5th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C - May 18, 2025

 Fifth Sunday of Easter – C

May 18, 2025           5pm

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

“Love one another”

Today’s Gospel brings us into the Upper Room, just after Judas has departed to betray Jesus. 

The mood is heavy. The disciples do not yet grasp what is unfolding. 

And it is in this moment—this intimate, quiet moment between Jesus and His closest followers—in this moment He gives a new commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

This is not merely a suggestion. It is not just a moral ideal.

 

It is a commandment. And not just any commandment— Jesus says it is a “new” one. 

 

“As I have loved you”

 

In the Old Testament, the people of God were already told to “love your neighbor as yourself”(Leviticus 19:18). 

 

So, why does Jesus say, “I give you a new commandment”? What makes this “new”?

It is new in its measure: “As I have loved you.” Jesus doesn’t call us to love according to our own strength, our own convenience, or our own preferences. 

Instead, He calls us to love as He loved. Completely. Sacrificially. Humbly. Unconditionally.

Let’s remember where Jesus is when He gives us this commandment: at the Last Supper, only hours before His crucifixion. He has just washed His disciples’ feet—a task normally reserved for the lowliest servant. 

He knows that Peter will deny Him. He knows the others will flee.

He knows that Judas has just gone to betray Him. And still, His final instruction to them is: love each other with the same love I’ve shown you.

This is a love that even endures rejection, that serves even in suffering, that forgives even in betrayal, that is willing even to die. This is the newness in his commandment: to love “as I have loved you.”

“This is how all will know”

 

And then Jesus adds this: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

In our world today, we Christians are sometimes known for our doctrines, our traditions, even our debates. But Jesus tells us that the true sign of discipleship is love: as he has loved us.

1. Love Begins at Home

The first place to live out this commandment is at home. 

Love must begin with our families—between spouses, between parents and children, between siblings. And this can be one of the most difficult places to practice this.

Because in our families, we are fully seen. Our flaws, our weaknesses, and our wounds all get exposed. 

And yet, this is the first place where love must shine. When we listen and try to understand, when we forgive for a past hurt, when we are patient with idiosyncrasies – then we are doing as Jesus calls us to do. 

So, let’s take time this week to ask ourselves: Is there some way that I need to love someone in my family better? Let’s begin there. 

 

2. Love Beyond Our Comfort Zone

 

And then, we need to love those outside our comfort zone. 

It’s easy to love those who are like us or think like us or treat us well. But what about those who disagree with us or are different from us on politics or religion or lifestyle? 

Jesus loved the leper, the marginalized, the sinner, the stranger, even his opponents. So, let’s look around. 

Is there someone with whom we are uncomfortable but is in some kind of need? As Catholics, as Christians, we must be known not for exclusion or judgment, but for loving as Christ has loved us, even going beyond our comfort zone. 

Conclusion

So, Jesus’ new commandment is not just about feelings; it is a decision, a choice we make. 

And it is by this love—by loving as he has loved, that the world will recognize Christ in us and know that we are Christians or Catholics. Today let’s renew our commitment to this, both at home and beyond our comfort zone. 

4th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C - May 11, 2025

 4^th Sunday of Easter – C 

May 11, 2025    8:30am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton  

 

The Beloved Lamb

 

There is an old story about two men who were living in the same small town.

 

The one man was very rich and powerful; the other was very poor and powerless. The rich man owned so many sheep that he lost count of them, but the poor man had only one, tiny lamb.  

 

The poor man’s children loved this little lamb so much that they treated it like a member of the family. They played with it and even brought it to the dinner table to share the little food they had.  

 

Then one day an important visitor came to the rich man’s house for dinner. The rich man wanted to serve a special meal, but he didn’t want to kill any of his own lambs to feed the guest.  

 

So, he had his servants go over to the poor man’s house, take that family’s only lamb, and prepare it for dinner. Now, the prophet Nathan tells this story in the Old Testament.  

 

This story of the beloved lamb could have been one of the images that John had in mind in today’s second reading. Jesus is like the one beloved lamb of that poor family. 

 

Jesus is God’s beloved Son, and he is unjustly put to death. He is the beloved Lamb. 

 

The Sacrificial Lamb 

 

Now besides this, there is a second image that John could have had in mind in the passage from Revelation. 

 

This is the image of the lambs that were sacrificed every day in the Temple. These lambs were seen as sacrifices to atone for sin. 

 

John sees Jesus as something like those sacrificial lambs because he sacrifices himself for our sins. But he is also unlike those lambs because he is the sacrifice that once and for all time brings us reconciliation with God.

 

The Victorious Lamb 

 

Finally, John clearly has a third image in mind in today’s passage. 

 

This is the victorious Lamb. John describes his vision of a Lamb on a heavenly throne with people from all over the earth giving him honor.

 

The idea is that Jesus is the Lamb of God who suffered, died, and then rose from the dead. This is why he now receives honor and praise as the victorious Lamb.  

 

The Lamb of God for Us

 

So, John, in this passage from the Book of Revelation, uses the word Lamb three times.

 

I suggest that he has these three images in mind about Jesus. Before we receive communion here at Mass, we sing three times: “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”

 

Let’s remember these three images as we sing these acclamations.

 

First, the image of the one beloved lamb. Here we praise Jesus as the beloved Son and Lamb of God.

 

And we can also recall that we ourselves are beloved. Each of us is a beloved daughter or son of God.  

 

Then second, the image of the sacrificial lamb. Here we praise Jesus for the sacrifice of himself for us. 

 

And we can also recall that we are to be sacrificial. Our sacrifice is probably in our everyday life as we let go of some preferences or comforts for the well-being of family or others. 

  

And finally, the image of the victorious Lamb in heaven. Here we praise Jesus who has risen and returned to the Father.

 

And we can also recall that we too have the promise and hope of heaven. That victory over death will be ours through the beloved, the sacrificial, and the victorious Lamb – who is Jesus.  

3rd Sunday of Easter, Cycle C - May 4, 2025

 Third Sunday of Easter – C 

May 4, 2025    5pm 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton       

 

World Central Kitchen 

 

Back in 2010, there was a devastating earthquake in Haiti.

 

Maybe some of us can still remember the news reports of this and the humanitarian crisis that followed. In response to this, a Spanish American named Jose Andres and his wife Patricia went into action.

 

Jose Andres was a chef and a restaurant owner. He began what is called World Central Kitchen.

 

The purpose of this organization is to provide food in areas devastated by war or by natural disasters, like earthquakes. World Central Kitchen has thousands of volunteers.  

 

For example, within hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they were at work. They were eventually serving 35,000 meals a day in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. 

 

They set up food centers in shelters and train stations and places like that. Over these past fifteen years, World Central Kitchen has helped in many countries, like Israel, Palestine, Turkey, and Australia.

 

And they have helped here in the United States – in Florida after the major hurricane, in Los Angelos during the wildfires, and during the Covid pandemic providing food to millions of people. It is worth listening to a few words from Jose Andres.

 

He says: “World Central Kitchen started with a simple idea at home with my wife Patricia. When people are hungry, send in cooks.

 

“Everyone knows that food is central to life. Food is even more essential in a crisis.

 

“You see, food relief is not just a meal that keeps hunger away. It’s a plate of hope.

 

“It tells you in your darkest hour that someone, somewhere cares about you. This is the real meaning of comfort food.

 

“And after a disaster, food is the fastest way to rebuild our sense of community. Cooking and eating together is what makes us human.”        

 

So, life – hope – and community – just hold on to those three words of Jose Andres and I will come back to them in a minute. 

 

Jesus Gives Food

 

I am led to think about World Central Kitchen by today’s gospel.

 

This is the third appearance of the Risen Jesus to the apostles in John’s gospel. The Risen Jesus has cooked some fish and bread and invites the apostles to eat.

 

Some of the wording in this passage is almost identical to the wording used at the last Supper. “Jesus took the bread and gave it to them.”   

 

The idea is that this incident is a way for Jesus to remind them of the food he gave at the Last Supper. There, the bread and wine become Jesus – his body and blood. 

 

What This Food Does

 

And this food, the Eucharist, does things for us that are similar to what the food of World Central Kitchen does. 

 

First, the sacrament of the Eucharist gives us life. And the life it gives is Jesus’ life, God’s life.

 

We are brought into this life first at baptism. And now, the food of Jesus’ body and blood nourishes and strengthens this life.

 

Second, this sacrament gives us hope. It is Jesus himself here with us, within us.

 

That is what we mean by Holy Communion. It tells us that no matter what happens, Jesus, God is with us, including times when we feel guilty or alone or disappointed or hurt or whatever – Jesus is with us giving us hope for today and tomorrow.

 

And third, this sacrament brings us together as a community. It makes us one with one another.

 

It is Communion with a capital C – Communion with Jesus or God – and also communion with a small c – communion with one another. It draws us into a community and helps us to realize our oneness with all God’s people.

 

Conclusion

 

So, life, hope, and community – these are the effects of the food of the Eucharist. 

 

This is why it is good for us to be here and to receive this sacred food. This is why Sunday Mass has been a trademark of Catholicism. 

 

Today let’s renew our resolve to be here each week for this food – Jesus’ body and blood. 

2nd Sunday of Easter, Cycle C - April 27, 2025

 Second Sunday of Easter – C 

April 27, 2025          8:30am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton        

 

Comments on Pope Francis

 

This past Tuesday, a friend of mine sent me a statement made by a Hindu man about Pope Francis. 

 

The man’s name is Vindon Sakhar and I think he is from Malaysia. I am very moved by his words – words made by someone from a totally different faith tradition. 

 

So, I decided to share them with you this morning. Vindon Sakhar says this.   

 

Comments by Vindon Sakhar

 

“I only met Pope Francis once. It was brief.

 

“Just a few moments in a crowded room filled with dignitaries and seekers, some there out of duty, others out of belief. I was neither Catholic nor there on some divine pilgrimage. 

 

“I was just a man in need of a little hope. And somehow, in that fleeting encounter, I received it.

“It’s hard to explain without sounding overly romantic, but when you’re in the presence of someone truly good — not performatively good, not ‘publicly moral’ or selectively kind — but genuinely, deeply, relentlessly good… something shifts in you. You feel lighter. 

 

“You feel braver. You feel like humanity, for all its wounds and

wickedness, is still worth fighting for.

“That was the gift Pope Francis gave me. And I imagine, from the tears I’ve seen today and the aching silences of millions across faiths, races, and borders, that he gave that same gift to many.

“Today, we mourn not just the passing of a Pope. We mourn the loss of one of the strongest chess pieces humanity had on this plain of existence.

“He was a man who made kindness radical again. Who reminded the powerful that humility was not weakness. Who spoke of love not as doctrine but as duty. 

 

“He was not just a religious man. He was something far more rare — he was universally spiritual.

“I am a Hindu. My God wears different names. 

 

“My prayers come in different rhythms. But I would have followed this man through fire. 

 

“Because in his belief in God, he carried a belief in all of us. His eyes didn’t see denominations — they saw dignity. 

 

“His voice, always soft but never weak, carried the weight of truth even when it unsettled the comfortable. Especially when it unsettled the comfortable.

“This world has a way of chipping away at your soul. The noise, the greed, the hate…It’s easy to go numb. It’s easy to give in to cynicism. 

 

“But once in a while, someone comes along who reminds us that the better angels of our nature are still within reach. That goodness is still possible. 

 

“That we don’t need to be perfect to do good — we just need to be brave. Pope Francis was that man.

“He chose compassion over judgment. And most remarkably, he chose action over applause. 

 

“He walked with the poor. He knelt before the discarded. He challenged the powerful not with anger, but with moral courage. 

 

“And he did all of this with a smile that felt like a prayer. He understood something many religious leaders forget: that God doesn’t reside only in temples or churches or mosques. 

 

“That holiness isn’t a place — it’s a way of living. A way of seeing others. A way of choosing kindness, over and over, even when it hurts.

“So yes, today we mourn. I mourn. 

 

“Not just for the Catholic world, but for all of us. Because when a man like this leaves, it feels like a light has been dimmed.

“But maybe — just maybe — the way we honour him is by becoming the light ourselves. Let us remember his faith in humanity, and let it fuel our own. 

 

“Let us protect the vulnerable, question the powerful, and lift each other up not because of who we are, but because we are here — together. Pope Francis believed in a world where dignity wasn’t conditional. 

 

“Where faith was lived, not just preached. That world can still exist — if we build it.

“And maybe that’s the final gift he’s given us. A call not to despair, but to duty.

“Because as long as we carry his belief in each other, then truly, he has not left us at all.”

Conclusion

 

I had and have great respect and admiration for Pope Francis.

 

This Hindu man, Vindon Sakhar, expresses what I believe and feel and think better than I can. That’s why I happily share his thoughts with you today.  

Easter Sunday, Cycle C - April 20, 2025

Easter Sunday – C 

April 20, 2025          8:30am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton        

 

“For the Living among the Dead?”

 

“Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”

 

We hear this question in today’s gospel. Maybe it’s a good idea for us to ask this question directly to ourselves: “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”

 

Could it be that sometimes we do that? And could this be a reason why we may struggle with our faith in the resurrection of Christ and in the promise of our own resurrection?

 

I wonder if we are, in effect, “looking among the dead” when we are always picking at the negative things in others or in life itself. I wonder if we are doing this when we are looking only at the darkness in our world.

 

I wonder if we are “looking among the dead” when fear leads us to do harmful things. Do these tendencies keep us from experiencing “the living One” – the risen Christ? 

 

Messengers of Life…of God

 

We see this in today’s gospel.

 

Some of Jesus’ friends find the tomb empty, and they are bewildered. Then, two persons appear.

 

Our tradition sees them as messengers of God or angels. And these two messengers speak those pointed words: “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”

 

I wonder if you and I have similar divine messengers or angels who steer us in the right direction for finding the living One.

 

Angel of Trust

 

For example, we may have an angel of trust in our lives.

 

I think back to when I was twenty-six years-old – a newly ordained priest. I wanted to develop a different kind of youth program – a program to reach a lot of young people in that community who were on the streets, drifting into trouble, and getting into drugs.

 

The program had risks, but my pastor gave me the green light to try it. He trusted me, and this gave me confidence in myself and in the potentials of life.

 

Today, try to remember an angel of trust in your life – maybe your mother or father. See if that divine messenger is really reassuring you about yourself. 

 

And see if that leads you to say with trust: “Christ is risen!”

  

Angel of Hope

 

And then, we may have an angel of hope in our lives.

 

Maybe we have seen someone refuse to get down in the dumps, no matter what. As a priest, I have seen this even with some people who were dying.

 

I have seen some people refuse to get down. They see even their illness as eventually leading them home – home to God and to loved ones who are with God. 

 

Today, try to identify an angel of hope in your life – maybe a teacher or a coach. See if that divine messenger is really moving you to keep on trying no matter what. 

 

And see if that leads you to say with hope: “Christ is risen!”

 

Angel of Humor

 

And finally, we may have an angel of humor in our lives.

 

I remember the time of my father’s funeral in 1999. My father really liked good food – I mean, he really enjoyed eating. 

 

So, we were at the cemetery, I was leading the prayers and came to the part about the heavenly banquet, and we all just spontaneously laughed because we imagined dad enjoying God’s banquet in heaven. I think that our humor is a sign that death is not the last word and that life ultimately wins out.  

 

Today, try to identify an angel of humor in your life. See if that divine messenger is really drawing you more fully into life.  

 

And see if that leads you to say with joy: “Christ is risen!”

 

Conclusion

 

So, look for the living One among the living! 

 

Look for the living One in our own divine messengers, in our angels of trust and hope and humor. If we do this, then, I think, we will be better able to really believe in the risen Christ and in our own future resurrection.  

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Cycle C - April 13, 2025

 Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion—C  

April 13, 2025          11am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton       

 

Luke’s Passion 

 

Each of the four gospels tells the story of Jesus’ Passion.

 

There is a basic consistency in all four accounts. Still, each of them is a bit different. 

 

Each gospel writer highlights something that the others do not and speaks to us in a different way. This morning, I want to point out three of the special features of Luke’s account of the Passion that we just heard. 

 

1.   Innocence

 

First, Luke’s telling of the Passion carefully emphasizes Jesus’ innocence.

 

Only in Luke – not in Matthew, Mark or John – only in Luke does Pilate three times declare Jesus as innocent. Only in Luke does Herod also pronounce Jesus as innocent.

 

Only Luke carefully recalls the words of the one man being crucified with Jesus: “We have been condemned justly, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Only Luke recalls the Roman centurion saying right after Jesus dies: “This man was innocent beyond doubt.”

 

So, Luke is showing us how unfair, how unjust all of this is. He may want us to recall a time when we ourselves were treated unfairly and recall how we responded to that. 

  

2.   Forgiveness 

 

Facing such great injustice and suffering, Jesus is still forgiving.

 

Only Luke recalls Jesus, on the cross, praying “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” So, forgiveness is clearly in Jesus’ heart. 

 

And yet, one commentator points out that Jesus prays to the Father to forgive. Jesus himself must have been forgiving, but in asking the Father to forgive, he may be teaching us something.

 

Maybe there will be a time when we know we should forgive but are struggling with it. And in that moment, we too can pray to God and ask him to forgive and help us forgive and, in this way, we place it in God’s hands.  

 

3. Trust 

 

Finally, only Luke’s account of the Passion recalls Jesus’ words as he is dying, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

 

Luke shows Jesus in great darkness. Matthew’s and Mark’s account of the Passion even recall Jesus’ words from Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

 

But instead of recalling those words, Luke shows that Jesus moved through the darkness and into trust. He dies trusting in his life with the Father.

 

Luke wants us, today’s readers of the Passion, to stay in prayerful communion with God right now, each day of our life, and to make this central. And then, with that trust in the Father and in Jesus, we will be more able in the darkness of life and the darkness of death to trust in God and say, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

5th Sunday in Lent, Cycle C - April 6, 2025

 5^th Sunday of Lent- C

April 6, 2025             5pm  

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

Inmate Firefighters

Three months ago, a friend of mine texted me that her daughter and son-in-law with their two small children lost their home in the wildfires near Los Angelos – a devastating loss for this young family.    

 

We’ve all seen the heartbreaking pictures of the communities in California destroyed by wildfires. And maybe we’ve also been inspired by the courage and commitment of those firefighters.

 

There’s one part of the story we may not be aware of, and I was not aware of until very recently. Of the 14,000 men and women fighting the California fires, almost one thousand of them are prison inmates. 

 

They’ve become a critical part of the workforce in this very dangerous profession. One of these inmate-firefighters – named Eddie Herrera – has  told his story.

 

One Inmate Firefighter

 

Eddie Herrera was a firefighter during the last two years of his 18-year prison sentence. 

 

Herrera served as a municipal firefighter outside of Sacramento, responding to residential fires, CPR emergencies and rescue calls. He says that this work changed his life.

 

Herrera says that his transformation began with his first CPR emergency in 2019. The patient was a veteran police officer. 

 

The police officer didn’t survive but Eddie recalls that the experience “made me realize that firefighting was something that I wanted to do and could do. When the police officer’s wife came to pick up her husband’s body, and we loaded him into the back of the van, I remember my captain directing us to put an American flag over his body and to take off our helmets and salute him. 

 

“I remember the brothers of the police officer shaking my hand and saying thank you. I had never experienced something like that. 

 

“I felt a sense of pride, because I knew that I was not being defined by my circumstances. That I could help and make a change. 

 

“Because, being incarcerated, it’s this sense of feeling like you’re nothing. You’re basically lost! 

 

“But in those moments serving as a firefighter, I didn’t feel any of that. I felt like I was human again.”

 

Eddie Herrera has completed his prison sentence and is now a professional firefighter. He has been working in southern California where the recent wildfires happened. 

 

Eddie says that the most important quality he’s learned is empathy — empathy both for his incarcerated coworkers and for the people whose homes he works to save. He says this.

 

“I know what it’s like to feel helpless . . . I [now] feel empathy and a sense of wanting to help people who are living through this. 

 

“We’re all equal in the sense that we’re humans. And we all make mistakes, and we all have the capacity to change.”

 

Some Observations 

 

That’s one of those really good stories, and now I want to conclude with just a few observations.

 

Eddie Herrera and the incarcerated firefighters had been defined by their crimes. It is much like the woman in today’s Gospel who was defined by her sin. 

 

But to respond to the words of Jesus today, we are to drop our stones of condemnation. Notice that Jesus does not ignore the sin and he tells the woman not to sin anymore. 

 

But equally or maybe more important, he doesn’t condemn her. Instead, he heals and restores her. 

 

He tells her to look to the future with pure intentions and be freed of the past and the labels associated with that. And by the way, this is what our Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation is about or should be about. 

 

It is about empathy and healing, restoring to life and dignity, focusing more on the future and not the past. The story of Eddie Herrera and today’s gospel tell us that this is possible with Jesus and through our following his way.