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Suffering - Use It

  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. A reading from the Acts of the Apostles. In those days, some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowd. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day, he left with Barnabas for Derbe. After proclaiming the Gospel in that city and making many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. There they strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary to go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God.” In each community, they appointed elders and, with prayer and fasting, entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. They then traveled through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. After preaching in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been comme...
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The Suffering... Works We Hate

  NEGLECTING THEM IS NEGLECTING CHRIST:  The Eternal Stakes of Caring for the suffering - the Elderly and Sick. > “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” — 1 Timothy 5:8 ---      In a world obsessed with youth, productivity, and personal success, the elderly and the sick are often forgotten or reduced to burdens. They remind you too much that suffering is to be avoided - "prosperity" and blessings are all anyone wants.      But from the Catholic perspective, which is to say, CHRIST'S PERSPECTIVE, failing to care for these suffering and vulnerable members of our families is not a neutral act—it is a moral failure with eternal consequences.       The face of Christ is hidden within the aging parent with dementia, in the paralyzed sibling needing daily assistance, and in the terminally ill relative whose groans echo Calvary....
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The ONE Way To Life

This homily (sermon) was delivered by Deacon Reinaldo Mendoza on May 3, 2026, The 5th Sunday of Easter. ✠ "I am the way, the truth, and the life" - Jesus Reading 1 -  Acts 6:1-7 As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who ...
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Evangelize With Love - Not Division

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. From the Acts of the Apostles. << In those days, an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and take the southern road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza and that it is little traveled." Philip set out on his way and it happened that an Ethiopian, high official of Candasses, Queen of Ethiopia and administrator of her treasures, who had come from Jerusalem to worship God, was returning in his car reading the Prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “come closer and walk next to that car.” Philip ran and when he heard that the man was reading the prophet Isaiah, he he asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?" He replied, "How am I going to understand it if no one explains it?" Then he invited Felipe to come up and to sit next to him. The passage of scripture he was reading was this.... 'Like a sheep he was led to death, like a lamb that leaves in front of the one wh...
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To Live In Christ Is To Become AS Christ

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  The Conversion of Saul – Aelbert Cuyp – Cicra 1646 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. A reading from the Acts of the Apostles: I n those days, Saul, still breathing threats of death against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues of Damascus, authorizing him to bring back to Jerusalem all the men and women who followed the Way. As he was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly enveloped him with its radiance. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The answer came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Get up, enter the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with him stood speechless; they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul rose from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could not see. They led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind ...
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Do It For God

  In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen . From the Acts of the Apostles... “ In those days, Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Some Jews from the synagogue, called the freedmen, from Sirene, Alexandria, Sicily and Asia, they began to argue with Stephen, but they could not refute the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. Then they got some men to say, "We have heard this man blaspheme against Moses and against God." They sent out to the people, to the elders and the scribes. They fell on Stephen, took him by surprise and he was brought before the Sanhedrin. There they presented false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop talking against the holy place of the temple and against the law. We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth is going to destroy the holy place and the traditions we received from Moses." The members of the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen and his face seemed to th...
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Of Loaves, Fishes and... Familes?

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  WHY WERE WOMEN AND CHILDREN NOT COUNTED IN THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND? THEY WERE! THE TRUTH BEHIND A FAMOUS MIRACLE. Catholics Online Class _____________ Everyone knows the story: Jesus fed five thousand men, with five loaves and two fish. But when Matthew tells the story, he adds a detail many overlook: “Those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” (Matthew 14:21) Why “besides”? Why mention them… and yet not count them? Some think in MODERN TERMS that women and children were thought to be “less important.” But Scripture, Jewish history, and Jesus’ own actions reveal something much deeper, and far more beautiful than our own modern prejudices. Let’s break it open and see 👇 ✝️ 1. JEWISH COUNTING CUSTOM: A CULTURAL REALITY, NOT A VALUE JUDGMENT At issue here is the reliance on only what the Bible has in its pages. But, we know that its contents, particularly the New Testament, are fragmentary, after-the-fact memoirs. So we have to dig outside the ...
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