Homily for the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day) The readings are Wisdom 3:1-9, Psalm 116, Revelation 21:1-5a, 6b-7 and Luke 7:11-17.
Today we celebrate the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed – a day commonly known as All Souls Day. It is a day the Church gives us to remind us to pray for those who have died.
The most common prayer we pray is called the “Eternal Rest” (requiem aeternam) prayer:
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them.
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May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
A reflection for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, Year C. The readings are Exodus 3:8a, 13-15; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 and Luke 13:1-9.
Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.
With those words, most of us received ashes on Ash Wednesday. Let’s keep those words in mind as we take a look at today’s readings.
I love the beginning of the Gospel today because it makes it clear that the Gospels are not just made-up stories. They are not myth or fiction. These things actually happened. If we had proper historical accounts of events happening during this time, I bet that we would find the time when Pilate sent soldiers into the Temple who killed some Galileans; and it is likely that at some point during the building of the tower of Siloam, there was an accident and it collapsed killing 18 men. And like today, people at the time wanted to know about those things that were happening. And Jesus used local events; things that were on the 6 o’clock news, to teach people. And the message is very clear: Suffering and death is not a punishment for our sins. God does not punish us by causing us to suffer and die – which is what Jews at the time of Jesus believed.
But, sin does have consequences; sinful behaviour – and often, behaviour that may not objectively be sinful – will have consequences. Smoking – objectively is not sin – but it has consequences that may lead to suffering and death. If you spend all your money gambling; it will have consequences. If you drink too much and get behind the wheel of a car; it will have consequences. If you continually don’t guard your tongue and watch what you say to whom… it will have consequences. So, yes, our behaviour and, in particular, sinful behaviour, will likely have consequences. Sadly, sometimes, we suffer as a consequence of someone else’s sin or behaviour. But suffering is not caused by God as punishment. In fact, I would say that God may reward us by allowing us to suffer – that is a mystery. But suffering in this life and physical death is not punishment.
A reflection for the 6th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Year C. The readings are Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15:16-20 and Luke 6:17, 20-26.
This reflection was originally posted on Feb 13, 2022.
Everyone wants to be happy. And you know what? God wants you to be happy too. That’s all God wants. He wants you to be happy in this life but more than that, He wants you to be happy with him in Heaven. But if we listen to today’s Gospel, we might think that Jesus doesn’t want us to be happy at all. Blessed are you who mourn…? Who wants to be poor? Who wants to be hungry? Sad? Attacked and insulted?
I don’t think so.
Three hundred years before Christ, a Greek philosopher named Aristotle wrote about happiness. For Aristotle and the Greeks of his time, happiness was the ultimate end and purpose of human existence – so it wasn’t exactly the same as we define happiness today. It was a bit more. And Aristotle argued that there are four levels of happiness. Have you heard of them?
Imagen por Albrecht Fietz de Pixabay.
Texto originalmente publicado en ingles el 27 de febrero del 2020.
Original text in English at Deacon-structing La Candelaria.
Mi abuelo paterno nació el 2 de febrero de 1884. Se llamaba Candelario.
La verdad, creciendo, nunca pensé mucho en él ni en su nombre. Nunca lo conocí; murió cuando mi papá era niño. Pero mi tío también se llamaba Candelario.
De adulto, vine a conocer la devoción a la Candelaria, que es una advocación mariana, también conocida como “la Virgen de la Candelaria”, que tuvo su origen en Tenerife, una de las Islas Canarias. Se celebra el 2 de febrero, día que también es la fiesta de la Presentación del Señor Jesús en el Templo.
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deacon pedro 