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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The King of the Universe
Man, I’m pumped. Today is the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Sounds like something from Dr. Strange. And then in the Gospel today, the good thief says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” That we have a kingdom, that we have a king. We don’t have a king that wears a golden…
Perseverance Will Secure Your Lives
One of my brother priests, he used to be a chaplain for the Navy Seals, and he’s such a great dude. Let’s just say he is pretty large. He has biceps as big as my face. He was in a war torn country celebrating mass for his Navy Seals. As he’s celebrating mass, an explosion happens outside of the tent. The priest dives for…
Love Your Body
Have you ever been at Mass and your eyes glaze over during the Creed? Well, don’t do that anymore. Especially the last part. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body. That is what the gospel is about. Today, Jesus is saying that our bodies will rise just…
Invite Jesus to Your Home
Zacchaeus, who is a tax collector. He is a sinner, he is not a good guy at all. He invites Jesus into his home, and Zacchaeus is changed forever. And so a great question is have we ever invited Jesus into our home? Guess what? As Catholics, we have something even better. Whenever we receive the Eucharist, we invite…
Be Brutally Honest with Jesus
Let’s talk about Emmett from the Lego movie. He thinks that everything is awesome. Yet, he is actually living a lie and he can’t truly be happy until he is honest with himself and honest about his situation. Right, come on, let’s be honest. And so in the same thing with the gospel today, here is the tax collector who is brutally…
God is a Just God
The Gospel for this Sunday is all about the judge. You know who is a bad judge? Scarecrow from “The Dark Knight Rises.” Scarecrow is one of the villains who presides over a kangaroo court, condemning the aristocracy to death. And he gives them two options, either death or exile. And both of those options lead to death…
Live a Grateful Life
The Academy Awards, the Grammys, the Oscars, the Emmys, they’re so awesome. The beauty of these award shows is that the first thing that happens when someone receives an award, they actually show gratitude. They share with everyone who has helped them on this journey and the fact that they can’t do it alone…
What Keeps You Up At Night?
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. That means we are in a new church year. Happy New Year, Church. Happy New Year, Pope Francis. Happy New Year to you all. And in this new church year, we have an amazing gospel for this Sunday. It is Jesus saying to us, “Please stay awake. You do not know when the…