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Homily

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

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Homily

2nd Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy Sunday

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Homily

Easter – The Resurrection of the Lord 

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Homily

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Homily

5th Sunday of Lent – God’s upward calling

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Homily

4th Sunday of Lent – Taste and see!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Josh. 5:9a, 10-13; Ps. 34:2-7; 2Cor. 5:17-21; Lk. 15:11-32

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”  In Christ we are a “new creation; the old things have passed away” and we are called to be “ambassadors for Christ”. As baptized Christians we all have a calling to reconciliation.  From the ministry of the priesthood and the sacrament of reconciliation to the baptized faithful we carry a message from Christ “as if God were appealing through us”.  The message is to seek reconciliation with God and with each other so we may taste and see, through reconciliation the goodness of the Lord.  We are to pray for our enemies, bring peace into our homes, and spread the good news of reconciliation to our neighbors.

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” in our neighbor.  It is not that hard to love thy neighbor in the abstract until they move into our neighborhood living close enough, we hear their music outdoors, their dog poops in our yard, and their yard starts to look like a jungle.  We’re suppose to love “that”?  We’re suppose to love “them” not “that”.  We’re suppose to seek reconciliation to support the peace and the God of peace will work through us so we may taste and see how something negative can be transformed into the goodness of the Lord.  Ambassadors speak for the one they represent and we represent Christ first before it becomes about “us” and not all about us.

Our Protestant brothers and sisters are much more accustomed to asking others “are you a Christian?”  In asking it seeks to find common ground as a believer with what unites us before we ever look at what separates us.  Then as ambassadors for Christ they will refer to bible passages to share their faith and their love of God as an invite to join in a faith discussion.  If you have ever been asked the question what was the response?  Hopefully it was “yes, I am Catholic” and able to speak for the faith we carry as One, Catholic and Apostolic Church.  We are ambassadors of the Church and we can bring reconciliation to our separated brothers and sisters by the message we deliver of faith, hope, and love through an understanding of our Catholic faith with others.  We want others to taste and see the goodness of the Lord by spreading the faith in God under his church. 

One of the blessings out of media resources is Catholic programming in radio, television, podcasts, social media, internet, and even audio books.  Programs specifically targeting either a return to the Catholic church or the apologetics of the church in understanding our faith are having a great impact.  I hear callers say they are not Catholic but enjoy listening in or by “chance” they tuned in and began to listen.  Often it is Catholics who are being catechized further in understanding our faith through media.  Every week I post the Sunday homily to the webpage www.thedeacon.net to share the gospel message because it may be the word that someone needed to hear to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord”.   

Catholic media can be a bridge to spiritual direction.  The Church supports and believes in the value of a spiritual director but how many of us have a spiritual director?  I suspect not many and one reason is there are few available to provide that one-on-one guidance on a regular basis.  Pastors are generally “fire fighters” for crisis situations.  I met with a priest for spiritual direction recently and he informed me he would probably be leaving the diocese.  Given the reality that there are few priests available to meet with he suggested using Catholic reading material as a form of reflection, prayer, and guidance.  If you give me a book, I’m good and happy.  We need to grow deeper roots into our faith and media resources is one form of feeding the soul so we can have a well-informed conscience. 

Taste and see the healing power of God.  In the gospel, Jesus gives us a parable of the mercy of God in the Father and the fallen nature of humanity in the two sons.  The son who squanders his inheritance in a life of corruption “was dead” says his father, an indication of living in mortal sin.  By his return to his father, he “has come to life again”.  In our day we have many sons and daughters being lost in corruption of addictions of all types, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, even to power.  They live in the culture of death dependent on what is evil and separated by mortal sin rejecting the love of God.  Their inheritance of heaven has been lost but hope is the last to die for their return home through the mercy of God.  God’s love heals the broken, sick, and lost when our senses recognize only a power greater than us can heal us, lift us from the pit of sin, and restore us in right relationship with our God, our family, and our friends.

Taste and see in the “older son” the danger of the sin of self-righteousness.  When we judge ourselves better than others, more deserving, and entitled we fall into the pit of pride slowly eroding the image of God by the denial of all our venial sins creating separation not unity.  What is the “taste” the older son had?  It was a taste of “bitterness”, bitter that his brother had returned and was being welcomed back with love by his father.  The bitterness of pride creates a false sense of self-righteousness. 

The older son believed by his obedience he had earned his entitlement and was never even given “a young goat to feast” with his friends.  His error in judgment was in comparing himself to his brother and expecting a reward based on his merits.  Perhaps the older son may have even felt there was favoritism by the father if you recall the story of Cain and Abel.  The jealousy of Cain for his brother Abel caused him to shed the blood of his brother, just like the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers caused them to want to kill him.  Do we celebrate the success and blessings of others or do we taste and see with bitterness their joy? 

Let us compare ourself to no one else but if we are tempted to compare ourself then let us look to Jesus and ask ourself “are we living the life example and message he gave us?”  We take a tea cup and fill it to the top and we take a beer mug and fill it to the top, both are 100% full but each has a different capacity and purpose for what it is capable of holding.  Each of us is given a gift and possibly more than one gift that we can taste and see what good our gift can produce.  For example, my gift as a deacon is a great blessing but it is not the gift of priesthood.  So much more is expected from a priest that is not my calling.   Pray for our priests because they will give account of all the lives they served or failed to serve.  Let us be humble and thankful for what God is asking of us in our state of life for to who more is given more will be demanded.  We may only have one talent but one talent can move mountains when it comes from God. 

This Lent let us “taste and see the goodness of the Lord…in the land of the living” by faith and action to our calling.  Let us be among the living in the presence of God and pray for those among the dead in the darkness of sin.  This is our time to bring reconciliation into our lives by taking the first step towards mercy…that is to God himself in the act of penance for our sins. 

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” in the Holy Father’s consecration of Russia and the Ukraine and of all humanity this week on the day of “The Annunciation of the Lord” what miracles the Lord can bring to these nations and for all of us as we pray for peace and an end to war.  It is our calling to join in with our prayers asking God to reveal to us his goodness and by his mercy and love bring also our conversion.  Amen.

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Homily

3rd Sunday of Lent – “Here I am”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

“Here I am” called by the great “I Am”.  God reveals himself to Moses as “I am the God of your fathers.”  God is “I am who am” the God of all creation.  God is in the spiritual rock and spiritual food the Israelites ate and drank from “and the rock was the Christ”.  Here I am this day coming to receive him as we eat and drink from the bread and wine of the Eucharist and the rock is the same Christ.  This Lent is our call to respond “Here I am” as we tend to the flock of our daily lives.  The place we stand in our church is holy ground and we give reverence not by removing our “sandals” but by removing our sins.  Lent is our call to say “Here I am ready to remove my sins with the help of your grace and the love of your kindness and mercy”. 

Sin is the “destroyer” as it destroyed a generation of Israelites in the desert.  It is far more common for our generation to identify as “being good” than as a sinner as the world defines what is “good”.  If we accept the world’s view of “good” then we are standing on shaky ground.     “Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall” as St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Corinthians. 

Lent is a time to put ourselves to the test by identifying with the discipline of Lent in the spiritual battle with the flesh.  Too often the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and we fall back into our sins.  If we cannot succeed in the small battles of Lent, how will we survive the major attack from the destroyer?  “Here I am” to take on the battle of what I can control this Lent in order to build up the spiritual muscle for the battle of what I may not have control over in a world where the evil one “prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls”. 

In overcoming ourselves in the spirit of Lent we become open to receive the graces to overcome the enemy.  In the gospel, Jesus reminds the people and us that tragedy is not a sign of our sins “By no means!” We are not greater sinners when tragedy comes our way and in the same manner, we are no less a sinner justified by our good fortune.  Tragedy is not a punishment from God.  Evil comes upon the just and unjust just as the rain fall upon all.  Our purpose is to be ready and repent of our sins so that we may not perish “as they (Galileans) did”.  Lent is our call to redemption by our confession as sinners and the mercy of God.  Here I am ready to repent and be saved! 

The Israelites were “baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea”.  We are baptized into Jesus by water and the Holy Spirit.  The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years coming to the promise land a journey that only required eleven days to make but by their sins a generation died in the desert.  We are called not to wander but to carry the discipline of the cross for forty days to arrive at the promise land of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that in Jesus we may never die but live for all eternity.  Here I am ready to believe and be saved!

St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians warns his followers of the things that happened to the Israelites as examples “so that we might not desire evil things”.  What evil things do we desire that compare to the Israelites?  We desire to make of this world our God, our idolatry from the worship of power, profit, prestige.  We desire the power to control not only our lives but often the lives of others.  Try this Lenten exercise for one day, try to accept the freedom of will of another person, husband, wife, your adult child and realize just how much we desire control.  We desire the profit beyond our needs to have the pleasure of indulgence.  The indulgence of our bellies ready to supersize our orders; the indulgence of our eyes stuck to the screen of our phone, television, and computer; the indulgence of our passions because “its all about me” and make it all about the other.  We desire the prestige of being “first” not “least”, leader not servant, and proud not humble.  Here I am ready to be challenged in our desire for power, profit and prestige by learning to let go, abstain, and be among the least this Lent. 

Lent is call to enter into the passion of Christ, to take each day as a walk through the Stations of the Cross in all our struggles without the “grumble” of the Israelites and not perish.  We are to look on the parable of the fig tree as a sign of our own life.  We are the fig tree and God has planted us for a time on this earth to give fruit.  “Three years” for the fig tree represents our fullness of time on this earth and God is waiting to receive the fruit we were destined to produce.  If by our own freewill we seek another path and wander in our own desert, the day is coming when we will be on the receiving of the word “cut it down”. 

We have however our redeemer ready to cultivate the ground of our souls and fertilize it with the word of truth that we may repent and begin to produce the fruit for the purpose we came into this world.  The gardener of our souls and redeemer is Jesus Christ.  Lent is our renewal of this personal relationship with Jesus.  It is an invitation to say “Jesus, I trust in you” and let go and let God work to change our hearts, mind and will according to his love, a love that is everlasting.  Here I am ready to be cultivated by faith, hope, and love and we shall be saved.

“The Lord is kind and merciful…slow to anger and abounding in kindness.”  We look at the world and see darkness, war, violence, and death.  This is not from God but from the sin within the heart of humanity.  It is our self-destruction while the Lord suffers the pain of our sinfulness.  We pray for a miracle to end this madness but evil has entered into the world to do its damage.  Once God is removed from our institutions the structure of society will collapse from within.  The last institution to fall is the family and it begins by removing the “father” from the home through separation, divorce or even by conception without a father. 

Recently a caller on Catholic radio asked the host why do Catholics call a priest “Father” if the bible says to call no one “Father” except our heavenly Father.  The host asked “Do you sin with your eyes?”  She responded “yes”.  He then asked “have you plucked your eyes out since the bible says if you sin with your eyes pluck them out?”  She responded “Ok, I get it!” and went on to imply that the church will turn things into however it chooses and hung up.  The host by his response implied not everything said in scripture is taken literally. 

In reflecting on the caller’s question and the response by the host two thoughts came to me.  The first was that if our eyes sin then we are to “pluck them out” by removing the sin from our eyes and receive the vision of God through the eyes of holiness.  Sin is what we “pluck out, cut off, take out” of our lives.  The second was the understanding that we call a priest “Father” from the authority given by Jesus to Peter and the church to be in the person of Christ as Father to his people.  As “Father” a priest is given the authority of our Father in heaven to provide us the sacraments that we may come to receive forgiveness, healing, virtues and graces to live holy lives and resist the temptation to sin.  “Father” implies the authority of God to shepherd his people. 

In the same way we also have by our calling as fathers in the home a divine purpose with authority to be Fathers of God’s love just as women have their divine purpose to be Mothers of God’s love each a complement of the other.  If we surrender our children to be “children of the state” by allowing other institutions to determine what is right and wrong, when should the right to life begin and end, who determines sexual identity God or self then the last standing hope for truth will end and confusion, chaos, and tyranny will prevail.  Let us not surrender our God given authority to proclaim the word of God with freedom, to teach our children the truth of our faith, and to be witnesses to our faith when challenged to deny or be cancelled by the voices of anger and hate.  Here I am Lord ready to profess what we believe and to proclaim it that is to claim it by our actions. 

Here I am Lord, ready to be a warrior in the battle for truth, goodness, beauty, and unity in the one body of Christ.  Here I am ready to carry the cross that comes from the sacrificial gift of love of God, neighbor, and self.  Here I am come to do your will.  Amen.

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Homily

2nd Sunday of Lent – The Transfiguration

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen. 15:5-12, 17-18; Ps. 27:1, 7-9, 13-14; Phil. 3:17—4:1; Lk. 9:28b-36

The Transfiguration of Jesus is a revelation of the glory of God in the person of Jesus true God and true man “listen to Him”.  It is also a revelation that not only is Elijah and Moses alive in heaven but all those called to sainthood who responded in this life by giving up their mortal life in this world for the eternal one to come at the end of life.  When the Holy Spirit comes, we enter into the transfiguration to be holy as priest, prophet and king.  Today we are the ones being called to holiness, to be transformed into the image of Christ, to walk transfigured as the light in the darkness of the world. 

The transfiguration of Abram began as he put “his faith in the Lord…as an act of righteousness.”  Abram’s transfiguration came as he obeyed the Lord bringing forth the sacrificial gifts commanded of him.  Abram fell into a “trance” and in the darkness of the night “there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch” and God made “a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”  If we desire the same change in our lives to receive the promise then it begins with our obedience to the sacraments of the church to who the keys to the kingdom were given.  In them we bring the gift of ourselves as the sacrifice just as Jesus gave witness by his obedience and sacrifice of himself on the cross.  We are to take up our cross and follow in his footsteps and be transformed into his image.

St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians reminds us that many “conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their end is destruction.”  He invites us to be “imitators” of him who is the imitator of Christ.  The transfiguration of our mortal self from death to life will never come from “being occupied with earthly things.”  It can only give testimony to our “shame”.  Jesus will “change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body” and we will be like him transfigured into the glorified state of heaven.  Our call this day is to enter into the discipline of Lent with the goal of transforming our minds, hearts and bodies.  The Lord provides the channel of grace through fasting, abstinence and alms giving. 

The transfiguration of our bodies through fasting is a purging of the habit of indulgence of the flesh to rule our bodies and not be ruled by the hunger of the body.  The transfiguration of our heart is through abstinence from sin and the near temptation to sin that our eyes may gaze upon the passion of the Lord and not on our earthly passions.  The transfiguration of the mind is through our almsgiving that we may focus on the needs of others and by our generosity receive the reward of heaven.  We are invited to be transfigured by transforming our very self into the image of Christ as we offer our very self up to him and pray “let thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

The transfiguration of Jesus came prior to his death and resurrection as a sign of hope and a calling that we are not to wait for death to enter holiness.  Holiness is to be our walk with Jesus this day.  Holiness manifests itself as a “servant” of Jesus willing to take up our cross and follow to the land of “milk and honey”, the promise land into the kingdom of God.  This comes to us when we do as God the Father says to Peter, John and James “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”  Are we listening?  Lent is a call to increase our listening by prayer, study of the Word, and worship in fellowship as the body of Christ in the celebration of the Mass.  We listen to the voice of God in the liturgy and the word of knowledge sends us forth to do the works of the Lord. 

Jesus speaks to our soul as our mind is stilled to listen, our heart burns with understanding, and we are moved to right action.  By the Lord’s grace we come to know him, love him and serve him.  Let us call upon Jesus Christ to receive his grace and be transformed into his image and we will join in the chorus of the saints “The Lord is my light and my salvation” in him do I live, move, and celebrate with the angels and the saints.  Our transfiguration is a deepening of our faith, hope and love.  By deepening ourselves in Christ we become detached to the offering of the world that is transient and we are focused on what is salvific and eternal.  Jesus saves!  Our destiny is eternal.  Lent calls us to examine ourselves, our priorities, and our purpose in living and see where are we headed. 

The path of righteousness is a choice.  Choose life, choose love, choose Jesus and all other gifts will follow.  Lent is a time to prepare our “toolbox” for overcoming this world.  Jesus comes in the transfiguration from the old self to the redeemed self.  In him we are saved! Listen to him and be saved.

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Homily

1st Sunday of Lent – Jesus is Lord

Posted on by Deacon Joe

“Jesus is Lord” believe and be saved!  This is our Lenten journey to be “led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days” and overcome the temptations of the devil to hunger for this world when we are called to hunger for God alone.  It is when we are without that we learn that “One does not live on bread alone.”  The power and glory of this world from the devil cannot compare to the power and glory of God when we confess with our mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in our heart in the resurrection of Jesus.  We “will not be put to shame”.    

Moses was led by the Spirit for forty years to arrive at the “land flowing with milk and honey”.  This journey by the most direct means would have taken only eleven days something to be grasped and understood.  Why forty years for an eleven-day journey?  We ask was the Spirit misguiding the people or were the people’s spirit misguided by the temptations of the devil in their hunger for an earthly kingdom in this world?  By their actions and stubbornness of heart a generation would be lost in the desert.  The Lord’s promise to us of a land filled with milk and honey is a heavenly kingdom just beyond our sight but we may find ourselves wandering for years trying to create our own little kingdom of earthly riches and a lasting legacy of bricks and mortar that will return to dust.  The lasting legacy of life is a faith that endures in the lives we impacted during our time that continue to give testimony to our personhood in the image of God. 

In tribulation and times of distress do we cling to the Lord or in despair “dash your foot against a stone” in fear of this world.  “Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble” that I may not stand in your way of delivering me against the enemy.  In the name of Jesus, we will “trample down the lion and the dragon” because we cling to the Lord.  Now is a time of tribulation with war on the horizon and the evil one taking possession of weak souls.  Be strong in our confession of faith that the angels be commanded to guard God’s people in all our ways.  Pray for those whose lives are already in danger as they battle the enemy and call upon the Blessed Mother, the army of angels and saints for the miracle that will bring to an end war and deliver peace. 

Jesus is Lord of the heavens and earth, Jesus is Lord of the people who are ordered to bear arms against their brothers and sisters for an unjust cause, and Jesus is Lord of the persecuted fighting for freedom and peace.  Only Jesus can deliver us from the enemy who has already been defeated and is only trying to take others with him into the pit of hell.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for peace in the midst of war and evil.  Blessed are the sorrowful who suffer the unjust cruelty of war theirs is the promise of the land of milk and honey. 

When the Israelites went into the desert, they were saved from the Egyptians but they lacked in faith to be saved from their sin.  They desired to control their destiny rather than trust in the Lord.  They confessed their lack of faith with their lips and their actions and were put to shame.  Let us not be put to shame but rise in our faith that Jesus is Lord. 

The Lord was tempted and each time he outwitted the devil but he only “departed from him for a time”.  We must meet the persistence of evil with our confession of faith and have a well-trained soul in the Word of God for the evil one departs only for a time to return with a greater legion of demons in hopes of defeating us in our faith.  The army of Jesus must always be ready for the enemy with the weapons of spiritual warfare, prayer, fasting, a well-trained mind and body in communion with the Lord.  Even the body and perhaps most especially the body can be a source of weakness accustomed to the indulgencies of the world unaccustomed to being denied its passions.  Fasting and abstinence is a test for us that even our bodies belong to the Lord and to be kept holy as a temple to the Lord. 

In past times the battle was fought face-to-face with a breastplate to protect yourself from enemy’s weapon.  In order to protect your back-side the warriors stood back-to-back.  Our breastplate of prayer and the Word of God defends us in the battle but it is when we come together standing side by side and back-to-back “where to or three are gathered together” in the name of Jesus with the Church that we are protected from the blind side.  The sacramental life of the Church is our blind side protection against the enemy.  Alone the enemy will find our weakness but together with the Church the enemy can only flee from the power he cannot defeat. 

Lent is our time to immerse ourselves into building up our weapons for battle as the militant church on earth.  It is a call to put ourselves to the readiness test by training of our minds in the knowledge of the Word, our bodies in the discipline of the flesh, and our spirit in the love of other.  If God is with us who can be against us?  We must not become the one who is against his very self by remaining in the darkness of sin.  We are called to be the light of truth, goodness, beauty and unity.  We are called to be living in the image of God.  We are called to be the best God created us to be.  Authentic disciples who walk in faith, not in fear of the enemy but in the power of God’s love and mercy.  When we proclaim “Jesus is Lord” all the angels and saints rise up and join us in the battle already won. 

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Homily

8th Sunday Ordinary Time –   The sting of death!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Sir. 27:4-7; Ps. 92:2-3, 13-16; 1 Cor. 15:54-58; Lk. 6:39-45

“The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.”  Where is the law?  “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1).  The law is the word of God.  It is given to us in the ten Commandments, in the teaching of Jesus, in the natural law of creation, planted into the heart of the believer by God.  The law is always present to give power in order to produce the good fruit through obedience to the law but sin came into the world through disobedience and the world is filled with rotten fruit. 

“For every tree is known by its own fruit.” What is in the heart is revealed in the tongue clothed in either corruptibility or incorruptibility, in the sting of death through sin or “swallowed up in victory’ for immortality.  Guard the tongue from sin that remains in the heart until the sin of vice is conquered by the virtue of the law.  Pride is conquered by humility, lust by chastity, wrath with kindness, gluttony with temperance, sloth with diligence, greed with charity, and envy with patience.  This is what we believe is our life journey of purification from sin to take this opportunity and be cleansed of our sins for the greater victory of immortality. 

Old age has a way of creeping up on life like a “sieve” shaken and revealing if our husk is good fruit “vigorous and sturdy” or rotten at the core from a life of sin.  God in his mercy allows for the soul who has rotted from sin to receive forgiveness but forgiveness is the beginning of the purification process that if not gained in this life comes from the state of purgatory with its fire and justice as the potter molds us in the furnace.  For the one who says, “God will forgive me and I will go to heaven” don’t be surprised if at death when all truth is revealed that God’s forgiveness in his promise of heaven comes through his mercy by way of purgatory.  The justice of the Lord is the cleansing of any stain of sin for heaven is for the pure of heart, perfect in love, and fruitful in service.  Are we there yet or is God still working on us? 

We have a small dog who loves to go outside and roll in the grass.  He also likes to chase birds and if he could we would run into the lake behind our house.  No matter how much we love Trigger he is not allowed into the house dirty and smelly.  He has to be cleaned first.  In the same way we cannot enter into the house of the Lord dirty from sin.  Our cleansing must come first in this life or in purgatory for nothing impure can be with the purity of love and God is love. 

“Tribulation is the test of the just” and this day the world is in tribulation.  The sins of the world in a culture of death have risen from death to the unborn; death to religion in the public square; death to the biology of the body in sexual identity; death to free speech against the mantra of public opinion; death to humanity in genetic manipulation to create life in a test tube.  While the culture war battles itself there are those who seek to gain power by violence in the streets, violence in the name of religion, and violence by weapons of destruction.  As one nation rises against another the test of the just will be a reminder that when one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers. 

The voice of freedom must respond for the just.  From the call of Pope Francis for prayer and fasting for peace to the action of leaders to recognize evil and not be weak but stand for truth and justice by the authority entrusted to them.  We all have the power of prayer.  We all can make a sacrifice as an offering for peace.  Lent is coming upon us and this is the moment to make an offering of sacrifice for an end to war, an end to hate, a victory for peace before it spirals out of control.  The evil one has unleased his power taken possession of the souls of the weak who are filled with vices. 

Every soul has power and strength grows in times of tribulation as we sacrifice for a greater good and the sting of “death is swallowed up in victory”.  Victory comes “through our lord Jesus Christ” as we dedicate ourselves to “the work of the Lord” in whatever state of life we have been called to serve.  The work of the Lord is for everyone beginning with prayer that leads to action.  Pray and God will reveal the action needed of each of us and we need not to fear for God is with us and who can be against us.  Part of our mission is to be ready for the attack to come.  We are to prepare our children not just with an understanding of evil but with the faith, hope and love to fear not and be ready for the Lord comes.  He is our consolation and this world is but a passing moment in God’s plan of salvation. 

In war there are many casualties but also many martyrs who do not fear death but believe in a just cause.  Jesus is the just cause in who we must believe and trust.  He died for us that we may live for immortality.  The early church suffered many martyrs and persecution but with each death the number of followers only grew and we have received the inheritance of faith and freedom.  May we have the same love to live for the just cause our Lord has given us to fulfill the law of love, the law of the Word, the natural law, and the law of freedom.  Freedom is not free and without casualty but the victory has been won by Jesus and we are called to follow him. 

Freedom begins in the mind of the believer where the battlefield is fought against the enemy.  The natural law is in the science of truth as a creation of God.  The law of the Word is in the incarnation born to set us free from slavery where we are invited to join him by baptism.  The law of love is in the heart with the generosity to respond to the call to be the best God created us to be.  This is how we clothe ourselves with incorruptibility and the sting of death is “swallowed up in victory”. 

Tribulation reveals who is “planted in the house of the Lord” and who languishes in the world.  In tribulation “the just one…shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and sturdy…declaring how just is the Lord, my rock”.  Our justice is from the Lord so be not afraid when tribulation comes and the roaring waves of war, disease, and destruction is all around us.  Keep bearing fruit and trust in the Lord for even the sting of death is not the end but the beginning of a greater glory. 

Tribulation in life reveals what is in the heart of a person.  The gospel today reminds us how easy it is to be blinded by tribulation and begin to notice the splinter in everyone’s eyes.  It is easier to blame than to accept responsibility or recognize how did we contribute to the problem.  God’s reminder to remove the sin of our lives before we look into the sin of others is so we may see clearly and recognize the fruit we are consuming that is good and not rotten.  There is a lot of rotten fruit the world that is feeding us.  “Fake news”, half-truth, justified behavior for killing are all part of the menu.  Pontius Pilate asked Jesus what is truth?  Jesus says by their fruit you shall know.  Jesus was killed to protect the institution that felt threatened by his ministry even as he preached the love of God.  Today there are many institutions who would rather enter into the culture of death than into the dialogue for life.  The fruit of the means does not justify the end and if the fruit is rotten and evil then it comes from the heart of an evil person. 

The fruit of the evil one creates division, confusion and the sting of death.  The fruit of “a good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good” with right thoughts, right speech, and right action.  Let us keep in mind that “one’s speech disclose(s) the bent of one’s mind” and our mind must be well trained in the way of the Lord.  Speak the word of God with faith, hope, and love.  Pray for those who belong to the culture of death and are waging war against humanity.  Let us stay focused on the work of the Lord.  Let us be ready and recall the sacrifice of love by Jesus, by his disciples, and it is our turn now.  Lord may your love be in our hearts and word on our lips that we may proclaim your glory for ever and ever, Amen. 

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