COVID-19 Vaccines & Catholic Morality

1/30/22 - People Reject Jesus - Cycle C

Dear Families,

This Sunday’s Gospel is a continuation of last week’s Gospel. Jesus fulfills the words of the prophet Isaiah as he announced in last week’s Gospel. In this Sunday’s Gospel, people begin to recall that he is the son of Joseph the carpenter. Jesus confronts them about what they are thinking. He said they wouldn’t appreciate a prophet from their own town. They get angry when Jesus reminds them that sometimes people of other countries believed more in Israel’s prophets than their own people. He gives them the examples of Elijah and the widow of Sidon and Elisha and General Naaman who were not Israelites but believed in the prophets. The crowd did not want to hear the truth, they became so angry that they rejected him and forced him to leave town.

Jesus words were challenging to the people of his hometown Nazareth. He wanted them to respond to him differently from the way others had responded to the prophets. But they wouldn’t let his words change them or see a different perspective. At times we can be like the people of Nazareth, we don’t trust Jesus’ message because we find his words to us challenging. We need to trust his words to us and rely on his guidance in our lives.

As a family watch video in its entirety and then ask each other these questions.
What is love? How difficult is it to listen to those who love you, especially if they are trying to inform or correct you?

Family Prayer: Jesus, help us to be humble enough to listen when we are corrected by people who care about us. Help us to remember that they are looking out for our good. Amen

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(La versión en español sigue al inglés)

Dear Families,

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is walking with his disciples through Galilee. Jesus tells his disciples that there will be conflict. He explains that he will suffer, die and rise. The disciples don’t want to think about what he is saying, they are afraid to ask questions. Instead, they argue about which one of them is the greatest. Jesus knew what they were talking about, so he tells them that if they want to be first, they must be humble and serve others.

Arguments as the disciples had in this Sunday’s Gospel are common in family life. Ever had this argument? I want to be first. I did the dishes yesterday; someone else should do it today. Why did she/he get chosen and I did not? All of us need to be reminded that to be great in God’s Kingdom is to be the servant of all.

As a family watch video in its entirety and ask each other this question.

How do you serve others?

Family Prayer: Lord, help us to see you when we see people in need.

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Watch video as a family.

(La versión en español sigue al inglés)

7/31/22 - Rich In What Matters To God - Cycle C

Dear Families,

In this Sunday’s Gospel, when a man asks Jesus to tell his brother to share his inheritance with him, he knows that the brother is more concerned with possessions than with the love of his brother. He is being greedy; Jesus tells the parable of the rich man. There was a rich man that had such a good harvest, that he didn’t have enough space in his barns to store it all. So, he thought, I will build bigger ones and store my harvest for many years. Thinking, he could enjoy his possessions for many years; he died that night. What good were his possessions to him now?

This parable warns us against being greedy. Jesus is not saying we should not have food or save money. He is teaching us to use the things we have wisely by looking at our needs and not our wants. To understand that there are people in the world that have needs of food, clothing and shelter. He is telling us that it is more important to be loving and share what we have than to pursue having a lot of things. When a person dies, they do not take their belongings with them, but their acts of love and generosity will be remembered. We need to be rich in what matters to God.

As a family watch video in its entirety and then ask each other these questions.
Do your feelings show that you care too much about getting things? Do you share what you have with others?

Family Prayer: Lord, help us thank you for the material blessings you give us and to share them with others. Amen

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(La versión en español sigue al inglés)

2/13/22 - Jesus teaches the Beatitudes - Cycle C

Dear Families,

Jesus tells us, blessed are the poor, hungry, sad, and excluded, but woe to those who are rich, fed, laugh, and are famous. This Sunday’s Gospel turns people’s ideas about being happy upside down, it disrupts our ideas of success. We may think that being rich and full are signs of happiness and success, but they are not. Happiness comes from sharing what we have, comforting people who are sad and laughing with people not at them.

Jesus gives us a list of attitudes and actions that help people find real happiness, called the Beatitudes. He teaches us we are all God’s children, called to belong to God’s family and to care for each other. We are called to welcome and care for the poor, share what we have with them, and comfort people who are sad. These actions that bring people together are important in God’s kingdom.

As a family watch video in its entirety and then ask each other these questions.
What is Idolatry? How is the way Jesus teaches us to live different from the way the world often tells us to live?

Family Prayer: Lord, help us to desire things that are holy and good. Help us to resist valuing things only because our culture tells us they are important. Amen

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(La versión en español sigue al inglés)

2/6/22 - Jesus Calls His Followers - Cycle C

Dear Families,

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to the crowd from Simon’s boat. After speaking, Jesus asks Simon who had been fishing all night to cast out his nets again. Simon questions him but does as he is instructed, and to his surprise catches many fish! So many fish that other boats were signaled to come and help because their nets were tearing.

When Simon saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and says “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” and from that day forward the fishermen Simon, James, and John leave their fishing boats and follow Jesus.

Jesus calls us to follow him too. One way that we follow Jesus is by telling others about him. Jesus speaks the same message to us today to be fishers of men for his Kingdom. God wants others to see the light of Christ in us in the way we live, speak, and witness the joy of the gospel.

As a family watch video in its entirety and then ask each other these questions.
Like Simon (who would be called Peter), do you have feelings of unworthiness that make you afraid to approach God? What do you do with that fear?

Family Prayer: Jesus, you remind us that we shouldn’t be afraid and that you have a mission for us too. Help us to be open to sharing our faith with others. Amen