The Challenge of Parenting in Today’s World | Daily Reflection

 The Challenge of Parenting in Today’s World

To read the texts, click on the texts: Gen 27:1-5,15-29; Mt 9:14-17

Over the past few months, I was humbled by the way many of you have reached out personally, sharing how some of my previous reflections on family and parenting have touched your hearts. You’ve opened up about the deep generational gaps between grandparents, parents, and grandchildren today—gaps filled with confusion, frustration, and sometimes grief. Your honesty has reminded me how profoundly this struggle is felt in many homes and hearts. No doubt, parenting today feels more complex than ever. With shifting values, constant noise from social media, and generational differences, both parents and children often struggle to understand one another.

In today’s reading from Genesis, we see a family caught in deception and favoritism. Isaac’s desire to bless Esau is disrupted by Rebekah and Jacob’s plan. Their actions reveal a family divided by fear, expectation, and the need for honor, prestige, and acceptance. Here, we are reminded that even in families blessed by God, brokenness, favoritism, and misunderstanding can creep in. Today’s parents and children face similar struggles—trust, identity, expectations, and the desire for inheritance, validation, blessings, and love. Parents, like Isaac, are doing their best—sometimes without full awareness of their children’s hearts. Children, like Jacob, may feel unseen or pressured to become someone they’re not, just to be accepted or meet their personal agendas, which their parents are incapable of grasping.

It is in this sense that Jesus’ words in the Gospel could make good sense: “New wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.” Parenting and family life must evolve with grace. Children completely disregarding family values, traditions, and parental guidance, and parents excessively holding on to their rigid roles and non-negotiable expectations, can cause more harm than good. Christ’s appeal for new wine into new skins, therefore, calls for both parents and children to renewal—a willingness to accommodate, care, and grow—both within and together as a family. The brokenness is real, but so is God’s presence in it. While Psalm 135 reminds us that the Lord is good and chooses us despite our flaws, let us remember that God worked through Jacob’s story, not because of the deception (which is ours), but because of His love that redeems us, despite our messy family dynamics.

- In what ways might I need to listen more closely to the voice of Christ in my family relationships?

- How can I create a “new wineskin” in me in the way I relate to my parents or my children today?

Called to Oneness in Love | Daily Reflection

Called to Oneness in Love

To read the texts, click on the texts: Acts 25:13-21; Jn 21:15-19

In today’s Gospel (John 17:20-26), we are drawn into the heart of Jesus’ prayer—the night before His Passion. This is no ordinary prayer. It is intimate, profound, and overflowing with love. Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and speaks to the Father not only on behalf of His disciples but for all who would believe through their word—that includes us today.

The central desire of Jesus’ prayer is unity: “that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.” This oneness is not about uniformity but communion—a deep connection grounded in love, truth, and divine presence. Jesus wants us to share in the same loving relationship He shares with the Father, to be drawn into the eternal embrace of God.

This unity is not just spiritual or symbolic. It has real implications for how we live, love, and relate to one another. Jesus gives us the glory He received—not for personal elevation, but to draw us into divine life. He prays that we may be “brought to perfection as one,” so that the world might believe in the love that sent Him.

At the heart of this prayer is an incredible truth: we are God’s gift to Jesus. This is how much we are loved. And this love is not distant or abstract—it desires to dwell in us: “that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Let this prayer of Jesus echo in your heart: I am loved, I am called, and I am one with Him.

As we reflect, let us examine ourselves:

Do I live with the awareness that I am deeply loved and united to God?

Am I an agent of love and unity in my family, community, or workplace?

What changes ought I make in my to-do list to bring about that love and unity in and around me?

Habemum Papam - We have a Pope

When You See the White Smoke…

Don’t think of prestige. Don’t rush to post, to speculate, or to celebrate power.

But, kneel. And pray.

Because the man who will soon step out onto the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica is not claiming a throne—but embracing a cross.

He is not a victor, but a sacrificial lamb chosen to lead a weary world.

At that very moment, he may be in the small, hidden “Chapel of Tears” beside the Sistine Chapel—weeping. Not in triumph, but in awe and fear, asking God:

“Why me?”

He will recount his frailties. He will list every reason why he feels unworthy.

But God will not need strength—He will give mercy.

This man will carry the full weight of Peter’s office.

He will grow tired.

He will suffer silently.

He will grow old—perhaps too soon.

He will not retire in comfort.

He will die in service.

His burden will be unseen by many, but his soul will feel it every day.

When you see the white smoke... pray for him.

He is not stepping into glory—he is walking into sacrifice.

Viva Papa Leo XIV!

Power Through Humility, Obedience, and Trust in God | Daily Reflection

Power Through Humility, Obedience, and Trust in God

To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 5:27-33; Jn 3:31-36

At the heart of today’s readings is Jesus and the apostles’ unwavering witness to God—not through grand displays of power, but through voluntary obedience. Though often misunderstood as weakness or naïveté, both in the time of Jesus and in our own day, this obedience is a radical one rooted in love, humility, and deep faith in God’s providence. Jesus spoke and showed the truth of God from his intimate knowledge of Him, yet many did not believe him, just as many today struggle to believe in God who walks among us, who heals through touch, who suffers, and who dies. Perhaps, the expectation of a magical, otherworldly messiah—one descending from the clouds with instant solutions—made it hard for people then and to this day to accept Jesus, who came from a humble background, lived a very human life, and died a very human death. It is precisely in this humanity that God’s plan unfolds. The post-resurrection perspective makes this even more profound as we see that Jesus’ earthly life was not a detour from divinity, but the very path through which God revealed himself as deeply present, approachable, and trustworthy. Jesus’ voluntary obedience—even unto death—is not weakness but the clearest sign of divine love.

While the Psalmist reminds us, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves,” it is this God that Peter and the apostles boldly witness to in the first reading when they declare, “We must obey God rather than men.” It is a powerful testimony of faith in a higher authority, one that calls for loyalty even in the face of persecution. Their witness is not founded on personal gain or fear, but on their personal experience of the risen Christ and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. They obey, not because they are naive, but because they have tasted the goodness of God and know that His love is more trustworthy than any human promise or power.

Apostles’ testimony, like Jesus’, invites us to a faith that is not based on spectacle but on trust, intimacy, and love; not on a magical myth, but in a God who chose to become real, touchable, and knowable. And in doing so, it reminds us that true power lies in surrender, true strength in obedience, and true salvation in trust. After all, if we cannot trust and obey the God who walked among us—who was born, lived, suffered, and died like and with us, but in sin—what guarantee do we have that we will place our faith in and obey a being who is distant from our reality?

- Am I willing to trust in God who chooses to walk with me in my humanity, or do I still look for signs of divine power that fit my expectations of strength and control?

- In what areas of my life do I resist surrendering to God's will, mistaking obedience for weakness instead of seeing it as an act of radical love and trust?

The Gift of Mercy and The Gift of Baptism...

On Divine Mercy Sunday — the very day when Pope Francis, the first-ever Jesuit pope whose life and teachings were so profoundly centered on mercy, was laid to rest — I, a fellow Jesuit, was privileged to baptize Baby Ophelia at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Omaha, USA. 

My first-ever prayer request for the Holy Father, therefore, was, "Dear Holy Father, remember Ophelia when you come into His kingdom!"

It was a moment of deep and overwhelming emotion for me as a priest, as I reflected on how God's living word continues to be fulfilled: "Go, therefore, and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

I was reminded of the great Jesuit missionaries of the past — St. Francis Xavier, who tirelessly spread the Gospel in India and across Asia, and St. Matteo Ricci, who brought the light of Christ to China. Now, here I am, a Jesuit from the island nation of Sri Lanka, standing on American soil, baptizing a child into the faith.

On this sacred day, when God’s infinite mercy was first entrusted as a gift to the disciples — to be carried in their hearts as they were sent forth to the ends of the earth — I was humbled to be a part of that same mission.

Alleluia!

Behind the Image: Yet Another Easter Story…

 

Photographed by Fr. Rashmi M. Fernando, SJ | April 21, 2019 

St. Sebastian's Church, Katuwapitiya, Negombo, Sri Lanka

Behind this image, a story breathes—

As powerful and unfathomable

As the Resurrection of our Lord.

It bears the silence of screams,

And the weight of a nation’s broken prayer.

 

It speaks of Easter Sunday 

April 21^st, 2019

When Heaven met horror 

And the sanctity of the Day was defiled

On the Island Nation of Sri Lanka

And in Katuwapitiya’s holy place,

In the heart of Little Rome—my hometown.

 

A series of coordinated bombings

Tore through the Day’s holiness,

Cutting the breath of prayer,

And giving way to flesh and blood,

What a terrible tremor in the soul,

And disturbance to Alleluia, our Easter Song

 

Though I detested capturing any pain

What I saw in the lectionary was an image 

I could not turn away.

Lying open in the wreckage—

Covered with shards of glass, 

The dust of fallen ceilings,

And the tender, unspeakable remains

of those who came to rise with Christ—

Were the pages whispering the Psalmist’s prayer 

And the eternal truths,

Though difficult to comprehend then,

That remains in my soul until this day: 

"Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." 

 

Six years have passed.

And on this Easter Monday morning, 

Yet, another April 21^st,

I wake to a different grief:

The Holy Father—Pope Francis

The only Jesuit pope in our history

Returned to the Eternal.

 

A dear friend of mine from Omaha writes to me:

"I know today is a very difficult day, Rashmi.

I can’t help but think

All the beautiful Sri Lankan martyrs

Ran to him and hugged him in heaven."

Yes…

Rest now, dear Papa Francis, 

In the embrace of those who bore the Cross of Christ in your time.

You were indeed an instrument of God's Spirit,

 Renewing the face of the Church and of the earth,

And showing the fullness of His goodness 

To those most in need, the vulnerable, and the marginalized,  

In the far ends of the world. 

 

දෙව්ලොව ආසිරි ලැබේවා දිව්‍ය පාමුලේ: Loving Homage To All Who Died In Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka

Priesthood is a Mystery | Message from My Brother on the Feast of Priesthood

 Priesthood is a mystery.

It is not merely a vocation but a way of life. The Way that Jesus Himself walked. He invited His apostles to follow Him to preach and to spread the Good News to a world wavering in faith. It was challenging then. And it is equally challenging today, for priests are human too.

Jesus suffered and died. His apostles also endured suffering and death, but all for a greater purpose. His priests today, who share in the same vision and mission, also suffer. Their suffering may take different forms, shaped by the circumstances they live in. Yet it is holy.

So, on this Maundy Thursday, I urge you, Malli, to embrace the cross placed upon your mission. Be joyful. Even in suffering, Jesus was joyful, even unto death on the cross.

From a human point of view, this calling is a mystery. But through the divine Spirit, this untold mystery can be comprehended. That is the art of the priesthood. And if priesthood is an art, Jesus is the Master Artist, the one you are called to imitate.

Happy Feast Malli!

2025

S. B. Anuranga Fernando

Washing of the Feet at Holy Thursday Mass at St. Benedict the Moor Parish, Omaha, USA