Friday 10th Week of Ordinary Time

Whispers in the Wind. 1 Kings 19:11-16

God told Elijah to stand on the mountain for He was going to be passing by.

And God was not in the powerful wind

Or the earthquake

Or the fire.

But in the still whispering sound.

Until we can calm our hearts and souls from all the noise of the world,

and the until we can silence our own passions and desires

We will never hear the still small voice of God

Whisper in our ear.

Thursday 10th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Anger leads to Fire Mt. 5:20-26

Jesus warns his disciples against the sin of anger,

Because those who are angry will be liable to judgment.

This is because Anger is like a Fire that can easily burn out of control.

And when it does it can lead to Gehenna and the fires of hell.

Better to make Peace before the Judgment

And be reconciled,

Rather than risk the fires of Gehenna where one will not be released until the last penny is paid.

Wednesday 10th Week of Ordinary Time

 

One against 450 1 Kings 18:20-39

Elijah was the last Faithful prophet in Israel.

All the other 450 prophets had gone over to worship the false god of Baal.

It does not matter what everyone else is doing or believing;

It does not matter if we are the only one.

Faithfulness is not a matter of following the crowd ;

But of standing alone against all odds.

And still believing!

Tuesday 10th Week of Ordinary Time

 

The Jar of Flour shall not go empty. I Kings 17:1-7

The Widow of Zarephath had nothing.

Only a jar with a handful full of flour.

But Elijah came along and told her to take what little she had

And fix him some bread.

And because of her generosity,

God was generous to her

And her jar never ran out of flour.

Even in the worst drought.

Generosity is a gift given by those who have little,

Not by those who have abundance.

For the poor can be generous even in their poverty

For God will be generous in return.

Monday : Mary Mother of the Church

 

Mary Mother of the Church

We all have birthdays.

And we have birthdays because we all have mothers!!

The birthday of the Church is Pentecost.

Pentecost is the day when the Disciples,

Having been filled with the Holy Spirit,

“came out” of the upper room into the world.

Before Pentecost, the Disciples were gathered in prayer around Mary,

Their spiritual Mother preparing for the coming of the Holy Spirit, her Spouse,

Upon them.

For through the union of Mary and the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived,

So once again at Pentecost through the union of Mary and the Holy Spirit,

Each one of us is conceived in her heart.

And this is why Mary is the Mother of the Church,

Of all those born of the Spirit. Jn. 3:5

Pentecost

 

In the Jewish Tradition, Pentecost was a holiday commemorating the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.

It was a day that changed everything for Israel.

For on that Day, Israel and God became one.

They made a Covenant with each other,

Like a marriage;

God would be Israel’s God,

And Israel would be God’s people.

And there would be no other.

Israel would love the Lord with all their heart and soul and mind and strength . Deut 6

But they didn’t.

They repeatedly broke the laws and loved other gods instead.

so Jeremiah said,

One Day, “God will write the Law not on stone, but in your hearts!”Jer. 31:33

And that is what happened at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the hearts of the Apostles.

With Pentecost, God now lives and moves and Has His being “in” us.

God is as close to us as the breath we breathe.

God is no longer someone out “There.”

But now someone in “Here.”

If God however is someone who dwells within us,

Then why does God seem so far away at times?

Because we love other things more than God!

St. Augustine once prayed.

Too late have I loved You. Too Late have I loved you!

O God You were within me but I was in the world.

You were with me, but I was not with you.

You called and shattered my deafness.

Your Light put my blindness to flight.

I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst for you.

You touched me, and set me on fire.

Too late have I loved you!

For so many years Augustine was looking for God,

But God was within him all along.

For so many years Augustine was looking for Love,

But loving all the wrong things.

And then one day, he had his Pentecost and

The Spirit of Love, set him on fire!

And all He could say after all those wasted years was,

“Too Late have I loved you!”

Saturday 7th Week of Easter

 

The Gift of Wisdom

The Gift of Wisdom gives one the ability to have insight into people and situations that are not obvious to the average person.

So many things are hidden in life and not obvious.

But the Gift of Wisdom is given only to those who diligently search for her,

For She does not throw her pearls before swine,

But only to those who appreciate Her riches,

And seek them above all else.

Come Holy Spirit and give us the Wisdom that comes from God alone.

Friday 7th Week of Easter

The Gift of Understanding

What is Knowledge without Understanding?

A person may “know” what another person is saying,

But do they “understand?”

The Pharisees had knowledge of the Scriptures and the Prophets but they did not Understand what they knew.

The men on the road to Emmaus knew the Scriptures but did not understand that Jesus had to suffer and die until they were given the Gift of Understanding.

Come Holy Spirit with The Gift of Understanding and enlightens us to what we know but do not yet understand.

Thursday 7th Week of Easter

 

The Gift of Counsel

Even with all of our human knowledge and science and philosophy, we are still not sure what decision to make or which direction to go.

There are so many people in the world try to tell us what to do and where we should go,

But their Counsel only leads us into a dead end.

The Gift of Counsel from the Holy Spirit guides us and directs us how to choose rightly and which path to take.

But we must be docile to the promptings of the Holy Spirit

Like a leaf allows itself to be blown by the wind

if we wish to discern and follow the Counsel He offers us.

Come Holy Spirit and Counsel us on the choices of life we must make.

Wednesday 7th Week of Easter

 

The Gift of Knowledge

There is more to knowledge than what we learn from a book.

Life is a Book that can only be read to us by God.

And the Holy Spirit offers us to Gift of Knowledge so that we might learn the true meaning of Life.

The Holy Spirit gave St. Francis who never went to school, the Gift of Knowledge that all of Creation was his Brother and Sister.

Through the Gift of Knowledge not only are the mysteries of Life revealed to us but that we are all Brothers and Sisters in the Lord.

Come Holy Spirit, that I may have the Gift of Knowledge of the mysteries of God.

Tuesday 7th Week of Easter

 

The Gift of Piety

Unless we become like little children, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Mt. 18:3.

The Gift of Piety makes us like little children.

It gives us a Trust and Confidence not in ourselves but in God.

Jesus called God, “Abba” which means daddy.

When I was in Jerusalem, I heard children call their father “Abba”

Do we pray to God. Do we speak to God with the same tenderness, love and trust that a child does with its father?

Come O Holy Spirit with the Gift of Piety,

That I may sit in my Heavenly Father’s lap

Safe in His loving arms.

Monday 7th Sunday of Easter

 

The Gift of Fortitude

There are so many things in life that tempt us to give in to anger, and revenge, to hold on to a hurt.

We need the Gift of Fortitude to hold firm to Love instead.

Anger, revenge and Hurt will try to storm the walls of our hearts and get in but we must hold firm and keep them out.

Come of Holy Spirit and give us the Gift of Fortitude,

To hold firm in the spiritual battles we face in our daily lives.

God Bless

The Ascension

 

The Fear of the Lord

Have you ever loved someone so much that you never wanted to hurt them?

That you would never want to say or do anything that would offend them?

Because they are the most important person in your life.

Love does that!

Love lays down its life for the Beloved.

Love lays down its own ego and personal desires

For the one it loves.

Love can do this because Love finds its fulfillment in Loving.

This is the Gift of the Fear of the Lord that Holy Spirit gives to those who Love Him.

The Fear of the Lord is when one is afraid to hurt the one they love.

And they would never dream of doing or saying anything that would because it would break their heart.

Do we have the Gift of the Fear of the Lord?

Do we Love God so much that we would never want to do or say anything that would offend the Lord because it would break our hearts if we did?

Do husbands and wives love each other so much that they would never want to do or say anything that would offend the other because it would break their hearts if they did?

And what about siblings and friends.

What a wonderful world this would be if we all had the Gift of the Fear of the Lord.

Jesus had all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, because Jesus and the Holy Spirit were One!

So Jesus never wanted to do or say anything that would hurt or offend His Father.

As He said, “His food was to do the Will of the One who sent Him.” Jn. 4:34

Jesus always did whatever the Father asked Him so that the world would know that He loved the Father. Jn. 14:31

Does the world know that we Love the Father.

Do we Love the Father so much that we do anything He asks of us?

And would never want to offend Him?

This is the Fear of the Lord.

This is why Jesus ascended into Heaven.

Because He Loved His Father,

And nothing could keep Him from the One He Loved.

Friday 6th Week of Easter

 

Grief will become Joy Jn. 16:20-23

Nothing of value comes easy.

Hard work produces fruit

A woman in labor brings forth a child.

Faith that is tested brings Joy

Because Faith that is tested,

Realizes that nothing can defeat it.

That Even grief will become joy;

For every cross gives way to a resurrection

For those who have Faith.

Thursday 6th Week of Easter

 

Entered into Discussion Acts 18:1-8

Everywhere Paul went he ran into pagans and Jews who disagreed with him.

And what did he do?

He entered into discussions with them!

When we run into people who disagree with us,

Do we “enter in discussion” with them,

Or do we have an argument with them?

Discussions may seem to take longer to get anywhere,

But arguments always lead to nowhere!

Wednesday 6th Week of Easter

 

Worshipping an Unknown God Acts. 17:22-18:1

When Paul was preaching in Athens he saw how they claimed to be religious

but did not know what they were worshipping.

As they had an altar to an “Unknown God.”

Many people today claim to be religious and believe in God,

But do they really know God?

How well do we know God?

How well do we know Jesus?

Faith is not just going through the motions,

Or showing up for Church.

If it is then we too are praying to an “Unknown God.”

Tuesday 6th Week of Easter

 

Preaching the Gospel Acts. 16:22-34

Paul and Silas were attacked by a mob;

Stripped and beaten;

And thrown into jail.

Being a Christian will not always be easy.

People will ridicule us and think we are crazy.

And may even become violent.

What are we willing to endure for the sake of the Gospel

And our Faith in Jesus?

God Bless

6th Sunday of Easter

 

The Peace of Christ

The world claims to offer us Peace.

But where can we find it?

In Politics?

In our neighborhoods?

In Our Schools?

Between Nations?

The world thinks that if it gives you x ray machines at airports,

cameras on the city streets,

home security companies and

no gun zones at schools there will be Peace.

Does any of this make anyone feel "Peaceful?"

How many worries and anxieties steal our Peace of Mind?

Only Jesus offers True and Lasting Peace.

The disciples overcame their fear and came out from behind their locked doors,

After they received the Peace of the Risen Christ.

Every morning Mother Teresa faced thousands of homeless and dying in the streets of Calcutta,

She was was not overcome with worry and anxiety about what to do,

For she had the Peace of the Risen Christ.

St. Maximilian Kolbe was dying in the starvation bunker in Auschwitz,

But he was not overcome with fear or hatred towards his enemies,

For He had the Peace of the Risen Christ.

They all found Peace the world could not give nor take away.

A Peace that only comes from the Risen Christ.

We too can have that same Peace!

At every Mass, after the Our Father, Jesus offers us that same Peace.

Do we realize the unbelievable gift He is offering us?

Of does it just go over our heads as we go through the motions of Mass?

No matter where one is.

No matter what one is enduring.

No matter what one is lacking or suffering.

Those who have Christ have a Peace that endures it all.

A Peace that overcomes and conquers all.

A Peace the world simply does not have and cannot give!