Monday 13th Week of Ordinary Time

 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”

Sunday Fest of Sts. Peter and Paul

Peter and Paul II

It is interesting that Jesus gave,

the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven  

To a man who denied Him;

and the mission to preach to the nations,

To a man who tried to eradicate the church. 

Would you entrust your house and the future to people like these?

Yet these are the two men on whom Jesus chose to build His church. 

Peter was a fisherman. 

A poor one at that. 

But when Jesus told him where to cast his nets they became filled to overflowing. 

Peter immediately realized Who was standing before him and said;

“Depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man.:  Lk. 5:8

Paul was a Pharisee whose mission was to persecute and eradicate all Christians,

Until Jesus appeared to him and knocked him off his high horse. 

Now why did Jesus choose such weak, sinful, men

Who denied him and persecuted His followers 

To build His Church upon?

So that there would be no doubt that any good; any holiness; any fruit 

came from God and not from them. 

Like Sts. Peter and Paul we are called to build the church in our own little corner of the world. 

And we may not feel qualified or holy enough. 

Neither did Peter or Paul. 

God does not call us because we are holy but because He is holy. 

And it is the Holy Spirit Who will give us all the gifts we need to accomplish His work. 

There is only one thing the Lord wants to know. 

 "Do we Love Him?" Jn. 21:17

Peter answered, "Yes Lord, You know that I love you."Jn. 21:17

And Paul answered, "I count all things as rubbish, except to know Christ Jesus my Lord." Phil. 3:8-10

If we love Him, Jesus will do the rest!

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Many people like to think that Mary's life was Blessed and Full of Grace and so it was, but that does not mean she had no trials to face or suffering to endure.

As a young girl she was facing pregnancy out of wedlock, having conceived the Son of God before she was married to Joseph. 

As a mother about to give birth she had no place to lay her newborn Son, except in a manger between the farm animals. 

Simeon prophesied that her heart would be pierced by a sword and so it was;

As she fled to Egypt to save her Son. 

As she lived as an immigrant in a foreign land. 

As she watched her Son carry His cross to His death. 

As she watched the Pharisees mock Him and His disciples desert Him. 

As She stood at the foot of the cross as He died. 

As she held Him in her arms when He came down from the cross. 

As she laid Him in the tomb. 

"Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow." Lamentations 1:12

And how did she respond to these trials and sufferings?

She contemplated them all in her heart. Lk. 2:19, 51.

Life and death, trials and sufferings do not always have answers. 

Sometime they are mysteries that can only be contemplated in one's heart. 

For in the depths of one's heart one finds the "the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations," "Who comforts us in all our afflictions." 2 Cor. 1:3-7.   And

 Who can only be contemplated not solved and figured out. 

The trials and sufferings that Mary endured in her life are not too different from the ones we face. 

Her Immaculate heart gives us courage and strength to contemplate them all in the depths of our own hearts as she did and to not lose hope and to have the Faith to face whatever cross may come.  

Friday 12 Week of Ordinary Time

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

The human heart can be so fickle. 

One minute filled with love,

The next with anger. 

One minute generous,

The next greedy. 

Almost always it is divided

Often desiring things it should not have. 

Yet longing for something greater.  

So we come to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

For in His Heart

All divisions cease. 

And the only longing is love. 

A love that sacrifices itself for another. 

A love that is unconditional 

A love that burns even in the coldest night. 

This is why we need to pray,

Jesus, Meek and Humble of Heart. 

Make my heart like Yours!

Today and everyday. 

Thursday 12 week of Ordinary Time

 True Prayer Mt. 7:21-29

True Prayer does not come from our lips but from our hearts. 

Just because someone says “Lord! Lord!” Does not mean they will enter the Kingdom of Heaven or that God will listen to their prayers. Mt. 7:21

These prayers are all built on sand;

And when the storm comes their spiritual house will be blown away. 

While those who prayer from their hearts,

Have their spiritual house built on Rock;

And no storm can shake their inmost calm;

While to that Rock they’re clinging.  

For their hearts are clinging to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

And noting can shake them. 

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?

What is real and what is fake. 

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!

The Birth of John the Baptist

 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 God before we were born?

Monday 12th week of Ordinary Time

The Beam in Our Eye.   Mt. 7:1-5

Did you see that!

Did you hear that!

I cannot believe He did that!

Very little gets past us nowadays. 

With the internet, Facebook, cameras everywhere nothing is private and therefore everyone has a comment about everything and everyone.

We have become judge and jury on each other.

But while we are quick to notice what everyone else is doing, very seldom do we notice or critique ourselves. 

Are we not all human beings cut out of the same cloth?

Formed from the same dirt?

Are we really so different from each other?

We are so busy noticing the splinter in the other person's eye, that we are blind to the wooden beam in our own. Lk. 6:42

Before we make a comment or judgement or critique abut another person we should always look in the mirror. 

And after taking a good, long, hard look in the mirror we might see more clearly and speak more wisely about the other person who only has a splinter in their eye. 

Corpus Christi

When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes

And everyone was filled and satisfied. 

He was foreshadowing the Last Supper;

When He would give His disciples;

Not bread and wine to satisfy their stomachs;

But His very Body and Blood to satisfy their souls. 

And so what we receive at this Holy Table;

Is the Same Body and Blood that the disciples received. 

We too receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. 

At Communion the Body of Christ becomes one with our our body;

The Blood of Christ we receive flows through our veins;

The Soul of Christ becomes one with our soul;

And the Divinity of Christ becomes one with our humanity. 

This is why we call it “Communion”

For in it we have Communion with God. 

God is no longer distant or separate from us;

But now close and intimate with us. 

But we must have Faith. 

If we do not have Faith;

Then What we receive at Communion will have no effect in us. 

But for those who do have Faith;

God dwells in them and them in God. 

And then nothing;

Absolutely nothing will separate them from the Love of God

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. 

Wednesday 11th Week of Ordinary Time

  God sees everything Mt. 6:1-18

Sometimes we cannot see beyond our nose. 

Our vision is limited by our desires and our prejudices

By What we read and to what we listen. 

God however sees everything,

From the top of the highest mountain to the deepest depths of the human heart. 

Therefore do not do things for others to see and hear. 

For they are blind and deaf. 

Instead do it all For God Who sees all and knows all,

And Who will repay according to what He sees and hears.