17th Sunday Ordinary Time – The bread of life

Posted on July 28, 2024July 28, 2024 by Deacon Joe

2 Kgs. 4:42-44; Ps. 145:10-11, 15-18; Eph. 4:1-;6; Jn. 6:1-15

Jesus is the bread of life. He comes to give himself to us in the Eucharist. As bread he is broken, dividing himself to feed the many that we may gather to celebrate his body and blood as our Lord, in one faith, through one baptism for our “one God and Father of all”. In Jesus it all comes together to be in all.

Growing up I recall the expression “where two can eat so can three”. Even when there was little to eat there was always enough to share with others. It was an act of faith knowing that God provides and we should be generous with what we have received. Each day brings us the Lord’s blessing to be multiplied as the bread of love, joy, peace and life. Tomorrow will bring its own challenges but also another opportunity for God to demonstrate his love in the miracle of the ordinary. Recently I heard on the catholic radio station someone say that what others call “being lucky” is God choosing to be anonymous in his love for us.

Today we see an act of faith demonstrated by Elisha who trusts in God connecting the present to the future and greater miracle to come. Jesus comes and in the same manner takes from the little that there is to feed the multitude preparing the soul to be fed the truth of God. The miracle opens the minds and hearts of the people to receive the word of God and believe. The multiplication of bread is not the great miracle but only a visible sign of the invisible grace we receive today in the greater miracle of the Eucharist.

It is tempting to say that today in our world we need a miracle to open the minds and hearts of people to see, taste, and believe. The truth is that the miracle is already with us daily and we fail to see it. It is the miracle of the Eucharist, body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus present today to nourish our souls and give us the bread of life from heaven.

The reading from today comes from the gospel of John chapter 6 just before Jesus declares his body as the food for eternal life. Jesus demonstrates his power over the natural world so that we can believe in his supernatural power to transform himself into the bread of life and yet so many cannot accept this teaching.

In the Christian world non-Catholics claim that the word of God is the bread of life. The gospel of the word has the supernatural power to transform lives. The question is which gospel? The interpreted by who? Each denomination takes its own version of the gospel to make claims on the truth. Even the church of Satan has its own gospel claiming to profess the truth and has transformed many into believers of its lies. Today we need the miracle of the Eucharist more than ever but if we Catholics fail to acknowledge the sacredness of Jesus in the Eucharist how can the world come to see and believe.

There is a reason the Church is seeking a Eucharistic revival in our times. Too many have fallen into the practice of being cultural Catholics, cafeteria Catholics, non-practicing Catholics when we need worshiping Catholics. We need a revival of the soul and the bread for the soul is the Eucharist. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord when we become his temple and carry him within our souls. He who receives him in the Eucharist receives the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist is sacred and we are to be well disposed in receiving it by having made a good confession. We must confess with out lips in order for our lips to receive the Lord.

The church has a history of Eucharistic miracles well documented and validated but it is up to us to us to come and believe.

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Homily

16th Sunday Ordinary Time – “The Lord our justice”

Posted on July 19, 2024July 20, 2024 by Deacon Joe

Jer. 23:1-6; Ps. 23:1-6; Eph. 2:13-18; Mk. 6:30-34

“The Lord our justice”. The Lord’s justice is not based on a conditional agreement but on a covenant of love. It is the giving of oneself for the other as the Lord sacrificed himself for our mercy. We are called to give ourselves to God in love. Works are the fruit of love not the conditional measuring stick of salvation. Our justice is the Lord, his sacrifice, his love, and his mercy. He shepherds his own out of this love. Where there is love then justice and peace meet.

The Lord our justice comes to us in Jesus Christ, “a righteous shoot of David”. He is a shepherd to guide our paths in the dark valley of a sinful world. He is not only at our side but he resides within to govern our soul with gentle love and holy inspiration. The Lord’s generosity is boundless and yet we are the ones who set boundaries and limit his generosity. How foolish our humanity that prides itself more on its limitedness that on God’s boundless love. Through the cross there is an ocean of mercy and yet how few come to receive it in the sacrament of confession. We are so near to him and yet stop short of receiving his boundless love.

In his flesh on the cross he abolished the “law” based on the external compliance of hundreds of rules that burdened the people of Israel. He created the “law” of love of the heart that becomes evident by the visible signs of the invisible grace of God that lies within. Where there is love there is active participation in that love. Where there is love there is sacrifice, giving of oneself for those we love. Where there is love there is the Lord our justice who bring us his peace.

The Lord Jesus came to bring his peace to the “near” and “far” meaning to the people of Israel and to the Gentiles bringing both together as a shepherd to all. No one is denied “access in one spirit to the Father”. No one that is except the one who denies it to himself by denying God. It would be tempting to claim that as a believer we do not deny our God but then when put to the test are we really surrendering to him our mind, heart and will and responding to our encounters of life putting God first? The spirit is wanting but the soul is weak, holding on to its control when it is being called to let go and let God.

The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. His voice speaks to our hearts when we follow him in his Word, in his sacraments, and through his apostles in the Church. He is our high priest who left us the priesthood to continue his apostolic mission to the world. We are not alone and we were not meant to be alone in this world. To isolate our faith to our own will is to deprive ourselves of the riches that come from the graces of coming together as one body in Christ. It is in the unity of the body of his people that he breaks himself into bread in the Mass to become the bread of life. The eucharist is the highest form of unity to God in the Trinity.

People who believe they can isolate their faith solely between them and God are not only limiting themselves from the communion of faith but from God himself who comes to us through all of creation. It is not God’s way to create silos of faith as the way to come to him. This is our attempt to make God conform to our will not his. Silos of faith are no more than making of ourselves our own God with our own individual theology, and our own standards of practice. This is the deception of the evil one who conquers through division.

The Lord our justice has given us the blueprint for a strong foundation. It is the foundation of love, sacrificial love, unconditional love, the mercy of love poured out of the heart of Jesus. Justice is the Lord’s and we are the more blessed by it.

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Homily

13th Sunday Ordinary Time – Just have faith

Posted on June 29, 2024July 1, 2024 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

The Lord says to us today, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” In the middle of the storm of life someone might say to us “just have faith” and in your heart you realize that is easier said than done. The test of faith comes clear under the storms of life where fear strikes at the heart, in circumstances beyond our control, and when God comes calling. Fear and faith are in constant opposition of each other. Fear drives away faith and faith buries fear.

True faith is not blind faith. Some foolishly think that to walk by faith is to walk blindly. Consider this example of two people in a dark room with no light. The person who walks blindly has never been in this room, has no idea where things are and can easily stumble and injure themselves. The person who walks by faith has spent time in this room getting familiar with the surroundings with a sense of how to walk in the darkness of this room. When we close our eyes to pray, we open our souls to the light of faith and receive the spirit of truth to walk in true faith. Without prayer we only trust in what we see and lack faith.

By faith we know how to handle success with grace and manage failure with humility; we know how to celebrate life and persevere in suffering, we know how to live each moment as it was the last breath and prepare for eternity. Faith is the scale on which we weigh all that life brings us and stay in right balance.

The question is where is our faith; in who do we trust? Do we mainly trust in ourselves and give God a passing thought or prayer in hopes that he is there when we need him or do we align our life in the practice of trusting in God and allow God to be our God, our guiding light in all that we do? The answer determines whether the scales are tipped towards fear or faith.

Faith is like a muscle that without exercise cannot become stronger but in time only weakens. Faith is an active process that becomes stronger with practice; that is the practice of prayer; trusting in the Lord; waiting upon the Lord; seeking him; and surrendering to the him. This is true Godly faith in action. In Godly faith we have the capacity to put on the mind of God, to see with the heart of Jesus, and follow the will of our Father in Spirit.

The woman who touched the clothes of Jesus believed with great faith in the power of Jesus to cure her. The synagogue official whose daughter was dying believed in the power of Jesus to save her from death. Those who lacked faith and ridiculed Jesus for saying she was not dead but asleep he “put them all out” to feed on their own lack of faith. This is a reminder that people of faith need to guard against the carriers of fear and doubt who work for the evil one. “Get away from me Satan” is an appropriate prayer to bring light to darkness.

God formed humanity to be in his own image “imperishable” and yet “death” is in the world; or is it? Jesus came to put an end to death. There is an image of a little girl with her finger pointing out at who is seeing her. The caption at the top says “Don’t worry about dying your going to live forever”; then at the bottom it reads “worry about location, location, location”. Jesus came to put an end to death so his purpose is to bring us to everlasting life in heaven. Death of the mortal body is just the next step in the journey to our location of heaven, purgatory, or hell. Purgatory comes with the promise of heaven in need of final justice through purification.

When we pray for life and death comes to the body it does not always indicate a lack of faith; in fact, it may be an answered prayer. True life is eternal and God has answered our prayer not as we seek it but as he wills for our greater good. The Lord has rescued us from the sins of this world and we give him all the praise and honor. “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me” that I may have great faith and trust in you.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Twelfth Sunday Ordinary Time – A new creation

Posted on June 27, 2024June 27, 2024 by Deacon Joe

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

“So, whoever is in Christ is a new creation”. The one who died for all is Christ that we may no longer live for ourselves but for him. As he died in the flesh, we too are to must put to death the “flesh”. This does not mean we deprive ourselves of food, water, or neglect our health. To put to death the flesh is to separate ourselves from the sins of the flesh we call the seven capital sins, that is anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride and sloth. As Jesus died and rose again, we too can die to ourselves and rise as a new creation each time we come to receive a sacrament. We take the step to die to ourselves and Jesus is the one who brings us to new life.

Jesus died once for all, but we must die endlessly while we live in the flesh. Each time we deny ourselves a pleasure, offer a sacrifice for a greater good, refuse to retaliate for an offense we die to ourselves and the God who makes all things new gives us the greater graces and blessing. The expression we know very well is “easier said than done”. We are weak and as soon as we deny ourselves one pleasure, we are tempted with another. If we say to ourselves “I refuse to get angry” it seems that is when someone upsets us the most. The test will come and it is never easy to deny ourselves.

God knows but he is not waiting for us to fail the test but to turn to him for the power to overcome the test. He has already demonstrated his power throughout salvation history and yet who do we turn to first and last? First, we turn to our pride to say “I am going to do this” only to see ourselves giving up because we never gave it to God that he may be glorified in us. We are reminded of the words of Jesus, “Do you not yet have faith?” When we make it about us, we already took a step in the wrong direction. Our faith must be to trust God. We can never become the new creation without surrendering to our God.

Our God is the one who makes all things possible. He reveals himself in Jesus “whom even the wind and sea obey”. He revealed himself to Job with the same power to make still the “proud waves”. Jesus is Lord of the seen and unseen. If we believe he is the God of all creation then nothing is outside his power. What is more marvelous is that he wants to reveal his power through us. This is the reality that all the saints came not only to believe but to desire. As Saint Teresa of Calcutta said her desire was to be a pencil in God’s hand. God does great things with those who trust in him. One of those great acts he does is to take a sinful person and transform them into a new creation, a great saint.

Saintliness is not reserved for the few who the Church may recognize. Saintliness is the call for all the people of God. In our own state in this world, we can live a saintly life. In fact, God is not about giving people the recognition of being a saint in this world. He is about doing his work in the poor in spirit, in the suffering, in the humble, in the least thought about. God works in the simplicity of the heart who just want to love him and serve him. Those that the world is quick to reject are his greatest treasure.

It is not where we start out in life but where we end up being. We start out seeking glory and we end up giving God the glory. We start out building up our own little kingdom of treasures and we end up giving away what we have that has lost its meaning. We start out living for ourselves and end up living for others. We start out fearing death and end up welcoming the freedom that comes with the death of the flesh. We start out seeking meaning of life in who we are and we end up finding meaning of life in who God is. We start out as creatures of God’s creation and end up being a new creation as a child of God. The beginning has happened and where we end up being is for all eternity. Never be fooled that “it” does not matter because whatever “it” is know that for God it all matters.

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Homily

Eleventh Sunday Ordinary Time – The Seed

Posted on June 15, 2024June 12, 2024 by Deacon Joe

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

The seed we receive today is the word of God. Each time we come to Mass we receive the seed in the liturgy of the Word. We are the ground in which it is to rise up and give fruit to the world. This is our calling to receive the word and to give testimony to the life of faith we have received. The seed needs to be attended to in order for it to grow. Prayer and reflection help fertilize the ground so it can take root but the lifegiving water is the Eucharist that allows it to grow and spread throughout the soul of a person.

The essence of the soul is in the unseen but it reveals itself to the mind that we may unite our thoughts to the mind of God, in our love for God is love who speaks to the heart of love, and in our will that we may seek to do the will of God. The seed gives us the eyes of faith to transcend what is seen and believe what God has revealed.

While we are in the body “we walk by faith not by sight”. Does this mean that we are not to trust our own eyes? To walk by faith is to trust in the unseen. Our eyes only allow us to see what is outside of the body, a person’s actions, the words they speak and what they fail to speak and do. We see the world and all its creation and by faith realize this does not exist from random selection but by a prime mover that gives the world all its beauty.

Faith transcends the external world to “see” with the eyes of faith what is revealed that lies inside the heart of a person. It allows us to become united by faith with a common understanding, similar hopes, and right intentions. It is the faith that seeks understanding, to understand the will of God in our lives in each and every moment in order to take right action. It gives us the courage to go forth even when we cannot see what lies ahead. Without faith two people could never come to trust the other with their love and enter into sacred matrimony. In faith we bring a child to the waters of baptism to become children of God.

The seed is planted in baptism before the child can even speak because it comes as a gift of God himself through the Holy Spirit to overcome the weakness of the flesh. Recall that in the beginning was the Word and the Word became flesh so that in baptism now the Word is united to our very being to become incarnated in us. This is why we bring a child to be baptized to receive this gift and grow from the seed of faith to the maturity of a majestic cedar that draws others to it. The world will also see but falsely claim that the person has good “Karma” because they refuse to give God the glory. Today we are reminded it is the Lord that brings low and lifts high, withers up and makes the cedar bloom.

Baptism of a child places the responsibility on the parents to bring up this child in the faith it has received. Just like the seed on the ground still requires the farmers attention, the child requires the constant attention not only to the physical and emotion needs but also to its spiritual needs. The child of God never outgrows this need no matter the age thus we are that child of God. We need God and he comes to us in the sacramental life of the church to keep feeding us in Word and his body and blood. Where are we in this journey of faith?

Do we walk by fear or by faith? If we don’t have that connection with God, listen for his voice, and realize the guidance of the Holy Spirit then we will walk by the fear of our own limited capacity. In the words of many who claim to be “lucky or unlucky”, the world will seem to be no more than random probability. In the eyes of faith, we recognize the hand of God, his divine providence, and our God given purpose in this world. The seed has been planted in us so how are we doing as farmers caring for it? It can be seen by the fruit that comes from this gift.

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Homily

Tenth Sunday Ordinary Time – What is unseen!

Posted on June 8, 2024June 5, 2024 by Deacon Joe

Gen 3:9-15; Ps. 130:1-8; 2 Cor. 4:14—5:1; Mk. 3:20-35

What is unseen has been revealed through the eyes of faith. What is unseen is the beatific vision of heaven yet it is revealed in the person of Christ in mercy and fullness of redemption. What is unseen is our resurrected body yet it is seen in the resurrection of Jesus to his disciples and to many others. Everything we see before us is transitory and we cannot hold on to even a moment of this life but what is unseen is eternal always in the present outside of time. Do we believe?

Adam and Eve were created to see and believe all of God’s creation but failed to see the enemy. The enemy is the angel of God disguised as a serpent who could not bear to have a new creation be greater than himself. He knew the way to bring death to this creation was to have it desire the fruit of knowledge of good and evil and commit mortal sin. It was the angel’s sin of pride with which he tempted Adam and Even in order to remain greater than humanity. In the end both humanity and the angel fell from grace. Adam blames the woman and the woman blames the serpent but God makes everyone fully responsible something to contemplate.

We live in a time where we value individual accountability but we forget that individual accountability does not mean that the person who committed the crime is the only one responsible. How have others contributed to nurture, discipline, teach, and/or fail to love a person in ways that also bear some responsibility. Perhaps in no way or perhaps in many ways that only God knows. We are reminded that God knows every hair on our head thus how much more every sin of our lives. Who can stand before the Lord? That is why we pray for every sin we have done, those we know and those we fail to recognize seeking his mercy and forgiveness.

We see ourselves grow in age at first with excitement as a child grows and develops into a man or woman. We look forward to exploring our talents and becoming the best person of ourselves God created us to be. Then suddenly we become anxious as we see time moving quickly and wonder if the best years have already passed. Every material thing we struggle to obtain becomes old and broken and soon our own body begins to resemble what we possess, something less useful, less wanted, less capable of serving our needs and less in demand from others. How is this just? We were never meant to be our own god but to serve our God. God’s plan is the greater gift we strive for and believe in.

His ultimate justice is to free us from our sin and restore us to our greatness before him. This is what is so amazing that he brings us justice through self sacrifice of his only begotten Son. Humanity cannot understand this and will join with the voices who claim “He is out of his mind.” God is possessed by God that is by his agape love, a love so great in search of souls in his own image. We are redeemed and restored as children of the lamb as he alone strikes at the head of Satan. With the Lord “there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.” Therefore, we can speak and not be silent “since we have the same spirit of faith”.

This day our inner self is being renewed, in the Eucharist and in the Word of faith. The Lord comes to raise us up to himself as he promised “everything indeed is for you”. God desires that we his people receive an abundance of grace but it can only be poured out to those who in return offer themselves in worship, sacrifice, and love to the God of love. We cannot be children who sit in wait for his coming when he has already come and is with us, remains in us, and purges us of our sins through the sacramental life of the Church. We are children who act in faith with our vision focused on Jesus, strengthened by the Holy Spirit and loved by our Father, the God of all creation. Together we belong to the Church with our Blessed Mother Mary and all the heavenly angels and saints.

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Homily

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on June 1, 2024May 30, 2024 by Deacon Joe

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

On this the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the gospel returns to that last day of Passover for Jesus and the first day of the institution of the Eucharist celebrated on Holy Thursday. From that day until now in the Church we have celebrated the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus together with his appearance to the disciples, his Ascencion and the descent of the Holy Spirit. This is our Easter to celebrate the Lord’s victory over sin and death and our redemption by the Body and Blood of Christ.

“This is my body…this is my blood” is the power of Jesus to transform bread and wine into the sacrifice of his life to be repeated as a covenant of his redemption for our sins. In a world where sin abounds his mercy comes to us through his body and blood not only on the cross but also on the altar. Who can deny his words and live? Yet many reject his words and fail to recognize that the God who brought us creation, who changed water into wine and multiplied loaves of bread has the power to make of himself a perpetual sacrifice on the altar of salvation.

Many will try to explain that Jesus is the “living bread” who comes to us in his Word. That the bible alone is the living bread made flesh capable of transforming hearts. They will proclaim that we are to figuratively consume God’s word and allow it to change hearts and minds. The Word does have the power of transformation however the Word was given to Moses and the prophets and that alone did not bring about salvation. Salvation comes to us through Jesus, the incarnate word and this incarnation is the fulfillment of the promise of God to be with us as we consume him in body and blood to be incarnated in us. This is why the Mass is both the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist.

Jesus is the “mediator of a new covenant” not simply by his teaching but by his sacrifice on the cross. It is this sacrifice that remains on the altar as a perpetual reminder of the Lord’s suffering to this day for our sins and those of the whole world. He is both risen in his glory and remains wounded by our sins. Recall that God is outside of time thus he can be both risen and crucified all according to our sanctity and sinfulness. Sanctity brings his great joy and sinfulness great pain and we each participate in bringing him both according to our love of God and neighbor or our rejection of each.

With Christ “good things have come to be” for he enters this sanctuary called the Mass where heaven and earth meet and kiss. The “more perfect tabernacle” he wishes to enter is into each one of us. If God is with us, that is in our very being, body and soul, good things will come to pass for he comes also with the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why we must come to him prepared to receive him, having confessed our sins and received his forgiveness, though unworthy he transforms the imperfect into his perfect tabernacle one soul at a time. Good things come through the power of the Holy Spirit as we saw on Pentecost Sunday. These good things were not meant only for the disciples but for all who come to believe and follow Jesus.

Today we receive the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord and he will answer us. This is how we are to return to him redeemed by his body and blood. Do we believe? Let us say “we will do everything that the Lord has told us”, from the Word of old to the new Word it all comes together in the person of Jesus Christ who makes all things new.

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Homily

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Posted on May 25, 2024May 25, 2024 by Deacon Joe

Dt. 4:32-34, 39-40; Ps. 33:4-6, 18-20, 22; Rom. 8:14-17; Mt. 28:16-20

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is the mystery of God’s salvation in the history of the world revealed in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, Moses asked his people, “Did anything so great ever happen before?” The people heard the voice of God the Father, they experienced the hand of God coming to save them as a nation among nations and how he tested them. Now they “must keep his statutes and commandments” that they may prosper. No nothing so great happened before Moses, but a greater thing has happened in the history of salvation with the incarnation of Jesus, God the Son coming to his people. Not only that but with his ascension into heaven came the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit to remain in us, who he calls his own.

Who can explain the mystery of one God in three persons? Early in church history this was the center of the debate trying to make sense of who was Jesus. How could he claim to be God and yet pray to the Father? In the same way he would say “The Father and I are one” (Jn. 10:30). In what is known as the prayer of Jesus, he prayed to the Father, “Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began–that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us” (Jn. 17: 5, 21). Jesus always was before the world began and is for all eternity. The Catechism of the Catholic church teaches us that “God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation” (CCC 237). The work of creation in which we can seek him is from within ourselves.

We can seek to know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from within, from our own nature though imperfect as it is. The nature of humanity is that it exists as body, soul, and spirit. The body is not the soul for the body dies and the soul remains alive. The body has a brain but the mind comes from the soul and yet body and soul are one for what affects the body affects the soul and what affects the soul affects the body. The body and soul however are not separate from God their creator who gives us the breath of life and who without his breath we would immediately die. His breath is the spirit of life that dwells within and yet it remains the spirit of God who is the life giver and still we are one person in a multitude of humanity.

The Catechism teaches us that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are consubstantially one God in three persons, one in being of the same substance in relation to each other CCC 251-254). Our calling is to bring our humanity, body and soul in unity with the Trinity, to be perfect as God is perfect. To the degree we remain a sinful people this cannot be, for the flesh and the will are weak. Our flesh and soul are in battle for we now have the Word given to us by God the Father, made flesh to be one with us in the Son and strengthened by the Spirit of truth and yet we resist. We carry our sins beginning with pride before us and turn away from God’s revelation to his people.

We do have hope, but our time is limited. When we see the visible sign from saints who remain incorruptible, we see how the soul overcame the flesh by the power of love. A soul that is perfected by God gives witness to his call to perfection. This is the prayer of Jesus that we may be one with the Trinity but also one within ourselves body, soul, and spirit. The battle is won when we turn to him with all our love and desire.

The day is coming when those who have responded to the call to perfection will be transformed and receive a resurrected imperishable body. Then we will see God as he is and come to know him in his glory. Let us prepare ourselves that we will be numbered among his own in his kingdom for all eternity. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we are called this day to be one in being with the Trinity.

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Homily

Pentecost Sunday – “Graduation Day?”

Posted on May 19, 2024May 19, 2024 by Deacon Joe

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

Pentecost Sunday is about the “mighty acts of God” coming through the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is given to his disciples that they too may go forth doing the mighty acts of God. In the gospel we see the mighty acts of God in the form of speaking in different languages so that “every nation under heaven” can hear and believe. What enters the mind leads to conversion of the heart and confession of the lips to say “Jesus is Lord”. It is through the Holy Spirit that we see the mighty acts of God, the healing of the sick, the exorcism of demons and the authority to forgive sins. These are now his apostles to the world.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is not reserved to the apostles but to all who believe and are baptized. The same Spirit comes to each one of us with gifts for some benefit in the call to serve the mighty one. We were all baptized into the one body, the body of Jesus so that he may remain in us and continue the works of salvation. What mighty works are we called to live out through the gifts of the Spirit?

We may think, I have not done any mighty works of God. I have not healed anyone. Yes, you have, when you care for the sick you give them your love and love is healing. I have not done any exorcism. Yes, you have, when you bless yourself with holy water or bless your children you reject the evil and protect yourself against the evil one. I have not forgiven any sins. Yes, you have when someone offends you or commits a sin against you and you forgive them it brings healing to the relationship.

We could call Pentecost Sunday graduation day for the disciples. Today in many places including here in our church young people are celebrating graduations. It represents their achievement in their educational goals. As a community of faith, we are proud of their accomplishments. For some it is a dramatic step of entering the working world and for others the journey continues for higher education. In the spiritual life as in the world, the more that is given the more that is expected. The expectation is to be the best that you were created to be with the gifts that you have been given.

The world is ready to test our faith, bring temptation, and reject you if your beliefs are not in line with the norm. Just this week a football player gave a commencement speech at a Catholic School and spoke about the virtue of mothers who stay home to care for the family. Immediately he was denounced by the NFL, media, and all types of organizations. When we stand for our faith, we can expect a backlash from the world. Remember the power of the Holy Spirit is also ready to protect us against the evil one but we must pray to it, listen to it, and remain in it.

The disciples are now called to go from being students and interns to the title of “Apostle”. They had the teachings of Jesus but so many unknowns of what was ahead. They had a mission but more questions than answers. The answers were to come through the gift and power of the Holy Spirit. They not only walked by faith but with authority and power. As soon as Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit, he immediately included the authority “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained”.

This authority goes beyond the sacrament of confession. It comes with the authority to establish the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church and to govern the people through the magisterium of the Church. Many other Christian denominations try to deny that Jesus meant what he said and that only God can forgive sins. Let us recall that Jesus claimed the Father was in him and he was in the Father. In the same way Jesus is in the priest and the priest is in Jesus when he acts “in persona Christi” in the person of Christ. In the same way we are all called to live in Christ and to receive Christ in the Holy Spirit.

No other church claims this authority because it was not given to any of these churches who have come later in history. Instead, they deny that Jesus meant what he said. Obedience to the magisterium of the church is obedience to God and this is not just confession but the whole sacramental life of the church. Why the magisterium of the Church? Because the church always speaks as one body and we his servants, bishops, priests, deacons, and religious should always be his instruments in doing the will of God.

Recall that when we are born, we are given the gift of ourselves and what we do with ourselves is our gift back to God. What mighty deeds is God ready to fulfill simply because we remained faithful and obedient to God. Our graduation in the faith came with what sacrament? Confirmation was our graduation day in the faith. Today we are called to stand for what we believe and fear not God is with us.

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Homily

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord – The Promise

Posted on May 11, 2024May 10, 2024 by Deacon Joe

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

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord comes to us with the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the promise of God’s power to believers. It is the power to drive out demons, speak new languages, lay hands on the sick and they will recover. It is God’s power but we are his instruments of this power. We are his baptized believers so the fruit of this power is to come through us.

As it is, research says that we only utilize about 10% of our brain’s capacity. If we include the potential power of the Holy Spirit how well are we utilizing the gifts and power of the promise? I suspect the answer is “not nearly enough”. The reason goes back to the weakness of the flesh that holds on to the powerlessness of its own will rather than surrender to the power of the will of God. The power of the promise is manifest in our desire to do the will of God. The greater our surrender the greater the power and miracles that come from it. This is the testimony of the great saints.

Too often the sentiment is “I am not worthy”. God places no standard of worthiness on his people. He places a standard of obedience, surrender and sacrifice. He calls us friends but as his friends our commitment is still trying to bargain with a “yes, but not yet” or “yes, but not completely”. If not now when? How long will we keep him waiting for our hearts to open up to his love? The spirit is weak from lack of spiritual muscle. Spiritual muscle comes from spiritual exercises that includes our prayer life, our charity, and our communion with God. These are the corner stones that opens our hearts to obedience, surrender and sacrifice. Practice leads to perfection in any of our life goals corporal as well as spiritual. Do it! Do it right! Keep doing it!

It all begins with taking the next right step. It comes as an inspiration from the Spirit, it passes through right judgment, and leads to an act of holiness. That is why we are called to be holy as God is holy. It is the Spirit of truth that he promised and we will not be misled. This is the promise coming from the Ascension of the Lord that we may follow him both now and at the hour of our death. The Lord left us the promise of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our faith journey but it is a journey we must still undertake.

Today also marks Mother’s Day in which we honor our mothers who through the pain of childbirth said “yes” to life. It is a selfless self-giving sharing in the mystery of creation. It is saying “yes” to God and trusting in the Lord to walk in faith raising up a child with God’s special graces he gives to mothers. A mother knows her children because her love comes with a spirit of wisdom and revelation. They have eyes behind their heads, “lol”.

We also recognize the women who said “yes” to accepting a child raising them as their own because of whatever circumstances the child was born in or found themselves in. Mothers are an example of how God works through humanity to bring about life, joy, peace, love and salvation. The reward of motherhood is a great blessing but greater is the promise to come when God will call us to his glory.

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