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Spirituality
A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse and a Voice in the Desert
Two takeaways from this Sunday’s readings. Both are powerful prophecies of Isaiah.
Publish date: 2019 - 12 - 8
Welcoming Others as Christ Welcomed Us
Three weeks ago, we gathered donations for the seven people who lost their belongings in a fire that burned their three-storey apartment building in our neighbourhood. Two of them, Fernanda and Curtis, are part of our parish family, so, an e-mail blast about the fire went out to the whole Alpha team, of which Fernanda’s a part. If you got that e-mail, how would you respond? Who here would offer them sympathy in the e-mail? What about prayer? What about a place to stay for the next week?
Publish date: 2019 - 12 - 8
Stay awake, be prepared! Watch and be ready！
Eagerness and patience are the paradoxical qualities of this waiting.
Publish date: 2019 - 12 - 1
The Gift of the Wake-up Call
God allows us to grow old to wake us up and get us ready for death. We’re called to eternal life, but get distracted by the good life we have here. So, in His goodness, He allows us to get stiff, put on weight, have wrinkly skin, and lose hair. Anyone here losing their hair? No one. God bless you.
Publish date: 2019 - 12 - 1
Christ The King – Is it a Divine Joke?
What is the meaning of a true King? It all begins with a joke.
Publish date: 2019 - 11 - 24
The Essence of Christianity
God is calling us to understand the big story of our faith, today. In other words, what’s the essence of Christianity? We’re going to answer this using a very practical scenario which builds upon years of talking about our relationship with God, the reality of free will, and consequences.
Publish date: 2019 - 11 - 24
“A time of waiting and watching” (CCC 672)
Let us join the psalmist to sing praises to the Lord, who on a day unbeknownst to us, “will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.” (Psalm 98:9)
Publish date: 2019 - 11 - 17
A Call to Service
You know how we all say we’re busy? Can we be honest and admit that, despite our busy schedules, we still waste time? One survey found that seven in ten people admit to wasting time at work, mostly on social media, then online shopping, browsing travel, sports, and entertainment, and just scrolling down pages with no purpose (Michael Hyatt, Free to Focus, 212).
Publish date: 2019 - 11 - 17
“Cherish the hope God gives of being raised by him” (2 Macc 7:14)
As we journey on over hills and valleys, let us turn our gaze away from our own darkness to the light of Christ.
Publish date: 2019 - 11 - 10
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save” (Luke 19:10)
We like to think that we can have God in our own pocket. But we’ve got it all wrong. It’s God who finds us and reveals Himself to us; it’s Him who saves us.
Publish date: 2019 - 11 - 3
Humility is the pathway to God
Humility is not weakness but the foundation of all the other virtues
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 27
Spontaneous Prayer
I’ve said some foolish things in my life. One time I met a woman who said, “My name’s Sunday.” And I said, “And my name’s… My name’s Justin.” I hesitated because I was about to say, “My name is Monday.” She could see that something was wrong and wasn’t happy. I felt badly because she’d probably gone through that before.
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 27
God Never Gives up on Us; Why Should We?
Be persistent, “will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to Him day and night?” (Lk 18:7)
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 20
Parenting
A good young priest, Fr. Lucio Choi, once shared with me how he was discouraged, and it wasn’t because of his bad haircut. He said he now understood why some priests get cynical: You try so hard, do so much for people, and they don’t care or respond.
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 20
The miracle of the ten lepers
“God calls us to live in gratitude, obeying with joy to the One who has given us so much, infinitely more than we could ever give to him” (Pope Francis General Audience June 27, 2018)
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 13
Healing is Simpler Than Imagined
I know a man who’s got a lot of problems: He struggles with his closest relationships, with his work, and with his direction in life. He blames everything: God hasn’t helped him, people are jerks, the government’s full of morons, and everything he’s tried hasn’t worked. But when someone asks him to look at what he could change about himself, he refuses. He’s looking everywhere around him for a solution when it’s right at his feet.
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 13
Lord, Why Don’t You Listen?
The exasperating lamentation of Habakkuk will resonate with many of us who seek to exercise our own prophetic ministry of promoting love, truth, and life in a world intoxicated with hatred, lies, and the culture of death.
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 6
How do you spell faith? R-I-S-K
Many of you have said that you remember the story I told last year about Mother Angelica’s amazing faith! After she, a nun, started a Catholic TV network in 1981, she felt called to expand it, and so, at one point, ordered a large satellite dish without having any money to pay for it. When the delivery […]
Publish date: 2019 - 10 - 6
Rich Man Poor Man
What is the challenge of our wealth? What is the primary concern for God's justice on earth? Let us attend to this Sunday's readings.
Publish date: 2019 - 9 - 29
How We Treat the Poor Matters
I have a happy announcement to make, one that reminds us to do some biblical reflection. Last year, we talked about solicitude for the needy, how Jesus had a heart for the blind beggar on the roadside and asked the disciples to be intermediaries; they were the ones who brought him to Jesus. And we […]
Publish date: 2019 - 9 - 29
Are we as capable as the wicked steward in securing our future with God?
One of Jesus’ preferred methods of teaching is through parables. Though His parables are simple, often making use of everyday things, they conveyed messages that are deep and memorable. Like the parable of the unjust steward in this Sunday’s Gospel Reading; the story is straightforward and the deeds of the steward are rather commonplace. What […]
Publish date: 2019 - 9 - 22
Should There Be Separation of Church and State?
On December 1, 1955, a 42-year old black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat when asked by the bus driver to do so, in order that white passengers could sit down. Because of racism, black people had to sit at the back of the bus. The driver said, “Y’all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats.”
Publish date: 2019 - 9 - 22
The Lost Sheep
“He will seek out the lost [sheep] until He finds it” (Luke 15:4)
Publish date: 2019 - 9 - 15
The Value of One Person
Two years ago, I learned something funny about boys and girls. At the end of the school year, we said goodbye to some staff members at our school, some of whom had been here for over 15 years. We held an assembly, with the kids in a big circle, singing songs and giving gifts to the teachers, who stood in the middle. At the end, some girls went up to the teachers and hugged them. Many of the girls from Grades 4-7 were crying. I was amazed at their maturity
Publish date: 2019 - 9 - 15
