Category: Homilies & Reflections
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The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want
Read More: The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not wantby Canon Jim House Psalm 23:1 encourages us. We all want things: most of us have had a lot of wants and needs; but if the Lord is to be a shepherd to you, you cannot have wants. We must tell ourselves, “Self, stop wanting, stop desiring, stop needing.” We’re like little children: “Papa, papa,…
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A door has opened to the Church
Read More: A door has opened to the ChurchIn the United States, we were told in March that we all needed to do was “stay home and stay safe.” Even though the number of COVID 19 cases were few and the percentage of deaths were small, we were warned that this “invisible” virus was increasing quickly. So, unless we listened to infectious disease…
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The character of forgiveness
Read More: The character of forgivenessProper 19, 13 September 2020 If Jesus is the centre, love draws and glues us together as the body of Christ, and forgiveness brings healing to the body. There remains a gap between what we learn at school and the reality of things: life has ways to confront us that aren’t in the textbook. When…
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We were not created for comfort, but for greatness
Read More: We were not created for comfort, but for greatnessWe live in a culture that loves comfort. For many of us, comfort is synonymous with convenience, ease, relief, and even luxury. We love air conditioning, ATM’s, 24/7 stores, pain-relievers, amusement centers, fast food. With the advent of mobile smart phones, the internet, GPS, among other advances in technology, this obsession with comfort has become…
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With whom do you stand?
Read More: With whom do you stand?John 8:15-16 “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.” This statement by Jesus comes from the longer passage of John 8:1-20 which relates the incident of the woman caught in adultery. But it…
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It’s not enough to be good, but to do good
Read More: It’s not enough to be good, but to do goodProper 17, 30 August 2020 In last week’s reading, Peter confessed, “You are the Son of the living God”; Jesus praised him for receiving divine revelation. In today’s reading he was off track and was rebuked. We need to be praised, and also corrected at times. Jesus spoke of His death, suffering and resurrection; this…
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The no-price-tag question
Read More: The no-price-tag questionProper 16, 23 August 2020 In today’s Gospel we heard again how Jesus asked His disciples questions. Children don’t have to be taught to ask a lot of questions: they have a strong desire to learn and know. The Sacraments are there to provoke children to ask questions. The Church’s Catechism is based on questions,…
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Longsuffering toward the lost
Read More: Longsuffering toward the lost2 Peter 3:8-10 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord…
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Don’t be a Jonah
Read More: Don’t be a JonahJonah 4:1-3 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and…
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Do not be deceived
Read More: Do not be deceivedMatthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.” This verse comes from a substantial chapter where Jesus speaks about the signs of His coming (again) and the end of the age. In the previous chapter He had been speaking to the people about obeying the teaching of…
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A Message from your Patriarch
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Stewardship of your mc2
Welcome to The Word of God Speaks, a ministry of the ICCEC Diocese of Europe under Bishop Elmer Belmonte. We come together in these times to hear what God is saying to His people. You may have noticed the title for today’s message is somewhat unusual: Stewardship of your mc2. It all looks quite…
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THE ADVENT CANDLES?HOPE-PEACE-JOY-LOVE
HOPE-PEACE-JOY-LOVE By: Professor Ruel Pepa The joyful season of celebrations commemorating God’s act of salvation by sending His very own Son to this sinful world is fast approaching. Christmas carols are dominating the airwaves again and the traditional practice of decking our halls with Christmas ornaments have already begun. We have never been amiss of…