Ten worshipers… but only one faithful! Today’s Gospel reading presents us a very special story: the healing of ten lepers who approached Jesus and prayed, “…Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus, moved with pity, said to them, “Go shew yourselves unto the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed…but only one, a stranger, came  Read more …

The call of Matthew and his following of Christ confirms that God offers his grace to sinners, and the biggest sinners can become the best saints. If sin is the breaking off of one’s filial relationship to God, a sign of obedience to him, then to sin is merely to deny God. To sin is  Read more …

Ephphatha: Rising Above the Frustrations of Life “Ephphatha”, from the Gospel, is a Greek form of a Syro-Chaldaic or Aramaic word, meaning “Be opened”. This word was uttered by Christ when healing the man, who was deaf and dumb, a man frustrated by his limitations. Speaking to the Corinthians’ community (today’s Epistle), St Paul states,  Read more …

We (Christians) build to see God. In 1 Chronicles 22:19 God says “Seek me, build me a temple”. Building a space for a community to encounter God is one of the most basic acts of drawing heaven into your world. It has been this way for centuries. The Shunamite woman built a room on her  Read more …

A Failure at Prayer Is it possible to be a failure at prayer? The answer is “yes,” and this Sunday we’ll talk about two failures at prayer, depicted for us in the Gospel reading, the parable of the Publican and Pharisee. Think about this for a moment: What are you telling God in prayer that  Read more …

We (Christians) build to see God. In 1 Chronicles 22:19 God says “Seek me, build me a temple”. Building a space for a community to encounter God is one of the most basic acts of drawing heaven into your world. It has been this way for centuries. The Shunamite woman built a room on her  Read more …

“The day will come.” Devastation. Ruin. Emptiness. Is this the fate of the earth? Jesus Himself, in today’s Gospel, saw terrible times ahead, a day coming when not one stone of our human temple will rest on another. He warned of the signs. There will be wars and insurrections. Nations will fight to the death  Read more …

The image of Mary as Queen Mother is directly related to the first official Marian dogma defined by the Church: Mary’s status as Mother of God.  The Greek word for the title is Theotokos, which literally means “God-bearer.”  That title is one of the oldest and most commonly used titles for Mary, with Christians using  Read more …

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary What is it exactly?  Where is it in the Bible?  And what the doctrine and tradition of this church say about this holy feast?  These are questions we will explore in our homily this Sunday. In the light of the Assumption of Mary, it is easy to pray  Read more …

Not everyone…will enter into the Kingdom Faith is not easy today for any of us. To have real faith, an actual belief in God, requires something more than simply continuing to roll with the flow of our own particular faith communities.  Being born into a Christian family and worshipping within a Christian church can give  Read more …