13th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 God did not make death Wisdom 1:13

Everyday we experience death. 

The sun sets and night comes. 

We say good by to people we may never see again. 

Yesterday is gone never to return. 

Death is part of our daily lives. 

God however did not make death. 

God made us to be imperishable. 

In His own Eternal image. 

We on the other hand make death. 

Mankind has never known a time without war. 

In the last 100yrs alone, there have been over 230 million killed in wars 

Between an estimated 72 countries. 

Between 2015-2019 there have been 292 million abortions worldwide 

That is just for 4 years. 

It is quite possible that there have been over one billion abortions in the last 40 yrs. 

slavery and human trafficking is not a thing of the past it continues to this day even in our own country. 

In the past 20yrs there have been over one million drug related deaths in the United States alone. 

Shootings in our city streets are more common than jaywalking. 

We are divided racially, politically, religiously, sexually and culturally. 

And then there is the death by a thousands cuts

As we gossip, criticize and judge others about everything great and small. 

God is not the cause of death. 

We are!

We are hemorrhaging as a race!

Like the woman in the Gospel, we need to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. 

We however have something greater than his garment. 

We have His Body and Blood. 

That we receive at Communion. 

But like the woman 

We must receive it with Faith;

A Faith that is put into practice everyday and not just on weekends. 

Or it will have little effect. 

Jesus came to save us from death. 

He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly Jn. 10:10

Saturday 12th Week of Ordinary Time

 Prayer To The Immaculate Heart Of Mary

     O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Heavenly beauty and splendor of the Father,
You are the most valued Heavenly treasure.
     New Eve, immaculate in soul, spirit and body,
Created of the godly seed by the Spirit of God,
You are the spiritual Mother of mankind.
     Pure Virgin, full of grace then and now,
Your whole being was raised Heavenly in full glory,
To be elevated above all the hosts within the Kingdom of God.
     O Heavenly Mother, Queen of Heaven and earth,
I recognize the glory of your highest title,
The Immaculate Heart of Mary!

     Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings,
You who continuously intercedes on our behalf,
Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus.

Make your request

Friday 12th Week of Ordinary Time

How did the New Testament come about?

In the early church there was no single New Testament for the first 300 yrs. 

There were numerous writings that all claimed to come from the Holy Spirit. 

There were Gospels from Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Philip, James, and Peter and Paul, name a few. 

So How was a person to know which ones were authentic and which ones were not?

St. Irenaeus went through all of the books and gave reasons why some were authentic and some were not. 

It is through much of his work that we have come to accept which books were inspired by the Holy Spirit and which ones were not. 

And even today we must continue to hold to the books that were inspired by the Holy Spirt and recognize those that were not. 

Thursday 12th Week of Ordinary Time

 Carried off 2Kings 24:8-17

The King of Babylon surrounded Jerusalem

And carried off all the inhabitants into exile. 

For they did not follow the commands of the Lord. 

There are times in life when we too feel surrounded. 

By suffering, sorrow and the demands of life. 

And they too threaten to carry us away,

Unless we listen to the Lord and His commands. 

To trust in Him and be not afraid. 

Wednesday 12th Week of Ordinary Time

 By their fruits Mt. 7:15-20

There is so much news and information available in the world today

That how does one know what to believe?

By their fruit!

Now fruit does not happen overnight. 

It takes time for a tree to grow and then bear fruit. 

So do not bite, as soon as you hear or see something. 

But give it time and test it

To see if it is good fruit or bad!

Tuesday 12th Week of Ordinary Time

 Do unto to others Mt. 7:6-14

Life is not complicated. 

We make it that way. 

Jesus tells us to do to others,

What we want them to do to us. 

Try it for one week 

And see how things change. 

Maybe not everything will change as much as we want. 

But at least our hearts will. 

For they will be a Peace

Having done the right thing

And not returning evil for evil. 

And that is a very good start. 

Monday 12th Week of Ordinary Time

 The Birth of John the Baptist

Before a child is born,

Parents often have dreams of what their child will be. 

It is the same with God. 

Before a child is born;

When it is being formed in the depths of its mother’s womb,

God has dreams for it. 

Before his birth, The Lord had a dream for John the Baptist.

To be a sharp edged sword; A polished arrow;

To be a light to the nations,

So that salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. 

Before we were born,

God had a dream for each one of us. 

Like John the Baptist 

God has prepared us and given us the gifts necessary.

To fulfill our calling. 

We know what John’s calling was,

But do we know what our is,

What our calling is from before we were born?

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 Questioning God. Job 38

Job had it all!

Wealth, Health, prestige, family and friends. 

And then He lost it all. 

His children died in a storm 

His wealth disappeared 

His health deteriorated 

And his family and friends deserted him. 

And in the midst of his suffering he begins to lament. 

He wishes he was never born. 

He blames God for all that has happened to him

And he asks God to turn away from him and leave him alone,

Long enough to swallow his own spit,

Before the next disaster comes upon him. 

And he questions God, Why?

He tried to be good. 

He did all that God asked.

Why is this all happening to him?

And rather than answer Job,

God chooses to ask Job a question. 

Where were you,

When I put the stars in the sky?

Where were you when I dug out the oceans

And built up the mountains?

Where were you when I made the birds in the sky

And the animals in the fields?

And to all of these questions, 

Job had no answer. 

For he was not there at the beginning of the world

And will not be there at the end. 

So in the face of God’s questions 

Job fell silent. 

And he realized that all he had came from God and would one day return to God. 

And all that Job had lost, came back to him a hundred fold. 

In the face of Job’s suffering and loss,

He teaches us that sometimes there are no answers to the questions of life

And all we can do is to have Faith!

For the One Whom the wind and sea obey,

Will one day still the storms and suffering of our lives as well!

Saturday 11th Week of Ordinary Time

  Consecration to the Immaculate Heart Of Mary

By Pope Pius XII

     Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, in this tragic hour of the world’s history, we entrust and consecrate ourselves to thine Immaculate Heart, our only refuge, our hope, our salvation.

     Have pity on this world, torn by the most terrible conflicts, burning with the fires of hate, victim of its own sins.

May thy Heart be moved at the sight of so much ruin, pain and sorrow.

     We consecrate to thy maternal heart our persons, our families, our country (name), the whole of humanity.

Protect and save us!

     O Heart of Mary, source of true love, fill our selfish hearts with Divine charity and with that true brotherly love without which there can never be peace.

     Grant that men and nations may understand and fulfill the precept of thy Divine Son, “Love one another”, in order that true peace may be firmly established in the Justice and Truth of Christ.

     Amen

Friday 11th week of Ordinary Time

 

Buried treasures Mt. 6:19-23

Everyone is looking for buried treasure and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

That winning lottery ticket of life. 

Most of what people think they treasure rusts, wears out or decays. 

But the greatest treasure cannot be bought or stolen or decays. 

And it is buried not in the ground or at the end of the rainbow 

But in our hearts. 

And it takes a long time to search what is in our hearts

To get down to the true treasure

That is buried there. 

Thursday 11th Week of Ordinary Time

Babbling Mt. 6:7-15

Jesus warns people against endless babbling when they pray. 

It is not the amount of words that impresses God

But what is in our hearts. 

Do we pray from our lips or from our heart?

How does God tell the difference between when one is praying and one is babbling. 

If we are always willing to forgive others,

then we are praying from our hearts. 

And not just babbling.