Matthew 15:21-28, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Allow me to briefly explain tonight’s troubling Gospel. According to the commentaries, the Matthean community had two voices: the particularist and the universalist. The particularist voice in the community taught that Jesus came to the world to save first “the children of Israel”; so Jews first, then the…
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A Spirituality at Crossroads – Mark Aloysius, SJ
Luke 14:25-33, Solemnity of St Ignatius de Loyola Here in this parish we are well acquainted with the conversion story of Ignatius. Each year we rehearse how a cannonball shattered his leg and his dreams of serving as a knight; how he recuperated for months on end in pain and boredom; how he then began…
What Is Happening To The World – Francis Alvarez, SJ
Rising temperatures which cause not just heat waves but alarming weather patterns, terrorist attacks calculated to instill fear and hate, random acts of violence which challenge our faith in humanity, political upheavals which make us ask if we have learned anything at all from history – you can probably add more to this list of…
You are Worth More than Many Likes – Johnny Go, SJ
There used to be a time when the question you’re asked is: “How is your self-worth?” Now, I suspect, the more relevant question is: “How much is your selfie-worth?” The symptoms are everywhere. For those of us who have digital lives, there is a real danger to turn self-worth into selfie-worth, a tendency to define…
Meta-Narrative – Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Matthew 10:26-33, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Several years ago, I was at a symposium at which we were discussing the struggle that many young people have today with their faith. One of the participants, a young French Canadian Oblate, offered this perspective:I work with university students as a chaplain. They have a zest for…
There is a Remedy to Unhappiness – Pope Francis
Pope Francis’ address during his general audience,Vatican City, 14th June 2017 Dear brothers and sisters, Good morning! No one can live without love. And a terrible slavery we can fall into is thinking that love is earned. Perhaps a good part of the anxiety of modern man comes from this: believing that if we are…
We are Three – Ben Sim, SJ
John 3:16-18, Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity A Grade II boy surprised his parish priest with this soul-searching question, “Father, how much do you know about God?” That question should probably be asked not only to the parish priest, but to every one of us who are baptized, “How much do we know about God?” A high…
Between Two Miracles – Mark Aloysius, SJ
Luke 1:39-56, Feast of the Visitation Among all the Marian feasts, today is the most ordinary, the least miraculous. There are no angels intruding into quiet spaces; no bodies ascending from earth to heaven. What we see is just two women coming to meet, to talk, to share their joy. Yet, the church chooses to…
Coming Home – Joel Liwanag, SJ
John 14:1-12, Fifth Sunday of Easter Among the many emotional needs of human beings, one of the most fundamental is the need to belong. As persons, we inherently desire to be part of something larger than ourselves. We first experience this in the womb of our mothers, our home for nine months. There we have…
Path to Christ – Rudolf Horst, SVD
Luke 34:13-35, Third Sunday of Easter Frustration had overwhelmed Cleopas and his unnamed companion And frustrations are the result of expectations. We become frustrated, or discouraged, because the reality of what happens doesn’t measure up to what we were expecting. This is true for small things – as when an unforeseen traffic jam threatens to…
What About Love? – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 18:1-19:42, Good Friday 2016 A little over a year ago, ISIS took a video as they incinerated a Jordanian pilot in a cage. My friends said that the footage was all over the net, but I resisted the temptation of watching it. I learned my lesson many years ago when a friend sent me…
Wearing Eight Clothes – Willy Samson, SJ
Matthew 26:14-27:66 Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week – the summit of Lent. On this week, we remember the greatest expression of God’s love for us – Jesus dying on the cross for us, because of our sinfulness and unfaithfulness. To meaningfully commemorate the Holy Week and gain profit from this weeklong…
One Lost Sheep 