In the second reading for today it states, “Brothers and sisters, whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE.” That word ‘HOPE’ seems to be what we need to have in these difficult days, in the days leading up to Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. To be a person who lives HOPE in life, it is likely that one has ...
Continue Reading →
Here we are in Advent once again. One of the characteristics of this season is that it invites us to look forward, to imagine a new world, and then to offer ourselves to God as co-creators of that new world. Advent also gets us looking forward to the Parousia, the return of Jesus signaling the end of time. Jesus told his followers—and by extension, us—that the return of the Son of Man will happen, but the timeline is only known by the ...
Continue Reading →
Violence seems to be everywhere. The war in Ukraine continues; almost 8 million refugees have fled the country since February of this year. The war in Yemen is in its eighth year, creating one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. In Canada, the number of women murdered by a partner or ex-partner has increased every year over the past 5 years reaching a rate of 1 murder every 2 days. Hate crimes in Canada have increased 72% over the past two years … ...
Continue Reading →
As I mentioned over the last two weekends, as the liturgical year draws to an end the readings, themselves, were getting darker and heavier. They were pointing us to the end times. After much talk about the end times, Jesus faces, in today’s gospel, the end time of his human life as he hangs on the cross to die. We are told that during the three hours Jesus hung on the Cross, darkness covered all the land. Before the crucifixion, when Jesus ...
Continue Reading →
Today is the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. ‘Today’ is also the last day of the history of the world. On this last day, we celebrate the mystery of Christ, the King of the Universe, ‘who will come to judge the living and the dead.’
Trevor Droesbeck’s All Saints Day reflection on the ‘Love of Thousands’ gave us a glimpse into the immense complexity of God’s Creation. The very recent discovery of the Genome gives further understanding to Paul’s vision of the ...
Continue Reading →
In the homily last weekend, I mentioned that as the liturgical year draws to an end, the readings seem to get darker and heavier. That’s certainly the case with today’s readings. Malachi, in that first reading, is speaking about evil doers being burned up while Jesus is mentioning earthquakes, famines, plagues, arrests, persecutions and family members betraying you. Yet in the middle of all this darkness, Jesus says this will be your opportunity to testify. Testify to what? To light — a light that ...
Continue Reading →
The rhythm of the Church is one which is all her own. We are invited to enter into that rhythm, but often find it hard to do so, influenced as we are by the secular world in which we live. This Sunday, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, is the second last of this liturgical year. Soon, very soon, we will begin preparations to welcome the Babe. Some may have already begun them. 🙂
The readings give a feeling of foreboding, ‘nation will rise ...
Continue Reading →
As we inch closer to the end of the current church year (liturgical year) and will soon be entering a new church year, with the Season of Advent, you will notice the Scripture readings naturally speak about the end times. As you hear them, they may even come across as dark or heavy.
I don’t think most of us give too much time or energy thinking about the end of all time, but we have all entertained ideas about our personal ...
Continue Reading →
“Do you realize how many events and choices that had to occur since the birth of the universe, leading to the making of you just exactly the way you are?”
-A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engel
On All Saints (November 1st), we remember those who had a special devotion and connection to God in their lifetimes, all of the Saints of our church. Celebrated on November 2nd, All Soul’s Day (a.k.a. The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed) is a day of prayer and remembrance ...
Continue Reading →
If you remember, last weekend’s gospel referred to a tax collector in the Temple whose sincere prayer to God garnered the praise of Jesus. Today’s gospel is about another tax collector, Zacchaeus, who likewise is praised by Jesus. What basically goes over our heads but was not lost on Jesus’ audience 2000 years ago, was the hatred Jews had for tax collectors. It’s important for us to know the depth of the hatred for tax collectors, if we are to ...
Continue Reading →