Mercy Frees the Heart

โ€œMercy Frees the Heartโ€
A reflection on Sirach 27:30-28:7 and Matthew 18:21-35
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
ยฉ๏ธ2023 Gloria M. Chang

Wrath and anger, these also are abominations,
yet a sinner holds on to them. 

The vengeful will face the Lordโ€™s vengeance;
indeed he remembers their sins in detail.

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The Finger of God

Parts of P.Oxy. LII 3679, 3rd century, containing fragments of Plato’s Republic.

27th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday (Year II)

Luke 11:15-26

Suppose there was a perfectly just man. Would he be loved, ignored, or hated?

Plato proposed a thought experiment around 360 B.C.… Read the rest

Growing in Faith

18th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday (Year II)

Matthew 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, โ€œLord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water.Read the rest

Signs of the Kingdom

Icon of Jesus and the Centurion

12th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday (Year II)

Matthew 8:5-17

Jesusโ€™ fame as a healer spread far and wide in Palestine, attracting not only lepers but foreigners like the Roman centurion. Jews did not associate with either group; one was โ€œunclean,โ€ the other was โ€œGentile.โ€… Read the rest

Jesus and the Leper

Jesus Heals the Leper, by Rembrandt (1655-60)

12th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday (Year II)

Matthew 8:1-4

โ€œLord, if you wish, you can make me clean.โ€ 

The leper represents all of us in need of divine mercy. In the eyes of Jesus there are no untouchables, pariahs, outcasts, or rejects.… Read the rest