News - October 2022 RSS Feed

One might wonder what a wealthy and popular man like Zacchaeus was doing rubbing shoulders with commoners, wanting to see an itinerant preacher of no standing, like Jesus? Should he not rather be hobnobbing with famous rabbis, instead of a wandering Jew of no pedigree? On the contrary, Zacchaeus humbled himself to seek Jesus. However, he had some impediments that made his quest a herculean one...

God always hastens to the aid of the weak and oppressed. This does not imply partiality on God’s part, because the judge of all the earth cannot be unjust. God does not support the weak simply because they are weak, but because they have no one but the Lord. Weakness is not a virtue in itself. However, there is the perception of weakness as an effect of injustice. Orphans and widows come under the category of the weak, the poor, and often, oppressed. They become the privileged recipients of God’s solicitude...

The First reading for this weekend narrates a dramatic victory won by the Israelites against the Amalekites. Moses positioned himself on a hill, a posture of prayer and held up the staff of God, a symbol of his authority...God gave victory to this aggregate of people whom he had chosen as his own. It was not on account of anything they had done, but because God wanted a relationship with them. [Click to read more]

Gratitude is the central theme in the readings for this weekend. Every year, we have the privilege of celebrating Thanksgiving Day. I would typically ask people what they were thankful for. I notice how difficult it could be for people to verbalize what they were grateful for. We take things for granted that we do not realize that everything is grace, and that we receive everything we have freely from the loving hands of God. For example, we get accustomed to good health that we do not realize to what extent people are willing to go to regain their health or stay healthy. Today, permit me to ask you, “What are you thankful for?” Do you consider that there is someone deserving of your gratitude or do you take favors done to you for granted? There is a saying among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, “Not to be grateful for favors received is to have stolen them.” Rendered differently, “The ungrateful person is worse than a thief.” It is appropriating what one had received as though one had a right to it. [Click to read more]