Thought of the Day…
You are writing a gospel,
A chapter each day,
By deeds that you do,
By words that you say.
People read what you write,
Whether faithless or true,
Say, what is the gospel according to you?
On the Inside; On the Outside
Today we are celebrating a birth – the birth of the church. Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. For that reason, it is often called the “the birthday of the Church.”
During the past six months of the church year, we have been on a journey – a journey of the events in the life of Jesus. It’s the story of the central mystery of our faith – the story of the incarnation where God became human, though still remaining God. When we think of the incarnation, most of us think of it this way: God physically walked on this earth, he died, he rose, and then he returned to heaven. When he left, he sent the Holy Spirit to be present among us – but the actual physical body of Jesus was gone forever. And yet, we often find ourselves wishing that Jesus were still here – right now – in the flesh, so that we could touch him, hear his voice and see the compassion in his eyes. Read More
Sometimes, things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes, we become frustrated, disappointed, and upset. Sometimes, we think we’re doing a bang-up job when someone comes along and gives us a slap on the side of the head with a major dose of reality. This is what St. Paul encountered in Macedonia in today’s scripture reading (Acts 18:1-8). Read More
The word “excitement” means: “to be stirred or thrilled, the state of being emotionally worked up, the feeling of active and cheerful joy.” Some would say they have excitement at times, but it all depends on what they are doing, what they are “into” at the moment.
For example, many get excited at sporting events. Some will be thrilled at getting a new outfit, or a good meal out. Everybody gets excited with their gifts at Christmas or a good holiday. However, do we have that same level of excitement when it comes to God our Father? Read More
Have you ever accidentally missed a big moment? It feels terrible! You got distracted right before your child scored a goal. You missed the winning touchdown because your cellphone rang. You were driving to the hospital to witness the birth of a grandchild, and the baby arrived before you did. Maybe you missed the two Popes being canonized this morning because you overslept. It’s a terrible feeling, and this is exactly how Thomas feels in today’s Gospel (John 20:19-31). Read More
A few years ago, I was attending a team meeting for work, one where our management team got everyone together to rally the troops and motivate us to perform better. We had a motivational speaker who was giving us a presentation. As I was listening, I noticed that my boss (who was sitting turned-somewhat sideways in the front row) was picking her nose – and not daintily, but very aggressively. As much as I didn’t want to look at her, I couldn’t help but to do so. I became so fixated on her actions that I had stopped listening to the speaker. Read More
As we begin this season of Lent, today’s Gospel (Luke 9:22-25) is a difficult message to hear and an even tougher one to carry out. We are told that we each need to carry our own cross and follow Jesus, and be prepared to do so every day. We are also told that we must renounce “self” in order for us to live. Now this goes against our every desire to want to advance ourselves in the eyes of others as well as to focus our attention on our own needs and wants. Read More
Solomon’s legacy began with great success. But despite his glorious beginning, Solomon’s heart was not entirely with the Lord (1 Kings 11:4-13). He basically did not obey God, and the end result was that Solomon’s reign was catastrophic. This all came about because he had forgotten God’s unconditional and faithful love and decided to serve idols instead. Today, we too have our idols that we worship and find that our hearts are not entirely with the Lord. Read More
According to the data, most people have already given up on their resolutions for 2014. So, I thought that this would be a good time to share the resolutions that Pope Francis made for this year, in hopes that it will reinvigorate us to continue our quest to do better. Also, his list is full of great ideas for us to incorporate into our lives as well. (This came from an interview by Paterno Esmaquel II originally posted on Rappler. It is a series of Pope Francis quotes in the form of New Year’s resolutions.) Read More
This morning, I was standing in our kitchen, waiting for my tea to steep. Gazing outside the window at the cold and snowy landscape, I noticed a robin in our neighbor’s tree. How strange, I thought, to see a robin at the end of January. We usually don’t see these birds here until the weather warms up, like around early March. But there she was, just sitting in the tree and enjoying the winter morning. Read More
