Lifeissues is mainly concerned with publishing thoughtful articles directly related to issues raised in Evangelium Vitae. However, from the very beginning, we have also published a few related homilies, notably by Fr. Al Cariño, O.M.I., Fr. Tony Pueyo, and others.
Please use the pulldowns below to select a homily by Liturgical Calendar date.
Jesus asks us not only to be prepared but also to be vigilant. We know that we want to be good Christians, faithful followers of Christ. We also know that temptations sometimes seem to surround us. So the first question we ask ourselves is simple. How do we go about avoiding or overcoming all of the situations in life that could bring us to sin? Where do we go from here?
God so loved the world that He joined us in time by sending us His Son. By giving us His time and living with us in time, Jesus showed us the Godly way of spending time.
Advent is celebration of the past, the present and the future. We bring to mind the first coming of Jesus as Word-made-flesh. We also open ourselves to the Spirit of Jesus who animates us everyday. And we look forward with joy to the coming of Jesus in the final days.
Even as we struggle wiith the symptoms of aging, there comes a point when we just have to accept graciously the greys, lines, and aches of sunset years. There is beauty in old age. I remember a writer's comment when two famous personalities died one after the other. They were the two most beautiful people of their time - Princess Diana and Mother Teresa.
As we enter the season of Advent we pray that indeed justice will reign in this land. We pray that a culture of violence and impunity will be replaced by a culture of peace. We pray that those who experience an environment of fear will, as Jeremiah pronounced, “experience salvation and will live in safety.”
The word “ecstasy” comes from the Greek word ekstasis, which means to “stand outside of”, or to be beside oneself. The more we look outside ourselves in a spirit of thanksgiving, the more joy filled or ecstatic our life becomes. Learning this gratitude is so important, because Christ’s coming in the flesh was ultimately for the sake of restoring gratitude to God.
Jesus concludes his discourse to his disciples about the future with a brief parable and the lessons they are to draw from it. We are to be alert, knowing what is going on in the world and thinking God is there. We know something that those first disciples didn't realize at the time: that God's work of new creation has already begun with the cross and resurrection of Christ. Knowing that, we are to watch for the signs that God is completing that work.
Juggers, police say, are thieves who rob you while you're shopping, withdrawing cash at an ATM or filling up your gas tank. Most of us would never consider being petty criminals like juggers. Yet Jesus suggests that unless we're vigilant, we too might be jugging time and our responsibilities in the kingdom of God -- especially if we think we can get away with it!