miriamkennedy3n5w

On this blessed day you and I thank God for the incredible grace to declare in the Sunday Creed: “On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” Jesus is alive, alive in His humanity and in His divinity—the very same person who was born in Bethlehem, walked the dusty roads of Palestine, died in anguish on Calvary’s cross.

“O Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and the future pledge is given to us.” This Sunday of Passion we begin a whole week of gathering in prayer and liturgy to proclaim the mystery of our faith. The week of our Lord’s Passion begins with His triumphal entry into His holy city, Jerusalem. “We adore, You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.”

Now is “the hour,” Jesus says. It is Passover. Jesus is the Lamb. He is speaking of His own sacrifice. It becomes more explicit in later verses, when, speaking again of His hour, Jesus says, “Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say?” Father, save Me from this “hour?” No, for this purpose I have come to this “hour.” Father, glorify Your name.”

Whether we gaze with longing into the garden, or with fear and trembling into the desert, of this we can be sure—God walked there first.

The suffering of Christ on Calvary is at the heart of our faith. Why did Jesus suffer? How can I “proclaim Christ crucified” in ways that give hope? — that we have been redeemed through the passion of Christ.

May God strengthen us inwardly, that with the joy of the Holy Spirit, we may offer God something above the measure required of us. Amen.

May God strengthen us inwardly, that with the joy of the Holy Spirit, we may offer God something above the measure required of us. Amen.

Jesus knows this law as well as any other rabbi of His day.  But He chooses to break the law in a most deliberate and decisive way—He actually stretches out His hand and touches the leper who came for a cure.  Touches him.  Inexcusable!  Irresponsible!  But it works!  Jesus’ tender touch makes the leper clean.

"Care of the sick and infirm reminds us most visibly of how God deals with us graciously in our weakness.  There is the tendency in all of us to stand tall and proud, attractive in strength and talent.  We even rely on those things and think of those things as important to our relationships with others. . . . And so, we need a reminder that God does not glory in our accomplishments.  God loves us for who we are—fragile and failing human beings—bent for another kind of glory where the accomplishment is God’s and ours is the gratitude."

On May 3rd, 2020, Fr. Christopher Panagoplos recorded his first Sunday homily to be shared with the Secular Franciscan Order.  Since then, faithfully, he has prepared and delivered a homily each week, reflecting on the scriptures from a Franciscan perspective. As we approach the beginning of a fourth year of these treasures, Fr. Christopher shares in his most recent homily for Sunday, January 28th, 2024, the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, some insights about how our following in the footsteps of our Seraphic Father, Francis, we are following in the footsteps of Christ himself.