Catholic Latte

Reflecting on Matthew 22:34-40, Fr. Eric expounds upon the interplay between the exhortation to love God above all things, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.  Topics include the scope of these two great commandments, and how these commandments complement each other in practice.
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On October 21, 2020, Fr. Eric gave a live-streamed talk to the Catholic Mom’s Group at St. Leo’s in Brooklin, Ontario about the subject of how to pray with the Bible. Fr. Eric reviewed various practical tips with regards to how to read the Bible, engage in fruitful meditation, and enter a proper spirit of contemplation.
The structure of Fr. Eric’s talk was based on an outline from a book entitled Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel According to Matthew (Vol. 1) by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996). 
Other works cited include Inside the Bible: An Introduction to Each Book of the Bible (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998) by Kenneth Baker; and Catholic Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday Religion, 2009) by Scott Hahn. 
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Reflecting on Matthew 22:15-21, in which Jesus is asked whether it is lawful or not to pay taxes to the emperor (Mt 22:17), Fr. Eric speaks about how our identity as persons made in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:27) means that we belong ultimately to God, such that we are called to offer our entire lives back onto Him from which we find our origin and being.
Fr. Eric also discusses the role of economics, politics and various other secular disciplines in helping to serve God’s purposes and bring about a right ordering of this world; as well as the proper role of the Church when it comes to political affairs.
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Reflecting on the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Mt 22:1-14), Fr. Eric speaks about how we cannot continue to love God while having our hearts set on any form of idolatry. Topics discussed include the worldly perspective of finding our value and self-worth through our various efficiencies and productivities, in contrast to the divine invitation to rest in a deep sense of gratuitous intimacy with Christ our Lord.
Fr. Eric also talks about how the prerequisite to real intimacy with Christ is a willingness to embrace our weakness in the sense of trusting that we will loved apart from our ability to produce that which the world finds to be important and valuable.
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Fr. Eric expounds upon the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mt 21:33-43) to articulate how it is possible to love the external practice of religion while hating or even despising God. Topics discussed include the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy about the destruction of the city of Jerusalem (Isa 5:1-7), as well as Christ as the living cornerstone from which will emerge a New Jerusalem (Ps 118).
Fr. Eric also speaks about how the reality of our salvation brought about through the suffering Messiah can be a beacon of hope for us as we wrestle with our human frailty and brokenness.
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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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