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The Deacon Joe

6th Sunday Ordinary Time – People pleaser, “Please!”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Lev 13:1-2, 44-46; Ps: 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1; Mk 1:40-45

People pleaser, “please!”  “Avoid giving offense…try to please everyone in every way”.  Really Paul, please!  Have you taken a look at the world lately with all of its demands and self-centered greed?  What is Paul speaking about in context? We read scripture in context both literal and historical, and spiritual, and allegorical, and poetical, and prophetic. Paul is instructing us on living our purpose of life to the greatest devotion of pleasing who? We please God through our service to others seeking to do good as “imitators” of Christ.  This is not a teaching on being the “doormat” for the demands of the world and those who carry malfeasance in their hearts.  If read only literally you might misinterpret the message. This is a calling to never grow weary of doing what is right, just, and honorable for the greater glory of God. 

It is right…to follow the commands of the Lord who first calls Moses and Aaron to separate the “leprous and unclean” for the protection of others until being made clean.  In the literal sense this made sense to control the spread of a disease that had no cure.  This was their pandemic, their sentence to death. Imagine treating COVID-19 this way. The government comes to take you out of your home to a camp never to see your family again. It happened in this world. In the same manner in the literal sense Jesus makes the leper clean and welcomes him back into the “camp” of the clean with the greater spiritual sense of the separation that must come for the sinner from his sins to be made clean and return to please God.  This is a reminder in the prophetic sense, the “unclean” sinner cannot enter into heaven until being made clean by the washing in the blood and water of the mercy of Jesus.  It is the water of baptism and the blood of the cross that pleases the Lord when we come to him with the words, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  It pleases the Lord to make us clean in spirit and heal our brokenhearted souls.  It pleases everyone in heaven and earth, which is the church triumphant in heaven, church suffering in purgatory and church militant on earth to live what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Be righteous!

It is just…in the moral sense “to confess my faults to the Lord” who alone “took away the guilt of my sin” and returns us into the “camp” of the just not by our works but by the justification of his love and mercy.  If through the disobedience of mankind, we are separated from God then only through the obedience of his word can we be justified and made clean.  The Lord sees the leprosy of sin that lie within which in confession opens us up to receive his grace of forgiveness from a loving Father waiting for our honest return to his sacred heart.  It pleases everyone in heaven and earth within the three stages of the church to live what is just and holy in the eyes of the Lord. Everyone is for justice but not everyone’s eyes see justice the same way. People can be on opposite sides of an issue yet both claim justice. True justice comes from the Lord. Seek divine justice. Be just!

It is honorable…in the literal and spiritual sense “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”  Literally we are to live for the Lord and allow our every action be an offering to build up his kingdom beginning with how we care for his temple in our body.  What our bodies suffer our soul and spirit suffers and with it, Jesus who comes to make his abode in us suffers.  Spiritually we are to consume his word and literally feed on his body and blood that it may become incarnated into our being.  This gives honor to the Lord most especially in the celebration of the Mass.  Who do we honor by our actions? The world, money fame, pride, or our family, the poor, the suffering are being honored. Let our actions give glory to God in all things.  It pleases everyone in heaven and earth within the universal church to live in honor of the kingdom of God.  Be honorable!

When the leper was made clean by Jesus, he directed him to the “priest” to make an “offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed”.  Jesus in confession cleanses us of our sins and the priest gives us absolution with a penance as an “offer” of thanksgiving for the forgiveness of our sins.  Jesus came to make all things new not by doing away with the old but by revelation of the old in the new that fulfills the law and the prophets.  He is the judge of all that is right, just, and honorable to the Lord.  In “time of trouble” the Lord lifts up the brokenhearted and gives us the “joy of salvation”.  Be blessed! Blessing come to those who listen to the Lord, follow his commands, live to serve what is right, just, and honorable.

As we approach Ash Wednesday and follow the norms of the church for the following forty days, Jesus waits for us to be present to him as he is to us, that is vigilant in our readiness to respond to his calling with the true offering he seeks, the gift of ourselves that we may be made clean, renewed in spirit and truth to the wonders of his love.  Salvation is here.  Be present! 

What is love? God is love. God is all that is right, just honorable blessing those who follow his ways. God is the gift of himself who keeps on giving. Happy Valentines God for the gift of love and happy Valentines to all for the gift of sharing.

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5th Sunday Ordinary Time – Purpose of life!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Job 7:1-4, 6-7; Ps: 95:1-2, 7-9; 1 Cor. 7:32-35; Mk 1:21-28

Purpose of life drives our spiritual wellbeing and our mental health when we are “free” in order to surrender as a “slave” for the cause.  “For this purpose, have I come” says Jesus.  Jesus had a clear vision of his purpose and all the worldly distractions including that “Everyone is looking for you” did not deter him from continuing his mission.  Do we have a clear vision of our purpose for living?    

Purpose of life is critical for spiritual health and wellbeing.  Let us look at the purpose of life through the eyes of Job and then through the eyes of Paul and consider are they opposite views or two sides reflecting a common purpose of life.  I will propose that both Job and Paul are living a common purpose, to serve God but are responding differently to their experience.  Job speaks of the purpose of life as a victim of the conditions of life and Paul as a free willing slave of life but in Jesus we have both, the victim and the free surrender as a slave for the purpose of our lives.

Is Job having a brokenhearted “pity-potty” feeling sorry for himself or is he speaking a reality of life?  Job claims “man’s life on earth a drudgery…He is a slave who longs for the shade”.   Job is trying to cope with things outside of his control thus feeling as a victim of life.  Job is addressing the very real human condition as we hire ourselves out to do the “work” someone is willing to pay us to do, that otherwise we might be tempted to say “take this job and shove it” or just not show up unless that work becomes a calling of life. 

We share Job’s “restlessness” with the anxieties of life whether our work is housework, homework, fieldwork, or hired work as we wait “for our wages” out of obligation in the form of appreciation, love, good grades, or a paycheck.  Job is brokenhearted at the swiftness of time and loss of hope waiting for happiness to return because of the many happenings outside of his control.  Job’s purpose of life seems lost in his “misery”.  When sickness, loss of a job, or even a tragedy happens in our lives we suddenly come to terms with the frailty of life and the uncertainty of the immediate future. 

When we find ourselves in our circumstances “brokenhearted” we often fail to consider how God allowed Job to pass through this darkness of his life with a purpose in itself.  We look at our struggles as keeping us away from “our” purpose as we want to define it.  We have goals, ambitions, and hopes for tomorrow and our suffering is in the way of getting on with fulfilling our wishes.  Let us simply stop and consider how our suffering also has purpose of life including a Godly purpose.  In suffering, God is with us helping us to grow spiritually, to separate us from a sin, to remind us of our mortality, to experience a taste of purgatory in purging us toward a saintly purity, and always to bring us closer to him on the cross as well as in looking forward to the resurrection. Our hearts are readied through suffering.

Pain is an alarm to warn us that something is affecting our homeostasis.  Our physical wellness has been invaded by a virus, bacteria, suffering a trauma, or is breaking down from abuse and neglect.  Our mental health wellness is suffering from a strained relationship at home or at work, from a genetic predisposition or circumstances outside of our control.  Our spiritual wellbeing is suffering from attachment to sin, from following false prophets of the world, from the omission of God in our daily lives.  So much suffering for what purpose?  This is Job’s search for meaning in suffering. 

Pain and suffering outside of our control have purpose in itself.  Suffering is a reminder of the “swiftness” of life and keeping God at the center of our purpose according to his will and not as a fairy God mother to help us with our wishes.  Suffering brings us closer to Jesus on the cross who reminds us to carry our cross as an offering as he accepted the cross for us.  “Us” is not a generalized us in the world, it is a personalized us in atonement for each of our sins.   Jesus suffers for you and me.  Suffering is a worthy grace when we lift it up to him in faith, hope, and love.  Pain is a warning of our decisions that may be leading us to greater pain if we don’t stop and take account of our lives.   God may also be leading away from pain to health and wellness including spiritual health of the soul.  We don’t romanticize pain we consider it a reality that has a purpose in God’s creation. 

Suffering is an opportunity to bring us closer to God, to change our ways into his ways, to listen to him and the voice that speaks to where we are in our spiritual life.  We recognize the role pain and suffering had in the life of our Blessed Mother Mary at the feet of Jesus on the cross as Simeon foretold “and you yourself a sword will pierce” for what purpose?  He said “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”, in other words a purpose greater than herself.  In the ordinary of life as the mother of Jesus, if we can conceive her life in some way as ordinary the extraordinary happened.  Her purpose in motherhood was extended to the disciple and to us all for all eternity. 

Let us also look at the beauty of living our purpose of life through the eyes of Paul.   Paul speaks that although he is “free” says “I have made myself a slave to all to win over as many as possible”, in other words a purpose greater than himself.  Paul recognizes in his conversion from Saul to Paul a purpose of life from God and for God.  He is called and willingly accepts the call to be a slave for Christ even though persecution will come to him just as he once persecuted the early Christians.  Paul reminds us that anything good, just, and holy worth doing is worth the sacrifice.  Paul also teaches us that not living our purpose in life has “woeful” consequences that in itself keep us from the joy of life and bring[JG1] s on pain.  Done willingly there is a “recompense” of love which is God himself present in our lives.  He is the gift we receive.  Done unwillingly there is a “stewardship” of obligation imposed with the pain of Job. 

We recognize that the saints have suffered great pain and many suffered martyrdom in acceptance of doing the will of God.  They did not wait for the reward to come after death from heaven.  They were already filled with the strength and holiness of God that gave them the joy and the courage to suffer for Christ by living out their purpose of life as the Holy Spirit was directing them.  In baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our journey of faith but we must nourish the spirit within with prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and by bringing the gift of ourselves to the altar of the Mass to be fed by the Word of God and by his body and blood in the Eucharist. 

There was a religious sister who shared her testimony on EWTN in her call to religious life.  She was not raised as a church goer but one day as a young teen was invited to a retreat.  She went to it for the fun and left with the same mindset.  The next year she was invited again and agreed to go only for the fun of being together with other youth.  She had a spiritual encounter at the retreat and felt God directly calling her to religious life.  She dismissed the idea thinking she wanted to go out and enjoy life but going out did not give her the joy she wanted.  She wanted to date but dating did not give her the joy she wanted.  She thought marriage and children would give her purpose some day but it was not until she decided to try the convent life that she found the joy she was seeking.  Not all are called to religious life but all are called to a God given purpose.  We need to remain open to this revelation from God “lest we die” having missed our calling and purpose. 

Pain has a redemptive role in salvation in saving us from sin, error or evil.  Jesus pain on the cross for our sins redeemed us as a willing slave both victim of the hate and torture he received and by his free surrender to the will of the Father out of love for the Father, himself, the Holy Spirit and for all humanity.  When we serve our purpose of life and sacrifice for it then it too is an act of self love for the recompense of God.  The church recognizes the willingness to suffer as an offering to Christ, for the souls in purgatory, for atonement of our sins, for the grace of a greater good, for the God given purpose we are called to live.   

We come to Mass with a purpose and we should examine ourselves regarding the purpose of our actions.  Do we come as a matter of compliance to family pressure, compliance with church norms of obligation or just as part of the social and cultural fabric of our society?  We come to give thanks for our blessings, to worship God in the Eucharist, and to gather together as a community of faith in order to spread the gospel message beginning in our homes, our work place and in the public square.  At the end of Mass, we are called to “go forth” to serve our God given purpose.   

In life we all face circumstances outside of our control like the pandemic that has taken over the world and as Job be victims to it from sickness to death.  Within what we cannot control lies our freedom to respond with what we can control in taking care of ourselves whether by prevention measures or by treatment.  In Paul we recognize he understood that by accepting his calling he would face many challenges outside of his control including the risk of death yet he willingly surrenders himself to this purpose of life in the sacrifice of a “slave” because the cause was greater than his life.  He received the gift of life from God and he gave his life to God in return to fulfill a greater purpose than himself, a divine purpose, a legacy purpose that he left us in his writings by his own testimony as a slave for the Lord. Priesthood is a calling to be slaves for the Lord without the distractions of the world but as an offering of themselves to win over as many souls as possible.  

Many of us have heard the Serenity Prayer but only the first statement.   In closing, here is a complete version of this prayer.  “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.  Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.   Amen.  (Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)  Let us go forth in the ordinary of life to discover the extraordinary calling to sainthood awaiting each of us as the doorway to heaven in living our God given purpose of life. 

 [JG1]

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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The Deacon Joe

Christmas Day – Holy of Holies

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is.52:7-10; Ps.98:1-6; Heb. 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18

The “Holy of Holies” has been revealed Alleluia!  Alleluia!  We rejoice to give testimony for we have been redeemed and receive Him in the fullness of grace and truth.  In the past the tabernacle where God’s presence appeared remained covered by a veil that held the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments.  It is now born in the flesh to bring us glad tiding of comfort and joy. 

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…full of grace and truth”. This is our Holy of Holies.  We have been celebrating our Blessed Mother Mary who the angel proclaimed “full of grace” that is without sin in preparation to receive her son Jesus, the Word made flesh to dwell among us, the unblemished lamb, perfect in grace and truth.  Jesus is born let us sing his praises.  Jesus is the “imprint” of God who walked the earth both human and divine.  Jesus is the King of glory.  He came and “accomplished purification of sins”.  It is done through his birth, death, and resurrection and we are to follow this plan of salvation.

We are born again in baptism, die to ourselves in redemption and rise to new life in grace and truth.  “Hail, full of grace!” “for nothing will be impossible for God” do we believe this?  King David wanted to build a house for the Lord but the Lord has built his own dwelling place not of stone and pillars but of the flesh.  The Holy of Holies has come to transform us into a tabernacle for himself by grace and truth. 

Jesus born in a manger received the gifts of the Magi, we are born of water and spirit receive the gifts of grace and truth through him to become children of God.  The Lord of salvation has come to save us but he cannot save us without us accepting his gift of redemption.  While the world follows its own path seeking to save itself from the evils of disease, injustice, environmental tragedy and asks “where is God?” their eyes remain closed to the radiance of his presence.  God is with us with his saving power. 

The Lord comes to save us from the evils of sin.  Unfortunately, “sin” is not at the top of the world’s concerns at least not until death comes calling and we begin asking “where will we spend eternity?”  There is a “dicho” in Spanish “Poco veneno no mata nomas ataranta” translated literally says “a little poison doesn’t kill only staggards”.  Often, we have learned to tolerate some sin in our lives as long as we think it does us no harm.  Think again. 

Jesus saves!  He brings “glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation”.  This is the joy of Christmas as we receive him into our world, we receive the good news of salvation and the peace of entering into his eternal glory of heaven.  If you have seen the 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait, Warren Beatty is mistakenly taken to heaven by his guardian angel and takes on someone else’s body in order to return to live out his time and dream to win a Super Bowl.  You can say it is a movie of second chances and we see a God of second, third, fourth and more chances to say “yes, Lord, I repent” before mortal death comes.  Why wait?  This is the day of his coming into the world and if death should come suddenly, are we ready? 

Heaven is a state in which we begin to enter into the Holy of Holies now.  When we come to confession there is a healing from heaven.  When we receive communion there is a taste of heaven.  When we receive the Word there is a beginning of conversion into the divine state for heaven.  When we serve God in acts of mercy to our neighbor, the poor, the hungry, the suffering, we build a treasure for heaven.  When we gather together in the sanctuary to celebrate Mass, heaven doesn’t wait, it comes in the Spirit and in the body and blood of Jesus. 

It is said that in Mass the angels descend and ascend at the altar at the side of the Lord in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  It is being in heaven but not fully yet.  Two years ago, in a pilgrimage to Spain during Mass while kneeling during the epiclesis of the Eucharistic prayer I had a vision of an angel sitting on my shoulder.  As I was looking at the Host being lifted by the priest, I saw these little feet from the left side of my head and as I turned, I saw a little angel baby that reminded me of the cherubim, sitting on my left shoulder looking to the lifted host.  I looked back to the host while still able to see the feet sticking out and at the end of the epiclesis it was gone. 

These angels are with us today and we thank our guardian angel who is always with us to guard us and guide us.  In the baptism class I will ask the group if they know the prayer to their guardian angel.  Unfortunately, few recall it and many have not even heard it.  “But do you recall the most beautiful prayer of all (melody)?”  No, not Rudolph.  I said prayer not Reindeer.  The most beautiful prayer is the prayer of the Mass.  We have many beautiful prayers in the church tradition but we are losing some of our traditions in a culture of secularism. 

It is no longer politically correct to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays is the accepted norm.  We see slowly the erosion of God out of the culture and the rise of sin in a culture of death with abortion, euthanasia, gender neutrality, and now genome-edited babies with the recent case of a Chinese scientist modifying the genes of twin girls (nature.com, March 11, 2019, “The CRISPR-baby scandal: what’s next for human gene-editing”).  Science seeks to enter into the world of creation of life with “Designer babies” but all it can do is manipulate life for true creation comes from God. 

Remember heaven doesn’t wait for us, it has entered the world this day in the child Jesus ready to enter our lives in the Holy of Holies, in our daily prayers, and in our daily life when we call upon the Holy Spirit to be with us, when we invite our guardian angel and all the angels to protect us, when we pray to our Blessed Mother to be with us, and when we remember the souls who have already been separated from this world on the journey to heaven in purgatory or celebrating the beatific vision of heaven.  In these days of political correctness, we dare to say Merry Christmas to all and to all a blessed day! 

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The Deacon Joe

4th Sunday of Advent – Full of Grace!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2 Sam. 7:1-5, 8-12, 14a, 16; Ps.89:2-5, 27, 29; Rom. 16:25-27; Lk 1:26-38

“Hail, full of grace!” “for nothing will be impossible for God” do we believe this?  The blessed Mother Mary historically has been a stumbling block for many believers of the Trinity.  Those who oppose her as the “Mother of God” see through the eyes of humanity a woman, mother of the incarnation of Jesus humanity but not his divinity.  Jesus is one, fully human and divine and not divided in two.  For Jesus coming the angel prepares Mary in her humanity born “full of grace” meaning without sin to be the dwelling place of Jesus, second person of the Trinity, one God for nothing is impossible for God.  Full of grace has no room to allow sin to enter united to Mary’s fiat she remains full of grace for the entirety of her earthly pilgrimage as she is assumed into heaven. 

In the Davidic history the king sat on the throne and to his right side the seat was reserved for the woman.  This woman was not his wife but his mother had her rightful place next to the king.  When the mother of his disciples, James and John approaches Jesus seeking to have her sons sit at the right and left side of Jesus in his kingdom, Jesus corrects them all in announcing “to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father” (Mat 20:23-24) Without disclosing for who this place of honor is reserved Jesus remains silent yet we see in salvation history it is the woman Mary who comes to us in apparitions calling us her children, interceding for us with her son as she did in the wedding of Cana and delivering the good news for those who believe.  Born full of grace she remains for all eternity without sin, the bride of the Father through the Holy Spirit she is now the mother of the children of God.  She is also the chosen dwelling place of the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ. 

“Thus, says the Lord: Should you build me a house to dwell in?”  It is the Lord, the God of the impossible who has given David his kingdom “settled in his palace, ready to build the Lord a house who has prepared to come into the world through the womb of Mary to dwell in our midst.  This is the “revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested” in the birth of Jesus.  The revelation that God comes to create a dwelling place for himself within our being as one body in the kingdom of God.  We are united one soul to another in the one true God and his kingdom will last forever. 

Though we are not born full of grace, baptism is the first seed of grace to grow into the fullness of grace, that is to be perfect as called to be by the Father and blossom by the gifts of the Holy Spirit into the fruit of salvation.  Grace comes through prayer, ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find not to be hidden but to give light in the darkness of this world.  Grace is a gift to be multiplied as an offering back to the Lord.  When the Lord comes what will we give as testimony for the many blessings in our life?  The Lord recognizes his grace through the works of salvation.  It has been said “the Lord saves” but the Lord cannot save us without us giving our own fiat to his work in us. 

The question is often asked in the world “What is the secret of success?”  The foundation of success comes through obedience, discipline, and work to create the perfect kingdom for heaven and earth.  Obedience recognizes that there is a greater power at work beyond us and we learn to recognize this power.  As a child enters the world it recognizes by its nature the natural law at work in hunger, pain, pleasure and grows to recognize the divine law of beauty, goodness, truth, and unity.  In obedience it unites the two laws into one reality of the love of God and learns to be obedient to the great commandment of love of God and love of neighbor and receives grace.

Obedience to “other” takes ownership through discipline to be one with the other.  It gives its own “fiat” to what is right, just, and merciful.  It learns to recognize sin and reject it rather than be tempted into it.  Discipline is the BFF (Best Friend Forever) of obedience accepting grace and allowing it to transform us from our state of sin into the fullness of grace by the discipline following the Word made flesh, the teachings of the bride, the church and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  In discipline we learn what is right, just and merciful is not the easy road up the mountain of the Lord yet we walk by faith and discipline to the revelation of truth. 

Thus, what begins as obedience and is put into practice by discipline becomes the plan of salvation by the work put into our daily practice of life.  We work the plan of salvation given to us in our individual and collective calling to be one in the kingdom of God, though there are many gifts of grace we encounter the fullness of grace in the one body of Jesus Christ. Work the plan and we grow into the fullness of grace, into the perfection we are called to live, into the one revelation of our true self in the image of God. 

Seek and you will find, ask and it will be given to you, follow and you will arrive at the fullness of grace.  Let this be our prayer.  Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.

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3rd Sunday of Advent – Who are you?

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 61:1-2a, 10-11; Lk 1:46-50, 53-54; 1 Thes. 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

Who are you?  In today’s world of identity politics, the question is “who do you identify as?”  It places the question of self-identity on solely self-determination as the source of reality without question.  Thus, some claim to be female or male, others transgender, LGBTQ, or “Other” among a list of categories.  This introspection on responding to “who are you?” fails the test of reality based only on self-determination.  Born into one gender by all genetic standards a child is asked to self-determine their own identity by choice and explore the possibility of being something other than who they were born to be. 

The revelation of our identity is based on who God created us to be and then go forth and be the best of ourselves.  It is in relationship to him that we come to know our true self and from it our purpose.  Those that find themselves in the role of “Questioning” need to seek to find themselves in God the true source of identity and reality.  The first reality of our identity is recognizing we are created in the image of God.  This sets the precedent for our discovery of ourselves by following the path of recognizing God in our lives and if we must ask the question of “who am I?” then it follows to ask God to reveal himself to us to best know ourselves. 

In today’s gospel we hear how the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask John the Baptist “Who are you?”  His answer was what God created him to be “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”  Who we are, our identity comes from God and in relationship to God’s purpose for our very existence.  To know thyself is to discover our purpose in serving the greater good of humanity and of salvation history.  John the Baptist came to deliver a message and set the stage with the baptism of repentance while waiting for Jesus to reveal himself in the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  We too have a divine purpose for bringing the good news and the greater good that can come from it in our homes, our work and in the church. 

In baptism we have all be anointed and given the robe of salvation with a duty to serve.  We have received the “mantle of justice” to proclaim the greatness of the Lord.  Jesus receives us as his brothers and sisters thus it is fitting for us to receive his mother as our mother by doing the will of the Father.  We are all one in him and in him to recognize “The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name”.  There is power in the name of Jesus. 

What good does it do a person to say “I know myself” without a purpose to be beyond thyself?  Consider that Satan turned the tables on humanity when he tempted Adam and Eve into eating of the forbidden fruit to discover their identity saying “when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil” (Gen. 3:5).  The temptation to know thyself without knowing God’s divine purpose creates for an indulgence into self absorption or as Eve saw “that the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom” (Gen. 3:6).  The Lord in the first commandment teaches we shall have no other gods but “God alone” yet we have become a secular world in search of being our own gods.  Wisdom does not come from the apple of the world but from the inspiration of God himself. 

Rejoice in who God created us to be.  Rejoice in him who sets captives free, brings us glad tidings, heals our broken hearts, and gives us liberty from the chains that bind us captive in our own sin and sickness.  Rejoice when we recognize God in our presence giving thanks for the blessings of our day, the challenges to fight the good fight when temptation, sickness, or persecution come our way.  Rejoice because we are never alone in our battle and the power of the Word brings us peace in difficult times.  Until we rejoice in our creation in the image of God we are left to ponder in our restlessness or as St. Augustine said “until we rest in him”. 

Advent is our time to ponder where are we in our identity as the image of God in anticipation of his coming. Are we living up to the divine standard set in his word and multiplying the gifts we have received by grace?  In our honesty we recognize how easily it is to lose sight of our greater purpose, to get caught up in serving the world which is never satisfied and forgetting to “Test everything” as we are told in the second reading.  We test everything through prayer meaning “Pray without ceasing” and listen for the “prophetic utterances” that come from God.  In God all things matter! 

Our goal is to be open to God’s utterances to make us “perfectly holy…spirit, soul, and body…blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  This may seem an impossible goal for us as a sinner but consider this.  When we come to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we receive perfect holiness into our spirit, soul, and body to be transformed into his image in perfect holiness.  Take this moment of perfect holiness to ASK for his holiness and begin to see how our lives will “retain what is good” and “Refrain from every kind of evil”.  God does not promise something he will not deliver.  It is up to us to ask for his grace, mercy, and wisdom to discern and unite our will to his in perfect charity. 

Today We are a people who “Rejoice always” in being the children of God “sent to bring glad tidings” for the conversion of souls.  “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” as we read in Thessalonians.  Not only in the good and prosperous but in the sacrifice and suffering we are called to give thanks by coming to the table of thanksgiving at the altar of God in the Mass.  The question remains for us to answer as posed to John the Baptist, “What do you have to say for yourself?” 

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Homily

2nd Sunday of Advent – Prepare the way of the Lord

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps. 85: 9-14; 2 Peter. 3:8-14; Mk. 1:1-8

Prepare the way of the Lord!  Has the Lord come to us this day?   Have we prepared to receive him?  The Lord sends out his messenger, first it was John the Baptist then came the Lord and now it is our turn to “make straight in the wasteland” of a sinful world “a highway for our God!”  “Let it begin with me” is the appropriate prayer in creating a human highway of souls ascending to the Lord by making straight our own lives as a channel of grace. 

Prepare the way of the Lord as a channel of grace by caring for his people.  The Lord comes in the “other” to be received by how we treat our neighbor.  Grace comes from the Hebrew “to show favor” as the Lord will show favor in us to care for his people.  His grace is the gifts we receive to minister to others of the love of God with spiritual and corporal works of mercy.  As we prepare the way of the Lord in service to others by virtue of our fiat we are being prepared for our own highway to God. 

In scripture we see how angels appeared to his people to prepare their way and give knowledge in the path to follow.  He did this to Mary, to Joseph, and to the disciples.  He can do this for us for he promised even greater things to those willing to serve as instruments in salvation history.  Be the difference.  Invite the Lord to send you his messenger but don’t look to the sky, look to the other who is being a channel of grace for you.  The Lord works through us to bring about his kingdom and manifest his love.  “If today you hear his voice harden not your hearts” (Psalm 95) make a difference. 

In the 1980’s my wife and I were heading the youth ministry at our parish.  We had planned a summer trip for them at Garner State Park.  On our way back home, we stopped in San Antonio at the Alamo.  I told my wife I only had $10 left for gas.  These days we carried no credit cards.  My son needed to go to the bathroom so we went looking for a place and found one.  Inside the stall he said to me “Dad, I found a penny on the floor”.  I looked down to the floor instinctively and saw a wallet.  I opened the wallet and it had no identification, it was empty except for one folded bill.  I pulled it out and realized what it was.  I told my son, “Hey Mark, I found $100 dollars”.  As we made our way back to the group, I told my wife what I had found and was sitting on the wall of the Alamo when from the crowd an old ragged looking man approached me quietly and placed his hand out.  Immediately I thought God provided me money for our needs and now out of all the crowded people this man comes to me.  I pulled out my $10 dollars and gave it to him.  He did not say a word to me, just turned and disappeared back into the crowd.  This was my God encounter of the day.  God comes for our salvation when we are watchful for his coming. 

“The Lord does not delay his promise…but he is patient” with us in the ever presence of the moment seeking our salvation that we may turn from our sins and see the face of the Lord and not perish.  For the Lord time is as if yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all one “one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day”.  This is our time to be mindful of our ways, come to repentance and remain in the spirit of sanctity.  Our wait and bringing about that day of righteousness comes with victory over death in life by “conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion”.  This is our day for us to claim our victory over death by living the sanctity of life.  Live it! 

“Do not ignore this one fact…that the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and the heavens will pass away…and all the elements will be dissolved by fire…”  The Lord has come in history, he is coming this day for us and he will come again at the end of time when time will end and eternal begin.  Eternal glory or eternal fire is coming and this is our time to prepare the way of the Lord and be received into “the new heavens and a new earth” of righteousness or receive the fire the unrighteous.  Prepare the way of the Lord. Jesus is the way.

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