Easter 3A - Emmaus Journey

 From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s Collection:

1.     Bad news and good news:  
 

"I've got some good news and some bad news to tell you. Which would you like to hear first?" the farmer asked. "Why don't you tell me the bad news first?" the banker replied. "Okay," said the farmer, "With the bad drought and inflation and all, I won't be able to pay anything on my mortgage this year, either on the principal or the interest." "Well, that is pretty bad," said the banker. "It gets worse," said the farmer. "I also won't be able to pay anything on the loan for all that machinery I bought, not on the principal or interest." "Wow, is that ever bad!" the banker admitted. "It's worse than that," the farmer continued. "You remember I also borrowed to buy seed and fertilizer and  other  supplies.  Well,  I  can't  pay  anything  on  that  either,  principal  or interest." "That's awful," said the banker, "and that's enough! What's the good news?" "The good news," replied the farmer with a smile, "is that I intend to keep on doing business with you." [John C. Maxwell, Developing the Leaders Around You (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers), p. 71.] I don't know if that was good news for the banker or not. Two of the disciples of Jesus were on the road that leads to Emmaus. They were as low as that farmer because their Master had been crucified like a common thief. But now they’ve heard reports that their Master is not dead at all. Reliable sources have told them that he has appeared to some of their most trusted friends. Was he really alive? The disciples were troubled and afraid. Should they believe the good news or the bad?  And that's our dilemma, isn't it? DO WE BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS OR THE BAD? The good news is that Christ is alive. The bad news is how little impact that event is having in the world today. 

Easter 2A - Thomas

1. Fr. Jude Botelho:

Rction

The first reading describes to us the early Christian community. One of the signs of the Risen Lord was the vibrant Christian community that existed. Anyone who came across that community of believers would be struck by the fact that they were united in mind, body and spirit. “See how they love one another." The Spirit of the Risen Lord created community. “They shared all that they had and no one was in need." We can be counted as a Christian community when we are united with each other, when we care deeply for one another and when we reach out to meet the needs of one another. Do we care enough to share?

Easter A- 2017

Fr. Jude Botelho:

The first reading from the Acts, is part of an early sermon of St. Peter on the feast of Pentecost, his very first after the resurrection. He tells us how he is a witness of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Without the resurrection Jesus' life and ours would be a total failure, with the resurrection every moment of His ministry has a new meaning and every moment of our own can take on a new significance. Peter in this sermon reminds his listeners that Jesus is Lord of all and that his message is a message of hope and peace. He emphasizes that every believer is called to be a witness of the Lord's life, death and resurrection. We are called to be witnesses of the resurrection, but the glory of the resurrection is realized in us only when we have accepted the many crosses that come our way leading us to new life.

Good Friday

From Fr. Jude Botelho:

In today's first reading Isaiah paints a startling portrait of the suffering servant of Yahweh. This suffering servant has a dignity about himself and his spirit is intact and unbroken in the midst of all that he suffers. Physically he was abused and reduced to a subhuman condition, yet in the face of all that he suffered there is no bitterness, no anger, no resentment, no complaint. Isaiah is describing not only the suffering servant but in fact he gives us a pen portrait of Jesus himself as he goes to his passion and he also gives us a model of how the Christian is called to respond to suffering. Jesus would embrace the cross and transform it into an expression of love for all human beings. The cross, the object of death can become the object of life for us and for others, if it is embraced with faith, as coming from God's hands.

Holy Thursday

From Fr. Jude Botelho: 

The Book of Exodus tells us how the Lord ordered the Israelites to keep the Paschal meal. Each family had to kill a lamb and smear the doorposts with the blood of the lamb. The lamb should be roasted and eaten standing to signify their readiness to pass from the land of slavery to the land of promise. It would also signify the passing of the angel of the Lord over the houses of the Israelites marked by the blood of the lamb. To remember this Passover, God ordered the Israelites to keep the Feast of the Passover.

Passion Sunday - Palm Sunday

A.    From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s Collection 

We need to answer 5 questions today:

1) Does Jesus weep over my sinful soul as He wept over Jerusalem at the beginning of His Palm Sunday procession?

2) Am I a barren fig tree?  God expects me to produce fruits of holiness, purity, justice, humility, obedience, charity, and forgiveness.  Am I a barren fig tree?   Or do I continue to produce bitter fruits of impurity, injustice, pride, hatred, jealousy and selfishness?