Luke 24: 35-48 You Are Witnessess

There is a Joan Osborne song, One of Us, which asks what would it be like if God came and were one of us, who would know?  Would he have friends, or be an outcast?  In breaking open the Word with friends yesterday something was mentioned about Christ Jesus' humor.  He had a good sense of humor and almost plays with his friends in a loving manner this week as earlier in the stories of Mary Magdalene, and those on the road to Emmaus.  Today we almost get that sense again as he comes to the disciples in today's reading, in the midst of them, almost making them jump as he suddenly appears.  He loves them, and they him.  We laugh and enjoy our friends.  Laughter and teasing are a part of good relationships and helps to forge a close bond. 

Some of the disciples have seen the Risen Lord.  Some have not.  Christ Jesus stands in their midst.  They are confused, their reality is being tested.  Jesus asks, "Why are you troubled?  Why do so many questions arise in your hearts...?" 

It is almost like Jesus is telling them that he is still the same person even though he has died and resurrected, that nothing has changed.  He still loves them and is their friend.   Everything that he has ever told them in the past is true, but now he invites them to understand everything they shared together, every experience, every conversation in a new way, and to continue having those shared experiences he breaks the bread and shares the fish, eating it with them, and conversing like they always did.  He reminds them that he had a mission was to fulfill "what was written of him in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms": that "the repentance, for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations...that they are witness of these things."

Luke 24: 13-35 Road to Emmaus

Reflection Luke 24: 13-35

One of my grandfather’s died a few years ago.  One of the things I clearly remember telling my mother was that no matter what, Grandpa lived in within me, within each of my family, because he had touched us so profoundly and helped to shape who we each are.  There was a time when the hurt and grief was almost inconsolable, but it faded.  In the time that has passed we’ve been able to reflect on our relationships with my grandfather, on what he taught us, and recognize certain things or ways of doing things that remind us of him.  We also find ways to share with family and others the knowledge that Grandpa parted to us. 

In a similar way we in today’s Gospel we find the grief stricken disciples on the road away from Jerusalem going toward to Emmaus.  They are reflecting on their time with Jesus, the news that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had brought about Jesus’ body being taken, and the angels and the Lord appearing to them.  After an investigation where they found the burial clothes just as the women had seen, and nothing more, no angles, no Lord: the Apostles left, and these men sent out to Emmaus.   

As they recount their story to their fellow traveler who had suddenly appeared at their side, they recount briefly the story of Christ Jesus as “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…” Note that once they called Jesus the Messiah, the Savior, but now he is merely reduced to prophet.  They do not believe as they once did.  The women astounded, shocking and surprising them with their story of the risen Lord.  It was not their experience or that of the Apostles.  They did not believe. 

Christ admonishes them. “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Christ, the Risen Lord explains God’s revelation to them throughout human history and the prophets so that they can understand better the salvation that Christ Jesus, God’s only begotten son ransomed for them upon the Cross.  Then, in the breaking of the break, do they recognize the Messiah “and their eyes were opened”.  They began walking back to Jerusalem, to the Eleven, to bear witness to the Risen Lord.

In the first reading John and Peter come to the Beautiful Gate where a crippled man waits expectedly for something from them.  In the way that Jesus taught them, this man is healed in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean.  Peter commands him to arise and walk, mimicking his master who healed in like manner.  This man walks, giving witness to the power of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  There is no sorrow or sin, only joy and healing in the Lord.

John 20:11-18 Invitation into the New Creation

Today’s Gospel is one about grief and love.  “Love is as strong as Death, longing as fierce as Sheol, its arrows are arrows of fire, flames of the divine.” (Eccl. 8:6)  Mary did not come to the tomb to find the risen Savior.  From yesterday’s reading we know that she came to anoint the body of a man they all loved dearly with the precious oils and fragrant spices, mixed with their tears.  Mary is compelled by love to touch Him once more, even if he is dead, as she thinks. 

But the tomb is empty and she is denied even that one little pleasure of reaching out one last time in love.  She is heartbroken.  “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” 

Within this Gospel in the passage before today’s reading Mary has already gone and alerted the Apostles that Jesus’ body is gone.  They have come to see for themselves, and left again.  Mary Magdalene remains, as if still searching for her love.  Desperate, she looks one last time into the tomb.

The Easter gospel brings comfort to the grieving.  As in the original garden when sin and death were introduced into the world, God promised a savior that would come to triumph over these things out of his great love for us.  To herald this savior Mary, held by her grief and love for the one who has saved her from her sins, lingers peering again into the tomb.  Behold, there are two angels one where the head would be, the other where the feet had lain with a space between them, as if it were for God himself; just like the Ark of the Covenant, a new covenant, which Christ came to establish anew with us through God’s infinite love and mercy.

In Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son, is divine love become manifest.  In the garden Mary encounters the transfigured glorious Christ Jesus, our new Adam. In the midst of sorrow and grief arises joy in the new Creation.  When the angels and Jesus ask, “Woman, why are you weeping?”  That is our cue that the Lord is with us in his glory, we should rejoice and be glad.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of this new creation.  Peter reminds us today, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.“ Like Mary Magdalene, let us let the Spirit help us to overcome the bonds of the old creation and enter more fully this new creation that has been given to us through the Resurrection.  Amen.

He is Risen!

Jesus performed miracles and taught about the Kingdom of God.  We get a real sense from the way that the disciples hid and dispersed after Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday that their grief was so intense that they were lost.  They had such great hope in a man who lived humbly, but had such great love for them and had joined them together with himself.  With his death upon the cross Jesus and resurrection on the Lord’s Day, Jesus conquered death, and was raised into new life within the heavenly kingdom, and with him, because he joined us to him. 

In today’s Gospel of Matthew we encounter Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, whom St. Mark in Gospel identifies as the mother of the Apostle James.  They had come to anoint Jesus’ body with oil and spices as the burial tradition required.  These women had travelled with Jesus.  Remember Mary Magdalene was the one who was usually at the knee of Jesus to her sister’s dismay, listening to him as he spoke, interiorizing all that he said.  At the last supper Mary Magdalene had gotten down upon her knees and washed Jesus’ feet with the expensive oil and dried his feet with her hair.  The next time both these women would see Jesus was upon the cross.  Now at the tomb, Jesus is not there.  Their hearts leap with hope that Jesus’ words could be true, that he would rise.

As if it confirm their hopes, Jesus meets them right where they are, just like he meets us. Unlike the Apostles who doubt, these two Mary’s fall at the Lord’s feet and worship him even amidst the fears that they have that he may be an illusion or some sort of apparition.  He directs them to gather together all the disciples in his name in Galilee where they will be safe and where he will come to them.  How could they not be joyful or excited?  The Lord has come in his glory.  He has conquered death.  His kingdom is at hand.  We are to rejoice and be glad.   Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy Easter!

My Apologies

The posts on this site will resume after Easter.  We have been swamped with preparations for the Triduum.  May God bless each of you.   May your sorrows and hardships be placed at the foot of the Christ and be given up to Him for those in need of his Mercy.  May you perpetually walk in the Light of Christ.  Amen. 

John 8: 51-59 Vocation to Follow into Life

Religious leaders are important to the faithful no matter what faith people are.  As Catholics we look toward the Pope, our Archbishops, Bishops and Priests.  What is the first step in being a religious leader?  It is the vocation, that calling forth by God the Father for this particular mission.  It emerges from deep introspection and discernment.  If that calling, that vocation isn’t there, then it is empty.  Many of us know people who thought they were called to the vocation of priesthood, but it was not meant to be.  Whereas we all know those whose vocations were solid and bear good fruit as our Priests and Bishops.  As Jesus said regarding them in their vocations as our religious leaders, and to us in the paths that God has lead us on, “It is not you who have chosen me, but I who have chosen you.” (Jn15:16)

In our first reading today we see clearly that God has called Abraham to be a father of all nations, to shepherd of his people, and to lead them in the path of righteousness as God’s chosen people.  As God tells Abraham, I will be “your God, and the God of your descendants after you...”  God so loves us and knows what is right for us, that he guides us into the right paths as a loving merciful Father. 

Similarly the in the Gospel today we run into the religious leaders, men called by God to lead the people,  discoursing with Jesus regarding Abraham; the leaders saying that Abraham, their father, was dead, but Jesus talking of eternal life.  The Jews do not believe what Jesus tells them.  They are convinced that life is finite, that “Abraham died, as did the prophets.” They ask Jesus if he is greater than Abraham and the prophets since he, Jesus, is telling them, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.”  They are filled with doubts and suspicion.  It is like something is missing from their spirituality.  Yet, here is the Good Shepherd, Our Lord, instructing and calling them and us in a Way that offers hope and life.

Pope Francis in a discussion on death reminds us, “God always gives life. He gives it to you here and he will give it to you in the next.  He is God of life, not of death…In our faith death is a consequence of human freedom.  We were by our own sins, those who opted for death, which entered into the world because we made room for disobedience to the plan of God.  Sin entered as pride before God’s plan and with it, death.” (On Heaven and Earth ch 10, p77; by Bergoglio and Skorka. Image/Random House 2013) At the same time God calls us to be closer to him and for this purpose sent his only Son for the salvation of humankind, that we might have life restored to us through him.  We are called to proclaim the wonders our God has done.  God the Father is fulfilling the covenant that he set with his people.  We are called to fulfill our covenant with him by following Christ in the Way, so that we might know the Truth when Jesus says, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.”  Christ Jesus was God for he tells us, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” 

 

John 8:31-42 “If God were your Father, you would love me"

“If God were your Father, you would love me," Jesus says in today's Gospel. 

How upset the Jews must have been when Jesus said that to them.  They had lived their entire lives worshipping God just as Abraham had taught them, but now Jesus is challenging their very beliefs that they truly love God.  Just because the follow what Abraham had laid out for them in faith does not mean that it is much more than a shell of religion.  You can't just walk blindly in faith, Jesus is urging them to consider.  To have faith, you must be a full participant, not just an observer. 

In our modern culture it is not uncommon to see people jumping from religion to religion, waiting for God to reach out to them and seize them with that sense of "this is it" this is the true faith.  How many people turn away from all faiths finally believing that there is no God because they haven't met him on a personal level up close to the point that all doubts and uncertainties were miraculously vanished.  It doesn't work like that.  The fact that they were searching in the first place suggests that the Spirit moved within them causing them to seek God within the confines of religion.  However, they didn't necessarily put for the effort to meet God where he called them.  They choose to watch, to be passive.  It is a choice.  That their spiritual needs were not met is not surprising.  Perhaps we need to speak to them as Jesus spoke to the Jews, calling them into a deeper reflection on their own intimacy with God.  Asking whether they put forth the effort for the journey and are trying to meet God, or are waiting for God to do everything for them?

 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in today's first reading are prime examples of men of deep faith, who not only follow the precepts of the Law, but have such an intimate relationship with the Lord, with Truth itself that Nebuchadnezzar comments of the three men he's had thrown into the fire, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God."  Relationships take effort.  Our relationship with God is not different.  Is God truly our Father?  Do we truly Jesus?  When we are thrown into the fiery furnace that life offers, whom will the Father place at our side?

John 8:21-30 Called to Christ

“The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live forever.”

            A question I hear frequently, especially this Lent is, “Why didn’t the people listen to Jesus since he was God?”  This is a good question.  In reading the Gospel of John for the last few weeks, this idea that the Jews, God’s chosen people simply did not understand.

            This should be nothing new to the Jews or the rest of us.  Throughout the Old Testament God continuously revealed himself as a loving father in many different ways including giving Adam and Eve and all humanity a second chance of life with him; of walking with Abraham and guiding him to a covenant with him and his descendants; to the calling of the prophets in leading the people; the Commandments which he entrusted to Moses; and the leading the people out of slavery not just from the Egyptians, but again later from the Babylonian exile.   These are just some of the many examples of God’s loving guidance as Father.  Yet nevertheless, we know that the Jews continuously rejected him.

            In today’s first reading we are given the image of the seraph serpent that plagues the Jews in the desert as they complain against God wishing for their luxurious lifestyle from Egypt. This serpent is a symbol of pettiness, jealousy and impatience.  As they come to understand that he leading them out of the desert to a better life, and that they shouldn’t complain, they became ashamed and begged forgiveness.  God hear them.  He had Moses fashion a great serpent like image and held it high, like Jesus on the cross, so that all who saw and believed would be healed.

            Today we hear Jesus speak to the Pharisees.  Jesus is continuously pouring out upon the Faithful the Word.  Throughout the Gospel of John Jesus speaks and the believers hear and see, but the Pharisees do not.  Jesus is the Word, and he speaks the Word.  The Word is both a message and a person, in unison with one another, both the physical manifestation of God’s love and compassion.   To the believers who listened, he transformed their entire lives, turning them upside down, and making them fishers of men through their very lives for the greater glory of God. 

            In this last week of Lent before Holy Week, how have our lives been transformed through the Word?  What habits do we need to break to be healed by him as we gaze upon the cross? He gives us the grace we need to transform.  As we receive the Blessed Eucharist, his soul and divinity, we are called to his image and likeness.

John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 One Does Not Live on Bread Alone

Have you ever known anyone to crash a party or wedding?  In 2009 Tareq and Michaele Salahi were reported to have crashed a White House party.  The  party crashing scandal was in newspapers and media broadcasts worldwide.  People wondered how they could have just walked into the White House, others simply wondered at it all. 

The events in today's Gospel elicited a similar reaction to the Jews of his time when he entered Jerusalem.  They wondered if the authorities accepted him a Christ, and what their response should be.  Note that the Jews had been trying to have him killed for blasphemy for saying that he was the Son of God and equal to God. 

Jesus shows us two things in this Gospel story.  First, that he, although the Son of Man, he came not to replace the Law, but to fulfill it.  He shows us this by his travelling to Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles, known as Sukkot.  It is the third of three great feasts and required Jewish men to make the pilgrimage to the Temple at Jerusalem where main celebration was held in the sanctuary, or tabernacle (dwelling place of God) where the celebration of the remembrance of the escape from slavery for the Israelites was recounted, the entire festival iterating the dependence on God.
Jesus is here to be with God the Father, in communion with all these people, in his Father's house.  He is celebrating with them the freedom from slavery.  His time has not yet come, and soon he will be saving them from a different kind of slavery, that of sin.  It is interesting too that he, the Lord Jesus Christ, is within the tabernacle here, not only in the physical one erected by the people, but also that comprised of the faithful.

The second thing that Jesus does is to show that not only is he obedient to the Father, but that the Father has appointed times for all things.  Jesus' time to fulfill the Father's will through his death is not yet come.  Jesus continues to choose to do the Father's will, just as we all have that freedom of choice.  For Jesus to be at Sukkot causes much talk, much wonder at who he is.  Perhaps we should be that way too, not in a negative way, but in a awe-filled way.

John 5: 31-47 The Father Is My Witness

Are we such a hard hearted people that we create other gods and ignore the true God, just as the Israelites did?  Do we adhere to the scriptures the way the Jews around Jesus did, and refuse to see God in our presence?  Do we honor God only when it is convenient, and put him aside when it is not?

It is very easy to create other gods as well as to honor God only when it pleases us.  One of our Early Church Fathers, Eusebius, in his History of the Church, wrote about the Romans of Jesus' time: "The story of the resurrection from the dead of our Savior Jesus, already the subject of general discussion all over Palestine, was accordingly communicated by Pilate to the Emperor Tiberius.  For Pilate knew all about Christ's supernatural deeds, and especially how after death He had risen from the dead and was now generally believed to be a god.  It was said that Tiberius referred the report to the senate, which rejected it.  The apparent reason was that they had not gone into the matter before, for the old law still held that no one could be regarded by the Romans as a god unless by vote and decree of the senate; the real reason was that no human decision or commendation was required for the saving teaching of the divine message."   In other words, God does not need man to make him a God.  He is God almighty and transcends human thought and ideas.  Just like the Romans, the Jews in today's Gospel could not accept Jesus as the Son of God.  They looked toward their sacred writings, and although they testified for Jesus the Christ, they still rejected him.  Even though God the Father (at least 4 times in the Gospels) bared witness that Jesus was his son, they chose not to listen. 

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Those who follow him shall have eternal life.  The Truth will exist for all time and will not be corrupted unlike man's ideas and works which crumble and fall into decay. The Word does not need human praise for He is justified and testified about by the Father. Just as Tiberius knew of Jesus, so too did Jesus' reputation travel east.  Eusebius tells us of a king of Mesopotamia who was ill and sent a letter to Jesus asking to be cured.  Eusebius tells us that Jesus' reply was found in the Record Office at Edessa, "Happy are you who believed in me without having seen me! For it is written of me that those who have seen me will not believe in me, and that those who have not seen will believe and live..."

Happy are those who life with faith in God.  Jesus continually reminds us to live not in this world, but in the next.  Jesus asks us in today's Gospel, "How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?"  May we be called away from making earthly things into our gods or trying to conform God into the image we want of him, and instead remain in his presence living in communion with him.  Amen.

John 5: 17-30 The Relationship Between Father and Son

In small towns like mine there is a plethora of family businesses.  It is not unusual to see three and sometimes four generations gathered at the business, or taking work home to share together there.  Father and sons, mother and daughters, or any combinations thereof work together, blending their roles, but still separate in who they are; the direction coming from the father commonly with the advice of the son/daughter considered when making decisions for the business.  There is a great deal of honor for the parents, for their knowledge, for their love, for their drive and sense of hard work.  There is a great sense of community within these families and their respective businesses. The community becomes the focus, but when an individual within it suffers or has difficulty, they community lifts them up with great love and tenderness. Employees from outside the family are commonly adopted into them through shared time and experience and invited to all family functions and receive the same care and concern as family members working for the business.   It is really a beautiful thing to witness.  Not all family businesses run like this, but the successful ones in the local area do.  The customers receive and feel the solidarity and are drawn to it.

In today's Gospel Jesus describes his relationship to the Father.  He tells us that the Father has taught him many things and that he does what his Father does: he heals the sick, he raises the dead, he restores life.  However, Jesus admits that he, although he and his Father share commonalities in their work and are in communion with each other, he is different from the Father.  "The Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing." The Son needs to be taught by the Father.  The Father can do so many more things than we can even dream.  The Father has also designated specific things to the Son and honors his son by allowing the Son only to make those decisions, "Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father."

The Father and the Son are both God, just as is the Holy Spirit.  They are the Holy Trinity, the triune God, but distinct from each other at the same time.  For the first time Jesus open speaks of himself as the Son, and as the Jews point out, that makes him equal to the Father.  That is contrary to what they know.  Jesus reminds them that he isn't there to do what they or he want, but that it is always the Father's will that surpasses not only ours, but also the Son's will.  We will hear this again in the readings soon.  Today, this week, through the end of Lent, what do you hear as God's will for you?

 

John 5:1-16 Do You Want to Be Well

There was a man who'd been sick for 38 years sitting in the porticos of the Sheep Gate.  Jesus asked him, "Do you want to be well?"  (Note the irony that the Good Shepherd is taking care and healing his sheep at the gate.)

Human compassions would dictate that our hearts yearn to help those in need.  God's is no different.  Although the Jewish law dictates that no healing should be done on the Sabbath, God is greater than the Sabbath, and the Son of God heals this man.  God's mercy and compassion are endless for all days and all times. 

There is much in our world that we wonder where is God's mercy.  A child recently told me that sometimes God takes people away so they don't do really bad things.  Why is it so easy for a child to understand this and difficult for adults?  There is a man who is busy trying to take care of his grandchild because the boy's father wont.  He is trying not to become bitter, and wonders where is God's mercy in this situation?  Many of our saints remind us that when we ask God to help us with difficulties we have a preset idea of what God should do.  We forget that God will do what is best for us even if it takes us on a journey that we don't expect or are sometimes not entirely thrilled with.  Is it easier to fight God's will, or to put our will in-line with His letting ourselves be vessels of his love?

John 4:43-54 Your Son Will Live

Today's Gospel is a beautiful faith story about the royal official whose son is dying and begs Jesus to save the boy.  The man believed and the boy was saved.  As the man came home he is met with servants who tell him the exact hour that the boy began to feel better and it was about the same time that Jesus told the father that the boy would be saved.  The entire household is then comes to believe in and follow Jesus.

Today's readings are in line with the hope from Laetare Sunday.  They express that happiness for is to come.  The child was dead, but now he's brought to new life.  Not only the boy, but the father and all the household are called to a newness of life within Christ.  Isiah tells us today: "Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create;
For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight" (Is 65:17-19)  God is good.  He creates life, not destroys it. 

What about miracles though?  Everyone seems to want one at some point, not a small one, but a big one.  There is a video of  Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the Robert Barron of his day, where Sheen speaks of going to Lourdes, France and waiting for a miracle, but none occurred.  At least that was what he thought initially.  Miracles come in different forms.  When we ask for God to intervene in our lives, we usually want a particular outcome.  We forgot that God, who sees all, will respond in the way that we need most, even if it is not apparent at first.  For some that starts with an inner healing before it is outwardly manifest.  For others it is a deep forgiveness of ourselves for past wrongs and reconciling with God that can bring us to a newness, a fullness of life.   Through faith God can and does perform many miracles in our lives.

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 The Prodigal Son

Our catechism classes today reviewed the Ten Commandments.  As we looked at them we asked what they kids thought of them.  "Oh, they are so hard."  "It's hard to always tell the truth." "I don't always want to do what my mom and dad tell me." These were some of the refreshingly honest comments we heard from our youngest students.  This allowed a discussion about forgiveness to formulate, leading us directly into the parable of the Prodigal Son, which was part of today's Gospel reading. 

So many people focus on one of the two sons, but what about the father in the story?  He shows such love and compassion to his sons.  He seeks them both out and lets them know how much they are loved.  He speaks to them both directly, but in the one son who had been away, he also sends out helpers to show his love and mercy.  It is a great story about God's love, compassion and mercy for us.  As this is the time of Lenten reflection, how do we continue as His people?  Our catechism classes today were planned carefully so that the lessons of forgiveness and mercy toward others for the sake of God were high lighted.  In our parish each month a different Work of Mercy is highlighted.  This month it is Bearing Wrongs Patiently and a poster has been made to high light what it means and how we can help.  The older posters hang near the entrance to the church.  As the children walked past the one for Feeding the Homeless, and saw the photos from the shelter of the kids and adults in need, they wanted to help, and so today the second half of the class was dedicated to making food for tomorrow.  Tomorrow the food prepared by the children will be taken by volunteers at our parish to the shelter to provide a hot meal to those who have no home. 

The Point:  God forgives us our sins because he loves us so much.  In his mercy he cares for us in all we do.  We all have that spark of wanting to help others, no matter how young or old. That spark is God in us calling us to serve other through his love and mercy.

Luke 18:9-14 Be Merciful to Me, a Sinner

In the news this week was article in the Wall Street Journal about Elizabeth Cabraser.  Who is she?  She is an attorney that was selected to lead a 22 lawyer committee to broker a resolution between Volkswagen and its many costumers because of the smog emissions scandal.  The article about Ms. Cabraser mentioned all the other attorneys vying for the same position as she by stating their merit or what their latest accomplishments are.  Ms. Cabraser, according to the paper's portrayal, remained humbled and instead of bragging about her own merit, showed concern for the customers that she would like to help.  That set her apart and earned her the praise of others as well as the lead role in the proceedings. 

Jesus today gives us a parable of the proud Pharisee and the humble tax collector.  The Pharisee isn't willing to humble himself, to make room in himself for God and others, so great is his pride.  In contrast the tax collector knows his wrongs and in his humility asks God to have mercy on him.  Only in humility can we find room to receive the graces we need for ourselves and others through Christ our Lord. 

Mark 12:28-34 Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

The Jesuits instilled in several of us a priority ladder:

God first, Others second, Ourselves last.

Jesus gives us a clear image of what it means to put God first in our lives: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

It means that what we do we should remember that we are a people of God.  Many of us are faced with temptations at work, small white lies that we may give to family or friends.  Putting God first in our lives means to walk with justice, integrity, and honesty.  In other words, to try to live a holy life, to be that modern saint that wears sneakers and use the cell phone.  We are all called to be holy. It is possible.  Humans are not perfect, we are just called to try.  We are just reciprocating that love God shows us.

What is it to love our neighbors as ourselves?  Again, Jesus give us an idea: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 

In loving our neighbor we are serving each other in need out of love and mercy. We are helping each other to try to live holy lives.  We are encouraging when others loose faith or go through periods of loneliness.  We are God's hand, his heart, his voice to each other.  We are animated by God to be so. Each person is a member of the human family to be treated with dignity, love and compassion.  Collectively we are second only to God.   We are put collectively second.

In loving others, we honor ourselves as an anointed child of God, allowing ourselves to be the holy vessels of God's love to others the way Christ taught us.  There are many who think lowly of themselves, we all do from time to time.  How important it is to remember to love ourselves, to see ourselves the way that God sees us.  Each person is precious in his eyes. 

In the first reading today the prophet Hosea alludes to the coming of the Messiah and the everlasting life in him. This is a beautiful line reminding us of what can happen when we allow God's will to permeate our own. (The verdant cypress represents everlasting life.): (Hos 14:9)

“I am like a verdant cypress tree”–

Because of me you bear fruit!

Luke 11: 14-23 A House Divided Cannot Stand

In ministry to the homebound many types of family behaviors has been witnessed.  Most of the time families work together to help the member in need.  There was once a family with many siblings.  While their mother was healthy they squabbled and fought for years.  There would be jabs about what the were going to take when their mother passed away.  They were open about wanting to move away from each other as soon as their mom was dead.  Their mother was grieved to no end. It disappointed the grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were asked many times by different people to stop. 

In today's first reading we hear about how the Israelites knew how they should act, but chose not to.  Instead they fought, fell into bad habits, and those habits turned into sin leading them away from God.  Because they had turned away from God, the word of God had vanished from their midst. How similar this is to the family mentioned above where their petty rivalries and jealousy turned their hearts away from what was good toward selfishness and evil habits. 

Jesus drives out demons though.  He is the word of God.  He came to be with is, to proclaim the kingdom, to bring healing and life.  The religious leaders of his time were suspicious.  How could good overcome evil so easily and drive it away?  They thought surely he must be in league with the demons for them to do what he says.  Here's the catch Jesus gives us, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself,  how will his kingdom stand?...But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you." 

Just as Jesus foretold that a house divided cannot stand, that family that was divided was being torn apart being held together with only loyalty to their mother and nothing else.  However by some divine merciful grace when their mother's heart began to fail and she needed full time care, they came together in a way that they had never done so before.  The home is filled with love and concern, with adult brothers and sisters looking not only after their mother, but each other with love and compassion, and consideration for each other's thoughts and feelings.  They are one example of this idea, this living Gospel, that a house divided will fall, but with God, it will stand strong in his grace. 

Matthew 5:17-19 I Have Come to Fulfill the Law

Yesterday was "Super Tuesday" and several states voted in their primaries.  Apparently history was made. This morning the Supreme Court decided to take the case on whether to uphold a Texas law that forces abortion clinics to upgrade their facilities to hospital standards in case of emergency and women's health.    Presidents and laws are people that we elect to govern us and laws that are to govern us.  They are civil laws made by men. 

Moses on the other hand was a man of God.  To him, his prophet, God gave instruction and laws to not only help his chosen people get along together in a society, but to teach them humility that they were not the end-all, but that their strength came from something far greater than them.  The Israelites listened.  God said, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’

When Jesus came and seemed to defy some of the Laws that the religious leaders enforced, like restoring life through healing to the injured and sick, or picking wheat on the Sabbath because he and his disciples were hungry, many thought he came to abolish the law.  Jesus taught that there was no life in the Law that the Father had given the people because the people had made it all about the rules and forgotten that God so loved them.  For them it was a chore to be fulfilled.  It was empty without the love that was intended as part of it.  Jesus tells us in today's Gospel that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.  He comes as love itself and as God made manifest is able to complete the Law and offer us a new covenant.  Unlike our man-made laws that change as our needs as society changes, God's covenant and agreement with us will never change because he created us each unique, knew us before we were born, and loves us completely.