bg-image

Homily

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Wis. 11:22-12:2; Ps. 145: 1-2, 8-11, 13-14; 2 Thes. 1:11-2:2; Lk. 19:1-10

Jesus our Great Soulmate!  Who understands you so well that sometimes even as you speak, they seem to know your thoughts, understand your feelings, and care for you so much as to challenge you?  We say “we connect” and there is a joy and peace at just being together.  This is a soul mate and our Great Soulmate is Jesus Christ.  He knows us and loves us so much he does not leave us alone but is working in us to be the best we were created to be, saints for heaven. 

John 3: 16 is a favorite passage from the bible for most Christian believers.  “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life”.  You see it on everything from coffee cups to bill boards.  It speaks to the heart of God and his love for us universally and individually.  This love of God is directed to the cross, a living sacrifice for me and you.  Our thoughts look at the world, the history of mankind, the generations of people who have lived and gone and then we look at ourselves in the midst of so many people and question “Does God know me, hello anybody up there paying attention?”  If the universe is but a “grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew” then who is God that the Lord eternal knows me and loves me?  This God is “the lover of souls” and we are souls created in his image that carries his “imperishable spirit”, God’s soul mate.  I in him and he in me so I may believe and have eternal life. 

St. Paul in Thessalonians forewarns us “do not be alarmed either by a ‘spirit’, or an oral statement, or by a letter from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.”  What is the day of the Lord?  It is the day in which we enter into eternal love in spirit and in truth.  That is the day we die to ourselves and live in Christ.  We do not have to wait for our mortal death, this day is today.  Being made in his image the Lord is and has been working in us “little by little” warning us and reminding us of our sins.  In his mercy he overlooks sins of the repentant soul and we exist because he wills it until the day when either we choose life in Christ or death apart from him. 

Life in Christ means we respond to our “calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him.” This is how we will know we are Christian, by his love glorified in us.  The good purpose he has called us into this life is being fulfilled and you know that you know it to be true because the soul finds its love, peace, joy and rest in living the good calling.  Our response to his love is entering into the eternal now, the day is at hand now, and “Today salvation has come to this house.”  Who is the descendent of Abraham?  It is the believer who repents and atones for his sins. 

In today’s gospel, Zacchaeus didn’t just repent he understood the source of his sin and made a commitment to atone for his sins.   He immediately offered half of his possessions to the poor.  He was a “chief tax collector and also a wealthy man” thus his sin and wealth is confessed in his own words, “if I have extorted anything from anyone, I shall repay it four times over.”  What caused this sinner to make such a dramatic transformation?  He was awakened to the spirit already given by God in his soul and in his own personal “fiat” came to believe in Jesus Christ. 

If we consider the source of our sins in what manner of atonement would our actions be directed?  Do we simply ask God for forgiveness and move on?  Consider the seven capital sins and then look to the seven cardinal virtues as a means of seeking atonement.  Each sin has an opposing virtue to counter the sin.  If we have been greedy and made wealth our sin then seek charity, if prideful then seek humility, if prone to wrath then seek patience, chastity counters lust, temperance counters gluttony, if envious seek kindness and finally diligence overcomes the laziness of a sloth.  Even though we cannot undo the past we can search for the virtue that overcomes our past sins as an act of atonement and by doing so we guard against this weakness and strengthen our spirit.  This is what Zacchaeus did, inspired by the spirit he responded to his past sins with a promise of future virtue. 

We live in a time where “sin” is minimized if not altogether denied.  We cling on to our “rights” to be, do and justify all our actions.  Even if the spirit within recognizes in itself the “problem” of imperfection it is justified as “I am me, get over it!”  Where is the growth in spirit or union with the spirit of God?  Hopefully it is not operating at a 2-year-old level driven by concupiscence, our human passions.  Often “little by little” God is working in us for our conversion into a mature faith and sometimes we just get “knocked of our horse” as Paul was to realize our sin and respond to our true calling. 

Our Great Soulmate came down from heaven to be our visible presence in this world and his calling is personal ready to awaken the power of the spirit within us.  Not I but Christ in me, in you, in the believer.  In Jesus Christ “we connect” to the eternal. This weekend as we remember all Souls Day let us remember the souls of loved ones who have entered into the glory of God and pray for those in purgatory being purified by the fire of love.

Tags
Shared this
Views

304 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Sir. 35:12-14, 16-18; Ps. 34: 2-3, 17-19, 23; 2 Tim. 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk. 18:9-14

“The Lord hears the cry of the poor”.  We are justified by God’s mercy.  The one who exalted himself in his own righteousness denies their sinfulness and thus by doing so denies God.  God is truth and the tax collector recognized God’s truth as he “beat his breast and prayed ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

We live in dark times where the denial of absolute truth is common practice.  One way to justify “our truth” is by faith in our conscience thinking.  If our conscience says, “I see no harm (fill in the blank) with abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriage, unlimited gender identity, etc. because my conscience sees no harm after all who can deny a person’s individual rights?”  Our conscience has determined our individual rights are ours alone, total entitlement without responsibility to “other”.  God is other and we cannot say we belong to God without being responsible and accountable to the God who set limits on our rights and calls us to obedience. 

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image…male and female he created them.”  Today some want to identify as “they” with the freedom to change their identity tomorrow if their conscience determines this is who they “feel they are” and societal norms must approve their truth.  Conscience is not a feeling.  Conscience is an informed thought process supported by natural law, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and by God himself in the Word made flesh.  It requires faith, reason and trust to achieve truth. 

In the gospel today, the tax collector turns to God for mercy and trusted in him.  The Pharisee trusted in himself, his conscience to be self-justified and in his pride “will be humbled”.  In the 2nd Letter to Timothy, Paul makes a bold statement based on both his humanity meaning his conscience and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he says, “From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me; which the Lord, the just judge will award to me on that day…”.  How is Paul so bold as to make this claim and sound like the Pharisee?  The difference is the Pharisee is a minimalist doing what on the outside appears compliant to the law to be self-justified.  Paul is a “libation” for Christ meaning he has made of himself an offering totally living for the glory of God. 

If we ask ourselves where am I on the spectrum between the Pharisee on one end of minimalism and Paul on the other end as a “libation” in our daily worship, sacrifice, obedience, and love of God?   In our honest conscience appraisal, we find ourselves somewhere between the two.  Confirmation is a sacrament to propel us forward as warriors for Christ, to compete well and run the race of faith to the end being the best God created us to be not the least.  Paul’s “departure is at hand” his days are numbered and his is looking back now and in faith proclaims God “will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.”  Most of us look forward to a long life not so much back at our race or how well we have competed in our faith.  If we did, we might be headed to confession beating our breast in prayer, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” 

The Lord “knows no favorites…not unduly partial toward the weak yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.”  As we look around at the world scene there are many oppressed who suffer in ways some have never experienced in this country from war, terrorism, extreme hunger, disease and genocide.  Still even here we have the poor, homeless, unemployed, widow, orphan, and the sick.  The Lord hears the cry of the “one who serves God willingly…his petitions reaches to heavens.”  Not all the suffering serves God willingly.  It is the prayer of the humbled who is exalted with no sense of entitlement.  In the heart there is no claim “I deserve better”.  It is the “prayer of the lowly…it does not rest till it reaches its goal…judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.”

 Paul lived an informed conscience by the Holy Spirit. Looking back the race was finished and the hour had come to receive the crown of righteousness from the just judge.  What will be our prayer at the last hour if we are blessed to recognize our hour has come?  What is the perfect prayer Jesus gives us?  The first thought might be the Lord’s Prayer he gave the disciples.  Others may simply say all of Jesus prayers are perfect prayers.  One prayer however stands out as Jesus recognizes his hour had come.  It is called the “high priestly prayer” or “The Prayer of Jesus” in John 17:1-26.  Paul’s prayer mirrors this high priestly prayer as a libation of surrender to God. 

Reflect on just a few of these words from the heart of Jesus in this priestly prayer, “When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come.  Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you…I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.  Now glorify me, Father, with you,…I have revealed your name to those who you gave me…Now they know that everything you gave me is from you…I pray for them…because they are yours and everything of mine is yours…But now I am coming to you…I pray…so that they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I in you.”  Could this be our prayer? 

Today we receive the word and the body and blood of Jesus to be incarnated in us.  In this we run our race to the end and persevere as an offering of ourselves not just in all we do but in who we are.  It will rescue us “from the lion’s mouth”.  Claim our crown in righteousness of love poured out for God. 

Tags
Shared this
Views

326 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex. 17:8-13; Ps. 121: 1-8; 2 Tim. 3:14-4:2; Lk. 18:1-8

“Proclaim the Word; be persistent whether convenient or inconvenient.”  This is football season and the gesture a referee makes to signal a score is two arms raised up. It is a sign of victory that even as fans we join in making to celebrate with the team.  “As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight”.  Moses arms grew tired and without the help of Aaron and Hur supporting his hands they may have lost the battle.  We have our own individual battles of life to conquer. 

We too can become tired and call on God, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”  To hold us up in victory God provided us the Liturgy of the Word on one side and the Liturgy of the Eucharist on the other. 

In the Liturgy of the Word we not only proclaim the word in our celebration of the Mass, but we digest it into our being and go forth to live it “whether it is convenient or inconvenient” to the world.  Simply by proclaiming it in the smallest of gestures like making the sign of the cross it announces who we are before a word is said as a “safe space” around our being Catholic before others.  It calls on our Lord God as our help to be present in our battle.  It also calls on the Holy Spirit to inspire us in what we are to say whether to “reprimand or encourage all done through patience and teaching.” 

The other hand in battle is supported by the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  The Mass is our constant prayer around the world with Jesus being lifted up in the bread and wine by the hands of the priest.  The Church prays day and night and we come to receive him to sustain our faith in battle.  Jesus asks, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  Do we come to receive him in faith, hope, and love of his real presence?  

From the outside gestures we all stand, kneel, and respond in union but as the word of God is proclaimed and we respond it “discerns our reflections and thoughts of heart.”  It speaks to us and our state of faith.  We all are in a different place in our journey of faith and our covenant of love with God.  This too however is revealed to us as we respond to the proclamation of the word in our hearts and our “Amen” to his body and blood in the Eucharist. 

This week I witnessed a commercial on television from a self-proclaimed atheist soliciting funds on behalf of an organization to promote separation from church and state.  In concluding his promotion, he states he is not afraid of going to “hell”.  His proclamation ironically acknowledges a state of being in a place contrary to the faith of an atheist.  Beneath his denial of a God his created being speaks a truth of faith as a creature of God which by his own words brings judgment to himself.  We should pray for all atheist and agnostics while there is still time.  Meanwhile we prepare for our battle of faith with both hands held high for the victory is ours. 

Do we believe what we profess with hearts raised up or do we sit on our hands in silence?  God is waiting “to serve the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night and will not be slow to answer.”  The justice of the Lord comes “speedily” and the adversary will be defeated. 

Tags
Shared this
Views

304 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily The Deacon Joe

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2Kgs. 5:14-17; Ps. 98: 1-4; 2 Tim. 2:8-13; Lk. 17:11-19

“Your faith has saved you”.  In the gospel today ten lepers are healed but only one return to give thanks.  Healing came to all ten but salvation came to only the leper who returns to give thanks to God.  Leprosy was thought of as a punishment from God worthy for the sin of the person.  Naaman also is washed clean of his leprosy but only after his obedience to plunge himself into the Jordan seven times.  The Jordan is the river Jesus is baptized in, not for any sin of his but to sanctify the waters to bring us salvation by baptism.  Baptism the first of seven sacraments we receive for our sanctification.  The story of Naaman prefigures the baptism of the Lord and the coming to perfection the washing clean of our sins. 

The story of Naaman is also a beautiful story of conversion.  His cleansing from leprosy did not save him, this was the visible sign of invisible grace from God.  Naaman returns to Elisha, the man of God to give thanks to the god of Elisha and vows “I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the Lord”.  He didn’t simply acknowledge the God of Israel, he called him “Lord”, a conversion of faith saved him.  The sign of conversion is to persevere in our faith and die with him as our Lord and savior.  Many saintly souls as the hour of death approaches experience a dryness of faith, a final test summed up in the words of Jesus on the cross, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me”.  It is the final opportunity for the serpent of evil to strike at the soul before it can never approach it again.  How are we to prepare ourselves for that hour by perseverance.   

“In all circumstances give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”  What is the meaning when we say “Alleluia”?  It is a two-word translation of “Hallel” and “Jah” meaning “Praise the Lord”.  We use Alleluia as an exultation of praise but it is also a command to praise the Lord.  We are to give thanks and praise him always, in good times and in bad, sickness and health.  “Hallel” in Hebrew means joyous praise in song.  In fact, the more we sing the Mass the greater the praise of God.  The Mass is a celebration of thanksgiving.  The intent is that we boast in God our savior.  The dialogue of the Mass is to be praiseworthy.  The gospel is announced, “THE LORD BE WITH YOU” spoken boldly with the response “And also with you” just as boldly, not timidly or “ho hum” going through the motions. 

It is not easy to constantly be joyous.  I would propose that it is almost impossible if our attention is ego-centric.  Joy is not an indulgence from having more of our pleasures met.  Joy is a conscious awareness of the love and mercy of God present in our lives.  Our joy then leads to gratitude, the attitude of being ready to accept the will of God in thanksgiving.  In thanksgiving we are open to a spirit of praise.  We have a choice, either to focus on the negative and be drawn into pity or on the blessings and be raised up in joyful praise.  We teach our children to say “thank you” when they receive a gift.  Who benefits more the gift giver or the child by saying “thank you”?  The child gains more by learning to be grateful and thankful.  We are the child of God.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; thanksgiving changes us not him. 

 A contemporary philosopher, Tristan Garcia (The Life Intense A Modern Obsession) speaks of our current human condition as in search of greater intensity of life “that might justify our lives”.  This is the opposite of the complacency of life.  This thrill-seeking behavior is pervasive from energy drinks, drug use, and roller coaster rides not just in theme parks but in relationships for maximum intensification of pleasures, love, emotions, communication and consumption.   It seeks an escape from the discipline of life, from perseverance desiring for the “maximizations of our entire being…an intoxication of our sensation.” We are in “search, not for transcendence, as those of other epochs and cultures were, but for intensification”, we want more indulgence. 

Transcendence is to know, love and serve God.  It is recognizing his presence in every moment and desiring to do his will at that moment.  Saint Teresa of Calcutta said her desire was to be a pencil in God’s hand.  Saint Therese the Little Flower found her purpose and missionary calling in “always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love” in other words do the next right thing with love for holiness.  In those moments of weakness when our struggle of faith is tested, the road less traveled back to our faith is the path of thanksgiving.  God desires our greatest good and he knows the desires of our heart so let us trust in his goodness at all times especially in moments of darkness with a spirit of thanksgiving. 

One of the dangers in adopting a life in search of a greater intensity is the disappointment from any obsessive behavior, there is no fulfillment, no joy, only emptiness of the soul.  The nirvana we created in our minds is an illusion waiting to fall apart.  For our youth this leads to anxiety, depression, and suicide.  This is in part why we see a rise in mental health issues among our youth and it is increasing in younger children.  We go to restaurants and observe families sitting together and each child is so well behaved absorbed with their electronic device.   We observe television and each 1.5 seconds the image changes even if it is only from a different camera angle.  When is the last time we just sat and contemplated a still image, a work of art, nature?  How about sitting and contemplating Jesus on the cross or in Holy Hour for adoration?  Here lies our joy and our peace.

Do you feel alive or in a rut?  The great experience of living does not come from the egocentricity of overstimulation.  It is a transcendent love from God in the Trinity.  Turn to the love of God and experience the joy and peace he offers us.  In return come to the house of the Lord in praise and thanksgiving to receive his salvation.  If today you hear his voice, give praise and thanksgiving.  In the morning when we rise, give praise and thanksgiving for all the day may bring before we live it by faith that it may guide us to salvation.  Our faith will save us. 

Tags
Shared this
Views

240 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Hab. 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Ps. 95: 1-2, 6-9; 2 Tim. 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk. 17:5-10

The apostles say to Jesus, “increase our faith” and St. Paul says, “…stir into flame the gift of God…For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control”.  The mystery of faith is this gift of God, Jesus himself active in our lives.  When the apostles say “Increase our faith”, Jesus begins with “If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed you would say…and it would obey you”.  He gives his parable as an example and concludes his answer with “When you have done all you have been commanded say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.”  The power of faith in action is not waiting for Jesus to “show up” it is taking the next right step of faith and trusting him to part the waters of the Red Sea as we go forth.  The warning of today carries over from last week “woe to the complacent” who do only what they are obliged to do. 

First let us look at the dangers of complacency.  It begins with the approach to faith called minimalism.  I am a good person and I pray I don’t feel I have to go to church to be with God.  This doesn’t even comply with doing what we are obliged to do.  Even Jesus went to the synagogue as required by the Jewish law.  Others may say I am a good Christian, I ready my bible, I pray, I go to church and give a donation…BUT I don’t believe in all that sacrament stuff…the real presence of God in the host, confession to a priest that is just a little too much.  The sacraments were instituted by Jesus so if we don’t believe in them then we don’t believe in the one who gave them to us. 

Secondly doing only what we are obliged to do is seen in the “good” Catholic who is very proud in compliance with all church law but their hearts are far from the real presence of God.  They may quote scripture and Canon law but mercy and love are alien to their hearts.  Today we are reminded “good enough in not good enough”, meeting God half-way is non-negotiable.  God desires the best of us, the best he created us to be.  Today that may not be much because we are limited by our weakness and our sins yet we had the courage to take the first step of faith and also seek God’s mercy and love.  Be prepared to be surprised that what we feared in our weakness we were able to overcome by faith trusting Jesus whose power we are given. 

Finally, looking at the power of faith the Lord says “the just one, because of his faith, shall live”.  The just don’t have a spirit of “cowardice” but a “flame of power, and love and self-control”.  I offer these “Seven Spiritual Tips to Holiness”. 

Tip #1: Offer it up!  Beginning with the morning rise offer “it” your day, work, challenges, joys or sorrows.  God knows what you are going to face by divine providence so offer it up for his glory and your greater good.

Tip #2: Exercise it!  “It” is the virtue needed to build spiritual muscle.  Be prepared for God to provide you the opportunity to exercise it.  I often prayed for the virtue of patience and found my patience tested so much I looked for another virtue to work on.  Spiritual exercises like physical conditioning requires repetition to gain the power of spiritual muscle as warriors for Christ.  Exercise it!

Tip #3: Abstain from it!  This is self-control, to say “no” to self when we want to say “yes”.  No, I won’t talk back to my parents; and parents “I won’t check my smart phone every moment I’m bored.  Phones are as addictive to adults as to youth but it is one of many temptations we need to overcome.  Pleasure is not the end game; we don’t live for pleasure we live for the greater good.  Abstaining is a means of cleansing our souls, gaining purity, and opening ourselves up to God. 

Tip #4:  Confess it!  No excuses needed.  Acknowledge the wrong on your end regardless of any fault by the other.  If we need an excuse there is underlying guilt.  Confess it immediately in your conscience.  Follow it up in the sacrament of confession the next opportunity.  When we don’t confess it, we carry it with us as a thorn of venial sin or nail of mortal sin.  Healing comes through confession. 

Tip #5:  Proclaim it!  If you proclaim it you own it.  What we believe is a gift of light, be the light with the power to proclaim it.  From the head to the voice it feeds the heart for greater power and love and self-control.  Mass is a participatory celebration and we are all called to proclaim it by lifting our voice in prayer and song.  “If today you hear his voice” proclaim it and his love will pour into us. 

Tip #6: Awaken it!  “It” is the slumber of complacency that says “good enough”.  “I am a good enough Catholic, parent, son or daughter”.  God desires it all, your heart, love and might, no compromise.  Jesus came and radicalized our practice of faith for a more perfect love.  The norms of society then and now are self-centered, God is other.  Awaken to the other present in our life. 

Tip #7:  Embrace it!  “It” is the cross of love.  Embrace the gift of life, all we are and all we are created to be in God’s image is life giving.  We live this gift for a short time on earth compared to eternity.  It is not easy to embrace our suffering.  If we just fear it, we may never free ourselves from it.  It too can be transformative in our faith for greater power, love and self-control to be set free from it.  The miracle of faith is active love, rejoice and embrace it. 

Maximillian Kolbe in prayer asked the Blessed Mother “what was to become of me, a Child of Faith.  Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red.  She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns.  The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr.  I said that I would accept them both.”  Dying to oneself is the daily red robe of sacrifice and the “Seven Spiritual Tips to Holiness” is the daily washing of our white baptismal robes of purity.  Let us embrace all that God offer us this day and go forth with the faith of a mustard seed. 

Tags
Shared this
Views

288 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily The Deacon Joe

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Am. 6:1a, 4-7; Ps. 146: 7-10; 1 Tim. 6:11-16; Lk. 16:19-31

“Lay hold of eternal life” and fight the good fight!  Jesus became poor in the flesh yet remained rich in his divinity to pour out riches to those who “pursue righteousness…Compete well for the faith” says the Lord.  We are born with a competitive drive in fact, we love a good fight to win just look at all the sports options to drive our competitive fire.  Friday night lights in every community are ready for the intensity of the game, the rush and the thrill of victory.  How well do we compete for our faith?  “Blessed he who keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry” and finishes the marathon of life.  May we be blessed to say “I have run the race and fought the good fight…it is finished”. 

We are reminded “Woe to the complacent in Zion!”  Complacency is more than taking our faith for granted.  It is depriving it of nourishment so that when the test comes, we find ourselves surrendering without a fight.  The first nourishment and line of defense is the sacraments of the church. These prepare us for the fight as the foundation of faith.  Through the sacraments Jesus pours out his riches in grace to provide us the weapons of virtue, knowledge, and wisdom.  This does not come to the complacent but to the those who seek through prayer, devotions, study, and fellowship. 

How much time do we spend in fellowship as a community?  Tis the season for church festivals uniting ourselves in support of our parish.  Study of our faith is power to be good in apologetics defending the faith.  We recently had Scott Hahn speak at our parish, a minor miracle given his international ministry and we were blessed to have a packed church.  Devotions both private and as a community like coming to Mass the first Friday of every month fill us with grace.  Prayer is God’s time we give to be open to the spiritual work God wants to do in us. 

Complacency says “not now God”, see in the intensity of life there is always something that is demanding attention, time, priority.  The intensity of the world becomes the normative way and it deprives us of our time to mature in faith and wisdom of God.  We judge ourselves as not complacent because we adhere to the intensity of worldly demands yet the spiritual life is dormant.  We carry the spiritual life of a child hoping for the best and fearing the worst. 

We are called to “Lay hold of eternal life” that is our mission statement.  We do this when “we give life to all things…with faith, love, patience, and gentleness”.  The rich man did not give life to all things, beginning with Lazarus “who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table”.  The self-indulgence of the rich man landed him in the “netherworld, where he was in torment.”  There was no escape yet he begs for his five brothers to be warned.  Abraham prophetically tells him “If they did not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”  So true for Jesus came suffered died and rose from the dead and the world continues addicted to the sin of self-indulgence, they will not repent. 

To fight the good fight in the world the first battle to be won is internal.  It is the one that draws us to the intensity of sins of self-indulgence.  Like an addict we keep seeking the intensity of a new high or chasing the memory of a past experience because the current experience has created a vacuum.  The vacuum can only be filled by Christ.  The battle within cannot be won without the power from above, God’s mercy and love.  To lay hold of eternal life in this world is the victory for Christ and he shows us the way.  St. Augustine says, “Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love and the future to God’s providence.” 

Tags
Shared this
Views

261 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Am. 8:4-7; Ps. 111-2, 4-8; 1 Tim. 2:1-8; Lk. 16:1-13

Jesus entered the world into the poverty of a stable, grew up in the poverty of a carpenter’s son, walked and slept among the poor in his ministry, and died on the poverty of the cross, “he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”  All the riches of the world are his yet the riches he offers are not material abundance but spiritual abundance in the graces of faith to believe, hope to trust, love to care, prudence to judge rightly, justice to be fair, fortitude to  demonstrate courage, temperance for balance, knowledge to understand, and wisdom to know God.

Jesus chose solidarity among the poor to witness his love of humanity for we all enter the world poor and return to the dust of the world yet “He raises up the lowly from the dust”.  In this we see the promise of being raised up from the dust to heaven with the riches we have received and not squandered.  The Lord calls the poor in spirit blessed knowing our fallen nature brings us the poverty of sin yet his mercy endures forever.

We will all be asked to “prepare a full account of your stewardship” the graces we squandered and those we multiplied.  Are we prudent as children of the light to recognize these gifts and invest them into the greater good of humanity?  It is tempting to “fix our scales for cheating” as the steward trusted with the master’s wealth acting “prudently” in our own interest.  The parable however was of a steward who was not prudent with the master’s property until he got caught for squandering his property.  Lesson then is a “person trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones”.

If we serve the god of mammon, the material god then we are anxious to preserve our riches and least eager to share them, the scales are always tipped our way.  Jesus is ready to share his riches with us, generous to those who “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you”.  There is no limit to the degree of riches we can receive in Jesus.  Unlike the megachurches who preach material wealth, look to Jesus and his witness on earth to see the fallacy of those false teachings.

Material goods are a blessing not as a reward for good behavior or a trophy of recognition as perceived in the Old Testament but a blessing for the purpose of doing a greater good in service to God.  One of the criticisms of the Catholic church is the amount of wealth invested into some of its cathedrals and basilicas while people are walking on the streets hungry and poor.  Those beautiful churches also feed the spiritual needs of the poor in comforting their lowliness as a visible sign of God’s presence closer to them than their suffering.  The church, that is the people of God inside the building are called to respond to the physical needs of the poor.

In union both spiritual and physical needs are cared for as one body in Christ.  With all the power of God and all the miracles Jesus manifested he never bestowed material wealth to the poor, to his parents, or his disciples.  Instead he asked them to trust him and sent them out in poverty to minister to the world.

Today we are reminded one of our ministries to the world is for the “supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and all in authority.”  As a society we choose sides and attack the authority in control when they don’t represent our views.  They need the most prayer because their authority impacts the “quiet and tranquil life’ we seek.  As we become more interdependent with the world in a global economy, a nuclear age, and the geopolitical tensions around the world no one is immune from the next global threat.  There are wars of weapons, trade wars, virus attacks, environmental wars, and cultural wars.  Our leadership needs our prayers and “This is good and pleasing to God our savior who wills everyone to be saved.”

The Lord pours out his riches into our souls to bring us the peace we seek in our homes, comfort in our suffering, forgiveness of sins, blessing for our work, joy in our hearts, the confidence to persevere in our challenges, help at the hour of death with the assurance that our names are written in the book of life for all eternity.

Tags
Shared this
Views

248 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily The Deacon Joe

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex.32:7-11, 13-14; Ps. 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; 1 Tim. 1:12-17; Lk. 15:1-32

Come to Jesus!  The Lord “will make of you a great nation” of saints for Christ apart from those who “have become depraved…”.  Has God prodigally given his love on his people…see how stiff-necked this people is”.  Depravity is the moral corruption of the soul that does not reflect the light of truth but the darkness of sin.  Apart from Jesus and the Blessed Mother immaculate without sin the rest of humanity has passed through the darkness and fall of Adam.  “Sinners who were not under the law will also perish outside of the law; sinners subject to the law will be judged in accordance with it…All have sinned and are deprived of God’s glory” (Rom. 2:12, 3:23).  This we refer to in social sciences as the baseline of the human condition.  There is a chant that says, “we fall down…we get up…we fall down…we get up”.  The history of salvation is the fall and rise of nations of God.  It begins with the fall of Adam and Eve meaning we pass through our own personal falls into sin and rise in mercy.

I recall the story of a confessor telling the penitent, “as soon as you walk out of the confessional you will sin”.  Thank God, the Church and the Holy Spirit are given to us to recognize all sin is not equal between mortal sin and venial sin.  God is a just judge who sees the mind, will, and heart that govern the intent of the soul and offers us mercy.  “I will rise and go to my father…Have mercy on me O God; my sacrifice O God is a contrite spirit”.  A contrite spirit often comes after the fall from pride and a return to humility.  A contrite spirit recognizes our sinfulness, weakness, and in humility calls out to God the Father for mercy.  The God of mercy “relents in the punishment” our sin merits and a contrite heart responds with “I am grateful to him who has strengthened me” as Paul says in the letter to Timothy. 

The Lord not only forgives he strengthens us and transforms the sinner into a saint.   Paul gives testimony of his transformation from a “blasphemer…persecutor and arrogant…acted out of ignorance” in his unbelief.  Paul uses himself as an example of the love of Christ Jesus and his “patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life”.  Christ is patient, kind, slow to anger and he is ready to moment we turn to him to receive us.  It is a tragedy when someone says they cannot come to Christ for forgiveness because they have not forgiven themselves.  It is a trap of the evil one to keep a soul in bondage for the depravity of their sin.  Come to Jesus! 

The Gospel is a reflection of three parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.  The focus is not the sense of loss but on “Rejoice”.  “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep…Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost…rejoice because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found”.  Who found the brother, did he not come “to his senses” and return on his own?  Jesus never stops seeking us in his patience, kindness and mercy.  It is up to us to repent, receive sanctifying grace and return to the nation of saints.  It is not a nation of race, territory, or geopolitical ideology.  Those barriers foster moral depravity when they become “a molten calf and worshiping it”.  This we see in our world when violence is justified as a means to an end, when dialogue is silenced with threats, and the Word of truth becomes relative.  What do we do then?  Come to Jesus!

The word “prodigal” has two concepts.  One is a person who spends money recklessly as in the son who squanders his inheritance.  He suffers the fall from pride to humility and is left with a “reality check” to return to the father.  The second concept of prodigal is a person overly generous and giving an abundance.  The father in the story is overly generous in giving what was his to one son and telling the other “everything I have is yours”.  This is God the Father’s love for us in abundance ready to forgive and receive us back.  In birth God gives us ourselves, the gift of life with a desire we give ourselves back to him.  In baptism God gives us himself generously ready to pour out an abundance of grace for our inheritance.  Our fall is squandering our grace in a world of depravity.  God’s generosity is mercy. 

In moments of solitude and prayer I get these inspirations, I believe we all receive and I considered it “God speaks”.  This one came to me in one of those moments and I will close with it. 

ORIGINALE VERBUM

Once was a “word”, a friend able to carry meaning sent forth to generate life and come to rest in understanding. 

A life of relationship and unity of purpose to reveal truth and true meaning was defined in the word.

The word’s flight ascended higher above and descended deeper within creating a bond between other words as soul mates on a journey of understanding. 

Then the enemy comes who undefined any meaning by redefining a flight of meanings through individuation, isolation, and rationalization in a complexity of contextual uses ever changing. 

The intent of the enemy is an essence of purposeless subject and purposeful objects for power to be gained in one instant and discarded the next for a new intent ever fleeting. 

The “new” word wills to cannibalize Sophia into prostitution; with image distorting mirrors of vanity for the kingdom of One…hell. 

The original Word filled with grace and beauty allowed Sophia to unite faith and reason to ascend to heaven. 

The “new” word is weaponized with self-defined technical innuendos to distort meaning in flight through reflective colored lenses for a disordered reality. The enemy hears himself alone while others are silenced. 

Our hope is in the hollowed Word made flesh and not the flesh filled words that seek to disarm truth. 

The original Word descends and breaks into consciousness the lost meaning.  The word revealed in its’ full splendor is the original Word incarnate.   

Come to Jesus in prayer, come to Jesus in song, come to Jesus in the Eucharist and receive the abundance of his love. 

Tags
Shared this
Views

239 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily The Deacon Joe

23rd Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tags
Shared this
Views

289 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development

bg-image

Homily

22nd Sunday Ordinary Time Christian Perfection

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Sir. 3: 17, 18, 20, 28-29; Ps. 68: 4-7, 10-11; Heb. 12: 18-19, 22-24a; Lk 14: 1, 7-14

Inward humility manifests itself in outward charity for Christian perfection.  The Lord speaks to our sense of justice and our call to Christian perfection in two statements.  First is “God in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor” and then he says “Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you”.  First, we recognize God is good and in his “goodness” he cares for the “poor” and we all share in being among the poor.  Second in our poverty of humanity we are to demonstrate our humility by charity to the poor that is among ourselves for Christian perfection.  When we do good we feel good because the goodness of Christ lives in us. 

God’s home for the poor is the tabernacle in the sacred heart of Jesus.  He is “the mediator of a new covenant” we receive in the Eucharist, “the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently” to live is us that we may be at home in our being in Christ.  The poor is not a class system of disparities between the “haves and have nots”.  We all share a poverty we bring to Christ as an offering and let his will be done.

The word of God was often spoken in parables to be understood by the spirit of God at various levels of understanding for “The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs”.  There are for example the poor who suffer economic stress having to choose between buying food or buying their medications.  There are the poor of health suffering from chronic illness, trauma, or genetic conditions.  There are the poor in spirit who suffer from anxiety, depression, obsessions, and/or abandonment.  There are also the poor in grace who suffer from separation from God crippled by sin, blind from God’s presence. 

The Lord’s response to all the poor is, “you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God…and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of a new covenant…”.  In our poverty spiritual and corporal, we come to Jesus the just judge to be transformed into the “just made perfect”.  How are we made perfect given our own weakness, sinfulness, poverty and brokenness?  When we do good, we feel good because the goodness of Christ lives in us to be made perfect in Christ.  Christ says, “My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more…the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.”  When we recognize our own poverty before God, we give life to our spirit of humility and our actions are transformed into charity for a greater good. 

Our call is to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect and it begins in humility and leads to charity.  Jesus says, “Learn from me, for I a meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt. 11:29)  For this perfection we cultivate a temperance among all virtues, love without selfishness is not about what’s in it for me; obedience without servility is about what is good for both not one over the other; patience without weakness is standing firm in our faith, firmness without pride is honesty, courage without recklessness is prudence, and authority without haughtiness is justice with a heart of love. 

Finally, I want to do a “shout out” for the souls in purgatory with the reminder that “alms atone for sins.”  The souls in purgatory suffering in the “flames of fire” hunger for atonement of their sins.  They thirst for water that quenches their suffering and our prayers, Masses, offerings of charity in remembrance of them is water that quenches.  I just finished the book titled Hungry Souls on the apparitions of the souls in purgatory to many people.  What all these souls have in common is they seek some form of atonement by the person they appear to while in purgatory to shorten their suffering and time in purgatory on their path to heaven.  This is perfect charity to make atonement for the souls in purgatory “because of their inability to repay you.  For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” 

I say again, “When we do good we feel good because the goodness of Christ lives in us.”  We just may be shortening our time in purgatory in atonement of our own sins in perfect charity.  We are all called to be saints and heaven is waiting to receive saints.  Purgatory is waiting to purify the souls who died short of Christ’s perfect call.  Let us pray to receive the grace to follow the call to perfection while there is time. 

Tags
Shared this
Views

357 views


The Deacon

Accompanied by ..
Copyright by TagleStar 2016
Powered by TagleStar Website Development