UCA News Podcast

The context in which Jesus tells this story 9is while Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem. That means Jesus is on a journey of faith and this story informs what that journey requires and expects. And what does it require and expect? Not only faith but a readiness to take risks for the sake of creating the space for the Kingdom of God to grow.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

There is a lot of action and movement in this story and it’s all for our instruction - Jesus is on a journey to Jerusalem; each of the people that the Lord in this story entrusts with wealth is on a journey to assume more authority; everyone in all the stories is asked to show initiative in their journeys. The point of the travel and action is that God invites us to respond and that is the meaning of our faith journey.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

People can be very discouraging in our lives. They can focus, and lead us to focus on all that is against our accomplishing what is desirable for our growth, happiness and better contribution to others’ lives. What does Jesus lay about this? This story is important for seeing how Jesus cuts through all that negativity so that the blind man is healed. Our perseverance in prayer, asking God for the healing we need, can have just the same effect. But we need to persevere.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Sunday Gospel Reflection by Father Bill GrimmThe Good News is not that God will make everything work out as we wish but that he is with us in a special way when it seems our world is ending. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

More extreme apocalyptic language in today’s Gospel and all is calculated to make us alert to the dramatic acts of God that seek our urgent reaction in response to the call of the Gospel. We are approaching the end of the Church’s year and the beginning of a new year with the approach of Advent in preparation for the world changing event of God’s birth among us in Jesus.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.The Indian Church will see its first lay Catholic martyr become a saint next May. In other parts of Asia, Christians have joined other groups in calling for justice and an end to oppression. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and produced by Binu Alex for ucanews.comFor news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateTwitter Handle: twitter.com/ucanews For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Today’s Gospel takes inside Jesus and what he must have felt every day when his followers should such complete ignorance of who he was and what his message meant. He felt isolated and disappointed- He couldn’t depend on any of his followers to appreciate what he was offering. In so far as we know such abandonment, we can discover what Jesus found - intimate union with God as his only reassurance.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

At the end of the year, as we head towards Advent and prepare for the beginning of the Church’s year in Advent, the gospel readings become more and more mysterious. But a focus on what God might be doing in these mysterious circumstances is the best place to be so we can hear what God is inviting us to embrace every day.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Our human reconstruction of the Kingdom of God is s distraction from what it really is. It isn’t in time and space. it doesn’t refer to a locality. It won’t be observable like an invasion and political takeover. It is the action of God and needs sensitivity to the action of God and the movement of the Spirit.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Once again, faith is what triggers Jesus miraculous action and the mighty deed of cleansing is there to show something more of just who Jesus is and what his message is. But this cleansing has something more to say: it is an act that reaches to an outsider - to a Samaritan. In that, the evangelist is emphasizing the reach of God’s grace beyond the confines of race, ethnicity and even the borders of religion.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Poland’s bishops were recently in Rome for their ad limina visit that bishops make every five years. While there they complained about the rigor with which the Vatican now deals with bishops who have been derelict in their duty by failing to respond properly and promptly to sexual abuse by clergy. They are learning how the real world responds to dereliction. Father William Grimm, who lives in Japan, shares some thoughts on this.Produced by Binu AlexFor news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Today’s Gospel is not as simple as it might appear to be. It can’t just about having trading and worship compete because offering the animals is considered an appropriate sacrifice and can’t be dismissed out of hand as an unwarranted degradation of worship. The important consideration clearly is purpose and intention. We are buying off Good’s attention. We are simply giving back to God what he first gave us.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

At this stage in Luke’s Gospel, we are being introduced to a series of stories teaching us simple wisdom about how we grow in the love of and avoid the ways we can take people own the wrong path into darkness. Underlying this story today is the testimony to God’s relentless determination to fog, renew and restore us to God’s love.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Sunday Gospel Reflection by Father Bill GrimmThe woman knew better. She knew that what she had was nothing compared to what God offers. God offers me eternity. Can I, in gratitude, find ways to offer up my treasure of time?About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

This is one of the most profound and moving stories from Jesus about just what generosity really means - surrendering all we have to live on and trusting that God will supply whatever it is we need. That is the heart of this story - trust. It means trust in God and trust in others and together God and the others supply all we need.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.The meeting of Narendra Modi and Pope Francis as well as the Indian PM’s invitation to visit his country made global headlines. Religious leaders have appealed for peace and unity amid repression and abuses. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and produced by Binu Alex for ucanews.comFor news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateTwitter Handle: twitter.com/ucanews For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Jesus commends the pragmatism of the cunning servant and suggests that his followers should be just as pragmatic when it comes to their own dealings and negotiations with God so that they aren’t trapped in their own deviousness. This pragmatism is yet another instance in the Gospels of the lack of any obsession with perfectionism. Why? Because perfectionism is something humans seek without any reference to God and the only thing Jesus recommends is dependence on the grace of God to see that his followers recognize what discipleship really means - living from God’s goodness and not their own virtue.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Jesus finds immense depth in a moment of deep bigotry and prejudice among those seeking to find fault with him and he puts it to good use in taking his message even deeper into the lives of the people of his time. He uses the exclusive judgment his critics put on him to emphasize something essential to his meaning and message - forgiveness that results in the inclusion of people seen to be not good enough to be. Included among those blessed by God.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Luke’s gospel is very strong and consistent in emphasizing that faith begins with God’s invitation. But then the evangelist is very insistent that the invitation requires our response if anything is to be made of the the invitation. And that is very much to the fore in today’s text: Jesus is emphasizing the response to his invitation and the costly nature that response. And the cost of response is not less than everything. But in paying everything, again it is the grace of God that allows us to let go and give ourselves to God in a fully generous way.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Remembering our dead - what we do today, on All Souls Day - is a deeply mysterious event. It’s mysterious not simply because it is a direct engagement with something that all of us face and will face though we know nothing about what will become of us as such. But as well, it is an event we already are engaged in and have many intimations of “the next life” because we are engaged with it in memory of the deceased, in praying for them and in asking for their prayers for us. And in those acts, we are adventurously moving into an aspect of the next life before we have joined it. But the more we move into that space and anticipate that transition and the more we engage with those who’ve gone before us to fuller life with God, the more real it all becomes.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

The Feast of all Saints today is both a solemn celebration of the destiny of us all and the actual condition of so many simply not recognized in the formal lists of those welcomed by God into everlasting life. But the presence of the Beatitudes as the Gospel for today’s Mass also reminds us of how we are all empowered to get to the saintly state - by God’s grace meeting us in all the ordinary events and occasions of our lives, all the common people who make upper days and in whom we see God inviting us to grow into the loving people we are invited to come every day.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Being a Christian is not about behaving toward others in a certain way. It is about having a special kind of relationship with God. All else follows from that.About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Here Jesus summarizes in simple and direct terms what is at the heart of his message - God is above all and for all and self-sacrificing love is our way of responding to God’s love for us.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.The battle between the underground and state-sanctioned churches continues in China after a bishop was detained for the sixth time.Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and produced by Binu Alex for ucanews.comFor news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateTwitter Handle: twitter.com/ucanews For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

We could read this Gospel as an encouragement to adopt an attitude of “enlightened self-interest” when it comes to management of our engagements with others. That is a kind way to interpret it. But really what’s going on is that Jesus is recommending something absolutely basic to the attitude we need to adopt in the following of Jesus every day: putting others before us so that hey may prosper and benefit well ahead of us.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Today’s Gospel has two important messages: first of all, being bound and inhibited by the Law is a disservice to faith and love but, secondly, that is especially because Jesus as the Son of God, is Master of the Sabbath. Love and faith. Need recognition and following always. But that is made so important because our following of Jesus makes all compliance with laws and customs a very relative matter and needs the prior question answered first: is what we propose to do actually the most loving way to behave?About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Today is the Feast of two Apostles - Simon and Jude. So today’s Gospel is one account of the call and commissioning of the Apostles who are given their rolling the early Christian community as the initial and principal witnesses to Jesus’ Resurrection.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

We are seeing more and more each day the impact of human-caused damage to the environment. We need a familial sense of our connection with the rest of creation. It may be too late to head off even more problems. However, the present crisis may cause us to reflect upon our relationship with all of life and, as the Japanese bishops say, “Protect All Life.”Father William Grimm, who lives in Japan, shares some thoughts on this.Produced by Binu AlexFor news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comMusic courtesy: Official London Theatre Promo of Jonathan Miller's Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular operetta For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Not surprisingly, there are some followers of Jesus who want to know whether all their efforts and sacrifice will yield them any benefit with their standing in God’s eyes. What does Jesus do when asked that question? He replies by suggesting his followers should not concern themselves about that, put themselves in God’s hands and that will see their prospects are safeguarded.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Once again, Luke the Evangelist comes to the fore as vivid story teller, providing pictures and images so that weight grasp something more of the deep mystery of the Kingdom and God’s transforming power at work in us - the transforming yeast that works in with the flour to produce the satisfying fulfillment of a batch of bread and the mustard seed that grows into a tree to provide cover and safety for all those blessed to enjoy its reach.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

What today’s Gospel underlines is God will not be imprisoned by human laws, conventions or constraints. God and God’s spirit at work in us “can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Hypocrites are those who invoke the name of God and then contain God’s work by the limitations that human restraints place on it. What are we to do? Open ourselves to God and pray “Come Lord Jesus!”About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

The Gospels do not hesitate to put us followers of Jesus in a bad light. We, represented by the disciples, can be so dense that we miss something that evil demons know and that even a blind man can see. That is, that Jesus is the presence of the Reign of God among us.About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

This healing story is a classical one - it is healing by Jesus in response to the faith Bartimaeus has in Jesus. It is classic not only in the sense it fits everything the healing miracles display - they are all in response to the faith of the person seeking the miracle of Jesus. It is classic in that it highlights what Jesus can and does do - open our eyes and show us the way to see life as God wants us to not sa we willfully determine.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.Religious minorities face hard times amid rising intolerance and anti-minority sentiment in Asian nations. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and produced by Binu Alex for ucanews.comFor news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateTwitter Handle: twitter.com/ucanews For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Perseverance and commitment are what is needed inner faith journey as well as as God’s grace. Today’s Gospel shows that in our lives, Jesus is asking us not simply to seek and search but also to never give up hope. Are we ready to wait and to keep seeking? If we are, we will find that God notices and blesses our enduring commitment to seeking God’s blessing. That is our faith journey.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

All too often in life and no less in our relationship with God we think it’s all and only God’s work to bring the change we seek or the remedy we long for. This Gospel underlines that it is in our hands to read the “signs of the times” and make a response that is appropriate as we reckon with what needs to be done. God works with us but not without us.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Conflict and division, however unpleasant and undesired by us they may be are nevertheless an unavoidable part of life and sometimes those are closest to can become those with whom we have the deepest and most painful divisions. What are we to do? Often enough it is only the grace God that can bring these divisions to be healed. It is only when we let gothic God can be God and bring the healing we need.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Faith is a matter of an invitation we receive from God and then the response we make to that invitation. God doesn’t do everything for us because, to be effective, we have to be ready and full in our response as God has been generous in his invitation to us to join the Kingdom and give ourselves in his service.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

The mission of the Church is to point to the coming and the presence of the Lord. And sometimes the is a costly vocation as it was for the first Jesuit missionaries in North America who paid with their lives in gruesome martyrdoms for doing just that among the North American indigenous population. Ours too can be a costly vocation in a different way but still costing us our lives.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Luke is the best writer in the New Testament at narrative description and story telling. His stories are rich in detail, color and context, making his point clearly and openly. Today’s text is no different and goes to what is entailed in following and witnessing toJesus so we can follow him and do his work.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Sometimes, being a Christian means going against doing what comes naturally. The whole world does what comes naturally, and that is why it needs salvation.About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Despite being with Jesus for as long as they have been with him, his followers really get very little of what his message and meaning is. Lest we think ourselves to be a cut above these simple rustic types, we need to recognize that we are in much the same situation. Every day is a new day and every day we are asked to make a fresh start and begin again the search for God and the discovery of how Jesus is calling and drawing us. And we have something new to learn each day.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.A brave Filipino journalist has won the Nobel Peace Prize in a world of shrinking press freedom. Asian nations are confronting natural disasters, oppressive regimes and extremist forces. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and produced by Binu Alex for ucanews.comFor news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateTwitter Handle: twitter.com/ucanews For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

We continue today the “hard sayings" of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. Luke is the master of narrative and tells some of the richest stories in the New Testament. He makes Jesus message vivid, rich, deep and often consoling. But heals describes how high the stakes arena how difficult the challenges are. We can’t hope to meet those challenges without the saving blessing of the Spirit’s guidance and support.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

St Teresa Avila is a most remarkable woman. She is a Doctor of the Church, a mystic, a Church reformer in a time of great disturbance and turmoil in the Church and one who today points us towards where we can find the sure foundation for our service of God and the Church - in our own mysterious union with God in the Spirit.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

This section of Luke’s Gospel is brutal and extreme in the way it paints Jesus’ grim attitude to his contemporaries and the choices they make about following or abandoning him. What he is saying is that in the grimness of the times, Jesus wants his followers to make a choice for him even in the darkness and in that choice seek the light of Christ even as it appears to be a choice in the midst of darkness.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Jesus is plainly very angry with the religious hypocrites of his times. He sees what counter-signs they re to the very with they think they are promoting and protecting. But what actually can he do about their attitudes and behavior? Nothing! He upsets them but he can’t change them. For them to change would require personal examination and choices based on things where they lose control. Without faith and a deep relationship with the God who renews and sustains them, that change is very unlikely.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Again, Jesus testifies to the fact that he just doesn’t fit into the narrowband controlling categories prescribed for him by the religious authorities of his time. Jesus is remarkable because besides not fitting, he actually goes about then creating the world where he can fit and one where others can join him and discover the liberating richness of the grace filled space offers for his followers to live and grow in.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Today’s Gospel proclaims just what faith in Jesus is about - not marvel at the signs and wonders he works but trust in the steadfast love he has for us and which can save us. This is about our relationship with Jesus and not simply an account of the benefits accruing to us because of what Jesus can and does do for us.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews

Jesus is challenging us to live in the real world, to give up all that might allow us to avoid the truth that there is no easy way to share in everlasting life. And everlasting life is what we all really want; all our other searches are symptoms of that desire.About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews