Pastor’s Column 29th Sunday Ordinary Time October 18, 2020 “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God” from Matthew 15:21 At the height of the financial crisis of 2008, Pope Benedict gave this brief talk to help us see the “divine perspective” on the terrible situation many found themselves in. It is one of my very favorite and insightful reflections of his. It seems very relevant to run it again in the light of our challenging times and this Sunday’s gospel. Father Gary POPE BENEDICT XVI MONEY CRISIS SHOWS IMPORTANCE OF BIBLE OCTOBER 6, 2008 (FROM ZENIT) "We see it now in the fall of the great banks," the Holy Father said. "This money disappears; it is nothing --
Pastor’s Column 28th Sunday Ordinary Time October 11, 2020 The King said, “Behold, I have prepared my banquet…everything is ready; come to the feast!” Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. (Matthew 22:1-14) This Sunday’s parable about a king who threw a big wedding party is very puzzling. Why in the world would so many people ignore his wedding invitations? You might think they would be honored to be invited by the king. At the very least, they ought to have been afraid to turn the king down! He even sends the invitation out a second time and gets refused again. This certainly seems like very odd behavior. The only logical explanation must be th
Pastor’s Column 27th Sunday Ordinary Time October 4, 2020 In this Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 21:33-43), Jesus offers the parable of a man who takes great care to set up his own business—a vineyard. He made a sizeable investment in time and money, planting a hedge, installing an expensive winepress, and cultivating grapes (this takes time!). After all these extensive preparations, he went out and found tenants to buy a lease and run the business for him. Well, we all know how this came out. The tenants refused to pay their rent or a fair share of the profits they were earning on this leased land. Incredibly, they began to think that the property and all that was set up belonged to them and that