Tag: Fr. Jesus

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“The Kingdom of God is at Hand” by Fr. Jesus

Unlike earthly kingdoms, God’s kingdom is not made of gold, glitter and glamour. No castles, cavalry or courtiers there.

In today’s gospel we hear the opening words of Jesus at the start of his public ministry. As in a relay marathon, wherein a runner takes over the baton from another and carries on with the race, so also Jesus takes over the baton from John the Baptist after the latter was arrested to carry on with the proclamation of God’s kingdom. The first words pronounced by Jesus are the very same words pronounced by John the Baptist when he began to preach: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.”(John Paul II took these words into the rosary’s third Mystery of Light).

The kingdom of God is at the heart of Jesus’ preaching and healing. It was precisely to establish God’s kingdom that he came into the world. Through many of his parables, he gave us a glimpse of what God’s kingdom is like; It is like the seed that is sown in different kinds of soil; like a field where the weeds and the grain grow together; like a tiny mustard seed; like yeast that is mixed with three measures of wheat flour; like a hidden treasure; like a fine pearl; like a dragnet.(Cf. Matthew 13). Jesus also compared the kingdom of God to a wedding banquet (Mt. 22:2tf.), and to ten bridesmaids(Mt. 2S:1tf.).

Through his actions, Jesus showed what God’s kingdom is made of:love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion. Healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and reaching out to repentant sinners that’s what God’s kingdom is all about. By expelling the demons from the possessed persons, Jesus showed that God’s reign was gradually expanding while Satan’s kingdom was coming to an end.

Unlike earthly kingdoms, God’s kingdom is not made of gold, glitter and glamour. No castles, cavalry or courtiers there. God does not reign over towns and cities. His throne is in the hearts of the men and women who let him in and allow him to rule over them. When we recite the Lord’s prayer and say,“Your kingdom come,”we are not asking God to send his kingdom upon us, as he might send food or rain. We are expressing our commitment to build up God’s kingdom and our willingness to be a part of it. We bring God’s kingdom about when we put ourselves under God’s rule and control. Now, the one hundred dollar question: Is God in control of my life-the whole of it? Most likely, not-not all the time, anyway.

That’s why Jesus goes on to tell us: “Repent!” Change your ways, your values, your priorities in life. Give up your idols (money, jewelry, alcohol, gambling … ). Let God take over and be in control of your life. Let him be your King.

The choice of the first apostles (second part of the gospel) could well be the topic of another homily. We, who live in an age of excellence and competitiveness, and who are extremely demanding when it comes to hiring manpower, cannot understand why Jesus chose such simple and unlearned folks to carry on the arduous task of building up God’s kingdom; why not well educated people, such as priests, levites, scribes or Pharisees? For sure, Jesus must have had his reasons. He was not after bright ideas or managerial skills. He was looking for docile and obedient hearts. And that the lowly fishermen had: “They abandoned their nets and followed him,” at once, adds St. Matthew. The learned scribes and Pharisees had only hatred and hostility towards Jesus.

As the popular saying goes: “God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the called.” St. Paul puts it in a better way: “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise; he chose the weak of the world to shame the strong” (ICor. 1:27). Everything God does has a reason.

as published on January 22, 2012, Parish Bulletin

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“ Child, your sins are forgiven” by Fr. Jesus

Today’s gospel discloses something more about Jesus: he is not only a healer of bodies; he is the “Son of Man, “with power to heal the soul.

If a person who knows nothing about Jesus Christ read the gospels of the last four Sundays, he would most probably think that Jesus was a doctor or a faith healer by profession. For the fourth consecutive Sunday now, we read a gospel story about Jesus’ healing activity. First, it was a possessed man in the synagogue of Capernaum; then, it was Simon’s mother-in-law and many others that he cured; last Sunday it was a leper whom Jesus touched and healed; and today, it is a paralytic that he cures. Today’s gospel discloses something more about Jesus: he is not only a healer of bodies; he is the “SON of Man,” with power to heal the soul.

The Church does not tire telling us that healing was the most important part of Jesus’ ministry, by which he not only showed his love and compassion, but also revealed that God’s kingdom had come and that Satan’s kingdom was on the way out: “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

At first, today’s gospel story elicits a smile of amusement. Try to visualize the scene: Four men carry a paralyzed man on a stretcher. Unable to get near Jesus due to the crowd, but determined to do so, they dismantle the roof and lower the stretcher right in front of Jesus. But then, amusement gives way to admiration for the paralytic and his four friends. We admire, above all, their faith. In fact, that’s the first thing Jesus saw-not the hole on the roof: “When Jesus saw their faith … “ They were fully convinced that Jesus could, and would, do something about their plight, that he would not let them down. And he did not.

Then comes the big surprise. After all the trouble they went through to bring the paralytic right before Jesus, hoping for a cure, Jesus, instead of telling the man, “Take your mat and walk,” he tells him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” We can imagine the expression of surprise and disappointment written on the face of the paralytic and his friends, as if they wanted to say, “Sir, that’s not what we came here for. We want this man to walk again!”

Now, here is a good point for our reflection. Like the paralytic, we very often ask the wrong favors from the Lord: a safe trip, good health, success in business or in exams, and the like–all material concerns. We fail to see our deeper needs, our spiritual paralysis, and our need for spiritual healing. Jesus knows our needs better than we do ourselves. And he offers more than we ask for– complete healing of body and soul.

The Church carries on the healing ministry of Jesus–of both body and soul. Jesus endowed the Church with two sacraments of healing, namely, reconciliation and anointing of the sick. Through the sacrament of reconciliation, the wounds of our soul, inflicted by sin, are cured. Like the paralytic, we hear Jesus telling us, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Through the sacrament of anointing we are strengthened both in body and spirit.

Unfortunately, these two sacraments are now in crisis and are not duly appreciated. As for the sacrament of reconciliation, many Catholics, influenced by fundamentalists or born-again Christians, prefer to confess directly to God, rather than to a priest. Thus they deprive themselves of the great joy of hearing Jesus’ words, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” As for the sacrament of anointing, many Catholics believe that it is meant only for those who are on the brink of death–like a gentle push into eternity; hence they postpone its reception until the sick person slips into unconsciousness, thus rendering the sacrament next to useless.

This coming Wednesday, February 22, the Lenten season will start; it is a time to renew our faith and to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. Hopefully we will come to rediscover and to experience his presence and healing power in these sacraments.

published February 19, 2012 Parish Bulletin

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“Give Us This Bread Always” by Fr. Jesus

They were looking for him, not because of their faith and love for him but because he fed them. (We might pause right here for a while to reflect on our own motivation in following Jesus, in coming to mass, in joining church activities, etc.)

For five consecutive Sundays, we will be reading almost in its entirety chapter 6 of the Gospel of John which deals with the holy Eucharist. (This insertion of John 6 is done because Mark’s gospel is too short to cover all the Sundays of Year B). Last Sunday, we heard the account of the feeding of five thousand men with only five barley loaves and two dry fish. Today’s gospel tells us how Jesus, after feeding the crowd, masterfully led the people from seeking material bread to the bread of life. Let’s do a little text analysis.

The people began by asking Jesus, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Perhaps they were surprised to see that he had left them so soon after feeding them. Jesus ignored their question-a mere curiosity-and went straight into the heart of the matter: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” Right off, Jesus tells them to their face that their motivation in following him was tainted with selfishness. They were looking for him, not because of their faith and love for him but because he fed them. (We might pause right here for a while to reflect on our own motivation in following Jesus, in coming to mass, in joining church activities, etc.)

Then comes an invitation: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life.” This is the turning point in the gospel story. Jesus begins to speak of another kind of food, one that does not grow stale but rather endures for ever-for eternal life. This means that there must be another kind of hunger which only that bread can satisfy. At once, that deeper hunger begins to surface in the people’s mind as they ask: “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” How quickly has Jesus changed the people’s outlook!

Now that he has brought the people’s attention away from material
food unto the things of God, Jesus goes on to impart his intended instruction on “the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” It doesn’t take long for him to convince the crowd. At once the people express their newly-felt hunger for the newlyfound bread: “SIR, GIVE US THIS BREAD ALWAYS.” What a wonderful catechist Jesus was. Step by step, he prepared the people to listen to his most startling revelation: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”From a simple hi-hello to the discovery of the life-giving bread.

Unfortunately, the gospel story does not end on this happy note. Succeeding events will show that the people’s interest in and hunger for the living bread were more apparent than real, as we will see in the forthcoming Sundays. For the moment, however, let us reflect on today’s gospel passage.

There is no denying that physical hunger is a serious problem in the world, aggravated by the current global economic crisis and by the relentless increase of the price of prime commodities. Attached to this reflection is a chart showing some figures on the extent of the problem of hunger in the world. Keeping a printed copy of that chart posted near our dining table might easily arouse in us a sense of gratitude to the Lord for the food set before us-of which millions of people are deprived. As followers of Christ we must do our very best to alleviate, if not to overcome, this problem.

At the same time we must realize that there are deeper and more important kinds of hunger being felt by the people, such as hunger for justice, for peace, for freedom, for equality, for respect and for acceptance. And, yes, hunger for God. These forms of hunger, perhaps more subtle but in no way less real, must be addressed too. We who feed regularly on the living bread of Christ’s body must commit ourselves to become bearers of life and hope to others.

The world hunger problem:
Facts, figures and statistics

• In the Asian, African and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people are living in what the World Bank has called “absolute poverty”
• Every year 15 million children die of hunger For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years
• The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is wellfed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- Since you’ve entered this site at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year.
• One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. United Nations Food and agriculture
• The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world’s hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. Hunger in Global Economy
• Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion – a majority of humanity – live on less than $1 per day, while the world’s 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world’s people.
UNICEF
• 3 billion people in the world today struggle to survive on US$2/day.
In the U.S. hunger and race are related. In 1991 46% of African-American children were chronically hungry, and 40% of Latino children were chronically hungry compared to 16% of white children.
• The infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. The U.S. ranks 23rd among industrial nations in infant mortality. African-American infants die at nearly twice the rate of white infants.
• One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night.
• Half of all children under five years of age in South Asia and one third of those in sub-Saharan Africa are malnourished.
• In 1997 alone, the lives of at least 300,000 young children were saved by vitamin A supplementation programmes in developing countries.
• Malnutrition is implicated in more than half of all child deaths worldwide – a proportion unmatched by any infectious disease since the Black Death
• About 183 million children weigh less than they should for their age
• To satisfy the world’s sanitation and food requirements would cost only US$13 billion- what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year.
• The assets of the world’s three richest men are more than the combined GNP of all the least developed countries on the planet.
• Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger
• It is estimated that some 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition, about 100 times as many as those who actually die from it each year.

as published on August 5, 2012 Parish Bulletin

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“Honoring God with the Heart”, by Fr. Jesus

In today’s gospel, Jesus argues with the Pharisees and the scribes, inviting them to look beyond the letter of the law and to discover the spirit of the law. He explains to them, and to us too, that true religion does not consist in the mere performance of external rituals and external cleanliness; rather it is a matter of internal righteousness. Having clean hands and clean attire is fine; but it is by far more important to have a clean heart.

A newly-installed bishop who held a doctorate in Canon Law gave his first talk to the priests of his diocese. He told them: “From now on, this diocese will be ruled by Canon Law.” An old priest who was hard of hearing leaned towards a younger priest sitting beside him and asked, “What did he say?” Raising his voice for everybody to hear, the priest replied, “The bishop says that henceforth this diocese will be ruined by Canon Law.”

Rules and laws are good and helpful so long as they remain a means to achieve an end. Once they become ends in themselves, laws and rules can indeed ruin people. And that is precisely what happened to the Scribes and the Pharisees: They turned rules and traditions into absolutes–to be observed blindly, no matter what. For them, religion consisted in faithful and blind compliance with the letter of the law.

In today’s gospel, Jesus argues with the Pharisees and the scribes, inviting them to look beyond the letter of the law and to discover the spirit of the law. He explains to them, and to us too, that true religion does not consist in the mere performance of external rituals and external cleanliness; rather it is a matter of internal righteousness. Having clean hands and clean attire is fine; but it is by far more important to have a clean heart.

Jesus often berated the scribes and Pharisees because of their superficiality, that is, for remaining at the level of externals. He called them “whitened sepulchers,” clean on the outside but full of rottenness within. In today’s gospel, he applies to them the words of prophet Isaiah 29:13: “This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”

These words of prophet Isaiah invite us all to do some soul-searching. Are we not in many respects like the Scribes and Pharisees? Our religion is a Sunday morning affair. Once we are done with our Sunday “obligation,” we go back to do our own thing. There is a story about some hold-uppers preying on bus passengers. While they were divesting the passengers of their valuables, the bus passed in front of a church; when the hold-uppers saw it, they made the sign of the cross.

Our celebration of the sacraments, especially weddings, has become a mere social affair, a fashion show of sorts, rather than an encounter with the Lord. The Church is much to blame for allowing this to happen. We bless our new homes, of course, but then we turn them into a venue for holding mahjong sessions or drinking sprees. We bless our new car, but then we show no respect for traffic rules. We have endless superstitions, particularly those connected with the dead; for instance, when bringing their remains to the church for blessing, we argue about which should go first, feet or head; and yet, when they were alive, we never encouraged them to go to church.

We could go on and on listing the inconsistencies of our so-called “split-level Christianity” that cause some people to ask: How come our country, the only Catholic country in Asia, is so full of graft and corruption, violence, scandals, pornography, drug addiction, etc.? Obviously, because our religious practices remain at the level of externals and have no bearing on our life and values. “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

May these words of Jesus help us realize that true religion consists, not in the performance of certain external rituals but, above all, in forging a personal relationship with the Lord—one that shapes and permeates our core values and our behavior, our personal as well as our professional undertakings.

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“This is my blood of the covenant”, by Fr. Jesus

The New Testament covenant, ratified by the blood of Christ, is eternal because Christ is eternally faithful to it by doing the will of the Father to the end.

The feast of Corpus Christi is like an extension of the Holy Thursday
celebration when our Lord instituted the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist during the last supper. It is commonly believed that the feast of Corpus Christi was established upon the insistent request of an Augustinian nun, now a saint, Juliana de Liege (Belgium, 1193-1252). For over twenty years, she repeatedly had a vision in which a bright full moon appeared to her. The moon was perfect except for some dark spots which Juliana interpreted, after long prayer and consultations, to be due to the absence of a feast of the Eucharist.
To make a long story short, the feast of Corpus Christi was introduced first in Liege in 1246; then it was introduced into the Church calendar in 1264.

Not too many Catholics know that the Eucharist has a twofold character, namely, it is a memorial banquet and also a memorial sacrifice. Emphasis on one or the other has determined the mood or expression of the Church’s spirituality through the centuries. For instance, during the Middle Ages, the sacrificial aspect of the holy Eucharist was stressed. It was called The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Awe, respect, silence and veneration were instilled in the hearts of the faithful Any expression of glee, like clapping of hands and the like, was frowned upon and considered improper. This form of Eucharistic spirituality appeals mostly to the “young once.”

In recent times, especially after the Second Vatican Council, the banquet or meal aspect of the Eucharist has been emphasized. We speak of the Mass as the Eucharistic Banquet. The ambo or lectern is called the table of the Word; the altar is called the table of the Eucharist. Since it is a family meal, the Eucharist must be a joyful celebration. Hence community singing is encouraged as well as full and active participation by the whole assembly. At Mass, there are no spectators, so the liturgical norms say: Everyone has something to do or to say. This form of Eucharistic spirituality appeals most to the young ones.

Nowadays, with the approval of the Latin Mass, as decreed by the Council of Trent (16th century) and the revision of the Ordinary of the Mass (effective the beginning of Advent this year) aimed to better express the centuries-old Latin text, there is a marked tendency to restore the sacrificial aspect or mood of the Eucharist, with emphasis on respect, silence and veneration.
Whether this is progress or retrogression, time will tell. We hope and pray for the best.

Today’s Mass readings, all three, speak of the sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist. In the first reading from the book of Exodus, Moses tells the Israelites, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you.” In the Old Testament, covenants were ratified by slaughtering some animals; part of the blood (God’s portion) was set apart, while the other part (people’s portion) was sprinkled on the people-as we read in today’s passage.
The Letter to the Hebrews (second reading) tells us that we have been
redeemed, not with the blood, of goats and calves but with the blood of Christ, our high priest and mediator of a new covenant.

In the Gospel, during the Last Supper Jesus, in anticipation of his
death the following day, gave the cup to his disciples, saying: “This is my blood of the covenant which will be shed for many. ” The Old Testament covenant, ratified with the blood of animals, was broken again and again by the Israelites. The New Testament covenant, ratified by the blood of Christ, is eternal because Christ is eternally faithful to it by doing the will of the Father to the end.

Whenever we eat the body of Christ and drink his blood in the holy
Eucharist, we commit ourselves to observe the covenant which Jesus
ratified with his own blood. And if circumstances so warrant, we are
ready to shed our own blood for the covenant-as countless martyrs did.

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“The First Fruits of the Resurrection”, by Fr. Jesus

…peace
…mission
…Holy Spirit
…forgiveness and
…faith

That’s how today’s gospel (In 20: 19-31) might be titled. Jesus gives to his disciples, and to all of us, the first and choicest fruits of his passion, death and resurrection.

First, he offers peace. Not once, not twice, but three times he greets his disciples with “Peace be with you!” The disciples were hiding in a locked room – “for fear of the Jews, ” says the gospel. Very likely, they were afraid of Jesus too, expecting to get a good scolding from him, like: “Where were you when I needed you most? Why were you such cowards? Peter, why did you deny me?” But they heard nothing of the sort from Jesus. Not a word of recrimination. Only a greeting of peace the first fruits of the resurrection; the peace which we need so very badly, even today-first and foremost in Jesus’ own country.

Second, Jesus conveys his own mission to his disciples: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you. ” It is substitution time. Like a runner handing the baton on to the next runner in a relay race track competition, so Jesus passes on to his disciples the mission he had received from the Father; as if he were saying: My task is finished; now it is your turn; carry on. The above text is very important from the viewpoint of ecclesiology. It helps us understand what the church is and what we, the members of the Church, are. We are extensions of Christ. He uses our hands, our feet, our tongue, our heart. He continues to fulfill his mission through us.

Third, Jesus confers the Holy Spirit upon his disciples to help them carry out their mission: “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit ‘.” We know from another New Testament source that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles on Pentecost
day. For John, however, whose gospel is not concerned with chronology but rather with theology, the ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit happened on Easter Sunday. For him, the Holy Spirit too is the first fruits of the resurrection. He transformed the apostles from frightened individuals into fearless witnesses. He can also transform us, if we allow him, from routine-driven churchgoers into dynamic and committed members of the Christian community.

Fourth, Jesus bestows on his disciples the power to impart forgiveness: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them … ” What a marvelous gift! Jesus knew that we would need it very badly. The Church is not an assembly of angels, as today’s first reading from Acts might lead us to believe, but a community of sinners in need of forgiveness. The risen Lord made that forgiveness available to us in the Church: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven. ” Those who prefer to confess their sins directly to God (some people apparently have a direct line to heaven) rather than to priests or bishops who are fellow-sinners, should remember that Jesus gave the power to forgive, not to angels but to this bunch of “coward” disciples including Peter who had denied him a couple of days earlier.

Lastly, the stubborn refusal of Thomas to believe in the resurrection of Jesus–unless he saw and touched his hands and his side, prompted Jesus to explain to Thomas, and to us, that after the resurrection, our relationship with him will no longer be based on his physical presence but on faith: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have
believed. ” We are blessed if and when we believe that Christ is present in the Scriptures, in the Holy Eucharist, and in our brothers and sisters-even though we do not see him. Thank you, Doubting Thomas! Your hesitancy to believe the testimony of your peers elicited a most beautiful and important statement from the risen Lord!

as published April 15, 2012, Parish Bulletin

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“God so loved the world…” by Fr. Jesus

Love is measured by its cost, that is, by how much we are willing to
sacrifice.

The fourth Sunday of Lent has a festive character. It comes as a break in the Lenten penitential mood: “Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her!” exclaims the entrance antiphon. Some of us, many perhaps, will say: What good reason is there for rejoicing? There are a good number of reasons to be sad and to mourn: worldwide terrorism, political bickering, economic crisis, growing unemployment, rising prices of basic commodities, natural calamities, and a long etcetera. Pray tell, what is there to rejoice over?

Today’s gospel gives us a good reason: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” Is that all?– you might say; we know that already; this is the most oft-quoted verse of the bible. Yes, indeed, we know that; we have heard it over and over again. But has it really sunk into our heart and mind? This is the favorite verse of our Protestant brothers. In the introductory pages of the King James Bible (the Protestants’ most revered version of the Bible) it says: This verse (Jn. 3:16) has been translated into more than
1,100 languages. It is here recorded in 27 languages, which are understood by more than three-quarters of the earths population.”

The title of Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical letter (2005) is “God is Love,” (Deus caritas est). Its opening words are: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Here we have the shortest, richest, and deepest definition of God: He is love. Therefore, he cannot do anything but to love. All his actions, from creation to redemption, are motivated by love. Again, in Pope Benedict XVI’s words: “Everything has its origin in God s love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed towards it. Love is God s greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope.” Now we can more easily understand the words of today’s gospel: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” As someone has said, “you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”

When Johann Gutemberg was printing the first Bible at Mainz in 1456, his little daughter, Alice, picked up a discarded piece of paper with only one line of print: “God loved the world so much that he gave.” She put it in her pocket and kept on thinking about God being so loving. Her face lit up. Her mother notice her changed behaviour and asked Alice what was making her so happy. Alice showed her mother the piece of paper with the printed line. The mother looked at it for a while, then said, “So, what did God give?” “I don’t know,” said the girl, “but if God loves us well enough to give us something, then we need not be afraid of him.” (Remember, those were the years of the Inquisition, when people lived their faith in fear and trembling).

Love is measured by its cost, that is, by how much we are willing to sacrifice. Once a husband asked his wife: “Hon, what gift do you want for our anniversary?” The wife answered, “Anything… so long as there is a diamond on it.” Come anniversary day, the husband gave her a set of playing cards. God gave us the most precious gift he had: His only-begotten Son. He sent him, not just to pay a visit to us that would have been great in itself, but to become one like us in all things but sin, to share in our pains and sufferings, and to die for our sake. Indeed, no greater love is possible.

The gospel goes on: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it.”God condemns no one. Condemnation is self-inflicted– it is our choice: “The light came into the world, but people preferred darkness.” We condemn ourselves when we refuse God’s friendship and love; when we refuse to abide by the teachings of Jesus Christ. When a patient refuses to obey the doctor’s orders or decides to leave the hospital against the doctor’s advice, he is responsible for whatever may happen to him. Same with us whenever we refuse God’s love. God loves us to the point of respecting our free choices, no matter how wrong.

published March 18, 2012, Parish Bulletin

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