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.
What makes us lose our cool? We may fly off the handle when we are personally hurt, when somebody we love is being hurt, or something we care deeply about is not respected.
The death of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, on the Cross shows us clearly the great love that He has for each one of us. For more than twenty centuries, we Christians have proclaimed, and we continue to proclaim with integrity and joy, that by the Cross we are redeemed and saved.
All our activities are to be done in the light of the first commandment (first reading), “You shall have no gods, except me” (Ex. 20:3). All other commandments follow from this. I venture to say that what made Jesus angry was the worship of money in God’s own house. Such worship of money is related to the present modern temptations of materialism, sensualism, and consumerism. These are the worship of things, pleasures, and commodities. This idolatry angers God.
What we do when we receive the sacrament of confession is we make ourselves a tabernacle capable to housing the Blessed Sacrament. Consider what happens to a place in which is contained a tabernacle that houses the Blessed Sacrament. It becomes a sacred space. When we make ourselves a fit tabernacle, through confession, in order to house the Eucharist, we are carrying a tabernacle with us wherever we go.
When Jesus overturned the money-changing tables in the Jerusalem temple, he was showing us how to be angry about the right things. He didn't focus on individuals there but, rather, on entire systems that oppressed and cheated people. Our work to fix what's wrong in our world also should be aimed at unjust, broken systems.
Like the prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist was not himself the light. He came to show the way to the light. In the same way, we are challenged to share the life and the light of Jesus with others.
Jesus confronts a hardened religious tradition by tossing it over and replacing it with an emphasis on his death and resurrection.