disciples of John the Baptist

debbie linbrunner • January 13, 2021

From pastor’s desk on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, year B

 

 

As we begin the Ordinary Time in the liturgy of the Church, we are invited to follow our Lord Jesus together with the apostles. In the gospel reading for this Sunday we hear how two of the disciples of John the Baptist, curious about this mysterious man called by John “the Lamb of God,” pursued Jesus. While they were following the Lord without proper knowledge of His divine origin, Jesus asked them, “ What are you looking for ?” The question sounds very simple, but it goes into the hearts of those men seeking God. Since Jesus does not only ask about their outward search, but also for what they were looking for in the depths of their hearts. However, the disciples for the time being stay on the surface of things and they ask, “ Rabbi, where are you staying?” To that Jesus, in accordance with the tradition of great Jewish rabbis, does not give them straight answer. Rather, He invites them to discover His “dwelling” while coming after Him. Thus, He said to them, “ Come, and you will see.”

            What does Jesus’s invitation mean for the disciples? It means the disciples must follow Jesus and spend time with Him. They need to be in His Divine presence in order to gain God’s wisdom. Of course, the disciples only represent all others, who search for God and are drawn to Christ by the power emanating from Him. In result, those who follow Jesus discover much more than they can imagine – they discover the Triune God benevolently acting in the world. In Jesus they also discover the Way to the Father.

Our Lord Jesus invites all of us too, to follow Him so that we may believe in Him. Unfortunately, many people in today’s world know Jesus only by name. They declare themselves Christians, but do very little to know the Christ. That applies even to many Sunday churchgoers. They posses some knowledge of Him or they “have heard about Him,” but they do not want to make a commitment to follow His Way. It is a common delusion that some “knowledge” about Jesus is enough. It cannot stay only in the intellectual level, such as in social studies or in history classes that also talk about Jesus. Let us remember that if we do not engage into real relationship with Jesus while walking along with Him, we will neither know Him in truth nor believe that He is the only Savior.

There are two basic ways to know and to follow Christ. First is prayer and the second the Sacred Scripture reading. Prayer is fundamental for our spiritual life, for it opens our mind and heart to the Transcendence of God. But prayer is not just repeating formulas. Rather it is a conversation heart to heart with the Lord. Prayer is also abiding in Jesus, like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, did who “chose the better part” while sitting at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:42). Another way to know Christ is Scripture reading or Bible study. It is something that Catholics are not good at. However, it is the entire Sacred Scripture that refers to Christ, so one need to seek Christ actively in holy reading. As Saint Jerome famously put it:

 

Christ will not say to me what he said to the Jews:  You erred, not knowing the Scriptures and not knowing the power of God. For if, as Paul says, “ Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24) , and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ .

Hence, let us be diligent in seeking Jesus in prayer and in the Sacred Scripture reading so that our faith may increase and our lives may change accordingly. Let us remember tat, ultimately, we all must walk in Christ’s footsteps. We must imitate Him in everything in order to grow in holiness and receive the gift of salvation.

 

I wish you all a blessed week. Fr. Janusz Mocarski, pastor

 

 

Mensaje del pastor para la celebración de la Pascua 2025

By Anthony Aruanna • April 14, 2025
Queridos hermanos y hermanas,

Pastor’s message on Easter 2025

By Anthony Aruanna • April 14, 2025
Dear brothers and sisters,

From Pastor’s Desk on the Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • March 2, 2025
“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” — Our Lord Jesus addresses this question to His disciples trying to tell them that they need to be healed of their spiritual blindness first. In this context blindness is not to believe in Christ and healing means to have faith in Jesus who is the Light of the world. In other words, when we gain our spiritual sight through faith, then we will be able to help others on the way to salvation. Without faith in Jesus we just remain living in the darkness of sin. Without Jesus we are all like blind men bouncing against the walls of reality and against each other. However, when we embrace faith in God in the person of Jesus and let our hearts be set on Christ, then He—the Son of God and Our Lord—becomes our guide. Because of that our every step will be illumined with the light of faith. While putting our faith into action in our daily life we also start bearing good fruits of an authentic and happy life.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el Octavo Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • March 2, 2025
“ ¿Puede un ciego guiar a otro ciego? ¿No caerán ambos en un pozo? ” - Nuestro Señor Jesús dirige esta pregunta a sus discípulos tratando de decirles que primero necesitan ser curados de su ceguera espiritual. En este contexto, ceguera significa no creer en Cristo y curación significa tener fe en Jesús, que es la Luz del mundo. En otras palabras, cuando ganemos nuestra vista espiritual a través de la fe, entonces seremos capaces de ayudar a otros en el camino de la salvación. Sin fe en Jesús solo permanecemos viviendo en la oscuridad del pecado. Sin Jesús todos somos como ciegos que rebotan contra las paredes de la realidad y contra los demás. Sin embargo, cuando abrazamos la fe en Dios en la persona de Jesús y dejamos que nuestro corazón se fije en Cristo, entonces Él -el Hijo de Dios y Nuestro Señor- se convierte en nuestro guía. Por eso, cada uno de nuestros pasos estará iluminado por la luz de la fe. Al poner nuestra fe en acción en nuestra vida diaria, también empezamos a dar buenos frutos de una vida auténtica y feliz.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el 5º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • February 6, 2025
A menudo la gente nos pregunta a nosotros, los sacerdotes, qué hacer para profundizar en su vida espiritual. A todos se nos ocurren respuestas diferentes y, ciertamente, hay muchos caminos para una mayor vida espiritual. Hay, sin embargo, un método más probado que ha ayudado a muchos cristianos católicos a estar en la vía rápida de la santidad y a comprender mejor la vida espiritual. Es la consagración total al Corazón Inmaculado de María, o como propuso originalmente San Luis Grignon de Montfort allá por el siglo XVII, la Consagración Total a Jesús por María. Después de San Luis hubo muchos otros que siguieron sus pasos. Entre algunos de los santos más conocidos se encuentran el Papa Pío X, San Maximiliano Kolbe y San Juan Pablo II. Estos santos reconocieron que María desempeñó un papel vital en la vida de la Iglesia primitiva y que la Santísima Madre sigue desempeñando un papel importante en la Iglesia de nuestros tiempos.

From Pastor’s Desk on the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • February 6, 2025
Often people ask us, priests, what to do in order to deepen their spiritual life. We all can come up with different answers and there are certainly many ways to greater spiritual life. There is, however, a more proven method that has helped many Christian Catholics to be on the fast track to holiness and to better understanding of spiritual life. It is the total consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as originally proposed by Saint Luis Grignon de Montfort back in the XVII century, the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. After St. Luis there were many others that followed in his footsteps. Among some of the most known saints were Pope Pius X, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and St. John Paul II. These saints recognized that Mary played a vital role in the life of the early Church and that the Blessed Mother still plays an important role in the Church of our times.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el 2º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • January 26, 2025
Estoy seguro de que todos estamos atónitos y horrorizados por los incendios forestales del sur de California que afectan ya a cientos de miles de sus habitantes. La velocidad y la ferocidad del fuego sólo demuestran lo frágiles que somos como seres humanos individuales y como humanidad en general. Muchos californianos pueden estar dudando de su fe en estos momentos; muchos se plantearán preguntas: ¿Dónde está Dios? ¿Por qué permite Dios catástrofes tan terribles? Ciertamente, muchos de nosotros nos haríamos las mismas preguntas. Si Dios está detrás o no, no lo sabemos. Sin embargo, sí sabemos que vivimos en un mundo creado que tiene su propio ritmo y ciclos que se dan en la naturaleza. Las cosas suceden con y sin interrupción humana. Algunas cosas las podemos controlar (muy poco, de hecho), y muchas otras no. Lo que sí podemos reconocer es que las catástrofes naturales son una forma de llamada a la conversión y a una mayor confianza en Dios. También es una llamada a la acción para hacer la tierra más acogedora, de modo que las personas puedan prosperar en ella.

From pastor’s desk on the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • January 26, 2025
I am sure that all of us are stunned and horrified by the wildfires in Southern California impacting now hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants. The speed and ferocity of fire only proves how fragile we are as individual human beings and as humanity by and large. Many Californians may be doubting his or her faith at this moment; many will pose questions: Where is God? Why does God permit such terrible disasters? Certainly, many of us would ask the same questions. Whether God is behind it or not, we do not know. However, we do know that we live in a created world that has its own rhythm and cycles that occur in nature. Things happen with and without human interruption. Some things we can control (very little, in fact), and many things we can’t. What we can recognize is that natural disasters are a form of a call to conversion and to greater trust in God. It is also a call to action to make the earth more hospitable so that people can prosper in it.

From pastor’s desk on 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year, B

By Anthony Aruanna • October 19, 2024
Last July over 50 thousand Catholics gathered in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress. Obviously, the central theme of the gathering was the Eucharist. One of the key speakers at the Eucharistic Congress, Monsignor James Shea, said:

Del Escritorio del Párroco el 29 Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

By Anthony Aruanna • October 19, 2024
El pasado mes de julio, más de 50.000 católicos se reunieron en Indianápolis con ocasión del 10º Congreso Eucarístico Nacional. Obviamente, el tema central del encuentro fue la Eucaristía. Uno de los principales oradores del Congreso Eucarístico, Monseñor James Shea, dijo: