One of the core tenets of the Christian faith is belief in the resurrection from the dead. We believe that death is not the end, but that life continues even after bodily death. This faith is anchored in the belief that Christ both died and rose from the dead. He is the first fruit from the dead, and by his rising has won victory over death for those who believe in him. We believe that when our own earthly sojourn concludes in death, we too will rise with Christ again...

The First reading for this weekend narrates a dramatic victory won by the Israelites against the Amalekites. Moses positioned himself on a hill, a posture of prayer and held up the staff of God, a symbol of his authority...God gave victory to this aggregate of people whom he had chosen as his own. It was not on account of anything they had done, but because God wanted a relationship with them. [Click to read more]

Gratitude is the central theme in the readings for this weekend. Every year, we have the privilege of celebrating Thanksgiving Day. I would typically ask people what they were thankful for. I notice how difficult it could be for people to verbalize what they were grateful for. We take things for granted that we do not realize that everything is grace, and that we receive everything we have freely from the loving hands of God. For example, we get accustomed to good health that we do not realize to what extent people are willing to go to regain their health or stay healthy. Today, permit me to ask you, “What are you thankful for?” Do you consider that there is someone deserving of your gratitude or do you take favors done to you for granted? There is a saying among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, “Not to be grateful for favors received is to have stolen them.” Rendered differently, “The ungrateful person is worse than a thief.” It is appropriating what one had received as though one had a right to it. [Click to read more]

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of our patroness, St. Thérèse, the Little Flower of Jesus (October 1). We thank all who joined in praying the Novena leading up to this feast day. We also were blessed with the opportunity to spend time with our Eucharistic Lord in adoration. Thanks to all who visited whether for a short time or for a long period. Like our heavenly patroness, we too are friends of Jesus. And our friendship grows every time we spend time with him. [Click to read more]

The prophet Amos champions the cause of the poor and speaks of God’s displeasure for injustice against the poor. He is relentless in preaching that wrongs perpetrated against the poor always have repercussions. In this weekend’s first reading, Amos communicates God’s word to the oppressors of the poor that they would be taken into exile not only for actively perpetrating injustice against the poor, but for neglecting to come to their help. We see this repeated in the Gospel story of Lazarus and the rich man. [Click to read more]

I ask that you ponder on the readings for this weekend. Both the First and Gospel readings challenge us to evaluate our attitude to money or material possession. Money is the major contender with God for human hearts. Jesus said, “you cannot serve both God and mammon” (Luke 16:13)... [Click to read more]

The people who came out of Egypt (First Reading) rejoiced at their liberation from slavery, but this joy was short lived. No sooner had they left Egypt than they craved what they perceived to be the good life of Egypt. Their greed and insatiable desires pushed Moses to the edge. They lost sight of God’s promise of freedom and plenty because they wanted things to work according to their own schedule and timing. They wanted to be like the nations that surrounded them, and they wanted a God they could domesticate, rather than a transcendent reality whom they had no grip on. [Click to read more]

The Sacrifice of Christ 8. To begin to comprehend the tremendous gift offered by Christ through his Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection, that gift that is made present to us in the Eucharist, we must first realize how truly profound is our alienation from the Source of all life as a result of sin. We have abundant experience of evil, yet so many of us deny the cause of much of that evil—our own selfishness, our own sins. As St. John wrote in his first letter, If we say, “we are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 Jn 1:8). 9. Sin is an offense against God, a failure to love God and our neighbor that wounds our nature and injures human solidarity.

This weekend’s readings speak about the difficulty associated with prophetic ministry. It is fraught with danger for the prophet. Jeremiah was persecuted and rejected (First Reading), and Our Lord Jesus tells us that rejection comes with following him. Some people might have difficulty reconciling a Jesus who preached peace and reconciliation with the one speaking in this weekend’s gospel. We might wonder why Jesus is saying he has come for war rather than for peace, to stir up strife within families, rather than mend relationships. However, this is not the sense Jesus is communicating to his listeners in the gospel... [Read more here]

This week I thought to share a reflection from Gerald Darring in hopes that you find it helpful as you respond to the Lord’s invitation to discipleship. "We are a people who have been promised inheritance and life; we are 'heirs of the same promise' made to Abraham. We have, therefore, put our hope in God: 'our soul waits for the Lord,' who will come when we least expect him... [Click to read more]

Qoheleth, the protagonist of the book of Ecclesiastes, speaks of the vanity of human existence. All our toils under the sun amount to nothing. At face value, this represents a dark and nihilistic attitude to life. It would be a terrible way to live if one held such an extremely negative view about life. We believe that the world was created good by God, and it is the best world that God could create. The evils we see in the world are largely consequences of human sin... [Click to keep reading]

Persistence. This is the word that comes to mind as I reflect on the readings for this weekend. Abraham prevails with God until he quits. Imagine what difference his persistence would have made. The man in the Gospel gets his request because he persists. Jesus promises those who ask, seek and knock whatever they need... [Click here to read more]

Lord, do you not care…? The above concern, expressed to Our Lord in the form of a question, betrays Martha’s frustration over what seemed a nonchalant disposition of her sister, Mary. This question could resonate with many of us when we seem to be working all alone on what would have been considered a collective project... [Click to read more]

We thank the Lord who continues to show us his love by writing his commandments within our hearts. We do not have to go too far to seek them out as they are very near to us. In the First Reading for this weekend’s liturgy, Moses urges the people to obey God’s commandments. This is prerequisite for enjoying the land into which God has brought them. He is the good Samaritan who sees us beaten, stripped of our possessions, and abandoned by the roadside for dead, on account of our sins, yet he does not discriminate. He comes down from his exalted position, reaches to save us, and pays the costly price for our redemption. [Click to read more]

Imagine that the Lord was calling you to a mission, and he tells you to go to a country you have never been before. He tells you not to worry about any of the common preoccupations... and that you would have to depend on the hospitality of strangers. How many would respond to such a call? If the Lord would ask you to travel with just one suitcase, or none at all, how many would take him seriously? Imagine that the mission the Lord is sending you was to a country famed for its hostilities to strangers, would you still go? [Click to read more]

The readings for this weekend suggest that the call of God requires our urgent but free response. It leaves no room for delays. In the First Reading, the Lord calls Elisha to be a supporter and helper of Elijah. Although Elisha wanted to follow Elijah, he however asked for leave so he could kiss his parents goodbye... [Click here to read more]

We celebrate this weekend the mystery of the Godhead. We celebrate that God is a Trinity of distinct, yet undivided, persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three are not three Gods but one. God is one but not solitary. He is a community of persons. And each person is equal in substance, in majesty, and power. [Click to read more]

We celebrate Pentecost Sunday this weekend and we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples who were united in prayer in anticipation. Pentecost concludes Eastertide. It is also the birthing of the Church and the commissioning of the disciples as Apostles – those sent. [Click here to read more]

This weekend the Church commemorates the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven forty days after his post resurrection mission among his disciples. Christ ascends into heaven, into a sanctuary not made by human hands. And he now sits at the right hand of the Father in glory interceding for us. Our faith teaches us that where Christ our head has gone before, we his body will follow. We see that he was already preparing his disciples’ minds for his ascension.