St. Andrew Nov. 30

Thomas Merton said that just as there are seeds that are blown about by the wind waiting to land on earth and take root, so there are spiritual seeds blown about by the Holy Spirit everyday of our lives waiting to land in our hearts and take root. 

But three things are necessary for them to take root,love,freedom and spontaneity. 

How spontaneous are we?  

Our lives seem to be run by calendars, appointments and things to do. 

Yet the Lord calls us everyday. 

Like St. Andrew are we able to drop what we are doing and immediately follow Him?

Maybe He is calling us to forgive someone, to reach out and help someone, to spend time with Him in prayer.

Do we hesitate?

Do we think about it?

Do we procrastinate?

The true heart of a disciple is spontaneous who like St. Andrew immediately drops whatever they are doing to follow the Lord. 

God Bless

First Sunday of Advent

 

Watching in Love

I was born I Oshkosh Wisconsin

But basically grew up in Indianapolis.

But we would go to visit my grandparents

Every summer and sometimes at Christmas as well.

This was before cell phones and the drive would take about 8 hrs.

And so my grandmother never really knew when we would arrive.

She would just sit by the big picture window and wait for us.

And when our car pulled into the driveway

We would see her sitting there waiting

And She would get up to greet us at the door.

This is “waiting in love.”

Love keeps one awake, anxious and ready

for when the beloved arrives.

No matter whether it be at morning, noon or at night.

Is this how Jesus will find us when He returns?

Waiting in Love;

Awake, anxious and ready?

Or when Jesus returns will we be nowhere to be found?

Will He knock and not find an answer,

Because our minds and hearts are somewhere else.

Distracted by the cares and desires of this world?

Or are waiting in fear?

Pacing the floor

Filled with anxiety for when Jesus returns.

That He will condemn us or judge us harshly

For our sins?

Jesus is going to return.

And those who wait for Him in Love,

Have nothing to fear or worry about.

Every morning welcome Him into your heart.

In the middle of the hectic day,

Stop and ask Him to come and sit with you.

And at the end of the day,

Thank Him, for His presence in your life.

So that no matter when He comes,

The door of your heart will be ready

For when He knocks.

And you will welcome Him with Love.

God Bless

Saturday 34th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Anxiety of Daily Life Lk. 21:34-36

There is nothing like the “anxieties of daily life”

To drain a person of all spiritual life and energy.

Money worries, overwork, an endless to do list.

And when these things pile up,

The first thing to go is the spiritual life.

Daily prayer and Sunday Mass disappear.

But does jettisoning the Spiritual Life

Really help ease the anxieties of daily life?

Do not fall into that trap.

For the anxieties of daily life are like quicksand

And the only way out of that trap,

Is to reach for the Lord through Daily Prayer and

Sunday Mass.

God Bless

Friday 34th Week of Ordinary Time

 The Last Judgment 

 The Book of Revelation paints a very dramatic picture Of the Last Judgment. Rev. 20:1-4, 11-21 There will be a white throne, and the One sitting on it Will open the Book of Life. And the dead will be judged according to their deeds Rev. 20:12

In the Confiteor at Mass we confess our sins, Not only for the things we have done, But for the things we failed to do. The Last Judgment therefore Should not be a surprise to us. It will be the story of our life And all the things we did and that we failed to do. 

God Bless

 

Thanksgiving

I am pretty sure that the 10 lepers probably all said thank you to Jesus before they scurried off to show everyone what happened.

That is usually how it is with us.

We give God a quick “thank you.”

When we get an answer to our prayers

And then God doesn’t see us again until we need something.

But we need to keep coming back to God and saying thank you

For a truly grateful heart however never stop giving thanks.

And this is what we will be doing in Heaven.

Heaven is an Eternal Thanksgiving.

For When we get to Heaven

We will realize all that God has done for us.

And we will be so stunned and grateful that we will spend all eternity thanking God

For that is how long it will take.

God Bless

Wednesday 34 Week of Ordinary Time

 

The Song of the Lamb Rev. 15:1-4

The world sings its own song of

Putting oneself first;

Of consumerism, individualism, and humanism.

But the Song of the Lamb is different.

The Song of the Lamb is all about God,

And giving God the credit.

God does wonderful things,

And is the Just and True one.

God should be glorified and given the credit

And not humanity.

For God alone is holy

And deserves our praise and Thanksgiving.

Which song do we sing?

The song of the world or of the Lamb?

God Bless

Tuesday 34th week of Ordinary Time

The Harvest

Any farmer will tell you that you cannot rush the harvest nor should you delay the harvest.

The harvest has its own time.

No one knows when the angel of the Lord will come for the harvest Rev. 14:14-19,

But when the angel comes,

It is important that our Faith and Love will have born fruit.

We are all spiritual farmers therefore, who must

Nurture and till the soil of our hearts and souls daily,

So that they will bear the fruit of Faith and Love,

When it is harvest time.

God Bless

Monday 34 week of Ordinary Time

 

144,000

There are cults that claim only 144,000 will be saved.

Don’t believe them!

While the Book of Revelation states that 144,000 had the Name of the Lamb and His Father written on their foreheads Rev. 14:1,

It goes on to say that these are the “first fruits” of the human race for God and the Lamb. Rev. 14:4

“The “First Fruits” of the Harvest has been historically a gift offered to God and to the priests.

Meaning that theGod deserves the”first” not the ‘last” of our labor and love.

“First Fruits” however is exactly what it means, the “First”,

The 144,000 who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7:14,

Are the “First Fruits” but not the Last!

God Bless

 

Christ the King

I am not sure why they call this the Feast of Christ the King.

Christ is not a King.

At least not according to how the world sees a King.

Kings and Presidents and Prime Ministers

All live in fancy homes like the White House and Buckingham Palace.

Even Foxes have dens and birds their nests,

But Jesus had nowhere to lay His head. Mt. 8:20

Kings and Presidents and Prime Ministers

All have a good deal of money.

Usually more than the average person of their country.

Jesus however, emptied Himself. Phil2:7

He had no bag, no money, no bread for the journey,

Only a staff. Mk. 6:8

Jesus does not reign from a throne,

But from a cross.

Jesus is more like a Shepherd than a King.

In fact Jesus never called Himself a King.

Jesus instead referred to Himself as a Shepherd. Jn 10:14

A Shepherd who tends His flock.

Who pastures them and gives them rest;

Who goes in search of the lost sheep.

Binds up the injured;

And Heals the sick;

He is the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd knows His sheep.

He knows those who are goats in sheep’s clothing.

And On the Last Day He will gather His sheep to Himself.

He will separate the sheep from the goats.

For He will know His sheep not by their talk but by their deeds.

Because they fed the hungry and gave water to the thirsty.

They clothe the naked;

And they comforted the sick and visited those in prison.

And they will inherit the Kingdom prepared for the from the foundation of the world.

But the goats........

God Bless

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

As a child, Joachim and Ann took Mary to the Temple

where they presented her and consecrated her to the Lord.

In the Presentation, Mary placed herself in God’s hands

and God did great things in her;

She became the Mother Of God.

Because Mary presented herself in the Temple,

She was able to later present Jesus in the Temple.

It all begins with the gift of oneself to God.

We may give money or other sacrifices to the Lord,

But what the Lord really desires is ourself!

The Gift Of Self is the greatest gift we can give to God.

For when we give ourselves to God,

God can do great things in us.

On this feast of the Presentation Of the Blessed Virgin,

Let us place ourselves in her hands,

So that through her Intercession and example,

God may do great things in us!

God Bless

Friday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

Sweet and Sour Rev. 10:8-11

When the scroll with the 7 seals was opened by the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God,

John was told to eat it.

And when he did,

It tasted sweet and sour.

It was sweet because it prophesied that the end had come.

But it was sour, because the suffering of the martyrs had to come first,

Before the victory of the Lamb would be complete.

But the martyrs who bore witness to the Lamb of God,

By shedding their blood for Him,

Will also share in His final and ultimate victory.

And this will be the ultimate, never ending sweetness

Of the Supper of the Lamb!

God Bless

Thursday 33rd week of Ordinary Time

 

The Seven Seals Rev. 5:1-10

The 7 seals of the Book of Revelation contains the information on the end of the world.

And There are those who claim to know when and how the world is going to end.

Do not listen to them.

The Book of Revelation tells us that no one is worthy to open and therefore know what is in the scroll.

Except Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God.

Who is worthy to receive the scroll and break open its seals.

And when it is opened,

Those who have been invited to the Supper of the Lamb

Need not fear,

For they have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb,

And they will reign with the Lamb on this earth.

Wednesday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Peter and Paul

Peter and Paul are two sides of the same coin.

The coin of Faith on which the Church is built.

This is why a church is built on the remains of Peter and Paul

In Rome where both were martyred.

St. Peter’s Basilica on the Vatican hill where Peter was martyred upside down on a cross,

And at St. Paul outside the walls where St. Paul was beheaded.

Our churches may not be as famous as these,

But they are just as important,

As long as they too a built on Faith.

God Bless

Tuesday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Hot or Cold Rev. 3:15

The Church in Laodicea excelled in mediocrity.

It was neither Hot nor Cold.

It did not burn with Love for the Lord,

Nor was it cold.

It was worse.

It was apathetic.

And Jesus wished that it would be either Hot or Cold,

Because if it is Lukewarm he will spit them out of His mouth.

The one thing that saints and sinners have in common

Is passion.

Passion for holiness or passion for sin.

And the Lord can take the fire of that passion and refine it like gold.

But a heart that is mediocre is already dead

And will not hear the knock of the Lord when He comes.

Whoever has ears, ought to hear! Rev. 3:22

God Bless

Monday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Faded Love Rev. 2:1-5

In the Book of Revelation,

Each church was given a lamp stand to keep burning bright.

And each church failed to do so.

The Church at Ephesus failed to keep the lamp stand of love burning bright.

The early love they had for the Lord,

Had begun to fade through the years.

Like a fire that has dying embers,

Now is the time to stir up the fires of our Love for the Lord.

God Bless

33rd Sunday of Ordinary

 

Like a Thief

Whenever a thief comes upon a person in a dark alley

In the movies,

They always say,

“Give me what you got!”

St Paul warned the Thessalonians,

That the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

And when He does He too is going to say,

“Give me what you got!”

In the Gospel,

Each servant was got a certain amount of talents.

One five, another two and a third one.

And when the master of the house came back

And said to the servants,

“Give me what you got!”

Two of them had increased their talents,

While a third had done nothing with his.

The Master rewarded the “good and faithful” servants,

But the “wicked and lazy” servant

Not only Lost what little he had been given,

But was thrown out into the darkness.

When the Lord returns,

He will come without warning,

Like a thief in the night,

And He will say to us;

“Give me what you got.”

At our Baptism the Lord gave us the gifts of Faith, Hope and Love.

Have we grown in our Faith?

Have we persevered in Hope?

Have we shared our Love?

What have we done with them?

Jesus does not care if we multiplied them,

Five times or two times as much.

What He does care about is that we didn’t waste them.

That we didn’t bury them in the ground.

It is not hard to multiply Faith, Hope and Love.

All we have to do is give them away!

And the more we give them away,

The more they will multiply in our own hearts.

And then we will not be empty handed when the Lord comes like a thief and says,

“Give me what you got?”

God Bless

Saturday 32nd week of Ordinary Time

 

The Widow.

If you are beautiful or popular, rich or powerful.

Then you have the ability to oftentimes get what you want.

But what if you are poor and homeless?

What if you are elderly and alone?

What if you are sick or dying?

What if you are disabled or disfigured?

What are the chances of getting what you want?

There was a Widow who was seeking a decision from the judge. Lk. 18:1-8

She had nothing.

No family.

No power or clout.

No money.

No social standing.

Nothing except perseverance!

When we come before God in prayer,

We come with nothing.

Nothing that God needs or wants.

All we have is our perseverance.

Through Our perseverance we show God that we are Faithful!

Those who do not believe eventually walk away.

When the Son of Man comes will He find Faith on earth? Lk. 18:8

Probably Only in Widows!

And those like her.

God Bless

 

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

As a child, Joachim and Ann took Mary to the Temple

where they presented her and consecrated her to the Lord.

In the Presentation, Mary placed herself in God’s hands

and God did great things in her;

She became the Mother Of God.

Because Mary presented herself in the Temple,

She was able to later present Jesus in the Temple.

It all begins with the gift of oneself to God.

We may give money or other sacrifices to the Lord,

But what the Lord really desires is ourself!

The Gift Of Self is the greatest gift we can give to God.

For when we give ourselves to God,

God can do great things in us.

On this feast of the Presentation Of the Blessed Virgin,

Let us place ourselves in her hands,

So that through her Intercession and example,

God may do great things in us!

God Bless

Thursday 32nd Week of Ordinary Time

 

The Kingdom of God Lk. 17:20-25

While the kingdom of this world is all about eating and drinking,

The Kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom. 14:17

The Kingdom of God is in our midst.

But if we fail to see it,

It is because we are looking for food and drink to fill our stomachs

Rather than searching for holiness, peace and joy to fill our spirit.

God Bless

St. Martin of Tours

One day, Martin met a poor man, almost naked, trembling in the cold and begging.

Martin had nothing but his sword and his clothes.

So He drew his sword, cut his cloak into two pieces, gave one to the beggar and wrapped himself in the other half.

That night in his sleep Martin saw Christ dressed in the half of the garment he had given away, and heard him say, "Martin, has covered me with his garment."

Never doubt that When we feed the hungry,

Clothe the naked

And visit the sick

It is truly Christ we are feeding and clothing and visiting.

God Bless

Pope Leo the Great

Pope Leo the Great was the first Pope to be called “the great.”

He was Pope for 21 years until his death Nov. 10, 461 AD

While he is famous for turning Attila the Hun away from sacking Rome and thus sparing the city.

He is even more famous for His defense of The One Person of Christ in two natures at the Council of Chalcedon.

The early Christians were uncertain how to explain,

How Jesus was both, God and man.

How Jesus could be both,

Immortal, infinite, omniscient, and Divine Son of God,

And at the same time, be mortal, finite, ignorant and human.

Through the writing of Pope Leo,

The Council Of Chalcedon which was near Constantinople, which is present day Istanbul, Turkey, decreed,’

That while Jesus Christ is a Divine Person with a Divine Nature,

When He Became flesh He took on a Human Nature as well.

So that the Second Person through His Divine Nature,

was Eternal, immortal, all knowing God

At the same time, through His Human Nature

Shared in our mortality, finitude, ignorance and humanity.

So Jesus is fully God and fully human.

And that means that God really does know what it means to be human,

God really does know what we experience,

Because He has done it through His Son,

Jesus Christ!

God Bless

Feast of St. John Lateran (Monday)

 

Feast of St. John Lateran

Rebuilding the Church

Pope Innocent had a dream that his church,

St. John Lateran was falling down.

And in that dream he saw St. Francis

Holding up the church.

The Church in every age faces its difficulties.

And this age is no different.

But what can we possibly do?

We are not St. Francis.

We can’t go to Rome and help rebuild the Church.

The Church however is wherever two or three have gathered in the name of Jesus.

The Church is right here therefore,

Where we are.

What can we do for the Church where we live?

We can rebuild the church, one brick at a time.

One prayer, one sacrifice, one act of charity at a time.

God Bless

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

The Sound of the trumpet. I Thes. 4:13-18

One of the most beautiful yet at the same time mournful sounds,

Is the sound of a trumpet playing taps.

It is played for a fallen soldier.

But there is another trumpet that will sound

On the Last Day

When the angel of the Lord will blow his trumpet,

Not to lay the dead to rest,

But to awaken them.

And all those who have fallen asleep in the Lord

Will awaken from their slumbering place.

The sky will unfold,

And The stars will applaud Him,

As Christ comes in all of His glory on the clouds.

And the dead and the living shall behold Him face to face.

The trumpet will sound,

The choir of angels will sing.

The thunder will clap,

And the mountains will dance for joy.

And the sleeping will rise from their slumbering place.

And those who remain

Will be changed.

To be like the Risen Christ

In glory.

And there will be no more mourning or tears;

No more suffering or pain or death.

For the Lord will have come

And the symphony of Eternity will begin

With the choir or angels and archangels,

The seraphim and cherubim

And all the saints

singing the song of the Lamb.

Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord.

Blessed is He Who is coming.

Hosanna in the Highest!

And what we do here every Sunday is prepare!

We light the lamp of our Faith.

We refill our hearts and souls that have been emptied by the weariness and fatigue of this world.

So that like the Wise Virgins we can be ready to welcome the Lord

When we hear the trumpet sound!

God Bless

Saturday 31st week of Ordinary Time

 

I can do all things Phil. 4:10-19

St. Paul learned how to go hungry and how to be fed.

How to sleep and how to go without sleep.

Who to be warm and how to endure the cold.

How to be loved and how to be rejected.

He learned how to endure all things and all circumstances.

How?

Because He learned he could do all things in Christ Who strengthens him.

What is it that we are facing in life?

Whatever it is,

Call upon Christ,

Who will strengthen you to do it!

God Bless

Friday 31th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Dual Citizenship

We are all citizens of one country or another

And with that comes certain responsibilities.

We are also however citizens of Heaven

And we have certain responsibilities there as well.

And St. Paul tells us that we must “conduct ourselves accordingly.” Phil. 3:17-4:1

The law of love, of selfless love is required of all citizens of Heaven.

The cross of Christ is our Passport,

Our Heavenly ID so to say.

Our selflessness and our sacrificial love,

Is our Passport, our Heavenly ID

That we must carry with us always and be willing to show it to anyone who asks for it as evidence of our citizenship in Heaven.

God Bless

Thursday 31st week of Ordinary Time

 

Joy

People throw parties for all kinds of reasons.

Graduation, weddings and anniversaries.

But what makes the angels throw a party in Heaven?

When a sinner comes back to the Lord!!

Every time a lost sheep comes back to the fold;

Every time a person goes to confession;

The angels throw a party in Heaven.

For as Jesus said,

“There will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Lk. 15:10.

God Bless

Charles Borromeo Nov. 4

 

Charles Borromeo 

Charles Borromeo was a Cardinal of the Church who lived during the time of the Reformation and led the Counter Reformation in the Church.

He faced much resistance as he sought to reform the Church, religious orders and his own diocese.

He faced resistance from his own family members and priests and religious.

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies.

The most difficult reform however is not that of other people,

But of ourselves.

Habits die hard as do sins.

St. Charles Borromeo reminds us that if we want to reform the Church we must first reform ourselves.

God Bless

Tuesday 31st Week of Ordinary Time

 

Excuses

Excuses!

Everyone has one. 

The People in the Gospel had a field to take care of,

Oxen to feed and another had just gotten married,

So they could not come to the banquet. Lk. 14:15-24.

People have excuses why they cannot come to Mass.

It is time to stop living a life of excuses.

And time to start living a life of Faith instead. 

People who live a life of faith, aspire and inspire and seem to somehow always be able to do the impossible. 

People of faith are able to rise from the tombs of despair, guilt and rationalization to a new life of hope, possibilities and self determination. 

Now is the time to come to the banquet of the Lord

And be filled to overflowing;

For those who make excuses

Will only go hungry.

God Bless

All Souls

Afraid of Death?

Are you afraid of death?

That all depends on what you are living for.

Why is it that a soldier will sacrifice himself for his platoon?

Why will a mother sacrifice herself for her children?

Why does a martyr sacrifice his or her life for God?

Because they do not live for themselves.

They live for another.

Those who live for others are not afraid to die.

Because their entire life is a series of small deaths so that the ones they love can live.

So that when the ultimate death comes, life is not something that is taken from them, rather it is something that they lay down of their own free will.

This day of All Souls when we reflect on death is also the best day for us to reflect on what we are living for.

If we live for ourselves then our death will be something to be feared.

But if we live for others then the small sacrificial deaths we experience everyday for those we love, and the ultimate death we will experience at the end of our life is not something to be feared but the final sacrifice, the final gift that we give back to God who died for us so that we could live forever

God Bless

All Saints

 

As we celebrate All Saints Day,

We may wonder what we have on common with the Saints.

Everyone thinks that saints were born that way.

But not really.

Most saints grew up in families just like ours.

Some had moms and dads.

But others came from broken homes like St. Francis of Assisi,

Whose father disowned him when he decided to follow Jesus.

St. Patrick was taken away from his family as a child by slave traders in Ireland,

And grew up without a mom or dad.

Theresa of the Little flower grew up without a mother from the age of 4.

Not all saints started out that way.

Some started out as sinners and became saints.

Like St. Augustine who led a very wild life as a youth,

But later had a conversion.

Or John Newton who was a slave trader

who had a conversion and wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace.

Some people think the life of a saint is easy.

Theresa of Avila once said that she would rather do any manual labor rather than recollect herself in prayer, because praying had become so difficult for her.

St. Ignatius of Loyola experienced depression so severely that he had considered suicide at one point.

What made them all saints however was that they never gave up.

They kept the Faith, no matter what they were going through.

Whatever we are going through in our life,

There is a saint who has been there and done that

Who can help us get through.

Whether it is a broken home,

Sickness or depression or

Merely if we are lost and don’t know where to turn.

And every saint would tell us,

Don’t settle for just being a “good person”

Strive to be Holy!

And God will do the rest?

God Bless