July 3-8:
July 3 Monday (St. Thomas, Apostle):
The context: Today we celebrate the feast of St.
Thomas, the Apostle. Today’s Gospel passage (Jn 20:24-29) presents the fearless
apostle St. Thomas, in his uncompromising honesty, demanding a personal vision
of, and physical contact with, the risen Jesus as a condition for his belief.
Thomas had not been with the disciples when Jesus first appeared to them in the
Upper Room. As a result, he refused to believe. The following week, Jesus
appeared to the apostles and Thomas in the still-locked Upper Room and said:
“Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed.” Thomas was able to
overcome his doubts by seeing the risen Jesus.
The unique profession of Faith: Thomas, the “doubting
apostle,” made the great profession of Faith, “My Lord and My God.” This
declaration by the “doubting apostle” in today’s Gospel is highly significant
for two reasons. 1) It is the foundation of our Christian Faith. Our Faith is
based on the Divinity of Jesus as demonstrated by Divine miracles, especially
by the supreme miracle of the Resurrection from the dead. Thomas’ profession of
Faith is the strongest evidence we have for the Resurrection of Jesus. 2)
Thomas’ Faith culminated in his self-surrender to Jesus, his heroic missionary
expedition to India in A.D. 52, his fearless preaching, and the powerful
testimony given by his martyrdom in A.D. 72.
Life messages: 1) Faith culminating in
self-surrender to God leads us to the service of our fellow-human beings.
Living Faith enables us to see the risen Lord in everyone and gives us the
willingness to render each one loving service: “Faith without good works is
dead” (Jas 2:17). Mother Teresa presents it this way: “If we pray, we will
believe; if we believe, we will love; if we love, we will serve. Only then we
put our love of God into action.” It was his Faith in the Lord and obedience to
Jesus’ missionary command that prompted St. Thomas to travel to India to preach
the Gospel among the Hindus, to establish seven Christian communities (known
later as “St. Thomas Christians”), and eventually to endure martyrdom. 2) We
need to grow in the living and dynamic Faith of St. Thomas using the following
means prescribed by the Spiritual Fathers: a) We come to know and experience
Jesus personally and intimately by the daily and meditative reading of the
Bible. b) We strengthen our Faith by the power of the Holy Spirit through
personal and community prayer. c) We share in the Divine Life of Jesus by
frequenting the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. d) We are reconciled with God
on a daily basis by repenting of our sins and asking God’s forgiveness and by
receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation whenever we fall into a grave sin.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 4 Tuesday:
The context: Matthew’s emphasis on Jesus’
wondrous works helps him to reveal Jesus’ true Messianic identity. The role of
God in calming the storms of life is the central theme of today’s Gospel. By
describing the miracle, Matthew also assures his first-century believers that
nothing can harm the Church as long as the risen Lord is with them. The
incident reminds us today to keep Jesus in our life’s boat and to seek his help
in the storms of life.
The storm: The Sea of Galilee is a lake thirteen miles long
from north to south and eight miles broad from east to west at its widest. It
is notorious for its sudden storms. When a cold wind blows from the west, the
valleys, gullies and hills act like gigantic funnels compressing the storms and
letting them rush down to the lake to create violent waves. Unable to control
their fears, the disciples wake Jesus up, accusing him of disregarding their
safety. Jesus’ response is immediate. At once he rises and rebukes the winds
and the sea, and instantly there is total calm. Only then does Jesus gently
chide his terrified and now astonished disciples for the smallness of their
Faith.
Life message: We need to welcome Jesus into the
boat of our life to calm the storms we face. All of us are making a journey
across the sea of time to the shore of eternity, and it is natural that we all
will experience different types of violent storms occasionally in our lives:
physical storms, emotional storms, and spiritual storms. We face storms of
sorrow, doubts, anxiety, worries, temptations, and passion. Only Jesus can give
us real peace in the storm of sorrow or console us for the loss of our dear
ones. When the storms of doubt seek to uproot the very foundations of the
Faith, Jesus is there to still that storm, revealing to us his Divinity and the
authority behind the words of Holy Scripture. He gives us peace in the storms
of anxiety and worries about ourselves, about the unknown future, and about those
we love. Jesus also calms the storms of passion in people who have hot hearts
and blazing tempers.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 5 Wednesday (St. Anthony Zacchariah, Priest;
St. Elizabeth of Portugal
The context: Today’s Gospel episode demonstrates
Jesus’ power over the devil in a Gentile town called Gadara (Matthew) or Gerasa
(Mark and Luke) of Decapolis, east of the Jordan. Two (in Mark and Luke, one),
possessed men came out of a tomb-filled desolate place. The possessing demons,
recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, begged that Jesus send them into a herd of
swine. In Mark’s and Luke’s version of the incident, the possessed man’s demons
named themselves Legion (6000), indicating their number. Jesus did as the evil
spirits requested, the then-possessed swine ran down the slope, and they
drowned in the sea. The frightened people of the city asked Jesus to leave
their city. The people considered their swine more precious than the possessed
men, and the liberation given to these men from evil spirits did not matter to
them. If we have a selfish or materialistic outlook, we fail to appreciate the
value of Divine things and push God out of our lives, begging Him to go away as
these people did.
Life messages: Come out of your tombs: 1)
Jesus is calling us to come out of the tombs. Our tombs are the closed-in,
sealed-off areas of our hearts where Life in the Spirit of God has died because
we have not allowed Jesus to minister to us through others. When we are sealed
off from God, we are lonely. We try to satisfy our inner emptiness by filling
our lives with money, promiscuity, addictions, or workaholism. 2) Jesus, the
liberator, is ready to free us from the tombs of our evil addictions and
habits. Let us go to him and receive his love, that we may experience the joy
and freedom of the children of God. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 6 Thursday: (St. Maria Goretti, Virgin,
Martyr)
The context: Beyond exercising Divine authority
over temptation, over the lives of men, over nature, over demons, and over
sickness, Jesus, as we see in today’s Gospel demonstrates a new form of
authority – the Divine authority to forgive sins. Jesus miraculously restores a
paralyzed man to health as a sign of having this Divine authority. The healing
episode presents Jesus as God Incarnate was sent to save us, restore us, and
make us new. So, we have to look beyond the boundaries of our limited religious
experience to appreciate the healing and forgiving operation of our God in
newer and newer ways.
Many kinds of sickness, like the paralysis of the man in the
story, were seen by the Jews as punishment for the personal sins of the
sufferer or of the sufferer’s parents. It was also a common belief that no
sickness could be cured until sin was forgiven. For that reason, Jesus had
first to convince the paralyzed man that his sins had been forgiven. Once Jesus
had granted the paralytic the forgiveness of God, the man knew that God was no
longer his enemy, and he was ready to receive the cure which followed. It was
the manner of the cure which scandalized the Scribes. By forgiving sin Himself,
Jesus had, they thought, blasphemed, insulted God, because forgiving sin is the
exclusive prerogative of God. This healing demonstrates two facts: that we can
never be right physically until we are right spiritually, and that health in
body and peace with God go hand in hand.
Life messages: 1) We need God’s forgiveness to live
wholesome lives. The heart of the Christian Faith is the “forgiveness of sins.”
In the Creed we say, “I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” While
we have the power to forgive others, we need to be forgiven ourselves by the
One who has the authority to forgive. In Jesus, we see this authority, the same
authority He gave to his Church. Today’s Gospel gives us an invitation to open
ourselves to God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to hear
from the priest’s mouth the words of Jesus to the paralytic being spoken to us:
“Your sins are forgiven.”
2) The Gospel also instructs us to forgive others their sins
against us and to ask God’s forgiveness for our daily sins every day of our
lives. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 7 Friday:
The context: Today’s Gospel episode of Matthew’s
call to be Jesus’ apostle reminds us of God’s love and mercy for sinners and
challenges us to practice this same love and mercy in our relations with
others.
The call and the response: Jesus went to the tax-collector’s
post to invite Matthew to become his disciple. Since tax-collectors worked for
a foreign power and extorted more tax money from the people than they owed, the
Jewish people hated and despised them as traitors. They were also considered
public sinners and ostracized by the Pharisees. But Jesus could see in Matthew
a person who needed Divine love and grace. That is why, while everyone hated
Matthew, Jesus was ready to offer him undeserved love, mercy, and forgiveness.
Hence, Matthew abandoned his lucrative job, because, for him, Christ’s
invitation promised salvation, fellowship, guidance, and protection. Scandalous
partying with sinners. It was altogether natural for Matthew to rejoice in his
new calling by celebrating with his friends. Jesus’ dining with outcasts in the
house of a “traitor” scandalized the Pharisees, for whom ritual purity and
table fellowship were important religious practices. Hence, they asked the
disciples, “Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Answering that question and stressing Jesus’ ministry as healer, the Master
said, “Those who are well do not need a physician; the sick do.” Then
Jesus challenged the Pharisees, quoting Hosea, “Go and learn the meaning of
the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” Finally, Jesus
clarified, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners
Life messages: 1) Jesus calls you and me for a
purpose: Jesus has called us through our Baptism, forgiven our sins and
welcomed us as members of the Kingdom. In fact, Jesus calls us daily through
the Word and through the Church to be disciples and to turn away from all the
things that distract us and draw us away from God. 2) Just as Matthew did, we,
too, are expected to preach Christ through our lives by reaching out to the
unwanted and the marginalized in society with Christ’s love, mercy and compassion.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 8 Saturday:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’
reply to the question asked by a few disciples of John the Baptist about
fasting and feasting. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving were three cardinal works
of Jewish religious life. Hence, John’s disciples wanted to know why they and
the Pharisees fasted while Jesus’ disciples were seen feasting with him and
never fasting.
Jesus’ reply: Jesus responded to their sincere question
using three metaphors: the metaphor of the “children of the bridal chamber,”
the metaphor of patching torn cloth and the metaphor of wineskins. First, Jesus
compared his disciples with the children of the bridal chamber, the selected
friends of the bride and groom who feasted in the company of bride and groom
during a week of honeymoon. Nobody expected them to fast. Jesus explained that
his disciples would fast when he, the bridegroom, was taken away from them. In
the same way, we are to welcome both the joys of Christian life and the crosses
it offers us. Using comparisons of the danger of using new, unshrunken cloth to
make a patch for an old garment and the danger of using old wineskins to store
freshly fermented wine, Jesus told the questioners that they must have more
elastic and open minds and larger hearts to understand and follow his new ideas
which were in many cases different from the traditional Jewish teachings.
Life message: 1) We need to be adjustable Christians with open and elastic minds and hearts: The Holy Spirit, working actively in the Church and guiding the teaching authority in the Church, enables the Church to have new visions, new ideas, new adaptations and new ways of worship in the place of old ones. So, we should have the generosity and good will to follow the teachings of the Church. At the same time, we need the Old Testament revelations, the New Testament teachings and the Sacred Tradition of the Church as main sources of our Christian Faith. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
