June is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is celebrated on the octave (eight day) of the Feast of Corpus Christi. This year this feast happens to fall on a first Friday, a day usually devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout the year. The devotion to the Sacred Heart became universal following the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647 - 1690).
The most noticeable aspect of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the fire which represents His burning love for all mankind. In fact, the representation of fire as God's love goes beyond symbolism. The actual love of God the Father and God the Son is showered upon human beings in the form of fire - the holy Spirit came upon the Apostles as tongues of fire. As we live in the Age of the Church which is guided by the Spirit of God, this fire is ever-present in our everyday life.
While speaking to a group of youngsters during a Retreat, a young man challenged me for consistently calling God a 'He'. He said that according to his parents, God is neither a 'he' or a 'she', but an 'it'. By now, it should be no secret that I have all kind of questions when it comes to God. But this one was new territory for me as I never considered God as anything other than a 'man'. So ever wondered why God is always addressed as a man in Christianity, why not a woman, or something in between?
Recently Pope Francis made headlines all across the media when many reported that the Pope has preached Salvation by works. Here is what the Pope said:
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there."
Catholic Church has long been teaching that we are saved by the grace of God and not by our works. Many of the secular media has used the Pope's speech to imply that the new Pope has a very liberal attitude when it comes to faith. In other words, it seems that the Pope is contradicting the teachings of his predecessors and is more in line with the modern day thought that being good is all that's required of human beings. Did Pope Francis err in his speech or has the Church changed its teaching?
Ever wondered about having a real life encounter with Jesus? You could be at work, at school, on the way to the doctor, perhaps doing shopping. And somebody told you that Jesus is passing by. Would you run over to see Him? I think I would. I might even get on that Sycamore tree like Zachaeus did to get a good look at Him. I am not good at climbing trees, and I am scared of heights. I am sure I will make a fool out of myself my clinging onto that tree, doing everything not to fall. But now I am worried, not about making a fool out of myself or falling, but what if Jesus sees me? I know what He is going to tell me. He would say: "Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). You might be wondering why I am worried about Jesus inviting Himself to my house. I am worried because at some point during his stay at my house, I would have to get up to say, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over" (Luke 19:8). Now you see, that's a lot of moolah my friends!
There is a misconception among many that people who pray a lot and attend Mass and other church services regularly are really good people. Recently somebody told me that they have lost their faith mostly because of the hypocrisy of people who prays a lot - people like renewed catholics. This person further went onto explain that they used to have a lot of respect for Charismatic preachers and other members of the prayer group. Then they had the opportunity to be in close contact with one for an extended period of time. They said that it was disappointing to see a normal person who was prone to anger, impatience, and harshness. They were expecting a holy man, somebody filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity (the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit), but realized that the person is nothing more than a regular human being. They told me that it made them realize that people who go around to preach and pray are just phony. This person went onto say that it has created a deep wound in their mind that they even begun to doubt their own faith. They said that they can't understand why God, who knows that this person was phony, listened to this person's prayers because it turned out this person's intercessory prayers were really effective. They thought that they too was living a life similar to the charismatic person, but all of their prayers to God had gone to deaf ears.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, Judas went to the chief priests and agreed to hand over Jesus to them for thirty pieces of silver (cf. Matthew 26). In the Church, the Wednesday before the Passover goes by the name Spy Wednesday. Jesus now has a spy in his camp, somebody who is seeking an opportunity to betray his Master when the time is right.
When I heard this during the homily this morning, I thought what a horrible thing - it is really hard to fathom how an all-knowing Jesus felt knowing fully well that Judas is a spy. Then I read the following commentary by Origen (185-254 AD), a Bible scholar and early Church father:
Humble is a word used a lot recently when people talk about Pope Francis. People would mention something that he has done and would use it as a proof that the new pope is a very humble man. But this idea of humility varies significantly from the commonly held assumptions about being humble. Normally speaking, being humble is not different from having very little opinion about oneself. So somebody who would agree with almost anything without ever wanting to make their voice heard, or somebody who choose to play the role of the inferior in order to please others would be considered as humble. Anybody who stands their ground or insists on their opinions be heard is considered not so humble, even arrogant.
