Go and proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near’

Gospel text (Mathew 10,1-7): Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over the unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray him. Jesus sent these twelve on mission with the instruction: «Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. Go and proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near’».

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When God is offended, should we become violent?

Our God is all love and truth, who asks from us humility and forgiveness. Our God is the only living God. He has the word of eternal life. Observing the process of the current protests in the Middle East and many other places in the world by the so called followers of Islam, presumably outraged because they do not like what is being presented in a film about their prophet; it is interesting to distinguish that factual truth, about what is missing in the whole staging of these protests and it is precisely, truth, love, humility and forgiveness and it is not precisely from the ignorant mobs perpetrating the assaults under the direction of their evil leaders, but from the ones supposedly protecting the basic and fundamental freedoms we all in the western civilization which is founded in Christianity, have for granted.

Common Good

It is often found commentaries that describe common good as extremes of anarchy, as expressions that on one end present a justification for system interference and on the other as an idea of omnipotence over the people who is typically labeled as mediocre and incapable of deciding on their own about their matters and circumstances. However, common good is divine a mandate we all have as individuals; to aim for and to work towards. It is what defines the relationship between science and reason, because a science where its object is to benefit only the self or to enhance the egos of the recipients is what defies reason and so it segregates itself from faith which is what make us creatures of God with dignity, identity and individuality because care exists for our neighbor and peer. Common good cannot be taking or confiscating from some to give to others or to pretend that by robbing from the ones that have to presumably give to the have not, the issue is fairly addressed. On the contra...

He said this to test Philip, for He himself knew what He was going to do

Gospel text ( Jn 6,1-15) : Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and large crowds followed him because of the miraculous signs they saw when He healed the sick. So He went up into the hills and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Then lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to him and said to Philip, «Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat ?». He said this to test Philip, for He himself knew what He was going to do. Philip answered him, «Two hundred silver coins would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece». Then one of Jesus' disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said, «There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?». Jesus said, «Make the people sit down». There was plenty of grass there so the people, about five thousand men, sat down to rest. Jesus then took the loaves, ga...

Cesar Fernandez-Stoll

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