Homilies

We begin the eleventh week of Ordinary Time with Mother Church, deepening our knowledge and experience of Jesus and the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Today the evangelist Matthew speaks to us about Jesus' missionary sending of the twelve apostles. After traveling through cities and villages announcing the Kingdom of God, Jesus moves from personal action to shared mission, calling and sending the Twelve Apostles. It all begins with Jesus' gaze. He does not see just a crowd; he sees concrete people, with their pains, doubts, sins, and sufferings. The Greek word translated as "compassion" indicates a deep emotion that springs from within. Jesus suffers with those who suffer. He perceives that the people lack spiritual guides capable of leading them to God. The image of "sheep without a shepherd" recalls several passages from the Old Testament, especially the prophets who criticized the religious and political leaders who had abandoned the people (cf. Ezekiel...

We begin the tenth week of Ordinary Time with Mother Church, deepening our knowledge of the Person of Jesus Christ and His teachings in order to grow in His discipleship. Today the evangelist Matthew speaks to us about his calling by Jesus and his affirmative response. Matthew was called Levi and, before becoming an apostle and evangelist, he worked for the Romans as a tax collector. It was a profession hated by the Jews, who considered these workers traitors to the nation and sinners, voluntarily serving the violent, unjust, and pagan rulers. Surprisingly, Jesus called a tax collector to be His apostle, probably because He knew that Matthew had this profession out of necessity, and not out of complicity with the Romans. So much so that, when given the opportunity by Jesus, Levi rose to follow Him. Some Pharisees—a group of Jews who considered themselves morally superior because they radically observed the Law of Moses, criticizing those who did not—questioned Jesus' disciples abou...

On the Sunday after Trinity Sunday, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Most Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of the consecrated Bread and Wine. In some countries, the solemnity is celebrated on previous Thursday because it was on this day of the week that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His apostles, when He instituted the Eucharist. It is the only day of the year when the Blessed Sacrament can be taken from the church to the nearby streets and avenues for the adoration of the faithful and the public demonstration of faith in the presence of Jesus in the consecrated Host. Only Catholics believe in the mystery of transubstantiation, that is, that the Bread and Wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit and by the laying on of the consecrated hands of the priests, repeating the words and gestures of Jesus in the Holy Mass. For Catholics, the Eucharist is the Body and Blood, the...