Posts by Fr Dino Vanin

This Sunday, we are asked to place in the special pink envelope the amount of dollars that our heart inspires us to donate to the work of the foreign missions. However, having said that, I feel compelled to talk to you about the more serious and more demanding contributions that all Catholics ought to give, around the clock, 24/7 to fulfill their missionary obligations. Whenever one in our family is seriously ill, or we find ourselves in a bind, financially,…

Our first reaction must be: “I do not want my face to fall like the face of the rich, young man. I do not want to walk away from Jesus. I do not want to be sad (cf. Mark 10:21-22). Now, to say the same thing in a positive form we would say: “I want to enter the Kingdom of God.” Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is…

Today we have a chance to reflect on the main reason why the Catholic Church feels so strongly about Christian marriage. The reason is that married Christian couples are called to be a most eloquent and visible reminder we have of the unfailing love of God for his people. The total, free, faithful and fruitful love of husband and wife is the sign picked by God himself in the Old Testament to show to the chosen people of Israel how…

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him; and I will raise him on the last day. (John 6:44) Concerning salvation, we must never forget God’s absolute sovereignty. It is complete and foolish arrogance to attempt to circumvent it or to alter it. Our God is in heaven; whatever God wills is done. (Psalm 115:3) Clearly then, the first danger that we who are chosen must avoid is the presumption of trying to limit God’s…

On this 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the lesson that Jesus wishes to teach us is a life lesson, in the sense that it forces us to see where, instinctively, we place ourselves in the context of our relationship with God and our interaction with people. Assuming that our relationship with God is correct, at least as far as it appears to us before a deeper, more direct reflection, it is already embarrassing and humbling to have come up with the…

If we reflect on the gospel passage (Mark 8:27-35) for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time without a clear concept of discipleship, we would be shocked and bewildered. Simon Peter is extolled for the tremendous insight from above about the very nature of Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man and then, is chastised and reprimanded with blistering directness by Jesus. “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” While still in shock, we…

“Ephphatha, be opened.” Today, Jesus orders us to be opened to the Father’s plan and to adopt a sincere concern for all his children across the globe, across the millennia. We are to do so in virtue of our Baptism. The rite of Baptism includes the gestures performed by Jesus and the word “ephphatha” “be opened” that he uttered when he cured the deaf person with a speech impediment. This complete openness is required of us for two reasons.  From the…

The gospel passage for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time forces us to come to grips with a somber, sad reality: some of Jesus’ disciples, in any epoch, become selective and refuse to abide by those words of life with which they disagree. It is a repeat of what we see described here as the first case of “cafeteria or smorgasbord Catholics.” Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (John 6:60) … As a result…

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time marks the fourth Sunday of a vital lesson on the Eucharist in which we are led to consider the natural human resistance to what the Father intends to do for us in the Eucharist, by offering us the flesh and blood of his Son Jesus. To this end, it would be profitable to open our minds and hearts to what Jesus feeds us, first, at the table of God’s Word by imagining what our world would…

In his encyclical “Evangelii Nuntiandi,” (1975) St. Paul VI writes this: “Man, nowadays, is more willing to listen to witnesses than to teachers.” So true in every age! Without doubt, what I can teach you has less impact on all of us and on our world than how we, as individuals and as a Community, bear witness to Christ and to his Gospel. Or, it can be said that the way the Holy Mass, which we attend changes us from…

The gospels mention many times that countless people were looking for Jesus. If we are here today it means that we, too, are looking for him. Some were looking for Jesus because they needed healing, restoration, wholeness, but also grace, light, comfort, patience, courage. However, others, like the tetrarch Herod, were looking for him out of curiosity (cf. Luke 9:9); the Pharisees with the Herodians looked for him to embarrass him (cf. Matthew 22:16); the religious authorities looked for him…

The gospel passage for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time offers us a way out of a lot of the apprehension and restlessness we experience whenever faced with a daunting situation and we tip toward dejection or even mental paralysis. And I am talking about challenges much, much smaller than having to feed a crowd of about five thousand men, without counting women and children. (cf. John 6:1-15) The huge mistake we keep making is as old as the world itself. It…