on the word of God or service in the community. (Fr. Tony)(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26 For additional reflections, click on: https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections
Lk 14:25-33: 25 Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and He turned and addressed them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, `This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will 5 not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way of , he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. 33 So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” The context: Jesus was making his final journey to Jerusalem, and both the apostles and the common people thought that the Master was going to overthrow the Roman government by using miraculous powers. Hence, a big crowd was following along. Jesus thought it was necessary to clarify for them the real cost involved in Christian discipleship. The teaching: Today’s Gospel passage from Luke challenges us to make a total commitment to the will of God by putting Him first in our lives. Jesus reminds us to count the cost of being a Christian, because the cost is high. Christian discipleship requires one to “renounce” both possessions of the earth and possessions of the heart (i.e., one’s relationships). Jesus lays out four “trip wires” challenging true Christian discipleship: a) attachment to family; b) attachment to possessions; c) the painful consequences of discipleship, which may involve even losing one’s life; and d) the cost involved. Using the examples of a watch tower in a vineyard, left uncompleted due to lack of funds, and the example of a foolish king facing defeat by going to war without assessing the strength of the enemy, Jesus warns his would-be followers to count the cost and calculate the consequences before becoming disciples. Life messages: 1) We need to accept Jesus’ challenge of making ourselves a total self-gift to God in our commitment to true Christian Discipleship: “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing and suf ers nothing, is worth nothing.” (Martin Luther). Jesus’ challenge can be accepted only if, with God’s grace, we practice the spirit of detachment and renunciation in our daily lives. 2) Real Christian discipleship also demands a true commitment both to the duties entrusted to us and to loving acts of selfless, humble, sacrificial love offered to God in all His children around us.) This is possible only if we rely on His grace, on the power of prayer and on the guidance of the Holy Spirit through a) daily prayer, b) devout participation in the Sunday Mass c) diligent study of the Bible, d) service in and beyond the parish, e) spiritual friendships, and f) giving time, talents, and resources to the Lord’s work. (Fr. Tony)(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26 For additional reflections, click on: https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections
6 Nov 5 Thursday: Lk 15:1-101Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The context: Today’s Gospel passage, from chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel, is known as the “Gospel in the Gospels,” or the “distilled essence of Christ’s Good News.” In this chapter, using three parables, Jesus answers two accusations leveled against him by the Scribes and Pharisees, namely, that Jesus was mingling with the sinners and sharing their meals. These parables teach us that our God is a loving, patient, merciful, forgiving God. He is eager to be merciful toward us, not vengeful and punishing. He is always in search of His lost and straying children. The parables: Since the self-righteous Pharisees who accused Jesus of befriending publicans and sinners could not believe that God would be delighted at the conversion of sinners, Jesus told them the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd’s joy on its discovery, the parable of the lost silver coin (a drachma, worth about a denarius, a farm worker’s “daily wage”), and the woman’s joy when she found it, and the parable of the lost son and his father’s joy at his repentant son’s return Besides presenting a God Who is patiently waiting for the return of sinners, ready to pardon them, these parables teach us God’s infinite love and mercy. Christianity is not about man seeking God, but rather about a Holy God seeking a sinful man. In other words, in salvation, as in forgiveness, and in love, the initiative is always God’s. These three parables defend Jesus’ alliance with sinners and respond to the criticism leveled by certain Pharisees and scribes at Jesus’ frequent practice of eating with and welcoming tax collectors and sinners. 7 Life messages: 1) We need to meet the challenge for self-evaluation and return to God’s mercy: If we have been in sin, God’s mercy is seeking us, searching for our souls with a love that is wild beyond all imagining. God is ready to receive and welcome us back as Jesus welcomed sinners in his time. 2) Let us get reconciled with God, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation when we are in mortal sin, and by asking His forgiveness for our sins every night before we sleep. 3) We also need to ask God for the grace and the courage to extend this loving forgiveness to others who have offended us. As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us pray as well for God’s Divine Mercy on those who have fallen away from grace. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26 For additional reflections, click on: https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections
Nov 6 Friday: Lk 16:1-8: 1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2 And he called him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ 3 And the steward said to himself, `What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, `How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, `A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, `Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, `And how much do you owe?’ He said, `A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, `Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are shrewder in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. The context: In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us the strange parable of a steward who was a rascal to teach us that serving God is a full-time job, not a part-time job or a spare-time hobby. Jesus also teaches us that we should use, in matters spiritual and eternal, the same ingenuity and planning which business people show in the business world. The parable challenges us to use our blessings — time, talents, health and wealth — wisely and shrewdly, so that they will count for our reward in eternity. We are on the right road only if we use our earthly wealth to attain our Heavenly goal. The parable: In the parable, Jesus tells us how the slave-steward of an absentee landlord ingeniously cheated his master by his unjust manipulation of the master’s business clients when the steward had been caught red-handed in misappropriating his 8 master’s wealth. His tricks were intended to make him the friend of his master’s debtors and gave him the prospect of becoming rich by working for them (or blackmailing them?) when he was fired by his master from the stewardship. Life messages:
1) We need to be faithful in the little things of life: As Saint John Chrysostom said, “Faithfulness in little things is a big thing.” Our future opportunities in the eternal service of God largely depend upon our stewardship in handling the little opportunities we have had on earth. As Mother Teresa, following the example set by St. Therese of Lisiueux used to recommend, “Do little things with great love.”
2) We have to act shrewdly, trusting in the power and assistance of God. Let us make use of our resources — like Hope in God’s justice, Faith in God’s assistance, and Trust in God’s grace, the Mass and the Sacraments as sources of Divine grace and the Holy Bible as the word of God for daily meditation. 3) Let us remember that, as God’s stewards, we need to be prepared always to give Him an account of our lives. (Fr. Tony)(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Nov 7 Saturday: Lk 16:9-15: 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations. 10 “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” 14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scof ed at him. 15 But he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The context: After telling the parable of the rascally steward as an example of shrewdness and as a warning against using unjust means for gain, Jesus advises his listeners to make friends with the poor by almsgiving and to be faithful and honest in the little things entrusted to them by God. 9 The teaching: Jesus advises his followers to imitate the shrewd steward who used money generously to make friends for himself. Jesus suggests that his disciples should show their generosity and mercy by almsgiving: “sell your possessions and give alms” (Lk 12:33). The recipients immediately become friends of the kind donor. It is God’s generosity which makes one rich, and, hence, the money we have is unrighteous in the sense that it is unearned and undeserved. So, God expects us to be generous stewards of His generous blessings. Generosity curtails our natural greed, making almsgiving an act of thanksgiving to God for His generosity. Then Jesus tells us that what we get in Heaven will depend on how we have used the things of the earth and on how faithful we have been in the little things entrusted to us. A slave is the exclusive property of his master, and our Master, God, is the most exclusive of Masters. So serving Him cannot be a part-time job or spare-time hobby; it is a full-time job. Finally, Jesus warns the Pharisees that material prosperity is not a sure sign of one’s goodness and God’s blessing, but a sign of God’s mercy and generosity. Life messages: 1) We need to share our blessings with others. Since all our blessings are God’s generous loans to us, we need to be equally generous with others. 2) We need to serve God full-time: Since God owns us totally, we are expected to be at His service doing His holy will all the time. Hence, there is no such thing as a part-time Christian. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
O. T. 32 [A] Nov 8, 2026_Sunday (Eight-minute homily in one page)Introduction: This Sunday’s readings bring the usual warnings about preparation for the end of our own world, the end of our own time, and our passage to another world. They tell us that a searching, watching, and growing heart is essential for a lively, dynamic Faith in God. They ask us whether we are ready for these events and how we are preparing for them. (+ an anecdote)
Scripture lessons summarized: Because Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel has five well-prepared wise women, the first reading chosen for today is one which personifies wisdom as a woman. The author advises Jews in Alexandria not to envy the wisdom of the pagan philosophers, because they themselves have true wisdom in their Sacred Scripture, a wisdom which regulates not only this life but the next also. Hence, they must live their lives in strict conformity with the Divine wisdom given them so generously by God. In the second reading, Paul offers Christian wisdom, assuring those Christians who expected Jesus’ second coming in their lifetime that the death and Resurrection of Jesus is powerful enough to save even those who die before Jesus’ second coming. But they need to be alert, well-prepared, and vigilant. In the Gospel parable of the ten virgins, the foolish virgins represent the “Chosen People of God” who were waiting for the Messiah but were shut out from the messianic banquet because they were unprepared. The parable teaches us that, like the five wise virgins, we should attend to duties of the present moment, preparing now, rather than waiting until it is too late. Life messages: 1) We need to be wise enough to remain ever prepared: Wise Christians find Jesus in the most ordinary experiences of daily living — in the people they meet, the events that take place, and the situations in which they find themselves — and they carefully make their daily choices for God. They are ready to put the commandment of love into practice by showing everyone kindness, mercy, and forgiveness. 2) Let us be sure that our Lamps are ready for the end of our lives: Spiritual readiness, preparedness, and ongoing growth are the results of intentional habits we have built into our lives. We cannot depend on a Sunday Mass or morning service to provide for all our spiritual needs. We cannot depend on Christian fellowship to provide us with spiritual development. The meeting of spiritual needs, and spiritual development itself, come through routine, mundane attention to ordinary spiritual disciplines. We need to make sure that we have enough “spiritual oil” – the graces of compassion, of mercy, of patience, of sympathy, of empathy, and of forgiveness – to keep our souls alight and shining through the surrounding darkness, illuminating the Way for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters. We open ourselves to receive these graces by taking time for prayer, and being alone with God; by reading God’s Word; by living a sacramental life; by offering acts of service to others; by moral faithfulness, by loving obedience, and by spending time with other Christians for mutual prayer, study, and encouragement. When we receive the graces we need, we thank God for His generous love. As taking these ways becomes habitual, they cease to be a struggle and begin to be a source of strength and blessing. They make our lives powerful against the onslaught of the world.
OT XXXII [A] (Nov 8, 2026):Wis 6:12-16; I Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13
Homily starter anecdotes:1) Forgetting the parachute: In April 1988 the evening news reported the sad story of a photographer who was also a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with several other skydivers and filmed the group as they individually dove out of the plane and opened their parachutes. As the video was being shown of each member of the crew jumping out and then pulling their rip cord so that their parachute opened to the wind, the final skydiver opened his chute and then the picture went out of control. The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without a parachute. It was not until he reached for the ripcord that he realized he was in free fall, taking pictures without a parachute. — Tragically he was unprepared for the jump. It did not matter how many times he had done it before or what skill he had. By forgetting the parachute, he made a foolish and deadly mistake. Nothing could save him, because his Faith was in a parachute which he had never taken the trouble to buckle on. It is a story not unlike the parable which Jesus tells about the foolish bridesmaids forgetting to bring something very important and necessary to fulfill their responsibilities to the bridal couple. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) “What’s your purpose in life, Bob?” Josh McDowell tells about an executive “head-hunter” (recruiter) who goes out and hires corporation executives for large firms. This recruiter once told McDowell that when he gets an executive that he’s trying to hire for someone else, he likes to disarm him. “I of er him a drink,” said the recruiter, “take my coat of , then my vest, undo my tie, throw up my feet and talk about baseball, football, family, whatever, until he’s all relaxed. Then, when I think I’ve got him relaxed, I lean over, look him square in the eye and say, ‘What’s your purpose in life?’ It’s amazing,” said the recruiter, “how top executives fall apart at that question.” Then he told the story of his recent interview with one fellow recently. The recruiter fully disarmed the candidate, had his feet up on his desk, talking about football. Then the recruiter leaned over and said, “What’s your purpose in life, Bob?” And the executive who was being recruited said, without blinking an eye, “To go to Heaven and take as many people with me as I can.” “For the first time in my career,” said the recruiter, “I was speechless.” [Stories For the Heart, compiled by Alice Gray (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Books, 1996), p. 112.] — No wonder! He had encountered someone who was really prepared! In today’s Gospel parable of the ten virgins Jesus warns us to be ever prepared to meet God our Creator at the end of our lives to give an account of how we have lived. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) “Be prepared” and “Don’t run out of gas.”: One thing that all Scouts, young and old, never forget is the Boy Scout Motto: “Be prepared.” If you’ve ever set up a tent without tying your lines securely, you know what happens when the wind and rain hit! A tent-collapse in the middle of the night is a rude awakening! Or, if you get a brand-new pair of hiking boots and don’t properly break them in, then go on a ten-mile hike, it’s pretty painful! You might forget bug-spray during mosquito season. Or if you bring a flashlight on a campout, but not extra batteries, that can make finding the latrine somewhat challenging in the middle of the night! — We sometimes have to learn the hard way to anticipate our needs and plan ahead, before it’s too late. It was not raining when Noah built the ark! Through the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus warns us to be ever prepared for the end of our lives. Ever run out of gas? It would appear that every year at least a half million people call for help because they have run out of gas. Besides flat tires, dead batteries, and misplaced keys, running out of gas ranks right up there in the reasons why people call for roadside service. — One might understand this happening a generation ago, when gas gauges were not entirely accurate, and when all the warning lights of our day were non-existent. But now we have warning messages that our fuel is running low (giving us perhaps an hour more of driving), and then additional, progressively urgent warnings indicating just how many estimated miles of driving we have left. One must say that most people who run out of fuel are “without excuse.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
Introduction:Our lectionary ends the Church’s liturgical year with texts about the coming of the Son of Man, which leads into the New Year of Grace with Cycle B and the Season of Advent — the Season of “Coming.” Jesus’ future coming as the conquering Son of Man at the end of time and past coming as a helpless infant in a manger are the topics of our remembrance. This Sunday’s readings bring the usual warnings about preparation for the end of our own world, the end of our own time, and our passage to another world. They tell us that a searching, watching, and growing heart is essential for a lively, dynamic faith in God. They ask us whether we are ready for these events and how we are preparing for them.
The first reading (Wis 6:12-16) explained:Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel shows us five well-prepared, wise women, and the first reading chosen for today offers us Wisdom, personified as a woman. Writing in Greek to the dispersed Jews living in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, in Egypt, around 100 BC, the author wants his fellow Jews to seek wisdom and learn from her. Wisdom is a Divine gift – but a gift that will not elude the one who seeks it sincerely. What the author suggests is that the faithful adherence of the Alexandrian Jews to their ancestral religion in their somewhat hostile environment is seeking after Divine Wisdom. The Jews need not envy the wisdom of the pagan philosophers, because they themselves have true Wisdom in their Sacred Scripture, a Wisdom which regulates not only this life but the next as well. They must live their lives in strict conformity with the Divine Wisdom given them so generously by God. Those who are watchful enough to find and welcome Wisdom will also find that they will be prepared for the rest of the journey – from this life to the next. Wisdom (Whom we, in our blessed times, recognize as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity Incarnate (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort The Love of Eternal Wisdom), is searching for those who are waiting. The message given by the first reading is clear: God willingly reveals Himself, but mysteriously, in His own way, according to His own timetable. God can be found, but only by those who never give up the search, yet patiently await His initiative. “The deepest wisdom and fullest readiness is to live chastely, honestly, non-violently (Mt 5), and to meet our neighbors’ basic needs (Mt 25).” (Fr. Dennis Ham)
The second reading (I Thes 4:13-18) explained: First Thessalonians is the earliest of Paul’s letters. When he wrote it, contemporary Christians, including Paul himself, expected Jesus to come very soon — within their lifetime — to rebuild the Kingdom and to establish his glorious reign. So they needed to be vigilant in order not to miss his return. Some quit their jobs in the belief that the Kingdom was at hand. But then, as the years passed, there seemed to be no signs of the Second Coming. Paul writes this earliest Christian letter to respond to the community’s fears and questions about those who die before the Parousia: will the few Christians who die in this short period somehow miss out on the benefits of Jesus’ return? Paul says they will not, because what God has wrought in the death and Resurrection of Jesus is powerful enough to save even those who have already “fallen asleep.” Paul helps them to realize that they need to believe in what the Lord has done for us. He doesn’t want them to fret. He explains, “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thes 4:13). Instead, the Thessalonians should prepare themselves for the Kingdom. The central idea is clear: only the alert and the vigilant can experience God coming in their lives. Those who are asleep to the present never seem to notice God’s Presence.
Gospel exegesis:The context: Today’s Gospel passage is situated in the context of Jesus’ discourse (Mt 25 and 26), on the end times and the second coming of Christ. After speaking of the destruction of the Temple (Mt 24:1-3) and the end of the age (Mt 24:4-51), Jesus gives us the parable of the wise and the foolish bridesmaids to illustrate teachings about the coming of the Kingdom. This parable, along with three others in chapter 25 and 26, offered pointed application for the waiting faithful in the early Church as they come to terms with an unexpected delay in the Parousia (or the second coming of Christ), which most expected in their lifetime. The parable tells a story which could have happened at any time in a Palestinian village and which could still happen today. Since a wedding was a great occasion, the whole village lined up at the sides of the road to wish God’s blessings on the bride being taken in procession by her groom to her new home. The invited ones would join the procession, which started from the bride’s house and moved to the groom’s house, to take part in the week-long celebration of the marriage. Since the bridegroom might come to the bride’s house unexpectedly, the bridal party had to be ready at any time, with accompanying virgins (bridesmaids in our day), carrying lighted torches and jars of reserve oil. Five of these virgins neglected to bring reserve oil, and so had to run to the dealers to buy some. They missed the arrival of the groom’s party, and so, lost their chance to take part in the celebration. They lost not only the opportunity of witnessing the marriage ceremony, but also of participating in the week-long celebration that followed.
The meaning of the parable: This parable has both a local and a universal meaning. The local meaning is that the foolish virgins represent the “Chosen People of God” who were waiting for the Messiah but were shut out from the Messianic banquet because they were unprepared. “The division between the wise and the foolish virgins becomes the division between those in Matthew’s church who keep the commandments of Christ, the new lawgiver of the church, and those who hear his words but fail to do what he commands.” (Fr. Reginald Fuller). The universal meaning is that the five foolish virgins represent those who fail to prepare for the end of their lives. What matters is not the occasional or the last-minute burst of spiritual fervor but habitual attention to one’s responsibilities before God. At the final judgment, there will be no depending upon the resources of others, no begging or borrowing of grace. Some are used to depending upon others’ prayers, others’ gifts, others’ compassion and others’ Faith. But there are certain things we must win or acquire for ourselves for we cannot borrow them from others. Having a close relationship with God is the most important thing. The parable implies that we should attend to duties of the present moment, preparing now rather than waiting until it is too late.
The allegorical interpretation of the parable: The virgins represent the Church or Christian community that is waiting for Christ’s Second Coming. The Bridegroom is Christ. The wedding feast is the great and joyous occasion in which Christ comes for his Church (Rv 19:9). The delay of the Bridegroom corresponds to the delay of the Second Coming (Parousia). The Bridegroom’s arrival in the dark of night is the Second Coming itself. The closing of the door is the final judgment. Many Old Testament texts also presuppose the imagery of God as Israel’s husband or bridegroom (e.g., Is 54:5; Jer 31:32; Hos 2:16). The rejection of the foolish maidens is the Last Judgement and, perhaps, the foolish maidens represent Israel and the wise ones the Gentiles “Make sure you have enough oil!” Literally, our text answers the question, “What shall we do while we wait?” The answer is: “Make sure you have enough oil for your lamps!” Scripture scholars of the past and the present have reflected on what this oil symbolizes, and they have arrived at different, but related, views. (i) Perhaps, the best explanation is that the oil stands for our personal relationship with God who is the Source and Power behind our good deeds or “fruit-bearing” (Mt 3:8, 10; 7:16, 17, 18, 19, 20; 12:33; 13:8, 23, 26; 21:19, 34, 41, 43). This relationship is not something that one can attain overnight or borrow from someone else as the foolish virgins attempted to do. This “state of grace” is something we must receive from God personally and directly. (ii) In Scripture, oil is often a symbol for the Holy Spirit. It is when we submit our work, our intentions, our purpose to the Holy Spirit that He fills our deeds with power and effectiveness. (iii) Oil stands for character and Christian values which we cannot borrow – or buy, the foolish virgins’ choice. That metaphor of “oil” refers to the way we do — or do not — live the virtuous life that God freely empowers us to live. You cannot “borrow” these virtues at the last moment; you must “live” them. These Gospel words are very sobering, and they remind us that we can never use the excuse, “But no one told me.” (iv) Oil stands for “spiritual capital” (our merits) – all that we build up by good works: concern for the needy and acts of justice. (v) Perhaps, oil refers to real Christian Faith. (vi) Oil is the spirit of reconciliation with the others and a willingness to share our lives and blessings with others. (vii) Oil may also be a generic reference to faithful and obedient discipleship as presented in the whole Gospel. Warnings given by the parable: 1) The parable warns us that there are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute: a) a good relationship with God, b) good character, c) merits from good deeds of sharing, forgiving love and humble service done to others. 2) The parable also warns us of certain elements in Christian life that cannot be borrowed: a) relationship with God, b) ideal character, c) Faith. The parable when applied to Holy Mass: We have to learn three lessons from this parable: 1) an eager, expectant waiting for the Lord’s coming in all his ways; 2) a recognition that we can’t borrow what we’re going to need to meet the Lord when we comes; and 3) a loving admonition from the Lord not to procrastinate in making our preparations until it’s too late. This Mass is meant to help us with each of the three. If we’re truly ready to meet the Lord each week here, with our souls clean from serious sins, with our hearts hungering for Him, with the Lord himself, the Light of the World, burning inside of us, fueled by the oil of love, we’ll never be caught off guard, whether the Lord comes today, tomorrow, or eighty years from now! Our response to today’s word of the Lord, and to the tremendous Gift that is the Mass which is offered here every day, will determine whether, in the final analysis, we’re foolish or we’re wise. Is our soul thirsting for the living God more than a man in the desert pants for water? Are we keeping perpetual vigil seeking Wisdom Incarnate? Have we come asking the Lord to fill not just our lamps but our flasks so that we can make a total self-offering? The Lord who knows us wants to give us all these gifts. “The Bridegroom is here. Let us go out to meet Christ the Lord!”
Life messages: 1) We need to be wise enough to remain ever prepared: Wise Christians live each day in the light of Jesus’ vision. Such people find Him in the most ordinary experiences of daily living — in the people they meet, the events that take place, and the situations in which they find themselves. They carefully make their daily choices for God. They are ready to put the commandment of love into practice by kindness and forgiveness. There is absolutely no better way to prepare for the final call than to learn to spend each day in Jesus’ company, remembering the assurance, “I am with you always.” (CCC #1036, #2612: vigilant in waiting for the Lord’s return). The following short prayer should be always on their lips: “Lord, grant that all my thoughts, intentions, actions and responses may be directed solely to Your love and service this day. Help me, Lord, to seek, to find, and to respond to You in every single experience this day.” When we eventually hear the final call, “Get up! The Master is coming!” we will not be worried, but happy and more than ready to meet Him, as well as old friends and family, in Heaven. God has made this promise to us: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Dn 12:3).
2) Let us be sure that our Lamps are ready for the end of our lives: Spiritual readiness, preparation, and growth do not just happen. They come as a result of intentional habits built into one’s life. We cannot depend on a Sunday morning Mass to provide all our spiritual needs. We cannot depend on Christian fellowship to provide us with spiritual development. These things come through routine, mundane attention to ordinary spiritual disciplines — making sure we have enough oil: spiritual fuel. They come when we habitually take time for prayer and being alone with God. They come through reading God’s Word; living a sacramental life; performing acts of service for others; being morally faithful; obeying God with love, and spending time with other Christians for mutual prayer, study, and encouragement. These are the things which, along with the normal difficulties of life, enable one to grow in Christ and to be prepared for Christ’s coming. Without these things, we will not be prepared. The preparation cannot be hit-or-miss, nor can it be postponed. We dare not procrastinate, lest death come unexpectedly and ruin us. We need to develop those things which encourage our spiritual growth into holy habits in our lives, for that growth must take precedence over other interests and claims on our time and attention. As these habits become entrenched, they cease to be a struggle for us and begin to be a source of strength and blessing. They make our lives powerful against the onslaught of the world.
3) What is the oil that we lack? Oil in Scripture is often a symbol for the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we try to spring into action without first submitting our work to the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps we lack the oil of kindness and compassion. There’s no way we can be ready to meet Jesus without the essential oils of compassion and mercy. Perhaps we lack the oils of patience, sympathy, and empathy. Without such oils, we are ill-equipped to deal with someone who comes to us in need of comfort, instruction, enlightenment, healing, or Jesus’ peace of mind and heart. .
JOKE OF THE WEEK 1) A tour group was riding in an elevator to the top of the Empire State Building. At about the 102nd floor, a woman asked the tour guide, “If the cables on this elevator break, do we go up or down?” The tour guide answered, “Well, that depends on how you are living.”
2) A Sunday school teacher was testing the children in her class one morning to see if they understood the concept of “getting to Heaven.” She said, “If I sold my house and my car, held a big garage sale and gave all my money to the Church, would that get me into Heaven?” “NO!” the children answered. “If I cleaned the Church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?” Again, the answer was, “NO!” “Well, then, if I was kind to animals, gave candy to children and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?” Again, they all answered, “NO!” “Well,” the teacher continued, “how do I get into Heaven?” A five-year-old boy shouted out, “YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!”
3) When Bishop Philip Brooks, author of “O, Little Town of Bethlehem,” was seriously ill, he requested that none of his friends come to see him. But when an acquaintance of his named Robert Ingersoll, the famous anti-Christian propagandist, came to see him, Brooks allowed him to enter his room. Ingersoll said, “I appreciate this very much, especially when you aren’t letting any of your close friends see you.” Bishop Brooks responded, “Oh, I’m confident of seeing them in the next world, but this may be my last chance to see you.”
4) Hibernation in the White House: Do you recall Laura Bush’s comments a few years ago about her husband? She said, “George always says he’s delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He’s usually in bed by now. I’m not kidding. I said to him the other day, ‘George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you’re going to have to stay up later.’ I am married to the president of the United States, and here ’s our typical evening: Nine o’clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I’m watching “Desperate Housewives” on television.” One day in February 2003, with America on the verge of a war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell was reminded that, notwithstanding the stress, President George W. Bush was in bed by 10 o’clock every night and slept like a baby. “I sleep like a baby, too,” Powell replied. “Every two hours I wake up screaming!” Ronald Reagan insisted on taking a nap every afternoon. Even so, he was so sleepy that he nearly overslept his own presidential inauguration. On one occasion, he did in fact drop off at an awkward moment … in an audience with Pope St. John Paul II.
5) During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, “The Day of Judgement is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.” (as quoted at: “Sermon Nuggets” http://home.twcny.rr.com/lyndale/Pentecost%2025A.htm)
USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK: (The easier method to visit these websites is to copy and pastethe web address or URL on the Address bar of any Internet website like Google or MSN and press the Enter button of your Keyboard or the easiest method is to click on the URL (webpage) in the attachment or emailed text.
1) “At last I’ve met a man more stupid than myself.” There is an old legend about a man who had a rather stupid servant. The master often got exasperated with his servant. One day in a fit of frustration he said to the servant, “You’ve got to be the stupidest man I’ve ever met. Look, I want you to take this staf and carry it with you. And if you ever meet a man stupider than you are, give him the staf .” So the servant carried the staff. Often out in the marketplace, he’d meet some pretty stupid people. But he was never sure they were worse off than he. Years passed with the servant carrying his staff. Then one day, he came back to the castle and was ushered into the bedroom of his master. His master was quite sick. In the course of their conversation, the master said, “I’m going on a long journey.” The servant said, “When do you plan to be back?” The master said, “This is a journey from which I’ll not return.” The servant said, “Sir, have you made all the necessary preparations?” The master said, “No, I have not.” The servant said, “Could you have made preparations?” The master said, “Yes, I guess I’ve had my life to make them, but I’ve been busy about other things.” The servant said “Master, you’re going on a journey from which you’ll never return, you could’ve prepared for it, and you just didn’t?” The master said, “Yes, I guess that’s right.” The servant took the staff he’d carried so long and said, “Master take this with you. At last I’ve met a man more stupid than myself!” — Telling us the parable of the 10 virgins Jesus warns us to be ever prepared to meet him as our judge on the day of our death. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) “I’ll tell you what’s more important; it’s the will to prepare.” In 1976, Indiana University’s basketball team was undefeated throughout the regular season and captured the NCAA National Championship. Controversial and colorful coach Bobby Knight led them to that championship. Shortly afterwards, Coach Knight was interviewed on the television show 60 Minutes. The commentator asked him, “Why is it, Bobby, that your basketball teams at Indiana are always so successful? Is it the will to succeed?” “The will to succeed is important,” replied Bobby Knight, “but I’ll tell you what’s more important; it’s the will to prepare. It’s the will to go out there every day, training and building those muscles and sharpening those skills!” [John R. Noe, Peak Performance Principles for High Achievers (New York: Berkley Books, 1984).] — No wonder Bobby Knight has been so successful as a coach! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) “Don’t fool yourself.” Another famous coach believed the same thing. “Hurry Up” Yost was the football coach at the University of Michigan. A player once assured Coach Yost that their team was sure to win on Saturday because the players had “the will to win.” “Hurry Up” Yost answered: “Don’t fool yourself. The will to win is not worth a plugged nickel unless you have the will to prepare.” — That is true. Whether we are talking about sports, or education, or science, or business, or any worthwhile endeavor in life, success goes to the person who has the will to prepare! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) “Keep your lamps lighted and your fork in hand.” There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. As she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the funeral Mass, what Scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and as the pastor was preparing to leave, the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. “There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly. “What’s that?” asked the pastor. “This is very important,” the young woman continued. “I want my body to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the young woman asked. “Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the pastor. The young woman explained. “My grandmother once told me this story, and that’s where I got the idea. I have, also, always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending Church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ’Keep your fork!’ It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming, like chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, “What’s with the fork?” — Then I want you to tell them: “Keep your fork–the best is yet to come.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) Can you “sleep when the wind blows”? A young man applied for a job as a farm hand. When asked for his qualifications, he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” This puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man and hired him. A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all were secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The farm implements had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn had been properly locked. Everything was fine. Even the animals were calm. It was then that the farmer grasped the meaning of the young man’s words, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” Because the farm hand had performed his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. Consequently, when the wind blew, he had no fear. He was able to sleep in peace. — In the parable that is our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus is talking about exactly the same thing, being able to sleep when the wind blows, because one has lived habitually in a state of ongoing preparedness. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) Victory goes to those who are prepared. Graham Greene once observed: “There is always one moment when the door opens and lets the future in.” Will you be ready when your time comes? Robert Runcie was. During a battle in WWII, a British tank was hit. The crew, except for the co-driver, scrambled out. The turret on the tank was stuck in such a position that it could not be opened, pinning the co-driver inside. Under heavy fire, a soldier jumped out of his own tank, ran to turn the turret, and dragged the copilot out. That soldier, Robert Runcie, was ready to do what was needed in WWII. He was also ready to do what was needed when he became Archbishop of Canterbury many years later. — Victory goes to those who are prepared. Preparation and character go hand in hand. One more thing needs to be said. It is amazing that many of us who are prepared for life fail to prepare for eternity. We get our degrees in school. We position ourselves for the right jobs. We set our goals ten years in advance. We know where we want to retire. Each year we sock away the limit in our IRAs – and we totally disregard the most important realities of all: our relationship with God, and the fact that, sooner or later, we will be meeting with our God face to Face, completely unprepared.
7) “Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life.” A recent TIME magazine sidebar brought us, “Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life.” Here they are: 1. Count your blessings. 2. Practice acts of kindness. 3. Savor life’s joys. 4. Thank a mentor. 5. Learn to forgive. 6. Invest time and energy in friends and family. 7. Protect your body. 8. Develop strategies for coping with stress and hardship. (TIME, 17 (January 2005), A8-A9.] — This morning when we reflect on the parable of the ten virgins, we add one more step, a 9th Step to the strategy: Trust in God always, even when His Holy Spirit takes you from life’s pre-planned paths, and sends you in unexpected directions to do His work in His Ways for brothers and sisters you have never even dreamed of! (Rev. Leonard Sweet) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) “You are given three minutes to get into the boat.” There’s a true story that comes from the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off. She was granted three minutes, or they would leave without her. She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed aside her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in. Now that seems incredible because thirty minutes earlier, she would not have chosen three oranges over the smallest diamond. But death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless and worthless things became priceless. And in that moment, she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds. — There are events in life, which have the power to transform the way we look at the world. Jesus’ parable about the ten virgins offers one of these types of events, for the parable is about the Second Coming of Christ. (Sermons.com) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) Unprepared. Forgetful. Irresponsible: These are the ten best things to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk: #10. “They told me at the blood bank this might happen.” #9. “This is just a 15-minute power-nap like the ones they raved about in that time management course you sent me to.” #8. “Whew! Guess I left the top of the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!” #7. “I wasn’t sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm.” #6. “I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance.” #5. “I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminating against people who practice Yoga?” #4. “Darn! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem.” #3. “The cof ee machine is broken . . . ” #2. “Someone must’ve put decaf in the wrong pot . . . ” And the #1 best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk: ” . . . in His name. Amen.” — Jesus tells a parable in today’s Gospel about ten young women—bridesmaids — five of whom forgot their specific responsibility in a wedding celebration. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) Lighted-candle race: The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. Some of our schools used to have its imitation in the form of a 50-meter race for girls in the primary schools with lighted candles. — Let us run all the way of our life with the flame of our torches still lit for God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) Spiritual Intelligence: Scientists are working feverishly on AI—Artificial Intelligence. But Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids tells us more about what we might call “Spiritual Intelligence” than about mere high IQ, or AI for machine learning. Researchers are advancing NEW ideas of what intelligence is, how it should be measured, and which values should be invoked in considerations of the human intellect. Harvard University professor Howard Gardner points out that psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman has achieved worldwide success with his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence.” Contending that this new concept (sometimes nicknamed EQ) may matter as much as, or more than, IQ, Goleman draws attention to such pivotal human abilities as controlling one’s emotional reactions and “reading” the signals of others. Psychiatrist Robert Coles, author of The Moral Intelligence of Children, argues that we should prize character over intellect, and work to cultivate human beings with a strong sense of right and wrong. Others are pushing leadership intelligence (LQ), executive intelligence (EQ) and even money-management intelligence! A quick cruise through cyberspace reveals numerous types of intelligences, including Visual-spatial intelligence, Verbal-linguistic intelligence, Musical-Rhythmic intelligence, Logical-mathematical intelligence, Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, Interpersonal intelligence, Intrapersonal intelligence etc. Finally, the research these days is in AI — Artificial Intelligence — an area in which researchers have created conversational computer programs that imitate psychotherapists, and programs called “Chat-bots” that simulate paranoid-schizophrenics, that chat on the Internet, and that control Webcams. (For details, confer http://www.scbe.on.ca/mit/mi.htm). — Today we hear the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, a story told by Jesus to illustrate the character of the Kingdom of God, and to describe what constitutes Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). In this passage, we encounter a tale that is nothing less than a test of “SQ,” a cutting-edge research project that measures spiritual wisdom. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) Unprepared Mayflower Pilgrims: One of the most cherished events in our history was the landing of the Mayflower on these shores. One hundred and two Pilgrims stepped from their storm-tossed little ship with unsteady legs and huge relief. It would be difficult to imagine a group of people more ill-suited to a life in the wilderness, according to Bill Bryson in his book, Made in America. These Pilgrims packed as if they had misunderstood the purpose of the trip. They found room for sundials and candle-snuffers, a drum, a trumpet, and a complete history of the country of Turkey. One man named William Mullins packed 126 pairs of shoes and thirteen pairs of boots. Yet the Pilgrims failed to bring a single cow or horse, plow or fishing line. Among the professions represented on the Mayflower’s manifest were two tailors, a printer, several merchants, a silk worker, a shopkeeper, and a hatter–not exactly the most appropriate occupations when one thinks of surviving in a hostile environment. With the uncertain exception of their captain, Miles Standish, probably none in the party had ever tried to bring down a wild animal. Hunting in seventeenth-century Europe was a sport reserved for the aristocracy. Even those who labeled themselves farmers generally had scant practical knowledge of husbandry, since “farmer” in the 1600s, and for some time afterward, signified an owner of land rather than one who worked it. These Pilgrims were, in short, dangerously unprepared for the rigors ahead, and they demonstrated their incompetence in the most dramatic possible way: by dying in droves. Six expired in the first two weeks, eight the next month, seventeen more in February, a further thirteen in March. By April, when the Mayflower set sail back to England, just fifty-four people, nearly half of them children, were left to begin the long work of turning this tenuous toehold into a self-sustaining colony. [(New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1994), pp. 2-3.] — What are we thinking of when we spend our lives accumulating funds for old age, but ignore the spiritual side of our lives so that life after death will be worth living? (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) His name was Alexander Graham Bell. In early 1874 an inventor named Elisha Gray transmitted a few musical notes over a telegraph wire. He thought to himself, “If I can send music, perhaps I could send the human voice.” The New York Times reported predictions of a “talking telegraph” and the public began to grow eager for it. Just one-year later Gray believed he had the answer. Tin-can like voice chambers connected by a wire in a liquid that could turn vibrations into signals is what came into his mind. But inexplicably, he did not put his idea on paper for two months. After finally making a sketch, he waited four more days before he went to the patent office. When he arrived, Mr. Gray was told that just two hours earlier a school-teacher had come through that same door with his own sketch and had already applied for the patent. His name was Alexander Graham Bell. When you compared the sketches, the voice chambers, the wire, and the liquid everything was identical. — The reason we know the name Alexander Graham Bell and until today, never heard the name Elisha Gray is simply because one man seized the opportunity when he could. The other one waited until it was too late. That’s what happened to the five foolish virgins in today’s Gospel story. (Rev. James Merritt). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) “If the end of the world came.” A mother wrote to Catholic Digest saying that one day when she was heading up the stairs with a basket containing the last load of folded clothes, herding her three little ones in front of her for bedtime, her eldest child, Peggy, who was then in kindergarten, picked that moment to begin one of those questions that seem to intrigue all children at some time. “Mommy,” she asked, “If it were the end of the world, and everyone was getting ready to die…” The mother stopped, shifted the basket on her hip, and said an ultra-quick prayer for wisdom to answer this question. “Yes?” she said, The little girl finished her theological inquiry: “If the end of the world came, would you have to take your library books back?” — That young lady did not want any unfinished business in her life! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) End-time or Beginning-time? On September 14, 2005, an Australian Jesuit colleague and friend, Paddy Meagher, bade farewell to India after more than four decades of dedicated service here. He was suffering from melanoma (skin cancer) that had struck suddenly and spread over his face leaving lumps likely to affect his brain and throat. Bravely enduring his pain, he said, “I know I’ll die soon and I’m prepared. Nonetheless, I’ll continue reading and writing until death comes!” Paddy died on January 5, 2006. — For “wise virgins” like these, there is always oil in their lamps. And for many of the victims of earthquakes who call God Abba or Allah, what we see as end-time is more likely to be a beginning-time for the eternal wedding feast. (Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) Timing: General Douglas MacArthur’s autobiography, Reminiscences, is full of World War II stories. One such story is about Capt. Thomas G. Lanphier, a pilot of the 339 th Fighter Squadron who “became the unsung hero of an extraordinary exploit” on April 18, 1943. The Japanese code had been broken, and our Intelligence learned exactly where and when Admiral Yamamoto was going to fly in to one of the Solomon Islands. Yamamoto was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese combined Fleet. So eighteen P-38s were sent from Guadalcanal, 400 miles away to attack Yamamoto. At the exact hour of rendezvous, Yamamoto’s squadron appeared and were met by our waiting planes. Sixteen P-38s went after his Zero escorts, while Tom Lanphier and another pilot were assigned to attack the two bombers carrying Yamamoto and his staff. Yamamoto’s pilot used every artifice to escape, but eventually Lanphier’s gunfire hit his bomber causing it to explode and crash. Washington lauded Lanphier’s feat as one of the most significant strikes of the war but labeled it top secret and forbade its publication until 1945 when Tom was awarded the Navy Cross. — Timing, alertness and readiness were key factors in this air strike, which proved to be a turning point in the war. These same themes are found in today’s readings, but for different reasons. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) How will Jesus find us? Nineteen hundred years ago, the volcano Mt Vesuvius erupted in Italy. When the eruption ended, the city of Pompeii lay buried under 18 feet of volcanic ash. The city remained that way until modern times, when archaeologists excavated it. What they found amazed everyone. There were carbonized loaves of bread, fruit still retaining its flavor, and olives still swimming in their oil. But there were even more amazing discoveries. The volcanic ash had frozen people in the exact position they had occupied when the disaster struck. The bodies of the people decayed. As they did, they left behind hollow cavities in the hardened ash. By pouring liquid plaster into these cavities, archaeologists were able to make casts of the victims. Some of the casts evoke an emotional response. For example, one is that of a young mother hugging her child tightly in her arms. Another is that of a Roman sentry still at his post, standing erect, fully armed. He had remained calm and faithful to his duty to the end. A third that of a man standing upright with a sword in his hand. His foot is resting on a pile of gold and silver. Scattered about him are five bodies, probably would-be looters he had killed. — The plaster casts illustrate in a dramatic way the two themes of today’s readings. The first theme is that of the suddenness with which the end of the world, and the second reminds us of how suddenly the coming of Jesus will take place. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
18) Eternal preparedness: From time immemorial, people have resorted to stories, especially fables, to teach some moral points for our instruction. In the West, Aesop’s Fables were famous. One such fable from this collection, which every child reads, is “The Hare and the Tortoise.” Once upon a time, the Hare and his friend the Tortoise decided to have a race. The Hare, by nature, was swift. The Tortoise was placid and not inclined to hurry much. They stood side-by-side at the starting line. The Woodpecker agreed to be the Starter. He rat–tat-tatted the starting signal, and they were of . The Hare sped of , raising dust, and at the midpoint, he turned back to see how his competitor was progressing. The Tortoise was way behind, plodding patiently up the road. “Well,” thought the Hare, “I’ve got time to take a nap before THAT slow-poke catches up!” And so the Hare curled up by the side of the road on the grass under a tree and slept peacefully. Meanwhile the Tortoise kept up his steady pace, and quietly passed the sleeping Hare. As the Tortoise took his last three steps toward the finish line, the Hare woke with a start and leaped into action, running as fast as he could. It was a great ef ort but it failed! For the Tortoise just stepped over the finish line first with his front feet and then with his hind feet, while his tail followed, winning the race. The victorious Turtle then turned to greet the Hare who blazed over the line and skidded to a stop and drooped in shamed chagrin. ”You won, Tortoise,” he said, puf ing a bit, “but only after I lost it!” The Tortoise smiled and said, “You snooze, you lose!” In other words, “Constant preparedness is the key to success.” – This is true, not only in the mundane events of human life in time and space, but also in our spiritual life on our pilgrimage Home to God in Heaven. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that eternal preparedness is the price of salvation. Every disciple of Jesus must be ever prepared to meet the Lord—whenever He may come. (Quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
19) “Let us trim our lamps and fill them with charity in silence.” When Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and author died in 1968, he left behind a literary legacy which has continued to feed the spiritual hungers and prod the social and political consciences of believers to this day. Merton’s death, by accidental electrocution while he was attending a conference of Buddhist and Catholic monks in Bangkok, Thailand, was unexpected and untimely. — Nevertheless, there is little doubt that Merton was prepared, like the wise virgins in today’s Gospel, to meet the Lord. In one of his best-known books, No Man Is an Island, the holy monk wrote: “We must learn during our lifetime to trim our lamps and fill them with charity in silence. . . if the spirit that kept the flame of physical life burning in our bodies took care to nourish itself with the oil that is found only in the silence of God’s charity, then when the body dies, the spirit itself will go on burning with the same oil, its own flame. But if the spirit has burned all along with the base oils of passion or egoism, or pride, then when death comes, the flame of the spirit goes out with the light of the body because there is no more oil in the lamp.”(Patricia Datchuck Sánchez). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
20) This guy got the job! Several years ago, a Fortune 500 company advertised in the New York Times to fill a vacancy in its sales force. They received an application unlike any other. This particular job-seeker wrote: “I am at present selling furniture at the address listed below. You may judge my ability as a salesman if you will stop in to see me at any time, pretending that you are interested in buying furniture. When you come in, you can identify me by my red hair. I will have no way of identifying you. Such salesmanship as I exhibit during your visit, therefore, will be no more than my usual workday ef orts and not a special attempt to impress a prospective employer.” — From among more than 1500 applicants, this guy got the job! So how do you keep plenty of oil in your lamp? (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
21) “Don’t forget nothin’!” I spent 25 years in the Army; do you know the difference between the Army and the Boy Scouts? The Scouts have adult leadership! When I was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, I was assigned to a battalion that had 24 hours to be alerted and arrive at any location ready to fight. We were called a Rapid Deployment Force. We would conduct random EDREs—Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercises. We’d get a call, usually in the middle of the night (at 0-dark-thirty!), and we’d have to scramble to get on our uniforms and equipment, our weapons, dispatch our vehicles, and be ready to roll! We were in a constant state of readiness. I kept my duffle bag and chaplain kit ready to grab-and-go at all times. When I was called on to deploy to Desert Storm, I had 5 days to get from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to Fort Knox, Kentucky (where I was issued desert gear), and on to Saudi Arabia. And I did it! The US Army Rangers also have a motto, like the Scouts. Theirs is simply: “Don’t forget nothin’!” (Rev. Robert Leroe). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
22) Staying Awake: In his autobiography, Report to Greco, Nikos Kazantzakis recounts a conversation he once had with an old monk. Kazantzakis, a young man at the time, was visiting a monastery and was very taken by a famed ascetic, Father Makarios, who lived there. But a series of visits with the old monk left him with some ambivalent feelings as well. The monk’s austere lifestyle stirred a certain religious romanticism in Kazantzakis, but it repelled him too; he wanted the romanticism, but in a more-palatable way. Here’s their conversation as Kazantzakis records it: “Yours is a hard life, Father. I too want to be saved. Is there no other way?” “More agreeable?” asked the ascetic, smiling compassionately. “More human, Father.” “One, only one.” “What is that?” “Ascent. To climb a series of steps. From the full stomach to hunger, from the slaked throat to thirst, from joy to suf ering. God sits at the summit of hunger, thirst, and suf ering; the devil sits at the summit of the comfortable life. Choose.” “I am still young. The world is nice. I have time to choose.” Reaching out, the old monk touched my knee and said: “Wake up, my child. Wake up before death wakes you up.” I shuddered and said: “I am still young.” “Death loves the young,” the old man replied. “The inferno loves the young. Life is like a lighted candle, easily extinguished. Take care—wake up! Wake up! Wake up before death wakes you up!“ — In a less dramatic expression that’s a virtual leitmotif in the Gospels. (Fr. Ron Rolheiser). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
23) With the Lord unceasingly: Robert Bolt, the British playwright, did justice to Sir Thomas More in a heroic drama about his life, appropriately named A Man for All Seasons. Surely Thomas’ greatest “season” occurred when he faced the climactic trial for treason against Henry VIII for allegedly denying to the King his claim to be head of the Church of England. Although he, indeed, held that view, More, as the “King’s good servant,” had been careful to make no public statement on the matter. Like a good trial lawyer he demanded that the court prove its case against him. Of course, the court intended to condemn him anyhow, proof or no proof. Once the judgment had been given, St. Thomas More felt free to state his belief. Although he denied that “a temporal lord could or ought to be head of the spirituality,” Thomas held no grudge against those who had sentenced him to death for this Catholic principle. St. Paul, he reminded the tribunal, had originally persecuted the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen; but Paul had subsequently become a Christian and joined Stephen in the ranks of the martyrs. Now he prayed that he and his judges would share the joys of eternal life: “I verily trust, and shall therefore right heartily pray, that though your lordships have now, here on earth, been judges of my condemnation, we may yet hereafter in Heaven merrily all meet together to everlasting salvation.” — Paul concurs: “We shall be with the Lord unceasingly. Console one another with this message.” (I Thes 4:17b-18. Today’s second reading). (Father Robert F. McNamara). (http://frtonyshomilies.com).
24) “Be prepared”: Memories are short! “Aw, we don’t have to worry about this hurricane. We’ve lived through a lot of them, and none of them have been as bad as this one is predicted to become. Don’t worry about it.” There are a lot of other stories: “Aw, don’t worry about gas or food. As soon as the storm passes over, we’ll go down to the grocery store and replenish our shelves… There is always a lot of gas and food…” Or, how about this one: “A flood? Here? Not a chance… A tornado hit us? Here? Not a chance…” There is something prophetic about the decades-old Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.” A lot of people pooh-pooh that motto, believing that they are immune to disaster. They prefer to believe in the magical tooth fairy. — As we approach the end of the liturgical year, the readings begin to zero in on the themes of death, judgment, and the final coming of the Lord. We have been waiting some two thousand years, and, while some of us do not believe the world can ever end, others of us think that Jesus will come within the next few years. Today’s parable reminds us that “we know neither the day nor the hour,” so we have to be prepared for the long haul. In fact, the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” is a good summary of the Gospel message. The ten bridesmaids are symbolic of the human race. Some are foolish, so used to instant coffee and microwave dinners that they expect instant salvation as well. Others, the truly wise, know that the arrival of the Bridegroom, The Lord, may be delayed, and they are prepared to deal with that situation, but they keep in mind that time and the oil will run out, sooner or later, so they make sure they get and keep their spiritual back-up ready NOW!.(Bishop Clarke). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/). L/26
ALL SAINTS DAY (Nov 1, 2026) (Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a) Homily in 1 pageThe feast and its objectives: All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered saints. All Saints Day is intended to honor the memory of countless unknown and uncanonized saints who have no feast days. Today, we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and Heavenly glory as a reward for their Faith. This feast is observed in order to teach us to honor the saints, both by imitating their lives and by seeking their intercession for us before Christ, the only mediator between God and man (I Tm 2:5). The Church reminds us today that God’s call for holiness is universal, that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We grow in holiness when we live wholesome lives of integrity, truth, justice, charity, mercy, and compassion, sharing our blessings with others. (+ an anecdote)
Reasons why we honor the saints: 1- The saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to the Philippians, and to Timothy, Paul advises Christians to welcome, serve, and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The saints enjoy Heavenly bliss as a reward for their Faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration.
2- The saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives that Christ’s holy life of love, mercy, and unconditional forgiveness can, with the grace of God, be lived by ordinary people from all walks of life and at all times
Reasons why we honor the saints: 1- The saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to the Philippians, and to Timothy, Paul advises Christians to welcome, serve, and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The saints enjoy Heavenly bliss as a reward for their Faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration.
2- The saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives that Christ’s holy life of love, mercy, and unconditional forgiveness can, with the grace of God, be lived by ordinary people from all walks of life and at all times.
3- The saints are our Heavenly mediators who intercede for us before Jesus, the only mediator between God and us. (Jas 5:16-18, Ex 32:13, Jer 15:1, Rv 8:3-4,).
4- The saints are the instruments that God uses to work miracles at present, just as He used the staff of Moses (Ex), the bones of the prophet Elisha (2Kgs 13:21), the towel of Paul (Acts 19:12) and the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) to work miracles.
Life messages: 1) We need to accept the challenge to become saints. Jesus exhorts us: “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt 5:48). St. Augustine asked: “If he and she can become saints, why can’t I?” (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?).
We all can become saints by choosing well, by doing good and avoiding evil, and by choosing to follow Christ, all the way to Heaven.
2) We need to take the shortcuts practiced by three Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to Him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for His glory and for the salvation of souls, and by doing God’s will with love, to the best of your ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love. Do something beautiful for God. (L/26)
All Saints Day, Nov 1, 2026, Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a
Homily starter anecdotes:1) Contacting extraterrestrials on All Saints Day: There is a branch of science called Astrobiology or Exobiology. Applying all modern branches of science, it studies the possibility of existence of living beings on other planets or stars, and the consequences of human contact with any other form of terrestrial life. On July 16, 1969, the day the United States of America sent Apollo 11 to the moon with three astronauts, the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) passed a law concerning extraterrestrial contacts. Its title 14, in section 1211, stipulated that anyone who comes into contact with any form of extraterrestrial life should immediately report the matter to the Federal Government and undergo a period of quarantine to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria or viruses or other dangerous pathogens on earth. The Law was withdrawn in 1991 because no such case was reported, except in science fictions like Michael Crichton’s 1969 novel The Andromeda Strain. But scientists have been sending radio signals into the cosmos, hoping for a response from some intelligent being on some distant planet. So far none has been received. Only the Church has always maintained a dialogue with the inhabitants of another world — the saints – that is both possible and profitable. That is what we 3 proclaim when we say the Creed, “I believe in … the Communion of Saints,” and when we celebrate All Saints’ Day. Even if inhabitants outside of the solar system existed, communication with them would be impossible, because between the question and the answer, millions of years would pass. But in the case of saints, the answer is immediate because there is a common center of communication and encounter, and that is the risen Christ. (Adapted from Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, Vatican).
2) A pumpkin story: “What is it like to be a Christian saint?” “It is like being a Halloween pumpkin. God picks you from the field, brings you in, and washes all the dirt of you, by inviting you to confess your sins and seek reconciliation. Then He cuts of the top and scoops out the yucky stuf . He removes the pulp of impurity and injustice, and the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed from you. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His Light of Holiness, the Holy Spirit, inside you to shine (by your serving and sharing love, mercy and forgiveness), for the entire world to see.” This is the Christian idea behind the carved pumpkins during the Halloween season.
3) Diversity of Saints One thing that strikes you first about the Saints is their diversity. There is Thomas Aquinas, the towering intellectual, and there is Father Jean-Marie Vianney (the Curé d’Ars), who barely made it through the seminary. There is Vincent de Paul, a saint in the city, and there is Antony who found sanctity in the harsh loneliness of the desert. There is Bernard of Clairvaux kneeling on the hard stones in penance for his sins, and there is Hildegard of Bingen singing and throwing flowers, madly in love with God. There is Albertus Magnus, the quirky scientist, half-philosopher and half-wizard, and there is Gerard Manley Hopkins, the gentle Jesuit poet. There is Peter, the hard-nosed and no-nonsense fisherman, and there is the Jewish Edith Stein, secretary to Edmund Husserl and colleague to Martin Heidegger, the most famous philosopher of the twentieth century, who left everything to enter the Discalced Carmelites and died a Martyr for the Faith in the gas chamber in Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp in 1942. There is Joan of Arc, leading armies into war, and there is Francis of Assisi, the peacenik who would never 4 hurt an animal. There is the grave and serious Jerome, and there is Philip Neri, whose spirituality was based on laughter. God is an Artist, and artists love to change their styles. The saints are God’s masterpieces, and He never tires of painting them in different colors, different styles, and different compositions. – What does this mean for us? It means we should not try to imitate any one Saint exactly. We need to look at them all, study their unique holiness, but then find that specific color God wants to bear through us. St. Catherine of Siena was right: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” (Bp. Robert Barron).
The feast and its objectives: The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the Saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the saints, with our imitation of their lifestyles, enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your Master” (Mt 25:21). Today is also a day for us to pray to the Saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward. All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered Saints. All Saints Day is a day on which we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and Heavenly glory as a reward for their Faith. In fact, we celebrate the feast of each canonized Saint on a particular day of the year. But there are countless other Saints and martyrs, men, women, and children united with God in Heavenly glory, whose feasts we do not celebrate. Among these would be our own parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, who were heroic women and men of Faith. All Saints Day is intended to honor their memory. Hence, today’s feast can be called the feast of the Unknown Saint, in line with the tradition of the “Unknown Soldier.” According to Pope Urban IV (ca. 1195-1264; ruled August 29, 1261-October 2, 1264), All Saints’ Day is also intended to supply any deficiencies in our celebrations of feasts of the Saints during the year. In addition, the feast is observed to teach us to honor the Saints, both by imitating their lives, and by seeking their intercession for us before Christ, the only mediator between God and man (I Tm 2:5).
Today, the Church reminds us that God’s call for holiness is universal, and that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We show holiness when we live lives of integrity and truth, that is, when we lead wholesome and integrated lives in which we are close to others while being wholly one with God. Halloween and All Saints’ Day. All Saints Day is a universal Christian feast honoring all Christian Saints – known and unknown. The feast is celebrated by the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican Churches on November 1 each year. On the Vigil of this Feast, October 31 –“Halloween,” or the “Eve of All Hallows”– is celebrated in the United States, England, Ireland and France. In England, the common word for Saints was “Hallows” or “Holy ones.” Before the Christian era, the Celtic people who lived in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and northern France, believed that their god of death (Samhain) would allow the souls of the dead to return to their homes for a festal visit on this day. People also believed that ghosts, witches, goblins, and elves came to harm the people, particularly those who had inflicted harm on them in this life. The Druid priests built a huge bonfire of sacred oak branches and offered animal and even human sacrifice to protect people from marauding evil spirits on the eve of Samhain feast. This belief led to the ritual practice of people wandering about in the dark, dressed in costumes indicating ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, fairies and demons, demanding “treats” and threatening “tricks” if the “treats” were not forthcoming! But some historians believe that the pumpkin-carving and trick-or-treating are recent customs, reminiscent of Irish harvest festivals, brought to the United States by Catholic immigrants from Ireland and England.
Historical note: A common commemoration of the Saints, especially of the martyrs, appeared in various areas throughout the Church after the legalization of Christianity in AD 313. The primary reason for establishing a common feast day was the desire to honor the great number of Christians martyred during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). In the East, the city of Edessa celebrated this feast on May 13, the Syrians, on the Friday after Easter, and the city of Antioch, on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Both St. Ephrem (d. 373) 6 and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) attest to this feast day in their preaching. The earliest observance of the holiday was recorded in the early fourth century. But the feast was only fully established in the early seventh century under Pope Boniface IV (ruled 608-615), who consecrated Rome’s Pantheon to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs on May 13 in AD 609 (www.diffen.com). Pope Gregory IV (ruled 828-844), made All Saints’ a Holy Day in the mid-eighth century and moved it to November 1. Some observe All Saints’ Day by leaving offerings of flowers on the graves of dead relatives to honor them. Others light candles in remembrance and visit the graves of deceased relatives. The Catholic Church believes in, and teaches, “the Communion of Saints” which consists of the three “states of the Church”: Pilgrimage, Purification, and Glory (formerly called the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Triumphant, respectively). We who live on earth are on pilgrimage as Christians who are forgiven sinners, trying to become Saints. That is why the New Testament calls all baptized Christians “Saints,” [Geek hagioi; = holy ones.] Those in Purgatory are in the purification stage prior to entering Heaven, so they are Saints in the making, and the glorified Christians are perfected Saints enjoying the Beatific Vision in Heaven. All Saints Day is based on this theological concept of the Communion of Saints.
Reasons why we honor the Saints: 1- The Saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to the Philippians, and to Timothy, he advises Christians to welcome, serve, and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The Saints enjoy Heavenly bliss as a reward for their Faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration. “The Saints,” St. Bernard says, “have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs…. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning” (Disc. 2, Opera Omnia Cisterc. 5, 364ff.).
2- The Saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives, and often by their words, that Christ’s holy life of unconditional love, mercy, and forgiveness can, with God’s grace, be lived by ordinary people, of all walks of life and in all times.
3- The Saints are our Heavenly mediators who intercede for us before Jesus, the only mediator between God and us. (Jas 5:16-18, Ex 32:13, Jer 15:1, Rv 8:3-4).
4- The saints are the instruments that God uses to work miracles at present, just as He used the staff of Moses (Exodus 4:2, 4, 17, 20; 7:9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20; 8:1, 12, 13; 9:23; 10:13; 12:11; 14:16; 17:5, 9; 21:19; Nm 21:11)), the bones of the prophet Elisha (II Kgs 13:21), the towel of Paul (Acts: 19:12), and the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) to work miracles for those who believed.
For Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and to some extent, the Anglicans, All Saints Day is a day, not only to remember the Saints and to thank God for them, but also to pray for their help. It is, as well, a day to glorify Jesus Christ, who by his holy life and death has made the Saints holy. This feast offers a challenge to each one of us: anybody can, with the grace of God, become a Saint, regardless of his or her age, lifestyle, or living conditions. St. Augustine accepted this challenge when he asked the question: “If he and she can become saints, why can’t I?” (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?).
Today’s Scripture readings summarized: The first reading (Rv 7: 2-4, 9-14, taken from the Book of Revelation, speaks of John’s vision of Saints in their Heavenly glory: “…a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands” (Rv 7:9). “This ‘people’ includes the Saints of the Old Testament, starting with the righteous Abel and the faithful Patriarch, Abraham, those of the New Testament, the numerous early Christian Martyrs and the Blesseds and Saints of later centuries, to the witnesses of Christ in this epoch of ours.”(Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI). In the Second Reading (1Jn 3: 1-3), the Apostle John remarks: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (I Jn 3: 1). The saints enjoy that Heavenly Glory which to us is, as yet, unrevealed. The reading also suggests that Saints are people who have responded generously to the love God has showered on them. St. John tells us that to be “Saints” means to be “children of God”—and then he adds: “and so we are!” All Saints Day reminds us that we are called to be a part of that vast multitude of 8 Holy Ones whose numbers are so great they cannot be counted. Offering us the Beatitudes in today’s Gospel (Mt 5: 1-12), the Holy Spirit, through the Church, reminds us that all the Saints, whose feasts we celebrate today, walked the difficult, narrow path of the Beatitudes to arrive at their Heavenly bliss. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI remarked, “the Blessed par excellence is only Jesus. He is, in fact, the true poor in spirit, the one af licted, the meek one, the one hungering and thirsting for justice, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemaker. He is the one persecuted for the sake of justice.” The Beatitudes are God’s commandments expressed in positive terms. They go far beyond what is required by the Ten Commandments, and they are a true and reliable recipe for Sainthood. For, Poverty of spirit is knowing our need for God; Mourning is embracing the inevitable sufferings of life and alleviating the sorrows of others; Meekness is docility to God’s will, gentleness, and patience with others, even in the face of sufferings, disappointments, and insults; Hunger for justice is the longing to see everyone enjoy the peace, happiness, justice, and healing promised by Christ; we obtain mercy by extending mercy to others; Purity of heart is that right intention, or sincerity, that puts God first and judges everything else in relationship to God; real peace is reached when enemies become trustworthy friends; and Suffering for doing what is right is accompanied by deep happiness even now. Thus, the Saints are those who most perfectly manifested the Christ-like character described in the first part of the Beatitudes, and who therefore now partake of the promises in the second part: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We should see the Beatitudes, not as a prescription of what we must do per se to become blessed, but as a description of what a human being is like whom Jesus Christ is transforming into a Saint! Jesus is telling us that when the transformative power of the cross brings about in us a greater meekness, poverty of spirit, and so forth, we will experience that we are being blessed.
Life messages:1) We need to accept the challenge to become Saints. Jesus exhorts us: “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt 5:48). St. Augustine asked: “If he and she can become Saints, why can’t I?” (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?). On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the Saints and not just talk the talk: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven” (Mt 7:21). 2) We can take the short cuts practiced by three Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to Him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for His glory and for the salvation of souls and by doing God’s will out of love for Him to the best of one’s ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love. 3) We need to walk the walk: On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the Saints, not just talk the talk: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven” (Mt 7:21). 3) The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the Saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the Saints, with our imitation of their lifestyles, enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your Master” (Mt 25:21). 4) We need to pray to the Saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward they are enjoying. Joke of the week: “Both of us are Halloween!”: Two little neighbor girls about the same age, one Christian and one Jewish, were constant companions. After one Easter holiday, the grandfather of the Christian girl asked her what her friend had received for Easter. The girl looked at her grandfather in surprise, and said, “But Grandpa, you should know that Becky is Jewish and she wouldn’t get anything for Easter.” Then she went on to explain patiently, “You see, I’m Easter and she’s Passover. I’m Christmas and she’s Hanukkah.” Then with a big smile, she added, “but I’m really glad that both of us are Halloween.” [Buddy Westbrook in Loyal Jones: The Preacher’s Joke Book (Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, 1989), p. 26.]
3) We need to walk the walk: On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the Saints, not just talk the talk: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven” (Mt 7:21). 2) The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the Saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the Saints, with our imitation of their lifestyle, enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your Master” (Mt 25:21).
4) We need to pray to the Saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward they are enjoying.
Joke of the week:“Both of us are Halloween!”: Two little neighbor girls about the same age, one Christian and one Jewish, were constant companions. After one Easter holiday, the grandfather of the Christian girl asked her what her friend had received for Easter. The girl looked at her grandfather in surprise, and said, “But Grandpa, you should know that Becky is Jewish and she wouldn’t get anything for Easter.” Then she went on to explain patiently, “You see, I’m Easter and she’s Passover. I’m Christmas and she’s Hanukkah.” Then with a big smile, she added, “but I’m really glad that both of us are Halloween.” [Buddy Westbrook in Loyal Jones: The Preacher’s Joke Book (Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, 1989), p. 26.]
Websites of the week
Oscar Romero film in YouTube: Story of a modern martyr
A call and challenge to become Saints: All Saints Day is a summons, a call, a challenge to every one of us who is here. It gives us the simple but reassuring fact that nobody is born a Saint. A Saint is something you have to become. All Saints Day beckons us to something beautiful. It reminds us of our great potential—the promise that lies within each of us.– the promise of holiness. It is God’s promise that has already been fulfilled in the countless people we venerate this day, who are meant to be our models, our companions, our inspirations, our guides. — all the Saints. They give us blessed hope, because they assure us again and again that no one is born a Saint, but every one of us, by the grace of God, can become one. 1)Consider St. Margaret of Cortona. As a teenager, she was the mistress of a young nobleman. She lived with him for nine years, even had a son with him, hoping that, at some point, her lover would marry her. He never did. When he was finally murdered, the shock caused Margaret to re-evaluate her life. She went on to take vows a Franciscan. Her son also joined the order. She was canonized in 1728.2)St. Benedict Joseph Labre.Sometimes those who become Saints are not the ones we expect. They may be the filthy, the rejected, the outcast, the homeless — people like Benedict Joseph Labre. He grew up the son of a prosperous shopkeeper, but he felt called to give up everything and follow Christ. He spent his life wandering from Church to Church in Rome. He rarely bathed; he never washed his clothes. Some people were repelled by him, but the purity of his devotion, and his love of God moved and inspired those who saw him day after day. When he died at the young age of 35, the priests of Rome preserved his filthy clothes as relics, and they buried him in one of the Churches he loved. Today, he is the patron saint of the homeless. 3) Dorothy Day: In the 1920s, if you had to pick a woman who was the least likely candidate for sainthood, it would probably have been an anarchist and Communist from Brooklyn named Dorothy Day. She worked as a journalist and spent many nights drinking with famous writers like Hart Crane and Eugene O’Neill. She entered a common-law marriage and bore a child, who was her delight, and whom she had baptized “Teresa” in the Catholic Church, in March of 1926., though neither she nor her common- law husband was Catholic, and he was bitterly opposed to all religion. [Dorothy Day, From Union Square to Rome (Silver Spring, Maryland: Preservation of the Faith Press, 1938).] She came to belief and to Catholicism gradually. After a very painful struggle, and knowing that her common-law husband would leave her and their daughter if she became a Catholic, Dorothy was baptized in the Catholic Church, December 27, 1927. In her conversion she was determined to continue her mission among the suffering and disadvantaged people living in the city slums, and, with Peter Maurin, embarked on a radical ministry to the poor, one that is still changing the world. She is now a candidate for sainthood. Late in her life, people called her a living Saint. “Don’t call me a Saint,” she once said. “I don’t want to be dismissed that easily!” (https://aleteia.org/blogs/deacon-greg-kandra/dare-to-be-something-more-homily-for-all-saints-day/)
2) Pekapoo puppy: William Hinson recalls the time when his children were younger, and one child’s pet died. Dr. Hinson says that he practiced “replacement therapy.” When one pet died it was replaced by another pet. One time, his youngest daughter Cathy’s cat died. Together they went to find another pet. Cathy selected a tiny peekapoo puppy. When they got home Dr. Hinson agreed to build a doghouse for the new pet to live in. “The only kind of dog I knew very much about was a really big bird dog,” he recalls, “so when I built the doghouse, I built a very large house.” In fact, the house was too large for the small dog. The size of the doghouse scared the little peekapoo puppy. No matter what they did the little dog would not go near the doghouse. In disgust, Dr. Hinson went inside, and sat down in the den while his daughter, Cathy, stood outside, crying over her dad’s impatience and the refusal of her puppy to cooperate. After a while, Cathy got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the doghouse herself. When she crawled into it something wonderful happened. That little puppy trotted right in beside her and stretched out on the doghouse floor! Before too long the dog was taking a nap. All the shadows now stood still for him, and all the fear was taken out of the darkness, because the one whom he loved and trusted had preceded him into that dark and frightening place. It no longer caused him fear. [William H. Hinson. Triumphant Living in Turbulent Times (Nashville: Dimensions for Living, 1993), pp. 119-120.] –There’s a lesson here for us. We can surrender our wills to God’s will, knowing that God loves us. Wherever He leads us, He will be with us. We don’t have to enter dark doghouses alone. Saints trust in God and God alone. Saints submit their will to God’s will.
3) “Never forget what this cross means:” When Margaret Helminski was seven, she received a gift from her grandmother. It was a tiny cross on a wisp of gold chain, so fine its weight was barely perceptible. “Never forget what this cross means,” her grandmother said as she fastened it carefully around Margaret’s neck. Over the years, Margaret says, that cross became a part of her, like the lone freckle on her left cheek. She could look at herself in the mirror and not even see it.
As a graduate psychology student, Margaret took a job tutoring at a school for emotionally disturbed children. Suddenly surrounded by children who expressed their displeasure by kicking, biting, and screaming, she was terrified, though determined not to let it show. On her first night there, the head counselor said that three of the boys had asked to escort her to dinner. Alone! How would she handle it if all three decided to act out at once? She swallowed hard. She desperately needed this job so she fought back the panic and walked with her charges to the dining hall. They passed through the cafeteria line as tantrums and fights erupted around them. Fortunately, none of her boys exhibited any kind of behavioral outburst. They made their way to a table in the center of the busy cafeteria and the boys took their seats. Margaret picked up her fork and was about to take the first bite when she noticed that all three boys were staring at her. “What’s the matter?” she asked. Aren’t you going to ask a blessing?” asked eight-year-old Peter. “I didn’t think I was supposed to,” she responded. “This is a state school, isn’t it?” “Yes,” said David, his blue eyes brimming, “but you wear a cross.” Her grandmother’s words surged to the surface of her memory. “Never forget what this cross means,” her grandmother said. “We thought that meant something,” said Roman, clearly disappointed. “It does. Thank you for reminding me,” Margaret said, as she bowed her head, no longer afraid. [Catholic Digest (Feb. 92), p. 64] — Margaret learned something about Sainthood that day. Saints trust in God and God alone for their ultimate security. Saints submit their will to the will of God. Saints stand firm and witness to their Faith.
4) Is your definition of a Saint a nice person who abides by all the rules? Francis of Assisi bears the title of Saint but according to Mark Galli, in an article in Christianity Today, Francis wasn’t always a nice guy to be around. For example, he had this thing about money: his friars were not to touch it. And he did not mean the, “You can touch money, but just don’t let it grip your heart,” stuff. One day a worshiper at the Church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, Francis’s headquarters, left a coin as an offering at the base of the sanctuary cross. This was a common offering of gratitude to God in that day, but when one of Francis’ friars saw the money, disturbed by its presence at the cross, or perhaps knowing Francis’s revulsion of money he tossed it over to a window sill. When Francis learned the friar had touched money, he did not take the errant brother aside, explain his point of view, and then hug him so as to be sure there were no hard feelings. Instead, Francis rebuked and upbraided the brother. He then commanded him to lift the money from the window sill with his lips, find a pile of donkey dung outside, and with his lips place the coin in the pile. — Was that nice? How could a Saint be so nasty? Is he an exception to the larger guild of Saints? Actually, when compared to the hundreds of stories of Saints that can be culled from the Bible and Church history, Francis was merely fulfilling his job description. [“Saint Nasty,” Christianity Today (June 17, 1996), pp. 25-28.]
5) Sainthood is not for weaklings! A traveler reported a sign on the wall of a restaurant in Wyoming, “If you find your steak tough, walk out quietly. This is no place for weaklings.” [John Bardsley. Quote is from Emphasis (Nov/Dec 1993), p. 21.] — Sainthood is not for weaklings! Felix Adler put it like this: “The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The Saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.” [Quoted in Daily Guideposts (1996).] — Saints are people we look up to. They are people of integrity who will stand their ground regardless of the standard the world may set.
6) Saints are people of integrity: Though his name might not be well known today, in 1972 and 1973 Stan Smith was known throughout the world for being the best of the best in the world of tennis. But many of those who knew of his athletic prowess were unaware that Stan Smith was also a Christian, a gracious, friendly man, and a person of integrity. Stan Smith was good friends with another man of great character and integrity, Arthur Ashe. One year, Arthur and Stan were competing against one another in the World Champion of Tennis competition. The winner would gain instant fame and a great deal of money. The two men were well matched in skill, and the score was tied at match point. Arthur hit a very tricky drop shot that just barely cleared the net. To the crowd’s amazement, Stan caught the shot and returned it in time, winning the game. But the umpires were not convinced that Stan had hit a legitimate shot. If the ball were “up,” still in play, then Stan won the match. But if the ball had bounced twice before Stan reached it, then his hit was illegitimate, and Arthur won the match. The angle and nature of the shot made it almost impossible to see it clearly. Review of the videotape didn’t provide a conclusive answer. Neither the umpire, nor Arthur Ashe had a clear view of the ball. According to the rules of tennis, the umpire asked Stan if the ball had been up when he hit it. He replied that it had been. Stan won. A minor controversy arose over this matter, and Arthur Ashe was asked many times why he had not contested the call in some way. Arthur answered, “If Stan says it was up, it was up!” –He believed in the integrity of his friend so much that he trusted his honesty in a close situation. [Bob Briner, Lambs Among Wolves (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p.124-126.] As far as I know Stan Smith is not a candidate for sainthood. But he did bear one of the characteristics. His words and his actions were one. Sainthood is a lifestyle.
7) Monumental statues ofWest Point Military Academy: West Point Military Academy, just up the Hudson River from New York City, has a beautiful campus. The style of architecture is military Gothic, the grounds are well-groomed and immaculate, and the views of the Hudson River valley can be breathtaking, especially during autumn, when the leaves are changing color. Among the most impressive aspects of the campus decoration are the monumental bronze statues of famous West Point graduates. All the great American generals are there, in one form or another: McArthur, Eisenhower, Grant… The statues are placed in conspicuous locations, and each hero is depicted in uniform, in a posture that expresses his greatness. They serve as a constant reminder to the young cadets that they are called to greatness, to self-sacrifice, to do worthwhile deeds of valor for the sake of their homeland. — As Catholic Christians, we find our heroes not in the military or the political world. Rather, they are those who have done great deeds of valor for the sake of our eternal homeland: The Kingdom of Christ, the Church. They have not necessarily received exceptional natural talent from God, developing and using that talent energetically, responsibly, and courageously, as military and political heroes have. Rather, they are the ones who have let God tend the garden of their souls, as the First Reading puts it. They welcomed God’s grace through the Sacraments, prayer, and obedience to God’s will, and a properly-formed conscience, as explained by the Church. And as a result, truly supernatural virtues took root, grew, and bore fruit in their lives. And this is why images of the Saints abound in Catholic Churches and homes, just as those bronze statues decorate West Point. Keeping the Saints in mind, studying and contemplating their example, can give direction, hope, and energy to our lives, just as the statues of great generals do for the West Point Cadets. (E- Priest)
8) Julius Caesar and St Ignatius Loyola:Julius Caesar, the founder of the Roman Empire, Western history’s most expansive and longest-lasting Empire, was a selfish, dissipated, mediocre government bureaucrat until he was 40 years-old. At that time, he was stationed in Spain. One day he was walking across the city center to his offices, and he noticed a statue of Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian who had single-handedly conquered and ruled the entire Near East, from Greece to Turkey to Palestine to Egypt to Arabia to Afghanistan, all the way to India, before he was 33-years-old. For some reason, seeing the noble statue of that amazing man on that particular day made Julius Caesar think about what little he had done with his own life. And that was the beginning of his incomparable military and political career, one that helped forge the civilization we still enjoy. He needed an ideal to strive for, and he found it in Alexander that Great. As human beings, we all need an ideal to strive for; otherwise our lives stay mediocre. As Christians, we follow Christ as our Ideal, and the Saints are the ones who show us how to do that most effectively. St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, began his remarkably fruitful spiritual journey while he was stuck in bed recovering from a second surgery following a cannonball wound. He had nothing to do but read, and the only books in the house were a biography of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. As he read, the thought came to him: “If St. Francis and St. Dominic did it, why can’t I?” And thus was born one of the most influential Saints who ever walked the earth. He discovered God’s plan for him by studying the lives of the Saints. We can do the same. (E- Priest).
9) “How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” St. Polycarp lived about 200 years after the Christian Church was founded. Polycarp was Bishop of the Church at Smyrna (in present-day Turkey). Persecution broke out in Smyrna, and many Christians were fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The bloodthirsty crowd would not be satisfied until they had killed the leader of the Christian Church, and they sent a search party to find him. Polycarp was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ, and he would be released. He replied, “Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my King Who saved me?” The Roman officer replied, “Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt alive.” But Polycarp said, “You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgement to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish.” It was as much a day of victory as it was a day of tragedy. Polycarp illustrated the power of knowing Jesus, intimately enough to follow Him into the flames. As Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
10) “A Saint is somebody that the light shines through.” Here is a children’s story. The pastor was explaining the pictures of his Church’s stained-glass windows to the third graders. The first stained window is really red, the next window is really blue, the next window is really green, and the next window is really yellow. The sun has come up in the south and wonderful light is coming through these four windows. The pastor says, “This first window with all the reds is dedicated to St. Matthew and it has a picture of St. Matthew on it. The second window with all the blues is dedicated to St. Mark and it has a picture of St. Mark, the second of our Gospels. The third window with all the greens is dedicated to St. Luke and has a picture of St. Luke on it. The fourth window with all the yellows is dedicated to St. John and has a picture of St. John in it. All the windows are so beautiful, especially with the sunlight shining through them.” And one of the little girls says, “Do you know what a Saint is?” “Yes,” replied the pastor. “A Saint is somebody that the light shines through.” —Yes, the light of God shines through the lives of the Saints. It is not your light that is shining; it is the light of God shining through your lives. The windows sparkle and inspire your lives. (Rabbi Edward F. Markquart).
11) Saints inspire us to become better Christians: Their lives inspire you and lift you up to be better people. A Saint doesn’t say, “I want you to be a Christian. I am going to try to subtly force you to be a Christian. I am going to drag you to Church today.” No. By the nature of their lives, these Saints inspire you to be holy. Let me explain by means of a famous example from the lives of Dr. David Livingston and Henry Stanley. Dr. David Livingston was a famous missionary in Africa and he had been there in the heart of Africa and had disappeared into the jungles. Henry Stanley went on a search for Dr. Livingston after he had long disappeared. Henry Stanley, after a lengthy search, finally found Dr. Livingston and gave us a famous line from history. “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” The two men lived together for three months and sometime after that Henry Stanley wrote his memoirs and he said: “Dr. Livingston made me a Christian, and he didn’t even know he was doing it. He inspired me and didn’t even try to.” Saints inspire you to live a life of holiness. (Rabbi Edward F. Markquart).
12) “But that’s the man you could be.” A story is told of a traveling portrait painter who stopped in a small village hoping to get some business. The town drunk — ragged, dirty and unshaved — came along. He wanted his portrait done and the artist complied. He worked painstakingly for a long time, painting not what he saw but what he envisioned beneath that disheveled exterior. Finally, he presented the painting to his customer. “That’s not me,” he shouted. The artist gently laid his hand on the man’s shoulder and replied, “But that’s the man you could be.” –Today’s feast reminds us that we all can become Saints. St. Augustine asked: “If he and she can, why can’t I?” (Al Carino).
13) “Little Way”of the Little Flower: St. Therese was a young, sickly Carmelite contemplative. She was the apple of her father’s eye, but when she obtained permission to enter the convent at the age of 15, he happily brought her there. As a contemplative, she did not do anything extraordinary. Like the rest, she followed the daily and ordinary routine of the monastery. But there was something special in her. She did the ordinary in an extraordinary way. How? By doing them out of a single motive — love for God — and whatever she did, she presented to her Beloved as little flower offerings. She called her way of doing little things out of love for God her “Little Way.” She died of tuberculosis, September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. She was beatified April 29, 1923 and canonized a Saint May 17, 1925, just 28 years after her death, by Pope Pius XI. In 1927 he named her co-patron of the missions with St. Francis Xavier. In 1998, Pope St. John Paul II added one more title, Doctor of the Church, and two years later made her patroness of the 2000 Jubilee Year celebrations, because of her writings on her “Little Way,” that is, the doing of the ordinary in an extraordinary way. (Wikipedia). To be this kind of a Saint, we do not have to do anything extraordinary. Rather, we just do ordinary things. But what is asked of us is to do these ordinary things in an extraordinary way — for love of God. (Al Carino).
14) Halloween is the ultimate holiday of “pretending.” On Halloween we dress up and “pretend” to be someone or something other than ourselves. On Halloween we “pretend” to believe that the people jumping out at us and scaring us in the “haunted houses” we paid $25 to get into are monsters and zombies. On Halloween we happily “pretend” that the scariest stuff in life are those things that “go bump in the night.” On Halloween we revel in “pretend” bumps instead of bumping into the terrifying realities of evil and cruelty that appear on any street, in any office, at any school, in broad daylight, on any given day – and that’s just a rundown of the terrors of the last two weeks. The day after “All Hallows Eve” is known in the liturgical calendar as “All Saints Day.” “All Saints” is a celebration and commemoration of those who were never about pretense, but who devoted their lives to expressing true faithfulness and genuine piety. The Church lives, not by the majesty of its beliefs but by the manifestation of its manifold witness through the magnificence of its “Communion of Saints.” (Fr. Kayala).
15) In their footsteps: St, Jerome says in his writings that, as a boy, he and his friends used to play in the catacombs. Centuries after St Jerome, Roman boys still play in the catacombs. One day a group of boys was wandering through the maze of tunnels. Suddenly their only flashlight gave out. The boys were trapped in total darkness with no idea of the way out. They were on the verge of panic when one boy felt a smooth groove in the rock floor of the tunnel. It turned out to be a path that had been worn smooth by the feet of thousands of Christians in the days of the Roman persecutions. The boys followed in the footsteps of these Saints of old and found their way out of the darkness into sunlight and safety.
(Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quote by Fr. Kayala).
16) All that is necessary to be a Saint is …: Thomas Merton was one of the most influential American Catholic authors of the twentieth century. Shortly after he was converted to Catholicism in the late 1930s, Thomas Merton was walking down the streets of New York with a friend, Robert Lax. Lax was Jewish, and he asked Thomas what he wanted to be, now that he was Catholic. “I don’t know.” Merton replied, adding simply that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax stopped him in his tracks. “What you should say,” he told him, “is that you want to be a Saint!” Merton was dumbfounded. “How do you expect me to be a Saint?” Merton asked him. Lax said: “All that is necessary to be a Saint is to want to be one. Don’t you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you consent to let him do it? All you have is to desire it.” — Thomas Merton knew his friend was right. (John Payappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Kayala).
17) God’s Noblest Creation –The Saints: In the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, under the commanding mosaic of Christ in glory, are six pillars. Atop each is a statue of a Saint. There, side-by-side, are the figures of a queen (St. Elizabeth), a vagrant (St. Benedict Joseph Labre), a cook (St Zita), a doorman (St. Conrad), a Mystic (St Gemma), and a parish priest (St John Vianney). For some of them, the road to holiness was easy, for others very hard. Some Saints had gifts of great natural talent; others seemed devoid of it. Some Saints were fiery, others gentle. Some were gregarious, others loners. There are old Saints (such as St. Anthony of the Desert, who lived to be 105) and young Saints (such as Aloysius Gonzaga and Maria Goretti). There were brilliant Saints (such as Thomas Aquinas) and dense Saints (such as Joseph Cupertino). There were tough Saints (such as Teresa of Avila) and gentle Saints (such as Therese of Lisieux). There were innocent Saints (such as Dominic Savio) and reformed sinners who became Saints (such as Augustine). There are also Saints who did not always agree with each other, such as Jerome and Augustine, who had a running battle of words for years. Nevertheless, the Saints belong together. They all responded to God’s invitation to Sainthood commemorated in today’s liturgy. (Harold Buetow in God Still Speaks –Listen! Quoted by Fr. Botelho).
18) Street sweeper can become a Saint, how?Six months before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967. Part of his “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” speech is the tale of the street sweeper. The story provides inspiration for us to believe that regardless of what we do we should always aspire to be the best we can at what we do. It is the secret of living Saintly lives as well. “If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music … Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and earth will have to pause and say: “Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.” (Martin Luther King)
19) Saint in Heaven saving his child: “Her husband had died a few years before, and she had a young son who was born just before his father’s death. One day when her son was at a neighbor’s house, she suddenly sensed her husband was speaking to her. He seemed to be telling her that their son was drowning in a swimming pool. She ran next door to the neighbor’s and found her son drowning in the pool, exactly as she sensed her husband telling her. She pulled her son out of the pool, just in time to save his life. Why does this story move us so deeply? A story about a child’s life being saved is certainly moving, but this story contains something more. A dead father is still there for his child, at the moment when he is needed most.” [Matthew & Denis Linn and Sheila Fabricant, Healing the Greatest Hurt (Paulist Press), p. 144.]
20) Honoring great people: Showing honor is a natural human response to the goodness, even the greatness, of another human being. We honor the founders and other leaders of our country from throughout history. We name cities after them, write books about them, make statues of them to erect in public places. We paint pictures of them to display in schools and government buildings. We speak reverently and gratefully of them on patriotic holidays. We do similar things for great scientists, great leaders of social movements, great artists and musicians. Why? Because it’s a matter of justice to recognize their gifts and contributions to us. Justice means giving to each his due. We recognize that we owe much to these great human beings, and we want to say so in different ways. In all the ways we venerate these great men and women, we are giving them honor. And so we shouldn’t be surprised that the Catholic Church venerates the great heroes of the Faith, who over the centuries have embodied in an extraordinary manner the way of life to which we’re called as Christians. Now that these men and women have been perfected by God and are Saints standing face to Face with Him in Heaven, we have even more reason to venerate them. (https://www.osv.com/MyFaith/ModelsoftheFaith/Article/TabId/684/ArtMID/13728/ArticleID/15445/What-Is-the-Communion-of-Saints.aspx) L/19
21) Fable of water bugs turned to dragon fly: There was once a colony of water bugs living below the surface of a quiet pond. The bugs spent many months scurrying around in the silt at the bottom of the pond, and from time to time they noticed that one of their friends would grab hold of a pond lily stem and gradually move out of sight and wasn’t ever seen again. Those left behind would wait and wait, but their friend never came back. They wondered where their friend had gone, and made a deal: the next one to climb up a stalk would come back and tell the others where they went and why. Then one spring day, one of them found himself climbing up a lily stalk. Suddenly, he found himself on the surface, sitting on the leaf of the lily pad that he’d only ever seen from underneath. He was tired from the climb, so he went to sleep on the lily pad. When he woke up he was startled by the change he noticed in his body. He shook himself and realized he had four beautiful wings and a long tail! The warm sun dried him off, and he flapped his wings. Suddenly, he found himself in the air above the water. He looked at his reflection and realized that he had become a magnificent dragonfly. He found himself swooping and flitting around loving the new atmosphere he had found himself in.
When it was time to take a rest, he landed on a lily pad again. When he did, he looked over the edge and could see all of the water bugs running around at the bottom of the pond. Then he remembered his promise to go back and tell them where he’d gone and why. He flew up into the air and tried to dive down through the surface of the water, but he just bounced off. He couldn’t go back into the water, and he realized that even if he could go back, his friends wouldn’t recognize him! He decided he would just have to wait for them to come up to him instead, knowing that they would only understand it all when they, too, had climbed the stem and come out into the sunlight and air. So he flew off to enjoy his new found freedom while he waited for them to join him. — While this might just be a fable, we can use this story in much the same way as Jesus told parables to explain difficult concepts to the people who gathered to listen to him. As a parable, it tells us how hard it for us, while in this life, to understand what happens when we die. We would love to have someone to come back from the dead and tell us exactly what it’s like to die and what it’s like on the other side of death. — This little story does a great job explaining that those who die have passed to a place that none of us “water bugs” could ever dream of. It is a place far greater than our lowly existence on the bottom of the pond, a place worth going to, because there, we will find a freedom that we have never experienced before. Just as the water bug was changed from a lowly creature to a magnificent dragonfly so also the change that we will experience when we arrive in Heaven will be even more amazing – something that we can’t even begin to imagine at this moment. This little fable also reminds us that our life in this world is limited. We scurry here and there at a furious pace just like the water bugs, then one day our turn will come, and we too will walk along the lily stem of death to a new life; our earthly bodies will change, and we will be free of all that bothers us now.
At this present time, we live in a world which is focused on turning life at the bottom of the pond into paradise and trying ever so hard to blot out any notion that the paradise we are creating is temporary and limited. We can’t imagine a time when we won’t wake up in our own bed, or walk in our favorite part of the garden, or sit in our favorite chair with our feet up in front of the TV, or play a round of golf. We can’t imagine a world where there are no football games, no shopping malls, no going off to work and no more visits to the doctor. All of these are part of life on the bottom of the pond. That’s not to say we can’t be happy here, as I’m sure water bugs on the bottom of the pond were, but life in the pond can also be very distressing and depressing. As good as all these things are in our self-made paradise, there is something far better yet to come. As Christians, we look ahead to the day when we will enter the place where God is. The Bible says this, “Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. God has something stored up for you in Heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear” (1 Peter 1:3,4 CEV). (Rev. Vince Gearhardy)
22) Egocentric Heaven versus real Heaven:Indeed, many people today have rather egocentric notions of Heaven. Heaven is a place where I will be happy, where I will see my family, where I will take leisure. I will have my mansion; I will no longer get sick; I can play all the golf I want, etc. Heaven is a “better place.” This better place is generally understood in very personal terms; it’s a kind of “designer Heaven.” But Heaven is what it is, not what we conceive it to be. As for the real Heaven, the heart of it is being with God, looking upon His glorious face and thereby having all our inexpressible longings satisfied. In Heaven, the Saints behold the glorious face of God and rejoice. It is their joy to praise Him and to rejoice in His Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. (Msgr. Charles Pope).
23) Satan’s beatitudes: Satan has also his own beatitudes. The following lines are:
Blessed are they who are tired and busy to go to Church on Sundays for they are my best workers;
Blessed are they who are bored with the ministers’ mannerisms and mistakes, for they get nothing out of the sermon;
Blessed are they who gossip, for they cause strife and divisions that please me;
Blessed are they who are easily offended, for they soon get angry and quit;
Blessed are they who do not give their offerings to carry on God’s work, for they are my best helpers;
Blessed are they who profess to love God but hate their own brothers, for they will be with me forever;
Blessed are the troublemakers, for they shall be called the children of the devil
Blessed is he who has no time to pray, for that person shall be easy prey. L/26
Kindly visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Please contact me by email only atakadavil@gmail.com.For additional homilies, you may visithttps://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies of Fr. Nick’s collection of homilies or Resources in the CBCI website: https://www.cbci.in. (Special thanksto Vatican Radio website http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) My post-retirement U. S. postal address is Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Fr. Anthony Kadavil, C/o Fr. Joseph M. C. , St. Agatha Church, 1001 Hand Avenue, Bay Minette, Al, U. S. A. 36507
Oct 26 Monday: Lk 13:10-17: 10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13 And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said this, all his adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
The context: Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus healed a woman in the synagogue who had been suffering for 18 years from what seems to have been scoliosis or curvature of the spine. People in those days believed that she was possessed by a spirit which drained her strength. Jesus felt sympathy for her, called her to his side, laid his hands on her and said: “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. The reaction: Instead of joining the healed woman in praising God, the ruler of the synagogue, in his zeal for fulfilling the Law (cf. Ex 20:8; 31:14; Lv 19:3-30), publicly scolded the people for seeking healing on a Sabbath day, indirectly blaming Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker. Jesus reacted promptly, accusing the ruler of hypocrisy and explaining that Sabbath rest was meant for doing acts of charity. Jesus asked the ruler why taking out cattle and asses for drinking water was no violation of Sabbath and releasing a poor woman from Satan’s bond was a violation of the Sabbath ban on work. Life messages: 1) Many of us are bowed down with the burdens and worries of our lives. Many of us are weighed down and held captive by terrible burdens that we carry in solitary sadness like some terrible secrets, or a paralyzing fear, or some unconfessed great sins. 2) We are often affected by spiritual deafness which makes us incapable of hearing God speaking to us, or by spiritual dumbness which causes inability to proclaim our Faith in public. 3) We can also suffer from the spiritual leprosy of sins and possession by the evil spirit of addiction to sinful habits. 4) Jesus is ready to place a healing hand on us and liberate us when we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation, if needed, and join in the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass with expectant Faith and fervent prayer.,(Fr. Tony) https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Oct 27 Tuesday: Lk 13:18-21:18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” 20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
The context: Today’s Gospel contains two of Jesus’ one-line parables about the Kingdom of God. The parable of the mustard seed probably shows that Gentiles in the Church will one day outnumber Jews. The parable of the yeast indicates that all are invited to salvation, and the Gentiles, who were considered evil, like yeast, will enable the Church to grow. Small beginnings with great endings: Using a pair of mini-parables, the Mustard Seed and the Yeast, Jesus explains how the Kingdom, or Reign, of God grows within us by the power of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit living within us. When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and allow Jesus’ word to take root in our hearts, we are transformed and made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us. In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the primary point of comparison is the contrast between the smallness of the seed and the greatness of the result (“the largest of plants”). The life-principle in a small mustard seed enables it to grow into a large bush by a slow, but steady, process. The microscopic Yeasts within a small piece of leaven transform a thick lump of dough overnight into a large, soft, spongy dough, ready for the oven. Christianity had a small beginning, like a mustard seed or yeast, with Jesus and a band of twelve Apostles in a remote corner of the world. But through the power of the Holy Spirit living in individual Christians, Christianity has become the largest religion in the world, spreading in all countries and embracing all races of people.
Life messages: 1) We need to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from living our evil ways and tendencies to living a life of holiness; from unjust and uncharitable conversation to speaking with God and listening to Him (prayer); from gossiping about people and passing judgment on them in our minds, and sometimes on our speech, to showing compassion for others and supporting them with consoling, encouraging, and inspiring words and deeds. 2) We need to act like yeast, silently influencing the lives of others around us: Just as Christianity in the past transformed the status of women, children, slaves, the sick, and the poor by the power of Jesus’ Gospel, so we, as Christians in our time, have the duty to transform the lives of people around us by leading exemplary lives through the grace of God, according to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Lk 6:12-16: 12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives a short account of the call of the apostles and of the preaching and healing mission of Jesus. Jesus was the first missionary, sent by his Father with the “good news” that God his Father is a loving, merciful, and forgiving Father who wants to save everyone through His Son, Jesus. Today’s Gospel describes how this first missionary selected and empowered twelve future missionaries as apostles to continue his mission. Special features: Jesus selected very ordinary people, most of them hard-working fishermen with no social status, learning or political influence, certain that they would be very effective instruments in God’s hands. It was a strange mixture of people. Matthew was a hated collector of taxes for Rome, a foreign power, while Simon the Cananaean was a Zealot and fanatical nationalist determined to destroy Roman rule by any means. The others were mostly professional fishermen with a lot of good will, patience and stamina. It was only their admiration and love for Jesus that united them. Jesus selected them after a night of prayer and gave them his own powers of healing and exorcism and his own mission of preaching the “kingdom of God.”
Life Messages: 1) God wants to show us that a calling for ministry, or a vocation, is an initiative of God. As Christians we have the same mission that Jesus entrusted to his apostles. 2) We fulfill this mission of preaching the word of God, primarily by our living out of Jesus’ teachings and also by promoting and helping world-wide missionary activities of the Church with prayer, moral support and financial aid. (Fr. Tony) L/26
Oct 29 Thursday: Lk 13:31-35:31 At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, `Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'”
The context: Some Pharisees warned Jesus that he was in imminent danger of arrest by Herod. They might have been either his friends among the Pharisees or Jesus’ enemies who wanted him to leave their territory. Jesus’ reaction: Jesus called Herod a fox – a cunning, fearful, and dangerous animal. But with prophetic courage, Jesus was determined to do the Messianic work entrusted to him by God his Father. Hence, Jesus sent the message to Herod that he would continue with his preaching and healing ministry. Prophesying his death in Jerusalem, Jesus expressed his love and longing for the Holy City of Jerusalem, using the image of a mother hen gathering all her chicks under her protective wings. Across the valley from the city of Jerusalem there is a church called Dominus flevit, which means, “The Lord wept.” On the base of the altar of that Church, there is a small mosaic showing a mother hen with her chicks. They are under her wings for protection, some of them peering out in the way that chicks do. “The image of being protected by wings, which occurs often in the Old Testament, refers to God’s love and protection of his people. It is to be found in the prophets, in the canticles of Moses (cf. Dt 32:11), and in many Psalms” (cf. 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 61:5; 63:8). That mosaic is the representation of today’s Gospel text expressing God’s warm and protective maternal love. Jesus loved Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Hence, he felt deep sorrow at its lack of response to his message, a lack which would continue when he preached there in the last week of his earthly life. Finally, he said to those who had warned him, “Behold, your House is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'”(Lk 13:35) – either at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday or at his final coming as Judge and Lord of all.
Life messages: 1) As Christians we should have the courage of our religious convictions, and the good will to practice them. 2) We need to be aware of the dire consequences of rejecting God’s graces and the chances He gives us every day to reform our lives. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Oct 30 Friday: Luke 14:1-6:1 One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” 6 And they could not reply to this.
The context: Since Jesus was invited to a Pharisee’s house, and since it was the Sabbath, the food had been cooked the day before the Sabbath (because cooking was work), and kept hot till the Sabbath. During the meal in a Pharisees’ house Jesus felt sympathy for a man suffering from dropsy (distension of abdomen with water, usually the result of liver and kidney infection from recurrent attacks of malarial fever, common in Palestine) and, after asking the lawyers and Pharisees whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, and getting silence for an answer, healed him, For the Pharisees this was a gross violation of Sabbath law. No wonder they considered Jesus as a reckless Sabbath-breaker for doing seven healings on Sabbath! Jesus challenged them, asking if they would not save their son or ox on a Sabbath if the child or the animal had an accidental fall into a well, a rhetorical question for which the answer was yes. They remained silent. The purposes of the Sabbath: The Sabbath was intended by God to be: 1) a day of worship and of praising and thanking God for His goodness, providence, mercy, and blessings; 2) a day for teaching God’s law to the children; 3) a day of rest from normal work, 4) a day for socializing with the members of the family and neighbors and 5), a day for doing works of charity in the community.
Life messages: 1) We need to observe Sunday as the Lord’s Day by actively participating in the Eucharistic celebration and various ministries in the parish, by sending the children to Sunday schools, and by instructing them in the Catholic Faith and by socializing with the members of our family and neighbors. 2)We are also encouraged to engage in active works of charity in our parish and community – visiting the sick and praying for their recovery, comforting them, and encouraging them with words and deeds and, if possible and needed, with financial help. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Oct 31 Saturday: Lk 14:1, 7-11: One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. 7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, `Give place to this man,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, `Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Introduction: Today’s Gospel teaches us the need for true humility and the blessedness of generous sharing with the needy. It warns us against all forms of pride and self-glorification. It presents humility, not only as a virtue, but also as a means of opening our hearts, our minds, and our hands to the poor, the needy, the disadvantaged and the marginalized people in our society – the personal responsibility of every authentic Christian. At a dinner party where Jesus was a guest of honor, he explained the practical benefits of humility, connecting it with the common wisdom about dining etiquette. The Master advised the guests to go to the lowest place instead of seeking places of honor, so that the host might give them the place they really deserved. Jesus’ words concerning the seating of guests at a banquet should prompt us to honor those whom others ignore, because if we are generous and just in our dealings with those in need, we can be confident of the Lord’s blessings. Life Messages: 1) We need to practice humility in our personal and social life: Humility is based on the psychological awareness that everything I have is a gift from God and, therefore, I have no reason, on that account or any other, to elevate myself above others. On the contrary, I must use these God-given gifts to help others. 2) True humility requires us neither to overestimate nor to underestimate our worth. 3) We must admit the truths that we are sinners, that we do not know everything, and that we do not always act properly. Nevertheless, we must also recognize that we are made in the image and likeness of God, and that we are called to help build the kingdom of God with our God-given gifts. 4) We are of value, not because of those gifts, but because we are loved by God as His children and redeemed by the precious Blood of His Son, Jesus. 5) The quality of humility that Jesus is talking about has a sociological dimension too. For Jesus is inviting us to associate with the so-called “lower classes” of the society — even the outcasts. Jesus invites us to change our social patterns in such a way that we connect with and serve with agape love the homeless, the handicapped, the elderly, and the impoverished — the “street people” of the world. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
1 All Souls’ Day (Monday, November 2, 2026)Homily Two-page summary (L/26)
All Souls’ Day is a day specially set apart that we may remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone for their eternal reward, and who are currently in a state of ongoing purification.
Ancient belief supported by Church tradition: People of all religions have believed in the immortality of the soul and have prayed for the dead: 1) The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of temporary bondage (Sheol) from which the souls of the dead would receive their final release. The Jewish catechism, Talmud, states that prayers for the dead will help to bring them the deceased greater rewards and blessings, too. Prayer for the souls of the departed is retained by the Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that he/she may be purified.
2) First century practice: Jesus and the apostles shared this belief and passed it on to the early Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium-50).
3) The liturgies of the Mass in various rites, dating from the early centuries of the Church, include Prayers for the Dead.
4) The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice. Tertullian (AD 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine (AD 354 – 430) remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: “When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar” (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 9, Chapter 11, Section 27).
5) The Synods of Nicaea, Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing evidence from Scripture to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls.
Theological reasoning: According to Rv 21:27: “…nothing unclean shall enter Heaven.” Holy Scripture (Prv 24:16) also teaches that even “the just sin seven times a day.” Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls with venial sins in Hell, they 2 are seen as entering a place or state of purification, called Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
Biblical evidence: 1) II Mac 12:46 is the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Mac 12:39-46), describes how Judas Maccabeus, the military commander, “took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin of ering” (II Mac 12:43). The narrator continues, “If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them.”
2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day” (II Tim: 1:18). Other pertinent Bible texts: Mt 12:32, I Cor 3:15, Zec13:19, Sir 7:33. The Church’s teaching:
The Church’s official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent) though the souls undergoing purgation cannot make intercession for themselves.
Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and the fire of Jesus’ continuing Divine Love for them. They also speak of Purgatory as an “instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual.
How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism of the Catholic Church recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and encourages “almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead” (CCC #1032). Let us not forget to pray for our departed dear ones, have Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for them. God can foresee and apply the merits of our present-day prayers, penances, and works of charity for our departed dear ones, even those made years after their deaths, in favor of our deceased dear ones, at the moment of their deaths.
ALL SOULS’ DAY: (Monday, Nov 2, 2026): Wis 3:1-9; Rom 5:5-11; Jn 6:37-40
Introduction: This is a day specially set apart that we may remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone to their eternal reward, and who are currently in a state or process of ongoing purification. In fact, the Church remembers the faithful departed not just on this special day and all the days of November, but on every single day of the year, at every Mass celebrated anywhere in this world. As a part of our annual celebration of the Christian doctrine of the Communion of Saints yesterday, we celebrated All Saints Day, the Thanksgiving feast of the Church Triumphant. Today we commemorate All Souls Day, our Thanksgiving Feast for the Church Suffering, and tomorrow should be our day of prayer and Thanksgiving for All of Us, the Church Militant, thus completing the Communion of Saints.
1) Ancient tradition: From time immemorial, people of all religions have believed in the immortality of the soul and have prayed for the dead. The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of temporary bondage, Sheol, from which the souls of the dead would receive their final release. The Jewish Talmud states that prayers for the dead will help to bring the deceased greater rewards and blessings. Since Jesus in no way contradicted this ancient belief, the efficacy of prayers for those who have died was incorporated by the infant Church in its teachings and practice. Evidence suggests that the belief dates back to the first century of the Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium 50). In addition, Mass liturgies dating from these early centuries of the 4 Church include “Prayers for the Dead.” Some of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament, like the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity (both written during the second century), refer to the Christian practice of praying for the dead. Oriental Christians in Ancient times considered deceased members of the family as still being family members, and so included them in their family night prayers.
2)The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice which they believed had been inherited from the Apostles. Church Fathers: Tertullian (AD 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine (AD 354 – 430) remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: “When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar” (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 9, Chapter 11, Section 27). St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), in one of his many catechetical discourses, explained how at Mass both the living and dead are remembered, and how the Eucharistic Sacrifice of our Lord is of benefit to sinners, living and dead. St. Ambrose (d. 397) preached, “We have loved them during life; let us not abandon them in death, until we have conducted them by our prayers into the House of the Lord.” St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) urged, “Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our of erings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to of er our prayers for them.” Pope St. Gregory the Great (AD ca 540- 604) said, “Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to of er our prayers for them.” Though the word Purgatory does not appear in Scripture, neither do the words Trinity and Incarnation, yet all three doctrines are clearly taught in the Bible. Likewise, Scripture teaches that Purgatory exists, even if it doesn’t use that word.
2) According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition (CCC), “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation, but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven”(CCC # 1030).
3) Logical belief supported by Synods. Purgatory, essentially, is seen in our belief in two realities: First, that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering Heaven, and second, that the prayers and Masses of the faithful are sure to benefit those in the state of purification. We know that we are not perfect enough for Heaven, and we hope that we are not wicked enough for Hell. So, there must be a middle state of purification. Not even all the canonized saints go immediately to Heaven because, even though they lived the Christian faith with heroic virtue, there may be parts of their lives that were not totally redeemed; they may still have some defects for which Penance still needs to be done, like anger, impatience, vanity, lack of total forgiveness for those who have hurt them, and other failings. The observance of All Souls Day is based on the theological premise that some of those who have departed from this world, have not been perfectly cleansed from venial sin, or have not fully atoned for their past transgressions. Hence, the Catholic Church teaches that not everyone who dies in God’s grace is immediately ready for the Beatific Vision, that is, the direct experience of God and His perfect Nature in Heaven. So, they must be purified of “lesser faults” and the temporal punishment due to sin in a place or state of purification.
The Catholic teaching on Purgatory essentially requires belief in two realities: 1) that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering Heaven, and 2) that the prayers and Masses of the living faithful in some way will benefit those who have left this life and are in the state of purification.
The Synods of Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidence to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls. According to Rv 21:27, “Nothing unclean shall enter Heaven” (cfr. also Is 35:8 and Wis 7:25). Holy Scripture teaches that even “the just sin seven times a day” (Prv 24:16). Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. The Catholic Church understands the Communion of Saints as a relationship of love joining the faithful, living and departed. The Saints, both in Heaven and in Purgatory, pray for us, and we pray both to the Saints in Heaven for their intercession, and for those in Purgatory, both asking their intercession for us and, in thanks, offering in reparation for their sins, our Masses, Adoration time, Rosaries, Stations of the Cross, prayers (especially indulgenced prayers) that they may more swiftly enter the Beatific Vision. Thus, death is no barrier to prayerful communion with the dead. We lovingly remember them and thank God for their eternal reward. These souls can experience the love of Christ who frees them from their imperfections. As the Second Vatican Council repeats, “fully conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead” (Lumen Gentium, n. 50). Said Pope St. John Paul II: “Before we enter into God’s kingdom, every trace of sin within us must be eliminated, every imperfection in our soul must be corrected.” (CCC #1030-1032).
6)Biblical basis:1) II Mac 12:46 serves as the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Mac 12:39-46) describes how Judas Maccabeus, the military commander, discovered that those of his men who had died in a particular battle had been wearing forbidden pagan amulets. His men at once “begged that the sin committed might be fully blotted out” (2 Mac 12:42). Judas then “took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin of ering” (2 Mac 12:43). The narrator continues, ”If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them; whereas, if he had had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. This was why he had this atonement sacrifice of ered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin” (2 Mac 12:44-46). These verses so clearly illustrate the existence of Purgatory that, at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine. Not only can we show that prayer for the souls of the departed was practiced by the Jews of the time of the Maccabees, but it has even been retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified.
2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day” (II Tim 1:18).
3) In St. Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 12: 32), Jesus says, “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come,” implying quite clearly that there are some sins that can be forgiven in the age to come, the type of sin which St. John’s first letter says is not “mortal” or “deadly” (1 John 5:16). St. Augustine and Pope St. Gregory the Great interpret this phrase, “in the age to come,” as a reference to Purgatory. Jesus’ statement that certain sins “will not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come,” at least suggests a purging of the soul after death. Pope St. Gregory the Great (d. 604) stated, “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire.” The Council of Lyons (1274) likewise affirmed this interpretation of our Lord’s teaching.
4) In I Cor 3:15, St. Paul speaks of a “test by fire” after death to prove the worth of our work in this world: “But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire.” Several of the early Church Fathers considered this a reference to a process of purification after death.
5) Zec 13:19 “And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as silver is purified by fire.” The Jewish School of Rabbi Shammai interpreted this passage as a purification of the soul through God’s mercy and goodness, preparing it for eternal life. The Fathers of the Church interpret the statement as a reference to Purgatory.
6) Sir 7:33 “Withhold not your kindness from the dead” The Jewish rabbis used to interpret this passage as imploring God to cleanse the souls of the deceased.
The Church’s teaching: The Church’s official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). In Lumen Gentium (50-52), Purgatory is seen in the broader context of salvation and heaven.
Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church asserts, “This Sacred Council accepts loyally the venerable Faith of our ancestors in the living Communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicaea, of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent” (No. 51). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Purgatory as the “final purification of the elect, which is entirely dif erent from the punishment of the damned” (CCC #1031). “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven” (CCC #1030). “Hope does not disappoint,” says St. Paul in today’s second reading. Purgatory is a good-news, bad-news situation for those who are there. The good news is: You are on the way to salvation. The bad news is: You have to suffer temporarily as you prepare for the presence of God. But it is very different from the pain of hell. Purgatory is suffering, but not torment. “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them,” says today’s first reading. Purgatory is an invention of our God of great mercy, Who never wants to give up on us. “And this is the will of the One who sent me,” says Jesus in the Gospel, “that I should not lose anything of what He gave me, but that I should raise it on the Last Day.” Modern interpretations: Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and the fire of Divine love. They also speak of Purgatory as an “instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual. According to this view, the refining fire of Purgatory is only a relic of medieval imagery. It is actually the fire of Divine love. It may, in fact, be a form of “blazing enlightenment” which penetrates and perfects our very being. God can anticipate and apply the merits of our present and future prayers for the dead, in favor of the souls we pray for, at the time of their purification. Pope Benedict considers Purgatory as an “existential state” and, hence, it is not necessarily accurate to speak of a location or duration of Purgatory. According to Pope Benedict XVI, “the souls that are aware of the immense love and perfect justice of God consequently suf er for not having responded correctly and perfectly to that love.” It is the suffering of the holy souls. He continues that Purgatory is thus “the fringe of Heaven, a state where Heaven’s eternal light has a refining ef ect on the ‘holy souls’ (not ‘poor souls’), who are held in the arms of Divine Mercy.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dW f_BtITG1Y .
How do we help the “holy souls”? II Mac tells us, very succinctly, “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from their sins” (2 Mac 12:45). The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and of ered prayers in suf rage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead” (CCC #1032), and recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. God has set up the economy of salvation so that our deeds of love, offered in union with Christ’s own sacrifice, may help others. Christ calls us to be co-redeemership.. Just as Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection brought salvation to the whole human race, so our deeds of love united to those of Jesus by God’s own design, can help those who have gone before us as well as ourselves! This is one of the reasons why St. Paul could exclaim, “In my own flesh, I make up what is lacking in the suf erings of Christ for the sake of His Body, the Church” (Col 1:24). The Church teaches that praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy, a spiritual work of loving co-redemption. And the greatest prayer of all we could offer for the dead is the prayer of the Mass, when we unite our own personal prayers — those emanating from our lips, our hearts, even our bodies in all types of actions of loving sacrifice for others — to Christ’s own prayer in the Mass, the continuous, saving sacrifice once-and-for-all, begun during the Last Supper and finished on the Cross. That is why the Church has venerated for centuries the practice of praying for the dead at Mass, explicitly having Masses offered for a particular loved one as well as praying, in every Eucharistic prayer, for all those “who have gone before us with the 10 sign of Faith” (Eucharistic Prayer I), as well as “all the dead, whose faith You [God] alone have known” (Eucharistic Prayer IV). Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Mirae Caritatis (1902), states, “The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to all who belong to the Communion of Saints. Vatican Council II af irmed, “This Sacred Council accepts loyally the venerable Faith of our ancestors in the living Communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death…” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) No. 51). The Catechism asserts, “From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and of ered prayers in suf rage for them, above all the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the Beatific Vision of God” (CCC #1032). In the same item, the Catechism also encourages “almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance, undertaken on behalf of the dead.” All these prayerful acts are to be conducted as matters of Faith and not as something magical. The greatest act is to offer Mass for the dead, because in this One Sacrifice, the merits of our Lord Jesus are applied to the dead. Hence, this reconciling offering of the Lord is the greatest and most perfect prayer, which we can offer for the dead in their state of purification. Every member of the Communion of Saints is remembered and prayed for in every Mass. There is a Mexican saying that we die three deaths: the first when our bodies die, the second when our bodies are lowered into the earth out of sight, and the third when our loved ones forget us. Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed, to have Masses offered for them, to visit their graves, and to make daily sacrifices for them. God can foresee and apply the merits of our prayers, penances, and works of charity, done even years after their death, in favor of (for) our deceased dear ones at the moment of their deaths. However, if indeed the departed soul has been purified and now rests in God’s presence in Heaven, then those prayers and sacrifices offered benefit the other souls in Purgatory through the love and mercy of God. Let us raise this prayer to God: “God of infinite mercy, we entrust to Your immense goodness all those who have left this world for eternity, where 11 You wait for all humanity, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ Your Son, Who died as a ransom for our sins. Look not, O Lord, on our poverty, our suffering, our human weakness, when we appear before You to be judged for joy or for condemnation. Look upon us with mercy, born of the tenderness of Your heart, and help us to walk in the ways of complete purification. Let none of Your children be lost in the eternal fire, where there can be no repentance. We entrust to You, O Lord, the souls of our beloved dead, of those who have died without the comfort of the sacraments, or who have not had an opportunity to repent, even at the end of their lives. May none of them be afraid to meet You, after their earthly pilgrimage, but may they always hope to be welcomed in the embrace of Your infinite mercy. May our Sister, corporal death, find us always vigilant in prayer and filled with the goodness done in the course of our short or long lives. Lord, may no earthly thing ever separate us from You, but may everyone and everything support us with a burning desire to rest peacefully and eternally in You. Amen.” (Fr Antonio Rungi, Passionist, Prayer for the Dead). (from Pope Francis’ Angelus message on Nov 2, 2014).
Testimony by Fr. Paddy: When I was young, the devotion to the Holy Souls was very popular. People offered Masses for the Holy Souls. On All Souls Day each Priest offered three Masses, people came in great numbers for the Masses, and they visited the Church often during the day to gain indulgences by their prayers. Even today relatives have Mass offered for their loved ones on their anniversary, birthday, Christmas and Easter. Sadly, however, prayer for the Holy Souls is not as popular as in times past. If I were to ask what is the best thing you can do for a loved one who has died, what would you say? A funeral to talk about them? A nice grave and headstone? A tree, plant or a beautiful flower? Have a wonderful reception? Yes, all those things are nice. But the best gift is prayer because that is the only thing that can help them on their journey to the Lord. I have put at the end of my will, “Please don’t spend time talking about me, spend time praying for me.” For it is a holy and wholesome thing to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sin. (Oct 30, 2009) (sacredheartparish)
On Dad’s Shoulders: In Kohima, Nagaland, there is a War cemetery where the allied soldiers who died during the War are buried. On the 12 door of the Cemetery it is written, “Tell them that we gave our today for your tomorrow.” Like the soldiers of World War II, the memory of our near and dear ones is a reminder that we need to be grateful to them because what we are today is mainly due to their efforts and sacrifices. A Scottish poet has written, “If I have done anything in life, it is because I was able to stand on the shoulders of my dad.” (Elias Dias in Divine Stories for Families; quoted by Fr. Botelho). “And this is where they left their clothes.” A child was walking through a cemetery one day with his granddad. Puzzled by the gravestones he asked his granddad. His granddad said, “These people were living in those houses. Then God called them and now they’re living in God’s house.” The boy said, “And this is where they left their clothes.” What better way could we explain passing from this life to the next? (Fr. Jack McArdle). “I will be seeing you soon!” One day a priest was preparing a group of children for their First Communion. He wanted to know how much the kids understood the Church’s teaching on Final Judgment. He asked one of the little boys, “What will God say on Judgment day to those who have led a very good life on earth?” Without any hesitation the boy replied, “Come and enter Heaven and live with me.” The priest asked a second boy, “What will the Lord say to those who have lived a very bad life?” The boy said, “You cannot come to Heaven. You will have to go to Hell.” Then the priest went on: “Now what will God say to those who are not good enough to enter heaven at once nor bad enough to go to Hell?” After a pause a little girl put up her hand and said, “God will say, ‘I will be seeing you soon!’” (Elias Dias in Divine Stories for Families) L/26
Oct 19-24: Oct 19 Monday: St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests & Companions, Martyrs (USA):https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saints-isaac-jogu es-jean-de-brebeuf-and-companion: Lk 12:13-21: 13 One of the multitude said to him, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; 17 and he thought to himself, `What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich in what matters to God.” USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
The context: Jesus told the parable of the foolish rich man as a response to a Jew who had asked Jesus’ help in solving his dispute with his brother concerning their paternal inheritance. By relating this parable, Jesus warns us against all types of greed, because greed takes our life’s focus away from God and away from serving and loving other people. Instead, greed directs all our energy and attention to fulfilling our own self, making our wealth the basis of our security. Jesus also warns us against the temptation to place our dependence upon material things because “one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
The teaching: Through this parable Jesus points out to the audience the folly of greed and selfishness. He declares that the criterion for Heavenly bliss is not earthly wealth but how generously we share what we have with others. In the parable, God calls the rich man “fool” because 1) he has evicted God from his heart, enthroned money instead, and worshipped his wealth; 2) he has also evicted his brothers and sisters in need from his heart because there is place in it only for his wealth; 3) he 2
has filled his heart with himself and has become greedy; 4) he has forgotten that he will die one day and lose all his possessions.
Life messages: 1) We need to share our blessings with others because all these things have been loaned to us by God, and so we are accountable for their use. We need to be generous in sharing our time, our treasure, and our talents, the three elements of Christian stewardship. 2) We must learn to control our greed because it diverts our life and energies from loving God and from serving and loving Him in other people to loving ourselves alone. Our greed takes different shapes and forms. For some it may be the desire for the approval and praise of others. For others it is the uncontrolled desire for power, control or fame. For still others it takes the form of desire for excessive and sinful indulgence in eating, drinking, gambling, drugs or sexual activities. Hence, let us rely on the strength of God to free us from all forms of greed. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Oct 20 Tuesday:St. Paul of the Cross, Priest, (USA):https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-paul-of-the-cross: Lk 12:35-38: 35 “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!”
The context: Today’s passage from Luke’s Gospel is one of three eschatological discourses in the Gospel. It gives us one of the two “Master – Servant” parables. It emphasizes the necessity for Faith and vigilant preparedness in the lives of Christ’s followers. Since a Jewish wedding feast could last a week, the servants had ample time to take their rest before the master’s return. Garments tied up about the waist 3
are an image of readiness in the Scriptures because the Jewish soldiers wore full-length garments while Roman soldiers wore kilts, which enabled them to run at full speed when they had to. Jesus wants us, his disciples, to be ready to do God’s will at every moment, reaching out to love those around us and freely offering them humble, sacrificial service.
The interpretation: In the parable, the chief characters are a master (representing the risen Jesus), and his servants (Jesus’ followers). According to the Fathers of the Church, Jesus’ words in this passage have two senses. In the narrower sense, the words refer to the Second Coming of Jesus, but in the broader sense they refer to the time of our own death, when God will call each of us to meet Him and to give Him a personal account of our life on earth. Since the precise time of either sense is unknown to us, our proper – and safest – response is constant watchfulness. Since we cannot be sure about the day of our death, we should do our present work perfectly every day, and not leave it undone, half-done, or postponed.
Life messages 1) We need to stay vigilant and ready to face the Lord through prayer. One of the traditional means for remaining alert is prayer. The most important elements in prayer are listening to God (1 Kgs 19:11-12) and talking to Him. This means we have to set aside a quiet time every day during which we can tune our ears to God’s message of love, harmony, and peace, and respond to Him. 2) We need to wait for the Lord who appears to us in different disguises every day. We must wait for the Lord in our daily lives by learning to see Jesus in the least of our brothers and sisters. In other words, we must be prepared to serve Jesus whenever, and in whatever form, Jesus appears. 3) What we discover in serving, loving, and helping other people is that God invariably comes to us through them. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Oct 21 Wednesday;Lk 12:39-48: 39 But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.” 41 Peter said, “Lord, 4
are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, `My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expecthim and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating. 48 But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much will be required; and of him to whom men commit much, they will demand the more.” USCCB video reflections:
The context: Today’s passage from Luke’s Gospel is the second of three eschatological discourses in the Gospel. After Jesus’ exhortation to vigilance, Peter asks a question (v. 41). Responding to Peter, Jesus tells the second “Master – Servant” parable and the parable of the treasure and the thief. These stories emphasize the necessity for Faith and vigilant preparedness in the lives of Christ’s followers. Jesus wants his disciples to be ready to do God’s will at every moment, rendering humble and sacrificial service to others out of love.
The interpretation: In the parable, the chief characters are a master (representing the risen Jesus), and his servants (Jesus’ followers). Jesus’ words in this passage, understood in the narrower sense, refer to the Second Coming of Jesus. Taken in a broader sense, they refer to the time of our own death, when God will call each of us to meet Him and to give Him an account of our own life on earth. In the first part of today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us what our real treasure should be and how we are to keep it safe. That treasure is our relationship with him (the state of sanctifying grace), which the Lord offers us in his promise of eternal life. But this treasure can be stolen by the devil or lost by our lack of vigilance in the midst of temptations. Jesus warns that we should be vigilant, like dutiful servants. What Jesus teaches us through this comparison is that 5
our relationship with God the Father and Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit must constantly be strengthened and deepened by our prayers, our Sacramental life, and the reading of Holy Scripture. Fortunately, God gives us the grace and strength to remain faithful, and He will reward our faithfulness.
Life message: 1) We need to remain vigilant and ready to face the Lord, mainly through prayer (listening and talking to Him). 2) Daily prayer will help us to wait for the Lord in our daily lives and enable us to see Jesus in the least of our brothers and sisters. It will give us the Heavenly strength to serve Jesus whenever and in whatever form he appears. 3) What we frequently rediscover as we serve, love and help other people is that God comes to us through them (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Oct 22 Thursday:St. John Paul II, Pope: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-paul-ii : Luke 12:49-53: 49“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! 50* There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
In today’s gospel we have some apparently strange statements by Jesus: 1) “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” In Jewish thought, fire is almost always the symbol of judgment. So, then, Jesus regarded the coming of the kingdom of Heaven as a time of judgment. Additionally, Jesus asserts that his word burns things up, reduces things to cinders, and clears things out so that 6
new things can grow. The Gospel IS the Fire that gives both light and heat, warms the hearts of God’s people, and causes their hearts to burn within them. By teaching the Gospel in the power of the Spirit, Jesus cleanses the minds and hearts of those who believe in Him. “Baptism” and “fire” are used together when John declares that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (3:16b). 2) “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized.” The Greek verb baptizein (GSN0907) means to dip. In the passive it means to be submerged. Often it is used metaphorically. For instance, it is used of a ship sunk beneath the waves. That is the way in which Jesus uses it here, meaning that he must have a terrible experience through which he must pass; and his life is full of tension until he has passed through it, emerging triumphant! The cross is ever before his eyes as is his death to give a ransom for many. 3) “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” How can this be? Jesus is the prince of peace. The multitude of Heavenly hosts sang on the night of his birth, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” (Lk 2:14). The Prophet Isaiah referred to the Messiah as the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:5). But Jesus’ coming would inevitably mean division; in point of fact it did. That was one of the great reasons why the Romans hated Christianity – it tore families in two: those who accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and others who hated Jesus and his teachings. The essence of Christianity is that loyalty to Christ has to take precedence over the dearest loyalties of this earth, and that causes division in families.
Life message: We need to have the courage of our Christian convictions in what we believe, based on the word of God in the Holy Bible as taught by the Church Jesus founded, and expressed in what what we practice.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison.59: I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.” 13: 1 There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? 3 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
The central themes The first part of today’s Gospel teaches that people should try to resolve their differences before going to court because, If they didn’t, they could face humiliation, destitution, and even prison. St. Bede explains it thus: When we listen to the Word of God, our Lord will convict us of our faults so that we can reconcile our lives with the Truth of the Word of God Himself. If we listen to these convictions, then we will not have any need to stand before the Judge. But if we do not, or if we bury these convictions, or downplay them and ignore them, then we will begin to experience His judgment, and we will even be held accountable for the smallest of sins. We will be required to “pay the last penny.” The second part of today’s Gospel passage explains how God, our merciful and compassionate Father, disciplines His children, giving them painful experiences in life so that they may repent of their sins, renew their lives and produce the fruits of love, mercy, forgiveness, and service. Citing two tragic events, Jesus exhorts the Jews of his time to repent and reform their lives. Repentance is turning from sin to God.
The teaching: In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus uses two local tragedies to teach us about our need for repentance and a renewal of life. On one occasion, Pilate killed many Galilean Jews who had protested when he appropriated money from the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem in order to obtain a better water supply for the pilgrims. Jesus then connects his warning to another episode, namely, what appears to have been an accident, related to renovation work on the control tower of the water supply scheme at Siloam, in which 8
eighteen people died. The Jews interpreted this tragedy as God’s punishment of the workers who were cooperating with Pilate in his sacrilegious aqueduct project. Jesus denies that the Galileans suffered because of their sins, but calls his listeners to repent lest they suffer for theirs. In fact, Jesus presents these two incidents as timely reminders of the need for all to repent. He says, “… unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Life Messages: 1) We need to live lives of repentance, because (a) we never know when we will meet a tragedy of our own; (b) repentance helps us in life and in death. Repentance helps us to live with peace of mind as forgiven people and helps us to face death without fear. 2) Scripture teaches that repentance results in forgiveness, renewal, and redirection, whereas failure to repent results in a guilty conscience which destroys our peace of mind and thus punishes us with a miserable life. L/26
Oct 24 Saturday:St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-anthony-mary-claret : Lk 13:1-9: 1 There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? 3 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” 6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, `Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, `Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. 9 And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'” 9
The context: Today’s Gospel passage explains how God, our merciful and compassionate Father, disciplines His children, giving them painful experiences in life so that they may repent of their sins, renew their lives and produce the fruits of love, mercy, forgiveness, and service. Citing two tragic events, Jesus exhorts the Jews of his time to repent and reform their lives. Repentance is turning from sin to God. With the parable of the barren fig tree, he also warns them that the merciful God will not put up with them indefinitely. Although God patiently waits for sinners to repent, giving them grace to do so, He will not wait forever. Time will run out; therefore, timely repentance is necessary.
The teaching: Jesus uses two local tragedies to teach us about our need for repentance and a renewal of life. On one occasion, Pilate killed many Galilean Jews who had protested when he appropriated money from the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem in order to obtain a better water supply for the pilgrims. Jesus then connects his warning to another episode, namely, what appears to have been an accident, related to renovation work on the control tower of the water supply scheme at Siloam, in which eighteen people died. The Jews interpreted this tragedy as God’s punishment of the workers who were cooperating with Pilate in his sacrilegious aqueduct project. Jesus denies that the Galileans suffered because of their sins but calls his listeners to repent lest they suffer for theirs. In fact, he presents both these incidents as timely reminders of the need for all to repent. He says, “… unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Life Messages: 1) We need to live lives of repentance, because (a) we never know when we will meet a tragedy of our own; (b) repentance helps us in life and in death. Repentance helps us to live with peace of mind as forgiven people and helps us to face death without fear. 2) Scripture says repentance results in forgiveness, renewal, and redirection, whereas failure to repent results in a guilty conscience which destroys our peace of mind and thus punishes us with a miserable life. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
O. T. 30 [A] (Oct 25, 2026) Sunday (8-minute &homily in one page)
Introduction:The central theme of today’s readings is the greatest commandment in the Bible, namely, to respond to God’s love for us by loving Him, and then to express that love in action by loving Him living in our neighbor. Our love for God is tested and put into practice by the way we love our neighbor. (A homily starter anecdote may be added here)
Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading, taken from Exodus explains the second greatest commandment, namely, loving one’s neighbors, especially the underprivileged, as one loves oneself. The chosen people of Israel should remember that once they were aliens in the land of Egypt. Just as God protected them and treated them kindly, so they are to protect others and treat them with kindness. Thus, they should become a humane society rooted in the basic religious concept of loving God living in their neighbor. In the second reading, St. Paul congratulates the Thessalonians on the positive effects of their example of loving one another as Jesus had commanded them to do. Their mutual love and their loving reception of Paul himself and their response to his preaching, he tells them, has bolstered the Faith of Christians elsewhere who have heard about them. In the Gospel today, Jesus combines the commandment to love God with the commandment to love one’s neighbor and gives the result as the one Commandment of supreme importance in Christian life. Jesus underlines the principle that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves because, as God’s children, both of us bear God’s image, and to honor God’s image is to honor Him. Love for our neighbor should not be a matter of feelings, but of deeds through which we share with others the unmerited love that God lavishes on us.
Life messages: 1) We need to love God: Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, in response to His total love for us, means that we should place God’s will ahead of ours, seek the Lord’s will in all things, and make HIS WILL, not our own, paramount in our lives. There are several means by which we can express our love for God and our gratitude to Him for His blessings, acknowledging our total dependence on Him. We need to keep God’s Commandments, and offer daily prayers of thanksgiving, praise, and petition. We also need to read and meditate on His word in the Bible and accept His invitation to join Him in the Mass and other liturgical functions. 2) We need to love our neighbor: God’s will is that we should love everyone, seeing Him in each of them. Since every human being is the child of God and the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, we are giving expression to our love of God by loving our neighbor as Jesus loves him or her. This means we need to help, support, encourage, forgive, and pray for everyone – without discrimination based on color, race, religion, gender, age, wealth, or social status. Forgiveness, too, is vital. We love others by refusing to hold a grudge for a wrong done to us. Even a rebuke can be given as an act of love, if it is done with the right heart. We also express love through encouragement and by helping others to grow. We express agápe love in meeting the needs of others by using the talents and blessings God has given us to comfort each other, to teach each other, and to share the Gospel with each other, in deeds and in words.
OT 30 [A] (Oct 25, 2026): Ex 22:20-26; I Thes 1:5c-10; Mt 22:34-40
Homily starter anecdotes #1:The inspiring six-word sermon: There is a legend handed down from the early Church about John, the beloved disciple of Jesus. Of the twelve original apostles, only John lived to a ripe old age. In his later years, not only his body but also his eyesight and his mind began to fail him. Eventually, according to the legend, John’s mind had deteriorated to the point that he could only speak six words, one sentence, which he would repeat over and over. You can imagine the high regard in which the early Church must have held the last surviving apostle of Jesus. The legend says that every Lord’s Day, John would be carried into the midst of the congregation that had assembled for worship in the Church at Ephesus where John spent the last years of his life. Total silence would fall over the congregation, even though they already knew what John was going to say. Then the old man would speak the words, “My little children, love one another.” — Over and over, he would repeat them until he grew tired from talking, and no one yawned, or looked at his watch, or gazed off into space absentmindedly. They listened as John preached his six-word sermon over and over: “My little children, love one another.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
#2: “Christians love one another.” In the second century AD, a non-Christian named Aristides wrote to the Emperor Hadrian about the Christians. He said, “Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If one of them has something, he gives freely to those who have nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are as happy as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers through the Spirit, in God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail or persecuted for professing the name of their Redeemer, they give him all he needs. This is really a new kind of person. There is something Divine in them.” — No wonder the non-Christians of the first century used to tell one another, “See how these Christians love one another.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
#3: Love them anyway: In Calcutta, India, there is a children’s home named Shishu Bhavan (Children’s Home), founded by Mother Teresa. The home continues to be operated by her community, the Missionaries of Charity. On the wall of the home hangs a sign which reads: People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. LOVE THEM ANYWAY. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. DO GOOD ANYWAY. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. SUCCEED ANYWAY. The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow. DO GOOD ANYWAY. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY. What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight. BUILD ANYWAY. People really need help but may attack you if you help them. HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY. Mother Teresa counsels her young charges that the challenges offered by this sign can be met only if human beings are motivated by a love and a respect for one another which looks beyond faults, differences, ulterior motives, success, and failure. Mother Teresa once said of herself, “By blood and origin, I am all Albanian. My citizenship is Indian. I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the whole world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the heart of Jesus.” (A Simple Path, Ballantine Books, New York: 1995). — This is this relationship of belonging and the loving service which grows out of that belonging which the Scriptural authors called Covenant. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
Introduction:The central theme of today’s readings is the greatest Commandment in the Bible, namely, to respond to God’s Infinite Love for us by loving Him back, and to express that love in action by loving Him in our neighbor. The first reading, taken from Exodus, explains the different expressions of the love of one’s neighbor, especially of the underprivileged. Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 18) is our hymn of loving trust in God Who loves us and gives us everything so that we can give it all back to Him in loving His children. The Psalmist sings, “I love You. O Lord, my Strength, O Lord, my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer!” In the second reading, St. Paul praises the Thessalonian Christians for the heroic witness they have borne to Jesus Christ by receiving the Gospel Paul has brought to them with loving eagerness resulting in their model practice of mutual love. In today’s Gospel, Jesus combines the commandment to love God with the commandment to love one’s neighbor and gives the result as the one Commandment of supreme importance in Christian life.
First reading (Ex 22:20-26) explained: The passage from Exodus was chosen for today in order to prepare us for today’s Gospel, in which Jesus sums up the Law of God in a formula of loving God and loving others. The Exodus passage is part of a long narrative, (Exodus, chapters 19-24), in which the Hebrews, liberated from Egypt, were in the desert of Sinai. God announced His desire to enter a Covenant with the people. Moses was the mediator. God manifested Himself in terrifying thunder, lightning, and clouds. God gave the terms of the Covenant in various paragraphs, on several occasions. The people assented to the terms. The paragraphs elaborated the commandments in great detail, including ritual prescriptions and much more. Today’s first reading, taken from a section of Exodus which dealt with the laws of social conduct, especially the social ethics based, not on justice, but on a compassion like God’s, resulting from the love they are to have for their underprivileged fellow-human beings. The Law of Moses civilized the Jews, instilling in them the idea that it was wrong to oppress an alien or take advantage of the poor — things they themselves had suffered — because their God cared for widows and orphans and wanted them to do the same. The result was that the ancient Jews began to build an excellent, humane society rooted in the basic religious concept that loving God necessarily involves loving one’s neighbor.
The second reading (I Thes 1:5c-10) explained:First Thessalonians is the earliest letter we have from Saint Paul. The first century AD Thessalonians lived and served in a mostly pagan city with an enthusiasm so contagious as to attract others to the Church. Here Paul congratulates his community on the positive effects of their example of loving one another as Jesus has commanded them to do. They have received the Gospel with ready Faith, he tells them, and they have withstood persecution with joy. Those actions, particularly their loving response to Paul himself, their ready belief in Jesus, and their generous living out of that Faith, have bolstered the Faith of Christians elsewhere who have heard about them. Paul and these earliest Christians believed that Jesus would come again very soon. Their conviction was that God would soon bring history to its end with the return of Jesus in glory. [This expectation faded over the years during which the New Testament Scriptures were composed].
Gospel exegesis:The context: A Pharisee, who believed in both the written Law and the oral tradition, seeing how Jesus had defeated the Sadducee who had tried to humiliate Him with the hypothetical case of a woman who married seven husbands, asked Jesus to summarize the most important of the Mosaic Laws in one sentence. This was a challenge because, in the Judaism of Jesus’ day, there was a double tendency to expand the Mosaic Law into hundreds of rules and regulations and to condense the 613 precepts of the Torah into a single sentence or few sentences. [The Pharisees themselves identified 613 commandments in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Two hundred forty-eight were positive (“thou shalt”) and three hundred sixty-five were negative (“thou shalt not”). Summarizing the Law, King David proposed eleven (Ps 15), Isaiah six (33:15), Micah three (6:8), and Amos only one (5:4). From the Commandments that deal with “loving our neighbor,” the Jewish scholars of the law produced 14 particular commandments about business practices, 19 about employees, servants, and slaves, 36 about courts and judicial procedure, eleven about property rights, seven about criminal law, and 24 about punishment and restitution. Yet that doesn’t exhaust the commands to “love our neighbor”! When one turns to “loving God,” the lists of commandments include 33 about the Temple and sacred objects, 46 about idolatry, and 102 about sacrifices and offerings! With 613 commandments, it was easy for the average Jew to lose focus. Jesus wanted to bring a focus to God’s command to love Him first and foremost.]
Jesus’ answer teaches us that the most important commandment is to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, in Himself and in all His children, our neighbors. In other words, we are to love God and express our love by loving our neighbor because God lives in him or her. Some Bible scholars think that the original question was a trap because the Pharisees believed that all of the 613 commands (mitzot) in the Torah were equally important and necessary to obey. Therefore, they were trying to corner Jesus into showing either ignorance about the Law, or disrespect for parts of it by choosing one command over the others. Jesus’ contribution: Jesus gave the Pharisee a straightforward answer, quoting directly from the Law itself, startling his listeners with his profound simplicity and mastery of the Law of God and its purpose. Jesus’ answer was very orthodox, and very traditional. [“The summary of the law is not original with Jesus. Its two parts represent a combination of Dt 6:5 and Lev 19:18. Nor is the combination itself original to Jesus, for it is found in at least one earlier Jewish work, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, an amalgam of wisdom and apocalyptic materials.” Reginald H. Fuller]. Jesus cited the first sentence of the Jewish Shema prayer: … “Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Dt 6:5). Then Jesus added its complementary law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19:18). Finally, Jesus declared that the “whole Law and the prophets” depended on the commands to love God “with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind” and to love “your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus combined the originally separate commandments and presented them as the essence of true religion. The uniqueness of Jesus’ response consisted in understanding that the two laws had equal value and so had to be of equal importance because they were interdependent. We are to love our neighbor and our own self as a way to love God: God gives us our neighbors and commands us to love them, and so we obey; His purpose is that in obeying, we learn to love Him better. God contacts us daily through our neighbors. Thus, Jesus proclaims that true religion loves God both directly and as living in our neighbor. Biblical love of God is responsive gratitude for, and remembrance of, what God has done for us, rather than an independent project we undertake for God. [“Without the love of neighbor, the love of God remains a barren emotion; and without the love of God, love of neighbor is but a refined form of self-love.” Reginald H. Catechism of the Catholic Church on the greatest commandment (CCC #2083, #2196): Love of God means putting Him first, respecting His Name, and keeping His Day [the Sabbath; Sunday for us] Holy. To love God means a dedication of one’s entire person to His will, placing Him first in one’s mind and one’s heart, speaking respectfully about Him, and keeping His Day as one of prayer and true recreation, a day to keep His Law. Love of God transforms lives every waking moment of every day. Love of neighbor means respect for others, their relationships, their reputations, and their property. Dt 6:5 and Lv 19:18 indicate love in action. Loving our neighbor as ourselves means looking at and treating others with the respect God gives them. This love begins at home with one’s parents. It then extends to others beyond our family and friends to strangers, especially to the poor, the sick, and the sinful. Love of neighbor knows no national borders, class distinctions or barriers of any kind, because God knows no such impediments. To love our neighbor: The English writer G. K. Chesterton once observed, “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people!” Jesus underlines the principle that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves because both of us bear God’s image, and to honor God’s image is to honor Him. The love of God has priority and is our source of love for our neighbor. In our neighbor we see something of God, His creature, His image and likeness, and His adopted child. If we love God, then, we must also love His image, the work of His hands. God makes daily contact with us through the people around us. Love for our neighbor is a matter, not of feelings, but of deeds by which we share with others the unmerited love that God lavishes on us. This is the love for neighbor that God commands in His law. Since the Jews considered only their fellow-Jews as neighbors, Jesus challenged them, using the parable of the Good Samaritan, as reported in Luke’s Gospel, to show them what God means by “neighbor.”
Life messages: 1) We need to love God: Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength as our response to His Love for us means that we should place God’s will ahead of ours, seek the Lord’s will in all things, and make it paramount in our lives. There are several means by which we can express our love for God and our gratitude to Him for His blessings, acknowledging our total dependence on Him. We need to keep God’s commandments, and offer daily prayers of thanksgiving, praise, and petition. We also need to read and meditate on His word in the Bible and accept His invitation to join Him in the Mass and other liturgical functions when we can. 2) We need to love our neighbor: God’s will is that we should love everyone, seeing Him in our neighbor. Since every human being is the child of God and the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, we are actually giving expression to our love of God by loving our neighbor as Jesus loves him or her. This means we need to help, support, encourage, forgive, and pray for everyone without any discrimination based on color, race, gender, age, wealth, personal attractiveness, or social status. Forgiveness, too, is vital. We love others by refusing to hold a grudge for a wrong done to us. Even a rebuke can be an act of love, if it is done with the right heart. We also express love through encouragement and by helping each other to grow. We express agápe love, seeking the true good of another, by meeting a need that God has given us the power to meet, by comforting each other, by teaching each other, and by sharing the Gospel in deeds and in words. We express our love for our neighbor by waiting upon the aged, nursing the sick, patching up quarrels, and listening to the broken-hearted. In short, loving our neighbor is feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, meeting the basic needs of the poor, helping the unemployed, educating the young, and taking care of the old. Jokes of the week #1: Spousal love: One Sunday the pastor was finishing up a series on marriage. At the end of the service he was giving out small wooden crosses to each married couple. He said, “Place this cross in the room in which you fight the most and you will be reminded of God’s commandment of love and you won’t argue as much.” One woman came up after the service and said, “You’d better give me five crosses.” #2: “How much would you give me not to love my big sister?” A pastor was speaking to a Sunday school class about the things money can’t buy. “It can’t buy laughter and it can’t buy love,” he told them. Driving his point home, he said, “What would you do if I of ered you $1000 not to love your mother and father?” Stunned silence ensued. Finally, a small voice queried, “How much would you give me not to love my big sister?” #3: “I’m tired of you too.” An old couple was sitting by the fireside. He looked over at her, had a romantic thought, and said, “After fifty years, I’ve found you tried and true.” The wife’s hearing wasn’t very good, so she said, “What?”He repeated, “After fifty years, I’ve found you tried and true.” “After fifty years, I’m tired of you too,” she replied.
USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK: (The easier method to visit these websites is to copy and pastethe web address or URL on the Address bar of any Internet website like Google or MSN and press the Enter button of your Keyboard or the easiest method is to click on the URL (webpage) in the attachment or emailed text.
1) “Yes,” said God, “but not in My lifetime.” You may not know it, but years ago Nikita Khrushchev, John F. Kennedy, and Golda Meir had a summit meeting with God. Each of them was allowed to ask one question. “God,” asked Nikita Khrushchev, “Do You think the U.S. and Russia will ever have peace?” “Yes” God answered, “but not in your lifetime.” Then Kennedy spoke. “God, do You think there will be peace between blacks and whites in our land and around the world?” “Yes,” God answered, “but not in your lifetime.” Then it was the Israeli leader’s turn. “God,” she asked, “do You think there will ever be peace between the Jews and the Arabs?” “Yes,” God answered, “but not in My Lifetime!” Do you get the feeling, sometimes, that if there is a third World War, it will not be over politics or over economics? Rather, it will be over religion as it was in the Middle Ages, when much of the killing and torture and hatred in this world was done in the name of religion. Today’s Gospel describes a confrontation between Jesus and the religious fanatics of his day. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A HOLY WAR. The two words are a contradiction in terms. Love of God and love for neighbor are oars of the same boat. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) “How can you say you love me?” Hasidic Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of the Ukraine was fond of saying that he had learned the true meaning of love from a drunken peasant. While visiting the owner of a tavern in the Polish countryside, the rabbi overheard the conversation of two men seated at a nearby table. Both had had a fair amount to drink and both were feeling quite mellow. With their arms around one another, they were professing how much each loved the other. Suddenly, the older of the two, Ivan, looked at his friend and asked, “Peter, tell me, what hurts me?” Bleary-eyed but slightly sobered by such a question, Peter looked at Ivan and answered with a question of his own: “How do I know what hurts you?” Ivan’s response came quickly. — “If you don’t know what hurts me, how can you say you love me?” In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us that the most important commandment is to love God living in others. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) Love God living in your neighbor: In the most striking finding, Dr. Harold Koenig of Duke University Medical Center has calculated that, with regard to any mainstream Faith, “lack of religious involvement has an ef ect on mortality that is equivalent to 40 years of smoking one pack of cigarettes per day.’” Further, “Another new study, conducted mainly by researchers at the University of Texas, found that those who regularly attended worship services lived an average of seven years longer than those who never attended.” (The New Republic (July 19 & 26, 19990; cited at tim@cybersalt.org (Tim Davis).) — What can I say? Listening to me each week is good for you! A healthy bank account and a healthy body will take you a long way in our society. And if you have both, you are blessed indeed. But neither will bring you any comfort if your own children hate you. Neither will suffice for companionship if your neighbors avoid you. There are plenty of lonely, rich, old people in this world who would give anything to be loved. YOU AND I WERE CREATED FOR RELATIONSHIPS! It is built into every fiber of our being. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) “Did you ask a good question today?” Isidor Isaac Rabi, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, and one of the developers of the atomic bomb, was once asked how he became a scientist. Rabi replied that every day after school his mother would talk to him about his school day. She wasn’t so much interested in what he had learned that day, but how he conducted himself in his studies. She always inquired, “Did you ask a good question today?” “Asking good questions,” Rabi said, “made me become a scientist.” — In order to ask a good question, I think you need to have noble motives behind the question. You have to want to know the truth. The Pharisees, by contrast, already had the answers to their questions. They felt they already knew the truth. The Pharisees come to Jesus once again with a question designed to do damage to his reputation. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) “I am not much of a judge of religion.” In our nation’s archives there is an account of two ladies from Tennessee who came before President Abraham Lincoln at the conclusion of the Civil War. They were asking for the release of their husbands, held as prisoners of war at Johnson’s Island. Lincoln put them off until Friday, when they came again. Again, the President put them off until Saturday. At each of the interviews one of the ladies stressed to Lincoln that her husband was a religious man. After the Saturday interview the President ordered the release of the prisoners. Then he turned to this lady and said, “You say your husband is a religious man. Tell him when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a judge of religion. In my opinion, however, the religion that sets men to rebel and fight against their government is not the sort of religion upon which people can get to Heaven!” — I think Abe was a pretty good judge of religion. Any religion that tells me that I can hate or exploit or mistreat any person regardless of their race, nationality or religion is not the kind of religion upon which people can get into Heaven. Love for God, love for neighbor. They must forever be one (Gerard Fuller in Stories for all Seasons). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) “You’re still you, and I love you.” Actor Christopher Reeves had everything–wealth, fame, fabulous health. He was one of the most handsome, physically fit men in Hollywood. Then he fell from a horse. And suddenly he was a quadriplegic. When he awoke from his accident, his first thought was that maybe he should go ahead and die. But one thing stopped him and gave him the will to live. His wife, Dana, spoke to him firmly, yet gently. “I am only going to say this once,” she said. “I will support whatever you want to do, because this is your life and your decision. But I want you to know that I’ll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You’re still you, and I love you.” Those words gave Christopher Reeves the strength to go on. [Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Mark & Chrissy Donnelly, and Barbara DeAngelis, Ph.D. Chicken Soup for the Couple’s Soul (Deerfield Beach, FL.: Health Communications, Inc., 1999), pp. 104-105.] — There are times in life when all of us wonder where we will find the strength to go on. Maybe it will come from a spouse, or our offspring, or a friend. Other people are a great source of consolation and comfort. But there will come a time when all of us will have to lean on our ultimate Friend, God. There will be no one else who can help. And why shouldn’t we turn to God? This is that for which He created us –relationships. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) “No longer was Jesus only the handsome man.” One day Ron was serving a hot meal at a soup kitchen. They were serving chili with two pieces of buttered bread on that particular day. A man came through the line who looked even more scruffy and broken than the others. Ron was overwhelmed by his stench. “Like the pull of a magnet,” Ron recalls, “my gaze went to the dirt and dried blood on his hands.” Before he realized what was happening, the man clasped Ron’s hand in both of his. “Brother,” said the scruffy man, “I love you. Thanks for being here.” “I’m glad you came,” Ron replied after swallowing hard. Ron tried to smile as the man shuffled over to one of the tables with his meal. The next man stepped up. As Ron handed him a bowl of chili, a little of the chili spilled on Ron’s hand. Without thinking he licked it off. Then it hit him. That was the hand the other man had just clasped! Ron momentarily froze, repelled to think that he had licked something that smelly, dirty man had just touched. It was a moment of revelation for Ron. “The light of awareness changed my vision, and my heart warmed with new understanding,” Ron says. “No longer was Jesus only the handsome man I had pictured in my mind and seen in paintings,” he continued. “Now he had a scarred, stubbled face and fingers stained yellow; he was dirty, he smelled bad, and he wore cast-of clothes. I had just served him chili and bread.” [Ron DelBene, From the Heart (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1991), pp. 32-33.] — There’s a reason we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbors as ourselves, we experience the risen Christ. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) “He is going to get his hand blown of .” Charles L. Allen, in God’s Psychiatry, tells about a scene from Amos and Andy. “There was a big man who would slap Andy across the chest whenever they met. Finally, Andy got enough of it and said to Amos, ‘I’m fixed for him. I put a stick of dynamite in my vest pocket, and the next time he slaps me, he is going to get his hand blown of .’ — Andy had not reasoned that at the same time he would get his heart blown out.” — When we refuse to love our neighbor, we blow out our own heart. It all goes together. The brotherhood of people can become a reality only when we have the fatherhood of God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) Self-hate leading to suicide: In an average year in the United States, 22,000 people kill themselves, and 100,000 more try. The real cause for such attempts, say the psychiatrists, is a sense of guilt and a desire to punish oneself. G. K. Chesterton says the great lesson of “beauty and the beast” is that a thing must be loved before it is loveable.” — If we are God’s creation, and if we are created like God because He loves us, we must think well of ourselves. We are well-made, we are God’s handiwork, and we are created like our Creator. There is an important message here: we are to love ourselves! In a day when self-worth is low, in a time when so much introspection is encouraged, and when human nature is looked at with suspicion, we need to say boldly, “We are God-made!” And let’s remember, God makes us well. It would be blasphemy to hate ourselves, since God is our Creator. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) “That was John D. Rockefeller, Sr.” The story is told of an East Coast fishing village that was nearly destitute. The townspeople decided to hold a meeting in an attempt to resolve their complicated problems. A stranger showed up to the meeting, and he tried several times to speak. But there was a bit of community prejudice in that town, and the visitor was interrupted each time he opened his mouth. The locals didn’t care for an outsider to become involved. A latecomer to the meeting showed up just as the visitor was leaving, and they passed each other in the entrance. The latecomer asked, “What was he doing here? Did he of er help? Is he going to aid us?” Not knowing what to make of this, the members of the assembly asked if he knew who the stranger was. The latecomer replied, “I saw his boat docked in the harbor. That was John D. Rockefeller, Sr.!” — They ignored the one person who had the resources to help them. How often God comes to us, but we do not recognize Him or receive Him! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) That’s loving God. An old Russian woman lay on a sofa. Multiple sclerosis had twisted her body almost beyond recognition. The simplest tasks had become almost impossible for her. Corrie Ten Boom visited her at night, using the cover of darkness to escape detection by the Lithuanian authorities. Corrie kissed the woman’s wrinkled cheek. The old woman could respond only by rolling her eyes and smiling because the atrophied muscles in her neck would no longer allow her to move her head. The only part of her body she could still control was her right hand. With her gnarled knuckles she stroked Corrie’s face. Corrie reached up to take her hand, and kissed her index finger–for a special reason. The routine was the same every morning as the old lady’s husband propped her into a sitting position on the sofa. A battered old typewriter was placed on a little table in front of her. Every day the old woman would begin to type. She could only use that one index finger to peck out the letters. This woman served God by translating Christian books into Russian. It was slow going–sometimes only typing a page or two a day but this was her way of loving God. She typed portions of the Bible as well as some of the books of Billy Graham and other Christian witnesses. The woman’s attitude was extraordinary. She saw her sickness as a prerequisite, not a detriment, for the work she did. Every other Christian in the city was watched by the secret police. But because she had been sick for so long the police took no interest in her, and she could work undetected, spreading the Good News of Jesus to a people who were starving for good news. “Not only does she translate these books,” her husband told Corrie, “but she prays while she types. Sometimes it takes a long time for her finger to hit the key, or for her to get the paper in the machine, but all the time she is praying for those whose books she is working on.” [Annie Chapman, Smart Women Keep It Simple (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1992), pp. 151-152.] — That’s loving God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) “Don’t be foolish! You were my guest.” There is a Jewish story about a Mr. Kleinman who finds himself alone in a strange town on the Sabbath. He goes to the local synagogue. After services, a Mr. Putterman comes over and invites Mr. Kleinman to be his guest for the evening. They go to Mr. Putterman’s home. Mr. Kleinman takes a beautiful hot bath with scented soap, and dries himself with fluffy towels. They have a delicious meal. Afterwards Mr. Kleinman falls asleep on a comfy bed with fresh sheets. In short, for the entire Sabbath the Puttermans treat Mr. Kleinman like royalty. Now, it’s time to go. Mr. Kleinman says, “This was a delightful Sabbath. Thank you so much. What can I do to repay you?” And Mr. Putterman presents Mr. Kleinman a bit of paper on which is written: “Warm bath, six dollars. Two cakes of soap, four dollars. Clean towels, three dollars. Full dinner, twenty dollars. Overnight lodging, forty dollars. Fresh sheets, three dollars. Total: Seventy-six dollars.” “You’re charging me?” asks the incredulous Mr. Kleinman. “Certainly,” replies Putterman. “But you invited me!” Kleinman protests. ” I was your guest! I’ve never heard of such a thing! This is outrageous!” “Nevertheless, if you could just settle up,” says Putterman. “I will do no such thing!” Kleinman responds. “All right,” sighs Mr. Putterman. “Let’s not argue. Let’s take this case to the rabbi and let him decide.” “That suits me fine,” says Kleinman and off they went to the local rabbi. In the Rabbi’s study Kleinman lays out his case. The rabbi listens and strokes his beard. When Kleinman finishes he asks Putterman, “Do you have anything to add?” “No,” says Putterman, “It happened exactly as Mr. Kleinman described.” “In that case,” says the rabbi, “based on numerous Talmudic precedents and on similar cases found in the Reposa, it is my decision that Mr. Kleinman should pay Mr. Putterman.” Kleinman is dumbfounded. Still a rabbi had heard, a rabbi had considered, and a rabbi had reached a decision. The two men thanked the rabbi and left. Outside, Mr. Kleinman begins counting out his money. “What are you doing?” asks Putterman. “I’m going to pay you,” says Kleinman. “Don’t be foolish,” says Putterman. “You were my guest. I was honored to have you spend the Sabbath with me. I hope you’ll come again.” “But you gave me a bill,” says the confused Kleinman. “We had a dispute; a decision was rendered.” “Oh, that!” says Putterman. “I just wanted you to see what kind of schmuck we have for a rabbi.” (The Jewish Humor List, 5, pp. 140-41) — The lawyer who came to Jesus probably didn’t really want to know Jesus’ views on the great Commandment. He simply wanted to show him up as as a fraud. Imagine how surprised the lawyer was when Jesus answered his question in such a way that Jesus’ authority could not be denied. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) “That’s how God works.” There is a story about a young woman who was in great distress because she had lost a sense of God in her life. She complained to her elderly grandmother, “Why doesn’t God let me feel His presence? If only I could feel Him and know that He has touched me.” Her grandmother said, “Pray to God, right now. Close your eyes and pray to him. Ask Him to put out his hand and touch you.” The girl closed her eyes and prayed fervently. Then she felt a hand on her hand. “He touched me. He touched me,” she cried out. Then she said, “You know, his hand felt just like your hand.” “Of course! It was my hand,” her grandmother said. “That’s how God works. He takes the hand that is nearest and uses that.” (Fr. Pellegrino) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) “The fire, Lord, not the scrap heap”: Arthur Godfrey, the radio and early TV star, used to keep a sign that read: ‘”The fire, Lord, not the scrap heap.” He said the sign reminded him of a story about a blacksmith who suffered much illness but still maintained a strong Faith in God. When an unbeliever asked the blacksmith how he could keep trusting God in spite of his illness, he replied: “When I make a tool, I take a piece of iron and put it into the fire. Then I strike it on the anvil to see if it can take temper. If it does, I can make a useful article out of it. If not, I toss it on the scrap heap.” — When we suffer because of love, we can rejoice because we know that God is using us (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) “You must be related to Him!” Just before Christmas, there was a boy who was wandering through a shopping complex. He was admiring the colorful display of the Christmas gifts. A lady closely watched him moving from one shop to another. Realizing the poverty of the boy, she took him inside the shop and showed him the Christmas tree and explained the meaning of Christmas. “God loves us,” she said, “And to save us from our sins. He was born in a manager as little baby.” Then she bought him a set of new clothes and a pair of shoes, along with some Christmas gifts and a candy and some refreshments. The little boy was thrilled. As she led him out of the shop, he looked at her and asked her, “Are you God?” “No,” she replied, “I am only one of His children.”– “Ah!” said the boy, “I knew that somehow you were related to Him.” (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) “I have broken the commandment of men…” In the time of the desert monks, there was an abbot by the name of Moses who had a great reputation for holiness. Easter was approaching, so the monks met and decided to fast the entire length of Holy Week. Having come to this decision, each monk went off to his cell to fast and pray. However, about the middle of the week, two wandering monks came to visit the cell of Abbot Moses. Seeing that they were starving, he cooked a little vegetable stew for them. To make them feel at ease he took a little of it himself. Meanwhile the other monks had seen the smoke rising from the abbot’s cell. It could mean only one thing –he had lit a fire to cook some food. In other words, he had broken the solemn fast. They were shocked. And in the eyes of many of them, he fell from his pinnacle of sanctity. In a body they went over to confront him. Seeing judgment in their eyes, he asked, “What crime have I committed that makes you look at me like this?” “You’ve broken the solemn fast,” they answered. “So I have,” he replied. “I have broken the commandment of men, but in sharing my food with these brothers of ours, I have kept the Commandment of God, that we should love one another.” — On hearing this, the monks grew silent, and went away, humbled and wiser. (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) ”Greater love than this…”There was an article written in Time magazine years ago, about an airplane suddenly crashing into the sea. The writer claimed that it was one of America’s worst tragedies because of the large number of lives that were lost. It was also America’s hour of heroism. Immediately on hearing of the crash, several rescue operations were set into motion, and the rescue workers saved many survivors. There were several heroes who distinguished themselves that day by their life-saving action. The first heroes were the rescue workers, and when they were later interviewed on TV, they were asked one question: “Why did you risk your life?” They said that it was their job, and they were expected to do. These rescue workers perhaps symbolize people who will do things if it is their job. “If it is not my job then I will not lift a finger to help.” The second hero was one of the passengers, who was rescued and was being taken to the lifeboats. He noticed a lady drowning, dived into the waters, and pulled her to the safety of the lifeboat. When asked later why he had risked his life he replied: “She called out to me and asked for help so I had to help.” The hero could perhaps represent people who will do things if they are asked. “If you want my help, ask for it!” The third hero was also one of the passengers of the ill-fated plane. After the tragedy struck, he found himself floating among the debris. Fortunately, one of the rescue helicopters noticed him and lowered a halter, which he grabbed and held on to. He could easily have saved himself but he saw a young lady drowning and he quickly put the halter around her and the helicopter was able to rescue her. Soon the helicopter came again and once again the man grabbed the lifeline. Instead of helping himself, he looked around and noticed another old lady struggling and got the halter around her and she was rescued. Six times the man had a chance to save himself but six times he gave the lifeline to another, who, he felt, had a greater need. The seventh time when the helicopter came to the spot where the man had been floating, he was gone! — History will never know who exactly this heroic passenger was, but he symbolized what Christ meant when he said: “Greater love than this no man has, than that he lays down his life for a friend!” (Quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
18) Film: Father Damien: The Leper Priest: Father Damien: The Leper Priest is a movie made for television. The program dramatizes the story of Fr. Damien who came from Belgium to the Hawaiian island of Molokai in 1873 to serve the lepers there until he, too, contracted leprosy and died in 1889. At that time in history, the colony of Molokai was a dumping ground for lepers and it was like a death sentence to be put there. There was little law and order, medical help and supplies were non-existent, and housing and sanitation were so bad that the island seemed like a sewer. At first Fr. Damien found the lepers repulsive. But as he suffered with them, struggled with them, he overcame his revulsion towards the lepers, developed deep feelings of love for them in serving them, and finally became a leper himself, sharing their living and their dying. — Fr. Damien dedicated almost two decades of his life to the lepers because he believed that, in doing so, he was demonstrating both his love for God and for his neighbour. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
19) On Hospitality: A man attending a crowded Church service refused to take his hat off when asked to do so by the ushers. The preacher was perturbed too, and after the service told the man that the Church was quite happy to have him as guest, and invited him to join the Church, but he explained the traditional decorum regarding men’s hats and said, “I hope you will confirm to that practice in the future.” “Thank you,” said the man. “And thank you for taking time to talk to me. It was good of you to ask me to join the congregation. In fact, I joined it three years ago and have been coming regularly ever since, but today is the first day anyone ever paid attention to me. After being an unknown for three years, today, by simply keeping on my hat, I had the pleasure of talking to the ushers. And now I have a conversation with you, who have always appeared too busy to talk to me before!” –- What do we do to make strangers welcome? Are we so busy that we have no time to keep the greatest commandment? (Anonymous; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
20) Topping the List: There is an immortal poem written by an English poet, Leigh Hunt about a man named Abou Ben Adhem. Abou Ben Adhem woke from his sleep one night and saw in his room an angel writing in a book of gold the names of those who love God. “Is my name one of those in your book?” inquired Abou. “No, Not so,” replied the angel. “I pray you, then,” said Abou, “Write me as one who loves his fellowmen.” — The following day the angel came again and displayed the names of those who love God, and Abou Ben Adhem’s name topped the list. — This poem makes the point that true love of God and true love of our fellowmen are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist apart from the other. That is what we find in today’s Gospel. (John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
21) Savior Heroes: Years ago, there was a movie called Little Lord Fauntleroy. It was about a seven-year-old boy who went to live with his grandfather, a wealthy man who had many people working under him. The old man was basically selfish and mean. But the little boy idolized him so much that he couldn’t see this. He thought his grandfather was generous and kind. Over and over he would say to him, “Grandfather! How people must love you! I’ll bet they love you almost as much as I do.” The little boy’s love gradually softened the old man’s heart, and he became the kind of person his grandson thought him to be. — This story is like a parable of Jesus. It shows how God’s love for us can change us and give us the power to become the kind of loving people He sees we can be. -Arthur Godfrey, the early TV star, used to keep a sign that read: “The fire, Lord, not the scrap heap.” He said the sign reminded him of a story about a blacksmith who suffered much illness but still maintained a strong faith in God. When an unbeliever asked the blacksmith how he could keep trusting God in spite of his illness, he replied: “When I make a tool, I take a piece of iron and put it into the fire. Then I strike it on the anvil to see if it can take temper. If it does, I can make a useful article out of it. If not, I toss it on the scrap heap.” When we suffer because of love, we can rejoice because we know that God is using us. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
22) Neighbor and self: God’s way of saying thank you? Bill was the head of an engraving firm in New York City. He and his wife, Billie, wanted very much to have a family. Several years after their marriage, when it seemed as though God intended them to be childless, they adopted a baby boy. After a while they decided that they should adopt a girl, too. Among those available for adoption, there was one sweet child who had a cardiac disorder. Because of the ailment, the physician who examined the little girl advised against taking her. To the doctor’s amazement, Bill disagreed. “No,” he said, “we’ll adopt her anyhow. A daughter of ours might have been born with the same condition.” After sixteen years of marriage, Bill and Billie welcomed a third child into their family circle. This baby was their own flesh and blood…. God’s way of saying thank you? — “The second commandment is like the first: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mt 22:39). Gospel of the day. (Father Robert F. McNamara) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
23) “Love me, love my rag dolls.” There is a natural, logical kind of loving that loves lovely things and lovely people. That’s logical. But there is another kind of loving that doesn’t look for value in what it loves, but that creates value in what it loves. Like Rosemary’s rag doll. When Rosemary was three years old, she was given a beautiful little rag doll, which quickly became an inseparable companion. She had other toys that were intrinsically far more expensive, but none that she loved like she loved the rag doll. Soon, the rag doll became more and more rag and less and less doll. It also became more and more dirty. If you tried to clean the rag doll, it became more ragged still. And if you didn’t try to clean the rag doll, it became dirtier still. The sensible thing to do was to trash the rag doll. But that was unthinkable for anyone who loved Rosemary. If you loved Rosemary, you loved the rag doll too — it was part of the package. — “’Love me, love my rag dolls,’ says God, “including the one you see when you look in the mirror. This is the first and the greatest commandment.” (Fr. Lakra). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
24) “I wouldn’t do that for £1,000.” Once a British journalist visited Kolkata, India to see the works of the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa. He went to their old-age house at Kali-ghat Temple and watched an attractive young Nun dressing the wounds on a man with gangrene in his leg. The journalist was appalled by the very sight of the wound, but at the same time he was full of admiration for the young nun who seemed to show no disgust as she was cleaning the suppurating wound. “I wouldn’t do that for £1,000,” said the journalist. “Neither would I,” said the Nun, “I do it for love.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/). (L/26)
Kindly visit my website by clicking onhttps://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Please contact me by email, only at akadavil@gmail.com as I am at home in my home country since 2023. For additional homilies, you may visithttps://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homiliesand Fr. Nick’s collection of homilies or Resources in the CBCI website: https://www.cbci.in. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) My post-retirement U. S. postal address is Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Fr. Anthony Kadavil, C/o Fr. Joseph M. C. , St. Agatha Church, 1001 Hand Avenue, Bay Minette, Al, U.S.A. 36507
Oct 12-17: Oct 12 Monday:Lk 11:29-32:29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
The context: Since there had been many false prophets and false messiahs in the past, and since their pride and prejudice did not permit them to see the Messiah in a carpenter-from-Nazareth-turned-wandering-preacher, the Jewish religious leaders demanded that Jesus should show some “Messianic” signs and miracles taken from their list. They would not accept that Jesus’ numerous miraculous healings were the Messianic signs foretold by the prophets.
Jesus’ negative response: Calling them an apostate generation who refused to believe in their own prophets and denied the hand of God in the miracles he worked, Jesus warned these religious leaders that they would be condemned on the Day of Judgment by the people of Nineveh and by the Queen of Sheba from the South. (Sheba, or Saba, was a southern kingdom centred on Yemen or Ethiopia, and possibly including both. The distance from Yemen to Jerusalem is 2084 miles). This is one of the instances in which Jesus held up Gentiles as models of Faith and goodness (other examples: the Canaanite woman in Mt 15, the centurion in Lk 7, the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10; etc.). The pagan Ninevites heard the voice of the Lord God in the prophet Jonah, repented, and were spared. The Queen of Sheba recognized God’s Wisdom in King Solomon, and she traveled to Israel to receive more of it. Nevertheless, Jesus gave the religious leaders challenging him, “the sign of Jonah.” It was the undeniable Messianic sign of his own Resurrection from the tomb on the third day after his death, just as Jonah had spent three days in the belly of the giant fish before finally going to Nineveh to accomplish the mission God had originally given him.
Life messages: We need to recognize God-given signs in our lives: 1) Each Sacrament in the Church is an external sign representing God’s grace. 2) On the altar we re-present Christ’s sacrifice on the cross using liturgical signs and prayers. 3) Everyone living with us or working with us is a sign of God’s living presence in our midst, inviting us to love and honor him or her as God’s child and the living Temple of the Holy Spirit. 4) All world events and all the events in our lives are signs of God’s care and protection for us, His children. 5) The Holy Bible is a sign of God communicating His message to us every day. So, let us learn from these God-given signs instead of looking for signs in weeping Madonnas, bleeding crucifixes and daily messages of visionaries. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26 For additional reflections: Click onhttps://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections
Oct 13 Tuesday: Lk 11:37-41: 37 While he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him; so he went in and sat at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you.
The context: In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy. Jesus was invited by a Pharisee for a dinner at which Jesus violated the ceremonial law by purposely omitting the ritual washing of hands before the meals and between the courses. Pious Jews were expected on each occasion to wash their hands by pouring two ounces of water from finger tips to wrist and in the reverse order, and then to cleanse each palm by rubbing the fist of the other hand. Water was stored in big stone jars for this washing ceremony. Omitting the ceremony was considered a sin and that is why Jesus’ host was astonished.
Jesus teaches the essence of religion: Jesus tells his host that the essence of religion is offering to God a clean heart filled with love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. Mere external observance of rituals without a cleansing of the heart is hypocrisy, which God hates. Jesus uses the occasion to accuse the Pharisees of harboring evil thoughts like greed, pride, bitterness, envy, and arrogance in their hearts. Jesus concludes by suggesting that one method of expressing real love of God and neighbor originating from a compassionate heart and making one pure and clean is giving alms to the poor. Almsgiving in the proper sense means realizing the needs of others and letting them share in one’s own goods, especially by way of spiritual help, financial and emotional support, consolation, fraternity, and love. St. John of the Cross explains this passage, remarking that in the evening of our lives we will be judged on our love expressed by works of charity.
Life messages: 1) In order to have interior cleanliness, let us do some charitable acts which externally express our loving relationship with God and our eagerness to do His will. Since we are offering our hearts and lives on the altar, let us expel everything evil from our hearts by true repentance Love is what we have to give others – love with understanding, mercy, respect for their freedom, and deep concern for their spiritual and material welfare. Giving this gift requires that we have love in our thoughts, words and actions always. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
Oct 14 Wednesday; St. Callistus I, Pope,Martyr:http://franciscanmedia.beracha.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-callistus-iLk 11:42-46:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! for you love the best seat in the synagogues and salutations in the market places. 44 Woe to you! for you are like graves which are not seen, and men walk over them without knowing it.” 45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you reproach us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! for you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”
The context: In today’s text, taken from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus expresses his moral indignation and sorrow at the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees who have put obstacles between the common people and God by overburdening them with unnecessary, impractical, and almost limitless interpretations of Mosaic laws. In today’s text, Jesus levels three accusations against these religious leaders, naming particular misbehaviors: 1) They have misinterpreted the spirit of the Law, making the Law a heavy burden for the God-fearing common people. Jesus gives the Law of tithing as an example. God intended tithing for His people as an expression of their gratitude to a providing God (Dt 14:22; Lv 27:30). The scribes instructed the people to pay tithes on insignificant things, such as kitchen-garden plants, with great mathematical accuracy, but they themselves neglected justice and love of God in their private lives. 2) The second accusation is that the scribes and the Pharisees are notorious for their status-seeking. They demand that the common people give them special honors because of their expertise in Mosaic Law and faithful religious observance. As a mark of respect, they are to be given front seats in the synagogue and public greeting in the streets. 3) Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees to the white-washed tombs on the sides of the road leading to Jerusalem. In preparation for the three major Jewish feasts, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, the scribes and Pharisees used to have the tombs whitewashed, so that the pilgrims would not be ritually defiled by unknowingly walking over one. Jesus accuses the Pharisees of moral filth, of hiding injustice and immorality inside themselves and of covering the corruption with pretensions of piety and religious fervor. Thus, they contaminate others with their rotten and dangerous ideas of God’s demands.
Life messages: 1) The essence of religion is to love God, discovering Him in everyone. The basic principles of the Ten Commandments are respect and reverence based on love of God and neighbor. When we learn to reverence God, His holy Name and His holy Day and to respect our parents, elders and all others, their lives, their goods and their good names, we practice true religion without hypocrisy or selfish interests. True love is sacrificial, encouraging us to help lift the burdens of others. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26Additional reflections: Click onhttps://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections
Oct 15 Thursday:St. Teresa of Jesus,Virgin, Doctor of the Church: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-teresa-of-avila/; Oct 13 Thursday: Luke 11:47-54 Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, `I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard, and to provoke him to speak of many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch at something he might say.
The context: Today’s passage, taken from chapter 11 of Luke’s Gospel, gives two more accusations which Jesus made against the Pharisees. According to Matthew, Jesus made these accusations on the third day of what we call Holy Week in the Temple precincts of Jerusalem.
1) Jesus criticizes the blatant hypocrisy and false zeal of the scribes and the Pharisees in decorating the old monuments and building new monuments for the past prophets who had been persecuted and murdered by the forefathers of these same Scribes and the Pharisees, while they themselves did not obey the injunctions of these past prophets. Abel’s martyrdom is the first recorded in the Bible (Gn 4:8). [Navarre Bible Commentary: “Zechariah was a prophet who died by being stoned in the temple of Jerusalem around the year 800 B.C. because he accused the people of Israel of being unfaithful to God's law (cf. 2 Chr 24:20-22). The murder of Abel (Gn 4:8) and that of Zechariah were, respectively, the first and last murders reported in these books which the Jews regarded as Sacred Scripture”.] Jesus remarks that the blood-guilt inherited by the ancestors of the scribes and the Pharisees throughout the Old Testament era will spill over when the priests (most of them scribes), and the Pharisees conspired to execute Jesus the Messiah.
2) Since the scribes (religious lawyers), were the official interpreters of the Scriptures, they held the “office of the keys.” Unfortunately, their interpretation of the Scriptures became so distorted and difficult to understand that others were “shut off” from the Scriptures.
Oct 16 Friday: St. Hedwig, Religious;https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/hedwig-598 St. Margarette Mary Alaquoque, Virgin: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-margaret-mary-alacoque/. Lk 12:1-7:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they trod upon one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
The context: Jesus continues his condemnation of the hypocrisy of the Scribes and the Pharisees, comparing it to leaven or yeast. The Jews considered yeast as something evil, corrupting the dough during the process of fermentation. That is why the Law given through Moses prescribes unleavened bread for offering to God. Jesus reminded the common people that the Pharisees were hypocrites who pretended to be holy, and that they corrupted people as the yeast corrupts the dough. The teaching and example of the scribes and the Pharisees influenced the crowd in a disastrous way, especially when the teachers failed to practice what they preached. Jesus also warned these religious leaders that their sins would be brought to light at the Last Judgment (CCC #678).
Hearing in secret and announcing in public: According to the Navarre Bible Commentary, most Palestinian houses had a roof in the form of a terrace. There people would meet to chat and while away their time in the hottest part of the day. Jesus pointed out to his disciples that in these get-togethers, things said in private became matters of public discussion. In the same way, despite the Pharisees' and scribes' efforts to hide their vices and defects under the veil of piety, all they had hidden would become a matter of common knowledge.
A reverential fear of God: Since nothing -- not even the most insignificant thing -- escapes God, no one should fear that any suffering or persecution he experiences in following Christ will remain unrewarded in eternity. But our fear of God should not be servile (based on fear of punishment). It should be a filial fear (the fear of a child who loves, and so does not want to displease, his or her father), a reverent awe nourished by our trust in Divine Providence.
Life messages: 1) In contrast to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the followers of Jesus must display transparency in their Christian lives by practicing what they profess. 2) They should also maintain a reverential fear of God, adjusting their actions in such a way that they may not displease a loving heavenly Father. (Fr. Tony) L/26
Oct 17 Saturday: St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr:https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-ignatius-of-antioch : Lk 12:8-12:8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; 9 but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
The context: The scribes and Pharisees attributed Jesus’ miracles of driving demons out of possessed people to the work of the devil rather than to God. Pride in their knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and prejudice against Jesus, the wandering preacher, prompted them to attribute Jesus’ exorcisms to the devil’s power and Jesus’ collaboration with the devil. The first part of today’s Gospel is Jesus’ reply to their false accusation.
Unpardonable sin: The Jews did not have any idea of a Triune God. For them the Spirit of God was God Himself. It was this Divine Spirit Who spoke through Moses and the prophets and Who enabled men and women to understand the Sacred Scriptures. So, Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that they were refusing to believe in the Spirit of God and in the Messianic prophecies given by Him when they attributed Jesus’ miracles to the devil. Hence, theirs was a sin of blasphemy against the Spirit of God. Since they remained unrepentant, thus refusing God’s mercy and forgiveness, their sin against the Holy Spirit of God was unforgivable. In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit as a Teacher and an Attorney Who would help defend his disciples when they were brought to trial before the Jewish synagogues and Roman authorities because of their Faith in Jesus as God and Savior.
Life messages: 1) Let us have the generosity and good will not to close our eyes to God or to shut our ears to His voice, thus refusing the chances given us by our merciful God to repent of our sins and renew our lives. 2) Let us ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our fight against temptations, and let us pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
WORLD MISSION SUNDAY [A) (Oct 18, 2026)1-page summary)
Introduction: Over one billion Catholics all over the world observe today as World Mission Sunday. This annual observance was instituted 100 years ago in 1926 by Pope Pius XI’s Papal decree. Every year since then, the universal Church has dedicated the month of October to reflection on, and prayer for the missions. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization around the world. This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work for the life of the Church. It reminds us that we are one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying on the mission of Christ, however different our situations may be.
The Holy Fathers’ Mission Sunday messages: In his World Mission Sunday messages, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of Christian charity in action as the keynote of evangelization. He encouraged Churches with a shortage of priests to get them from countries with many priests. In the Pauline Year, heencouraged everyone “to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel.” He reminded us that the “the goal of the Church’s mission is to illumine all peoples with the light of the Gospel,” and he exhorted all Christians “to redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary activity that is an essential component of the life of the Church.“ Pope Francis, in his first World Mission Sunday message, 2013, challenged us to proclaim courageously and in every situation the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation, and communion. In his 2014 Mission Sunday message, the Pope challenged the Church to become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples, and the source of rebirth for our world through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful evangelization. “The Church is on a mission in the world,” Pope Francis wrote in his 2019 World Mission Day message, Baptized and Sent. “This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission.” Hence the Holy Father calls on all Catholics and the Church to revive missionary awareness and commitment. In his 2020 message our Holy Father asked us to discharge our mission duty by volunteering with prophet Isaiah “Here am I, send me” (6:8) to alleviate the suffering of our Covid-19-stricken brothers and sisters. The theme of 2021 World Mission Day – “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20), is a summons to each of us to “own” and to bring to others what we bear in our hearts. His theme for 2022 is “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) focusing on three elements of the life of a mission disciple. The Vatican has announced the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for World Missions Day 2026: “One in Christ, united in mission.”
The missionary Church: The Church, according to Vatican Council II, is “missionary” in her very nature because her founder, Jesus Christ, was the first missionary. God the Father sent God the Son, Incarnate in Jesus, His Christ, into the world with a message of God’s love and salvation. Thus, the evangelizing mission of the Church is essentially the announcement of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, as these are revealed to mankind through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. How should we evangelize? By living an exemplary and transparent Christian life, by prayer and by financial support. The most powerful means of preaching Christ is by living a truly Christian life
OCT 18, 2026 WORLD MISSION SUNDAY– Is 60:1-6; Rom 10:9-18; Mt 28:16-20
Homily starter anecdote: # 1: “I have no other plan.” S.D. Gordon has a beautiful story about the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. When the grand welcome ceremony was over, the Archangel Gabriel approached Jesus to resolve his doubts. He said, “I know that only a very few in Palestine are aware of the great work of human salvation You have accomplished through Your suffering, death and Resurrection. But the whole world should know and appreciate it and become Your disciples, acknowledging You as their Lord and Savior. What is Your plan of action?” Jesus answered, “I have told all My Apostles to tell other people about Me and preach My Message through their lives. That’s all.” “Suppose they don’t do that?” Gabriel asked. “What’s your Plan B?” Jesus replied, “I have no other plan; I am counting on them.” On this World Mission Sunday, the Church reminds us that Jesus is counting on each one of us to make Him known loved and accepted by others around us.
# 2: “We Wanted to be Like Them” A striking story tells about one remote area in western Sudan. Expatriate missionaries, especially priests, Brothers and Sisters, had labored there for many years with few visible results. Then expatriate lay missionaries — married and single — came to that area and soon many Sudanese people become Catholics. A Sudanese elder explained: “When we saw the priests and Sisters living separately and alone, we didn’t want to be like them. But when we saw Catholic families — men, women and children — living happily together, we wanted to be like them.” In our family-oriented African society, married missionary couples with children have a powerful and unique witness and credibility. (Fr. Joseph G. Healey, M.M., a Maryknoll missionary)
# 3: “Go and invite people to Church.” The Evangelism of Roy Fish hits the nail on the head when he emphasizes the difference between “come and hear” and “go and tell” ministries. “People often say, ‘Come and hear the Gospel taught in our church’ or ‘Come and hear our evangelist preach the gospel.’ This ‘come and hear’ kind of religion constitutes a reversal of the Great Commission of Jesus. His instructions to his church were not to invite people to ‘come and hear,’ but for believers to ‘go and tell.’ The main responsibility is not to bring the lost to the Gospel, but to take the Gospel to the lost. Jesus wants us to go and witness, but we have interpreted it to mean, ‘Go and invite people to church.'” (Roy Fish, “Missing Thrust in Today’s Evangelism,” in Evangelism Today & Tomorrow [Nashville: Broadman Press, 1993], 43.)
Introduction: Over one billion Catholics all over the world observe today as the 96thWorld Mission Sunday. Pope Pius XI instituted this annual observance in 1926 by Papal decree. Every year since then, the universal Church has dedicated the month of October to reflection on, and prayer for, the missions. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization around the world. Of the 3000 dioceses in the world, about 1000 are missionary dioceses—they need assistance from more established dioceses to build catechetical programs, seminaries, Religious Communities, Chapels, Churches, orphanages, hospitals, and schools. This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work for the life of the Church. It reminds us that we are one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying on the mission of Christ, however different our situations may be. The greatest missionary challenge that we face at home is a secular and consumerist culture in which God is not important, moral values are relative, and institutional religions are deemed unnecessary.
Mission Sunday messages of recent Popes: It is because of the modern challenges to evangelization that, in his World Mission Sunday Message, for 2003, Pope St. John Paul II called on the Church to become “more contemplative, holy, and missionary-oriented, grounding its work on fervent prayer.” Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2006 message, stressed the importance of Christian charity in action as the keynote of evangelization. “All the Churches for all the World” was the Pope’s theme for World Mission Sunday, 2007. Pope Benedict encouraged the sending of missionaries from Church communities which have a large number of vocations to serve those communities of the West which experience a shortage of vocations. In 2008, the Pope encouraged everyone “to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel” in this Pauline Year, following the example, and imbibing the missionary zeal, of St. Paul, the greatest missionary of all times. In 2009, the Pope clarified that the “the goal of the Church’s mission was to illumine all peoples with the light of the Gospel as they journey through history towards God.” He asked all Christians to redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary activity that is an essential component of the life of the Church. Pope Francis, in his first World Mission Sunday message (2013), challenged us to proclaim courageously and in every situation the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation and communion, a proclamation of God’s closeness, His mercy and His salvation. This proclamation would make clear that the power of God’s love is able to overcome the darkness of evil and guide us on the path of goodness. In the light of the conclusion of the Year of Faith, the Pope offered his thoughts about Faith: the necessity of sharing it, some roadblocks missionary efforts can encounter, and the importance of generously responding to the missionary call of the Holy Spirit. In his 2014 Mission Sunday message, Pope Francis challenged the Church to become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples and the source of rebirth for our world through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful evangelization. In his 2015 message Pope Francis declared “The Church’s mission is faced by the challenge of meeting the needs of all people to return to their roots and to protect the values of their respective cultures. This means knowing and respecting other traditions and philosophical systems, and realizing that all peoples and cultures have the right to be helped from within their own traditions to enter into the mystery of God’s wisdom and to accept the Gospel of Jesus, who is light and transforming strength for all cultures.” “The Church is on a mission in the world,” Pope Francis said in his 2019 World Mission Day message, Baptized and Sent. “This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission.” Hence, the Holy Father was calling on all Catholics and the Church to revive missionary awareness and commitment. In his 2020 message, Holy Father want us to discharge our mission duty by volunteering with prophet Isaiah “Here am I, send me” (6:8) to help alleviate the suffering of Covid-19-stricken brothers and sisters. Pope Francis’ message for 2021 reflects on the theme: “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts of the Apostles 4:20). His theme for 2022 is “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) focusing on three elements of the life of a mission disciple: i) The call of every Christian to bear witness to Christ.(You shall be my witnesses”); ii) The perennial relevance of a mission of universal evangelization (“to the ends of the earth”); and (iii) Let us always be strengthened and guided by the Spirit (“You will receive power” from the Holy Spirit).
The missionary Church: The Church, according to Vatican Council II, is “missionary” in her very nature because her founder, Jesus Christ, was the first missionary. God the Father sent God the Son into the world incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, His Christ, with a message. This message, called the Gospel or the Good News, is explicitly stated in Jn 3:16: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die, but have eternal life.” John further clarifies Jesus’ message in his epistle: “God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”(I Jn 4:9). St. Paul writes to Timothy about the Church’s mission: “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth.” (I Tm 2:4). Thus, the evangelizing mission of the Church is essentially the announcement of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, as these are revealed to mankind through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Gospels show us how Jesus demonstrated this all-embracing and unconditional love of God by his life, suffering, death, and Resurrection.
Counter-witnessing affects Mission Sunday message: Revelations of recent and past sex abuse cases and the culpable failure of the hierarchy to prevent them, prompting some Catholics to leave the Church, put non-Catholics and non-Christians in a dilemma, and some of them postponed or even abandoned their plan to join the Catholic Church. They naturally expected the Church ministers to be holy or at least honorable, and they were disillusioned by the counter-witnessing caused by the sex abuse crisis. They wanted the Church authorities to take drastic and effective steps to restore the Church to its true dignity, loving the Church as Christ does. The observance of Mission Sunday is the appropriate time to reorder the Church to meet the demands and expectations of the true apostolic nature and Divine vocation, given to her by Christ. The holy living of faithful Christians and their anointed ministers, with their fervent prayer, is the only solution to tide us over the present crisis.
Why should we preach? Jesus, the first missionary, made a permanent arrangement for inviting all men throughout the ages to share God’s love and salvation: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19). This is why the Council Fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared that the Church of Christ “is missionary in its origin and nature.” Hence, it follows that the mission of the Church is the mission of every member of the Church, and is not reserved for the priests, the religious, and the active missionaries alone. Thus, every Christian is a missionary with a message to share — the message of God’s love, liberation, and eternal salvation.
How are we to accomplish this goal? The most powerful means of fulfilling this goal is by living a truly Christian life — a life filled with love, mercy, kindness, compassion, prayer, and a forgiving spirit. Mr. Gandhi used to say: “My life is my message.” He often challenged the Christian missionaries to observe the “apostolate of the rose.” A rose doesn’t preach. It simply radiates its fragrance and attracts everyone to it by its irresistible beauty. Hence, the most important thing is not the Gospel we preach, but the life we live. This is how the early Christians evangelized. Their Gentile neighbors used to say: “See how these Christians love one another!” The Christ they recognized and accepted was the Christ who lived in each Christian.
Prayer is the second means of missionary work. Jesus said: “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15: 5). Therefore, prayer is necessary for anyone who wishes to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and for everyone who preaches the Good News in his life. In his message for World Mission Sunday, 2004, Pope St. John Paul II stressed the fact that the Holy Spirit would help us to become witnesses of Christ only in an atmosphere of prayer. Since missionaries are weak human beings, and since witnessing to Christ through life is not easy, we need to support them by our prayers always. In his message for 2007, Pope Benedict reminds us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”, the Lord said; “pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Lk 10: 2).
All missionary efforts also require financial support because the love of God can often be explained to the poor only by providing them with food and a means of livelihood. The sick can experience the healing power of Jesus only through the dedicated service of doctors, nurses, and health care workers. Building, maintaining, and staffing Hospitals and nursing homes all require funding. The use of expensive modern media of communication is often necessary to bring Christ’s message of love and liberation more effectively to non-Christians in the modern world.
Hence, on this Mission Sunday, let us learn to appreciate our missionary obligation and support the Church’s missionary activities by leading transparent Christian lives, by fervent prayers, and by generous donations. Pope Benedict XVI concluded his 2006 Mission Sunday message thus: “May the Virgin Mary, who collaborated actively in the beginning of the Church’s mission with her presence beneath the Cross and her prayers in the Upper Room, sustain their action and help believers in Christ to be ever more capable of true love, so that they become sources of living water in a spiritually thirsting world.”
JOKE OF THE DAY
# 1: 97% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola
72% of the world has seen a can of Coca-Cola
51% of the world has tasted a can of Coca-Cola
Coke has only been around 123 years ( by 2022).
— If God had given the task of world evangelization to the Coke company it would probably be done by now!
# 2: Did Jesus Christ Ever Kill a Lion? A story is told about a missionary who went to a remote area in Northern Tanzania to proclaim the Gospel among the Maasai tribes who were warriors. One day he was explaining to a group of adults the saving activity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He told how Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of all humankind. When he finished, a Maasai elder slowly stood up and said to the missionary: “You have spoken well, but I want to learn more about this great person Jesus Christ. Now I have three questions about Jesus. First, did he ever kill a lion? Second, how many cows did he have? Third, how many wives and children did he have?”
# 3: Rescue mission to Egypt: Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school. “Well, Mom,” he reported, “our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he ordered his engineers to build a pontoon bridge, and all the people walked across safely. He used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters to call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.
“Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked.
“Well, no, Mom,” Joey admitted, “but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”
#4: Religion is a good thing, as long as it’s in small doses. A family lived off the alley behind my first church. There were three floors to their row house, each floor inhabited by a different generation. The grandparents, who were members of the church, lived on the ground floor. Next floor up was their son and daughter-in-law, and the grandchildren’s bedrooms were at the top. One day, the grandfather beckoned me to the back fence. “I’m worried about my grandson,” he said. “What’s the problem?” I asked. He said, “When he gets up in the morning, he reads the Bible before he does anything else. Every time he sits at the kitchen table, he insists on saying grace. Now he’s talking about joining a prayer group with his girlfriend.” “Walter,” I said, “what’s the problem?” “Don’t get me wrong, Reverend,” he said. “Religion is a good thing, as long as it’s in small doses. I’m worried my grandson is becoming an extremist.” — I admit it was hard to sympathize with my neighbor. So far, no member of my family has been lost to such radical behavior. Neither has a child of mine wandered off to the Temple for three days. But it’s important to remember that religious commitments can divide a family. [William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS Publishing Company.]
# 5: And hell broke loose: Mark Twain used to tell a joke that he put a dog and a cat in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did. So, he put in a bird, pig and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments. Then he put in a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and a Catholic, and hell broke loose.
7- Additional anecdotes: 1) “You’re not a white man; you’re Jesus.” A touching story is told of a British missionary priest who lived in a remote part of Tanzania. He lived alone, a single white man among his African flock, speaking their language. One day a British government official arrived on a tour of the area. The Tanzanian children ran out to welcome the visitor. They entertained the official by clapping, singing and dancing. After the official left, the children excitedly told the missionary priest, “We saw a white man! We saw a white man!” Some of the children said that the visitor was the first foreigner they had ever seen. The priest was amazed and exclaimed, “But I’m a white man. I’m a foreigner. But I’ve been living here with you all these years.” One of the children said, “You’re not a white man; you’re Jesus, you are our Father.” — Mission Sunday reminds us that transparent Christian life, as lived by this missionary, radiating the real presence of Jesus within, is the mission of every Christian. (Joseph G. Healey, M.M).
2) “Athanasius Evangelized Me With a Cup of Tea” : One day Bishop Christopher Mwoleka came to our house in Nyabihanga Village in Rulenge, Tanzania on an unexpected visit. My good friend Athanasius and I hurriedly prepared tea for the villagers who came to greet the bishop. We started with two full thermoses, but then several other visitors came and soon we had finished all the tea. I wondered what I would do if another person came. Just then one of our neighbors arrived to say hello. As I started to apologize for not having any more tea, Athanasius spontaneously picked up his own cup of tea and politely handed it to the visitor. –It was a simple gesture of sharing, but for me a profound act of love and beauty. By his example Athanasius had evangelized me. (Joseph G. Healey, M.M).
3) Americans give $700 million per year to mission agencies. However, they pay as much for pet food every 52 days. A person must overeat by at least $1.50 worth of food per month to maintain one excess pound of flesh. Yet $1.50 per month is more than what 90 percent of all Christians in America give to missions. If the average missions’ supporter is only five pounds overweight, it means he spends (to his own hurt) at least five times as much as he gives for missions.– If he were to choose simple food and chose a not to overeat, he could give ten times as much as he does to missions and not modify his standard of living in any other way! [Ralph Winter of the William Carey Library, 1705 North Sierra Bonita Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91104, in Leadership, IV,4,p. 64. ]
4) Mary Moffatt Livingstone: Sometimes marriage to a great leader comes with a special price for his wife. Such was the case for Mary Moffatt Livingstone, wife of Dr. David Livingstone, perhaps the most celebrated missionary in the Western world. Mary was born in Africa; she was the daughter of Robert Moffatt, the missionary who inspired Livingstone to go to Africa. The Livingstones were married in Africa in 1845, but the years that followed were difficult for Mary. Finally, she and their six children returned to England so she could recuperate as Livingstone plunged deeper into the African interior. — Unfortunately, even in England Mary lived in near poverty. The hardships and long separations took their toll on Mrs. Livingstone, who died when she was just forty-two.
[Today in the Word, MBI, January 1990, p. 12.]
5) Good motto for the missionaries: One afternoon author Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, “I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated. He called me “Ma’am.” At the time I thought, ‘Either he thinks I’m ancient, or he’s from the South where they still teach manners, or he’s in the service.’ I decided the last was the most likely, so I asked, “You in the service?” “Yes, Ma’am, I am.” “What branch?” “Marines.” “Hey, Marine, where are you coming from?” “Operation Desert Storm, Ma’am.” “No kidding? Desert Storm! How long were you there?” I asked. “A year and a half. I’m on my way home. My family will be at the airport.” I then commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East. — “Oh, no, Ma’am,” he replied. “We were taught never to think of what might never be, but to be fully available right where we were.” Focus on the Family, July, 1993, p. 5. (Quoted by Fr. Tony Kayala).
6) Surrendering the achievements in mathematics for the missions: In his book Facing Loneliness, J. Oswald Sanders writes, “The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth are but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache…The millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience.” Sanders goes on the emphasize that being successful often fails to produce satisfaction. Then he refers to Henry Martyn, a distinguished scholar, as an example of what he is talking about. Martyn, a Cambridge University student, was honored at only 20 years of age for his achievements in mathematics. In fact, he was given the highest recognition possible in that field. And yet he felt an emptiness inside. He said that instead of finding fulfillment in his achievements, he had “only grasped a shadow.” After evaluating his life’s goals, Martyn sailed to India as a missionary at the age of 24. When he arrived, he prayed, “Lord, let me burn out for You.” In the next 7 years that preceded his death, he translated the New Testament into three difficult Eastern languages. — These notable achievements were certainly not passing “shadows.” (Quoted by Fr. Tony Kayala).
7) “God Is Like a Large Baobab Tree”One day my pickup truck broke down on the road from Maswa to Bariadi in western Tanzania. After I had waited for a half-hour a big Coca-Cola truck came by and the driver named Musa kindly towed my vehicle to the next town — a common occurrence of friendship and mutual help on our poor dirt roads. Part of the time I sat in his big cab and we talked about, of all things, religion. Musa was a Muslim who belonged to the Nyamwezi Ethnic Group from Tabora. — In commenting on the tensions between Christians and Muslims in Tanzania he told me: “There is only one God. God is like one large tree with different branches that represent the different religions of Islam, Christianity, African Religion and so forth. These branches are part of the same family of God, so we should work together.” Simply put, Musa taught me an African metaphor of world religions and interreligious dialogue. (Fr. Healey). L/22
Our Mission: Connecting with the disconnected by witnessing: “How can we connect with the disconnected?” asked Bishop Eric Pohlmeier during his homily at the Deanery Mass, celebrated in our church on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Recalling that the primary concern of pastors, parents, and other church leaders everywhere is how to connect with the disconnected, he said the many wonderful programs we have are not helping us to achieve this goal. “The programs are wonderful for those who are already connected,” he said. “But no program is going to help us connect with the disconnected.” Hence, Bishop Pohlmeier suggested following the model of Jesus. “It is a one-on-one approach rather than a program,” he said. “To connect with the disconnected, we have to look at what Jesus did. Jesus brought people close to him, and their lives were transformed.” Then he said, “You go out, and you tell what happened to you.” The bishop said the essential building block for connecting with the disconnected, especially those in the family, is sharing our personal story of Faith with others. He then asked us to consider the following questions: 1. What difference has Jesus made in your life? 2. If you have children, do your children know the answer to the first question? Acknowledging that we Catholics are not usually ready with an answer to the first question, he encouraged us to reflect on this question seriously. He then asked the parents to share their answer to the first question with their non-practicing grown-up children before they ask them to go to Church. “Sharing faith is not a matter of telling others what they should do,” Bishop Pohlmeier said. “Sharing faith is about speaking of God at work in our own life… To really share Faith with somebody means I have to be versatile enough to adapt it to the situation. This takes some real reflecting to see how God has pervaded my life and how God wants me to build bridges with other people.” Saying that we all face many serious challenges in life, he asked us to see this as a common ground and share with others how we have learned to navigate life’s difficulties because of Jesus. “They may have biases of their own. But our common ground is that they are looking for what matters in life, “ he said. “Everyone is pursuing what they believe will give meaning to their life, what will bring them joy; that is part of our common humanity,” he said. “We have discovered something that really matters,” he said. “So, to speak about our faith in terms of a pearl of great price that we have discovered is very different from telling somebody else, ‘You should do this.’ So, we have to think about how valuable this life with Jesus is in our own story.” Cautioning that we should not be telling others what they shouldn’t do, he said we should speak about the value of what we have found and invite them to look for a different way that offers them a richness deep in their heart they desire. ”We must be sharing and witnessing this richness,” he added. “You are the building block we depend on – your life and your story have a lot to offer,” he said. “So, I ask you to reflect, to consider more deeply in such a way that we can share with others the story of God at work in us.”
As Bishop Pohlmeier reminded us, sharing our story of Faith with others is very important in getting them reconnected with the Church. Hence, let us often reflect on our story of faith and thus become aware of how God is at work in our lives, helping us navigate the many difficulties in life. Our constant awareness of how God is at work in our lives will enable us to share our story of Faith with others, especially with our family members, helping them reconnect with Jesus and his Church. Many thanks, many thanks to all the priests, deacons, and lay faithful who attended the Deanery Mass from the different parishes of the deanery. My sincere gratitude also to our Parochial Vicar Fr. Rob Trujillo, parish staff, choir, greeters, ushers, reception team in the parish hall, and all volunteers who work. (Fr. Jose P. CMI).
O.T. XXIX [A] (Oct 18, 2026) (Eight-minute homily in one page)
(In 2026, World Mission Sunday is observed on Oct 18th: Homily is included in my website).
Introduction:The common theme of today’s readings is the nature of our obligations to God and to our country. The readings show us how, with God’s help, we can be ideal citizens of both earth and Heaven.
Scripture lessons summarized: In the first reading, Isaiah the prophet foretells how, without the great Persian Emperor Cyrus’ intention, his policies would be made part of God’s saving plan for His chosen people. Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 96) reminds us that when people put God’s Kingdom first, everyone benefits. In the second reading, Paul praises his converts in Thessalonica for their fidelity to God and to Christ His Son, “our Lord Jesus Christ,” and for their practice, with the help of the Holy Spirit, of the Theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. In the Gospel, Jesus escapes from the trap in the question, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” by instructing those who questioned him, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” With this answer, Jesus reminds his questioners that, if they are so concerned and careful about paying taxes to the state, they should be much more concerned and careful about their service to God and their obligations to Him as their Creator and Lord. We fulfill our duties to our country by loyally obeying the just laws of the State and working for the welfare of all citizens. We become good Heavenly citizens by obeying God’s laws.
Life messages: 1) We need to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”: How? It is the duty of Christians, as citizens of the country, to pay for the services and the privileges that government provides, like paved roads, police and fire departments, banks, schools, and other necessities. If we refuse to pay taxes, how will these needs be met? Another way of “giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s” is to participate actively in the running of the government, electing the most suitable candidates and influencing them through frequent contacts.
2 ) We must submit to the civil authorities and respect the just laws of our country in order to live in peace. As loyal citizens, we must also see to it that our elected representatives are faithful in maintaining law and order in the country and in promoting the welfare of all its citizens without violating God’s laws.
3) We need to “give to God what is God’s.” How? Since everything is God’s, we must give ourselves to Him 100%, not just 10% on Sundays. We should be generous in fulfilling our Sunday obligations, and we should find time every day for prayer and worship in the family, for the reading of the Bible and the proper training of our children in Faith and morals. We are invited each year to make a stewardship pledge of our financial offering to the local Church for the coming year. Our contribution to the parish Church should be an expression of our gratitude to God, giving back to God all that He has given us. Active participation in the various ministries of the parish is an offering to God of our time and talents, yet another way of giving to God His due, our whole self.
OT XXIX [A] (10/18/2026) Is 45:1, 4-6; 1 Thes 1:1-5b; Mt 22:15-21 (L26)
Homily starter anecdotes:1) “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” Perhaps we can illustrate all this with one case, that of St. Thomas More, the English martyr who was Councilor to King Henry VIII and Lord High Chancellor of England. Robert Bolt dramatized More’s conflict – regarding what is Caesar’s and what is God’s – in the drama, A Man for All Seasons. Recall the story: King Henry VIII of England was, by Papal dispensation, validly married to Catherine of Aragon, his elder brother’s widow. Seeking a male heir and attracted to Anne Boleyn, Henry appealed to Rome again to have his marriage to Catherine annulled – which would mean that the Papal dispensation had been sinful! Rome refused. Henry took matters into his own hands, declared himself Head of the Church in England and “married” Anne. He then ordered his friends and officials to sign a document declaring that they agreed he had acted rightly in the matter. Many of More’s friends signed, but More refused. Henry III demanded that he sign or face arrest, trial for treason, and execution by the state. More refused: he knew he had two obligations, one to God and one to his country. When they conflicted, More knew he had no choice but to remain faithful to his obligation to God. On his way to public execution in 1534, More encouraged the people to remain steadfast in the Faith. His last recorded words were: “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” — Today’s Gospel reminds us of our dual citizenship. We are citizens of the world and citizens of Heaven. We have an allegiance and an obligation to each. We hope the obligations will never clash. But if they ever do, we must resolve them as Thomas More did, without compromise to our God or to our conscience. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). https://youtu.be/ODejZPHC9vU (Quoted by Fr. Don in Lectiotube) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) Caesar and God: In his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy, the newly-elected President of the United States, gave the famous challenge: “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking God’s blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.” — If we personalized Kennedy’s statement it would read, “Don’t ask, ‘What can my country do for me?’ Instead ask, ‘What can I do for my country?’” And add, “Don’t ask, ‘What can God do for me?’ Instead ask, ‘What can I do for God?’” Today’s Gospel lesson gives the correct answer. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) Honesty and Trigonometry: Dr. Madison Sarratt taught Mathematics at Vanderbilt University for many years. Before giving a test, the professor would admonish his class, “Today I am giving two examinations—one in trigonometry and the other in honesty. I hope you will pass them both, fulfilling your obligations to your teacher and to your God. If you fail, fail for trigonometry. There are many good people in the world who can’t pass trigonometry, but there are 4
not many people in the world who cannot pass the examination of honesty, the debt we owe to God.” — This piece of advice sounds like what Jesus said in today’s Gospel: “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar — and to God what belongs to God.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) The Church and state in the first century AD:In the famous Letter to Diognetus, composed around the middle of the second century A.D., wise and timeless principles are suggested: “Christians, neither by country, nor language, nor customs, are distinguished from other people. Living in Greece and other barbarian cities, as it happened, each one must adapt oneself to the customs of the place, in clothing, food, and rest. They witness to a way of wonderful and undoubtedly paradoxical social life. They live in their homeland, but as strangers; they participate in everything as citizens and are detached from all things as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign. They marry like everyone else and have children, but do not throw newborn babies away. They share their meals, but not the bed. They dwell in the land, but they have their citizenship in heaven. They obey the established laws and their way of life surpasses the laws. To put it short, as the soul is in the body, so are Christians in the world” (Letter to Diognetus, The Manners of the Christians V, VI, 1).
Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is the nature of our obligations to God and to our country. The readings show us how, with God’s help, we can be ideal citizens of both earth and Heaven. In the first reading and in the Gospel, a world superpower is matched up against the Kingdom of God. Isaiah the prophet foretells how, not by Cyrus’ conscious intention, his policies as Persian Emperor, would become part of God’s saving plan for His chosen people. The words of the Responsorial Psalm, (Ps 96) “Say among the nations: The Lord is King,” summon all Israel, all the nations and all creation to acknowledge and praise God as King of the universe. The Psalm reminds us that when people put God’s Kingdom first, everyone benefits. In the second reading, referring to Jesus as “our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul acknowledges Jesus as One who shares Divine power with God the Father. Paul reminds his Thessalonians that it was God Who chose them to live in Him and gave them the power to produce the “work of Faith … labor of Love and endurance of Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before God our Father.” It is for this reason that Paul praises his converts in Thessalonica, assuring them, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers.” In the Gospel, Jesus escapes from the trap in the question, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” by stating, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” By this answer, Jesus reminds His questioners that if they are that concerned and careful about paying taxes to the state, they should be much more concerned and careful about their service to God and their obligations to Him as their Creator and Lord. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
The first reading (Isaiah 45:1, 4-6) explained: The Cyrus mentioned here is Cyrus II, the Great, who founded the Persian Empire. In 539 B.C., he conquered the Babylonians who had defeated the Jews 50 years earlier and had taken many of them into captivity. He decided to liberate the Jews from their exile and allow them to go back to their home country, Judea. In this passage, the prophet Isaiah declares that Cyrus, even though a pagan, was God’s instrument. The amazing fact is that God actually used Cyrus to restore His people to their homeland. God is able and willing to use ungodly powers to achieve His ends because He is the God not only of the Jews, but of history and of the whole world. Hence, He anointed Cyrus as a savior of His people. Cyrus carried out God’s plan by setting the Jewish exiles free and giving them permission to go back to Judah to rebuild their Temple and city. He also returned to them the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple. And that is how a pagan emperor became, in God’s hand, the instrument by means of whom the people of Israel might return to their Promised Land. This passage also contains a new theological idea. To call this pagan king, “Messiah” or “Christos” meaning “the Lord’s anointed” (a title given exclusively to the kings, prophets, and priests of the Chosen People), was quite revolutionary. Like other passages from Isaiah, it was meant to challenge the Jews’ parochialism and give them a more universal view of God’s concern and plan.
The Second Reading, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 explained: Bible scholars believe that this letter, addressed to the new Jewish and the Gentile Christians of northern Greece (Thessalonica), is the earliest document of the whole New Testament, written in Corinth in A.D. 50. There was more Faith, Hope, and Charity among the Thessalonians than Paul could credit to his own preaching; the Holy Spirit was clearly at work. Along with 1 Thes 5:8, this is the earliest mention in Christian literature of the three “theological virtues” (see 1 Cor 13:13). From today’s text it is clear that these people worked hard at being Christians, and that Saint Paul thought that praiseworthy. Hence, he praised his converts for their fidelity to God and to Christ, assuring them of his prayers. He hoped that they would continue to be faithful to the call God had given them, a call proved by the many gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed on them.
Gospel exegesis: The context: The Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians were the three prominent Jewish sects of Jesus’ day. The Pharisees were rabid nationalists, totally anti-Roman, while the Herodians were willing to collaborate with the Romans, hoping to benefit from them. Together with the chief priests, these three groups accused Jesus of “associating” with sinners and challenged his authority to teach in the Temple. The three “parables of judgment” were Jesus’ calculated reply to their accusations. After the first two parables, “the chief priests and the Pharisees … realized that he was speaking about them” (21:45-46). Hence, they resumed their counter-attack in an attempt to destroy Jesus’ influence with the people, either by discrediting him in the presence of the crowds or by causing him to make statements that would get him into trouble with the Romans. The question put to Jesus in verse 17 is actually the first in a series of four “test questions” recorded in Mt 22:15-46. Besides today’s question on the legality of paying taxes, there are three other questions – two asked by the Sadducees and Pharisees to Jesus and one asked by Jesus himself. First, the Sadducees ask Jesus’ opinion on the details of the resurrection of the dead (vv. 23-28) and Jesus’ response silences them. Second, the Pharisees ask Him what the greatest commandment is (vv. 34-39, and Jesus’ answer silence them as well. While they were conferring among themselves, Jesus set for them the problem of the relationship between the Messiah and King David, asking them, “What is your opinion about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” When they answered, “David’s,” Jesus responded, “How, then, does David, inspired by the Spirit, call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies under Your feet’?” (vv. 41-45). They had no answer, and that ended their test questions.
The tax issue: The Jews were forced to pay three types of tax to the Roman Emperor: the ground tax, the income tax, and the census tax or poll tax. As ground tax, a man must pay to the government one tenth of the grain and one fifth of the oil and wine which he produced. This tax was paid partly in kind and partly in money equivalent. There was income tax which was 1% of a man’s income. There was a census, or poll tax. This tax, which amounted to one denarius, must be paid yearly for every male person from the age of fourteen to the age of sixty-five and for every female person from the age of twelve to sixty-five. This question concerned the census/poll tax. A census tax implied that, if one were a citizen, one owed the money to the Emperor. The Jews believed that they had the Lord God as their only Ruler, and so Taxes, or any form of submission, should be made to Yahweh alone. Hence, the question which the Pharisees asked Jesus was intended to create a very real dilemma for him. If he were to say that it was unlawful to pay the tax, the Herodians and their allies would report him to the Roman officials, who would then arrest him as a revolutionary. If he were to say that it was lawful to pay the tax, the insurgents and their supporters would turn against him and he would be discredited in the eyes of the people who were against paying taxes to a pagan emperor. In other words, to state that tax should be paid would have made Jesus appear a traitor to his country, while a denial would have left him behind the bars as an enemy of Rome. “The trap thus consisted in putting together an alliance of convenience [Pharisees and Herodians] in which both would ask Yeshua’s opinion, hoping his response would alienate him from one group or another.” (Jewish New Testament Commentary, p. 65)
Defense as Challenge: Jesus defeated their scheme by asking his challengers to show him “the coin of tribute” – the coin they would give to the tax-gatherer. In those days, all secular money was thought to belong to the Emperor. [The Temple had its own coinage, not used in paying secular debts.] Thus, the Emperor’s image was on each secular coin. The money belonged to him and he simply permitted people to use it. (“Jewish Palestine circulated its own copper coins, omitting the image of the deified emperor, which was offensive to Jewish tastes … But foreign coins, which bore the emperor’s image and mention of his divine status, were in common circulation in Palestine, where neither gold nor silver coins were permitted to be struck. The [Roman] silver denarius … was required to pay taxes in Palestine, as elsewhere in the Empire, and Jewish people had to use it, whether they liked it or not1]. Revolutionaries in A.D. 6 had violently protested the use of such coins and incurred terrible Roman retaliation. If Jesus’ questioners here are concerned about paying Roman taxes, they obviously ought not to be carrying this coin!” (IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, pp.105-106). By having a Roman coin in their possession, complete with Caesar’s image and Caesar’s inscription, the challengers had already shown where their loyalties lay. They had, in effect, answered their own question. Jesus, rather than answering their question directly, asked them a question, thus turning their trap inside out and upside down: “Whose image (eikon in Greek) and inscription are these?” (The census tax was paid with a denarius coin, which contained the image of the Emperor on one side with the inscription “Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus”—and on the other his title “Pontifex Maximus” (high priest). Thus, Caesar claimed not only political sovereignty but also Divine attributes. Therefore, the Jews considered the image idolatrous and the inscription blasphemous. Since no Pharisee would possess this coin, it had to be a Herodian who carried this coin onto the Temple Mount and showed it to Jesus). “Caesar’s,” they said. “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar — and to God what belongs to God.” In other words, we give to the Emperor the coin because his image is on it, and we give to God our own selves because we are created in the image of God (Gn 1:26).
Jesus’ answer acknowledges our obligation as citizens to the state but affirms our larger obligation to God. Both the state and God require certain loyalties from us, but we owe God our very lives. The question Jesus was asked could have been phrased, “Whose side are you on? Israel’s or Rome’s?” Jesus’ answer was, “On God’s side,” in other words, taxes are Caesar’s, so pay them; but your heart and your soul are Yahweh’s; give those to God! (If the image of Caesar stamped on a coin means that the coin belongs to Caesar, then the image of God stamped on each human being means that each one belongs to God). The Catechism of the Catholic Church clarifies: If that authority serves the common good of the people, then the choice of the type of political regime is left up to the citizenry (CCC #1901). When the demands of an authority violate the upright conscience of the people, (e.g., when that authority “legalizes” immorality, i.e., abortion, euthanasia, cloning, etc.) the refusal of obedience is acceptable (CCC #2242). (CCC #1897-1917: participation in the social sphere; CCC # 2238-2244: duties of citizens).
Dual citizenship and dual obligations: This doctrine is sometimes called the “doctrine of the two powers,” or the “two realms,” meaning that the life of a Christian involves a twofold allegiance: to the ruling government in civil and secular issues, and to God and the Church as regards spiritual and religious issues. By birth or naturalization, we become the citizens of the country of our birth, and by Baptism we become the citizens of Heaven. In every age, Christians are faced with balancing the demands of Caesar with the commands of God. Jesus’ answer forms the guiding principle in solving the problems that arise from our dual citizenship, belonging to God and to our country. As Christians, we are to obey the government, even when it is pagan and non-Christian. A loyal Christian is always a loyal citizen. Failure in good citizenship is also failure in Christian duty. We fulfill our duties to our country by loyally obeying the just laws of the State, by paying all lawful taxes, and by contributing our share, whenever called on, toward the common good. Both St. Peter (1 Pt 2:13-14), and St. Paul (Rom 13:1-7), stressed the obligation of the early Christians to be an example to all in their loyalty as citizens of the state. Similarly, we fulfill our duties to God by being faithful, loyal, active members of the spiritual Kingdom of God, the Church, which Christ established on earth. Thus, a real Christian is, at one and the same time, a good citizen of his country and a good citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, but his priority is his allegiance to God. As the famous martyr St. Thomas More said of himself: “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” Cooperation with secular authority may not interfere with our primary duty of “giving back to God” our whole selves, in whose image – like the stamp on the coin – we are made. Consequently, we give taxes to the government, but we give ourselves to God.
The modern approach: As citizens in a multicultural, multi-religious country, we respect other religious traditions. We take care not to mix religion and politics. Americans tend to see in Jesus’ answer an argument for the separation of Church and state with the presumed slogan: ‘Priests, stick to the sacristy’. But such an idea made no sense in first-century Mediterranean culture. (Hence as a faithful Jewish believer, what Jesus was saying in his reply was: “Give to Cæsar what belongs to Cæsar (i.e., his material coin, nothing) and give to God what belongs to God (i.e., his very being – everything). It is true that there are times when the demand for the separation of Church and state appears to leave our civil life without moral direction, but we, who belong to Jesus, have in His Church an unchanging moral compass and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to shape our lives. In our fidelity to God, then, we model for our brothers and sisters the loving, humble mutual, loving service, flowing from our union with and worship of the Living God in His own Church, in which alone, the world will find His Peace. Further, the experience of two thousand years of political history since the time of Jesus makes it clear that combining Church and State jeopardizes civil liberty as well as religious freedom.
Modern Caesars, represented by rulers who are, in effect, Dictators, demand our faith and moral practice, our hopes and dreams, our consciences, our labor, our children. In a democracy, the citizens do not serve the state — the state serves the people. The elected government officials are public servants. Hence Christians, like other citizens, are free to criticize their government, to seek to change its policies, to remove officeholders whose representation is invalid, and to seek new benefits and protections for the welfare of the people. Our political liberty also secures our freedom from religious tyranny and unwonted political interference in religious matters. 11
There is no reason why the state and the Church cannot work together to improve the lives of their citizens. There is usually no conflict — unless the government forces people to act in a way contrary to God’s law. Then we must act in accordance with God’s law and not man’s because, while the state only exists in this world, God’s law exists in this world and the next. This means that sometimes we have to refuse to obey our government. In South Africa’s apartheid system, many Christians were forced to violate the immoral laws of their government. In the United States, both black and white people violated the segregation laws of many states. Wherever there is immoral or unjust behavior, there has to be conflict, which paves the ground for society’s progress. (CCC # 1897-1917: participation in the social sphere; CCC # 2238-2244: duties of citizens).
Life messages:1) We need to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”: How? Like it or not, it’s a reality that our ancestors created the kind of government that relies on a portion of its citizens’ income to function. Hence, 1) it is the duty of Christians to pay for the services and the privileges that government provides –- like paved roads, police and fire departments, banks, schools, and other necessities. If we refuse to pay taxes, how will these needs be fulfilled? 2) Another way of “giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s” is to participate actively in the running of the government, electing the most suitable candidates, and influencing them through frequent contacts. 3) We must submit to the civil authorities and respect the laws of our country in order to live in peace. As loyal citizens, we must also see to it that our elected representatives are faithful in maintaining law and order in the country and in promoting the welfare of its citizens. When the state oversteps the mark and puts itself in the place of God, Christians are, as a last resort, absolved from obedience. We must give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and not the things that are God’s. We must “obey God rather than human beings.”
2) We need to “give to God what is God’s”: How?Since everything is God’s, we must give ourselves to Him 100%, not just 10% on Sundays. We should be generous in fulfilling our Sunday obligations, and we should find time every day for prayer and worship in the family, for the reading of the Bible, and for the proper training of our children in Faith and morals. St. Augustine teaches that when we truly succeed in “giving to God what is God’s,” we are “doing justice to God.” This requires that we return to God, with dividends, that which God has entrusted to us, remembering that we are mere managers or stewards of God’s gifts. Every year, we are invited to make the stewardship pledge of our financial offering to our local Church for the coming year. Our contribution to the parish Church should be an expression of our gratitude to God, giving back to God all that He has given us. This will help us to combat the powerful influence of materialism in our lives and enable the Church to do God’s work. Our cash offerings signify our commitment to the ministries of the Gospel, which are the activities of the Risen Lord! Every pledge fulfilled enables and empowers ministry. Every pledge fulfilled, every dollar contributed, touches a human life and brings it closer to God. Every pledge fulfilled, every dollar given, is transformed into love for someone else and for ourselves. Active participation in the various ministries of the parish is the offering to God of our time and talents, yet another way of giving to God his due, our whole self.
We need to check our heart’s investments: When Jesus says, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s,” the command really asks us whether we have invested our heart in the right place, in something worthy of our life’s blood, something that will yield a return that’s worthy of a whole human life. There is only one way to find out where our hearts are. Let us check our daily choices, the little ones as well the big ones, and look for the patterns: What do we usually do when decision time comes for where we will spend our prime time and our best energies? These are the infallible indicators of what we truly value, and what we don’t. Whose image do others see when they look at our life? When people see us, do they see Jesus engraved upon us? To the extent that they do, we are making visible the extent to which we belong to the Kingdom of God.
JOKES OF THE WEEK: 1) No dues to God: A prosperous farmer was miserly in what he gave to his Church. So, his pastor went to visit him with the hope of getting him to increase his donation. The pastor pointed out to him that the Lord had given him a fertile piece of land and had blessed him with sunshine and rain so that his crops would grow. The priest added, “You know, this farm 13
and everything you have is really on loan to you from God. You should be more grateful.” The farmer replied, “I don’t mean to complain, Father, but you should have seen what a mess this place was when God was running it by Himself!”
2) Journey to God with a parcel of Caesar: There once was a wealthy man who was determined to take his wealth with him when he died. He prayed and prayed until he convinced the Lord to let him bring his wealth inside the Pearly Gates. There was one condition: He could only bring one suitcase of his wealth with him. Therefore, the rich man filled his suitcase with gold bullion. Then one day, he died. St. Peter greeted him at the gate and told him he could come in, but his suitcase would have to be left behind. “But I have an agreement with God,” said the man, “to bring one suitcase into heaven.” “That’s very unusual,” replied St. Peter. “Let me look inside that suitcase.” The man opened the suitcase to reveal the shining gold bullion. St. Peter was amazed. He asked, “Why in the world did you bring more paving stones to heaven when we have already finished Heaven’s flooring with pure gold and beautiful diamonds?”
3) Remember the movie, “Oh, God!” with George Burns? In that movie, the idea was mentioned that the reason God gave Adam and Eve no clothes to wear was because God knew that once they had clothes, they would want pockets. Once they had pockets, they would want money.
4) “Will the Reverend also have a martini?” A pious pastor who had been a teetotaler all his life, was invited to dinner by a new parishioner. “Would you gentlemen care for a drink?” the waiter asked. “I’ll have a Martini,” said the parishioner. “Will the Reverend also have a martini?” the waiter asked. “I’d sooner break all Ten Commandments,” said the pastor. “I didn’t know we had a choice!,” said the parishioner. — In today’s Gospel Lesson, the Pharisees ask Jesus a question involving choice.
1) Value of one vote: We have all learned the value of our vote. It’s a lesson we need to be taught again and again. Look at history: One vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of all England in 1645. One vote in the Rump Parliament caused King Charles I of England to be executed in 1649. Had it not been for one vote in 1776, the official language in the United States would be German instead of English. One vote kept Aaron Burr – later charged with treason – from becoming President (1800). Had it not been for one vote in 1845, the state of Texas would not have become part of the United States. One vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment (1868). One vote admitted California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho into the Union. (1850, 1850, 1889, 1890). One vote changed the entire nation of France from a monarchy to a republic in 1875. One vote elected Rutherford B. Hayes to the Presidency, and the man in the Electoral College who cast that vote was an Indiana Representative also elected by one vote (1876). It was by one vote that in 1923 Adolph Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party, an event which later resulted in the slaughter of six million Jews, among others; had it not been for that one vote, World War II with all its pain and death might never have taken place. One vote maintained the Selective Service System only 12 weeks before Pearl Harbor (1941). One vote per precinct would have elected Richard Nixon, rather than John Kennedy, President (1960). One vote by Al Gore in 1993 approved the largest tax increase in U.S. history. — These events clearly show that our exercise of the right to vote can make a tremendous difference. When we use our right to vote we are giving our dues to Caesar as Jesus commanded. “I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.” (Edward Everett Hale). That should be the attitude of every Christian citizen. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) True Integrity: the dues we owe to God and our country.Mr. Cleveland Stroud had coached the basketball team, the Blue-Collar Bulldogs, of Rockdale County High School (Conyers, Georgia, USA.), for 18 years before his team made it to the state championship. Stroud recalls, “It was the perfect night when they won, a night you dream of.” He was carried around the gym on the shoulders of his triumphant players and their proud parents. The local paper put his picture on the front page. But the excitement was short-lived. Two months after the championship, during a routine grade check, Stroud discovered that one player had been academically ineligible. The player had only played 45 seconds during the regional qualifying tournament, and he wasn’t an important player. Stroud says, “I thought it was all ruined. I went through a phase where I was really depressed.” He struggled with what to do next. Yet, his commitment to integrity led him to the right decision. “Winning is the most important thing for any coach,” he says, “but your principles have to be higher than your goals.” He reported the error to the league and the Bulldogs forfeited their trophy. — When the team lamented their loss in the locker room, he told them, “You’ve got to do what is honest, what is right, and what the rules say. That’s how we pay to God what’s His. People forget the scores of basketball games, but they don’t ever forget what you are made of” (In Touch Magazine, January 1999). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) “Large-scale gangs of criminals!” St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Church patriarch, was the Church’s greatest theologian in the tradition of justice. In both his Confessions and The City of God, the theme of justice is a recurring one. While he denied that social justice was necessary simply to maintain order, Augustine, the expert rhetorician, also wryly noted, in words that have become famous, “Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but large-scale gangs of criminals!” — In his commentary on today’s Gospel text, Augustine immediately focuses on the real point of Jesus’ words “giving to God what is God’s.” Augustine insists that when we truly succeed in “giving to God what is God’s,” we are, in his words, “doing justice to God.” Doing justice to God requires that we return to God, with 18
4) “Caesar died a long time ago.”A father was trying to teach his fifth-grade son the value of tithes and offerings. The boy listened attentively, and then he went on to say, “I still don’t understand why you have to pay taxes.” To this the father replied, “Because the Bible says we must give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and unto God what belongs to God.” — His son looked puzzled. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Dad. Caesar died a long time ago.” (Rev. Jeff Hughes). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) Luciano Pavarotti says that when he was a boy, his father, a baker, introduced him to the wonders of song. He urged him to work hard to develop his voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in his hometown of Modena, Italy, took him as a pupil. Pavarotti also enrolled in a Teachers College. On graduating, he asked his father, “Shall I be a teacher or a singer?” “Luciano,” his father replied, “if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.” — Pavarotti, later in life wrote: “I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book–whatever we choose–we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) “Do you go to Church every Sunday?” A young lady was soaking up the sun’s rays on a Florida beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, “Do you believe in God?” She was surprised by the question, but she replied, “Why, yes, I do.” Then he asked her: “Do you go to Church every Sunday?” Again, her answer was “Yes!” He then asked: “Do you read your Bible and pray every day?” Again, she said, “Yes!” By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little lad sighed with relief and said, “Will you hold my quarter while I go in swimming?” –The little boy was straightforward and honest in his questions because he wanted to entrust to the lady something valuable. The Pharisees are not being honest. They have no intention of entrusting anything to Jesus. They are not looking for the answer to a question. 19
They don’t want someone to hold their quarter. They are looking for a way to get rid of this trouble-making Nazarene named Jesus. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…” Some years ago in a U.S. District Court, I had the privilege of participating in a naturalization ceremony. Some sixty foreign-born persons were ready to take their citizenship vows. Every place on earth was represented. They reminded me of that old Coca-Cola commercial, “I want to teach the world to sing.” These sixty folks had waited five years for this day. They had learned the language, studied the nation’s laws, and passed a test and a security check. Behind them sat several hundred proud relatives with cameras. An Army color guard marched in with the flag. Then a soloist sang the National Anthem and God Bless America. The guest speaker was himself a naturalized citizen. Today he is a vice-president of a bank. His very presence spoke volumes about the American dream. Finally, the new citizens stood to take their vows. But before they could do so, they first had to renounce their previous citizenship, whatever it was. Then all together, with tears flowing down their cheeks, they declared, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…” — I want to declare to you today that we Christians hold dual citizenship. Simultaneously, we are citizens of America and also citizens of the Kingdom of God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) “We are ‘one nation, under God,…’” Not long ago in Blackwood, New Jersey, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the senior class could not have a non-sectarian prayer at commencement. The senior class had voted to offer this prayer: “Please bless us in the future and thank you for the blessings of the past. God keep a watchful eye on us in the future. Amen.” The court backed the ACLU’s contention that the prayer was unconstitutional. But surely our constitution’s authors did not mean to prohibit 17- and 18-year-olds from saying such a prayer if they elected to do so. The principal of that high school did have the last word. —- At the end of his commencement speech he declared, “God bless you and God bless the United States of America!” Immediately the students jumped to their feet and applauded. We are not “one nation without 20
a God.” We are not “one nation afraid to name our God.” We are “one nation under God.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) We have something as Christians to render to God as well as something to render to Caesar! American heritage is full of Christian influence. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, they paused to write the Mayflower Compact, the first law of American shores. It reads in part: “In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten … having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith … a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia….” George Washington, in his first presidential inauguration, added to his oath, “So help me God” and then kissed the Bible. (It is disputed if George Washington added the words “So help me God” to the oath or somebody else). Benjamin Franklin, in 1778 at the Constitutional Convention, made motion that proceedings each day be opened with prayer. He said, “I have lived for a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured by the Holy Scriptures, ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain to build it.’ I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall proceed in this political building no better than the founders of Babel.” Every Presidential inaugural speech, save one, has mentioned God. Our coins have In God We Trust on them. The Ten Commandments are mostly still in our law books, forbidding theft, lying, murder, and such. Congress is still opened with prayer. George Washington, in his farewell address, said: “The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable. As morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related.” — So, you see, politics and religion can and have mixed in our nation’s past. The fact is, as Jesus did say, we have something as Christians to render to God, as well as something to render to Caesar! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) Things we owe to God? (“Give to God what is God’s”): Our gifts to God are a response to His loving gift to us of our very being, for starters. This means that we give out of gratitude for what God has already done on our behalf, not in order to get something back, nor because we hope to receive special favor in return. But there are 21
some Churches that foster the idea that if we give a lot to the Church, then God will make us prosperous in our lives – a “Prosperity Gospel”, as it were. In order to see how ludicrous such theology is, all we have to do is look at what happened to Christ’s disciples who gave themselves fully to his cause. Matthew suffered martyrdom by the sword in Ethiopia. Mark died at Alexandria after being dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece. Peter was crucified at Rome with, at his own request, his head downward. James was beheaded at Jerusalem. James the Lesser was thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple and beaten to death below. Philip was hanged against a pillar in Phrygia. Bartholomew was flayed alive. Andrew was bound to a cross, from whence he preached to his persecutors until he died. Thomas was stabbed to death by Hindu fanatics in Madras, India. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded. Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica. Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, was executed by beheading in Nero’s reign and John, leading the Church in Ephesus, was arrested during the reign of Diocletian, and was condemned. He was plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil from which he miraculously emerged unhurt. He was then banished to the island of Patmos. In his oldest age, he was set free, returned to Ephesus and died peacefully in his sleep. His whole life was his gift to God. (“How did John the apostle die?” www/gotquestions.org). — Yet, every one of them considered his sufferings and death a privilege! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) The Christian and Politics: Christians should not shirk public office, but see it as a chance to serve their fellow men and women and thereby God. The Pharisees opted out of real life and kept themselves apart. The result was a vain religiosity which had little or nothing to do with daily life. Dag Hammarskjöld was Secretary General of the UN. When he died in a plane crash in central Africa in 1961 at the age of fifty-six, the world lost a great servant of peace. He was that rare person for whom public service is not simply a career or a means of achieving power but a religious vocation, a way of being faithful to God. He drew inspiration from the Old Testament prophets. He said, “Indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, and in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” Gandhi is another example of a deeply religious man who involved himself in politics. He said, “I’m in politics because I cannot separate life from belief. Because I believe in God, I have to enter politics. Politics is my service of God.” And Nelson Mandela is yet another example. Mandela tells how when he began to get interested in politics a friend tried to warn him off, saying, “Politics brings out the worst in people. It is the source of trouble and corruption and should be avoided at all costs.” Fortunately for South Africa and for the world, Mandela ignored his advice. (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s: There is a story about a minister who in the early part of the last century was asked to give the Memorial Day address at the national cemetery in Gettysburg, PA. Like most of the speakers in previous years, he felt a need to conclude his talk by reciting Lincoln’s famous address. The minister thought that the speech had gone well, but afterwards an old man came forward and said to him, “Son, you’ve made an awful mess of Lincoln’s speech.” Taken aback, the minister said, “How so? I didn’t miss a word. Look, here are my notes.” “Oh, I don’t need your notes,” said the man, “I know it by heart. You see I heard it the first time around.” The minister then realized that this man had been present when Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. So the minister asked, “How did my recitation differ from that of the great President?” The old man said, “Abe put his hands out over the people like a benediction and said, ‘That the government of the people, by the people and for the people, should not perish from the earth.’ You got the words right,” the old man said, “but you got the emphasis wrong and you missed the message. You emphasized government. Lincoln talked about people.” — When government seeks to provide for the just welfare of its citizens, it is doing the work of God. (Fr. Joseph Pellegrino). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) “I love my country but there is a higher authority – God!” Franz Jaggerstatter was born in Austria and was brought up a Catholic. He was an ordinary, unremarkable young man; however, at some stage he suddenly matured. He became very responsible and began to take religion seriously. By this time the Second World War was raging. At thirty-six he was called up to serve Hitler’s army. He refused to join up. “I cannot join because I believe that this war is not a just war. Therefore, it would be wrong for me to join up. It would be against my conscience,” he said. “But where’s your loyalty to your people, to your country, to your flag?” his friends protested. Franz replied, “I love my people and I love my country. But there’s a higher law – God’s law. And God’s law tells me that this war is wrong.” It wasn’t that he wanted to die. He had a lot to live for — his family and friends. He was arrested and put into prison. Then further efforts were made to get him to change his mind. Even his wife begged him to reconsider his decision, to no avail. Franz was beheaded on August 9, 1943. He felt he was obeying the words of Christ: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday & Holy day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) “Is Pat Murray on board?” We all laugh at the reputed story of Pat Murray at the Battle of Trafalgar. His version of the Battle was as follows: “Lord Nelson came on deck and said ‘Is Pat Murray on board?’ And I said, ‘Here I am, me Lord.’ Then said his lordship, ‘Let the battle proceed.’“ –And yet, while this was written for a joke, there is more to it than we are apt to think. For, had it not been for the Pat Murrays, or John Joneses or Tom Smiths and others who were on hand doing their duty, there would have been no victories for the Nelsons, Wellingtons, Napoleons, or Grants, who now live in history as great commanders. – When Christians properly discharge their dues to God and to their government, the country and God’s cause prosper. (A.W. Graham in More Quotes and Anecdotes; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) Spiritual Foundations: The Great Wall of China was a gigantic structure, costing immense expenditure and labour, and when finished it seemed a superb way to gain security; but within a few years of its building, it was breached three times by the enemy. Only note — it was breached, not by breaking down the wall but by bribing the gatekeepers! — It was the human element that failed; what collapsed was character, proving insufficient to do the task necessary to make the great structure men had built really work. – A like fate awaits all those who, absorbed in political tasks, forget the spiritual foundation. (Quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) Give back to God…Theologian Jon Sobrino published a book Spirituality of Liberation: Towards Political Holiness. A political holiness is what the Church badly needs. I sense that we have too much of “Church Politics” and too little of a “political Church.” There’s politicking present in demands for ecclesiastical appointments, but hardly any interest in burning issues facing society and the Church. The current issue of granting concessions to Dalit-Christians (former untouchables) in India is significant. Is this a political or a religious question? — I frame the question differently: “Is there anything which is not political? Or anything which is not religious?” Evidently, everything belongs to God. Let us give back to God even what belongs to Caesar. (Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for Gospel Deeds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) Separation of Church and state:“One nation under God” is in the Pledge of Allegiance. A Ten Commandments monument is in a local courthouse. A Manger Scene is on the town common. “In God we trust” is on our currency. What do you think of when you hear those things? For millions of Americans it’s the following: “YOU CAN’T DO THAT! THAT’S A VIOLATION OF THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!” But is it? Is that true? Is it really unconstitutional to pray or hand out Bibles in school? Is it really wrong for politicians to form their views based on their Faith? Is it wrong for the state to give Churches “Tax Exempt Status”? Let me get straight to the point and say NO! No, it’s not wrong, no it’s NOT unconstitutional, No, this is NOT a violation of the separation of Church and State! But what about all those who say “YES! Yes, it is wrong, yes, it is unconstitutional and yes, it is a violation!” Three statements to remember: 1) Separation of Church and State does not mean that the Church must stay out of the affairs of government and public life. IT MEANS THAT THE STATE IS TO STAY OUT OF THE AFFAIRS OF THE CHURCH! 2) Those who tell you otherwise are either blatantly dishonest or they simply do not know, understand, or care about the history of the United States of America! 3) This is an organized attempt primarily being carried out by those who have contempt for Christ, hate the Bible, and despise the influence the Church has had on Western Culture, and they are literally willing to rewrite history in order to demonize the Christian Church. — That being said, can we close early and go home? I mean, what else is there to say? No! This morning we are going to look at what America has believed traditionally, and we will also take a look at what the 25
Scriptures say about the role of the Church and government. (Rev. Michael Grant). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
18) Tax Day, it is also the day the Titanic was sunk and the day Lincoln was shot. It’s still a long time until April 15th, and I don’t mean to remind you of that prematurely, but did you know that April 15th is not only Income Tax Day? It is also the day the Titanic was sunk, and the day Lincoln was shot. You see, it is just a bad day all the way around! Someone said once, “You may not agree with every department of the government, but you really have to hand it to the IRS!” Another cynic has said, “Death and taxes may always be with us, but at least death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” Arthur Godfrey once said, “I feel honored to pay taxes in America. The thing is, I could probably feel just as honored for about half the price.” Someone also once said that the Eiffel Tower is the Empire State Building after taxes. Most people don’t enjoy paying taxes. We just do it. — Well, the people had to pay taxes in Jesus’ time, too. Even worse, they had to pay them to a government they despised — Rome. Today’s Gospel is about our duties to God and our nation. (Rev. Edward F. Markquart) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
19) Rockefeller started giving to God His due and lived: That was a lesson learned by John D. Rockefeller, Sr. He drove himself hard to be a success. He became a millionaire by the age of twenty-three and by the age of fifty was the richest man on earth. Then at fifty-three years of age, Rockefeller developed a serious illness which caused the hair on his head, his eyebrows, and eyelashes to drop off. Even though he was the world’s only billionaire and could have almost anything on earth he wanted, he could only digest milk and crackers. He became shrunken like a mummy. He could not sleep, would not smile, and nothing in life meant much to him at all. Doctors predicted that within a year he would be dead. — One night, however, as Rockefeller struggled to fall asleep, he came to grips with his life. He realized that he could take nothing with him into the next world. The next day he embarked on a new way of living. Rather than hoarding his money and possessions, he began to give them away to persons in need. Establishing the Rockefeller Foundation, he channeled his fortune into hospitals, research, and mission work. His contributions eventually led to the discovery of penicillin as well as cures for malaria, tuberculosis, and diphtheria. At age 53, Rockefeller 26
was given a year to live. By learning to live by the principle of giving rather than getting, he altered his life so dramatically that he eventually lived to the ripe old age of ninety-eight. (Rev. Edward F. Markquart) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
20) “To God What Is God’s”: St. Justin, a layman who died a martyr around the year 165, was born of Greek parents in Palestine, and was a philosopher by profession. His search for truth brought him into Christianity; and after his conversion he staunchly defended the Faith in speech, in writings and finally in blood. During a period of persecution, Justin, who had come to Rome, was arrested as a Christian along with several other believers. The prefect, Rusticus, after some initial questions, said to the Christians: “Let us come to the point … Agree together to offer sacrifice to the gods.” Justin the philosopher replied with dignity, “No one of sound mind turns from piety to impiety.” Rusticus warned: “If you do not obey, you will be punished without mercy.” Justin said, “We are confident that if we suffer the penalty for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved…” His companions concurred: “Do what you will. We are Christians, and we do not offer sacrifice to idols.” So Rusticus pronounced judgment: “Those who have refused to offer sacrifice and yield to the emperor’s edict are to be led away to be scourged and beheaded in accordance with the laws.” — Justin and his companions not only accepted the sentence, they thanked God for it. “… Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s but give to God what is God’s.” (Mt, 22:21. Gospel of the day). (Father Robert F. McNamara). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
21) Restoring the rights of God: The Rosary Saves Brazil from Communism, 1962-1964: The world was in a state of fear and confusion. Russia was trying to make headway in converting as many countries as possible to Communism under their rule. Impoverished nations with corrupt governments in turmoil were easy targets. Cuba had just fallen to the Soviets in 1960, and Brazil was another planned conquest. The president of Brazil, Joao Goulart, was pushing for a Communist form of government. He began to install known Communists into high governmental positions while at the same time dispatching representatives to convince the citizens that Communism was good for the country. With Catholicism still strong in the country, Cardinal de Barros Camara told people through a weekly radio 27
address that by following the directives of Our Lady of Fatima regarding prayer and penance, Brazil could overthrow the Communist threat. In a speech, President Goulart mocked the rosary, saying that governmental control, not reciting the prayers of the rosary, would save the economy from collapse. During this time, he was lining his pockets with dollars given to Brazil in foreign aid from the U.S. and other countries.
A Brazilian woman named Dona Amelia Bastos was very concerned about this imminent danger. Her husband belonged to a group of men called the Anti-Reds who were opposed to Communism in Brazil. One night Dona Amelia listened as the Anti-Reds discussed the threat facing their beloved country. She decided that she too could do something about it. Of her decision, she said, “I suddenly decided that politics had become too important to be left entirely to the men. Moreover, who has more at stake in what’s happening to our country than we women?” She immediately formed a group called Campaign of Women for Democracy (CAMDE) and started to recruit as many people as possible to pray the rosary in large groups to thwart the plan for Communist takeover. In a town called Belo Horizonte a group of 20,000 women reciting the rosary aloud broke up a pro-Communist rally. The success of this peaceful protest fed the impetus for the Catholic women to do more. With the help of Heaven and the strong influence of Archbishop Cardinal de Barros Camara, Dona Amelia recruited an amazing 600,000 women who marched in Sao Paulo to pray the rosary for peace. They called their protest, “March of the Family with God Toward Freedom.” under the declaration, “Mother of God, preserve us from the fate and suffering of the martyred women of Cuba, Poland, Hungary, and other enslaved nations.” Leone Brizola, a Communist high government official, left in a rage when his planned speech was thwarted by the rattling of 3000 rosaries and the murmuring of the prayers in the assembly hall. Not one life was lost in this most amazing peaceful anti-Communist protest, which is described by many witnesses as, “One of the most moving demonstrations in Brazilian History.” — Many more rosary rallies were held in major cities in spite of threats of military action against the crusading women. Under this mounting pressure, on April 1, 1964 President Goulart fled the country along with many members of the government. Let us pray the rosary to 28
22) How a Christian in today’s world can render to God the homage of truth.
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard: “Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good”, but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!” The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In six short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, “The Rest of the Story” and received a larger response to this program than any other he has aired. — With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called “one nation under God.” (Lectio Divina). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
23) “Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand.” In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared down at the 6-year-old son who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible! The leukemia 29
would see to that. But she still wanted her son’s dream to come true. She took her son’s hand and asked, “Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grow up? Did you ever dream and wish what would you do with your life?” “Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.” Mom smiled back and said, “Let’s see if we can make your wish come true.” Later that day she went to her local Fire Department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her son’s final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her 6-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine. Fireman Bob said, “Look, we can do better than that. If you have your son ready at seven o’clock Wednesday morning, we will make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you give us his sizes, we can get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat – not a toy – one with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They’re all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast.” Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic’s van and even the fire chief’s car. He was also videotaped for the local news program.
Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy, that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible. One night all his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition. The chief replied, “We can do better than that. We will be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It is the department coming to see one of its finest members one 30
more time. And will you open the window to his room?” About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy’s third floor open window — 16 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy’s room! With his mother’s permission they hugged him and held him and told him how much they LOVED him. With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, “Chief, am I really a fireman now?” “Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand”, the chief said. — With those words, Billy smiled and said, “I know. He’s been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.” He closed his eyes one last time. (Lectio Divina). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
24) We Are Citizens of This World: In an invocation prayer at the United States Senate, Peter Marshall said, “Lord Jesus, Thou who art the Way, the Truth, and the Life, hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make men free. Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved but also to be lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs too much to be hoarded. Make us to see that our liberty is not the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to please to do what is right.” — It is unthinkable that a Christian would not vote! It is unthinkable that Christians would not run for public office! It is unthinkable that Christians would withdraw from the responsibility of taking part in public life. The Christian has a responsibility to Caesar for all the privileges which the rule of Caesar brings. We are citizens of this world and must be good ones, if we are Christ’s disciples. Jerry L. Schmalenberger, When Christians Quarrel, CSS Publishing Co., Inc. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/). L/26
“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle A (No. 56) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com
Kindly visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Please contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. You may visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homiliesof Fr. Nick’s collection of homilies or Resources in the CBCI website: https://www.cbci.in. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html-which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) My post-retirement U. S. postal address is Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Fr. Anthony Kadavil, C/o Fr. Joseph M. C. , St. Agatha Church, 1001 Hand Avenue, Bay Minette, Al, U.S.A. 36507
(The World Mission Sunday -206 homily is included as a separate homily in my website)
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