14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Freedom is not free!

Posted on July 3, 2021July 2, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Ezk. 2:2-5; Ps. 1-4; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; Mk. 6:1-6

Freedom is not free but faith is the door of strength to receive the grace of power made perfect in weakness to defend our freedom. Today we celebrate a nation of freedom from the sacrifice of forefathers who in fear rose to defend a call to freedom and create one nation under God. We honor those who have joined to take an oath to defend freedom, those who have died in defense of our freedom, and those who have returned as veterans sometimes with the scars of freedom. Theirs is a deep understanding of why freedom is not free when called to stand for freedom and we express our gratitude for their courage.

Today religious freedom is under attack around the world and in our own country. It is a battle for who has the greater authority, the right of the individual to live, practice and come together in freedom of religion in all aspects of our life not just under the roof of the church or the right to enforce limits on the faithful practices of religion based on state authority. Is this a battle of issues or authority, over subsidiarity or central authority, over individual rights or social order? Perhaps we can even say it is a battle over natural law or political law and ultimately over good and evil. We are reminded today that the imperfect structures of this world can only be made perfect when God comes first.

The call for freedom is a constant tension between those who believe and those who have “rebelled” against God just as the Israelites did before so do many today who seek to separate God from the nation. Let us plead for God’s mercy and let us recognize the greatest prophet, priest, and king who came to sacrifice his life for our freedom and stand united as a people of God. Not only has Jesus been among us in his humanity and divinity but he dwells with us until the end of the world with the gift of freedom.

Though we are born imperfect and all carry “a thorn in the flesh” we fix our eyes on the mercy of God. When we fix our eyes on the Lord, we are made perfect in weakness with the strength to overcome “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and constraints for the sake of Christ”. When we stand for the freedom of God others will seek to discredit our religious rights as they tried to discredit Jesus in his native place. They took offense at him not quietly but publicly tried to “cancel” him reminding everyone he is a “carpenter, the son of Mary” with brothers and sisters. Translation, “he is no better than us so who does he think he is speaking with authority”. He is the Son of God, our savior and redeemer but their ears were closed to the amazing word they heard.

Faith comes through hearing the word and allowing it to speak to our souls and make a connection with the transcendent. It burns into our hearts and remains with us ringing true across time. It is not the truth of the world that is relative, true for today but not for tomorrow. It stands the test of time to believe in a power greater than us, the power of the prime mover for all eternity. It is freedom personified in the person of Jesus who left us his word, comes to us in the Holy Spirit and raises us up to the Father. This faith remains a threat to a world where authority rests in its human structures to define freedom and claim its rights to establish the boundaries of freedom by lawful decree.

An immediate attack on freedom warriors includes labels as zealots, “far right”, extremist, and now even a danger to society by being identified as domestic terrorist. Try to stand outside an abortion clinic to pray a rosary and the law can arrest you for disruption if you are within feet of the clinic. Try to deny as a business serving in a same sex wedding and your business can be canceled and taken to court. Try to speak up at a school board meeting against teaching gender neutral sex education and you can be arrested for unlawful assembly. These are but some of the stories being recorded attacking our religious freedom. Jesus was crucified as an enemy of Caesar, a malefactor and a blasphemer of the religious law. Jesus did not come to do away with the religious law but to make it perfect in its weakness.

Today we hear how “the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet”. The movement of the spirit creates warriors for Christ. There is no spiritual “couch potatoes”. It picks us up from our lukewarm faith and lights a fire and gets us going to be active participants for Christianity in our home, our workplace, our church and in the public square as voices to the “Hard of face and obstinate of heart…and whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—they shall know that a prophet has been among them.” Yes, by our baptism we are called to be prophets and witnesses to our faith.

Know someone who is “hard of face and obstinate of heart” when it comes to the teachings of the church based on the word of God? Just mention any of the hot topics of our times, abortion, racism, immigration, social justice, euthanasia, gender identity, embryonic stem cells and see the fire it lights up. Are we simply to remain silent and go along to get along? As the popular bracelets many young Christians wore would ask “WWJD – What would Jesus do?” Jesus left no stone unturned to reveal sin wherever it hid. Jesus also countered evil with good performing mighty deeds, offering mercy, forgiveness, truth to power, reconciliation, and love. Jesus’ feet never rested from carrying the good news even when he carried the cross and walked to calvary.

What does it take to “amaze” Jesus? It is not what the power of faith can do but what the lack of faith prevents him from doing “so he was not able to perform any mighty dead there”. Consider how we may be creating resistance to the power of faith in our lives. Perhaps we say we have faith but as soon as the storms of life become threatening our faith turns into despair as the disciples called out to Jesus in the storm “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” His response was “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”

In the mystery of faith there is always a tension between fear and faith. If we make an inventory of our fears the list becomes unbearable from fear of loss, fear of danger, fear of abuse, fear of failure, fear of aging, to fear of death but we have but one fear to concerns ourselves with and that is the fear of the Lord. When we focus our fears on ourselves, we fail to trust in God. When the only fear is our relationship with God faith works miracles. God is amazed by our self-centeredness when he is there the source of life, the power to rise us up above the storms and bring calm to our life.

If freedom is not free then the work of freedom begins with faith. We must exercise our faith to live in freedom. Prayer is an exercise in freedom as we turn our minds, hearts and souls to the reality of our powerlessness without faith. Prayer is a call to increase our faith to God’s gates of mercy, justice, healing, forgiveness, and love. Faith is a gift that comes through prayer thus, in times of weakness we are to pray, “God I believe, help my unbelief and increase my faith through your grace and the power of your love.”

Faith is constantly active in the tension of life moving us to act. Faith is not stagnant wishful thinking. Faith is love in action. We are to act in faith by taking the next right step. When we walk in faith, we act in freedom because it is no longer about us but about him who acts through us. We are not afraid to act but are moved to action trusting in God. In fact, faith is a movement from God already working in us for us to act and to serve his divine providence. We do not always know where faith will lead us but prudential judgment unites us in spirit to what is right, just, true and to know what is the next right step. I know that I know God is with us and we are free indeed.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Justice is undying

Posted on June 26, 2021June 28, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Wis. 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Ps. 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; 2 Cor. 8:7,9, 13-15; Mk. 5:21-43

Justice is undying for we were created “wholesome…to be imperishable”. We were created in the image of God eternal but death entered the world “by the envy of the devil”. If we belong to God then we belong to the undying through his justice on the cross but if we belong to the company of the devil, we are already dying in spirit and truth and our bodies are becoming a fossilized shell of our true self. The eternal justice of God is Jesus Christ, when we proclaim “Jesus is Lord” justice is with us. When we deny him, we invite the enemy of justice and death follows. Justice belongs to God.

If we live by justice, we are in the domain of the undying for God is with us and we are in him “in the image of his own nature”. The nature of God reflects beauty, goodness, truth, and unity that we may all be one in his love. In his justice we then can proclaim we live by the beauty of love of God and neighbor, we practice the goodness of God’s charity to all, we proclaim the eternal truth God has given us, and we grow in the unity of fellowship as one church under one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If we live by justice, we praise the Lord for he rescues us from the snares of the devil who prowls around us in search of our weakness so we may once again fall into the pit of Adam and Eve. Our praise of the Lord itself sends the devil away who cannot bear to hear God’s name and suffer the justice of his own destruction. In good times and in bad give praise to the Lord and he will rescue us for his anger is “a moment; a lifetime his good will”. Our God is a God of love whose justice is Jesus on the cross and we cannot deny him and live.

The Lord’s way of “equality” is not the world’s way. In the world “equality and justice” are instruments to enforce change through authoritative structures and not by free will. The world seeks equality by demanding retribution and justice by enforcing “an eye for an eye”. The world’s heroes rise to be “Robin Hoods” who take from the rich and give to the poor. The Lord’s way says, “as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their needs, so that their abundance may supply your needs, that there may be equality.” The Lord’s way comes from the heart of free will to serve each other’s needs. This is his call to equality and justice.

The Lord’s way of justice has no lottery winners of excess but to each his cup is full so that “whoever had much did not have more, and whoever had little did not have less”. Blessed be the Lord for he fills our cup according to his riches. According to his divine providence, he fills our cups with what we are to plant and to harvest. In receiving we are to give back as the poor woman who gave so little as an offering but gave the most because it was all she had. In the end if we belong to God then all we have is his and we return it by the works of our love.

This is our understanding when we proclaim “our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich”. Jesus left his riches of heaven for the poverty of humanity to suffer the death of humanity and rise us up with him to the riches of his divinity. Are we followers of Jesus willing to die to ourselves to freely bring about equality and justice? Beware of those who wish to make Jesus into their image of human structures by labeling him as promoting socialism, Marxism, capitalism, communism or anything other than his way of Christianism. Jesus’ way is not the world’s way. Jesus operates within the free will of his own image. The world crucified him for his way and it continues through its authoritative structures to have us deny him or be persecuted.

This week we celebrated the feast of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More on Tuesday. Both were friends of King Henry VIII, St. John was his tutor as a child and bishop of the Church of England, and St. Tomas was chancellor of England both high powerful positions in England. Both refused to approve the divorce King Henry wanted so he could marry a younger woman. Both refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy declaring the king as head of the Catholic Church of England. Both were beheaded for their faith.

St. John tried to support the king without signing the Oath and St. Thomas quietly resigned his post yet both died for it was not enough to be silent. The King wanted compliance as all social structures demand just as the present “cancel culture” demands. When St. Thomas saw that the masked swordsman was nervous at his execution, he said “Be not afraid, for you send me to God.” Then he said to the crowd, “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first” (loyolapress.com). St. Thomas understood his priorities and did not compromise. No social structure accepts less than compliance and while we are to be good servants in this world there is a “red line” where God comes first. Faith may not save us from the beheading of this world but it does send us to God.

With the celebration of the feast of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, United States Catholic Conference of Bishops is also celebrating the beginning of Religious Freedom Week to “pray, reflect, and act to promote religious freedom…to live out our faith in public and to serve the good of all”. Faith is more than a personal private act of the spirit with God, it is the freedom to live in fraternity as a community practicing our faith in the public square and to speak to those acts against the Lord’s way of equality and justice.

Currently there is an attempt to create a law titled “The Equality Act”. It is not to bring equality and justice to all but to a segment of the population by promoting a gender-neutral law against the law of God. According to the USCCB its efforts are to “dismiss sexual differences as a social construct…requiring all Americans (regardless of religious beliefs) to speak and act as if there is no meaningful distinction between the sexes and as if gender has no connection to the body” (USCCB.org/The Equality Act).

Brothers and sisters, language matters and the Word matters for Christianity to live in religious freedom. We are to pray, reflect and act to defend our religious freedom and quiet disapproval will not be tolerated by a cancel culture. A cancel culture does its beheading by forced indoctrination. We are to only look at other nations where there is no religious freedom and the church has gone underground to exist in secrecy.

If “The Equality Act” is passed, I imagine future birth certificates having no gender distinction as male or female because the demand will be for the child to grow up and self-identify as they choose. From this law books that label a child by gender will be banned so when the bible says in Genesis 1:27 “God created mankind in his image; male and female he created them.” either the words of the bible must be changed for “inclusive language” or Bibles will no longer be allowed for publication or in the public discourse. This does not serve the common good of equality and justice for all nor does it represent religious freedom for all.

In the gospel Jesus says, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Faith gave the woman courage to touch the clothes of Jesus and be healed. From her faith “power had gone out of him”. With faith we can receive the power to “arise” from our dying sickness, from sin, from fear and be cured from the power of eternal death to receive the light of eternal glory. When they ridiculed Jesus for saying the child was not dead, he “put them all out” separating those without faith from those whose hope remained in a miracle. Unity and fellowship with humanity does not compromise our faith with God and there is a time to separate ourselves from those who seek to demand unity by compliance to the king of current political or social structures.

Do we believe in faith when we come to receive the Eucharist in the power of Jesus to enter into us? Many people crowded Jesus but the gospel speaks of two who approached him with great faith. Today we approach the altar to receive communion and our faith will determine the power that Jesus will work within us. Let us approach him in prayer “Lord I believe, help my unbelief”.

St. Thomas Aquinas says, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” The process of seeking and questioning is not a lack of faith but a means of revelation to help us arrive at the truth and strengthen our faith. We should not fear questioning the cultural mores being imposed on our religious freedom but pray and discern the will of God and act in justice to the truth we have received by his Word made flesh.

Today we are to pray, reflect, and act in faith for religious freedom. The power of Jesus can enter us to remain vigilant and separate ourselves from the ideologies that oppose our religious beliefs. As Cardinal Dolan likes to say on his radio program, “freedom is not free” so that when the time comes to act let us not be afraid. Let us stand in faith and pray for those who come to persecute us possessed by faulty beliefs for the kingdom of God is ours and it cannot be taken away when we pray for the undying justice of God and take a stand in faith.

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The Deacon Joe

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Happy Father’s Day!

Posted on June 20, 2021June 20, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Job 38:1, 8-11; Ps. 107:23-26, 28-31; 2 Cor. 5:14-17; Mk. 4:35-41

Happy Father’s Day! This day we celebrate fatherhood in the image of God the Father. We are blessed to have a Father in heaven who loved us so much he sacrificed his Son to save us from our sin. A Father who once spoke to his people hidden by a vail reveals himself in his Son as a God of love, mercy, and justice. This is our calling to love one another, be merciful, and just as fathers in our domestic church at home. The love of fatherhood is perfect in sacrificial love “so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised”. In Jesus, God has visited his people.

For all boys who were told to be tough and not cry, hear this scripture “And Jesus wept” (Jn. 11:35). There is a time to cry and a need for tears to comfort our souls. In the movie The Passion when Jesus dies on the cross, at that moment a tear falls from heaven and strikes the earth creating an earthquake. It is a beautiful scene of the love of a father for his son. It is the tear of sacrifice thus to love one another is to sacrifice for the other. The Father’s sacrifice remains active in suffering for our sins. We are reminded in Jn. 15:13 “No one has greater love than this to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Recalling how Abraham who in his old age had his young son Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice to God. Even though initially Isaac was unaware he would be the sacrifice to God once he understood what Abraham intended, he still remained obedient to his Father until a messenger from God stops Abraham. We recognize the obedience of Abraham to God the Father but so did Isaac obey Abraham will to die as the sacrifice to God when he could have easily resisted being young and strong. In godly love sacrifice is always a mutual cooperation between all parties whether it is the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Father, Mother, and child. Love unites to be of one mind for the greater good.

If we have the courage to lay down one’s life for the other then “Why are you terrified?” We are to live by faith not by sight. Our sight looks around at all the “wind” of danger from all sides and we may call out to God “do you not care that we are perishing?” Death is circling around us from pandemics, natural disasters, and a culture of death and God is asking “Do you not yet have faith?” If God is with us then who or what do we fear? Fear of the unknown calls on faith in divine providence. Fear of evil calls on faith in the name of Jesus to rebuke evil with good. Fear of our weaknesses calls us to the strength of God who promises to remain with us. Fear not and believe in the Father’s love.

A father’s love gives witness to faith and without faith it cannot be fatherhood. Call it by another name, caretaker, provider, or guardian but fatherhood comes from faith in God the source of fatherhood in creation and perfect love.

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Homily

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Walk by faith not by sight

Posted on June 12, 2021June 14, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Ez. 17:22-24; Ps. 92:2-3, 13-16; 2 Cor. 5:6-10; Mk. 4:26-34

Walk by faith not by sight says the Lord. It is the sign of a Christian who trusts in God the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. The world would say have faith in yourself, look to the people and believe by sight in the science. Can faith in ourselves give us the answer to the question, “why do I exist?” Can people agree and tell me “what is truth?” Can science answer the question “what comes first the chicken or the egg?” Can faith in myself together with the people, and science tell us where we will spend eternity? Jesus came to give us the answer and was rejected and crucified. Jesus prays that we may all be one with the Father as he is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit calling us to be united as one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church as the people of God.

Jesus calls us to be one in faith, hope, and love. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables and “without parables he did not speak to them but to his own disciples he explained everything in private”? If there is an argument to be made for the magisterium of the Church this statement reveals to us that Jesus was establishing a structure of leadership for the people to walk by faith in the teachings of the church through those he called to be his disciples and explained everything to them. Thus, we are not to walk by the sight of our own interpretations of his word, create our own truth from our own conscience, follow the herd mentality, or expect science to be an end in itself.

Where is the authority in the interpretation of the word of God? We can all study scripture and when we do, we will come to understand more the teachings of the church but without the guidance of the church history, the writings of the Church Fathers and Tradition we can find ourselves spinning the wheel and going in the wrong direction. Today there are many wheels on the road spinning scripture and using the Bible to create their own dogmas. God’s call is to be one from the same seed and the same shoot of one faith.

What about following our own conscience? A child is born with the capacity to grow and learn. It develops its conscience beginning with the moral responsibility of its parents to teach right from wrong, to believe in something greater than themselves, to reciprocate love given unconditionally. A child is baptized to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit with all the gifts that the Spirit provides to grow in spirit and in truth with a well-formed conscience.

A conscience does not just exist it is nurtured by love and commandments into maturity. How many souls find no fear in harming others with a conscience that believes it is a dog-eat-dog world so take what you can while you can and too bad so sad for the other. In a time of so many broken homes, unfaithfulness in relationships, and distrust of institutions where does a child get a well-formed conscience? It begins in our domestic church at home teaching the faith that is being passed on to us from the church Jesus founded as we are to walk by faith.

A well-formed conscience in the domestic church at home is supported by the greater faith community when we come in fellowship to receive Christ in the Eucharist where he remains with us. Today Catholic schools are growing in numbers as families see the culture of death spreading in all the other institutions that seek to separate faith in God from the public square. These institutions will not prevail because ultimately the victory is won on the cross by Jesus but they will cause harm to our children who are seeking the truth and told to follow other ideologies against the teaching of the church.

If we ask the question “who founded the doctrine of the church you go to?” We can get answers like Augustine of Canterbury for the Church of England, Martin Luther for the Lutheran Church, or John Wesley for the Methodist Church, or John Calvin for Calvinism, or even “my neighbor who is Pastor of his own church”. Catholicism is traced back in history through all the Popes to Jesus Christ with Peter as the first Pope. We are living in a time where many are leaving religion behind becoming what is called “the None” to follow the science or their own spirituality

What about the truth of science? There is a rebirth of science as the new god of truth. Science is a medium of discovery to help us raise questions for every answer it proposes. All answers lead to more questions and end in the mystery of faith. What comes first the chicken or the egg? Neither does! God comes first, the prime mover of all creation. Even the mustard seed, by sight we see how it grows and we contribute to its growth with water, tilling, and fertilizing but its transformation is part of creation into what God has destined for its purpose. The kingdom of God has a divine purpose for those who accept the seed of faith in the word of God. If we trust in Jesus, we will live the transformation in our own lives and no science can explain it but we will know it.

Some social scientists want schools to go beyond academics and be the authority to teach social justice. Schools are being mandated to teach Critical Race Theory defining one race as oppressive above others and seeking retribution. Is this the teaching of a well-informed conscience or the ideology of one group over another? Does this follow the teaching of Jesus to be united as one or the teaching to divide one another by race and to distrust the other? Critical Race Theory seeks to have some form of retribution that is punishment by having the present society pay for past history but two wrongs don’t make it right. History proves that once you label a race as evil, evil comes from it and that is from the evil one.

The Church teaches we should make reparation for the sins of the world not retribution. Reparation is a voluntary act, retribution is a mandated act; reparation is an act of love for the other, retribution is an act of punishment to the other; reparation is through adoration, prayer, and sacrifice to bring the kingdom of God which is justice, peace and joy; but retribution is to follow the teaching of “an eye for an eye” for the sins of the past by your fathers, and your father’s father or there is no justice and no peace. This is the new norm to create a herd mentality that our children are being indoctrinated into. When Jesus spread his arms on the cross he voluntarily accepted to make reparation for our sins and those of the whole world giving us his sacred heart wounded for our transgressions.

What about the herd mentality, is there truth in numbers? One of the excuses parents hear from their children seeking approval is “everyone is doing it, has it, or believes it”. We know from scripture that not all seed falls on good ground and so not everyone is on the path to heaven. There are a large number of seeds that grow among the weeds and choke the plant before it can develop and give the fruit it was intended to produce. There also is seed that falls on the rock of death coming through abortion, euthanasia, and genetic manipulation and never is given the opportunity to sprout. The herd mentality is full of “rabbit holes” and death traps that claim to be truth and for a greater cause. Some have come to believe that the end justifies the means but scripture reminds us “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Jesus tells us by the fruit you shall know who is a child of God.

Christ is the sower who can transform us when we live by faith in the word of God celebrated in the liturgy of the Mass. The Mass has two main parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist and together they are the revelation of God’s presence with us. The transformation by faith leads to justification and justification to salvation through the works of faith. “The just shall flourish…they shall bear fruit in old age” the fruit of salvation for the kingdom of God. The fruit of salvation begins as a mustard seed in the waters of baptism. How it sprouts and grows are the works of faith through the Holy Spirit. We are reminded that “Jesus saves” but he cannot save us without us. Jesus joined our humanity to raise us into his deity for a glorious eternity.

We are a creation of God not science and God has a purpose for each of us, a divine purpose. We should never grow tired of seeking our divine purpose for it does not come as a single act we check off as done. Our divine purpose is a daily call to be the difference through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit as our offering to God the Father. Our divine purpose this day, this hour is to make an offering of ourselves in the sacrifice of the Mass in our worship joined in fellowship with a community of faith “For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.” (Mt. 18:20)

Our divine purpose carries a daily cross but also joy and peace because God is with us. We are to trust more in God and fear less of the world. We are to love more and worry less what the world fears. We are to seek more the kingdom of God and seek less what the world wants to offer. We are to pray more “thy will be done” and demand less to have it our way. We are to wait more upon the Lord for the treasure from heaven than to go down every “rabbit hole” of worldly pleasure. There is God’s way to heaven and then there are endless ways to hell. The early Christians were known to follow “the way”. Are we living “the way of Jesus”?

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on June 5, 2021June 4, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Ex. 24:3-8; Ps. 116:12-13, 15-18; Heb. 9:11-15; Mk. 14:12-16, 22-26

The Passover lamb is the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ shed for many obtaining eternal redemption for those who come to believe. The blood and sacrifice of young bulls from the old covenant with God is now the most perfect blood and sacrifice of Jesus for the new covenant of salvation. Jesus the “more perfect tabernacle” and high priest by his body and blood is the mediator for deliverance from transgressions under the new covenant.

The first covenant coming from the Father through Moses is the law of “word and ordinances” but Jesus comes with the more perfect covenant of love of God and neighbor in the second covenant. The word and the law are now incarnate in the person of Jesus for the mercy and love of Abba Father. In the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ the word and law are incarnated into who we are not simply what we do, we are children of the Most-High God living the word in the Trinity, with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When we take up the cup of salvation in Christ’s body and blood, we “bless the Lord God, and (we) ask him to make all your paths straight and to grant success to all your endeavors and plans” says Tobit 4:19. Our God is a God engaged in our lives leading the way when we seek him, we will find him there with us. Our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord because we receive him body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist. This is the promise he made to be with us until the end of time. Praise be to God!

When Jesus offers the Passover with his disciples in the large upper room instituting his body and blood as the new covenant, he is about to offer himself up “which will be shed for many” but there is one disciple, Judas who receives his body and blood in a spirit of unfaithfulness about to betray him. Christ knows the heart of his disciples but allows it to happen in his sorrowful passion. Judas then suffers the consequence of his betrayal as his conscience can no longer defend his own actions and death comes to the sinner.

Today the church faces a similar dilemma about to be addressed by the USCCB (United States Catholic Conference of Bishops). How is the church to respond to Catholics who openly stand against the teachings of the church in the public square but come to receive communion in the church? The ethical and moral dilemma of receiving communion in a state of mortal sin has major consequences for the soul of the person who knowingly participates in communion in defiance of church teaching. This dilemma extends into every Diocese and church.

How is the church to respond is the question USCCB is about to address and there are arguments already being made by Bishops for and against denying communion to a person who openly stands against the teachings of the church. In the early church beginnings, they faced many major dilemmas regarding the word and the law of the new covenant. Decisions were needed regarding circumcision of the Gentiles, when someone committed a mortal sin, did they need to be rebaptized, and how to treat Christians who denied the faith in order to save their lives or agreed to worship other gods for the same reason. These dilemmas were debated not with the spirit to punish but with the goal of sustaining a unified church.

The Church has always come together to face these challenges as a unified voice recalling the Word “whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained.” We recall our confession of faith, the Church is one, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church. It carries the cross of Christ to bear fruit and shepherd it’s people. Just as the people answered Moses, “We will do everything that the Lord has told us”, we are called to follow church teachings in the same spirit as coming from the Lord. They did it through Moses the mediator for they did not hear the voice of God themselves but trusted in Moses speaking for God. We are to look to the church for the answer to love and justice coming from God when receiving his body and blood in communion.

We are living in a time of watered-down faith where many even within the church have lost the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. According to Pew Research “Just 31% of U.S. Catholics believe that the bread and wine used in Communion become the body and blood of Christ (www.pewresearch.org). The majority of Catholics see the Eucharist as “symbols” of the body and blood of Christ. Of course, 100% of people who identify as Catholic don’t come to Mass every Sunday otherwise we would have to build megachurches to hold everyone. We have too many who come only for Christmas, Easter, and Ash Wednesday to receive any foundation of teaching worthy of a well-informed conscience.

Jesus says, “Take it; this is my body” and again “This is my blood of the covenant”. The definition of “is” is not ambiguous but clear and direct. There is nothing in his word that indicates it is a sign or symbol as many want to believe. In fact, it is the reason many left him because they understood clearly what he had said and found it difficult to accept his teaching. Saint Ambrose reminds us that if God can create something from nothing, he can surely take a substance and transform it into his human flesh or as we say today “transubstantiate” it. We have only to look at the many Eucharistic miracles to believe.

If the majority of Catholics treat the Eucharist as symbols then the Church has a greater dilemma that just a few persons who publicly receive communion and stand against the teachings of the Church. It reflects the loss of “fear of the Lord”. Fear of the Lord is the love of the Lord not wanting to grieve him by our sins of disobedience. Jesus offers us his body and blood to unite us to the Holy Trinity in love of the Lord to fear causing grief to his sacrificial love. In doing so we bring harm unto ourselves and to his body the church.

Imagine who does harm to the love of a child, a spouse or a friend by actively and willingly causing them an act of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, and yet it happens. When it happens, there is an outcry by society and laws to protect the innocent. When it happens within the church there is also Canon law to protect the body of the church. It happens when we lose our fear of the Lord becoming our own god by creating our own rules and justifications according to our own conscience. Our conscience can become grievously misinformed and misguided even by the majority view unless we trust in a higher authority.

The “herd” mentality creates a shadow of false truth under which many are willing to follow just as Adam followed Eve in committing sin but his excuse did not spare him the consequence of his sin. Let us recall 1 Timothy 4:2 “Through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared” many have fallen into sin with a herd mentality. In the day of judgement there will be no herd to justify us but there will be a herd gathered “to be thrown into the hell of fire” (Matthew 18:9).

Moses was the mediator for the people to Abba Father. Jesus is our mediator to Abba Father and the Holy Spirit is the mediator for the Church authority guiding the Church to bind and to loosen in heaven. Without authority and left to our own conscience there is no church unity, no Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to provide us the foundation of faith. We become one sinful, divided and isolated church of one, a follower of self only.

The Church has a long history of tradition in creating a well-informed conscience with guiding principles based on the Word of God and prayer through the Holy Spirit. A key guiding principle is the salvation of souls. When scripture tells us: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17); “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2); “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12); “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8); and finally “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7), take that to the “bank”. What will we reap if all we have to say on the day of judgement is “I followed my conscience”? Let us pray it is not Mathew 24:51 “And will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The Word calls us to an accountability with love as Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” What are we to be tempted by? Could it be the temptation to appear more righteous in the law than in the love of God? Whatever the USCCB decides one thing is certain, the spirit of God binds love with action. To “look the other way” is to bear the sin of omission so we are to join in prayer for all souls who knowingly choose to ignore the teachings and precepts of the church and have an examination of conscience with an honest assessment of our own actions as well.

We live in a culture where many identify as “spiritual” rather than religious where the spirituality of many claim “as long as my conscience is clear” such as “As long as my conscience is clear I can miss Mass, I can promote abortions, I can receive communion”. The fallacy of this philosophy comes from 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” his body and blood, soul and divinity. Authority from Christ is what protects the Church from false teaching and guides his people in the way of truth. There is not “my truth and your truth” as modern times promotes its relativism but the Truth handed down from the beginning of time. The truth of his body and blood in the Eucharist is sacred. Let us recall the words of prayer, “Lord I am not worthy but only say the Word and my soul shall be healed.” We are on Holy ground, let us come and adore!

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity “Abba, Father!”

Posted on May 29, 2021May 29, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Deut. 4:32-34, 39-40; Ps. 34:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22; Rom. 8:14-17; Mat. 28:16-20

Abba, Father is in the Son and the great “I Am” together with the Son proclaim, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” through the Holy Spirit. The unknowable mystery of the Holy Trinity, God in three persons is knowable by the incarnation of Jesus the visible sign of God and the invisible but knowable Spirit that moves within our souls as children of God and “heirs with Christ if only we suffer with him”. “Did anything so great ever happen before?” It is the greatness of Abba Father coming to us in the incarnation of Jesus Christ with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

“Ask now” how are we to suffer with him? Moses says to his people to “Ask now” and question themselves if “anything so great ever happen before” that they have seen or heard from God who has been their Abba Father giving them victory over the powers of other nations. For what they witnessed “by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm and by great terrors” they are to “keep his statutes and commandments”. This is how we are to suffering with him. When we keep his statutes and commandments, we suffer with him living a virtuous life in the face of the enemy who is ready to devour us with the powers of evil. Ask now for the grace to suffer with Christ “that we may also be glorified with him.”

Something greater than Moses has entered into the world and remains with us in Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. He remains with us through the Eucharist to suffer with us if only we suffer with him for our sins and the sins of the world. He remains with us through the Holy Spirit with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be our compass of peace and direction when the signs of fear come to threaten our joy and salvation.

There is a time to suffer in silence and prayer as we wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit as the disciples waited in the upper room in prayer after the ascension of Jesus. Once the Holy Spirit descended upon them came the time to suffer by the act of proclaiming one God in three persons. The means to suffer in silence is through prayer while the means to suffer in act is through the commandments. Love one another is not a choice but a commandment in good times and in bad. We are to pick up the cross of love and carry it as Jesus did even as he was being rejected and crucified, he prayed to Abba Father to forgive them. Forgiving our enemies is an act of love of God and obedience to the commandments.

We live in a nation that seeks to claim its headship in three coequal branches of government. In the headship of government is an independence of disunity with a multiplicity of shades of truth, goodness for some but not others, beauty found in power not love and serving the purpose of special interest groups and not all. It is an imperfect relationship with limits of authority. In the Trinity we have a unity of three persons reflecting the one truth, one goodness, one beauty, and one love for the one purpose of our salvation that has no bounds. As in the time of old nation rises against nation, people against people, and the power to rule by division is the work of evil breaking all the commandments. This is not a promotion for antigovernment but a call to the reality of a broken world in need of the unity under the one triune God.

Separation of church and state in our times is seen as the power of the state to silence the voice of the church in the public square yet it was in the public square where the apostles went forth to proclaim the truth of the Trinity. It was a threat to both the ruling church and state yet they suffered for the cross by their voice in the public square. Perfect love comes to those who accept the cross to suffer with our triune God not in secret but as witnesses to faith.

We can grieve each person of the Trinity. We grieve Abba Father when we welcome sin and fear not to grieve him or seek his mercy. We grieve Jesus as friend when we seek him not by not coming to receive him body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we seek him not in the sacraments of the Church through which we invite the gifts of the Holy Spirit to come into our lives.

Perfect love is the unity of the Trinity as one God in three Persons each reflecting the love of the other. The Holy Spirit in us reflects the love of Jesus as our savior. Jesus reflects the love of Abba Father as the Word became flesh to be the visible God with us. God the Father reflects the glory of his perfect love in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Each give light to the other as we are called to give light to his love by our love. There is the old expression “three is a company, four is a crowd”. We are to live in communion as a “crowd” of believers in perfect love. There cannot be simply “God and I” without the other who we are called to love.

How we reflect the love of God and humanity in our personhood brings us closer to the perfect love we are called to live. We behold the glory of God and enter into heaven according to the measure of our love. What glory is there for as parent to wake up in the middle of the night to change a crying baby’s diaper unless the act comes out of love for the child. In the same way what glory is there for spending one-third of the day at work investing in the success of the owner if the purpose is simply to receive a check. Or what glory is there for the athlete to train for hours knowing the main prize will only go to the one who comes in first if not for the act of training itself being a reward to glory in. Glory comes in the act of love the moment in which we recognize God is present and our act gives glory to him. This is our unity and walk to heaven.

Again, we behold the glory of God and enter into heaven according to the measure of our love. In Abba Father’s house there are many mansions but not all reflect the same measure of love coming from us for God. How we reflect our love of God in this world matters how we will view the glory of God in the next. The treasure we build for God will transcend this world with the measure of glory to come. All things matter for God and what we do for the least we are doing for Abba Father.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Pentecost – Solemnity “Jesus is Lord”

Posted on May 22, 2021May 21, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Acts 2:1-11; Ps. 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Cor. 12:3b-7,12-13; Jn. 20:19-23

“Jesus is Lord” is spoken by the believer as a confirmation of faith through the Holy Spirit with the grace to be proclaimed to the world. Those possessed by evil cannot make this claim for it is an anathema to Satan. “Jesus is Lord” is a proclamation of the Trinity as three persons in one God from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Just as we are to pray “In the name of Jesus” we are to proclaim “Jesus is Lord” as children of the highest God creator of all, there is no other.

Before Easter we enter into the time of Lent for forty days to fulfill the sacrifice that brings us Jesus our Lord through his passion, death, and resurrection. Now is the time to fulfill the coming of Pentecost through the nine days after Jesus ascension and fifty days after Easter. It is the coming of the Holy Spirit to give birth to the Church who is to forgive and retain sins. The Church through the Holy Spirit works to discern the moral, ethical, and spiritual practices of the people of God as both an institution and through the body of Jesus our Lord. Jesus is Lord of his bride the church and all who come to receive him in the Eucharist as one body in one Spirit though many parts. It is the same Spirit.

We see in the first reading the gift of the Holy Spirit as “tongues as of fire” coming to rest on now the apostles giving them the power to speak in different languages to all gathered in Jerusalem from the ends of the “world”. This Spirit comes to us with “different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit…for some benefit.” What is our gift and are we in service of our gift “for some benefit” of God’s greater good? It is a treasure to do the labor of love.

We are to reflect on the “benefit” coming from our gifts. Who benefits? Is our life lived for simply our benefit, our treasure, our glory or are we serving someone greater than ourselves? That is the question where the answer will bring us to salvation where the only true answer is “Jesus is Lord” of my life. If Jesus is Lord of my life then we offer up ourselves as a sacrifice for the benefit God wants to deliver through us in all our encounters this day. It is in the encounter where the Lord makes his presence known beginning with the encounter in Mass and as we go forth to encounter the world.

In a world of sin, we need the fire of the Holy Spirit to raise us up with the gifts of fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance known as the Cardinal Virtues to go into battle as the militant church on earth. After Jesus “breathes” on the disciples and ascends into heaven, they pray their “novena” that is their nine days in wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit to bring them the confirmation of their call to go forth as Apostles and proclaim the good news.

In the Charismatic movement the gift of tongues is a spiritual gift of loving God with all our hearts, minds, and souls in worship often described as “slain in the spirit”. It is the joy and fire coming to the poor in spirit who die to self to be raised in Jesus our Lord. The poor in spirit are predisposed to receive the gift by virtue of their humility. Humility is the gateway to all the spiritual gifts. Just as Jesus is the cornerstone of salvation through the church the Holy Spirit is the cornerstone of the spiritual gifts through humility in dying to self that Jesus may rise in us.

In the gospel Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection and breathes on them giving them the authority to forgive or retain sins through the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a ministerial gift set aside for the church priesthood. It is not the gift of tongues but the same Spirit belonging to the one body of Christ. In our confirmation within the Church the spirit comes to us giving us the gift that will serve God for some benefit. Do we recognize our gift given to us for the benefit of a greater good? Let the fruit of our gifts be multiplied by each act of service coming from the gifts.

We are to discern the gifts of the Holy Spirit that lights our fire our joy and brings us peace. It is our calling and we are not to set it aside or we will wander in the desert in search of the promise land already waiting for us. Let us stay in the Spirit with Jesus our Lord and neither wonder nor wander but move in the Spirit for the benefit of our salvation and of the whole world. “Peace be with you…and with your Spirit” who comes to us this day announcing “Jesus is Lord”. The time has come, now is the time to enter into the Spirit and take up our gift to Jesus our Lord.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Ascension of the Lord – The Father’s Promise!

Posted on May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Acts 1:1-11; Ps. 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph. 1:17-23; Mk. 16:15-20

The Father’s promise is “I will be with you through the baptism of the Holy Spirit”. The Father’s promise is to be with us as he has through salvation history as we read in Genesis 26:3 “I will be with you and bless you”; Genesis 31:3 “Then the Lord said to Jacob: Return to the land of your ancestors, where you were born, and I will be with you”; Exodus 3:12 “God answered “I will be with you and this will be your sign”; Joshua 1:5 “As I was with Moses, I will be with you I will not leave not leave you or forsake you”; “Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through waters, I will be with you through the rivers you shall not be swept away”. The Father’s promise has a major “If” in 1 Kings 11:38 “If, then you heed all that I command you, walking in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments like David my servant, I will be with you.” The Father’s promise is for those who surrender to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit he is with us.

The Father’s promise is a Spirit of wisdom and revelation given to those who believe and are baptized to “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel” while the Lord continues to work with us “through accompanying signs.” Jesus appearance to the disciples for forty days after his resurrection and before his Ascension bringing about the transformation of his disciples into apostles to lead his church with the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Father’s promise is one of a “surpassing greatness of his power” and protection in the name above all names that in the name of Jesus comes the authority to face the evil of our times.

The evil of our times comes is a cultural war for the souls of people. Just as the Lord continues to work with us and through us so does the evil one continues to work against us and through others in our battle for the souls of God’s people. The signs of our time drive out demons through the waters of baptism and the Holy Spirit for those who believe the Word of God and follow his commandments. Demonic spirits work though others to create chaos claiming evil in the streets is justified for injustice in the world, lies are justified for a cause while others who speak truth must be silenced, even death is claimed as justified for the right to choose self over others beginning with the unborn.

In Jesus name we are to pick up these “serpents” of ideologues that prowl about the world for the souls of the innocent with our “hands” of the truth of the gospel and fear not. The poison we are fed to drink are the ideologies that create division raising the power of the state over the rights of the church. These will not harm us when we hold to the truth of the gospel message. Today many have fallen “sick” to the secular normalization to degenderize male and female, to separate church from state, to divide faith from science, and to raise one race above another as racist from birth. All these poisons cannot stand when the people of God go forth to speak the truth of the gospel message. It is a message of the love of God and a promise to be with us until the end of the world.

The Father’s promise is to be with us as he works through us in the fight for souls against the powers of darkness with the light of truth. Today our children are being taught to see the world through the lens of racial bias simply based on the color of a person’s skin regardless of individual views and it falls under the title of “Critical Race Theory” which is no more than an attempt to gain power of one group over another. Any attempt to voice opposition is quickly labeled “microaggression” for speaking out with an opposing view meant to silence dialogue not engage in dialogue but we are called to go out with the right to speak the gospel message trusting in the Father’s promise, united to Jesus’ Word and with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Father’s promise to be with us, to navigate our path does not promise the “easy road”. Just by looking back to all the martyrs who suffered and died for the faith we know we must pick up our cross and follow the “road less traveled” of which many have chosen to fall away. Who will remain standing with the Lord? What other promise can we look for? The promise of the evil one was “you will be like gods” proven to be the greatest lie and yet it is the path this world continues to seek to be your own god, have your own “truth”, identify yourself in whatever gender of choice, and live your life for yourself above others. In the end it comes down to these two choices, the Father’s promise or the promise of the Evil one.

The Father sent the Son who left us with these words, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus does not leave us with a critical race theory but with the commandment of love, truth, unity and goodness for one another. This is the truth of inclusiveness that brings us the promise of the Father.

The Father’s promise is not a theory of humanity but the essence of life coming from our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Let us remain in him and in his promise this day until the day we will see him face to face. Let us pray for the promise of the Father’s mercy for those who do not believe, do not accept, and do not follow the only promise that brings us salvation and heaven.

We celebrate the Ascension of the Lord after “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs…appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God”. The biggest proof is he is alive! Had he not presented himself alive the world would be reading about one more prophet still waiting for the messiah to come. Instead, Jesus is the cornerstone of salvation and the promise has arrived for those who believe and accept God is with us.

As the disciples were to be transformed into apostles with the coming of the Holy Spirit, they waited in Jerusalem for nine days in prayer. Tradition now waits in prayer for nine days when we do a novena for the promise to come in answer to our prayers. Let this day be the beginning of a novena for us in our homes and in our personal prayer life. Let us pray for the Lord to come with the power of the Holy Spirit with the grace we need to go forth “to the ends of the earth” without fear.

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Homily

6th Sunday of Easter – God is Love, Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted on May 8, 2021May 9, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; Ps. 98:1-4; 1 Jn. 4:07-10; Jn. 15:9-17

God is love and what a more perfect moment to recognize the great love of motherhood beginning with our Blessed Mother Mary who gave her fiat to bring us the child Jesus for the redemption of the world. May is the month of Mary and Mother’s Day is in May uniting the motherhood of all moms to the Blessed Mother’s love for her son. What an advocate for moms who share a special bond to Mary as a mother who carries her child in the womb knowing it is born out of love.

Close to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is a shrine called the Milk Grotto. It is more of a cave where according to tradition Mary and Joseph stayed on their way to Egypt. Mary nursed baby Jesus and a drop of Mary’s milk fell upon the stone and it turned white. In our pilgrimage to Bethlehem on the West Bank we stopped at the Milk Grotto and saw the white walls of the cave listened to the stories of miracles attributed to the Mary at the Grotto especially for women who were having trouble to conceive and became pregnant.

An iconic image of Mary breastfeeding Jesus is a reminder that from the breast of Mary’s milk Jesus fed dependent upon her humanity as an infant. It is also a reminder of St. Joseph the protector guardian of the Holy Family. Jesus continues to look to our humanity and his church to provide his people with the food of heaven in the Eucharist and the spirit of truth in his Word as a shield of protection against the gods of fear and deception in the cultural war against the values and practices of the faith. This is love in action.

In the first reading from Acts we see how the Word of God is love and those who receive the word receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Word is not a voice from heaven but the voice of his apostles as Peter says, “I myself am also a human being” who bring his Word to “every nation”. In this reading we see how the Word alone has power to bring to the Gentiles the gift of the Holy Spirit before baptism that is why we speak of being baptized in the spirit already as children of God for the Spirit rests where love of God abounds. God is love and baptism is the new circumcision of our hearts to give us the sign of God’s love remaining with us.

Love is the seed of God himself and when we nurture our love, we come closer to the truth that God exists to know him and love him. God has come into the world through his Son Jesus “as expiation for our sins” that we may receive a greater love, a more perfect love for one another. The gospel reading continues Jesus’ kerygma to remain in him by remaining in his love. This is the “how to” remain in him that it comes through love and love come through keeping the commandments. Thus, love is not an emotional sensation but a covenant with God the Father to stay true to his commandments as the visible sign of true love.

Jesus discourse now takes on a more perfect sign of the commandments from obedience to the law of the Father to the act of love for one another in serving each other as he loves us in coming to serve us. Jesus gave testimony of his love by healing, teaching, expelling demons, sanctifying the waters for baptism, and suffering his passion of love for us in death to self with the power to rise again. Are we ready to suffer for one another? The Apostles did just that and many suffered martyrdom giving completely of themselves to bring the good news of Jesus to the world. Jesus lets his disciples know “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” and in his divinity he joined our humanity to be one with us and calls us his “friends”. In Jesus, love rises from the dead victorious.

Jesus lets his disciples know he calls them friends because he has shared everything he has heard from the Father. Then Jesus gives a formula to the disciples and for us to follow, “whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give to you”. Jesus places himself as our intercessor to the Father so that when we pray, we are to pray “in the name of Jesus” so his sacrifice of redemption for our sins may also be united to our prayers and not have our sins stand in the way. Thus, when we unite our imperfect love to Jesus’ perfect love we are transformed into the light of heaven with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Our prayers begin with the sign of the cross “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit” calling upon the Trinity. When our prayer becomes our “ask” let us do so by calling out “in the name of Jesus” for he calls us friends and carries our prayers to the Father. Then we can turn to our Blessed Mother who reminds us “do whatever he (Jesus) tells you”.

Jesus calls us “friends” and we can then turn this word into an acronym, F.R.I.E.N.D.S. to recognize God is love in his friendship with us.

“F” is for “Faithful” and Jesus is faithful. He is faithful to his promises and his covenant of love as he continues to suffer for our unfaithfulness when we choose sin over his love. A friend of others is a friend of Jesus as he calls us to love one another. We live in a time when we have lost sight of our neighbor and we can even become strangers to each other in our home.

“R” is for “Respect” and Jesus respects our free will. In his gentleness Jesus waits for our response to his love respecting the choice we make will ultimately make us into his friend or a stranger. Respect is a sign of love so children show respect to your parents but also parents show respect to your children given by God and belonging to God. We live in a time of extreme child abuse beginning with abortion, child trafficking, and sex slave trade.

“I” is for “Interested” and Jesus is interested in every thought and feeling and act we do. He knows our every hair meaning he knows us even better than we know ourselves. Jesus is interested in us spending time with him behind closed doors in silence, in prayer, in adoration. He wants us to be interested in him and to look at him as he looks on us, to contemplate him on the cross for all of his suffering and in the Eucharist for all of his glory. We live in a time of mass distraction beginning with the phone and the internet and silence is a lost art. Jesus comes in the silence of the moment.

“E” is for “Enjoy” and Jesus enjoys loving us as friends. Friendship is a joy to share when we become open and vulnerable to another by sharing our hopes, fears, dreams and love. In a world of finite time when we make time to enjoy our time together a moment becomes an infinite joy and memory to ponder. We live in a time where the cultural war creates division fostering what divides us rather than what unites us stealing our joy in being one family, one nation, one world to enjoy under God.

“N” is for “Nurture” and Jesus does nurture his friends with his love. Just as a mother is instinctively nurturing to an infant, we have forgotten how to nurture each other. Men can be a bit clumsy in their nurturing skills that is why it is said “a dog is man’s best friend” because it is hard to trust a man with a baby but we are getting better waiting for them to grow up and play rough. Nurturing comes with touch and we live in a time where fear is avoiding touch and social distancing is becoming the norm. Let us not be afraid that we were made for touch and let it begin with Jesus touching our hearts.

“D” is for “Dialogue” and Jesus speaks to us in dialogue through prayer, through fellowship, through his Word in scripture and through the quieting of our souls. It is tempting to say our prayers, rush through a rosary, and never stop to quiet our souls and listen for the voice of God to dialogue with us. How do we know when it is God speaking and not our own deceiving thoughts? Some will say God spoke to me and gave me a word of knowledge. What does this mean? It means that it we could not have arrived at it on our own but came through inspiration of the Holy Spirit as a confirmation of faith, hope, and love. We live in a time when the discourse of “dialogue” has been replaced by shouting, monologues, constant interruptions and demands for “safe spaces” where only those who share common views may enter. If we cannot listen to others how will we listen to Jesus?

“S” is for “Sacrifice” and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of a friend to give up his life for our salvation. Mother’s begin to give life to a child through the sacrifice of their body beginning with the early signs of “Morning” sickness learning to understand the needs of their child before a word is spoken. The motherhood of a Mother is sacrifice and support. Jesus is there to support us when we turn to him and when we offer up our sacrifice of love for a greater good. Often, we look for support everywhere or nowhere thinking we have to do it ourselves but have we allowed Jesus into our lives to be our support? Jesus is there when we call upon him, when we pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, when we look to support each other we invite Jesus into our relationships.

Now is the time to rise above a culture of death and bring back the culture of friendship through the love of Jesus. Now is the time to be friends through the sacrifice of love. He calls us “friends” are we his friend? Happy Mother’s Day Blessed Mother and to all Moms and grandmas! Let us offer a prayer of love for our mothers who made many a sacrifice for us and are one of the reasons we are here in Mass in in this world today. Happy Blessed day to all of Jesus’ friends.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

5th Sunday of Easter – Remain in me

Posted on May 2, 2021May 2, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Acts 9:26-31; Ps. 22:26-28, 30-32; 1 Jn. 3:18-24; Jn. 15:1-8

“Remain in me, as I remain in you.” In Jesus we can do all things and bear fruit for whatever we ask. Jesus reminds us, “because without me we can do nothing”. This bears the question, “how much are we doing to bear fruit for the kingdom of God?” Does it cross our mind or even a concern of ours that God has a purpose for us? We did not come into the world to be our own God as the secular world leads us to believe. It is not all about “Me” it is about “Him”. Jesus did not come into the world to be served but to serve and be one with the Father. This is how we remain in him when we allow him to be one with us. Why would we not desire his oneness in us and in all who we love?

The power of God’s grace is there for us to take up on the road to holiness. Remaining in Jesus is an act of the will to keep his commandments, an act of faith to believe in the name of Jesus Christ, and an act of love for each other in our charity. In Jesus we see the fruit of our every day blessings those we bring to each other when we remain in him. Apart from him only darkness and sin remain with death as the companion.

Spiritual formation calls for pruning the spirit to grow straight towards the “Son”. The first pruning is in baptism for the removal of original sin. It does not end there it is just beginning. In the first reading Barnabas takes charge of Saul and brought him to the apostles because they feared him. In life we don’t get to heaven “figuring it out” by ourselves. Parents take charge of their children to bring them to the waters of baptism, to send them to catechesis and to bring them to Mass. Parents who say let them grow up and “figure it out” if they want baptism or what faith to follow, are not taking charge of the faith of their children as stewards of their flock. There is a reason for children to be called “kids” like goats because they need the pruning of discipline and guidance not just for behavior but for spiritual development.

If we reflect back on our faith, we will recognize a “Barnabas” in our lives who took charge of bringing us to Jesus. Often it is our parents who read us bible stories, shared their faith and taught us to come to church but not all. Unfortunately, there are many stories by adults who grew up with no faith development and yet along the path a “Barnabas” came into their lives and invited them to church or shared their conversion story, or just by the fruit of their faith demonstrated a peace and joy that attracted others to seek that peace. Who was “Barnabas” to you that has you here this day instead of “out there” trying to figure it out on your own?

In my own story, I identify my mother as the “Barnabas” who took charge of me bringing me as an infant to be baptized to receive not only the gift of the Holy Spirit but for Jesus to remain in me as I struggled with my own faith growing up. She taught me to seek him in scripture and made sure I prayed each morning before going to school and each evening kneeling down by my bed before going to sleep. That alone remained with me during my wandering days as a youth and young adult. We should say a prayer of thanksgiving for our “Barnabas”.

Sometimes it is the one who brought us back to give the church an opportunity for hope and direction in our lives. It can happen in a retreat, in a confession or even in the workplace. It can be our spouse, a sponsor for our sacraments, our grandparents, or simply a friend but the miracle of conversion comes through relationship. Saul’s conversion began with Jesus appearance speaking to him. Jesus sent Ananias to open the eyes of Saul in his conversion after being blinded by Jesus appearance. Then Barnabas took charge of him to bring him to the apostles as the visible church of Christ. In Saul’s conversion it was a series of people who took charge to fulfill on step in his journey. We too can look back to how in each step of our faith development it may not have been just one person but a number of people that kept us going in the right direction.

God not only puts others in our path of faith but he is also calling us to be instruments of his love in the faith of others. Who do we claim to have served as an instrument of God in bringing them one step closer to their conversion? Ultimately it is God who does the miracle but by remaining in Jesus we will “bear much fruit”. In the end God will reveal to us the fruit we have produced and it may surprise us…all the lives we impacted for his glory. He will also reveal the fruit we were to produce and did not and what we will bear in our purgatory for in the end justice belongs to God.

God desires us to be difference makers, the one he calls to be the difference. We can be as much of a difference for good and righteous as for evil and injustice. In the end it will be one or the other. Good and righteous does not just happen. We take up our cross daily and prepare ourselves to respond one way or the other but nothing is neutral including the choice to not respond is an act of omission. Better to try and do poorly than to avoid and fail completely. If we say, I don’t want to try and fail then we have already failed by failing to try. God rewards the effort and is in charge of the outcome.

As Jesus remains in us, we are being pruned by our response to our daily struggles, joys, offerings and sacrifices. In his divine providence no day goes without how we have responded to him down to even our thoughts and feelings. Do we let go and let God work through us as we trust in him? Problems don’t go away. How we respond to them is what makes for holiness. The best response begins with prayer and leads us to follow a path guided by the Holy
Spirit. It helps when we also call upon God’s saints, our Blessed Mother Mary and our guardian angel to intercede for us. In fact, this is the year of St. Joseph and recall St. Joseph is the terror of demons so we can make a consecration to him to be at our side as we overcome our trials and tribulations. But nothing will happen with all the heavenly hosts unless we place our trust in God. Here then is the stumbling block.

How are we to learn to trust when our lives have already felt the sting of being hurt, betrayed, rejected, and even abandoned? Jesus lived through all of this and more in his passion and death. In the passion of Jesus, he remains in us to overcome our suffering with us. He is the power to live through anything and everything when he remains in us and we remain in him. In his death he surrenders to God his spirit and gives us his spirit to fear not. In his victory over death, he makes all things new. We can be made new in our faith, hope, and love through the resurrection of Jesus. He lives and remains in us. In the resurrection we learn to trust as we focus on the risen Lord, his power to rise up in the fullness of his divinity and humanity. The light of new hope is Jesus resurrected. This is our Easter time to celebrate Jesus rose from the dead to remain with us.

At the end of the diaconate program there was a celebration with the Bishop and I was given the opportunity to speak on behalf of the candidates. I gave the Bishop a gift. The gift was pruning shears and asked him to be gentle as we move into our call as deacons. Jesus is the gentle shepherd who does his shearing of us that our wool will serve to make great blessings in the lives of others and then as sheep we grow new wool that is even greater graces coming from God.

Psychology teaches that our temperament is inherited at 60% and our character is learned at 40% and together that makes our personality. That 40% that we learn in our character is the pruning we gain in our life experiences to grow straight as we allow God to remain in us. In God we gain the wisdom to see his hand in our lives and take each moment to be the best we were created to be making it a God moment.

Remaining in Jesus is placing our trust in him and this is where the pruning is a true sacrifice. Let Jesus be our voice and the Holy Spirit our heart and the Father’s will our action. That is grace at work.

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