Clothe yourself with Love Col. 3:14

Oscar Romero who was the archbishop of El Salvador, was assassinated while presiding at a memorial Mass in the Carmelite chapel of a Hospital on March 24, 1980. The archbishop was standing behind the altar, preparing the gifts at the offertory, when two mercenaries approached the chapel and fired a single shot from a military assault rifle. The archbishop died within minutes from shock and blood loss. He was source of hope for millions of oppressed and impoverished Salvadorians, and was seen as the greatest threat to the greed and arrogance of the oligarchy of 14 families that ruled El Salvador as if it were their own. Archbishop Romero was known to say the truth, and to say it loud and clear. He often said: “The word of God is like the light of the sun. It illuminates beautiful things, but also things which we would rather not see.” This got me thinking... What is it that happens in our communities that we would rather not see? Perhaps most of these may not end up with a 911 call, an...

Without love, nurture and nutrition, no living thing can prosper. We humans are no different. In fact, statistics demonstrate that infants that were not held with love; compassion and proper nutrition, always exhibit troubles of insecurity later in adulthood. How interesting that Psalm 1 provided us with a beautiful imagery similar to the vine and its branches in John 15. The image describes a tree planted close to a river; bearing fruits in due season with leaves that do not wither. The Psalmist was comparing people who walk in the way of righteousness to this beautiful tree with green branches all year. Of course, the tree is healthy because it has had plenty sun; its roots have sufficient water and well-nourished in its soil. All this imagery is pointing to believers with a healthy, strong relationship with God! Their roots are deeply embedded in Jesus. They are grounded in Christ; stable and secure because they are constantly nourished by divine life. It begs the question of what ...

There is a growing issue in our modern world, when it comes to overly opinionated or offended responses. Quite frankly, it has reached an epidemic proportion when one has to either be in offense or defense mode no matter what the subject of discussion is. But this is not new. In Jesus time, it was no different. The Chief Priests and Pharisees were stuck in rigidity over the law that they missed entirely God’s intentions. They were the good guys; they knew the laws since they were educated. Jesus did not fit in any of their category, so they approached him trying to discredit him. The Gospel message today is about correcting some of our misconceptions, where we may think we are absolutely too correct to be corrected. And, wait a minute! That’s when we are realize that we were actually trekking in the wrong direction. The Chief Priests and Pharisees got that same shock after interacting with Jesus. Paul knew our human tendency to be on our high horse because we’re right. So, he encourag...

The study of today’s scriptures drew me to this title: paying attention to the essential. To be honest, it didn’t sound like a difficult task at first, but on close examination, you kind of realize that every day we make some choices that do not fit in the category of the essential. Is that necessarily a bad thing? In our world maybe not, I may still live okay if I don’t focus on the essential, but Jesus explains to us that we cannot get to our destination if we don’t know where we are going/ the essential is needed. You may ask: What is this essential that is absolutely necessary in the Kingdom of God? Jesus points us to a category we call “profitable”. We all have this basket inside us and we put things in it, that we think are good/profitable to us. There is a huge gap however in God’s Kingdom, between choices with focus on divine things and those with focus on human things. They don’t mix. The essential has a formula that Jesus gave to his disciples and Paul repeated it on several...

What would an encounter with the divine look like? I read with great curiosity stories like how Moses encountered God. The Jewish description of these experiences is often vivid and graphic. For the longest time, I have always wondered what are the common denominators between these OT divine experiences versus our own modern experiences. What’s different? Why don't we see God walking with us in the same way that He walked with Israel? For example, when Moses came down from the mountain after talking with God, his skin was shining. It’s as if the residues of God’s beauty and nature stayed on him! That would be difficult to see the same today. But we hear in the New estament that Jesus disciples were used by Holy Spirit to heal many people even by touching a handkerchief the Apostles touched. These are amazing experiences of the Holy Spirit that are part of the life of a believer. We get changed when we meet with God! How I wish such encounters with God for us! Today we remember the...

An Archbishop of Canterbury once wrote that we should embrace joyfully the love and forgiveness of God at all times---and allow God’s forgiveness to change us. I picture this as a journey with a destination to God’s immense love and forgiveness. Nothing in the Bible says that this journey is comfortable, but it’s the safest one. It’s fascinating that Paul’s words are painting the same profile picture of someone in the direction towards God’s embrace. What does such person look like? I don’t mean tall or short or fair skinned. God doesn’t look at that. I mean the character of Jesus’ follower. Why should we care about Christian character in our lives? What’s at stakes here? I will tell you: If our lives are not measuring up, we should know. The word of God is the plumbline. 2 e.g., of ignoring the stakes: The writing on the wall was destined to a King obstinate in his ways. Nothing scared him: it read: You have been weighed and came up short/ didn’t measure up. He died. I also thought o...

In the confusion of tensions between Rome and Israel’s leaders, the Pharisees and Scribes were looking for a scapegoat accusing Jesus to be a spy in league with the enemy. Jesus’ reaction is still just amazing to me: (You know like when the garbage is being tossed around, keep moving, don't focus on it!) Jesus simply went on to do His Father’s work: to prepare his disciples for the most extraordinary Mission: the wonders of God Almighty! The Hebrew word used in Genesis 18 is [Pala] to mean wonders or miracles. Sara was laughing in her tent thinking: “how can I give birth at this age” because she was afraid. God told Abraham: Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too difficult for me? In other words: “Do you think those wonders/miracles are too hard for me?” This question from God is in our faces as well this morning. I am sure you all have an urgent prayer request you would submit to God. Is that too difficult to God? Today’s Gospel invites us join Jesus’ extraordinary mission, to show...