Apr 30 - Third Sunday of Easter

+ Our “Alleluia Verse” today summarizes the theme for the day!  Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts burn while you speak to us! It is easy to know if we have “connected with” the Risen Lord Jesus as he wants us to connect with him: if our hearts “burn within us” with a warm glow and a peace and a joy that cannot be gotten anywhere else – a glow and peace and joy – that reaches down to the very depths of our souls – a glow that produces hope! This “connecting” – this “communing” – can happen at this and every Mass: if we are open to it, consider it a real possibility, and welcome it when it begins to happen!

Our gospel passage today, in a sense, outlines the format of the Mass for us: Jesus comes and walks with us as we listen to his [very own] words in the Scriptures and the homily; then, he comes into the inner recesses of the “houses of our hearts and souls” and breaks bread with us, as we partake of the Holy Communion that is his very real, substantial and living Risen Person. The sacred silence that occurs at the moment of reception (and in brief moments thereafter) cries out: Here is your God! Here is your King! Here is your HOPE!

If there is some kind of glow and peace and joy – when all of this happens: then we have brought what we needed to bring to the Mass: our faith and our love; and we now can bask and abide in the magnificent presence of the Risen Jesus for the rest of the day; until the next time, we either pray, or come to Mass!

Once we “get” the dynamic that is going on here, more and more clearly, then we can be witness of it to others – we can tell others about it – who we can see to be wandering around aimlessly and sadly; and then the more we can all celebrate the astounding “Easter fact” that our spiritual necks have been “ransomed” not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb! And it is all found in the thunderous silence of sacredness moment of moment in time!

Let us return to that moment of reception of Holy Communion often during the day! It is the great summation, it is the great promise, it is the greatest of joys!

What a price, and what great love that comes to us from Christ Jesus our Risen Lord and Brother.

Lord God, continue to show all of us, each and every day of our lives, the true “path of life” that will lead to a face-to-face encounter with you and your Son!

Amen! Alleluia!

Apr 28 - 2nd Week of Easter - Friday

+ Our gospel passage today reminds us that it is among the primary missions of Jesus not only to save the world and then leave it to fend for itself; no, he also is very much interested in remaining with everyone redeemed (and also the potentially redeemed), and to offer as much assistance, spiritual nourishment and encouragement as he possibly can so that they stay the course which can now – thanks to his resurrection – lead to eternal life in a Kingdom prepared for them! The quintessential spiritual aids are the sacraments: and the queen among them is the Eucharist: the Mass we share right now.

In the first reading, the impetus behind the proclamation of this truth is seen in the unrestrainable reality of the gospel: there is no containing or impeding its spread: for the command to take it to the ends of the earth came from Jesus: and thus must indeed be carried out: God’s word will not return to him empty and void, but shall do what he sent it to do!

May we, today, live, both on the bread of this Eucharistic Sacrifice, the very real, true and tangible Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord Jesus, and also the good works of gospel spreading that we are compelled to do after we have shared in it: no, man does not live just on bread, but also works of charity and love whose mandate comes from the mouth of God!

The Catholic Eucharistic Celebration, the Mass, was always meant to be the great one great stabilizing event and balancing factor in human life – let us then enter into it fully, and then tell others of his dignity, meaning and value. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Apr 27 - 2nd Week of Easter - Thursday

+ Our Easter Season theme of “belief” continues today! Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, and the wrath of God remains upon him.

We have an insight into St. John’s theology in this one sentence. “Belief” is an “act of obedience” to God – who alone enables anyone to believe at all. Belief that Jesus is the Divine Son of God cannot originate in us, it must originate in God, be revealed to us by him, and then made an object of our acknowledgment of it and acceptance of it: this is true “belief” – and this is what the “obedience” to “God revealing” is all about!

And so, St. John tells us, those who disobey the Son, disobey all his revelations and inspirations which come by way of the Holy Spirit – will not see promised eternal life and the wrath of God – the wrath that came to Adam and his descendants – remains upon them.

It would be a grave mistake to think that this statement is not true, or that it does not apply to us or to anyone else alive, for it most surely does. This is the great “chance,” the great “gamble” that many people take in life – thinking they are exempt from such a benevolent ultimatum: but they are not exempt, nor are we. 

May we today – during this highly graced Easter Season – make frequent acts of “obedience of belief” in Jesus as Son of God – and we will be rewarded with much consolation in our daily lives, and we will be storing credit for when it will be needed at the end of our lives when God will look into our hearts to see if “any are wise, if any seek Him, if any have true, simple and loving belief in His Son” which has moved them to selfless acts of self-sacrifice for the good of others!

You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!

Apr 26 - 2nd Week of Easter - Wednesday

+ We have wonderful readings on this weekday in the Easter Season. In the first, we see the overarching power of the “word of God” – which is of course, the Word of God: JESUS – who cannot be thwarted nor manipulated, silenced nor eradicated.

The supposed guardians of the Jewish religion can see that they are going to have a difficult time dealing with this “new Way,” by these “radical people,” and they begin calculating how they can stamp out the revolution before it firmly takes hold.

But there is no imprisoning the word of the Lord, [which has devastated and defeated the lying, malicious, deceptive word of the Father of Lies – Lucifer!]

God’s word and message is so plain and simple and beautiful: In the gospel passage we have the consoling and energizing words: God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. What could be so threatening about that? What could be more life-giving and encouraging than that?

And how easy it is to spot the disciples of darkness and deceit [even the unwitting ones, the pawns of the Evil One], their prevaricated, twisted, hyper-exaggerated, words give them away!

May we today live the “new Way” as fully as when we first were introduced to it on the day of our baptisms; and may we bring the “life-giving words” of the Jesus-story to all we meet, in one way or another today. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate catechesis, just side-comments on the love of God and his fatherly care are enough!

And let us not be afraid to militate verbally against the fake and alternate fact barrage that so easily can infiltrate human language and intercourse!

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Apr 25 - St. Mark, Evangelist

+ St. Mark was converted to the faith by St. Peter, Mark being one of his disciples who afterwards accompanied him to Rome, acting there as his secretary and interpreter. When St. Peter was writing his first epistle to the churches of Asia, he affectionately joins with his own salutation that of his faithful companion, whom he calls “my son Mark.”

The Roman people asked St. Mark to put in writing for them the substance of St. Peter’s frequent discourses on Our Lord’s life. This the Evangelist did under the eye and with the express sanction of St. Peter, and every page of his brief but graphic gospel so bore the markings of St. Peter’s character, that the Fathers used to name it “Peter’s Gospel.”

St. Mark was then sent to Egypt to found the Church of Alexandria. Here his disciples became the wonder of the world for their piety and asceticism, so that St. Jerome speaks of St. Mark as the father of the anchorites, who at a later time thronged the Egyptian deserts. Here too, he set up the first Christian school, the fruitful mother of many illustrious doctors and bishops.

After many years of governing his see, St. Mark was one day seized by heathens, dragged by rope over stones, and thrown into prison. This was repeated the next day, but at that point Mark was consoled by a vision of angels and with the voice of Jesus accompanying him, he went to his reward.

It was from the sketch of St. Mark’s Gospel that the other 3 gospel writers took their cue, and in time a rounded, balanced and canonically accepted picture of Jesus, Son of God come to earth, emerged. And it was his message that was proclaimed to all the world, at his command, when he ascended into heaven to return again one day to judge men and women on their deeds of charity.

We thank God for the seed of the gospel that he related through St Mark, may we likewise in this spring time of the year, plant similar seeds of faith in the hearts and minds of all we meet this day!

We proclaim Christ crucified; he is the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Apr 24 - 2nd Week of Easter - Monday

+ Our gospel passage today tells of the great teaching episode between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus – a secret admirer and follower of Jesus – regarding “second birth”! All the merits of the death and resurrection of Jesus would be useless unless there was a way to access them: the way is through baptism, through being “born a second time,” this time by water and the spirit –and the irrevocable formula of Trinitarian baptism!

It still seemed that Nicodemus could not grasp what Jesus was saying: he is stuck on the phrasing “born again” – how can one be “born again?” Jesus tries to tell him that the first birth (from the mother’s womb) is of flesh, but the second birth (from water and the spirit) is of spirit: directly from the superabundance and supernatural life of God.

Then Jesus tells him that he must be “born from above” to access all the graces that his upcoming Passion and Death would merit. And this would make him free – truly free – which Jesus refers to by talking about the wind blowing where it wills: those born of the Spirit, literally live unfettered lives!

In the first reading today, the place where the Jews prayed together – as they reflected on the events of Jesus life and death and resurrection – shook (with excitement and joy); may the place where we pray shake as well with the excitement that comes from “touching God” “touching Jesus” “touching Salvation!”

If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, [strive after it, yearn for it, long for] where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Apr 23 - 2nd Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday

+Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God.” We all recognize these familiar words of the Apostle Thomas who insisted on seeing and touching the wounds of Jesus in order to believe that he has, in fact, risen from the dead! Jesus tells Thomas that belief can come from a more direct contact with Jesus –according to his wishes; but for the greater majority “believing in the divinity of Jesus” would produce the “seeing of Him” that people long for; for such seeing is a very real, but supernatural and invisible kind of seeing! But in either case: the same prerequisite is absolutely necessary: BELIEF IN THE DIVINITY OF THE RISEN JESUS!

But we may ask, why does not God make things easier for us, more plain, more visible, more real, on terms that we can understand: “our terms”? The answer is that he wants us to walk through this life by FAITH; which is on “his terms!” He can do that: He is God. He wants us to walk in a certain amount of darkness, and confusion and struggling; he wants us to always be looking up and out, away from ourselves, for him, in hope and with love in our hearts for him and for others, as we make our way to our heavenly homeland! Earth, as it is now, is not a home for Christian people - nor for anyone else, for that matter – heaven is! And if everything were so plain and simple, we would forget we need God and he would be sad that we no longer want to come and live with him!

This explains the main theme of today’s celebration: the “divine mercy” of God! God delights to show mercy, give help, give comfort, bring aid, and give healing of mind, body and spirit: but that can only happen if we, as human beings, count ourselves qualified – and what qualifies us is our regard of our own utter nothingness, emptiness and misery without him! For this is absolutely true! WITHOUT GOD WE ARE NOTHING and we can do nothing! And there is nothing more tragic and wonderful than that! Blessed Abbot Columba Marmion OSB, a favorite spiritual writer of mine, who was beatified in the year 2000 by Pope John Paul II, tells us that the abyss of our misery calls to the abyss of God’s mercy!

It is not our perfection to dazzle God who is surrounded by myriads of angels. No, it is our misery, our wretchedness AVOWED (recognized and proclaimed) which draws down his mercy [on us his beloved adopted sons and daughters]. Is this not what St. Thomas said to Jesus on the Octave night of Easter: Jesus, I was so wrong, I was so full of myself, I always have to have proof for everything, but now I avow my nothingness in the light of your totality: you are my Lord, you are my God, you are my EVERYTHING!

When any of us comes into the presence of Jesus, we must come humbly, hands held open, and satisfied to rest at his feet as we await our “marching orders” from him – who will work through us! For since the day of our baptism our lives are not our own, they are his! And what a magnificent sense of usefulness and joy comes to the disciple who lets Jesus do for others, through us, whatever he wants!

And today, as I have alluded to, we remember four other people of our own times who allowed this instrumentality to happen to them: St. Faustina Kowalska who was Jesus’ personal secretary in writing down his wishes to be known as the great distributer of Divine Mercy – flowing from his Sacred Human Heart!  Now, St. Pope John XXIII, whose sense of mercy and compassion was very evident in his desire to begin a grand renewal of the spirit of the Church, grounded in true care and concern for all people everywhere, which has come to full flower now in the life of our current Holy Father, Pope Francis. And of course, St. Pope John Paul II, who espoused the Divine Mercy Message, canonized Sister Faustina in the year 2000 (April 30), and declared the Octave Day of Easter, (the Second Sunday of Easter - today) to also be known as Divine Mercy Sunday: so that the application of the merciful events of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus can be summarized and celebrated!

The world needs Divine Mercy appreciation, celebration and application more than ever – for the time to bring all things to fulfillment may be near – and that is why we have this Feast and the Image to focus on and celebrate today!

Thank you God for “the abyss of your providential love and mercy” that you so willing pour out like and ocean on any who declare “the abyss of their own misery, their own nothingness, their own helplessness” and ask for all of your help! You respond instantaneously! You respond generously! For You are our Lord, You are our God, You are our ALL!

God bless you!  Amen! Alleluia!

Apr 21 - Easter Friday

+ In the gospel passage we see the third appearance of Jesus to his disciples after being raised from the dead. It is a very visual story of Jesus standing on the shore of the lake, where Peter, James and John and some others had been fishing all night – catching nothing. But at this “stranger’s” advice they cast their net over the right side of the boat and caught a huge load of fish – they could hardly get it into the boat. Then John shouted, “It’s the Lord!” Who else could have caused such a wonderful thing to happen?

When they got to the shore they counted the fish: 153 – a very large amount – and then because they were still in a bit of a shock, Jesus said to them, come have a fish breakfast with me! And He fed them – again – with bread, and fish! It is one of Jesus’ great joys to feed his disciples – then and now – with what they need physically and spiritually!

In the first reading – we see Peter again – not too far in time after the fish breakfast – addressing the high priests in Jerusalem and telling them that the one they had been instrumental in crucifying, Jesus, is the one who has been raised from the dead –  he is the Christ - and he has been seen by many! He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone! Peter tells them there is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved. This was true on that day in Jerusalem, it is true now, and it will be true until the last person born on earth hears it!

Great things happen when associating with this risen Lord of glory – a great catch of fish of all kinds and varieties is possible – and the ability of enduring in life whatever is irksome, challenging and sorrowful is raised to a very high level! In Jesus is all our hope, our joy and our peace!

The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.         By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes!

Apr 20 - Easter Thursday

+ On this Thursday within the Octave of Easter we see two more interrelated readings, one having to do with Pentecost events, and one with the Easter activities of Jesus.

In the first reading we see how the Apostle Peter, in the company of John began to preach to the Jews gathered in Solomon’s Portico of the Temple – who witnessed the curing of the crippled man. They were quick to explain to them that they – Peter and John – did not cure the man – but Jesus, the one who was put to death, but then raised again by God – had cured the man using them as his instruments. Faith in this God has given this man strength and perfect health!

In the presence of such a display of God’s power and indeed the risen Christ himself, Peter then exhorts the Jews to repent and likewise believe in Jesus – who has indeed fulfilled all the prophecies about a coming Messiah and Lord – and be saved – so that all the offspring of all the families of the earth shall be blessed!

In the gospel passage we see Jesus making his second resurrection appearance (the first being the night of Easter when he came to the Apostles in the upper room). The ones who were discussing what had happened to them on the road to Emmaus got a surprise visit by Jesus: he suddenly appeared in their midst – saying to them - “Peace be with you!” They were afraid and thought they were seeing a ghost – but Jesus said, ghosts do not have flesh and bones as I do! It is me! I am back! Do you have anything to eat? He said this to further prove that it was really him and no ghost – although he was now in “risen state,” – a state of enhanced humanity that those who believe in him would share in! And he ate fish with them!

Then he told them, as he told the Apostles he will send out on Pentecost: thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Then he tells them: you are witnesses of these things: therefore, you go and tell everyone about it! – oh, and as St. Francis says, let your actions speak louder than your words! Practice what you preach! Live what you speak!

Alleluia! This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it!    

Apr 19 - Easter Wednesday

+ This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

We have two beautiful readings today! In the first reading we see how the Apostle Peter, with John, offers a lifelong crippled man a gift that is beyond silver or gold: having the man look at them, Peter said: we do not have silver or gold, but we do have the amazing and dynamic power of the Risen Jesus to give you: and we give it – and in his name, we command you to rise and walk.

And the man arose and walked! In fact, he jumped around for joy and then walked into the temple with the two Apostles praising God. All who saw this were amazed because they knew this to be the man who had been handicapped since he was a baby!

The Church offers us the same amazing and dynamic power of the Risen Jesus in its sacraments and activity of self-sacrificial giving and charity – so that we can be healed of what cripples and handicaps us. All we need do is believe in the One whose power is at work: Jesus the Risen Lord of Glory, his Father and their Spirit. There is not enough silver or gold in the whole world that can buy what our simple response of faith can attain for us!

And of course, the gospel passage is the beloved story of the walk with Jesus with two dejected disciples on the road to Emmaus on Easter Sunday afternoon. These two are among the clear majority who are scratching their heads and hanging them heavy as it seems that their hopes in Jesus had been dashed to the ground.

He said he would rise on the third day. What happened? We do not see anyone! But then Jesus himself – in his Risen presence – comes and walks right along with them – and he engages with them in a dialogue in which he could refresh their memories about the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets that Jesus was supposed to be (still not revealing himself to them as the one to whom they referred); and then when they invited him into their house for supper, and when he took bread and broke it and gave it to them – thus truly revealing who he was – they did recognize him – at which point he vanished from their sight!

Then comes one of the most beautiful lines in all of scripture: Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us? They knew without a doubt that the man who walked and ate with them was Jesus, Risen from the dead. And they left at once and went to Jerusalem to tell everyone what had happened: and how they recognized him in the breaking of the bread!

This of course, is the very pattern of our Mass: from that Easter Sunday afternoon we get the framework for what we do here: read and reflect on Jesus (as he is present in the words of the ministers and priest) who opens the Scriptures and interprets them for us; and in the breaking of the bread: where the priest – in the very person of Jesus – once again feeds us with his own risen and real Body and Blood – so that we can grow more and more daily to resemble him, so that the Father will see him in us, and will welcome us to heaven to spend eternity in a forever of joy and glory!

Let us give thanks to the Lord, and invoke his name today; and make known among the nations (including our own) his saving deeds!       Alleluia! Alleluia!

Apr 18 - Easter Tuesday

+ On this Tuesday within the Octave of Easter we continue to relate the Pentecost message with the Easter fact. The “good news” preached by the Apostles from the day of Pentecost, is the historical fact of the resurrection to new life of Jesus Christ – Son of God.

In our first reading today we hear Peter on Pentecost Day telling the crowd of Israelites that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom they crucified. He then told them to repent and be baptized – every one of them – in the name of the risen Lord Jesus – for the forgiveness of their sins – and they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit – and their entire lives will never be the same again, here or hereafter. The vitality and persuasive power of the Holy Spirit, fresh fallen on the Apostles was great, for three thousand were baptized that day!

It is up to us – who are also baptized into the Risen Jesus, with the same baptism as those three thousand - to cling to him now because he is both seated at the right hand of his Father, but also very much alive and present within the Church he left behind – to be energized and loved by him – so that we, his hands and feet and heart, can go out and energize and love others in the world around us: at least to offer our energy and love – it is still up to them to freely accept the love of God for themselves or not!

God has delivered us from death – and he has preserved us so that we can praise him unceasingly!

          And now the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Alleluia!       

Apr 17 - Easter Monday

+ This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

We celebrate today the first day within the octave of Easter! An octave celebration, we recall, is a continuation of the original celebration as if it were still going on: and so for the Catholic world every day this week will be a re-presentation of Easter Day, Easter Sunday!

If this is the case, then why will all our first readings this week be of Pentecost Day and the events thereof?

For two reasons: 1) the proclamation of Easter is very short, poignant and earth-shattering: JESUS – who was put to death – HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD! HE LIVES! - NEVERMORE TO DIE AGAIN! and this changes everything!

2) But in his wisdom Jesus took another 50 days to prepare his Apostles – the Eleven (now) - to go out and proclaim this very astounding, powerful, yet simple truth.

And PENTECOST was the day when finally they understood it all (when the Spirit came upon them) – and they began to preach and teach this gospel message regarding Jesus – the Risen Lord – who indeed was the long awaited Messiah – to the ends of the earth as they had been instructed by him to do.

Therefore, the Easter fact and the Pentecost message are intimately linked; this is also where we come in – we who have responded to the apostolic mission and have chosen to believe in the message, to enter an interpersonal friendship with Jesus and to be plugged into the life and sacramental system of the Church he established on Pentecost.

And so, we rejoice today that God can truly be our hope, our joy and our peace! – and that he empowers us to bring these to others, all others, for he has poured out upon us the promised gift of the Holy Spirit!

The “other news” – the “real news” of the secular world – tells us that we are now living in very dangerous, unstable, and potentially life-threatening times – more than ever before – but we must be convinced that the “good news” of gospel victory and triumph can transform even these ominous storm clouds into clouds of encouraging clouds, silver-lined of springtime, sunshine and flowers – the symbol of a new time of global serenity and peace!  

Amen! Alleluia!        

Apr 16 - Easter Sunday

+ Two weeks ago Jesus told Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus whom he was about to raise from the dead: “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, WHOEVER BELIEVES IN ME, EVEN IF HE DIES, WILL LIVE, AND EVERYONE WHO LIVES AND BELIEVES IN ME WILL NEVER DIE!” This was the astounding message of that day’s readings, and it is the identical and astounding message of todays’: today, on this Easter Sunday, Jesus stands in our midst as ONE LIKE US, WHO WAS RAISED FROM HUMAN DEATH by God his Father and given A BRAND-NEW KIND OF HUMAN LIFE: a life of fullness, splendor, and glory: so that he can freely give them to us, IF WE BUT BELIEVE IN HIM!

Today is the “day of whistles and bells” it is the “day of appreciating the ‘fully loaded’ shiny new automobile” that we all might hope to own just one time in our lives. This is the “newness of life” that we speak of in the resurrection of Jesus. He did not resume a previous “used life,” but began to model now the fully loaded version with amazing new capabilities, whistles and bells. (I speak of the preternatural gifts, of course, but more on them later).

For now, Jesus, the only human person who was “born to die,” and to rise again to a fullness of life, paid the price of Adam’s sin by death on a Cross so that we could be free: free to believe in his divinity; free of our sins that would disqualify us from eternal life; free to live forever with God in heaven with all our brothers and sisters who go before us: to really and truly never die again, after our baptism!

Yes, in coming out of the tomb JESUS BECAME RESURRECTION: HE BECAME NEW LIFE – SHINY, POLISHED, WHISTLING, TINKLING NEW LIFE - FOR ALL OF US!

Therefore, the two possible fitting responses we can give him are: first, an enormous amount today of THANKS, and PRAISE and WORSHIP! The “Alleluias” that we sing today should resound in our hearts constantly for the next fifty days: the length of the observance of the Easter Season! “Alleluia” is the song the angels sing before the throne of God, day and night! With our voices blending with theirs God will be very pleased with us and he will know that we “get it” – we understand the PROFUND DEPTH OF HIS LOVE FOR US in planning our salvation, and in going through all of what it entailed, including the death of his own Son - FOR US AND FOR OUR SALVATION!

And secondly, may our hearts burn with love for Jesus today and every day: Jesus, our Elder Brother who came back from the dead, and who is with us now sacramentally in his Church [especially in Holy Communion], and who plans to come back one day to take us with him, where he is now! And may we make this “gospel [good news] story” known to all we meet – some way, somehow! It is our supernatural duty as baptized members of Christ’s Body: the Church to do this!

Just as “evangelization” began with Mary Magdalene bringing the “good news” of Christ’s resurrection to Peter and the Apostles:  “gospel spreading,” in Virginia, begins with us! Jesus did what he did for all people everywhere, including right here where we are, and he needs us to help 

“get the word out” – the Good Word of God’s Gospel – the Good Word of the Resurrection!

So what do you say? Are you willing to tell people about the most amazing love story ever told: God’s truly awesome and redeeming love for all people everywhere – which has more than a fairy tale ending?

 I pray so!

God bless you!

Apr 14 - Good Friday

Let us now listen to the seven last words that Jesus spoke as he hung dying on the cross: for us and our salvation!

It would be good to remember that he said these things to fulfill all the prophecies about himself, and on our behalf: he did not say one word of them for his own benefit:

Let us reflect then for a few moments on each of these words and ask the Holy Spirit to help us apply them both to ourselves as individuals, and as a society and world.

1) Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

2) Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

3) Woman, behold your son; behold your mother.

4) My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

5) I thirst!

6) It is finished.

7) Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit!

How purified and transformed the world would be if someway somehow, everyone everywhere could get this amazing perspective from the vantage point of the foot of the Cross of Christ.

Actually, they can – if we tell them about it and lead them to it and show it to them…        

Apr 13 - Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday – April 13, 2017

And the Word [of God] – His Divine Son - to redeem us from sin and death – became Flesh and made his dwelling among us!

Thus, you have it: the joining of the Christmas Cycle with the Lenten / Easter Cycle: Incarnation and Redemption as free gifts from God, our loving Father!

When we look around the world today and see so much disarray, so much mal-contention, so much violence, hatred and killing – so much dangerously ignorant incompetence in our own national government – we might ask ourselves – and rightly so – why did he bother? Why did GOD bother to become ONE OF US – creatures of this type, who do such terrible things to one another – why did God bother to even try to save us, to reconcile the situation, to bring peace on earth?

The answer is this: if he did not come, [and quite frankly this is difficult to imagine] then everything we see, everything we experience would have been exponentially even worse. We have to remember that what we are seeing now is already filtered by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus: when he died and rose, Jesus did it for all people: and inherently, in every human heart, there is now a sense that this is so: Jesus is Lord, Jesus is King, Jesus is Savior of the world. Yet so many, including superiors, bosses, laypersons, priests, bishops, government leaders refuse to tune-in to this inherent, onboard GPS [Gesu, Pater, Spiritus} system! and so they lead helter-skelter“ly”! 

Or if you will, so many people on earth are not willing to write out the check that they are entitled by grace to write: to welcome into their lives not only the idea of Jesus as Savior, Redeemer and Reconciler: but the actual person himself! This is very sad! and in our day and age now, can even be catastrophic in its consequences.

Jesus provided a way to write checks: as the final events of his life came fast upon him Jesus knew exactly what he was about: establishing a permanent and indeed everlasting way for us to be connected to him as he pours forth grace into our hearts, our souls and our lives. I love you so much, he said, that I want you to become and intimate part of me, and I you. I will then give you a sacramental system of seven signs of our connection and our willingness to be a part of each other’s’ lives.

The very first two of these supernatural signs were the Sacraments of Eucharist and of Holy Orders – which we celebrate the memorial of the Institution of here and now: the Food of Eternal Life, supernatural food of spiritual growth and nourishment, real and essential communion with God and with one another; and moments later the priesthood, which would be forever linked with his own priesthood and the source of all sacramental life of the church including primarily Eucharist, the other sacraments and the proclamation and teaching of the Gospel of his Word to the ends of the earth.

He did this for love, a very deep, abiding and amazing love: the Eucharist is Love made Flesh, Jesus in his Risen state; and the priesthood, as St. John Vianney tells us is the very love of his heart (which led him to the cross and to resurrection), his Divine and Sacred Heart, made flesh really and truly in the priest at his ordination by the working of the Holy Spirit. The very being of the priest is changed forever and configured to Christ: Priest, Victim, Preacher, Teacher, Redeemer and Brother – for the good of all of the members of the Church everywhere.

The priesthood then, modeled after Jesus’ own actions at the Last Supper is a ministry of “service”! Priests must “go out” and serve as Jesus served, love as Jesus loved, and sacrifice as Jesus sacrificed!

On this very sacred and holy evening we thank God from the depths of our being for the astounding gifts of the holy Eucharist and holy Priesthood: may we reverence, honor, love and appreciate each to the fullest especially during this upcoming Easter Season – and may we tell others the “good news” about the wonderful God-given, inner workings of our beloved Catholic Church – and even invite them to consider joining us!

I give you a new commandment:

LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU!

Love one another now, before it is too late!

Apr 12 - Wednesday of Holy Week

+ We are on the threshold of the three holiest days of the church year. Tomorrow we celebrate the Institution of the Priesthood and the Perpetual Memorial of the Lord’s Last Supper which we know of as “The Mass”;

on Friday, we commemorate his life-giving Passion and Death (which was anticipated at that supper);

and Saturday evening (and Easter Sunday) we rejoice with the Church as we proclaim Jesus Risen from the dead, and we welcome new members into the Mystical Body of the Church.

Our attitude ought to be one of solemn yet joyful anticipation and reflection on such a wondrous display of God’s love and mercy and forgiveness.

He did not have to create us in the first place;

and he did not have to redeem us when we miserably failed the simple test of loyalty that he gave us in the second place:

but he did both: BECAUSE HE LOVES US!

May we love him back then, and thank him profusely by lives of giving to others, all others, after the example of his own beloved Son, Jesus!

Hail to you Jesus:

Lord, King and Savior of the world!        

Apr 11 - Tuesday of Holy Week

+ Our readings today tell of three things: the glory that awaits Jesus for seeing through his task of redemption for the likes of us; and the two types of potentially redeemed: the kind who betray Jesus (like Judas) in a very cold and calculated sort of way: not seeing past their own selfish vision and who never see the error of their ways; and the kind who deny Jesus (like Peter) but who later recant and are forgiven!

All of us betray and deny Jesus at times: Jesus who came to be a light to the nations and the glory of Israel. This day of Holy Week let us reflect all day on how easy it is to go “another way”: too see and seek other lights and glory:

 to choose being “children of Adam” rather than children of God,

to bask in “self-made counterfeit light,” rather than the glory of the Lord that we are called to live within,

to deny “glorious light” to those who are depending on us to be it for them, so that they can see and find their way through life.

And let us choose to go the harder way with Jesus; to be children of the Father, with Jesus; to be filled with the light and glory which is our inheritance; and to share that light generously with others: all others!

Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father; you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter. When we endure our Passions, be with us!

Apr 10 - Monday of Holy Week

+ On this Monday of Holy Week we continue our reflective observance of the events of Jesus’ last week on earth!  Isaiah reminds us in the first reading that Jesus came to be a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon those who live in darkness, this by being a servant of God who was meek and humble, not crying out, not shouting, who was very sensitive to the needs of all – who brings justice to the nations.

In our world, in this day, in this age, we need a powerful display of the Lord’s justice and truth, compassion, mercy and love!

In the gospel passage – this suffering servant of the Lord, having arrived triumphant in Jerusalem for the Passover, visits his dear friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. It was Mary here who prophesied the Lord’s upcoming death and burial by anointing his feet with costly perfume. Judas reveals his true nature by complaining that this was a waste of money that could be used to feed the poor – but Jesus tells Judas to leave her alone because there will always be the poor, but there would not always be Jesus present as he was then.

Let us continue then this week, in our prayer and in our reading of scriptures - our own study of and contemplation of the prophecies that were being fulfilled about Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Lord, Jesus the Savior of the world - remembering that ALL HE DID, HE DID FOR US AND FOR OUR SALVATION! – it was such a wondrous exchange, he (God) became one of us, so that we could be, once again, most fully like him!

Hail to you, King Jesus: you alone are compassionate with our faults!         

Apr 9 - Palm Sunday of the Passion

+ We are now at the end of our Lenten observance and we begin the observance of the holiest week of the Church year.  Though we have been here many times before, we are invited to make this year different from the rest because we have a deeper interest in the events, because we have both a better understanding of them and because they pertain to us very personally and really: all of the things that Jesus did, he did for us and for our salvation! – and that us includes not only our parishes, families and friends, but also all people everywhere – including those in charge of administrating our secular government and agencies at this particularly challenging time in world history.

And so, on this day when we recall the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, let us see it for what it was: he was now finished with eluding the crowds of Jews who were out to get him, he is no longer in hiding: he is very much visible, marching into his city, to claim his position as King: King of the Jews; as Lord of all lords and Savior of all mankind.

The crowds of people who lined his route were inspired by the Holy Spirit himself to make a magnificent spectacle out of this entry, waving palm branches – HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID they shouted: BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD – for this is who he truly was.

May we take from this celebration today these three titles of Jesus to ponder during the coming days of Holy Week: 1)JESUS IS LORD, Jesus is Lord (not Caesar, not any governor, not any president, not any prime minister) Jesus is the one and true Lord of lords, to whom these others will stand an render accounting of their time in office, which was allowed by him; 2) JESUS IS KING – Jesus is King of the Jews, he is king of all nations – and his kingdom will have no end – and all – sooner or later – all the kings of the earth will one day obey him; and lastly, 3) JESUS IS SAVIOR. JESUS IS SAVIOR OF THE WORLD – no one else in human history was qualified to do what he did: reconcile God and Man – because he was both God and Man at the same time, in the same Person: everything that Jesus said and did then, he did NOT FOR HIMSELF – but FOR US AND FOR OUR SALVATION!- all of us!

Therefore it is only right and just that we take the time, a lot of time this coming week to think about these things, to reflect on them, and to adore and worship the One to whom they refer: Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, Foster-son of Joseph and Son of God! LORD, KING, SAVIOR! of the world!

HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID!

Apr 7 - 5th Week of Lent - Friday

+ The Prophet Jeremiah has in his own life the experience of being denounced and stalked by his own friends: “all those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine; perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him!”

This is a sure prophecy of what would happen to Jesus at a later time: in the gospel passage today we see the Jews trying to trip Jesus up because they fail to understand his unique and real relationship with his heavenly Father: the one sent by him into the world to reconcile us, the one who has the right to be called true Son of God (because that is exactly what he is).

Jesus tells them then if they do not believe what he says about himself as Son of God – they should at least believe that he is unique and from God because of the quality of the works that he does: his spiritually revolutionary preaching, and his miracles that have no other explanation than originating in God himself.

But these prejudiced and stiff-necked people reject any claim that Jesus makes on being in a special relationship with the very God of their fathers: and they try to arrest him – but as it was not yet his exact hour to finally be handed over, he escaped from their power and went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. There many came to believe in him for they realized that everything John said about this man was true.

We have a unique and special invitation to listen to Jesus speak at this Mass and to witness his greatest sign of all: the changing of bread and wine by the priest into his Real and True Body and Blood as supernatural nourishment for our spiritual lives for which we are responsible for growth and maturity! May we appreciate what happens here to the maximum – for it is astounding as it is breathtaking!

We love you, O Lord, our strength, O Lord, our rock, our fortress, our deliverer.

Apr 6 - 5th Week of Lent - Thursday

+ In the gospel passage today Jesus is trying to make the point that those who keep the covenant and commandments that his Father made with Abraham (and his descendants) are also obeying him because he was also present at the time those covenants and commands were given – and that their reward will be everlasting life. The Jews however are not convinced of his legitimacy and they mock him saying: You are not yet fifty years old, how could you have seen Abraham and been with him when God spoke with him?

Jesus, in an exasperating way, raises his voice and cries out: Listen to me! before Abraham came to be, I AM. My Father is I AM, and I am I AM. and I am eternal! I am with God always! I am present in all my Father’s dealings with the human race. So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area: to await his hour when more than stones will be thrown at him.

In the first reading we see the historic covenant made between God and Abram: it was the cause of the changing of his name to Abraham, and it was the cause of many graces and blessings on him and his physical and spiritual descendants; but the other end of the deal must never be overlooked: he would be their God, but they must obey the commands of the covenant – all of them: and thus they would be eligible for countless blessings.

And the Law and the Prophets are based on 2 hinges: loving God, loving neighbor as we love ourselves.

May we the children of Abraham, the children of God be quick to obey with our spiritual fathers: imitate their example, and win the prize that they won for us by their obedience: life on high forever, with God, his Son and the communion of saints!

And on a more practical level, may our expression of love of God and neighbor as ourselves be seen in living a mature, insightfully informed, uncompromising in principle, while appropriately lenient in speed of implementation (where prudent), other-centered way of life:

knowing that, even when necessary disciplinary measures must be invoked, i.e. when those adult in years, display thought and deeds of one who has not yet reached or grasped an ease of use of reason i.e. even a presiding potentate of a world power, the adults in the room i.e. we, must take matters in hand and demand a stop to childish behavior for the immediate safety and welfare of the governing power and his constituents throughout the land!    

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts- and for God’s sake, for the sake of others and your own sake, stand up and do something both Christian and patriotic! be a peace-broker! as was Abraham and his descendants of whom we are a part!

Apr 5 - 5th Week of Lent - Wednesday

+ The topic of our readings today is an important one: freedom. It seems that Jesus and the Jewish people to whom he spoke were on two different wavelengths, again: this time regarding what it truly means to be free! The Jewish people still see freedom as a national condition that is the goal to be striven for: the children of Abraham are free because they are to be the favored nations of God – among other nations and gods!

But Jesus speaks very plainly today: only I can give you true freedom, inner freedom, freedom to be who you are on the inside – and it is from the inside out that you will attain your true status as heirs of Abraham and favored children of God! – and this, whether you have standing as a nation among nations or not!

Most often, freedom comes at a price: such as the price the three young men faced in the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar! But when one is totally engulfed in faith in God – not even lapping flames of any kind – real or symbolic – can disturb.

We need to remember this reality this day, as the very notion of freedom, free will and free reign is being bastardized on the national governmental level. It is only when the freedom of the children of God begins to infiltrate the minds and hearts of Christians already in office that things have a chance of changing for the better.

May we today truly be free, enjoying the freedom of the sons and daughters of God: a freedom consisting of informed consent and cooperation with God who wants to be an intimate part of our lives – if we let him!

And may we pray intensely for the diffusion of faith and right response in those who are supposed to be leading us in a free and vibrant democracy.

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever!    

Apr 4 - 5th Week of Lent - Tuesday

+ We focus in this Lenten day on the very instrument of our salvation: the cross itself on which the Lord was hung. In a very real way we must be able to look at the cross and see joy or we are not looking at it in a faith-filled way, we must look at the cross as see hope or we are depriving ourselves of promise, we must look at the cross and see peace, or we are excluding ourselves from harmonious existence.

Just as the people of the Old Testament were to look at seraph snakes mounted on a pole in order to be saved; so too the New Testament people are to look up at the crucified one hung on a cross and see the “joy of their salvation.” Jesus himself says that when you lift me up, then you will know who I am and what I am, and all of you will be eligible to be saved: you will know that I AM sent me, that the Father and I are one, and that we love you all in an extraordinary sort of way.

There is no one who does not have a very real and feeling reaction to seeing a cross – raised up or otherwise – for it speaks to the heart: those who wear crosses merely for decoration, do so, whether they know it or not, out of some faith-response - whether they would admit it or not; and they also do a favor for those who understand the basic meaning of the cross but need to be reminded of how much God truly loves them, personally, throughout the day!

And lastly, the cross is a great instrument of protection: the devils flee from it, and the angels hover around it; may we respect and even adore it as the instrument of the payment of our sins and the new life that is ours if we want it.

The nations shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory, when the Lord has rebuilt Zion and appeared in his glory.