All Saints A
Today, we celebrate a special day in honor of all the saints, all those good people who help us and help so many other people in the world and are now in heaven with Jesus and Mary. We celebrate the official saints, canonized saints, also all the very good people who have helped us. “Saint,” what does it mean? The first reading says that an angel will mark all the people who are saved. [To see the words of the…
Sunday Ordinary Time 30 A
Jesus tells us the most important commandments. [To see the words of the gospel, click here.] The first one, Love God, how? With full heart, full mind, full strength. The Jewish people had the same idea. They agree that this is the first commandment. For the second commandment you have to look around in the Bible to find it: “Love other people the same as you love yourself.” Jesus is the first person to join those two commandments to become…
Sunday Ordinary Time 29 A
That is a very interesting story from Jesus. [To see the words of the gospel, click here.] The enemies of Jesus go up to trap Jesus. Who are they? Two groups: one group is from Pharisees, the leaders of the Jewish people; the other group is from King Herod. The two of them are opposite to each other, but both of them come together. Why? Because they both see Jesus is a challenge. The religious leaders saw Jesus wanted to…
Sunday Ordinary Time 28 A
On this Sunday, Jesus tells us the story of a banquet. [To see the words of the gospel, click here.] A king is celebrating the wedding of his son. Some people refuse to come; others are welcome. Many times Jesus used banquets and dinners to teach us something. Eating with Jesus changes us. We are with Jesus right now in the Eucharist. When we come together at Mass, He is with us. So, here are some of the examples when…
Sunday Ordinary Time 27 A
Last Thursday October 1 we honored a special saint, Saint Therese. Sometimes she is called The Little Flower. She seemed to live a very simple quiet life in a convent. She died in 1897 at the age of 24. But she left us a beautiful book, the story of her spiritual journey, a story about how to be a holy person, how to come closer to Christ and become more and more like Him. Her idea is very simple. The…
Sunday Ordinary Time 26 A
Let me talk about the second reading from St. Paul. He says, “Be humble; think of others as being more important than you.” [To see the second reading, click here.] “Humble” means what? It means: Me, I am an awful person, a failure; I am no good; I am deflated? Is that what it means? No! “Humble” means being honest. I am honest about myself. I am honest about other people. I am honest before God. Look at the words…
Sunday Ordinary Time 25 A
Let me give you the background to the story that Jesus tells. [To read the words of today’s gospel, click here.] It is the time of the grape harvest, just before the rains come. The longer the grapes stay on the vine the sweeter the grapes will be. But if the rains come and the grapes have not been harvested, then the grapes are ruined. So the farmer knows that the time is coming very quickly. He wants to get…
Sunday Ordinary Time 24 A
Today, Jesus talks about forgiveness. [To read the words of the gospel, click here.] If a person hurts me, is it easy to forgive that person? No, it is not easy to forgive. And yet we have the words of Jesus that we need to forgive one another. Every day we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father. The words of the prayer are, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” We want to forgive;…
Sunday Ordinary Time 23 A
Today the Lord reminds us we belong to one another, and we must be responsible for one another. This is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today in the gospel Jesus tells us how to act with a person who is doing wrong. [To see the words of the Gospel, click here.] Remember, in the very beginning of the Catholic Church, the number of people following Jesus was small. So one person acting badly in the small community hurt everyone.…
Sunday Ordinary Time 22 A
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is going to Jerusalem and He tells his followers He will suffer and die at the hands of his enemies. Peter comes up and says, “Lord, this cannot be; we will not allow it to happen.” Jesus says to him, “You are like Satan; you are tempting me. You are encouraging me not to do what my Father in heaven wants me to do.” (To see the words of the gospel, click here.) Jesus says, if…