Come, Holy Spirit

Pentecost Sunday
June 5, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 2:1-11 / Ps 104 / Rom 8:8-17 / Jn 20:19-23
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a story about a young boy who went to the store on his bicycle to buy something, but there was no place to park his bicycle.  He decided to go to a nearby church and make a request to the parish priest and, of course, the priest granted his request without any hesitation.

The boy asked, “Father, is it safe here?”  He needed to ask, because he was concerned that someone might steal his bicycle.  The priest replied, “Of course.  The Holy Spirit will keep watch over your bike.   But first, let us go inside the church and pray.”  They knelt down, made the sign of the cross, and the boy said, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son.  Amen.”  The priest interrupted him, “My son, you forgot the last part ‘and of the Holy Spirit.’”  The boy said, “We should not disturb the Holy Spirit, Father.  He is watching over my bike.”

The Holy Spirit does not keep watch solely over bicycles.  Rather, He keeps watch over everything and everyone, especially over the disciples, including ourselves, whom Jesus leaves behind as He returns to the Father.  At the Last Supper Jesus tells them that He will send a gift from the Father, the greatest of all gifts, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Scriptures tell us that fifty days after the Exodus, Moses received the ten commandments from Yahweh at Mount Sinai.  Yahweh presented them to His people, and the people pledged faithfulness to all that Yahweh expected of them.

We Christians celebrate Pentecost fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus.  It is the feast day of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church, for Jesus sent His spirit over the disciples to empower them to live by His word.  That is why we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Pentecost today, the giving and coming of the Holy Spirit as a gift from the risen Lord.  Pentecost, in Greek, means the fiftieth day, that is, the fiftieth day after Easter, or the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Actually, the Holy Spirit had already been given to the disciples when Jesus appeared to them after the Resurrection.  He breathed the Holy Spirit on them by saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Do not be afraid.”  But still, they remained sad, and afraid that what happened to Jesus Christ might also happen to them.  It was only after fifty days that the apostles finally realized that the Holy Spirit had descended upon them and they became courageous.

We, too, receive the Holy Spirit during our Baptism and Confirmation.  But why doesn’t it change our lives as it changed those of the apostles?  Why do we behave, in many ways, like those that are unbaptized, or pagans, as if we never received the Holy Spirit?  I guess the answer is because the Holy Spirit inspires us to do good things, but in the long run it is up to us to accept, ignore, or reject His promptings.

So now the question is, who is the Holy Spirit?  We know that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed Trinity.  He’s the love of the Father and the Son, present within God the Father and God the Son throughout all eternity.  When we want to describe Him, however, we have difficulties, for we cannot see Him.

The original word in Greek, can express the idea of breath, wind, or spirit.  Before the world was created, a strong wind blew over the water.  There was no life yet on earth.  Nevertheless, the earth was covered by God’s presence.  Even though we do not see the Holy Spirit, we are all aware that He is at work in our lives.  We cannot see the wind, and we do not know where it comes from or where it is going, but we see its effects.  The leaves on the trees rustle in the breeze.  Trees are toppled by its fury.  The wind gives speed to a sailboat and produces sound when blown into a musical instrument.

Our Church reminds us today that Pentecost represents God’s gracious, enabling presence at work among His people. This presence enables them to live their lives according to His teachings.  It is also a day to celebrate hope:  a hope that suggests that a knowledge of God, through the Holy Spirit, is working among His people.

The event also celebrates a newness, a renewal of purpose through the Holy Spirit and a mission and calling as God’s people.  Most of all, the day is a celebration of God’s ongoing work in the world which emphasizes the gifts of the Holy Spirit and provides a tremendous opportunity for churches to use this sacred sign to call for a renewal through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

In closing, please join me in praying this prayer to the Holy Spirit:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth your spirit and they shall be created
and You shall renew the face of the earth.  Amen.

We Are His Body

The Ascension of the Lord
May 29, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 1:1-11 / Ps 47 / Eph 1:17-23 / Lk 24:46-53
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

The four gospels contain many parables of a master who sets out on a long journey and gives his servants charge of his estate until his return. In the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, this parable becomes a reality. As we have heard in the gospel, Jesus departs to His Heavenly Father and leaves His disciples in charge of the affairs of His kingdom until His return in glory.

Each of the gospels ends with a scene in which Jesus finally takes leave of His disciples. These parallel scenes focus, not on describing the event in detail, but on the last words that Jesus leaves with His disciples. In fact, the very fact of a bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven is described only by Saint Luke.

It is Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, from which we got our first reading today. A later ending of Mark also includes the Ascension. There are important similarities and differences between Luke and Acts, on the one hand, and Matthew and Mark, on the other, regarding the details of His farewell scene.

For example, in Luke/Acts, the ascension takes place in Jerusalem, whereas in Matthew and Mark, it takes place in Galilee. Both traditions, however, agree that it took place on a mountain.

In Luke/Acts, the ascension happens forty days after the Resurrection, during which period Jesus appears repeatedly to His followers. In Matthew and Mark, there is no indication of a time period between the Resurrection and the Ascension. Rather, the first appearance of Jesus to His disciples after His Resurrection is also the last.

So the gospel writers apparently were not aiming at accuracy in historical details. They were more concerned with transmitting a message. So now, the question is: What is the message? What is the charge that Jesus gives His disciples as he physically takes leave of them?

The message, if we look at the different gospels, is phrased differently in the Acts and also in the gospels. Let’s first look at the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:8).  It says: “But you will receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In Matthew (Mt 28:19-20), it says: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The gospel of Mark (Mk 16:15-18) says, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name, they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So, brothers and sisters, these are the last words of Jesus, as recorded differently in the Acts of the Apostles, and in Matthew and Mark. But all of them are in agreement that Jesus gave His disciples a mission, a task to engage in until His return in glory. Second, He assured them of divine assistance in carrying out this mission.

The mission is to be a witness to the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth, to go into all nations of the world, and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The universal reach of this mission is very clear. The message of Jesus is meant to be good news in the ears of all humankind, irrespective of nationality or culture.

Given the fact that, today, many nations have embraced other religions in preference to the Gospel, maybe it’s time to ask ourselves: Are these people rejecting the message of Jesus, or are they rejecting the messengers and the way they represented it? The air of superiority and triumphalism assumed by many Christian missionaries is a disservice to the Gospel and not part of the good news. Have we perhaps despoiled a good story in the telling?

At the beginning of the twentieth century, some mission-minded Christians started a periodical and called it “The Christian Century.” That title was an expression of their triumphalist belief that, by the end of the century, the whole world would have been Christianized. Today, we have hopefully grown wiser and humbler, as we realize that, in the twentieth century, not only did we fail to Christianize the whole world, but rather that we added two world wars to our record of “accomplishments.” To this day, there is still war and ongoing threats of war in other parts of the world.

Spreading the good news to all nations is not a goal that can be attained by dint of human mind and craft. That is why Jesus promises to empower His messengers from on high by His abiding presence, and of course, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The challenge of sharing the good news with all humankind should, therefore, begin on our knees, as we confess that we have often taken matters into our own selfish human hands, and promise to give the Holy Spirit a chance.

There is a story told about a small town in Germany that was severely blasted during the last war. Some years later the buildings were restored. One of the buildings was the town’s cathedral. When the renovation was completed, it was noticed that the large figure of Christ the King, which stood in front of the cathedral, was still unrepaired, when both hands had been blown off in the explosion.

When there was no sign of its being repaired, some parishioners went to their pastor to inquire if he had any plans to repair the statue. He surprised them all by saying that, no, he was going to leave the statue exactly as it was. He explained that, when Jesus ascended into heaven, He took His body with Him. He asked us to provide the body, which is the Church, and His Spirit would provide everything else. He would not replace the hands on the statue, to remind people that Jesus has no other hands but ours when it comes to continuing the building of His kingdom here on earth.

Let me end by quoting what Saint Teresa of Avila once said: “Christ has no body now but yours; no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks with compassion on this world. You are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands; yours are the feet; yours are the eyes. You are His body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Good Shepherds

Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52 / Ps 100 / Rev 7:9, 14b-17 / Jn 10:27-30
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Four clergymen, taking a short break from their heavy schedules, were on a park bench chatting and enjoying an early Spring day.

“You know, since all of us are such good friends,” said one, “this might be a good time to discuss personal problems.”  They all agreed.

“Well, I would like to share with you the fact that I drink to excess,” said one.  There was a gasp from the other three.

Then another spoke up.  “Since you were so honest, I’d like to say that my big problem is gambling.  It’s terrible, I know, but I can’t quit.  I’ve even been tempted to take money from the collection plate.”  Another gasp was heard.

The third clergyman spoke.  “I’m really troubled, brothers, because I’m growing fond of a woman in my church, a married woman.”  More gasps.

But the fourth remained silent.  After a few minutes, the others coaxed him to open up.  “The fact is that I just don’t know how to tell you about my problem.”

“It’s all right, brother, your secret is safe with us,” said the others.

“Well, it’s this way,” he said, “You see, I’m an incurable gossip.”

Brothers and Sisters, jokes like this have shaped our view of priests, as if there is no difference between the life and work of a priest and that of other Christians.  That is true only up to a point.  We see another dimension to the life and work of priests when we consider it from the aspect of vocations, or the Call of God.  This is the aspect that the Church wants us to dwell on today, as we observe the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  Today the Church invites us to reflect on the meaning of God’s call, and to pray for an increase in vocations.

To help us reflect on the meaning of the priestly vocation, let us not only pray for religious vocations, but also encourage and support young men and women who have the inclination to walk the less-travelled road.  If you feel you are called, or have the desire, to serve God and His people in a more meaningful way, and without having a family, a wife or children, then you are called to become a priest and to grab that opportunity given by God.  You should inquire further and discern God’s will.  You can consult me or some other priest regarding your desire, or call our Vocation Director.

One way of showing our love for God, especially for parents, is by supporting and encouraging our children to enter the priesthood.  The family is the seedbed of vocations; a fertile ground for more vocations.  Parents can demonstrate their faith in the way they encourage their children.

In last Sunday’s gospel, we heard Jesus three times give Peter the charge to “feed my sheep.”  In that way, He made Peter a shepherd, a pastor, a priest.  In today’s gospel, the Church presents to us the figure of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  Our Lord continues His work of shepherding His people through Peter and his co-workers, the apostles and the disciples, and through their successors, the Pope, the bishops, priests, deacons, catechists, laypeople, and others.

Today is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us what a good shepherd is.  A good shepherd is present, knows, directs, tends, and protects the sheep.

We who are in involved in shepherding others in one way or another, would do well to ask ourselves today if we are good or bad shepherds or shepherdesses, in the light of today’s gospel.

First of all, a shepherd must be present to the sheep.  How can the sheep hear someone who is absent, or is not accessible, or is hard to reach?  We can say anything we want, or put up numerous excuses and reasons, but being present and being with the sheep are very basic and important.

Second, a good shepherd knows the sheep, or at least takes time and gives effort to get to know the sheep.  We want shepherds who are genuinely interested and who genuinely care.  A text message says it beautifully:  People don’t care about what you know, as long as they know you care.

Third, a good shepherd leads and directs the sheep.  He or she must have an idea, a direction, of where to lead the sheep.  The good shepherd or shepherdess must have a clear vision and a strong sense of mission for the sheep.

Fourth, a good shepherd gives.  He or she must have a sense of sacrifice.  We need shepherds and shepherdesses who can also give us our sense of dignity, freedom, respect, and personhood.

Finally, a good shepherd protects the sheep.  He or she must be aware and must protect us from all that would harm us.  When push comes to shove, he or she must be ready to sacrifice life and limb for the good of the sheep.

So, Brothers and Sisters, on Good Shepherd Sunday, let us pray for more good shepherds of the church.  Let us also pray for a better understanding and appreciation of the life and work of ordained ministers, so that more and more people avail themselves of the grace which God makes available through them.  Let us also pray that more young people will be drawn to follow in their footsteps and generously answer the call of God.

My Lord and My God

Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday of Divine Mercy
April 24, 2022 – Year C
Readings: Acts 5:12-16 / Ps 118 / Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 / Jn 20:19-31
by Rev. Louis Benoit, Guest Celebrant

In the gospel for today, I think we need to be in touch with the apostles in that closed-off room on this first Easter Sunday night. The gospel tells us they were afraid; they were in there because of fear of the Jews.  Jesus had just been crucified, and they were His followers. The Jewish people could be after them for the same reason.

Besides fear, there was probably a great deal of confusion. Jesus had been crucified. What were they going to do? Where were they going to go? They’d heard news about the empty tomb, but they hadn’t seen Jesus or anything like that. They were probably very confused.

They probably had a certain amount of guilt, too. In Jesus’ hour of suffering, they slept through it, and when He was taken away, they ran away. So there was probably a certain amount of guilt.

Fear. Confusion. Guilt. They were huddled in that closed room with the locked doors. In the midst of that, Jesus ends up standing among them. The first thing He says is, “Peace be with you.” And He repeats it.

What is peace? Peace is when creation is ordered as God would have it. The tranquility of order; that’s peace. Those people He was standing among were in serious need of peace.

Then He tells them, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus was sent, then He preached the Gospel of peace, justice, and love, against the reign of sin, evil, and death. And with His death and resurrection, it is now the responsibility of His followers to continue His mission. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

He doesn’t send them forth alone. He says to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That’s another aspect of resurrection existence: The Spirit that animated Jesus in His lifetime, through His death and resurrection, is now passed on to His followers. And so they don’t go off alone to do the work of Jesus.  The very Spirit of Jesus is with them as they continue that work.

But before He says, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” the gospel says He breathed on them. That’s a symbol that could be easily missed. To understand that symbol, you have to go all the way back to the beginning: the Book of Genesis and creation. When God creates the human, He makes the human out of the mud of the earth. But the human only becomes human when God breathes God’s life into the human. And what that is a symbol of in Genesis is that the human is of the earth and of God. That’s how all human beings are: We’re of the earth and we’re of God.

The fact that Jesus breathes on His apostles is saying He’s breathing new life into them. They are a new creation in Christ Jesus. That’s the meaning of Jesus’ breathing on them.

He does that before He says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Thus they are commissioned to continue the work of Jesus.

The Bible is the living word of God for us today. So that’s not just written about the apostles on the first Easter; it’s written about us. Jesus says to us, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Those are words to us today. And “Receive the Holy Spirit.” We have received the Spirit of Jesus in Baptism and Confirmation. That Spirit is constantly being renewed in Eucharist. And so this gospel is not just about the apostles; it’s about us and what our responsibilities are.

It’s also significant that we have the doubting Thomas in the gospel. Thomas who doubts: He’s not there when Jesus comes. They say, “We have seen the Lord.” And he says, “I’m not going to believe until I touch Him, until I feel the wounds in His hands and touch the wound in His side.  I’m not going to believe.”  A week later, Thomas is there, and Jesus comes. Thomas sees Jesus’ wounds, and he touched the wounds, and he makes the comment, “My Lord and my God.”

A lot of scripture scholars say that this Easter appearance to the apostles was the conclusion of the Gospel of John; the appearance by Jesus at the Sea of Tiberius was a later addition to the gospel. And so Thomas’ professing, “My Lord and my God,” is the apostles’ coming to full faith. Thomas is speaking, but it’s in the name of all the apostles, proclaiming the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God.” It’s a culmination of their faith. It’s the final profession of their faith in the presence of the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God.”

Of course, as we are called to continue the ministry of Jesus, we are called (“As the Father has sent me, so I send you”), with the grace of the Spirit we have received, to give the spirit of Jesus to others, and we can say like Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”

Be The Net

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 13, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Jer 17:5-8 / Ps 1 / 1 Cor 15:12, 16-29 / Lk 6:17, 20-26
by Rev. Mr. Barry Welch, Guest Homilist

There are only two kinds of people – those with loaded guns and those who dig.  That’s a line from Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.   Here’s another one – those who nibble corn on the cob in a circle, and those who nibble corn on the cob in a line.  And my favorite, there are only two kinds of people in this world – those who load the toilet paper to pull from the back, and those who properly load it to go over the top.  The whole idea is “us and them.” (more…)

We Are Called

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 6, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Is 6:1-2a, 3-8 / Ps 138 / 1 Cor 15:1-11 / Lk 5:1-11
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Our three readings today have a similar theme.  They all tell us about individuals being called to serve God.

In the first reading, we hear that the Lord said to the prophet Isaiah (who lived some seven hundred years before the birth of Christ), “Whom shall I send?”  Isaiah replied, “Here I am.  Send me.”  In the second reading, Saint Paul narrates that, after Jesus had appeared to many other people, He appeared to Paul himself.  Finally, in the gospel, Peter, James, and John are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, after their boats are overloaded, and their nets are splitting because of the number of fish they caught.

Each of these men was called in a dramatic way: Isaiah’s sin being purged by a burning ember on his lips; Paul being knocked from his horse; and Peter, James, and John having their boats almost sink under the weight of the fish they caught.  You might say, if God called me by performing a similar miracle, I would probably accomplish great things, too.

The truth is, God has called each of us.  Maybe we didn’t hear His voice, or experience some miraculous conversion, but let’s face it, neither have most other people.  I don’t recall that either Mother Teresa or even Pope John Paul II ever revealed that they had a miraculous calling from God.  We may not consider ourselves in that kind of calling, but everyone has a call from God, although sometimes we don’t remember or even recognize the call.  When I was called to the priesthood, I didn’t experience any miraculous incident or something supernatural.  I thought about the possibility of becoming a priest, I prayed over it, and then decided that this is what God wanted me to do.

To those of you who are married, you had a call from God.  To the young people here, by the very fact that you were born, you have had a call from God.  We might say, but my call was so ordinary, nothing like that of our readings.  The most important fact, however, is not the call that counts, but how each person, such as Isaiah, Paul, Peter, James, and John, reacts to the individual calling received.  Those men merely accepted God’s invitation, and if we do the same, then our lives can be fulfilling, as their lives were.

For example, how does a married person react positively to the call of God?  Of course, by truly loving his or her spouse.  There is probably no husband or wife here who would say that is always easy to do.  It may be easy most of the time, but there are times when it is probably difficult.  That is the key.  God asked all of us to accept our calling and react in a manner that mirrors the reaction of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Remember, when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He initially reacted exactly the way many of us react, when we find ourselves in situations that we find difficult or uncomfortable.

We might think we never experience Christ’s dilemma, but when husbands and wives don’t agree, or when children do not want to obey their parents, or when we are tempted to sin against the commandments, we, too, face a difficult decision.  Jesus responded to the possibility of His being crucified by moaning, “Let this cup pass from me, Father.”

Are any of you in that same situation right now?  My spouse and I had a fight.  My parents don’t understand me.  My boyfriend wants me to get more deeply involved than we should.  How we react to those situations determines whether we are truly answering God’s call to us.  Why do I have to make these difficult decisions?  Why do I have to think of God or other people?  Why not just do what I want to do?  These are questions we frequently ask ourselves.  Paul was called to evangelize the world.  Peter was called to martyrdom.  They reacted positively to their calling and that is what each of us must do.  We are expected to accept the conditions of our ordinary calling.

For us, answering the call, may be the courage to kiss one’s spouse and apologize.  It may be realizing God has given your parents the responsibility to expect reasonable obedience from you.  It also may be that you have the responsibility to tell your boyfriend or your friends, No.

This is one of the dimensions in the Synod on Synodality headed by Pope Francis.  The third dimension is what we call, the Mission.  Mission, because we are all called or we are all sent to evangelize and to witness God’s love to the world.  The question is, Is that an easy thing to do?  Not always.  Do not forget that in Gethsemane, Jesus was terrified.  He did not want to face the upcoming nightmare or trial, just as we often do not want to face any adversity in life.  However, we should give the same answer to our God as Jesus gave to His Father: “Father, not my will, but Yours, be done.”

The men mentioned in our readings today faced many difficulties.  At times they were under intense pressure.  We may not be as famous as they are, but we walk the same walk that they walked.  The pressures and the difficulties that we have are real.

As we face any difficulty in answering our call to follow God’s will, we should follow Christ’s example in the garden.  We should turn to His Father in prayer, and He will answer us.  He will give us the strength and courage to react in the same manner as did the men in today’s readings.  Isaiah said, “Here I am.  Send me.”  Paul said, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am and His grace to me has not been ineffective.”  The reply of Peter, James, and John was eloquent.  When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Him.  We should, too.

Your Holy Family

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
December 26, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 / Ps 128 / Col 3:12-21 / Lk 2:41-52
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

On the first Sunday after Christmas, the Church always celebrates the Feast of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. They are the number one model of a family that follows God’s will.  That’s why this Sunday’s reading features three essential elements of a Christian or sacred family. (more…)

The Missing Piece

Third Sunday of Advent
December 12, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Zep 3:14-18a / Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 / Phil 4:4-7 / Lk 3:10-18
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Good morning and welcome to Gaudete Sunday, which in Latin means rejoice. To help us understand that word, I would like you to recall a time in your life when you went from feeling incompleteness, or pain, or uncertainty, or loneliness, or boredom, or aimlessness to feeling whole and joyful.

Maybe it was when that person you liked asked you on a date or agreed to go on a date with you, or when your significant other first said, “I love you”, or when your boss, out of the blue told you that you are doing a great job, or when your doctor relieved your pain, or when your best friend or family member forgave you, or when you and your wife first realized you were going to have a baby. (more…)

Prepare for His Coming

First Sunday of Advent
November 28, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Jer 33:14-16 / Ps 25 / 1 Thes 3:12-4:2 / Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Today is the first day of Advent and also the first day of the liturgical calendar of the Church.  That’s why some would say it’s the New Year for the Church.

Every time we hear the word Advent, what comes to our mind?  Perhaps we would say, “Christmas is near.”  Yes, Christmas is near, but it’s not yet Christmas.

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning ‘coming’ or ‘arrival.’   In this season of Advent, the Church invites us to prepare for the coming of the Lord into our lives.  The Church teaches us there are three ways in which the Lord comes into our lives. (more…)

What You Do Today

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 14, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Dn 12:1-3 / Ps 16 / Heb 10:11-14, 18 / Mk 13:24-32
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a beautiful Cherokee proverb that says: “When you were born, you cried, and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that, when you die, the world cries, and you rejoice.”

Our gospel today talks about the end of time. For many years, people have speculated about the end of time, because people love to speculate, especially about when the world might come to an end. That is why writers and filmmakers make money by imagining how it might end. (more…)