bg-image

The Deacon Joe

4th Sunday Ordinary Time – “Lest we die”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Deut. 18:15-20; Ps: 95:1-2, 7-9; 1 Cor. 7:32-35; Mk 1:21-28

Listen to him “lest we die.”  The “Holy one of God” has come, he is Jesus of Nazareth, and his voice is proclaimed today in the scriptures.  To him we listen “lest we die”.  We shall listen to no other voice and the voice that falsely speaks in his name “or in the name of other gods, he shall die”.  Who are these voices of our times that use the name of the Lord in vain or speak for other gods?  When the politics of government calls for the genocide of babies in abortion, or for the marriage rights of homosexuality in the name of God’s justice we have a false prophet on the path to death.  When people go to a spiritualist “espiritualistas”, hand readers, or guide themselves with daily astrology and zodiac signs they follow other gods on the path to death.  What voices do we govern ourselves by? 

Have you ever taken care of a child that is not your own and you give it a command only to have the child respond, “You are not the boss of me”?  Children learn to listen to their parents but they also are cautioned to not to listen to the voice of a stranger.  Last week we heard how the great city of Nineveh listened to the prophet Jonah and repented and today we have something greater than Jonah and Moses, we have Jesus, “the Holy one of God”.  He is “of” God not sent “from” God.  Being of God, he carries the authority and power of God the Father as the Son in the Spirit as one.  Are we ready to allow him to be “the boss of us?” The “boss” has given us a command, to listen to the voice of Jesus inscribed in our hearts and in his word. 

Are we ready to be obedient to his command?   His is the voice that can remove any unclean spirits from our lives.  In the gospel today, Jesus enters the synagogue and there was “a man with unclean spirit”.  This man was not out trying to sin in the world.  He had come on the sabbath to the synagogue following the Jewish custom.  He may have appeared as any other ordinary citizen.  He could be any of us today following the church customs yet living in bondage with a spirit of sin that possess us.  The voice of the spirit speaking the words “Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are–the Holy one of God!” does not come from the man himself but from the evil one that has taken possession of him.  When we think of exorcism, we envision something radical like the movie the “Exorcist”.  The first exorcism of a Christian is in baptism to remove our original sin and allow the Holy Spirit to enter as a new birth in Christ.  The voice of evil is disguised in the ordinary of life. 

The Holy one of God comes with the promise of a kingdom, a kingdom in the spirit of God to remove the spirit of evil that prowls about the world seeking souls to enter.  What spirit has us in bondage that needs to release us and set us free?  Do we feel persecuted sometimes with a restlessness within our minds, hearts, and souls knowing that those thoughts, feelings, and compulsions are not rational or based on our circumstances yet we find ourselves overwhelmed seeking to be set free from within?  We need to come to Jesus, we need prayer, and we need to receive a blessing from a priest.  We need to pray a rosary to Mary and call for her intercession for she has crushed the head of the serpent and can crush the spirit that invades us. 

We don’t like to think or consider that we are not in control of ourselves or that we may be struggling with something evil yet where does lust, gluttony, rage, obsessions or suicidality find itself lurking in the lives of people.  Many will battle in silence, in shame, justifying their struggle as simply a human weakness, a character flaw or even a mental illness before considering that something greater may be lying within.  When science fails to justify the darkness within something more powerful than the human condition may have taken possession of a soul.  This is not to be confused with mental health conditions that have an organic origin from a chemical imbalance or from years of brain damage through drugs, alcohol or trauma.  The church always looks to science to determine and rule-out the organic cause before considering the spiritual cause. 

Jesus came to set the sinners free and heal the sick for he reminds us that the well have no need for a physician.  In the same way, the evil one is not concerned with those he already possesses from their own free will.  He is after those who oppose him who he yet wishes to conquer those who follow and believe in one God creator of all.  The evil one seeks to destroy us from the inside where our souls are destined for eternity and he has many spiritual weapons.  Jesus calls us to be vigilant not just for his coming but against the enemy.  The enemy can appear as a gentle lamb, he can come into those we love and use them to attack us. 

Recall how Jesus told Peter, “Get away from me Satan”.  He can even impersonate the dead  and falsely misguide us.  We are the first line of defense in the spiritual battle for the souls of this world.  We can even find ourselves fooled by an evil spirit.  Yet we are not alone in the battle when we pray.  When we find ourselves in a spiritual battle, we must call on the blood of Jesus, on the Holy Spirit, on the legion of angels and army of saints and always on our Blessed Mother.  We can easily claim we live in a “land overshadowed by death” but the death will not overcome us nor destroy the kingdom of God already giving us his light. 

In our second reading from 1st Corinthians, it reveals the Lord’s ways are not our ways in this teaching to the “adherence to the Lord”.  One spouse can oppose the other when practicing their faith, coming to church, or spending time in prayer.  These “anxieties” in which a married man or woman is “anxious about the things of the world” and how he or she may please their spouse is part of the sound doctrine for the call to celibacy “for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction” in the life of a priest or religious sister.  The sacrament of marriage is not to divide us from the love of God but to unite us as one in the love of God with God as the center of both of our lives.  To many marriages end in divorce because they begin with God as the “window dressing” of the wedding day and never grow beyond it. 

Finally, we see in the gospel that the “people were astonished at his teaching” with authority, driving out unclean spirits.  This concern with a “new teaching” caused disruption in the status quo and some even accused him of demonic possession, blasphemy and false prophecy.  They plotted to destroy him for what Moses cautioned his people “lest we die” in listening to all the false prophets of the world.  Who is truly the false prophet speaking to our hearts?  Moses prophesied the coming of Jesus who we are to listen to against the status quo of worldly prophets whose gods are the rise up of ‘isms” to rule our lives as in Marxism, Socialism, Capitalism, and Communism that end up in narcissism.  As Jesus taught the Pharisees who accuse his disciples of “doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath…For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath” (Mt. 12:1-8).  Let us continue to listen to him who desires “mercy not sacrifice” (Mt. 12:7).  Let us allow our hearts to discern the truth already given to us in our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

In mercy, our hearts carry a gentle soul, joyfully worshiping in our faith, with childlike hope.  Our hearts cannot be hardened or governed by ideologies of the world.  We recall how Jesus observed the Jewish law of his inheritance yet he claimed, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”  (Mt. 5:17).  We are called to fulfill his call for which we have been born and it comes through him who our Lord God called us to listen to him lest we die. 

We do not fear the storms of evil that bring pandemics, dictatorships, tragedies or even death.  We stand for mercy to defend life from conception to death.  This week was the 48th March for Life largely virtual with the theme “Together Strong: Life Unites!”  Our strength is from the Lord who made heaven and earth.  Life unites us to listen for his voice amid all the other voices in the world through prayer, through the celebration of the Mass, through the tenets of the Church, and in his teaching inscribed in our hearts and in his word.  The voice of God is for life and justice for all “lest we die”.    

We do not take God for granted thinking “I am baptized so let me go on with my life” lest we die.  We call out the evil one as Jesus did “Get away from me Satan”.  As a child there are good guys and bad guys and the good guys always win.  As we mature in our Christian faith, we recognize there is a battle between the saint and the sinner from within and the winner is?  Jesus, when we call out his name.  Jesus!

Tags
Shared this
Views

226 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

The Deacon Joe

3rd Sunday Ordinary Time – “Repent and believe…”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Ps.:25:4-9; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20

“Repent and believe in the Gospel” is the proclamation coming from the beginning of time and “In the beginning was Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jn 1:1-3)”.  What happened in the beginning to make this the central message from the beginning until now?  The disobedience of Adam and Eve happened and it remains the core of the sin of humanity.  Just as the city of Nineveh was called to repent by Jonah before 40 days have passed, the Church is called to enter into a period of repentance during our Lenten season for forty days.  The ashes we receive come with the proclamation “Repent and believe in the Gospel” as one of two proclamations.

As we recall, Jonah is a reluctant prophet who resists God initially.  For Jonah, Nineveh is not worth saving even though it is “an enormously large city”.  His message was one of repent and believe in God. Have you noticed that as cities grow larger the greater the “sin city” they become?  Why?  It is because the values of the population become as diverse as the people who live there and inclusion promotes a tolerance for all types of behavior.  Nineveh was no exception so for the people to listen to Jonah and believe in God is a great testimony to their underlying faith and the power of God’s mercy to work in their hearts and “proclaim a fast”.  “God saw their actions how they turned from their evil way”. 

Would Jonah succeed in today’s metroplex?  Jesus is the living word of proclamation coming through the Church, easily accessible through media platforms and yet the more interconnected we are as a global society the more suppression to silence the voice of the church, the people of God we encounter.  The messaging of today is that there is no place for “church” within the “state” and the state governs every aspect of civil society.  When the church is controlled by the state as it is in some nations then the messaging takes on the culture of the state and anything that opposes the voice of the state becomes the enemy of the state.  State culture rules as we begin to see authoritarian control with charges of intolerance, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and domestic terrorism. 

In today’s times Jonah would be accused of proselytizing interfering with the “safe space” of the state.  Jonah is a reminder that we are in this world but not of this world.  We hold to the tenets of the church and we pray “Teach me your ways, O Lord”.  We grow learning habits, some good and some not so good.  All habits become a part of our internalized identity but the Lord’s love is greater than allowing us to just be ourselves.  He desires us to give testimony to his presence in our lives by being the best he created us to be in his image.  The best comes through sacrifice, a will to change, and a desire to grow in the Lord.  “Teach me your ways, O Lord” is a good prayer for change in our thinking, our feeling, and our commitment to change our ways into God’s ways. 

Often when we sin, when we harm others, when we are called on our actions we want to say “I’m sorry” and let it be done with.  Where are our actions of repentance, what is the change to come?  This is where we need to humble ourselves and pray for the strength to make a change in our lives for the greater good.  St. Augustine reminds us that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  We have to will it in prayer and God is faithful to a repentant soul.  In order to make a change and “let go” we need to recognize that by letting go we create a void that the behavior was meeting and we must replace it with something.  That “something” is a different thought, a different behavior, a different spirit and a different purpose.  We can make a lasting change when we let go of sin and the “something” we hold onto becomes the person of Jesus who fills our void, and the change in spirit invites the Holy Spirit to take possession of our hearts.  When we learn to “act as of not” of this world we fill the vacuum with the kingdom of God already in our midst.   We come to fill ourselves with the love of God in the celebration of the Mass. 

One of the Lord’s teaching for today is “act as of not” having wives, not weeping, not rejoicing, not owning.  Now before us men get into trouble by “acting as of not” having wives or responsibilities or anything else we can image getting away with just remember there is a “dog house” in every home and it does not require you to have a dog.  The “dog house” comes from the avoidance of listening to the ways of the Lord.  One of my favorite saints is St. Dominic who formed the Dominican order.  The origin of the word Dominican is Dominicus meaning “Lordly” or “belonging to the Lord”. However, there is a play on the word in Latin as Domini canis, meaning “Dog of the Lord”.  So even the dog of the Lord receives scraps from his Master. Praise God that we can repent and believe in the gospel of mercy.

The Lord’s ways are the path of justice, mercy, goodness, and charity.  The Lord’s way is one of detachment for “the world in its present form is passing away”.  The harder we try to hold onto this world the more hopeless we become.  When we “act as of not” we are to practice temperance with all that we value in recognition that this is a temporal life.  Our marriage, our children, our home, our friends, our work and even our pets are a gift that is passing from this world.  Love ‘em all with a love for the eternal that is a recognition that all our gifts come from God and return to him as an act of our service to him. 

I had a widow share with me how guilty he felt for feeling he loved his wife even more than God, and misses her tremendously.  I reminded him his love for his wife was through his sacrificial giving of himself for her and by doing so he also loved God.  It is a unity of one through, with, and in God.  It is the fulfillment of the Great Commandment “to love thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “thy neighbor as thyself” (Mk 12:28-34). 

We are living in times of great distress as the pandemic continues to take the lives of many.  Families have to go and drop off their loved ones at the door of hospitals and cannot visit them.  When they die, they cannot receive their last rites, the funeral homes set limits in attendance and many cannot participate.  Gravesite services have replaced the Mass.  Our elderly is restricted to the home to avoid contact with others or risk being infected.  Vaccines do not guarantee that you will not get the virus but will help to limit the impact of the disease if contacted.  Act as of not carrying the cross can become overwhelming. Where is our hope?  Our hope is in the Lord who reigns in all that is seen and unseen.  We cannot always understand his ways but we can always trust in his mercy and love.  Our hope is in turning to each other and reaching out to the needs of others.  We cannot be overcome by fear but allow our concerns to turn to safe practices and to better health practices.  We are to be vigilant and prudent in the choices we make. 

Social media has already started raising the warning that the end of time is at hand raising fear that the final judgment could be now with all the violence, hate, natural disasters and pandemic that we see happening in this world.  Fear is not the appropriate response for people of faith when every day is a call for reconciliation with the Lord.  We await the Lord when we rise in the morning in hopes of his coming to us each day and when we go to sleep in thanksgiving for his presence with us in our daily journey for his kingdom is at hand since the day of his birth and remains with us until the end of time and the beginning of eternity.

Tags
Shared this
Views

172 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

The Deacon Joe

2nd Sunday Ordinary Time – “Here I am.”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Sam. 3:3b-10, 19; Ps.:40:2, 4, 7-10; 1 Cor. 6:13c-15a, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42

“Here I am” is music to the Lord.  The great “I Am” is calling us to be joined to him becoming one in Spirit. He called on Samuel but Samuel does not recognize the voice of the Lord for he had not revealed himself to Samuel.  How is the Lord revealing himself to us this day?  Even though Samuel does not initially recognize the voice of the Lord, he however is prepared to listen as a servant of the Lord and he respects the authority of Eli to guide him.  John guides “two of his disciples” to Jesus with the words “Behold, the Lamb of God.”  Andrew guides his brother Simon to Jesus with the words “We have found the Messiah.” Jesus invitation is that of a guide, “Come, and you will see.”  And see we must if we are to be his disciples.  From our baptism who guided us in our faith development and by our testimony who are we guiding to Jesus or back to him? 

The invitation to come is an invitation to enter into the covenant relationship with the Lord.  It is transformative as Jesus looks on Simon addressing him by name and giving him a new name “Cephas” translated Peter.  Is Simon just a random person living his life as a fisherman who crossed paths with Jesus or is there a greater plan in motion for Simon who has been living his life until this moment when he is called to come and see the greater glory of God?  Jesus addresses Simon by his formal name “Simon son of John” meaning he knew who he was speaking to though it was their first encounter.  Simon was already being guided to Jesus by the spirit at work as a faithful Jew.  Simon was living his life not knowing the greater plan God had waiting for him but he was ready at that moment the Messiah called him by name.

God has a plan for each and every one of us and we must remain vigilant of his calling by making it our prayer to say “Here I am, Lord”.  We must be prepared in our readiness for the moment we are called to respond by faith in our encounter with the Lord. In religious orders, a priest receives a new name, a spiritual name to identify with the charism of a saint.  The Pope gives himself a new name when he becomes “the chosen one” as head of the church.  The name is not a symbolic sign but a sign of unity in the call to carry forward the plan of salvation in the spirit of those who have come before. 

What name may God be giving us apart from our birth name to represent him as he reveals himself to us in our encounter with him?  Are we as Mary to remain at his side in Eucharistic Adoration?  Are we to be as Paul to testify to the Gentiles of our time that is those who are not of the Christian faith or follow no faith practice?  Are we to be a St. Francis working within the church to rebuild it as CCE teachers? Are we to be as St. Theresa of Calcutta caring for the sick as health care workers? Are we to be a St. Vincent de Paul feeding the hungry and caring for the poor?  The saints give us many examples to follow with a diversity of gifts coming from God’s grace.  All saints have one thing in common and that is they come to Jesus through a free act of the will to be in union with him.

It is an act of the will as it is an act of God’s call to be “joined to the Lord” becoming of one Spirit with him in his revelation to all that is truth, goodness, beauty, and unity.  If we have been “purchased at a price” the price of the cross to be the temple of the Lord then our purpose begins with the purity of the temple for us to “will it”.  He wills it when we remain open to his will with the readiness of our souls in the words “Here I am Lord”.  The spirit is willing but the will is weak so let us begin to build the will of fidelity through our baptism with the gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us.  Let us will it!    

Let us will to keep our body and soul undefiled as the temple of the Holy Spirit given to us at baptism. We are called to glorify God in our body by avoiding immorality.  Aristotle distinguishes from two types of immorality: wickedness and weakness.  Wickedness against the body includes the abuse from alcohol and drugs among other addictions.  Weakness of the body includes acts against the chastity of the body through lust, fornication, and adultery.  Gluttony is both a weakness that in time becomes an abuse as chronic conditions develop into long-term consequence coming to an early death.  In these times of the pandemic having comorbid health conditions is a high risk of death because of a compromised body.  In this age of indulgence, we not only weaken the body, but our mind, emotions, and will quickly succumb when we face the test of the cross.  This is the day to return to the Lord in holiness of chastity, morality, and virtue. 

“Let it begin with me” that is the universal “me” of each member of the body of Christ. It begins with the will of obedience.  Obedience is an act of humility to trust in the Lord who is beyond all our understanding.  Obedience is an act of faith in a Father of creation who desires the greatest good of his creation in his plan for our salvation.  Obedience is your BFF (Best Friend Forever) to guard you and guide you by the word of truth to righteousness.  In obedience we offer our cross to Jesus and he lifts it for us to carry us with it in our redemptive suffering. 

“Let it remain with me” through the perseverance of discipline in the spiritual exercises of our confirmation of faith.  Discipline is the workforce that makes obedience become natural to our identity as children of God.  Discipline transforms our obedience into who we were created to be in the image of Christ.  We discipline our mind to focus on the word of God.  We discipline our hearts to receive the love of God.  We discipline our will to listen to the will of God.  Thus, in discipline Christ is our true BFF always with us in our hope when we take up our cross and follow. 

Discipline builds spiritual muscle to defend us in battle against the attack of the enemy.  Discipline is our confirmation of faith in our call to be warriors in the works of salvation.  What are our spiritual exercises of discipline such as the rosary, a novena, an examination of conscience, a holy hour, the Divine Mercy chaplet? Perhaps personal prayers we say in the morning, before meals, and at bedtime. How about simply praying, “Jesus I trust in you” or “Here I am, Lord!” during the day. Any of these our practice? Hopefully more than one.

“Let it be willed by me” to unite ourselves to ” God’s plan of salvation.  Works of mercy both spiritual and corporal reveal God’s plan of salvation for us to enter into God’s kingdom.  Works of mercy are works of the Holy Spirit in the love of Christ.  Works of mercy are the visible sign of our response to the voice of God when we pray, “Here I am, Lord”.  God’s plan of salvation is both universal and particular to each of us born with a purpose in his plan. 

Let it be God’s will that we follow and not be misguided by false teaching, social norms in a culture of death, or wolves disguised in sheep’s skin.  The Lord promises to be with us until the end of time. He gives us a listening heart to recognize his voice, to know when he calls, to guide us to himself and protect us when we turn to him in all things.  We are never alone when we pray, “Let it be!  Let it be! Here I am Lord.” Let this be part of our New Year’s Resolutions.

Tags
Shared this
Views

178 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily The Deacon Joe

The Baptism of the Lord – Nature and Grace

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is.55:1-11; Is.:12-6; 1 Jn. 5:1-9; Mk 1:7-11

Nature and grace have joined in the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ to testify to the one true God.  “So, there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and blood, and the three are of one accord.” They testify that God is with us.  This day marks the second aspect of Jesus epiphany that is his revelation to the world in the words of God himself, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  In birth we are given the gift of life, what we do with our lives is our gift back to God.  When we come to the water of baptism our nature and God’s grace are united in the revelation of the Holy Spirit that now lives in us.  Come to the water!  This is the Lord’s invitation by his own baptism to sanctify us that we may receive the grace to testify to his loving presence in our lives.

In baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of God himself, his mercy and love are with us through faith.  This is a mystery of faith.  Mystery at its root meaning includes “mythos” something transmitted by the word with a hidden meaning revealed by divine revelation.  God is revealing to us his Son and who is sent for our salvation.  He comes to testify to his real presence with us, in us and through us.  That is our epiphany the revelation of God who lives in our love.  How we live out our faith is the work of the Holy Spirit to testify by grace as children of God.  Thus, nature and grace have joined in the mystery of faith and revealed itself to the world.  In baptism it is not only I that lives but the Spirit of God at work in our surrender to him.  The question is “Am I willing to surrender to Him?”  “Let go and let God” is about our trust in Jesus and that is a battle of our will each and every day. 

The Spirit works as one accord in the Trinity, three persons one God thus, it is a work where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus.  Recall when Jesus was rejected at Nazareth departing with the words, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house” (Mk. 6: 4-5). He leaves his home town where he grew up “not able to perform any mighty deed there.  He was amazed at their lack of faith.”  Jesus the son of God works in communion with his people just as we must work in communion with our nature and grace and in union with each other to reveal the power of God in our lives.  Bottom line we cannot do this by ourselves.  To say “me and God alone” does not work.  We are called to be a community of faith by living our nature and grace in unity of love and mercy together. 

The works of grace are from the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us just as it is not the water itself with the power but the power through water and Spirit.  Also, it is not the blood alone of the flesh but the sacrifice of the blood as an offering that saves.  Thus, I dare to say to those who believe “faith alone saves” faith without works comes with sudden death when it is tested by the cross we bear.  In what ways do we offer our blood that is our sacrifice of ourselves for the good of others that opens the gates of heaven for us?  Our nature and grace have joined to give testimony to the love of God for his people.  Through baptism we are to be the image of God giving testimony of his mighty deeds at work through us. 

We celebrated the great Epiphany of Jesus manifestation in his birth last week and again today in his baptism but what about our epiphany of the Spirit at work coming to us today?  It is that moment in which we receive the desire to do a simple act of love.  It is the moment we receive the insight to act prudently in good judgment of right and wrong.  It is the moment we gain the awareness of our call to respond to a just cause.  It is the moment we are given the strength to be a voice for truth in the middle of a cancel culture that wishes to silence any voice that speaks of God.  The epiphany of our daily lives is at work in the Spirit we received through the water of baptism to respond to our natural gifts with the grace of divine revelation.  It is that moment we choose to say yes to the will of God that we receive the power of his grace. 

In some ways 2020 was the year of darkness with the pandemic causing fear, separation, isolation, sickness, loss of work and even death.  The evil one celebrated his test of the faithful with churches closed, the lingering scandals within the clergy, the rise of a cancel culture, and violence in the streets.  The new year has started where the old ended, a new mutation of the COVID virus, reinstituting restrictions on gatherings, more violence on the streets and a rebellion against democracy from both extremes of society. In 2021 what will be our response, our epiphany, our sacrifice for the greater good.  Must we kneel and pray?  Absolutely!  Must we do more as members of our society and defenders of our faith?  There is no doubt we are to see in John the Baptist the need for a voice crying out in the desert where secularism, cancel culture, and hate speech prevail the need for repentance, penance, and atonement. 

In philosophy they speak of the hero and the saint.  The hero lives for honor and self-satisfaction while the saint lives for love and self-giving.  The hero gets recognition from among the world while the saint builds treasures for the greater glory of heaven.  The hero is temporal, here today and stored in the archives of history to be read and admired.  The saint is for all eternity who remains with us, an intercessor in the present, to be called on able to do more from heaven than even during his days on earth. 

In baptism we are called to be great saints as the militant church on earth.  Our battle is to attack sin wherever it lies and let it begin with us, from within our souls, within our families, within our environment, and within a nation of nations.  The victory can only be won with the power of our nature and grace.  When Saint Francis of Assisi was called by God to rebuild his church, he started with himself by embracing with love the poor and the lepers, embracing with love other brothers and sisters in faith as followers, embracing with love the institution of the church, embracing with love the beauty of nature and love of animals. 

Steven Covey speaks of the four human dimensions of life.  They include to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy.  In a life well lived by nature and grace we begin to live our true self when we enter into baptism called to be the best we were created to be in the image of God.  We begin to love when our actions reflect the generosity of God’s love.  We begin to learn the mystery of faith through prayer and study of the Word, the Word made flesh in Jesus.  We begin to leave our legacy when our nature and grace are transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit in water and blood, that is by love and sacrifice into the bride of Christ, his holy people. 

Let us live well our nature and grace, let us live a holy life in Jesus Christ, let us return to the water of our baptism in faith, hope, and love. 

Tags
Shared this
Views

212 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development