Friday 3rd week of ordinary time

St. John Bosco

The early Franciscans were known as an Order of penitents. 

But what does it mean to do penance?

And what kind of Penance should we do?

St. John Bosco wrote,

“Your mortification should be your diligence in doing your duties and in putting up with the annoyances of others."

“There are plenty of ways to practice mortification! Just patiently endure cold, heat, sickness, troubles, people, happenings, and so forth."

We do not have to go in search of great Penance and Mortification. 

The opportunities are always right in front of us in our daily work and community life. 

And once we have learned how to do those daily mortifications,

Then we can move on to greater ones

But not until then. 

First things first. 

Thursday 3rd Week of Ordinary Time

 What is your measure Mk. 4:21-25

Jesus tells us,

“ The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” Mt.  7:2

So what is the measure of our love?

What is the measure of our forgiveness?

That is how much love and forgiveness the Lord will give us in return. 

Or what is the measure of our anger or impatience or criticism we measure out to others?

This too will one day be measured out to us. 

Fill our cup O Lord, overflowing with Love and Forgiveness and Patience so that the same may overflow from your hand to us one day. 

Wednesday 3rd Week of Ordinary Time

 One Sacrifice for sins Heb. 10:11-18

Before Jesus, priests would enter the Temple and offer sacrifice for sins;

But the sins were never taken truly taken away. 

So they kept offering sacrifices daily. 

When Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. 

All sins were taken away once and for all;

For those who turn to Him;

For He is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. 

Now at Mass, that same sacrifice is offered. 

It is not a new sacrifice but the SAME sacrifice of Jesus,

made present to us Sacramentally here and now 

for the forgiveness of our sins. 

Thomas Aquinas

 By our wounds we are known

One day while Thomas Aquinas was at his desk studying

He had a vision of a man

Dressed in white, light shining all about him

Looking glorious. 

And Thomas asked the man who he was. 

And the man said 

“I am your Lord”

And Thomas said,

“If you are my Lord, show me your wounds.”

And instantly the man disappeared. 

Because it was the devil disguising himself as Jesus. 

Jesus is known by His wounds. 

And so are we!

There are some Christians who outwardly look like Jesus,

But are only in disguise. 

It is By the wounds we bear. 

And the wounds we suffer

By forgiving and turning the other cheek. 

That We too will be known as True Christians. 

Monday 3rd Week of Ordinary Time

 A Sanctuary, A Covenant, A Sacrifice. 

In the Old Testament

The priest would enter into the Sanctuary that Solomon had built

And would sacrifice an animal. 

For the forgiveness of sins. 

And the priest would do this over and over again. 

Now no longer. 

For Jesus is the High priest who enters into a sanctuary not made of stone by human hands

But a Heavenly one made by God. 

And the sacrifice He offers is Himself. 

Rather than pouring the blood of animals on the doorpost as at the Exodus;

The Blood of Jesus is poured on our hearts. 

We no longer offer animal sacrifices,

Because the Sacrifice of Jesus,

Once and for all sets us free

To enter the Heavenly Sanctuary. 

And that same Sacrifice, becomes present to us at the Mass,

That frees us 

So that we can enter the Heavenly Sanctuary. 

The 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

 The Jubilee Year

2025 is a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church. 

A jubilee year goes all the way back to Old Testament times ,

When in the book of Leviticus slaves and prisoners were set free; debts forgiven and God manifested His mercy in a special way. 

All Jubilees ultimately come from Jesus. 

For the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him to proclaim glad tidings to the poor;

Liberty to captives;

Sight to the blind and freedom for the oppressed. 

The Catholic Church celebrates a Jubilee Year every 25 years,

So that we can repent, forgive and renew our Faith. 

For when we repent of our sins, we are better able to forgive others of theirs and our Faith is deepened. 

While Faith and Hope are related,

Hope is a feeling and an emotion that one can make it;

That tomorrow will be better;

The prisoners of Auschwitz who survived,

Had Hope that one day they would be liberated. 

Without Hope there is no future. 

Hope is the expectation that something good and positive is going to happen. 

People who have Hope get out of bed in the morning. 

People who have Hope try again. 

People who have Hope never give up. 

Hope is all about reaching and believing in better days, 

Loss, despair and suffering are constantly trying to steal our Hope. 

As we journey through this world 

with its ups and downs; suffering and loss; 

uncertainties about tomorrow there are times when we may despair. 

That is why the theme for this Jubilee year is “Pilgrims of Hope.”

For Jesus is Hope in the face of despair for those who turn to Him. 

And that is the difference between Judas and Peter

Judas despaired and hung himself

While Peter had Hope that Jesus would forgive him. 

For those who have Hope

There is always tomorrow!

Friday 2nd Week of Ordinary Time

A New Covenant Heb.  *:6-13

On Mount Sinai God made a Covenant with Israel that He would be their God and Israel would be His people. 

And it was written on stone tablets. 

The people however did not keep their part of the covenant 

And the stone tablets were broken. 

So Jeremiah prophesied that one day God would make a new Covenant,

And write it not on stone but on our hearts;

A covenant of Love whereby the Sacred heart of Jesus would be united with our hearts forever. 

The only problem is that sometimes our hearts are harder than stone. 

Thursday 2nd week of Ordinary Time

 The Priesthood.  Heb. 7:25-8:6

In the Old Testament Priests offered Sacrifice for sins over and over again. 

Jesus however is the High Priest Who offered Himself once and for all for sins so that no other sacrifice needs to be offered.  

Every Priest at every Mass offers the SAME sacrifice that Jesus offered on Calvary. 

For at the Last Supper Jesus made the Sacrifice of Calvary Sacramentally present to His disciples as  He gave them His Body and poured out His Blood for them.  

So we are being saved and experiencing our own redemption here and now 

by the Sacrifice of Calvary made Sacramentally present to us through the Sacrifice of the Mass. 

Wednesday 2nd week of Ordinary time

 The right to life

Every human being from conception until death is made in the image and likeness of God

To be made in the image and likeness of God does not mean that God has arms and legs. 

It means that God has made us in such a way that we reflect Him and His image,

Whether we are one day old or 100yrs old.  

From the moment of our existence in our mother’s womb 

we reflect God and His image. 

our littleness, our feebleness, our strength our helplessness all reflect God in one way or another. 

It is not our size or age or strength or intelligence or power but our very existence and life itself that reflects the image and likeness of God from conception to death to eternity. 

Tuesday 2nd Week of Ordinary Time

 Tuesday 2nd week of Ordinary time 

St. Agnes

Agnes lived in Rome at the last half of the 3rd century,

During the time of the Christian persecution.

She was a young girl about the age of 12 who decided to dedicate her life to Jesus. 

Many men wanted to marry her but when she refused,

She was imprisoned in a house of prostitution. 

She was later condemned and suffered martyrdom.

She heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Let the children come to me.” Mt 19:14

And she followed Him. 

We are all children of God,

But do we listen to our Heavenly Father’s voice

As did Agnes?

Monday 2nd week of Ordinary Time

 Priests are taken from among men. Heb. 5:1-10

Where do priests come from?

They come from families. 

With parents and brothers and sisters. 

If priests come from families

Then does it not reason that if families are broken 

The priest will be broken 

And if families are holy

The priests will be holy. 

So if one wants good and holy priests

Look at your family 

Because that is where it all begins!

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

 The First Miracle

If you could perform any miracle what would it be?

Would you heal the sick?

Feed the hungry ?

Raise the dead?

The first miracle that Jesus performed was to make more wine!

To change water into wine so that the wedding feast could continue. 

Of all the miracles He could have performed why this one?

Because He came to restore the union of God with Man. 

There was a wedding a Cana;

Where a bride and groom promised to be together forever. 

In a wedding the bride and groom make a covenant to be true to one another 

Faithful to another. 

To love and honor one another till death. 

This union of bride and groom represents

the union Of God and Humanity. 

At Sinai, God and humanity 

Made a covenant to be true to one another;

Faithful to one another 

And to love and honor forever. 

Unfortunately humanity has not kept its promises. 

We have not always been true or Faithful. 

We have not always loved God and honored Him. 

So the Son of God became human to renew and restore the Covenant between God and Humanity. 

In Jesus one human being has been true and faithful;

Has loved and honored God till death. 

And the wedding feast of Cana is the beginning of the renewal of the Marriage Covenant between God and Humanity 

 

Where in Heaven God and Humanity will forever be united in one Eternal Wedding Feast of Love.