Who is my neighbor: Man or Mankind

In Luke 10:25-37 we find a scholar of the law asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbor”, and Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Christ calls His listener to see those in need, even those that we don’t like, as our neighbor, and as one to love. Except, Christ seems to be more specific than just those who are in need are our neighbors. That notion is a bit general. No, instead He seem to say that person right in front of us is our neighbor. Ok, you might say, cool, I get that, what’s the fuss about.

So often in society today there are various movements to help those distant from us. For example we do 5ks to help people in war zones, cure diseases, and any number of various causes. Or we sign petitions or any number of things to help other people that are at a distance from ourselves. Our motivation is to help those less fortunate, and this is a good thing. After all, we are trying to help people in need. We love to do things to help others and make the world a better place.

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Reluctance to Battle Against Self

The great season of Lent is upon us. 40 days dedicated to personal spiritual growth and a journey leading us into the Holy Triduum. In anticipating the Resurrection, we dedicate time now to strive to be worthy to participate in the resurrection of Christ. We all have things we are giving up, and hopefully things which we are trying to do better during this time. So often when we think of things to give up, we think of things exterior to us like: kinds of food, Netflix, YouTube, soda, Facebook, etc. How often do we look to those interior things like: complaining, judgment, uncharitableness? Continue reading “Reluctance to Battle Against Self”

Holy Land Pilgrimage: Jerusalem

Holy Land Pilgrimage Posts:

Introduction
Part One: The Region of Galilee
Part Two: Jerusalem
Conclusion

Part Two: Jerusalem

This is the third part of my series on my pilgrimage to the Holy Land over Christmas break. I apologize for my delay in posting this, but the last few weeks have been exceptionally busy for me. Also, as a warning this post is quite long, it might be worth just looking at the various sections that peak your interest. Jerusalem was the highlight of the trip for me, compared to Nazareth and so I had a lot more to share. During this part, we head to Jerusalem for a week before heading back home. Below you can see the list of places which we visited in this section. Continue reading “Holy Land Pilgrimage: Jerusalem”

Reflection on the Salt of the Earth Gospel Reading

During mass this morning, the gospel from this past Sunday came to mind again and I felt compelled to share a bit of my reflection on it. The gospel reading was from Matthew 5:13-16:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”

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Holy Land Pilgrimage: The Region of Galilee

Holy Land Pilgrimage Posts:

Introduction
Part One: The Region of Galilee
Part Two: Jerusalem
Conclusion

Part One: The Region of Galilee

This is the second post in my four-part series of posts about my Holy Land pilgrimage over Christmas break. In this post I’ll talk about the first part of our trip, The Region of Galilee. For the most part this and the next post will be more about what and where we did things. Every now and then there will be spiritual insights, but for the most part these will be saved for the conclusion post. Below are the places that we traveled to during this section:

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Holy Land Pilgrimage: Introduction

Holy Land Pilgrimage Posts:

Introduction
Part One: The Region of Galilee
Part Two: Jerusalem
Conclusion

Jerusalem In The Evening
Jerusalem on evening of our first night there.

Introduction:

This is the first of four posts about my pilgrimage to the Holy Land over winter break. In this post I will discuss some of the background information concerning the trip. Below I have included a master trip itinerary of all the places that we went to and what day we went there in the order we went there. Continue reading “Holy Land Pilgrimage: Introduction”