Forgive your Brother
Jospeh was thrown into a well and left for dead by his brother
Who later sold him into slavery in Egypt.
But God turned the tables,
When the brothers had to come to Egypt looking for food,
And Joseph, was in charge of distribution.
Joseph could have had his brothers locked up and thrown into prison.
Instead he forgave them.
How willing are we to forgive those closest to us,
For the harm they have done to us?
One Never knows!
Augustine Zhao was one of the Chinese soldiers who escorted
Bishop John Dufresse to his execution.
Moved by his patience,
Augustine asked to be baptized.
He later entered the seminary and was ordained a priest,
Only to be tortured and executed himself.
One never knows therefore.
When a persecutor of the church may one day,
Shed his blood for it,
By the grace of God.
God writes in squiggly lines Gen. 44:21; 45:1-5
Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers.
Carried off to Egypt as a slave.
Falsely accused and thrown into prison.
What at first appeared hopeless
Was God’s way of preparing to feed the people of Israel during the famine,
As Joseph eventually rose in the ranks in Egypt,
To be in charge of the distribution of food during the famine.
Sometimes our suffering and hard times,
Are the means that God uses to bring about a greater good.
So we must never lose heart;
For all things work out for the good for those who love God.
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Mt. 10:7
There are many countries and kingdoms,
And Jesus offers us His Kingdom of Heaven.
It is a Kingdom of Peace, Joy and Love.
Surprisingly however people choose a different Kingdom.
A Kingdom of complaining, division and arguing.
The Kingdom of Jesus is not far away.
It is at hand,
Within our very hearts hearts.
But we must choose Peace and Joy and Love.
If we wish to enter it.
Wrestling With Oursleves
Jacob found himself in a wrestling match.
With an unknown person.
But he would not give up.
And because he persevered he was blessed
And came out victorious.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a wrestling match.
With loneliness and depression;
Or suffering and illness;
Or some other struggle.
Like Jacob we must not give up,
But persevere through the dark of night.
We may come out of it a little wounded like Jacob did.
But only those who persevere are victorious.
Angels were going up and down. Gen. 28:12
In Jacob’s dream, he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven and Angels going up and down on it.
Angels are messengers of God.
This dream is a sign that God is always speaking to us;
Many times through angels.
But we must be aware of their presence in our life,
If we hope to hear their message.
Most people need glasses at one point or another in their life.
Either to see things that are far away,
Or to see things that are close up.
Faith is like a pair of glasses.
It helps us to see things that are far away.
Faith helps us to see Eternity.
It may seem far away now but it is coming down the road.
When the Kingdom of this world will be no more,
And the Kingdom of Heaven will come.
And on that day there will be a New Heavens and a New Earth.
For on that Day,
There will be no more mourning or crying.
No more injustice or suffering or death.
And every tear will be wiped away.
For on that Day,
Jesus will come on the clouds in glory,
Surrounded by His angels.
And the dead will rise from their slumbering place
And everyone will be gathered before the Lord,
And He will separate the sheep from the goats.
And all of the Faithful will be gathered around the Table of the Lamb
For one Eternal Banquet.
Where everyone will Feast endlessly on Love, Happiness and Peace.
It seems far away right now.
As the world is filled with selfishness, violence and hunger.
But those who have Faith are able to see it,
Faith is like a pair of glasses because it also helps us to see things that are near,
Faith helps us to see that God is right in front of us.
With Faith, we can see God in the Eucharist.
We see see His Body and Blood.
With Faith we see God in one another.
We see His Face in the Faces of those we meet.
We hear His voice in their words.
We touch His hand when we grab hold of the hands of others.
With Faith we see God in Creation.
We see the greatness of God in the Mountains.
His power in the wind.
His beauty in the flowers.
God is right in front of us,
But only those who have Faith can see Him.
Glasses help us see things that are far away
And things that are right in front of us.
Through Faith,
we can see Eternity and the God who is right in front of us.
The courage to Doubt
Who doesn’t have their doubts?
But who has the courage to say so?
Thomas did!
Unless he put his fingers into the nail marks
And his hand into the side of Jesus,
He would not believe.
Jesus understood the doubts of Thomas.
But He did not chastise him.
Rather He showed Him his hands and His side.
We too may have our doubts,
But Jesus will show us His Mercy
If only we ask to see it
As did Thomas.
Those who are well do not need a physician. Mt. 9:12
Those who are happy do not need a comedian to cheer them up.
Those who are rich do not need money.
Those who are tall do not need a step ladder.
Those who are healthy do not need a physician
And those who are saints do not need mercy.
God came not for those who have,
But for those who have not.
For those who have no Hope.
For those who are not Holy;
For those who are sick at heart.
Because He is the Divine Physician
Offering healing and Hope and Mercy to all who come to Him.
Love is Strange. Gen. 22:1-19
Love seems strange at times.
Isaac was the one Abraham loved most
Yet Abraham was willing to sacrifice him,
To show God how much he loved Him.
Jesus was God’s only son,
The One God loved most;
And God was willing to sacrifice Him,
To show the world how much He loved it.
Love is strange at times,
Even mysterious.
But can never be doubted
When you are willing to give all you have for it.
The First Martyrs of Rome
In Eucharistic Prayer I we hear a long list of strange names.
Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus,
Cornelius, Cyprian,
Lawrence, Chrysogonus,
John and Paul,
Cosmas and Damian.
Who are these people?
They are a list of the first popes and early saints who were martyred.
Linus, Cletus and Clement were the first three popes who followed after Peter.
All were martyred.
We celebrate the early martyrs of Rome because their blood watered the ground for the eventual conversion of Rome 300 years later ,
When in the year 313 when Constantine declared the Edict of Milan ending the persecutions of all Christians.
It is from these early martyrs of Rome,
That we became known as “Roman Catholic”
The First Martyrs of Rome
In Eucharistic Prayer I we hear a long list of strange names.
Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus,
Cornelius, Cyprian,
Lawrence, Chrysogonus,
John and Paul,
Cosmas and Damian.
Who are these people?
They are a list of the first popes and early saints who were martyred.
Linus, Cletus and Clement were the first three popes who followed after Peter.
All were martyred.
We celebrate the early martyrs of Rome because their blood watered the ground for the eventual conversion of Rome 300 years later ,
When in the year 313 when Constantine declared the Edict of Milan ending the persecutions of all Christians.
It is from these early martyrs of Rome,
That we became known as “Roman Catholic”
Keys and a Sword
Prince of the Apostles and Preacher to the nations
Martyrs in Rome
Pillars of the Church
How many people relate to these images of Sts. Peter and Paul
If you do not how about the following.
A fisherman and a Pharisee.
One denied Jesus and the other persecuted Him.
When Peter first met The Lord he said, "Depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man."Lk. 5:8
St. Paul said "he was a fool for Christ's sake 1Cor. 4:10
Like Sts. Peter and Paul we are called to be saints and witnesses to Christ but like them we too are imperfect.
Rather than allow their sins to hold them back
they used their sins to remind themselves of the boundless grace and mercy of God.
"For where sin abounds, Grace abounds all the more." Rom. 5:20
This is why God’s grace is so Amazing;
He loves to take sinners and turn them into saints!
For the sake of 10 Innocent people Gen. 18:16-32
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah
Abraham asks God if he was going to sweep away the innocent with the guilty.
And God responds that if there we just 10 innocent people,
He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
Our world is filled with so many sins;
What are we to do.
Ask God to send down fire?
Absolutely Not!!
Rather like Abraham,
We ask God to spare it for the sake of the innocent.
Who knows if there just 10 innocent people,
Maybe God will spare the world.
But are we one of the innocent
For whom God will spare the world???
Send Down Your Spirit upon these gifts.
Sometimes our feet are so firmly planted in this earth,
That it is hard to reach up to Heaven.
So Heaven has to come down to us.
And this is exactly what happens at Mass!
At Mass, we ask the Father to send down His Spirit
upon the gift of bread and wine like the dewfall,
So that they might become the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why the Dewfall?
When the People of Israel were wandering in the desert,
they were hungry and they cried out to God for food,
Who sent them Manna from Heaven.
In the morning, Dew lay all around the camp;
And when it lifted there was Manna from Heaven for them to eat.
When the priest puts His hand over the gifts,
He is calling down the Holy Spirit;
To come upon the gifts once again like the dewfall
So that we can eat Bread from Heaven.
But this is not the Bread that the Jews ate and then died.
This is the Living Bread that comes down from Heaven,
And whoever eats this Bread will never die but live forever.
This Bread is the Flesh of Jesus!
Whoever eats His Flesh and drinks His Blood will never die,
But will be raised up on the Last Day.
Just as the Holy Spirit came down upon the Virgin Mary
And the Word became flesh within her,
So the Holy Spirit comes down upon the bread and wine
And the Word becomes flesh once again.
So that at this Mass
Heaven comes to earth.
When the priest puts his hands over the bread and wine,
The Holy Spirit comes down to this very altar
And by the power of the Holy Spirit
And the words of the priest
They Become the Body and Blood of Christ.
And we are fed with Bread from Heaven.
And then even when our feet are planted firmly in the grave,
On the Last Day, We will be raised up to the Heights of Heaven!
