Dear Family!

Thanksgiving celebration is around the corner. In reading history, it caught my attention that President George Washington was a deeply religious man ‘under God’. He writes, “Both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”

Dear Family!

This Sunday is the second to the last Sunday of the church year. The following Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. The readings logically speak about the ‘last things’ (Eschatology). The parable of the fig tree sprouting its leaves points us to late spring and early summer which reminds us of good times for the people. For us Catholic Christians, the end of the world is not God losing control of the earth, rather God bringing things to a triumphant end.

Dear Family!

The elections are completed! We congratulate and wish the new administration all the very best and we pray for all our leaders. As public service demands self-giving from leaders, the readings focus on the art of self-giving. The first reading and the gospel both teach us that is not what you give but why you give. If the motive behind our self-giving is expecting some sort of a reward, we need to look into the life of Jesus more closely.

Dear Family!

The readings this Sunday focus on loving God & neighbor and how they cannot be separated. The Catechism teaches us that “Jesus summed up man's duties towards God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This immediately echoes the solemn call: “Hear (Shema), O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD.” God has loved us first.

Dear Family!

On Thursday, Pope Francis published a new encyclical focusing on the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dilexit Nos - He loved us) in the context of a world which seems to have lost its heart. The Pope calls for a change of perspective, urging humanity to rediscover what is most essential: the heart. This encyclical will commemorate the 350th anniversary of the first appearance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Mary Alacoque in 1673.

Dear Family!

People say, when looking for a job it is not what you know but whom you know that counts. We see that happen in our gospel today. Some theologians and bible scholars reflect that this could be the first schism in the church which took place under the eyes of Jesus - two disciples against ten and ten against two. The reason of the dispute is not any theological discussion or dogma but the lust for power, competition for position.

Dear Family!

This Sunday, the readings focus on seeking the Wisdom of God. Jesus is our message as Jesus is the Wisdom of God (1st Reading) and Jesus is the Word of God (2nd Reading). There could be three kinds of people: the morally wanting, the morally good and striving for ‘Perfection’. Jesus shows the young man in the Gospel the Heart of God.

Dear Family!

The month of October is very special for us Catholics: We remember this month as Month of the Rosary as well as Pro-Life month..  The USCCB also remembers it as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. In October we also celebrate the World Food Day (October 20th) and World Mission Sunday (Last Sunday of October).