Archives for September 2025

He said, “Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.” But Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.” He said, “Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” Then Abraham said, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” (Lk 16:27-31) What is faith? How do we get it, and where does it come from? St. Thomas classically defined faith as: “the act of the intellect assenting to a Divine truth owing to the movement of the will, which is itself moved by the grace of God.” But sometimes things are made easier by looking at examples. … [Read more...]

“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 both God and mammon.” (Lk 16:13) There’s an old expression, “no man on his deathbed ever wished he had spent more time at the office.” It’s a way of reinforcing the advice that Jesus gives us today. The question boils down to this: what is the most important thing in our lives? Most of us wouldn’t have a hard time saying that two things in our lives are incredibly important: our families and our friends. These are the people that we can count on. And to them we devote a lot of time. And when it comes to money? Well, that’s one of those necessary evils of life. We need it to survive, but I don’t think any of us would consider it our “god.” But … [Read more...]

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:14-15) One of the most popular verses from all of Sacred Scripture is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” At one time it was hard to go to a football game without seeing “John 3:16” on a sign in the end zone. And it’s a wonderful verse that calls to mind God’s love. But we need to remember the two verses preceding it (above). We know that God loves us through a variety of ways, but the way that God showed His love for us was by “giving” His Son to be sacrificed for our sins. That’s the meaning behind this Sunday’s … [Read more...]

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14:26-27). What does it mean to be a Christian? The word was first used by St. Luke in Acts 11:26, where he recounts that: “it was at Antioch that the disciples [of Jesus] were called ‘Christians’ for the first time.” So being a Christian means being a disciple (from the Greek word for “pupil”) of Christ. If you read the Scriptural quote above, then Jesus has some pretty high standards for those who would choose to be His disciple. A disciple must “hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even his own life” and he must … [Read more...]