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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Trinity Sunday
“My Life with the Walter Boys,” “Vampire Diaries,” “Twilight,” “Stranger Things,” and “Outer Banks,” what do all of these things have in common? Love triangles. And not the most wholesome love triangles. Today, we celebrate the solemnity of the most blessed Trinity, the most perfect, epic love triangle, the love relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is what…
Pentecost 2024
Okay, so I promise I am not a pagan. In Greek mythology, the God Prometheus steals heavenly fire and gives it to the people on earth. The gods, especially Zeus, are so upset that they condemn Prometheus to eternal punishment because they are jealous and want to withhold the fire. This is the crazy thing. Today, on Pentecost, it’s the opposite, that our Father in Heaven gives us his fire…
Ascension Day
Have you ever been away from home for a long time? And then you finally get back home, and suddenly, you walk into your house, and all of the fears, anxieties, and worries dissolve, and you feel safe. It’s amazing. And this Sunday, we celebrate the ascension, which is Jesus Christ going back home. The crazy thing is that this is not just for Jesus. This is for us. We one day will be…
God Stays
So, two couples I’m preparing for marriage chose this Sunday’s Gospel for their wedding. So, I asked both couples the same question: “Why did you choose this reading?” Couple number one responded, “Yeah, we chose this gospel because it was the shortest option.” And I was like, “Bruh.” The second couple replied, “We chose this gospel because God wants to remain with us…
Strong and Unbreakable
So, when I was a kid, something traumatic happened to me. Plants invaded our house. Vines from the outside got so strong that they started to destroy our brick wall. You can see my dad peeling off that plant carpet that got so strong that it was destroying our brick. In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” Jesus is the great unifier. We are all…
The Holy Name of Jesus
So, the coat of arms in my archdiocese is epic. It shows a phoenix, which is a symbol of resurrection. And on the chest of the phoenix is the IHS, which is the holy name of Jesus. And so, in the first reading for this Sunday, Saint Peter, our first pope, heals a man by the holy name of Jesus. He can heal because of his name because Jesus’ name is mighty. In the Old Testament…
Resurrection of the Body
So, Captain America is obviously the best out of all the superheroes. When he receives the soldier serum, he becomes more of himself. He doesn’t become less of himself. He becomes perfected. Before the serum, he was weak, but he was good. After the serum, he is still good and perfected. This is precisely what Jesus says in the gospel today: that we believe in the…
Corpus Christi
So, one of my buddies is a perpetual pilgrim for the Eucharistic revival, meaning he will walk across the country, over 2000 miles, with the Eucharist, with Jesus. That’s like 645 hours. That’s the equivalent of watching all of the seasons of “The Office” nonstop, eight times in a row. That’s the equivalent of reading the Bible cover to cover nonstop 13 times in a row. So why is he doing this…