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Homily

Pentecost – Solemnity “If only!” 

Posted on 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

“If only the Spirit of God dwells in you” then we are alive because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ who brought death to sin in the flesh.  Are we alive in the Spirit?  Surely in baptism we received the gift of the Holy Spirit and were confirmed in the same Spirit in Confirmation.  If alive in the Spirit, then sin cannot reign in our life for good and evil cannot share in the one body.  Temptation to do good or evil can enter the mind but the Spirit of love has one choice to follow.  Yet we are a sinful people in need of redemption called to return to the Lord through the sacrament of confession.  How is it for us to be in the Spirit and not fully there yet?  Called to be perfect the stain of sin can also rise again by our free will and enter to ruin the soul. 

“If only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”  Here lays the human dilemma to take up our cross and follow him in our suffering.  Such was the faith of the early church Fathers and martyrs to suffer and die for their faith in the risen Lord.  Such is our calling to accept that which we cannot change and make it an offering to the Lord.  Suffering does not come from the Lord as Jesus gave witness to bring healing to the suffering.  Suffering is from the world where disease, violence, hate, evil, and tragedy enter and the evil one waits to see if we will weaken in faith and pounce upon the souls of the vulnerable.  It is in offering our suffering up that we become glorified in him. 

If only we believe willing to follow all that we have been commanded and keep his word out of fire of our love for him.  Fear is not to be the source of obedience to the law of God but love is.  Love is a relationship of knowledge where we come to know the three persons in one God and desire to be united to God doing his will out of love for him.   This is the sign of faith when we proclaim we believe we also follow our proclamation with the right action under the law of love for God.  If we say we believe only to follow our own way we only deceive ourselves.  And what about following our conscience?  Conscience is always associated with unity of thinking “con” meaning “with” someone.  Who is our thinking united to?  Is it with God, our friends, the norms of the world?  Our thinking is not our invention it is our alliance to something or someone? 

If only we can say “Jesus is Lord” to receive his spiritual gifts.  We say it in word and deed coming from the spiritual gifts, baptized and united to the one body of Christ.  “There are different kinds of gifts…different forms of service…different workings but the same God”.  Do we recognize the gift(s) we have received and practice the service that God is working through us? We are to be aware of the Holy Spirit at work in us and through us bearing fruit for the kingdom of God.  Otherwise, we may be like those who Jesus described as saying “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy…drive out demons…do mighty deeds in your name?  Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never know you.  Depart from me, you evildoers.’” (Mt. 7:22-23) Lesson learned, doing the will of the Father is not “window dressing”, looking the part and going through the motions of being called “Christian”.  Doing the will of the Father is a conversion into his very likeness. 

If only we were doing the will of the Father, then the words Jesus spoke “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” would be fulfilled.  To the disciples who he instituted as the priesthood “he breathed on them and said to them ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  The gift to act in the person of Christ and forgive sins was given as a primordial commandment to the disciples with the Holy Spirit.  This came after the institution of the Eucharist when he said to the disciples at the Last Supper “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” (Lk. 22:19).  These foundation stones of the church in the body of Christ are what many followers who say “Lord, Lord” have left behind. 

Many may say “if only I can pick and choose at will and still be saved” but that is not doing the will of the Father.  God said to Moses, say that “I Am has sent me to you.”  Am I living the “I Am” that is doing the will of the Father?  Is the Father in me and I in the Father as Jesus was in the Father and the Father in him?  The Holy Spirit comes as the Advocate that we may know he is in us and we are in him doing his will. 

Did you know that the words “I am” appears over 300 times in the Bible from Genesis to Revelations?  Jesus made seven profound “I am” statements “I am the bread of life…I am the light of the world…I am the gate…I am the Good Shepherd…I am the resurrection and the life…I am the way, the truth, and the life…I am the true vine” (google search).  In what way am I now able to claim I am living the gifts of the Holy Spirit by doing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy?  This is not a mystery but a divine revelation given to us to follow. 

If only we would “fear not” to do the will of the Father.  Did you know the words “Fear not” appear in the Bible 365 times” (google search)?   Essentially one for every day of the year, we are to fear not answering the call to holiness.  When we fear not, we walk in faith.  Where does our faith lie?  It lies in the mind of Christ being outward focused.  Where does our fear lie?  It lies in our mind being inward focused.  The more we focus away from ourself we put fears to rest in the hands of God and go forth.

“If only” implies not there yet.  We cannot get there on our own but the Advocate is given to transform us from a people of waiting upon the Lord to receiving the Lord and acting upon the Lord.  Let us eliminate the “ifs” in our lives and stay focused on “only”.  Only in God we trust.  Only in the gifts of the Holy Spirit does the fire of love come to know and serve our God.  Only in Jesus Christ and his seven “I am” proclamations does salvation come to us.  Only I can accept salvation by going from the fear of “am I?” to the transformation into “I am” a child of God come to do his will.  Peace be with you.  And with your Spirit.  As the Father has sent us Jesus, Jesus now sends us forth.  Amen. 

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Homily

Ascension of the Lord

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

Ascension of the Lord, now what?  Now the Apostles wait upon the Lord in prayer for his return.  Now the Novena has begun in the upper room for the coming of the Advocate.  Now they wait for “the promise of the Father”, to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit coming with gifts of the Spirit.  Now comes the gift of wisdom and revelation to have knowledge of God.  Now comes the gift of enlightenment to receive the hope and “riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones”.  Now we receive the “surpassing greatness of his power” which “he put all things beneath his feet and gave him (Jesus) as head over all things to the church which is his body”.  Yes, to the church something to reflect on how well we follow the precepts of the church.  

God the Father is giving us Jesus the Son and making it his body in the Holy Spirit, his body in the Eucharist, his body in the Magisterium of the church with authority and power and calling us his people to be his body in spirit and in truth.  The question we may ask is “why is this the way God chose to return to us after the Ascension of the Lord?”  God is making himself present in us, with us and through us in all things to remain a visible presence to the world.  He makes of himself a continued sacrifice to give himself to us with “surpassing greatness of his power” trusting in humanity his plan of salvation. Are we ready for this?   Are we up to receiving the body of Christ called to be his body as he comes “to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”?  By our fruits we will have answered to God our readiness or not. 

Today in our times many are asking “Lord are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?”  We see war, violence, tragedy, death to the unborn, and the threat of nuclear annihilation and as in every generation the question is asked “will it happen in our time?”  The Lord’s response has not changed “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.”  “Punto final!”, final point!   What we do know is the power given to us in the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses of faith, hope, and love to every soul we encounter beginning at home and spreading to our neighbor, friend, and stranger.  This we do know, what we do with ourselves has eternal consequences.  So, people of Christian faith “why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Keep marching forward doing the will of the Father until he comes to take us up to himself at the moment of our death or at the end of time. 

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  Do we believe in God enough to trust him with our pain, sorrow, and suffering or do we turn from him complaining like the Israelites in the desert?   Do we believe in God when tragedy comes to the innocent in this world and we lose a child, a spouse, or a friend in a tragedy or do we cry out for vengeance?  Do we believe when we pray and pray and God is silent or do we give up and choose to go our way? 

“These signs will accompany those who believe, in my name they will drive out demons…”  In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in baptism original sin through exorcism is driven out.  When we make the sign of the cross with Holy Water, we drive out the evil one.  When we call out to God proclaiming “Jesus is Lord” the demons rush away.  When we honor our Blessed Mother Mary demons tremble in fear.  This is the power given to us and the weapons of spiritual warfare. 

“They will speak new languages” says the Lord.  The Spirit comes with the language of truth, love, and mercy planted into our hearts.  We proclaim the Word of God as the language of authority to be our light and salvation.   

“They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them”.  We lift up in our hands the poisonous serpents in a culture of death threatened if we do not comply and accept what this world calls its freedom to choose against the moral conscience of the church.  We will not be harmed with the deadly drink of secular ideologies fed to us and forced upon us through the powers of godless institutions. 

“Conscience” meaning in Latin “con – with” and “scire – know”; with whose knowledge do we associate with?  Is it with the knowledge of God through the church or with the thinking of the world?  Our individual thinking will make an alliance of conscience in support or against the authority of the Church and as for me and my house we stand with Papa and Mother church. 

“They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  When we place our hands in the hands of God it is he who heals relationships, raises up the spiritually dying, and restores faith, hope, and love to the sick.  We are but instruments in his hands.  The world is in need of recovery from the sickness of narcissistic thinking, from the passions of self-indulgence, and from the lies from a culture of indoctrination that wants to take our children and raise them up to believe they are a creation of their own mind and not of God.  So many false teachings with information overload that our children are left asking “what is truth?” 

We need more of God to blare the trumpets.  We need the Lord Jesus who in the Ascension “was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God” to work with us and through us to confirm the word with signs of his presence.  We need a conversion of souls and he is with us calling us to be the one to make a difference. 

The trumpets are blaring!  We are blessed that this day we can sing hymns of praise to the Lord because he already reigns over us though we are in this world we belong to him.  He reigns “far above every principality, authority, power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.”  Are we listed in the book of names?  By our baptism we have been named but we must also remain in him….and that is the work we are being called to accomplish this day.  Amen.

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Homily

6th Sunday of Easter – The Advocate

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Ps. 67:2-3, 5,6,8; Rev. 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn. 14:23-29

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit…will teach you everything”.  The Advocate is here to remind us that the Word made flesh in Jesus is to incarnate in us as the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Just as in Revelation, John sees no temple in the holy city of Jerusalem “for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb” is Jesus.  The word incarnate in us gives us the peace of Jesus “not as the world gives” peace but through the Holy Spirit as he comes to dwell in us.  Do we invoke the Holy Spirit regularly to be our Advocate in prayer?  The Holy Spirit is the gift received at baptism through who we receive the graces and virtues to know and understand the will of God in our lives.

Until the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost the disciples were sheep still failing to understand all that Jesus was instructing them.  Then came the Advocate and they became as one in the Spirit guided to make the right decision as apostles and shepherds to the Gentiles and to all the followers to come after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  Pontius Pilate asked Jesus “what is truth?”  Jesus says to his disciples at the Last Supper discourse “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  Jesus is the truth being revealed to us through the Advocate in our daily encounter with life.  If we were to consider Jesus is the truth of theology then the Holy Spirit is the applied theology as the Advocate that makes all thing work for the greater good. 

In the first reading there is a dilemma as the early church is still struggling with the applied theology and some leaders were calling upon the Gentiles to be circumcised following the Jewish tradition and law going as far as to say, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.”  By what authority were these leaders relying on?  It was the historical authority and practices of the people of God.  Everything that Jesus instructed had not been written down and in what is written down Jesus says nothing about circumcision.  To have unity authority matters.  The final human authority rested on the apostles whom Jesus appointed and called Peter to be the “rock” to build his church.  The divine authority as spoken by the apostles and elders “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities”. 

What a great gift given to the apostles and to us to receive the Holy Spirit as the Advocate in discerning “doing what is right”.  We cannot lose sight in recognizing that as we all share in the gift of the Holy Spirit there remains the wisdom of God in providing the church an authority for the applied theology that we may all be one in faith and practice.  We cannot be a church unto ourselves and each simply believe they are doing what is their “right” when it goes against the church authority, something to reflect on.  Through the centuries many have tried and failed from Arianism, the belief that Jesus was not fully divine one with the Father to Luther’s Reformation and the revolt into Protestantism, the church has prevailed by remaining faithful to the authority and working of the Holy Spirit. 

In our times, Protestantism is failing because it continues to divide itself into more and more denominations and they break from each other because there is not one authority in the applied theology of what is “right”.  Still, we cannot cast stones within the Catholic church for we share a history of schisms when some choose to break from authority.  In the past it was Luther and today the church in Germany is at risk of doing the same with what it is calling the “synodal way” to reintroduce ideas that church authority has already addressed like female priesthood and acceptance of homosexuality.    

Have a dilemma pray to God the Father to receive his glory, pray to Jesus to be our lamp and light the way and pray to the Holy Spirit to reveal the word of truth and understanding for the answer we need to receive.  Try to remember a moment when faced with a dilemma where a difficult decision needed to be made and finding ourselves unsure how to discern the right or best decision.  Who do we turn to our parents, a spouse, our friends, or even a priest?  Do we take it to prayer and do we call upon the Advocate? 

One day as a young adolescent, I had a dilemma and needed to make what was to me a major decision at the time.  The dilemma was whether to play football or take band in school since at the time you could not take both.  I wanted both but it was not allowed and could not make the choice.  I asked my mother for guidance expecting her to help me decide.  I was quite surprised when she quickly and simply said, “You will have to decide.”  Did not see that coming.  It was not the response I expected and only later came to understand that I had to take ownership of the decision that would impact my life for the next several years and longer.  So, I prayed and asked God that I was making the right choice and was at peace with my decision.  This is the working of the Holy Spirit.  God was going to use whatever decision to help me grow as a person and in my faith.  God works through our free will when we call upon the Advocate to remain with us and lead us to the will of the Father. 

Are we ready to trust God with our life choices?  When we offer our decisions up to the Father for his glory, trust in Jesus to open the way for us, and call upon the Advocate to give us the wisdom to be at peace we are truly entering into the providential life of the Spirit.  In the Trinity God works for those who love him.  The Advocate is coming and is already here from the day of our baptism if we only turn to call upon the Holy Spirit and pray then we will hear his voice and know God is with us. 

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Homily

5th Sunday of Easter – Love one another!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 14:21-27; Ps. 145:8-13; Rev. 21:1-5a; Jn. 13:31-33a, 34-35

“Love one another as I have loved you.”  Just ponder the significance of this commandment.  We are more ready to say “yes, but” than simply “yes, Lord”.  “Jesus, you loved us unto death itself and yes but I am not perfect as you are perfect.”  Do we turn away from this commandment and settle for some other teaching like “just be good” or “no one is perfect so try your best, God knows”.  God does know and recognizes a lukewarm heart with no passion for living his love.  As he loved us, he died for us.  Who are we willing to die for?  Who are we willing to sacrifice for?  Let’s begin here for in sacrifice we die to ourselves for something outside of ourselves.  Unfortunately, we sacrifice more for the dollar that for the “dolor de amor” the pain of love. 

Jesus loves us that he suffered and died for us giving us his perfect love.  Love is not a movement of emotion it is a movement to act.  We are moved to action even knowing that the cost may be our very self.  We act out of the spirit of generosity, kindness, sacrifice, and commitment for the good of the other.  This is the love we receive from Jesus, the witness he left us to follow.  Jesus’ love is transformative and we are to transform others through our love as we are being transformed by his love for us.  When love works, it works for the good of the other and it results in an interior change in us.  We recognize, “It changed me!”  Are we a changed person because we dare to love one another as God loves us? 

If our love is not growing then it is gradually slipping away.  The world is very good at keeping us so busy with a movement to act not out of love but out of pride.  It is the false pride that worries more of our own reflection than reflecting the love of God for one another.  We can drive ourselves to burnout, working longer, doing more, expecting more from ourselves and others not out of love but out of pride.  Driven to succeed we fail to love.  As the song “Cats in the Cradle” says, “When are you coming home dad?  I don’t know when but we’ll get together then, you know we’ll have a good time then.”  Then never came!  We are left to regret the lack of love that makes life meaningful and the kingdom of God is still waiting for our love. 

We want our children to succeed but in ways that reflect success in the world not success to be the best God created them to be.  We are created to know, love, and serve God with the gifts he has given us.  This is greater than any title, position, or status in this world.  Growing in love with God fulfills the promise, “Behold, I make all things new” in us.  We are then both the same person and not the same person, changed by love.  Are we still holding on to the old self remembering how it use to be when we were younger trying to hold on to the past illusion of vanities?  Those good old days when we eat, drink, stay out late and indulged in our passions thinking we are “it”.  It is time to awaken from the slumber and recognize it is not about “me”, never was yet how long will we keep trying to make God in our image than to be transformed into his? 

Love is a transformation into the image of God.  Love is a reflection of God himself.  The highest form of expression of love is self-sacrifice coming to us in the sacrifice of Jesus to save us.  This is love described in Christianity as “agape” which represents unconditional love not just coming from God to us but being offered by us to God.  Is our love for God unconditional yet?  Each day we are to die more to ourselves to love God the greater and it comes when we love one another for God dwells in one another thus what we do to the least we do to God himself says the word of God.   

Jesus in his humanity demonstrated “philia” that is brotherly love to his disciples teaching them in all things. Jesus in his divinity demonstrated “agape” the unconditional love of his sacrifice for us on the cross.  By our baptism we enter into the divine life called to this unconditional agape love.  There are many good people in this world who share in brotherly love for others willing to offer support when they recognize a need for help and in this we have a common bond of humanity.  Even people of no faith can act out of the goodness of humanity but are we prepared to go beyond our humanity and enter into the divinity Christ opened up for us on the cross?  Are we willing to make it a sacrifice and grow in divine love?

We are born for “philautia” that is self-love but true self-love is a calling to love God in self by guarding ourselves from sin, taking care of our mind, body, and spirit from the temptations of the evil one.  We honor God beginning with how we guard ourselves, guard our dignity and respect our own life for we are his creation.  He has given us ourselves but what we do with ourselves is how we honor God as a gift of ourselves to him.  Temperance is an infused virtue to be in right balance with our physical, psychological, and spiritual needs.  In our mortality and as the temples of the Holy Spirit we are to govern ourselves first before we can be a true witness of God in our love for one another.  How we eat, sleep, work, play and pray all signs of philautia, a true self-love. 

We can then ascend to share with others in “philia” that is as brothers and sisters in Christ being in fellowship, sharing in the one faith and in the care of each other.  Many people will claim “I am a good person” meaning that is good enough.  That is not where God is calling us in the love for one another.  He is calling us to see in Jesus the higher good of divine love through his sacrifice.  Have we gone there yet?  The Lord is calling us to do his divine works in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.  We are living in the age of mercy.  When there is great evil rising in the world, God comes with great mercy.  Jesus recognized that God was being glorified in him.  God desires to be glorified in us.  When we turn from our sin to God, he will glorify himself in us “at once” for is love is perfect.   

What are the Lord’s works that give him thanks?  We are the works of the Lord when we invite him that we may be instruments of his love.  He works through us to fulfill his works.  God dwells with us and works in us through the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit.  He comes to us as we approach the table of the Lord and receive him in the Eucharist.  God’s word never ends, always at work, seeking souls to work through.  Will we receive him this day as he has loved us? 

 [JG1]And

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Homily

4th Sunday of Easter Voice of God; Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 13:14, 43-52; Ps. 100:1-2, 3, 5; Rev. 7:9, 14b-17; Jn. 10:27-30

The voice of God is always present, do we hear it?  Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who gave life to a child either by birth or by upbringing.  As moms you accepted to give of yourself so that a child could also receive the gift of love and hear the voice of God through you and all of God’s creation.  As mothers you also bring the love of our Blessed Mother Mary to her son in your faith to accept this awesome calling to serve God as moms.  Blessed are you for your fiat to serve as the voice of God to a child. 

The voice of God is to flow through Mothers both with the authority of God but also through the sensibilities of tenderness, patience, and mercy.  Ask a little child, “who’s the boss of you?”  They will most likely identify their mothers as being in charge.  Women hold onto your motherhood and don’t be deceived by the currents of politically correct culture who try to simply label women as “birthing persons” as if women are asexual and only different because they have a womb.  Women are much more than a body part; you are gifted to be mothers. 

“We are his people” who hear his voice says the Lord.  In times of distress, we may question God “Does God hear our prayers?”  The question for us however needs to be “Do we hear his voice?”  The voice of God is always present to us when we turn to the scriptures as the “gold standard” of knowledge and the “diamond” of wisdom.  The voice of God comes to us through his appointed ministers guided by the Holy Spirit to shepherd his people.  The voice of God comes to us in prayer when we become still in silence and wait upon the Lord. 

If we desire to hear the Lord, we are to open up the scriptures and spend time with the Lord reflecting on his word.  If we desire to hear the Lord, we come to receive the sacraments through the hands of the priesthood and the indwelling spirit will speak to us.  If we desire to hear the Lord, prayer is our daily constant in all its forms, the prayer of the Mass, the prayer before the blessed sacrament in adoration, the prayer of the family, and the silent prayer of the heart that calls out to God as we invite him into the moment of our day.  

We are to ask ourselves, “Is our desire to hear the Lord?”  A quick examination of conscience gives us the answer to the extent we study the scriptures, celebrate the sacraments and pray.  How long will we keep the Lord waiting for us to come to him, desire his presence, be in dialogue with him?  Last Sunday, Jesus asks Simon Peter “Do you love me?”.  We say we love God and yet how much is he a part of our day? 

We say we love our family but if we only see them in the morning before we all leave home and at night to check in on them then how strong is that love that will stand united when troubles come?  Time together is the bond of love that strengthens all relationships and God desires a relationship not simply an act of worship.  If today we hear his voice, it is because our love for the Lord brings us here to celebrate his presence in our life, our relationship with him.  Otherwise, we are simply living by tradition, a ritual of life on top of all the other rituals and habits that may have lost their meaning. 

The voice of the Lord makes our hearts burn within us as he speaks to us and opens the scriptures to us.  If you recall the movie “City Slickers” the three men went out to find that “one” thing in life they needed.  The one thing we need is to hear the voice of the Lord to give us peace, consolation, hope, mercy, all wrapped together in his love.  The voice of the Lord is the key that opens up the mystery of faith in tangible ways for us to follow.  This one thing makes everything else come to order in our priorities.  If we are not hearing the voice of the Lord then are we going in the wrong direction?  

The Lord comes to us in his body and blood in communion, in fellowship, and in sacrifice.  Today we see in the first reading Paul and Barnabas coming into the synagogue on the sabbath as Jews that those gathered may hear the voice of the Lord in the word of God revealed by the apostles.  This is their evangelization to bridge the old with the new.  Then on Sundays they gathered as believers to break bread as followers of Christ, that is as Christians.  The early church was attempting to bring about a reformation of the Jewish tradition and have Gentiles follow Jewish law but the more the Jews rejected and persecuted the Christians the more they recognized the voice of the Lord was making all things new for the Church and guided them in a new direction.  Not our will but thy will be done Lord. 

Paul and Barnabas were happy “they shook the dust from their feet in protest”, a sign they accepted it was not their fight to convert anyone.  They spoke “boldly” but only to urge them “to remain faithful to the grace of God.”  The lesson from Paul and Barnabas is that no one condemns us but those who reject the word of God “condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life”. 

Oh, how we desire to convert the world to the truth of the gospel but sometimes we struggle to convert our own household.  We have fallen away siblings, children, even parents.  It is not our fight it belongs to the Lord.  We are to pray for conversion to begin with us to witness to the truth by the testimony of how we live our lives and pray “Jesus I trust in you” for others to seek you and hear your voice.  The closer we get to holiness the greater the voice of God will resonate through us to others.  We worry and have anxiety about so many things and people but this only resonates fear and control to others and nobody is drawn to fear and control.  The voice of fear and control keeps the voice of God silent next to ours.  Let us resonate the voice of God through love and mercy. 

The world remains in a time of great distress in the voices of war, death, violence, and persecution in order to gain power over others.  We wash our robes white with the blood of the lamb.  This blood comes to us by remaining faithful to the voice of the Lord and in the body and blood of Christ who we join with in the suffering for our sins and those of this world.  Revelation does not say we will not have tears in this world but “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” and lead us “to springs of life-giving water.”  Marian apparitions call us to “pray for the conversion of sinners”.  The power of prayer is not our power but the power of the one sent to us.  In the name of Jesus, the apostles demonstrated his power to heal, bring about conversion and other miracles.

If today you hear his voice know that you belong to the Lord.  If we cannot hear his voice then we are to turn back to the path he provided for us to follow and we will know the “good shepherd” is with us and no one can take us out of his hands. 

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3rd Sunday of Easter – “Do you love me?”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Ps. 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-13; Rev. 5:11-14; Jn. 21:1-19

“Do you love me?” is the question we are asked this day from the Lord.  Today we recognize St. Joseph the Worker who without a spoken word in scripture never denied the Lord but in every act of love for the Lord, for Mary, and the child Jesus spoke loudly “I love the Lord” and followed where the Lord guided him.

Simon Peter is asked three times the same question perhaps to reconcile the three times Peter denied Jesus before his death.  The first time Simon Peter is asked Jesus says, “Do you love me more than these?”  Jesus had provided for Simon Peter a huge catch of fish after being out all night and not catching anything.  Jesus had already appeared to him and the other disciples twice commissioning them with the gift of the Holy Spirit to go out into the world and what does Jesus find them doing?  They return to what is their trade as fishermen.  On their own there is no catch of fish by returning to “these” worldly ways of life but with Jesus the catch is great if they do what he commands, “Follow me.” 

How do we respond to the question Jesus asks of us, “Do you love me?”  If we love him then we will follow him by living our lives in the service of the “sheep” we are given to feed and tend to and it begins in the home.  The food we are to provide is beyond the belly, it is the spiritual food of heaven coming to us in the word of God and in his body and blood of the Eucharist.  The home is the domestic church where it begins in the language of love by the way we speak, pray, and act as believers.  The home is where the sacraments of the church take root starting with Holy Matrimony to have Christ at the center of our faith and bring up our children in this sacramental journey not simply as a tradition but as the cornerstone of our faith.  Do we love him?  Live the sacramental life he gave us. 

Believers radiate the light of faith and draw others to them because this light offers hope, truth, goodness and beauty.  The word of God must live in us and be visible in the world.  This does not mean we go house to house knocking on doors to share our faith.  It is visible in our being that draws others to us.  This is the transformative power of the Holy Spirit that lives in us and allows Jesus to do the work through us.  To follow Jesus is to imitate his life, his way not our way.  Jesus reminds us in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life”. Do we love him?  Live the way of truth to holiness. 

We are to follow Jesus’ way not seek to have him follow our way.  In his way the path is open to us the way to follow.  In his truth we discover what is truth, the natural law and the law of holiness and avoid the pit of holding onto a false truth with the misconception that “my truth is the only truth that matters.”  In his life we can grow into the divine life otherwise we cannot grow beyond our mortality ending in the dust of death.  There is one book that comes second only to the bible in the number of copies sold around the world greater than all the classics we learn in grade school.  That book is “The Imitation of Jesus”.  Do we love him?  Imitate Jesus! 

Underlying any imitation of Jesus is a genuine love of him who gives us the graces in order to imitate him.  Jesus’ questioning of Simon Peter “Do you love me?” is the only way to begin to follow a life in Jesus.  As we begin to see Simon Peter and the other disciples imitating Jesus, that is doing the same miracles of healing and forgiving the sins of others in the name of Jesus people came to them with the same hope they had come to Jesus.  Baptized priest, prophet and king comes with the gift of the Holy Spirit to be Jesus to each other and to the whole world.  Does our family enjoy our presence, seek us out, and experience the love of Christ through us?  Jesus is calling us to “Feed my sheep” with the Lord’s presence coming through us if we love him.  Does our home reflect a domestic church where we have fellowship united as one family under God or do we find our home resembling more of a bus terminal where we simply pass through and grab a meal while we wait until our next outing?  If it is the latter then we need to examine who or what is it that we are following that is not centered on our calling to follow him. 

Do we love him in our interaction with the world?  I remember playing football in school and praying as a team before every game.  Today if a coach does any public act of prayer, they risk losing their job.  In the first reading the Sanhedrin ordered the apostles to stop speaking in the name of Jesus in the public square.  The Sanhedrin was the authority on the streets, the local priests with civil authority, while the Romans were more of the army to govern the territory.  The Sanhedrin could have you arrested and thrown into jail and they did to the apostles and early church Fathers. 

Silencing and cancelling Jesus is nothing new in our day, it has always been a part of our history.  The apostles rejoiced “that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.”  Our calling is not to proselytize the world but to love Jesus who we encounter in every man, woman and child and let the Holy Spirit be the advocate of conversion.   Be Jesus so that what people see they will want to ask and seek and if invited to share then share what we believe.   Do we love Jesus?   Speak his name with love in season and out of season, that is in church and out in our daily walk with life. 

The day is coming for all of us but for some it is already here, the day when we grow old.  Being young the world is open to us to “go where you want(ed)”.  As we age the options decrease as we set upon a path of commitment, sacrifice, and love.  Those we love we commit to and sacrifice for as an offering of ourselves for the greater good.  It includes our family, friends, maybe even those we work with but “do you love me?” asks Jesus.  Even nonbelievers will do the same for their family and friends. 

What separates us from the love of God is ourselves when we don’t respond to his love of us.  Being young there is not enough time for us and everything needed or demanded of us but being old time becomes all that is left for us to appreciate what God has done in our lives by our “yes” to him.  Being young it is all about ourselves like a high sugar drink or a caffeine rush to do more from our bucket list that has no bottom.  Aging like a good glass of wine we experience the love of the moment and the flavor of life with another and the best moments are when we invite him into the moment to reveal himself to us.   Breathe in the breath of Jesus and contemplate the wonder of his gift to us. 

Let us not be deceived that when we are young, we are living the best of years in the rush for more and at the end our years lose purpose and meaning.  To the contrary, when we are young it seems the search for meaning keeps evading us like the carrot on the stick but with age we grasp the truth in the one we love so that when we stretch out our hands and someone else will dress us and lead us even that will be a blessing because we never stopped saying, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” 

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Homily

2nd Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy Sunday

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 5:12-16; Ps. 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; Rev. 1:911a, 12-13, 17-19; Jn. 20:19-31

Divine Mercy Sunday proclaims the Lord’s “mercy endures forever” open to all but received by those who share in the “distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus”.  We all like to receive gifts but if the gift comes with an expectation, then we become hesitant to receive the gift and fail to recognize the value of the gift.  We can understand why even something as important as the gift of mercy is not sought after because the expectation is that something in us is expected to change and we resist change of self more than perhaps anything else. 

The expectation of the Lord is that we share in the “distress, the kingdom, the endurance we have in Jesus”.   This “distress…kingdom, and endurance” is the call to come and follow the path of perfection through the love of God and neighbor, and the sacrifice of mercy to forgive and be forgiven and to persevere in our faith, hope and love.  Simply stated the gift of mercy is by sharing in the sacrifice of the Lord to live and die for each other.  It is a covenant of mercy to be merciful for the mercy we have received by passing it on in a world known more for its “dog eat dog” mentality than for the lion to lay next to the lamb.   

Do we share in this struggle for the sake of the kingdom or have we become habitual in religion showing up on Sundays and special celebrations and lost throughout the week in ourselves?  Before the Lord we proclaim we believe but outside of the Mass our lives are lived as St. Tomas doubting his presence is with us.  St. Tomas hesitancy to believe lives on in us when we fail to recognize the hand of God in our lives, when faith does not overcome the test of distress, and when we trust ourselves more than trust in God. 

The reflection of how we live our lives outside of Mass speaks louder of how we keep our baptismal promises.  It is not a heavy yoke but a joyful sacrifice of love for God.  The struggle for the kingdom is because evil remains in this world seeking to ruin our souls, tempting us to deny what we believe in practice and persecuting the faithful for rejecting the teaching norms of the world.   The gift of divine mercy is also the power of endurance that we will not be overcome by the world but overcome the world with mercy. 

We hear, see, and experience a world filled with evil, distress, and fear of persecution and the Lord is calling us to his mercy through repentance of our sins and acts of mercy.  Just this week there is an intent to remove “conscience objection on religious grounds” from medical/health practice intended to force health professionals to perform legal medical procedures such as abortion, euthanasia, body mutilation for gender change or risk losing their right to their practice of medicine and/or health care.  Mercy is not about “going along to get along” or “not rock the boat” as is commonly described.  Mercy is about giving testimony to the truth of the gospel by giving the warning of Jonah to Nineveh to repent while there is still time and proclaiming the mercy of God when we turn to him. 

Mercy is not for the weak in faith but for the courage to stand for what we believe for the good of the other even when we know we will be rejected as Jesus was rejected.  This is sharing in the distress for the kingdom with endurance. The power to endure comes from the word of Jesus “Peace be with you.”  It is his peace that lives in us that can look at the world not in fear but with the love of Christ is us.  

The resurrection of Jesus brings us God’s reconciliation of love.  Forgiveness takes on the dimension of mercy.  In forgiveness there is the cancelation of debt that “you owe me” but in mercy there is a reconciliation of love.  When a child does wrong and is corrected there is a need for justice often equal to the wrong done such as “because you hit your little sister you have to say you’re sorry (seek forgiveness) and be nice to her (justice) and give her a hug and tell her you love her (mercy)”.  Mercy is beyond forgiveness and restorative justice it is reconciliation of love.  Are we ready to love our enemies?  We pray “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive”.  Divine mercy is recalling the Lord’s call to forgive is to reconcile with love. 

The resurrection of Jesus brings about the great commissioning of now his apostles “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  The Father sent Jesus to bring his gift of mercy through forgiveness of sins and Jesus now commissions the apostles to “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  This gift of mercy comes to us through the sacramental act of Reconciliation in our confession of sin to a priest to be absolved by the mercy of God.  Think of the penance a priest gives in the confessional and consider the alternative of restorative justice in purgatory, which would you desire most? Fear not the confessional but believe and be healed.  The mercy of God comes to us through the authority given to the priesthood to forgive sins that we may hear the words of absolution and believe. 

John was told by Jesus “Do not be afraid” and Jesus told Tomas “…do not be unbelieving, but believe”.  Are we a believing people unafraid to come to Jesus for mercy or simply following a religious cultural practice out of habit?  This Jesus who was once crucified and died is now “alive forever and ever…and hold(s) the keys to death and the netherworld.”  Let us believe in his divine mercy and be healed of our sins in confession.

Let us not be afraid of what we have seen and is happening in this world but be ready for “what will happen afterwards”.  Jesus is coming for us and he makes all things new. 

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Homily

Easter – The Resurrection of the Lord 

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps. 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Col. 3:1-4; Jn. 20:1-9

The Resurrection of the Lord is the confirmation of our faith in Jesus Christ.  Without the resurrection Jesus of Nazareth would have remained a historical figure that the world would have said grew into a mythological god.  The Resurrection of Jesus and his appearance to the disciples “who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead” and then to others is our confirmation to believe in him, believe his teaching, and believe he is the “one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead”.  The power to rise again to life after death with a resurrected body is our hope for the eternal life to come.  “This is the day the Lord has made” to believe in the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting “let us rejoice and be glad.” 

“On the first day of the week” after the Sabbath is Sunday, resurrection day and a new beginning for believers in Jesus who are about to discover in the resurrected Jesus a new call commissioning them with the authority to forgive sins, cast out demons, bring healing, feed and tend to the people, and keep holy the resurrection day with prayer and the breaking of the bread.  Sunday is the new beginning of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.  The early church in its infant state of development was not left alone to discover the “what’s next” for them.  Jesus appeared and instructed them until the day of his ascension and sent them the Holy Spirit to guide them in the faith and formation of this new evangelization with the promise to be with us until the end of time. 

The end of time is the end of this earthly pilgrimage before the eternal life that has no end but wait this is the first day of the week and Mary of Magdala discovers the empty tomb and in her humanity believes “They have taken the Lord from the tomb”.  Even Peter and the other disciple who ran faster to the tomb arrived and saw the empty tomb and “believed”.  Believed what?  Believed they had taken the Lord from the tomb “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”  Belief came to them in the appearance of the resurrected Christ.  As St. Tomas represents our humanity to doubt unless we can see and touch.  For us this day in the mystery of faith Christ is present in the visible sign of the Eucharist we can taste and see the invisible presence of his body and blood. 

This day marks the end of the Easter Triduum and a new beginning having celebrated Holy Thursday as the institution of the Eucharist, Good Friday as the passion of the Lord, Easter Vigil on Saturday as the coming of the light into the world in exultation and Easter Sunday the resurrection of the Lord and our new beginning in Christ to live, to love, and to serve what brings us into unity, goodness, beauty, and truth in the one resurrected Lord.  This Easter season we sing the praises of the Lord so that Christ may reign in us, and we may live in him in the surety of salvation. 

In the mystery of faith through our baptism we are “raised with Christ (to) seek what is above” in our daily walk with Jesus, in all we do, we do it for the Lord as an offering of ourselves “then you too will appear with him in glory.”  Alleluia!  Alleluia! 

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Homily

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Lk. 19:28-40; Is. 50:4-7; Ps. 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Phil. 2:6-11; Lk. 22:14—23:56  

The Lord’s Passion is a cry “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”  The Lord cries out the beginning of King David’s prayer, Psalm 22 as his dying prayer of an innocent person.  He is the fulfillment of this prophesy and in this psalm, we are given how his suffering will end in victory, “May your hearts enjoy life forever!”  and “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord…that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.”  Today this prophesy of the Lord is fulfilled in our presence.  His death is our deliverance as we gather to enjoy life forever baptized in the Lord as we bend our knees to him.  The Lord’s Passion is a cry out from death to victory. 

This day we begin our procession outside of the temple of God for his victory over death “to give praise to God aloud and with joy” for being transformed into his temple with rejoicing hearts.  The temple he rebuilt in three days is his body and he has given us a body to be a temple of the Lord.  We should reflect as our Lenten journey comes to an end how the Lord has done great things for us transforming us into a body purified by grace to be a temple of the Lord.   His mighty deeds remain in the midst of a world that cries out “crucify him” with the evil of war, abortion, gender dysphoria, and the silencing and cancelling of God in the public square.   Satan is waging war on God’s people with the same temptations he lured Adam and Eve and used against Jesus in the desert leading us to sin.  Do our sins cry out “crucify him”?  Lent is our invitation to turn back from our sins to the path of righteousness. 

Even as the world tries to silence God the stones cry out for mercy, justice, peace, and love.  These stones have the word of God engraved not to stone people to death but to liberate them from sin.  These stones are to cornerstones of the church, the canon of scripture, the sacraments, the magisterium of the church, and the people of God.  Stony hearts not to strike Jesus with our sins but to strengthen our resolve and pass over the power of darkness.  We pray that we may not undergo the test but if it should come then in the name of Jesus, we will claim our victory. 

This day we have been given “a well-trained tongue” to speak the word of faith, hope and love to the weary from all that comes about from a culture of death.  When will the Lord answer us in our time of need?  The Lord answered us at the cross and we are not disgraced.  The discipline of Lent is that we may have a well-trained mind, body, and soul to carry our own cross and set our face like “flint” without fear of persecution.  The Lord took the form of a slave knowing that we may be taken as slaves in times of persecution by a world that seeks to cancel God denying us our freedom of religion to proclaim our faith, practice what we believe and “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”.   

From the time of the early church and the Roman Empire to this day the church, that is the people of God have suffered the cross but a “well-trained tongue” gains the wisdom of how to respond to the enemy.  We respond with prayer, thanksgiving, and praise for the mighty things God is doing in us and through us even as we carry our cross and especially because we dared to lift the cross of Jesus as Simon of Cyrene did.  We dare to lift the cross of the Lord’s Passion for others who are suffering the horrors of war, poverty, homelessness, violence, disease, and death on the streets.  In memory of our Lord, we lift up the cross and follow him. 

In memory of the Lord’s Passion, we receive the bread and wine of the “new covenant’” of his body and blood broken and shed for us.  The Lord said to his disciples “I confer a kingdom on you”?  Where is this kingdom?  The kingdom comes through Jesus in the Eucharist and the Eucharist through the Church to fulfill “that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom”.  The kingdom is at hand and the kingdom is with us when we gather together to eat and drink of this covenant, we carry the kingdom with us.  This is our inheritance not to be hidden but to be multiplied. 

Scripture was fulfilled in Jesus not as an ending of all things prophesied but as the beginning of the kingdom so that the word made flesh may also be made flesh in us.  Are we the living word of God doing even greater things in his name?  It is too tempting to simply look upon Jesus on the cross as a love of his sacrifice and not be willing to enter into the sacrifice ourselves.  Lent is calling us to fasting, penance, and almsgiving as the way into the sacrifice of the Lord as flesh of his flesh.  We cannot say “Praise God” for his sacrifice and not accept the cross ourselves.   We must discern the will of God pray “may this cup pass me by but let it be done according to your will”.   May the Lord’s Passion make all things new in us when we enter into his Passion. 

When we celebrate the New Year, we traditionally make a New Year’s resolution.  Our resolutions are all about us, losing weight, exercising more, having more time to ourselves, meeting our pleasures.  When we begin Lent, we also make a resolution for the season but this time it is for us to make it all about him, our prayer, penance, and almsgiving for him.  A Lenten resolution should unite us more to Jesus, to each other, and to the Church.  Lent is to bring truth, goodness, unity, and beauty into our lives.  In making a sacrifice for him it is in giving that we receive the graces and blessings he desires to pour into us.  What we do for him he multiplies for us because God is love and his love is everlasting. 

The early Christians understood well the call of discipleship was a call to sacrifice, a risk of persecution, and the danger of death itself.  In the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells his disciples he sent them to proclaim the word without “a money bag or sack, or sandals…But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one.”  What is happening now?  Is Jesus calling his disciples to prepare for battle?  Yes, but not the battle to defend him against the Pharisees or Romans but to defend the faith in a spiritual battle for their souls beginning by the attack on the flesh.  The sword is the word of God we purchase with the blood of the lamb in the giving of ourselves to the one who has purchased us for himself. 

The battle is on for our souls and Jesus prayed “that your own faith may not fail” for “Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat”.  Satan having lost the war over death is left to battle only for souls and sift out the weak, the lukewarm, untrained for spiritual battle.  We are weak when we trust in ourselves before we come to trust in the Lord.  We are lukewarm when we compromise the teaching of the church for the teaching of the world choosing a culture of death over life.  Most of all we have an untrained soul for spiritual battle when we follow the minimalist path to be called Christian by title and not by the practice and discipline of the faith.  Satan does not know our thoughts but he clearly sees our actions and judges us and our vulnerabilities to know from where to attack. 

As Lent comes to an end and we enter into the Easter season we ask ourselves “am I prepared to die for him or to deny him?”  Have I entered into the Lord’s Passion this Lent and offered myself up to him that the works of our day may be multiplied by grace as a sacrifice of love?  Peter thought he was prepared to die for Jesus until the moment of truth revealed the reality of his soul.  Jesus said, “Pray that you may not undergo the test”.  Pray that the Father’s will be done in us.  Pray that the hour of darkness will Passover us and the light of Jesus will come to carry us up into his kingdom.  The Lord’s Passion is upon us. 

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Homily

5th Sunday of Lent – God’s upward calling

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 43:16-21; Ps. 126:1-6; Phil. 3:8-14; Jn. 8:1-11        

“God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus” brings us to the prize that lies ahead.  To St. Paul everything else he considered a “loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus”.  When we come to know Christ Jesus as our Lord and savior, we attain the prize and fulfill the first and greatest commandment to love God above all things.  When we respond to God’s upward calling the gates of heaven open up to us and the Lord does great things for us.             God’s upward calling is a call to repentance of our sins.  God desire’s not to “condemn you” but for us to sin no more.  God’s love is “gracious and merciful” and in Christ Jesus he is “doing something new” and wonderful, we have become his sons and daughters, partakers of the divine life.            

“Even now, says the Lord” regardless of the sins we have committed, regardless of the scars we carry from the past life, regardless of our weakness to fall back into our temptations his upward calling is “return to me with your whole heart”.  Here lies the dilemma, are we ready to give our whole heart to Jesus as St. Paul does that we may be taken “possession of by Christ Jesus”?  What is holding us back, is it fear of surrender, not being in control, not ready to give up our self-centeredness?   Our upward calling to come to Jesus is a rediscovery of who we were created to be, our true self in him.  Imagine the freedom of being our true self without fear of anything in this world.  Christ’s possession of us will transform us into a new creation to be holy as he is holy. 

In the gospel a woman is brought to Jesus to test him but instead Jesus turned it into the moment to test the Pharisees, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  This was the “come to Jesus, moment” for them and for the woman. Though they were ready to condemn her no one threw a stone but walked away.   They turned away from Jesus but she remained that her sins may be forgiven.  Have we had our “come to Jesus” moment recognizing our own sinfulness and need for forgiveness? 

We are the Pharisees when we claim by our own doing our self-righteousness whether we follow the law of God or the law of our conscience we try to call ourselves upward in our own eyes by our merits.  How foolish!  We are to call on Jesus who opens up the path upward for us.  We are also the woman conscience of our own sinfulness but remaining in our lifestyle not ready to repent and convert through the mercy of God.  We need our “come to Jesus” moment and in his mercy it will come.  Let us hope we are ready to respond with our whole heart and ready to receive the gracious love of Christ and be filled with joy.  The joy of the great things the Lord has done for us.

The “great things” the Lord did for his people written by Isaiah is when he “opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters” of the Red Sea to save his people from the “chariots and horsemen”.  The Lord can save us as he opens the way out of sin that we may “remember not the events of the past” but spring forth by the miracles of our life for the Lord is “doing something new” in us when we offer ourselves up in surrender to him.  We are the offering he desires, the self-sacrifice of love. Love defeats the enemy in all its faces be it fear, anxiety, trauma, sickness and even death has no power over us.  The Lord is doing great things for us this day to rescue us from the evil one and to make us a people his own.  This is what St. Paul lived for and died for, that Christ may take possession of him. 

Often, we may pray for a miracle and wonder if God hears us and/or why does he delay in answering our prayers.  Is this a test of faith or perseverance or could it be that we seek the miracle without the giving of ourselves as the offering of thanksgiving?    We want the waters to be opened up for us but are afraid to walk through the path in fear of being swallowed up by the mighty sea and the “Jesus’ moment” comes like a wave only to return to itself as an undercurrent without us being washed by the waters of salvation.  We failed to respond by making an offering ourselves first.  The good news is that Jesus keeps coming calling us upward as another wave to the shore of salvation to be cleansed of our sin.  

Today is the day to respond with all our heart, strength, and faith.  Today the Lord is doing something new in our lives when we come to receive him, his body and blood in the sacrament of the Mass.  You have heard it said by many of our Protestant separated brothers and sisters of having a “born again experience”.  It represents a moment of conversion in their lives.  Jesus says in John 3:5 “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit”.  We are born again by the waters and coming of the Holy Spirit in baptism but each day is also a rebirth into the life of Christ. 

Jesus is doing something new in our lives as baptized children of the Lord.  Still there is a “come to Jesus” moment that can change one’s way of life called in Greek “metanoia”.  A metanoia moment can be considered a “born again experience”.  This is what we search for through our Lenten journey coming from our penitence for a spiritual conversion to free us from sin and renew us in spirit and truth.  Have we had a metanoia moment this Lent?    Pray for revelation to know, love, and see God more clearly and the God who knows our hearts will provide us a metanoia moment to strengthen our bond of love of God and neighbor. 

Let us pray, “I do believe in God in who I trust, help my unbelief, my weakness, my troubled heart and bring my soul to conversion by your upward calling my Lord Jesus Christ.” 

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