Saturday 30th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Trading Places

Many years ago I visited a man who was both blind and deaf.

Something must have happened to him later in life because he could talk but not see or hear.

We communicated through a small typewriter.

I would type a word and he could feel with his fingers the letters that I typed.

At the end of our visit, I laid hands on him and prayed, as I did I thought to myself,

"Would I take his place?"

Would I become blind and deaf so that he could see and hear?

Would you?

Would any of us take the place of a homeless person so that they could have a home?

Would we take the place of a prisoner so that he could be free?

Would we take the place of someone in the hospital so that they could go home?

Would we take the place of someone who is dying so that she could live?

This is what God did!

In Jesus, God took our place on the cross so that we could live.

He took on our sins and our guilt so that we could be forgiven.

He took on our wounds and suffering so that we could be healed.

So much does He love us.

By the Cross, we know how much God loves us.

How much we love others is determined by the crosses we are willing to bear for them.

God Bless

Friday 30th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Sabbath Rest

The Pharisees were scandalized that Jesus healed on the Sabbath.

They failed to understand that by healing the man with dropsy on the Sabbath

that Jesus was truly fulfilling the Sabbath,

for the Sabbath was meant to be a day when we rest in the Love and Mercy of God.

When we see a person who is broken, lost or hurting,

Do we ever say that it has been a long day and We are tired and need some rest.

Do we ever make excuses like the Pharisees and turn a blind eye?

Pain, sorrow, suffering and heartbreak do not know or care what day it is.

When People take a rest from Love and Mercy,

then pain, sorrow, heartbreak and suffering continue.

If we need a rest, take a break from our own drive for self satisfaction and self fulfillment but never from Love and Mercy.

God Bless

Thursday 30th Week of Ordinary Time

 

What are wearing?

When winter comes,

we usually put on warm clothes and a heavy coat to protect us from the cold.

But what do we wear when the world become cold with lies, selfishness and war.

We put on the armor of God. Eph.6:11

Put on Truth, Holiness and Peace.

Put on the helmet of Salvation

And the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

We don’t go outside unprepared for the weather,

Why go out into the world unprepared?

Because if we do,

We Will be over whelmed and overcome

By the cold harsh ways of the world.

God Bless

The Apostles Simon and Jude

 The Foundation

A foundation plays a major role in the construction of a building.

A good and strong foundation keeps the building standing

Even when the forces of nature wreak havoc.

The Catholic Church is built and founded on the Apostles.

The men who lived with Jesus for three years.

Who heard His teaching and who saw His miracles.

And most of all who saw Him risen from the dead.

Any other church is built on sand and hearsay

And will not stand.

The Catholic Church goes back to the Apostles and we know this because the remains of the Apostles are all found in Catholic Churches.

But the Church is not built on their remains,

But on their living Spirit handed down to every bishop

Who is there successor.

This is what makes the Catholic Church and Apostolic Church.

God Bless

Monday 30th week of Ordinary

 

Be Imitators of God. Eph 4:33

So many children grow up imitating what they see on TV

Or the video games they play.

And then they become adults and continue doing the same thing

They learned as a child.

St. Paul told the Ephesians,

To be imitators of God instead.

Be Kind, Compassionate and Forgiving.

If we want to be holy as God is holy 1Peter 1:16

Then there is no room in our hearts for

Impurity, gossip or greed.

God is Light so therefore live now as children of Light. Eph.5:8

God Bless

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

How do we Love?

A man came up and asked Jesus which is the Greatest Commandment.

And Jesus answered by saying,

We must Love God with all our heart and soul and with all our mind.

And our neighbor as ourself. Mt. 22:34-40

As they always say,

“Practice what you preach!”

So How did Jesus show that He loved His Father,

Will all His heart and soul and strength?

When he was tempted in the desert

with food, power and popularity He rejected it all.

He said “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” Jn. 4:34

And in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed,

“Not my Will but Thy Will be done.” Mt. 26:39

How do we show that we love God with all our heart and soul and mind?

Is our food to do the Will of God?

Do we pray,

Not my will but God’s Will be done?

Is coming to Church for one hour, one day a week,

Showing that we Love God with all our heart and soul and mind?

How did Jesus show that he loved His neighbor as He loves Himself?

He washed the feet of His disciples. Jn. 13:5

And He laid down His life for His friends. Jn. 15:13

Because There is no greater love.

What does our neighbor need from us?

What are we willing to sacrifice for our neighbor?

Do we even know our neighbors name?

And finally do we really love ourselves.

Are the things we eat and watch and do and read......

Are they really good for us?

The reason that God made The Great Commandment

to Love God with all our heart and soul and mind and

To Love our neighbor as ourself,

Is not to tell us what to do,

But because it is what makes life worthwhile and worth living.

And the more we do it the better life gets.

God Bless

Saturday 29th week of Ordinary Time

 

Bad and Good

Jesus taught that Bad things happen to Good people.

This was revolutionary.

Many people believed that if they led a good life,

Nothing bad would happen to them.

But the tower of Siloam fell on those people not because they were bad. Lk. 13:1-9

But because it is a part of life.

No one is all good or all bad.

Therefore all need to repent,

And thus be prepared for whatever comes along in life.

God Bless