"Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift."
How many of us come to church with a grievance, anger, or annoyance with someone else? This is such a hard thing to wrap our minds around. If we come to the church and we have something on our mind keeping us from fully being present to Christ, we should leave our gift at the altar and go be reconciled? A friend asked whether this meant that we should leave church, or even not receive communion.
Perhaps this is simply a reminder that we need to put ourselves in order, as it were, to be prepared to be in full communion with God, and that things that creep into our mind will keep us from doing that. Should we stop receiving communion until we have seen a priest? It depends, always best to talk to a priest, however, if we are plagued with venial sins, then the Eucharist acts as something to sustain us until we can absolved of our sins through the sacrament of reconciliation.
The advice that Jesus gives is pretty important too. He says that we should go and become reconciled with our brother. When we do this, there is great love that is shared. Where there is love, there is God, for God is love, and where to or more are gathered in his name, God is there. So, in a sense, when we reconcile ourselves with others we are living in the present moment with them and with God, in full communion, which is the point of going to the altar to offer our gift, which in both cases is the gift of ourselves.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Mt 5:13-16 Salt of the Earth
What if in life we took for granted those good things that we do for others? Would we not care if we did them any more? Would our acts of charity become meaningless? Would the love within us dry up? Would that goodness in us lose its flavor?
In the US we have been conditioned to use salt alternatives, like mixtures of lemon peel and herbs to flavor our foods. Recently a friend hosted a Persian meal at his home. The rice was incredible. His wife had spent six hours or more making it. I'm accustomed to using just steamed rice. The Persian rice was rinsed, soaked for four hours, par boiled, rinsed again, cooked slowly with salt and oil. The salt was "poured in" as she described in a way that she was not originally accustomed to--it took her twenty years to cook this rice. Then the heat was reduced and slow cooked until the rice was tender and a hard shell had formed at the bottom. It was then turned over onto a serving platter so that the hard shell was now on top and the soft rice underneath. Then toasted pomegranate seeds were sprinkled over the dish. The flavor of the rice was amazing.
The salt was what made the dish. Too much would have ruined it. To little and it would not have been memorable. We are called to pop out our faith in the world just like the salt did in the Persian rice giving it that wonderful invigorating quality. We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. We cannot hide ourselves, but are called to be that element that brings forth the goodness of those things around us just as salt and light do to those things that it is placed around. In this way, our deeds, our words, will glorify God.
In the US we have been conditioned to use salt alternatives, like mixtures of lemon peel and herbs to flavor our foods. Recently a friend hosted a Persian meal at his home. The rice was incredible. His wife had spent six hours or more making it. I'm accustomed to using just steamed rice. The Persian rice was rinsed, soaked for four hours, par boiled, rinsed again, cooked slowly with salt and oil. The salt was "poured in" as she described in a way that she was not originally accustomed to--it took her twenty years to cook this rice. Then the heat was reduced and slow cooked until the rice was tender and a hard shell had formed at the bottom. It was then turned over onto a serving platter so that the hard shell was now on top and the soft rice underneath. Then toasted pomegranate seeds were sprinkled over the dish. The flavor of the rice was amazing.
The salt was what made the dish. Too much would have ruined it. To little and it would not have been memorable. We are called to pop out our faith in the world just like the salt did in the Persian rice giving it that wonderful invigorating quality. We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. We cannot hide ourselves, but are called to be that element that brings forth the goodness of those things around us just as salt and light do to those things that it is placed around. In this way, our deeds, our words, will glorify God.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Jn 16: 12-15 Holy Trinity Sunday
In catechism class recently we were discussing the Holy Spirit with a group of 2nd and 3rd graders. We asked, "Can you see the Holy Spirit?" They answered, "No." "Can you feel the Holy Spirit?" The kids took a little longer, and all but one child said no: one child said yes. "Can you hear the Holy Spirit?" There was a resounding "YES!"
How do we know that they Holy Spirit is with us? The kids said that we had symbols to remind us where the Holy Spirit is. They had been listening to Start a Fire by the band, Unspoken. They said that the fire symbolized that excitement and energy that made them want to do good. The wind shakes the trees and makes them move, so it was similar to the way the Spirit moves us. When asked about the dove, they said it was how the Spirit brings us peace. They were stuck on other symbols of the holy spirit, then someone shouted out, a heart...the Holy Spirit is love.
In today's Gospel we hear of Jesus telling us that the Holy Spirit is the advocate that the Father will send, and like him, the Spirit speaks not his own words, but the Father's. They are united as described by Christ's words. They work for a common cause within our lives and within our hearts to lead us to Heaven to be united with them. May the blessed Trinity guide us always and be with us to the end of our days. Amen.
How do we know that they Holy Spirit is with us? The kids said that we had symbols to remind us where the Holy Spirit is. They had been listening to Start a Fire by the band, Unspoken. They said that the fire symbolized that excitement and energy that made them want to do good. The wind shakes the trees and makes them move, so it was similar to the way the Spirit moves us. When asked about the dove, they said it was how the Spirit brings us peace. They were stuck on other symbols of the holy spirit, then someone shouted out, a heart...the Holy Spirit is love.
In today's Gospel we hear of Jesus telling us that the Holy Spirit is the advocate that the Father will send, and like him, the Spirit speaks not his own words, but the Father's. They are united as described by Christ's words. They work for a common cause within our lives and within our hearts to lead us to Heaven to be united with them. May the blessed Trinity guide us always and be with us to the end of our days. Amen.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Mark 9:14-29 The Power of Prayer
In today's Gospel Jesus teaches us three very important things:
1) Evil is real.
2) Prayer is important.
3) Prayer overcomes evil.
Evil is not cut and dry. It permeates everything, is sweet and seductive. We are overcome with it in ways that we can't believe by the time that we notice we have fallen into its trap. Prayer is the solution. In prayer we place God before all things. We praise and glorify God. We ask to be protected by evil.
It is not easy to pray. That is one of the tricks of evil, to make it difficult. In those times what a Godsend that we have the Lord's Prayer and others to help us through those dry times where prayer doesn't come easily. I have a friend who I think must struggle with prayer because every time he goes somewhere in the car, he prayers a Hail Mary. Group prayers such as the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet are another way to combat fatigue in prayer as well as to encourage and strengthen.
Prayer overcomes evil. Each of us are victim to that internal struggle of good versus evil. God is helping us win.
1) Evil is real.
2) Prayer is important.
3) Prayer overcomes evil.
Evil is not cut and dry. It permeates everything, is sweet and seductive. We are overcome with it in ways that we can't believe by the time that we notice we have fallen into its trap. Prayer is the solution. In prayer we place God before all things. We praise and glorify God. We ask to be protected by evil.
It is not easy to pray. That is one of the tricks of evil, to make it difficult. In those times what a Godsend that we have the Lord's Prayer and others to help us through those dry times where prayer doesn't come easily. I have a friend who I think must struggle with prayer because every time he goes somewhere in the car, he prayers a Hail Mary. Group prayers such as the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet are another way to combat fatigue in prayer as well as to encourage and strengthen.
Prayer overcomes evil. Each of us are victim to that internal struggle of good versus evil. God is helping us win.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
John 17:11B-19 Consecrated in Truth
These words that Jesus speaks today remind us of our priests who speak to God the Father upon the altar, and thus are known as Jesus' "high priestly prayer" as he speaks to the Father on our behalf, offering us up with himself, so that we may be in union with him and the Father. It is what our dear priests do at every mass during when they call down God and lift us and our prayers up during the sacrifice of the mass.
“Holy Father, keep them in your name" is a line that marks us as a people of God, set aside and anointed. Jesus asks that we be consecrated in the truth by the Father. "Your word is truth." he acknowledges. Through God's word we are made holy. Through Christ, the Word, we are made holy. Let us rejoice and be glad!
“Holy Father, keep them in your name" is a line that marks us as a people of God, set aside and anointed. Jesus asks that we be consecrated in the truth by the Father. "Your word is truth." he acknowledges. Through God's word we are made holy. Through Christ, the Word, we are made holy. Let us rejoice and be glad!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
John 15:1-8 I am the true vine.
It is still spring. In the winter the fruit trees and grapes were trimmed. Now they are laden with young fresh fruit that will hopefully grow and mature into sweet fruit when fully ripened. Even from now until then there are so many things that can happen. If there is a shortage of water, the fruit will wither. Without netting the birds will come down and eat parts of it destroying the fruit by causing it to rot on the vine or tree. There are so many things.
In today's Gospel Jesus reminds us that he is the true vine. His Father is the vine grower who prunes us so that we as the branches may produce more abundant fruit. As the vine, Jesus provides us with the nutrients, that nourishment that we need, and the life giving water that pours forth into the fruit that we produce. The Father will protect us just as a good vine grower does, walking beside us, sitting with us, talking to us as we grow, and watching how our fruit takes shape to benefit others because of his tender care, and yet we too are strengthened by him. God is good! All the time!
In today's Gospel Jesus reminds us that he is the true vine. His Father is the vine grower who prunes us so that we as the branches may produce more abundant fruit. As the vine, Jesus provides us with the nutrients, that nourishment that we need, and the life giving water that pours forth into the fruit that we produce. The Father will protect us just as a good vine grower does, walking beside us, sitting with us, talking to us as we grow, and watching how our fruit takes shape to benefit others because of his tender care, and yet we too are strengthened by him. God is good! All the time!
Friday, March 11, 2016
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.
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.
Monday, March 7, 2016
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Luke 11: 29-32 The Sign of Jonah
How many of us look for a sign of the Lord's intervention in our life. How easily we could be these in the "evil generation looking for a sign, but none will be given except that of Jonah." Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish. It was a foreshadowing of the three days that Christ would spend in the belly of the earth before his Resurrection.
We are invited like the people of Nineveh to repent because we are warned of the coming of the wrath of God to those who are not humbled, that through the Lords mercy on those who love him, we may be saved. And how? Through the saving act of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Resurrection on the third day. We are called in our Lenten journey to repent, to sacrifice, to be humbled, that we may allow God to resume his rightful place in our hearts; that we allow his will to be done over our own. In his love and mercy, he will forgive us. Remember Christ Jesus taught us the prayer that gives us hope in this.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Reflection 6:7-15 The Our Father
Prayer is such a gift. Jesus teaches us to pray the Our Father using a sort of ancient formula. He starts with praising God the Almighty, praising his Holy Name, and he asks for God's will to be done. Next Jesus teaches us to ask for forgiveness of our sins, and the spiritual nourishment that we need to forgive others. Then we ask for protection from evil.
When God spoke to Abram after the blessing of the high priest Melchizedek (Genesis 14: 18-20) he assured Abram and told Abram that He was Abram's shield. He is our protection from evil. Through out scripture, from the Old Testament to the New, God is very insistant about praise. In the Our Father that Jesus gives us today, we are acknowledging how great God is and how small and insignificant we are. We want his will to be done and so recognizing his greatness allows us to be humbled so that we can open our hearts to him, and recognize too how silly it is to try to twist God into doing our will. God is so good that he sent his only son to die for us, that we may live and have a place in his family as his adopted sons and daughters. We are looking for reconciliation with the Father so that separated from him we may never be. That is love reciprocated.
When God spoke to Abram after the blessing of the high priest Melchizedek (Genesis 14: 18-20) he assured Abram and told Abram that He was Abram's shield. He is our protection from evil. Through out scripture, from the Old Testament to the New, God is very insistant about praise. In the Our Father that Jesus gives us today, we are acknowledging how great God is and how small and insignificant we are. We want his will to be done and so recognizing his greatness allows us to be humbled so that we can open our hearts to him, and recognize too how silly it is to try to twist God into doing our will. God is so good that he sent his only son to die for us, that we may live and have a place in his family as his adopted sons and daughters. We are looking for reconciliation with the Father so that separated from him we may never be. That is love reciprocated.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Mark 6: 30-34
readings for today (http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020616.cfm)
Jesus tries to impart that after we go out and give forth, then it is time to withdraw, recount for ourselves and to God what we have done. then we take a step back in order to spend sometimes being nourished by Him who has sent us into the world, by his Word, and his Spirit. This mimics the spiritual life in each of us.
Sometimes though, as Jesus shows us, we need to continue to sacrifice of ourselves as he and the Apostles did when they came to the shore of the once deserted place and the crowds waited for them. Yes, it is good to reflect and take that step back to re-center and focus again on God's mission for us, but we must also be present to others when their needs are greater than our own, whether or not we can help, being present recognized the dignity of the human person and the face of God within them. Jesus had plans for the disciples, but these people who came to him had been known to God before they were in the womb. Perhaps he knew they would meet them, or perhaps the call the heard within their hearts was so great, they felt they needed to be close to him, to be in communion with him. Blessed are those who are meek and humble, theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Jesus tries to impart that after we go out and give forth, then it is time to withdraw, recount for ourselves and to God what we have done. then we take a step back in order to spend sometimes being nourished by Him who has sent us into the world, by his Word, and his Spirit. This mimics the spiritual life in each of us.
Sometimes though, as Jesus shows us, we need to continue to sacrifice of ourselves as he and the Apostles did when they came to the shore of the once deserted place and the crowds waited for them. Yes, it is good to reflect and take that step back to re-center and focus again on God's mission for us, but we must also be present to others when their needs are greater than our own, whether or not we can help, being present recognized the dignity of the human person and the face of God within them. Jesus had plans for the disciples, but these people who came to him had been known to God before they were in the womb. Perhaps he knew they would meet them, or perhaps the call the heard within their hearts was so great, they felt they needed to be close to him, to be in communion with him. Blessed are those who are meek and humble, theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Luke 4:21-30 Rejected at home
In today's Gospel we hear of how Jesus reads the scroll from Isiah, then as soon as the people of Nazareth realize what he said, they turn on him with derision. He is merely the son of the carpenter, Joseph, what makes him better than they? They are trying to put him into a stereotype of sorts. Don't we try to do that too? When we meet people or get an impression of who they are, don't we tend to expect them to act a certain way? That is what they are doing with God. They can't accept that Jesus is the Christ, and may actually start to believe that he is blaspheming. This is punishable by death. He reminds them that even Elijah and Elias both showed God's salvation to those who sought it whether they were Jewish or Samaritan, or something else. God is not bound by human laws or thoughts. Jesus was challenging how they believed. It was dangerous. Look at our own history in the United States to civil rights leaders and presidents who challenged the way people have thought: Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy. Perhaps these correlations will help make sense a little more of today's reading. It is also striking too that Jesus never returned to Nazareth after this. Their hearts were too closed for him to fill it.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Mark 4:26-34 To What Shall I Liken the Kingdom of God?
Today we have two parables that describe the Kingdom of God. The first is the farmer who can't explain why the seeds the has sown grow in his field and ripen before the harvest yet he checks on the field day and night and is amazed with its growth. The second is the mustard seed, one of the smallest of the seeds that grows into a huge bush/tree where the birds find safe haven beneath it.
From these two parables we begin to infer that the Kingdom grows in ways that we cannot begin to understand, in places that we may or may not expect; that it is up to God. The next thing that we begin to realize is that it, and we in our faith lives, will come to full fruition becoming fully ripe to the point when we are ready for the harvest, that judgement promised us by Christ. The Kindom comes to us inconspicuously though it grows into something strong and lasting. To it many flock and take refuge within it because of its enduring love and mercy.
From these two parables we begin to infer that the Kingdom grows in ways that we cannot begin to understand, in places that we may or may not expect; that it is up to God. The next thing that we begin to realize is that it, and we in our faith lives, will come to full fruition becoming fully ripe to the point when we are ready for the harvest, that judgement promised us by Christ. The Kindom comes to us inconspicuously though it grows into something strong and lasting. To it many flock and take refuge within it because of its enduring love and mercy.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Mark 2:1-12 The Healing of the Paralytic
Sometimes children can be fun to watch. There were once two children who really wanted cookies. One child asked his mother and she gave him cookies, and then they were gone. The second child asked his mother for cookies too. The mother took the child into the house and showed the child how to make cookies using a cookbook, how to measure the ingredients, set the oven, and make the first batch with the child. When they were done the child ate some cookies. Both children had cookies. However, one was transformed from within through the teaching that the mother gave.
Something similar is proposed in today's reading of the paralytic. Jesus could have simply said, "take your mat and walk." Think of the mother handing the cookies to the child. The child has not learned, only received a gift, possibly only superficial, that he doesn't fully appreciate or understand its worth. Had Jesus had the paralytic to take his mat and walk, the gift of healing would have been fought against and not appreciated or understood to its fullness. When Jesus says that the paralytics sins have been forgiven, that allows for that inner transformation and healing. It is profound and like learning, does not necessarily show physically on the outside. Once that interior change has taken place then it radiates outward and Jesus is then able to tell him to take his mat and go. Who but God alone can touch out innermost self to transform it? Not even a mother teaching a young one can do that, it has to come from God for we are each a temple of the Lord, and he makes us holy.
Something similar is proposed in today's reading of the paralytic. Jesus could have simply said, "take your mat and walk." Think of the mother handing the cookies to the child. The child has not learned, only received a gift, possibly only superficial, that he doesn't fully appreciate or understand its worth. Had Jesus had the paralytic to take his mat and walk, the gift of healing would have been fought against and not appreciated or understood to its fullness. When Jesus says that the paralytics sins have been forgiven, that allows for that inner transformation and healing. It is profound and like learning, does not necessarily show physically on the outside. Once that interior change has taken place then it radiates outward and Jesus is then able to tell him to take his mat and go. Who but God alone can touch out innermost self to transform it? Not even a mother teaching a young one can do that, it has to come from God for we are each a temple of the Lord, and he makes us holy.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 Baptism of the Lord
There was once a woman who asked whether she should have her child baptized. The woman's mother wanted the grandbaby to be baptized, but the mother and father didn't follow any faith, and the mother especially struggled because she had been raised Catholic and her first husband, who was a devout Catholic, had been killed in a tragic accident; In some ways she still blamed God. In the end the mother decided that she did not live her faith; that she would allow the child to be raised in a home devoid of religion and he could decide for himself when he was an adult whether he would pursue faith. The grandmother, when he was an infant, took Holy Water from the Jordan River and claimed him for Christ in the hope that if he should die, he would have the hope of attaining heaven through God's mercy.
In light of today's Gospel where we hear of the Glory of the Father descending with the Holy Spirit upon the Son, that cleansing, that holiness, and rich blessing, knowing that this is similar to the baptism that we experience when we are baptized into Christ, it is almost unfathomable that parents struggle to decide to baptize their children; this however is due in part to our current age of secular relativism. God is not bound my time or current human philosophies. We need to look to the Eternal and the meaning of our sacraments, instead of whether we find them convenient. Jesus was baptized with water and the Holy Spirit. "The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1257. Let us pray that we do not prevent the little ones from coming to the Lord.
In light of today's Gospel where we hear of the Glory of the Father descending with the Holy Spirit upon the Son, that cleansing, that holiness, and rich blessing, knowing that this is similar to the baptism that we experience when we are baptized into Christ, it is almost unfathomable that parents struggle to decide to baptize their children; this however is due in part to our current age of secular relativism. God is not bound my time or current human philosophies. We need to look to the Eternal and the meaning of our sacraments, instead of whether we find them convenient. Jesus was baptized with water and the Holy Spirit. "The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1257. Let us pray that we do not prevent the little ones from coming to the Lord.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Luke 5:12-16 Your Will Be Done
In today's Gospel Jesus is confronted by a man with leprosy. The man acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ. He asks for God's mercy to heal him, but acknowledges that it should be God's will and not his own that needs to be done. He is willing to continue suffering the leprosy if God so desires. Jesus Christ tells him that it is his will that the man be healed, "I will do it. Be made clean.
We are called in this reading to be mindful as to whether we ask God's will be done in our lives, or if we demand that our will supersede that of God. May we walk humbly always with the knowledge that God so loves us and is merciful. May we put our trust in Him to allow his will be done in our lives, even if it means a continued suffering, or great healing. Let us not forget to praise and adore him.
We are called in this reading to be mindful as to whether we ask God's will be done in our lives, or if we demand that our will supersede that of God. May we walk humbly always with the knowledge that God so loves us and is merciful. May we put our trust in Him to allow his will be done in our lives, even if it means a continued suffering, or great healing. Let us not forget to praise and adore him.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Luke 4:14-22a Scripture Fulfilled
Have you ever gone away from family for awhile and returned home to meet everyone again for a reunion? Suddenly despite how our experiences may have changed us, we are put right back into our familial stereo types and expectations. Have you considered if you were there within the temple seeing the son of the carpenter, one of your old playmates, or a cousin suddenly take up a scroll of Isiah, read it, and ending by stating that he was the fulfillment of the messianic passage. How would you react? You'd been taught to wait for the Messiah, and here is a person you know saying he is the Messiah. Luke tells us, "All spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth."
The first letter of St. John reminds us that all who love God also love one begotten by him, namely his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so we love Christ and each other as Christ taught us. If we do not love each other, then don't we lie when we say we love God? It is sometimes hard to love each other. Hurt, deception, and killing can stop us and make it difficult to love each other. A man mentioned yesterday that it is difficult to love because he can't forgive. In the course of the liturgy he realized that he and we are being called to forgive. Sometimes that first step to forgiving is praying for those who have hurt us, he realized. Let us endeavor to take those small first steps that will unite us in love with Our Father in Christ.
The first letter of St. John reminds us that all who love God also love one begotten by him, namely his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so we love Christ and each other as Christ taught us. If we do not love each other, then don't we lie when we say we love God? It is sometimes hard to love each other. Hurt, deception, and killing can stop us and make it difficult to love each other. A man mentioned yesterday that it is difficult to love because he can't forgive. In the course of the liturgy he realized that he and we are being called to forgive. Sometimes that first step to forgiving is praying for those who have hurt us, he realized. Let us endeavor to take those small first steps that will unite us in love with Our Father in Christ.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Mark 6:34-44 God is Love
In today's Gospel we hear of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. This is God's generosity, his bounty within the limitless Love that He is. Saint John reiterates in his letter, "Beloved, let us love one another, because God is love...God sent his only-begotten son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins." (1 John 4:7-10)
Sometimes we forget that God is love or how much he loves us. Sometimes we have someone we know and love who is sick and there is nothing that can be done to cure them. Doctors think the person too old, or the condition too severe, and refuse further treatment. Where is God then? Where is his love in that? Perhaps we are too narrowly focused and God's love is in our periphery view. His love is there in the telephone calls from family and friends gathered around the one dying, in the comfort and care they give each other. It is in the sadness the doctors feel for not being able to make the antibiotics work, or the frustration with the insurance companies denying treatments. God's love is there too in his gift of time and the knowledge of how short we have together so that we can prepare ourselves and celebrate each passing moment as the treasure it is. There is also the gift of mercy and hope in knowing that through God's love we may be reunited in the next life and spend an eternity of joy together.
Perhaps the loaves and fishes are a metaphor for God's love, that he has given us each the gift of love and we must collect it from amongst ourselves. As we share and pass it along the way, in the end we find that it will overflow and cannot be contained for the love that we share is greater than us all.
Sometimes we forget that God is love or how much he loves us. Sometimes we have someone we know and love who is sick and there is nothing that can be done to cure them. Doctors think the person too old, or the condition too severe, and refuse further treatment. Where is God then? Where is his love in that? Perhaps we are too narrowly focused and God's love is in our periphery view. His love is there in the telephone calls from family and friends gathered around the one dying, in the comfort and care they give each other. It is in the sadness the doctors feel for not being able to make the antibiotics work, or the frustration with the insurance companies denying treatments. God's love is there too in his gift of time and the knowledge of how short we have together so that we can prepare ourselves and celebrate each passing moment as the treasure it is. There is also the gift of mercy and hope in knowing that through God's love we may be reunited in the next life and spend an eternity of joy together.
Perhaps the loaves and fishes are a metaphor for God's love, that he has given us each the gift of love and we must collect it from amongst ourselves. As we share and pass it along the way, in the end we find that it will overflow and cannot be contained for the love that we share is greater than us all.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Mt 2:1-12 Feast of the Epiphany
"...Behold the magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem." What a beautiful story of the magi arriving to adore the Christ child. What motived them? Prayer comes from that first initiation from God alone. He calls us closer to himself, into communion with himself, into prayer. So this calling of the magi to come to adore the newborn King, that was something that only God could have put into their hearts through the grace of the Holy Spirit to walk that faith journey, through difficulties, through foreign lands, to search for the Child, to not lose faith when they learned the child was not of Herod's line, but of a royalty far deeper. They were not the Jews, but they recognized God made manifest. God had manifested himself to all through his birth, but now He manifests himself as a savior to all human kind through these Gentiles.
Indeed St. Paul reminds us that Christ came for people of all races, all backgrounds, all beliefs. Yes, there will always be those who choose not to accept Christ and his gift. There are those who will ridicule and persecute the followers of Christ. However, it is our duty to recognize the face of God in all whom we encounter. ALL are called to the Table of Plenty. It is God who calls us, not ourselves, not a special few who give us the invitation, It is God and God alone who first imparts that call within our hearts and creates that desire to know Him. May we strive to find God in each other today and show Him love.
Indeed St. Paul reminds us that Christ came for people of all races, all backgrounds, all beliefs. Yes, there will always be those who choose not to accept Christ and his gift. There are those who will ridicule and persecute the followers of Christ. However, it is our duty to recognize the face of God in all whom we encounter. ALL are called to the Table of Plenty. It is God who calls us, not ourselves, not a special few who give us the invitation, It is God and God alone who first imparts that call within our hearts and creates that desire to know Him. May we strive to find God in each other today and show Him love.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
John 2: 22-35 Fifth day of the Octive of Christmas
Simeon is derived from a Hebrew word meaning "to listen" or "to hear". Simeon, a righteous and devout man, has heard what the Lord God has told him through the Holy Spirit. He understands what it is the Lord is saying in this Child that Mary and Joseph are bringing to the temple. We also have a wonderful example of Mary and Joseph following the Laws of God. It is a reminder that Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. Simeon gives us the knowledge that here is the one who will bring salvation to the people:
“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”
We also receive the foreshadowing of the suffering to come in order for God's mercy to be fulfilled through Christ. May we be eternally grateful that the Lord our God so loves us:
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce)
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
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