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Homily The Deacon Joe

Cling to Jesus– 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen. 2:18-24; Ps. 128:1-6; Heb. 2:9-11; Mk. 10:2-16

Cling to Jesus that we may become of one flesh with his body and blood.  “The two shall become one flesh” is the foundation of experiencing the love of God in holy matrimony.  “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.”  To be of one flesh is to come together and be of one mind and heart and reveal ourselves to the other.  Jesus reveals himself to us to know him, love him and serve him and by doing so we recognize him, his love for us, and his continual sacrifice for us. 

Husbands how well do you know your wife and wives how well do you know your husband?  Parents know their children and spend a lot of time observing them seeing them grow and understanding who they are to help them become the best that God created them to be.  In doing so however do not lose focus on each other as husband and wife or you may wake up one day and ask “who is this person I live with?”  Two persons united to Jesus in the mystery of faith become of one body to be fruitful vines who know thyself as a person, as a couple, and as children of God.  In marriage we are to help each other grow in holiness to be the best of thyself for the other. 

Are men clingy to their wives?  Just ask the wife how clingy a man is when he gets sick.  She will tell how quickly a man becomes like a child clinging to his wife to care for his needs.  Clinging to our wife should not wait until we are faced with our mortality.  Clinging in the healthy sense is recognizing that marriage is the priority.  The job is not first, the friends don’t come first, the money not does come first, that boat or golf clubs don’t come first.  “Querias!” you asked for it and vowed with the words “I do”.   

Are women clingy to their husbands?  Just ask the husband if his wife changed priorities with the birth of each child how far down the priority he has fallen.  Children are a priority that succeeds only when the marriage works in being of one mind and body, that is working together for their good.  We can cling to our children like helicopter parents unwilling to face the empty nest and they will grow to be adults despite the clinginess of parents or they will suffer the insecurities of life afraid to go forth and master the gifts of their talents for a greater good.   We cling to our spouse but not to our children because they are a gift from God that needs to return to him.  He left for the man and woman each other to cling to as a “suitable partner”. 

Children grow up and leave the home but who do they first call when they get sick?  They call home to mom to cling on for a remedy.  Moms do you like having your husbands and children clinging onto you?  Sometimes clinginess can become burdensome and we hear the frustration and impatience come out with “what do you want? Not now!”  Not only is a husband flesh of your flesh through matrimony but children coming from the womb are literally flesh of your flesh.  In loving them it is the love of self being expressed in the other that binds us into one flesh.  The challenge for parents is to allow our children to grow apart from us, to struggle into maturity and eventually to see them leave us as parents and cling to another and becoming one flesh in search of the fullness of life.

Jesus says, “Let the children come to me” and nothing like having to face hardship through illness, trauma, tragedy, or sin and seeing our lives come apart to realize how much we need to come to our God as clingy children of faith, seek forgiveness and be healed.  We are all called to cling to Jesus.  Jesus is our salvation.  Remember when Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem as a child and his parent had to return and search for him.  It is the fifth mystery of the Joyful mysteries of the rosary.  They found him in the temple ready to go about the will of God the Father but he remained obedient to his parents because his hour had not yet come.  The hour eventually comes for all of us to decide who will we cling to?  Cling to Jesus!

In marriage preparation the question to ask is whether the person we to want to marry and cling to we are also willing to sacrifice and die for.  Too often in our culture marriage is seen as a “trial” experience or one person is ready for that lifetime commitment but the other lacks that sacrificial love of other and the relationship deteriorates after months, years, or even decades of failing to enter into a covenant of love.  The early pitfalls of a marriage are those good intentions that do not equal readiness to enter into a covenant love with each other especially if that covenant love has not been established with God first. 

We need to grow in covenant with God to recognize when true love is there as an offering coming from someone else.  The first teachers of that love are our parents when it is there. When it is not there due to divorce, a dysfunctional home, or the evil of sin in the lifestyle choices then “love” is simply a word of desire or emotion with unmet needs.  No one can fill that void in life without God first.  God is love.  God is a person we enter into a personal relationship with that is to define any and all other relationships of love.  In God’s love we grow in maturity within our human experiences to know true love, beauty, goodness, and truth when we enter into the unity as husband and wife. 

MRI studies (magnetic resonance imaging) indicate the male brain does not fully mature until age 25 while the female age is at 21 years-old.  Now add today’s culture of drug and alcohol misuse and for some the maturity is not only extended into later life but for others it becomes locked into the immaturity of a child, self-centered, impulsive, and driven by the passions of the body and temptations of the world.  The result is the danger of clinging onto someone who is not only unhealthy to themselves but to the relationship of marriage in the least and in the worst can be damaging to the soul.  For these the church recognizes it was never a covenant marriage and allows for the annulment of what never was. 

Just because the marriage is annulled does not make illegitimate the children of the marriage.  In fact, all children in marriage or out of marriage, in the womb or out of the womb are legitimate children of God.  Jesus is reminding us “let the children come to me”, let the unborn “come to me” for at the moment of conception they have receive their soul and it is not righteous that they be denied life for the sins of another.  That is not a choice for God or for love of God.  It is a choice for evil and to suffer the consequences of that evil. 

The sanctity of the family is under attack for it is the first institution that determines a child’s foundation of faith.  When divorce becomes prevalent in society not only is the family broken apart but the trust of commitment to each other is broken.  We no longer cling to each other in a covenant bond to last a lifetime.  We begin to establish those conditional “prenuptial agreements” that say “I will love you conditionally as long as you are faithful to the agreement” instead of fidelity to the person.  Even when the agreement is not in writing it is already a condition being written into the heart of the person who seeks marriage.  Adultery of the heart begins before there ever is adultery of the flesh and divorce will not be far behind. 

It is in the home that a child learns they are a creation of God to grow to be the best they were created to be in the image of God.  God first is the greatest commandment.  Beliefs that attempt to rise above God from ideologies of the world are attempting to replace the primacy of God for the primacy of theory and laws that satisfy the human desire for power.  “He ‘for a little while’ was made lower than the angels that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone…(is) bringing many children to glory”. This is not a theory but a person, Jesus Christ.  He is above all to be in all and through all who receive him.  He did not bring us a theory of God but the person of God to be our God, “leader to their salvation perfect through suffering”. 

God’s love is “brought to perfection in us” by our participation in the mystery of faith through the bond of marriage.  In marriage we struggle together, we celebrate together and at times we suffer together but never alone for “if God is with us who can be against us”.  Our goal in holy matrimony is to help each other get to heaven. There is a choice and a consequence for the greater good or for the greater evil by how we choose to participate.  God’s work of perfection in us begins in the family when we create a Godly home, secure in faith and commitment to God and to each other.  Our presence in church is a sign of that commitment.  If coming to church is not priority then how can we say “God comes first” in our life? God is most present to us here in the Eucharist.

We all became comfortable in participating in “church” virtually with the pandemic.  It is in church however where “the two become one flesh” when we take and eat and drink of his body and blood.  Spiritual communion is not the ideal that Jesus left us to do in remembrance of him.  He desires our transformation into his body and blood by receiving him in the Eucharist so that it is no longer us but Christ is us that lives and we cling to him who is life eternal. 

The infant Jesus born of the womb of Mary did cling to his mother to grow as the son of Mary and Joseph in his humanity.  Mary the Immaculate Conception was brought to perfection to be the channel of grace for her son to be born who “for a little while was made lower than the angels” to cling to the cross that “he may taste death for everyone” so that we may “all have the same origin” to become of one flesh with Jesus.  This is our call to return to the promise land in the flesh.  Thus, Mary did cling to Jesus to remain by his side at the hour of his death, at foot of the cross on his last breath and at the hour of her death when she ascends to heaven to remain at his side.  Do we cling to Jesus?  Jesus desires to cling to us calling us to his salvation. Jesus does not push away from us we push away from him.  

Today, cling to our blessings, cling to the fruitful vine who God made to be “your suitable partner”.  Cling to our Mother Mary and Father in heaven that you may see your children’s children.  Cling to the cross that this moment may soon pass by into the greater glory of God.  Cling to our mother church who is here to sanctify us and be with us in the journey.  Cling to Jesus, that the Lord may bless us all the days of our lives. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

In the one spirit – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Num. 11:25-29; Ps. 19:8, 10, 12-14; James 5:1-6; Mk. 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

In the one spirit, “For whoever is not against us is for us.”  “Would that the Lord would bestow his spirit on them all!” without licentiousness or duplicity. The Lord has come to bestow his spirit on all who receive through baptism the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We are all called to prophesy to our faith as priest, prophet and king in baptism.  While the Christian church in the world has divided into many denominations, they hold onto the one sacrament of faith that is baptism that bestows on all from the same spirit. Meanwhile the Catholic Church holds true to the seven sacraments of life that are the fullness of truth in Jesus Christ. 

In the seven sacraments the church recognizes the significance that the body and soul must both live in the spirit as one, there cannot be any duplicity that satisfies the flesh without the spirit to guide it to holiness.  Therefore, for each aspect of the flesh there is a sacrament to raise the flesh into holiness.  In the flesh we are born, but in the spirit, we are reborn through baptism.  In the flesh we require food to live and oh are we so ready to feed our bodies.  In the spirit, we feed on the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist to be transformed in the spirit.  In the flesh we grow in maturity and gain our knowledge.   In the spirit, we grow in wisdom to be in covenant with God through Confirmation.  Together the sacraments of Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation represent our full initiation into the Church, that is into the body of Christ in the one spirit. 

In the flesh we heal the wounds of the body from the physical injury from play or from trauma.  While in the spirit we heal from our sinful wounds from our pride and passions that injure the image of God in our creation.  Thus, with an act of humility we seek reconciliation in the sacrament of Confession.  In the flesh we seek immunity from bacteria, viruses, and the environment that causes us illness and disease.   While in the spirit, we reject the attack from the evil one who desires our death with the healing power coming from the Anointing of the sick.  Together they represent our victory over death and our readiness to “possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” in the one spirit. 

In the flesh we procreate to continue life in the world by living in the natural law of God’s creation.  In the spirit, we create the bond of unity in marriage to build up the kingdom of God.  In the flesh we live an orderly life to be united in harmony with each other with laws to support the common good.  In the spirit, we are given God’s law through the magisterium of the Church to create order in our faith practices through the sacrament of Holy Orders.  Thus, we raise up the flesh to live beyond our passions and enter into the spiritual life with Christ through the sacramental life of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. 

In this we recognize that in God’s creation we join the life of the flesh with the life of the spirit of God to be in unity through God’s sacramental church.  This unity is to extend into daily living, our home, work, business actions, and our relationships not only with friends and family but also with the stranger.  Thus, today St. James is addressing the “rich” who hire “workers” and “withheld their wages” while storing up “treasures” for themselves.  The “cries” of these workers have reached the “ears of the Lord of hosts”.  St. James’ theology is simply a unifying principle between our faith and our actions, doing the right thing both in our private and public life. 

St. James’ message to us is that our private life of faith must mirror our public life in the world.  In other words, “Church and State” cannot be a life of duplicity where we claim to be Catholic or Christian but our private beliefs are separated from our call to work, our business actions, or our politics.    In fact, St. James warns “you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.  You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one, he offers you no resistance.” St. James is reminding his listeners what was done to Jesus by their duplicitous interests claiming to be sons of God while protecting their public interests. 

James takes us on this train of thought we can apply to our world from worker’s rights beginning with wages, to those condemned to the death penalty, to the innocent murder of the “righteous one” who offer “no resistance”.   There is no one more righteous to life this day than the unborn killed in abortions by the thousands each year “fattening” the wallets of the abortion industry and of those whose politics defend it. 

Duplicity is the world’s remedy for believers within the “church” creating a separation of church and state but for the “Lord of hosts” it is the formula that “will devour your flesh like fire”.  Duplicity is trying to live a double life, one for God and one for the world and have “tried to store up treasure for the last days” only to see this wealth “rotted away”.  In duplicity there cannot be one reality but the creation of two false illusions that of serving two Gods.  Will either of them at the end claim the duplicitous servant as their own or will he be rejected as a child of neither one with a “millstone…around his neck”.  Jesus warns us that this is the day and the time to correct our sinful acts than to go into Gehenna.

Gehenna literally translates from Hebrew to “valley of hell”.  It was a place near Jerusalem where children were sacrificed to the god Baal.  Child sacrifice goes back in scripture to Abraham and his son Isaac where God prevented his sacrifice.  The “massacre of innocents” by King Herod orders the execution of all male children two years old and under near Bethlehem who the Church recognizes as the first Christian martyrs on Holy Innocents Day.  When Mary appears to Juan Diego, Aztecs were having human sacrifices to the gods as a normal part of the culture.  This week the Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore J. Cordielone published on his website (sfarchdiocesse.org) that abortion is “nothing short of child sacrifice” and he quoted Pope Francis who said, “Abortion is more than a problem.  Abortion is homicide…It is a human life, period.”  This is our Gehenna and we cannot be silent. In the past it was the “C” word of cancer that was not spoken because it represented death. Today it is the “A” word of abortion that represents death and without fear we must be willing to face it with an honest discussion.

It is by our “hand” that we sin when we raise it up to strike and condemn another including the hands that are raised to vote for death and end life.  It is by the “feet” that we set the path we walk that takes us to live out a duplicitous life in the kingdom of the world.  It is by our “eye” that we look upon evil and allow it to enter our soul to capture our passions.  It is by the love and mercy of Jesus that we can separate ourselves from our sins leaving behind our past sins to enter into the kingdom of God.  It is by the sacramental life of the Church that Jesus offers us a path to return to righteousness.    Let our hands raise up in praise of God, let our feet follow the path coming from the word of God and let our eyes behold Jesus on the cross for our sins, in the eucharist to be healed in our souls, and through the sacramental life in his body the Church for our salvation. 

If God is with us who can be against us?  We can only be against ourselves if we compromise our faith for the works of the world.  In counseling it is a principle of change that if we are to change a behavior that harms us, we cannot simply let go without having a positive behavior to replace it.  The behavior we are letting go creates a vacuum that will be filled with something else that could be worse than the first.  Scripture reminds us we can be freed from a demon but without change a greater legion of demons can enter us.  We need to prepare ourselves to allow something of greater good to come into our lives or we will either return to the past or find something else just as harmful. 

It happens every day when someone decides they are going to give up a habit.  You give up smoking but you start to eat more and gain weight.  You give up “hard” drugs but increase alcohol that is the slow killer.  You go on a “killer” diet, hint, hint “killer” only to rebound and gain more weight as soon as you stop the diet.  Wellness is finding the good lifestyle habits that replace the harmful ones.  Spiritual wellness is increasing our spiritual muscle with lifestyle habits that put an end to the sinful ones.  Prayer, fasting, meditating on the word of God, coming to receive Communion as often as we can, and spending time in adoration are all spiritual exercises that work as an anti-death lifestyle against sin and a pro-life lifestyle from God. 

Returning to the Lord’s call to receive a share in the spirit of truth.  The Lord comes down in the cloud and bestows some of the same spirit of Moses on seventy plus two.  Moses is the head of the Israelites yet the spirit is given to many others to share in the leadership of the people.  It is in this spirit that the church calls others into the clerical ministry to be deacons, priests and bishops with the Pope as the Vicar of Christ to head his church.  It creates the order of the church but even when not present the spirit is free to call others to give testimony to the truth as God wills. 

Thus, even in our separated brothers and sisters there is a spirit of truth “for whoever is not against us is for us.”  Yet the church holds that the fullness of truth comes from Jesus given to the first disciples who have by succession established a line of leadership we call the Catholic church. That gift of the spirit which we are all baptized spreads the many gifts of the Holy Spirit but the same spirit.  We each have a calling to live the truth of the gospel, without duplicity and without jealousy of the gifts of the spirit given to each.  Let us ask and seek the gifts of the spirit to receive the fullness of truth.  Let us let go of our sins and live in the one spirit without licentiousness or duplicity.  Let us enter into the fullness of the gospel truth given to us by the most righteous one himself, Jesus Christ. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

“The Passion or the passions” – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Wis. 2:12, 17-20; Ps. 54:3-8; James 3:16—4:3; Mk. 9:30-37

The Passion or the passions that is the question?  The “Passion” comes from the “just one”, the “Son of Man” who comes as the “servant of all” with the wisdom from above to remain “pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.”  The Passion is the works of love to be the image of God.  The passions “ask wrongly” and do not receive the wisdom from above from the “just one” for they come with “jealousy and selfish ambition” to make “war within your members” and covet to be first.  The passions are all about self-image.   

Be perfect as the Son of Man came to show us the way to perfection through the “Passion” as “servant of all”, anything less comes from the passions of selfish ambition.  If we do not receive because we ask wrongly what is then the question to ask?  It might be tempting to quickly jump into the assumption of asking “Lord what is your will for me?”  Then we go on and do what we think is best by our own ambition and live our life.  When was the last time we asked “Lord what are my faults?”  Before we can change the world, we need to change ourselves into the image of the Son of Man with the wisdom of above to live by the virtues from above and discern right action. 

If God is calling us “through the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” then the first question to ask is “Lord who am I?”  “Who am I made in your image so that I may possess your glory?”  What are my faults to correct and my strengths to master that I may be perfect in doing your will?  Then God in whose image we are made will reveal himself to us to know thyself in him and in him we will see ourselves for what we are called to be as his servants.

Consider before Jesus ever sent his disciples out to proclaim the gospel, he spent time with them to reveal himself to them.  He was teaching them that they may see themselves in the truth and correct their selfish ambition to covet with the desire to be first. Then they are sent to proclaim the gospel as servants of the Lord.  One of the temptations for the disciples after Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection was that their followers tried to make of them as “gods”.  Imagine, they were now performing miracles and exorcising demons and being held up as “gods”.  It would be tempting to see who has the bigger crowds following them “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”  Their transformation however, was as servants of the Lord to sacrifice themselves for the gospel. 

This week in the liturgy we have celebrated the Exaltation of the Cross where Jesus takes the form of a slave raised on the wood of the cross and we have celebrated our Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Sorrows standing by the cross of the Lord’s passion.  We are invited to enter into the passion of Christ for “what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church” (Col. 1:24) something to be grasped.  Let us learn the meaning of redemptive suffering.  As members of the body of Christ we can unite our suffering to the Lord’s passion for our salvation and sacrifice for the sins of the world “that this world might be saved through him”.  This is what we mean when we say “offer it up”.  What world are we leaving behind for our children to suffer in or to rejoice in?  It will be rejoicing in the Passion of Christ or suffering in the passions of our humanity. 

The passions of our humanity will cause us to stumble and fall especially the passion of pride.  Pride never asks “what are my faults?”  Now you may say “why ask, when everyone else is quick to point them out”.  We hear it from our wife or husband, our kids, our parents, our boss, even our neighbor will call and complain.  Pride will come to the defense to say “who made you my judge?”  We don’t want to hear it from anybody, not even from God.    Our first act of passion is the need to make an examination of conscience and recognize our faults.  Know thyself to take up our cross in our weakness that we may be strong in faith and do the will of God.   

We “put the just one to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience” with our passions.  Our sins “beset the just one” that is he is troubled to suffer our rebellion against his mercy and love.  We have him carry the cross of our sins rather than repent. We ask wrongly for the Lord to uphold our life while wanting to remain attached to our passions.  We are to freely offer our sacrifice of repentance and avoid the near temptation to sin.  Sin is self-centered thus when we turn from sin, we become other centered to offer our service for the greater good.  

Let us join in his Passion to be the “last of all and the servant of all”.  We enjoy being served at the table but are we also ready to get up and be of service.  Nothing like having children to shock us out of the “me” world into the “other” world and get up at all hours to serve.  Now our duty as parents is to teach our children to love and to serve each other.  To love God above all things and to serve in the works of salvation. It begins with the love of parents and the works of service in the home as children learning to be responsible, to care, and even willing to make a sacrifice for a greater good.  The first school of salvation is the home and the first act of service a child can learn is to pray.  Pray for the needs and good of all that our offering of prayer will teach us to ask rightly and receive the gifts to be of greater service in the kingdom of God.   

The Passion or the passions, which are we living?  When we look up at the cross, do we fear living the Passion with Christ?  Consider that in our fallen nature there is a cross to bear each according to the divine plan of salvation.  We see it in the lives of saints and in others and in ourselves who bear the cross of suffering through illness, abandonment, abuse, rejection, death of loved ones, and so many conditions and circumstances outside of our control.  We live it in our own flesh and suffering and it has been given a label, depression, cancer, diabetes, anxiety, learning disabilities, addictions, psychosis, and today it’s COVID but tomorrow it could be something else. 

Victor Frankl who was imprisoned in a concentration camp during World War II founded his school called “logotherapy” meaning “Man’s search for meaning” and stated “the last of human freedoms (is) the ability to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”  We can choose the attitude of Job, “the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

There is a story of a woman who said to Jesus, “Lord, I cannot bear this cross please give me another.”  Jesus said, “if you wish enter the room of crosses and choose the one you want to carry.”  The woman went into the room of crosses and set hers down.  She then went about the room but each cross seemed too hard to bear.  Then she came upon the cross that appeared lighter than the rest so she picked it up and went to Jesus and said “Lord I will carry this cross.”  The Lord replied, “the cross you chose is the cross you set down but now you have found the will to carry it.” 

The Blessed Mother suffered her seven sorrows joined to the passion of Christ.  In her we can recognize the blessing of redemptive suffering for the love of Christ she remained at the cross to bear her sorrow and to receive her consolation “woman behold your son”.  She was to remain his mother through the service of the children of God.  We see how the disciples turned their human passions into the service of Jesus becoming apostles of the cross to carry his love and mercy.  Their lives were transformed to remain pure and peaceable with good fruits and with constancy in good times and in bad.  Let us learn to do the same.  Let us now live our redemptive suffering. 

When Jesus was raised up on the cross our Blessed Mother remained at his feet without fear able to sustain with courage that which she could not change.  What she could do is to accompany him in his greatest suffering.  Can we remain with Jesus this day in the things we cannot change and allow him to use our suffering for the conversion of souls?   Can we say “yes” to Jesus in his passion when in our passions we want to say “no”.  Some days the only thing we can do is to do nothing but remain present with Jesus and allow him to do the work of salvation in us and in others. 

The Passion or the passions is the war we inherit that is left to fight.  Let us fight the good fight, let us run the race, let us claim our victory over self and our legacy will stand as a testimony not so much for everything we did because it is not about us, but for in whose image we stood with courage joined to the image of Christ. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

“Get behind me, Satan!” – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 50:4c-9a; Ps. 116:1-9; James 2:14-18; Mk. 8:27-35

“Get behind me Satan!”  These words should be on our lips to rebuke evil putting on the armor of God by calling on the name of Jesus to lift us up out of the darkness of sin, suffering, or temptation.  How are we to lift up our faith?  It is in the name of Jesus and through the works of God that our faith is not only lifted up as an offering but it continues to grow into holiness so we may already “walk before the Lord, in the land of the living”.  Heaven can’t wait for the dead to rise when Jesus can be present to us this day among the living in holiness.  When “the cords of death” encompass us and we fall into distress and sorrow we not only call upon the name of the Lord to save us but let us rebuke the source of evil with the words of Jesus, “get behind me Satan”. 

Poor St. Peter, he stumbled his way to holiness in an emotional rollercoaster with Jesus.  Peter and his brother Andrew are the first to be called to follow Jesus leaving everything behind.  In the gospel today, it is Peter who receives the spirit of knowledge to call Jesus “the Christ”.  It is here that Jesus calls Peter the “rock” upon which he will build his church.  Peter is no sooner lifted up in spirit that he comes crashing down as he tries to “rebuke” Jesus.  Really Peter, your first act of authority as the “rock” of the church is to turn on Jesus with the spirit of pride only to be rebuked back to reality with the words “get behind me Satan”.  Peter is a great witness for us to recognize just because we are saved and belong to Jesus doesn’t keep Satan from trying to have us stumble back into sinful living. 

Satan doesn’t quit on Peter and he doesn’t quit on us trying to have us stumble and fall.  We can’t try to blame Satan either justifying our actions with “the devil made me do it”.  Satan influenced the thinking of Adam and Eve to commit sin and he tried to influence the thinking of Jesus in the desert so we remain his target but Satan does not control us either.  He is the Father of lies and that is his weapon to have us believe his lies and act upon them.  In the movie “The Passion” during the agony in the Garden, Jesus is in prayer when Satan appears personified constantly speaking to Jesus to weaken his resolve but Jesus remains in prayer and stamps on the head of the serpent.  “Get behind me Satan” is our way of stamping on the head of Satan and calling him out. 

We see in the Mount of Olives Jesus foretelling of Peter’s denial of him three times.  Peter responds as humans do “Even though I have to die with you, I will not deny you.”  Tough talk but we all know how far Peter falls that very night after Jesus’ arrest denying Jesus three times as soon as Satan appears to fulfill the words of scripture, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed”.  Satan doesn’t quit trying to influence us with the same efforts to have us deny Jesus and disperse the sheep of God.  “Get behind me Satan” for the Lord opens our ears that we may not rebel or be put to shame for denying Jesus or the works he calls us to serve. 

Yet after Jesus resurrection when he appears to Peter and the disciples, Peter is once again called to rise up and proclaim his love for Jesus three times by feeding and tending to Jesus’ sheep.  In Peter we see how Jesus does not give up on Peter and he does not give up on us calling back to his mercy with love.  In Peter we also learn that our faith in Jesus comes to life with the “works” of love or it is dead.  Faith and works are two sides of the same coin, can’t have one without the other.

Satan influenced the church persecutors with the same concept “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed”.  The chief priests and entire Sanhedrin felt that if they just did away with Jesus then his followers would disperse and the movement would be dead.  The Romans who persecuted the early church had the same idea.  They went after the apostles and the bishops to make a statement and bring fear to the followers but the more they killed the greater the number grew.  Satan’s influence to bring terror and death only gave the people greater faith to proclaim the gospel and to take care of each other. 

What about the terror and death that surrounds us, is it cause for us to disperse because we don’t see God or understand the mystery of suffering, or fear our own persecution if we speak out against the culture of death around us.  Who speaks for the life of the unborn or for the persecuted Christians around the world?  Do we say to Jesus, “I will never deny you” but remain silent in the face of sin? Today on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, “we never forget” the innocent in the face of evil. Never forget the influence of Satan and evil that can enter the heart to bring death. We remember them and the lives forever changed but we also recall that in the end God triumphs over evil.

One of the “Big” lies of Satan is the lie of relativity we all hear and many come to believe and it goes like this, “Truth is in the eyes of the beholder”.  Jesus heard it from Pontius Pilate when he asked, “What is truth?”  For Pilate it was a rhetorical question for he did not accept Jesus’ answer “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”  For Pilate and for many today one person’s truth is another’s false reality but not for Jesus.  Come to the truth, come to Jesus.  As our famous protestant brother and writer Rick Warren wrote “Its not about you”. 

How often does our thinking spiral into fears, visions filled with “what if” and our imagination goes wild with negative thoughts that distress us, disrupts our peace especially because at the moment there is no danger, no crisis, no visible enemy or is there?  Could it be the enemy we call out to get behind us, that is to get away from us?  This may be the moment when the unseen enemy is before us and we need to rebuke him by name “get behind me Satan!”  If we think that by ignoring Satan, he will ignore us we are mistaken.  He only targets our vulnerabilities even more with as many evil spirits we allow into our mind to beat us and shame us.  In the moment of darkness when the “snares of the netherworld” seize upon us and we fall into distress we are to call upon the Lord’s salvation and rebuke the evil one with the Lord’s name.  The Lord hears those who are brought low and comes to save us. 

I have to say that almost every day I receive mail from many groups, ministries, and movements with images of Jesus coming in the poor, the hungry, the suffering seeking help to fund their projects.  When you respond to one it seems we get ten times more mail from others seeking support for doing the works of God.  You may have had a similar experience and it can be overwhelming to see what the need is.   Your heart goes out to all of them and usually their letters come with a little gift knowing that they are investing in your generosity.  It brings reality into focus not only of the struggle of others but that we cannot even count the blessings we have received from God.  The truth is always before us. Jesus is always before us but we must be open to the truth. Jesus brings the truth into the world, Ephphatha, be opened!

To be Christian is to be giving of oneself with our works of faith in time, talent and treasure.  “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can that faith save him?  So also, faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead.”  Faith alone does not save. Faith is meant to moves us to do the works of salvation and the works of salvation create life so that in Christ death has no sting, no power, no glory for “he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive” (Lk. 20:38).  That is why we not only pray for the dead but for the dead to pray for us because theirs is not a final death but a death to this body while their souls are more alive in the truth of Christ. Philippians 2:12 reminds us, “So then my beloved…work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” The evil one is at large seeking the ruin of souls. “Get behind me Satan!”

The Lord God opens our ears to hear him in his word, to touch his body and blood in the Eucharist, to walk among the faithful to follow the truth “before the Lord, in the land of the living.”  Heaven can’t wait for tomorrow when Jesus makes himself present to us today.  We enter the land of the living to taste and see the goodness of the Lord when we come to Jesus to wash away our sins and receive him in the Eucharist.  This is that day and the hour has come to proclaim our faith in the truth of Jesus. Be renewed, and go forth to love and serve the Lord in all his works. 

The Lord will bless the land we stand on and guide the path we walk that we may radiate his love and glory to the world.  When we receive the Lord, we receive his mercy and faithfulness to be faithful in all our works.  “Justice and peace have embraced” coming from heaven to be with us in Jesus as he appeared to the disciples after the resurrection proclaiming “Peace be with you.”  God dwells in us as we receive Jesus and we enter into the land of the living freed from the stain of sin.  As the song reminds us, “this is holy ground, were standing on holy ground” and the Lord will keep us along the path of holiness with ears and eyes open to his mercy and love.

“In the name of Jesus, get behind me Satan” is a powerful prayer.  In it we reject Satan and all his empty lies and we embrace Jesus, the Father’s only begotten Son, united to the Trinity, the angels and saints and to the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church first entrusted to Peter as the first Pope, that is “Holy Father” of the church despite his faults and his past.  Peter rises to embrace the works of Jesus with great faith and so are we to do.  The truth is this world is about salvation through Jesus Christ.  Don’t leave this world without him.  Jesus saves! 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Religion that is pure – 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time –

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Deut. 4:1-2, 6-8; Ps. 15:2-5; James. 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk. 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Religion that is pure is from the heart to become of one mind and spirit.  Perhaps if there is one observance that the Catholic church is criticized by from other Christian religions it is the perception that the Catholic church holds onto many traditions going back to the early church.  Evangelicals will question why the church is very meticulous about its religious celebration with many “rules” of observance in its practices.  Why not just let the spirit guide the worship that comes from the heart?  They may look to today’s gospel as a reminder of the dangers that “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.”  As good apologist we should be able to invite discussion of our practices and rituals. 

As Catholics we are to first recognize that there is a danger for religion that is pure to become impure, if we ourselves allow our gathering to be more about the “rules and rituals” than about the worship of God.  At the same time, we should recognize the purity of the rituals and the meaning and significance of everything involved in the liturgy and how it ties back to the beginning of the early church.  In one of the most ancient documents is written in Geek about “eucharisesate” to “make Eucharist” that to “give thanks” as sacrifice spoken of by the Lord.  To do this through eucharistic prayers by the presider offering bread and win and recommends confession before Communion with the words “First confess your sins, so that your sacrifice may be pure”.  Which religion do we know of that keeps these practices alive?  These instructions come from the Didache, a document that goes back to 48 A.D. (Ausqulina, M. The Fathers of the Church 1999) 

In all the order of life we guide ourselves by “rules” or traditions created for a purpose.  We have the “rules of the house” in our home as well as the traditions we celebrate that are there to unite us not divide us.  These may be as general as “everyone must pick up after themselves” to as particular as “we always pray before meals”.  Not only do they create order but they bring us together to be of one mind and spirit.  Who says we should have turkey on Thanksgiving, why can’t we alternate and eat fish as long as we all come together?  Try that and see how well everyone agrees and who shows up and who skips out. 

If you have served in the armed forces, you know the detailed observance required of each soldier from how they make their bed, dress, and hold their body in attention.  We not only create these rules and traditions but we come to accept them as part of the culture and believe in their purpose to unite us and we even take pride in them.  Why?  Why is it so prevalent in all aspects of any organized group?  Why can we not just agree for everyone to “show up” and do whatever their heart desires as long as we believe in the same things?  It is for the same reason we must have a common language and an agreed upon set of definitions if we are to be of one mind and spirit or we will all become a religion unto ourselves where no other is willing to enter into and no shared space is allowed.

Religion that is pure is from the heart of love and the rules and traditions that align with it become the means to unite us to be of one mind and spirit so a greater good comes about, a greater worship is offered to God, a deeper love is achieved. We have a religion that is pure and undefiled coming through God and not through “teachings as doctrines (of) human precepts”. 

The worship within the Catholic is not an invention of the latest leadership within the church.  In fact, in the early Church it was vitally important for the early church Fathers to validate their authority in their teaching as coming from the Apostles who received it from Jesus directly.  There was and continues to be Apostolic succession to the traditions and teachings within the Church.  The beauty of the Catholic worship is that it comes through Jesus throughout the centuries by word and tradition.  No better example of this is the importance of the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus.  The words and tradition behind it go back to the Last Supper and to the discourse Jesus taught his disciples as we have heard over the past few weeks in the gospel readings. 

Words matter and traditions matter and through the spirit of God the church has crafted the order of the Mass to bring us together into Jesus’ one body and blood.  Yet it holds true that religion that is pure must still begin in the heart of our free will to offer ourselves into the worship and sacrifice of the Mass or we will fall into repeating mindless habits and remain empty because our hearts are far from thee of Lord.  We can simply come to Mass as “hearers only” or we can allow ourselves to enter into the mystery of faith becoming “doers of the word” beginning with a simple prayer of surrender, “here I am Lord, let it be according to your will.  If I don’t get it then show me your way.  I trust in you.”  He will because he wills to answer that prayer in every way for our souls. 

Religion that is pure and “all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration.”  In fact, woe to those who have taken to deleting books from the bible that the early church Fathers considered part of the canon, or decided that the unleavened bread and wine can be substituted by crackers and juice or even forgo any remembrance of the last supper in the Sunday worship for more music and preaching.  There is to be no “shadow caused by change” coming from our human creation except for the change in us as we “humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls” says scripture.  Today there are many “shadows” of Christian religion caused by the change of human institutions but there remains one that has persevered from the beginning and we hold true to it from age to age. 

Does this sound familiar to you, “On the day we call the day of the sun…gather together.   The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read…When the reader finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.  Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves…and for all others.  When the prayers conclude we exchange the kiss.   Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.  He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.   When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgiving, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: “Amen”.  When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those we call deacons give to those present the “eucharisted” bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.”  These instructions were issued by St. Ignatius in 155 A.D. describing the Christian liturgy as it was celebrated in Rome and for the most part as it remains for the Catholic in every Mass today. 

Who de we follow?  Jesus coming through the authority of apostolic succession who guides his church by holding true to the Word and Tradition he began or the Jesus of our human creation changed over the centuries from branches that have broken away to plant their new theologies.  To be fair, Jesus had no sooner ascended to heaven that separate groups of followers began to proclaim different teachings and theology of their own creation.  Just to mention a few there were those who claimed Jesus was “pure spirit” not fully human but divine and occupied a body, there were the “intellectual elitist” who separated themselves from the “ordinary Christian and all matter was evil including the human body, then there were the pseudo-charismatics of the second century who with strict morality and asceticism denied forgiveness for serious sins, and in the early third century there was a group who denied the Trinity.                                                                            

We too are to become the “firstfruits of his creatures” in holding true to the faith handed down by the Apostolic Fathers who received it through Jesus.  We are to be a pure religion by our charity of heart for the suffering and by guarding our purity of heart “unstained by the world.”  Our challenge is not to retreat into a cloister isolating ourselves as a sect apart from the world but to go forth giving witness to our faith with our God so close to us whenever we call upon him.  We are to remain “unstained by the world” by being doers of justice in all our interactions.  We recall the truth of justice coming from the word of God. 

Jesus was not one to be shy from confronting the truth recalling scripture as he does today with the Pharisees, “This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”.  We humble ourselves to God but we stand up with courage for the truth.  We do not fear the enemy of this world, nor all that we are exposed to that comes from the outside.  It will not defile us unless we accept the temptation to do evil and fail to recognize the evil one who is seeking our fall.  Then all these evils of the world will not only defile us but we will delude ourselves becoming our own worst enemy by what comes out from within us. 

Christ calls us to be the militant church on earth, which is to carry his word bravely on our lips.  When Jesus was being tempted in the desert, he confronted the evil one with the word from God as his justice.  The word is our justice and we are to “give evidence of (y)our wisdom and intelligence” of the word when we encounter the world.  If the word lives in us then it will come out from us, in our lips and in our deeds and the world will know we belong to God and no other.  Let us enter into the liturgy as if it was the first time, the last time the only time we have to encounter him in the Eucharist with all our heart and devotion. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Queenship of Mary – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Josh. 24:1-2a, 15-18b; Ps. 34:2-3, 16-21; Eph. 5:21-32; Jn. 6:60-69

Queenship of Mary celebrates a memorial in honor of our Blessed Mother Mary eight days after celebrating Mary’s Assumption into heaven.  It is a continuation of her celebration into heaven as Queen of Heaven and our Queen.  It recognizes her distinct place in heaven as the Mother of God, first human into heaven as body and soul in the resurrected life.  Jesus’ resurrection was his humanity and divinity, second person of the Trinity but Mary represents our humanity into the gates of heaven. 

The Queenship of Mary is a “Marian feast day of the Church created by Pope Pius XII in 1954” commemorating all the privileges bestowed upon Mary by God and all the graces received through her intercession and Mediation.” (www.franciscanmedia.org )    The Queenship of Mary culminates her journey of faith from her moment of conception as the Immaculate Conception, her visitation to Elizabeth who calls Mary “mother of my Lord”, her mysteries by the side of Jesus, her Assumption into heaven and her recognition by the early Church fathers’ reference to her as Queen especially in her prayer “Hail Holy Queen”. 

We can look to the Queenship of Mary as the new Eve through Jesus redemptive work responding to the call to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. This perfection is found in the image of Jesus love who first felt the embrace of a mother’s love as a child.  Perfect divine love is embraced by perfect human love and all things are made new.  What’s left is our call to perfection in the same image of love, a sacrificial love, a love of mercy and forgiveness, a love of charity and generosity, a love of a father and a mother and for a love as brother and sister.  That love is what this world still needs to see.  That love is what we are being offered today to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” 

In the royal court of ancient times next to the King the seat was reserved for the mother of the King.  When the disciples mother asks for her son’s to be at Jesus right and left side as any mother would want, Jesus lets her know that seat is predestined and who would it be that would receive this gift if not the Queen of Heaven and Earth who has the ear of Jesus and holds his heart reminding us to do as he says exercising her queenship.  The royal court of Jesus is not a democracy and we don’t get a vote on which commandments we accept and which we discard.  As Joshua spoke to “all the tribes of Israel” meaning all the people of God to make a choice.  “If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today who you will serve…” 

Joshua was speaking to the people of God, the chosen people and yet by their choice their actions were forsaking the LORD for other gods.  Those gods were attributed to the Amorites whose legend holds they were “uncivilized nomadic raw-meat eating barbaric giants in the time of their ancestors who plundered and abused the people of God.  They were feared and ancient writings describe them as “the former terrible giants, the Rephaim, gave way to the Amorites, an evil and sinful people whose wickedness surpasses that of any other, and whose life will be cut short on earth (the canonical Book of Jubilees (xxix. [9]11)” and to their reference to “their black art, their witchcraft and impure mysteries, by which they contaminated Israel in the time of the Judges (Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (Haaretz.com).  They were part of a cult that sacrificed “their living children by burning them in a fire worshiping their god Moloch.  To keep this in context these were historical figures that Joshua was comparing his people to falling into the same corrupt immorality and to choose between serving the Lord or the “gods” of these Amorites seen as lowest level of humanity who his people were becoming like. 

Can we hear the voice of Joshua today speaking to our people in like manner?  Recently it was reported of a university who I will not mention by name but you can easily find the story on the web, who in this country is performing live abortions without “Digoxin” in order not to contaminate the aborted babies body parts, having them born alive, selling them in the market as prime specimens and as well as using those body parts for scientific experiments like implanting the babies’ hair onto rats.  The story continues with more graphic details of barbaric behavior that a civilized society condones.  Could there be any lower form of humanity?  The story came to light under the Freedom of Information Act by someone we could say is the voice of Joshua or John the Baptist calling us to repent in our times. 

The Lord is asking “decide today who will you serve”.  The gods of these “giants” of today who control the culture of death with sinful behavior or the house of the Lord?  If we respond in like manner to Joshua “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” then we can no longer ignore the sins of this world and it begins in the home.  The importance we give to God, his church, and the teachings of his Word matter as a household to be one household under God.  Husbands and wives are to be united as one in one faith under God passing on to their children the same faith, hope and love of God.  The new age view that parents allow their children be free to explore their own sexuality, their own identity, their own faith views, and find their own gods is “Amoriteish”.  To God all lives matter under his household and we carry a responsibility to each other. 

In the teaching from Ephesians to be “subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ” as one flesh we recognize the importance of the church to Christ.  Many today try to separate their faith in God to their commitment to church.  This teaching reminds us of the importance of “church” to God as one flesh.  Why so important?  The gospel reveals the “why” because it is in church where we come to receive him body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist.  For this reason, priests are subordinate to their bishop and bishops to the Pope in order to remain as one in reverence to Christ.  As husbands and wives are married and subordinate to each other the priesthood is married to the church. Regardless of the sins of the few from within the church there remains many more holy priests and the walls of the church will continue to stand guarded by Christ and the heavenly hosts. 

To many “this saying is hard; who can accept it” is as much true today as it was when Jesus proclaimed it.  By coincidence or not in John 6:66 we hear “As a result of this many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him”.  The numerical sign of the antichrist is “666” and we can view the antichrist today in the “many” who turn away from Jesus’ teaching returning to their way of life to serve other gods.  It is not difficult to fall into the antichrist role, be an “Amoriteish” world that is self-serving and becoming the giant monsters of promoting sin when we demand it to be our way, not God’s way. 

“Do you also want to leave?”  This is the question Jesus possess to us today and we pray that we too will see the light to answer “Master, to who shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life”.  We cannot separate Christ from the church or we will find ourselves to be the separated ones from his words that are “Spirit and life”.  “Does this shock you?” says Jesus and bring us closer to him in the Eucharist and his church or do we turn away.  This is what the Queenship of Mary is ultimately about, bringing us closer to her son in whatever state of life we find ourselves. 

If we find ourselves in a state of mortal sin then Christ is there crucified in atonement for our sins and we come to him as Mary is at his feet.  If it is as disciples going deeper into his word, Christ is there in Spirit to reveal himself as the will of God.  If it is in receiving the Eucharist, Christ is there to offer us his body and blood for our transformation to be “granted him by my Father” says Jesus.  If it is in the sacramental life of the church, Christ is there building up his kingdom as a force for good against the culture of death.  And, if it is at the moment of death, Christ is there in his Ascension to receive us as sons and daughter of the most-high God that we may all be one as he is one with the Father and the Spirit and as he also joins to himself all called to be saints. 

We are all called to be holy, perfect, and saints.  Don’t miss the opportunity.  Let not our hearts be hardened but come to him in humility to receive him, give praise and serve the greater good he has destined for us, each according to the gifts he pours into us. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

The Bread of Life – 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Kg. 19:4-8; Ps. 34:2-9; Eph. 4:30-5:2; Jn. 6:41-51

“I am the bread of life…taste and see the goodness of the Lord”.  Today Jesus reveals himself to be the fulfillment of the prophesy “They shall all be taught by God” not as the Jews anticipated but as God reveals through Jesus Christ.  While the Jews question the validity of Jesus proclamation “I have come down from heaven” by only recognizing his humanity as the “son of Joseph” while they claim to know “his father and mother”, Jesus is announcing his divinity as the Son of God.  In announcing “I am” Jesus declares the great “I AM” of God himself is the bread of life and he now stands before them as the “I am” who is one with God and whose name was given to Moses for God the Father.  

In following the readings from the past Sundays of Ordinary Time, Jesus first is the “Teacher” to the Jews, then in his miracles he feeds the thousands to be recognized as “The Prophet” they were waiting to arrive from God.  Now he takes them into new waters of revelation and faith by declaring himself from heaven coming as God for his people.  Can anything be more amazing and challenging to the faith?  Would we have reacted any different than the Jews if we had been standing there hearing this proclamation?  How many of us would have walked away incredulous and how many of us remain incredulous? 

Many are still incredulous as to the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist and the world is incredulous that God exists.  Today we can taste and see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living from the “arm chair quarterback” looking back but back then we may have walked away in disbelief or tried to even stone Jesus as zealots of our own beliefs. 

Today there are many zealots from within religions and outside of any faith doctrine.  From within religions this is possible when a group takes up the original language and gives it an interpretation that fits its view of the world.  It transforms the religion into its human doctrine instead of being transformed by the faith.  Outside of religion is the coming together of an ideology for transforming the world into a structure that gives one group power over another.  Zealots rise and fall but not without causing harm along the way.  Jesus however perseveres in transforming lives in the land of the living through the light of truth.  This “land” is not a geographic area but a spiritual domain we enter into to receive the bread of life. 

The Jews were awaiting a king to restore their kingdom on earth.  What they are receiving now is a king from heaven to take them to heaven by providing them and us the bread of life for the journey.  “I am the bread of life” is understood that God is the bread of life from all eternity and Jesus is now present to provide us this bread in himself.  We taste and see by coming to Jesus not just in spirit to taste and see but by receiving his body and blood in the Eucharist.  It is the more perfect way of receiving Jesus as true food for the journey.

The journey as Elijah discovers after only a day’s journey is more than he can survive on his own.  He prays for “death” recognizing he is “no better than my fathers”.  In Elijah, we recognize ourselves as no better than the saints so how are we to be perfect as called to be?  How are we to succeed in our journey?  Only by receiving Jesus who is the bread of life can we survive our in our journey of life through all the “desert” encounters.  We are weak “but strengthened by that food” that only God provides can we endure through the “desert” of life “else the journey will be too long for you!”  “That food” is real food in receiving him in the Eucharist.  Elijah foreshadowed it and Jesus fulfills it. 

The journey that is too long to endure is the temptation of sin, suffering, and hunger.  We see this after Jesus’ baptism as he went out to be tempted by the devil for 40 days.  Here Elijah must endure the desert for 40 days and 40 nights as a prefiguring of Jesus.  Jesus confronts the devil with the Word of God and we also have the Word as a weapon of faith but we also have something greater.  We have the bread of life in Jesus to feed our hunger for righteousness through the Eucharist in the consecration of the bread and wine.  This inner strength for the journey is what nourishes us to be strong and endure all the hardships, disappointments, and sacrifices of life. 

The human condition is one of “hunger”.  Not only do our bodies hunger for nourishment but our minds hunger for truth, and our soul hungers for something greater than ourselves.  The hunger of the soul is our “hardwire” for God.  If we don’t satisfy our hunger for all three then we may be lost in the desert wandering until we can no longer endure this life and like Elijah call out for death.  But the angel of God came to Elijah and he can come to us as a messenger from God to rescue us and feed us in our time of needs.  Like Elijah we must put aside our pride and turn to the Lord in prayer “This is enough O Lord!”  If we ask the Lord to “take our life” he will answer our prayer with the nourishment to continue the journey to the mountain he has prepared for us. 

Elijah was given the bread and water and “strengthened by that food” from heaven he reached the “mountain of God”.  We too have a spiritual mountain where God is calling us to reach but the journey is through a desert of pain, struggle, and perseverance or we will die before we reach it.  The Lord saves us from all our distress but we must call upon him and take our refuge in him that he may save us.  The Lord saves but he cannot save us without us if we thus fail to turn to him with all our heart and believe.  Today is that day of faith to believe.  Receive the bread of life and be saved or “else the journey will be too long for you!” In Christ we can do all things through him who strengthens us for the journey he is calling us to take in this life.  “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” and we will reach our final destination in heaven. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

God’s work never rests! 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex. 16:2-4, 12-15; Ps. 78:3-4, 23-25, 54; Eph. 4:17, 20-24; Jn. 6:24-35

God’s work never rests!  “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”  God is always in search of our hearts and for some of us he is working overtime.  While our hearts are restless, we turn to what is in this world for answers while he keeps giving us signs of his presence. To believe or not to believe that is the question.  If we believe then our “works” will reflect our faith in Jesus.  Faith and works are two sides of the same person and they cannot be denied.  In works is revealed the true faith of a person.  It raises the question to ask ourselves, “what are our works in building up the kingdom of God?”  The work starts with faith in Jesus Christ. 

If the first order of business is to believe in Jesus Christ how much time do I spend with Jesus in prayer, in Mass, and in serving him through serving others?  Do we see Jesus in others and/or do we seek him out through others by offering a work of faith?  God’s work never rests and it comes through others as he can also work through us for the good of others.  We often speak of our charity by giving to the poor, donating our time for a cause, being active in our church and all are good contributions to the capital of grace but God’s work is to see a transformation not in what we do but in who we are.  God’s work never rests in bringing us closer to himself and transforming us more into his image as a light to the world.  We are the work in progress. 

Signs of God’s work in us begin to be seen in our daily actions as a reflection of who we are as Christians.  It can be seen in such simple confirmations of our faith to others through our conversations as an act of faith to unite us to God.   Growing up do you recall hearing your mom or dad or grandma or grandpa often in conversation make an expression of faith by saying “thanks be to God”, “God is good”, “God have mercy”, “have a blessed day”, “pray all goes well” to recall just a few examples?  It was this little reminder that God’s work never rests and he is present in our lives the moment we call upon him.  I can hear my mother’s voice saying in Spanish “si Dios quiere” (if God wills) and most often “gracias a Dios” (thanks be to God).  Every conversation is an opportunity to invite God and unite ourselves and others to him “praise be to God”.  Let’s keep God in the conversation and let him guide us to the Son through the Holy Spirit to his revealed truth. 

Faith is not stagnant it is dynamic as God’s work in us never rests.  Every day is an opportunity to work on our faith as we go forth and encounter the world.  We grow in faith when we take time to live in faith, love with faith, learn more of our faith, and leave a legacy of faith.  According to Stephen Covey to live, love, learn and leave a legacy are the four essential human needs of life and so we take our four essential human needs to grow in holiness connecting our humanity to God’s divinity.  

To live in faith is not defined by obtaining all the pleasures of life.  “In the gospel, Jesus tells the people “Amen, amen” meaning without a doubt “I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled”.  This is not living in faith but seeking the “food that perishes.”  The same is true for the Israelite community who “grumbled” and said that as slaves “we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread” but only to be hungry again.  God lets it “rain down bread from heaven”.  This is not just a foretelling of the coming of Jesus in the Eucharist but a sign that he answers our prayers and meets all our needs so that we then may “accomplish the works of God”. 

To live in faith is to live in the joy and peace that only comes through Jesus.  This is the first work of God that we “believe in the one he sent” to be our food “the bread of life”.  He is the bread from heaven that satisfies all our needs.  He is the bread we eat when we receive the Eucharist.  This is the dynamic work of faith in action that “heals our infirmities”, nourishes our souls and “answer all our needs…in the bond of peace”.  It comes to us as a gift from heaven through the sacrifice of Jesus.  To live in faith is being in communion with Jesus that creates not only a bond of peace but the guidance through the Holy Spirit and a purpose in which to live in.  God’s work of faith in us never rests in calling us to himself to believe and be saved. 

To love with faith is to trust in the love of God and in his generosity.  Generosity as Spinoza the philosopher would say, “If love is the goal, generosity is the road to it.”  Our generosity of time, treasure, and talent defines the meaning of life.  It is the bond that unites us to God for God is love.  Generosity has a compounding effect for the greater good for generations to come just as evil has a compounding effect for what is bad.  No act of generosity goes without a just reward from God who blesses us with the opportunity to bless others in generosity.  To love with faith is the willingness to sacrifice for the love we receive and offer ourselves up to God.  The greater the sacrifice the greater that love grows and no greater sacrifice of love than Jesus on the cross.  God’s work of love never rests in loving us. 

To learn more of our faith is to never grow tired of seeking truth from the revelation of God.  Truth is not anti-science it is the science of discovery of the miracles of life that reveal to us something greater is here with us.  To learn more of our faith is to keep looking for Jesus to give us more of the “food that endures for eternal life” which the Son of Man promises to give us.  Lectio Divina is one way to integrate our prayer life with the word of God to learn more how Jesus is speaking to us in the moment.  A word of knowledge becomes the incarnation of the word in our being to transform us more into the image of God whose work never rests in us in calling us to himself. 

 To leave a legacy of faith is to give “life to the world” by receiving Jesus from whom life is received to be poured out as a light to the world.  It is an apostolic legacy carried on by those whose lives we touch and it begins in the home.  Three words need to be spoken in all Christian homes and they are “let us pray”.  Let us pray in thanksgiving, let us pray for the sick, let us pray for our needs, let us pray for the souls in purgatory, let us pray a rosary or a novena, let us pray for an answer to our prayers.  Prayer opens the channel of grace for our sanctification.  To leave a legacy of faith it begins with prayer and it spreads out into our world to make a difference. 

In prayer we feed on the spirit of Jesus.  In scripture we feed on the word of Jesus.  In the Eucharist we feed on his body and blood.  He is the bread of life that satisfies every hunger and thirst “that endures for eternal life”.  God’s work never rests yet he invites us to rest in him when he says in Mathew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.”  We cannot learn from him unless we come to him with the same meekness and humility of heart to be fed by him. 

When we come to Jesus his grace provides us a peace and joy that that allows us to be content.  We are content not because everything came out the way we wanted it to be, or because every prayer was answered in a miraculous way but because by the grace of God, we found God since he had been there always calling us to himself. While we rest, God is working for that day, the day our faith rests in him for our greater good.  Glory to God in the highest may this be that day of true rest in God. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Woe to the shepherds

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

“Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says he Lord.”  We are all called to be shepherds within our flock be it our home, our schools, our church, our nation and our environment.  This week the readings began with a message of warning by Jesus from “I have come to bring not peace but the sword…Jesus began to reproach the towns…Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!”  He ends the week with a message of hope and love “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest…’I desire mercy not sacrifice” and then proclaims today that “he is our peace”.  Looking for peace in this world then it can only be found in Jesus. 

Jesus not only speaks to the heart of individuals but to complete “towns” that make the citizenry as a whole.  The greatest enemy to a nation, a religion, and a home is the one who rises from within the flock dressed as a shepherd in search of its own power, glory, and prestige.  Without a foundation built on the common good, freedom, and faith in a power greater than ourselves we call God, nations, churches, and homes crumble from within and woe to those shepherds.  Woe also to those communities who together separate God from his people to create cities and nations of secularism.  God desires us to build up the City of God within his kingdom and it begins now in our own homes and communities. 

Many are the shepherds in public office who in a time of crisis see an opportunity to mislead and scatter the flock with a mantra “never let a crisis go to waste”.  In their governance their voices rise trying to guide the world to a new world order, to “reimagine” a new normal where identity does not come from God but is a choice, where equality and tolerance is a normalization of behavior against the natural law of God, where the right to kill the unborn is justified as a choice, where only the law and legal claims established by the ruling class have a voice, and where “The Lord our justice” is silenced not to be heard of in the public square. 

Woe to the shepherds of these nations who raise up children with obedience to only their laws and demand all must submit to the new “Caesar” of the land against individual rights and liberties of religion.  Woe to them who by decree demand us to “reimagine social justice” as a world filled with “rights” that normalize sin and silence the righteousness of God.  Recall Jesus warning to Chorazin and Bethsaida can befall a nation when it turns to its own idolatry based on an ideology and abandons God breaking the first commandment. 

Woe to the shepherds within religions who mislead and scatter when they approve of same sex marriages, abuse minors, promote a God of prosperity while neglecting the poor and suffering as their coffers grow in riches, and weaponize religion preaching death to others while raising themselves above to be first.  These will be among the last for the ones who more is given more is demanded. 

Woe to the shepherds of the household after being blessed with children turn to abuse, neglect, and/or exploit these little ones and drive them away from having any faith.  “The Lord our justice” comes to rescue his sheep without a shepherd.  As a culture of death surrounds us, the home is the last stand in defense of God’s righteousness.  Parent’s responsibility does not end with providing safety, food and shelter.  It is the beginning of love to raise our children to know God, love God, and to serve God.  Faith development begins in the home and we gather together in Mass to celebrate as a community our faith. Our legacy to our children is our faith and their greatest inheritance is God himself to be their peace.

“The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want.”  The Lord has placed his law within our hearts and comes to us in the mystery of faith to reveal his presence when we turn to him, repent, and seek his path of righteousness.  The Lord created the heavens and the earth to be a paradise, he created humanity to be holy, sanctified by his love but because of our fallen nature he came down from heaven to redeem us by his cross and shepherd us back to a state of sanctity.  Now the choice is ours to receive the gift and remain in his grace or wander on our own path.  Apart from God there is no paradise, no sanctity, no salvation. 

The Lord has appointed shepherds for us as he promised in Jeremiah.  Together we form the one universal Catholic and Apostolic church under the vicar of Christ, the pope leading the magisterium of the church.    There is a comfort in knowing what the church teaches does not come from the interpretation of the next bible preaching minister no matter how well intentioned their heart is but from the long history of hermeneutics, that is the interpretation and understanding of scripture and tradition going back to the Apostolic Fathers and Doctors of the Church. 

The truth of the gospel is built on a solid foundation handed on and guarded by the Holy Spirit.  Good intentions do not necessarily translate to truth and even a half-truth is misleading capable of dividing and scattering the flock.  New movements of faith rise and fall like the passing wind born out of the mind of shepherds in search of a flock.  It is God himself who calls his shepherds to be united to his body the church in obedience to what has been handed down and “woe to the shepherds” who take out or put in other teachings. 

The Lord refreshes our souls with the light of a new day reminding us to remain in him who is our hope.  The pastures he gives us comes from the breaking of bread to celebrate at the banquet of the Lord fed by his body and blood, taught by his word, and comforted by the heavenly hosts of angels and saints and by his flock when we gather together in prayer and thanksgiving. 

He guides us in right paths through the dark moments of life.  The right path is a two-edge sword of love and sacrifice.  When we call upon the name of Jesus, we receive strength and courage in our moments of weakness to persevere in difficulty, overcome suffering, and wait upon the Lord in God’s time to reveal to us his glory.  God’s time is not measured in human understanding but in the understanding of salvation and God’s mercy. 

He spreads the table before us at the altar to receive the sacraments of salvation to guard us against the enemy and our cup overflows with truth, goodness, beauty and unity.  Heaven does wait for tomorrow when the kingdom of God is already before us.  We are invited every day to enter into his kingdom, taste and see the goodness of the Lord and be blessed. 

Goodness and kindness follow when we enter into the sanctuary of his sacred heart as he remains in us and we remain in him.  The world does not know this for it seeks to build its own kingdom of power, pleasure, and profit destined to rise and fall as history has proven over and over again.  The house of the Lord is eternal and when we enter into the sanctuary of the church we are in the connecting halls of heaven and earth where angels descend and ascend in worship of Jesus in the eucharist.  This is the house the Lord has built, blessed are we who enter into it. 

The church cannot be defeated from without but we must guard from within the sanctity of being “church” to the world.  This sanctity of life is in a state of deterioration and we must return to a state of grace recognizing the sacredness of God’s creation.  Nature and matter were created by God as a blessing and we are being reminded by Pope Francis of the sacredness of the environment in the encyclical “Laudato Si”.  He calls it the “care of our common home” and is concerned with the growing “throwaway culture”.  There is a need to respect not only nature but also the natural law created by God.  We need to recognize that it is not “all about us”.  God created the heavens and the earth and declared them “good” and his goodness must be respected in his creation.

The sanctity of life has also become lost in a “throwaway” culture from the unborn to the elderly, from the poor to the disabled.  The right to choose death over life is not only a grave sin but the loss of an opportunity for redemptive suffering for a greater good.  In redemptive suffering we offer our suffering to God who unites us to his suffering and transform it into a testimony of love, holiness and conversion of souls. 

The sacredness of natural law has been discarded for the scientific drive of genetic manipulation that can create more deadly diseases such as “gain-of-function” research to make deadly viruses even worse and spread pandemics that kill millions.  Once created there is no control of their capacity to mutate and survive.  They seek to spread in hosts from animals in our food chain to humans.  Natural law is sacred and must be respected or it will turn against us to our own demise. 

Even though we walk in the “dark valley” we are to fear no evil for God is at our side.  We have been anointed with the oil of salvation from our baptism and confirmation.  We have been given the church to provide us the sacraments of salvation and this is the Lord’s house from age to age.  When the dark valley invades our hope and spirit and we find ourselves in a mental state of depression there is a cliché that says, “leave your home and don’t come back until the depression has lifted” meaning we don’t isolate ourselves but we go forth seeking to do good and God will be with us. 

The first place to go is to church where God is waiting, where his table is set with his own sacrifice of love for us, where he knows every hair of our head and where peace is waiting for us to meet.  This is that place, this is God’s house and together we build up the city of God in our common home. Thanks be to God for the calling of the good shepherds who know how to tend to the flock, pastor and carry their sheep with the love of God. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – To preach repentance

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Amos. 7:12-15; Ps. 85:9-14; Eph. 1:3-14; Mk. 6:7-13

To preach repentance! Want to be a prophet, don’t expect a “welcome” mat. Amos was sent packing home, John the Baptist was beheaded and Christ was crucified for being prophets. We are call called to be prophets by our baptism to preach repentance. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two to preach repentance taking nothing for the journey except faith and hope.  Repentance (metanoia) is a turning away from sin and returning to a relationship with God.  Repentance is the first step to salvation.  In repentance it is not about the universal “me”, my regrets, my fears, my needs but about him and our surrendering to him to respond to his calling and receive the grace of redemption.  Healed by his body and blood Jesus saves.  Repentance includes the four elements of responsibility, regret, resolve, and repair (Dr. Laura Schlessinger, NYT 05/10/98).

Taking responsibility is more than feeling “sorry”.  When a child says “I’m sorry” it comes from being caught in a wrong more than understanding the wrong.  Responsibility comes with understanding the wrong our act has caused on another.  When we sin against God, do we understand the wrong our act has caused God?  If we sin against our neighbor, we may see the harm it has caused them but we don’t always understand the harm we cause God.  Sin harms our relationship with God because the injury is to the heart of love.  Sin is a rejection of love itself from God.  By divine will we are all created in the image of God and we harm the love of God for his people.  It is as simple as if someone causes harm to your child then you yourself are harmed not just the child.  We are all children of our heavenly Father.

Once we come to take ownership of our responsibility for having sinned, we experience regret meaning that we come to an awareness that changes how we think about ourselves, our actions, our relationship with others and with God.  With regret we enter into the heart of love for the injury caused, remorseful and willing to begin the process of healing that love by an interior change.  If nothing changes in us then our regret is not about love of other but remains simply a self-centered love.  This is a key element of repentance when we answer the question “what will be different” about me, my actions, my love for God.  True regret is an act of change for the better.   God calls us to be perfect, a perfection that comes from our unconditional surrender to him.  Regret is one step further away from our sin and a step closer to perfection with a change for the better. 

With regret we are empowered with a resolve to be the best God created us to be.  We receive the fire of the Holy Spirit directing us to where God is calling us.  This resolve is a willingness to surrender ourselves to God with greater trust out of love.  Our obedience to God is the fear of separation from God after experiencing the darkness of our own sin and the grace of forgiveness.  Because of the darkness of sin, we may not yet know how good it is to be walking in the light of grace but we do know the consequences of having allowed sin into our hearts and seen the impact to our relationships with others.  It is a past we don’t want to relive and a path we don’t want to continue.  With resolve we make a decision to follow a new path by beginning to seek God’s answer and our calling.  We pray for his revelation and we take the next right step in faith and hope.  This was the resolve of the disciples surrendering themselves to the will of God. 

We then ask ourselves “what can I do to repair the relationship”?  For Catholics repair begins with going to confession.  If we are to heal our relationships with each other we need to return to God and receive his forgiveness to be guided to right action with others.  We pray for those who we have hurt and when possible, we ask for forgiveness and seek to make amends with those affected by our behavior.  We expect more from ourselves than from others allowing others to heal on their time not ours.  Too often we want others to forgive and forget but injury takes time to heal.  Broken trust is more than a broken bone.  Trust goes to the soul of a person.  If frustrated because someone keeps bringing up the past recognize the pain behind the broken trust and pray for their healing.  Reconciliation takes three the sinner, the wounded, and the reconciler who is God.  With God and in God we become one again with each other. 

The disciples were sent to preach the message of repentance but we also see in the first reading Amos a shepherd also was sent to prophesy to his people.  By our baptism we are also sent to prophesy a message of repentance and forgiveness.  Of course, we cannot offer what we do not ourselves live so it must begin with us.  Who do we need to forgive from our past or even from today?   Repentance and forgiveness work together for reconciliation to heal the wounded heart.  We must repent ourselves as penitents seeking God’s mercy.  Mercy opens up our hearts of rebelliousness to forgive others as we are forgiven.  Jesus is ready with his mercy to forgive us to heal his own wounded heart by our transgressions.  We have but only to come and seek his mercy. 

No one lives without suffering.  We are called to pick up our cross and live through the passion of Jesus.  We live through our agony by going to our prayer garden.  Our prayer garden is the interior room where we enter into peaceful dialogue with God.  We live through our scourging when suffering is beyond our control offering it up as a sacrifice of love.  We live through our crowning with thorns as others criticize and judge us but we do not respond in like manner.  We live through the carrying of our cross for living through the things we cannot change and we die to ourselves to allow God to reign in us.  This was the journey Jesus sent his disciples out to live in preaching repentance to a rebellious people. This is part of the journey of life and salvation. 

Some of the disciples carried the red robe of martyrdom.  Others lived the white robe of martyrdom.  In the image of Divine Mercy, we see both the red rays of martyrdom and the white rays of martyrdom coming out of the side of Jesus.  For us today, we are to live the white robe of our daily sacrifice.  God the Father has blessed us in “Christ with all the spiritual blessings in the heavens…to be holy and without blemish before him”.  When the world speaks of microaggressions let us speak of micro-martyrdom in living all the little sacrifices of life for the greater good.  Repentance leads us to holiness without the blemish of sin to be perfect as we are called to be.  Spiritual blessings build up the kingdom of God with every act of love. 

If the promised gift of the Holy Spirit is the “first installment of our inheritance toward redemption” what greater glory is yet to come.  We are being redeemed that is bought back by the blood of the lamb to share in his glory what eyes have not seen.  Imagine our inheritance of peace, justice, and joy free from the burden of sin, sickness, and sorrow.  Imagine the glory of the resurrected body not limited by time, space, or matter.  Imagine the beatific vision of being in the presence of God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, Blessed Mother Mary, all the angels and saints and reunited to our loved ones.  The sting of death removed and the glory of heaven revealed. 

Now consider one who we would want to be in heaven with us, a parent, child, spouse, friend and finding out they are separated from us by the stain of sin suffering in purgatory waiting for prayers of consolation.  Imagine if it is us who are the one waiting for those prayers, an offering of a Mass intention, enduring the justice of God for not having answered the call to holiness in this life.  Imagine the hopeless lost from heaven who we knew and had an opportunity to share the good news of repentance and salvation but we remained silent. 

Recall it is not always about what we have done but also what we have failed to do as the words of scripture remind us in Mathew 25:44-46 “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?  He will answer them ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life”.  Who is ready to claim “righteousness” before the Lord?  Praise God for the sacrament of confession that we can make this day a new beginning and be washed clean.  When was your last confession?  Well maybe its time again, nothing like the present to renew ourselves in the body and blood of Jesus and wash our baptismal robes ready to receive our Lord and savior. 

Let us go out to “preach repentance” by beginning with an act of contrition ourselves when we pray, “Lord God, in your goodness have mercy on us: do not look on our sins, but take away all our guilt. Create in us a clean heart and renew within us an upright spirit.”  With God’s help we do what is possible so he can work the impossible in our lives. 

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