Category: 2015

Gospel Mark 7: 31-37
Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” – that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, the ligament of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

A few years ago, while I was still a parish priest, I observed a communion minister remonstrating with a young boy because the boy had put out his left hand to receive Holy Communion. I felt the little boy’s shame because I too am left-handed and remember the days when teachers tried to change me into a right hander.  In fact I had to intervene and tell the communion minister to give communion to the child even though the child had held out his left hand to receive. Afterwards I had to ask the communion minister which was more important: receiving the Body of Christ or receiving in the right hand.

John 6:60-69

Here in Trinidad & Tobago, as the national elections draw near we hear more and more tales of unbridled corruption.

The saying that everyone has a price seems to be true. Corruption has become a way of life for many. This teaches us in no uncertain way that when the human heart grows coarse, ways of life which should be normal become extraordinary and are easily rejected by the generality of persons.

Gospel John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

John 6:41-51

For a very long time, the Government, through the Ministry of Education, has emphasised a curriculum which deals principally with technology and business.

There have been many cries for a return to spirituality in our schools but unless the spiritual has pride of place in our thinking, the cries for a return to spirituality fall on deaf ears. The result, as we have seen, is an emphasis on the material, the making of money and the desire for comfort above all else. This has led to an uncontrolled desire to make money and to all kinds of white collar crimes and to violence. Our development as a nation has therefore been stunted because true development must take the spiritual side of humanity into account.