"Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" Bartimaeus, a blind man was sitting on the side of the road begging for his needs. He was labeled by society as "a loser, one without any-thing, one with no hope." He was a product of his time’s poor social services and lack of Christian charity, so he was begging for whatever he might obtain from the pity or the generosity of a passerby. Even though he was of low degree, he nonetheless called out to Jesus repeatedly—as he recognized in Him the power to heal and make all things well. This is what we need to come to understand from today’s readings and from the example of Bartimaeus, to recognize that we too must constantly call out to Christ, seeking His power and mercy, desiring Him to fulfill our needs and extend to us His kindnesses. CLICK TO READ MORE...

There are many reasons why someone has stopped living out their faith in the Church. But whatever the reason, it is real and it is a major “event” to that individual, who feels they have been slighted, wronged or mistreated. And the Church wants to have an opportunity to talk to them about that—and hopefully welcome them back to the practice of their faith within the Community of Believers. CLICK TO READ MORE...

Today’s Gospel message—that divorce is not part of God’s plan for sacramental marriage—is a difficult one to hear for many good people. And while no words that I will offer today or any day will eliminate the "difficulties" many people have with this teaching of Jesus—we need to look at Jesus’ stance on divorce from the perspective of the first and second readings rather than from our own personal situations. The first reading tells us why God created us as male and female—that is, complimentary be-ings—one adding to the whole of the other; and, in the second reading we must come to know who we truly are—individuals made in the image and likeness of God or as the Letter the He-brews states "brothers and sisters" of Christ, adopted sons and daughters of God—thus our origin in unified and our future is assured. Now that we know "why" we are and "who" we are, we can now understand how are called to live. CLICK TO READ MORE!