Friday, September 29, 2017

Sep 29 - Archangels Michael Gabriel and Raphael

+ Today was originally known as the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel (or Michaelmas Day), it was only later in church history that the lesser known feasts of Sts. Gabriel and Raphael were added to the celebration. They were linked together to highlight the activity of a group of powerful spiritual beings, archangels, who directly intervened in the affairs of men – the chosen people of God.

The earliest reference to a system of seven archangels as a group appears to be in Enoch I (the Book of Enoch) which is not part of the Jewish Canon but is prevalent in the Judaic tradition, where they are named as Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Remiel and Saraqael.

Archangel Michael was the great defender of the people of Israel in the Old Testament, and is connected with the final battle that will take place at the end times: he will be defender and friend of all who tried their hardest to go the narrow way and live the life of Christ.

Archangel Gabriel was God’s messenger and announced the births both of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah: he was therefore a key instrument in the history of salvation.

And Archangel Raphael brings messages and prayers from the people to God, especially prayers for healing – he was instrumental in both physical and spiritual healing in the life of Tobiah in the Book of Tobit.

We rejoice that we have as allies and friends those who are God’s special friends and agents. May we ask for defense against the insidious and cunning forces of evil from Michael, the announcement of good news and new life for us from Gabriel, and healing from physical and spiritual maladies from Raphael – as we make our way today to our heavenly homeland where we will live forever praising God and enjoying the company of all the angels and saints!


Bless the Lord, all you angels, you ministers, who do his will.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Sep 28 - 25th Week in OT - Thursday

+ Our gospel passage for today is brief but poignant. The legitimate tetrarch – or one of the four designated Roman rulers of a region – that is, Herod - heard all about the goings-on of Jesus: the flurry of inquisitiveness that Jesus was stirring up: by his persuasive words and astonishing deeds.

Because he was so much different from other people, Herod too was curious. He was interested no doubt from an innocent bystander point of view, or from a legitimate authority who feels stirrings of a threat-to-power from one who appears maybe a bit more than merely human.

The people, his subjects, tell him that maybe John the Baptist, whom Herod had put to death, has come back from the dead. This might be a real possibility because he knew that John was a very powerful and holy man – and that his dead could easily have been prevented.

But Herod knew that this was probably not likely, so, regarding Jesus, he was curious.

This sense of curiousness about things that appear to be “divine-or-heavenly-sent” actually is a native curiosity born into us, by the Creator who gives us life and soul, who gives us purpose and meaning, who gives us a share in his own life.

Anyone and everyone is “called to curiosity!” called to investigativeness, called to question, to know and to respond in a thoughtful, reasoned, inspired way. The questions who, what, when, where, why must lead to insight, light, knowledge, which then leads to “so, how does this affect not only me, but others – all of my brothers and sisters in the human family?”
Of course, Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE we all are searching for – so investigating, questioning, being-with Jesus – all day long – in many and varied ways – will calm us, cure us, and lead us – forth into a more managed and productive day: in the light of the Kingdom that we are commissioned by our baptisms to be stewards of!

Open our eyes, ears, minds and hearts, O Lord, that we may consider the wonders of your law, your love and your insistence that we all be happy people both now and forever!

Amen.


Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Sep 27 - St. Vincent de Paul

+ Vincent DePaul was born in 1581 in southwest France. A highly intelligent youth, he spent four years being educated by Franciscans in Acq, France. While there he was tutor to children of a gentleman in Acq. He began divinity studies in 1596 at the University of Toulouse and was ordained a priest at age 20.

While on an ocean voyage, Vincent was taken captive by Turkish pirates, and sold into slavery in Tunis. He was freed in 1607 when he converted one of his owners to Christianity.

Returning to France, he served as a parish priest near Paris where he started organizations to help the poor and nurse the sick. He found jobs for the unemployed at the like. He met Christ where he was truly to be found: “in the streets!” He became chaplain at the court of Henry IV of France.

With St. Louise de Marillac, he founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, and he instituted the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (Vincentians). He worked always for the poor, the enslaved and the abandoned, the ignored: the pariahs of society!

Vincent DePaul died this date in 1660 at Paris, France of natural causes at about 80 years of age. His body was found incorrupt when exhumed in 1712. Finally, only his heart remaining incorrupt it is now displayed in a reliquary in a chapel of the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity in Paris. He was canonized in 1737 by Pope Clement XII.

No doubt, Vincent DePaul would have been highly thought of and favored by our current Pope Francis who insists that we find Christ primarily not behind closed doors of chapels and monasteries, but in the streets, among the poor, the destitute, the sick, the lonely and the forgotten. His face gleams and shines brightly there, if only we believe it, and take the time to look and to help! May we do so this day, in imitation of St. Vincent DePaul, the Vincentian Fathers and the Daughters of Charity!

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep and mine know me.



Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Sep 26 - 25th Week in OT - Tuesday

+ The deeper meaning of the gospel passage today invites us to reflect upon “connectedness to God” – the reality of it, the possibility of it, and just how it works.

The fact that we, as human beings, with free will, can even have a direct connect and spiritual linkup with God – is his own initiative and idea. We could never make the leap from the “created” to the essentially “uncreated” on our own. It’s just impossible. The leap then, of course, is the leap of “faith” which is always God’s gift to us first, just as his love is always a gift first-given, before it can be freely accepted and then reciprocated.

And so, God wills us to be spiritually connected and linked with him in our souls, in our hearts and in our minds, so we can reflect on it, hold it in awe, thank him for it, and integrate it into a way of life that is different from all the other animals on the face of the earth: a reflective life, a thoughtful life, and decisive life.

And so, through our conscious decisions, words and deeds, we either prolong the connectedness or sabotage it.

Jesus came to model what a fruitful and productive connected-to-God life looks like, and not only to model it, but to empower us to participate in it. And we are grateful, and can show by our words and deeds that we are a thankful people, and willing to help others come to the same realization.

“Those who do the will of God, are my mother and brothers and sisters.” They are the ones truly connected to me, and live with me life-in-God! in his heart! in his Love! in his Peace!

May we revel today in the fact that an amazing kind of life can be ours – and that, especially through this Mass, and the reception of the very life of Jesus into our souls – we can fire up the connection and bond it to us in an even greater way, and not only for our own good, but for the good of those we will meet this very day!

Yes, blessed, happy and optimistic are those who hear the word of God and keep it! and live it!


Monday, September 25, 2017

Sep 25 - 25th Week in OT - Monday

+ The logic of the gospel passage today is clear, and succinct: take every effort to nurture, support and preserve the spiritual gifts that God has given you in order to navigate your way through human life today – or- run the great risk of losing whatever little stockpile of spiritual tools you think you have.

One of our daily goals is to reach out for and seek the very latest upgrades and updates to our spiritual hard drive – for the time of external conflict and divisiveness is here – and from many input and vantage points – we call it our “daily bread” – and the Father gives it freely to us – if and when we approach him as innocent, trusting, and loving humble children – that we are!

With our rock-solid spiritual connection to God and Jesus made and sealed by baptism and confirmation – we are now fully equipped to be-with-Jesus the true Light of the World, the light in darkness, the hope in travail, the peace in rough times!

And the daily bread of Eucharist is the spiritual battery boost the we need to be the brightest penny in the change drawer! – the brightest aura in the room – the calmest point of refuge in a sea of muck and mire of seemingly broken and injured relationships, commitments and duties.

We are to be the SIGN OF HOPE that anything can be resolved, rectified and renewed – so long as we have the breath of life in us, which is coincidentally Christ life, Christ breath to be sure.

Don’t worry! the inner secrets and pure motivations of our thoughts, words and deeds, this day will be one day manifested for all to see – for now, it is our task and joy to live as purely as we can a connected life, a life plugged into the Holy Spirit, a life that can change the world – one little spark at a time!

Yes, our light must shine in the sight of me, so that seeing our good works, all may give praise to our Father who is in heaven!


Sunday, September 24, 2017

Sep 24 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 24, 2017

I –My thoughts are not our thoughts.
R –The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
II – For me to live is Christ.
A – Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.
G –Are you envious because I am generous?

+ Our readings today tell us that “it is advisable to consider the things of God on his own level, with his own logic” – to the extent that we are able – “rather than on our own.” The very ability to do this requires God’s action first, by his giving the gift of faith; then it requires our use of the gift, its application in particular instances.

In our gospel passage today, for example, Jesus is teaching a very wonderful lesson about the generosity of God, in his willingness to offer salvation to everyone – no matter how lately any may come to faith, come to belief in Jesus, come to the church: right up to the very last person born on earth, it will never be too late to say: I believe – and to lead to life based on the belief. And, if Jesus wants these “latecomers” to be the first into the kingdom on Judgment Day – then so be it: this ought not cause the rest any consternation at all. It is not up to us to say: “This is not fair!”

The reason for this, as St. Paul tells the Philippians, is that when for us “life is Christ” – then it does not matter what stage of that life we, or others, might be in; in fact, it does not matter whether we are alive or dead; because if Christ is our life, we have it all – and we just don’t concern ourselves with how full or empty other people are, or when they got to be that way.

Our task today – no matter what is going on around us, either in our own lives, with our many and varied experiences of human health and happiness, that quite frankly changes not only day by day, but often times hour by hour, minute by minute (this is the one great constant in life: CHANGE, all things change, all things pass, all things tend to become more and more what they are – THANK GOD!) –

or, with what is going on in the outside world in which we find ourselves living actors – and in our case, in this country and world, this is now a highly precarious situation with the instability of our own president and congress which effects the stability and security of the whole world –

our task, then, is to continue, as our second reading tells us, to seek God while he may be found, (in all of these changes and stages, threats and unsteadinesses), call him while he is near, forsaking our foolish ways and useless thoughts, turning to God for mercy: to our God, who is generous in forgiving: remembering that his thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are his ways ours: they are infinitely different:

after all he is God, and we are not: and it’s all going to end up better than we can possibly imagine – if we keep him squarely in our sights – moment by moment – this one day!

The Lord is near to all who call upon him.




Saturday, September 23, 2017

Sep 23 - St. Padre Pio

+ In the gospel passage today Jesus tells his disciples how he must endure many sufferings and be crucified; our saint for today, Padre Pio was the first priest to receive the stigmata of the Lord’s Passion: proof positive that Jesus did in fact undergo these things for us and for our salvation.
Pio was born in 1887 in Pietrelcina, Benevento (Naples), Italy. As a boy, he was a shepherd. At age 15 he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars in Morcone, Italy and joined the order at age 19. He suffered several health problems, and at one point his family thought he had tuberculosis. He was ordained at age 22 on August 10, 1910.

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on September 20, 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. He later became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly he was able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. He founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital which serves 60,000 people a year. In the 1920’s he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

Padre Pio died on September 23, 1968, and was canonized in June 2002 by his own personal friend Pope John Paul II. His canonization miracle involved the cure of the 7-year-old son of a doctor at the hospital he founded, who was admitted with fatal meningitis on June 20, 2000. The boy’s mother and some Capuchin friars from Padre Pio’s monastery prayed through the night. In the morning, the boy’s condition improved suddenly.

When the boy woke from a coma he said that he had seen an elderly man with a white beard and a long, brown habit, who said to him: “Don’t worry, you will soon be cured.” The miracle was approved by the Congregation and Pope John Paul II on December 20, 2001

Whether we bear the marks of Christ’s Passion, visibly or invisibly we are all called upon to bear them one way or another. It is only this way that we can truly understand what Jesus did for us, how much he loved us, and how much he wants us to love and get along with one another. We are God’s family. May we today act as such, as we honor one of our brothers who simply loved God back and tried to spread that love to as many as he could in a very special way.

St. Pio, pray for us!



Friday, September 22, 2017

Sep 22 - 24th Week in OT - Friday

+ We have brief but powerful readings today at mass. The first reading finds St. Paul telling Timothy, one of the first second generation bishops of the Church that the worldly rich risk missing out on a truly authentic and genuine Christian life, if they so choose to avail themselves of gospel preaching and teaching. The two values: the world, and Christ’s teachings, are worlds apart and not compatible with one another.

Basically, Paul is saying that if you have food and clothing – and albeit a modest and comfortable place to live – you have it all. Any money made that provides luxuries over and above that fall into the temptation category where purchased and acquired items may choke off the spirit of poverty and poorness that Jesus says is essential for the soul to be unfettered enough to seek God and be satiated by him.

The love of money is indeed the root of all evils. The love of God and his ways is the root of all happiness and peace – both here and eternally.

So we my aim to be saintly and religious (having rightly set priorities) asking to be filled with faith and love, gentleness and patience. This is the good fight of faith that ought to occupy our daily living.

The gospel passage finds Jesus going about from town to town telling about exactly this topic: a saintly, religious life – that he himself is modeling and empowering people to live by – is the way to go. And he is gathering followers, both men and women, young and old, no doubt. And they shall not be disappointed – nor shall we be if we follow and are filled with the life of Jesus – as he offers it to us daily by Word and Sacrament – and by empowering us to help others from the bottom of our hearts! 


Happy the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven really is theirs!

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Sep 21 - St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

+ St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist was the son of Alphaeus (and most likely brother of James the Less)He lived at Capernaum on Lake Genesareth. He was a Roman tax collector by trade, a position equated with “collaboration with the enemy” by those from whom he collected taxes. Tax collectors were also known to keep some of the “take” for themselves, another reason for them being despised by the Jews.

Jesus’ contemporaries were surprised then to see the Christ with a traitor, but Jesus explained that he had come not to call the righteous but sinners. Matthew was also a gospel writer and his gospel is given “pride of place” in the canon of the New Testament, for it was written to convince Jewish readers that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus. He preached among the Jews for 15 years; his audiences may have included the Jewish enclave in Ethiopia, and places in the East. Some accounts see him travelling as far away as Ireland to bring the gospel to the heathens. There is question as to his actual martyrdom, but he is given the benefit of the doubt.

Matthew is then an example of one like us, a sinner, called by God to greatness; and he responded generously and lovingly: he left his traitorous job and followed Jesus unreservedly. We can turn from sin and do the same, renewing our resolve each and every day. Jesus doesn’t mind associating with us – who are not perfect by any means; may we never mind associating with him who is the source of our conversion, our holiness and our choice of the correct path to take that will lead to life in his Reign, his Kingdom forever.
We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the glorious company of Apostles praise you.


Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Sep 20 - St, Andrew Kim et al.

+ We celebrate today the feast of two major Korean saints and 103 of their companions who were put to death in the persecutions against the faith in Korea in the 19th century.

Andrew Kim was born of Korean nobility, his parents were converts and his father himself a martyr. Andrew was baptized at age 15, and then travelled 1300 miles to the nearest seminary in Macao, China. He became the first native-born Korean priest, and the first priest to die for the faith in Korea. He was the leader of the “Martyrs of Korea,” 103 of his fellow countrymen who embraced the fullness of the faith even to the point of martyrdom.

Paul Hasang was the son also of a martyr in the attack that killed all of the
clergy in the country. Though a layman he reunited the scattered Christians, and encouraged them to keep and live their faith. He wrote to the Korean government explaining why the Church was no threat to them. He crossed into China nine times, working as a servant to the Korean diplomatic corps. There he worked to get the bishop of Beijing to send more priests to Korea. He pleaded directly to Rome for help, and on 9 September 1831, Pope Gregory X proclaimed the validity of the Korean Catholic diocese.

When the clergy began to return, Paul entered the seminary, however he died in the persecution of 1839 before he could be ordained. Paul Hasang is truly one of the great founders of the Catholic Church in Korea. Both he and Andrew Kim were canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

In today’s first reading we read what might have kept these fine Korean martyrs true to the faith: St. Paul tells the Romans – and all believers – if God is for us,  who can be against us? In all things (because he is truly with us) we conquer overwhelminglybecause nothing at all – not even persecution and death – can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are always safe there, we are always protected there, we are always strengthened there.

And the gospel passage, once again tells us that losing life – especially in martyrdom – is the sure way to find it forever. Spending our lives for others – even at the cost of our own physical existence – will help to ensure not only our own eternal survival, but the eternal survival and joy of the ones we help to get there with us by our sacrifices.

It goes without saying at this time in our nation’s history – with the aberrant, unthinking, and rootless president that we have – that as his bellicose rhetoric increases against North Korea, it would seem quite possible that there will be countless thousands if not millions of new, “unwitting” Korean Martyrs in both the North and the South – when the nuclear and conventional weapons are unleashed at our unstable president’s command!

St. Andrew Kim, and Paul Hasang and all you legitimate Korean Martyrs pray for this globally catastrophic situation – and help to bring it to a peaceful conclusion.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of
God rests upon you



Monday, September 18, 2017

Sep 18 - 24th Week in Ordinary Time - Monday

­+ Our message today in the readings is short and to the point: “In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.”

In the first reading from St. Paul to Timothy, he advises the new community of believers that there should be prayers offered for everyone – in the form of petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving. This built-in “thanksgiving element” when asking for something will go a long way in obtaining the desired results.

God likes it very much when we remember that he really is God: he can do anything – but that we, his people, need to approach him always in a manner and mode of humility and thanksgiving, before asking anything at all.

This is the posture that the military official presented to Jesus, humility and awe, when asking for the health of a favored servant! Jesus is so impressed with his demeanor and his grasp of his right relationship with him that he immediately grants his request.

The more we tell God that he really is who he says he is: Father, Creator, Healer, Redeemer and Friend: and we posture ourselves at his feet in humble adoration and thanks – the more quickly and surely our requests for others will be addressed – and maybe even a few for ourselves.

Yes, Lord, “make me grasp the way of your precepts and I will muse on your wonders!”

Amen.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Sep 17 - 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 17, 2017

I –Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
R –The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion.
II – Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
A – I give you a new commandment, says the lord; love one another as I have loved you.
G –I say to you, forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

+ Our readings today have to do with the astounding power of forgiveness. Where in the world would we be without the reality of forgiveness? We would be nowhere, we would be desolate, we would be hopeless.

For the opposite of forgiveness is mercilessness, is meanness, is blame, accusation and censure – these things define the state of mankind immediately after the sin of Adam. And this reality of sin needed to be reversed and transformed into mercy, kindness, compassion, upbuilding and inclusion.

And the only human qualified to “reverse this curse” was a human that was also at the same time divine: and that would be Jesus: sent from the Father of Mercies, to do just that: reverse the curse.

And this reversal is all about forgiveness manifested and enacted to the fullest on the Cross of suffering, derision and shame.

And so, in the first reading today from the book of Sirach / Ecclesiasticus the author tells us to stop wallowing in the things of unforgiveness, as if we were superior to everyone else, and above the inherited condition of being guilty – remember that we will be judged on how forgiving we were – in imitation of Jesus the Great Forgiver! – and stop hating others, tune into the commandments that are summed up in the decisions which are self-sacrificially loving, and do not bear your neighbor ill-will because God has overlooked your offence.

The responsorial refrain sums things up nicely: the Lord is compassion and love, He is slow to anger and rich in mercy. But he cannot distribute the mercy unless we first have done it to our brothers and sisters.

In the gospel passage we have the classic account of Jesus setting the practical parameters of forgiveness. And the parameter is actually: “limitless” – a limitless amount of understanding, a limitless amount of patience, a limitless amount of times that we ought to be willing to overlook and forgive our brothers and sisters WHO ASK FOR OUR FORGIVENESS.

Yes, there is this oft times overlooked caveat in this equation: we must be willing to forgive our brothers always, but only when they realize their errors and ask for it. This paves the way for God’s own healing, and renewal and upbuilding to take effect.

When we observe our brothers who errantly speak and act in all kind of ways contrary to the laws of truth, justice, goodness and fairness, then of course we must try to help them see their errors, and then be willing to accept an apology from them, who ought to feel moved to present one.

This is another whole homily, but suffice it for today: our hearts, like the heart of God the Father, and of His Son, Jesus, ought to be open to smooth things over, when they are requested to do so!


We must be willing to forgive our brothers from the heart, always! 

Friday, September 15, 2017

Sept 15 - Our Lady of Sorrows

­+ Today we celebrate the “white martyrdom” – the spiritual martyrdom of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By the fourteenth century her “Sorrows” were fixed at seven:
  • The Prophecy of Simeon over the Infant Jesus (Luke 2:34)
  • The Flight into Egypt of the Holy Family (Matthew 2:13)
  • The Loss of the Child Jesus for Three Days (Luke 2:43)
  • The Meeting of Jesus and Mary along the Way of the Cross (Luke 23:26)
  • The Crucifixion, where Mary stands at the foot of the cross (John 19:25)
  • The Descent from the Cross, where Mary receives the dead body of Jesus in her arms (Matthew 27:57)
  • The Burial of Jesus (John 19:40)
Just as we said yesterday that Jesus looked forward to and embraced the Cross of our salvation; so too, Mary must have looked forward in a sense to hers. It was her lot to have God do unto her always as he would – she trusted Him and all his ways: she also knew the entire history of her people, and she knew that associating with God always involved risk and self-sacrifice – and so being part of this great drama in the redemption of the world – she knew that as the Mother of the Savior, she would have to suffer greatly too: but she did it willingly and lovingly, like only the Mother of God could. And she always felt the comfort of the Holy Spirit in her trials! Mary is not only our intercessor when we must suffer, but she is also our model!

May the revealed thoughts of our hearts find us willing to embrace and endure what we must in order to ensure our salvation and our place in heaven with you, dear holy Mother and Blessed Virgin Mary!

Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary; without dying you won the martyr’s crown beneath the Cross of the Lord.


Thursday, September 14, 2017

Sep 14 - The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

+ The origin of today’s feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross comes from the 4th century when St. Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ’s life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition has it was built over the Savior’s tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher over the tomb. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman. Immediately the cross became an object of veneration. And this date, the date of the dedication of the Basilica, was designated as its feast day.

Scripturally, using the readings of the feast, we celebrate “the feast of snakes and salvation.” The story from the Book of Numbers today tells us of the cure for being bitten by God’s wrath – seraph snakes: Moses was to make a bronze seraph and mount it on a pole – and then when any of the people who were bitten looked up at the snake on the pole they would live: they would be healed.

This is an obvious reference to the cross of Christ: the one who came down from heaven to save us and give us eternal life would himself be mounted on a cross of wood: and it is true: whenever anyone LOOKS UP AT HIM THERE AND BELIEVES that “this is the Son of God come to save us” – then he will be healed of all his spiritual maladies, and will have eternal life!

The Cross trumps everything! Jesus lived in the shadow of that cross his whole life long: he accepted and embraced it always, and he looked forward eagerly to accomplishing our salvation on it; we too can live in its shadow and have a blanket of protection cast upon our lives and an eternal reward promised at its end. And when we look up and see Jesus – our hearts will be soothed and our bodies energized to live a holy life.

One other thing that this seraph snake image reminds me of is this: because of the Cross of Christ and its subsequent victory, whenever we look up and face the things that we hate, that we are afraid of, that are really destroying our lives whether we are aware of it or not – the victory can be our as well: our hatred can turn to love, our fear to bravery, and self-destruction can dissolve into self-respect and healthy self-improvement.

Yes, the Cross of Christ trumps everything! Look at it! Embrace it! Touch it! Love it! Venerate it! It is our Salvation!


We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross, you have redeemed the world.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Sep 13 - St. John Chrysostom

+ St John Chrysostom was born in 347 in Antioch, Asia Minor. His father died when he was young and he was raised by a very pious mother. Being well educated, John studied rhetoric under Libanius, one of the most famous orators of his day. He became a monk and then later a priest noted for his preaching for a dozen years in Syria. While there he developed a stomach ailment that troubled him the rest of his life.

It was for his sermons that John earned the title “chrysostom: golden” mouthed. They were always on point, and explained the Scriptures with clarity and they sometimes went on for hours. Reluctantly he was made bishop (and patriarch) of Constantinople in 398, a move that involved him in imperial politics. He criticized the rich for not sharing their wealth, fought to reform the clergy, prevented the sale of ecclesiastical offices, called for fidelity in marriage, and encouraged practices of justice and charity.

He also revised the Greek Liturgy. Because John’s sermons advocated a change in their lives, some nobles and bishops worked to remove him from his diocese and he was twice exiled. He was finally banished to Pyhthius where he died. He is a Greek Father of the Church and considered one of the Three Holy Hierarchs along with Basil the Great and Gregory Nanzianzen. His commentaries on the Bible and his treatise on the priesthood are among his most enduring writings. He died in 407 of natural causes and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1568.

Our first reading today gives us a glimpse into the mind of St. John Chrysostom and his motivation: with St. Paul, John simply did the particular job that he was given to do to build up the Body of Christ (the Church) to full stature. And with the grace of the Holy Spirit he did it well!
And, of course, in the gospel passage, with the parable of the sower and the seed, we see what happened when John sowed the seed of truth and justice and God’s will and God’s ways: it fell on all kinds of ground, and had all kinds of receptions, and brought forth all kinds of reactions and actions: some were against him directly and personally; but John Chrysostom did not cease proclaiming this powerful word and he bore the brunt of self-sacrifice that comes with being configured to Christ the Preacher, Teacher and Victim.

St. John Chrysostom, pray for us today, that we may be unafraid to minister always as you did!


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Sep 12 - The Most Holy Name of Mary

+ “Our salvation begins when an archangel speaks the name of Mary.   To be Christian is to carry on that Annunciation unceasingly.

St. Louis de Montfort wrote that “the salvation of each individual is bound up with the Hail Mary.”

This prayer that names the holy name of the Mother of God “brought to a dry and barren world the Fruit of Life.

It will cause the Word of God to take root in the soul and bring forth Jesus.”

The holy name of Mary bears such power because of the unique bond between Mother and Son.

“When God sent his Son born of a woman, he instituted a once and for all order of salvation in which the union of Mother and Child stands at the center”.

To accept the divine privilege of speaking the name of Mary is to participate in that saving union.

“Hail, Mary! Full of Grace – the Lord is with you! Pray for us now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.


Monday, September 11, 2017

Sep 11 - 23rd Week in OT - Monday

­+ We have consoling readings today. St. Paul demonstrates the dynamic of Christianity by telling the Colossians that he is happy to suffer for you! you who are in the beginning stages of developing into an authentic and true community of believers in the Person of Jesus, who are living stones, and members in the “new body of Christ” – the church!

That’s the way Christianity works: as modeled first of all by Jesus himself, who constantly “laid down his life for his friends, ‘the sheep’” and ultimately by paying the price of their redemption by his own death on the Cross.

The Cross of Christ led to the victory of his Resurrection and the inauguration of the “newness of life” that is now possible for all believers! This is astounding when you stop to think about it!

On this September 11th, we remember and recall the tragic events that involved the lives of over 3000 Americans in a nightmare of enemy invasion of our country! Especially the playing out of an amazing act of genuine heroism with the passengers of the plane that was commandeered by the passengers, taken from the control of the terrorists, and deliberately crashed into the ground to save even more lives if it finished its course which was some federal building or buildings in Washington, D.C.

We thank these true martyrs for their sacrifice and their love for their country! We will never forget you!

The consolation of the readings is expressed in the responsorial refrain: In God is my safety and glory. When we live our lives animated by the Spirit of Christ – then no matter what goes on around us – including terrorist attacks, hurricanes, or earthquakes – there is a safety zone, a zone of glory and strength that cannot be touched – there is a peace and a Presence that is always there. Thank you, God, It’s you!

In the gospel passage we see Jesus healing on the sabbath, and of course he is criticized by his religious counterparts. Again, Jesus is telling us that common sense, and the willingness to act compassionately and empathetically is right any day of the week, any hour of the day or night!

We must be willing to color outside the lines, temporarily, whenever common sense, justice, and mercy calls for it!

In the rebuilding process that took place after 9/11, and the rebuilding processes that are now underway both in Texas and Florida – we pray that patience and common sense will prevail and that the “outstanding sense of human helpfulness and neighborliness” will also prevail: which is our hallmark as Americans.

And let us never think that the slightest, shortest prayers we utter for the success of the upbuilding goes unheard.

For the Spirit even puts into words, and sends to the ear of God, what we can’t articulate in our weakness!

Mary, Patroness of the United States, and St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church – thank you for your powerful intercession during these storms – and we humbly ask you to continue your prayer.

Amen

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Sep 10 - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 10, 2017

I –If you do not dissuade the wicked from his way, I will hold you responsible for his death.
R –If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
II – Love is the fulfillment of the Law.
A – God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
G –If your brother or sister listens to you, you have won them over.

+ Our readings today have to do with the very real influence that we are meant to have on one another’s lives. “No man is an island!” This is not just some “cute” saying: a thoughtful slogan from the side of a coffee cup – this is an essential and vital life principle that cannot be sidestepped, ignored or turned into a nursery rhyme.

We were programmed by our Creator, who is also our God and Father, to live in tandem with other people. We are meant to depend on one another as fellow pilgrims on an adventurous trek through the highways and byways of human life.

The utter dependence that we have before we are even born on our mother, having come into existence by the wonderful cooperation of our mother, our father and God, is just the beginning: once we are launched into a solo captaining of our own unique lives, the dependence is transferred not only from our mothers, and father and God, but also to the community of brothers and sisters of the human family who happen to be on the planet the same time we are. We are meant to have influence on one another!

So, the first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel confirms this idea, if not introduces it in a formal sort of way scripturally: if we see a brother or sister, a mother or a father, a friend, acquaintance or indeed a perfect stranger: driving his life willy-nilly toward the cliff having a bottomless pit when the road ends, then if we do not try to flag him down by example and words, signs and encouragements: then we are responsible for his soul, we are accountable, “we are our brother’s keeper”!

 This only makes sense.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans puts it adjacently by saying that “what we owe others is love” – and this does not mean Hollywood sentimental clap-trap: it means decisions to go out of our way to see that the basic needs of human existence are watched out for and supplied, wherever necessary, or just to give a neighbor or stranger a helping hand, a willing ear, a shoulder to cry on when we can.

In the gospel passage Jesus gives a plan on what to do when we are wronged by a brother or sister, mother, father, boss, teammate or friend: we must, since we are responsible to at least let him/her know of their out-of-line words or deeds, we must first then confront the person, in person, face-to-face (if at all possible), it this does not cause a change of attitude or behavior, then we must take someone with us and do a second confronting,

if this does not work, then we must take it to a public forum, either a “church forum” if it is a moral issue, or even a civil one. If this process does not work, then we can say: “I have done my part!” “I did all that I can do!” And then we can pray that perhaps someone else can get through, or that “light will dawn later on” by our initiating the process at a previous time.

With what is going on in our nation at this time, with errant brothers and sisters, congressmen, women, and even presidents – it is our duty to sound the alarm, contact those who have even greater influence than we to see that justice and right and truth and compassion rule –

and we can pray – that everything will indeed work out the way God has planned it all along: he does bring great good out of great chaos and the hurricanes and earthquakes both physical and spiritual that plague and attack us.

Thank you, Lord, for coming to earth to warn us to be good, to be just, to be loving, to look out for the needs of others rather than our own.

You did go over the cliff for us, on the Cross, to save us all from certain doom and death!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Our Lord, our God, our Brother and our KING!



Thursday, September 7, 2017

Sep 7 - 22nd Week in OT - Thursday

­+ The first reading today is about finding direction in your life today:  it basically relates to us that we have the choice to do things “our way” – or God’s way. When put so simply this is really a “no-brainer”. Let’s see, shall I do things “my way” – the me who is just kind of wandering and stumbling through life, as if I were on my own, with no real trustworthy guides to help me along?

or shall I trust the very one who created my person and my spirit and my soul, who knows exactly how a body/mind/spirit composition is to operate and work (because he invented it), and not only invented it, but gave each person very specific tasks to do in order to be happy by helping others that are put in our path each day.

Hmm, this is the choice we face really at each moment: St. Paul tells the Colossians and us too that “doing things according to God’s plan and purpose” will always yield the best results. And so he tells them that he is praying that they stay connected to God’s will, because he can see their peace and their happiness found in a life of sharing and caring for others because they have been loved and cared for, forgiven and redeemed by Jesus who understands us completely – and loves us anyway. In fact, loves us very much.

It’s really easy to find God’s will – just PAUSE, STOP, DO NOTHING for a moment – here and there – and then LISTEN WITH YOU HEART and YOUR SOUL – and you will hear him gently telling you what is supposed to be next on your agenda. And I bet it will have something to do with being available to and working for the good of others.

In the gospel passage, Peter meets Jesus, as he is: the Lord of Heaven and Earth – the Son of the Inventor, and in fact, Co-inventor and creator of everything and everyone. And he is humbled to the core when he sees Jesus miracle of a huge catch of fish – when they did as he willed and wished and cast their nets where before they caught nothing.

The same is good for us: when we use our own energy and perform our daily tasks out of routine and basically boredom and nothing happens, we tend to give up: but if we make contact with Jesus, through moments of prayer, thanksgiving and petition, then we can do the same things, but as He wishes and wills and the results will be overwhelming – this will make us very happy today, and will help many others because now we have fish to feed them.

Yes, we are not designed to go it alone. We are designed to go it, hand in hand, heart in heart with Jesus – the very Son of God, who also became Son of Man – to show us how it all works out.

Thank you, God, thank you Jesus, thank you Holy Spirit for all you are willing to do for us – as we make our way through this “valley of tears!”

 God bless and have a great day!



Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Sep 6 - 22nd Sunday in OT - Wednesday

+ The readings for today have one simple message:  the Good News of Jesus’ arrival and quite stunning, if you really think about it, announcement: the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of Love, Justice, Peace and Truth is here, right now, in your midst in ME, and in MY WORDS and ACTIONS:

and quite simply as well: all we need to do is to recognize it when it reaches our ears and hearts. believe it with an act of the mind & heart combined, and then live like we’ve heard it, believed it, and want to share the good news by actually telling other people about it – someway, somehow, first of all by our actions of love and concern for all people, then by confirming it with words and explanations – when necessary.

This is what the Apostles and disciples did – this is what Paul tells the Corinthians that he is so happy about with them: they listened, heard, responded and shared the wealth about this amazing “Kingdom” with other people.

Jesus in the gospel passage is seen to do the same thing, in person, he announces the kingdom by deed (miracles) and words (little talks and sermons), and then is not distracted by wanting to remain in one town, city or village: off he goes after a night of restful sleep and revitalizing prayer with his Father, to other villages, towns and cities – always more and more – until the time for the grand demonstration of putting his life directly on the line for mankind.

O with what great love you loved and love us – you died for us, you rose for us, and soon, it can always be around the corner, you will raise up the entirety of your body – that Body of Mystical Believers and Brothers and Sisters who await, with splendid HOPE, the consummation of the New Heavens and the New Earth – as promised.

In the meanwhile, he sends us, you and me, to with him, bring good news to the poor, and to proclaim liberty to captives.

May we accept the task for this day!
Amen.


Monday, September 4, 2017

Sep 4 - 22nd Week in OT - Monday

+ Our readings today are very informative and even consoling.  As we wind our way through the passageways of the labyrinth called “human life” – the first reading today can be a beacon of hope for us, as we oft times wonder “what it is all about” – what is this human life – what is it about – what is its goal – where are we going, really?

And so St. Paul tells the Romans – who are not unintelligent people, not as intelligent maybe as the Greeks, but with much grasp of reality in its proper sense – “the second coming of the Lord, at the trumpet of God – a very clear, commanding and audible SOUND OF MUSIC – will be a very interesting event: for all of humanity, which has ever lived – billions of human persons will be gathered up into the clouds of earth – and there ‘meet the Lord Jesus face to face’ – and he will sort out the real winners and losers –
-        the winners who will spend eternity with him will be the ones who believe he is real, his human life was transformative for any who believe it, and that an eternity of bliss awaits them as their reward for belief, and good works done for others, because of the belief.
-        the losers will be those not spending eternity with the Lord, they will reside in a condition that reflects their lack of belief in the God who spoke countless times of himself to them, in their lifetimes, but who were just plain too self-absorbed, or just plain dumb and numb to take the “golden ring” when it was handed them on a silver platter! “Yes, it is true, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink!”

Our primary task this day, is to be among the active, believing family of brothers and sisters, who know they have been rescued from a very lonely, and cold eternity. Our duty is simply to be a trusting child of an amazing Father, with a King for a brother, and so many who have gone before us, who can encourage us by their inspirations and memories.

The gospel passage is quite comical really: Jesus walks into his “home synagogue” – opens to the Scriptures which talks about what the very Messiah of God – who they have been waiting for many years and centuries – will do when he gets there. He rolls up the scroll and says basically: well, dear people, it’s me! I am the Messiah! I can do all kinds of things for you – with one caveat – you simply have to believe what I have just told you – that I am He, I am the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

Then knowing his audience, he told the story about how difficult it would be for them to “come to believe” – for it is only the lowly, the humble and the childlike – like those who were healed in the story he told them, that were outside the Jewish family.

Then after praising him and saying “ahhh” “so you are He who is to come” – you are Joseph’s son – wow! they turn on him and want to throw him off a cliff for striking their consciences to the core. But Jesus eluded them – for the time being.

When the Lord strikes our consciences to the core – as a way of guiding and leading us through the dangerous peaks, valleys, woods and plains of life – we must learn to simply let him, and then thank him when he sends consolations and rewards after “the test” he lets us experience.
Human life is much to precarious to venture it alone – without the very help of its creator and designer.

Let’s totally submit to his wisdom, authority and love – and we shall be sorted into the “right hand group” – on Judgment Day – and it will all have been worth it!

Amen!


Happy New Year 202

  A Happy New Year to you all! I hope and pray I am able to keep this blog up to date now that we are entering into the New Year! I would li...