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No Love Without Sacrifice, No Happiness Without Love: On Love and Pain

 Today’s readings are a reminder that there is no love without suffering, but there is no happiness without love. There is no love without self-sacrifice: “ If anyone wants to become my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” ( Matthew 16:21-27) There is no happiness, no life without love: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” 1. Peter had just received the name “Peter” and had been established as the future foundation of Christ’s Church. He is now called “Satan” by the same mouth that proclaimed him rock (cf. Matthew 16:18, 23). Why? Because Peter thought that human beings could be saved without the Cross. It is as if Jesus were saying to him, “ Satan is the one who tells people that they can be saved without the cross, without penance and living the selfish lifestyle of the world. Satan is the one who told me to use my powers to impress people and have an easy life (cf. Matthew ...
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Peter, the Rock and the Pope

  “Who do you say that I am?” How do we know the right doctrine about Jesus? How do we know what God says about this or that? This is today’s topic and I want to show the crucial role of the pope in God’s plan. 1. What do you think God says about…(“x”)? Is that a human idea? Of course: if it wasn’t, you could not think it. So, even if it is what God says, if you can think of it, then it is an idea proportionate to your mind, something you can think of and at least partially understand. Now, can this idea come from your own mind? It could, in the following sense: a human idea is something you can come up with, because it is proportionate to your mind. In the same way you can think of it, you can also come up with it. Could this idea come from an angel? Of course. If an angel, who is a superior mind, can think angelic ideas, much more can he think human ideas and come up with them. If he can think the more difficult, he can also think the less difficult. Thus, human ideas can a...
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The Prayer that Jesus Could Not Resist (On Matthew 15:21-28)

  1. A Canaanite woman from that region came out, and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon. ” But he did not answer her at all. Has it not happened to you? You pray, you shout, and He does not answer. Now, this woman knew that Jesus was hearing her shouting; we, sometimes, struggle to believe that someone is listening. Jesus did not answer her, but she knew that Jesus was good and that therefore He would help. Jesus did not respond, but the fact that He did not send her away gave her hope: “I will keep shouting.” This is important. The disciples know that Jesus ’ mission is related to the people of Israel, and so they do not understand why Jesus does not send her away. Jesus knew what He was doing: the disciples did not yet understand His plan. And so, his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” As if they were saying, “There is no point: You are not going to listen to her. ...
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Jesus is the Treasure, We are the Pearl

  Jesus speaks about a treasure; Jesus speaks about a pearl… But the treasure is valuable in itself, whereas the pearl is valuable according to its price. This is why Jesus says that “ The kingdom of heaven is like treasure,” but does not say “The kingdom of heaven is like a pearl.” “The Kingdom of Heaven,” He says, “is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.” 1. Jesus is the treasure that we find, Jesus is the merchant who finds us, a pearl of great value. That Jesus is a treasure is easy to understand, but why are we a pearl of great value, if without Jesus we are sinners who can do nothing? Because our price is the price of His blood. The only way to redeem human beings was Jesus’ death on the Cross. Jesus found us and saw that the price for us was very high. He sold everything He had; He gave up His own self and bought us at the price of his blood. Every time we see another person, especially if they are sinners, we have to remember that they may look disadvantaged and b...
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Your Love is Better than Life (Ps 63:3)

  (Text of Fr. Andrew’s Homily for July 30, 2017)   I find in today’s readings a powerful message: how much better are the things of God than even the most desirable and costly of earthly things. These readings are a reminder that our truth, our happiness and fulfilment as human beings can be found nowhere else but in God. Let me comment briefly on each of the readings.   In the first reading, in a dream, God asked King Solomon what gift he’d like to receive. King Solomon chose an understanding mind for governing the people. Solomon preferred God’s wisdom to all else in the world. He could have asked God for many other gifts. King Solomon’s request for wisdom pleased God. "Because you have asked for this—not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right— I do as you requested.” ( 1 Kg 3:7-12) The text continues with a surprising twist: “I give you also what you have no...
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The Remedy for a Broken Culture: “Come to Me, I Will Give You Rest”

  “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest…” There has never been a better promise for western culture. A culture of anxiety and depression, a culture of escape and superficiality, a culture that keeps getting tired of going nowhere, a culture that looks for diversion and fun to escape a deep sense of worthlessness. A culture of anxiety: a culture generating people fearful of the unknown, of failure, of being abandoned. A culture of depression: of people depressed when they come to themselves and see only nothingness, people accustomed to boredom, sliding to despair. A culture without God: a culture blind to God’s existence, deaf to His call and suspicious of His promises. And, because of that, I would even say a culture without true love, full of human hearts closed to their neighbour, an atmosphere of selfishness. A culture where a spouse is loved as long as this is beneficial to the lover, where a child is desired as long as it ...
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The Harvest is Plentiful: We Need More Laborers

  In several places of our diocese the number of catechumens has increased significantly. “ The harvest is plentiful .” According to St. Thomas Aquinas, [1] “it is not a harvest when the grain begins to blossom, or when the grains appear, but when it is ready to be gathered; so [the harvest is plentiful means that] men are disposed to believe as a result of preaching.” Men and women are ready to receive the Gospel: we need someone to preach it, we need many to preach it. Also, our diocese is about to be “ like sheep without a shepherd .” Bishop Miehm is moving to London. Yes, another Bishop will be appointed sometime this year; yes, we will not lack of a priest preaching to us the Gospel; and yes, the Lord is our main Shepherd and nobody will snatch us from his hand (cf. John 10:28); but in today’s Gospel, the Lord, even when He Himself is present among human beings, begs the apostles to beg Him for shepherds, for laborers, for good laborers, to be sent to His harvest. 1. “ Th...
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