In the Acts of the Apostles, we read about the stoning of St. Stephen after defending his faith before the Sanhedrin. Notice the similarity between Jesus and him at the peak of their suffering. Despite the tremendous pain, both of them continued to pray fervently and even prayed that the sins not be held against the people that caused the [...]
The temple of God that is in us, God is in us! How amazing the thought! Many of us claim to be busy and we have no time for God. The Holy Spirit resides in our innermost being! Try this… Find a quiet place, be still, remove your distractions, pray for God’s grace to open your heart and your senses, [...]
On this 5th Sunday of Easter, the Gospel passage introduces us to the farewell discourse of Jesus. We recall on that first Holy Thursday night, where Jesus offered an example of humble loving service to others. We are also called to do the same – to humble ourselves and be of service to others – and exemplify his command of [...]
Each year, on this 4th Sunday of Easter, we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday and reflect on what a good shepherd is like. A shepherd is one who leads, feeds, nurtures, comforts, corrects and protects his flock. This is indeed the image of our Good Shepherd, Jesus, who devotedly takes care of his flock. “I have come so that they [...]
Parish Boundaries The word, “parish” can be traced etymologically to the Latin parochia and the Greek paroikia, which can be taken literally to mean a cluster or group of neighbouring living places to dwell in (Boudinhon & Fanning, 1911). A parish thus consists of a community of homes, which do not exist independently of each other, but in solidarity with [...]
Jesus appears to the disciples by the Lake of Tiberias. This is the third recording of Jesus appearance to his disciples. Indeed it is fascinating to see what began as an ordinary cooked breakfast became a deep experience of forgiveness and renewal for Peter. Notice initially how the disciple whom Jesus loved informed Peter, “It is the Lord.” At these [...]
After ten years of catechism class and a pandemic later, my class finally got confirmed. It all started in 2012, when our parents signed us up for weekly catechism classes with the parish. At that time, I felt forced to attend classes every week. I initially did not even bother to talk to others as I did not feel [...]
Admittingly, many of us tend to look out for signs and miracles to convince ourselves that God is alive, that He hears us or is present in our situation. Do you relate with Doubting Thomas? Does it mean that God is not there when you don’t see the signs, or things don’t go the way you want? Isn’t our life [...]
Mary of Magdala went to the tomb with others because of her great love for the Lord. There was indeed deep appreciation on the part of Mary of Magdala for what the Lord had done for her. She wanted to do whatever possible for the Lord; even though he was thought to be dead. Her thought might have been, ‘This [...]
The word, “Eden” historically refers to an ancient land that was situated in the region of Southern Mesopotamia. The term is derived from the Sumerian word, eden meaning “a plain that is fertile”. In Hebrew, a word bearing a similar sound, makes referent to the notion of “delight”. The Garden in Eden as we hear of in the accounts of [...]