One of the more difficult sayings of Jesus is in today’s gospel: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted’ and it would obey you.” Wow.

Today’s readings speak with one voice. They give us a warning, a challenge, and an invitation. And they leave us with one very powerful question: Are we really seeing the people around us?

There was this story of an old but sick man who won a huge prize from lotto. The relatives were afraid that if they broke this news, he might have a heart attack and die.

Today our Holy Mother Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The purpose of this feast is to focus our hearts and minds on the Cross of Christ.

For those, like me, who have ever played the game “Pokemon Go”, you might be able to relate with me. As far as I understand the game, you capture as many Pokemon monsters as you can.

In 2018, I attended the episcopal ordination of Bishop Ewald Sedu, in Maumere. Maumere is a very Catholic town, on the very Catholic island of Flores, in very Christian eastern Indonesia. Not surprisingly, this ceremony was a very grand affair.

Last Wednesday, I had the chance to attend an interfaith network gathering, held once a year since 1989. About fifty people came—Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Orthodox Christians, and us Catholics—all in one room.

At first reading of this Sunday’s Gospel, we might be seriously wondering what Jesus is talking about. We all thought that Jesus came to this world as a “Prince of Peace”.

Today, all the three readings are well linked and invite us to trust in God, who in fact cares for us day and night. And the Gospel text for this 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time speaks of the importance of living without fear and always trusting in God.

A contractor needed one more man to chop down trees for export. One day, two men appeared willing to do the job but only one could be employed so what the contractor did was to put the two men to a test, they were to chop down as many trees as they could in an eight-hour shift and the man who chopped down more trees got the job.