Being Served By The Master (LK6:12-18)

In the Gospel Jesus tells us that when we are prepared to receive Him or to greet Him it is then that He comes and serves us. Therefore we are called to live in humble anticipation of His entering into our lives. In other words we should expect that He will enter our lives. What is required of us is that we be ready to simply open the door. Often this is the hardest thing to do. Behind the door it is a mess. Behind the door is where all our fears reside. Behind the door is where our shame and guilt still remain over all we have done and all that has been done to us. Behind the door we find our shattered dreams and expectations. Behind the door is kept all the judgments that keep us from knowing God's Love. Because if someone, or anyone saw all that is kept behind the door of our heart there is no way they could love us. They would see what a disgrace we really are. What a hypocrite we are. How little we really are and they would be right in rejecting us and in ridiculing us. So, it is better to keep the door to our heart closed. But this is not what Jesus asks of us today. In fact He wants the exact opposite. He tells us that if we are ready to open the door of our hearts He will come and enter. Upon entering Jesus tells us that He will then begin to serve us. How will He do this? By bringing healing to all our hidden wounds. By bringing comfort to our memories and our minds. By taking away our guilt and shame in His Loving Mercy. By forgiving us. By telling us who we really are in His sight. By telling us that we are indeed loved. By revealing our true identity as His beloved. He tells us that He may come in the second or third watch. In other words it may take awhile but He will come. We should not lose hope. He will come at the perfect time, and bring healing to our souls. He loves us and desires to serve us in this way. Finally Jesus tells us the result of all this is that we will be happy. We will be happy with a happiness that is beyond compare because we will truly know that we are loved. But first we must be prepared to open the door of our hearts to Him who loves us. In the we have recourse to our Mother Mary. In praying the Rosary and listening to Mary speak to us of Her Son's Merciful Love we will be unafraid to let Jesus in when He comes knocking at door of our wounded heart.

Generosity and Selfishness (LK12:13-21)

"I will say to my soul: my soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time." Many would look at the Gospel today and think that this man was selfish in that he did not think to share with the poor the abundant riches he had from his harvest. This is not true. When we look at the Gospel from that perspective, we often excuse ourselves and our own selfish behavior. We give money to the Church. We give money to charities. We give money to the poor. We donate our old clothes and our old furnishings. We are not like the man in the Gospel at all. The selfishness of the man in the Gospel is not that he did not give to the poor. His selfishness is in the fact that he takes counsel from himself and only himself and those who would agree with his selfish plans. For example the contractors who are building the new barn. "I will say to my soul: my soul," this selfishness is much harder to excuse ourselves from. All of us like to take counsel from ourselves and those who would agree with us. We forget that we belong to God. "The Lord made us we belong to Him"this is the responsorial psalm today. This simple phrase should ever be on our lips and on our hearts. In love God made us and it is for love that God made us, therefore in all things we should turn to Him who loves us. The generosity that our Lord seeks from us is that we be generous in turning to Him in all things. This is so that he may shower down upon us His many Blessings, His Mercy, and His Love. If we generously give our souls to Him we will have no need to fear anything in this life. We can rest secure in true peace and enjoy the abundant blessings of Our Father's Loving Mercy. Trusting in Him we will become rich in His sight building up treasure in Heaven and leaving selfishness and worry behind.

29th Sunday Mt 22:15-21

In the Gospel today Jesus tells us to give to God what belongs to God. You belong to God. In Baptism we become children of God. We belong to him. Often in life we forget this fact. Often we are lonely and distract ourselves with our thoughts and actions. Most often our distractions become our sins. It is easy to sin when you think that you do not matter to anyone. It is easy to sin when you have low self esteem. It is easy to sin when you think that no one really cares about you or loves you. It is easy to forget that we belong to God and that he really does love us. He does love you. What often happens after we distract ourselves with our sins is that we feel so guilty and ashamed that we think God could not possibly love us after what we did. But God does love you. Gods love is merciful. You belong to him and he will never abandon you. This is the great gift of our faith, that the Father loved us so much that he gave us his only Son that we may be healed and forgiven. You do matter. You are loved. You belong to him. Give him your life today and trust in his loving mercy.

There Is No Need To Be Afraid (LK12:1-7)

Today is the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch. He was the third Bishop of Antioch, the city in which followers of Jesus were first called Christians. He lived in the first century and under the Roman Emperor Trajen and was condemned to death. He was brought to Rome and in the amphitheater he was fed to two lions. On his journey to Rome he wrote 6 letters to various local churches and one to St. Polycarp. In his letter to he begged the Church to not try and get his death sentence pardoned but to let him die a martyrs death for Christ. He knew he was going to be fed to the lions yet he was unafraid. This could be for us today a nice and even heroic story from our history. It is a beautiful example of the strong faith of the early Church but has no bearing on our lives today. In thinking this we are wrong. No we are not being dragged to Rome to be eaten by lions, but we can look more closely at St. Ignatius to understand how he could be so heroic and strong in his faith. He wrote these words in one of his letters, "I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ, born of David's seed; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of his unending love." It is in the Eucharist that he found his strength to live his life as a Christian and to die a martyrs death. A death that was ferocious in its violence and vulgar in its aftermath. He was not only killed by lions but then eaten by them. Yet he was unafraid for he knew the unending love of Jesus in the Eucharist. This then is how his martyrdom can impact our lives today. It should draw us closer to the Eucharist that we too may enter into and know the Unending Love of Our Lord Jesus. That we too may be strengthened and sustained in our lives as Christians. That we too can know deep in our hearts There Is No Need To Be Afraid.

Paying Attention To The Love Of God

In the Gospel today Jesus reprimands the Pharisees and tells them that they pay no attention to the love of God. The Pharisees say they love God, but then they proceed to pay no attention to this love. The are caught up in their own selfish love and claim they are doing God's will. Jesus points out today how self deceived they are. Others are shocked at this. The scholar of the law has the courage to tell Jesus that he is lumping them all together and Jesus says "that's right". Then he proceeds to show how self deceived the scholars are with themselves. Why? Because while both groups claim to love God they pay no attention to this love. In speaking to the Galatians today St Paul is addressing the same issue. He tells them to live in the Spirit and follow the Spirit. In other words pay attention to Love. Do not just say "oh I know God loves me". That is not enough for the pharisees and the scholars claimed to know God. They just refused to pay attention to him. They did not follow the Spirit. We often do the same. We are often self deceived claiming to know God and then paying attention only to ourselves and our selfish desires. Mind you the scholars and pharisees ignored God's love while doing good. They studied and lived the law of God to what they considered perfection. But they ignored the love of God. Paying attention to the love of God and following the Spirit requires us to take off the blinders of self deception. Paying attention and following the Spirit requires us to abandon ourselves to the Loving Mercy of God and Trust in Him and not ourselves. We should not be surprised that God demands our attention. HE LOVES US ! Who doesn't want this love or its fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

Do Not Submit Again To The Yoke Of Slavery

Christ freed you and he meant you to remain free. Free from the yoke of fear. Free from the yoke of anxiety. Free from the yoke of worry. Free to live your life as his son or daughter. These yokes are from the evil one, the slave master who wants you to live in bondage with no hope of escape or resolution. Fear, anxiety and worry all have to deal with the unknown, and with what we do not have power over. In turning to them we are willingly placing the yoke of slavery upon ourselves and upon those we love. What is most disgraceful about this is that we feel justified in doing so. We claim that worrying is our right as a parent. We claim that we would be negligent if we did not fear what was out there in the world. We see anxiety as a good thing that can keep us safe from all harm. All these justifications and the ones you tell yourself are lies. Christ freed you and he meant you to remain free. The evil generation in the Gospel today was demanding a sign. Do you want to be like them? Then take a moment to gaze upon the Crucifix in your home. This is the only sign at which you should look. You should look upon it frequently. It is a sign of the great love that Jesus has for you. It is the sign that tells you that in His Love you are free. It is the sign that says He is Merciful. It is the sign that everything will be alright because He Loves you. The yokes of the evil one bring no peace. In fact they lead to a number of other sins. No one keeps their fear or worries to themselves. Gossip and idle talk compound the sin and spread it to others. These lead to a loss of faith, and even a loss of hope. What do you suppose is the result of all this fear? It is a loss of love. Why? Because if you are ruled by fear, anxiety, and worry, you better take care of yourself. You can trust nobody. Something bad may happen. Pervasive selfishness takes root in our live and just as the evil one desires we become isolated. How very different from the invitation of our Lord in which we are called into communion where we find true peace and true freedom. As his sons and daughters we are required to bring anything that disturbs us to Him, to Jesus. Notice I say required, not invited, not requested, not asked, but REQUIRED. Trusting His Loving Mercy we are required to bring everything to to Jesus. In giving it to Him we are free. This is so difficult for us but it is a necessity. Even the most embarrassing sins and weaknesses are to be brought to Him. He has already judged you worthy of His Mercy. Just look at the Cross and believe He Loves you. Submit to His Loving Mercy and Be Free. Come into Communion with Him and leave your isolation and loneliness behind. Throw off the evil ones yoke and live as a son or daughter of God. Christ freed you and he meant you to remain free.

Sunday 28th week

"There is nothing that I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength" During this year of St. Paul we would do well to listen to these words. Jesus gives us strength. It is in knowing His love that Paul finds strength. Where do you find your strength? Often times we look to ourselves and our own abilities. We think that we should know better. We think that we should be able to handle things. We think that we should be able to get over things. Paul's example shows us that those thoughts could not be further from the truth. Paul relies upon the love of Jesus. Paul is sustained by the love of Jesus. He does not and he cannot rely only upon himself. These days all of us are infected with a terrible illness of the modern world. We are so self centered. We want to heal ourselves. We want to better ourselves. We want to fix ourselves and those we love. We want to understand ourselves. We want to glorify ourselves. We want to pleasure ourselves. In pursuing this self-centered lifestyle we find only isolation and misery. We are so isolated and alone that instead of loving others and living in community, we use others and destroy community. This leads to death. If you do not believe me look at our society. Pornography, Casual Sex, Abortion, Contraception, Divorce and Suicide are now all common place. They all take place in our homes and in our families. This infection is tearing at our very souls. We are not like the people in the first reading today who say "See, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation, the Lord is the one in whom we hoped." We do not look to God for help or hope. We look to ourselves. In doing so we are like the people in the Gospel. We refuse the Lord's invitation. But our Lord does not give up hope. Our Lord does not abandon us. The invitation is again offered. Trust in me. Let me be your strength. Imitate Paul and let me sustain you. How do we do this? The readings today speak about a banquet. This clearly refers to the Eucharist but also to all the Sacraments. This is where we can find true strength. In preparing for the Sacraments we must have a prayer life. This includes reading the Bible and praying the Rosary. We must begin the practice of going to Confession regularly. All in preparation to receive Jesus our strength each week in the Eucharist. These practices are simple and each one of you has the ability to do them. In prayer and the Sacramental life the sickness of isolation will be destroyed. This is because you will begin to live in communion with your Lord, and not just go to communion on Sundays. However this is not enough. For we are not called to simply do this on our own. Husbands should pray with their wives and wives with their husbands. Fathers and mothers should pray with their children. Families should come not only to Church together but also to confession together. Children can pray with their friends. Boyfriend and girlfriends as well. In all things, like the people in the first reading we should look to the Lord. We need to begin living like St. Paul and constantly look to our Lord for strength. In doing so we will no longer be isolated, but not only that, in trusting in the love of Jesus we will be comforted and strengthened in all our struggles. We will not have to be afraid of the future for we will live in our Lord's Loving Mercy each day of our life.