The Grace and Peace of God

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Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12

Can we imagine a world where:

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.

This is what we hear in the first reading from Isaiah today. The world that he had envisioned when the Messiah was brought forth. Yet today we can feel much more like John the Baptist as “A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” Our world today seems to be set up much different than the world we hear about in Isaiah.

We have some of those in favor of abortion calling those against abortion anti woman’s health. The famous line being My body My choice. In the same vein we have some of those who oppose abortion calling those who support abortion baby killers and sometimes worse. There is violence in the name of their cause at both abortion facilities as well as at pro life centers.

If this isn’t bad enough we have immigrants claiming we need to accommodate their needs without them coming into the country legally. And on the other side we have those who would like to arrest and deport everyone in the country illegally regardless of whether they are productive members of society.

All of this has led to a climate of tension, hostility and name calling and worse than that violence. We have families that won’t speak to each other because they are on opposite sides of one of the previously mentioned issues or some other issue. We live in an environment where social media allows people to comment with seeming impunity.

This does not seem to be a place where we can sit and have any peace in our lives. The more we interact with social media the more agitated we can become. That is unless of course you limit yourself to only people that you always agree with. I unfortunately do not have such a group since I, like many here, have varied opinions on the various topics of the day.

The finish of the Gospel today reminds us of the one we should follow.

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand.
He will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

We know that if we follow Christ, we can be considered his wheat and be gathered into his barn. The thing is Christ has opinions, ideas and ways of treating people that do not fit into any political category. If we truly follow his teachings, we cannot just follow democrats or republicans. We cannot even categorize ourselves as liberal or conservative.

When we follow Christ though we have the opportunity to treat ALL people with dignity and respect. This does mean the name calling and the labeling need to stop, because even if we disagree with Jesus’ teaching he will still treat us with dignity and respect. He will work through the Holy Spirit to try and get us to understand why he teaches that all humanity is equal. There are no garbage people in the world.

Pope Leo says about the immigration issue; “I believe we must seek ways of treating people with humanity, with the dignity that is theirs,” 

He does address the ability of the country to control its borders when he says. “If someone is in the United States illegally, there are ways to address this. There are courts. There is a judicial system. I believe there are many problems in the system. No one has said that the United States should have open borders,” the Pope noted, adding, “I think every country has the right to determine who enters, how, and when.”

This goes back to the reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans:

May the God of endurance and encouragement
grant you to think in harmony with one another,
in keeping with Christ Jesus,
that with one accord you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are called to live in harmony with one another by Jesus and through the scriptures. The bishops and those called to proclaim the gospel have asked us all to follow this prescription. It means we need to be willing to listen to one another even when we disagree as that is the least we can do to treat someone with dignity and humanity that is rightly theirs. It also means that no matter the situation we cannot be labeling people as this is designed to separate us, not bring us together.

When we get to this point we can then search for peace within our own hearts and help those around us find that peace as well. The more that we treat people like Jesus calls for them to be treated, the more peaceful our lives can become, because now we get to channel the grace we have been freely given. This grace we have been given by God is supposed to be shared, given away to all those around us.

It does not matter if they look like us, talk like us, are pro-abortion, or pro-life, all of them are to be treated with the same respect. We can only share this grace with them, it does not mean they will accept that grace. That is not our choice to make, it is theirs because they have been given the same grace by God that we have.

We should all strive to lead our lives within the grace of God as it will lead to a life that is well lived, not necessarily one free from strife. When we live within that grace though it allows us to handle the strife of our daily lives in a more balanced, peaceful way. It allows us to understand that while we can control many things in our lives we cannot control everything.

As we continue our preparation for Christmas during this time of Advent are we willing to begin living our lives and treating others with the Grace of God? By living through God grace we prepare for Jesus coming, both the anniversary of his birth and when he comes again. We will also be able to handle the stress of our live in a more joyful, peaceful way.

How Strong is our Faith

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Exodus 17:8-13, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8

How strong is your faith? We were told if our faith was the size of a mustard seed it would be more than enough. For those of you who don’t know a mustard seed is one of the smaller seeds around. Now this week we are presented with the question “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

So again I ask how strong is your faith? If all we look at is the news and the way our government is working we would think that our world had no faith whatsoever. I would even go so far as to say it appears that we not only don’t have faith, but we turn our backs on the idea of a God to the point of believing that we are God.

We see around us all of those who believe that the biological sex you were born with is changeable based on your own individual feeling. We see abortion as well as euthanasia being promoted as healthcare. We see the death penalty being promoted as justice. We see the poor and walk right past them, either ignoring them or even worse feeling superior to them. We are told that those who are in prison are irredeemable. Migrants that are treated as criminals even when they are trying to be good members of our society. Wars happening all over the world.

So how do we deal with all of this and have any faith in the world around us? Here is the thing, our call to faith is not for things on earth, we are called to have faith in God. We see what this faith in God is capable of in the readings from today. First, we have the reading from the book of Exodus. We see that the battle being waged between the Israelites and Amalek depend upon whether the staff of God remains raised. Aaron and Hur do their best to insure this even making Moses has a seat to sit on and assistance to keep his arms up when they get tired. With this faith in God the Israelites prevail in the battle.

Then in the gospel today we see the widow who continues to ask for a just decision from the judge. She is persistent in her request to the judge, who we know from the reading certainly doesn’t have faith. He still decides to do the right thing, not because of any faith in God, but for self preservation. He does not want to be struck by the woman and be embarrassed, that is his fear.

Based on these readings and what we should already be aware of is we need to begin with prayer, not just occasional prayer, consistent and persistent prayer. Being consistent just as Aaron and Hur were in holding up Moses arms during the battle. Being persistent as the widow was in asking for a just verdict.

Notice though prayer was just the beginning point. We then need to show our faith to the world in how we act. Saint Paul reminds Timothy;

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;”

All of these readings call together the idea of praying unceasingly as well as being persistent in spreading the message of the gospels.

We are mocked for calling for prayer when there is some natural disaster or mass killing, because they believe we should be doing more. Those who claim we should be doing more are right. The action is what seems to be missing from conversation in today’s world. This is the part we need to work on with everyone.

We can start this by changing the person who shows up for Mass once a week to prove to those around them they are faithful. We should stop acting like this is a sign to those we know that we have faith. We should begin to use this as a call to action to put our faith to work through our example. Prayer is a great place to start, then there will inevitably be some action required. Let us not be afraid to take this action because it is inconvenient.

Jesus never promised that if we followed his teaching that we would live of life of comfort or convenience. In one of his most famous lines he actually mentions that we are to carry our cross as we follow him. This means we are to use our struggles, tied to Him in order to show the world a better way to live.

When we are in a situation that we disagree with someone in we should not be abrupt and end the conversation, we should be strong enough and open enough to have that uncomfortable conversation. Who knows, we may even have strong enough arguments to bring that person to see our perspective. While they may not agree with it, there is at least an understanding that we have a valid reason for disagreeing with them. In doing so we are sowing love not hate.

By consistently having these conversations we can help to foster less strife in the world, and more compromise. Less violence and more coming together as one human race.

I am sure there are many of you who like me asks the same question about all of this though. Can I as an individual make that big a difference in the world?  Well we have a number of examples where a single person has that big an impact on the world.

Mahatma Ghandi made a difference by showing through non violent means that there was a way to change the trajectory for India. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the trajectory of race relations in the United States through talk and non-violence. Saint Mother Theresa showed how we are to care for the poor by her consistent example. I left the most well known individual for last.

We who are here all know who it is by now, and for those who may not I am talking about Jesus Christ. He was raised as a carpenters son who knew he had a much higher calling and showed through the strength of his and his Father in heaven’s will that he could change the world. He changed the world so effectively that we still talk about him today. The problem is those of us who believe in his teachings still wonder what we are supposed to do. He gave us a very good blueprint to follow. Be unconventional, counter cultural, and most of all have faith in He and His father. The apostles who followed Jesus and expanded his church believed in him so much they were willing to die rather than deny his teaching. There are still people in the world who are willing to die for Christ rather than renounce their faith in him.

So maybe we individually cannot impact the world as Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King or Jesus did. We can however change how we interact with those around us, the ones we agree with as well as the ones we disagree with, we just need to have faith in God and be willing to call on him through prayer. So I ask one last time How strong is your faith?

Distrub me Lord

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Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53

I had some trouble with finding a direction for the homily this week. The readings seemed a bit more disparate than normal. In my research I then came across this poem by Sir Francis Drake;

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

I can say from experience that God is good at disturbing us in our lives when we get to comfortable. He has made this clear to me in two separate instances, the first was in my calling to the diaconate. It disturbed me when I realized it was a real calling and it still disturbs me today as I realize every day that I need to treat people in a different way than I have thought about in the past.

The second time he disturbed my thinking came not long after I was ordained and led me to the employment I enjoy today. My call to be the Director of Cemeteries for the diocese. I was not really interested in assisting at or presiding at funerals or graveside services when I was ordained as I did not think I had the proper temperament to work with families during that most difficult time of their lives. So God decided to disturb my thinking by having me either assist or preside at 6 funerals and graveside services within the first two months that I was ordained. This led to me rethinking my path in life and has led me here today.

I would assume that most everyone here today can think of a time when God has disturbed their thought process or their direction in life. We do hope however that we are not like Jeremiah who we hear about today. He obviously disturbed those around him on many different levels. First the princes of the land convince the King that he is leading people astray in his prophesying. They toss him into a cistern that has no water but is still muddy enough to entrap him.

Then a court official convinces the King that Jeremiah should not die in this manner and gains permission to extricate him from the cistern. As the story continues after this he makes the King rethink his attack plans, though he does not change them and he reaps the disaster prophesied for him by Jeremiah.

This type of disturbance is what Jesus is telling us about in the reading we hear in the Gospel where we are told that family members will be pitted against each other as the Kingdom comes closer.

We see this disturbance today in some families as they are torn apart because of the actions of other family members. Some of these actions may be well meaning and designed to help others lead a life more centered on God and not on the passing fancies of secular society. It has always been this way, as parents we try to teach our children the right way to behave and to be productive members of society. Then we are caught off guard as they grow into adults and have different opinions about morality than we do. You see once they leave the family home and become members of secular society, this society impacts or disturbs the thinking that you have instilled in them.

If that is the case and they begin siding with secular society over their moral upbringing in the church what are you supposed to do? Are you called to let them go or to berate them into submission to your point of view? The second option seems like a great way to fulfill what Jesus says in the Gospel today.  “A father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother,” A great division of the family.

There is another way, however, to accomplish the teaching of the faith which we are all called to pass onto our children, and it may disturb your thinking on the matter. We hear in the Letter to the Hebrews today:

“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.”

The witnesses we are surrounded by are the saints who have gone before us. Hopefully we are also surrounded by good role models from the pulpit as well as others in our family. In the worst case if there is no one that you can relate to that will help guide you then there is ALWAYS the opportunity to focus on Jesus and follow him. This last option of focusing on Jesus though will usually lead to a large disturbance in your thinking.

While Jesus always believed in guiding people to God and eternal life in paradise with him, he was not opposed to calling on people to change their ways. If we allow our thinking to be disturbed when we are comfortable then we have the ability to not only gain eternal life, but we may even lead others to follow us.

When we lead and teach from the perspective of Love as Jesus did, we are doing as Jesus taught. This does not make it easy, though the reward is great in the end. Let your minds be disturbed by the Holy Spirit to allow you to more closely align with the teaching of Jesus. It may lead to the people closest to you treating you as Jeremiah was, but in the end it will lead you to eternal life. While it may not be easy I will finish with an idea of why it is so important, also from the letter to the Hebrews.

“Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.”

Can we all agree there is more for us to do in society to help all those around us gain eternal life by disturbing their thought process. We should all be more counter cultural as we see in the witness of Jeremiah, Jesus, St. Paul, St, Clare of Assisi and St. John Paul II. Are we willing to have our thoughts be disturbed enough to change our direction in our search for eternal life?

Mercy personified

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Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

This prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet sums up what this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter is all about. Pope Saint John Paul II instituted the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy on the same day he canonized Sister Faustina a saint. Saint Faustina’s visions of Christ had called for this Second Sunday of Easter to be known as Divine Mercy to remind us of his infinite, divine mercy.

This mercy has been felt throughout the ages in various ways depending on the time. His Mercy was shown to the Israelites as he guided them out of slavery in Egypt. It was shown in David with how he would atone for his sins and God’s mercy would shower down on him and his people.

It can be seen in today’s reading from Acts, how those who were just in Peter’s shadow were healed due to their faith and atonement. It can even be found in Jesus’ gentle rebuke of Thomas in the Gospel today;

Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

In his mercy he reminds us that if we believe in what we have not seen then we can have eternal life, just as Thomas and the apostles who walked with Jesus have received.

As Pope Francis often reminded us, by word and deed, this mercy is freely given to those who seek it. His life and papacy showed us the way to not only care for the lowest of society, but also the outcast. He showed it was possible to truly welcome all people to join us, even when they didn’t follow Jesus’ teachings. We welcome them in and let the Holy Spirit do the converting.

While we may capable of the talk we may not always be able to walk the walk. We are in many ways like Thomas in today’s Gospel. We need concrete proof that God exists and is working in our lives. This can lead us to believe that we know better than God. Pope Francis continually reminded us that we were be like those that Jesus tells the apostles about. The ones who believe without seeing. This is what our faith is calling us to do in how we interact with everyone.

This unending Mercy from God is not only for us, but for all people. We as people of God are called to show this to all we meet. We are not called to judge people’s actions or lifestyles. We are called to welcome them in and show them that living for the one who died and then rose from the dead is a much better way of life.

Pope Francis reminded us of His unending, mercy in his encyclical  Evangelii Gaudium when he says “Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy … Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.”

This dignity that all of us are endowed with, is there no matter our station in life, or our own perceived notion of our personal shortcomings. We are called, just as Thomas was to believe that in his mercy we will find forgiveness, compassion and a love that we seem incapable of relying on.

We need to remember that when Christ appears to the apostles his first words are “Peace be with you “ . These are the same people who, even though they accompanied him all through his ministry, abandoned him at the most treacherous time. The one he would put in charge of his church even denied knowing at this time. How many of us would have come back and wished this group peace when we had the power to destroy them? This is the type of mercy God is capable of!

The Divine Mercy we are offered is so far beyond our understanding that most of us are incapable of showing it to others. There are however those among us who can guides us on this path. Some examples are Saint Pope John Paul II going to prison to forgive the man who shot him. Another was Pope Francis in how he always was reaching for those on the margins and those who were in opposition to him.

Pope Francis was our blessed shepherd for 12 years and showed us the way to be merciful in ways we were unfamiliar with. He would say things that would set off a firestorm of controversy until you looked at the entire conversation it revolved around. Maybe the most famous being the statement “Who am I to judge” The media took this as an outward sign he was going to change the Catholic teaching on same sex attraction. He was talking about who was he to judge the person’s heart in these instances. His point was we are not to judge a person based on the belief that they are doing something contrary to what we believe. We are called to pray for them and to be there to assist in a conversion of heart to follow God’s will not their own. As a reminder we are all called to follow God’s will not our own.

Pope Francis showed us how to do this through his humility from the moment he was first introduced to us when before he gave us his blessing, he asked for our prayers. He lived this out in every interaction he had by continually asking for those he came in contact with to pray for him. This practice is the same as us in praying the Divine Mercy chaplet we say “ For the sake of His sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday as we mourn the loss of Pope Francis we continue to hope and pray not only for the repose of the Pope’s soul, but also for God’s mercy to shower down on the entire world to help guide us on the Path that God has for each of us and for the whole world. So I ask you to join me in saying “For the sake of His sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

We also pray God grant eternal joy to Pope Francis. Eternal rest grant unto him and let perpetual light shine on him.

Living the Golden Rule

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Readings 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” St. Luke recalls it all in that one line, I guess that’s all I need to say for my homily today.

Wait a minute, I think there is more to say. We all know the Golden Rule that we heard in the Gospel today. If we are honest with ourselves though do we always follow the Golden Rule? I know that I struggle at times to follow that rule, it may be because the person is rude to me or it may be I am just in a bad mood.

It is great if we follow the Golden Rule in all the interactions we have with others around us. You see, the Golden rule, has nothing to do with how others treat us. It is all about how we treat others. As the Gospel reminds us today

For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.

We all tend to treat those we like better than those we dislike, but as we just heard even sinners do that. Where Jesus is trying to get us is a place where no matter who is in front of us, we treat them with the same dignity and respect with which we hope they treat us. If we do this, we model this behavior to those we don’t like as well as to those we do like. It goes a long way to showing people that we don’t just talk the talk, but we walk the walk as well.

We must remember that as Christ hung on the cross, he forgave all those who persecuted them, how many of us would be capable of doing the same?

David shows the way we are to treat those who are persecuting us in the reading from Samuel we heard today. Let’s say we are being hunted down and persecuted so that someone can catch us because they don’t like us. All they want to do is make us look like less of a person than they are. This person was someone we thought knew and respected us. During this chase we are given the opportunity to embarrass or reverse the chase, what do we do?

If we treat them as is shown in the world today, we are going to jump at the chance to embarrass them and try and catch them being hypocritical. This is not what David does though. He has the opportunity to kill Saul easily and with no repercussions, yet he simply takes his spear and water jug and leaves the camp.

Abishai was ready to do to Saul what I would guess most of us would do in this instance, kill Saul since he seems so intent on killing our leader. Yet David prevails. This story should remind us that our relationship with Christ is personal and not based on others. This was a revelation to me. You see it does not make a difference in our spiritual relationship with Christ how others treat us or whether we like them. Our spiritual relationship with Christ is dependent on how we react to those around us.

This action means that even if we are being berated, ignored, or even being picked on, we are to treat everyone with dignity and respect. Even in the worst situations we are called to show true Love just like Jesus did on the Cross when he asked God to forgive them.

We hear from Saint Paul that Adam was the first man and was brought into the world from an earthly manner. Created by God from the natural products that were on earth. Christ is considered by many to be the second Adam. The difference is that he was brought into this world through heavenly means with conception happening through the Holy Spirit.

We are products of the natural world, but God has imprinted in us a heavenly side that is looking for something more than we are. This is where our heavenly side comes in. We are similar to Christ in that we are both of this world, the natural side, as well as the spiritual side which keeps us searching for meaning in Life.

When we can practice the spiritual side, the golden rule, regardless of the situation we are growing in our faith and our belief in a life beyond this that is without troubles. When we follow Christ, we follow the heavenly side so that we are in a relationship with God through his Son.

If we follow what we see from the politicians, the news media and social media we end up far away from what we should be looking for. We are brought into the physical world where it is okay to belittle, make fun of and allow others to control how we interact with the world.

I believe we would all want to be like the first group of people, not the second. As Fr. Tom reminded us a couple of weeks ago, this Jubilee year is a great time to work more on this spiritual side by treating everyone with the same dignity and respect. This means that we are called to treat the immigrant, the imprisoned, the elderly and children with the same dignity and respect we would like them to treat us with.

This does not mean that we must agree with everything they are involved in, or their actions. It does mean that every individual is an image of Christ. When we begin to see everyone through this lens it becomes much easier to treat everyone the same as we would like to be treated.

Christ was put in many situations where he was insulted, egged on and even crucified, yet he never returned the same treatment to those who treated him that way. He treated everyone equally while still disagreeing with those who he needed to. He just did this with respect for the person as a child of God. This is really what it means to treat others as you would like to be treated.

The next time we are tempted to treat others differently because they look or sound different, we are falling into the trap of this physical world. The biggest question we need to ask ourselves in those situations’ is would we want them to treat us according to this world? When they act in a way in accordance with social media then they will probably treat us differently since they are working from the physical world mindset. This means we need to concentrate on treating them from a spiritual world mindset. Treating them as we would like them to treat us.

This is not an easy thing to do, especially if the treatment has been occurring over a long period of time. While not easy this is what Christ emulated in all his interactions, even when he was interacting with those who despised him. Are we willing to begin to practice this way of behaving in all situations during the Jubilee year? “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Let us Rejoice in the Lord at all times

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Zep 3:14-18a Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6. Phil 4:4-7 Lk 3:10-18

When I was in high school, yes that was a long time ago. In my sophomore year there was a riot in the school that began in the cafeteria and spread outside the school. A friend of mine was pulled off his bike and severely beaten, winding up in the hospital for multiple days. It seemed to be racially charged. The riot happened around lunchtime and we were all told to remain in our classrooms awaiting further instructions. When those instructions came they were to go directly outside and get on our buses to go home. Well my bus consisted of 40 kids on the bus, myself and 39 others of a different race. Since I was aware of the undertones for the riot I chose to go down to get on a different bus that would drop me off around three blocks from my house. The bus drivers were instructed not to let anyone on the bus that did not normally ride that bus, but when I told the driver my normal bus number he allowed me to get on. Two days later we were let back in the school, I walked down to my normal bus stop and got on the bus for the day taking my normal seat which was all the way upfront since my stop was the last stop prior to going to the high school. I was definitely nervous about doing this but I was confident it was the correct thing to do. Most of the guys on the bus and I had played on multiple sports teams growing up together and we would often have pickup games of baseball and football on a field close to the house. I was definitely overjoyed when I got on the bus and after a brief silence everything proceeded as a normal day would. While all the issues may not be racially motivated we are indeed in a time where there is much distrust, angst and anger in the world today. This is totally opposite of what Gaudete Sunday is supposed to be about. Gaudete is Latin for Rejoice, which is why we wear rose vestments and light the rose candle. Rose is the color that is supposed to reflect Joy in the world. This is also shown throughout the readings we have today. From the prophet Zephaniah we hear: Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!He is reminding us that since we are children of the loving merciful God we should not be in fear if we follow him and obey his commandments, no matter the situation we are in.The responsorial Psalm reminds us Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel. St. Paul reminds the Philippians that we are to Rejoice always in the Lord.All of these reminders to be joyful and rejoice in the Lord can get lost in the hustle and bustle of the season as we await Christmas. Yet as Christians this is what we are called to be, no matter the circumstance we are to Rejoice in the Lord. This joyful reminder can sometimes be easier to see around Advent and Christmas. It can also be just the opposite with people fighting to get that great deal and not caring what others thinkWe do see it played out in the extra giving that occurs for those in need, as we do with the Angel Tree and our Christmas Market and as individuals to help those less fortunate during this time of year. John the Baptist in the gospel today though reminds us that this should be how we lead our lives on a daily basis, not just during the Advent and Christmas seasons. You see he was asked by three different groups how they should act. The first was the Jewish race who were reminded that they were to share the excess with those in need. The second were the tax collectors who were the outcasts of society. He reminded them not to collect more than what was prescribed so that they were happy with their commission on the tax.The third were the gentiles in the form of the soldiers who came wondering what all the fuss was about. John reminded them to treat all they come in contact with dignity and respect, by not extorting money from them or falsely accusing them of something. With these three groups coming to John he proceeds to remind them that God calls all to him, not just the rich, the righteous or the powerful. He reminds them that the Messiah is coming who will reinforce the idea of the dignity of all people no matter their heritage. He also reminds us about the Messiah with the famous line I am not worthy of loosening the thongs of his sandals. Just as we are unworthy of his infinite mercy. This line is to show that even what the people of the time consider the lowest jobs, caring for another’s feet, John was unworthy to do for the Messiah. It should remind us today that we are not Christ and that we really have trouble understanding how he could spend time with tax collectors, sinners and gentiles. Christ is coming to SAVE us all if we are willing to follow his direction. His direction is completely opposite of what we are told is the way to live our lives today. You see, just as in Jesus’ time we are told that it is okay to bully people, take money from them or lie about them provided we end up with what we want. How many of the people who follow this mindset seem like they have any joy in their life? While they may be joyful when they get what they want it is short lived since they are soon on to the next thing they would want. Just another reminder we are called to Rejoice in the Lord at all times. This includes times of suffering whether it be mental, physical or financial. We are all called to be joyful at all times. You see we are called to do this because Christ came to die for all of us and when he comes again in Glory he will take care to separate the wheat from the chaff. I think everyone here would want to be on the side of the wheat. This means that the joy of the Christmas season should live within us all year long.Every time we attend mass we have the ability to receive Christ, body, soul and divinity within us through the Eucharist. With this nourishment we are fortified to be joyful through all of our trials and tribulations. The Joy I felt when I got on that bus and there were no repercussions reminded me that when we treat everyone with dignity we will be perpetuating the ideas that Jesus teaches us. We get to remind not only those we dignify by our treatment, but those around them who may not understand the joy that comes from treating people with dignity and respect regardless of their station in life or for that matter our station in life.Treating everyone with dignity and respect is a way to show Jesus to those around us and aren’t we called to do this by our faith? It is when we struggle to treat people with that dignity and respect that Jesus showed to all that we lose some of that joy we gain at this time of year. When we treat everyone with this dignity and respect as myself and fellow bus riders did that day, the joy we feel can be contagious. As Pope Francis has reminded us “A Christian is never bored or sad. Rather the one who loves Christ is full of joy and radiates joy.” This is who we are called to be at all times, not just during Advent and Christmas.

Are we capable of Love like Christ?

On By edhandel59Leave a comment

Readings Dt 6:2-6; Heb 7:23-28; Mk 12:28b-34

What a wonderful Gospel for this Sunday because in this country by the middle of the week some will be complaining the election did not turn out fair. This would be because their preferred candidate did not win. This gospel reading today reminds us that no matter the outcome of an election, the nasty remarks someone may have made against us we are still called to Love our neighbor. 

Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, 
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This is not just talking about our next-door neighbor who we may like, but also the one who had the political sign in opposition to our own personal belief. Our political beliefs should not affect the love of our neighbor who may harbor different political beliefs. Jesus loved all of us including those who persecuted him and sentenced him to the crucifixion. Now that was some dirty poilitics.

Are we capable of this kind of love? I believe we are capable of this type of love, because we are called to have a relationship with Christ, THAT makes us capable. The question we really need to be asking is this, “Do we WANT to show this kind of love to everyone?” Christ reminded the scribe that since he was aware of this teaching and understood it he was not far from the Kingdom of God. To get closer and be part of the Kingdom we need to put this into practice. 

We have a great week to begin to put this into practice as the election finally arrives on Tuesday. We will all be happy when the political ads are gone from TV and the signs in the yards go away. We will be happy when the rhetoric stops from all the campaigns going on. The question is, will we lose friends over their choice for elected office. We should never lose friends over political disagreement.

This call to a Love greater than we believe we are capable of was not new to Jesus as we heard this call in the reading from Deuteronomy today. This Love is also NOT the emotional type of love we hear about in music and see in Hallmark movies. That emotion is an extension to the Love we are called to. 

Unconditional love is the love that God has for us. It is also the love most of us have for our families. It is the same love dogs tend to have for their owners. This love leads to the willingness to sacrifice for those we love. This sacrificial love is what we are all called to provide to those around us. This means if we see a person struggling we are called to help them. It does not matter their political affiliation, their favorite sports team or if they look different than us. We are called as Christians to help them in some way. 

When we begin to look at everyone in this way we begin to see the dignity that is inherent in all people no matter their race, gender, political affiliation or any of the other labels that tend to be bandied about to begin to separate us. When we let these labels, whatever they are separate us we play right into Satan’s hands. 

Satan loves to divide, because he knows that when we are divided for any reason it is easier for him to make us believe these differences are something worth separating us. No longer can disagreements over something be considered an opportunity to bring us closer. These disagreements now begin to push us further apart. We end up only listening to those people who may agree with our viewpoint and forget to even listen to those with opposing views. 

These opposing views should actually be what brings us together, not separates us. When we listen to opposing views, we may hear something we actually agree with. This would then lead to a conversation resulting in a solution to the disagreement. 

Even if we disagree with everything from the opposing view, we will have at least given the person the proper dignity in listening to their argument. Then our response needs to be done from a stance of love, even though it will be the opposite argument. When we begin to do this there are times when we can agree to disagree, and everything will be ok. When there needs to be a decision made, we need to ensure that the outcome of that decision positively impacts those in need. 

The reading from Deuteronomy today reminds us

Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength. 
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.”

These words remind us not only of the love we are to have for God, but also for all of those who are created in his image and likeness. Meaning we don’t get to pick and choose who will help when they are in need. It means we are called to assist all of those in need. From the prisoner on death row for a heinous crime to the baby in the womb who has no voice to speak for themselves. It also means the elderly who need more assistance as they age, to the single mother needing help to feed her children. 

These examples show the difference between the emotional love that we like to talk about and see acted out on screen and the unconditional love which God has for each and every one of us. God loves us so much that we are given the freedom to turn our back on his love. His love is so strong even if we choose to turn our back on him, he gives us the opportunity to turn back to him and receive his mercy and love that never went away.

When we choose to live a life of Christ like love for everyone there is no guarantee we will not suffer. It only guarantees that we will show by our example the way to find the Kingdom of God. We will probably be mocked, made fun of and taken advantage of. The people who do this to us will need to deal with the judgement of God on these things. Being mocked, made fun of or taken advantage of are not excuses not to love like Christ. We just need to remember that if people do this to us, they did much worse to the prophets and Christ who tried to give them directions to the Kingdom. In the case of seeking the Kingdom of God it is always worth asking for directions. Are we ready to live out a life of love for ALL of our neighbors?

Promoting a Culture of Life

On By edhandel59Leave a comment

Wis 2:12, 17-20 Jas 3:16—4:3 Mk 9:30-37

The reading from Wisdom today can be seen as a precursor to how the Pharisees treated Jesus during his trial and crucifixion. It talks about testing the one sent to confront the Israelites on their transgressions. It even goes so far as to say that if he is the Son of God, then God will save him from his death.

Jesus ties into this when he tells the disciples in the Gospel “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him,” This the same as the reading from Wisdom saying, “Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”   

As we know Jesus is sentenced to be crucified which certainly is a shameful way to die. There are currently many ways that are shameful to be sentenced to death. The church believes that euthanasia, abortion and the death penalty are shameful ways to be killed.

With euthanasia we are saying that the suffering which the person is going through is not worth the expense or the need to watch someone suffer. In other words we know better than God when the persons life is to end.

With abortion the rallying cry is that the pregnant mother’s body is the autonomous being that decides how to deal with the new living being that is growing inside of her. She has the choice since it is her body, ignoring the fact that it is no longer just her body, but she is growing the body of another human being inside of her. With an abortion we snuff out this life before we can see what God may have had planned for this person to accomplish in their lifetime.

With the death penalty we have decided that the person convicted of whatever heinous crime deserves to die because of the horrific crime committed. We forget that God can work miracles within the heart and soul of those who call to him, even for repentance and forgiveness. 

Not one of these instances is justified in the eyes of the church. We do not know if the suffering of the person we would euthanize may be used to find the cure for a disease where currently there is no cure. We also don’t know that through their suffering that God may work through the spirit to bring someone close to them back into communion with their faith.

We don’t know if the aborted person would go on to become influential to the world through medicine, politics or entertainment.

We don’t know if that convicted person may not want to reconcile with God and in the process bring back to their faith others in prison.

With all of these things we seem to be more focused on ending a life rather than celebrating all human life, creating more a culture of death than a culture of life.

The reading from James today gives us some idea as to why we may believe this way, but it also gives us the way to overcome these tendencies.

Beloved:
Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
there is disorder and every foul practice.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure,
then peaceable, gentle, compliant,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without inconstancy or insincerity.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
for those who cultivate peace.

We seem to be more concerned with our own ambitions, dreams and wants than watching out for those in need. As always though, Christ gives us a way to overcome these tendencies. He reminds the apostles, who were trying to figure out who was the greatest among them, that we are called to be a servant people. We are called to be the ones who help others before ourselves.

When we do this, we sow the seeds of life and hope among those we serve. This hope can be borne out in those who have participated in an abortion may come to believe that new life can bring not only hope to themselves but those around them.

This hope can be seen in Christ who shows us all how to suffer graciously on the Cross, that even in suffering faith and hope can not only survive but thrive. Through the redemption of the one who is on death row, can give each of us the hope of His mercy and forgiveness.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel today that;

“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”

Children, especially younger children, look to us adults for the right way to lead our lives. They have an unabated trust in adults to do the right thing. As we get older and more involved outside of our family, we become more cynical and we can call into question the motives of those around us. There can certainly be some basis for this outlook, especially when we look at politics.

Children do not have this jaded outlook; they have utter trust that mom and dad as well as other adults around them have all the answers. With this trust inherent in them they have no problem in believing in Christ and those in religious life. Why does this trust and our hope in our faith fade over time? That discussion would take up too much time for any homily.

As we grow and mature we begin to believe that we know better and we begin to compete, just like the apostles, to become the greatest we can in our preferred occupation, sport or personal interest. This leads us down a path away from Christ because we are competing against others. I am not saying we should not strive to be the best we can be at whatever we choose. What I am trying to get across is when we compete to be the best and beat out others for the sake of pride we are going against Christ.

When I began formation to become a deacon, I went in with the mindset that I would be the best deacon from my class. I looked at it as a competition. As we began our studies I found that there were many subjects where there were others more knowledgeable than I was. Not surprising in hindsight. What I did notice though was a willingness of all within the group to share their experiences and their expertise to make us all better.

This mindset reminded me that we are to be servants first, and leaders second. Karen can tell you that there are times where I can become overloaded in trying to be servant to all who call on me. Luckily for me she sees this happening and calls me to remember that I am also called to be a husband, father and grandfather in order that my priorities remain in balance.

This servant leadership that Christ calls the apostles to in the Gospel today is a reminder that a servant leader can lead us back to promoting a culture of life. This servant leadership takes one big thing to move it forward. That thing is FAITH. We need faith that Christ’s words and example will lead us to be better people to not only those we like, but those we dislike as well. This faith is also what will allow us to have conversations with those who disagree with us on the whatever the hot button issues of the day are.

We need to rejuvenate our faith that God is with us all the time because He can make wonderful things happen when we have faith in him and let him work through us, but this takes a strong faith. I have been reminded many times that God can write straight with crooked lines.  How strong is your faith?

They Shall all be taught by God

On By edhandel59Leave a comment

Readings 1 Kgs 19:4-8; Eph 4:30—5:2; Jn 6:41-51

How many of us would like to be like Elijah in today’s first reading. Just sit down, go to sleep and not do anything since we don’t think we can affect the world around us? Elijah was running from Queen Jezebel; she had been told that he had killed 400 prophets and God had just used him to show up the prophets of Baal who she believed in. He figured his life was next to be forfeit and he was tired of running.

He neglected to do one thing you would think a prophet would know to do. He did not consult God on his plans, he told God his plans. So, God does what he does best and in His own way laughs at him for believing that Elijah’s plans are His. He laughs at him by providing him with enough food to survive a 40-day journey to Mount Horeb. We can all at one time or another feel like Elijah and follow his lead. Feel free to tell God your plans, just be prepared to let God show you, his plans, especially when they send you in a direction opposite of your plan.

In today’s fragmented society, we need to be willing to listen for God’s plans for each of us, but as Elijah finds out a little later, God will not reveal himself in a large demonstrative way. But in a quiet whisper to ensure that we listen. We do tend to listen more intently the quieter one speaks.

As we have heard over the last couple of weeks, we are in the midst of hearing the Bread of Life discourse from the Gospel of John. This theme will continue for the next couple of weeks. Today we hear how Jesus tells those around him that the bread he is about to give them is his flesh. He also reminds them that the manna in the desert that we heard about last week, was not the bread of eternal life, but just food for the journey to sustain them physically.

Jesus’ own flesh and blood is what we are called to eat if we are to gain eternal life, not a symbol of his body and blood, but his actual body and blood. We as Catholics have the opportunity to follow His instructions every time, we come to Mass The priest through the working of the Spirit consecrates the bread and wine which is transfigured into the body and blood of Jesus.

We celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration this past week where Peter, James and John were shown the divinity of Christ by his being transfigured before them, becoming as radiant a being as was possible for them to see. This ties into the Eucharist, in that this divinity is shared with us in the bread and wine which has become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ.

If we look at the readings as a whole and not just in the small portions of the books we hear today they remind us what we are to do in order to survive and thrive in society today. We are called to be people of prayer, those who ask God for guidance, fortitude and the courage to go where he asks. When Elijah finally listens to the angel and follows the plan God has for him, he is glorified above almost everyone else. Remember he is eventually carried off on a chariot to heaven in the sight of Elisha.

Christ reminds us that when we eat the bread He gives us, we will help to save our eternal souls, this should be the ultimate goal of everyone. This does not mean however that our mortal beings will not be tempted to sin, but the Father and Son have sent forth the Spirit to help us through those difficult times.

When we are confirmed in the faith we are sealed with the Holy Spirit so that God knows we are his. St. Paul reminds the Ephesians today;

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. (Eph 4-30-32)

With the Spirit and the Eucharist, we are called to live in this world without judgement of others and how they choose to live their lives.

We are called to love one another as Christ loved us. While Christ loved all he came in contact with, it did not mean he approved of the ways they were leading their lives. He did, however, invite them in to communion with Him in order that he may be able to show them how much he loved them for where they were. At the same time, he was also asking them to be so much more than they thought they were capable of. He was working on transfiguring them, just as we are being called to be transfigured by our living for God, not ourselves.

Christ asks us in today’s reading to eat his body, not to be like cannibals, but in order that with the body of Christ part of us and with the guidance of the Spirit we would show those around us the way to a more fulfilled life in Christ. This to me is the meaning of life, work for the salvation of my soul so that I may live eternally with the Lord.

I mean this as the Meaning of Life, not the meaning in our lives. We are called for a different meaning in our life. Some are called to be like Elijah and to spread the word of God to those around us, whether they listen or not is entirely up to them.

Some are called to be like Mary and to be the guiding hands and motherly spirit to those around us making sure they know they are loved for who they are and not what the world may label them. Some are called to the ministerial priesthood to be like Christ to all they come in contact with to help them see how much more fulfilling life can be when you follow Christ.

Some may even be called to be politicians. While this group may be frowned upon, ignored, belittled or vilified, if they act like Christ they can make a big difference in the lives that are affected by the laws they pass and the speeches they give.

One last thing to remember, when we were baptized, we were claimed for Christ and given the titles of priest, prophet and king. When we were confirmed we were sealed with the Holy Chrism and the Spirit descended upon us. When we come forward for the Eucharist we will be doing as Christ instructed us and consuming the bread of life which has become the Body of Christ.

Are we willing to not only listen in the quiet times for God’s plan for us, but also to go where He leads us? He has given us the tools, Direction in His Word, guidance with the Spirit and strength to persevere in His Son through the Eucharist. Using all of the tools we should be willing to live our lives following God’s plan for each of us. Christ reminds us of what Isaiah said, “They shall all be taught by God.” I will leave you with a quote from St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross “Let go of your plans. The first hour of your morning belongs to God. Tackle the day’s work that He charges you with, and He will give you the power to accomplish it.”

What are we afraid of?

On By edhandel59Leave a comment

Ez 2:2-5 2 Cor 12:7-10 Mk 6:1-6

We all have experience with those around us not following what we say. For parents it can be children who don’t listen and do things we tell them not to do. For children and teens it can be parents who don’t understand what they are going through. We are in good company on this as we hear in the Gospel today.

Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”

We can feel as if everything we say is either ignored or is moved on from without any attention. We think the people we are talking with have no interest in listening to us at all. That can be not following our suggestions or seemingly not interested in our problems.

We heard from the reading of Ezekiel today that the Israelites were like this with God. They disregarded everything he had done for them and went their own way. The interesting thing is he was preaching to people who had found out that God will not be with them in their fight since the Israelites were exiled into Babylon at this time. Ezekiel was trying to get the Israelites back to following God and not their own egos or alien gods. When this fail Judea was conquered by the Babylonians. Ezekeil did come back to them and continued to prophesy so that the Israelites would come back to God.

We are still called just like Ezekiel though to continue to show and talk about how God is calling us to act in the world. This is especially important in the world and our country today as we have seemingly lost our way.

Are we afraid to speak about the truths that Jesus taught because we may be ridiculed? Saint Paul reminds the Corinthians:

Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

While we may not be comfortable in addressing the current trends in society it is our calling to do so. This is a calling that needs to be started with our family and friends. While we may be talked about behind our back, laughed at for our belief or any other type of ridicule we should have the fortitude to continue talking about these things.

At some point in time those around us will begin to listen and engage in what we are saying, just as the Israelites eventually did. We just hope that this happens before our time in this life is done unlike Ezekiel who did not see the fruits of his labor.

We are also reminded that even Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy one born of the virgin was not believed by his own people until after his crucifixion, death and resurrection. While he may not have performed any miracle or given any great signs in his hometown, they did hear about all the miracles and signs that he did.

This story should give us the fortitude to persevere in our beliefs and convictions. Saint Paul certainly followed this example when he continued to preach the Good News even though he was imprisoned multiple times. While we may not have to go to prison for speaking what we believe, we still need that same fortitude today as those in opposition to us are certainly speaking louder and attempting to bully us into being silent.

This should be a sign to us that we are moving in the right direction. This direction which we are called to go into is for our salvation. Just as parents try to teach their children not to make the same mistakes they did and do this for the benefit of the child, Jesus reminds us that if we follow his teaching we will be safe from harm to our eternal soul.

Our salvation is what we are called to be working towards, Ezekiel started by warning the Judeans of their defeat if they did not change their ways and then when his prophesy came to pass he went with them to remind them that there was still time to reconcile and return to God and Jerusalem.

We have this same ability to help correct our own mistakes and make them right for our eternal soul. This can be done in multiple ways, the sacrament of reconciliation, continuing to live as an example of what it means to follow Christ, and other ways. This is also how we help those around us find Christ. Just as Saint Paul lived as an example for those around him so we are called to live.

By living like this we are not guaranteed that there will not be struggles, just look at the examples of Jesus and Saint Paul. Jesus was feared to the point that the pharisees chose to lie about him to have him crucified. The Romans were so afraid of Saint Paul that they eventually put him to death, after imprisoning him multiple times.

I hope and pray we do not have to suffer the same fate as Saint Paul, though we should try and behave in the same manner. We should be willing to accept ridicule for the way we lead our lives without judging others for the way they decide to live theirs. We will redeem our souls to allow us the possibility of heaven. Those around us who choose to ignore God, or even worse believe he does not exist will be left to deal with the consequences of their actions in this life. This is because the only true judge of our lives is God and we need to do our best to live our lives for God.

At the end of Mass today you will be dismissed with the words Go in peace glorifying the Lord with your life. This is the commission that the church and God is asking for you to live out in your lives. Leading a life that is centered around God, regardless of what those around you are doing. While we all know we are not perfect enough to do this at all times, we have ways to come back into conformity with Christ. The sacrament of Reconciliation forgives our sins and the Eucharist which we are about to partake of is there so we have Christ with us to strengthen our resolve in those times of doubt and trouble. Are we ready lead our life for God and not for ourselves,  so that we are not afraid of the consequences?