Rom 6: 12-18; Lk 12:39-48
The first reading reminds me of the mind and heart of a small child. They know so well that their parents are an authority to be obedient and listen to. They also know so well that if some other adult tries to give commands they are quick to point out, “you are not the boss of me”. The idea that ultimately we will choose to be “obedient slaves” to either sin or righteousness, slaves none the less but there is a difference. The person who is a slave to sin becomes powerless in their free will and without free will become puppets to the passions of sin. There is a personality change and they will often say, “It wasn’t I anymore.” Thoughts, emotions, interests and behaviors become slaves to the sin and the person becomes dead to themselves. In contrast the person who is a slave to righteousness discovers their true identity through obedience but they must be the drivers of their free will. In sin you figuratively speaking “turn over the wheel” to be driven to death. In righteousness you discover greater responsibility and need to be vigilant. It also build’s our spiritual muscle because we invest all of ourselves, our senses both corporal and spiritual as we overcome life’s challenges and dangers. We gain the power of virtues through grace and experience the freedom of our true nature, our calling, our life in Christ.
The gospel lets us know that as slaves of righteousness our concern is not the hour or day when the Master will come. We are already doing the work of heaven. We welcome his coming because greater will be our freedom. Padre Pio and many other saints recognized their limitations as servants of God on earth and looked forward to the day of departure from this world because they would be able to do more from heaven. Death was a homecoming celebration. In contrast the person who is slave to sin is being warned that even a greater punishment is ahead after death of the flesh. Here the gospel draws a distinction between the sinner who know his Master’s will and the sinner who was “ignorant of his Master’s will, but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating”. Who are those in each of these groups? I am reminded of St. Paul. As Saul, he earned in ignorance a “severe beating” in persecuting the early Christians. In his conversion Paul still suffered a “beating” as the one persecuted and more was expected of him. In obedience to righteousness more was also given to him. Paul is recognized for the spread of the early church more than any of the other Apostles and he shares his hardships in his writings. The question to ask ourselves is “where am I in the Saul to Paul conversion?” What are my blind spots to the will of God in my life? Am I living under assumptions that as a good person I am obedience enough or is God asking more of me and I am resisting him. It can be said that in the life of the saints many resisted God’s call. They had to overcome their doubts, put aside their own thinking, listen to the will of God and even then tried God’s patience when there were clear signs and visions of God’s will. Truly if they found it difficult to say “yes” we too have much to overcome to know, love, and serve God. Our comfort is in the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to enlighten our spirit, to open the path to God’s mercy and to strengthen us in our resolve to make this day, God’s day in our life. For yesterday we pray for mercy, for today we pray for the strength to say “yes Lord”, and for tomorrow we seek the knowledge, and confirmation of being a servant of God. This we recognize in the fruits of God’s love and blessings we receive. In this we recognize our inheritance, a kingdom made for heaven ready to receive him at the moment of his coming. “Who is the boss of you?”
29th Week Ordinary Time Wednesday 25th
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Sir. 27:30-28:7; 2 Rom. 14:7-9; Mt. 18:21-35
Think twice! I love dogs. All our dogs have a special place in my heart but I am not one to kiss a dog. Some people do but I pass on that. Now if you said kissing a dog brought me freedom well I might think twice. I also love jalapenos but I would not want to eat 100 of them. If I was told eating 100 would bring me the grand prize then I might think twice. This Sunday’s message continues the Lord’s call for forgiveness. If you recall I started last week with the basic principle that God is a God of order. In the order of salvation history Jesus presents an analogy of God’s love and mercy in forgiveness of our sin in the form of a debt. We love to hear that. The order of forgiveness also has a mandate to forgive others and that his mercy also requires justice. We are not as eager to hear that justice requires something of us. It requires equal justice of our neighbor. His mercy depends on our acts of forgiveness for equal justice in the order of salvation to be perfected in salvation history. In short sin has consequences and forgiveness expectations.
The gospel reminds us of the consequence of sin but with hope. How many of us have hoped for purgatory? I suspect not many but think twice. We want to be forgiven with a straight ticket to heaven and no conditions. The hope of today’s gospel is that when we fail to be forgiving there is still the hope of settling the debt without eternal damnation. Purgatory is our hope. We don’t speak of purgatory or preach of purgatory very much, it makes people uncomfortable. It is like asking someone to kiss their dog. Why go there? For many our sins call for justice and purgatory is an assurance of heaven but not yet. What is purgatory?
The Catechism titles it “The Final Purification”. All our baptismal life we have been called to holiness, to be the light of Christ and to be sanctified by our faithfulness to God, Church, and God’s people. Sometimes the weakness of our human condition makes it difficult. Sometimes our readiness to respond is uncommitted. We desire to be holy but not yet. Heaven however requires holiness.
1st Corinthians 3: 10-15 speaks of a building upon a foundation that is given to us, “namely Jesus Christ” but to be careful how we build upon this with our lives “because the work of each will come to light for the Day will disclose it. What day, Judgment Day. “It will be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands…it will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.” Purgatory is the cleansing fire. Many of our separated brothers like to ask the question, “Have you been saved?” The theology is that once your saved heaven is the next destination on some “jet” wings. We don’t hear the question, “Are you a saint, holy and purified? The assumption is that baptism took care of that for all eternity. The problem with the argument is that scripture speaks to the “elect” about correcting their sins and the consequence of the cleansing fire for our sins “for the Day will disclose it”.
Dante describes purgatory as a “place where we go to wash our baptismal robles” of those sins. It is a cleansing by fire. The white garment received at baptism is a sign of purity but life brings about the stain of sin. The stain is cleansed in confession. It is also cleansed in suffering, to carry the cross, to fight the good fight of faith, hope, and love. Cleansing does not need to wait for purgatory. The invitation is here and now every day of our lives. In contrast wrath is one of the capital sins found in Dante’s circles of hell.
I was listening to Catholic radio and they were speaking of death. The host mentioned the days when churches had their own cemetery on the same grounds as the church. It was a reminder of those who have died in Christ, to pray for them, and to celebrate life in the body and blood of Christ who conquered death and brings us new life. It was also a reminder of our mortality and to prepared by our receiving each day as a gift from above and making an offering up to God our good works and sacrifices.
We pray for the dead and offer up Masses to assist the “dead” in their purification through the sacrifice offering at the altar in atonement for their sins. The Catechism (1032) quotes St. John Chrysostom saying, “If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died to offer our prayers for them.”
There are many stories in the lives of the saints where they have experience apparitions of a person who has died asking for prayer or an offering of a Mass. These include priests or religious who claim to suffer in purgatory waiting for freedom from the fire of purification. The soul is alive waiting the day it too will be reunited to a glorified body but not yet. The final beatific vision has not arrived.
Jesus raises the bars of justice when he says “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, “you shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…liable to fiery Gehenna (Mt. 5:21-22). Gehenna is the “unquenchable fire…reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body are lost” (CCC:1033). Thus we have in the first reading the admonition speaking that “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” So let us just clarify. The emotion of anger of itself is not a sin. It is how we respond to this emotion. The thoughts that feed it to wrath and vengefulness leads to sin. It is the holding on to these emotions that becomes an act of the will for sin is an act of the free will. “Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay and cease from sin!” says scripture today.
Mercy requires a merciful heart for healing of sin. “Pay back what you owe” is not from a vengeful God who was patient with us all our lives waiting for the good works of mercy from us and then strikes us dead. It is a consequence of the choices we made by our free will. It is like the old commercial from Midas, “pay me now or pay me later”. Purgatory is later. Mercy demands justice and justice demands acts of mercy. What we are to give is small compared to what we are being offered without comparison. The good news of today is that God is waiting for us to take that first step of mercy and he will take the ninety-nine steps to bring us he love and mercy. Dare we be so proud as to hold onto the anger and wrath or do we fulfill this day the commandment of “love one another as I have loved you.” Choose wisely but remember that heaven requires holiness and holiness is a process of purification and purification is something we can start this day in the celebration of the Mass. Purification begins with a confession of our sinfulness and an act of atonement that is accomplished by our good works of mercy and love for one another.
We had someone come and speak to our community here at St. Francis Xavier of her vision of heaven and hell after a death experience. Those are transformational events that bring life, death, and eternity into reality. We are to live each day as if it is our first, our last, our only day to live as a gift from above to love to forgive and to be the best God created us to be.
The lifespan of a dog is perhaps 10 -13 years but in human years is 60-74. Do we want to extend our time in purgatory in dog years or human years? The kiss of death is sin but for a kiss of freedom think twice the grand prize is waiting.
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Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
Memorial to Our Lady of Sorrows
1 Tm 1:1-2, 12-14; Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35
Our Memorial to Our Lady of Sorrow brings to mind the Stations of the Cross we pray here at St. Francis Xavier parish. They focus on Christ crucified through the eyes of Mary, her acceptance in a sorrowful heart for she “knew it had to be.”
There is a connection from last Sunday’s readings and this Sunday’s readings on forgiveness and Mary is at the center as a witness of a forgiving sorrowful heart At the moment of her greatest grief to see her son’s passion and death and before Jesus takes his last breath he calls to his mother to accept the disciple a sinner as a son. He calls the disciple a sinner and with him all of us disciples in faith to be sons and daughters of Mary. In the first reading we see the power of forgiveness in Paul. Paul testifies to his great sin and God’s great mercy. Paul a leader in the persecution of Jesus is transformed into a warrior for Christ and as an Apostle for the Church. The power of forgiveness is transforming and brings perfection of holiness. Want to be a saint, start with forgiving everyone and every evil in the name of Christ crucified and in Mary’s sorrow and we will not be far from the kingdom.
The two optional gospel readings make us aware that the Memorial to Our Lady of Sorrows represents her whole journey of motherhood beginning with Simeon’s prophetic voice, “you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thought of many hearts may be revealed”. That prophecy can be seen at the crucifixion when Jesus is pierced by the sword to confirm his death and Simeon’s prophecy of Mary’s sorrow. Her sorrow begins to take on a mission and purpose and continues to the foot of the cross. It does not stop there, it remains today as Mother of sinners whose sins pierce her heart and scourge her Son. She too must bear her own cross. What is revealed in the hearts of many? It is our sinfulness. It lays bare for the final purification. It lays bare so that we may come to the cross and seek forgiveness and reconciliation. It lays bare so we can achieve eternal glory.
The sorrows of life can begin to weigh heavy on our minds and souls. They can challenge our faith. Without God they can become despair and depression. We can also unite them to the cross and to Mary’s sorrowful heart. They can be signs of a deeper call to prayer, to pray always and to be in the reals presence of our Lord in the silence of our hearts. It is an invitation to surrender ourselves knowing we can’t bear our sorrows alone. Here we find grace waiting to manifest in our lives. Grace heals and strengthens us not simply to bear the cross but to receive sanctification, to enter into holiness. Our sorrow purifies for it is in our weakness that we too can be transformed. It does not end there. It is a new beginning as disciples called to go forth, to share the mission of mercy to “love one another as I have loved you.”
In suffering there is not only purification but the manifestation of virtues. Faith, hope and love blossom. Prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude become our foundation. Who we are and why we are here becomes our light and our salvation. As a song says, “We live, we love, we forgive and we never give up cause the days we are given are gifts from above and today we remember to live and to love” (Chorus by Super Chicks)
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Mary Queen of Heaven
Recently I had the opportunity to go to Lebh Shomea with my wife. It is east of a small Texas town named Sarita towards the coast. It is a silent retreat house donated by Sarita Kennedy to the Oblate Order. It is a wonderful place to rest in the Lord. One of its many treasures is the library filled with religious books and other resources. You can spend days and years immersed in the wisdom captured within these walls. I checked out three books but spent most of my reading time on one, a book titled, A Theology of Mary (Vollert, Cyril 1965). In it is presented the many theological and philosophical arguments that have been made of the Blessed Mother over the centuries.
It begins with the argument that the first principle of God is that God is a God of order. Thus everything in the universe is ordered. Mary’s place in the universal history of salvation is also ordered for God’s glory and unity. Theologians work is to dig deep into the mystery of Mary and identify Mary’s first principle in the order of salvation. Since it is a mystery they seem to not be able to settle the question with each argument having a counter argument.
They argue Mary is the new Eve as mother of mankind associated with Christ the new Adam in the order of reparation as Eve was associated with Adam in the order of ruin but then is the first principle of Mary that of “bridal motherhood”? The concern as a first principle is that she is not the bride of humanity, she is our Mother as the new Eve of humanity.
They argue Mary as co-redemptoris as Mother of the Redeemer in her role in the order of salvation history. She participated through her fiat in the birth of our Redeemer, but it is Jesus who saves. They argue for Mary as a co-mediatrix for she intercedes for us as a Mother who interceded as the wedding of Cana whey they ran out of wine. The concern is that “no one comes to the Father except through Jesus the one mediator. Still it is argued we go to Jesus through Mary but as a first principle it also falls short in that we also go to God in the Holy Spirit through the Son to the Father. A “conciliatory opinion” is that Mary is an “associate” of the mediator but nobody like the compromise view.
Another argument is that Mary is the prototype of the church. She is “the church in germ” meaning she is the incarnation of the church as seen in Revelations, the woman clothed with the sun, the universal church and the perfect realization of what it is to be church. In God’s salvific plan she is the “arc-type” of the Church. It is also argued that the Church is the mystical body of Christ but “the Church is not Christ and Christ is not the Church”; neither is Mary the Church or the Church Mary. “The Church is a visible society founded by Christ”.
There are other arguments like Mary is the “new Paradise” but what is not argued is that Mary is “full of grace, Mother of God”. That is the declared dogma of the Church and thus infallible in its proclamation. It is the fundamental principle of who she is in the order of salvation. Mary’s birth is the perfect sanctification through grace without sin to bring Jesus Christ into the world. It is the mystery of human salvation, the mystery of the union between God and humanity to unite our human nature to God in the Son. God becomes fully human that we may be divinized by our participation in Christ. Mary is a channel for grace in her smallness she is assumed and crowned our Queen of Heaven.
It is good to be small and humble. Pope Francis says on the Nativity of Mary that we have a tendency to believe “bigger is better”. If you are from a small town we seek to go to the “big City” as a better place to be. Children see a big gift wrapped present and believe it is better than a small gift. In scripture we see God’s preference for the “small and insignificant”. Jesus comes from Bethlehem, Mary from Nazareth. What can these small insignificant towns offer compared to the big city of Jerusalem? They offered us the savior of the world and Queen of Heaven. What is insignificant in the eyes of the world is not insignificant to God. God cares about the smallest things in our lives. He is not in the thunder but in the whisper.
Let us not fear God in hurricanes, earthquakes and disasters when they arrive in force to bring destruction. Let us search for him from within, in who he created us to be in Him. If he resides in the smallness of our being as he came into the womb of Mary then we are sanctified and give glory and praise for is God is with us, who can be against us.
God called Mary through a particular family lineage to give birth to Jesus in a particular small town at a set time in history to take her place for the world’s salvation. He calls us also in our smallness in our time to share in the divine mystery. What is my response to Him today?
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Stay Awake!!
Stay Awake! This is the alarm of our time. Life has a way of seducing us into the world concerned with itself and able to see beyond. I recall our travels to the Holy Land and entering the Garden of Gethsemane. It was quiet time for reflection. I grabbed a chair and sat to pray. Soon my eyes got heavy and I started to doze off. Like the disciples who Jesus admonished, “can’t you stay awake” one hour with me? My spirit was willing but my flesh was weak.
To be awake is not about sleep but our readiness to respond. People are already comparing the response in Texas to hurricane Harvey with the response to hurricane Katrina. Katrina had two disasters, the hurricane was the first but the lack of readiness to respond was the second. Texas has had equal if not greater devastation than Katrina but the response has been tremendous so far. We cannot control nature but we can prepare even for the unimaginable. We must pray not only for the lives lost and those who must begin the long journey of recovery, but also for those first responders many who are volunteers prepared to respond who have kept their candle burning to give the light of hope.
The gospel of Mathew on the ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13) is often used for Quincianeras (15th birthday celebration). An analogy can be made of this gospel in our readiness to respond. First there are 10 virgins and ten is a sign of totality. The Lord wants all to be saved and we are all created for Him. Only five are ready for the bridegroom five were foolish. To be asleep is to be unprepared. Jesus calls us to be the light of the world, to reflect his image that he may recognize in us his love. Our lamp is our soul that shines with the love of joy, peace, kindness, generosity, and many other graces. The bridegroom is Jesus, the way the truth, and the life we all seek. If the lamp is our soul then what is the oil? Oil is a source of fuel for cooking, it nourishes the body. Oil is also used in church for anointing, a visible sign of salvation. The oil in our lamps needed to give light is our good works. The foolish virgin had no oil of good works to offer Jesus as a visible sign of their faith, hope, and love. The wise virgins were prepared their good works were a light for Jesus to recognize. We have ten Commandments not to pick the five we want to obey but all of them reflect good works. The New Testament in James 2:26 says, “just as the body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Thus the law, faith and works all go together. “What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead.” (Jam. 2:14-17)
In one week a healthy man who had given years of volunteer work at a hospital went home and choked on something and died. He was always ready to help and give of himself He was recognized for his works of charity, God recognized his faith. Then in the same week a woman in her 60s in the hospital is being taken off life support. Then there is a request for a memorial service for a 94 year old who passed away. It begs to ask the question we all need to ask. “Am I ready?” Death does not make appointments. Someone made the comment, “If you are not ready to die, then you have not been ready to live.” We are to live each day as if it is our first, our last, our only day to offer up to God.
Recently this all became very real to me personally. With the recent eclipse I began having severe headaches for two days the on the third day I was having lunch with my wife and a friend. I began to choke could not breath and my face started to change color (they tell me). Our friend started to do the Heimlich maneuver on me. Each of those experiences begged the question, “Am I ready?” Death is like a thief at night. It is a reminder to be the best that God created us to be. To live each day with passion as if it is the first, the last, the only day we have. That day may be this day and we want to be ready to be an offering of ourselves. Some things we cannot control but what we can we are to work to be perfect as God calls us to be and they will know that he is with us and we are in Him.
Little Jacinto, Saint Jacinto now was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” He said “I want to die and go to heaven.” We can say he was born ready, but the Blessed Mother said he had to do many rosaries. Let us pray for readiness each moment of life.
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23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s principle message is of reconciliation. To arrive at reconciliation we need to take a step back to the 1st principle of God. God is a God of order. In God we have a need for order and unity. It can be said that if God is a God of order and science is the study of an ordered universe then science is the study of God revealed in his order. Science is however subordinate to the highest order of truth, a lower order of truth. What does all this philosophy have to do with reconciliation?
To be in unity with God we must be reconciled with each other. We must restore order to our relationships. In contrast disunity is the poison of disorder. We must begin with ourselves. “if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Our hearts must be open to reconciliation to be in unity of mind, body, and spirit. Perhaps our struggle of relationships is a deeper struggle of self. Our own restlessness and disunity promotes disorder in our relationships.
The first reading is God’s call to reconciliation with Him, to hear his voice and be in right relationship with the God of love while the second mandate is to be in reconciliation with our neighbor. With God we have a sacrament of reconciliation to renew the bond of love. With neighbor we have a calling to dialogue but dialogue requires the desire for unity and free will cannot force unity in a hardened heart. Thus as the gospel reading makes clear our obligation is limited by the heart of the other. We can directly seek reconciliation and extend peace, we can seek unity through others and we can turn to the church as a voice of truth. We then must let go and let God in God’s time work in the hearts of others.
The order of unity is love where two or three agree on anything through prayer it shall be granted for the greater good. In the first reading God testifies that we are to proclaim the Word of God when we hear him speak. God speaks in scripture all the time but there are those moments in time when it speaks directly to us. It is when the person in the pew feels “that is coming towards me”. It enters our soul to awaken us to his truth in our particular situation and to reconcile us in our relationships.
The Word also takes flesh in our flesh when we witness evil, sin, injustice, abuse, and neglect to awaken our duty to respond to the danger of eternal death. There is a cultural paradigm shift going on in our society to silence speech whether by so called “safe zones” or by outright inflammatory speech and violence. Billy Graham started his ministry on a street corner preaching the Word of God’s love, mercy and call for reconciliation. Today, I fear he would be stoned to death, persecuted or injured for offending a group of people in the pubic square.
God seeks to reconcile the world to himself and we are called to be the voice of dialogue beginning at home, in our communities, and in our engagement on world issues. The consequence of sin is death. How many souls remain resentful and unforgiving? Malachy McCourt states, “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” Many souls are dying with resentful hearts. They feel justified in their resentment. They see forgiving as a sign of weakness, giving into the other person or giving up their cause The cause is never given up if it seeks truth, not my truth or your truth but God’s truth.
What are we to do? Rev. Dr. William Mitchell says, “Forgiving is a gift given in the face of a moral wrong, without denying the wrong itself.” Give the gift don’t dney the harm that can eat us up alive inside. We give the gift and let God take care of the rest. This comes from a heart of love greater than the wrong done. It is a voluntary decision to give up the desire for revenge and release a person from any interpersonal debt incurred by wronging you. This comes from a mind that is willing to make an act of forgiveness, perhaps by going to confession to invite God to help us release the pain and receive his grace. Forgiveness is a process both emotional in dealing with the anger, hurt, and disappointment and of the mind in understanding the behavior, the person, and having empathy.
What are we not to do? We don’t minimize the reality of what happened. We don’t forget or repress the memory we learn to let it go. Sometimes memory has its own sense of humor. We stop talking to someone for years and we don’t remember why but we remember the anger. Forgiving is not making excuses for the other or oneself. Forgiving is not tolerating negative behavior that only keeps us angry. Forgiving is not something we do after we “get even”, two wrong don’t make it right. I remember a woman who came in for counseling for depression and anger management. She was very remorseful for hitting her husband with a 2X4 piece of stud saying, “he made me mad”. Anger is not a sin it is what we do with our anger that becomes a poison.
Forgiveness, reconciliation, mercy is seeing Jesus on the cross and accepting his love is open to all sinners and we can be an instrument of his love. The world is in need of more and more reconciliation. The path to destruction begins with the silencing of the voice of the other leading to disunity, then disorder and finally destruction. Even if we disagree we need to be at least willing to agree to disagree in dialogue. God works where two or three are gathered in his name.
Who is our model for forgiveness and reconciliation? The one called “full of grace”, Blessed Mother Mary a model of humility. The Mother who stood at the cross of her Son’s persecution remained in perfect love and did not sin. Did she feel all the human emotions of anger, grief, pain and suffering? Yes, she did. She overcame them with love. In Jesus, God became more like man to bring us to reconciliation. In Mary humanity became more like God to be perfect as God is perfect. God entrusts in us the message of reconciliation to be more like Christ. This too takes great courage.
Literature speaks of four great themes of life. There is a “comedy” where anything that can go wrong does go wrong but in the end all ends well. There is a “romance” where life has its passion and challenges that seek a higher unity of life. There is a “tragedy” with a sad ending, a sense of loss and emptiness. There is also an “irony” where we are left with no understanding and confusion. So how does this play out with reconciliation?
“Comedy”: Why did it take so long to make up? I don’t know but you started it. You also held onto it for so long but now together we end it.
“Romance”: I was so angry because I love you so much. I wish it had never happened but we are much closer now and understanding of each other.
“Tragedy”: What happened cannot be undone and letting go is not easy. I still love you but life goes on without you now and I can accept it.
“Irony”: Though I will never completely understand I trust in God and accept his will for my life.
In each of these themes of life we can find God’s peace and reconciliation. Let us harden not our hearts to his voice calling us back to his love and mercy. Forgiving all injuries is a spiritual work of mercy. “Love one another” and we will receive God’s peace of heart.
Let us pray an act of love and reconciliation. “O my God, I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul, because you are all-good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me, and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.” (Handbook for Catholics, Loyola Press 1995, pg. 8)
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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kgs 3: 5, 7-12; Rom. 8: 28-30; Mt. 13: 44-52
How many lives do you impact? We seldom stop to recognize the impact we are making in the world. The lives that we encounter daily at home raising a family, at work serving a purpose, in our gatherings of celebration expressing our joy, in funerals expressing our compassion, and in the streets with the stranger, the store clerk, server, child, or elderly. We impact many lives and make a difference in this world.
Solomon was a youth who understood the impact his life would have on thousands of lives and he wanted to serve with an understanding heart to judge, distinguish right from wrong. We too participate in the kingdom of God making an impact on many lives in the seen and unseen. Until heaven will it be revealed to us completely. We journey in the ordinary of life faithful to our state. The ordinary does not imply insignificance. To the contrary, if God is with us everything is significant. We are here to make a difference in the history of salvation. We must remain open to the work of the Spirit.
One of the sad statistics of today is the rising suicide rates among the general population but especially among youth where it has doubled and even tripled in some areas in the last ten years. One testimony of a father whose son named Will a talented boy, good grades, played sports, wrote lyrics for a band, successful in every aspect of his life, dead at 15 from suicide. Like Solomon this boy felt all the pressure to be perfect. He took serious his responsibilities. He also knew that if he made a mistake everyone would know about it by lunch time with all the social media at the fingertips of everyone’s phone. Solomon desired to judge rightly. Will feared being judged wrongly. Will’s dad was thinking “everything is great!” Today his message to youth is “Wow, this is really hard.” The challenges of this world require faith, hope, and love, they require God in our lives.
There is a desert experience we must all pass through. There is also a promised land. The Old Testament daily readings this week have been from Exodus. Moses leading the people through the desert and each hardship is a test of faith. Our focus is on the Promised Land. The Kingdom, the Promised land starts here in the present, in the ordinary, in Mass, in his body and blood, and in our struggles blessed to carry the cross.
Even when there is a shared struggle in life like the loss of a loved one each experiences their own unique grief. “Wow, this is really hard. No kidding!” Are we prepared to face the desert experience when it comes? Solomon’s prayer to God is a servant’s prayer. He understood who he was serving in all he would be called to do. His prayer was for what he needed to be a good servant, not to grow rich or rule with power. His desire was to build a kingdom for God, a treasure buried in a field unseen to others but discovered in his heart; a kingdom of fine pearls of wisdom, and a net that catches souls of every kind.
“We know all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Do we walk in the steps we are predestined responding to the call, justified by conforming to the image of Jesus, glorified by the love of God? How do we know? When we walk in his steps says St. Paul in Galatians we gain the fruits of the Spirit. We have and share our “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23). That is nine gifts which we can recall as, in the power of the Spirit he strengthens our faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to become the image of the Son in patience, kindness, and generosity and arrive at the Father’s love with joy and peace in our hearts.
Fidelity to the word made flesh nurtures us into the gentleness of a child of faith to be obedient in self-control. Patience is also self-restraint with kindness giving of ourselves in generosity. The heart of understanding comes to know the will of the Father and celebrates the truth of knowledge with joy and peace resting in the Father’s heart.
All this lead us to an extraordinary life in the ordinary of life. Here we are called to be the best we can be in his image. Who shared in our humanity a fidelity to the ordinary and was called to the extraordinary? It was our Blessed Mother Mary. Until the angel appears Mary was faithful to her ordinary daily life. It is from this faithfulness that God sees the fruit of the Spirit and called her and many other Saints to an extraordinary life of greater sanctity.
Today we have the “new and the old”, the completion of the Word in the Old Testament and the New Testament, in the law of obedience and in the law of the Spirit of fidelity, our love in action. Each life leaves it legacy for generations to come. It is the legacy of love that endures.
Come to the Promise Land. The invitation requires no RSVP, No Regrets, only Mary’s fiat, “let it be done according to your will” Lord.
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Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2017
Wis. 55: 12:13, 16-19; Rom. 8: 26-27; Mt. 13: 24-43
Judgement Day, Heaven or Hell! “Lord you are good and forgiving…judge with clemency.” I am reminded of a priest covert from a Protestant faith on the EWTN program Journey Home who said Catholics don’t preach much on heaven and hell. Perhaps this is because the focus is on repentance as pilgrims in our journey home to heaven.
The Master over all things does not need our repentance. Repentance is for our good not his and we should not expect leniency but offer our works to receive this grace. Scriptures says, “See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone…For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (Ja. 2: 24, 26). The Catechism teaches the necessity of faith, “therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, or will anyone obtain eternal life” (CCC: 161). Faith is the mustard seed to grow through works into the largest of plants in a mature soul. Faith alone is not salvation it is the seed in the journey to salvation nourished by the works of love to our God of love. What are these works? They are the works of love in mercy and obedience to his commandments.
Today’s gospel makes clear there is no universal salvation, a “free ticket” everyone gets to have. Some people think everyone is going to heaven and/or there is no hell. There is good seed, the children of God and weeds, the children of the evil one. Who are the children of the evil one? Those committed to the works of the evil one. Let us not judge the person that is the work of God. Let us judge the works of evil for they will be known by their works. Commitment to a culture of death whether in the name of religion or as a State’s rights are a judgment the works of the evil one against the good of humanity.
In our country we have reached a stage in the culture of death called the “right to die”. In England the judicial system has ruled it has the right to decide the option of death for little Charlie J., the infant born with a rare disease. The state determines life and death not the parents. The court has ruled the parents have no rights to seek further medical care for a child and he needs to be taken home to die. The battle is on. We are not far behind in our laws. Take for example the Church opposition of contraception early in the debate while other faith denominations supported it. No one then thought of late term abortions much less partial birth abortions would be a legal reality. It was for the first trimester of pregnancy or in cases rape or danger to the mother. Today body parts are on the market for sale. Who all participates in the works of the evil one becomes a child of the evil one.
The works of the evil one include those that “cause others to sin”. Here we must examine our conscience. As a culture we value personal responsibility for our actions yet we are quick to blame, “he made me do it or she made me mad”. Is it not that there is a sense of mutual responsibility for the ultimate sin. We acknowledge the reality of cause and effect. Anyone who has dealt with or lived through domestic violence learns understands the cycle of abuse from one generation to another. How many souls will our actions impact for good or evil? How many generations will the impact have?
We also have the expression, “I don’t know what got into me, the devil made me do it.” The devil has received its just punishment but our judgment awaits his day.
In Spanish we have the expression, “En acción de gracias”, “in act of thanksgiving” God is merciful. Scripture says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God, it is not from works, so no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8) Have we found a contradiction in scripture? This completes our understanding of faith and works. God alone saves! There is no target of works we must reach to be saved for one to say “I met the goal and another I didn’t do enough”. Works are the cause and effect of faith. Just as faith has a cause and effect of love as scripture says, “…if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” Faith works through love in its works. We reside in his love through our works of mercy and obedience. It is not either or but both and, both faith and works belong together in salvation history.
The kingdom is like yeast, a little raises three measures of good bread. Jesus is our yeast and the woman is the church kneading the flour to give us a whole batch of children of God. Together we will feed the hungry souls of righteousness.
The faith of a mustard seed means we must take that leap of faith and trust God with how he calls us to good works. Heaven is calling. What is our response today?
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I Am Aware of Thy Love
I Am Aware Of Thy Love
Oh Lord, my God
Thy love in my heart
Has awakened my spirit
Making it sparkle like the stars in heaven,
With a joy beyond description.
For your love, oh Lord,
Is a necessity that my soul requires
Like the essentials that my body needs.
The air that I breathe
The water that I drink,
The food that I eat.
How sweet it is, oh Lord,
When the day has gone its way,
Leaving darkness in its wake.
I pause to take a few moments
Dedicating my thoughts unto Thee.
As I read Thy word and meditate.
For your word is like a treasure chest,
Filled with so many beautiful things
Glowing with hour glory.
I stand in complete serenity of peace
In the midst of Thy holiness
Covered with your grace
With my humble soul singing
Unto Thee,
How Great Thou Art,’
I kneel down by my bed,
Starting to count the blessings
That came my way.
I softly let my tears say thanks unto Thee
For loving me so.
Even though I do not understand why?
I am thankful that you do.
Written by Maria Anna Cortino, July 18, 2017
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The Parable of the Sower
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Is. 55: 10-11; Rom. 8: 18-23; Mt. 13: 1-23
Why does Jesus speak in parables? That is the question on the minds of his disciples. He gives a long explanation using farming to explain it so we can all understand. We can surmise it as it takes faith in action to believe, to trust and to follow.
No one knows this better than a farmer. When planting season starts there are so many potential obstacles to a good harvest, too much rain, too little rain, pests, storms, the quality of the soil, not enough laborers, and on it goes. Farmers operate under faith in action vigilant to sustain the crop. When harvest time comes they experience the joy of their faith believing in a power greater than self, trusting in the wisdom from knowledge, experience, and reason, and following their actions with prudence to forecast a good harvest. I am reminded of a picture of a cotton picker harvesting the crop and all the white cotton flying into the future bail is depicted as the harvest of souls in white garments. Just like we are called to be fishers of souls, we can also be more like farmers of souls and the white cotton are the souls dressed in our white baptismal robes harvested into the bail of salvation.
It all begins with the seed and the soil. God provides the seed in his word and we are the soil of creation. Creation however is bound by slavery of sin that is blinding, deafening, and muting our senses. I recall being a child growing up in Houston and we had the three monkeys hanging on the corner, one covering its eyes, one the ears and the other its mouth. Back then it represented the meaning of see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. Where is evil? The gospel speaks of the evil found in creation making us slaves of evil with groaning in labor pains in need of a rebirth into freedom. Freedom comes from the word of redemption if we believe with the eyes of faith, trust with the ears of understanding and follow with the word of truth by our actions.
“They look but do not see”. Where is our attention? Our look often begins in judgment of what we see from our bias. St. Francis of Assisi at first could not see beyond the skin of a leper to the image of God behind the skin. The expression “skin deep” is often as far as we allow ourselves to look. We want to see you Jesus but like so many crowds we follow the herd mentality to validate our skin deep notions. We miss seeing Christ risen from the dead and remain among the dead in spirit.
“They hear but do not listen”. Where is our reasoning? Our mind becomes self-listening. We hear our voice as soon as the other speaks reasoning with our prejudgment with the too often “yes, but”. Listening is the art of leaving out the “but” and following the reasoning of the other to their heart. Our “yes” is accepting truth from the word speaking to our hearts and reasoning in dialogue to discover “how did you reach that understanding?” We are also reminded of the “blind leading the blind” so all truth requires discernment.
They speak “but do not understand”. The intent of dialogue is to reach understanding. Dialogue is misused to offensively or defensively create barriers to understanding. “What do you know or How dare you?” That hurts the one body in Christ we share. The art of speaking is a shared wisdom from the gift of the spirit giving fruit in our minds, hearts, and souls. The harvest of understanding will bear much fruit.
Seed on the path without understanding is stolen away by the evil one. The seed on rocky ground understands but is rooted in shallow ground unable to sustain a tribulation. Seeds among the thorns of worries and temptations choke the word from the heart before it gives fruit. Seed on rich soil yields 100 or 60 or 30 fold.
A butterfly must first overcome the slavery of its cocoon to be released into freedom. If it is set free prior to its time it will not fly. It is in the struggle to free itself from the cocoon that it gains strength in its wing to fly. We are in a cocoon of creation and the struggle for freedom is our redemption. Our freedom awaits but we must nurture the seed given to us in the word to give a good harvest. Faith in action produces a harvest of good while faith without action quickly dies. Let our wings be as nimble as a butterfly and as strong as an eagle to reach our heavenly freedom.
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