Catholic Latte

Given the inherent brokenness of the human condition, one of the great challenges in the spiritual life is to develop a proper notion of God as He is, quite apart from how we imagine Him to be.  Fr. Eric expounds upon the Parable of the Two Sons (Mt 21:28-32) to show how a keen familiarity with the Bible can help us to move past our own feelings and past woundedness to see God as a kind, loving and merciful Father.
Topics discussed include the need to allow the truth of Sacred Scripture to emerge slowly through a careful reading of the text; the importance of freedom, conscience and personal reflection in helping us to say “yes” to Our Father in heaven; and the need to move past a superficial relationship with God whereby we give Him simply quick and superficial responses to His invitations to relationship and the fullness of life.
Fr. Eric discusses also how the Parable of the Two Sons illustrates how God prefers that we approach matters of discernment with patience and thoughtfulness; and how we should not get discouraged by our own imperfection, because we have a Father who understands that we need to work through the various complications in life and in our own hearts before we can give a firm, definitive “yes” to Christ the Lord.
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Fr. Eric expounds upon the sin of envy by reflecting on the famous Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Mt 20:1-16).  Topics discussed include the invitation to share in the great intimacy, energy, passion and dynamism of God’s inner life; and the refusal to participate in God’s purposes as a failure to embrace His invitation to partake in the fullness of life.
Furthermore, Fr. Eric addresses the worldly logic of insisting upon a loser as a requisite to being a winner; the futility of productivity, efficiency and busyness apart from a sense of gratitude for God’s many graces and blessings; and the need to view our neighbour as someone that God calls us personally to love as we love our very selves (cf. Mt 22:39).
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When it comes to the subject of mercy and compassion, there is a common misunderstanding that the precondition for receiving God’s forgiveness is to forgive others; whereas the reality is that our ability to forgive others is a tangible sign that we’ve allowed God’s forgiveness to take hold in our lives.
Fr. Eric expands upon this point by reflecting on the Gospel story of the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair (Lk 7:36-50), along with the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Mt 18:21-35).  Topics discussed include the Lord’s Prayer, the need to forgive our neighbour in response to the mercy we have received from the Lord, and the proper notion of God’s forgiveness as something which puts us in a stance of perpetual gratitude towards the Lord who has suffered and died for our sins.
Concluding with an example from the film “Les Misérables” (2012), Fr. Eric reflects on how being loved in our weakness and brokenness can be a powerful impetus leading us to become people of tremendous love, mercy and compassion.
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In this weekend’s Gospel (Mt 18:15-20), Jesus gives various practical bits of advice for how to deal with people who have wronged us in some way.  Topics discussed include gossip, scandal, admonishing the sinner, interventions, and comparing one’s conduct to the general standard of conduct expected of all Christians.
Fr. Eric also discusses the possibility of separating from one’s aggressor, and the importance of learning to see one’s neighbour as our brother or sister in Christ for whom we are responsible.
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In the context of this weekend’s Gospel (Mt 16:21-27), Jesus rebukes St. Peter harshly for trying to talk Him out of suffering and dying for the salvation of world.  While the Lord might seem to be acting unnecessarily harsh towards Peter, Fr. Eric reflects on how Christ is always very intentional and purposeful in His words and actions, especially when He is trying to teach His chief disciple to become a true witness and leader of the Church.
Topics include how a fear of suffering and death can obstruct God’s salvific purposes; the necessity of a disciple always to follow the master in a stance of humility, docility and obedience; and the importance of living out of a stance of perpetual sacrifice in imitation of the suffering Christ, as opposed to being simply content to be nice, kind or polite.
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Reflecting on this weekend’s Gospel (Mt 16:13-20) about Jesus and Peter at Caesarea Philippi, Fr. Eric reflects on the Biblical basis for the teaching authority of the Pope and bishops in the context of the Catholic Church. Issues discussed include the importance of both Scripture and Tradition, the need to become familiar with the entirety of the Bible, and the principle of infallibility.
Other topics include the responsibility of the teaching office of the Church to govern with a keen sense of stewardship in Jesus’ place, and how to respond to our fears about the mantle of divine authority being entrusted to the frailty of the human condition.
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On the surface, Jesus appears to be uncharacteristically mean to the Canaanite woman who is the primary subject in this weekend’s Gospel (Mt 15:21-28), particularly in how He denies repeatedly her requests for Him to heal her daughter. However, Fr. Eric discusses how the Lord’s various refusals to this woman’s petitions are intended collectively to lead her away from a misconstrued and misguided conception of who He is and what it means to be in right relationship with Him; and thereby guide her into a deeper stance of intimacy with Him.
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Reflecting on this weekend’s Gospel (Mt 14:22-33), Fr. Eric shows how Jesus leads us often into the midst of storms as a means of preparing us to give witness to the reality of Christ as Lord and Savior.
Other topics include Christ’s total dominion over the forces of evil and wickedness in the world, the need to become fully convicted of our need for salvation in Christ, the fact that our salvation in Christ appears often precisely when we find ourselves on the brink of destruction, and the theological significance of the Paschal Mystery.
Fr. Eric also reflects on the Lord’s exhortation not to give into fear or panic based on the fact that He is Lord and Savior, Christ’s loving attention to those who have the courage to give themselves completely to His purposes, and the distinction between worldly perceptions of success and failure as opposed to seeing these things from a divine perspective.
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Reflecting on this weekend’s Gospel (Mt 14:13-21), Fr. Eric shows how the great miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish helps us to delve deeper into the mystery of Christ. Topics include how the true nature of Christian charity, Old Testament anticipations of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, the Lord’s concern with the totality of the human person, Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
 
Fr. Eric also reflects on the modern decline in reverence and belief in the Holy Eucharist, and how we might seek to turn things around on a local level through our sense of personal witness.
 
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This weekend’s Gospel (Mt 13:44-52) closes off a series of seven parables in the Gospel of Matthew dealing with the subject of the Kingdom of God, including the Parables of the Sower (13:1-23), the Weeds and the Wheat (13:24-30), the Mustard Seed (13:31-32), the Leavened Bread (13:33), the Hidden Treasure (13:44), the Pearl of Great Price (13:45-46) and the Net Cast Into the Sea (13:47-52).
 
Focusing on the final three parables, Fr. Eric speaks about the importance of being a person of infinite desires and self-gift as a prerequisite to obtain the fullness of the divine life, and the willingness to rest in Christ as a sign of recognizing His importance and centrality. Other topics include the nature of the Final Judgment, and the need to pass on the deposit of faith with integrity and responsibility.
 
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