Author: admin

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Gospel: John 5: 31-47

Jesus said to the Jews: 
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.
You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept human testimony,
but I say this so that you may be saved.
He was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater than John’s.
The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.
Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word remaining in you,
because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.

“I do not accept human praise;
moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 
I came in the name of my Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another
and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father:
the one who will accuse you is Moses,
in whom you have placed your hope.
For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me. 
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Has anyone ever said to you, “I’ve read the bible, but cannot believe it?”

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I’ve often wondered why two people can read the same text but come to very different conclusions. Being ordained a priest, for example, was a life-changing decision. The Word of God transformed my life!

Meanwhile, someone else could try reading the same bible and be put to sleep! Why is that?

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In the Gospel, Jesus says to the religious authorities, “You do not have the love of God within you.”

Studying the Torah was considered an honorable thing. Some scholars dedicated their entire lives to memorizing passages, interpreting the Law, and to acting it out. They dressed in noticeable clothing, prayed publicly, and held prominent positions in society.

They knew the bible, but Jesus says they didn’t believe. Knowing scripture was like memorizing mathematical equations; the words never seeped from their minds into their hearts.

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Perhaps other “non-believers” face a similar problem today. 

There’s a huge difference between knowing what Jesus says, and putting into practice. For example, we know that Jesus tells us to forgive others their trespasses.

But it’s hard to believe in a loving God if we ourselves have a hardened, unforgiving heart. 

It’s hard to believe in the possibility of eternal life, if we do not value human life here on earth.

It’s hard to believe in a God who washes our feet, if we ourselves never get our hands dirty.

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Why do people read the bible and have varying reactions?

There may be a variety of reasons. But one is certainly what we find in today’s Gospel – having a closed heart.

May we open ourselves to the Lord and his Word, allowing it to seep from our minds into our hearts.

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Today Catholics, Americans, the Irish, and people around the world celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick. 

On the surface, we may associate this day with pre-COVID parades, dancing, Guinness, soda bread, and even the Chicago river dyed green.

But behind the feast is the remarkable story of a man whose life and legacy still speaks to us today.

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When he was a boy, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. He spent the next several years suffering terribly from hunger and the cold.

Eventually, he escaped and made his way back to Britain, where he entered the seminary and became a priest for 20 years.

One night Patrick had a dream. A voice with an Irish accent pleaded with him, “We appeal to you, to come and walk among us.” 

He knew the call came from the Lord, so he returned to Ireland a free man.

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Imagine the courage it took Patrick to return to the land that once enslaved him. But off he went, spending the final 28 years of his life spreading the Catholic faith.

With the help of his friends and the grace of the Holy Spirit, Patrick converted an entire nation. Today 90% of Ireland identifies as Catholic.

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Imagine what this parish – and the Church at large – can do if we embrace Patrick’s courageous spirit, and share our faith with others, just one person, one day at a time. 

Together, we will fill these pews; we will worship God; and we will build a strong community of faith.

Saint Patrick, pray for us!

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Gospel: John 5: 1-16

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
“Do you want to be well?”
The sick man answered him,
“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
“It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 
He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.’“
They asked him,
“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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(The pool of Siloam)

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I’m sure many of us remember the story last year about a Tennessee man who stockpiled 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer at the outbreak of the pandemic. 

He plotted to price gouge people on Amazon, but was quickly discovered, publicly shamed, and forced to donate every last bottle.

It’s easy to be angry with him; he was a greedy opportunist. But selfishness rears its ugly head within every human heart.

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In the Gospel, there’s a man who’s been ill for 38 years. He’s staked his hope on being healed by bathing in the pool of Siloam.

It was commonly believed that the waters were stirred occasionally by an angel. The first person to race into that bubbly bath could be healed.

Think of Siloam like the shrine at Our Lady of Lourdes. People from around the world migrate to that holy site, praying to be healed of some illness.

Unfortunately, this man never made it in. Whenever the waters were stirred, a stampede ensued, causing a desperate heap of humanity to crawl over each other, racing to be first.

The closest this man ever got was second place – until Jesus appeared. 

“Why are you laying here?” he asks him. “Everybody gets down there before me.” 

A bit like that man from Tennessee, people eyed an opportunity and thought about themselves first.

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Can’t we hear the cry of this crippled man still echoing in our world today?

Think of how many are in need of a hug, a handwritten letter, or a helping hand. Many are out of work or out of luck, hoping someone will notice.

May the Lord open our eyes to the needs of our neighbors in need, “for the greatest among you,” Jesus says, “must be your servant.”

How, then, might we eye an opportunity, not to serve ourselves, but someone else today?

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