The Ascension of our Lord

First Reading: Acts 1:1-31.

Christ returns to his Father, promising to send the Holy Spirit, and sending out the Apostles.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1: 17-23.

St Paul prays that we may recognize the destiny to which God is calling us.

Gospel: Luke 24: 46-53.

Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to give us power to witness to him.

Points for Reflection

1. While on earth, the body of Jesus was subject, like ours, to limitations of time and space. At his resurrection, he passed into another order of life to be united with his Father.

2. After repeated appearances to the apostles, he finally withdrew, making it clear that they could expect to see him no more in the flesh until his return in glory. But this means that there is now a man, one of us, raised to a position of equality with God.

3. This has implications for our relationship with each other. If God has so raised Jesus, he has so raised human nature and every man and woman as brothers and sisters of Christ.

4. As Christians, therefore, we ought to have a universal concern. We are involved with the whole world. Jesus expected the apostles to be concerned with the whole of the world. He sent them out “to all nations”. Equally, we have to do anything in our power to help all the people of the world to become one family, the family of God. Jesus will always be with us to inspire and strengthen us as we do our very best to be living witnesses to his merciful, infinite and universal love.

3rd Sunday of Lent (C)

First Reading: Exodus 3: 1-8, 13-15. God reveals himself to Moses and promises to bring the Israelites out of slavery.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6, 10-12. Some of the Israelites accepted their deliverance from slavery, but did not respond with faith in God. This brought them death.

Gospel: Luke 13: 1-9. The fruitless tree will be cut down; but God will give us yet another chance to turn to him and do his will.

Points for Reflection by Fr Carlo Tei

Today’s Scripture Readings warn us against the danger of being overconfident about our salvation.

1. The First Reading presents Moses, who is called by God to deliver the Israelites from slavery.

2. In his Letter to the Corinthians St Paul points out that the history of Israel must be a warning to us Christians. All the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, crossed the Red Sea, but most of them, because of their lack of faith in God, did not reach the Promised Land. They died in the wilderness. The same thing could happen to us as well: the fact that we are all baptized will not guarantee our salvation, unless our hearts are really converted to God.

3. The same warning comes from today’s Gospel: “If you do not repent, you will all perish”. Jesus refers to two tragic incidents that took place in Jerusalem: a repression of a group of Galileans and the fall of a tower, which caused the death of many people. Jesus points out to the crowds that those who were murdered and killed in those two incidents were no greater sinners than the rest: “If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did”. Then he clarifies his thought with the parable of the barren fig tree. Israel must repent before the time of grace runs out.

4. We are Christ’s disciples. He has delivered us from slavery to sin. We belong to his Church, and we all share the same Eucharistic Banquet. This, however, is no guarantee of salvation. Unless we repent, we will all perish. Thus, what really matters in our Christian life is our being converted to God. A living example of “conversion to God” is Jesus Christ Our Lord. Like him, we should put God the Father at the centre of our values and concerns. It is by doing the will of God, like Jesus did, that we are gradually converted to him.

2nd Sunday of Lent

First Reading: Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18. God made a covenant with Abraham because of his faith.

Second Reading: Philippians 3: 17-4:1. If we persevere with Christ as our model, he will change our weakness into glory.

Gospel: Luke 9: 28b-36. The Apostles Peter, James and John see Jesus in the glory of his future Resurrection.

Points for Reflection --Fr Carlo Tei

When God made his covenant with Abraham, he allowed Abraham for a moment to see his glory in the form of fire.

In the same way, once Peter, James and John had accepted Jesus as the Messiah who had to suffer and die, they were allowed for a moment to have a glimpse of his future glory: the glory of his Resurrection. With a mixture of exaltation and awe, they recognized Moses and Elijah with him, symbolizing the law and the prophets, and Jesus as the Lord of both. Jesus spoke to them of his death as the necessary prelude to his Resurrection, according to the will of the Father, whose voice, proclaiming him as his chosen Son, was heard coming from a cloud.

If, as Paul tells us, we also are to be transfigured, it will mean following Jesus Christ, our Leader and Saviour, in everything, including a love for the Father and our brothers and sisters that might lead us to our cross. There is no avoiding the road of love that leads to our personal Calvary if we are to follow Him up the glory of the Resurrection.

It is difficult for us, as it was for the Apostles to follow, trust and love a Messiah obedient to death--even a death on a cross out of love for the Father and for us. We are so often tempted to follow our own standards of living instead of moulding our thoughts, desires, plans and actions upon our faith in Jesus.

As we are preparing for the celebration of Easter, God invites us once again to “listen to his chosen Son”. Though difficult it may be, if we answer God’s call, he will transfigure us, too, and we will hare his Son’s glory and build a better world.

5th Sunday of the Year C

First Reading: Isaiah 6: 1-8.  Isaiah has a vision of God and realizes that he is called to speak for him. Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11.  Paul preaches the Resurrection of Christ as the basis of our faith.
Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11.  Peter recognizes a more than human power in Jesus and responds by following him.

Points for Reflection-by Fr Carlo Tei

1. The Scripture Readings of the 5th Sunday of the Year (C) give an account of what happened to three of the most illustrious figures in the history of salvation: the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostles Paul and Peter. In a certain moment of their lives, all three experienced:

• the living presence of the Lord;

• their own unworthiness;

• and their dependence on him.

At the end of their experience:

• they entrusted themselves to the Lord;

• allowed him to take charge of their lives;

• and were enlisted to carry out the work entrusted to them by God.

2. What happened to these three great servants of the Lord is something that also touches upon our lives.

• First of all, God speaks to us, too, although to each one of us in a different way. We should always be open and attentive to the Spirit, who reaches us through the events and the people we come across in our daily lives or through “his own special ways”.

• Secondly, there are times when we feel our unworthiness before God. They are privileged moments when we are given the opportunity to free ourselves of our illusions and are reminded that all that is good and worthwhile comes only from God.

• When we recognize our unworthiness, we also come to know God’s merciful love for each one of us. And every experience of God’s love for us becomes the source of our love for others and the starting point of our missionary witness, of our work of evangelization. The more we recognize that God is love, the more we feel commissioned to tell other people about God and his love; and to share this love with anyone we come across in our daily lives, especially with those who feel lonely and neglected, and with those who are still waiting for some fishers of men to help them free themselves from the power of evil hidden in so many wordly illusions, enchantments and deceitful attractions.

4th Sunday of the Year C

First Reading: Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17-19. Jeremiah, the hesitant young prophet, is encouraged in his mission.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12: 31-13:13. Paul reminds us that the great gift of the Spirit is love.

Gospel: Luke 4: 21-30. Jesus’ fellow-townsmen grow increasingly hostile as they realize the significance of his message.

Points for Reflection by Fr Carlo Tei

1. Today’s Gospel refers to the first episode of Jesus’ public life.

• Jesus is in the synagogue of Nazareth, his original, town. After having read a passage taken from Isaiah, he applies it to himself. It is he who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the Messiah. He is the Messiah who has been sent to preach the Good news to the poor, to obtain freedom for the prisoners and the oppressed, and the sight for the blind.

• But Jesus’ listeners, though they are astonished by his words, are not ready to commit themselves to him and to accept through faith the message of salvation proclaimed by him. On the contrary, they become hostile to him.

2. This episode already contains the main features which characterize Jesus’ entire life.

• He brings a message of salvation which is not accepted by his people. The refusal of his message by Nazareth citizens foreshadows the total refusal by Israel.

• This, however, does not prevent Jesus from continuing his mission. He has to break with his social environment, especially with those in authority, because their way of thinking of the Messiah in terms of a political warrior is in contrast with the mind of God.

• As a result of this, Jesus has to bring his message to the Gentiles. Through Jesus, God makes it clear that he is going to open the doors of the Kingdom to all the Peoples on earth. He is the God of all. No one can claim any privilege before him. Salvation is not the prerogative of a single People, but a gift granted to all who are willing to believe in Christ, to accept him and his message, and to follow him.

This episode also signifies what any true prophet of God is going to face. We, being the followers of Christ, are prophets by definition. We are supposed to bring the Good News of salvation to others: this is the mission of the Church.

• If we are genuine Christians (prophets), sooner or later we are going to meet with the opposition and misunderstanding on the part of our fellow Christians and of non-Christians.

• Nothing, however, should stop us.

• We have to live and announce a love without frontiers. God’s love, universal and merciful, should shine in our lives, and make it clear that God is the God of all. It is only by accepting God’s love (by believing in and following Christ) that one belongs to God’s family.

3rd Sunday of the Year C

First Reading: Nehemiah 8: 2-6, 8-10. Returned from the exile, their city rebuilt, the people assemble to listen to God’s Word.
Second Reading: 1Corinthians 12: 12-30. We are a community, each with his role to play under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Gospel: Luke 1: 1-4; 14-21. Jesus announces himself to be the fulfillment of the Scriptures.

Points for Reflection by Fr Carlo Tei

1. It was the practice in synagogue worship to have a reading from the Law and another from the Prophets of the Old Testament, followed by a sermon. In today’s event Jesus was invited to act as both the reader and preacher. The Gospel notes that ‘And the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him”. It was really as if the eyes of all the people of God, who had ever lived, were looking upon Jesus at that moment. Century upon century of promises from God and waiting by the people focused upon that moment in time. Jesus read, as we have just heard, a passage from the book of Isaiah. Then he spoke simple, but momentous words – words which sounded astonishing to his listeners: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”. Actually, it was not only this passage from the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of everything written in the Old Testament; moreover, he embodied and completed in himself the whole destiny and purpose of the chosen people.

2. In the First Reading we see Nehemiah reminding the people of their destiny. In reading the word of God to them, he was reminding them that they were a people set apart by God, so that they could preserve his truth, law and worship, and mediate his blessings to all mankind. By means of the prophets, judges and kings God made his truth and law known. Through them he pointed out the way of life that his people were to follow. Also God made of his chosen ones a priestly people, set apart to offer a pleasing worship to the one true God, and to receive his blessings in return. But the whole destiny of the chosen people was in the future, in a great day of the Lord, when the Messiah would come. The Messiah was to fulfill not just some prophecies made about his coming, but he would perfect and complete the whole purpose of the chosen people.

3. Then on that apparently ordinary day in the humble synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus, in simple words, spoke tremendous truth. In effect he said: “I am the one you have been waiting for. All the centuries of promise and waiting have become reality in me”.

4. We are the new chosen people of God. We are people, not of promise, but of fulfillment. Jesus is alive and active among us, who are the People of God and the Church. To fulfill our destiny, to be true to our Christian call and mission, we must be committed to Christ. He is the One we must know, because he is the truth. His way of living we must follow and imitate. His commitment to the needy and suffering of the world, and his proclamation of the time of the Lord’s grace we must make our own plan of action, because he is the way, the only way to the Father. He is the only way to a meaningful life and to true happiness for the world and us. He is the life…

2nd Sunday of the Year C

First Reading: Isaiah 62: 1-5.

This Reading is taken from the second part of Isaiah (6th Century B.C.). Here the Prophet is singing to the restored Jerusalem, the Delight of God, the Lord’s Bride. This idea of God rejoicing over his bride Jerusalem serves as helpful background to today’s Gospel.

Second Reading: 1Corinthians 22: 4-11.

Each year we begin this series of Sundays of the Year by reading from Paul’s timely first letter to the Corinthians. Paul, concerned about jealousies among the Lord’s followers, here reminds them that any job or talent in the Church comes from the Holy Spirit. Notice the reference to speaking in tongues.

Gospel: John 2: 1-12.

Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana. This is his first miracle.

Points for Reflection by Fr Carlo Tei

Today’s Scripture Readings (the First Reading and the Gospel) invite us to meditate on God’s love for us and on our love for God.

In the Bible this mutual love is often described as a nuptial love. God is the bridegroom and mankind is the bride (see the First Reading).

1. In the Old Testament God reveals himself as a faithful bridegroom of his people. The covenant he establishes with the People of Israel has taken the characteristics of nuptial love. He chooses the Israelites because he loves them, and his love for them is exactly as a bridegroom’s love for his bride: just as intimate and exclusive. To God’s faithfulness the Israelites have often responded with betrayals and unfaithfulness. God, however, has always been true to his love for them, because he wanted his love to become the sign of his love for all mankind, the sign of his marriage to mankind.

2. It is with the coming of Jesus that God shows his determination to establish a new and everlasting covenant of love with mankind.

• John the Baptist indicates in Jesus the Bridegroom and shares the joy of the wedding (John 3:29).

• Jesus himself reveals that he has inaugurated the era of he wedding of the Messiah: his disciples are not supposed to fast as long as the Bridegroom is with them (Mt 9:15).

• At Cana, by changing water into wine at the wedding, he works a very eloquent sign: the era of the Messiah has come, the time of God’s marriage to mankind is at hand. “The hour”, of which Jesus speaks, as we know, came when he was exalted on the Cross. On the Cross Jesus revealed to its fullness God’s love for his unfaithful Bride, and purified her, preparing her for the new covenant, which was sealed in his blood. From the open side of Jesus came out his Bride, the new Eve, the Church, and, indeed, all mankind.

3. We, too, have been invited to the wedding of Christ to his Church. We, too, are Christ’s Bride. After the People of Israel, in fact, all men and women are called to share God’s infinite and merciful love and to love him in return.

• We cannot doubt God’s love for us. At times we might be tempted to do so, as the Israelites did. When things go differently from the way we would like them to go, we are usually inclined to think that they went in the wrong way, and to blame God for this. God’s love for us is not something we can see and judge by our human standards of seeing and judging. It is something we accept by faith. And if our faith is strong enough, we will come to admit that God’s love for us is the surest reality in our lives: it is at the origin of our own existence, the only reason for our going on living, and the only foundation of our hope…

• What we should rather bother about is our faithfulness to God’s love. But what criteria do we have to judge whether we are true to God or not? St John suggests an unmistakable one: the love for our brethren. “We are to love, then, because he loved first. Anyone who says: ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man, who does not love the brother he can see, cannot love God, whom he has never seen. So this is the commandment that he has given us, that anyone who loves God must also love his brother (1 John, 4:19-21).By the way we love those people who are dear to us, or whom we meet in our daily lives, or whom we are supposed to care for (the needy, the lonely, the suffering…) can we truly say that we love God, that we are the faithful Bride of Jesus our Lord? The Eucharistic Banquet we share today may give us new insight and new strength in our determination to be always faithful witnesses to the infinite and merciful love of God for us.

2nd Sunday of Advent

Baruch 5:1-9. The prophet consoles the Jewish exiles and tells them that God will restore glory to Israel.

Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11. We are urged to a greater love of each other so that we may be ready for Christ’s coming.

Luke 3:1-6. John the Baptist demands strict preparation for the Lord’s coming.

Points for Reflection -From Fr Carlo Tei

1. On the second Sunday of Advent, the Church invites us:

a) to wait for the coming of Christ in joy (1st Reading),

b) to prepare ourselves for his encounter by leading a blameless life (2nd Reading),

c) to heed the command of John the Baptist to convert and show repentance (Gospel).

2. Jerusalem, the holy city, is urged to abandon sorrow and distress and put on the “beauty of the glory of the Lord” and to arise and observe the flow of the Jewish people coming from the four corners of the globe. (First Reading).

Jerusalem is the image of the Church. She, too, suffers on account of the estrangement and dispersal of so many of her children and she, too, is invited to rekindle her hopes, confiding in the Saviour, who mystically comes again each Christmas to lead her to salvation with all her people.

3. In the Second Reading, St Paul expresses his joy and happiness at the news that the Gospel has been preached and is flourishing among the Philippians, and he is grateful for their help and collaboration. However, St Paul challenges the Philippians to be “pure and blameless” and to reach perfection “for the day of Christ”.

The same challenge is addressed to us today. “To lead a pure and blameless life” is synonymous with holiness, which is not a prerogative of the elite but the responsibility of every Christian. As Vatican Council II says: Everyone in the Church, whether “belonging to the hierarchy or being cared for by it, is called to holiness . . . The Lord Jesus preached holiness of life to each and every one of his disciples, regardless of their situation” (LG 39-40).

4. In the Gospel, Luke attaches a very great importance on the preaching of John the Baptist in the desert. As a good historian, he gives us the historical background by fixing the time when John appeared. “When Pontius Pilate . . . etc.” According to Luke, the preaching of John is a turning point in the plan of salvation.

The liturgy joins Luke and wants us to meet John before meeting Christ. It wants us to listen to John in order to make all the necessary preparations for the coming of the Redeemer. All of the preaching of John is focused on repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The Church repeats to each one of us today: “Repent and change”. Could we have a better programme for the Advent Season?

The first Sunday of Advent C

First Reading: Jeremiah 33: 14-16. God has promised that he will rise up a descendant of David to save his people. Jeremiah reminds them that the time is near.

Second reading: Thessalonians 3: 12-4: 2. Paul reminds us that only holiness based on brotherly love can make us ready for Christ when he comes.

Gospel: Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36. Christ will come again with power, to bring our liberation. We should not be afraid, but stay awake, watching and praying.

Points for Reflection--From Fr Carlo Tei

1. The first part of the Advent Season is meant to remind us, disciples of Christ, that, while we are journeying on earth living the Gospel of salvation and announcing it to all men, we must always be watchful, looking to the glorious final coming of Jesus Christ our Lord. That event will mark the completion of the work of salvation centered upon him.

2. What is the proper attitude of those who believe in Christ towards this event? We are invited by the Word of God to play an active role in the world during our earthly pilgrimage, because even in the work of the new creation we are treated by God as human beings, that is: as the only creatures who, in everything, are invited to co-operate freely and willingly with him and his plan.

• First of all, we are invited to be filled with hope. Our faith tells us that Jesus has already begun the new creation. God the Father was and is standing by Jesus and, therefore, we are sure that Jesus is going to accomplish what he has already started: he is going to establish the Kingdom of love, to gather mankind into one family, he is going to destroy all barriers still standing among peoples and individuals. Jesus is going to create a new world based on justice, peace and love.

• Secondly, St Paul urges us to abound in love for one another and for all, and to grow in holiness while waiting for the glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus, because this is for us the only way we, led and strengthened by the Spirit of Jesus, can contribute to the creation of the new world. Every victory over selfishness and pride, every act of care for others, every contribution towards peace, justice and unity by Christians and also by all men of good will is a contribution to the salvation of the world. This is also the meaning of growing in holiness daily. It means putting all our energy and resources to a good use, for the betterment of the world and of human relationships.

34th Sunday in the Ordinary Time

First Reading: Daniel 7: 13-14. The Book of Daniel was written during the bitter persecution of the Second Century B.C. This book has stories, teachings and visions connected with a certain Daniel of four centuries earlier – all described to encourage the persecuted peoples. Today we read a consoling vision of the future glorified and personified People of God being given glory and kingship forever. It is easy to apply this to Christ who used the title “Son of Man”.

Second Reading: Revelation 1: 5-8. Today’s Second Reading is from the highly symbolic and highly consoling last book of the Bible, the Revelation. We read today the formal greeting at the start of the book. This is to praise Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us and who is pictured as returning at his Second Coming. Notice the description of Jesus as “ruler of the kings on earth.”

Gospel: John 18: 33-37. From John’s Gospel we read the description of Jesus as King. The Lord is royal, triumphant and in command even when on trial before Pilate. Jesus is King, but his Kingdom does not belong to this world.

Points for Reflection -Form Fr Carlo Tei

The Solemnity of Christ the King takes the place on the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Towards the end of November the liturgical year comes to an end. This final Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King, and the Gospel develops the idea of Christ as our King. It is a fitting note as another year of salvation closes: our entire lives are given over to him. He is our Lord, our Master, and our King.

The first two Readings today speak about the glory of Christ in his Second Coming. The word “glory” is often used in the Old Testament for the light-filled splendour of the presence of God. So when Christ appears in his glory, we shall recognize him as the One who could say: “Philip, to have seen me, is to have seen the Father”.

This glory was not so obviously manifest during his earthly life: Christ himself explains why to Pilate in today’s Gospel: “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews”. Jesus is telling Pilate he will not use force and armies in the way of this world’s kings.

Normally, kings are raised on a throne, and from there they rule. Jesus described the kind of throne he would use, and the power he would use from it with these words: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” His throne would be his cross, and the power he chose to use was the power of his love manifested in his pierced Heart. He is the King of Love, and this most tender and mighty of all powers is the one by which he chose to govern and redeem us all.

Our recognition of Christ as the King of Love brings some important consequences for our lives: in order to belong to his kingdom, we, too, have to use the power of love. Jesus taught that the greatest of his kingly commandments is to love God with utmost passion; the next greatest is to love one another as he loved us. We owe Jesus the loyalty of love beyond measure.

What are the duties to which love calls? Jesus told us that on returning as King to collect his faithful sheep, he will find our fidelity etched in a whole stream of works of love: “I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; a stranger, and you welcomed me; ill, and you cared for me; in prison, and you visited me.” Here we see Jesus fusing the two commandments of love into one. What we do to others we do to him. To belong to his Kingdom, therefore, means to serve him humbly in our brothers and sisters. May his Spirit be our light and our strength.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Dan. 12: 1-3. The prophet’s vision of the end of times.
2nd Reading: Heb. 10: 11-14, 18. Christ’s sacrifice was perfect and made once for all.

Gospel: Mk 13: 24-32. Jesus uses poetic language to describe the fall and judgment of Jerusalem.

Points for Reflection-From Fr Carlo Tei

• This Sunday’s Gospel is Mark’s description of the fall and judgment of Jerusalem, not of the end of the world and the last judgment.

• The coming on the clouds of the Son of Man (Dan. 7: 13) in the New Testament indicates Christ’s Resurrection and enthronement as Lord of the universe, events which have inaugurated the last times, the new and definitive era of mankind’s history. “The day of God”, therefore, indicates the time intermediate between the Paschal event and the banquet in God’s Kingdom. It is the time in which the Church has to play an important role in the salvation history. In a word: it is the time of the Church.

• The Church was wanted by Jesus Christ to succeed Israel as assembler of the nations. We are the “angels”, the messengers Jesus is unceasingly sending in order to gather the nations until the day He will come again in glory. Jesus, in a way, had already started reassembling mankind into God’s family. He started a movement of universal love, by loving all people and all different categories of people, especially the lowly, the most neglected and despised, thus revealing to us that we are all called to be children of the Father and members of his family. This prompted him to lay down his life for those he loved. And his sacrifice, according to the Letter to the Hebrews (Second Reading), was perfect and made once for all. Yet, it was like a seed, which had but to grow. Jesus did not bring fulfillment ready made. He planted the living seed: the accomplishment will eventually come from on high; but, before then, there must be a process of growth. This is the task of the Church, our task: to reassemble all the nations “from the four winds”.

• But, in performing this task, we must always remember that there is only one leader in the process: the Son of Man, the crucified and risen Jesus. So, we contribute to the gathering of all the nations into the family of God only if we imitate Jesus Christ, through a brotherly love as universal as his love for us. The greatest obstacles to our work of evangelization and, therefore, to the reassembly of mankind into God’s family are the man-made barriers of separation among peoples and individuals, such as egoism, selfishness, nationalism and racism.

• If we let Christ’s universal love take root deeply in our hearts, it will blossom in our daily lives and make us “the angels sent by him to gather his elect from the four winds”.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: 1 Kings 17: 10-16. A poor widow is ready to give all she has to feed a stranger.

Second Reading: Hebrews 9: 24-28. Jesus Christ offered himself to take away our sins and he will return to reward those who wait for him.

Gospel: Mark 12: 38-44. Jesus praises the poor woman who gives generously in spite  of her poverty.

Points for Reflection-- From Fr Carlo Tei

1. Today’s First Reading and Gospel present two widows as examples of faith and generosity.

• The widow of the First Reading is not afraid of jeopardizing her last chances of surviving, in order to meet the needs of Elijah; therefore, a handful of meal and a little oil are the sign of an unlimited generosity.

• In the Gospel episode the two small coins that the widow puts into the treasury are regarded by Jesus as having much more value than the great deal of money offered by the rich.

2. Jesus values our generosity not by the amount of our offerings, but by our commitment. Jesus’ words, attributing the value of a gift to the disposition of the giver, are expressive of that common sense which is witnessed by wise persons of all religions and times. For Jesus, however, it is not a simple affirmation of a principle; his way of judging is witnessed by all the happenings of his life. He is the One who offered himself for us in his life and in his death.

3. And by so doing, Jesus not only became our Saviour, but also revealed to us who God is. God is not One who gives us something out of the abundance of his richness, but He is One whose nature is to give Himself. Jesus reveals God to us as the Self-giver. “God so loved the world as to give his only Son.” To save us, that is, to lead us back to God, Jesus had only one path to walk: the giving of himself, the total commitment of himself to God and to us.

4. This is the way, which is also indicated to us by today’s Gospel. We cannot be reconciled with God; we cannot share in Christ’s salvation unless we, too, like Jesus and like the two widows of today’s Scripture Readings, make the giving of ourselves to God and to our brothers and sisters the programme of our daily lives. Our salvation does not depend on the good deeds we perform or the amount of material help we give to others, as much as on our conviction that everything we are and have does not belong to us, but to God and to others, and, out of this conviction, we share our lives (our time, our energy, our happiness, our wealth) with others. May the Spirit of the Lord guide us and the Eucharistic Body of Jesus give us the strength we need to give ourselves to others.

November 1 Sunday Reflection

---From Fr Carlo Tei

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of all Saints.

• And we celebrate it to commemorate not only those saints whose names are written in the Church’s calendar, but also all those humble men and women who followed Christ faithfully during their life time and whose names are written in heaven.

• Moreover, while other feast days celebrate only others, today in the celebration we include also ourselves. St Paul used to call Christians like us “the saints”, so we are not presumptuous in saying that we, too, are saints, meaning that we are in the process of sanctity.

Today’s feast, therefore, invites us to realize that we have been called to be saints, that is a call to live in holiness, and that it is fitting to celebrate our communion with all the saints.

First of all, we should never forget that we are all called to be saints. There is no exception. Once we grant that God became man to redeem us, it is unthinkable that he would do the job halfway. Jesus himself said: “You must become perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. One little catechism asked the question: “Can we be like God”? It answered: “Yes”, and quoted the very Scripture passage we have in today’s Second Reading: “We shall be like him for we shall see his as he is”. In view of these clear statements in God’s word, it is not surprising that Vatican II taught that every single one of us is called to holiness.

What is holiness?

It is what God is. Only God is holy. We can become holy only by sharing God’s holiness.

Through baptism and confirmation we were made a new creation, given a share in the divine nature, made children and friends of God, given the Holy Spirit and made members of the Church of Christ. In this way, we were given the call and the power to be saints.

What is a saint?

• In the First Reading John describes the saints as those who survived the great time of trial and washed their robes white with the Lamb’s blood.

• In the Second Reading, he describes the saints as the little children of God who grew up and have now become full-fledged sons and daughters of God.

• In the Gospel, Jesus describes the saints by the way they live. In the beatitudes Jesus spells out the way to holiness.

How many beatitudes did we identify with? There is nothing in them we cannot do or be. If we imitate Jesus, we will be able to practise them all, for he is the beatitudes in the flesh. Is there anyone of us who doesn’t want to be like Jesus? That’s what the Father wants of any of us.

What best defines our call to holiness is that it is a call to be great lovers. Pope Paul VI said that what most identifies the uniqueness of a human being is his “capacity to love, to love to the end, to give himself with that love that it is stronger than death and extends to eternity”. He pointed out to the martyrs as the sublime expressions of this quality. Theirs was the noblest of all loves, not only in the way they gave, but in Him to whom they gave it, the God who died for them.

Our way to holiness shares more with the martyrs than we realize. The word martyr means witness. To live a life of holiness is to give that witness to God in a kind of living martyrdom. In some ways it is even harder. We feel al times that to be faithful to God we have to shed the very blood of our souls, and that it would be easier to lie down and die. Only our deep love for Christ sustains us on this journey to holiness.

We, the family of God the Father, are in three stages of progress. We are the Church militant on earth, the Church suffering in purgatory and the Church triumphant in heaven. We are all for one, and one for all.

• The saints in heaven strengthen our faith by their lives; intercede for us obtaining for us the divine graces we need to live holy lives.

• The saints in purgatory need our prayers and good works to hasten the day of their final purification and entrance into heaven. We will remember them especially tomorrow on All Souls Day. They in return will be interceding for us.

• We on earth are still fighting the battles of love and faithfulness. We should never lose sight of the nobility of our struggle. We are fighting for something, for which God created us and Jesus, his Son, gave his life.

In this Eucharistic Celebration let us renew our determination to follow Christ, enlightened by His Spirit, strengthened by the Sacrament of His Body and Blood and through the intercessions of His Mother and all the saints.

Meditation- The Solemnity of All Saints

---from John Paul II "Prayers and Devotions"

Let us all rejoice in the Lord on this Solemnity of All the Saints! Ours is a sheer, limpid joy, a strengthening one, like that found in a big family, when it is teh kind having its roots there, drawing the new blood of its own life and its own spiritual identity form there.

With our spirit today we are immersed in this numberless host of saints, of the saved. They offer us courage and sing together a chorus of glory to Him whom the psalmists call teh God of my gladness and job (Ps 43:4). At the center of this communication is God himself. He not only calls us to holiness but he gives it to us in Christ's blood as well and so overcomes our sins. We should always sing a hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord. as Mary did, so to give joyous proclamation to he bounty of the Father "for having made you worthy to share the lot of the saints in light" (Col 1:12). So the Feast of All Saints call upon us never to fall back only on ourselves, but to look to the Lord so as to be radiant (cf. Ps 34:6). Not to presume oon our own strength but to trust as sons in him who has loved us, never to grow weary of doing good.

All the Saints have ever been, and are, poor in spirit, meek, afflicted, hungry and thirsty for justice, merciful, pure of heart, peacmakers, percecuted because of the Gospel. They have been these things in varying degrees. We have to be like them. "God's will" is our sanctification (1 Thes 4:3).

30th Sunday of the Year B

First Reading: Jeremiah 31: 7-9. God will lead his people home from exile.

Second Reading: Hebrews 5: 1-6 Jesus can sympathize with all our limitations and weaknesses.

Gospel: Mark 10: 46-52. Jesus frees a man from his blindness.

Sunday Reflections from Fr Carlo Tei

Many Christians nowadays do not seem to take their faith seriously enough. Nothing, therefore, is more important for all of us than to re-discover the meaning of our Christian faith and all its implications. Today’s Gospel episode can help us find out the steps one has to go through in order to live by faith in Christ. Such steps are exactly the same as those which the blind man took before he could “follow Jesus on the road”.

1. A blind beggar is sitting at the side of the road. He cannot see Jesus who passes by. Others can only tell him about his coming. But, as soon as he knows that it is Jesus, he expresses his faith in him, by trusting in his healing power. Those who scold him do not scare him. He keeps on asking Jesus to have pity on him. Then some people help him to get ready for the call by Jesus. He throws off the cloak, jumps up and goes to Jesus and tells him that he wants to see. His sight is returned and, along with it, a total faith in Jesus is granted to him, so much so that he chooses to follow him.

2. The process of faith matches the above description.

• It starts with a manifestation of Christ in a man or a woman’s life: it is necessary that Christ should pass by first. And, indeed, Christ “passes by” every man and every woman of the world. This passage, however, is never visible. In order to recognize Jesus, who passes us by invisibly in the daily happenings of life, we need someone to tell us that it is Jesus.

- Someone told us about Jesus. And since then we were able to believe in him.

- So many of our brothers and sisters still have not had the opportunity to hear that Jesus is close to them. Is it not our duty to tell them? Is it not our mission as Christians to bring to others the “good news”, to manifest Jesus to others, to unveil his invisible presence?

• As soon as someone comes to know Jesus, he has to trust him completely, otherwise his encounter with Him will not bring healing and salvation. Anyone who knows Jesus and wants to be saved by him has to make an act of faith in Him, which means a complete trust in and surrender to him. He needs to stand firm, fearless of all difficulties and obstacles or of all worldly temptations which he may find on his way to Christ.

• If he stands firm, others around him (i.e. the Church) will help him get ready for the call by Jesus, they will help him to know Jesus better and better, and make the final decision, which is called “conversion”. One is “converted”, when he gets rid of his old self, symbolized by the cloak, when he gets rid of his old sinful life, centred on selfishness and self-sufficiency, and he is ready to get up: to start a new life, centred upon faith in Christ and love for God and his children. This life gives us a new sight: a new way of seeing things. We see things from Jesus’ point of view, and, as a result of this, we follow Jesus. We live, taking Jesus as our only model; we walk, in the world, very close to those who walk with us. We care for them, take their difficulties at heart, and share their sorrows and aspirations. We let the Spirit of Christ and his Gospel guide us and turn us into the witnesses of His Kingdom of justice and love. And we strongly hope and pray that all men and women of the world will soon recognize God as their Father.

Is this what we are doing in our daily lives? May Jesus help us to cure our blindness, so that we may follow him steadfastly and courageously along the road of life and thus contribute to the spreading of His Kingdom of justice, peace and love.

October 18 World Mission Sunday

This Week’s Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 53: 10-11. By his sufferings, the Servant of the Lord will bring men salvation.
Second Reading: Hebrews 4: 14-16. Jesus has experienced all the weaknesses and difficulties of human conditions.
Gospel: Mark 10: 35-45. Anyone who wants to be leader must first of all a servant.

Points for Reflection from Fr Carlo Tei

World Mission Sunday, which we celebrate today, on 29th Sunday of Year B, comes every year to remind us that the Church’s most important duty is the preaching of the Gospel.

We read in today’s Gospel, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The same truth is proclaimed in the Creed when we say of Jesus: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven.”

Most people of the world are still waiting for someone to announce to them the news of salvation. After two thousand years since the coming of the Son of God into the world, only about one person in five is Christian. Yet, Jesus Christ is their only Saviour, and he commissioned his disciples to the service of revealing him to the world: “Go and teach all nations.”

Most of the people to whom we are called to reveal Jesus Christ are not atheists, because for some good reason they already believe in God. Yet their knowledge of God is weak and incomplete, sometimes mixed with error and darkened by sin.

God, in his mercy, has given mankind a surer knowledge of himself through the history of the People of Israel, and above all, through his Son Jesus Christ, who came into the world and gave us the New and Eternal Covenant, which unveils God’s plan of salvation. It is the news of the Crucified and Risen Son of God, the only Saviour and Lord of mankind, that his disciples have the mission to spread.

St Paul used to ask prayers for all people, saying that God “wills everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Gospel.” To this plea he added his own wonderful missionary work, which remains an inspiration and example for us all.

All of us, whether priests, religious or lay people, are called to do all we can to spread the Gospel: to tell everyone that there is no salvation but in “The Son of Man who did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

28th Sunday's Meditation

First Reading: Wisdom 7: 7-11. True wisdom is to be prized above everything.
Second Reading: Hebrews 4: 12-13. Everything in us is known to the Lord.
Gospel: Mark 10: 17-30. Our following of Jesus calls for a total self-giving.

Points for Reflection from Fr. Carlo Tei

1. True wisdom, of which today’s First Reading speaks, is to follow Jesus Christ. But to follow Jesus Christ requires a radical re-thinking of our lives. It is not enough to observe the Commandments. We have to choose Jesus Christ as our only model, and live his type of life, by being completely concerned and caring about our brothers and sisters in need.

 

2. On our way toward this goal we may find many obstacles and temptations. One of these is wealth. “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” warns Jesus in today’s Gospel. Material goods are God’s gift to mankind. But, precisely because of this, they become evil things in the hands of those who use them only to build up their own material treasure, and not to help their brothers and sisters in need as well.

 

3. Jesus makes it clear that, in order to be able to enter the Kingdom (which is the same as to “inherit eternal life”) rich people must imitate his life of love for others and share their riches with the needy and the poor. This is what the Bible calls “heavenly wisdom”. Rich people, however, acquire heavenly wisdom and evangelical poverty not by simply possessing nothing material, but by actively involving themselves with the poor, especially with those among them who have no means of organizing, defending or liberating themselves.

4. No matter whether we are rich or poor, we are called to imitate Jesus in his self-giving love for us. We are called to use God’s gifts to us, not only for ourselves, but also to help the needy, and thus contribute to the creation of a better world: that is, a world based on brotherly love, self-giving and justice; a world where material goods are seen as God the Father’s gift to mankind, a gift to be equally shared by all his children.

26th Sunday's Meditation

Most of the time, we are proud of ourselves, because we are christians, as the Israelites said we were God's peoples scelected. Because of this, we don't pay attention to the others that around our world, even other religions. Also, we can easily make the persumption or the judmente for the people. What do you think after the readings of this Sunday? And what is God saying to us through the discussion with John?

Jesus warns us in today's Gospel that to condemn the faith of others is to comdemn our own faith, also, the good, comes from God. For us christians, first of all, we should repect and cooperate with all non-christian institutions and people. To have part in Jesus's Kingdom, it is also necessary for us christians to be hospitable to all the other disciples of Jesus. As well, Christ's disciples must also be very careful not to be an obstacle to the faith of their follow christians.

As we see, Jesus Christ wants us to put the Kingdom of God at the top of our advantest behaviors. God, His will, His love must be our first concern in our lives. And for the Kingdom of God’s sake we should be ready and determined to renounce everything. O Lord, your word, is truth; sanctify us in the truth! (John 17.17)