Dear Family!

We are concluding the final reflection on Jesus’ teaching about the Bread of Life in the sixth chapter of John. In the Gospel, this Sunday we learn that hard teachings are often rejected and ignored by the majority of our society. Our faith is the answer to the evils of society. Peter showed his faith in Jesus when ‘many of the disciples’ left Jesus. This differentiates Peter from the mob culture. Peter would validate his faith in Jesus further by saying, ‘Even if all these people leave you, I will not.’

Dear Family!

We continue to reflect the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse in the Gospel of John. We began reflecting on the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse in John from the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time. This week is the fourth installment of the discourse from the same 6th Chapter of John (John 6:51-58). Next Sunday we conclude the discourse by reflecting on the last passage (John 60-69).

Dear Family!

We continue to reflect the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse in the Gospel of John. The Word of God is indeed the food for the prophets in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was asked to eat the scroll and prophesy to the people (Ezekiel 3:1). When Jeremiah devoured the words, they brought joy to his life (Jeremiah 15:16) and in the First Reading today we see Elijah was asked to eat and be strengthened by the food ‘for the journey will be too long’ (1Kings 19:4-8).

Dear Family!

The second reading this Sunday could be seen as a unifying element of the readings on God’s life-giving love to us. Saint Paul reminds us that we must no longer live as Gentiles do. He teaches us that once we come to know Christ, there must be a radical change within us. This leads us to a holy way of life and care for the other.

Dear Family!

We have been reading about the various aspects of the ministry of Jesus the Good Shepherd. We see him teaching, healing, and this week, feeding. This shepherding role is extended to all the Apostles. This aspect of ‘Feeding’ is the theme of the readings this Sunday. The Church guides us to John Chapter 6 for the next five Sundays (17th to 21st Sunday).

Dear Family!

We are both followers and leaders at the same time. A wise man once stated that the ‘Leadership is the ability to articulate a vision and get others to carry it out.’ As leadership continues to be in a constant threat under priesthood these days, I am almost at the verge of finding a grip in the efficacy and relevancy of priest-leadership in the modern world.

Dear Family!

There is so much pressure on young people to develop an image of faith in themselves. Most of their friends do not go to church anymore; their parents are either divorced or not practicing Catholics; there is always a Sunday Sports in the morning (as Taxpayer, you cannot question the system). The young are forced to create their own excuses such as ‘headache, body pain, homework’ and the like.

Dear Family!

July 4th brings in a lot of memories of ages past. The Declaration changed the meaning of American freedom forever. Eric Foner in his book, "Give Me Liberty" writes, “It completed the shift from the rights of Englishmen to the rights of mankind as the object of American Independence. No longer a set of specific rights, no longer a privilege to be enjoyed by a corporate body, liberty had become a universal entitlement.” Those words are prophetic indeed.

Dear Family!

In funerals, at times in anger and depression, we feel, “God’s voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects. Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges or was that guild edges?” (Shack p. 66)

Dear Family!

Understanding Divine Providence is beyond the powers of human reason. In the First Reading we see Job faced with the reality of how his own suffering and the conversations he has with friends challenges his faith. Job’s challenges at times make us wonder how little we know and understand the will of God even with great faith. “Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:3b-c)

Dear Family!

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers! We thank God for placing fathers in the family as a sign of God’s enduring love and constant protection. May fathers everywhere be faithful to the examples shown in the scriptures: steadfast in love, forgiving and sustaining forces in their families by caring for those in need. We ask God to grant wisdom to fathers so that they may encourage and guide their children.

Dear Family!

As God created Adam and Eve in the original condition of holiness and justice (Catechism of the Catholic Church 375), we ask a genuine question as to what original holiness was as God intended. The catechism also teaches us that the Original Holiness was ‘friendship with his Creator’, based on sharing ‘divine life’ (CCC 374-375). And the Original Justice as intended by God is the harmony that existed ‘with himself & Eve, and with the creation around him (CCC 376).

Dear Family!

A wise priest once said, “when man stands before the throne of God... all joy is restored, then there is nothing else for him to offer but to give thanks. Hence, the Eucharist or “thanksgiving” is the state of the perfect man. The Eucharist is the life of Paradise.” Happy ‘Corpus Christi’ Sunday to all of you!