When Bartimaeus heard the Lord passing by, he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have pity on me! It was a desperate and distressed cry but also a cry of FAITH. The man trusted someone he had not seen with a firm and strong FAITH. He could not see with his eyes, but his faith allowed him to see with his HEART. We have not seen Jesus, but by the grace of God, we believe and hope to see Him one day.

In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that SERVICE is the core value of our faith. For this reason, anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be a slave to all.

Let Go and Let God. The first reading from the Wisdom of Solomon, written a century before our Lord's birth, speaks in Solomon's voice. The Lord tells the young Solomon to ask for anything he wants. Without any hesitation, he chooses WISDOM. (2 Chr. 1:10)

More than ever, the institution of marriage continues to be questioned: Two contemporary trends exist. The first are those who no longer see the value of marriage as an essential foundation of family life and as the basic unit of society. Marriage is a personal option or preference, which can be permanent, or, in any case, it is not as important to them. The second trend belongs to those who espouse gay rights, who insist that same-sex union is equivalent to marriage and is an essential foundation for family life and society.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel last Sunday how to welcome the weakest members of the community. Whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me - welcomes not me but the One who sent me. The Gospel this Sunday picks up on this: John sees someone expelling an unclean spirit using the name of Jesus. The man is an outsider, and the disciples try to stop him, but Jesus says: Anyone who is not against us is with us.

A week after the scene of the famous confession of Peter and the first passion prediction, Jesus reiterated His coming suffering, death, and resurrect. As they return to Capernaum, Jesus asks them what they are arguing along the way. They argued among themselves who was the greatest? Since Peter seems to be the unofficial leader, they expect him to give them an answer. Instead, Jesus gives them an unexpected answer: If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last and the servant of all. The greatest does not think of himself; to be the first in the eyes of God is not the goal. He is a leader who serves the least and the last.

1st of September 2024, twenty (20) years after the creation of St. Rose as a parish, we commemorate this occasion with the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a New Church.

Today is a grace-filled moment for all parishioners of St. Rose. Our hearts are full of gratitude for all who were part of Our Faith, Our Future, and Our Parish journey. We appreciate all Pastors who served here, the present team of Priests, and all parishioners, both the past and the present. This groundbreaking is more than just moving dirt, as Bp. Dolan said in his homily.

Isaiah describes the people of Israel rejoicing because the Lord came to their aid and saved them. The Lord vindicated them from the eyes of their enemies. Israel experiences transformation as they acknowledge the saving power of God. He removes their ills a spiritual freedom people experience when the Messiah comes. Signs that characterized the Messianic time: the deaf can hear, and the mute can speak. The coming of Jesus fulfilled all these Messianic prophesies, Lk. 7:22, Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, cripple walked, lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead resurrected to life, and the good news proclaimed to the poor.

The first reading tells us to observe the letter of the law, while the Gospel emphasizes the spirit of the law. Jesus cites the hypocrisy of the Pharisees for insisting on human tradition while neglecting the more important demands of the spirit of the law. The letter of St. James appeals to the spirit of the law as God’s perfect gift: be doers of the word, not hearers only, to be doers of God’s Will, to walk our talk.

The Gospel reminds me of a story about an uncle, a physician who stopped coming to Church for fifteen years. Then, one day, while his younger brother, Fr. Basil Colasito, was vacationing with them, the older brother announced that he would shower and would like Fr. Basil to hear his confession. Everyone was surprised, and Fr. Basil, probably praying for this moment, candidly said: That’s what I am a priest for.

When Jesus spoke of the food that endures for eternal life, the crowd challenged Him to do something better than the manna their ancestors received in the exodus. In response, Jesus identifies himself as the bread of God that came down from heaven. He is the new bread from heaven, the Bread of Life. I am the BREAD of Life; whoever eats this bread will have eternal life. The bread that Jesus gives is His flesh, His crucified and glorious flesh. And now, He gives the same flesh in the Eucharist, the sacrament of His Body and Blood.

Jesus became the Bread of Life by dying for us on the cross. He is the Bread God provided in our journey, much like the one provided for Elijah as he journeyed to Mt. Horeb, the miraculous bread. For forty days, Elijah lived with only this bread at Mt Horeb. The hearth cake that sustained Elijah was like the Holy Eucharist God provided food to sustain him in his journey. Is this not what Jesus said in the Gospel: He is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven, the source and sustenance of life until we reach our final destiny, eternal life?

Many of the Jews of the Exodus were stubborn, grumbling, and complaining people. They grumbled and complained to Moses, and God performed several miracles to show His providential care for the people of Israel in their wilderness journey. He sent them manna, a word derived from the Hebrew expression: What is it? (manhu) (Ex. 16:15).There were attempts to reduce the symbolism of the manna as a congealed sap of a desert shrub. But the Scriptures clearly say that the manna was a supernatural phenomenon. Its appearance is limited to the forty years when Israel was in the wilderness (Ex. 16:35). Thus, there is only one possible explanation: God performs the miracle (Hebrew niphloth) in the deliverance of the people of Israel.