Archangels

 

From sinner to Saint Gal. 1:13-24

In his letter to the Galatians,

St Paul tells of how he persecuted the Church and tried to destroy it.

Then by the grace of God,

God revealed the truth of His Son to Paul.

And then spent his life until he was beheaded,

Promoting the Faith of the Church in Christ.

The conversion of St. Paul shows that,

Sinners are never safe from the grace of God

And conversion to the Truth and the Faith!

God Bless

The Feast of the Holy Rosary

The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see Face of God.

It is the book of the simple, which teaches the mysteries of Salvation.

It is the book of the aged, whose eyes turn from the allure of this world to the next.”

Open the book of the Rosary and discover love and life and salvation and eternity beyond what any other book will ever show you.

God Bless

 

Feast of Cosmos and Damian Sept 26

The names Cosmos and Damian sound like names from a super hero movie.

Instead they are twins who became doctors and were martyred for their Christian Faith during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian.

Their names are included in the first Eucharistic Prayer at the Mass known as the Roman Canon that dates back to the 7th century.

Back in their day,

Super heroes were REAL people, not fictional

Who gave their lives for Christ.

That is the difference between a saint and a comic book character!

God Bless

Friday 25th Week of Ordinary Time

Make Time

If someone asked you what time it is most people would probably look at their watch.

But there is more to time than just hours and minutes.

Real Time is not a matter of seconds or minutes.

Real Time is what marks the memories and moments of our lives that leave indelible impressions on our hearts and souls.

God has given us Time therefore not to chase after it

But to make memories and moments that last forever.

God Bless

Thursday 25th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Vanity. Ecc. 1:2-1

Everything is Vanity except Love.

Work all your life and where does your wealth end up?

In the hands of another.

Chase after youth and old age catches you instead.

Seek power only to be dethroned by one more powerful.

Everything in life changes and slips away.

Even the sun sets.

Nothing endures except Love.

 

Feast of Padre Pio Sept. 23

“Whoever does not meditate, is like someone who never looks in the mirror before going out, doesn’t bother to see if he’s tidy, and may go out dirty without knowing it. The person who meditates and turns his mind to God, who is the mirror of his soul, seeks to know his faults, tries to correct them, moderates his impulses, and puts his conscience in order.”

Padre Pio

God Bless

Tuesday 25th Week of Ordinary Time

 Mirrors are deceptive Proverbs 21:2

When we look in a mirror we see only the surface.

We don’t REALLY see ourselves.

Who we are and what we are made of.

No matter how much we try and hide from others or even from ourselves.

It is God Who sees into the heart.

This is why prayer is the “mirror of the soul”

For through prayer,

God shows us who we really are.

God Bless

Feast of St. Matthew Sept. 21

 

Sinners into Saints

Feast of St. Matthew

As Jesus passed by, He saw a man at the customs post and He said to him, “Follow me.”

In other words Jesus saw a tax collector who took advantage of the poor and who oppressed widows and orphans which is what they did back then and is why they were hated by the people.

Now why would Jesus call such a person?

Because grace transforms!

It does not matter who we are or what we have done.

What matters is Who Jesus is and what HE can do!

Matthew knew this and this is why he IMMEDIATELY got up and followed Jesus.

He did not let his sins and shortcomings hold him back from following Jesus.

And neither should we.

Because Jesus just loves taking sinners

And transforming them into saints.

God Bless

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

Who is God?

When I was young,

I thought that I had God figured out.

God is love;

God punishes sinners and rewards the good.

Very simple.

But as I got older

Life got more complicated.

I had more questions than answers.

Bad things happened to good people.

When I sinned, I sometimes got away with it.

Sometimes God seemed to be watching out for me

And other times God seemed nowhere to be found.

And as I grow older and begin to stare into the face of Eternity.

God seems more like a mystery than ever before.

This is what Isaiah is trying to tell us as he says,

“God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.”

“God’s ways are not our ways.”

“As high as the heavens are above the earth,

So high are God’s ways above our ways,

And God’s thought above our thoughts.”Is. 55:8-9

God is a mystery

A mystery of Love for sinners and those who do wrong.

A mystery of Forgiveness for we know not what we do.

A Mystery of Generosity Who pays those who work only 1 hour the same as those who worked 8.

A mystery of how bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ.

A mystery of when God chooses to act and when He doesn’t.

But even though God seems more mysterious to me than ever as I grow older.

God is also more real than ever.

For the God of my youth

Was more of my own making

As I thought I had God all figured out,

When I didn’t even have myself figured out!

Faith is not about figuring God out.

Faith is living in the mysteries and questions of life

Walking where you don’t know where you are going.

But trusting all the same.

Mother Teresa said if she had known what God was going to ask of her she never would have said Yes!

And look at the great things she did.

Do you think being assigned in inner city Detroit was my first choice as a newly ordained priest?

Yet it was a blessing beyond my wildest dreams.

God has ideas and plans beyond anything that we can imagine.

God’s ways are not our ways.

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts

And all I can say to that is,

“Thank God!”

For I have found with time,

My way is not always the best way.

And my thoughts are not always the right ones.

God Bless

Sept 14. The Triumph of the Cross

 “Love crosses. The cross is a source of true happiness” (KW 968). Saint Maximilian encourages us to love crosses. They are a fount of happiness, in as much as in sorrow we are able to experience the Lord’s faithful and consoling presence; He is near to those who invoke Him in suffering and trial. This is a marvelous and tangible expression of his infinite mercy.   Some time before his death he wrote: “Crosses are necessary everywhere. Even the Immaculata lived on this earth with crosses, and Jesus did not choose another way. They shouldn’t discourage us at all, but on the contrary, the more an instrument is miserable, the more fit to show the Immaculata’s goodness and power. Saint Paul doesn’t hesitate affirming he glories in his weaknesses, so Christ may manifest His power through them.”

St. Maximilian Kolbe : The Martyr of Auschwitz

 

God Bless

Friday 23rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Spiritual Blindness. Lk. 6:39-42

Close your eyes and go for a walk,

And see how far you get.

Physical blindness and its effects are obvious.

Spiritual blindness not so much.

The spiritually blind think they see.

They notice the splinter in other people’s eyes

And never the plank in their own.

And stumble around their entire life

Never really getting anywhere.

God Bless

Thursday 23rd week of Ordinary Time

 Puffed up with Love

Coming up with the answer to a difficult question

Can make us feel good about ourselves.

So much so we might become

Puffed up with pride. 1Cor. 8:1

But when was the last time

We were puffed up,

Because we loved the unlovable?

Or because we noticed our own sin first;

Or because we turned the other cheek.

Knowledge is something we forget with age

Better to be puffed up with love;

With Mercy and Forgiveness.

Even with one’s own sins.

Rather than with pride

For that is really something to boast about.

God Bless

The Birth of Mary. Sept. 8

The Birth of Mary. Sept. 8

Who of us chose to be born?

Who of us chose our parents?

Who of us chose what city, what country to be born in?

None of us.

Are we then just a role of the evolutionary dice?

Were Washington, Lincoln, Einstein, Mozart, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci all just accidents?

Or did God create them to help mold and shape His world.

St. Paul says were we chosen before the world began to be holy and blameless in God's sight, to be full of Love." Eph. 1:4

None of us are accidents in God's eyes.

Before we were born, before we were conceived, we were conceived in the mind and heart of God.

Some of us to do great things in this world and some to do more ordinary things.

But all of us were individually conceived in the mind and heart of God before the world began, to be holy and blameless in His sight and FULL OF LOVE.

And so was Mary!

The birth of Mary reminds us that each child born into this world is holy and full of the love of God.

And each one of us are loved by God and called to live a life of holiness.

This is for what we were created before the world began.

The birth of Mary pointed to the Incarnation of the Son of God.

What does our birth point to?

The same thing as Mary's!

Our birth, our life should point to God.

After all, each one of us was chosen by God, before the world began to holy and full of His love. Eph. 1:4

God Bless

Monday 23rd Week of Ordinary Time

 No rest from doing Good. Lk. 6:6-11

When Jesus healed the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath,

The Pharisees thought that Jesus had broken the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was meant to give us a rest from work;

from trying to get ahead,

from chasing the almighty dollar;

from the relentless pressures of life.

But What the Pharisees failed to understand

was that there can be no rest

from mercy,

from forgiveness,

from healing;

From doing good!

These things we must work at everyday of our lives!

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

 Gentiles and Tax Collectors

From politics to masks

We live in a very divisive time.

So what is a person to do?

It seems as if everyone is offended by someone or something.

So How are we to deal with those with whom we disagree?

With those whom we think are wrong or have hurt us?

Jesus tells us to first talk privately with the individual.

Don't advertise it to the neighbors or Social Media.

If that does not work,

Bring one or two others along to try and help straighten things out.

Sometimes differences can be complicated

and having another person who is not emotionally involved can help.

If that does not work,

Jesus says we should treat them like,

Gentiles or tax collectors!

Now in the time when Jesus walked the earth;

Gentiles and tax collectors were the most despised people of all.

Because the Gentiles were foreigners.

They threatened the social, cultural and religious fabric of Israel.

And tax collectors took advantage of the poor and widows and hard working members of society.

So Gentiles and tax collectors were always rejected and shunned.

Especially by the scribes and Pharisees.

But how did Jesus treat the Gentiles and tax collectors?

He loved;

He forgave them;

He even ate with them;

Associating with those with whom we disagree and

With whom we think are wrong,

Does not mean we agree with them

It means our Love and forgiveness has no limits.

It is extended even to our enemies and those with whom we disagree.

Like Jesus,

we Love our enemies and those who are different from us.

We Associate with those with whom we have differences.

We Eat with those with whom we disagree

Because Jesus loves, associates and eats with us!

God Bless

Saturday 22nd Week of Ordinary Time

 Fools for Christ. 1 Cor. 4:6-15

Do not think the world will praise you for being a good Christian.

Even if you truly practice your Faith,

The world will hate you all the more.

The world instead will think you are a fool for following Christ.

Christians believe in being poor in Spirit

And turning the other cheek.

When ridiculed they bless;

When persecuted, they endure;

When slandered, they respond with gentleness;

They are the world’s rubbish,

The scum of all. 1Cor. 4:10-15

This all sounds pretty foolish.

But being a fool for Christ

In the end Is probably the smartest thing a person could ever be.

Friday 22nd Week of Ordinary Time

 Do Not Judge 1Cor. 4:1-5

How well do we know others?

Do we know their inner thoughts?

Their fears and insecurities;

Their struggles and their despairs.

Probably not!

Yet how quick are we to sometimes pass judgment

Or pass on a piece of gossip we heard?

St. Paul told the Corinthians not to do this.

For the Lord will bring to light what was hidden in darkness

And manifest the motives of all hearts.

And we certainly do not want to look foolish on that day!

God Bless

Thursday 22nd Week of Ordinary Time

 An astonishing catch. Lk 5:1-11

Peter had been fishing all night and caught nothing.

This is what usually happens when we try and do things on our own.

Thinking we do not need God’s help.

But as soon as Peter listened to Jesus,

His nets were filled to overflowing;

To the point of sinking.

It seems the harder we work,

The less we produce.

But if we listen to the Lord,

Even if we have worked all night;

We too can fill our empty nets to the point of overflowing.

God Bless