Spirit Juice is proud to present Reel Homilies from Father Tim Anastos, associate chaplain of the St. John Paul II Newman Center at the University of Illinois-Chicago. In these minute-long reflections, Father Tim will unpack the Sunday Gospel readings through the lenses of Church tradition, pop culture, and self-improvement. We hope these reflections serve to inspire your own thoughts on the Gospel and bring you closer to Christ…as well as bring a smile to your face.
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Making and Breaking Plans
Raise your hand if you have made plans and then canceled them at the last minute for no apparent reason. Millennials and Gen-Zers, are notorious for making plans and then canceling them. Because there is something within us that believes that what I say and promise doesn’t matter and doesn’t hold weight. We can get into…
This Is Our Battle Cry
This Sunday’s gospel is a battle cry that we are called to go into battle. Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” In the ancient world, when a city was conquered, the soldiers would lay out salt everywhere, on the ground, in the streets, to destroy anything growing there. It sounds weird, but we are called as Christians to eliminate…
Say No To Idolatry
So one of the most memorable experiences of being a Chicago Blackhawks fan was the 2013 Grant Park Victory Parade to celebrate the fact that the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. Thousands of people were in Grant Park, and there was this one moment that I will never forget. In front of thousands, Jonathan Toews raises the…
God Keeps His Promises
So I’m sure many of you during school have had a teacher like Professor Trelawney. That’s right. Someone is a bit goofy, and she is someone who has a few screws loose but is nice. Professor Trelawney is a prophet, but the thing with Professor Trelawney is that she barely ever gets anything right. But who is someone who predicts the…
Cure For Perfectionism
Let’s talk about Leslie Knope. If you’ve ever seen “Parks and Rec,” Leslie Knope is the main character, and she is the ultimate perfectionist. She gets after it like crazy. Leslie has built up the whole town of Pawnee, Indiana by herself. Because she is a perfectionist, Leslie has one huge flaw. Whenever she fails, whenever she…
King Herod
So I’m not sure if I can say this as a priest, but King Herod sucks. In the Gospel today, King Herod is evil. He is Voldemort, he is Thanos, he is the Mind Flayer all rolled into one. All he wants to do is control everything, the Jewish people, the Roman government, even to control the God of the universe, even to the point of wanting to kill…
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
Today is a very solemn day. It is a day of mourning. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, he’ll be laid to rest. We pray for his soul. The thing that I remember most about him is how Pope John Paul II asked him when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, “What are you gonna do when you retire?” And Cardinal Ratzinger said, very simply, “I want to write a…
Strive To Be A Saint
Saint Therese of Lisieux. She lived till the age of 24. She lived most of her life in a convent in the suburbs of France. She is considered one of the most ambitious saints the church has ever seen because Saint Therese desired to be a saint from the depths of her heart. And we are called to have that holy ambition as well. In the gospel…