Lost but Found When the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to hear him, the scribes and the Pharisees began to complain about Jesus, saying: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2) Jesus then began to teach them with 3 parables. All 3 parables speak of something or someone becoming lost but then was found. The lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son represent the sinner who had lost his way to God.…
The Cost of Discipleship In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us about the conditions of discipleship, and these words from the Gospel must be understood in the context of all the other teachings of Christ. It is true that “hate” is a strong word, and the way that we commonly understand “hate” as the opposite of “love” cannot be taken as what was meant by Christ, because He is the one who told us to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” On…
The Parable of the Invited Guests In the Gospel of Luke, one of the leading Pharisees invited Jesus to dine in his home. The people there were observing Jesus carefully, but Jesus was observing them too! After Jesus saw how the guests were choosing places of honor at the banquet table, He said: “Do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited…
Are you saved? By telling the people to strive to enter through the narrow gate, Jesus makes it clear that the path to salvation is not easy. The way to God requires our undivided attention because it consists of an ongoing conversion of heart. The grace of God is always present, but we must do our part to receive it. Many people seem to think that salvation is practically a given. It is not uncommon to find people who will…
Monday, September 2, is Labor Day. Mass in Chinese will be offered at 11:00am. There will be no Mass in English at 12:00pm.
Division within families In Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus say things that seem very uncharacteristic of Him; He said: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Lk12:49, 51) How can the Prince of Peace, who is supposed to bring people together, claim to bring division such that some members of…
The faithful and prudent steward In the Gospel of Luke (12:32-34), Jesus tells His disciples not to seek security in the things of this world, but in the treasures of heaven. Hence, Jesus exhorts them to be steadfast in faith, and He tells them a parable to illustrate what He means: A servant was entrusted with his master’s household, but he began to eat, drink and get drunk, and he beat the other servants. When the master returns unexpectedly, he…
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! The bible has wise things to say about money and possessions. While affirming that we live in a world that involves business dealings and money, it teaches us three important things: that we shouldn’t regard material wealth and possessions as gods, that life is fragile and ultimately in God’s hands and that we need to sort out what is really important and lasting before it is too late. In the Gospel of Luke,…
Teach us to pray If we were to look at the world around us, we simply cannot deny that the whole of reality is not only composed of the physical, but also the spiritual. As human beings, we too are made up of the physical and the spiritual – we each have a body and a soul. In order to live in the physical world, we must take in what our bodies need: to breathe the air, eat food, drink…
Our church is very blessed to have families with small children, and we are even more blessed that the number of small children in our church increase each year. As a church, it is important that we provide a safe and fun place for little children to run and play. A good children’s playground will also attract new families with small children to join our church. Unfortunately, our children’s playground is currently unsafe and unusable. Fr. Bill, together with the…