“But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Lk 18:8) Only a little over 12 years ago, in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia, a Catholic priest and more than a dozen Filipinos were arrested and charged with proselytizing. An easy Internet search can help you find the story. What were they doing? Were they engaged in a Eucharistic Procession? Were they handing out Bibles on street corners? Were they running an illegal radio program trying to convince Muslims to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? No. None of the above. They were attending Mass in a small Riyadh rest house. Filipinos comprise the vast majority of the more than one million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia. And they are almost exclusively Catholic. There is no freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia; the … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2022
From the Pastor – October 9, 2022
“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.” (Lk 17:17-19) This Gospel this weekend concerns gratitude. The story is simple. Jesus cures ten lepers, and only one returns to thank Him. The word gratitude is interesting. It’s usually defined as “a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation.” And we might experience gratitude for many things. If we’re late for work, we might feel gratitude that we make it through all of the stoplights. We might wake up and see a beautiful sunny day, and feel gratitude. We might experience gratitude for any of the amazing little things that happen to us during the day – a rainbow, a sunset, a butterfly … [Read more...]
