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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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Homily

7th Sunday Ordinary Time –   The Golden Rule

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Sam. 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; Ps. 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13; 1 Cor. 15:45-49; Lk. 6:27-38

The Golden Rule “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  In the first reading David has the opportunity to strike Saul dead.  Saul is in search of David to kill him and instead of David having the mindset of “the first Adam”, to do to Saul as he would do to you, he takes the mindset of the “last Adam” with a “life-giving spirit” and spares Saul with a clear sign of mercy by taking Saul’s “spear and water jug” while he slept.  David acted in the spirit of Christ doing to Saul what he would have Saul do in return, spare his life.  This is the new commandment “to love one another” as he loves us under the Golden Rule and the Lord will spare us for eternity. 

Otherwise, what good is that!  “That” is to live in the flesh as the “first Adam” with “earthy” beliefs giving to those who give you, good only to those who are good to you, and lending expecting a return.  We are to put on the mind of God and today Jesus lays out this spiritual mindset to love the sinner despite the sins and pray for them.  God is not done with them and he is not done with us either in our conversion to “bear the image of the heavenly one…the last Adam” to be perfect by doing to others as we would have them do to us. 

God calls us to be perfect knowing that all perfection comes from him through his grace when we seek him.  If only for this moment our prayer is to be “I will be perfect with the help your grace as called to be in the perfection of this moment”.  In this moment we choose to respond to his grace within us to be perfect in our treatment of the “other” before us.  Even if the last moment was far from perfect this moment is what I have to respond to.  If in this moment through the grace of God we are perfect in our love, in our charity, in our mercy then the next moment may build upon it for now we enter into the kingdom of God where grace abounds.  Let us bury the earthy Adam in us and rise with the last Adam into his kingdom this moment, this hour, in this circumstance that we are in.  The Golden Rule is the response to the call to be perfect. 

With perfection comes generosity.  Spinoza the philosopher says, “If love is the goal generosity is the road to it.”  God is love and we desire true love we desire God and God loves a cheerful giver.  This is the meaning of today’s gospel, blessing those who curse you, doing good to all, giving of ourselves, being merciful and forgiving and the Lord cannot be outgiven in what he will “pour into our lap”. 

The wisdom of David was to not commit sin to save his earthy flesh but to convert the heart of Saul from committing sin.  Consider how our acts can be a source of conversion even for those who oppose us and desire our “death” in a cancel culture.  Many tried to silence the apostles, imprison them and even have them put to death but their love and sacrifice only made for the conversion of many by their courage to not fear but love by the Golden Rule.  David was a warrior taught to fight and defeat his enemy or lose in battle with his honor, his pride, his valor.  The words humble, forgiving, and loving do not come from training on the earthy battle field.  He did not learn the Golden rule from the world but from the spirit of God that lived within him. 

The battlefield of our life is fought in the mind and in the spirit of truth.  The mind is the battlefield leading us to act for good or evil, for righteousness or abuse, for justice or injustice.  Even in its sleep it is processing creating dreams of its struggle to overcome the conflict of life.   We can only come to rest our mind in thee, O Lord as we enter into the temple of the spirit of God within the holy ground of our soul.  The soul of David was filled with the holy ground of the spirit from where the Golden Rule lived and went forth to conquer in the spiritual warfare of the world. 

Saul was anointed by God and David was anointed by God yet one was overcome in the warfare of the mind for an earthy kingdom and the other chose the greater kingdom of the spirit of God.  We have been anointed by God in our baptism and continue to receive God in the sacraments of the church, but the warfare of Saul and David remains within our soul.  One will decrease and the other increase by our faith, hope, and love as we place our trust in the eternal God or in our own limited earthy power.

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Homily

5th Sunday Ordinary Time – Here I am…send me! 

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 6:1-2a, 3-8; Ps. 138:1-5, 7-8; 1 Cor. 15:1-11; Lk. 5:1-11

“Here I am…send me!”  The Lord reveals himself to Isaiah in a vision and Isaiah’s reaction is “I am a man of unclean lips…Woe is me, I am doomed!”  Jesus reveals his glory before Simon with the “great number of fish” caught in the net and “astonishment…seized him”.  Simon’s reaction is “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  We cannot stand before the light of truth in our sin and live but the God of mercy is ready to purge us and cleanse us at our confession of truth.  With our confession comes his mercy of forgiveness and then our call.  Are we ready for what and where he will lead us?  Readiness begins with our confession.

Just as the seraphim angel purged the sin of Isaiah with an ember, Jesus comes to purge us of our sins with his Word made flesh cleansing us through baptism and the ember on our lips is our confession.  Each Mass before we can receive communion. our lips confess our sinfulness to be purged as we pray “I confess to you…that I have sinned through my fault…my most grievous fault.”  It is the beginning of being called and sent forth as a disciple of Jesus Christ.    If our sin is always before us, we must examine our conscience daily and pray for mercy and healing.  “Here I am…send me” is our call at the end of Mass ready to proclaim what we have received, God’s love and mercy. 

St. Paul identifies himself “as to one born abnormally…not fit to be called an apostle”.  Many have speculated on what was his abnormality.  Was it physical, mental, or simply his sin for he “persecuted the church of God”?  Theologically we are born with original sin to be cleansed by water and spirit in baptism but was Paul recognizing this fallen nature of humanity?  This is our time to ask ourselves what abnormality of sin do we carry since birth?  The church speaks of the seven capital or deadly sins.  They include pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. They come with our fallen nature to be disciplined or allowed to foster into sin.  They are dispositions that lead to behavior of mortal sin, our separation from God. 

Readiness for God is a call to perfection.  God forgives us of our sins but his love is beyond forgiveness, he works to bring us to perfection as we are purged with the ember of fire.  He invites us take up our cross and follow him.  When we go forth in him then life itself is our shedding of the dead cells of our sin that have no life and growing in the new cells with a divine nature towards holiness. 

The fire of life is a battlefield and the enemy is in search of our weakness to deny us our claim for heaven.  His most persistent attack is from within us to our thoughts, emotions, and will.  It is a battlefield within the soul to take possession of us but he cannot possess what we have already offered to God as a temple to abide in us and we receive him in communion.  This is our defense and there is no greater act of preparedness than to come to Mass and receive him.  The church offers us our weapons for life.  They come in the sacraments of the church, in the prayer life of the church, in the Word of God, in the fellowship of the people of God and in the most holy communion.  This is the life of the church that prepares us to say “Here I am…send me!” 

With each generation the interest in responding to the call to the priesthood decreases[JG1] [JG2] .  Many religious vocations continue to lose members and for those who do respond there is an underlying culture of “professionalism” that looks for “advancement” in the ranks than for sacrifice.  With each generation the interest in parenthood decreases with the rise of abortion, children in foster care, and marriages having less children if any at all by choice seeking to live the culture of professionalism for self-actualization and recognition by the world.  With each generation our youth perceive a godless world as the norm and in order to be accepted in this world they are to live as if there is no god.  It is beyond separation of church and state for the rise in a “cancel” culture that desires an end to religion.  Who is willing to rise up in these times and be the voice to say, “Here I am Lord…send me”? 

If not now, when will we return to a culture of life in the Spirit of God?  If not us then who will speak these words of courage to be sent?  It is our time and it must begin with us who profess our faith in God.  He will do the work when we begin to say, “Here I am Lord…send me”. 

 [JG1]an

 [JG2]

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Homily The Deacon Joe

4th Sunday Ordinary Time – Love is it!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Jer. 1:4-5, 17-19; Ps. 71:1-6, 15, 17; 1 Cor. 12:31—13:13; Lk. 4:21-30

Love is it! It is “a still more excellent way” to truth, knowledge, prophesy, and all the mysteries of the greatest spiritual gifts.  “If I give everything I own and if I hand my body over so that I may boast” that is pride not love, and “I gain nothing”.   Love is it, “when the perfect comes”.  If all is lost and all that remains is love, we will live on with our faith and hope in something greater than ourselves and renew the spirit.  If we have everything of our desires but do not have love we will surely live with death at our side. 

Love it is!  It “bring(s) glad tidings to the poor to proclaim liberty to the captives.”  When Jesus enters the synagogue and reads from the book of Isaiah the Jews understood this reading as speaking of them as the “suffering servant of God” receiving liberty during the Exile and were poor, captive by the Babylonians, and even blind in need of healing.  Jesus changes their meaning of this prophesy to indicate the “poor” who had “no grace” lacking in union with God, “captive” to sin and not the Roman empire, and blind from the “truth” and without the light of God. 

We are all poor that is lacking the fullness of love and held captive by our sins.  The question is often asked, “Do you see the cup half full or half empty?”  To see the cup half empty is to deny the love of God that is present and can lead to despair and “why try for more”.  To see the cup half full can lead to hopefulness but can also lead to complacency as “good enough” and “why try for more”.  Either way there is risk of settling for less that God’s plan for us.  Love calls for more from each other and of each other in relationship.  There is something greater here than this.  God’s love is greater than our circumstances, greater than our comforts, greater than our struggles, greater than us.  Love is it and God is love.  Deal with it and be set free.  Until then we continue to live the proverb, “Physician, cure yourself.” 

When Jesus quoted the proverb “Physician, cure yourself”, he pointed to the day when those of little faith would see him on the cross and question how he could cure others but he could not come off the cross.   He also pointed to them though they “were amazed at his gracious words” they quickly became “filled with fury” and drove him out because the reflection he gave of them was of little faith and doubt for lack of love.  Without love there is this doubt, fear, jealousy, and anger directed at Jesus as they became “fully known” by the revelation of Jesus.  We become fully known by the measure of our love recognized as a son or daughter of God or a child of the world. 

At present we not only know partially but are partially known in the darkness of our sins.  The day is coming when we “shall know fully” and we will be “fully known” in judgment coming “face to face” with the light of truth something to be grasped.  Our mercy will be fully known by our love for what we have done and failed to do.  Are we ready for the light of truth to shine on us and fully reveal our lives before God?  If not, what are we doing about it?  Love is it and now is the time for greater love in our world, the love of charity, the love of mercy, the love of sacrifice, the love of God.  Love and be set free!  God is always ready to give of his love, are we ready to receive?  

Love is it!  It never fails to reveal to us the goodness, beauty, truth and unity of God.  If “we see indistinctly, as in a mirror” our vision is clouded with our own interests leading to our impatience, rudeness, quick-tempered reactions, and jealousy.  Love is not about us but of the other who we love.  When we were but a child, it was about us thinking as a child what we wanted and reasoning as a child our privileged entitlement talking as a child asking “why not?”  This is the culture of death of our times to remain as a child sacrificing the other for our own self interests in abortion, euthanasia, genetic programming, embryonic stem cell research, and denial of procreation.  For the world it is all about “us” and what about God?  God is being denied because God is about the “other” in our lives.  God is the “other” that makes all things possible.

The culture of death even proposes that we remain as a child and allow governance to determine our sustenance even now by proposing that some get paid to stay at home.  If we accept these “childish things” we surrender to remain a child to those in power and not a child of God who calls us to go forth with a greater purpose than ourselves.  Love is it and it comes with sacrifice.  If there is sacrifice love is present strengthening our perseverance with faith and hope in something greater. 

The author Gary Chapman became well known for his book on the “5 Love Languages”.  They include “words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, acts of service, and receiving gifts”.  This interpretation of love is identified by the behavioral aspect of demonstrating love.  The Greeks identify up to twelve types of love more than behavioral but in the essence of love.  C.S. Lewis describes four of these types in Agape, Eros, Philia, and Storge from a Christian perspective. 

Agape being the unconditional “God” love regardless of circumstances is selfless in charity centered on the other in its perfection to give rather than to receive.  Eros for Lewis is the sense of “being in love” not as an emotion but as rational being in a bond of love as in matrimony each giving of oneself to the other.  It may also be Eros of passion whereby we gaze upon God his majesty and he gazes upon us his creation.  Do we have passion for our God or is he simply treated as an acquaintance? 

Philia being the “friendship” coming from shared values, interests, and activities that create a freely chosen bond as Christ called his disciples “friends” to be of one mind, heart, and soul.  Storge is the “dependency-based love” of a child to their parent with the need for affection to thrive and without which it would withdraw and die.  It is both need-based and gift-giving.  In God the Father we recognize our need for God and his gift giving graces to overcome sin and thrive in holiness. 

There are three other types of love identified by the Greeks to include for the perfect number of seven.  These are Ludus, Philautia, and Pragma.  Ludus is translated as “play” the natural desire seen in all species of animals.  In the child play is the beginning of exploration at the wonderment of life and as we age play is keeping a sense of humor that lifts our spirit in the comedy of life to be challenging without fear of harm.  What a beautiful thing, we begin with play and we return to play as we see that God is it.  Play is an expression of love that is why sports play can be very unifying in spirit. 

Philautia is “self-love” the love of self-respect for our own dignity created in the image of God guarding our mind, heart, soul, and body from the danger of the evil one prowling about the world seeking the ruin of souls.  Self-love avoids the near temptation and consequence of sin that damage our soul and relationship to God.  

The last is Pragma the love of commitment as God’s covenant love for his people.  It is beyond any mere legalistic agreement.  It is the love coming from a sacramental bond of love in each of the seven sacraments.  It is God’s love committed for our salvation as he has ordained it and we freely receive and by our fiat we enter into it.  Let us always and in every moment say “yes, Lord” to this invitation. 

What do all these various forms of love have in common?  They all are based on relationship for even “self-love” requires of us to have self-awareness of the other to have meaning otherwise it is simply narcissistic sickness.  Relationship gives meaning to existence and purpose for being in Pragma that is in a committed love willing to sacrifice in the image of Christ our savior.  Love is it with the many faces of love but the same source of love which is God himself. 

There is a story of a child who went to his mother and asked “If God is real, why don’t we see him?”  The mother quickly said “Go ask your dad.”  The child went to his dad and asked “Dad, if God is real why don’t we see him?”  The dad quickly said, “Go ask your mom.”  The child felt ignored and began to question “Is God real?”  That weekend, his grandfather took him fishing out on his boat.  As they sat quietly waiting for the “bite” the boy turned and asked one more time “Grandpa, if God is real why don’t we see him?”  The grandpa sat quietly looking at the water and said nothing.  The body felt again ignored and discouraged wondering if there was a God.  Then the grandpa turned to him and said, “Son, at my age God is all I see.”  It is time for us to think, see, and be the adult who can see God and share the love that is God. 

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3rd Sunday Ordinary Time – “You are Christ’s body”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Neh. 8:2-6, 8-10; Ps. 19:8-10, 15; 1 Cor. 12:12-30; Lk. 1:1-4; 4:14-21

“You are Christ’s body and individually parts of it” through the power of the Spirit.  Which part have we been given so that “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”?  I have often felt and said that I am a “jack of all trades, master of none” and I suspect others have similar feelings.  St Augustine reminds us “we are restless until we rest in him” from whom we gain our identity in his body. 

We are called to “wear many hats” in our home, work and service to our community.  We have to administer our home, teach our children, nurse our family when they are sick, and may even work miracles to see our children graduate or go to college and that is just what is needed at home.  At work we are to be part of a bigger body with a mission of service and have to interpret the dynamics of human relationships to work together for a common purpose.  Is this the identity in Christ’s body?  Our identity is not what we do but who we are from the gift we receive.    

God’s desires are not of asking but offering us a gift.  It begins with the gift of himself to us at baptism.  But he comes with many other gifts through the power of the Spirit and it is designed to be “honored” that all the “parts (in the body of Christ) share its joy.” It is that gift that brings blessing to others in the body of Christ.  It creates our identity in Christ to be his body.  Do we recognize the gift in which “you are Christ’s body”?  It is not like a “hat” you put on and take off or a switch you turn on and off at will.  It is a transformational gift.

The transformational gift we live in our being and cannot be hidden but reveals itself in who we were created to be in the image of God.  It is a gift that reveals itself no matter what life choices we make because it represents our identity in Christ.  Until we honor this gift, we remain restless in search of the “other” means of happiness while the gift is the maiden in waiting for our response.  Once we begin to live the gift all the other parts of the body of Christ come together with meaning and purpose. 

How do we discern this gift coming from God?  “Your words Lord, are Spirit and life” says the responsorial psalm.  In baptism the Ephphatha prayer is said with the sign of the cross over the ears of the child and the mouth so that the ears may be opened to receive the word and the mouth to proclaim it.  The gift is revealed in the words of the Lord which we see Ezra reading from the “book of the law” and the reverence of the people answering “Amen, Amen!”  The people are prostrated in fear of the Lord but Ezra declares that it is a holy day “for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength.”  The Lord comes in his word for our understanding and in his Spirit for guidance that our mind may be opened to the knowledge of God and our hearts be ready to respond to the will of God for our lives.  Ephphatha meaning “Be Opened” to the word and to the Spirit that we may discern rightly what God has prepared for us in becoming “you are Christ’s body”. 

Just as the body has many parts it remains one body with each part in service to the whole body.  The body is also made of millions of cells that generate for a time and pass away but the body remains until the day it passes until the day that it will rise again for all eternity but the soul does not pass something to be pondered.  We were created in the image of God to remain for ever in his one body.  Just as the angels are not all the same and have different gifts to serve the Lord, we have our gift that transcends time, is the joy of the Lord, and is our path to the kingdom of God.  Are we ready to claim it? 

The gift will place us in a position “God has designated in the church to be” of service as “apostles, prophets, teachers, work might deeds, bring healing, provide assistance, administer and receive a variety of tongues” to speak from the testimony of our language of faith, hope, and love of God.  Jesus instituted the church that we may all be one in his body to share the good news and build up the kingdom.  “Today (is our time) this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” to be anointed in the Spirit of the Lord for you are Christ’s body. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

2nd Sunday Ordinary Time – “Proclaim his marvelous deeds”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 62:1-5; Ps. 96:1-3, 7-10; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; Jn. 2:1-11

“Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations” and do it by the “different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit” we have received.  The glory of Jesus is once again revealed after the baptism of the Lord in the wedding at Cana transforming water into wine.  The epiphany of this day is that God is revealing himself in Jesus by the transforming of water into wine for yet the greater transformation to come from wine into his blood.  What marvelous deeds are to come from Jesus not to end in him but to continue in us as God is with us in the visible spiritual gifts we receive and put to use for the greater good. 

God also desires to reveal himself through us in the working of the Holy Spirit by the spiritual gifts we receive to proclaim the glory of the Lord each according to our spiritual gifts.  These gifts by their design are for the purpose of coming together in unity to share and build up the kingdom of God in his one body the church.  Where there is God there is unity, communion, and grace abounds.  Grace indicating “gratis” from Latin, a free gift of “God’s unmerited favor”.  The power of this gift comes from coming together to build up the kingdom of God and “you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the Lord.” 

Who is “you”?  Who does the Lord “rejoice” in and where is this “land” no longer “forsaken” or “desolate” but the “delight of God spoken of by Isaiah?  For some it is still to come but for those who have accepted Jesus Christ the “Builder” has arrived and “you” the church coming together to build up the kingdom in the heavenly Jerusalem is “Espoused” as the bride of Christ.  There cannot be a church of “one” between God and “I”.  “For where two or three are gathered in my name there am I” (Mt. 18:20) is where God is. 

God is in our home when we gather to pray, to give thanks for our meal, to offer a Rosary he joins us and rejoices in calling us his own.  He is in our church in the freedom to gather and to worship in sharing our faith we serve as a channel of grace that brings joy, comfort, healing, and peace to our hearts.  We cannot make ourselves “happy” by ourselves.  It is not how we are wired even in our DNA one synapse has to transfer to another synapse the information needed to live.   God’s creation is for unity.  We have to be linked together to bring all the spiritual graces to form a stronger body in Christ. 

In the same way our soul is not disconnected from our body.  How we treat our body lifts our soul up to God or can injure our soul and our faith.  All the evils that injure our body can separate us from God, drugs, abortion, prostitution, gluttony, and any other form of bodily abuse.  It is often easy to ask “where is God?” when life spirals into despair.  We would never think of asking ourselves “What have I done to God with myself?”  A good examination of conscience and act of contrition can reveal to us more of ourselves and God’s love and mercy.  “O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You…”  When we were born God gave us a gift.  It was the gift of ourselves.  When we were baptized, we received another gift.  It was the gift of God himself.  What we do with ourselves is our gift back to God.  When we injure ourselves with sin, we injure God who is with us.  The enemy works as much from within as through others. 

 We should guard against the enemy who has eroded God in the public square, from schools and seeks to “cancel” or “transform” what the church does in its schools, hospitals, and charity programs.  To be clear the enemy is not government.  It is not government against the church for that in itself is divisive and not the unity God desires.  Every civil society has a means of governance including the church.  The enemy is the spirit of evil that is working in the souls of those who seek to be the gods of this world.  They hunger for their own power willing to sacrifice truth, goodness, beauty, and unity that is all that God is to be their gods at the cost of others. 

We are not to be silent but to proclaim his marvelous deeds in recognizing and giving praise to God for the gifts we receive, how God is working in us and the truth of the gospel alive in us.  Have we been blessed today?  Have we expressed to each other the blessings we have received this day?  How easy is it to express what is wrong in our day than what is right and to give thanks for what this day has provided for us?  A conversion is a transformation of the heart to the mystery of God allowing us to see with the eyes of faith.  So how does this work in the “real” world? 

You may be familiar with the warning “children should not play with scissors they can poke their eyes out.”  Accidents happen every day or we would not call them an accident.  This week I accidently poked my eyeball with the tip of the scissors I was using to trim my eyebrow.  My eye immediately started bleeding like a gory movie scene.  I needed urgent care to examine and treat it. In the past the mind would have immediately indulged in negative thinking, “I could go blind”, “why God?”, “how this disrupts my day”, “what did I do to deserve this?”, all the standard reactions.  That is not the mind of a believer. 

As my wife came to pick me up to take me to the get medical care, she shared how there had been an accident on the expressway and had to avoid passing by it.  My thought was how I may have been on the road at that moment where the accident occurred and my accident kept me it.  I also took the day in which all my planning changed to be at rest and consider what I needed to do differently for my own well-being because of my monovision, I don’t see close up with my right eye.  “Speak Lord your servant is listening”.  It was also a time to give thanks that I did not injure myself permanently.  God works in the world beyond our reality but he invites us to seek him, trust him and love him.  Perhaps in sharing this story the lessons learned can serve others. 

Since we all receive different gifts in order to be one in Christ we are called to come together and allow our gifts to be of service to each other.  I am always amazed by persons who receive the gift of faith in abundance and don’t question God.  It is a love without question.  This faith leads to joyful trust in the Lord.  I am always looking for understanding the mystery of faith knowing I am but this small limited brain.   I benefit much from just being around someone “full of faith” as we all do.  The same Spirit is living and acting in each of us and we are to proclaim God through our works of the Spirit.  This same Spirit is calling us to “do whatever he tells you”. 

God wishes to reveal himself through Christ in us in the gifts given to us.  Now is not the time to be doubtful and wait for another gift or moment, or revelation to come or something spectacular to happen in our lives before we proclaim the goodness of the Lord.  The spectacular is that we alive filled with someone greater than us and his name is Jesus. 

We are it, the ones called to proclaim his marvelous deeds.  In the domestic home we are it, to lift each other up.  In the local parish, we are it, to have fellowship welcoming the stranger to our faith.  In our neighborhood and community, we are it evangelizing by the service to our neighbor and the stranger.  Does everyone need to walk the streets?  No unless that is your particular gift.  Some are very good speaking to the youth and others working with the elderly, some have a voice to sing on the mountain top and others only in the shower.  We get it, now let’s go about doing it.  Do whatever he tells you and proclaim it to the world then the “you” becomes the “we” in body of Christ and his church. 

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The Baptism of the Lord – “justified by his grace”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps. 104:1b-4, 24-25, 27-30; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Lk. 3:15-16, 21-22

“Justified by his grace” is both present and not yet.  Justified by grace is present by the coming of Jesus and not yet for the unbaptized, the unrepentant sinner, the untrained soul in the ways of the Lord for not all have responded to receive this gift.  Even the baptized repented soul has its work to do in the vineyard of the Lord for salvation comes by God’s grace of mercy and our response by faith through works.  It is in the doing that grace abounds. If we say we believe, then the evidence is in the fruit we produce.  God’s love and mercy cannot save us without us as a precondition of our free will.  The power of the word is given to us to live out as a well-trained soul “filled with expectation”. 

Our expectation is to know God, love God and serve God “eager to do what is good”.  After the “cleansing” through baptism comes the justification by grace so that our expectation is to grow in the Lord guided by the Holy Spirit.  Is this our expectation to grow in the Lord or are we still seeking to live out our own expectation?  The Lord can unite our hopes and dreams with his call to serve him in all we do but it begins with turning our expectation over to him to do with us according to his will.  In this we will be confirmed, to know God is with us producing the good fruit of our labor as heirs to the kingdom. 

We “become heirs in hope of eternal life” something to be thankful, hopeful, and dedicated to the Lord’s “training (of) us to reject godless ways and worldly desires”.  We are thankful, Jesus has arrived, but we remain a work in progress awaiting our day of judgment.  In the endless argument among faithful Christians, we are not justified by faith “alone” nor by “any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy” we are invited to enter in the Lord’s vineyard and fulfill our call through works of love and mercy. 

Faith leads us to the waters of baptism and baptism opens the gate of heaven to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that we may be confirmed that is strengthened to do the will of God in our participation of our salvation by living “temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age”.  The false edict “once saved always saved” is the devil’s temptation to fall into the prideful sin of making the greatest false assumption “our actions will not determine our judgment”.  It is foolish to believe baptism is our “get out of jail pass” and entry ticket to heaven regardless of our sins.  Called to sin no more is the ideal but humanity remains in a state of sin, and we must seek constant reconciliation. 

Salvation arrived in the birth of Jesus to be “justified by grace” and in his love we are now in the age of mercy to live by this same grace “eager to do what is good.”  We are a “hopeful” people, and our work of salvation remains our “hope for eternal life” as “heirs” who must put on the armor of our work and go forth to do what is good and avoid what is evil by the training we receive from the word of God, the body and blood of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.   “Hope” implies the reality of an expectation that has yet to come yet it comes to us daily in the Eucharist, in our acts of love and mercy leading us to that particular day, the final day even as judgment comes daily in the manner we choose to respond to the Lord’s call.  It is both here and not yet. 

“Justified by grace…he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit”.  The Lord was faithful to his call for which he was born and in the baptism of the Lord he cleansed the water so we may join him by faith, water, and service.  Are we faithful to our call for the purpose we have received as “heirs” not to squander our inheritance on worldly desires but to multiply it by the same grace in which we were justified?  This “grace” is to love and be merciful in an unjust world.  We are given a light of truth to shine on the darkness around us.  It is a light that cannot be denied and a flame that is to be kept burning and not die from neglect. 

We are “justified by grace” when we go to confession as a repentant sinner called to be perfect but not yet.  Confession is our renewal of our baptismal promises as much as the forgiveness of our sins.  We are to daily rededicate ourselves to receive and to serve by grace the will of God in all we do for nothing is insignificant to the Lord, not our thoughts, not our feelings, or our actions.  We are not only “justified by grace” but being trained by grace to overcome what is evil and seek what is good.  This world is our “bootcamp” in which our struggles, suffering, and pain is to be offered up to the Lord so we may claim our victory in this life and celebrate in the eternal one to come.  This is our call to “live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age.”  How is it going so far?  Are we there yet and keeping our priorities in order with the call to know, love, and serve God?  We are “justified by grace” to enter into the battlefield where the evil one prowls about seeking the ruin of souls. 

The battlefield is waged in the mind, heart and will of the believer to render the enemy powerless from any attack from the outside world.  That is why we must nourish our minds with the word of God, nourish our hearts with love of God and be trained in the will of God. In the baptism of the Lord, he established the channel of grace that we may receive him as our greatest defender over the powers of evil.  We are not alone we are never alone with Christ for us no one can defeat us. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Christmas is here! “Your God is King!”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 52:7-10; Ps. 98:1-6; Heb. 1:1-6; Jn. 1:1-18

“Your God is King…sing joyfully to the Lord!”  Sing joyfully to be born of God.  For God in sending his only begotten Son, “full of grace and truth” and he opened the gates of heaven.  “From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace”.  What is this grace that replaces grace?  It is Jesus himself who not only gave himself up to the Father but who in his fullness of grace gives of himself to us as we come to receive him body and blood in the Eucharist celebration of the Mass this day.  To receive Jesus is the fullness of grace that bring together the law and the prophets into his one body as love incarnate that we may be saved.  We sing joyfully to the Lord to be incarnated into his grace. 

“Your God is King” from the grace of obedience to the grace of love.  The grace of obedience to the law is the visible sign of being called to salvation.  The grace of love is the invisible sign of being called “children of God”.  As children his grace is transformative to be perfect as God is perfect by shedding the scales of sin from our humanity and rising up to his divinity.  Pray that what we confess in our words we may not deny him in our actions.  This is the day the Lord has made to sing joyfully for our salvation comes and “Your God is King” of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Emmanuel, he is with us. 

How good it is to know “Your God is King” to rule by love our lives.  He rules with the staff of mercy that we may come to know his love by forgiveness of our sins.  Who dares to deny him this gift of mercy is to deny God himself at our own peril choosing the unforgiveable sin of rejecting forgiveness out of self pride.  This pride says, “God cannot forgive me when I do not forgive myself” causing our own damnation.   “Your God is King” of perfect love in the act of mercy.  We are then to be merciful in our lives with each other, slow to anger and quick to reconcile. 

If “Your God is King” then why is there such suffering in life?  Suffering is the grace to join Christ on the cross and hear him speak those words to us, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”  (Lk. 23:43) Suffering unites us to Christ and his love for us on the cross.  It confirms our love and acceptance of his will for us.  He is king of suffering and invites us to share the cross that we may overcome the test and remain faithful to our proclamation of faith.  Job understood well the cross of suffering and perseverance trusting that by acceptance a greater good would be revealed. It was revealed in Jesus Christ. 

Today our God is King, he has come to us in Jesus Christ and we share in his kingdom when we come to receive him body and blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist.  Let us celebrate our king and the joy of fellowship with all our kinsmen who have entered the kingdom through the waters of baptism.  No earthly suffering can conquer his kingship and our victory over death as we walk in the light of truth and justice.  Believe and be saved that your God and my God is king of our lives.  Merry Christmas and more of Christ. 

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