What would you do? Rom. 9:1-5
Jesus sacrificed Himself to save the guilty.
St. Paul offered to cut himself off from Christ in order to save his fellow Jews.
What are we willing to sacrifice in order to save another person?
From their sin; their addiction; their pain and suffering; their waywardness?
It all begins with love;
With the desires of the heart..
Nothing Separates us from the Love of God. Rom. 8:31-39
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It seems as if we are always saying hello or goodbye.
Because time and space separate us from one another.
But love does not know time or space.
For love transcends time and space.
This is why nothing can separate us from the Love of God.
No matter where we are;
Or what we are doing;
As long as we love;
God is present to us;
And so are all those whom we love.
No matter where they may be.
The Spirit and the Flesh Rom 8:12
We are made up of Spirit and Flesh.
It is the Spirit that gives life.
The flesh will eventually turn to dust.
So why do we focus so much on the desires of the flesh
And ignore Spiritual things?
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Lk 18:9-14
The Pharisee and the tax collector are two unique individuals who turn our images of holiness and sin, saint and sinner upside-down.
At first glance the Pharisees' piety was pretty admirable. He tithed ten per cent of his income. He fasted two days a week. And he visited the Temple often. Outwardly he was the model religious person. The tax collector however was another story. He worked for the Romans who oppressed the Jews and occupied their land. He extorted people to get a better commission and this was probably one of the rare times that he ever darkened the doors of the temple.
Yet the tax collector was the one who went home justified before God! Perhaps the distance between a saint and a sinner is not that great. The greatest danger in being someone who practices their religion is to think that we have arrived at holiness and left our sins behind. And the greatest danger in being someone who does not practice their Faith is to think that we can never become holy!
If we are the practicing Catholic who gives alms and goes to Church and abstains from meat on Friday and who goes to confession; then we must never forget the sins we have left behind are always at our doorstep.
If we are the tax collector, the person who never really goes to Church or thinks of God too often because of our love for pleasure and money, we must never forget that holiness is always within our grasp if only we acknowledge our need for God's mercy..
In the end it does not really matter which one we are, the Pharisee or the tax collector or somewhere in between because God's Mercy is always there just waiting for us to ask for it!
What I do is not what I want Rom. 7:18-25
The great St. Paul had his struggles.
He did not always do the good he wanted,
But the evil he did not want.
He had an interior struggle within himself of wanting to do good, but doing evil instead.
Who has not experienced this.
Wanting to say something nice,
But saying something mean instead.
Wanting to avoid overeating
But having that second helping instead.
Wanting to love one’s enemy,
But hating them instead.
The struggle within ourselves is real
And cannot be ignored
And can only be won with the help of Christ
Who will deliver us by His Power and not our own.
The wages of sin is death. Rom. 6:19-23
The 7 Deadly sins are Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Anger,Envy and Pride.
These are deadly because they kill the soul.
They promise many things but in the end,
They make slaves of all who let them in.
And breaking free from them becomes harder and harder as they
Become habit forming and seek to control everything in a person’s life.
Jesus died on the cross to show us how to die to these sins and become free of their hold on us.
And know the Freedom of being a child of God
And Eternal Life in His Kingdom.
Faithful and Prudent Servants Lk. 12:39-48
There were Faithful Stewards and neglectful Stewards in the Gospel.
And each one had to give an accounting to their Master for what was entrusted to them.
Each one of us has been given something by God to take care of.
Family, a job, the church; a house; a neighbor.
What kind of steward have we been?
Have we been Faithful
Or have we neglected what the Lord asked us to care for?
The Lord will come at an hour we do not expect;
And ask for an an accounting of what we were entrusted with.
Here I am Lord Ps. 40
How often do we pray,
“Here I am Lord, I come to do your Will.”
Do we really mean it or is it merely something we recite at church?
To do God’s Will means to set aside our will.
Easier said than done.
For like the Israelites, we are a willful and stiff necked people.
Before we say those words,
We must be willing to set aside our desires and wants first.
Maybe we should say instead,
“Here I am Lord I come to do Your Will and not my own.”
Abraham the Father of Faith Rom. 4:20-25
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Abraham was fully convinced that God would accomplish what he said He would do, so Abraham set out to a new land.
Faith leads to action.
Doubt leads to nothing.
Like Abraham, Faith may not always tell you exactly where you are going or what you should be doing
But Like Abraham those who have Faith go forward and eventually the Lord leads them to where He wants them to be.
While Those who doubt, stay home and never go anywhere.
Raised in Prayer Ex. 17:8-13
Israel was surrounded by enemies that sought to overwhelm them;
So Moses went up the mountain and raised his hands in prayer.
And as long as his hands were raised in prayer;
Israel won the battle.
But the battle was long and went for hours and Moses began to tire and his hands began to fall.
So friends of his came and supported his hands;
So that they remained raised up in prayer;
Until all of Israel’s enemies were defeated.
There are times when we too feel surrounded.
By fears; worries and other enemies that seek to overwhelm us.
It is at those times that we must raise our hands in prayer.
And when we do;
We will not be overcome.
But there are also those times when we tire;
And the battle never seems to end.
And it is hard to raise our hands in prayer.
It is at those times,
We need a little help from our friends!
To persevere and not give up
Who do we know that needs a helping hand ?
Who can we help lift up in prayer?
Reach out and grab hold of their hand
And lift them up.
For no one should have to fight their battles alone
The Feast of St. Luke Oct. 18
Jesus sent out 72 of His disciples in pairs to every town and village that He intended to visit.
The Lord sends each one of us before Him as well.
To work, to the store, to school, to the neighborhood.
Do we prepare the way of The Lord?
Or are busy preparing our own way?
If Christ is no longer present in the workplace, the marketplace, in schools or our neighborhood it is because we have not prepared the way for Him.
In order to prepare the way for Him in the world we must first prepare the way for Him in our hearts.
And we prepare for the Lord’s coming into our hearts everyday
By tidying up our hearts;
Throwing out all anger, lust, pride and selfishness.
And preparing a place of welcome.
A place of Faith; Hope and Love!
Where He feels at Home!
St. Ignatius of Antioch
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Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch in Syria in the year 100 A.D.
During the persecutions he was Chained and on his way to Rome to be fed to the lions in the Colessium, many Christians came out and greeted him on the way.
Ignatius told them not to pray for a way for him to escape, because he embraced dying for the Lord.
“Nearness to the sword is nearness to God;
to be among the wild beasts is to be in the arms of God;
I endure all things that I may suffer with Christ who strengthens me.”
Ignatius saw his suffering and death as his path to glory with Christ.
Do we?
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
St. Margaret Mary is the Patron Saint of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Who revealed His Sacred Heart to her in a vision.
She once wrote.
“We must never be discouraged,
Or give way to anxiety.
But always have recourse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “
“And Keep your heart in Peace.
Let nothing trouble you,
Not even your faults
Rather Humble yourself before the Lord. “
Who is Gentle and Humble of Heart!
And we will know His Peace.
St. Teresa of Avila
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St. Teresa prayed,
“Let nothing disturb you,Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things!
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.”
May nothing disturb us today;
Nothing frighten us;
It will all pass away
God alone will remain;
And suffice for everything.
Pope Callistus
Pope Callistus went from embezzling
to being a slave
to being imprisoned to the mines in Sardina
to Pope.
Quite a journey.
At the time,
There were those who taught that after Baptism,
If a person sinned, they could not be readmitted to Communion.
Callistus however taught that sinners could be readmitted to Communion if they repented.
Callistus had tasted the Mercy of God in Communion
And wanted to make sure that everyone else did too!
A Sign. Lk. 11:29-32
Many people look for signs from God;
But when the sign says
Exit now! Or Turn Around!
Many people ignore it.
They do not want to stop what they are doing
Or where they are going.
Jesus sends us signs everyday
But unless we are willing to read them
Or listen to them.
We will continue to go on our merry way;
Oblivious to the dead end to which it leads.
Grateful hearts Lk. 17:11-19
Why do we come to church?
First and foremost to give thanks.
That is what the word EUCHARIST means;
“To give thanks”
So where is everyone?
Many people do not come to God until they need something.
And then like the nine lepers who were cured;
Once they get what they want,
God never sees them again;
Until they need Him.
Giving thanks to God is not a “one time” thing.
For God blesses us everyday;
It’s just that we take all of these blessings for granted;
Until they disappear or we need something.
Every breath we take;
Every star in the sky;
Every talent we have;
Every morning we wake up;
Is a gift from God.
And usually only when we take our last breath;
Or the stars fall from the sky;
Or are talents run dry from old age or sickness;
Or we don’t wake up in the morning;
Do we finally realize how blessed we were.
A life lived in Thanksgiving to God;
Is a life that is truly alive;
To everyone and everything around them;
And it is all because of God!
And when one realizes this
One can’t wait to come to church
And thank the Lord!
Friday 27th Week of Ordinary Time
Jesus expelled Demons in the Gospel Lk.11:15-26
But Many people think that Demons are something from the Middle Ages and that Modern Society has moved beyond such things.
But they are just as real today!
Eating disorders, sexual and spousal abuse, drug addictions, bullying, body image, the past and other issues are possessing and haunting people.
Some people become depressed and even suicidal,
Fearful that they will never escape their Demons and their Darkside.
Jesus however is not afraid of Demons for He expels them.
There is freedom from the Demons that haunt us.
And it only comes from Jesus!
Just ask the Demons and they will tell you.
"For they know who He is, the Son of God!" Lk. 8:28
Feast of Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII was Pope at a time when the Church and Society were in great change.
The Second Vatican Council had begun and the Civil rights movement was just beginning
And all of it would lead to the tumultuous 1960’s.
And in the face of such change and upheaval,
Pope John would say,
“See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.”
There is really very little that one person, even a Pope can do.
So in the face of the changes taking place in our world,
Pope John gives us the same advice,
“See everything, overlook a great deal, and correct a little.”
And leave the rest to God!
