God Settles Our Debt in Confession

JESUS TOLD the story of a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants (cf. Mt 18:21-35). They brought before him a man who owed him ten thousand talents. This was an exorbitant amount; in today's terms, we would see it as a debt more suitable for a large corporation than an individual.

Esteemed parishioners of Blessed Sacrament and Visitors,

In the first reading for this Sunday, Prophet Ezekiel is called to be a sentry, or guard, to ensure that the people of Israel remain faithful to the covenant. In ancient times, a sentry was an army guard tasked with watching over his men to prevent them from being taken by surprise.

Esteemed parishioners of the Blessed Sacrament and Visitors,

After Peter publicly declared his faith in Jesus, as we heard in last Sunday's Gospel, Jesus told His disciples that He needed to go to Jerusalem to suffer at the hands of the elders and chief priests and ultimately be killed. Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord!" (Matthew 16:22). In this instance, Peter's human weakness was evident.

We don’t know why Jesus had His disciples go to Caesarea Philippi; we don’t know what took place there. We only know of the profound exchange that took place on their return between Jesus and Peter, which we hear about in this week’s Gospel reading [cf. Matthew 16:13-20].

Caesarea Philippi was a mountain resort town at the foot of Mount Hermon, about fifteen miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It was a popular destination for the Roman elite.

Does God ignore or act a bit rough with you? Jesus crosses the border into the pagan region of Tyre and Sidon, the territory long outside the covenant. There, a Canaanite woman calls out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David." At first, he is silent. Then he rebuffs her. "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." But the Church Fathers saw this not as an insult but as an initiation. Christ draws out of her heart a deeper faith.

Fellow parishioners of Blessed Sacrament and visitors,

Greetings from Bukoba, Tanzania! After a well-deserved vacation in my home country, I am glad to be back to continue our joint efforts in building the kingdom of God at this beautiful parish. I am particularly grateful to our beloved Associate Pastor, Rev. Fr. Samuel Aliba, the parish staff, volunteers, and each individual parishioner for keeping our parish thriving during my absence.

TODAY, the evangelist Matthew tells us that the crowds were eagerly seeking our Lord. They hungered for his preaching and miracles so greatly that, when they finally found Him, they listened to him happily until sunset. On one of those occasions, the apostles suggested to Jesus that He send the people away before nightfall so they could find somewhere to buy food for their journey home. But our Lord, moved by those hearts that were so eager for his word, didn't want to let them go without giving them one last gift.