Homilies and Other Writings

  The soldiers, who did not believe in Jesus, said to Him in mockery: “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ( Luke 23.35-43). For them, salvation meant worldly welfare, bodily health. A true king, for them, must have a good life himself and be able to provide a good life to his subjects. The not-so-good thief, for his part, did have faith. He knew perhaps that there was another life, but he was interested in this life only “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” As if he were saying, “ what’s the point of having power if you do not use it to avoid suffering? Is there any meaning in this suffering ?” Jesus is a King who can save from the spiritual death of sin and from the eternal death of hell; Jesus can destroy also corporeal death and give Eternal Life in Heaven to our bodies also. But in order to overcome his enemies, sin and death, this King needed to fight. He needed to rescue His subjects from sin, and the only way to do it was by taking upon Himself ...

  Today’s readings touch upon one of the most important problematics in today’s world: our relationship with the truth. What is truth? What is our truth, as human beings? Where is that truth and where does it come from? 1. The prophet Isaiah says that many nations shall come to Jerusalem and say to each other: “‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” ( Isaiah 2.1-5). This is a prophecy of the Messianic times: the Apostles were instructed by Jesus to preach the Good News to all nations beginning from Jerusalem (cf. Luke 24:46; Acts 1:4-7). Jerusalem is an image of the Kingdom of Heaven, an organized community with the God-man Jesus as its leader and centre; a community that will be perfect in Heaven but begins on earth through the Church. In this Jerusalem, “the thrones for judgment were ...

The Thessalonians believed that the day of the Lord was happening immediately, and so some of them started to say, “What’s the point of working or planning for the future, if the day of the Lord is coming next week, or soon enough?” St. Paul reminds them that the expectation of the Lord’s coming does not excuse them from working in this world ( 2 Thessalonians 3.7-12), and he tells them in his Letter about the signs of the Lord’s coming. Today’s readings may help us to reflect upon what it means to be a Christian in today’s world. For some people being a Christian is coming to church on Sundays, or often enough. Of course, coming to church is part of it, and the most important part of it (because of the Eucharist). But that’s not all. 1. For St. Paul, being a Christian was working for your own food, that is, minding your business. This means doing your job in a productive way, as one who expects fruit. A Christian does not cheat at work. A Christian should love what he does, ev...