Homilies

On this last day of February, the evangelist Mark speaks to us about the indissolubility of marriage. While Jesus was teaching the crowds, the Pharisees asked Him if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife, on the pretext that Moses had permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her. Jesus told the Pharisees that Moses wrote them that commandment because of hardness of their hearts, reminding them that, from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female and that, for this reason, a man would leave his father and his mother and the two would become one flesh. In such a way that they would no longer be two, but one flesh. And Jesus concluded by saying that what God has joined together, no human being must separate! At home, questioned by the disciples about this, Jesus said that whoever divorces and marries again commits adultery. Jesus returns to the Creator's original intention, in which marriage is based on the love that unites a man and a woman. Lov...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about several small teachings that Jesus gave to His disciples. He said that would not lose a reward the person who gave a cup of water to drink to someone who belonged to Him. Here we see that even small gestures of solidarity are noticed by God and rewarded. This is an additional motivation for us to be generous. Later Jesus said that, for the person who causes one of those little ones who believe to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstonewere put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. Here we see how God cares about the simplest faithful who, due to scandals, could lose their faith. It is necessary to live the faith with coherence, thus supporting the spiritual growth of those who are simple. Jesus then said that if a member of someone's body caused him to sin, it would be better to cut it off in order to enter into Life, into the Kingdom of God. Otherwise, the person would be thrown into hell, the Gehenna, into the unque...

Today the evangelist Mark speaks to us about the driving out of demons in the Name of Jesus. The apostle John saw someone who did not follow Jesus and who was driving out demons in His Name. John told the Master that the apostles had prevented him from doing such a thing. But Jesus did not see a problem with someone performing a mighty deed in His Name, because such a person would not speak ill of Him at the same time. And Jesus concluded by saying that whoever was not against them was for them. In the Jewish mentality of that context, a person's name was not just a word, a proper noun. The name represented a person's mission. It was something sacred like the human being itself, and deserved all respect. It was like invoking the person's life force. When it came to the Name of God, this mentality was even more radical. The second commandment was "not to take the Name of the Lord your God in vain." God's Name was His very Person, His life force. For this reason...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the second announcement of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus and the discussion of the apostles about which of them was the greatest. The first time Jesus touched on this subject was when He asked who the disciples said He was, and Peter answered that He was the Messiah. Even though Jesus touched on this subject again, the disciples still did not understand the saying and were afraid to question Him. And, to make matters worse, the apostles had discussed about which of them was the greatest. In other words, Jesus was opening His heart to the disciples, sharing the dramatic moment He would soon live, and, in the meantime, the apostles were discussing greatness, about who was the first to take the lead in Jesus' absence. It was an ambition for power. Realizing the situation, Jesus told the apostles that, in order to be first, it was necessary to be the last of all and the servant of all. And this was exactly what Jesus demonstrated ...

We are in the seventh week of Ordinary Time. Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the exorcism of a boy by Jesus, since the disciples were unable to cast out the mute and deaf spirit. The boy's father had brought him to Jesus, because the spirit seized him, threw him down and he began to foam at the mouth, grind his teeth and become rigid. The spirit had already thrown the boy into the fire and water to kill him. As we know, in the Jewish mentality of that time, diseases were associated with demonic possession. Therefore, it was necessary to exorcise the sick person in order for him to be cured. Considering the symptoms described here, the boy had probably been epileptic since childhood. Telling his father that everything was possible to one who had faith, Jesus commanded the spirit to came out of the boy and never entered him again. The spirit shouted and threw the boy into convulsions, and came out. The boy became like a corpse, and many said he had died. But Jesus took the b...

With our Mother Church, we begin the seventh week of Ordinary Time. Today the evangelist Luke tells us about Jesus' teaching to His disciples about loving their enemies, so that they would be merciful like God the Father. Jesus warned His disciples that people could hate them, curse them, mistreat them, strike on their cheek, and take what was theirs. And despite this, the disciples should love these people, do good to them, bless them, pray for them, and even give them what they do not take. Jesus said that sinners were content to follow customs, but that the disciples should go further and surpass sinners in generosity. He told the disciples that instead of passively waiting for good to be done, they should go ahead of others in doing good. Jesus taught that by acting in this way, the disciples would be children of the Most High, who would also show God's kindness to the ungrateful and the wicked. Instead of judging and condemning, the disciples should be merciful like the Fa...

Today the evangelist Mark speaks of the proposal of radical following that Jesus makes to the crowd with His disciples. He said that it was necessary to take up one's own cross and follow Him. We know that the cross represents the difficulties that life presents. Jesus said that whoever lost his life for the sake of Him and the Gospel would save it. He said that not forfaiting one's life was better than gaining the whole world. Jesus said that when the Son of Man came in His Father's glory with the holy angels, He would be ashamed of those who were ashamed of Him and His words before that adulterous and sinful generation. We know that the expression "Son of Man" was used by some prophets to refer to the Messiah. The expression "adulterous generation" meant the idolatry committed by people, exchanging the true God (husband) for foreign gods (lovers). Jesus concluded by saying that the Kingdom of God would come with power and would be seen before many of t...

Today we come to the heart of the Gospel of Mark, where the messianic secret is revealed, that is, Jesus admits to the disciples that He is the Messiah. The Gospel of Mark has sixteen chapters. We are exactly halfway through his Gospel. It is as if the previous chapters were a preparation for this moment, and that the later chapters will be a consequence of this moment. Jesus and the disciples were in Caesarea Philippi. After several months of preaching, healing and exorcising, Jesus wanted to know if people had already discovered His identity. According to the disciples, people still did not know who Jesus was. He then wanted to know if at least the disciples had already discovered His identity. On their behalf, Peter responded that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus did not deny His identity and, knowing that the disciples did not understand the true meaning of His messiahship, He forbade them to tell about Him and explained to them that being the Messiah meant suffering greatly, being rej...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the healing of a blind man by Jesus. In the village of Bethsaida, which means "house of fishing" in Hebrew, people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch the man. The way in which the healing happened was curious. Jesus took the blind man by the hand, led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes He laid his hands on the man. But the healing was not complete, because the blind man saw people who looked like trees and walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he was completely healed, and he could see everything distinctly. Jesus sent the man home and told him not even to go into the village. Sometimes the spiritual healing we so desperately need can take longer than we imagine. Spiritual healing is a process that must be experienced with patience and trust.  It is interesting that Jesus led the man outside the village and then told him not even to go into the village. Sometimes spiritual healing ...

Today the evangelist Mark speaks to us of Jesus' warning to His disciples about the attitudes of the Pharisees and King Herod. The disciples were worried because, having forgotten to bring bread to eat, they only had one loaf available in the boat. Then Jesus warned the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and King Herod. Associating the leaven with the loaf, the disciples thought that Jesus was talking about their worry. In a way, He was disappointed with the disciples who, because they were thinking only about their immediate need, were not understanding Jesus' warning about the attitudes of the Pharisees and King Herod. Reminding them of the two episodes of the multiplication of the loaves, when He fed thousands of people and several baskets of fragments were picked up, Jesus reassured the disciples and said that they should guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and King Herod. As we know, leaven, despite its small quantity, has the power to make the dough rise. I...

We are in the sixth week of Ordinary Time. Today the evangelist Mark tells us about Jesus' refusal of the Pharisees' seek for a sign from heaven. The Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus. They were a group of Jews who intended to strictly follow the Law of Moses. The Pharisees were important leaders in the synagogues, which were the official places of worship on the Sabbath. They were bothered by Jesus and His teachings, because they supposedly relativized the Law of Moses. And the Pharisees openly criticized Jesus. They were His adversaries, because they considered Him dangerous, negatively influencing the people. To put Jesus to the test, the Pharisees sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He refused to give them any sign and went off. Jesus had already performed many signs from heaven: He had healed the sick, He had cast out unclean spirits, He had restored life to a dead girl. These signs were performed because people believed in Jesus, they had faith in Him. But ...

We begin the sixth week of Ordinary Time with Mother Church. Sunday is the Lord's Day, Family Day, and Rest Day. Today the evangelist Luke tells us about the beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus and also about the woes. Due to His ministry, Jesus came to know many poor people, who were hungry, who cried, and who, for believing in Him, were hated, expelled from the synagogues, insulted, and cursed. Like many prophets, these people were despised by both society and religion. But they were very important to Jesus, who tried to help them and console them in the faith. One day, Jesus came down and, on a stretch of level ground, He told His disciples and a large crowd that people who suffered social and religious contempt were, in reality, blessed, happy, precisely because they would receive preferential treatment from Jesus and a great reward in Heaven. Jesus is the blessed one par excellence! He chose to live with the poor and, with them, suffered hardships. In the mystery of His passion, Je...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the healing of a deaf man by Jesus. He was in the district of Decapolis. There was a crowd around Him. Then they brought a deaf man who had a speech impediment, and begged Jesus to lay His hand on him. The way in which the healing happened was curious. First Jesus took the man off by himself away from the crowd. Then He put His fingers into his ears. Then He spat and touched his tongue. Then He looked up to heaven, groaned and said: "Be opened!" Immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed and he spoke plainly. And the crowd proclaimed the healings performed by Jesus, even though He ordered them not to tell anyone. According to the prophets of the First Testament, when the Messiah promised by God arrived, the deaf would hear, the mute would speak, the blind would see, the lame would walk, and the dead would come to life. By allowing the healings to happen, God was revealing to the Jews that Jesus was th...

Today the evangelist Mark speaks of Jesus driving a demon out of the daughter of a foreigner, a non-Jew. The evangelist says that Jesus was in a house in the region of Tyre and Sidon. He wanted to escape notice, but a woman from Phoenicia in Syria, who was a non-Jew, came to Jesus, fell at His feet and asked Him to drive out an unclean spirit of her daughter. At that time, the Jewish mentality despised non-Jews, foreigners and women. The Jews considered themselves "children" (of God) and prejudicedly called foreigners "dogs". Even though He was the Word of God made Flesh, Jesus was Jewish and grew up in the Jewish mentality. Certainly for this reason, He told the non-Jew Syrophoenician woman that it was not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs. But the foreigner's response to Jesus opened His mind and heart: "The dogs under the table eat the children's scraps". So He answered her beg, and the demon gone out of her daughte...

Today the evangelist Mark speaks to us of Jesus' teaching about what defiles the person: evils that comes from within the heart. Today's gospel is a continuation of yesterday's text, when the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law accused Jesus' disciples of being unclean because they had not washed their hands before eating. The Jews believed and taught that some foods were unclean - such as pork - and that it would make the person who ate them unclean. But Jesus declared - first to the crowd and then to His disciples - that all foods are clean, saying that it is what comes from within man that defiles him. Then the evangelist Mark presents a list of the evils that come from within the human heart: evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. That is why, when we speak of fasting, more important than depriving ourselves of food or drink - which are not bad in themselves - is to renounce our...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the dialogue between the Pharisees and Jesus about Jewish cultural and religious traditions. The Pharisees asked Jesus why His disciples ate their meals with unwashed hands. Without answering the question, Jesus said that the Pharisees disregarded/set aside God's commandment, nullifying the Word of God, in order to uphold their traditions. Jesus gave an example: the Pharisees allowed a person to dedicate to God the goods that might be used to help/honor his father and mother, according to the fourth commandment. As a reminder, the Pharisees were a group of Jews who supposedly followed the Law of Moses radically. They were religious leaders in the synagogues, which were the official place of worship on the Sabbath. The Pharisees monitored people to see if they were following the Law of Moses correctly. The Pharisees dangerously mixed human precepts and religious doctrines, prioritizing their own customs. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus said...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the many people who brought the sick to Jesus so that they could be healed by faith. In the villages, towns and countryside where Jesus and His disciples entered, people placed the sick lying on their mats in the marketplaces and begged Jesus that they might touch only the tassel on His cloak. And as many as touched it were healed. There was an idea among the Jews that the promised Messiah would be someone like the great prophet Elijah and his disciple Elisha, through whom some sick were healed by faith. God the Father allowed the sick to be healed by faith in Jesus to reveal to the Jews that He was the promised Messiah. Public health at that time and place was very precarious. The sick had no one to turn to. Medicine was limited, rulers did not care about the sick, and religious leaders considered the sick to be sinners punished by God. The people who brought the sick to Jesus were like intercessors, like intermediaries, who believed in His pow...

We begin, with the whole Church, the fifth week of Ordinary Time. Today the evangelist Luke tells us about the call of Simon Peter by Jesus after the episode of the miraculous catch of fish. The fishermen had worked hard all night and had caught nothing. Jesus was preaching on the shore of Lake Genesaret. He was in Simon Peter's boat and the crowds were on the shore. Then Jesus told Simon to put out into deeper water and lower their nets. He obeyed Jesus and they caught a great number of fish. Simon and his companions - among them the brothers James and John - were astonished. Recognizing that he was a sinner, Simon asked Jesus to depart from him. Instead, Jesus encouraged Simon and told him that he would be a catching men from that moment on. The evangelist concludes by saying that they left everything and followed Jesus. More than talking about the lake, the boat, the nets and the fish, this gospel points to the evangelizing and missionary action of Jesus and the apostles in the ...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the tragic death of John the Baptist at the request of Herodias, the wife of King Herod. John the Baptist had courageously warned the king about his adultery with Herodias, who was the wife of his brother Philip, that is, she was his sister-in-law. For this reason, John the Baptist was arrested. Although Herod liked to listen to him, Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. Unfortunately, the opportunity arrived. It was Herod's birthday, and Herodias' daughter performed a dance and delighted the king very much, who, in front of the leading men of Galilee, swore to grant to the girl whatever she wished. Under the diabolical influence of Herodias, the girl requested the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Despite the distress, the king honored his oath and ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded. Then his disciples laid him in a tomb. When power is exercised by someone unprepared, the consequences are usually disas...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the missionary sending of the Twelve apostles by Jesus, and the preparation and execution of this mission in the houses. The word apostle comes from the Greek and means "sent". Jesus was the first and main sent One, apostle, missionary of God the Father. In fact, He Himself went to many villages, preaching repentance, driving out many demons and curing many who were sick. Those who had been chosen to be apostles were now sent on a mission by Jesus. They were to be simple and detached, trusting more in divine providence than in money and possessions, without worrying about food or clothing. The apostles were to carry only a walking stick, for their protection against wild animals. They were to choose a house and stay there until their leave. Jesus prepared the apostles for the possibility of rejection in some places, telling them to testimony against them, shaking the dust off their feet as they left.  The strategy was for the apostles ...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the resistance of the Jews of Nazareth to Jesus, the Word of God who became Man for our salvation. Jesus was teaching in the synagogue of Nazareth on a Sabbath. The Jews of the city thought they knew Jesus, because He lived there with Mary and Joseph and other relatives from His childhood to His youth. But they only knew the humanity of Jesus. That is why they took offense at His wisdom and the miracles performed by His hands. Because of their lack of faith, Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deed in Nazareth, apart from curing a few sick people by laying His hands on them. The Jews in general, and those from Nazareth in particular, had immense difficulty accepting that Jesus was the Messiah because, in their mindset, the Christ would be a great religious and military leader, like the famous King David. It was scandalous and unacceptable for the Jews to have a Christ so human, so close, so similar to them. The mystery of the Word of God wh...

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the healing of a woman and the resurrection of a girl by Jesus. The woman had been afflicting with hemorrhages for 12 years. She had spent all she had on many doctors and her condition grew worse. With faith, the woman touched Jesus' cloak in the crowd. And she was healed by a power that had gone out from Jesus. Then the woman fell down and told Him the whole truth. And Jesus told the woman that her faith had saved her. The girl was 12 years old and her father, Jairus, who was one of the synagogue officials, asked Jesus to lay His hand on his daughter so that the girl would get well and live. While Jesus was on the way, Jairus was informed of his daughter's death. Jesus told the synagogue official to have faith and not to be afraid. When they arrived at Jairus’ house, Jesus told the people who were crying that the girl had not died, but was asleeping. Accompanied by the apostles Peter, James and John, Jesus took Jairus’ daughter by the h...

We begin the fourth week of Ordinary Time. Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the exorcism of a possessed man by Jesus. The man lived in the territory of the Gerasenes and dwelled among the tombs. He was very agitated and no one could bound him with shackles and chains. According to the possessed man himself, he was possessed by many unclean spirits, called "Legion". The man knew that Jesus was "the Son of the Most High God". And so he ran up and prostrated himself before Jesus. According to the will of the possessed man, when he was exorcised by Jesus, the many unclean spirits entered a herd of two thousand swine. The man came to his right mind, and the swine rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. Jesus was asked to leave that district because the people were seized with fear. The man who had been exorcised pleaded to remain with Jesus, but the man was told to go home and anounce to everyone all that the Lord, in His pity, had done fo...

How time flies! Forty days ago we celebrated Christmas, the birth of the Lord Jesus! On February 2nd, the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It is also the World Day of Consecrated Religious Life. Today the evangelist Luke tells us about the elderly righteous man Simeon and the elderly prophetess Anna in the temple of Jerusalem. The context was the presentation of Jesus by Mary and Joseph forty days after His birth. The Law of Moses said that parents should consecrate their firstborn son to God in the temple of Jerusalem, after the days of the mother's purification were over. Simeon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recognized that Jesus was the Christ of the Lord. Anna, who worshiped God night and day with fasting and prayer, gave thanks to God and spoke of Jesus to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.  Luke concludes by saying that the Holy Family returned to Nazareth in Galilee, and that Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and th...