“Everything is okay in the end, if it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.”

Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat. Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity. But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory.”  - Archbishop Fulton J Sheen

(Gospel Text: LK 17:20-25)

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
"The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.'
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you."

Then he said to his disciples,
"The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
'Look, there he is,' or 'Look, here he is.'
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation."

Centuries ago, people tried to pre­dict the Second Coming of Christ based on things like the occurrence of certain famines and plagues or the positions of the stars and planets. More recently, we have seen similar predictions, some going so far as to announce specific dates—only to be proved wrong.

With all the horrible things we see and read about in the news, many are looking to the sky to see if Jesus will soon be coming down again to earth. What few people seem to realize is heaven can be found deep inside us right now. It is in the microcosm of each one's heart where we must find Jesus way before we will be ready to greet him face to face. If we want to be allowed into the Kingdom on that last day, we must let the Kingdom get inside us, right now.

There is a reason to rejoice because there is hope!  Keep faithful and vigilant, even in times of despair, because God loves us infinitely.  We are never alone.

Through the worst, God often brings the best.

“Thanksgiving is good but thanks-living is better.”

"Let us not be unfair to God and to Our Lady. If we succeed, and if our undertakings our flourishing, we owe it entirely to God and to our good Mother. We would be guilty of ingratitude if we attributed to ourselves the success of any enterprise. We would also make ourselves undeserving of God’s help." St. John Bosco

(Gospel Text: LK 17:11-19)

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."

With some imagination, each one of us can reproduce the image of those outcasts in our own society, who also have names and surnames, like we do: immigrants, drug addicts, wrongdoers, AIDS victims, the destitute... Jesus wants to heal them, to remedy their suffering, to solve their problems; and He expects our unselfish, free, efficient collaboration... for love.

We can also assume Jesus' lesson for us. For we are sinners and in need of forgiveness, we are beggars who depend totally on God. Would we be able to say like the leper «Jesus, Master, have pity on me!» (cf. Lk 17:13)? Do we know how to turn to Jesus with a profound and confident prayer?

Do we imitate the cleansed leper that goes back to Jesus thanking him out loud? In fact, only «one of them, as soon as he saw he was cleansed, turned back praising God in a loud voice» (Lk 17:15). Jesus finds the other nine missing: «Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?» (Lk 17:17). St. Augustine wrote the following: «‘Thank God! - Nothing shorter can be said (...) or stated more efficiently than with these words».

Accordingly, how do we thank God for the great gift of our life, and that of our family; for the grace of the faith, the Holy Eucharist, the forgiveness of sins...? Is it not true that quite often we do not thank him for the Eucharist, even though we may be frequently participating of it? The Eucharist is, no doubt, our best daily experience.

“As our faith increases, so does our ability to obey.”

“One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.”--St. Joan of Arc

(Gospel Text: LK 17:1-6)

Jesus said to his disciples,
"Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard!
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day
and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,'
you should forgive him."

And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

Have you ever tried to wiggle your ears? Everyone is supposed to be born with the right muscles. All you have to do is clench your back molars to activate the muscles. But most people still find it impossible to do. In today’s Gospel reading, the apostles ask Jesus to give them something that they feel is impossi­ble to attain without him: increased faith.

Did you know that you have suffi­cient faith to do great things? You may feel inadequate, but the real question is how you can tap into the faith that you already have—and as a result make it even stronger.

First and foremost, you and I need to continue to thank God for the gift of our faith and also to pray for our faith to be deepened.  Further, we need to take risks, trusting God will deliver.  Such risks will lead us to become the person that God is calling us to become.  Even when we slip up, God is there for us to offer encouragement, to help us to continue to forge ahead. 

Just as that little mustard seed amazes people in the speed and breadth of its development, if you actively work on increasing your faith, you’ll look back and marvel at the growth.

The charitable give out the door and God puts it back through the window.

Do I truly live the detachment of the earthly realities? Is my heart empty of things? Can my heart become aware of others’ needs? «The program of a Christian —the program of Jesus— is a “heart that sees” – Pope Benedict XVI

(Gospel text: Mk 12:38-44)

In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds,

"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes

and accept greetings in the marketplaces,

seats of honor in synagogues,

and places of honor at banquets.

They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext

recite lengthy prayers.

They will receive a very severe condemnation."

He sat down opposite the treasury

and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.

Many rich people put in large sums.

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,

"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more

than all the other contributors to the treasury.

For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,

but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,

her whole livelihood."

Generosity is a beautiful virtue.  Not only are we to be generous with our financial resources, but we need to be generous in everything that we do. Many of us don't mind giving, or we may even enjoy giving something to God and others. Nevertheless, we are terrified and overwhelmed by the prospect of giving all, and I am not necessarily speaking about money either. 

How then can we apply today's Gospel passage to our lives?  We need to examine ourselves and see just how generous we are with God and our neighbor.

We can do this by looking at three things that pretty well covers all of life; i.e., our time, our talents and our money.

Are we generous?  Do we make sacrifices for others?  Remember the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta when she said: "This is the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts."

Are we generous at home?  This is where all of this has to begin.  How do we live our family life?  Once generosity is lived out in the home, it carries over to our parish family, our place of work and our school. 

We will never be able to out do God's generosity for us.  The more generous we are with God and our neighbor, the more God will be generous with us. So, be generous with your time.  Give yourself to others.  Use and develop the talents that God has given to you.  Be generous with your money.  Do not be cheap.  Besides, you can't take it with you.  What's the point of being cheap? 

The plain and simple truth to take away from today’s gospel is, we will only be truly happy if we are generous with God and generous with our neighbor.  The virtue of generosity allows us to become fully human.  By nature, we are made to love. 

“I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul.”

The self-indulgent person loves wealth because it enables him to live comfortably; the person full of self-esteem loves it because through it he can gain the esteem of others; the person who lacks faith loves it because, fearful of starvation, old age, disease, or exile, he can save it and hoard it. He puts his trust in wealth rather than in God, the Creator who provides for all creation, down to the least of living things.'  - St. Maximos the Confessor

(Gospel Text: Lk 16:9-15)

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,

so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

The person who is trustworthy in very small matters

is also trustworthy in great ones;

and the person who is dishonest in very small matters

is also dishonest in great ones.

If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,

who will trust you with true wealth?

If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,

who will give you what is yours?

No servant can serve two masters.

He will either hate one and love the other,

or be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon."

The Pharisees, who loved money,

heard all these things and sneered at him.

And he said to them,

"You justify yourselves in the sight of others,

but God knows your hearts;

for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God."

Songwriter Bob Dylan, during the Christian phase of his long career, put it this way in a song: "You're gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody."

Whom will you serve? Which will you choose? God or mammon? The things of God or the things of this world?

This is the choice that is ever before us in a myriad of ways both large and small. And there is no sitting on the fence. If we hate one, we will love the other. 

“You cannot build a dream on a foundation of sand.”

"Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."   -  Napoleon Bonaparte

(Scripture Text: 1 COR 3:9C-11, 16-17)

Brothers and sisters:
You are God's building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy

 To be his temple we need to stand on the firm foundation, the only foundation of this temple, Jesus Christ. Thus, when we serve the Church as builders by sharing our faith and bringing others into God’s temple, we need to be sure that we are bringing them into the temple that has Jesus as its foundation, and not a building of our own choosing.

Using your actions to show that God lives in you is not something that can be done lightly. You must be constantly aware of what you do, and how you do it. Thinking about others and taking them before yourself, showing that you can be an example in the eyes of your friends, family, and people you encounter daily.

As men and women with and for others, we must be leaders in kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, trustworthiness, and in our treatment of other human beings. St. Francis of Assisi once said “speak the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words”. This is an excellent statement to describe not only how to behave, but also to be aware of how impactful you can be as an individual.

Be the best example you can be!

Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.  – Jesus Christ

(Gospel Text: LK 15:1-10)

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.

"Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.'
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents."

The Parables today suggest that we care for and communicate with others who are not active members of our Christian Faith communities. We live the Gospel message by extending a loving concern, and support for people who have not embraced “the good news” found in the life and examples of Jesus Christ, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.” 

Sometimes the best thing to do when we are lost is to stop wandering and to wait.

One summer day, a beautiful orange and yellow butterfly landed on my right knee. As I remained still, the butterfly stayed on my knee for what must have been ten minutes. The wind was strong and I watched this butterfly grip to my leg to withstand being swept away by the wind. When the wind had calmed down and I twitched my knee, the butterfly fluttered away into the beautiful forest ahead of me. When you see your family and friends faulting, be at peace and simply wait patiently and pray. God loves them more then you do and He will address what needs to be addressed, in His time and in His way.

God the Father has loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us. We are loved infinitely, perfectly, and eternally.