Thirty-second Sunday of the Year - 2026

For these Sundays of October and November, the 2nd Reading in the Liturgy of the Word is taken from the Letter to the Hebrews. The author’s main theme is the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus; it is meant as a means of restoring the lost fervor happening among the Hebrew Christians at that time and of strengthening them in their faith. Another important theme of the letter is that of the pilgrimage of the people of God to the heavenly Jerusalem. This theme is intimately connected with that of Jesus’ ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. The new temple, the new sanctuary is now in heaven and Jesus is the High Priest. Ancient peoples believed that the gods dwelt out of sight somewhere up in the heavens. Although indifferent to humans on earth, these gods could at times become annoyed and angry with humans and would hurl down from the ski all manner of punishment; storms, lightning, floods, earthquakes, famines and all manner of catastrophe. Humans in turn, would try to appease the anger of the gods by offering sacrifices; gifts of all kinds, even sacrificing human life. The ancient Hebrews also were affected by this world view, but through the prophets were beginning to get a clearer idea of what was really true. Yet, they still had the temple, and altars of sacrifice, and priest making offerings with which they continued to believe they could appease God’s anger – manifested when bad things would happen. Jesus comes with an entirely new understanding; a new understanding of who God really is, of who we are in God’s eyes, and why God created us in the first place, placing us here on this earth . Jesus reveals to us that God is a loving God, and he has a very particular plan for us humans. God wants to share His divine life with us; literally making us divine child of God, clothing us with the glory that is God’s glory. But before this can happen, we must be made capable of receiving such glory. The angels were given a share in God’s glory before us, but some of them, when they saw how glorious they were, began to think and act as if they too were gods. It was necessary for God to strip them of the glory he had given them and expel them from heaven. Not wanting this fate to happen to humans when they receive glory, God starts us off here on this remote planet earth, in the school of "humbling reality". Once humans are convinced of the truth of their humble state, it is safe to cloth them in glory. A quick look of human history makes it abundantly clear that we are very slow learners. True religion happens when we enter the school of holiness by attaching ourselves to Jesus in a personal relationship. True relationship is not simply knowing about Jesus – the devil knows all about Jesus, true relationship happens when we enter into a spiritual communion with the Spirit of Jesus. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 And who is our teacher in the school of holiness – it is the Holy Spirit, and the school complex wherein we study is the Church.

Solemnity of All Saints - 2026

November is commonly thought of as the month of the dead. Many cultures around the world observe various rituals honouring the dead. November itself with the dying off of all the beautiful summer plants, the shorter days and longer nights, the many animals migrating away or hibernating out of sight all have a certain resemblance to death. The Church also uses November as a month to reflect on death but with a radical different perspective. What began in the Easter season with its focus on resurrection and new life is now in November viewed not as being lost but rather as being fulfilled. Of all the things that we face in life death is the most haunting - but not for the believer. Death as a destroyer has itself been destroyed by the Prince of Life. The transformed mind of the believer sees death not as a grave but as a door, as door through which one passes to gain even more life, the fulness of life. As you listen to the voices of the saints you hear them speak of a kind of longing for death. Some people see this as being a sign of some kind of mental distortion in the saints thinking. What these critics do not see is what the saints do see – life and more life, life without end. As our faith deepens, we too will be able to speak of death, not in a morbid, fearful way but as that threshold, that stairway, that open doorway in which we see these open arms of so many beckoning us. Saint Bernard, abbot speaks so convincingly of this in a sermon which the Church sets before us as the second reading in the Office of Readings for the Solemnity of All Saints. From a sermon by Saint Bernard, abbot "Let us make haste to our brethren who are awaiting us." Why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this feast day mean anything to the saints? What do they care about earthly honors when their heavenly Father honors them by fulfilling the faithful promise of the Son? What does our commendation mean to them? The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning. Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints. But our dispositions change. The Church of all the first followers of Christ awaits us, but we do nothing about it. The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them. Come, brothers, let us at length spur ourselves on. We must rise again with Christ; we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory. When we commemorate the saints, we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we may one day share in his glory. Until then we see him, not as he is, but as he became for our sake. He is our head, crowned, not with glory, but with the thorns of our sins. As members of that head, crowned with thorns, we should be ashamed to live in luxury; his purple robes are a mockery rather than an honor. When Christ comes again, his death shall no longer be proclaimed, and we shall know that we also have died, and that our life is hidden with him. The glorious head of the Church will appear, and his glorified members will shine in splendor with him, when he forms this lowly body anew into such glory as belongs to himself, its head. Therefore, we should aim at attaining this glory with a wholehearted and prudent desire. That we may rightly hope and strive for such blessedness, we must above all seek the prayers of the saints. Thus, what is beyond our own powers to obtain will be granted through their intercession.

Thirtieth Sunday of the Year - 2026

This month our Gospel readings are taken from chapter 22 of Matthew’s gospel account. In it, Jesus is being challenged by his three main opponents. They are the Herodians, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. We began reading this chapter two weeks ago. It begins with Jesus crafting the parable about a King’s grand wedding feast for his son, but the King is stiffed by all the invited guest. The King in turn rejects them and invites whoever will accept. The three antagonists arguing with Jesus come to realize that Jesus meant this parable to be about them; that they are the rejected by God; they will be excluded from God’s Kingdom. Normally these parties are fighting among themselves, but now they are collaborating in a united effort to discredit Jesus. First the Herodians challenge Jesus. These are the political sellouts among the Jews. They are aligned with King Herod, who is helping the Romans occupy and control the population, and collect a census tax from the people. They try trapping Jesus with a political question about whether the people should pay the tax or not. Next the Sadducees have a go at Jesus. They are the Temple people, the priestly class, scholars of Law of Moses. They accept only the first five books of the Old Testament, demanding that they be followed scrupulously and to the letter. They reject the belief in the resurrection i.e. as prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel. They construct an argument around a law of Moses that declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. They create an argument around seven brothers, all marrying the same wife after each brother had died. “In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For all of them were married to her.” Finally, the Pharisees take their turn, raising a disputed question of the day about which of the 613 commandments of the law is the most important or are all of equal importance. The Problem in all of this is not that questions do arise and look for answers, the problem is that ridged factions form around the questions, and instead of being open to discovering the best answers to the questions they are used to divide and separate people. These factions are more intent on dominating the others rather than getting to the truth. We are all familiar with the saying, “divide and conquer”. Jesus knows well that this is Satan’s strategy against the gospel message which he is announcing and it will continue on as the life of the Church begins to unfold. St. Paul describes it in 1 Cor. 12; “What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Paul goes on in chapter 12 to use the analogy of the human body with its many parts all working in harmony to describe how the Church and its many members are to unify. Then in chapter 13, he gives that beautiful teaching on the unifying principal of love – which flows from Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel, the primacy of Love, the greatest Commandment. Just look around our society today. Have we ever seen such division, contentedness, animosity and argument among people? We must not let ourselves to be drawn into it. As Christians formed in the gospel, our calling is to bring the healing and unifying message of the Gospel of Love to a divide world.

Twenty-nineth Sunday of the Year

"For this Sunday we are looking at not a parable of Jesus, but a riddle of Jesus.  You could call this the riddle of Caesar and the coin.  It's the famous story of the coin that Jesus is presented with, and he is asked whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not, and then gives his response.  So for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time for Year A, we are going to be looking at Mt. 22:15-22: LINK .