Fr. Michael Bombak

Dec

01

2016

Luke 21:28-33- Stay Alert

Faithalert, awake, nepsis

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Imagine if you had an emergency and you called 911 to get an ambulance to come and get you right away. The operator comes on the phone and asks what you need and you stammer out that you need an ambulance, and she replies with "OK, we'll get around to it sometime today." Complacency can set into any relationship, but it is especially dangerous when it sets in with our relationship with God and our commitment to the mission which He has given us. Christians have been given the life-saving truth of the Gospel and…

Nov

30

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

John 1:35-51- Come and See

Faithevangelization, invitation, Madonna house, marian centre

Glory be to Jesus Christ! I remember when I was in High School and my youth leader at the time invited me to come to the Marian Centre, a field-house of the Madonna House Apostolate. The Marian Centre is a soup kitchen in the inner city of Edmonton which serves hundreds of homeless men and women every week. It was a truly grace-filled invitation, and one that would help me to come back to my faith after a very rocky undergraduate experience at the UofA. The "offhand" invitation of a Bible Study leader who had experienced the love, faith and…

Nov

29

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 21: 12-19- Leave the Success to Him

Faithmother teresa, success, trust

Glory be to Jesus Christ! How inconvenient does your faith make your life? Every once in a while I'll turn on the "Christian Music Radio Station" on in the car, but I can only listen for a few minutes. I always feel that they have turned Christ into some sort of "coping mechanism" and it's such a reduction of the gospel message. In our reading today our Lord gives His disciples a warning which we all too often forget or ignore: if you will follow Him expect resistance. Persecution is a litmus test for discipleship. And yet, even before we are…

Nov

25

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 20:19-26- Lovingly Minted

Faithcoins, Image, Likeness, mint, Money

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Do you have a coin collection? My son has a collection of coins from around the world, and also a special collection of coins which were minted in the year he was born. Coins are some of the most interesting artifacts from our current culture and from ancient cultures. The coins of the Roman Empire allowed business and trade to happen across a wide and diverse empire through a common currency. We read in today's passage of duplicitous people trying to trap Jesus in His speech. They give Him a question: "Is it lawful to…

Nov

24

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 20:9-18- Mind His Grapes

Faith

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Are you into family histories? It is always interesting seeing family trees, and learning more about our ancestors. What sort of person was my great grandfather? What was life like for my great great aunt? How did she live a "normal day"? These family histories are not simply disjointed recordings of what happened in a time and place far away, but stories of how we have arrived where we are today. Some are lessons to repeat and some are warnings of what to completely reject. As the famous maxim goes "those who are ignorant of…

Nov

23

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 20:1-8 Post-Truth

Faithtruth

Glory be to Jesus Christ! I was watching a debate recently on a very important issue currently before the government legislative bodies and the word "post-truth" was used to describe someone's position. In many ways, our culture embodies a "post-truth" stance, either through relativism or fear. The temple leaders in our reading today show their true intentions through their avoidance of Jesus' question; they are not seeking the truth. The leaders come to the Lord seeking for Him to identify the authority by which He is preaching because their authority as temple leaders has been threatened. Our Lord asks them…

Nov

22

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 19:45-48 Purify your Temple

Faithchalice, Communion, temple

Glory be to Jesus Christ! This year, the day after celebrating Mary's entrance into the temple as a small child, we recall the Lord's purification of that temple when He drives out the money changers and merchants. Unknown to the people, the Lord visited His temple, and found that the worship of His people in the temple, the "place of prayer for all the nations," had become a place of self-worship through idolatry and greed. We might be tempted to shake our fingers and heads at these people, but the Scriptures were not written for them, but for us! The…

Nov

18

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 19:12-27- Keep Your Eyes on the Kingdom

Faithgifts, Jerusalem, Kingdom

Glory be to Jesus Christ! In our reading today, the disciples are excited to enter Jerusalem and take the Kingdom! Our Lord tells them that the Kingdom and the possession of it will be quite different than they imagine it through the telling of a parable. How frequently do we sell ourselves short, or suffer from a similar spiritual shortsightedness brothers and sisters? The disciples (and we can't blame them!) are interested in Jerusalem being conquered through the military campaign of the Messiah in their interpretation of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesy. Instead, Christ gives them another focus- working with…

Nov

17

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 18:31-34 – We (Should) Know Better

FaithJerusalem, Suffering

Glory be to Jesus Christ! As we continue our reading of the Gospel of Luke, we see the ultimate trajectory of the Son of Man. He must enter Jerusalem to be mocked, tortured and killed. The disciples do not understand what is happening as these events are "hidden from them," and we can't really hold that against them, as the Messiah was supposed to usher in a time of political and military triumph for the Chosen People, or so they thought. Things become clearer only after those three days Our Lord mentions, and this is their legacy to us- we…

Nov

16

2016

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 18:15-17, 26-30- It’s Worth It!

Faith

Glory be to Jesus Christ! In our reading today Our Lord tells His disciples that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child won't enter it. Why children? What's so special about children? Children are completely dependent on their parents. They cannot work, pay back debts, construct webs of social influence, establish partnerships or grow businesses. They make no money. In fact, they are radically dependent. This is the image our Lord gives us for the kingdom and our need to understand how much we must rely on Him. Without becoming like children, we will not be…