Posts by Jerry DeMelo Jr.
Christ: Truth and Lord
Preamble – Dear Friends – I prepared a Reflection that I did not really like, so I contacted Richard Jones, former Anglican priest – now fervent Catholic- for his insight. He proposed the following which I Iiked so much that I forwarded it unedited, as he submitted. Here it is: Introduction Although we live in…
Read MoreLove the Lord Your God
The Shema Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear O Israel, The LORD is our God, the Lord is One. So begins the prayer that every Jew prays before going to sleep at the end of the day. Believe in One God The Shema holds a central place in both Jewish and Christian Scriptures, declaring…
Read MoreThe Mission of the Apostles
Today’s gospel records the sending of the twelve Apostles to preach the Gospel to the lost sheep of Israel. Jesus summons his twelve disciples and gives them the authority to cast out unclean spirits and cure every disease and sickness. We cannot read this Gospel without being reminded of the importance of our own mission…
Read MoreThe Basics – The Beatitudes
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This beatitude promises a present blessing, while others offer future blessings. Note the difference as you read. Others have a “will be” future tense consolation. Here, we must recognize our spiritual poverty and our need for God’s grace. We cannot rely on…
Read MoreThe Jerusalem Council and the Synod of Synodality
The Jerusalem Council – Church Unity through Dialogue We should not be afraid of the Church periodically calling a Council or a Synod to resolve important issues of faith or morals. We must, however, follow the Apostolic example. The Apostles and priests met in Jerusalem around 48AD to decide whether a Gentile convert needed to…
Read MoreOn The Road with Jesus to Emmaus with Chat GPT
My query: Give me a Catholic Reflection on Luke 24:13-35 Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. Chat GPT, an Artificial Intelligence bot, replied with the following: Answer: Luke 24:13-35 tells the story of Jesus appearing to two disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. The disciples were saddened and confused by the events…
Read MoreJesus and the Samaritan Woman
Jacob’s Well I had the pleasure of going to Jacob’s Well along with two young priests and my son deep into Samaria near Nablus. We rode in a properly marked Taxi Cab, with Iyad (the right Cab Driver) and left from Jerusalem before sunrise. In the back of my mind was the thought that if…
Read MoreHow Jesus Parents the Children of His Father
First, the Goal The goal of a mature person is reflected in their examination of conscience regarding sin. “I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do…”…
Read MoreA Leper’s Prayer
Isolation and Desolation We are probably coming out of the recent Covid pandemic. For two years we experienced uncertainty at the hands of the virus. We spoke of it as if it was a living organism that we could kill. Viruses are not living agents – yet they can kill living beings. A person infected…
Read MoreOur Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in Mexico in 1531 as the pregnant mother of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. She appeared to Juan Diego, a simple widower, who is now the first canonized saint indigenous to the Americas. The Virgin Mary holds a special place in the Mexican culture. It’s precisely because she…
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