Spirit Juice is proud to present Reel Homilies from Father Tim Anastos, associate chaplain of the St. John Paul II Newman Center at the University of Illinois-Chicago. In these minute-long reflections, Father Tim will unpack the Sunday Gospel readings through the lenses of Church tradition, pop culture, and self-improvement. We hope these reflections serve to inspire your own thoughts on the Gospel and bring you closer to Christ…as well as bring a smile to your face.
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Holy Saturday
Today, Holy Saturday is a bittersweet day. It’s bitter because we realize we killed God, but he’s coming. But it is sweet because Jesus reveals the lengths he will go for us. He’s willing to go even to death for us. He’s willing to go even to hell for us. Nothing can destroy that no place in the universe is out of reach for Jesus, that there is no sin that is out of reach for Jesus, that there is no place in your heart that is out of…
Good Friday
At 3:00 p.m. today, my face will be on the floor. For Catholics, on Good Friday, the priest lays prostrate on the ground, representing Jesus giving his whole self, his whole body for us. It signifies total reverence and honor to our Lord, who gave everything. And what I love about our chapel at the Newman Center is that my head will be lying upon the Latin words “Dominum et vivificantem,” which means “The Lord, the giver of…
Holy Thursday
I am about to wash the feet of 12 of my students because it is Holy Thursday. Jesus, on this day, gives us the priesthood. He gives us the Eucharist and reminds us that he lowers himself. For us, this is so radical that we are called as Christians to lower ourselves. This is the secret of the saints. They always said I’m the worst of us. I am the greatest sinner of all of us. They realized that they needed Jesus, and they wanted to…
Living on the Sidelines?
Sometimes, I feel like Guy. If you’ve ever seen the movie, “Free Guy,” you know that Guy is living his life on the sidelines. He doesn’t really think his life is about him. But at one point, Guy realizes that the video game that he is in is his story and that he is the main character. And he gets after it. On this Palm Sunday, we hear the entire story of Jesus’s passion for us. A lot of the time, we feel like we are on the sidelines…
Love Like Jesus
So, our Newman Center just returned from our mission trip to Belize, which was unbelievable. But one of our students, who is just so awesome sauce, experienced something incredible when encountering the poor. She encountered Jesus. Not only did she encounter Jesus, but for the first time in her life, she loved how Jesus loved. In the gospel for this Sunday, we see Jesus’s heart burning on display, that his love is…
Suspicious of Joy
Ebenezer Scrooge, Severus Snape, Loki, The Grinch. What do they all have in common? They are suspicious of joy. In the gospel for this Sunday, we have the story of the famous prodigal son. The older son is suspicious of joy. He hears the party for the younger son, and instead of going out, he is suspicious of the joy happening. If they are being rejoiced over, then he must be less loved. Because the older son is suspicious…
Second Chances
So it’s about time we talked about Michael Corleone. In the second “Godfather,” Michael Corleone has all of the opportunities, so many second chances, to step away from the violence of the mob. But in all those second chances, he decides to choose everything that is not good. In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus is giving us hope, but He’s also warning us. Jesus is always giving us second chances. If we turn back to…
Easter Sunday
Happy Easter. He is risen. Jesus Christ is victorious over all sin and death, and we never have to be afraid again. Hallelujah. One of our students at the Newman Center created this artwork on our chalkboard, saying, A bunny will never love you like Jesus. And yes, it’s a little cheesy, but it is so true that we cling to so many other things than Jesus to make us happy. Jesus proved his love for us by dying and rising from the…