Only One Thing Brings Happiness: That He Be Born In Us Today!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We in western civilization have a very romantic and sentimental view of Christmas which brings many people to church who normally do not come, and that is a good thing. Our manger makes the birth of Jesus Christ look like Aruba or southern Florida and the reality was far different. A…
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The Mother Of My Lord Comes To Me!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Christmas is almost here and I encourage you to spend some time in front of the manger now and during Christmas to contemplate what the Lord has done for us. He could have come to save us as an adult but he became a defenseless child and was born in poverty…
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Be Vigilant, Watch And Pray
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Advent is a season of expectation, of waiting, which the Church wants to encourage in all of us, especially in a culture where we want everything now, and according to our tastes. This attitude of expectation is the sign of a Christian. The Church still looks forward to his Second Coming…
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His Kingship Is To Witness To The Truth
Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Solemnity of Christ the King marks the end of the liturgical year. What strikes me this year is that Jesus said to Pilate about his kingship: “For this I came into the world, to testify to the truth (John 18: 37).” He came to be a witness, to testify. What…
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He Will Make Of You A New Creation
Brothers and Sisters, The gospel of Mark (13: 24-32) can be scary this week since Jesus paints a breath taking view of his return to glory as Lord of the Universe. But don’t be put off by this since the tribulation of the first verse is replaced by a creative gathering at the end. The…
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What We Keep For Ourselves We Lose
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Jesus Christ reminded us last week that Christian living can be summed up with two commandments: love of God above all things and love of our neighbor as ourselves. We cannot do this consistently without the help of the Holy Spirit and hopefully you see how these two commandments are connected. …
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Love Is A Triangle
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Bartimaeus last week was cured of his blindness because he did two things: he acknowledged his weakness, his need to be cured, and he strongly cried out his desire to be healed. If you have a weakness or a trouble or addiction call out to Jesus Christ like he did; to…
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His Blindness Is His Greatest Blessing!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We hear of the story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus in today’s gospel. Jesus is leaving Jericho on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. And on his way he heard Bartimaeus shouting out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ This man who lived in complete darkness had…
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You Will Drink Of The Cup That I Drink
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In our last week of STEPS we consider Sharing our faith with those close to us. The brothers, James and John, show their true colors by vying with one another to be number one (Mark 10: 35-45). Jesus responds with great patience by saying, “Can you drink the cup that I drink…
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What Must I Do To Gain Eternal Life?
Dear Brothers and Sisters, As we journey in our walk to know Jesus Christ an important step to take is tithing or giving. A rich man ran up to Jesus in the gospel and humbly asks what he must do to gain eternal life. It is a fundamental question of life. And it is much…
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