Fr. Michael Bombak

Mar

17

2017

Genesis 8:4-21- A New Creation

Faithcreation, flood, noah

Glory be to Jesus Christ! God made a reboot of creation. Having seen the wickedness that the world had descended into, and regretting His creation of the world, God begins again. We often focus on the death and destruction which ensues in this story, and sometimes forget the saving message of the story as well: Noah and his family (and their families) are saved by God. What is happening here is not simply the annihilation of sinful humanity, but the recreation of the world. Noah and his family, in a very special way, will cooperate with the Lord's plan through…

Mar

15

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Isaiah 10:12-20- It’s All Gift

Faithgift, humility, job, Suffering

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Any teacher will tell you that the most difficult student to teach isn't the one who doesn't know anything, but the one who thinks he already knows everything. You might have an important message to transmit but he's heard it. He knows it. Until he accepts that he is a student and you the teacher you will never get through. This is the problem with pride brothers and sisters. What do we have which was not given to us? Even when we cultivate our gifts, they still remain that, gifts which the Lord has endowed…

Mar

13

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Genesis 6:9-22 A Desert Boat

Faithark, flood, noah

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Ever seen a boat in the middle of the desert? Noah's contemporaries hadn't either. In the midst of the confusion, chaos and moral degradation which is described in the book of Genesis, the Lord comes to Noah and tells him he needs to build a giant boat...in the desert. Imagine the kind of trust that Noah would have had to have. I'm sure it wasn't made any easier by those of Noah's time passing by "the boat guy" day in and day out while the Ark was being constructed. We see here an incredible counter-cultural…

Mar

10

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Proverbs 6:20-7:1- Light the Hearth

Faithheath, love, lust, marriage

Glory be to Jesus Christ! This is the "sex-ed" talk which we often find lacking in some of our families and schools. We can picture here a concerned and wise father, sitting down with his son to counsel him on living a God-pleasing and successful life. Often times we make a big fuss about how normative sexual promiscuity has become in our culture (and we should!) and we think that somehow it has gotten much worse than in previous generations. Certainly it has gotten worse in some ways, especially with how easily we can beam pornography into our minds and…

Mar

09

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Isaiah 6:1-12- Can’t Get Used to It

Faithboredom, prophesy, vision

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Have you ever heard of the Law of Diminishing Effect? It basically states that after your peak experience of something the following ones will have less of an effect on you and therefore if you want that same high (which you will actually never really achieve) you need more of it or a different version of it. In other words, we get bored of things and they don't satisfy. Driving is exciting, until you have to drive to work every morning and then you don't even think about it. God can never get boring. The…

Mar

08

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Proverbs 5:15-6:3- The Woman of Your Youth

Faithidolatry, marriage, mr right

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Today, and on International Woman's Day no less, we read about the woman that Solomon, the writer of Proverbs according to Tradition, would council his son to take as his bride. It is very interesting to note the characteristics which he should chose her for because he doesn't state...well...anything. When counseling his son, he reminds him not of "why he should choose this specific person" but of his fidelity to her. Many people who continue day in and day out "waiting for Mr. or Mrs. right" to walk into their lives may be waiting a…

Mar

07

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Genesis 4:8-15- Where’s Your Heart At?

Faithabel, cain, fall, sin

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Well, we are already four three whole chapters into Genesis, and there are four people accounted for in the creation of the world, so it's about time for the first murder, right? Following the Fall, we see the consequences of sin "echo through" humanity from generation to generation. Our relationships with God and with each other have been damaged and we live in a world where in many cases it is easier to do the wrong thing than it is to do the right thing. Cain, whose sacrifice was not accepted by God, looks upon…

Mar

06

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Desert Wanderings | February 19, 2017

News

"What did you come out into the desert to see?" (Matthew 11:8) The Jordan River is not half as impressive as it must have been when Jesus went there to be baptized by John. It stretches about 10 feet wide now, and acts as the natural border between Israel and Jordan. We were reminded about this fact as soon as we arrived to see armed soldiers standing guard on our side of the River, as well as when we descended down to the banks to see their Jordanian counterparts on the other side patrolling as well. Although I was struck…

Mar

03

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Genesis 2:20-3:20- Where Are You?

Faithadam and eve, fall, fruit, relationship

Glory be to Jesus Christ! "Where are you?" This is the question that the All-knowing God asks Adam as Adam cowers for fear of being discovered in the Garden. It is a tragic question indeed. We see the result of the eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is one of ruptured relationship which echoes throughout the created world. The ground will no longer easily produce food for the man: he will have to work hard and even then weeds will come out of some of his work. His relationship with Eve will…

Mar

02

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Isaiah 2:11-21- Idolatry

Faithidolatry

Glory be to Jesus Christ! I don't think I have ever seen an episode of "American Idol" all the way through, and yet I must confess I am very familiar with idolatry. We often throw the word idol around when trying to describe someone we admire or believe to be gifted etc. Often times children will have posters of their idols hanging in their rooms. In our extremely visual world where our attention is constantly attacked and our integrity of thought constantly threatened we can see the sense in the prohibition not to make graven images. And this ultimately is…