Religious Education - Children
Catechist BlogWho are my mother and brothers?
If you have been following the daily Gospel readings, you have read about the growing opposition to Jesus. He has been performing miracles, casting out demons, curing the sick, and yet people are hesitant to believe. In some cases, they outright refuse, and in the...
Signs of God’s Presence
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Some of the scribes and Pharisees in today’s Gospel ask to see a sign. What they are really asking for is another sign. Jesus has been healing and teaching with great authority and still that is not enough. They want just...
Mercy
Once again, we see a new confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the strictest observers of the Law in the time of Jesus. One of the most important precepts was to respect the Sabbath rest. In today’s passage, Jesus’ disciples have “profaned”...
Taking on Jesus’ Yoke
L’Amerique is novelist Thierry Sagnier’s story of a Parisian family’s fight to survive the devastation of World War II. Sagnier’s novel includes this moment: “They reminisced about the war. Cecile told of farmers she knew, neighbors who kept to themselves and sold...
The Face of God
In the Gospel today Jesus is speaking out of experience, His experience that the Rabbis and the wise men rejected Him but the simple people accepted Him. The intellectuals had no use for Him, the humble welcomed Him. Jesus was not condemning intellectual power; He was...
The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist
In our previous article we addressed how “transubstantiation” was an apt description of “how” the bread and wine become the Precious Body and Blood of Jesus – and noted along with the 13th Session of the Council of Trent, that the real “ancient and true” teaching was...
Real Presence or Transubstantiation?
Recently a parishioner asked me, given all the current news coverage of what Catholics believe about the Eucharist, he noticed that sometimes the question is framed as “Do Catholic believe in Transubstantiation?” but other times as “Do Catholics believe in the Real...
Directing the Gospel
Several weeks ago, on my blog I published “Your Script”. I am borrowing from that post for today’s homily. In the gospel Jesus says, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida”. Previously I noted that one way I explore Scripture is to imagine that I am a cinema...
World Grandparent Day Papal Message
From Pope Francis: "I am with you always" A message on World Grandparents Day Dear Grandfathers and Grandmothers, “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20): this is the promise the Lord made to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. They are the words that he repeats...
The Things We Give Up
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:35-37) Sounds harsh, yes? But give it a...