This coming week, as you all know, is the now-secular holiday of Hallowe’en. What was originally connected with two Western church holy days has been so secularized as not to be recognized as having any religious connection at all. We see this same phenomenon with the Nativity of the Lord – Christmas – and the […]

In Jesus’ parable, that we just heard, the point is the failure of the rich man to use the opportunity given to him due to his indifference. The rich man did not believe in an afterlife. His reaction at the end indicates this. Therefore he spent his life enjoying all the luxuries of life. He […]

Last Sunday I spoke to you about mercy and compassion. In the Gospel reading today we have a concrete example of mercy and compassion. St. Luke is fond of showing Jesus overwhelmed with pity and showing kindness, especially to women, just as in this event. There is the compassion of the crowd which had assembled […]

Today’s Gospel reading begins with Jesus’ instruction, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” and ends with his directive, “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” We also heard him tells us to, “love your enemies and do good to them…” This reminds of what we pray in the anaphora […]