23rd Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on September 7, 2019September 13, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Wis. 9:13-18b; Ps. 90:3-6, 12-14, 17; Phmn. 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14: 25-33

“Do you love me?” That is the question posed to Peter and the question of the day for us. “In every age O Lord, you have been our refuge” for those who love you. Beginning with Genesis the story of salvation history has 7 wisdom warriors against the sin of the world “plus one”. They include Adam vs his fall; Abel vs Cain, Noah vs flood, Abraham vs wicked nations, Lot vs the wicked people, Jacob vs night visitor, Joseph vs. his brothers; and then comes plus one. “Plus one” is Moses who represents a new era as he battles the pharaoh. Moses brings in the era of Israel as a child of God. What these eight warriors share is the discipleship of abandonment to God.

Jesus is calling us to a greater love, a love of abandonment to his sacred heart. We hear the English word “hate” used by Jesus and for us that has a strong meaning of rejection and lack of love. It appears to imply a lack of love of others and even our own life. Jesus however is not posing a contradiction to his call to the greatest commandment for love of God and love of neighbor. Do we hate mother and father against the fourth commandment? No more than we would “hate” angels, saints or our Blessed Mother. The Greek word translated into the English has a different emphasis meaning a “preferential treatment” of placing Jesus before all else in priority of life. We are all made for the one body of Christ to be in communion. Spiritually we should not place anything or anyone before Jesus and when we do, we should hate the act of doing it.

In the English context we don’t hate the gift of our life, we place God before us and that requires of us an abandonment to God’s will and carry our cross. As disciples there is a sacrifice to bear. To bring it home to our reality, Jesus institutes his body as church. As members of that body we cannot be cafeteria Catholics, especially in matters of doctrinal teaching. Imagine that at the moment of death we face Jesus and our only response is “I met you halfway, like a brother.” Where will that get us, halfway to purgatory?

Many listened to Jesus and went away having “calculated the cost” and feeling his teaching was too hard. Others may think it sounds great but it is not the “real world” we live in. In whose world do we want to live in? The choice we make has eternal consequences. What is lacking is the first commandment, the Love of God above all else. Where else are we to go? We cannot save ourselves but God cannot save us without ourselves responding to Him. Love opens the heart and soul to wisdom from above. We receive wisdom through the Holy Spirit to respond to God’s divine will.

To please God, it begins with an abandonment to his love. Love leads to God’s revelation and a response to the wisdom from above. Left only to our humanity “deliberations of mortals are timid” and “what is within our grasp we find with difficulty”. God is within our grasp here present at the altar of sacrifice in the Eucharist and yet with difficulty we come to him especially through the sacramental life of the church. Baptism opens the door to the Holy Spirit to receive wisdom from above; then we need the gift of fortitude to have the courage to grasp it and make it our own. This is the incarnation of truth in our souls to overcome “the corruptible body (that) burdens the soul”. I find it amazing that by the grace of God there are the “Incorruptible” that is saints whose bodies have remained incorruptible. They are a testimony of someone who abandoned themselves to the will of God having had the opportunity to travel and see some of them. He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. The question remains, “Do you love me?”

Paul an “old man” not only “a prisoner for Christ” is our wisdom warrior abandoned to the love of God literally a prisoner awaiting his death sentence. He is the spiritual father of a slave Onesimus. We can say what the Pope is to Peter, the priesthood is to Paul, a spiritual Father to his people. Onesimus is a slave owned by Philemon. Paul is advocating for a slave to be recognized as a brother in Christ.

When Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me?” three times we think of it as a reminder of Peter’s denial three times. And yes, how often do we deny Jesus in his call to love him above all. It is also believed Jesus asks the question using the Greek word “agape” for love meaning unconditional love and Peter responds with the word “phileo” for brotherly love. If you have a brother or sister it is not always that hard to say “no” to them. Unconditional love is what Jesus asks of us today. Peter! God is before you and you respond with a weak brotherly love? How do we respond to God’s call?

In a world of hierarchy there is always an authority we respond to even within the church and yet obedience to authority is a fellowship of love in Christ for a greater good, the good of other. Today we are reminded that discipleship is more than “phileo” it is “agape”, unconditional and sacrificial love. Together we sacrifice and abandon ourselves to the love that is waiting for our response. “Yes Lord, you know that I love you”. It is a love without end. Amen.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on August 10, 2019August 9, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Wis. 18:6-9; Ps. 33:1, 12, 18-22; Heb. 11: 1-2, 8-19; Lk. 12:32-48

“Where is that in the bible?” Many non-Catholics question the church’s position on purgatory. They ask “where is that in the bible?” Purgatory is in the Old and the New Testament as a just judge comes to ensure the cleansing of our baptismal robes in our call to sanctity. Listen to these words, “That servant who did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly.” Who is God speaking to, the sinner who died without faith in hell or to the ones he says “All these died in faith”? Satan is the master of the fallen, Jesus is the Master of the redeemed. There is no doubt that justice belongs to God and he promises a time of atonement. Jesus died for our sins yet when was the last time we went to confession to seek forgiveness of our sin? If this night our life is demanded of us what then?

The Catechism teaches in #1030 “All who die in God’s grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” The bible tells us in the book of Maccabees (2 Mac. 12:43-44) to atone for the dead through prayer “for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death” yet even in the Old Testament we have Maccabeus talking a collection to send to Jerusalem for “an expiatory sacrifice” for the dead soldiers. We are reminded how important it is to offer Masses for the dead and pray for them in atonement of their sins. Yet how often in a funeral do we hear of purgatory? Focus is given to being in heaven as our hope which is the final destiny but not necessarily a straight ticket.

“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more” reminds us of the one sin we often fail to recognize. It is the sin of omission. The ten commandments have a focus on what “you shall not” but Jesus comes to fulfill what we shall be called to do. There is a truth of accountability in God’s justice for all. When will it be demanded if not now? It comes at death in the purging of our sins in a state of purification called purgatory.

Just as the more we give the greater the reward the less we serve the greater the sin by God’s commandment. Charity is God’s call for justice and the sign of our love of God. Wisdom says, “Your people awaited the salvation of the just”. The just are the “holy children of the good” doing the will of the Father offering sacrifice of charity. Charity is a sign of faith a “realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen”. Faith is the awareness that our time is coming when we will be before God and he recognizes his own in the love we offered in obedience just as Abraham did. Our obedience is to respond to the call to serve. We are a people of faith and we know our Father’s will, are we preparing ourselves by acting according to his will or is purgatory our next stop?

Why settle for purgatory when we are called to be saints? The opportunity to be charitable is constantly around us? It begins in the home. Husbands and wives when we get upset, frustrated, or even disappointed with each other what do our children witness in our behavior? We can respond in outbursts, anger, criticism, blame or in charity express our concern, disappointment, and our desire for something greater of each other. When we see our children picking on each other using language we ourselves say is it simply kids misbehaving or are they already following down a path that justifies being uncharitable. Love is patient, kind, generous, charitable and at times a difficult challenge. Our heart cries out “If you only knew what I have to live with!” Our goal is to get each other to heaven so don’t simply live with it, make it better. It begins by working on ourselves and we will see the impact our life can have on others.

One thing is certain that a just God knows the degree of our sinfulness, our understanding, and our will to be just, loving, charitable, and merciful. Dante speaks of purgatory as the place we go to get our baptismal robes cleaned. The stains we carry are the stains we have not confessed. It is a sure sign of heaven coming, an inheritance delivering us from the death of sin we carry. Today that sin can be confessed and our sacrifice is to “avoid the near occasion” of sin yet when we fail, we have a loving Father ready to reconcile us back to him.

Finally, where is the “evidence of things not seen”? It is there on the cross and in the resurrection of Jesus. For all who give evidence by their testimony, Jesus is alive. “Stay awake and be ready!” The Son of Man is coming and it is in the bible, in the Mass, and in our hearts.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

18th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on August 3, 2019August 2, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23; Ps 90:3-6, 12-13; Col 3:1-5, 9-11; Lk 12:13-21

“Vanity of vanities…all things are vanity! If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” I took a personality profile and my profile was defined as a “strategist” which is a combination of Introverted, Intuitive, Thinker, and Judging. This represents only 1.5% of all personality types in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. At times I toil with anxiety of heart and at night my mind is restless as I strategize for the next day or how to resolve a problem. “This also is vanity.”

God you created me and now I carry this cross. Still the Lord will “prosper the work of our hands!” A strategist is also a gift but first we must learn to surrender our gift to Him for his greater glory. What is the desire of our hearts, greed or service? Greed leads to lying and deception and the psychology is that it is a “dog eat dog world” of winners and losers. “This also is vanity”. In service we are open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to use our gifts for a greater good.

If there is anything that causes family feuds it is inheritance. It is driven by greed and/or a sense of entitlement. The heart cries out “I was there for them you were never there” or “You have more than I and I need it more than you.” The riches that matter to God is how we give of ourselves to benefit others which includes the use of our resources. Our heavenly treasure is the giving of ourselves to family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. The earthly treasure one builds up in a lifetime becomes the surplus of disposable goods another receives as inheritance to spend at pleasure. “This also is vanity.”

Others plan for that retirement day when we can rest, eat, drink and enjoy our wealth. Meanwhile we ignore our health, the growing up years of our children, the purpose of our marriage and the greatest commandment is compromised for the mighty dollar. Profit, prestige, power, and pleasure go up in smoke in an instant with one major illness, a divorce, a loss of work, or a tragedy. We sacrifice for the mighty dollar but our sacrifice for the heavenly glory is put aside for another day. “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you” says the Lord. We turn back to dust in a short lifespan but did we “number our days aright” says the Lord.

Are we to ignore our responsibilities? Absolutely not, we are to offer our responsibilities to God to bless them and guide us. The recovery community of addiction follows what is known as the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. The first step in recovery to bring about change is “we admitted we were powerless over (fill in the blank our obsession with money, work, gambling, food, sex, etc.) that our lives had become unmanageable” If today you hear his voice and life is unmanageable take the first step of honesty and truth. Nothing changes until we make a decision for change.

Step 2 says, “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” The insanity is that we all are given the truth in our hearts of our sins and we keep doing the same thing. The time for change is always now! This is our time to “gain wisdom of heart”. We can spend a lifetime building up anxiety about anything and everything or we can surrender ourselves to God, trust in Him and be set free.

Step 3 says, “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him” so that “the gracious care of our God be ours”. Our faith and reason are “challenged” by many doctrines and by our own concepts as we have turned away from the truth to false teachings. Turn back to God while there is time that we may not be found asleep in our sinfulness when he comes.

The Twelve Step tradition is a simple process of faith, hope and love with a long-lived history of success for those who follow it. Our challenge is to not be tempted by all things of vanity which number our days as sorrow, grief, or anxiety. Renew the decision to trust in God each day “that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days”.

God’s mercy comes to seek the sinner who turns their will and life to the care of God and he will open the minds, hearts and souls to the truth and freedom of his love. What do you get when you put two strategists together? Silence! In the silence of our hearts we hear God’s voice, “harden not your hearts” let us trust in Him.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

16th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on July 20, 2019July 19, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Gn. 18: 1-10a; Ps. 15: 2-5; Col. 1: 24-28; Lk. 10: 38-42

“It is Christ in you, the hope for glory.” Christ is our blessing but we must do justice and persevere “with a generous heart” to live in his presence. The world demands “what have you done for me lately?” Our response is “Christ’s justice” not as the world demands but in his glory.

We live in an age of constant stimuli demanding our attention. We look at it as a challenge to be good at multitasking and take pride in doing more at once and in less time. The expectation is that we will have greater productivity and more outcome of success. If this is true then there should be more time in our day for silence, contemplation, prayer, and God. The balance and rebalance of our lifestyle should produce a harvest of time between our commitments to family, work, church, and to our personal growth in Christ. Does it? Temperance is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be in balance with our humanity and spirituality living in Christ and serving in justice for his glory.

“He who does justice” must “think the truth in his heart”. Where is this truth to be found? In the movie the “Passion” Pontius Pilate seemed lost in asking what was “truth” as he is pressured to do “justice” before those who called for Jesus death and the truth in his heart knowing the innocence of Jesus. His choice was to crucify the holy one for his own self-preservation in maintaining control of the crowd. The truth was in his presence and he failed to do justice. As Christians the truth has been placed in our hearts, we have either to respond in the presence of Christ in justice or once again crucify him in our hearts.

Today’s readings we have a contrast between Abraham, Martha and Mary. Abraham was so ready to serve the Lord who appeared to him by offering the three men water to bathe their feet, food to be refreshed giving of his fine flour, choice steer, curds and milk and waited on them as a favor. This is a generous heart in action out of love of God and neighbor and it yields a harvest. The desire to serve others brought Abraham a blessing from God when the men promised him that Sarah “will have a son.” The Lord’s presence moves the hearts of the believers into acts of love and the rewards are greater than we can imagine.

Martha is “burdened” thus her heart is not in her “serving” Jesus it is in her self-preservation. It is all about her. Jesus reminds Martha who is “anxious and worried about many things” taking time to listen to Jesus is “the better part and it will not be taken from” Mary. In fairness to Martha she acted in many ways as Abraham in responding to having a guest show up in the home. The difference was she did not recognize the Lord in her presence acting out of her burden not her love.

Mary is moved in her heart to be still before the presence of Jesus. She is attentive to the truth she witnessing acting out of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit she was experiencing in the presence of Jesus. Prudence because she made a conscious choice to respond to the “need of only one thing…the better part” as Jesus states. Justice because the spirit called her to be a witness to Jesus teaching. Fortitude because she knew her sister wanted her help yet there are times when we must choose between several options of which there is no wrong but one is the better part and it takes courage to make that choice. Finally, temperance is finding that right balance in our lives to be still for God and to be active for God. The active contemplative seeks to do both by being mindful of God in all things for a greater good.

The lesson from Abraham is service is an opportunity to receive God’s blessing when we are generous in our giving of ourselves. From Martha we learn when we make service all about ourselves, we suffer our own burden and little is gained. In Mary we recognize the “better part” begins by being attentive to the Lord in our presence. We are all familiar with the expression “work is never done”. God’s work is never done either so whose work are we attentive to ours, the world’s or where God is calling us to serve?

I remember as a child visiting at my grandmother’s house in Mexico. She had dirt floors and in the winter season they used a tin basin to burn wood to keep warm. The morning routine was to water down the dirt floor to keep the dust down and pack the dirt. Today you buy a floor sweeper to run around the rooms. No sooner has it swept that dust begins to settle on the floor. The convenience of technology is not simplifying our lives unless we make a conscious decision to focus on our priorities. God is a priority in which we can be active through him, with him and in him.

Most of us live active if not overcommitted lives and the world is ready to push information overload and steal any time left. Even our vacations may be planned to fill every hour of the day and the downtime is for social media posting, likes, and following other peoples lives. In other words, we are continuously tempted to fill our minds and time with activities with little lasting value. The expression “what difference does it make?” is an important thought to ask ourselves. A better way to reframe the question is “what difference can I make in Christ?”

Christ will make a great difference in us if we allow him into our lives at every moment to be an instrument of his love, peace, justice, and wisdom. We will make a lasting difference for ourselves in heaven and an immediate difference in the lives of others. Christ in us is the difference for true justice. Invite him and you will be the difference he desires for this world.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

15th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on July 13, 2019July 12, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Dt. 30: 10-14; Ps. 69: 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36-37; Col. 1: 15-20; Lk. 10: 25-37

“…written in the book of the law”–The word “law” sets to mind a set of rules commanded and enforced by a controlling authority. It is the first of several definitions but the most common understanding of the word. Christ Jesus is the word of authority made flesh. He is the antithesis of a controlling authority set by law to enforce rules. The law is commanded by “being” a creation of God, a natural law “already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out”. The controlling authority is our free will responding to the law within. When we were born God gave us a gift. It is the gift of self. We fulfill the law through our free will.

The “firstborn of all creation” came to rule by love, “the image of the invisible God.” Jesus is God with us. The bracelets that were popular for a while had the letters “WWJD” What Would Jesus Do. We follow as Christians the will of God through Jesus. We are called to be a visible image of the invisible God.

The natural law of love is in our hearts, we have only to carry it out. If love is in our nature one would think we are all great lovers of God and neighbor. We have only to look at the world to see something went wrong. Why is there so much evil then? We can also ask ourselves “where is the peace and love in my life?” What is missing? Missing is uniting our will to the will of God. The natural law of love is given at birth then the enemy of love comes.

Love is visible in an infant ready to respond to an act of love. An infant is totally dependent on love to thrive. Food and water alone are not sufficient nurturing for a child to thrive. A child responds to two hearts of love beating in the womb, the child’s and its mother’s heart. You are a child of God. The heart of Jesus unites to our hearts in the Eucharist. We are all the child in need of the mercy of God’s love.

We are the victim on the street stripped of love. We have been robbed of our innocence and purity when we are exposed to all the sins of the world seeking our weakness to cause our own fall from grace. Who can resist the lure of the wolf in sheep’s clothing dressed in white and gentle to the touch? Inside ready to be poured out is the trauma of a tragedy ready to happen. If we only understood the natural law of “consequence” we would seek first the will of God.

Every act will have a just reward or punishment by consequence of natural law. It may not only impact the person but generations to come. The aborted child, the child raised by adoption, the sinner who turns their life around and uses that past to help others in the future has consequence. One decision impacts a world of people. The unknown is whether we will respond with “yes” to God or not.

Love begets love and evil begets greater evil. Those intoxicated with evil in any of its form sins against their own flesh and the outcome is but certain death. It is death to self, to our identity as a child of God, to natural beauty and goodness. In the end it is death to love, the essence of life left on the street of abandonment.

Before we judge “not me, I have what I need” let us ask ourself “how well am I at loving?” Am I one to show mercy when I am offended and hurt or when I see the less fortunate? Is my love connected to them or only for myself and my select few? Our capacity to love is our capacity to experience God and his mercy. Our incapacity to love is our sense of abandonment from God’s mercy and love. God is present yet without mercy we are isolated on “skid row” with poverty from love. Life becomes a poverty without peace.

The command “Go and do likewise” is the assertion of truth. It is not imposed on humanity it is what makes for humanity in God’s image. This is what holds us together, the unity of the church with Jesus as our head to be Christian. By nature, I am an introvert. Introverts make the minority of the population 1:3 ratio introverts to extraverts. Give me a book and a comfortable chair and I am detached from the world. I would drive my mother crazy growing up because I buried my head in a book and people I avoided. She would say, “I just want to hear you talk.” If she could see me now standing before you preaching, maybe she is (after death). God works miracles and has a sense of humor at it.

Love is about attachment. “Go and do likewise” is not easy and I must work at creating attachment, especially with the stranger. There are some people who “never met a stranger” in the sense their interests in people moved them to reach out to others. God bless them. You may be like me or more of an extrovert yet both are commanded by love to reach out. Love is transformative and it will change you as much as you allow to be that change agent in others.

Christ is “the firstborn of the dead”. He did not rise as a spirit but in body and spirit. St. Thomas felt with his hands the wounds of Jesus and the disciples ate fish with him on the seashore. He made himself present in the body. We are to prepare our bodies for the resurrection. Jesus carried the scars of the sins of others hate but we will carry the scars of our own sin as a sign of our redemption in Christ. Now is the time to heal those scars before death and regain the purity of our bodies and souls.

Before death as in after death our bodies and souls are our nature to live out in the image of the first born of creation, Jesus Christ! “Go and do likewise”.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

14th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on July 6, 2019July 3, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Is. 66: 10-14c; Ps. 66: 1-7, 16, 20; Gal. 6: 14-18; Lk. 10: 1-12, 17-20

“Peace be with you!” Sealed by the Holy Spirit, let us bear the marks of Jesus. “…for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body” says St. Paul. The Greek word for marks is “stigmata” which is understood to reference Jesus’ five wounds. It is possible St. Paul bore the stigmata literally but this is not known through tradition. It is believed St. Paul is speaking in reference to the suffering and persecution he endured for Christ “through which the world has been crucified to me” he states. These marks came from his persecutors who wanted to continue the Jewish law of circumcision for Christians. St. Paul’s challenge to them as it is to us is to bear the sign of the cross as a “new creation”. This sign we accept by faith at our baptism.

Recall the rite of baptism begins with the priest making the sign of the cross on the child claiming the child for Christ. He then invites the parents and godparents to do the same. Together the Church, parents, and godparents have a responsibility to raise the child in the faith. We are a new creation to be conformed to Christ by living our sacramental life “be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”.

Sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit comes with a cross. Our faith will not only be challenged, it will be attacked. Early in the Christian church many were persecuted and martyred. Among them was St. Perpetua and St. Felicity in the year 203 not only for claiming to be Christian but refusing to deny their faith. “Two days before the scheduled execution, Felicity went into labor delivering a baby girl. The guards made fun of her, insulting her by saying, “If you think you suffer now, how will you stand it when you face the wild beasts? Felicity answered them calmly, ‘Now I’m the one who is suffering, but in the arena, another will be in me suffering for me because I will suffer for him’. She gave birth to a healthy girl who was adopted and raised by one of the Christian women of Carthage.” (www.catholic.org)

Saints Perpetua and Felicity carried peace of Christ to their death. The seventy-two who were sent were to offer “peace” to the household. “If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him.” We offer each other a sign of peace in our Latin rite with the words, “Peace be with you” and the response “and also with you”. This peace can only rest on a “peaceful person”. Are we at peace in Christ? The world is ready to disrupt our peace if we dare speak of our faith in the public square and even when we dare not it intrudes on our peace.

We live in times when it is tolerated or even accepted by the mainstream culture to have public cursing, hate speech, and militant groups who riot to promote hate through the veil of freedom of speech and to organize. In contrast through the same veil we have peaceful marches to rally for “Life” and the protection of the unborn. The irony of the story of St. Felicity is that for the persecutors to “kill a child in the womb was shedding innocent and sacred blood” (www.catholic.org) In the midst of hate in the killing of Christians the unborn was held as sacred. Today the unborn is seen as a commodity of “choice” to be terminated even at the moment of birth. The godly choice is to love them both.

Peaceful people are not silent people no more that St. Paul was not silent in the midst of persecution. His desire was to evangelize and “let no one make troubles for me”. In Paul we see our normal humanity, no one wants trouble for themselves but they can also not deny themselves. The early Christian martyrs refused to deny themselves. St Perpetua said it best when her father frantically wanted her to deny her faith and prevent her death. She said to him “Pointing to a water jug ‘See that pot lying there? Can you call it by any other name than what it is?’ Her father answered, ‘Of course not.’ Perpetua responded, “Neither can I call myself by any other name that what I am—a Christian.” It takes courage to stand up for our faith. It takes the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” as a peaceful person.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the power given to the seventy-two to subject even demons at the name of Jesus. The world needs the peace of Jesus but as the song says, “let it begin with me”. We must first subject the demons of sin in our lives if we hope to bring peace into the world. It begins with us and it is nurtured in our home. Husbands and wives, when your spouse calls you what is your response? “Si mi amor” with words of endearment or “What do you want?” Siblings, if your brother or sister takes something of yours how do you ask for it back? “Please return it to me” or “You better give it back!”

“Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. This peace in our hearts comes by bearing the marks of Jesus. The seal in our bodies is renewed in the Eucharist. The world of Christ is the guiding light for the soul to dwell in. The fullness of Christ “source and summit” is our celebration in the Mass. Each of us is given a harvest to work. Where you are is a harvest waiting for you and you will not know the impact of your harvest until we reach heaven. You may also not know until the impact God was waiting for you make by saying “yes” and was missed and lost. It can extend as far as we are willing to go. We have the “power to ‘tread on serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.”

I have a 1984 Mercedes sports car. I was asked how fast have I driven it? I responded the “speed limit”. Most vehicles come with greater power than we will ever utilize out of prudence. We treat the power of the Holy Spirit in the same way. It is a gift underutilized. We are a people of faith, hope, and love. Let us challenge ourselves in the arena of life to call on the power of this gift and “another will be in us with his power because we will be in him”. Peace be with you.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Posted on May 12, 2019May 3, 2019 by Deacon Joe

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

“All who were destined for eternal life came to believe”. Who is destined and how do we know? I have often asked the question in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) who believes in predetermination or self-determination. Answers vary in the group with some feeling in the tradition of Calvinism that God has predetermined everything and we are living out the plan. Others go to the other side of feeling in the tradition of Gnostics that God created us and placed us here to work out our salvation but remains distant from interfering with our life. Then there are others who simply never considered the question and have no idea. Where would you stand as a believer?

The believer who does the will of the Father is destined for eternal life. This does not imply that God is simply an observer of our daily life waiting to determine our destiny simply by our actions. Jesus stands at the door of our hearts knocking ready to engage us in our daily life but our hearts must respond to receive him. Is there a plan of salvation written into our hearts for each of us? Absolutely, it is custom drawn to go with our personal state of life for us to follow. God also knows our inherent weakness and free will and will continue to knock on our hearts to return to his plan for us. The prodigal father and son remind us of this reality. No matter how much we turn away from him he cannot deny himself and his love is everlasting. Yet not all live to do the will of the Father. In predetermination there is an individualized plan but not all follow.

“Follow me” is the core message of last week meaning follow Jesus. Self-determination then is our journey of faith governed by our free will, intellect, and emotions that are the essence of our soul. To unite our free will, intellect, and emotions is to unite our soul in relationship with the Father’s will, the mind of God, and his love. The perfect union is the ecstasy of grace one in being with the Father in the Holy Trinity. Into this plan of truth, goodness, beauty, and unity we are a people of God. If this does not excite us then we are not ready to simply let go and let God be my Lord and savior. What is the resistance that keeps us from being glorified in the word of the Lord? We remain set on going “my own way”.

“No one can take them out of the Father’s hand”. This is not predetermination that “once saved is always saved.” We choose to take ourselves out of the Father’s hand in our self-determination. The word has been given to us since our baptism. God is waiting for what we choose to do now. Signs to awaken us to his presence surround us. We have Jesus life, death, resurrection, the descent of the Holy Spirit, his body and blood in the Eucharist, and the church to serve as his authority. Follow these signs and graces will pour out of his riches in glory.

“My way” does not listen for the voice of the Lord. It is not watchful and attentive to a God who is nearby. The soul wanders seeking to discover “the way” as the Israelites in the desert who were never far from the promise land but kept wandering within a region while God waited for the conversion of their hearts. In what ways are we wandering in search of truth, goodness, beauty and unity without turning to our God? God waits for our conversion and it begins with an act of the will to let go and receive him who is love. Jesus is the way to follow to the promise land “and they will never perish”. In God are truth, goodness, beauty and unity of love. Let us answer the call and follow the good shepherd and we will know we remain in his hands.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Third Sunday of Easter

Posted on May 3, 2019May 5, 2019 by Deacon Joe

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

“Follow me”. The core message of the call to Christianity is follow Jesus. In the third apparition of Jesus to his disciples Jesus continues to bestow on them the power to follow with the authority of Jesus. He has already appeared to them and called them to go forth with authority as he breathed on them in the first apparition with the words “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He has given them the power to forgive sins, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained”.

These disciples are now being given authority to be the witnesses of Jesus himself as apostles and carry forth with authority the will of the Father. What is their response? Jesus finds them back at their trade as fishermen going back to the day in which he first called them to follow him at the beginning of Jesus ministry. This is the process and the cycle of conversion and growth in holiness.

We have been called from the day of our baptism to follow not in weakness but in the power of the name of Jesus. Baptism has given us the virtues of faith, hope, and love to believe in God and to practice what we believe. In the waters of our baptism we are cleansed and we receive the Holy Spirit. It is the fire to grow in perfection living out the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. This spirit of courage gives wisdom to understand in right judgment the will of the Father, seek justice for all, have the fortitude to act rightly, and the temperance of balancing the scales of love of God and love of other in our unity to him.

Then comes life in all its truth, goodness, beauty, and unity to be one with our creator, to “follow me”. Our response is often “I go my way.” The disciples have seen the miracles, the sacrifice of Jesus for them, the resurrection of the Lord, the fire of the Holy Spirit descend on them and they go seeking their way. Their way is often our way, the way of our comfort zone. We seek to return to what is known than to for forth into the unknown but that is not the cycle of life.

Life is always going forth into the unknown but not alone. In the unknown God is with us to lead the way. We are not the same person of our childhood, our youth, or our later stages of life. I am reminded that every five years our cells completely replicate and we are not the same person we were before. If we question that reality then just look in the mirror and be convinced. Not only our features change but we are in a transformation into someone new and the old passes away. The laws of physics are the force of motion forward and we must prepare for this destiny. Mortal life is but a fraction of this destiny thus we are called to vigilance and readiness to respond to the call of this moment. What is God asking of me to respond in faith, courage and love?

The unknown is the journey of faith what tomorrow brings us. It brings us growth and maturity for the young, hopes and dreams as we discover our gifts and God given graces, struggles and challenges in our obstacles that strengthen our spiritual muscle, and letting go to let God move in us to go forth and follow him. Our temptation is to hold on and not let go or let God be our God. We hold onto our self-image when God offers us his image. We hold onto our strong will that is unreceptive to the guidance of the spirit simply because as Jesus prayed, “they know not what they do”. We hold onto our control because of our insecurity when God offers us a power greater than ourselves. We also hold onto our sins because we find a false identity in our weakness and hide in our darkness of the soul.

The soul is given the light of Christ to be kept brightly burning, not looking back but going forward in this light. The disciples first left their nets to follow Jesus to be baptized, catechized, to live the passion with Christ and now receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Where does Jesus find them in today’s readings but back in the comfort of their trade still waiting for a messiah to come? Jesus has come for them and for us to go forth giving testimony of God’s real presence in our lives. Trust Jesus and your light will shine with the power of the word made flesh in our being.

Still they needed the real presence of Jesus to go forth after the resurrection. We need the real presence of Jesus to go forth in our lives. He makes himself present in our prayer life, in the Eucharist, and in our sacrifice of love for other. He is prepared to manifest his miracles through us and bring all to salvation. He instituted the church as one body of authority to carry forth his love in the sacraments and in fellowship as Christians.

Three times Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me?” Do we really love God? He waits for our answer with the rising of the sun to rise to follow him. He wants us to follow him by doing the will of the Father. Jesus lets Peter know his calling is “feed my sheep, tend my lambs”. We need more holy priests. We need them as pastors of the flock not administrators of the parish. To administer the parish is the “other duties as assigned” but the call is to be a pastor. A pastor tends to the spiritual needs of the people, administers the sacraments, and goes out to be with the flock in their world in order to call them back into God’s kingdom.

“Follow me” into the light and release the yoke of sin we carry with false pride. Our pride is in the one who gives us the power to follow in ways of truth, goodness, beauty, and unity. This is the resurrected life of our Easter time. This is living in the perfection of the Lord this day. We are in this moment in time called to follow. Fear not the call into the unknown but in unity to our God be open to amazing grace and we will be his apostles in Christ.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Posted on April 13, 2019April 12, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Lk. 19: 28-40; Is. 50: 4-7; Ps. 22: 8, 9, 17-20, 23-34; Phil. 2: 6-11; Lk 22: 14 – 23: 56

It has begun the source and summit of “Christendom”. Palm Sunday is the complete narrative of our faith as Christians. The preparation of Lent is to receive Christ as Lord and King and to be welcomed into his kingdom for all eternity. Palm Sunday is the beginning of the final journey into eternal life in Christ. It is a celebration of joy and sorrow, the joy of our salvation in Christ and the sorrow of our sins which persecute Christ even to this day. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest”. For this we must never be silenced in the public square. Even as the Pharisees tried to silence the people Jesus responds, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

Our times are filled with threats to those who speak in the public square their religious beliefs. It goes as far to the extreme as to call it “Hate speech”. It is condemned because it does not show tolerance or inclusive language. Today gender neutral belief seeks to deny God’s creation of humanity as male and female by natural law. The freedom to choose personal gender identity, the right to give life or end life, now extends to the demand that others comply with these social norms or lose their rights to exist in the public square. In times of darkness comes the light. Jesus is the light and he comes as a disruptive force to the Pharisees despite all their attempts to silence him.

The words of Jesus, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” is a reminder of his deep sorrow and suffering in his humanity. He is a God who joined us in all our human suffering and in agony feels the separation from God as we often wonder and question where God is when we suffer. His supplication “But you, O Lord be not far from me” is followed by a commitment “I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” In joy praise comes naturally but in suffering do we remain committed to praise the Lord?

Poor Peter, “I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day you will deny three times that you know me.” Peter’s weakness is our weakness yet Jesus turns to Peter to be the rock “Simon…once you turn back you must strengthen your brothers.” This is our joy we must turn back to the Lord from our sins and be the rock of strength for our family, friends, and a sign of hope to the stranger. We are to serve the Lord as the light in the darkness with fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance. The light is received in our baptism through the Holy Spirit to be kept burning brightly with love in action willing to go forth into the darkness. It cannot be kept hidden beneath church ceilings or within the soul of a believer.

The sign of hope is a servant’s love to lift others by our testimony in word and act of charity with all humility. Jesus offers us his cup and his bread that is his body and blood to strengthen us in this our personal crosses we bear in this life. Our hope is the end of death by sin, the redemption of the sinner we are, and the resurrection into new life in the covenant of love. Lent is our preparation time for a new beginning just as the world celebrates the New Year with a new resolution we celebrate our conversion. Each day brings its joys and sorrows, trials and triumphs, beginning and end. Each day is an offering of us to God and Easter is our springtime to be new once again in our faith, hope, and love.

Let us invite Jesus into our lives and see the miracle of transformation beyond all understanding. Let us now live our “Passover” from death into eternal life in the joy of the Eucharistic celebration, the sacrifice of the Mass and the going forth to love and serve the Lord. “Jesus wept” is the shortest sentence in scripture. Now Jesus waits. How will you and I respond? We belong to Christ!

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Homily The Deacon Joe

3rd Sunday of Lent

Posted on March 23, 2019March 21, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Ex 3: 1-8a, 13-15; Ps. 103: 1-4, 6-8, 11; 1 Cor. 10: 1-6, 10-12; Lk. 13: 1-9

Years ago I had the opportunity to visit a drug treatment program in a prison. As I sat in the treatment group and witnessed the process it was disturbing at first the means of confronting the prisoner with his addiction. The group was assigned to place one prisoner in the middle of the group and then they began one by one listing the faults of the individual, which we may refer to as his sins. They described how they observed the individual in denial of his problem, how he behaved in his attitude towards the problem and how they observed his limited commitment to recovery.

At the end of the verbal confrontation some might describe more as a verbal assault the counselor then directed the group to “build him back up”. They then each gave him their supportive views such as his ability to stick to the program, to want to reconcile with his family, to be supportive of other prison mates, etc. In today’s gospel we see some of the same process of confronting first our sins and then “building us back up” with a sign of hope in the parable of the fig tree.

Luke describes how Jesus confronts everyone’s need for repentance and we cannot draw distinction from each other’s sins. The Galileans whose sins included their sacrifices and suffered at the hands of Pilate we no greater sinners than all other Galileans or than all those present before him, “if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” Then he reinforces the point with another example.

The people judged those who face suffering as sinners yet he reveals to them those who were killed in Siloam were no “more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem.” He is turning the mirror on his followers to acknowledge their sins and repent. In the context of their understanding of sin they believed in their righteousness as follower of the law. Jesus turns the tables on them to see their unrighteousness coming from the heart of their intentions. This is through the gift of becoming consciously aware of sin as defined by truth. The foundation of conversion was the convincing of sin. We should not think we stand “secure” but “take are not to fall” as history reveals many times over.

Bam! Bam! Wake up to the truth. “Conversion requires convincing of sin; it includes the interior judgment of conscience, and this being a proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man’s inmost being” (CCC 1848) We are to pray for the Spirit of truth in our continued conversion into the image and likeness of Christ. Our culture seeks to deny absolute truth fostering instead relative truth in the “eye of the beholder”. If there is only relative truth then there is no sin and if there is no sin there is no need for repentance and without repentance “you will all perish as they did!” What is there left to say? Many stand secure in their judgment of self without the revelation of the Spirit of truth. “Take care not to fall.”

Jesus does not leave them broken but follows the Spirit of truth with the parable of the fig tree. The owner wants the fig tree cut down after three years of not producing any fruit. The gardener asks for forgiveness for the tree and to allow it another year to produce fruit before cutting it down. Jesus is our gardener who came to “cultivate the ground” of our hearts “and fertilize it” with a Spirit of truth. Jesus is the final hope for repentance and conversion and he came with some very strong arguments to convince his people. Jesus is the one to build us up into a righteous people, a holy nation. In the end it is our turn now to “bear fruit in the future” or be cut down for our sins.

“The Lord is kind and merciful.” God not only pardons all our sins but he “heals all your ills”. Then he does something even greater, he redeems us. What does this mean? He has won back our freedom and given us a crown in his kingdom. This is our “exodus” from sin and a return to the holy land “flowing with milk and honey”. Moses led the people of Israel out of their human exodus from slavery and Jesus comes to lead us out of our human exodus from the slavery of sin. The ground of our hearts is being cultivated and fertilized by Jesus and we are to produce “milk and honey” from our hearts of love. By our fruits we shall be known as true witnesses and followers to the Spirit of truth incarnate. We are now sent by “I AM”.

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