Archives for January 2024

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command. Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. (Dt. 18:18-19) In the Acts of the Apostles, both St. Peter (3:22) and, St. Stephen (7:37) quote the above passage as referring to Jesus. Jesus is the prophet who came to teach us (in word and deed) how to live according to God’s plan and attain the Kingdom of Heaven. And when the time came, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon His Apostles to guide them and us through the Holy Catholic Church. But Jesus foretold that some would not listen to His words, and He warned us that we would be persecuted for following Him. When … [Read more...]

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mt. 4:18-20) One afternoon while I was in seminary, I was having lunch with some classmates, and we were joined by another seminarian who was a member of another religious community. He was younger than my classmates, and pretty “gung ho” about being a seminarian. With eager eyes and enthusiasm, he turned to my classmate, Mike Woods, and asked “So when did you get your call??!!” Now, you’d have to know Mike, but suffice it to say that Mike was about 10 years older than the other seminarian. He’s from … [Read more...]

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” (John 1:35) One of the aspects of the Gospel reading for today is that of discipleship. I wrote about the word in an earlier edition of the bulletin when I distinguished “disciple,” meaning “student” or “follower” from the word “apostle,” meaning “messenger.” All Christians are called to be disciples, while some are specifically sent out by the Church to be messengers. The earliest Christians all began as disciples, and some were chosen to be apostles. In the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” the word disciple is used over and over. Here is a great definition of the role of disciples in the Church: “The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but … [Read more...]

“And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.” (Mt. 2:9-11) Why were the “wise men” wise? Were they wise because they knew the movements of the stars in the sky? Perhaps. Were they wise because they understood the seasons of the year or the mysteries of nature? Maybe. Or were they wise because they knew how to navigate according to a star. All of that might be true. But the underlying truth is that they were wise because they were searching for God. Their desire for Him meant that they could detect his coming appearance on earth in the appearance of a … [Read more...]