PAN DE LA SEMANA

  12 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C June 23, 2013 GRACE IN WHATEVER FORM! Many years ago, the words used by Dietrich Bonhoeffer made a big dent in my mind. He talked about “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” Before I proceed, let us get it straight from his mouth: “ "cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance; baptism without church discipline; communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ." It is all too easy for all of us to look only for the former, and ignore the latter. Why not? It is nice to be comfortable and safely ensconced in our seats. It is hard to rock the boat and even  harder to suffer unnecessarily. That is not what I gather from the readings today. The first reading from Zechariah speaks about the Lord “pouring out” “grace and petition” – something pleasant and unpleasant, something that would lead to ...

Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflection 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time(C) June 20, 2010 The past two Sundays have been a reminder of how God revealed Himself to be. He revealed Himself via a story, an unfolding history that came to us both through the written and oral tradition of the so-called mirabilia Dei (the wonders of God). In the Solemnity of the Trinity of three Sundays back, we saw God in action as Giver (the Creator Father), as Gifted (the Son given for us and for our salvation), and as Gifting (the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son), who still dwells in our midst and continues to lead us in our journey towards the fullness of salvific truth. Last, last Sunday, we were reminded of God’s real presence to His Church and people, in and through the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, we come to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” both the fullness of the Parousia (Christ’s coming at the end of time, with a capital P), and His parousia , that is, his current, conte...

Catholic Homily / Sunday Reflection 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B June 21, 2009 More than just uncertainty fills the air heavy with reports of new and developing terror cells all over the world, with one prominent world leader even speaking of possible nuke warfare all over again. Fear and trepidation can grip the hearts of people who live along notorious geological “fault lines” that can snap any minute, and send miles and miles of land to a screeching, grating, and gyrating swath of destruction. Recent earthquakes in Pakistan, in Indonesia, in China, Italy, and elsewhere around the world send shivers of anxiety down the spine of countless people who live in the so-called “ring of fire.” Volcanoes acting up, “sleeper cells” of terrorists awakening to a potential scenario of more destructive and violent acts, and the restless world churning up new and more frightening possibilities ought to be enough to make of our presence here today in Church, more than just relevant and me...

Catholic Homily / Sunday Reflection / Gospel Reflection 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A June 22, 2008 All three readings, on close examination, strike very, very close to home base. They all speak of struggle. And they all sound so reassuring. They all refer to a God who inspires so much confidence, so like the God we spoke of last Trinity Sunday: gracious and merciful; slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity. To Him, we cry out today, led as much by human desperation, as by utter confidence and divine faith: LORD, IN YOUR GREAT LOVE, ANSWER ME . Who among us, in those quiet, desperate moments, at some time or other in our lives, have not identified with the psalmist who cries out to the Lord almost desperately? The pleading itself reflects a struggle deep within. The plea speaks of a person torn between despairing, and claiming that which he or she knows God has the power to give, or withhold. Who among us, in the midst of so many trials, caught between th...