St. Anthony of the Desert

 

St. Anthony was born in Egypt in the 3rd century

He sold everything he had and went to live in the desert

Many people may think the desert is a quiet place with all that sand,

But it was there that he faced his demons and then found the Lord. 

He learned that the fruits of the earth are not brought to perfection immediately 

But take time. 

The soil must be turned up;

The seed must be planted;

The rain must fall 

And then comes the labor of the harvest. 

it is the same with self-control, patience; and other virtues. 

They take time and hard work before they bear fruit. 

Thursday 1st. Week of Ordinary Time

 Why don’t we hear God’s voice? Heb. 3:7-14

Why don’t we hear God’s voice?

Because we do not listen!

Our hearts are hard. 

Hardened by our own desires, fears, anxieties and sins. 

Israel wandered in the desert because their hearts were hard and did not listen to the Lord’s directions. 

So what should have taken a week took 40 yrs. 

When we fail to listen to the Lord,

 our hearts become hardened to His ways. 

And we too will wander aimlessly in this world 

Until we do. 

So take the short cut and say,

“Here I am Lord, I come to do your Will.”

Wednesday 1st. Week of Ordinary Time

 Never alone Heb. 2:14-18

Through the Incarnation,

God took on our flesh and blood. 

By God becoming human,

He has placed us above the angels!

God came down to us and shared in our humanity. 

He was tested and suffered just as we are tested and suffer in life. 

So God not only knows what we are going through,

God has gone through it Himself,

God walks with us in our journey through life and so we are never alone. 

Tuesday 1st Week of Ordinary Time

 Teaching with Authority. Mk. 1:21-28

Everyone has an opinion. 

And everyone thinks their opinion is right. 

So how does one know who to listen to ?

Who is telling the truth?

Jesus taught with Authority. 

And He backed up us Authoritative Teaching

With action. 

He cast out the unclean spirit. 

Before one listens to what someone says;

One should first look at what they do!

To see if their actions back up their words. 

Monday Jan. 13

 Feast of Saint Hillary 315-368AD

     Hillary was staunch defender of the divinity of Christ was a gentle and courteous man, devoted to writing some of the greatest theology on the Trinity, and was like his Master in being labeled a “disturber of the peace.” In a very troubled period in the Church, his holiness was lived out in both scholarship and controversy. He was bishop of Poitiers in France.

     Raised a pagan, he was converted to Christianity when he met his God of nature in the Scriptures. His wife was still living when he was chosen, against his will, to be the bishop of Poitiers in France. He was soon taken up with battling what became the scourge of the fourth century, Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ.

“There is no space where God is not; space does not exist apart from Him. He is in heaven, in hell, beyond the seas; dwelling in all things and enveloping all"

The Baptism of the Lord

 

The last words of Jesus before He ascended into Heaven were,

“Make disciples of all the nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Mt. 28:19

Why did Jesus say this?

Because He said “unless one is born of water and the Spirit one cannot enter the Kingdom of God Jn. 3:5

Baptism is the beginning of the Re-Creation of the world. 

Everything God created was Good. Gen. 1:31

And then Sin entered the world. Gen. 3

This is known as The Original Sin. 

Where everything went from being Good to Bad. 

Where everything in the world eventually dies. 

And all of Humanity and Creation have been infected and affected by Original Sin. 

God chose to begin the Re-Creation of the world again by His Son shedding his Blood on the cross,

For there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. Heb. 9:22 

Now We can’t go back in time to Calvary and be washed in His Blood;

So through Baptism, 

Calvary comes to us!

For when we are Baptized we go down into the waters, and we die with Christ. Col. 2:12

And when we come up out of the waters will live a new life with Christ. 

With each Baptism, 

A person is set free from sin to live a new life with Christ as His disciple. 

At  Baptism we receive the Holy Spirit, and become adopted children of God who now call God, our Father .Gal.4:6

This is why Jesus said “go Baptize the nations for unless one is born of water and the Spirit, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”

For Through Baptism we are washed clean of sin and through the Holy Spirit that we receive at Baptism we call God our Father once again. 

 Baptism is important  therefore because it is the beginning of the Re-Creation of the Universe  one soul at a time.

Feast of the Epiphany

 

Just Walking through the door of the church doesn’t mean you’re going to find God.

One has to pray. 

Just joining a gym doesn’t mean you’re going to get in shape.

One has to exercise. 

 

Just enrolling in a school doesn’t mean you’re going to learn anything.

One has to study. 

And just Looking at the stars didn’t mean the Wise men were going to find the Savior. 

They had to follow it. 

There are Stars throughout our life leading us. 

But we have to follow them. 

Easier said than done 

sometimes Grief and sorrow; suffering and loss

Has a tendency to blind us. 

Sometimes we have our nose to the grindstone so much;

We never look up. 

No matter how dark the night;

There are stars in the sky. 

Billions of them. 

One for everyone. 

For the lost and the lonely.

The doubters and those in despair. 

The overworked and heavily burdened. 

Take a moment and look up. 

Find your star 

And then follow it. 

What made the wisemen wise is that they follow their star?