The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt 28:16-20) Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. In the early days of the Church there was no special day to honor the Holy Trinity, but that changed in the 3rd century when the Church was confronted with one of the first great heresies:  Arianism.  Although this heresy would seem … [Read more...]

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:21-23) In the context of the season of Easter, it was only 53 days ago that the apostles were gathered together in the Upper Room for the Last Supper.  Jesus instituted the Eucharist, and fed them His Body and Blood.  He made them priests by commanding them to “do this in memory of me.”  He washed their feet and instructed them about true service.  But what happened when they left the Upper Room that first time?  They ran away like scattered sheep without a shepherd.  Judas sold Him for 30 pieces of silver. Peter denied … [Read more...]

Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35) One of the most interesting scenes in the Acts of the Apostles involves a vision of St. Peter where he saw Heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down containing all the earth’s four-legged animals, reptiles and birds of the sky.  A voice told Peter to “slaughter and eat.”  Since many of the animals were considered “ritually unclean” according to the Levitical law, Peter refused to eat, saying “I have never eaten anything profane and unclean.” The voice responded, “What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.”  This vision happened three times. On one hand, this vision is the … [Read more...]

Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.  Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. (1 Jn 3:18-20) In the Gospel this weekend Jesus speaks of being the vine, our being the branches, and the Father being the vine grower.  We are called to be attached to the vine and to bear much fruit.  But the Church also gives us the second reading from the First Letter of St. John, which helps us to understand what “bearing fruit” entails.  It’s in loving.  And loving is something that is more properly done in “deed and truth” rather than in “word or speech.”  This isn’t to say that telling people you love them is a bad thing, but love … [Read more...]

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (Jn 10:1-3) This week is the Fourth Sunday in Easter, and it is traditionally known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because of the Gospel reading today in which Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. We’re all familiar with the images: Jesus standing, staff in hand, with the lamb across his shoulders.  We have a beautiful stained-glass image of this in the stairway leading up to the choir loft.  In fact, it’s the screensaver on my phone!  Or perhaps we … [Read more...]