Dear Family of God,

Jesus teaches us in our Gospel this weekend: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The wise author of the Book of Sirach understands the value of humility and notes that it is the way to “find favor with God.”

Dear Family of God,

This month of August we have celebrated both the Assumption and the Coronation of Mary, as Queen of Heaven and Earth. If Jesus need a mother and a father, we all need a mother and Father too. Mary was given to us by Jesus himself to help us in our journey to holiness, to help us realized that Jesus thirsts for our love too.

Dear Family of God,

What did Jesus meant in saying: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Luke 12:51)

According to Dr. Brant Pitre: An interpretation comes to us from St. Ambrose of Milan. St. Ambrose was the bishop of Milan, a Latin-speaking Church Father in the 4th Century who played a key role in the conversion of St. Augustine.

Dear People of God,

How can we be vigilant and be full of trust in God?

Without God we can do nothing to attain a blessed life. We need the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. These three virtues are gifts from God; we have to pray or desire for these gifts and then practice them daily. Faith is not to accept anything old nonsense, no evidence.

Recent studies suggest that millennials will be the first generation in America to be worse off than their parents in terms of financial earnings and job status. Many lament this. I propose that this week’s Gospel provides a hopeful way to see the trend as good news.

The Lord Jesus says, “Take care to guard against greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist in possessions” (Luke 12:15).

Dear Family of God,

We have asked for religious Sisters to work in our Parish. Since we asked with faith, we will receive soon two sisters of the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary. Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open for you. That’s the message of our Lord to all of us this weekend.

Tell us about your first name, which is unique and so appropriate for our parish.
My given name is Leonardo but I was always called “Joy.” I didn’t like it when I was very young because I thought it was a girl’s name but, over time, I came to regard it as a wonderful name.

Dear People of God

The question that Jesus answered through his parable this weekend, is not: “Who is my neighbor?” but “Am I a neighbor?” who can show mercy to those in need like what the Good Samaritan did. According to Dr. Bergsma, there is a deeper level of meaning to the parable.

The beaten man is a symbol of everyman, of the human condition.

Dear Family of God,

What is True Freedom according to our Creator?

Today we are celebrating the year away of the 250th Independence Day of our nation. So, let us talk about worldly freedom and true freedom given by God.

St. Augustine once said: “God created us without us, but He won’t save us without us.”

Dear Family of God,

On June 27th, or the Friday after the Corpus Christi Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This year’s Celebration is the 350th Anniversary of the last Apparition of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque at Paray ley Monial, France, on June 16, 1675. Jesus wants us all to know how He immensely loves each one of us and want us to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist with reverence and devotion.

Dear Family of God,

St. John Vianney once said: “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given is to us.” The Mass, the Eucharist, Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is the greatest gift God could ever give us on this side of heaven. We got to receive Him every time we participated in Mass during Holy Communion. This is the foretaste of heaven on earth.

Dear Family of God,

I would like to share with you a reflection from Msgr. Charles Pope: In his book, Christus Vincit, Bishop Athanasius Schneider writes,

“The crisis in the Church today is due to a neglect of the truth and specifically a reversal of the order of truth and love. Today a new principle of pastoral life is being propagated in the Church, which says: love and mercy are the highest criteria, and truth has to be subordinated to them.

Dear Family of God,

“The Love of God is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5).

The Holy Spirit is poured forth into our hearts to help us live as Children of God and be free from sin. How do we know that we have experienced this kind of love? There is peace and joy that we cannot explain; it changes us; to become a person that God created us to be.

Dear Family of God,

Here in our Diocese, we move Ascension into the Seventh Sunday of Easter, instead of Thursday. So, we don’t usually hear these readings, but today I want to share a reflection for that day.

“So that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17:21)