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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Living in Unreality
Okay, so I just spent three hours playing Fortnite with another priest. And yes, we got some dubs. But afterward, I felt horrible after three hours of living in unreality that weighed on me. Whenever we are living away from the truth, that is further away from Jesus. And in the gospel for this Sunday, Pilate is also living in unreality. He knows that Jesus is innocent, yet he decides to live and act not in reality…
Jesus’ Second Coming
Okay, so it is time to build those fallout shelters. It is time to build those panic rooms. It is time to hoard that toilet paper because the world’s end is coming. In all of the readings, this is what Jesus is talking about. He’s talking about the world’s end for Jesus’s second coming. And the fantastic thing is we don’t have to be afraid. Jesus first came in humility, poverty, and weakness, coming in a manger…
Sacrifice For Jesus
Okay, so in the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus is not trying to be an economist. He’s not concerned about what happens to the S&P 500. He is not worried about how much Bitcoin to give to the poor. Jesus is talking about our sacrificial hearts. In the gospel, the rich provide some of their money, and the poor widow gives all she has. Jesus is not concerned with numbers. He’s concerned with our…
Done or Half-Baked
So, the bottom line is that you are never a done muffin. You are always half-baked. In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” He doesn’t say to the scribe, “You made it. You did it. Success.” He says, yeah, you’ve said all the right things, but still, you have some work to do. Still, I want to go deeper with you. This is the beautiful reality that Jesus…
Unique and Irrepeatable
Did you know that there are 108 billion people that ever existed? That is a lot. If I wanted to count from zero to 108 billion, that would take me 3,429 years. So it seems like it would be so much easier for God just to name us a generic name. So if God is talking to anyone, he would just say, hello, generic human beings. In the gospel, Jesus calls on Bartimaeus, saying that Bartimaeus is not one among…
The Right Ambition
Elon Musk, Simone Biles, Dwayne ‘The Rock, Johnson, Mulan, Tony Stark. What do all of these people have in common? Ambition. They have this drive to be great. In the gospel for this Sunday, James and John, the Sons of Thunder, have ambition. All they want to do is sit on Jesus’s right and left and be the most awesome. And the crazy thing is Jesus doesn’t take that away from them. Jesus…
Gate To Heaven
So, at the end of your life, you get to the gates of heaven, and the person guarding the gates of heaven, either St. Peter or Morgan Freeman, asks you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” And we could have so many answers, like ” because I’m awesome,” ” because I gave much money to the poor,” ” because I went to mass every Sunday,” or “I’m not Voldemort.” We can give many good answers…
Jesus In The Present
So it is finally Advent, which means it is a new church year. So happy New Year, Mother Church. Happy New Year, Bing Crosby. Happy New Year to you all. What I love about Advent is that the church teaches us that we experience three Advents and three comings of Christ. He comes in the past. Jesus is also coming in the future. But the third Advent is that Jesus always desires to come into our hearts…