22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

These are the words of the Pope in introducing the Marian prayer:

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today’s Gospel passage (cf. Mt 16 : 21-27) is linked to that of last Sunday (cf. Mt 16 : 13-20). After Peter, also in the name of the other disciples, professed faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God, Jesus himself begins to speak to them about his passion. On the way to Jerusalem, he openly explains to his friends what awaits him at the end in the holy city: he foretells his mystery of death and resurrection, humiliation and glory. He says that he will have to “suffer a great deal from the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and rise again on the third day” ( Mt 16:21). But his words are not understood, because the disciples have a faith that is still immature and too tied to the mentality of this world (cf.Rom 12.2). They think of a victory that is too earthly, and for this reason they do not understand the language of the cross.

Faced with the prospect that Jesus could fail and die on the cross, Peter himself rebels and says to him: «God forbid, Lord; this will never happen to you! ” (v. 22). He believes in Jesus – that’s Peter -, he has faith, he believes in Jesus, he believes; he wants to follow him, but does not accept that his glory passes through passion. For Peter and the other disciples – but also for us! – the cross is an uncomfortable thing, the cross is a “scandal”, while Jesus considers fleeing from the cross “scandal”, which would mean withdrawing from the will of the Father, from the mission that He has entrusted to him for our salvation. For this reason Jesus replies to Peter: «Get behind me, Satan! You are a scandal to me, because you do not think according to God, but according to men! ” (v. 23). Ten minutes earlier, Jesus praised Peter, promised him to be the foundation of his Church, the foundation; ten minutes later he says “Satan”. How come this is understood? It happens to all of us! In moments of devotion, fervor, good will, closeness to our neighbor, let us look at Jesus and go forward; but in the moments when the cross comes, we flee. The devil, Satan – as Jesus says to Peter – tempts us. It is proper to the bad spirit, it is proper to the devil to distance ourselves from the cross, from the cross of Jesus.

Then addressing everyone, Jesus adds: “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (v. 24). In this way He points the way of the true disciple, showing two attitudes. The first is “giving up on oneself”, which does not mean a superficial change, but a conversion, a reversal of mentality and values. The other attitude is to take up one’s cross. It is not just a question of bearing the daily tribulations with patience, but of bearing with faith and responsibility that part of the effort, that part of suffering that the struggle against evil entails. The life of Christians is always a struggle. The Bible says that the life of the believer is a militia: to fight against the bad spirit, to fight against Evil.

Thus the commitment to “take up the cross” becomes participation with Christ in the salvation of the world. Thinking about this, let us make sure that the cross hanging on the wall of the house, or the small one we carry around our necks, is a sign of our desire to join Christ in lovingly serving our brothers, especially the smallest and most fragile. The cross is a holy sign of God’s love, it is a sign of the Sacrifice of Jesus, and should not be reduced to a superstitious object or an ornamental jewel. Every time we fix our gaze on the image of Christ crucified, we think that he, as a true Servant of the Lord, fulfilled his mission by giving his life, shedding his blood for the remission of sins. And let us not allow ourselves to be led to the other side, into the temptation of the Evil One. Consequently, if we want to be his disciples, we are called to imitate him,

May the Virgin Mary, united with her Son to Calvary, help us not to retreat in the face of the trials and sufferings that the witness of the Gospel entails for all of us.“

[00989-EN.02] [Original text: Italian]; Taken from the Vatican News – Bulletin

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Prayer Breakfast on Zoom organized by CCCRS

Time : 10:30 am to 11:30 am
Join us on Zoom at  www.zoom.us
Meeting ID: 862 6301 1853
Password: 469577
Details of the event:

10:00 am to 10:30 am Praying the Holy Rosary & Divine Mercy Chaplet Led by prayer groups
10:30 am to 10:35 am Deacon AlexWelcome note
10:35 am to 10:40 amPeter ThompsonOpening Prayer
10:40 am to 11 amAnthony Banka Praise & worship
11 am to 11:25 am Anthony Banka  Testimony
11:25 am to 11:30 Deacon Alex Closing prayer & Final blessing 

“My peace I give you… Let not your hearts be troubled.” (John 14:27) 

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

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At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel ( cf.Mt16: 13-20) presents the moment in which Peter professes his faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. This confession of the Apostle is provoked by Jesus himself, who wants to lead his disciples to take the decisive step in their relationship with him. In fact, the whole journey of Jesus with those who follow him, especially with the Twelve, is a journey of education of their faith. First of all he asks: “Who do people say the Son of man is?” (v. 13). The apostles liked to talk about people, as did all of us. Gossip is liked. Talking about others is not so demanding, for this reason, because we like it; also “skin” the others. In this case, the perspective of faith is already required and not gossip, that is, it asks: “What do people say that I am?”. And the disciples seem to compete in reporting the different opinions, which perhaps to a large extent they themselves shared. They shared themselves. Basically, Jesus of Nazareth was considered a prophet (v. 14).

With the second question, Jesus touches them to the heart: “But you, who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). At this point, we seem to perceive a few moments of silence, because each of those present is called to get involved, manifesting the reason why he follows Jesus; for this reason a certain hesitation is more than legitimate. Even if I now ask you, “Who is Jesus for you?”, There will be some hesitation. Simon takes them away from embarrassment, who enthusiastically declares: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). This response, so full and luminous, does not come to him from his impulse, however generous – Peter was generous -, but is the fruit of a particular grace from the heavenly Father. In fact, Jesus himself tells him: «Neither flesh nor blood have revealed it to you – that is, the culture, what you have studied – no, he has not revealed this to you. My Father who is in heaven has revealed it to you “(v. 17). Confessing Jesus is a grace of the Father. To say that Jesus is the Son of the living God, who is the Redeemer, is a grace that we must ask: “Father, give me the grace to confess Jesus”. At the same time, the Lord recognizes Simon’s prompt correspondence to the inspiration of grace and then adds, in a solemn tone: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and the powers of hell will not prevail over it” (v . 18). With this affirmation, Jesus makes Simon understand the meaning of the new name he gave him, “Peter”: the faith he has just manifested is the unshakable “stone” on which the Son of God wants to build his Church, that is, the Community . And the Church always goes on on the faith of Peter,

Today, we hear Jesus’ question addressed to each of us: “And you, who do you say I am?”. To each of us. And each of us must give an answer that is not theoretical, but which involves faith, that is, life, because faith is life! “For me you are …”, and to say the confession of Jesus. An answer that also requires us, like the first disciples, to listen to the voice of the Father and to be in harmony with what the Church, gathered around Peter, keep proclaiming. It is a question of understanding who Christ is for us: if He is the center of our life, if He is the goal of all our commitment in the Church, of our commitment in society. Who is Jesus Christ for me? Who is Jesus Christ for you, for you, for you… An answer that we should give every day.

But be careful: it is indispensable and commendable that the pastoral care of our communities be open to the many poverties and emergencies that are everywhere. Charity is always the main way of the journey of faith, of the perfection of faith. But it is necessary that the works of solidarity, the works of charity that we do, do not distract from contact with the Lord Jesus. Christian charity is not simple philanthropy but, on the one hand, it is looking at the other with the eyes of Jesus themselves. and, on the other hand, it is seeing Jesus in the face of the poor. This is the true path of Christian charity, with Jesus at the center, always. May Mary Most Holy, blessed because she believed, be our guide and model on the journey of faith in Christ, and make us aware that trust in him gives full meaning to our charity and to our whole existence.

[00963-EN.02] [Original text: Italian] – Taken from the Vatican News – Bulletin

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

These are the words of the Pope in introducing the Marian prayer:

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel ( cf.Mt15.21-28) describes the encounter between Jesus and a Canaanite woman. Jesus is in the north of Galilee, in foreign territory to be with his disciples a little away from the crowds, who are looking for him more and more. And here comes a woman who begs for help for her sick daughter: “Have mercy on me, Lord!” (v. 22). It is the cry that comes from a life marked by suffering, by the sense of helplessness of a mother who sees her daughter tormented by evil and cannot heal her. Jesus initially ignores her, but this mother insists, insists, even when the Master tells the disciples that his mission is addressed only to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v. 24) and not to the pagans. She keeps begging him, and he, at this point, tests her by quoting a proverb – this seems almost a bit cruel -: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (v. 26). And the woman immediately, quick, anguished replies: “It is true, Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27).

With these words this mother demonstrates that she has intuited that the goodness of the Most High God, present in Jesus, is open to every need of his creatures. This wisdom full of trust strikes the heart of Jesus and snatches words of admiration from him: «Woman, great is your faith! Be it for you as you wish “(v. 28). What is the great faith? The great faith is that which brings its own history, also marked by wounds, to the feet of the Lord asking him to heal it, to give it meaning. Each of us has our own story and it is not always a clean story; many times it is a difficult story, with so many pains, so many troubles and so many sins. What do I do with my story? Do I hide it? No! We must bring it before the Lord: “Lord, if You want, you can heal me!”. This is what this woman, this good mother teaches us: the courage to bring one’s own story of pain before God, before Jesus; touch the tenderness of God, the tenderness of Jesus. Let us make the proof of this history, of this prayer: each one thinks of his own story. There are always bad things in a story, always. Let’s go to Jesus, let’s knock on Jesus’ heart and tell him: “Lord, if you are, you can heal me!”. And we will be able to do this if we always have the face of Jesus before us, if we understand what the heart of Christ is like: a heart that has compassion, that carries our pains upon itself, that carries our sins upon itself, our mistakes, our failures. There are always bad things in a story, always. Let’s go to Jesus, let’s knock on Jesus’ heart and tell him: “Lord, if you are, you can heal me!”. And we will be able to do this if we always have the face of Jesus before us, if we understand what the heart of Christ is like: a heart that has compassion, that carries our pains upon itself, that carries our sins upon itself, our mistakes, our failures. There are always bad things in a story, always. Let’s go to Jesus, let’s knock on Jesus’ heart and tell him: “Lord, if you are, you can heal me!”. And we will be able to do this if we always have the face of Jesus before us, if we understand what the heart of Christ is like: a heart that has compassion, that carries our pains upon itself, that carries our sins upon itself, our mistakes, our failures.

But it is a heart that loves us as we are, without makeup. “Lord, if You want, you can heal me!”. And for this it is necessary to understand Jesus, to be familiar with Jesus. And I always return to the advice I give you: always carry a small pocket Gospel and read a passage every day. Bring the Gospel: in your purse, in your pocket and even in your mobile phone, to see Jesus. And there you will find Jesus as He is, as He presents Himself; you will find Jesus who loves us, who loves us so much, who loves us so much. Let’s remember the prayer: “Lord, if You want, you can heal me!”. Beautiful prayer. May the Lord help us, all of us, to pray this beautiful prayer that a pagan woman teaches us: not Christian, not Jewish, but pagan.

May the Virgin Mary intercede with her prayer, so that the joy of faith and the desire to communicate it with the witness of a coherent life may increase in every baptized person, which gives us the courage to draw close to Jesus and tell him: “Lord, if you want, you can heal me! ”.

[00950-EN.02] [Original text: Italian]
Taken from the Vatican News – Daily Bulletin

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

These are the words of the Pope in introducing the Marian prayer:

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel passage (cf. Mt 14 : 22-33) tells of Jesus walking on the waters of the stormy lake. After feeding the crowds with five loaves and two fish – as we saw last Sunday -, Jesus orders the disciples to get into the boat and return to the other shore. He dismisses the people and then goes up the hill, alone, to pray. He immerses himself in communion with the Father.

During the night crossing of the lake, the disciples’ boat gets blocked by a sudden wind storm. This is common on the lake. At one point, they see someone walking on the water coming towards them. Shocked, they think it’s a ghost and scream in fear. Jesus reassures them: «Courage, it’s me, don’t be afraid!». Peter then – Peter, who was so determined – replies: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come towards you on the water”. A challenge. And Jesus says to him: «Come!». Pietro gets off the boat and takes a few steps; then the wind and the waves frighten him and he begins to sink. «Lord, save me!» He cries, and Jesus takes him by the hand and says to him: «O you of little faith, why did you doubt?».

This story is an invitation to abandon ourselves confidently to God in every moment of our life, especially in the moment of trial and disturbance. When we feel strong doubt and fear we seem to sink, in the difficult moments of life, where everything becomes dark, we must not be ashamed to cry out, like Peter: “Lord, save me!” (v. 30). Knocking on the heart of God, on the heart of Jesus: «Lord, save me!». It is a beautiful prayer. We can repeat it many times: «Lord, save me!». And the gesture of Jesus, who immediately extends his hand and grasps that of his friend, must be contemplated for a long time: Jesus is this, Jesus does this, Jesus is the hand of the Father who never abandons us; the strong and faithful hand of the Father, who always and only wants our good. God is not the great noise, God is not the hurricane, he is not the fire, he is not the earthquake, as the account of the prophet Elijah recalls today; God is the light breeze – literally says this: it is that “thread of sonorous silence” – which does not impose itself but asks to listen (cf. 1 Kings 19 : 11-13). Having faith means, in the midst of the storm, keeping your heart turned to God, to his love, to his tenderness as a Father. Jesus wanted to teach this to Peter and the disciples, and also to us today. In dark moments, in moments of sadness, He knows well that our faith is poor – we are all people of little faith, all of us, me too, all – and that our path can be troubled, blocked by adverse forces. But He is the Risen One! Let’s not forget this: He is the Lord who went through death to bring us to safety. Even before we begin looking for him, he is present beside us. And by rising from our falls, it makes us grow in faith. Perhaps we, in the dark, cry out: “Lord! Lord! ”, Thinking he is far away. And He says: “I’m here!”. Ah, he was with me! So is the Lord.

The boat at the mercy of the storm is an image of the Church, which in every age encounters headwinds, sometimes very hard trials: let us think of certain long and bitter persecutions of the last century, and even today, in some parts. At such times, she may be tempted to think that God has abandoned her. But in reality, it is precisely in those moments that the witness of faith, the testimony of love, the testimony of hope shines the most. It is the presence of the risen Christ in his Church that gives the grace of witness to the point of martyrdom, from which new Christians and fruits of reconciliation and peace for the whole world sprout.

May Mary’s intercession help us to persevere in faith and brotherly love when the darkness and storms of life undermine our trust in God.

[00932-EN.02] [Original text: Italian]
Taken from Vatican News – Daily Bulletin