St. Jerome
St. Jerome spent most of his life in a cave in Bethlehem translating the Scriptures from Greek and Hebrew into Latin.
In doing so He wrote every single word of the Bible.
And in writing every word of the Bible
He really got to know Jesus.
So much so that he said,
“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”
How well do we really know Jesus?
That all depends on how much time we spend reading the Bible!
Gehenna
Gehenna is one of the three valleys that surrounds Jerusalem.
It was a place of fire and child sacrifice.
It is the valley where Judas hung himself.
And Jesus uses the image of Gehenna to describe hell,
As a place of fire and punishment, death and despair.
Is there anyone in Hell or who might be there I do not know.
It is not my job to determine who is going to Hell and neither is it anyone else’s.
It is only for Christ, Who will come on the Last Day to Judge the living and the dead.
to determine if anyone is there or who goes there.
He does warn us though that it exists and is not a place we want to go.
And that there are certain things that we look at;
that we run after;
that we hold onto
That lead us to the road to Hell.
The things we look at;
The things we run after;
The things we hold onto;
Where do they lead us?
Anyone who has been addicted to drugs or alcohol will tell you that they were on the road to Hell
And the great sacrifice that it took to turn around and go back.
Somethings in this world lead us to Heaven
And somethings lead us to Hell
And it is important to know the difference between.
But when it comes to the Kingdom of Heaven
There is nothing in this world worth looking for, running after or holding onto
That we should risk the fires of Gehenna for them.
And until the Lord comes again to judge the living and the dead.
We should never judge another person,
For if not for the grace of God that could be us.
St. Vincent de Paul
St. Vincent de Paul spent his whole life ministering to the poor.
When we see someone dressed in fine clothes and driving a fancy car or living in a mansion what first comes to our mind?
When we see someone sleeping in the streets, wearing ragged clothes and never having washed what do we think?
Which one do we admire and want to associate with?
Do we ever blame the poor for the state they are in
And praise the rich?
St. Vincent de Paul once said, “Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favorable light at all times and under all circumstances.
Because we may not know the circumstances that have brought that person to where they are.
Sts. Cosmos and Damian
Cosmos and Damian are two names you don’t hear too often,
Yet were so well known in the Church that their names have been a part of the Roman Canon (First Eucharistic Prayer) at Mass for over 1500 yrs.
They were Christian who were crucified, stoned and eventually beheaded.
They were twin brothers who practiced medicine without charge.
And who performed miraculous cures.
We may not perform miraculous healings of the sick,
But the words we speak to others can be a source of spiritual and emotional healing in ways we may not even be aware.
A lamp for my feet ps. 119
It is easy to stumble and fall in the dark.
And so we take flashlights to show us the way.
It is easy to stumble and fall in this world.
How many times have we gotten ourselves into trouble by what we said or did.
Or took the wrong path because we were blinded by our passions and prejudice ps and fears.
When things get dark in life and the world
And we are not sure where we are going
Turn to the Word of God’ the Bible
And let it be a lamp for our feet
To guide us along the right path
Mother of Jesus. Lk 8:19-21
Mary’s greatness lies not in giving birth to Jesus.
But most of all in her Faith and doing God’Will.
First she believed what Gabriel said to her
And then the Holy Spirit overshadowed her.
Then she responded to Gabriel and said,
Let it be done to me according to your word.
And then she conceived.
Before we can conceive Christ in our hearts
We must first have Faith and be willing to do God’s Will.
And THEN we can be the Mother, the brother the sister of the Lord.
Feast of Padre Pio Sept. 23
Padre Pio once said
“Whoever does not meditate,
is like someone who never looks in the mirror before going out,
and may go out dirty and disheveled without knowing it.
While The person who meditates
Looks into the mirror of his soul,
And seeks to know his faults,
And correct them and clean up their own soul.
The next time we look in the mirror,
May it be a time To look into our own souls
To see if our soul is clean;
Least, Last and Servant of all Mk. 9:30-37
Who likes being last?
Last in line?
Last to be thought of?
Last to be considered ?
Who likes being the Least?
Not appreciated?
Not noticed?
Considered unimportant?
Who likes being the servant.
Cleaning up after others?
Being told what to do?
Waiting on others?
No one!
And that’s the problem
No one likes being Last
The Least
Or the Servant
Yet that is exactly what Jesus tells us that we must be.
For this is what Jesus was.
The One Who emptied Himself and took the form of a slave.
The One born in a manger;
Who came not to be served but to serve.
And wash the feet of others.
This is what we are called to do and to be as Christians.
Many Christians are Christian by name
But Only if we are Last, the Least and the Servant of all are we Christian by fact.
Andrew Kim and Paul Chong and Companions
The Church in Korea is unique because it was founded by lay people,
for there were no priests.
In less than a century, 10,000 laity were martyred for the Faith.
103 of the Korean martyrs are celebrated today:
they are mostly lay men and women:
some married, some not; some old, some young, some even children.
Today we ask ourselves
As a Layperson, what have I done for my Parish and the spread of my Faith?
The Central message 1 Cor. 15:1-11
What is the central message of the Gospel?
If we do not get that right then the rest of the Gospel message will be lost.
According to St. Paul it is that, Christ died for our sins; Was buried; And raised on the Third Day.
Therefore we must acknowledge our sins. And that Christ died for them. That He was buried like all of us will be one day. And that He was raised from the dead And we will too if we believe in Him.
It is a simple message of the reality of sin The inevitability of death. And the Promise of everlasting life.
Some people will never listen Lk. 7:31-35
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They sang a dirge and the
y did not weep.
No matter what Jesus said and did,
Whether He preached fire and brimstone
Or the Mercy of God.
Fasted or feasted;
Whether He healed the sick
Or laid down His life.
There were those would not listen
No matter what He did.
And we should not be surprised when the same happens to us.
No matter what we say and do.
All we can do is stay as Faithful as possible
So that we will be vindicated when the Time comes.
Just as there are many parts in the body
Such as eyes, legs, arms and heart.
And each part has a role to play.
As we are one Body in Christ,
So there are many parts in the Body of Christ!
There are teachers and preachers,
Sacristans and secretaries;
Those who pray and those who do manual labor;
For the Body to be healthy,
Each part has to do its part and work together
For each part is important in its own way.
What part do we play we in our parish?
We may think there is confusion in the church nowadays
But it is nothing compared to the time of Pope Cornelius and Bishop Cyprian.
Both of them addressed false teachings in the church.
Both of them were exiled by the Roman Emperor
And both of them shed their blood for the Faith.
It is not easy being a Pope or a Bishop at anytime.
This is why we pray for them in every Eucharistic Prayer at Mass.
Because they face challenges that most people do not;
And bear burdens and sufferings that many are not aware of.
The Son of Man must suffer Mk. 8:27-35
When Jesus told His disciples that He would have to Sacrifice Himself,
Peter objected.
Now at first thought Peter’s objection made a lot of sense.
Why sacrifice yourself?
Why take up your cross?
It doesn’t make any sense.
Until one looks at it from this perspective.
If a child is sick; or hungry or naked
Do not parents sacrifice themselves for the child;
If a platoon is under attack,
Do not soldiers sacrifices themselves for the life of the platoon?
If an athlete wants to win,
Do they not make great physical sacrifices
To win the prize?
Sacrificing ourselves for something that is important or valuable to us is very common and understandable.
The world was dying;
From war, hatred, greed, division, envy, and the list goes on and on.
But when it comes to saving the world,
What could one person’s sacrifice possibly do?
Nothing if you are merely human.
But if you are God,
Everything?
So Jesus Who just revealed to His disciples that He was the Christ told them that He was going to sacrifice Himself for the life of the world.
He was going to take the sins of the world upon Himself
And sacrifice Himself to save us.
He would give His back to those who beat him,
His cheeks to those who would plucke His beard
And His face he would not shield from buffets and spitting.
By His wounds we would be healed
What Jesus was facing was a spiritual battle
Between good and evil
Between life and death
And the cross was the only remedy and means to overcome them.
And so Jesus knew He had to sacrifice Himself to save us.
Even though at the time Peter did not understand
And maybe sometimes we do not either.
