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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He Is Actually Real
If you’re a Marvel fan, what would it be like if Iron Man was real? If you’re a Harry Potter fan, what would it be like if Hogwarts was real? If you’re a Pokemon fan, what would it be like if Snorlax was real? Now, imagine that you’re an Old Testament Jew. What would it be like to realize that the Messiah was real? That’s what you would be dreaming about. That the Messiah, the Son of God, is true and real. In the gospel for this Sunday…
Moral Authority
Guys, Muppet, Yoda, beats CGI, Yoda, any day of the week. We see this in The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke Skywalker is Yoda’s apprentice. Luke follows everything that Yoda says because Yoda has moral authority; we see this moral authority and the gospel for this Sunday at the wedding of Cana. Mary says to the servants, do whatever he tells you, and they do it because Mary has this moral authority; because of…
A Father Who Keeps Us Safe
I was just in the Gulf of Mexico, went to the beach, and saw something crazy. I saw a father placing his 2-year-old son on the edge of the water, and he sat there and let his son walk forward. The son took one step into the ocean, looked back at his dad, smiled, turned back, and took one more step forward, and he kept doing this. This little 2-year-old boy felt safe amid a vast, powerful, dangerous ocean because he knew…
Jesus Stays The Same
So, the latest Terminator movie was set for the future in 2024. It was predicted that by 2024, artificial intelligence would take over the world. Well, we are now past 2024. It is a new year, and AI hasn’t conquered us yet. But we always fear that we have no clue what will happen in this new year. Crazy things may happen, heartbreaking things may happen, amazing things may happen, but guess what? Jesus stays…
Against The Grain
Okay, so fish are fascinating. Did you know that salmon swim upstream for almost 2,000 miles every year? This is insane. This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, and the family are like fish always swimming upstream. No matter what is going on in the culture, no matter what is happening in the world, the family is always being counter-cultural, going against the grain, bringing life, and providing…
The Visitation
Christmas is getting close, and I want to give you the gift of having your mind blown and your face melted. In the Old Testament, King David travels to the Hill Country of Judah for three months. Mary travels for three months in our gospel for this Sunday to the Hill Country of Judah. King David dances before the Lord in the Ark. The baby, John the Baptist, leaps into Elizabeth’s womb in the presence of…
Life or Death
Let’s talk about fire and water, and I’m not talking about the Pokemon types. In the gospel for this Sunday, Saint John the Baptist says that he will baptize with water, but Christ will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. Fire represents life, but it also represents death. Same with water. When the Israelites went through the Red Sea, water was life-giving. The Egyptians went through the same Red Sea, and…
Happy Candlemas
So, this Sunday is so awesome. We are celebrating the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas. All of these candles will be brought into the church and blessed because we are celebrating the light of Christ coming into the temple for the first time. The people of Israel have been waiting for this moment forever. This would be like all of our churches having an empty tabernacle for hundreds of years…