A Jesuit Adventure

  My dear friends today we celebrate the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. In today’s first reading, we come across the narrative of Job. Job as we know was blessed in all aspects of his life but he loses everything because God allows Satan to test Job. Job undergoes acute emotional and physical suffering. After having addressed his friends, he now turns to God to continue his lament.  Job saw his present suffering like the pointless, unpromising work of a servant or a hired man. He felt there was no hope or reward, only exhaustion. To add to that his skin was so infected, that worms were in the sores and the nights seemed never to end. He was full of despair and believed that all of his good times were over. Though it might sound like an exaggeration for us, there is truth in the words of Job. Each one of us has at some point or the other experienced what Job experienced – loss, pain, hopelessness and suffering. The pandemic was one such time when we all ...

  My dear friends today we celebrate the fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. The 1st reading taken from the book of Deuteronomy is set at the end of Moses’ life as the wandering Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land. This passage recalls the giving of the law in Exodus 20 and explains the reason why prophets are needed. When the Israelites heard God speak they were so frightened, that they begged Moses to speak with God and be their mediator. The reading speaks about Yahweh raising up a prophet like Moses from among the people. Most likely this passage was originally intended to validate the line of prophets that arose in Israel over the centuries, however, over time this passage came to be understood as an eschatological promise. The promised prophet was understood to be a person who would come during the messianic age. We see a reference to this being made in the gospel of John. When the people asked John the Baptist if he was the prophet (John 1:21). The O...

  My dear brothers and sisters today we celebrate the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time and the readings present before us the theme of our individual life calling. In the 1st reading taken from the book of Jonah, we are presented with the narrative of the mission of Jonah to the people of Nineveh. Jonah's story is full of paradoxes. First, when God calls him, he gets onto a ship and tries to flee away. Later on, when he does succeed in bringing about a conversion in the people of Nineveh in what is perhaps the shortest homily ever, instead of being thrilled he is angry. However, before we write him off as an eccentric character, we need to understand the historical context of Jonah. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the nation that destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and held the southern kingdom of Judah as a vassal for many years. Jonah is called out by God to go and prophesy not to his own people but to the enemy. The core of the story of Jonah however is revealed by his r...

  ‘Bless me Father!’ these are perhaps the words that I have heard the most after being ordained. While this is quite normal and customary in ordinary circumstances, it can get quite controversial when the ones asking for the blessing are not following or living by the teachings of the Church. Therefore, when the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans - On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings on December 18 2023, the media went berserk with headlines stating that Pope Francis had allowed the blessing of same-sex marriages in the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, most of these reports were merely misrepresenting the truth, thereby confusing many Catholics. But before we get to the Declaration per se let us look at its background. On 02 October 2023, The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published Pope Francis' response to "dubia" presented by five Cardinals. Dubia, the plural form of dubium, which means doubts...

  My dear friends today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, an important liturgical event which signals that the Christmas season is about to come to an end. The word “epiphany” comes from the Greek epiphaneia ( ἐπιφάνεια ) which means "to manifest," “appear,” or “make known.” According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church - “The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world. (CCC 528). The Solemnity of the Epiphany celebrates the many ways that Christ has made Himself known to the world, mainly the three events that manifested the mission and divinity of Christ:  The first being the visit of the Magi, the second being the baptism of Jesus and the third being the miracle at Cana. The Magi themselves are a figure of ambiguity. The traditional belief that there were three Magi, Casper, Balthazar, and Melchior, is based on the fact that three gifts are mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel:...