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)

Dear Family of God,

This weekend we will hear Jesus teaching us that “WHOEVER LOVES ME WILL KEEP MY WORD, AND MY FATHER WILL LOVE HIM, AND WE WILL COME TO HIM AND MAKE OUR DWELLING WITH HIM.” (JOHN 14:23)

“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself.

Dear Family of God,

Why and how do we evangelize? Why is evangelization so important?

Jesus loved us to the end, to the point of great suffering and dying on the cross. This is our model on how to love others. Jesus commanded us: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. AS I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (John 13:34).

Dear Family of God,

What are the Characteristics of a Good Shepherd? Do you know that we are called to imitate Jesus Our Good Shepherd?

A Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He is ready to make sacrifices for those whom he is responsible for. He values his sheep more than his own life; they are precious to him—that is why he is ready to sacrifice for them.

Dear Family of God,

While in this world, we cannot but make a choice, for God or against God. The apostles chose God saying: “We must obey God rather than men... they left rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name.” (Acts 5:29,41).

When we decided to follow God and not the prince of this world, there are two things that happens to us: