The Bread of Life The clearest expression of the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is found in chapter 6 of John’s Gospel. There, Jesus teaches the crowd about the Eucharist – His very own Body and Blood. Jesus also teaches the crowd about faith – the unique and special faith needed to accept His difficult teaching about the Eucharist. Many of Jesus’ disciples lacked the faith to believe in the Real Presence. When Jesus walked…
The Holy Trinity There are many ways in which people have come to know God: the God whom we have come to know as the origin of all that is, we call God the Father; the God whom we have come to know as the Word made flesh, we call God the Son; the God whom we have come to know as the divine presence in the world, we call God the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son and the…
Pentecost Sunday Jesus, the Word of God, completed His mission of redemption through His suffering, death and Resurrection. Those who repented and believed in Christ obtained salvation. This work of salvation continued after Jesus ascended into heaven to return to the Father. Jesus founded the Church upon Peter, but the mission to bring grace, to sanctify and to guide the Church, was left to the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit, in the Church as in individual souls,…
The Ascension of the Lord The Ascension is an important event not only in the life of Christ but also in the life of the Church. The two primary scripture passages on the Ascension are found in the Gospel of Luke (24:50-51) and the Acts of the Apostles (1:9-11). The event of the Ascension, which took place forty days after the Resurrection, links the life of Jesus in the Gospels to the life of the Church in the Acts of…
Memo (August 25, 2020): Updates to Archdiocesan Directives Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer has extended the dispensation of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass until September 28, 2020. At the same time, the Archbishop encourages those who are healthy and are not burdened with the fear of being exposed to the virus to begin returning to Mass and receive the Sacraments. Memo (July 24, 2020): Updates to Archdiocesan Directives Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer has extended the dispensation from the obligation to…
Coming of the Advocate In today’s Gospel, Jesus promised His disciples that He will ask the Father to send them an Advocate – someone to teach, to help and to guide them. Just as Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Truth, the Advocate who will be sent is the Spirit of Truth, who will be with them and in them always. And that is one of the things which the Holy Spirit does; to dwell in and among us so that…
Father and Son are One In today’s Gospel, Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father.” And Jesus said to him, “How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? To see the Son is the same as seeing the Father because the Father and Son are one (Jn10:30).” With these words, Jesus revealed His divinity as the Son of God to His disciples.…
“Whoever says the heart of an inch of grass can repay three springs” “Whoever says the heart of an inch of grass can repay three springs.” This Chinese proverb means that the mother’s kindness is great, like the sunshine in spring to the grass, there is no way to repay it. This year, Sunday, May 14th is Mother’s Day. On that day, let us show our love and respect to our mothers, and honor them with a special blessing.
The Lost Sheep In the Gospel today, the image of the sheep that belongs to the Good Shepherd describes the authentic believer; he hears the Word of God, follows Jesus and has eternal life through Christ. The authentic believer is one who is humble of heart, one who recognizes the need for forgiveness, and one who seeks the guidance and protection of a Good Shepherd. Some people have chosen not to follow Christ. Some have rejected Him; some have ignored…
Shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan The Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Sheshan is located in the district of Song Jiang, near the great metropolis of Shanghai, China and was dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians. In 1863, the Superior of the Jesuit community in Shanghai purchased the south side of the mountain of Sheshan. On this site, a retreat house was built with a small chapel next door, and the construction of the Shrine began. On March…