Joseph Osho

  Tuesday of week 10 in Ordinary Time  or St Ephrem 1 Kings 17:7-16  Psalm 4:2-5,7-8 Matthew 5:13-16 St. Ephrem was born in 306 in Nisibis. As an adult, he lived the lifestyle of a hermit. In the 350s, he fled from his native Nisibis to Edessa (Turkey) after the city was conquered by the Persians. There, he was ordained a deacon. He was a teacher who defended the faith through his biblical commentaries, poetry, and most famously his hymns. Ephrem found the use of symbols most important and saw them in the Scriptures and in creation all around him, ‘Jesus created so many symbols that I have fallen into them as into the sea’. He has many titles: The Column of the Church, The Harp of the Holy Spirit, and is the greatest hymnographer of the Church of the East. In our familiar Beatitudes, we see the vocation of Israel to be the light of the nations. Yet they failed to accept the Light of the world. That light has been given to us.  At the Easter Vigil, when the light from...

  Monday of week 10 in Ordinary Time  1 Kings 17:1-6 · Psalm 120(121) Matthew 5:1-12 BLESSED ARE YOU How happy are you? Are you truly happy? What does happiness mean to you personally? The human craving for comfort in today’s world is often directed away from divine guidance and instead seeks fulfillment through worldly means. Man’s soul searches tirelessly for comfort, consolation, and above all, true happiness. It is only when we accept the path of happiness offered by Christ that any happiness we pursue outside of God ultimately leads to a void filled with misery and spiritual emptiness. In today’s gospel, Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by outlining the way to happiness through the Beatitudes.  The profound truth of these “attitudes” that Jesus teaches is that, regardless of the sorrows and hardships we face in life, once we have embraced Him as our Lord and Savior and commit to walking in His footsteps daily, we discover the true treasure—heavenly reward. T...

  The Body and Blood of Christ (Year A)   Deut 8.2-3, 12-15, 19-20;  Ps 147;  I Cor 10.16-17;  Jn 6.51-58 Appreciating the rich and life-sustaining food preserved in the sacred tabernacle! Many of Christ's words in the Gospels are often shrouded in mystery. To truly understand Holy Scripture, we rely on the guiding light of the Holy Spirit, alive within the Church’s living tradition—its divine soul. Even with this guidance, the meaning can sometimes be elusive. But today’s Gospel is a powerful exception! It boldly and clearly reveals Jesus teaching us about something absolutely fundamental—His own Body and Blood in the Most Blessed Sacrament. This is the core of our faith, a miraculous gift that calls us to recognize and partake of Him. Most Catholics already believe in the real presence of Christ's Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist. Yet, imagine how astonishing this must have sounded to those hearing it for the first time! Jesus insisted that we must eat His Fle...

  Saturday of week 9 in Ordinary Time 2 Timothy 4:1-8  Psalm 70(71):8-9,14-17,22 Mark 12:38-44 In a nation of immense wealth, it is outrageous that anyone goes hungry, lacks healthcare, or lives on the streets. Today’s reading highlights the many social ills that still confront us today.As disciples, we should also feel anger at a society that promotes individualistic social upward mobility while turning a blind eye to its impact on the disadvantaged, especially those living on the fringes of our communities. Today’s readings also challenge us to be “refusers, renegades, and resisters” against the prevailing narrative of upward mobility centered on riches, honors, pride, and power. The culture that upholds these values might want us to see today’s Gospel as a sweet story of a poor widow surrendering everything to God, encouraging the well-to-do to give a little more. But the story is much more radical. Jesus is condemning the Temple economy that allows scribes and similar figu...

  Saint Boniface, Bishop, Martyr  2 Timothy 3:10-17  Psalm118(119):157,160-161,165-166,168 Mark 12:35-37 bearing witness to the reality of the resurrection. This day’s readings and feast focus on the central theme of the power of scripture and the presence of God's Word in our lives. The wonderful scripture teachers I’ve encountered over the years always encouraged us to ask deep, challenging questions of the text. The goal was not to discredit scripture but to hear it at a more profound level. Isn’t this precisely what Jesus models for us in today’s Gospel? He takes a familiar text—Psalm 110—and opens it up like a door no one had thought to try. “If David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” It’s a simple question, but it manages to crack something wide open. The crowd was delighted because they recognized they were in the presence of someone who read Scripture from the inside out. Praying and reflecting on the Scriptures takes effort. It’s much easier to simply read ...

  Saints Charles Lwanga and his Companions 2 Timothy 1:1-3,​6-12 · Psalm 122(123):1-2 Mark 12:18-27 Popular images of life after death and heaven tend to depict earthly, familiar scenes—pastures, clouds, choirs, and even harps playing. We often use these ‘homely’ images to describe what lies ahead. However, the life to come with God remains a mystery—simple at its core. We understand basic truths: we will live on, our existence will be eternal through Jesus’s death and resurrection. Still, detailed descriptions elude us. Faith is about trust, and though we live by faith, it's natural to seek some recognizable aspects of the life to come to help us hold on. Today, we read about the Sadducees devising a very fanciful scenario regarding marriage in heaven, not to gain wisdom but to trap Jesus and support their belief that there is no resurrection. Like Jesus, we shouldn’t get too caught up in these invented stories. Jesus doesn’t get sidetracked by the absurd scenario; instead, h...