Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Choose Deut. 30:15-20

Moses told the Israelites to Choose!

Choose either to follow the Lord or not. 

To keep His commandments or not. 

Ultimately it is a choice between life and death. 

Because when we choose to follow someone other than the Lord they always lead us down the wrong path. 

When we choose not to keep the commandments of the Lord

We become slaves to our choices 

The choice is ours. 

To follow the Lord and keep His commandments and live

Or not and eventually die. 

It is amazing how many people choose not to follow God and His commandments 

Who choose death anyway. 

And then they wonder why their lives have turned out the way they did. 

Ash Wednesday

The ashes of our sins

Sometimes we don't notice our sins

We do not notice our pride, our anger, our selfishness, or how we treat other people

And our ashes are a visible reminder of those sins

The ash of pride

The ash of anger

The ash of selfishness

When we receive the ashes on our forehead;

They are a visible reminder of our sins. 

The sins that we do not always notice. 

And while we sometimes like to see how long they last;

We need to remember why we are receiving them;

And get rid of them as fast as possible. 

Homily for Tuesday 6th week of Ordinary Time

 Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday. 

It is a day in which we consume as much as we can before we start the season of Lent. 

At first it seems to make a lot of sense, because Lent is a time of prayer and fasting;

A time of self denial. 

The only problem is for many people in the United States and other countries, everyday is Mardi Gras. 

We have become a consumer society 24/7. 

People consume everything from food to fashion to gadgets. 

What we fail to realize is that the consumer is the one really being consumed. 

Our cravings  are consuming us!

Lent is a time of physical, emotional and spiritual freedom. 

Through Prayer, Fasting and Self Denial we take back control of our life and are no longer consumed by our cravings, addictions and desires. 

No longer consumed by our anger, our selfishness or our past. 

This Lent  we should try and consume as much Prayer, Fasting and Self Denial as we can and so that at Easter we will be free to  experience our own resurrection. 

Monday 6th Week of Ordinary Time

The Testing of Faith James 1:2

Every teacher tests the knowledge of their students. 

Every coach tests the skill of their athletes. 

And so God tests our Faith!

For by the testing of our Faith

Our Faith is revealed and strengthened. 

And God tests our Faith by various trials. 

Are we up to the challenge?

How do we prepare for these tests of our Faith?

Through daily prayer and following the example of the saints who passed these tests and trials of their Faith with flying colors and who won the crown of victory. 

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Last Penny Mt. 5:26

Would you bend over to pick up a penny?

Probably not. 

But a jar full of them is worth something. 

So why does Jesus think pennies are so important?

And that no one will be released until they have paid the last penny!

Because even the smallest sins add up. 

By themselves they may seem to be so small. 

Not something to get hung up about. 

But add them up and they amount to something more. 

Most people don’t commit the big sins

Like murder or embezzlement;

Adultery or idolatry. 

Most people in the world commit the smaller, everyday sins;

Some gossip here;

A jealous thought there;

Neglecting Mass or Prayer;

Ignoring a person in need;

Small acts of selfishness;

A critical or angry word;

A little lust here and a little lie over there. 

Now Take 8 billion people;

And add up all those smaller sins

And one begins to see;

How big they become. 

And why the world is the way it is.

And how even the smallest sins,

Can eventually add up to something bigger. 

And before one knows it we have a jar full.

As they say;

“It is the little things that matter.” 

With sins and pennies.

Friday 5th Week of Ordinary Time

Hearing and Speaking.  Mk. 7:31-37

Jesus opens the ears of a man who can’t hear

And the tongue of him who could not speak. 

Just imagine what it must be like to not to be able to hear or speak. 

God has given us the gift of hearing and speaking. 

But What do we listen too?

What do we talk about?

Sometimes it might be better to be deaf and mute 

Than listen to the things we do and talk about the things we talk about. 

Thursday 5th Week of ordinary time

The betrayal of Solomon 1 Kings. 11:4-13

Solomon is most famous for his Wisdom but what most people don’t know is he had 700 Wives.  

This was not uncommon back then. 

But his wives were all pagans and the led Solomon away from the Faith of David his father. 

And God took away his Kingdom from him. 

We have many things in our lives that threaten to take away our Faith.  

And if we lose our Faith we lose the Kingdom of God.