Faith is a path of illumination; it starts from the humility of acknowledging one's need of salvation and arrives at the personal encounter with Christ, who calls [one] to follow him on the way of love. On this model the itineraries of Christian initiation have been established in the Church, which prepare for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist.

The Gospel is from St. Mark, 10:35-45. Our own natural inclination most likely would be to react like the other ten Apostles and become vexed with James and John and to tell them what we thought of their selfish worldly ambitions. However, our Lord's gentle answer: "you do not know what you are asking" shows us that ignorance of the nature of the kingdom he was going to set up, was the cause of their very human ambitions. They, with the other Apostles, had still the common Jewish idea of the messianic kingdom.

Check out the Youth and Young Adulty Ministry schedule of events for the month of October. For more information and to register for any of these events, contact Youth & Young Adult Ministry Coordinator, Karen Loebl, kloebl@rcchawaii.org or text 808-258-4505

The Gospel is from St. Mark, 10:17-30. By coming to Jesus with his problem this man has done all Christians a good turn. We have learned from Christ's answer that over-attachment to worldly goods is one of the big obstacles to entering heaven. The man in this story was a good-living man, he kept all the commandments from his youth upward and he had an interest in eternal life, while many of his compatriots of that day had not. Reading this man's heart like an open book, Christ saw that not only was he fit for eternal life but that he was one who could have a very high place in heaven if he would leave everything and become a close follower of his. Not only would he become a saint, but he would lead many to sanctity.

The Gospel is from St. Mark, 10:2-16. On the "divorce" section of this Gospel see today's first reading. Christ clearly states that from the very beginning, God's plan for marriage was that it should be a life-long unity of one man and one woman. Its purpose is the procreation of children and their education, as well as the mutual love and fulfillment of the husband and wife. These demand this life-long bond. Divorce, which tries to break this bond, breaks the law of the Creator who decreed what was best for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the human race.

The Gospel is from St. Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48. There are two very practical lessons we must learn from today's Gospel: the grave obligation we have of not causing scandal to our fellow-Christians or indeed to any man or woman and secondly, the willingness we should have to sacrifice any earthly possession which is a cause of sin to us.

The Gospel is from St. Mark 9:30-37. The Apostles were still very worldly-minded. They were full of the hope that Christ would establish an earthly messianic kingdom, that he would not only free their holy land from the hated pagan rulers but that he would set up a worldwide empire for the people of God. Many of the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament spoke of a worldwide kingdom; all nations would submit to the descendant of David; Jerusalem would be the magnet which would attract all peoples. The prophets, however, were speaking of the true messianic kingdom, the spiritual kingdom that Christ would establish. The Apostles were as yet unable to see the true meaning of these prophecies.

The Gospel is from St. Mark 8:27-35. We need not be surprised at the slowness of the Apostles in grasping the messiahship of Jesus. He did not want the crowds who flocked to him to know this until later — after his resurrection — because they had the idea that the Messiah would be a political leader who would set them free from their subjection to pagan Rome. It was not until this occasion, near Caesarea Philippi, somewhat over a year after he had called them, that he admitted to his Apostles that he was the Messiah. He charged them not to make this fact known outside of their own limited circle. To forestall and erase any wrong ideas of a political leader which some of the Apostles might have, he immediately foretold the sufferings and death he would have to endure at the hands of the leaders of the Jews. He would be conquered and humiliated by his enemies but their victory would be short-lived -- death would not hold him -- he would rise triumphant on the third day.

Check out the Youth and Young Adulty Ministry schedule of events for September and October. For more information and to register for any of these events, contact Youth & Young Adult Ministry Coordinator, Karen Loebl, kloebl@rcchawaii.org or text 808-258-4505

The Gospel is from St. Mark 7:31-37. During his discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, our Lord told her that "salvation was to come from the Jews" (Jn. 4 : 22). This was in accordance with God's plan when he took Abraham from his pagan family and surroundings, and elected him to be the father of a Chosen People from whom God's blessing would come for all nations (Gn. 12: 1-4). This was the historic beginning of "salvation" for men. It was, as yet, a vague generic promise but down through the following eighteen-century history of the Chosen People (Abraham's descendants) this blessing eventually became crystallized in the Messiah — the anointed and holy one of God. It was He who would introduce the messianic age of which the prophets so often had spoken, and it was in Him that all peoples, Jews and Gentiles, would find their true "blessing."

The Gospel is from Matt. 16:21-27. From all eternity this was God's plan for mankind. But because sin had entered into the world before the Incarnation took place, the Son of God in his human nature had to suffer the violent death of the cross at the hands of sinners. In this very suffering he became the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, as the second-Isaiah had foretold in his "suffering servant" prophecies (Is. 53: 1-7; 42: 1-9 etc). His death, because he was God as well as man, was a sacrifice, an atonement, of infinite value, and therefore obtained forgiveness from the Father for all the sins of the human race.

The Gospel is from St. John 6:60-69. As we heard last Sunday, St. John was writing about the promise of the Blessed Eucharist at a time when Christians accepted the Mass and Holy Communion as the essential act of Christian worship. Very probably he omitted many details when describing this promise. The "disciples" who murmured evidently saw nothing but a man in Christ, It was very natural, therefore, that they could not accept his saying that they should eat his body and drink his blood. Thus it seems most probable that when Christ says they lacked "faith," he had given them sufficient proofs that he was more than a man.

Check out the Youth and Young Adulty Ministry schedule of events for the month of August. For more information and to register for any of these events, contact Youth & Young Adult Ministry Coordinator, Karen Loebl, kloebl@rcchawaii.org or text 808-258-4505

Today's feast celebrates Mary's Assumption into heaven. It is one of three feasts of Mary that are Holy Days of Obligation for Catholics in the United States. January 1 is the feast of Mary, the Mother of God, and December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven has long been held as an important Catholic belief. The belief was not defined as dogma, however, until 1950 by Pope Pius XII. The dogma teaches that Mary, who was without sin, was taken, body and soul, into the glory of heaven.

The Gospel is from St. John 6:41-51. The main point of doctrine in this part of our Lord's discourse, as given by St. John, is the necessity for belief in Christ who has come down from heaven. It is only in the last verse of today's text that Christ explicitly states that he is about to give his own very body as their spiritual food to those who believe in him. The description of himself as "bread from heaven" and the vital difference between the effect of this bread and the manna given to their fathers in the desert, are a definite preparation for the announcement of the doctrine of the Eucharist.

The Gospel is from St. John 6:1-15. Although Jesus had the intention of preparing the minds of the multitude for his discourse on the heavenly food which he would make next day, his principal motive in working this miracle was pity and compassion. He knew that they were hungry—they had been away from home all day and some for many days.

The Gospel is from St. Mark 6:30-34. In these few verses St. Mark very strongly brings out the compassion, the human understanding of Jesus for man. He first planned to give his Apostles a well-earned rest. They had evidently worked hard while out on their mission and a few days rest would restore their lost energy. He himself, too, must have been hard pressed, preaching and dealing with the crowds. In the absence of the Apostles he had no one to help him—he too needed a rest. He, therefore, planned that he and they should go to a quiet corner of the Sea of Galilee where there was no village and where, therefore, they would not be disturbed.

Check out the Youth and Young Adulty Ministry schedule of events for the month of July. For more information and to register for any of these events, contact Youth & Young Adult Ministry Coordinator, Karen Loebl, kloebl@rcchawaii.org or text 808-258-4505

The Gospel is from St. Mark 6:7-13. That Christ the Son of God could have spread his Gospel of peace and love, his message of eternal salvation, to the whole world without human help need not be proved. He could, for instance, have written the Gospel in the sky-over each country in its own language. He could have gone to every part of the earth, after his resurrection, and taught his doctrine to all peoples, confirming his words with extraordinary miracles. Yet he chose the weaker but the more human way of evangelizing men—he sent their own fellowmen to bring them the message. This choice showed his divine love and understanding of weak human nature, much better and much more effectively than the use of any of the supernatural means which he could have employed.

The Gospel is from St. Matthew 11:25-30. Pagans and Jews had the same hardships of life to face as we have, and even greater ones. They earned their daily bread with the sweat of brow and body. Their illnesses were more frequent and less bearable than ours, for they had not the medical helps that we have. Death came to young and old then as it does now, but for them it was a final parting from loved ones, and no hope of a future happy meeting served to lighten their sorrow. All their crosses were crushing weights, sent to make life more miserable. Life on earth was passed in gloom and darkness and there was no shining star in the heavens to beckon them on or give them hope.