When Jesus stated that a good tree is known by its good fruit, he was referring to the annual fruit harvest rather than to a single harvest, once for all time. At the same time he warned how some people could be misled, “Be on guard against false
Today’s texts manifest the age-old truth that success goes to the head, power corrupts and prosperity can make even good people greedy for more. It seems that in life we cope better with hopes than with their fulfillment. People who must work hard and pass through all the stages of developing a business, a farm, or a family
Abram’s call in Genesis 12 marks the beginning of Israel’s salvation history, the monumental moment when this rugged nomad was called to migrate to the land of promise and eventually become a sign of blessing for everyone on earth. But
We were created in the image of a profoundly personal God, who is by inmost nature trinitarian, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We reflect God’s image at our best, when we are at our most creative, compassionate and charismatic. Today’s Scriptures present the gracious holiness of God (first reading), the centrality of love as God’s most precious gift (2nd reading), and the Father’s outpouring of grace upon our world, through the Son and the Spirit.
On Trinity Sunday, Christians are invited to reflect on the mystery of God: the One who creates, redeems and sanctifies, three persons, one God, without end.
About the reversal of values, Paul writes, “I must go on boasting, however useless it may be.” Even if he had visions and revelations of the Lord and was caught up to Paradise “to hear words which cannot be uttered,” he feels the foolishness of talking about it and says he will boast no more except about his weakness, which God helps
Today’s words from the Sermon on the Mount touch on a problem we instinctively feel about Paul’s boasting and the moral collapse which follows inflated ambition (*2). Jesus puts it bluntly: “Do not lay up for yourselves an earthly treasure. Moths and rust corrode… Instead, store up heavenly treasure…. If your vision is bad, you
Some people at Corinth must have accused Paul of merely “rattling” words – of being just a talker, not a doer. In their gossip they must have complained that he should manifest a more tolerant and patient attitude towards their faults. Yet Paul did not back down but stated his personal independence and his privilege of speaking openly
We must live for God rather than to be seen by others; act silently rather than ostentatiously. At the same time, we cannot do without the good example of others. There is a great value in remembering God’s deeds in the lives of his saints. If Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, or Jesus and Paul had performed all of their works in
Whenever we hear the gospel command to love our enemies and to pray for our persecutors, we think of Jesus’ own heroic example, praying for his executioners, as he hung on the cross (Luke 22:34). Paul, today, also pleads for generosity as he tells the church at Corinth about the evident kindness of the churches of Macedonia. He was now collecting alms from the Corinthians for the church at Jerusalem, coming to
The first readings convey a sense of helpless indignation. In Naboth (2*) we have an instance of a good and decent man, betrayed by his neighbours just to please the government (the royal pair). The tragedy begins in the greed of a king who always got what he wanted – like a spoiled child who never grew up. But why shouldn’t a
As the Holy Spirit inspired courage and energy in the apostles, at the beginning, so the Spirit brings about inspiration and fruitfulness in our lives today, through love, joy, peace, patience, and self-control.
On Pentecost Day Christians celebrate ‘the great beginning of the Church’, the day the Holy Spirit first came to confused and frightened disciples. During the gathering for worship, we praise God for this great Gift, and ask for a new outpouring in our day.
The readings for this day are drawn from the final verses of Acts and of John’s gospel. Acts rounds out the total theological purpose of St. Luke, which extended from his earlier book, the gospel, into his second book, called The Acts of the Apostles. Luke’s gospel moves from Old Testament Jerusalem (Chs. 1-2) or from the Jordan River where the conquest of the Promised Land once began under Joshua
The sequence of events is important, so natural and yet so filled with spiritual meaning that we must delay here. Youth is marked by an active pursuit of goals. Many options open out before a young man or young woman. With study, experimentation and advice they freely decide. As a person gets older, a more passive acceptance of the inevitable seems to be the only option. As we become still older
Jesus signals unity as the most characteristic mark of his disciples, the sign and the goal of true faith, when he prayed: “that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” Paul of Tarsus appears in today’s reading, yet not as a messenger of peace and unity. He deliberately stirred a discussion, which he knew would turn into a shouting match and then into physical abuse. He got the
Acts 20:28ff. Paul’s final word to church leaders calls them to be shepherds of the church of God. John 17:11ff. Before leaving them, Jesus prays to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth.” More Blessed to Give than to Take The necessity of prayer and of concern about his disciples is proven beyond all doubt…
Both Paul and Jesus indicate that an important phase of their ministry has been completed: Paul must proceed to Jerusalem and if he survives the persecutions in that city, he hopes to sail westward to Rome and then to Spain; Jesus declares that he has finished the work given to him by the heavenly Father and now asks: “Do you now, Father, give me glory at your side?” Paul’s words take the form of a final
The plain language of Jesus’ discourse in John’s gospel still baffles us. Why will the disciples find peace in Jesus, once they are scattered, each to his own way, and Jesus is left alone? How does such a disintegration of loyalties and friendship convince the disciples that Jesus knows everything and has come from God?
We celebrate today Christ’s ascension to his eternal glory in heaven and express our hope that where he has gone before us, we will one day follow, to the kingdom of our Father. A homily theme: we are separated from Jesus our Lord, only in body but not in spirit. His ascension into heaven is a blessing in disguise for us, not a loss, for he pours out on us from heaven all the energising grace that we need, to be his community in this present world.
