Reflections on the Sunday Readings

  Our gospel this weekend gives us an image of power, royalty, and the abuses of power that they can produce, when they are interested simply in fulfilling their own  agendas.  Rome, the scribes, and Pharisees are abusing their power by condemning an innocent man.   They have colluded together to quiet Jesus, supposedly for forever.    Jesus represents the opposite of their values which are based in power and control, judgment, and condemnation.   Jesus’   life is based on compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and inclusion.   And those who wish to follow in footsteps must base their lives on these  qualities.                                                                                               ...

                                                                                                                                                     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...