In 1880, the author Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Since the time that he wrote this book, it has been made into five different movie versions: two different silent versions of the film were made in 1907 and 1925; in 1959 the Academy Award winning version of the film with Charlston Heston was made; an animated version of the film was made in 2003; and last week a new version of the film was released in the theatres. At the heart of this story is the way that Christ changed the hatred and resentment that social division had created in the lives of two people who at different times in their lives were either superior or inferior to the other. In the end, the love of Christ brings those who were separated by social status and different circumstances to believe that because of Christ’s love for them, they too ought to love one another. Continue reading →

The Our Father, the prayer that Jesus Himself has taught us, in order that we might pray to His Father and our Father, has been called by many “a summary of the entire Gospel.” This year, as we read this Sunday’s Gospel within the context of the Year of Mercy, it seems appropriate that we might even call the Our Father a summary of God’s mercy towards all of us.

All of this Sunday’s readings speak to us of the kind of intimate prayer life that God invites all of us to have with Him. In the first reading from the book of Genesis, we hear how Abraham speaks to God as a friend, discussing with God how He should conduct Himself in order to be just. Abraham does not even have a name by which He should address God, and yet we see how openly God shares His plans with Him and allows Him to offer his opinion. God desires that all of us speak to Him honestly and sincerely about our difficulties and concerns. The first reading shows us that we do not need to speak to God in formal and set ways. We can bring to Him whatever is on our hearts. The Psalm also makes this clear by the simple statement: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.” We can turn to the Lord whenever we wish, He will always be there. Continue reading →

Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev

One of the world’s most famous pieces of religious art is the fifteenth century Russian icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev. This icon is intended to capture the scene that we hear about in today’s first reading from the book of Genesis. In this Sunday’s reading from Genesis, we hear how the Lord God appeared unexpectedly to Abraham as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. Even though the passage makes it clear that it is God speaking to Abraham in one voice and Abraham answers God in the singular, the text makes it clear that Abraham saw three men standing there. This text, in which God is referred to in the singular, but spoken of as appearing in the form of three persons, has been seen by many as one of the first references in scripture to the Holy Trinity. This, however, is not the important point that this passage is trying to make. This reading is speaking more about the importance of being ready to greet God and welcome Him into one’s life at anytime that He might appear. Continue reading →

During this Year of Mercy, I have begun many homilies by quoting my favourite line from Pope Francis’ letter introducing the Year of Mercy. In case you do not remember that sentence, it states: “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy.” The Pope goes on to state: “These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith.” St. Paul says basically the same thing in today’s second reading from the Letter to the Colossians, as he states: “Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.” In his letter, Paul goes on to state the God created the world with Christ and in the fullness of time sent Jesus into the world that He might redeem each of us “through the Blood of His cross.” Continue reading →

The last real field trip that I took as a student took place several years ago when I was in Rome studying liturgy. The trip took place at the end of February between the first and the second semester. A group of students from the school that I was studying at went with one of our rather famous liturgy professors to visit the church of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. This church was built in the sixth century at a time when the Roman Empire was divided between the East and the West and the capital of the East was at Constantinople or present day Istanbul. At the time of its construction, it was the largest church in the world. Our class was going to visit it and study it as part of a class on church architecture. Continue reading →

“Who do you say that I am?”

As Jesus puts this question to Peter in this Sunday’s Gospel, there is a possibility that we might hear it as a question that He is putting only to Peter as a way of inviting Peter alone to make a profession of faith regarding Jesus’ identity. It is, however, clear from the way that Jesus responds to Peter’s answer that Jesus has far more in mind then simply asking Peter whom He thinks Jesus to be. Jesus responds to Peter’s answer by telling him exactly what His mission is about and by explaining to Peter that those who truly believe that He is the Christ must live their lives in a way that reflects what they profess Him to be. Continue reading →

The icon that has been created for the Year of Mercy contains a beautiful image of the Risen Christ, as the Good Shepherd,  carrying on His shoulders a young man who represents the lost soul. Beneath Christ is seen an image of Mary, the Mother of Mercy, who embraces the whole world with her love. Beneath Mary, to her left, are to be seen figures from the Bible who themselves encountered God’s mercy— the Samaritan women, Zaccheaus, Matthew, the Woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, the Prodigal Son, the Repentant Thief, St. Peter, and the Parable of the Lost Coin. Beneath the Blessed Mother, to the right, are the saints who have been witnesses to Christ’s continuing mercy through the life of His Church, like Mother Theresa of Calcutta, St. Maximillian Kolbe and St. Theresa of Lisieux. I have put a copy of this beautiful image in this week’s bulletin for those who wish to use it to pray with. It is hard to think of a better image for the Year of Mercy than the Good Shepherd. This beautiful image speaks to us of God’s compassion and presence with all people in their time of difficulty and need. It proclaims the desire on God’s part to support us and carry us at those times in our life when we are tired and find things difficult. The fact that in our own Church there is an image of the Good Shepherd over the tabernacle, points to the strength and comfort that we are to find in Christ’s presence in our lives through the Sacraments of the Church. Continue reading →

As Catholics, every time that we pray, we begin by invoking the names of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, whose feast we celebrate this Sunday. This custom can be so habitual that at times we may do it without realizing how profound the words are that we are saying. Each time we name the three person of the Holy Trinity, we are articulating a great mystery about God and his proximity to us that has been revealed to us by God Himself. The only way that we know about the Trinity and the names of the persons contained within God is because Jesus Himself has told us about Them. As the Son of God sent from the Father, Jesus has told us to call God “our Father” and has repeatedly spoken to us about the Father. During His life Jesus promised His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit after He had returned to the Father. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Church by Jesus and His Father in Heaven. That the three cannot be separated is witnessed to in the passage from the end of the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 28), as Jesus commissions His disciples to baptize all people “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Everything that we know about God as the Trinity has been revealed to us by the Trinity Himself. We can learn so much about God’s love for us in reflecting upon this great mystery of our faith. Continue reading →

A few weeks ago, I was reading the Toronto Star and came across a headline which read: “Compassion drives judge to join army veteran in jail cell.” Now since it is not very often that we can find a good news story in the newspapers, this story grabbed my attention. The article was about a former special service soldier who had fought four tours of duty in the Green Barets of the United States Army in Afghanistan. While away fighting, he had escaped death three times. The name of the retired soldier was Sergeant Joseph Serna. His bravery and efforts while he was away fighting had won him three purple heart medals— a medal given to those who are injured while fighting bravely. Unfortunately, since the time that Sergeant Serna had returned from battle, his efforts to return to civilian life had been very difficult. He had struggled with post-traumatic stress and drug and alcohol addiction. He was left with a great deal of fear after all of the very stressful experiences that he had while away at war. As a result of his many run-ins with the law, a judge had been assigned to Sergeant Serna’s case and he had the responsibility of reporting into this judge about his progress. The name of the judge in the story was Judge Lou Olivera. The story reported how recently, when Sergeant Serna had to admit that he had failed to remain sober and had retuned to using alcohol, against his probation order, it was necessary for Judge Olivera to sentence Sergeant Serna to one night in jail. However, what makes the story amazing, is that Judge Olivera knew that because of all his past traumatic experiences, Sergeant Serna would be afraid to spend the night alone in jail. In order that he might have the courage to face the situation, Judge Olivera drove Sergeant Serna from the courthouse  in his own car to the jail and then spent the entire evening in the jail cell with him. Judge Olivera stayed with Sergeant Serna the whole evening, spoke with him about how he might handle his problems and gave him reason to hope that he could return to take his proper place in society, despite all of his difficulties and problems. By staying the evening with him, Judge Olivera showed this broken soldier that he believed in him, that he had dignity and that he was worth saving. Continue reading →

This week, as I was preparing the homily for Divine Mercy Sunday, I could not help but think of a movie that I saw earlier this week: Batman versus Superman— The Dawn of Justice. For those of you who have not yet seen this movie, the characters in it speak a great deal about justice, mercy and God. Why I thought about this movie this week is because I think it captures accurately the idea of human mercy, or how it is that we as humans think about mercy.

This movie is obviously a story about two superheroes— Batman and Superman.  The movie suggests that humans are always looking for a powerful being who will rescue them and whom they can turn into a type of god. The view of mercy that is presented in this movie is dependent upon a superhero like Batman or Superman who will come and show mercy to those who are in need of being saved. There are two ways that a superhero can show mercy. One way that a superhero can show mercy is by coming to rescue a person who is in need. The second way that a superhero can show mercy is by not destroying someone who deserves to be punished. Both of these ways are shown in the movie, Batman versus Superman— The Dawn of Justice.

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