Monday 19th Week of Ordinary Time

 Sowing bountifully 2Cor. 9:6-10

If a farmer sows only one seed,

He will reap only one stalk of corn.

Which is why he sows thousands of seeds.

For a rich and bountiful harvest.

If we sow only a little love and forgiveness

Then should we wonder why there is so

Little love and forgiveness in the world.

When it comes to sowing love and forgiveness

There is no season for sowing.

It is a daily affair!

God Bless

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 The devil wants nothing more than to separate us from God.

So he throws the kitchen sink at us sometimes

hoping that something, anything

will separate us from the Love of God.

So he tries anguish?

Who of us doesn’t anguish over decisions and questions we face.

Well Jesus is with us in our Anguish,

He faced tough decisions and questions,

As he anguished in the Garden of Gethsemane

about doing His Father’s Will.

And then he tries Distress.

Who does not feel the distress of the Virus, Politics and social unrest.

Jesus is with us in our Distress,

As He stood on the Mount of Olives weeping,

over the impending destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

Will persecution separate us from the love of God?

Christians are persecuted everywhere

by ridicule, imprisonment and even death.

Jesus is with them too in their Persecution

As He too was persecuted, mocked and condemned.

Will famine separate us from the Love of God?

So many people hunger for Food, Hope and Peace in Life,

Jesus is with us in our hunger,

As He gives us His very flesh and blood to eat.

Will nakedness separate us from the love of God

So many people go naked,

Stripped of family, love, support.

The basic necessities of life.

Jesus is with them in their nakedness.

As He was stripped of His Friends and His Clothes

And left naked on Calvary

Will Peril separate us from the love of God?

When the storms of life threaten to sink us,

Jesus is with us even there.

As He calms the wind and the waves and brings us safely to shore.

Will the sword separate us from the Love of God?

When we are in danger of death,

Jesus is there dying on the cross with us,

Offering us Paradise.

Jesus is with us through it all.

So that neither death nor life,

Nor angels or demons

NOTHING on earth below or the Heavens above

Can ever separate us from the Love of God,

That comes to us through Christ Jesus.

God Bless

Pope St Sixtus II and his companions ( - 258)

 Sixtus was elected Pope in 257 A.D.

Twelve months later, on 6th August,

as he was celebrating Mass in the catacomb of St Calixtus,

he was seized by the authorities

(it was the time of Valerian’s persecution)

and beheaded along with four of his deacons.

He was buried in the same catacomb.

St Lawrence another deacon, was captured and executed four days later.

We celebrate his feast 4 days from now.

Pope Sixtus realized that every Mass he celebrated

He was sharing in the death of Christ.

And so we say “When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,

We proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes again.”

Every Mass we celebrate too is a sharing in the death of Christ just as He shares in ours.

And so we will share in His resurrection

God Bless

St. Dominic Aug. 8

 St. Dominic was born to a wealthy and noble family in Spain,

But left all of his wealth and fame behind,

So that he could follow Jesus more closely.

He was famous for his preaching which brought others to Christ and away from heresy.

What are willing to give up to follow Jesus more closely,

And do our words and actions

Lead others closer to Christ,

Or farther away?

God Bless

The Transfiguration

The world is offering us transfiguration, transformation.

If you do not like your body, exercise and change it.

If you do not like your face, get a face lift and change it.

If you do not like getting old, dye your hair or buy a new car.

The world however is only offering to change us on the outside.

It offers us nothing on the inside.

Contentment, peace, joy, self acceptance, forgiveness, love, and hope cannot be bought, botoxed, dyed, or exercised.

Because these things are not material.

They are spiritual!

Spiritual transformation can only come through doing spiritual things.

Prayer, penance, sacrifice, fasting.

These are the things that transform our spirits.

At the Transfiguration, the hidden glory of Christ was revealed and shown through.

What was inside of Him was revealed.

Beauty, love, hope, joy, peace, and forgiveness know no age and cannot be found in clothes, cars, homes or face lifts, because they all come from within.

The feast of the transfiguration is a time of interior transformation that truly changes our lives from the inside out!!

God Bless

The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Aug. 5

The Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in the 431 proclaimed Mary as the Mother of God to show that Jesus was not only fully God but also fully human as well.

Soon after the council,

The Pope dedicated a church to her honor in Rome.

The church of St. Mary Major,

The oldest Church dedicated to Mary in the Western world.

This feast in her honor,

Is a good day to dedicate ourselves to her,

As did Jesus Who called her Mom!

God Bless

St. John Vianney Aug. 4

The Cross

St. John Vianney is the Parton of parish priests.

He lived in the small backwater rural town of Ars.

And one day he preached on the cross.

He said “Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses.”

Instead “We ought to run after crosses as the miser runs after money. .

Nothing but crosses will reassure us at the Day of Judgment.

When that day shall come,

we shall be happy in our misfortunes, proud of our humiliations, and rich in our sacrifices!

God Bless