Reflections on the Sunday Readings

                                                                                                                                                     St. John Lateran The initial   word for church was a Greek word, ekklēsía.  It means   "assembly of those called out" (i.e. a community of believers).    We can see in this description that the emphasis is on the people not on a building or architectural structure.    In other words, whenever or wherever the people gather in the name of the Lord, there is the Church.   “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there...

                                                                             The readings this weekend call our attention to remembering our ancestors. It is the feast of All Souls.  In the Hispanic tradition of South America and Mexico this is called the Day of the Dead.  It is not a day of gruesome memories but rather a festive day of remembering those who have gone before.  It is a day filled with special foods and celebrations particularly as they reflect the memory of those who have gone before us.  In some locations families visit cemeteries to decorate the graves of their relatives with flowers of special mementos that remind them of their relatives.   In our masses this weekend, we too shall pray and remember our loved ones who have died.  We may rememb...

                                                                                                                                                 Our readings this Sunday call us to be persistence in prayer.  In the first readings, Moses raises his arms in prayer of the army of Israel so that they can overcome their adversary Amalek and his armies.  How often does our own prayer feel like a struggle between ourselves and God?   Do we ever feel the weight of doubt that God is listening to us?   Are we afraid God will say “no” to us in our requests?  At times like that, do we need a...

                                                       At times when we go shopping in the grocery store and we are getting things like milk or eggs; we look to see what the “due date” on the carton is so that we are sure we are getting the freshest milk or eggs.     Or, we may have purchased these things sometime in the past, and we keep checking them to see when the “due date” is, by which it will identify if we should eat or drink them.                                                   Often when we pray for something special that we want or need, we may not, in our prayers, give God a” due date” by which we need His positive response; however, within our heads, we may have a definite time by which we want to...

   A quick look at our first reading and gospel for this weekend the twenty-sixth Sunday of ordinary time, gives us a scrooge-like reference in that the people in both readings were not committing any sins, so to speak, they just ignored the poor and destitute sitting on their doorsteps.   They didn’t hurt the poor they just chose not to be cognizant of them and their plight.   They did nothing to lift the burden of hunger, disease, or poverty from those they must of obviously saw with their eyes but not with their heart. The judgment against them is not for any acts of   commission but rather for acts of complacency and omission toward the poor. Down through the centuries there have been numerous   “Lazarus’s” at our gates.   People who for circumstances often beyond their control, (i.e., poverty, illness, abuse) have gone at the least unnoticed and at the worst seen as responsible for their own dilemma.   It is not because most people a...

  From the openings prayer (i.e., the Collect) of the mass, for this 25th Sunday of Ordinary time, we see the intent of the readings: “Oh God who founded all the commands of your sacred law upon the love of you and of our neighbor, grant that by keeping your precepts we may merit to attain eternal life.”   Eternal happiness is about love.   It is about who we love, and why we love them.   These are the factors that drive us to act and live in a certain way.         C ontained in that opening prayer we see that our happiness can never come down to solely acquiring possessions, or power, or money.   The emphasis this 25 th Sunday of Ordinary calls us also to reflect about the choices we make for ourselves in order live a life based on justice, love, and compassion towards others.   The first three, possessions, power, or money are important to the world at large, but to God, by themselves, they are of little value.    ...