Retreat: The Sacrament of Holy Orders

 When we speak about the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we are speaking about one of the greatest gifts Jesus has given to His Church. We are not simply speaking about a profession, a career, or a respectable position in society. A priest is not merely a man who conducts religious ceremonies. He is a man who has been called, consecrated and sent by Jesus to serve God's people. Through his ministry, Jesus continues to preach, forgive, sanctify, shepherd, console and offer Himself for the salvation of the world.

The story of priesthood begins with the story of God's call. Throughout the Bible, whenever God wanted to accomplish something important, He called a person. Abraham was called to leave his country and become a blessing to all nations: "I will bless you... and you shall be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2-3). Moses was called to lead God's people from slavery to freedom. Jeremiah was called to proclaim God's word. Isaiah was called to become a prophet. Elijah was called to bring Israel back to the true God. John the Baptist was called to prepare the way for Christ. The pattern is always the same: God calls ordinary human beings and gives them an extraordinary mission. The original talk rightly emphasizes this recurring Biblical pattern of divine calling.

Retreat: The Sacrament of Marriage

 There is an ancient Greek myth about the androgynous human being, told by Plato in his Symposium. According to the story, human beings were originally imagined as having two faces, four arms and four legs, and as being extraordinarily powerful. They became proud and even challenged the gods. Zeus, fearing their strength, divided them into two. From then on, each half longed for the other half and spent its life searching for reunion. This is a beautiful human image of the longing for companionship, belonging and completeness. Of course, this is a myth, not the Christian account of the origin of marriage. The Bible gives us something much deeper: marriage is not simply the search for one's “missing half”; it is God's gift and covenant in which two persons freely give themselves to one another.

Retreat: The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick

 Once a young lady approached the parish priest and requested him to visit her home to give the last rites to her mother-in-law. When the priest reached home, he noticed that the person was not very sick and that she did not appear to be at the point of death.

So he said to the young lady that he would pray for her. But the young lady insisted, “Father, please do the last rites.”

The priest was surprised and asked her the reason.

Then she said, “We had tried all other methods but failed. After this she will have nothing more to expect.”

Retreat: The Sacrament of Reconciliation

 One day a short man walked into the presence of King David. None of the guards dared to stop him. When he reached the presence of the king he said, “O King, I have to tell you a story and you should grant me time to listen to it.” He said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

King David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

Retreat: The Sacrament of Eucharist

 One day, a man who doubted the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist told St. Anthony of Padua that he would believe that Christ was truly present in the Eucharist only if his mule bowed down before the Blessed Sacrament.

They agreed that the test should take place in three days.

The man deliberately starved his mule for the next three days. When the appointed time arrived, St. Anthony stood to one side with the consecrated Host in his hands, while the man stood on the other side holding fodder for the hungry mule. Everyone expected the animal to run toward the food. But, according to the traditional account, the mule, ignoring its extreme hunger, went toward the Eucharist and knelt down in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

Retreat: The Sacrament of Confirmation

There is a story about an archbishop who was going to administer Confirmation in a school. The parish priest had carefully trained the children. They had memorized every response. On the great day everything proceeded beautifully. Then the archbishop was about to say, “The Lord be with you,” when suddenly the microphone stopped working. The archbishop, thinking that only the priest could hear him, said, “There is something wrong with this blessed mic.” Immediately the children responded, “And with thy spirit!”

It is a funny story, but it reminds us of something important. We can memorize all the right responses and still miss the meaning of what we are celebrating. 

Many of us remember the day of our Confirmation. We remember the church, the Bishop, the oil, the sponsors, the photographs, the celebration and perhaps even the meal that followed. But the deeper question is: What happened inside us that day? What did God do in us? And what difference has Confirmation made in the way we live today?

Retreat: The Sacrament of Baptism

Dear brothers and sisters, when we speak about Baptism, we are speaking about something much greater than a ceremony involving water, a white dress, a candle, a name and a photograph. Baptism is the beginning of a new life. It is the moment when we are welcomed into the family of God. It is the beginning of our Christian identity and the foundation upon which the rest of our Christian life is built.

In Genesis we are told that God created the heavens and the earth, the animals, the plants and finally the human beings. God looked at creation and saw that it was good. Man lived in harmony with nature and, more importantly, lived in the presence of God. There was no separation, no fear, no alienation. Humanity knew God and enjoyed His friendship.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

 Jer. 20:7-9; Rom 12:1-2; Mt. 16:21-27

There are moments in life when a person discovers that love is not merely a feeling but a decision to give oneself for another. A firefighter, Corey Comperatore, was attending a public gathering with his family in Pennsylvania in July 2024 when gunfire suddenly broke out. According to his family and Pennsylvania's governor, when the shooting began, he threw himself over his family to protect them. He was killed, but his wife and daughters survived. His wife later remembered him as a man who died protecting his family. What makes such an act so moving? At that moment, he was not thinking, "How can I save myself?" His instinct was, "How can I save those I love?" Love made him forget himself. And this brings us very close to the words of Jesus: "Those who lose their life for my sake will find it." The Gospel is telling us that the greatest life is not the life spent protecting ourselves, our comfort, our possessions and our reputation at any cost. The greatest life is the life given in love.

The Bible has always presented this truth. In the Old Testament, we find people who discovered that life becomes meaningful when it is offered for God and for others. Abraham was asked to place even his beloved son Isaac into God's hands. He had waited for Isaac for years, and Isaac represented his future, his hopes and God's promise. Yet Abraham had to learn that even what is most precious cannot become more important

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Is. 22:15, 19-23; Rom. 11:33-36; Mt. 16:13-20

There is a story about a man who spent years studying a famous person. He read his books, studied his speeches, learned about his childhood, knew the important events of his life and could explain his ideas better than many people who admired him. One day someone asked him, “You seem to know so much about this man. Did you ever meet him?” The man paused and said, “No. I know everything about him, but I have never actually known him.”

That is a very important distinction in life: knowing about someone is not the same as knowing someone. We can know a person’s name, profession, achievements and history without ever having a personal relationship with that person.

There is something very striking about today’s Gospel. Jesus asks a general question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And after hearing their answers, he makes the question more personal: “But who do you say that I am?”