Joseph Osho

  Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Eccles 1.2, 2.21-23;  Ps 89;  Col 3.1-5, 9-11;  Lk 12.13-21 In the OT text from the book of Ecclesiastes we heard the well known cry of ‘the Preacher’: Vanity of vanities.    All is vanity!    This ‘Preacher’ was a spokesman for divine wisdom.    The wisdom tradition sought to distill the essence of the mind of God on the whole range of human life and activities.    When we hear these passages from the Old Testament, some can seem like a huge, cynical sigh, as human activities are checked off one by one and rubbished as extravagant .   But this is to misunderstand the Preacher, whose purpose is to focus our thoughts and attitudes on God.    He is telling us that nothing we do is worthwhile unless our lives are founded on the divine will.    If we live by wisdom, then our activities will reflect God’s plan; our daily actions will bring his divine life, h...

  The voice that speaks the truth may disappear but the word of God remains the same. Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24 Matthew 14:1-12 The dedicated and heroic life of John the Baptist ended with the almost ludicrous actions of King Herod.  Herod was a petty ruler, the pawn of a unscrupulous wife; he allowed himself to become enraptured by the party-dancing of Herodias’ daighter.  So taken up by the party, the people present, and the dancing of his daughter, Herod publicly promised her anything – even swearing regarding his intentions!  The ultimate outcome:  John the Baptist was murdered per the request of Herodias relayed through her daughter, beheaded as the party ended.  John’s heroic life tragically ended as a victim of humanness, weakness, and sinfulness. Jeremiah criticizes the failures of the leaders of his time because they refused to follow God's commands, arrogantly ignore the needy, and oppressed the poor. They turned to the worship of false idols to secur...

  In the Gospel of John, Jesus and Martha have a conversation where Martha makes several faith statements about her belief “in the resurrection on the last day”. Martha, a woman who is portrayed as a very busy person in the Gospel of Luke, is the one who has faith that Jesus is going to heal her brother or raise him from the dead in the Gospel of John.  The last statement she makes is that she believes “you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Martha makes her statements of faith and Jesus replies with the promise of eternal life. Pope Francis concerning today's feast says that,” In the household of Bethany, the Lord Jesus experienced the family spirit and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and for this reason, the Gospel of John states that he loved them,” it said. “Martha generously offered him hospitality, Mary listened attentively to his words and Lazarus promptly emerged from the tomb at the command of the one who humiliated death.” ...

  JER 18:1-6 MT 13:47-53 The setting of Jeremiah 18 begins at “the potter’s house” 18:1-3 . God commanded Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house and observe the potter as he fashioned lumps of clay on the potter’s wheel. He lovingly takes the time to mould and shape the wet clay into a fine piece of art admired by all.  Like the clay yielded to the potter’s hands to be reshaped and fashioned for his purpose, so the Lord longed to restore Israel to Himself and bless the nation. The Lord commanded Jeremiah to go to the people and warn them that God had determined to judge them if they continued in their sins v10.  The Lord reminds us today that the Kingdom of heaven includes both the new and the old, the rejected and the praised, the rich and the poor, the immigrant, the prisoner, people of all faiths, creeds and skin color. We are created in the image and likeness of God. May we enter into the New Covenant daily through our repentance and rest secured in his love. Amen. Peac...

Jeremiah 15:10,16-21 · Matthew 13:44-46 Hidden treasure! Costly pearl! Jesus relates the two parables which speak about the superior value of being part of the Kingdom of heaven together.    In both cases the individuals involved left everything they have and sought the kingdom of heaven-the highest treasure.  It was an ultimate decision for them to make because they saw the hidden radiance of the kingdom of God. The pearl of great price sounds like the ultimate “impulse item!”   If you want it you need to drop everything and sell everything to get it.  You need to do it right The attractions of this material world constantly present themselves as access to our happiness. We pursue it even at the cost of our honour,    dignity and after we catch up with it we find out that happiness does not reside there. We end up still looking for that fleeting joy and satisfaction in life. The big mistake of some of us is that we equate our joy and satisfa...

  SAINTS JOACHIM AND ANNE, PARENTS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Jeremiah 14:17-22 Matthew 13:36-43 Amid so many disheartening headlines and “breaking news” coverage on television; with all the political administrators that seem disconnected from our ordinary lives; with all the hurt and violence humans inflict on one another, we would have every right to believe the “darnels” are taking over the field.  We can feel overwhelmed and hopeless…a sure sign of the Evil One at work.  Even Jeremiah the Prophet in the first reading today is tempted to give up hope and wonders aloud, “Have you [Lord] cast Judah off completely? Is Zion loathsome to you?” In our world today, the enemy continues to sow tares among wheats but that should not introduce fears and doubts in our minds and hearts, that should not bother us at all. Let us therefore continue to persevere in doing good and pray at all times that the will of God should be done just like our mother Mary. Mary is the seed of Joachi...

  James is called great or greater probably because he was one of the original apostles called by our Lord, he witnessed some private events in the life of Christ, extended Christ's mission to Europe and became the first apostle to die for the sake of Christ.   St. James the Great  was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Also called James the Elder, he was the first apostle to become a martyr and the only one whose martyrdom was recorded in the New Testament. Son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of John the Apostle, Christ distinguished Peter, James and John by many special favours above the rest of the apostles. James, John, and Peter were present during the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Mk 5:37; Lk 8:51), They alone were admitted to be spectators first of his glorious transfiguration, Mk 9:1; Matt 17:1; Lk 9:28), and afterward of his agony and bloody sweat in the garden of Gethsemane. Matt 26:37; Mk 14:33), St James continued to preach for 14 years fo...

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Gen 18.20-32;  Ps 137;  Col 2.12-14;  Lk 11.1-13 The goal of our spiritual life is union with God. It is a wrong perspective to say that we pray just so that we can become more virtuous.    It is an inadequate perspective to say that we pray so that we can better understand the object of our faith.    It is certainly the case that we pray    so that we may lead lives more pleasing to our Maker.     It is also true that we    pray    in order to deepen our grasp of the doctrines of the faith.    Yet ultimately we engage in both these aspects of the life of prayer for a more fundamental purpose.    We do it in order to love God and become like Him.    That's what it's all about: the love of God.    We love God to live in union with Him, a union which begins here on earth, and flowers in eternity. Jesus tells us to start our prayer ...

  Jer 7:1-11 Matt. 13:24-30 In today's gospel concerning the parable of the wheat and weeds, Christ identifies a farming problem although in this case, it is the spiritual life. An enemy of a landowner has sowed weeds among the wheat of his field. When the owner’s servants ask him if they should pull up the weeds, he answers no, because they might pull up some of the wheat as well. For me, this shows the patience and mercy of God. We do not have to be stuck where we are but become the “wheat” God made us to be. The challenge sometimes is to be honest with ourselves and to remain wheat and not weeds. To bear fruit in the life of the Spirit through our daily struggle and in the end be harvested into God's eternal barn.  We are confronted with the same message again in today’s first reading, Thus says the Lord, Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place. Put not your trust in the deceitful words: This is the temple of the Lord. Jeremiah 7:3-4....