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12 March. Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent

Beside the Living Waters

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1 comments
18 Nov 2024 – Monday of Week 33
November 18 2024
Mike Mansour
Instead of reacting to a conversation or issue, respond to them with love.
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1 comments
Séamus Ahearne: Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and every humming insect is holy, in the memory of my people. (Chief Seattle – from a letter written to the US President in 1883)
November 12 2024
Alan McGill
Séamus Ahearne’s reflection of November 12th expresses worry concerning the electorate who voted for Donald Trump in such great numbers. Later, Fr. Ahearne laments what he sees to be stupidity and superficiality that he sees exemplified in Trump. Notably, the reflection does not brand all Trump supporters as stupid and ultimately its disenchantment with a swathe of humanity is alleviated by a sacramental recognition of the goodness of life, people, and creation. Seeking to reassure rather than critique Fr. Ahearne, as one who lives in the US (Atlanta) and teaches Catholic theology there, may I offer the following in defense of those who voted for Trump? Ordinary people have had enough of aggressive forms of trans ideology, race-baiting that stirs up strife and division, media bias, an unwillingness to have a reasonable discussion about abortion limits, poorly managed immigration, creeping secularization, enthusiasm for the funding of foreign wars (and in effect the US military industrial complex), attacks of freedom on thought and speech, and a zeal to police everything except crime. I would posit that, in a sense, many voted against these realities rather than for Trump. I have always considered myself to be progressive and have faced my share of trouble and strife in my career for being committed to the dialogical vision of the Second Vatican Council, Catholic Social Teaching, modern biblical scholarship, and theological positions including support for women’s ordination. I never thought I would find myself defending “conservative” perspectives but people in this country are in many facets of their existence from work, to healthcare, to civic life confronted by a new form of secular fundamentalism and integralism where there is no room for discussion and it is a question of conforming or being abused, silenced, “cancelled”, and/or fired. It is drilled into people that objectivity and meritocracy are hallmarks of white supremacy, that math is racist, and that all white people are privileged and bear inherited guilt (that unlike Original Sin is not atoned for or forgiven) I suspect that this dynamic played a major role in Trump’s victory. Clearly there exists diversity of opinion among working class people but I would argue that many who voted for Trump are the US equivalent of the parishioners to whom Fr. Ahearne dedicates his life. They do not look to Trump as a moral exemplar, they may dread his positions on the death penalty, the treatment of Muslims and immigrants, and a host of moral issues but voted for the lesser of evils as they saw it, in defiance of what they experience as a “woke”, relativist, censorious, and authoritarian establishment. As a Green Card holder, I could not vote and I thank God for that.
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1 comments
Brendan Hoban: Old clerical habits die hard in the Vatican
November 11 2024
Sean Connell
I agree with everything that Brendan says and with Pope Francis in his approach in putting process first. The point that I would make is where does process begin? To me it begins in the primary school and it is my long held belief that we in Ireland need a new approach to teaching religion. This I believe can only be achieved through a new national curriculum and a national organisation of catechists properly selected and trained so that they are all on the same page. The present system just isn’t working and until this problem is solved and we have young people leaving school who have belief in God and in his love and mercy, we will not have the candidates for the religious life (neither men nor women).
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17 Nov 2024 – 33rd Sunday (Year B)
November 17 2024
Thara Benedicta
Key Message: Let us hope to see the rainbow hiding behind the storm!! Homily: The takeaway from the first reading: The first reading puts forth clearly a major difference between the wise and the unwise. A wise person understands the reason behind the sufferings in his life. He understands that sufferings are unavoidable. John 16:33: “In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”. So he does not give up his hope and waits earnestly for his breakthrough. He always knows that God is in control and will make everything beautiful in His time. Even though the devil may create suffering in his life, he will stand strong like a house built on a rock. He knows that God will bring Him greater glory through his untold sufferings. He will not waiver from his trust in God nor cry like people without hope. But since the unwise do not understand, they are unable to accept it and complain about the little inconveniences also. They do make “Much ado about nothing”. We should always replace our complaining with our thanksgiving!! God will bless us when we give thanks instead of complaining. I learned it through my personal experiences. I was facing issues with a property. While I was complaining about it, and praying and asking God, “Why are we going through problems in this property?”. I could hear the silent reply, “Give thanks”. Then I remembered that I have not been considering this property as a blessing from God and never thanked God with a heart of gratitude. I started thanking God with a heart full of thanks, and we begin to witness lots of blessings and all the problems arriving at a solution. Thanksgiving makes God joyful. Complaining makes the devil joyful. The takeaway from the second reading: Quite often we repeatedly think about our past life and feel bad about it. In today’s Second Reading God says: “Once forgiven, I will remember your sins no more”. But though God has forgiven and forgotten, we do not find rest. We are good at reminding God about our past sins which He has forgotten. Our Almighty Father says: “It’s ok, I am waiting for you. All the problems that you have created, I will clean them up. My child, I did not create you to be restless all your life. I give you my peace”. When our Lord Jesus entered any place, He first wished “Peace be with you”. He did not wish, “worry be with you” or “suffering is with you” or “always keep repenting”. When the good thief asked for forgiveness to our Lord Jesus, our Lord never said like – “Son all your life you have been stealing, which caused suffering to lots of people. So many people cried because of you. So please keep asking for forgiveness for the few more hours you have. Then I will grant you a place in Heaven today”. No, Our Lord forgave him instantaneously. Imagine the happiness of the good thief about his secured future in Heaven with the Lord Jesus!! Nothing else would have mattered to him. When we feel repeatedly sorry for the same mess we have created, let us picture ourselves as the good thief hanging on the cross of repentance and asking forgiveness to Jesus. We can also enjoy the same forgiveness of our Lord Jesus!! Why should we keep reminding ourselves of something that our Lord Jesus has forgotten? The takeaway from Gospel reading: Do we think that we do not have proper clothes or a proper house or can we get some help from the government? All these needs will be easily met in our new government formed by our Lord Jesus. Our focus is to be part of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus at the end of the world. Our Lord Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” The promises of our Lord Jesus are so many in the Holy Bible and when read with faith, will bring anyone out of depression easily. When we do not read and enjoy the ‘Word of God’ regularly, we are not aware of how to use the promised blessings in the world of God. Actually it is a kind of “User Manual” for how we should operate our life. For any problem in our life, we can find a solution therein. The Holy Bible is the wonderful book written by our Almighty God, through His servants, just for us. It is like a “GOOGLE” search engine, where we get the answers for our queries. The Holy Bible gives answers for which “google” also will not have answers. When our Lord Jesus was tested, Jesus also won over the devil by quoting the scripture verses. When our Jesus referred to the scripture verses and won over the devil, why can’t we? Tips for implementing the Takeaways: 1. We are happy when we see offers and discounts like 10%, 25%, 50% or 75% in shops. We eagerly buy and claim the goods. But the ‘Word of God’ gives 100% discounts for all our sins, when we go to Jesus. Let us claim the 100% discount from our loving Lord Jesus 2. Today’s first reading states the promise of the Lord: “You shall rise for your reward at the end of the days”. All are good acts, big or small will be rewarded at the end of the day. So let us always be careful to live our life dutifully, so that we may reap in abundance at the end of our days. When we live our lives fruitfully, when we reach the later stages of our life, we will enjoy the peace and we will be sure of our place in Heaven. There is nothing better than leading a fruitful life and there is nothing worse than living with regrets in old age. So wherever we are now, let us start to do whatever good we can for others. 3. We should look at our troubles with our eyes of trust in God. God always gives a rainbow after a storm. Neither the storm nor the rainbow is permanent. We can never continue to be in the storm all the time or enjoy the rainbow all the time. God will always bless us with a rainbow after every storm!!
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