Spread the good news

John 20: 11-18

"But Mary was standing outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, as she wept, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' 'They have taken my Lord away,' she replied, 'and I don't know where they have put him.' As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.' Jesus said, 'Mary!' She turned round then and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbuni!' -- which means Master. Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' So Mary of Magdala told the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord,' and that he had said these things to her."

The one with the keys

22/8/2020

Roma, August 23, 2020

We take for granted the daily experience of “keys”: locking and unlocking doors at home, our car, at work. But the mechanical act changes when we are “locked out.” We think of how to get in or who can let us in… suddenly, these keys we can’t find seem so precious. Imagine if you are locked out of your house standing at your front door; you ring the doorbell but nobody is home, wondering whom you might call for help. It’s getting late and dark.
From the sidewalk a man who has been watching asks if you need help. You tell him you’re locked out and he replies: Oh, here, I have the keys, I’ll let you in.
You should feel grateful but it feels creepy -- a complete stranger has the keys to your house and unlocks the door. You are the only one with the keys. Only you can unlock the door with the keys. Nobody else. The door unlocked…he disappears.
Keys symbolise authority: the one who has the keys has access to locking and unlocking the door. It’s not just anybody who has possession of the keys; rather, someone who has been given the keys. The whole point of locking means that not everybody is allowed in. And by unlocking you are determining who goes in, the office, the car, the house. And for those who do not have the keys because they are not entrusted with the responsibility and authority of locking and unlocking, they simply must wait for the one who has the keys.
When Peter answers Jesus’ question, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter expresses his faith by speaking courageously. Unlike the other disciples who could not answer Jesus the second time, Peter could, and he does. I imagine there was a great silence as nobody had answered except Peter; they all listened to Peter’s answer that was responding directly to Jesus’ question: “But who do you say that I am?” Interesting that nobody could answer; the only answer the other disciples had was what others had said about Jesus, that Jesus was one of the great prophets. How often this grave error resurfaces like Satan the great Deceiver confusing Jesus with a prophet; a widespread error since the time of Jesus and that continues to spread – that Jesus is not more than a man. Jesus makes it very clear that Peter gave the correct answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is the answer to Jesus’ identity. Should anyone ask who Jesus is, or who sounds confused, or spreads errors, the answer to Jesus identity is the one Peter gave: “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

What is your fear?

8/8/2020

Roma, August 9, 2020

We have all been shocked and devastated with the massive explosion in Beirut. Ammonium nitrate that had been stocked at the port was ignited and triggered a blast visually comparable to an atomic bomb! Over 150 people killed and 300, 000 left homeless. The port explosion has stretched Lebanese to its limits. Fragmented by religious strife between Christians and Muslims since the outbreak of the civil war in the 1975, southern Lebanon became the base of Hezbollah, Muslim extremists targeting Israel; Lebanon absorbed Palestinian refugees and more recently refugees from Syria. This Middle Eastern democracy is associated more with the Christian west in terms of religious outlook, freedom and tolerance, and is home to the earliest Christian communities. Decades of political instability and regional havoc, compounded with rising inflation have been catastrophic enough. Now a chemical earthquake!

Besides Beirut, another tragic event appears on the list of “what’s going on?” News reports more interested in celebrity lawsuits and royal disputes meant few people heard about the Cathedral chapel explosion in Managua, Nicaragua. At the end of July a petrol bomb was thrown into the Cathedral where the Blessed Sacrament was kept with the Blood of Christ Crucifix. The sacred image had been preserved and venerated in the Chapel for four hundred years, an image of popular devotion among Nicaraguans. In the year 2020 hatred for Catholicism manifests itself with a petrol bomb burning up the Chapel. All the sacred objects in the Cathedral chapel were destroyed by the bomb. This is not an isolated incident in Nicaragua but a series of sacrilegious acts showing hatred towards Catholic beliefs and practices.

In the month of June, anarchists across the United States vandalised, desecrated, and succeeded in removing Roman Catholic figures: statues of Queen Isabel of Spain and the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, while mindless mobs drummed, “take it down.” Vandals sacked Rome in the 5th century, and once again vandals are taking down statues of Monarchs, Explorers and Saints. St. Junípero Serra who was canonised by Pope Francis had in the 1700s established missions across California to evangelise the indigenous population. Once again vandals hostile to Catholicism desecrated St. Junípero’s statue to the three-word beat, “take it down.” But it does not end here. In July, Jewish, Muslim and Black protestors in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, a city named after St. Louis of France, mobilised themselves to have the statue of St. Louis removed from the city.

Who is your treasure?

26/7/2020

Rome, Monastery of the Annunciation
A few years ago I met a woman at a parish where I was doing ministry. I was not an ordained priest at the time but learning about pastoral ministries.
I met this woman at the parish who had been invited by her sister to one of the ministries; this sister attended Mass and parish functions. These two women lived comfortably -- we could say they seem to lack nothing, and had plenty financial security to enjoy their lives.
The woman visiting the parish, told me she did not believe in God.
And I asked her: Why don’t you believe in God. Her reply: I have everything; what can God give me that I don’t already have?
I was surprised with the bluntness of her answer, and I was shocked that God had no place in her life.
In the First Book of Kings 3:5ff when God asked Solomon what he wanted, Solomon replied, a gentle heart, that he may know how to govern, and distinguish good from evil.
What Solomon sought was wisdom.
How many people would ask God for wisdom, if God had asked us what we wanted from Him?
The Lord was pleased with Solomon’s reply because he could have asked for a long life, health, wealth, to have his enemies punished, but instead, Solomon asked for wisdom.

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

20/6/2020

The feasts of the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart reflect not only this bond of love between Mary and Jesus -- united hearts as images and paintings depict -- Jesus’ heart with thorns and Mary’s with a sword, but at deeper level, the significance of how the two collaborate in God’s plan for our salvation.

Our first reading from Isaiah (61:10), brings to mind the words of Mary in the Magnificat: my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.

These are the words that point to Mary’s Immaculate Conception. Because her Saviour, her Son, preserves her from original sin.

And this because Mary is chosen to bring the Son of God into the world, born of the flesh of a woman without original sin.

And this is why we can speak of her Immaculate Heart, united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Going to Heaven by the power of the Holy Trinity

6/6/2020

Holy Trinity Sunday | June 2020

The Sunday after Pentecost we celebrate as Holy Trinity Sunday. In the past I thought it was strange that Holy Trinity Sunday should fall during Ordinary Time rather than the Easter season. The Easter Season ends with Pentecost Sunday. After all with the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity is celebrated to express the fullness of Revelation. The relations between Father and Son, 1st ,2nd, and 3rd Persons of the Trinity are already present in the readings leading up to the Ascension and Pentecost. We could extend the Easter season by one week and so Trinity Sunday would fall within the Easter season, rather than Ordinary Time. But Holy Trinity Sunday is the fruit of the reflection of the Church at work guided by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is what makes our faith distinctly Christian.

We are not Jews or Muslims or Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses. We are Christians. To be a Christian means to believe in the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are baptised in the name of the Trinitarian God, and each time we make the sign of the Cross, we do so, in the name of the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We are a Trinitarian people. What does that even mean? I have been told many times “this” or “that” is not stated in the Bible. And it’s the same list. Some gullable Catholics fall for the “it’s not in the Bible” tactic. Unfortunately, people either do not know Church history or the development of Church doctrine, and so, they do not have a proper understanding of the Scriptures. Maybe they should read the Church Fathers. Or perhaps St. John Henry Newman, the convert form Calvinism, Anglicanism and to Catholicism who synthesises Church teachings in his Development of Christian Doctrine. One of these, “Where does it say in the Bible?” includes the Holy Trinity. So much of what we take for granted as Christians including including -- Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, and the numerous offshoots that mushroomed after the Reformation, are indebted to the Roman Catholic Church for Christian doctrine as we know it today, including the Holy Trinity, precisely because these beliefs are not explicitly stated in the Scriptures.

moved by the spirit

30/5/2020

Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020

Language is the fundamental tool we have to communicate with others, our thoughts, our feelings, our convictions. Only humans have language reflecting the spiritual powers of the human soul.

When someone says only a couple of words in another person’s language the effect is a delightful smile. Why is that? Language creates a human bond.

So, being able to speak to someone so we are understood is also fundamental to human relations. Imagine if you are speaking to someone and the other person has no idea what you are talking about, and they look at you with that expression of “ha?” or “what?” A feeling of a barrier or division has been created.

People do not have to be from different linguistic communities to experience the effects of barriers. It happens in our relationships, in our homes, at work: we speak the same language and yet there is misunderstanding. Poor language communication has its consequences and hurtful language can be disastrous. “They are only words,” you say; and yet, words can have psychological effects beginning with children. If something is repeated enough times, well it becomes believable. That’s just how we are. “It must be true, this is what I hear -- same words -- all the time.”

A child brought up being told he or she is an idiot will be led to feel insecure about their actual strengths. This does not mean that endless praise is the solution, words that flatter a child; this simply leads to a kid who is a narcissist and unbearable for others.

Was it not through the deceptive words of a serpent that the man and woman fell from grace to sin (Gen 3)? And the builders of Babel did they not use a common language to outdo God (Gen 11).?

Jesus, I love you

19/4/2020

Divine Mercy Sunday
Vancouver, April 19, 2020

Have you ever wondered what the perfect Christian community looks like? We probably try to create that in our homes, in our Churches, and we would even like to see our governments reflect those Christians values transmitted to us by Our Saviour.

The Acts of the Apostles 2 clearly tell us what a Christian society looks like. The Christian community begins with what we live in our own homes. Our relationships with each other. We can hardly expect to teach others what we do not live ourselves.

We can see the center of the apostolic community is the Eucharist, teaching lead to and stem the “breaking of the bread” as Christ had taught at the last supper to eat his body and drink his blood (Matthew 26:26; Luke 22:19) and to repeat this sacred act in his memory, as the Lord taught sacrificing His body the Paschal Lamb offered up for us as a sacrifice.

This is the centre of the Christian community, teaching is not the centre; fellowship is not the centre; but both build up the community with the Eucharist as the source and summit. The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ give us Eternal Life (John 6:53-58).

This then is the centre of the Christian community after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ because Jesus’ salvific act finds its fulfilment in the Last Supper and Crucifixion. We cannot diminish the value or teaching or of fellowship; but it is not the center. It is thanksgiving in the Eucharist which Jesus Christ offers Himself to each of us.

faith and pride

8/11/2019

Sunday | 27 | OT | C
Vancouver, October 6, 2019

What is a prophet? Prophets are sent by God and have the duty to look at first what is happening in the lives of the people, if they are faithful to God, and then, to discern God’s voice. The prophet warns of punishment, but he also gives hope. Warning is related to the need to make changes in sinful habits of the people. And God’s people need to be reminded because they are forgetful. Interior conversion is for all the faithful throughout one’s entire life. We are forgetful because we can easily be side-tracked, fall into sin and sinful habits.

What is happening in our first reading? The prophet Habakkuk is writing sometime between the early-7th century and early 6th century BC the time of the Assyrian conquest in the north, and the rise of the Babylonians in the south who are referred to in Habakkuk as the Chaldeans. Israel and the people of God seem to be falling a part. The prophet Habakkuk speaks out!

Adults are no different than children in needing to be reminded. I had to remind a student -- the other day to be on time for class. I asked him why he was late: was it work? No. Was it a long walk across campus? No. Was it his bus connection? No. He simply did not see the importance of being on time -- he did not understand the value of punctuality. And asked me, with honest and sincerity, “Is it important to be at class on time?” Of course, I said.

Now I mention this because it demonstrates that even adults need to be reminded -- not just children -- of virtue. Things that we were taught, we forget, and so they are repeated by teachers, or parents or priests.

Angels and Stars

12/6/2019

Angels and Stars, a homily by Fr. David Bellusci, O.P.

Sunday | Lent | 2nd | C

Vancouver, March 17, 2019

Our lives involve planning or looking ahead. And often these plans require great detail. Already we are looking ahead and in preparation for First Communions. The Sacramental preparation of what Communion means and Confession. Perhaps, a wedding with all the excitement, arrangements, hoping everything goes well. Then, of course, we look ahead to the end of the school year and Summer plans -- our vacations here, or a trip flying distances to travel or reach relatives. We make plans-- as we look ahead.

A significant part of looking ahead is hope – that everything unfolds as planned -- and we trust-- especially when this involves a promise. I trust you will keep your promise. The more the promise seems unlikely, the more trust becomes difficult, let alone to speak of HOPE. Especially when we are dealing with broken promises. We start to lose trust. Humanly speaking it’s difficult to regain trust when a promise is broken. This really requires forgiveness. But then, our experiences can also teach us that we need to trust more…

Who Are The People on Your List?

16/5/2019

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE ON YOUR LIST? A homily by Fr. David Bellusci, O.P.

Sunday | Easter| 3rd | C
Ac 13 | Rev 7 | Jn10

Vancouver, May 12, 2019

A few years ago -- or more than a few years ago -- when I was a student in my early years at university, I was part of a Bible-group and we studied the Scriptures together.
One summer, we travelled by bus from Montreal to Ottawa where we spent the afternoon. And during our group meetings and Bible sharing one of the questions was: who are the people you want to bring to Jesus Christ? To know Jesus Christ.
Write down the list of names. I don’t remember the list I had but I remember the exercise.
And we had to be determined enough to invite these individuals to share our faith with us somehow. It was not just writing their names on paper and then closing the binder. There had to be some concrete follow-up.
Now, if you were to be given this same exercise, who would be the people on your list. Who would be the people whom you would say, they really need to know Our Saviour Jesus, Christ.
The people who really need to meet Jesus Christ. The person invited to learn, to know, to share, and grow, what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

© David Bellusci