PEACE 2019

LET ME SEE

 As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. (Mk 10, 46-53)

Followed by his disciples and a sizeable crowd, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He was walking ahead of them. He had accepted his father’s will, and “entered willingly into his Passion”. He was decidedly leading them all the way. The crowd would have heard about what the religious authorities were plotting against him, and they were amazed, and those who followed him were afraid.
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A meditation on the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings Genesis 2, 18-24 / Mark 10, 2-16

Today’s liturgy of the Word speaks to us about God’s project for us human beings.

The book of Genesis tells us the story of the creation of humankind whom God made in his image. He created them male and female and he wanted them collaborators with Him in caring for the rest of his creation. The original state, in which humans were created, was that of the companionship of equals, not ownership by one or the other. It was love, not domination and subjection that God wanted, for He, the Creator, is love.

The gospel tells us how the Pharisees, in order to test Jesus, asked him if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife, “for any cause?” Matthew adds. In God’s plan there was no hint of any separation between a man and his wife. So when Jesus quoted the creation story in his response to the Pharisees, he added the command: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

Why Stay Catholic?

By KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ

A theologian who was sexually abused as a child recounts how she came into the Church during a period of scandal.

‘I intended to be anything but Catholic,” Dawn Eden Goldstein remembers. She grew up in a Reform Jewish household but “fell into agnosticism” in her late teens and become a rock-music historian in New York City. In 1999, she says, she “encountered the love of Jesus Christ” and became a nondenominational Christian.

Her impression of the Catholic Church was influenced by Christians who told her that its teachings were “unbiblical.” All her biases were confirmed when the scandal hit in 2002. On top of all the natural anger and disgust, her sensitivity ran deep, having been molested as a child.

And yet, today Goldstein is a professor of dogmatic theology at Holy Apostles College and Seminary and the author of My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints.

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A meditation for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy gospel according to John (Jn 6, 51-58)

Jesus said to the crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever." (Jn 6:51-58)

Often, when I meet friends and they ask me “How are you?”, I answer them “I am older than yesterday!”. Once I said this to a Roman friend, he answered “Yes, of course, but you are younger than tomorrow!”. I enjoyed this and I have been repeating it ever since. Others try to console me, and tell me that I am still young; and I hope that they know that I know that they are lying. One young lady asked me if I wanted to grow younger. I answered sincerely: “No, I do not want to grow younger, even if this were possible!”.

Why should I want to return to my youth, if I have a better offer?

They are Not a Nuisance

A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew (Mt 19, 13-15)

“Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.”

I love this short and simple story that spells out God’s love for small children, although I like Mark’s rendition better. When Jesus saw the disciples rebuking those who brought their children for him to lay his hands on them and pray, he told them: “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

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Francis the comic strip

From National Catholic Reporter

A meditation for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

At the end of last Sunday’s selection from the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel we read that after feeding the crowd of about five thousand men, Jesus retired to the mountain alone in order to pray. He was always in contact with his heavenly Father in order to know his will, to ask for his help to do it, and to thank him for being able to do it. When evening came, while Jesus was still on the mountain, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. Jesus himself had asked them to do so. When it was dark, a strong wind started blowing and the waters became rough. They were afraid. When they saw Jesus walking on the rough waves and coming near them, they were terrified. They thought it was a ghost. Jesus said to them, ‘It is I, do not be afraid.’ They asked him to go with them in the boat and immediately they reached the land where they were going.

Today we did not read this part of John’s story, but it is important to remember it because it tells us that Jesus is not afraid to face the rough seas. It tells us also that when things become difficult for his disciples and they invite Jesus to be with them, to enter their boat,  their life, he will be there to help them.

THE TRUE VINE - The fifth Sunday of Easter

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples” (Jn 15, 1-8).

ARE WE STILL HUMAN?

A reading from the holy gospel according to John (10, 22-30)

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.’ This is the word of the Lord.

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WEALTH

The Third Sunday of Easter

The two disciples of Emaus returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them. They recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things’.

PALM SUNDAY – A MEDITATION

On Palm Sunday we read the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ written by Mark (Mk 14, 1 – 15, 47). It is good and important for us if during the Holy Week we meditate on the love that led Jesus to come into this world of ours and become man like us (this is the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God) even though he knew that he would suffer persecution and a terrible death in the hands of the men he wanted to save (this is the mystery of our redemption).

I would like to present some points to reflect on.

JESUS WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.The Father will honor whoever serves me.

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again." The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." He said this indicating the kind of death he would die. (Jn 12, 20-33).

THE JOURNEY OF NICODEMUS

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. (Jn 7, 40-53)

When some people in the crowd heard what Jesus said, they believed. ‘This is really the prophet’, they said. Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’ Then each of them went home. This is the word of the Lord.

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