Mary Mother of God - 2023

The Mother of God (often referred to as "Theotokos"), in the Council of Ephesus, was a title given to Mary, of course, only after St. Matthew did so on the 1st page of the New Testament in his Gospel. Often this title is misunderstood as somehow intimating that Mary is somehow greater or co-eternal with God.  This is not what is being affirmed in this title, however.  In fact, this title exists to secure the identity of Jesus as God and to illuminate a truth about his identity.   Dr. Brant Pitre has an excellent video reflection on the meaning of this important teaching about Mary. Click here to view    >>> VIDEO <<<

.

Christmas Voices - 2022

Perhaps one of the more difficult things about Christmas is hearing the True Voices of Christmas. Christmas is full of sounds of all kinds, coming at us from every side, so much so that the authentic Christmas voice can easily be blurred out. To hear the Voices of Christmas will take some effort on our part, but if we make the effort, what a beautiful and joy-filled sound will fill our hearts. The effort I speak of may be called - 

Praying Christmas.

We begin by bringing something we hear, i.e. texts from scripture, prayers of the Advent/Christmas liturgies, words from the hymns of Christmas etc. to a time of prayer. As we pray, we read and reread these words over again. If they are in a story, we try to create the scene in our imagination. If they are words addressed to God, we listen for the sentiment they express. But all the while, we listen to our own hearts by identifying the various feelings that emerge while we listen. To hear the Voices of Christmas, one must listen with the heart.

What This Effort Will Require:

• A time and place set aside for listening.
• The words we have chosen out of all the words around us.
• Patience to listen, not analyse, over think, and study.
• Humility to ask and ask again - all the while listening for sounds in the heart.
• Recording what you hear, returning again and again to listen.
• "Speak Lord, I am listening".

Some suggestions to add to the Christmas Voices

From second reading for Fourth Sunday of Advent. Communion Antiphon, December 23 Opening Prayer, morning Mass, Dec. 24 Gospel Acclamation, morning Mass, Dec. 24 Prayer after Communion, morning Mass, Dec. 24 First Preface of Christmas Prayer for Christmas Mass of Dawn Second Preface of Christmas

Through Christ we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ****** Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. (Rev 3) ****** Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay, that those who trust in your compassion may find solace and relief in your coming. ****** Radiant Dawn, splendour of eternal light, sun of justice: shine on those lost in the darkness of death. ****** Grant to us who find new vigor, O Lord, in these your wondrous gifts, that, as we prepare to celebrate in adoration the festivities of your Son’s Nativity, so we may possess in gladness his everlasting rewards. ****** For in the mystery of the Word made flesh a new light of your glory has shone upon the eyes of our mind, so that, as we recognize in him God made visible, we may be caught up through him in love of things invisible. ****** Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, as we are bathed in the new radiance of your incarnate Word, the light of faith, which illumines our minds, may also shine through in our deeds. ****** …… when our frailty is assumed by your Word not only does human mortality receive unending honor but by this wondrous union we, too, are made eternal.

.

Fourth Sunday of Advent - 2022

We begin this Fourth and final week of Advent in Matthew's gospel as he begins to tell the story of "...how the birth of Jesus Christ came about." In those days, the period of engagement of marriage was to last up to one year. The marriage covenant was official, they are married, but before the couple lived together, this one year waiting period would prove that the betrothed was indeed a virgin and that any child conceived would be that of the husband. Should a conception occur it prove infidelity and adultery on the part of the woman. The engagement/marriage would be broken off and the woman publicly disgraced. Matthew does not give us many details as to how all this unfolded with Joseph and Mary. This provides us with a wonderful opportunity to explore these questions in meditation and prayer. Matthew tells us, "... she was found with child." Here we are led to wonder when did Mary explain her pregnancy to Joseph, that it was the work of God? Did Joseph believe her? We can only speculate. We have a clue in the text that follows. “Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly." “… since he was a righteous man” Joseph was a man of holy integrity and that he followed the Law of Moses in all its detail. Now, in the Book of Deuteronomy 22:23 we read: “If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.…” What deep conflict must have been tearing at the heart of Joseph. Mary is pregnant! What to do – the law is clear as to what must be done. What if what Mary has told him about how she became pregnant is true? But the Law is clear, Joseph knows he must divorce Mary. Surely God will permit him to spare her such humiliation and disgrace, even death. Now the hand of God is revealed through the angel Gabriel: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Joseph too must see the important role God is giving him to fulfill in this plan - "She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Dear friends, these stories are not fairy tales we bring out at Christmas to dress up in colourful scenes. They are real events that happened in the lives of real people. Recognizing this can we not identify with these humble people of God? Do we not have to face conflicts and challenges in our lives, struggling to understand, struggling to make sense of it – to find solutions just as they did? Our faith is not disconnected from our real life. On the contrary, they are both intimately connected just as it was for Mary and Joseph. And when we make this connection our faith becomes a living, life saving dynamic reality guiding and supporting us throughout our life. Once we make this connection the stories of the lives of the people in the scriptures become learning centres where we begin to learn how to recognize God’s hand in our lives. Do not let Christmas just be a fairy tale.

.

"O Antiphons" This coming Saturday, one week from Christmas Eve, begins the traditional "O Antiphons" The O Antiphons refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They also are used as the Gospel Acclimation of the daily Masses. They cover the special period of Advent preparation known as the Octave before Christmas Dec.17-24 LINK TO THE ANTIPHONS

.

Third Sunday of Advent - 2022

.

The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally referred to as “Gaudete Sunday”. The name comes from the first word spoken in the liturgy for this day, in the Entrance Antiphon: (Gaudete in Latin): Rejoice in the Lord always: again, I say rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. There is a similar theme that recurs in Lent, in the fourth Sunday of Lent, traditionally called “Laetare Sunday” again taken from the first word of the entrance antiphon: (Laetare in Latin) Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. The first words of the Third Sunday of Advent are the words of St. Paul found in the fourth chapter of the Letter to the Philippians, vs. 4-5. So why Gaudete, why Rejoice? The answer begins in the First Reading, with the words of the prophet Isaiah. The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will REJOICE and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and REJOICE with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Isaiah 35: Israel has been conquered and its people have been living in exile for many years. But now the prophets are telling the people that soon their exile will come to an end, and they will be returning to their homeland. They believed that God was punishing them for their sins by letting their enemies conquer and enslave them. But now, what is this they hear? Believers of every generation, at various times, have found their hearts and hope shattered; believing they have been abandoned by God, left alone with no hope. So, the Church returns each year in Advent, to address this ancient problem, the Problem of Evil, to gather all who are wounded, to hear once again these words of truth and healing and restoration: “Rejoice, the Lord is near”!  You will notice that all the serious Christmas stories that we read all have this same theme running through them. In the darkest night, when all seems lost, hope is restored. Now the true spirit of Advent has a penitential character to it, where we examine our lives to root out our own causes for our downfalls and miseries. Then, the candle of the Advent Wreath, lighted on this day, the Third Sunday of Advent, rose colored, with the name “Joy”, raises up our spirits at the prospect of the new coming of mercy into our lives. In many ways, our popular culture, with its commercializing of Christmas has interfered with the real spirit of Advent with its rich and beautiful spirituality. So where does this Gaudete Sunday find you? Are you one who is carrying heavy burdens – be they burdens brought on by your own faults and failures, or has human frailty and the faults of others beset you? If so, the grace offered on this Sunday is meant for you.  The Grace of Gaudete Sunday is the grace of a clear sense of Presence. I am not alone, the Lord is here, with me now. The Lord comes bearing gifts, the gift is the Gift of Hope. What ever the details of my deliverance are to be, will be revealed in the days to come. But first, a broken heart must be healed and given the eyes of hopefulness with which to see - to begin to see how the Lord's plan is to unfold. For me, now, it is to turn my face eastward, to look forward in hope for His coming. Hear again these words of the prophet: "Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication;  with divine recompense he comes to save you."

.

"O Antiphons" This coming Saturday, one week from Christmas Eve, begins the traditional "O Antiphons" The O Antiphons refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They also are used as the Gospel Acclimation of the daily Masses. They cover the special period of Advent preparation known as the Octave before Christmas Dec.17-24 LINK TO THE ANTIPHONS

.

Second Week of Advent - 2022

“It comes around each year.” Those special times of the year have a cyclical character to them, they come around each year. We may think of Advent in this way. While we do celebrate Advent annually in a similar way, each new Advent has something uniquely different than the previous one. It has progressed forward, upward in both time and urgency. We are ascending the spiral staircase of salvation. All around us people are starting to get ready to celebrate the “holiday season” once again. Unfortunately, what is lost in all of this is the voice of urgency that Advent is announcing. “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” Ro. 13:11 Advent begins a new liturgical cycle. Once again, we will be guided through the mysteries of our faith, hearing again the call of Christ, “come follow me.” Follow him where – up the staircase of holiness, ever higher, ever closer to sainthood. The scriptures for the first sixteen days of Advent instructs us on the necessity to embrace with new urgency the work of attaining  an ever deeper union with Christ, and how important it is NOW to get serious about the priority of our religious life. Then on the seventeenth day of Advent the scriptures open for us a new door  into the mystery of Christ with us, why this new coming is so important, not to be missed. This is the season when we find ourselves with all those to-do lists we have to deal with, gift lists, card lists, invitation lists. What about my spiritual life list, my definite plans to go deeper into my religious life?

.

First Sunday of Advent - 2022

"People were eating and drinking"  <>  "Two working in a field, one taken, one left." Time is something we take for granted, ours to use at our discretion. But therein lies the problem. We do not create time; we are only the managers of time. Each day’s time is a gift given by God, for a purpose that has been determined by His divine will. (Psalm 139) As servants of the landowner, a portion of the “garden of time” is assigned to us, wherein to plant the works of holiness and reap an abundant harvest, as best we can. The gospels are rich in this imagery, given by Jesus in his parables, to help us to learn and understand the purpose of our existence in time. So, what kind of servant am I, how am I using my allotted time ? MISGUIDED: – increasingly, the shroud of secularism is spreading over the mind of this generation. With man now at the centre, time is exclusively ours to do with as we please. There is no other to whom we must account. My will, my way. NEGLIGENT: – those who have been informed with a conscience that teaches us of our responsibility for what happens in our time. Yet tomorrow seems to be the time of choice. (Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry! . . . Lk 12:19) SELFISH: – " ... my  will be done ...". WISE: – to see every day as my last day. At what good works will I be diligently engaged when He comes to call me to account? The First Sunday of Advent begins a new year of grace in the Church; a new year to study the gospels of wisdom and truth; a new year to learn how to be a true disciple/servant; a new year to  take up anew the works of holiness and charity; a new year to value as a treasure this new gift of time. What lies ahead is hidden. Only one thing is certain - we will be asked for an accounting of this time spent. This time of year all attention is focused on preparing for Christmas and the many holiday celebrations. As we sit down to make our list of all our holiday plans, let us not forget that the most important list we need to work on is how we will use this new gift of TIME in the service of God's will.

.

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe - 2022

Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. It was only a few years since the end of the catastrophic First World War. The minds of many were in search of answers as to how such an evil had overtaken the world. In his encyclical, instituting the Feast of Christ the King, the pope said this - In the first Encyclical Letter which We addressed at the beginning of Our Pontificate to the Bishops of the universal Church, We referred to the chief causes of the difficulties under which mankind was laboring. And We remember saying that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.  Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord. Pope Pius XI in 1925: The Pope barely had finished identify the real cause of humanities failures which lead to the First World War than an even greater catastrophic Second World War broke out; which was followed by the Cold War in which the very existence of humanity lay teetering on the threat of all-out nuclear war. Has the world finally learned the lesson the Pope articulated in his Encyclical Letter? I fear not. Listen again to the dialogue in today’s Gospel Reading. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"  One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" Do we not hear the same challenges being hurled again Christ and His Church today? The words used to attack may be different, but they harbour the same cynical contempt. Now we hear - and where is the proof that there is any such God let alone that this man Jesus, even if he actually existed, was some kind of god?  And in mockery - you who worship this Jesus, what are you smoking, what are you drinking – a cocktail of make-believe?  And in derision - look at all that science and technology has done to save lives, who’s life has your religion saved lately? And that other voice heard now speaks;  “Lord, judge us not for such blasphemy hurled against you. Teach us the ways of your Kingdom of truth so that we make bring peace to our broken World.” Ps. 86 And the voice of Lord reply's: “I am with you always, and my truth has set you free. Remain in Me as I remain in you.” J0 8:32 So ends this liturgical year and the choice put forward at the Cross of Jesus remains no less true for us today. The words of Pope Pius XI remain ever true; that the evils in the world are due to the fact that the majority of people have thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there will be no real hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations or a person’s own life.  To who’s kingdom will we bind our hearts, the kingdom man’s futility or God’s Kingdom of Light and Peace? A new year is about to unfold before us. May our choice be certain, one without compromise.

.

Thirty-third Sunday - 2022

Commentary on the Sunday Gospel for  the Thirty-third Sunday, 2022 Dr. Brant Pitre, a Research Professor of Theology  at the Augustine Institute. View on Catholic Productions - LINK

.

Thirty-second Sunday - 2022

Sadducees were one of the leading parties of the Jewish people in the first century AD. – small group, but they were very powerful and influential – people of high level, high ranking, very powerful, Jewish priests—who were functionaries in the temple, but who were also wealthy aristocrats in the city of Jerusalem. Now these Sadducees denied certain beliefs that were common to the Jewish people—the first one being the resurrection of the dead – they did not believe in any form of afterlife – once you died, that was it. You ceased to be. (Sound familiar?) They also did not believe in the inspiration of certain books of the Bible. They only accepted the first five books of the Bible, commonly called the books of Moses or the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And they didn’t accept what we refer to today as the historical books, or the writings of the prophets—like Isaiah, Jeremiah. Jesus is teaching that there is to be a resurrection of the dead – a new eternal life to come. However, the resurrection Jesus is proclaiming is far beyond the notion of resurrection that the Pharisees believed and taught, or what the Sadducees understood as resurrection. So here the Sadducees are trying to entangle Jesus teaching by pitting it against the teaching of Moses. "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."  Jesus answers straight forwardly (. . . the resurrection we believe in today) Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection”. Today our belief in the resurrection of the dead is being challenged and denied, not by Sadducees but a more virulent and dangerous group – the secular atheists of today; their argument is rooted in a new kind of scientism – seeing is proof – you say you believe where is your scientific proof. Like the argument of the Sadducees the argument of scientism is hopelessly narrow – admitting only one source of knowledge – empirical science. For us gathered here today we may not feel adequate enough to take on this debate. Fortunately, we have the support of the Church and therein are many who are more than capable of dealing with scientism and all the other deniers out there. However, we must be careful about where we get our information, even that which claims to be that of the Church. In the “wild west of the internet” there are plenty who claim to be speaking in the name of the Church – as well as some who attack the teaching of the Holy Father. Satan is real and his method is “divide and conquer”. Just look at the political scene today.

.

Thirty-first Sunday - 2022

It is not uncommon today to hear a report that someone has received a vision or revelation that the coming of the Lord and the day of judgment is imminent. It should be noted how this phenomenon was already in the Church at the time of Saint Paul. Saint Paul warns about this as we see in today's Second Reading. “As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.” Indeed, this problem has already been addressed by the Lord as recorded in Mark's gospel where we read; “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert, for you do not know when the time will come.” Mark 13:32-33. Having faith means putting one's trust in that which is unseen. The conviction of faith is rooted deep within the spirit of the believer, not in physical evidence. St. Ignatius, in his rules for discernment warns that the Deceiver attacks the believer at the heart of their faith, causing as St. Paul says in today's reading, "... to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed." These attacks can be very, very convincing. Often, people thus influenced withdraw from the world, sometimes as groups or movements. They are no longer working with the Church and its on-going mission of evangelization and healing in a divided and broken world - "because the end is near."   Jesus promised never to abandon His Church, His Body ever present and active in the world. It is within the Church that authentic discernment is to found.

.

Thirtieth Sunday - 2022

Commentary on the Sunday Gospel for  the Thirtieth Sunday, 2022, Year C Dr. Brant Pitre, a Research Professor of Theology  at the Augustine Institute. View on Catholic Productions - LINK

.

Twenty-ninth Sunday - 2022

Oh no, here she comes again! Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Luke 18:1-8 I was listening to a commentary on this text of scripture and it had a rather interesting explanation of what Jesus is literally saying about the woman in his parable. The translation we have here is from the NRSV translation and it reads “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for any human being, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” But the literal Greek word actually says “lest she come and give me a black eye.” That’s what hypopiazō means. It’s a boxing term. This is one lady you do not want to mess with. Like in many of Jesus parables it has this attention-getting twist. Through the image of this parable, Jesus gives us another lesson on prayer, “… to pray always without becoming weary.” The question is never, will God hear my prayer, rather, when ( speedily ) and how ( justly ). I think it would be true to say, that everyone has given up on prayer a some time or other; either because it seems to be lost in time, or we fail to recognize and understand how it has been answered. In Mtt. 6:8, in the instruction on the "Our Father", Jesus reminds that the Father knows what we need, even before we ask. We start off in prayer with what we think is our need and how soon we need it. This is good to get prayer going. It is here that "faith" becomes all important. Faith dismisses the question of will God hear and answer my prayer, and turns it to a question of discernment, how is my prayer being answer? With this in mind some might be led to ask, why make petition in prayer to God at all? Since God already knows what is to be done, why pray? We pray, not to change God's mind, rather to change ours. We bring our small and limited grasp of the situation to prayer, so that it might be fulfilled, that is, filled up, expanded in ways far beyond what we would have imagined. When the man, who was born blind, reached out to Jesus to make him able to see, Jesus opened his eyes, not simply for him to have physical sight, but to see more deeply into the mystery of God's plan for his blindness, for his healing and for his new purpose in life. As Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.… John 9:1 Clearly, the disciples were incorrect in assuming this man's blindness was punishment for sin. Blindness can be a result of the imperfection of the natural order. Modern medicine has discovered ways to intervene in such conditions and in some cases restore sight. No doubt grace can be a part of such a process and people of faith recognize this and praise God for such knowledge given to man. But if praying for healing does not experience the recovery of sight, does this mean the prayers are rejected?  No, something greater is at work and we must continue in prayer to discover what. No prayer made in faith will be rejected. Knowing this, first brings peace to our hearts in our situation. Now this "prayer of faith", sets out to lead us ever deeper into the mystery of God's greater plan for us, and how this situation will bring glory to God and fulfillment far beyond all our imagining. The Christian Life rest on the foundation of prayer. Prayer rests on the foundation of Faith. When the Lord comes to answer our prayer, how will we know, how will we see him, unless through the "eyes of faith"? The Prayer of Faith will not fall silent.

.

Twenty-eighth Sunday - 2022

This is Thanksgiving weekend in our country. Usually when we think of Thanksgiving, you have images of the bountiful harvest of the fruits of our land for which we come together to give thanks to God. But the image we have before us in today’s gospel is of a man giving thanks to God for quite a diffrent reason. He is a man whose body was being ravaged by leprosy until he encountered Jesus who cured him. Leprosy, or Hansen's disease as it is also known, still exists today. It’s a bacterial decease affecting the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This may result in a lack of ability to feel pain, thus loss of parts of extremities due to repeated injuries or infection. But today it is curable by medication. In the ancient world leprosy was grouped in with other visible skin conditions and was most feared and dreaded. People with these conditions were forced to live apart from the general population, they must keep their distance while warning that they were leprous – unclean, unclean. In this gospel passage there are ten leprous men who are cured by Jesus resulting in two different responses by those cured. Nine simply return to life in their communities but with the thought that they are the luckiest men in town. But one has an entirely different response. Something greater than physical healing has happened to him – has been converted – he has encounter God, person-to-person. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then Jesus said to the Samaritan, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” In our first Reading Naaman when he saw that he was cured of leprosy proclaimed, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.” Why, because in those days only God could cure leprosy. Today the wonders of modern medicine leave us in awe over how it is able to cure us. Is our age not unlike the picture we have before us in this gospel passage? Is it not unlike the other nine in today’s gospel, simply to be content with the cure – no need to bring God into it? People of faith gather this weekend to give thanks to God. Even though we know that by our own natural resources we contribute much to our own well-being, we also know that without the guidance of the wisdom of God and his provident hand sustaining us our lives could quickly descend into ruin. Today, as God looks out at these church gatherings of people come before Him to give thanks – yet with so many empty pews – might we not hear again these words spoken by Jesus in today’s gospel: “So many lives have I filled with my blessings, so few have come back to give thanks. Where are all the others? And to us he says: “Go home to your celebrations now, knowing that it is by your faith in me I make all things well.”

.

Twenty-seventh Sunday - 2022

Commentary on the Sunday Gospel for  the Twenty-seventh Sunday Dr. Brant Pitre, a Research Professor of Theology  at the Augustine Institute. View on Catholic Productions - LINK

.