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Homily The Deacon Joe

18th Sunday Ordinary Time – Vanity of vanities! 

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ecc. 1:2, 2:21-23; Ps. 90:3-6, 12-14, 17; Col. 3:1-5, 9-11; Lk. 12:13-21

“Vanity of vanities!   All things are vanity!”  We are reminded that we worry about many things, how to protect all our earthly possessions and treasures, all our “toil and labor”, either for what we have or for what we lack there is “anxiety of heart” and all is vanity.  By our baptism we are and continue to be renewed in the image of our creator as “Christ is all and in all”.  All else is vanity.  “If today you hear his voice” calling us out for having our priorities focused on the wrong treasures don’t wait to be called “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”  Death gives rise to entitlements as earthly treasures are divided yet who is concerned about their final destination when death comes calling? 

Jesus responds to “someone in the crowd” who is seeking a share in an inheritance from his brother.  Families often will become divided over an inheritance asserting rights and fairness and even going to a “judge and arbitrator” seeking entitlements “and yet it was another who labored over it who has left their property.  “This also is vanity and a great misfortune.”  The misfortune is placing so much value on earthly property that is destined to deteriorate, be spent, or discarded for lack of need.  Even the memory eventually fades and all things are forgotten as each person seeks to claim their own life to live and build their own treasure.  Eventually, “you turn man back to dust.”  Where is the treasure that lasts for eternity? 

Heavenly treasure is the gift that keeps on giving, multiplied by the impact of what is true, good, beautiful, and binding in love.  The gift of unity that makes us one body in Christ.  The higher good that places other at our side.  The truth that remains as valid yesterday as today.  The beauty of creation living out its purpose without fear for it rests in its creator.  This makes all creation binding in love. 

This treasure is seen in an infant coming to life in the womb and nurtured from same body and blood of the mother; received into the world expecting only goodness and love.  This is the path into this world that the child Jesus came to us for our salvation to represent all that is of God and from God.  For even while in the womb Jesus reached out to the womb of Elizabeth and John leaped for joy. Heavenly treasure is uniting our hearts to Jesus’ sacred heart so that the graces may flow from him to us doing his will in the mystery of faith. 

The mystery of faith is God’s presence in us and through us as we respond to the Spirit according to his will.  It is what gives us the writings of the bible by many authors and makes it all the “Word of God”.  It is an inspiration, receiving the breath of God and transformed into his image so we may say “it is not I that lives but Christ who lives in me.”  Anything else is our vanity of vanities. 

Lord, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.”  God first, God center, God always in our heart until the day you call us back.  This is life and the flesh is put to death.  Living with God is allowing him to guide our daily journey, explore the mystery of faith as he makes himself present in all our encounters in the world.  Ask, seek, and knock for God’s revelation is waiting for us to call to him.  Instead, we forget, we lose our focus, and begin to wander away into our vanities while he waits for us to turn back to him. 

Vanity of vanities appears in the sin of “immorality, passion, evil desire and the greed that is idolatry”, the false gods of our desire.  No one is greater than the other and the illusion that someone is also is vanity.  Ask someone to answer “who are you?” and they will tell you what they do, what their titles are, how they identify with an activity but “who they are” they have not identified. 

Our true identity is in God as three persons in whose image we were created.  Do we recognize ourselves this way?  I am a mortal in the flesh with an eternal soul created in the image of God sharing in the divine life of grace.  I am called by name for a purpose in this world and that shall not be denied to me from the evil one.  I am a child of God and in his image, I live a life of virtue.  This I am and was brought into this world for a little while but my destination is to get to heaven. 

Focus and “seek what is above”.  Listen for the voice of the Lord.  God speaks in all his creation and he speaks from within our souls but we must be still to listen.  We are not very good at being still.  We are always seeking “what’s next” as doers even when there is “free time” we look to fill it with something to do.  We are Martha doing and complaining and avoiding the opportunity to be Mary taking time for the better part.  In order to seek what is above we must focus and be still so God can fill the space in our lives uniting us to what is above, putting to death “the parts of you that are earthly” and giving us “the new self”. 

When we seek what is above, we quickly come to know the poverty of our being and are “Blessed” in the poverty of our spirit to receive the gifts of the kingdom of heaven.  We cannot be both “full of ourselves” and full of the spirit of God.  We must first empty ourselves in order to receive our inheritance from the treasure of heaven.  If we say “Lord, forgive me for I have sinned against you” then the next right step is to go to the sacrament of confession and receive the gift of absolution from a priest who acts in the person of Christ to “bind or loose in heaven”.  It is the body of Christ in the Church that sets us free. 

There is a perpetual sacrifice Christ suffers for our sins and he thirsts to set us free.  Jesus is asking us for water as he did the woman at the well.  He desires to free us but he cannot free us without us coming to him.  If today you hear his voice, then come to him “as is”.  We will never be ready if we waiting for the right moment in our life.  Jesus sees “the will to come” and comes to meet us where we are.  He is gracious in mercy and love, “slow to anger and rich in kindness” but he knows better than us that our “clock” of time is quickly passing and we have yet to seek him.  Let us not let our vanity of vanities keep us from hearing his voice this day. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

17th Sunday Ordinary Time – Ask, Seek, and Knock!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen. 18:20-32; Ps. 138:1-3, 6-8; Col. 2:12-14; Lk. 11:1-13

Ask, seek, and knock!  “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith” born again from the womb of his love.  We have now “received a Spirit of adoption through which we cry, Abba, Father.”  In him we are to ask, seek, and knock and he will answer us.  Abraham “dared to speak” and was persistent in his asking God for mercy and justice for all for the sake of a few innocent people.  Abraham’s name begins with “Ab” meaning “father” in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek as a father figure on earth speaking up for God’s people.  Abraham is leading us to recognize there is one who is coming who is truly innocent and for the sake of this innocent one nailed to the cross all of humanity can be saved through faith in him.

“Lord, teach us to pray” to “Abba” our Father who is in heaven.  Lord, teach us to recognize “hollowed be your name” which is the power of your name, how sacred it is and how careless we are when we treat your name in vain as just another expression of our self-centeredness in frustration or surprise, as in “O.M.G.” or calling out “Jesus” when angry.  When we treat your name in vain, we make of ourself a “god” and of you a servant and forget we are mortal creatures of dust and you are pure spirit of love eternal.  We forget you created us and yet when we use your name in vain, we try to create of you an object of our needs.  This is not how to ask, seek or knock on your heart in truth and holiness. 

Abba, Father “forgive us our sins” our vanity and false pride that leads us to fall once again.  Just as Abraham sought mercy for his people be merciful to us where sin abounds in the heart wash us clean through the sacraments of the church you instituted through your son.  Let us seek your mercy as you teach us to pray truly meaning what we say and saying what we hold deep in our souls, the naked truth of our being.  A sinner was I born but a saint I am being transformed. 

We are like “gods” only in the sense of when we come and follow you that you allow “your kingdom come” into our lives to live out your glory.  It is only then that we taste and see your goodness and the light of your glory.  Your kingdom is to be lived in the heart of your love “as we ourselves forgive everyone” from the heart even as the mind does not always understand we turn to you and trust in you, “your will be done”.  “Abba, Father” save us from the final test and the snares of the evil one who by the power of your name is defeated.  This we ask of you, seek your will, and knock upon the door of your heart.    

“Abba, Father” we ask that you “give us each day our daily bread”.  Father, you have given the bread of life to the church to feed us the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist.  Teach us to love you in this sacrifice of love you offer us as a daily bread from heaven.  Father, you told Moses to remove the sandals from his feet as he stood on holy ground.  You are the holy of holies in the sanctuary of the church remove the blinders from our eyes that we may see and give you the reverence and worship of our love for you. 

Abba, you have left us your daily bread in your word where we can seek you and you reveal yourself to us.  The incarnation of your word is a guiding light in the darkness of a world that tries to deny you, denies the truth of salvation in you and through you.  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh in Jesus who was and is calling us to ask, seek and knock on the door of your Word that we may join you in becoming the word to others.  Your word is our defense and protection against the culture of death that seeks to redefine “truth” as a relative term. 

Abba, Father “do not subject us to the final test” without your presence to sustain us for we are weak and you are strong.  It is enough to pass through the test of each day without falling into temptation.  It is difficult to persevere during the test of suffering hoping and waiting for some consolation.  Let us not despair from asking in faith, seeking in hope, and knocking with love on the door of your heart while we wait upon you.  This is our prayer to remain in you and you in us through all the days of our life “for we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us” (Phil. 4:19). 

To ask is an act of humility as we recognize our powerlessness without God.  We are humbled from our youthful pride as bones become brittle, our flesh weak, and our mind forgetful.  Our time in this world is passing quickly and we wonder have we prepared ourselves for the final test as our day of judgment approaches.  The test of love with all our heart, mind and soul and our others as ourselves.  We dare to ask of ourselves by doing all things with love to the Father of love. 

To seek is an act of faith believing in someone greater than ourselves, someone beyond our understanding, someone eternal, our creator who comes to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We seek forgiveness from the God of mercy for having failed to love with godly love.  We seek what is lacking in us, the grace and power of holiness to do what is right, just, and merciful.  We seek to be in the image of God our Father that the world may believe. 

To knock is to first open the door of our heart, to trust in the Father’s plan for our salvation.  It is a plan tailored for each of us we wear as the perfect suit for our lives wrapped in his love.  We knock on the gate of heaven by living the sacramental life of the Church.  It is the gateway given to the disciples to become apostles of salvation.  We knock on the door of the Church to be received into the holy of holies from the fountain of love in baptism, confession, confirmation, the Eucharist, healing, and for those called to matrimony or Holy Orders.  These doors are opened to us as a channel of his grace. 

Abraham was an advocate for the people to the Father and the Lord heard his cry for mercy.  We are reminded of his persistence also in the parable of the “Friend” today by Jesus.  The Lord answers our cry for help and in the spirit of adoption we have received our advocate in the Holy Spirit.  We have a “Friend” in Jesus who lived our humanity and desires a stronger bond of love with us.  We also have our “Abba” Father ready to pour out on us his grace, his gifts of the Holy Spirit, and his promise of everlasting life. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

16th Sunday Ordinary Time – Do everything with love!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

Do everything with love and let this be our sacrifice. “Martha, Martha you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing.”  “Martha, Martha” is Jesus’ way of emphasizing the important of what he is about to say and wants Martha and us to listen well and understand the meaning of his word.  Are we good listeners to Jesus, to his word, to his teaching in its application to us?  The disciples often heard what Jesus said but did not understand his meaning.  We often hear but only understand at the concrete level without seeking the greater message which is how am I a part of this teaching?  Jesus is asking us to listen with our hearts and discern the truth at it applies to us, to transform our hearts to do everything with love. 

Martha is the host who “welcomed him” and takes responsibility to “serve” Jesus.  Jesus calls us all to be servants of the Lord and every task can be offered “with love” in serving Jesus.  Martha’s “mistake” is often our mistake by comparing ourselves with others as she compares her role with that of her sister Mary who Jesus says “has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”  It was a “choice” we make every day to serve God, to “do everything with love” in all we do as well as to stop and be still and listen to him.  Jesus loves both Martha and Mary but he cares that their actions come from the heart of love. 

Could Jesus have said to Martha, “you have chosen the better part”?  Possibly yes, if Martha’s attention to service was do everything with love for Jesus.  Then her hospitality becomes an act of love while Mary may simply care only to avoid work and was paying no attention to Jesus.  Do everything with love and it is transformed into an offering.  When we compare, we often judge others in a condescending attitude.  What underlies Martha’s attitude was fear of being judged by attempting to look good, being right, being a people pleaser, and trying to “fix” the problem she created in her own mind (“Four leaches”, Julian Treasure, How to speak).  Now we ask ourselves “does this attitude of fear show itself in us?”  Probably every day to some degree when our focus is on us and not on Jesus, we lose an opportunity to be transformative in our service. 

Looking good is the sin of pride when the focus is on being better than others as if we were in competition.  Martha’s sin of pride is to question Jesus “Lord, do you not care…?”  Martha, Martha are you making yourself to be the judge and jury better than Jesus?  In Martha’s view Mary by not helping is making her look bad.  Jesus’ response, “Mary has chosen the better part” is understood that he can see her heart is ready to listen to him. 

Martha is concerned with “being right” meaning Mary is wrong for sitting to listen to Jesus.  When we make an issue of being right, we again make ourselves better than the other and bring division to our relationships.  We make it about us rather than validating what others have to contribute.  When we become the “people pleaser” we reveal our underlying insecurity, seeking acceptance from others where acceptance begins from within.  The consequence of disordered thinking becomes disordered behavior as we try to “fix” what may not be broken, and we made a crisis for ourselves and others.   Stop and choose the better part.

The better part is instead of attempting to look good recall it is not about us but about him as Mary demonstrated.  Make it about the good of the other without complaining and ask for what you need by lifting up the other with a little kindness and recognition.  Martha could have said, “Mary, you are so good at setting the table, please assist me for a moment.”  Direct to the need maintains the unity without complaining or judging.  Say it with genuine love for that is what we are called to do. 

The better part instead of sounding off as “being right” or justified and judging others as wrong is to first seek to validate the other.  What if Martha had said, “Mary you have chosen the better part by listening to Jesus but I need you for a moment please”.  Validating first does not make anybody “wrong or right” just different in their behavior.  Validating a person does not mean that the behavior cannot be changed, improved, or when needed stopped.  It allows the person to look at themselves, their behavior and come to value other behavior as meaningful and appropriate and even called for in certain circumstances. 

“People pleasers” lose themselves in others becoming the chameleon that changes color to fit in, seeking to be accepted while in the process sacrificing their own values.  If you ask a people pleaser “who are you?”, they have no answer left wondering what the right answer is.  Being more concerned with being right the answer comes back “it depends”.  “It depends on who I am with” is what they are saying.  We all have different roles in life, but we do not have to wear different masks to “fit in” with the crowd.  Let us recall, I am a child of God created in his image and thus I am a person of faith, hope, and love. 

Martha wanted to please Jesus as a good hostess to receive her recognition rather than simply to do it with love of him.  Abraham was not seeking any recognition when the Lord appeared to him.  He recognized in the three men a “God-sent” and looked to please the Lord with his hospitality.  The focus was not on himself but on God’s messengers.  God’s reward is something Abraham could never have imagined that he would have a child with Sarah by the next year. 

“Fixers” perceive a problem where there may not be one to fix.  Fixers fall into the trap of being “worried and anxious about many things.”  Fixers follow the mantra “what if” and then act as if it was already happening.  Fixers can also fall into the trap of living two lives, theirs and the one for who they are trying to “fix” the problem. 

Jesus reminds Martha and us we are to choose “the better part”.  The better part is to do everything with love, and it will be transformative.  The better part is to silence the thinking and be listening for the voice of God working in us and through those we encounter as a “God-sent”.  The better part is when we pray “Jesus I trust in you” and go forth believing in faith, hope, and love.  Let us live the better part of the gift of life and grace coming from the Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit. “There is need of only one thing.”

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Homily The Deacon Joe

15th Sunday Ordinary Time – “Go and do likewise”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Deut. 30:10-14; Ps. 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 6,37; Col. 1:15-20; Lk. 10:25-37

“Go and do likewise” as Jesus did “and you will live”.  This was the command Jesus gave to his disciples and to his “appointed seventy-two” he sent forth from last week’s readings.  “Go and do likewise” curing the sick, proclaiming the word, “to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you”.  “Go and do likewise” in loving God with all your heart, being, strength and mind and “your neighbor as yourself” by the acts of charity caring for the needs of others “and you will live”.  “Go and do likewise” as Jesus continues to do in our lives, he is “near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” Are we ready to carry it out for eternity?

Do we believe in eternity?  Eternity begins now in the flesh as Jesus came in the flesh to show us how to live for eternity.  He came in the flesh and in his divinity to take our flesh, wipe away our sins and open the gates of heaven to begin to live in the spirit, in the divine spirit, in the law of the Lord, love itself.  If we believe in eternity, then it all starts in the here and now.  We see it in the lives of the saints who lived and died in the flesh but were already experiencing the glory of God on earth.  We see it in the mystery of faith through the sacramental life of the church carrying out the mission of Christ to the world.  We also see it in ourselves in our answered prayers where miracles happen every day and we are moved to give thanks and give all the glory to God.

“Go and do likewise” as a sign of our love of God to be his image to the world.  Love of God is a constant movement to act out of our love for him.  It is not a fleeting thought that crosses our mind when we come to church but a constant reminder of his presence in our life.  It is not a fickle emotion that inspires us one minute and then fades as we go on living what we call “our” life. Without his breath of life, we have no life.

Our faith calls us to belong to God, so we no longer live for ourselves, but as slaves of his love for it is then that we are free.  Our heart is then united to his sacred heart.  Love of God is not to be strong but, in our weakness to see his strength active in us to “go and do likewise”.  Otherwise, we are an empty shell of shiny mirrors without substance.  All our being is a gift, and it can all be lived for the divine purpose to “walk the walk and talk the talk” that comes from him “and you shall live”.

Are we alive in Christ?  Life is difficult and we pray to God to be with us, to help us discern his will and to be prudent in making good decisions.  Now what?  Now we walk in faith so God may open the gates of heaven as we “do likewise” being Christ in this world.  The mission of the church is to proclaim the gospels as it nurtures our minds with his word and feed us his body and blood that we may carry him in our being and then to send us forth at the end of Mass to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, and in Spirit and truth trusting in him.  Here is the human dilemma, do we trust in God?  Being alive in Christ is trusting in him. 

“Jesus, I trust in you” is easier said than practiced.  To trust in Jesus sometimes requires us to “go forth” taking the right next step and sometimes it requires us to wait upon the Lord in God’s time to answer our prayers.  The best discernment comes through prayer when to act and when to wait.  There is the old expression “reading the tea leaves”.  It is being observant, keeping watch, listening for the movement of the Spirit around us and in us.  Trust is a letting go and letting God be the driver as we follow and look at the signs for direction.  “Direct us O’ Lord according to your will.”  Trusting in God is living the Serenity Prayer:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.  Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as he did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.  Amen.” 

The works of the Spirit brings unity as it works in and through us as well as in and through others.  The mystery of faith comes through unity, the unity of the Trinity, the unity of the church, and the unity of the people of God.  It is a welcoming, inviting and calling spirit where two or three are gathered in his name.  If we do not discern this spirit of unity then it may be time to dust off our feet and move on trusting in God where he may lead us. 

Are we ready to “carry out” the will of God in our lives?  The will of God is to love others, “your neighbor as yourself”.   We assume we know how to love ourselves well and from our goodness we know how to love others.  This small word “as” implies knowledge of true love, Godly love, perfect love.  As we love ourselves poorly, we in turn will love others poorly.  This poverty of love is controlling, demanding, objectifying, failing to respect the dignity and worth of others.  It does not try to meet others where they are at but judges them based on where they are not.  Can anyone be saved if God judged us based on where we are not?  God meets us with his mercy as we are and calls us to something greater that he desires for us thus “go and do likewise”. 

To love ourselves well is to recognize ourselves as a creation of God according to his image.  Created in his image we then look to him to perfect us in love through the gifts of the Spirit, through his mercy, and through the power of his sacraments he left us in the Church.  To love ourselves well begins with Him and ends with Him and as we think in between “He is!”  He is the creator, the lover, the sanctifier, the consoler, the savior.  He is and always will be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, so let it be Him the acting source in our lives and our love will grow in perfection fulfilling his word, “So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Mt. 5:48) 

“Be perfect” is a command.  When we raise our thoughts, hearts, and will to God we enter into his perfection.  We are to “let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (Jam. 1:4-6) Let us unlock the significance of the command “be perfect”.  It does not say “try to be perfect” for this implies something less than perfect is all that is needed.  We accept the idea “I try to be good” as if that is enough. We turn to the excuse “no one is perfect” and settle for less than the command.  Let our prayer be “I will be perfect as called to be in the perfection of this moment by the will of God”.  We are calling our being to “be perfect” and on God to raise us up to his perfect will at this moment. His promise will be fulfilled for we are asking God to be perfect in us as we “go and do likewise”.  God answers the call when we call upon Him which is his desire all along that we turn to Him, and he is there.  In your perfection Lord, guide us to your perfect will. Amen. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

14th Sunday Ordinary Time – The Kingdom of God

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 66:10-14c; Ps. 66:1-3, 4-7, 16, 20; Gal. 6:14-18; Lk. 10:1-12, 17-20

“The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.”  This promise given by Jesus is to those who welcome him and his “appointed seventy-two” into their home.  Do we welcome his “appointed” servants, through the one Catholic and Apostolic Church into our home and do we rejoice in the heavenly Jerusalem?  The Church is the heavenly Jerusalem on earth who provides us the “milk of her comfort that we may nurse with delight at her abundant breasts!”  We nurse from the sacramental life of the Church as a mother to its people.  As we welcome the church Christ is present in his body, blood, soul, and divinity. 

The Kingdom of God is opened up to those who welcome the church into their hearts.  How tremendous are the deeds of God in the church making of us a new creation through baptism, forgiving sins in reconciliation, curing the sick with anointing, exorcising demons, and confirming the faith to all who call upon the Lord.  If we belong to Christ then we all share in his body called to be one in union with him and in his body.  This is not some “spiritual thing” we feel but something tangible in the word of God, in the sacraments, in the Eucharist, and in the people.  Jesus’ resurrection was a tangible body, not a spirit of illusion.  He ate and drank and was touched.  Let us welcome the kingdom of God in body, soul, and spirit.  Are we not called to make of our bodies the temple of the Lord? 

“The harvest is abundant” in our times as many leave the church and pews become empty.  Others are simply raised not to believe but in themselves only.  In an age of mass communication there are many competing voices making “connections” with the world around us and yet people find themselves more isolated, more in search of a purpose, and more confused on what to believe.  They lack the one connection that matters most, God.  Here is the dilemma, God works through others, through the church, through his messengers so we cannot be disconnected from others if we desire to get closer to him.

God works through a husband to his wife and through the wife to her husband.  He works through parents for their children and through children to ponder the love of God when we gaze upon a child with love.  God works through the stranger who is charitable to us and through us in our charity towards others.  The kingdom of God is not a hardwired single line to heaven but even greater than an algorithm created by God to unite his kingdom from age to age, across generations, and when two or three are gathered together in his name. 

“The laborers are few” as less respond to the call to the priesthood or religious life and the lay people simply say “I have no time…it is not for me to evangelize…it is not my business…I don’t feel comfortable”.  If not us who?  We all have a call to speak for the kingdom of God each according to the state of life we have chosen.  It begins in our being, by being who we are that determines what we do.   Our being is an authentic Christian centered faith, practitioners of what we believe, and a “naturalist” of the law of God.  Our being is a manifestation of love for God.  God is love and in his being we reside through the love of charity by giving of ourselves not just from what we have but from who we are.  We are a child of God who is calling us to live in his love. 

 In each sacrifice of ourselves we bring God into the world.  It is the testimony that Jesus left us on the cross.  As he lived and died for us, we also live and die for love of God and others.  This is the significance of this weekend for this country.  It honors those who lived and died for freedom, the freedom we get to live this day.  This is the significance of the lives of the saints who lived and died for Christ in serving others.  This is the significance of bringing a child into this world who we live and sacrifice for because love makes the sacrifice meaningful. 

The Kingdom of God brings us the “peace of Christ” as it takes possession of our hearts.  This “peace” is the love of God who enters our hearts and dwells in us.    Its control over our hearts is through the virtues we receive to strengthen our resolve to do good, to love our neighbor, and to labor in the kingdom of God not as “busy-bodies” but with a God-given purpose to “never grow weary of doing what is right” (2Thes. 3:13).  Do all things with love and the kingdom is open to us this day.

When Jesus sent out the seventy-two to proclaim the kingdom of God they were to announce, “the kingdom of God is at hand”.  He knew not all would welcome his messengers for he said, “I am sending you like lambs among wolves.”  Evil exists in this world free to bring suffering, anger, jealousy, ridicule, and even death to the lambs of God but even death does not have the final word.  It is in dying to ourselves that we are born into eternal life so fear not the evil that this world will bring upon us.  God in his infinite mercy tells his disciples not to rejoice “because the spirits are subject to you but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” 

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Homily

13th Sunday Ordinary Time – The Lord speaks!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1Kgs. 19:16b, 19-21; Ps. 16:1-2, 5, 7-11; Gal. 5:1, 13-18; Lk. 9:51-62

The Lord speaks!  The Lords speaks the words “Follow me” to each of us this day.  Elisha is anointed by Elijah and immediately Elisha recognizes the call by Elijah to follow him “as his attendant” his understudy “as a prophet to succeed you (Elijah)”.  In the same way in today’s gospel, the Lord Jesus speaks calling some to follow him but like Elisha they desire to attend to their personal and family needs before accepting the call.  Jesus words are definitive “let the dead bury their dead” and “no one who…looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”   The Lord speaks clearly to be his follower is a call to sacrifice for the greater kingdom. 

We are all called to the kingdom of God, but some receive a higher calling, to leave everything behind and “go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  The church has discerned that the Lord speaks of this calling as special grace given to the priesthood and religious life. They leave behind not only the family of birth but the hope of marriage and personal family for the kingdom of God.  Perhaps this is why we dare not ask the Lord “Speak, Lord your servant is listening”.  The Lord speaks of a complete surrender to him something we fear and would respond to with the same desire to say “yes, but…let me take care of what is in my heart first”.  When the Lord speaks it is for us to place him in our hearts before all else. 

We too are baptized priest, prophet and king called to leave behind a life of sin in a world that seeks its own kingdom. We are called to sacrifice in union with the heart of Jesus.  This month is celebrated the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the church recognizing in June the Friday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, (last Sunday) as the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The heart is a symbol of love and the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus surrounded by the crown of thorns reminds us of his passion and death “for the ungodly” as proof of his love for us.  Even now as baptized and reconciled to him he gives us his promises to join our hearts of flesh with his most sacred heart when we come to him.  So, what do we fear? 

We fear surrender of our will, we fear what the Lord may ask of us, we fear the unknown.  We hold onto what we know and our desire for control and our illusion to live this life for ourselves as the center of our universe.  We don’t know how to detach, to let go and let God. To surrender to God is to gain everything while to hold on is to lose even ourselves for we are dust and to dust we shall return but to those united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is to gain what is eternal. 

We pray prayers, we pray what is in our mind, but do we call out to God to say “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”?  Are we listening?  Jesus is not speaking in the wind, he is not speaking in the fire, or the constant noise around us.  He said he would put his law of love in our hearts.  We have to search our hearts before we hear his voice and “the words of everlasting life”.  An examination of our heart brings us to Jesus and his Sacred Heart, to the truth of the gospel, and to where we are to go and follow him.  Dare we go there?  The real question to ask is “dare we not go there?”  Eternity depends on it. 

The Lord speaks of being called for “freedom”, a freedom from the flesh, a freedom from being focused on oneself, a freedom to “love your neighbor as yourself”.  The flesh is driven by the senses “what feels good” as the pleasure principle that no matter how much we try to satisfy the senses there remains a hunger for more.   The focus on self is driven by the mind to build oneself up, to be first among others, to create an image of false pride as if we did it “our way” and God was simply a spectator.  How foolish!   For the Christians, God is always active in our lives.  The freedom to love your neighbor as yourself is driven by the will that we may be one in union with God called to be one in the Trinity, in the communion of saints and in this world with your “neighbor”. 

The senses of the flesh are for us to taste, see, touch, hear and smell the goodness of the Lord in his creation.  They lift our spirit up to God.  Taken wrongly they become the purpose and not the means to a greater good.  We have all heard the expression of someone who “lives to eat” rather than “eat to live”.  This is indicative of misguided passions.  The mind is our connection to the truth of God set free to discern his presence in our life as a listening servant to do his will.  The mind can fool itself into thinking what it believes is the only truth that matters to claim for itself.  The freedom to love the other as yourself is an act of the will to do God’s will even when the other is unwilling to love.  It is the freedom to love that can protect us from sin and by not doing to others what we would not want for ourselves. 

Do we welcome Jesus into our heart and into our home?  Imagine Jesus walking into our home what he would see, feel, say and receive.  Would he see his peace and unity given to us as his followers or would he see individual battles being fought to gain control?  Would he feel the love of his sacred heart pouring out for the good of each other or would he feel the hurt, bitterness, anger of being offended by the insensitivity of others?  Would he say I recognize my own and my own recognize me or would he say “I do not know you” and would we even recognize him?  And what would he receive from us, our love, a place of rest to lay his head, a place at the table to break bread as a family or our complaints?  Consider and let us ask ourselves are we more prone to rejoice in what others do and celebrate life or to complain for what we want them to do? 

This week marks a major victory for the defense of life for the unborn child against the claim of individual rights to choose and privacy as a “constitutional right”.  There are limits to our freedom and privacy in many of the laws for a better society.  The right to choose and privacy does not exist when an adult commits the crime of child abuse and molestation within the privacy of their home.    The state recognizes the need for defense of the most vulnerable in our society.  That defense is now possible to extend to the unborn child in the womb.  While the battle will continue, we now recognize in science what was not known before in terms of the potential for viability and humanity of the unborn.  It is a child with the full potential to live in this world as a gift of life from God.  The Lord speaks for the unborn as his sacred heart calls out “let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Lk. 18:16)

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Homily

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110:1-4; 1Cor. 11:23-26; Lk. 9:11b-17

To all the fathers, Happy Father’s Day!  Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ as the summit of our Catholic faith.  From Melchizedek in Genesis in his priesthood with “bread and wine” as a foreshadow of Christ himself to St. Paul looking back to the command of Jesus to “do this in remembrance of me” to Christ himself in the multiplication of the loaves and fish, it is a manifestation of the sacrifice of Jesus giving up his body and blood to nourish our lives, remain with us, and lift us up to heaven. 

God the Father has given us his Son for our salvation.  Jesus the Son gives us himself as a sacrifice of love of himself and the Father.  Together they are the epitome of what our lives as Father’s with our children are to reflect.  Our children are a gift from God and we are to give them up to God by raising them to be his children by coming to know, love and serve God.  Jokingly a parent may express their rights over a child with the words “I brought you into this world and I can take you out”.  Nothing can be a more distorted view of life that this, to assume “our” children means total rights over their life.  They as we are a child of God first and we carry a right of responsibility to bring them up as a child of God. 

Fathers are the first image of God the Father to be head of the domestic church at home.  This is a right to make the greater sacrifice for them.  It is in the sacrifice that we gain our authority to lead them in the way of God the Father.  Nothing gives a child more of a lesson of love and humility than to see their Father bow his head and pray, to listen to a Father’s prayer of surrender to God, to hear a Father’s words of love for God and their family.  In a Father’s prayer the mask of false pride and power is removed and the truth of our weakness and trust in God is revealed.  A father’s love is a powerful sign of our heavenly Father to grow in faith, hope and love.

Children believe what their fathers do more than anything they say so that our words may confirm what our actions reveal about our own faith and obedience to God.  If we desire the best for our children, it will never come from what we can give them of the world.  The best for our children comes from our relationship with them learn from us how to be the best God created us to be, to discover purpose and meaning in life, and to see in Jesus that it is in giving of ourselves that we receive the kingdom of God for eternal life.

If we truly believe there is a heaven and a hell and we will determine our eternal destiny by the way we live this life then there is only one thing that matters above all.  It is the “one way” God has provided for us to his glory.  The rest is just a “supporting cast” of gifts from God to live this one way to heaven.  Our home, our work, our friends and family all are a gift of God’s love and mercy.  The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is a reminder of the “one way” we die to ourselves that we may rise to eternal glory.  Let this be the day others see in us our love manifested in our acts of charity to be the true image of God in this world.  Then we will truly live our call as “fathers” making every day a Father’s day. 

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Homily

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – One in God

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Prov. 8:22-31; Ps. 8:4-9; Rom. 5:1-5; Jn. 16:12-15

One in God and three in one we celebrate this Most Holy Trinity.  The mystery of faith is this unity to be one in God united to the Most Holy Trinity.  Called to be children of God can we say, “The Lord possessed me”?  From the beginning who is this “I” poured forth “before the earth”?  “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” and through the blood of the Lamb in Jesus Christ.  God is love thus God has poured out himself throughout the earth giving of himself to us.  The Son of God “was his delight day by day, playing before him…When the Lord established the heavens” he was there.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit is there and there is now here with us and for us to be one in God. 

The “Spirt of truth” brings us the voice of God in the Son to guide us and strengthen us that we may even “boast of our afflictions in hope of the glory of God”.  The Lord finds “delight in the human race”.  We are his delight as a son is to his father who in his fatherly wisdom is guiding us through our afflictions to grow in sanctity that we may be perfect in faith, hope and love.  The struggle of humanity is recognizing when we fall from our sinfulness we may rise again by the mercy of a Father’s love.  When the world drives us to follow our own way limited by what little we know the Father sent us his Son to follow his way by the revelation of truth and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  God is truth in its undefiled and unblemished totality coming to us in the Spirit.  

We pray “I believe in one God” Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and in “one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”.  The Church is the bride of Christ who has received the revelation through the Spirit of truth in its holy servants who by tradition and word have given us “the Word of God”.  Before the word was written down as scripture, before Word was made flesh in the Son of God, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God one in being and was poured forth “beside him as his craftsman”.  

One in God the Lord takes delight in us partakers of his creation.  Belonging to creative matter still “little less than the angels” we are to have “rule over the works of your hands” as trusted caretakers of creation.  The Spirit of truth comes that we may begin by taking care of our bodies to be kept holy as the temple of the Lord.  The Spirit of truth comes that we may care for the environment of whose elements our bodies are formed and sustained.  The Spirit of truth comes into our souls that we may be prepared to receive the gifts of the Spirit to be transformed even further into the image of God. 

Let us lift our voices up and proclaim “the Lord possessed me”, I am his and he is mine.  The Lord’s possession is one of love not as slaves.  We belong to a kingdom of love where treasures are there for us to possess as gifts of the Holy Spirit.  These gifts are the power to bring down other kingdoms of evil, to overcome spirits of darkness, to lift up others from their fallen state of death.  Possessed by the Lord we have the Spirit of truth, the power of love, and the victory over death.  Here lies the human dilemma none of this is possible by any act of our will but by our surrender to God that we may be possessed by him.  As we surrender to God we no longer live for ourselves but for his will to be done in us, we no longer seek our way but his way by having a true relationship of love with God, and we no longer belong to the kingdom of this world but to the kingdom of heaven one with God we remain in his presence. 

Most Holy Trinity come to us and remain with us as we rise up to the reality of the eternal kingdom among us for the glory of heaven, here I am. 

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Homily

Pentecost – Solemnity “If only!” 

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Homily

Ascension of the Lord

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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