Is God enough?
Philip asked Jesus, “show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Am I ready to say that knowing God is enough, is all that I need?
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Showing posts with label 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5. Show all posts
May 6, 2023
March 25, 2023
5th Sunday of Lent - A (March 26, 2023)
“That You may Believe”
Lazarus had been dead for four days by the time Jesus finally arrived.
When Jesus first heard the news, Lazarus was ill, but was still alive.
Why didn’t Jesus go right away?
He seemed to explain the reason of his delay to the disciples, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe.”
When we face difficulties, sufferings, and even death, do they challenge our faith in God?
We might even want to ask God, “Why?”
And it’s OK to ask.
Jesus, strengthen us and our faith in those moments.
Image source: www.agnusday.org
February 4, 2023
5th Sunday - A (February 5, 2023)
“You Are Light”
Reporting the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, Matthew points out that Jesus is fulling the prophecy of Isaiah, “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen (Matthew 4: 16) (Gospel of 3rd Sunday – A).
Today, Jesus declares that he has given us his light and shares with us his mission. Now, “you are the light of the world.”
May 14, 2022
5th Sunday of Easter - C (May 15, 2022)
The Reason and Standard of Love
“As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”
The word “as” can mean both “for the reason that” and “to the same degree that.” [1]
In other words, Jesus has loved us first. So, now he tells us the reason we should love one another.
He also gives the ultimate example of love for us to follow. Prior to this passage, he has washed the disciples’ feet. Soon, he will give his own life on the cross for us. That is the degree with which we must love one another.
[1]. These two meanings are seen both in English for the word “as” (www.merriam-webster.com) and in the original Greek word kathōs.
Image source: www.agnusday.org
February 5, 2022
5th Sunday - C (February 6, 2022)
They Followed Jesus
Responding to Jesus, Simon said, “We have worked hard all night…, but at your command, I will lower the nets.”
Still, later in the passage, Jesus said, “from now on, you will be catching men.” Simon now did even more. At Jesus’ words, he and his friends, “left everything and followed him.”
Incredible faith! Simon put his faith in the words of Jesus, which is the strong kind of faith.
One can argue that Simon had witnessed Jesus’ power. Nevertheless, he did not know what the future would hold. Still, he followed Jesus.
How about me?
PS. Today, World Day for Consecrated Life is observed in parishes. Please pray for priests, brothers, sisters, lay consecrated people, and those God continues to call to follow Jesus in this way of life.
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May 1, 2021
5th Sunday of Easter - B (May 2, 2021)
Remain In Jesus
In the Gospel for last Sunday, Jesus spoke to us on God’s love, and our life mission of knowing God and making God known.
Today’s Gospel can be a continuation of that theme. If we want to live that life mission, we must remain with Jesus. With Jesus we will have abundant life and bear much fruit.
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March 20, 2021
5th Sunday of Lent - B (March 21, 2021)
The Hour
The first time that “the hour” of Jesus was mentioned was at the wedding at Cana. In that response to his mother, which can sound off-putting, Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come.”
Ten chapters later, Jesus now tells us, “The hour has come.” Moreover, in today’s passage, Jesus mentions it three times.
“The hour” refers to the purpose of Jesus coming into the world. “The hour” is for God’s glory. “The hour” is when the Savior is “lifted up” on the cross to “draw everyone” to Him so that all might be saved.
We now begin the last full week of Lent. May we turn our eyes to the crucified Savior who saves us in his hour.
Image source: www.qumran2.net
February 6, 2021
5th Sunday - B (February 7, 2021)
One Successful Day
Last Sunday and today Mark gives us 14 verses that describe one day in Jesus’ public ministry. It is one eventful and successful day. Last Sunday, we learned that the day began with Jesus going to a synagogue with his disciples. There, he cast out an unclean spirit and healed the person possessed by it. He taught with authority and people were “amazed.” As a result, “his fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.”
Jesus leaves the synagogue, and today’s Gospel recounts the remainder of his eventful and successful day.
But Jesus did not come to be popular. He came to proclaim God’s salvation by his preaching and his healing. Thus he said “For this purpose have I come.”
Neither was his mission limited to one town. He came for all people. So he said, “Let us go on…”
And we know Jesus did not have similar success by human standards every day. He would meet resistance, objections, false accusations, misunderstanding, and even denial by his friends.
Jesus lived his life for the single purpose of fulfilling God’s plan of salvation for all people. Nothing could stop him. Thus, he began his day in prayer.
He gave his life to fulfill God’s plan.
The moment of fulfillment of God’s plan is not Jesus’ success or popularity. That moment is the Cross – the moment of ultimate success of God’s love.
Image soure: www.agnusday.org
May 9, 2020
5th Sunday of Easter (May 10, 2020)
The Way
Jesus is
the way.
There is
a tension or a balance in following Jesus.
On the
one hand, following Jesus does not mean simply tagging along. Jesus’ way is not a physical road, and if we
just keep dragging along, without efforts or intentionality, eventually we’ll
get there.
We follow
Jesus’ way by living, acting, and loving in the manner that He did.
On the other
hand, it is a journey that Jesus himself walks with us and leads us. In fact, by ourselves, we can’t do it. We
have his words of assurance, “I will come back again and take you to myself, so
that where I am you also may be.”
Image source: The Cross at the St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, Omaha, NE
February 8, 2020
5th Sunday - A (February 9, 2020)
Two Conditions of Being
Disciples of Jesus
Jesus
said to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light
of the world.”
Consequently,
if I am not salt of the earth and do not bring light into the world, I am not
living as a disciple of Jesus.
It is
also to note Paul’s reminder that Jesus Christ crucified is the true salt and
light, not me (2nd reading). I don't have to generate my own salt or light. I am only His instrument.
Image source: www.agnusday.org
May 18, 2019
5th Sunday of Easter - C (May 19, 2019)
“As I Have Loved You”
We are
familiar with the commandment “Love your neighbors as yourself.” In this Gospel, however, Jesus sets a new
standard, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”
Jesus
gave this new standard during the Last Supper, “when Judas had left them.” This details gives us the context of “the
hour” of the crucifixion. It is also the
hour when one of Jesus’ friends betrayed him, and the others abandoned him.
The
moment of the cross is the climax of Jesus’ love for us. Jesus loves us not because we deserve his
love.
And that
is the standard of love that Jesus gives us: “As I have loved you, so you also
should love one another.”
Image source: www.agnusday.org
April 6, 2019
5th Sunday of Lent - C (April 7, 2019)
Knowing One’s Own Sins
Hearing Jesus’
words “let the one among you who is without sin …” the people all “went away
one by one, beginning with the elders.”
Knowing
one’s own sins, through the work of conscience, is a gift from God.
The
people in this Gospel passage were challenged to look at their own sins.
In
forgiving the woman, Jesus also helped her to recognize her sin.
Once we
have known our sins then we can change.
Besides,
the awareness of our sins and that we are sinners help us to realize our needs
for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Moreover,
this awareness can help us grow in appreciation for God’s mercy.
Image source: Jacopo Tintoretto - Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery,
February 9, 2019
5th Sunday - C (February 10, 2019)
“Lord”
Last
Sunday, we heard people of Jesus’ own town rejecting him and his preaching.
Today, a
chapter later, a different group of people was so eager to listen to Jesus that
they were “pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God.”
Last week,
people of Nazareth could not see Jesus beyond who they were familiar with, as “the
son of Joseph.”
Today,
having listened to Jesus and witnessing his power, Peter falls “at the knees of
Jesus” and professes him as “Lord.”
Then, Peter and his friends leave everything to follow Jesus.
What is
my attitude when Jesus speaks to me? Who
is Jesus for me?
Image source: www.agnusday.org
April 28, 2018
5th Sunday of Easter - B (April 29, 2018)
“You are the Branches”
Jesus
speaks of himself as the true vine and the disciples the branches.
This
image made me think of the other branches, the friends with whom I share the
connection in Jesus, the people who help connect me with Jesus.
Today’s first
reading gives an example of such a friend – Barnabas who helps connect Paul
with the Christian community.
And the
second reading reminds us of Jesus’ commandment “love one another.”
Let us
thank God for those who lead and connect us to the true vine.
March 17, 2018
5th Sunday of Lent - B (March 18. 2018)
Sir, We Would Like to
See Jesus
“Some
Greeks … came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir,
we would like to see Jesus’.”
This
identification of Philip is significant.
And like Philip, Andrew was also from Galilee and had a Greek name.
By the
standards of the Jews who were from Judea, Philip and Andrew would be
considered a kind of third class Jews. Judean
Jews looked down upon Galilean Jews.
Worse, their Greek names suggest that their parents or ancestors must
have either lived for a time outside of Palestine, or had adopted some gentile
cultural practices.
Yet, what
certain people might have considered inferior helped Philip and Andrew bring outsiders
to Jesus. Those Greeks must have felt
comfortable with Philip and Andrew. The
two had names that they could relate to.
Besides, Philip and Andrew probably spoke their language.
Isn’t it
an example of the last shall be first?
Or is it
a case of “the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies and produces much
fruits”?
Lent
offers me a chance to have a clearer understanding of my true self, to die to
what is superficial, and allow Jesus to use me, with all I am, as his
instrument to draw others to him.
Image source: www.agnusday.org
February 3, 2018
5th Sunday - B (February 4, 2018)
Availability
Jesus is
available to people, especially those who are in need. He heals the sick even on the sabbath. (Last week, we learned that it was a sabbath when
he went to the synagogue, and now, he goes to the house of Simon and Andrew
from the synagogue).
He makes
himself available to God in prayer. In
this way, he also is available to himself and his needs.
And he is
available to the mission that God has given him, not allowing success or
popularity to tie him down. Mark
recognizes that in this way, Jesus has already accomplished so much while we are
still in Chapter 1 of his Gospel.
Jesus
could be so available because of his singlemindedness about God-given
mission. “For this purpose have I come,”
says Jesus.
Image source: www.agnusday.orgwww.agnusday.org
May 13, 2017
5th Sunday of Easter - A (May 14, 2017)
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Commentary
My Father’s House
The
celebration of our mothers on this Mother’s Day can help us connect or better appreciate
three of the sentences that Jesus speaks to us today.
First, “In
my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places,”
A mother’s
love and presence create a home and a family.
A mother’s care and sacrifices tell their children the that they are
loved.
God’s
love brings us into God’s family. We are
children of God. We are loved.
Second, “I
am going to prepare a place for you.”
Enduring
the pains, and with love and selfless sacrifices, mothers give birth to their
children.
Christ, through
his death and resurrection, gives us the life of the children of God.
Third, to Philip
requests, “Show us the Father,” Jesus responds, “Whoever has seen me has seen
the Father.”
Mothers
and fathers share in Jesus’ mission of leading their children to God – the greatest
gift of all.
Image source: http://catholicmom.com
April 1, 2017
5th Sunday of Lent - A (April 2, 2017)
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Image source: Last image from www.cnn.com
Commentary
“I Am the Resurrection
and the Life”
Death –
an unavoidable reality that we all face.
In normal
cycles of nature, to disasters, famines, wars, social and political crisis,
moral failures, sins, sickness, and our own mortality, …
In spite
of technological advances, social progress, discoveries, knowledge, and growth
in all aspects of life, we still have to face evils and death.
Just like
us, Martha and Mary struggled with the death of their brother.
To us,
just as to them, Jesus reveals, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Lent
offers us the opportunities to face our failures, shortcomings, weaknesses, and
even death. We then can appreciate more
deeply the gift of life, both in this world and for all eternity, that God
alone can give us in the death and resurrection of God’s only Son.
Image source: Last image from www.cnn.com
February 4, 2017
5th Sunday - A (February 5, 2017)
Commentary
Light of the World
When Matthew
introduces Jesus’ public ministry, he identifies Jesus as the light, citing the
Prophet Isaiah, “the
people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land
overshadowed by death light has arisen.” (4:16,
the Gospel we heard 2 Sundays ago).
Today,
Jesus calls us to be the light of the world.
He shares his mission with us [1].
In order
to be the light of Christ to the world, we must live as he has lived.
Looking at
the Sunday Gospels continuously, the Beatitudes, which we heard last week, are
our guides.
We know
that only Jesus lives the Beatitudes to perfection [2].
The better we live the Beatitudes, the brighter our reflection of Christ’s
light.
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[1] .
John Petty. http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com
[2] . Saint Pope John Paul II. “The
Beatitudes are a self-portrait of Christ.” Tweeted by Rocco Palmo, http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com
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