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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
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Today, both our First Reading and the Gospel confront the dangerous illusion of self-sufficiency. They confront the notion that we human beings feel we have acquired so much power, fame, and wealth that we no longer need God in our lives! It is the illusion we see in the life of the Prince of Tyre who acquired so much wealth and power that he declared: “I am a god!” It is the difficulty the Lord addresses when he said, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” Human history has shown that whenever individuals, families, and even countries become so successful in wealth, power, and fame, they grow so comfortable that they start questioning whether they still need God in their lives! It is at that point that you start to see celebrities who were raised in the Church, educated by the Church, and given a big head start in life, stop attending Church.
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The time that the prophet Hosea preached was a heartbreaking time for God. The children of Israel had abandoned God and drifted so far away from Him. They had foreign gods to worship, like Baal; their faith was in armies and foreign alliances; the law of God barely meant anything to them. They were terribly lost as a nation and consequently hurt themselves in all ways you can imagine.
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I would like to invite us to reflect on today’s gospel that focuses on the fragility of earthly security. The Lord says in the gospel “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth; store up treasures in heaven.” It is a reading where the Lord gently yet piercingly warns us about the vulnerability of our earthly collections.
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On the Universal Church Calendar, the 3rd of June is designated as the Memorial of St Charles Lwanga and Companions, also known as the Uganda Martyrs Day. On the 3rd of June is also the day Father Patrick Peyton died at the Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor in San Pedro California. Both the Uganda Martyrs and Father Peyton carry significant value to me personally but also to the ministry of Holy Cross Family Ministries.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
I would like to draw your attention to today’s First reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles. The reading is ordinarily approached as the story of Paul’s conversion — from Saul to Paul. However, I would like us to approach it differently as Ananias’ story, a story of extraordinary risk and courage. We heard that Saul, a radically prejudiced, dangerous enemy to believers in Christ, “breathing murderous threats” was on the road to Damascus on a mission to arrest and murder Christians. Jesus knocked Saul off his high horse! The Lord then asked Ananias to go and pray for Saul to regain his “sight.” Ananias knew how risky this would be to him and to other believers in the city. His reply to Jesus was, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here, here has authority to imprison all who call upon your name.” In US American parlance, Ananias was basically telling Jesus “Seriously? Are you asking me to go to a man who wants to arrest, imprison or even murder me?” That’s how imagine an American would respond!
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Years back in my home country, a popular local diocesan priest disagreed with his local bishop and decided to found his own Church. His decision garnered immense news coverage in the country because the Catholic Church in the country is known for being highly organized and one tight knit entity. A whole news cycle developed around this priest and his new Church. I wrote an opinion piece for our national news paper that argued how flawed the foundation of the new entity was, and how the Catholic Church by giving constant media attention to the new religious outfit was giving mileage to the concerned priest and his new Church. I borrowed the words and the wisdom of Gamaliel in our first reading today, “If it is of human origin, it will destroy itself but if it comes from God it will stay.” Unfortunately, history proved it was of human origin, and everything disintegrated.
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