This document discusses the origins of Divine Mercy Sunday, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. [1] It describes how Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina Kowalska and asked that a feast of Divine Mercy be established. [2] The passage explains that on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Gospel reading recounts Thomas doubting the resurrection until seeing Jesus, and emphasizes that believers must forgive others as Christ forgave. [3]
We ponder the following paragraphs of the Catholic Catechism on the Commandment, Do Not Envy, CCC 2517-2533. In the Catholic catechetical tradition, there are two commandments against coveting, the Ninth Commandment includes the prohibition against coveting your neighbor’s wife, and the Tenth Commandment prohibits us from coveting any of our neighbor’s possessions. Coveting your neighbor’s wife is a serious sin, as it can lead to adultery and many other serious sins.
Concupiscence is not itself a sin, and although it is commonly thought of as a sexual sin, the Catechism warns us that it can “refer to any intense form of human desire.”
We also ponder:
• The Catholic Catechism sections on purification of the heart and battle for purity.
• How the "pure in heart" are promised that they will see God face to face and be like him.
• How we should be modest in our dress, in our speech, and in our speech.
• Reflections on the Vatican II Decree, Gaudium Et Spec, the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World.
We view the Catholic Catechism as a study guide for the Church Fathers. We include references to:
• Video on Shepherd of Hermas.
• Video on St Augustine, On Faith and the Creed
• Future video on St Augustine’s Confessions
• Video on St Anthony
• Video on Pope Francis’ Gaudete et Exsultate, On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World
• Video on St Augustine and Musonius Rufus on Concupiscence
YouTube video: https://youtu.be/v_BmOU1VcHQ
If you wish to purchase these books, these links will help support our channel with a small affiliate commission:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, UCSSB Bishop's Edition
https://amzn.to/3kca1sT
A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/2W4cxK2
Our blog: Catholic Catechism, Do Not Envy, Purification of the Heart, CCC 2517-2533
https://wp.me/pachSU-eb
Homily: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020James Knipper
This Sunday we return to "Ordinary Time" but for the past 3 months, clearly nothing has been ordinary - forcing us to revisit what discipleship needs to look like. So, taking scripture and current events - what may we be missing in our lives that prevents us from living the Gospel?
We ponder the following paragraphs of the Catholic Catechism on the Commandment, Do Not Envy, CCC 2517-2533. In the Catholic catechetical tradition, there are two commandments against coveting, the Ninth Commandment includes the prohibition against coveting your neighbor’s wife, and the Tenth Commandment prohibits us from coveting any of our neighbor’s possessions. Coveting your neighbor’s wife is a serious sin, as it can lead to adultery and many other serious sins.
Concupiscence is not itself a sin, and although it is commonly thought of as a sexual sin, the Catechism warns us that it can “refer to any intense form of human desire.”
We also ponder:
• The Catholic Catechism sections on purification of the heart and battle for purity.
• How the "pure in heart" are promised that they will see God face to face and be like him.
• How we should be modest in our dress, in our speech, and in our speech.
• Reflections on the Vatican II Decree, Gaudium Et Spec, the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World.
We view the Catholic Catechism as a study guide for the Church Fathers. We include references to:
• Video on Shepherd of Hermas.
• Video on St Augustine, On Faith and the Creed
• Future video on St Augustine’s Confessions
• Video on St Anthony
• Video on Pope Francis’ Gaudete et Exsultate, On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World
• Video on St Augustine and Musonius Rufus on Concupiscence
YouTube video: https://youtu.be/v_BmOU1VcHQ
If you wish to purchase these books, these links will help support our channel with a small affiliate commission:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, UCSSB Bishop's Edition
https://amzn.to/3kca1sT
A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/2W4cxK2
Our blog: Catholic Catechism, Do Not Envy, Purification of the Heart, CCC 2517-2533
https://wp.me/pachSU-eb
Homily: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020James Knipper
This Sunday we return to "Ordinary Time" but for the past 3 months, clearly nothing has been ordinary - forcing us to revisit what discipleship needs to look like. So, taking scripture and current events - what may we be missing in our lives that prevents us from living the Gospel?
Vocation and Mission: The Aim of Discipleship (Building a Better Disciple Par...Jonathan Sullivan
Faith that is not put into practice is sterile. Connecting the themes of the previous webinars we will explore how the faithful participate in the Church’s mission in the world through their particular gifts and calling.
This is the fifth in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship.
Homily: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018James Knipper
This Sunday we celebrated the gift of love and marriage during the World Day of Marriage. So how does the gift of love and marriage tie into the Gospel of Jesus healing the Leper? Leave it to the wisdom of a group of 4 – 8 year olds to shed light on all of this! How do they do it? And what does that mean to you? Check it out….
For six weeks we have listened to post resurrection Gospel stories, which when woven together give us great insight into Christ’s explanation of what it is like to be in relationship with him - to be fed by him, to be in communion with him.
Two thousand years later, our problem is that I think we make it more complicated, more ego-centered, and more difficult than it really is.
So what do you have to do? Check it out….
Jesus: The Face of Discipleship (Building a Better Disciple Part 1)Jonathan Sullivan
Before understanding how to become a disciple we must first know what a disciple is. Through the person of Jesus Christ we will come to know what it means to claim the name “Christian.”
This is the first in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship. Slides and other handouts can be found at http://bit.ly/BetterDisciple.
This Sunday’s Gospel gives us a partial look at Matthew’s job description for discipleship. But leave it to my 13 month old grandson to teach me the rest. How did he do that? Check it out!
Christian Community: The Foundation of Discipleship (Building A Better Discip...Jonathan Sullivan
Faith is nurtured and sustained in the context of a community of believers. This session will explore how the Church in various contexts (family, parish, school, etc.) sets the stage for a life of discipleship.
This is the third in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship. Slides and other handouts can be found at http://bit.ly/BetterDisciple.
Slideshow presented at the public informational meeting for our new congregation. Includes summaries of our mission, beliefs, worship practices, and an honest assessment of where we are and where we are going.
In 2018 Pope Francis and the Vatican issued an official Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete Et Exsultate, or in English, On the Call to Holiness In Today’s World. In the spirit of Vatican II, Pope Francis is not only addressing Catholics, he is addressing the challenges all Christians face when living in the modern world.
The Pope warns us of the spiritual dangers of social media. Yelling and screaming and bullying on social is discouraged, we must always remember that whatever we say on social media should make the world a slightly better place, that we should strive always for whatever we post on social media will increase in all of us greater love for our neighbor and our Love for God.
Catholics should not be one-issue voters, even when that one issue is abortion, but if Catholics do wish to be one-issue voters, that one issue should be social justice, which includes abortion and concern for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the sojourner, the immigrant, the widow, the orphan, and all other disadvantaged people. Black lives indeed matter very much to the Church.
Pope Benedict’s speech at Aparecida, the Conference of Latin American Bishops, chaired by the future Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, sought to affirm the preferential option for the poor of marginalized that Liberation Theology seeks, while also condemning the Marxist system as an oppressive system.
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/jF-fsMvYsak
Our blog: http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/pope-francis-mentions-abortion-in-gaudete-et-exsultate-with-a-prayer-from-pope-benedict/
Please support our channel, if you wish to purchase these Amazon books we receive a small affiliate commission:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, UCSSB Bishop's Edition
https://amzn.to/3kca1sT
A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/2W4cxK2
Scripture & Tradition: The Boundaries of Discipleship (Building a Better Disc...Jonathan Sullivan
Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition – passed on through the biblical authors, the apostles, and their successors – form the deposit of our faith. As the basis for all of the Church’s teaching they also provide the boundary lines for discipleship by illuminating the path that followers of Christ must follow.
This is the second in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship. Slides and other handouts can be found at http://bit.ly/BetterDisciple.
Vocation and Mission: The Aim of Discipleship (Building a Better Disciple Par...Jonathan Sullivan
Faith that is not put into practice is sterile. Connecting the themes of the previous webinars we will explore how the faithful participate in the Church’s mission in the world through their particular gifts and calling.
This is the fifth in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship.
Homily: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018James Knipper
This Sunday we celebrated the gift of love and marriage during the World Day of Marriage. So how does the gift of love and marriage tie into the Gospel of Jesus healing the Leper? Leave it to the wisdom of a group of 4 – 8 year olds to shed light on all of this! How do they do it? And what does that mean to you? Check it out….
For six weeks we have listened to post resurrection Gospel stories, which when woven together give us great insight into Christ’s explanation of what it is like to be in relationship with him - to be fed by him, to be in communion with him.
Two thousand years later, our problem is that I think we make it more complicated, more ego-centered, and more difficult than it really is.
So what do you have to do? Check it out….
Jesus: The Face of Discipleship (Building a Better Disciple Part 1)Jonathan Sullivan
Before understanding how to become a disciple we must first know what a disciple is. Through the person of Jesus Christ we will come to know what it means to claim the name “Christian.”
This is the first in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship. Slides and other handouts can be found at http://bit.ly/BetterDisciple.
This Sunday’s Gospel gives us a partial look at Matthew’s job description for discipleship. But leave it to my 13 month old grandson to teach me the rest. How did he do that? Check it out!
Christian Community: The Foundation of Discipleship (Building A Better Discip...Jonathan Sullivan
Faith is nurtured and sustained in the context of a community of believers. This session will explore how the Church in various contexts (family, parish, school, etc.) sets the stage for a life of discipleship.
This is the third in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship. Slides and other handouts can be found at http://bit.ly/BetterDisciple.
Slideshow presented at the public informational meeting for our new congregation. Includes summaries of our mission, beliefs, worship practices, and an honest assessment of where we are and where we are going.
In 2018 Pope Francis and the Vatican issued an official Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete Et Exsultate, or in English, On the Call to Holiness In Today’s World. In the spirit of Vatican II, Pope Francis is not only addressing Catholics, he is addressing the challenges all Christians face when living in the modern world.
The Pope warns us of the spiritual dangers of social media. Yelling and screaming and bullying on social is discouraged, we must always remember that whatever we say on social media should make the world a slightly better place, that we should strive always for whatever we post on social media will increase in all of us greater love for our neighbor and our Love for God.
Catholics should not be one-issue voters, even when that one issue is abortion, but if Catholics do wish to be one-issue voters, that one issue should be social justice, which includes abortion and concern for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the sojourner, the immigrant, the widow, the orphan, and all other disadvantaged people. Black lives indeed matter very much to the Church.
Pope Benedict’s speech at Aparecida, the Conference of Latin American Bishops, chaired by the future Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, sought to affirm the preferential option for the poor of marginalized that Liberation Theology seeks, while also condemning the Marxist system as an oppressive system.
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/jF-fsMvYsak
Our blog: http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/pope-francis-mentions-abortion-in-gaudete-et-exsultate-with-a-prayer-from-pope-benedict/
Please support our channel, if you wish to purchase these Amazon books we receive a small affiliate commission:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, UCSSB Bishop's Edition
https://amzn.to/3kca1sT
A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/2W4cxK2
Scripture & Tradition: The Boundaries of Discipleship (Building a Better Disc...Jonathan Sullivan
Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition – passed on through the biblical authors, the apostles, and their successors – form the deposit of our faith. As the basis for all of the Church’s teaching they also provide the boundary lines for discipleship by illuminating the path that followers of Christ must follow.
This is the second in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship. Slides and other handouts can be found at http://bit.ly/BetterDisciple.
Today’s gospel, in which John describes the appearance of the risen Christ to his disciples reveals three basic skills or spiritual practices to follow in order to strengthen our soul, our well-being and our connection with God and with each other.
Homily: Third Sunday of Lent A 2023 .docxJames Knipper
This Sunday we heard the gospel that provides the longest dialogue recorded between Jesus and a woman. By breaking with social ‘norms’ Jesus reaches out with acceptance, self-worth and compassion to one who was socially outcast. For this is a Gospel story that teaches us, reminds us, encourages us that in the Kingdom of God there are no outcasts, there are no strangers, there are no us versus them, rather it is a kingdom of only repentant and welcomed sinners – people like you and me. But the core message of this gospel is hidden – and one that opens our eyes to what we already have. What is that? Check it out….
But why are we still celebrating Easter? Fifty days seems like a long time to be singing Alleluia - and we are only half way through the season. And so, it is at this midway point, that we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday – a title taken from the today’s famous gospel passage.
So why do we call Christ the Good Shepherd? And how can insight from a New Mexico shepherd help us to use all of our senses in order to uncover the Gospel message and of how we can find Christ today? Check it out.
Homily: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018James Knipper
This weekend we celebrated the 33rd and final Sunday in Ordinary Time and over the past year Mark’s Gospel has given us the necessary waypoints for our spiritual journey. And it is these signposts which tell us how we need to see differently and thus leading us to change the way we live.
But what does that new sight look like for us? What changes are being asked of us? And where do we begin? Perhaps another look at the story of Bartimaeus together with the wisdom from Fr. Greg Boyle may lift the blinders that we wear and open our eyes to seeing in a whole new way!
Check it out!
So we moved from Lent into Easter, singing our alleluias, with the church bells pealing, rejoicing that Jesus Christ is risen indeed – but what do we do now? How does this Easter Season change us? How do we live differently than we did before?
In this week’s readings we hear a word repeated twice which leading linguistics experts say is a, “linguistic and theological tragedy and the worst translation in the New Testament.” What is the word? And once you understand what it really means – how can it answer the questions raised?
How can it change your life?
Homily: The Feast of the Epiphany for 2024James Knipper
For the past 12 days we have heard the stories of the birth of Jesus Christ as God incarnate indeed good news of great joy all people. So, on this Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord we celebrate Jesus revealed as the Christ Child to the magi, who arrive by the light of the star. Every year we listen to this well-known Gospel story of the journey of the magi who pay homage to the Christ Child. But today I invite you to just focus on two lines that appear in the Gospel. What are they? Check it out because…as you will you see, any interaction with this Jesus the Christ, no matter where or how it happens, will change your own journey.
After the disciples have spent so much time with Jesus watching him heal and teach and forgive it seems that Jesus feels it is time to give his disciples a ‘midterm test.’ He wants to see what they have learned after spending so much time watching him minister to others. But before he asks them the one and only question on the test, he has them hike 25 miles to the region of Caesarea Philippi.
Why the long hike? What is the one question he asks them….and asks us? And how would you answer?
The Gospel this weekend has the 12 disciples being sent out to spread the Good News. So, imagine how these disciples were feeling – for they just witnessed Christ being rejected by those who knew him best. So, other than witnessing the words and actions of Christ, they had no real ministerial religious training – and it was certainly long before any dogma and doctrines were ever thought of. For the most part they were simple fishermen – but all called by Christ to be his chosen ones to spread the Good News – and do this by having encounters with others. For true encounters allow us to go directly to the heart of humanity. But the question remains, “How can we better reach this “heart” today?” Check it out…
Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2024.docxJames Knipper
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential pyramidal Trinity structure of God at the top and Son and Spirit in opposite corners. But what if we looked at this ‘mystery’ from a different perspective? What if we shifted our language of God as a being towards the concept of God as love? What if we focused more on the relationship within the Trinity versus the persons of the Trinity? What if stopped looking at God as a noun…and instead considered God as a verb? Check it out…
Homily: Second Sunday in Lent, Cycle B, 2024James Knipper
This weekend we heard the famous biblical story of Abraham and his son Isaac, and the angel who stopped Abraham at the last minute from sacrificing his son as God had ordered. While this passage demonstrates Abraham’s unbelievable faith in God – it is a story whose ending is often missed. An ending which turns this story upside down and changes how that culture – and we – need to see God so differently. What is this surprise twist? And how does it impact our spiritual journey? Check it out…
Homily: Feast of the Holy Family 2023 - Cycle BJames Knipper
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family…and tomorrow the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And I like the fact that this Feast comes hours before the Solemnity for it allows us to really look at how this God incarnate, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary…this Christ Child…this God who came into the world in a family that had its heart and its doors open to love – connects to our daily life and our families. It was Pope Francis who reminded us that, “The family is important, as it is necessary for the survival of humanity. Without the family, the cultural survival of the human race would be at risk. The family. Whether we like it or not, is the foundation.”
In a society where all too often we can easily fall prey to the notion of separating the secular and the sacred, and we close our eyes to what is sacramental, what does it take to build that foundation?
Check it out…
With the calendar only providing us 3 full weeks of Advent, how have you been spending your time? What, perhaps have you been seeing…or feeling or doing differently? For Advent calls us to be conscious, awake, alert. Advent calls us to be open to how Christ comes to us every day. Advent calls for our participation by opening our eyes to our own brokenness and that of humanity. For Christ is there…just waiting and wanting our active participation. This week’s Gospel provides us three points which may lead us to a better understanding of what we are called to do moving from this briefest 4th week of Advent into Christmas and the New Year. What are they? Check it out….
Homily: 2nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle B, 2023James Knipper
As we each walk through this season of Advent, we may just find ourselves in some form of wilderness, thirsting for peace, reconciliation and healing – and thus it’s a time we need to be alert, awake, watchful and vigilant to God’s presence. So, perhaps we take the lead from Isaiah where we spend time seeking how we can better “Prepare the way of the Lord”…of how we can look at the valleys, at the crookedness, and the rough places not just in the outside world, but also in our own hearts. What does that look like? Check it out…
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe: to some degree I think the title of today’s feast day could miss the mark of its original purpose and design. For did you ever notice, nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus say to worship him, much less as a king – he simply said to follow him and to do as he does. The best description of all of this, across all the Gospels, appears in today’s reading of Matthew’s recording of Jesus’ last discourse which indicates kinship seems to be more important that kingship. What does that look like? Check it out…
Homily: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A 2023.docxJames Knipper
Biblical scholars tell us that this Parable of the Ten Virgins was likely cobbled together from a few sources meant to drive home the message of always being prepared – a Gospel theme we will hear often between now and Christmas. But was does that mean to you and me? What does being prepared look like? And tapping into one of today’s Gospel metaphors, what is the oil that we need to be placing in our lamps? Check it out…
Homily: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time A 2023.docxJames Knipper
For the past few weeks, we have been listening to Jesus telling parables to the Chief Priests and Pharisees. For Jesus is attempting to get their attention to think differently, choose differently and to open their eyes to his teachings of the Kingdom of God. But they show no interest in listening to his teachings about love and compassion, much less inclusion. Thus, they look to corner Jesus into committing a crime of sedition and thus be crucified, by putting the question to Jesus if taxes should be paid to Caesar or not.
Perhaps a way to phrase this question in the present time would be: is our allegiance with the spiritual or the worldly? Where is our focus today? Since this story appears in all three Synoptic Gospels, this story carries a deeper and more significant message than a Gospel about just paying taxes. What is that hidden meaning? Check it out…
This Sunday we heard the conclusion of the Gospel story that began last week when Jesus said he would build his Church upon the rock of Peter. But a few lines later Jesus calls Peter, ‘Satan’ and he is told to get behind Christ and follow him. So how did Peter get it so right to the point where Jesus will use Peter as the foundation of his Church and then in the next moment Peter gets it so wrong as to be called Satan? The answer and, indeed our lesson, is rooted in the two types of thinking that we face every day. What are they? How do we distinguish them? Check it out…
The Surgeon General of the US, Dr. Vivek Murthy, just announced the ending of COVID-19 as a global emergency. But at the same time declared a new number one epidemic in our country today – one that affects 50 % of our population, and even higher for our kids. What is it? And how does that tie into the Gospel reading from John this Sunday? Check it out…
During these past weeks of Lent, our Gospels have focused on the quintessential theme of life, death and rebirth – or what some call order, disorder, and reorder. However you look at this universal pattern, one thing is for sure – there is no skipping the process. So, on this Good Friday, instead of just focusing on the cross that Christ died on – a death that was for us…what if we spent some time on the deaths that happen to us…to focus on our crosses and on our dying that needs to occur each day? What does that look like? Check it out…
This weekend we hear in Matthew’s Gospel of John the Baptist sitting in a jail cell and wondering if he placed his bets on the wrong guy…questioning if the Lord is anywhere near to him. Then again, when we are faced with adversity, doubt, and loss how often have we questioned “Where is God?” and “Is the Lord anywhere near?” See how a street corner in Louisville and the wisdom of Thomas Merton may just open our eyes to see in a new way so that we can join in the chorus of Gaudete! Rejoice! on this 3rd Sunday of Advent.
Homily: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time C 2022.docxJames Knipper
This weekend we hear the parable of the widow and the judge. The Gospel writer begins with a summation that the parable talks “about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” But if we just left it there, we would miss the secondary and deeper meaning behind the story. What is it? Check it out…
Homily for 21st Sunday in Ordinary TimeT .docxJames Knipper
The Gospel this weekend begins with the question that is asked a number of times across the gospels – and one that each of us may have asked in our own spiritual journey: “Lord, will only a few be saved? Or better said – who is going to heaven and who is going to hell?! To which Jesus answers: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” In those days the narrow gates were the side doors of the walled city where you could enter. They were less exposed and less visible allowing occupants to come and go inconspicuously.
So, what does the ‘narrow gate’ look like for you and me today? Once we figure that out, how does that begin to tell us who wins the ticket to heaven and who doesn’t? This complicated Gospel sounds more like a message of exclusion rather than inclusion. So, which is it and what does it mean for each of us? Check it out…
Luke speaks about prayer more than any of the other Evangelists…and in this weekend’s gospel we hear the disciples, asking Jesus to teach them how to pray and he responds with a simple version of the Lord’s Prayer. With prayer being so foundation to who we are, how do you pray? But the bigger question may have to do with how we view prayer. In other words, do we come to prayer as a transactional or a relational activity? Do we spend our time in prayer looking for something from God…or are we desiring a connection with God?
Leave it to my grandson Oliver to open my eyes to what prayer is really all about. Check it out and see what I mean…
Hindered by our language many have resorted to using metaphors to describe the Trinity such as a 3-leaf clover or a harmonic cord. But what if we stopped looking at God as a noun and considered God as a verb? Early Christians described the Trinity as a dance, where God is not the dancer – rather God is the dance itself. See what I mean…
As we gather on this Feast of Pentecost our Scripture focuses on the “what’s next” in our call to discipleship. What does “being sent” & discipleship look like for each of us? What are we called to do and not to do? So how can an African parable, a saintly doorkeeper, a foot massager, and college basketball player help point us to the way, the truth and the light? See what I mean…
If we look at the scripture that addresses the Ascension, it is no surprise that we find several conflicts across the Synoptic writers. But I believe it is John who gives us the line that opens up for us the best way to get to the deeper meaning of the Ascension, when Christ says, “it is good for you that I am going away. For unless I go away the Spirit cannot come to you.” In essence, Jesus seems to be making a connection between absence and presence - that it is necessary for absence to take place before we can be opened to presence. For this Feast Day really teaches us so much more about our life and about our loving God. What is it really all about? Check it out…
In this Sunday’s readings we heard that John saw a “new heaven and a new earth…for the old order has passed away…and He makes all things new.” This sense of ‘making all things’ new appears over twenty times throughout the Bible, with a reminder of our need to let go of our past, to allow room for the new – but what is this ‘’new thing”? And why is it so important that Jesus commands it?! Check it out and see how Ronald Rolheiser, Desmond Tutu and my grandchildren come at this from different angles to shed light on what we are called to do – which will allow us to transfigure the world!
I invite you to just focus on the God encounter that takes place in the Gospel story of the Transfiguration. It is when God appears in the form of a cloud which casts a shadow over those gathered – a cloud that, although frightens them, they still entered. What about the darkness and clouds that we face in our lives? For it these types of God encounters where lives are changed - encounters that break you open and rearrange what you think you knew and wanted.
So, take a few minutes to enjoy a few stories that have nothing to do with answers - but more so with encounters. Stories about hiker Trevor Thomas, Franciscan Richard Rohr and my recently departed brother-in-law Vincent – all which, like this Gospel, just may bring light into the darkness you face. Check it out…
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way.pptxCelso Napoleon
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way
SBs – Sunday Bible School
Adult Bible Lessons 2nd quarter 2024 CPAD
MAGAZINE: THE CAREER THAT IS PROPOSED TO US: The Path of Salvation, Holiness and Perseverance to Reach Heaven
Commentator: Pastor Osiel Gomes
Presentation: Missionary Celso Napoleon
Renewed in Grace
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
The Chakra System in our body - A Portal to Interdimensional Consciousness.pptxBharat Technology
each chakra is studied in greater detail, several steps have been included to
strengthen your personal intention to open each chakra more fully. These are designed
to draw forth the highest benefit for your spiritual growth.
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
A PowerPoint Presentation based on the Dhamma Reflections for the PBHP DYC for the years 1993 – 2012. To motivate and inspire DYC members to keep on practicing the Dhamma and to do the meritorious deed of Dhammaduta work.
The texts are in English.
For the Video with audio narration, comments and texts in English, please check out the Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2g_43NEa0
The Good News, newsletter for June 2024 is hereNoHo FUMC
Our monthly newsletter is available to read online. We hope you will join us each Sunday in person for our worship service. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and social media.
What Should be the Christian View of Anime?Joe Muraguri
We will learn what Anime is and see what a Christian should consider before watching anime movies? We will also learn a little bit of Shintoism religion and hentai (the craze of internet pornography today).
In Jude 17-23 Jude shifts from piling up examples of false teachers from the Old Testament to a series of practical exhortations that flow from apostolic instruction. He preserves for us what may well have been part of the apostolic catechism for the first generation of Christ-followers. In these instructions Jude exhorts the believer to deal with 3 different groups of people: scoffers who are "devoid of the Spirit", believers who have come under the influence of scoffers and believers who are so entrenched in false teaching that they need rescue and pose some real spiritual risk for the rescuer. In all of this Jude emphasizes Jesus' call to rescue straying sheep, leaving the 99 safely behind and pursuing the 1.
1. 15 April 2012 2nd Sunday of Easter Princeton, NJ
It was the summer of 1925 that a poor and uneducated 19 year old fled her parents and begged to join a
convent in Poland and three years later that dream came. Soon after, between 1931 and 1938 the risen
Christ made a number of appearances to Sister Mary Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament. The various
messages Christ gave to Faustina during that time were eventually published in her book, Diary: Divine
Mercy in My Soul. And one of the many conversations she recounts in book is a direct request from Christ
that a feast of Divine Mercy is to be established on the first Sunday after Easter so that all people would take
refuge in His mercy.
The first Divine Mercy Sunday was celebrated in April 1935 but it would not be until 2000 until Pope John
Paul II canonized Sr. Faustina and gave this Sunday its official designation. Interestingly it was five years
later that John Paul died on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday.
It is surmised that this Sunday was chosen to celebrate Christ’s universal mercy because the readings of this
day always deal with the mercy of Christ. Today’s gospel from John is the famous passage of Thomas’
doubt in the risen Lord, for he had not been present when Christ first appeared to his fellow disciples.
Frankly I think he gets a bum rap, because none of his fellow disciples believed Christ rose from the dead
until they saw him too! But it was the Sunday after Christ rose from the dead that we find all the disciples still
hiding behind locked doors. And once again Jesus appears but this time Thomas is present – Thomas – who
like his fellow disciples needed to see in order to believe in the risen Lord. And as we know – as soon as
Thomas sees, just as when the disciples saw, just as when Mary Magdala saw – they believed that Jesus
was the Christ.
But it seems clear that it wasn’t enough to just see and believe. It wasn’t good enough for the followers to
hole up in the Upper Room day and night and tell each other that they believe. Jesus was looking for them to
do more and thus was calling them to be sent forth – just as his Father had sent him. They needed to get
out from behind the locked doors of their lives and to continue to do what Jesus did – teach, heal and
forgive. But now things were a bit different when they would go to the temple and teach, as did Jesus. And
this difference is tied to a particular line we hear each year in the Passion story which has significant
meaning.
Remember what happened the moment Jesus died - the sanctuary veil of the temple was torn in two from
top to bottom. Now keep in mind, this was not your everyday living room curtain – This temple veil or curtain
was 4 inches thick with a height of almost 70 feet, weighing 4 tons and taking 300 priests to carry it in place.
The purpose of this curtain was to separate and define the holy from the unholy. The Latin word for temple
is fanum and everything outside the temple veil was called pro-fanum – thus the derivative of our word
profane. So with this tearing of the curtain there was no longer separation of holy and unholy – there was no
more ‘profane.’ Rather, everything was now fanum…the holy…the temple. Christ’s crucifixion and death on
the cross ended the division of who was deemed by man to be holy and right…who was in and who was out.
For it is in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ that the disciples and we are sent forth to call all
people to God. And one only has to focus on the core of today’s gospel to know what we are all called to do!
For when Christ appeared to Thomas and all the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, he did not ask for
retribution to his persecutors…
He did not call for a “just war” on his oppressors…
1 Deacon Jim Knipper
2. He did not ask them to start a new religion…
He didn’t ask them to write a book of Canon Law…
He didn’t ask them to go out and build cathedrals and basilica’s…
And Christ certainly did not ask them to go out and decide who was worthy and who was not…
Rather the risen Christ sends the disciples forth from the Upper Room, with the gift and graces of the Holy
Spirit, and asks them to do one thing, in saying...
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and
Whose sins you retain are retained.
He asked them to go forth and forgive others, just as he had done. And this direction and empowerment
was given to all his disciples, all his followers, not just the apostles. For the risen Christ reminds us that we
are all called to forgive and called to forgive all. We are called to forgive our spouses, our children, our
parents, our co-workers, our priests, our deacons, our church, our institutions, our government and even
those that violate us.
But probably the most important and the most difficult person to forgive: is ourselves. Very few of us want to
go there – but that is what Jesus emphasized and taught. No matter what we have done, God loves us and
forgives us with unconditional love and unending mercy. This was what he told his disciples and it is the
same message repeated to Sr. Mary Fautsina. You can almost picture Christ shaking his head after 1,900
years and saying, ‘They missed my point! Let me try it again!’ when he told Faustina, “Every soul that
believe and trusts in my mercy, will have it.”
Christ tells us through today’s Gospel that those trespasses, those debts we are willing to let go of…that we
forgive in ourselves and others…are forgiven. They are released from being part of us….while those that we
hold onto and bind within ourselves will erode our well being, thereby blocking relationships with others and
with God.
And this whole concept of seeing and believing that we heard in John’s gospel is based on the fact that for
forgiveness to take place we must be able to see God in others and see God in ourselves and be open to
forgive. That is what he called his disciples to do and that is what you and I are called to do.
So, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, may we ask for and trust in God’s mercy, and give that mercy to others….
May we, filled with the graces of the Holy Spirit, step outside our personal locked doors and have the
strength to forgive all…
And during this Easter Season may we open our eyes to see God in others and ourselves so that through
this new sight we, too, may believe and have life in God’s holy name.
2 Deacon Jim Knipper