I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command. Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. (Dt. 18:18-19) In the Acts of the Apostles, both St. Peter (3:22) and, St. Stephen (7:37) quote the above passage as referring to Jesus. Jesus is the prophet who came to teach us (in word and deed) how to live according to God’s plan and attain the Kingdom of Heaven. And when the time came, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon His Apostles to guide them and us through the Holy Catholic Church. But Jesus foretold that some would not listen to His words, and He warned us that we would be persecuted for following Him. When … [Read more...]

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mt. 4:18-20) One afternoon while I was in seminary, I was having lunch with some classmates, and we were joined by another seminarian who was a member of another religious community. He was younger than my classmates, and pretty “gung ho” about being a seminarian. With eager eyes and enthusiasm, he turned to my classmate, Mike Woods, and asked “So when did you get your call??!!” Now, you’d have to know Mike, but suffice it to say that Mike was about 10 years older than the other seminarian. He’s from … [Read more...]

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” (John 1:35) One of the aspects of the Gospel reading for today is that of discipleship. I wrote about the word in an earlier edition of the bulletin when I distinguished “disciple,” meaning “student” or “follower” from the word “apostle,” meaning “messenger.” All Christians are called to be disciples, while some are specifically sent out by the Church to be messengers. The earliest Christians all began as disciples, and some were chosen to be apostles. In the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” the word disciple is used over and over. Here is a great definition of the role of disciples in the Church: “The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but … [Read more...]

“And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.” (Mt. 2:9-11) Why were the “wise men” wise? Were they wise because they knew the movements of the stars in the sky? Perhaps. Were they wise because they understood the seasons of the year or the mysteries of nature? Maybe. Or were they wise because they knew how to navigate according to a star. All of that might be true. But the underlying truth is that they were wise because they were searching for God. Their desire for Him meant that they could detect his coming appearance on earth in the appearance of a … [Read more...]

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Col. 3:16 ) On this Feast of the Holy Family, I think it’s a good time to reflect upon our family lives, and to examine whether we’re being good family members. When we contemplate the Holy Family, we note the fact that when Jesus became man – when the Word became flesh – He became flesh as a little child within a family. That was a divine choice; because Jesus could have chosen any way he wanted to manifest Himself. He could have arrived on earth as a 33 year old or an 80 year old man. But Jesus was conceived and began his existence in Mary’s womb, and was born as a baby in a family. Mary became the … [Read more...]

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.” (Luke 1:31-32a) A number of years I was praying the Rosary with our small group at 11:00am in front of the abortion clinic on St. Charles Avenue near Louisiana (before it closed), and I got yelled at by a Fundamentalist. Although I’m used to experiencing taunting while I’m praying in front of abortion clinics, I’m not used to being yelled at by a fellow “Christian” because I’m praying the Rosary. One would think we could take a moment to set aside our differences in a mutual effort to pray for an end to abortion! The point of the man’s rant was that I was “glorifying” Mary by saying the “Hail Mary.” He was yelling at us “Mary is dead. Why … [Read more...]

[John the Baptist said:] “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of His sandals. I have baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mk. 1:7-8) One of my favorite books by Archbishop Fulton Sheen is called “Life of Christ.” It’s a book that explores the life of Jesus using a great deal of reason and human history. As a seminarian I recall being taken in by the first words: History is full of men who have claimed that they came from God, or that they were gods, or that they bore messages from God - -Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Christ, Lao-tze, and thousands of others, right down to the person who founded a new religion this very day. Each of them has a right to be heard and considered. But as a yardstick external … [Read more...]

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” (Mt. 13:33) One might hope that Jesus would announce His Second Coming simultaneously through a text message, Twitter, Facebook, a Google News Alert, PSA’s on all of the broadcast and cable television and radio stations simultaneously! Because if that were the case, He’d be bound to reach 90% of the world population who are immersed in technology through tv, radio, the internet and cell phones. But I don’t think that’s the “watching” that Jesus is calling us to engage in. In fact, I don’t really think He’s talking about our using our “eyes” at all. Jesus does say “watch!” as the last word in this Sunday’s Gospel. And that word comes from the Greek word ?????????? (gregoreite) really has less … [Read more...]

For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. (1 Cor 15:21-25) How many times have we gazed at a crucifix and seen that inscription: “I.N.R.I.” We know it means something about Jesus being “King of the Jews,” even if we don’t remember that it comes from the first letters of the Latin inscription meaning “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex … [Read more...]

Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored. (Psalm 128:1-2) What does it mean to “fear the Lord”?  Fear seems to be something negative.  We associate it with threats and negative consequences.   So what does the Psalmist mean today when he says that those who “fear the Lord” are blessed? Perhaps surprisingly, “fear of the Lord” is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, along with Wisdom Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge and Piety. Fear of the Lord is more closely related to “awe,” and allows us to be aware of the glory and majesty of God. A person with wonder and awe knows that God is the perfection of all we desire: perfect knowledge, perfect goodness, perfect power, and perfect … [Read more...]