Friday 7th Week of Easter

Posted on May 16, 2018May 18, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Acts 25: 13b-21; Jn. 21:15-19

“Follow me”. The question Jesus asks Peter in the gospel is the question of the day and the question of a lifetime. “Do you love me?” It is not a general question but a personal calling to Peter by his name, “Simon Peter, son of John” by your name and your heritage “do you love me?” We are all called by Jesus but who is ready to follow him.

In Paul we see the witness of his readiness to follow unto death, the great sacrifice of faith. Jesus says to Peter “feed my sheep” and “tend my sheep”. The aspect of feeding is a call to the faithfulness in the proclamation of the Word and in the Eucharist. It is a calling to the celebration of the Mass. We are fed the Word but also we are given an “exegesis” in Greek “to bring out” the interpretation of Sacred Scripture in the original meaning and then an “exposition” which is determining the passage’s meaning for contemporary times (CCC 116, 119). Feeding is also the reception of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus in the Eucharist to strengthen our body and soul to follow him.

Jesus also calls Peter to “tend” the sheep of Jesus. Remember that earlier in the week Jesus is giving thanks to the Father in prayer for he tended to his disciples and none of them was lost “except the son of destruction.” Webster’s (on-line) definition of “tend” is to “watch over” and “apply oneself to the care of “. The archaic meaning is to “attend as a servant” which is the call to the disciples at the Last Supper in the washing of the feet. Jesus is calling Peter to be a servant of the people after the resurrection as he did before the Passion.

In the spirit of Pope Francis his calling is to go out and smell like the sheep. If you care for someone you invest time with them to know their minds, hearts, and souls. I was listening to a program on EWTN and the priest was in charge of seminarians in Alaska. As the seminarians were assigned to parishes they asked what would be their assigned duties at the parish thinking of the traditional roles like teach RCIA or baptism classes. The Priest told them your assignment is to go work with the people and learn about who they are in their culture. That meant if they are fishermen for a living go fish, if they hunt go hunt, meet them in their world and in their cultural needs for survival and learn who they are. This meant smelling like the sheep.

The Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus time separated themselves from the lives of the people protected by the temple and temple guards “watching over” the people as legislative judges not participants among the sheep. There is a story of Father Groeschel from the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal that was told on “Sunday Night Live” (EWTN). Father Groeschel received Mother Teresa of Calcutta as a visitor. They were walking the streets of the Bronx and passed a homeless man on the street. Father Groeschel gave him a greeting and kept walking. He turned and Mother Teresa was not next to him. She stayed behind and was talking to the man. She later commented to Father Groeschel that she saw Jesus in the man’s face. If we saw Jesus in those around us how much attention would we give them. What love would we offer them? Would we tend to them or simply keep walking after a formal greeting.

The first step in tending to someone is to “listen”. To listen with an open heart and a clear mind to Jesus in the person before us as Jesus makes himself present. Allow Jesus to guide our calling to service in the present moment as instruments in his hand. Then respond as Jesus to others that we may all share in his one body.

As a mother watches over her children she knows by just observation and listening to their voice if something is needed, often with the question, “what happened?” They know their sheep and often accused of having eyes behind their head. They are the eyes of the heart that tend to their sheep. Let us learn from mothers and apply that love to the stranger, the orphan, the homeless, the poor and the sick but also to the neighbor standing next to us as Jesus stood next to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Let us remember to call on our Blessed Mother who stands close to the heart of Jesus to intercede for us with her son. She is a powerful voice tht gets results as in the Wedding of Cana.

Jesus is calling, “follow me”.

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Homily

Second Week of Easter

Posted on April 14, 2018April 14, 2018 by Deacon Joe

ACTS 5:34-42; Jn. 6: 1-15

Today we see the wisdom of Gamaliel who recognizes a very important principle of life, the work of man alone perishes but the work of God through man is eternal. The world is filled with a long history of false prophets of human origin who offer false hope for a better world. They succeed in gathering a flock of believers but as Gamaliel says, “but with their death come the end” of their movement. Gamaliel is speaking to the Jews who were part of the crucifixion of Jesus. They should feel relieved that with Jesus death his movement will disband. Instead they continue to fear the Apostles. Why?

The Apostles preach of a resurrected Jesus but that alone is not reason enough to bring fear into their hearts. It would be easy enough to discount it as a made up story since the Jews did not witness the resurrection. The reason they fear the Apostles is because they now demonstrate the power to do the same miracles of Jesus. Not only do they heal the sick, forgive sins, feed the poor, but they also are imprisoned and leave the jail without unlocking doors and go back to the temple to preach, heal, and baptize in the name of Jesus. To defy nature’s laws brings fear to those in power. Instead of dealing with one who they crucified they now have to deal with a multiplication of the one. Gamaliel understands clearly, “but if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” The power comes from God, Jesus the second person of the Trinity.

Are we part of the multiplication of the loaves? Absolutely! In this concrete sign of taking the five barley loaves and two fish and multiplying them to feed the people we recognize it to prefigure the coming Eucharist which the priest breaks to feed us with the body and blood of Jesus. We receive the Eucharist to become what we receive, Jesus. We then go forth to be Jesus to the world and feed others by the power of his name. The fear of the Jews is today’s reality.

One part of the gospel’s reading invites some further reflection. I am struck by the idea that among the five thousand men not counting the women and children they identify one boy carrying five barley loaves and two fish. If they had said it was a woman who had the bread and fish it would have been in the norm. If you ever go on a trip or just down the road for a day out at the beach you can count on the woman to prepare for the journey. They even try to add something that each person likes to eat. Men generally focus on the destination but a boy is not the caretaker. Boys carry their toys. I believe God sends us his angels and perhaps this was an angelic boy from heaven to deliver a blessing just as manna from heaven fell to feed the people in the desert. In this story bread and fish kept multiplying into more fragments the more it was broken.

Today Jesus is the bread from heaven being delivered by the priesthood multiplied for our sanctification. We receive it and we are to multiply it but sometimes we must be broken and sacrifice ourselves rejoicing that we may be worthy to suffer for the sake of his name.

What is a vocation? It is doing the work of God in our state of life. We can look to Mary and Martha when Martha complained to Jesus for the work she was doing. It was not that her work was meaningless. It was necessary but in her heart it was about her and not her service. When we offer our daily work to God it opens up to divine purpose and is transformed into the work of God through us. If we make it all about us we will someday die and it will soon be a forgotten history of dead works along with us. If we open it to God’s plan of salvation it will be a legacy and heritage that bears fruit for eternity. May we eat of the eternal fruit of our work for God judges the heart and blesses the labor as an offering.

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Homily

Fifth Friday of Lent

Posted on March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Jer. 20: 10-13; Jn. 10:31-42

Jerimiah serves as a reminder of the world we live in and our human condition. Two expressions come to mind to represent this. One is “Its’ a jungle out there.” The “whispering” we call “chisme” or gossip that often tears down instead of lifting up souls. The second is more dangerous. I often remind individuals when you go to a new place be it a job, community, or organization you have your friends and enemies waiting for you. We connect and we clash and sometimes both with the same people. God however is faithful.

The reading speaks of “friends” ready to “denounce” our actions who turn against us. It also serves as a reminder of our hearts that seek “to witness vengeance” of God on our enemies. Jesus the visible sign of God’s mercy comes to rescue the poor. He rescues the “poor” in their distress from captivity. God sends Moses to rescue the people of God from their slavery. As we approach the end of Lent, have we been set free from the captivity the world has bound us in and the slavery of our sins?

Today we pick up where yesterday’s gospel ended, with Jews wanting to stone Jesus. Who were these Jews? They were Pharisees and Sadducees who governed the people of God with fear and kept them captive with religious power. What made Jesus a threat calling him possessed? He called himself “I Am”, the name of God given to Moses. They see him as attempting to overthrow their power. They claim “you are making yourself God” a blasphemer for the Jews. Jesus response is very important for us. He reminds them that scripture says, “You are gods” and they cannot put this aside and ignore it. We cannot set scripture aside and ignore our godhead. Where does it come from? Jesus went back to the Jordan, the waters of baptism where our godhead comes from. From this we are consecrated “gods’ of the Father as his sons and daughters.

Easter is a celebration of our godhead in Christ coming from our baptism. It is also the call to live our consecrated lives for our God the Father. Today the movie Paul, Apostle of Christ opens in theatres. Jim Caviezel who played the role of Christ in the Passion of Christ plays the role of Luke in this movie. In an interview on ETWN with Raymond Arroyo he recalls in the Passion asking Christ to experience Him more and Christ asked him if he was sure, he said “yes”. In the movie he is hit by lightening, he gets a separated shoulder, becomes sick during the filming on the cross and afterwards suffered a heart attack. His experience then and now is to be Christ to others. He has chosen the path of godhead.

“Godhead” is used by Paul three times in scripture (Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, Col. 2:9) in reference to the divine nature of Jesus. Our godhood of being divine as children of God comes by our baptism. Jesus professed his “Godhead” of God as perceived by his works today. He calls us to believe and live our godhead by our works consecrated to God. What good is it to be called Priest, prophet, king, mother, father, boss apart from the Godhead of Jesus? Paul lets us know in Col. 2:9 all the fullness of the godhead dwells in Christ and we are called to dwell in him. Just as in Christ we cannot separate the human from the divine in our calling to godhead we cannot separate the essence of our divine nature from the attributes that must produce our works. May our Lenten journey bring us closer to our consecrated godhead to be one with the Father, through the son, in the Spirit recognized by our works of faith, hope and charity.

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Homily

Lenten Season

Posted on February 16, 2018February 16, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Is. 58: 1-9a; Mt. 9:14-15

Ash Wednesday began our Lenten journey with the words “repent and believe in the gospel” or “from dust you are and to dust you shall return”. Like John the Baptist in the desert we enter into a desert experience to “cry out full-throated and unsparingly”…REPENT!!

We are ambassadors for Christ. As ambassadors we represent Christ by living the Christian ideal. To live the Christian ideal is an encounter with Christ. Traditionally many see Lent as a time to “give up” something while we “carry out your own pursuits” says scripture “going about the day as any other day” the business of life. “A day acceptable to the Lord” asks of us to “take up” an action for justice. How do we set free the “oppressed”, begin by forgiving someone and seeking reconciliation with an act of love. Take up an act of love for the hungry, the homeless, the naked shamed by a world that offers them pity by cleaning out your closet, your pantry, or your garage and giving them to organizations that serve the hungry and the homeless like a St. Vincent de Paul center. Since the Depression in this country it seems we have not only “saved for a rainy day” but become hoarders of everything. We collect so much “stuff” that we have overflowing storage and more than one of everything we claim to “need”. There even exists a professional organizing industry to help us hold onto everything. Simple tip for this Lent is “let go and let God”, give of ourselves and what we have and trust in God.

The Christian ideal for Lent is fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The ideal for fasting and abstinence is beyond giving up something for a time it is a form of repentance. We have our food addictions to coffee, alcohol, cokes, and sweets the most common thing we tend to give up because we consciously know we are harming ourselves with the excess of consumption. At a training I attended, I recall a college student saying she could not go long without eating Cheetos every day or she would get anxious just thinking about going to buy a bag. We can also repent from too many hours of television hooked on reality shows, sports, or news events. We can repent from becoming social media junkies or bingo and “maquinita” (game) junkies.

The ideal prayer begins with “Lord, teach me to pray.” The Church offers so many forms of prayer but how is Jesus calling us to encounter him in our prayer life. If we pray the traditional rosary in 15 minutes flat perhaps we can take time to recite a scriptural rosary meditating on each bead with a scripture verse the life of Jesus. Today there are so many prayer apps we can download and pray with during the day like the Litany of the Hours which unites us to the daily prayers of the Church. Perhaps God wants us to encounter him in scripture by praying the form of Lectio Divina allowing us to meditate on scripture. Perhaps he wants us to simply spend time with him in silence before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration, waiting and longing for the bridegroom.

The ideal of almsgiving is giving of self by “taking up” a cause for the need of others with works of mercy. In mercy we encounter Christ. At the beginning of the New Year my resolution was to seek “joy in Christ”. Since childhood, I had the habit of worrying. Habits lead to character development and being a “worrier” is bad for your health eventually it catches us to us especially as we age. I need the joy of Christ to change my character. I ask myself, “What gives God joy?” The answer is a repentant sinner with a merciful heart seeking to encounter him in God’s sons and daughters. The heavens celebrate when a sinner repents. In our youth we may fail to see our collection of venial sins thinking “I’m not that bad…I stay out of trouble.” As we age and look back at the things we said and did we begin to see ourselves with the eyes of God who opens our eyes and hearts to our true self and calls us back to his mercy.

Let the discipline of this Lent gush forth mercy from the heart of our God and savior. We can offer up as reparation for our sins acts of mercy. We can also offer our acts of mercy and discipline this Lent for the sins of others, souls in purgatory, our deceased family members, or simply for God’s divine purpose. Who is the prodigal son in our home and family who we can offer our acts of mercy for a conversion in their lives. The joy of Lent is being immersed in God’s merciful Heart.

One of my favorite stories from years ago in the 1980s while leading a youth group to Garner State Park, we were returning home and stopped in San Antonio with a van load of youth. I only had cash for gas (no credit cards then) and was down to my last $10.00. Stopping to go to the bathroom our son entered a stall and said “hey Dad, I found a penny.” Looking down from the next stall I said “hey son, I found $100”. There on the flood lay a black wallet with no identity and only a $100 bill. As we returned to join the group sitting by the Alamo we were in a crowd of people when I noticed an old man with a beard in old scrubby clothes walking directly to me. He stood in front of me and reached out his hand without saying a word. I reached for my wallet and gave him the $10.00 feeling awed by the moment. The man accepted the money and simply turned and disappeared in the crowd. God had heard my prayer and I encountered God in this man seeking alms. Have you encountered Jesus today?

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Homily

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Posted on February 2, 2018February 3, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Mal 3:1-4; Heb 2: 14-18; Lk 2: 22-40

Today in addition to our celebration of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Mass is also recognized in the Liturgical calendar as the World Day for Consecrated Life. To consecrate by definition is to make or declare (i.e. church) sacred. When we speak of a consecrated life in the church we recognize a vow to holiness in formal religious life and divine purpose. “Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek”. Who is the King of glory mighty in battle who comes to the temple as our Lord? He is a baby, one like us to share in our humanity in all things but sin, “that he may be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people”, the divine purpose.

The presentation of the Lord in the temple does not just fulfill the Jewish Law of Moses, it fulfills the prophetic message of the coming messiah, the one through whom all consecration to the Lord will be fulfilled. I find it significant that the child Jesus is brought to the temple after six days “for their purification to be consecrated”. God created the world in six days and on the seventh he rested. In the fullness of time, in God’s time salvation has come to the world. Anna is also a mystical person, a prophetess married seven years, she shared the fullness of her lay ministry to her husband and for the rest of her life she consecrated herself to the divine life, “never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.”

If you recall Mary with Jesus still in the womb visits Elizabeth her cousin and John in the womb of Elizabeth leaps for joy as Elizabeth declares Mary as the “mother of my Lord”. John is consecrated by Jesus in the womb to the divine life that he may fulfill his divine purpose. The child Jesus is presented in the temple not only fulfilling the law but with the power to consecrate the temple, to make it sacred so that through the temple and the priesthood in the laying of the hands a new royal priesthood is established in Jesus who is our High Priest. The adult Jesus comes to John in the river Jordan to be baptized not for his sin but for ours that the new royal priesthood through the waters of baptism will cleanse us of our sins as the first sacrament to be given in the consecrated temple. Jesus is establishing his kingdom and his church with himself as High Priest. He is preparing his descendants to carry the keys to the kingdom not for itself but for “other”. Jesus came not for himself but for other. As other we too are called to share in the divine life, to be consecrated by our baptism as priest, prophet and king. Like Anna we enter this world to live the fullness of the human life but also to fulfill our divine purpose. It is a calling we must be attentive to daily because “suddenly the Lord whom we seek” may come to us calling. How will we respond to his calling? Are we prepared to be his messengers to prepare the way for “other” by living the sacramental life?

Those who have responded to the priesthood heard the call and carry the cross with joy. It is the joy of opening the gates of heaven to other in the sacraments. The call is not only to the priesthood but to deacons, religious nuns and laity. We all share in the calling to the divine life by our baptism. We are members of the body, participants in the temple called to be consecrated in our state of life.

Some time back I did the DNA testing and discovered that I was over 50% Native American, over 30% southern European and 1% Ashkenazi Jewish. Ashkenazi Jews spoke Yiddish as a Germanic language with Hebrew used only as a sacred language. Ashkenazi derives from the biblical figure Ashkenaz in Jeremiah 51:27. Ashkenaz was the first son of Gomer, son of Japhet, son of Noah. Gomer is rendered as Germania today’s Germany and northern France. Before the Holocaust Ashkenazi Jews numbered 92% of all Jews but after the Holocaust they were only 3% of all Jewish survivors. Ashkenaz is a Jewish diaspora community that was part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time of Jesus. I can say my 1% traces to the blood of Jesus, a Jew and to Mary and Joseph. Today we all are invited to receive the blood of Jesus in the Holy sacrament of the Eucharist, body and blood, soul and divinity. Let us carry Him with us as we go forth from the temple as Mary and Joseph carried the child Jesus to the temple with love and devotion to live consecrated lives, lives of sanctity.

Tomorrow 43 candidates will receive the laying of the hands to become permanent Deacons in the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, to serve “other” and to present the Lord to the world in their witness and ministry. Let us pray for them in the new consecrated life and for all our priests and Deacons to remain faithful to the Word and merciful in their witness. Let us all fulfill with joy our divine purpose before God as we go forth each day to live the fullness of our consecration.

Amen.

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Presentation of the Lord

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Homily

Second Week in Ordinary Time Friday 2018

Posted on January 20, 2018January 20, 2018 by Deacon Joe

1 Sm. 24:2-12; Mk. 3:13-19

“And Saul wept aloud.” We don’t expect loud crying from a King, a warrior or from men. What can make such a powerful impact on a soul? It is God’s deliverance. Continuing the drama of Saul and David this week in scripture, Saul has been overcome with jealousy. His obsession to kill David is from the evil one. Saul is the anointed one to serve God and lead his people. David is the Christ-like figure to whom God has delivered Saul in his “grasp”. David chooses mercy not murder. Saul is persecuting David but David is also the anointed one from God given wisdom to know and understand “From the wicked comes forth wickedness”. David show Saul God’s mercy, his deliverance and Saul wept.

Often during retreats such as a Men’s ACTS retreat there comes a moment of deliverance when you see grown men cry like a baby, it has happened to me. God delivers us from our sin, our cross, those internal battles we wage and the demons who seek to ruin our souls. At that moment God’s peace and love pours into us and the joy of freedom, God’s deliverance and his mercy give us peace.

We can relate to both Saul and David. In Saul we each have our authority given to us by God, to exercise dominion in our world as parents, teachers, bosses, professionals, skilled workers, clergy or lay ministries. There are times as soon as someone gains some authority their behavior changes. As peers and co-workers their easy to get along but with authority that power becomes misused or abused. Remember the saying “rule #1: The boss is always right. Rule #2 If the boss is wrong, go back to rule #1”. The implication is that authority cannot be challenged. Authority can make people defensive even fear that you may take their job. Authority is given to empower others to succeed in the gifts God has given them. Saul feared David’s success as a warrior “all that we left was for him to take the kingship” he is quoted as saying. Becoming defensive makes us weak and vulnerable, not just unreasonable but even irrational.

David also is anointed to serve God but by serving God and Saul his king he is persecuted by the king. In life there are those times when doing what is right results in being criticized, judged and even attacked by those who fear losing power, influence, prestige, or even their riches. Consider what is happening in our times. This weekend is the “Right to Life March” in Washington D.C. In a country where everyone has the freedom of speech the voices of opposition will be on high alert to down play, criticize, and even attack our freedom because it does not align with their ideology. It is a sign of weakness that the opposition fears wand even avoids having a dialogue on the issues of life.

We all are under authority from the moment of conception and God entrusts in us authority as he did to Saul and David to be Fathers, Mothers, leaders, and warriors for justice. Blessed Mother Mary was told by the angel that she would conceive and bear a son and would name him Jesus. Jesus came into the world in obedience to the Father to fulfill God’s plan of salvation. We also enter the world for a purpose and our spirits are restless until we find rest in God’s calling, his plan for our lives. That authority comes from above anointed in baptism as Priests, Prophets, and Kings. Do we honor each other as “the anointed ones” brothers and sisters in Christ?

From the mountain Jesus summons and appoints twelve to be Apostles. In our anointing God gives us all a summons to go forth appointed in our state of life to bear the good news with authority. It is the authority to serve in humility our king “the Anointed One’ Jesus Christ.

Let us give honor to God by our witness not to fear but to believe God will deliver us from the works of evil. Let us remember to pray for deliverance. Let us use our authority to empower others in their calling, their gifts, and their service. Then we will truly be a warrior for Christ. Jesus also “wept” for our sins and prayed to the Father for deliverance. He accepted the will of the Father, suffered and died but we know the story does not end there. He also resurrected, conquered death and remains with us to deliver us. Let us celebrate our deliverance today in the Eucharist where he comes to set us free.

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Homily

Second Week in Ordinary Time Thursday 2018

Posted on January 18, 2018January 20, 2018 by Deacon Joe

1 Sm. 18:6-9, 19: 1-7; Mk. 3:7-12

“You are the Son of God”. Who proclaims this? It is the unclean spirits who “prowl around the world seeking the ruins of souls” as we are reminded in the St. Michael’s prayer. “And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him” and could not face the Son of God. In proclaiming you are the Son of God reveals his divinity yet Jesus is not ready “to make him known” scripture says. As the Son of God you could imagine someone who is and was to be king wanting to make himself known immediately with all the fanfare of a king. God’s ways are not our ways and he understood that he must prepare his disciples on becoming apostles to remain in him with teaching, understanding and with courage to sacrifice. In the Old Testament David make reference to the Son of Man who is to come. This speaks to how he will come from all eternity to be fully human and still fully divine, not two persons but one.

Today in the scriptures we see how the unclean spirits enter Saul to create jealously of David and with the thought “All that remains for him is the kingship” becoming “angry and resentful”. The purpose of unclean spirits is to bring about death and destruction. Saul then looks to kill David but God also works through Saul’s son Jonathan to prevent a tragedy. If Saul had acted on his evil spirit and killed David he then would be guilty of mortal sin repeating the story of Cain and Abel.

Often when we perceive evil spirits we envision some type of movie drama like the Exorcist, with bodies being elevated and demonic voices coming out of them. Recently I listened to an interview on EWTN, the catholic broadcasting network. (Kathleen Beckman, author When Women Pray) The person was part of a team working in the Church assisting the priest with exorcisms. She mentioned three types or levels of demonic influence: oppression, obsession, and possession.

The most common is oppression with a good example of that being the story of Job. In oppression you suffer by the freedom of evil spirits to bring about suffering through circumstances surrounding us. I recall an experience when I received a call from a neighbor claiming his child was complaining of seeing an old man appear on his upstairs bedroom window. At first he tried to ignore the boy thinking it was his imagination and it was pass but the child continued to insist the appearance was real and he was starting to regress and become more fearful. I promised to go over and together with my wife we visited his home. He met us outside with his wife expressing his concerns and I asked, “Is the child baptized?” I knew the family was not catholic but did not have any background history of their faith practices. The mother said all the children were baptized. Inside we met the children and after some discussion we proceeded to go throughout the house blessing the home with prayer and holy water. In the boy’s room I invoked the any evil spirits that may be present to leave through the name of Jesus. The father called me the next night stating the child had finally slept in his room without problems and days later I inquired how he was doing and he said all the family was doing well. Is your home, work setting, vehicle blessed?

The second form of attack is obsession. Through the mind temptations of jealousy, pride, lust, paranoia and even suicidality with self-hatred can enter. In Saul we see the spirit of jealousy become an obsession with a drive to kill David. In Jesus we see during his passion the attack by the evil one at the Garden of Gethsemane as the gospels recount his “sorrow even unto death” (Mk.14:34) and his warning to the disciples to “pray that they may not undergo the test”. (LK. 22:40). One moment we may be driving down the road enjoying the moment then someone threatens our safety by cutting us off and we become filled with “road rage”. Our impulse our spirit is filled with the temptation to strike back, “How dare they!”

The presenter pointed out that the least common seen is possession though she has participated in some of those exorcisms. Here the body seems to be controlled by the evil spirits and demonic voices can be heard coming out from them. Scripture is filled with examples of Jesus exorcism of demons from people’s lives. There is always the concern of the possibility that a person may have mental health issues which is why the church is careful to examine the person and rule out other factors.

In our humanity we believe in what we see but we don’t always accept what we don’t see. We have a headache and we believe and feel that reality. We don’t always know or understand if that headache is the result of elevated blood pressure or allergies which we cannot see, the unseen source. In the same way we see bad things happen and we look to the rational explanation as we should for natural causes. Sometimes we have no explanation for circumstances and we consider it simply “bad luck”. Do we ever consider evil forces working to bring ruin into our world? Probably not often enough because we fear the unknown and cannot understand the unseen. What do we do? We deny or fail to recognize the forces of evil around us that “prowl around the world seeking the ruins of souls.” Evil is real. We are given power over evil. Power comes in the form of our sacraments, through prayer with the rosary as our weapon, novenas, and devotions, and with the sacramental signs of a crucifix, holy water, and always “In the name of Jesus”. We have warriors at our side in our guardian angel as an angel was sent to Jesus to strengthen him in the Garden of Gethsemane, other angels and saints, our Blessed Mother and our Church community to bring strength through fellowship. God may be working through us today, gathered together to be like Saul’s son Jonathan, a voice of reason, an intervention in moment of danger serving God today for his purpose. Jesus Christ is our deliverance.

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Homily

Second Week of Ordinary Time Tuesday 2018

Posted on January 17, 2018January 15, 2018 by Deacon Joe

1 Sm. 16:1-13; Mk. 2:23-28

When one hears “Amoris Laetitia” what comes to mind? Perhaps to the world it has no meaning. Others know it is an encyclical from Pope Francis but not much else. Some understand the encyclical is about “love” especially the love of neighbor. In church circles there is much focus and discussion on one particular chapter which appears to imply that it is possible for persons divorced and remarried without an annulment of the first marriage to receive communion. This is an interpretation that some within the church seek to have a clarification from the Pope. Cardinal Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State has called this section of the encyclical a “paradigm shift” and a “new spirit”. Others fear this teaching is outside of the church doctrine on adultery and the law of God.

In today’s gospel Jesus comes and his acts are considered outside the law of God. The Pharisees see that by picking the heads of the grain they violate the laws of the temple and church tradition. Jesus announces two important points in his response to the Pharisees. First “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” Second, the “Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Looking at the first point he reminds the Pharisees that the law of God is for the good of humanity. How the law is applied has to have a universal good if we all belong to the same body of God. When the body is attached by cancer the cancer cells are living off of the body causing the body to suffer and die. The cancerous cells live for themselves and not for the whole body. If the law of love gives life to the universal body of God then it is a good but if it lives for itself and the universal body suffers then the interpretation is not from God. The second point is of same importance. The Son of Man, Emmanuel, God with us in Jesus governs the law. He then gives the example where David violates the law of the temple to do a good to meet the need of hunger. Here we see a conflict between the personal need and the body of faith and how Jesus judges what is good.

The Church universal speaks to the fact that the act of sin is always judged the same. While the act remains a sin it also much judges the intention, the understanding, and the free will to commit the act. This does not indicate the act was not a sin but the circumstances also are a factor. This reminds me of a Spanish saying translated as “all cannot be covered with the same blanket”, thus all are not judged the same. You must judge the universal good and the personal good together so that love may be fruitful.

This encyclical reminds me when the Vatican II documents were published. The interpretations led some to understand the documents to mean a change of paradigm and a new spirit. There were changes such as the priest turning to face the people during mass instead of giving his back. Mass began to be held in the local language instead of Latin. Statues of saints were less displayed in the church to catechism began changing to themes more applicable to social life and not memorization of doctrine. The outcome was mixed. The people understood more the rites and participated more in the mass. There was greater awareness of the church body obligation to participate in the gospel message and in evangelizing others to the faith. There is the recognition that there are large number of Catholics who do not know their faith, don’t study their faith, and don’t come regularly to mass with a desire to worship in thanksgiving but in silence seeking to receive more than to give.

We see the law of God is universal and personal because it exists both in the church and in the human heart. It must live and give fruit in both. Thus in the first reading of Samuel we see how God works is not with human eyes. Samuel sees with human eyes and believes God picks Eliab for king to rule the people. Eliab was of “lofty stature” and his appearance must have been of a strong leader. From all the seven sons God selects David, the youngest and sheep herder and says, “There – anoint him, for this is he! …and from that day on, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David”.

We all receive through our baptism the oil of catechumens and the oil of charism that God will increase our understanding and the Spirit descend and remain with us. May we lead our people, our homes according to his will and our lives be free from sin y filled with the grace of his love.

The hope of God in David and in us is for a response in faith to God as our Father, our strength, our salvation united as one body and not divided by the law. He judges our actions and knows our hearts and fulfills the law in our hearts. Some wish to take Amoris Laetitia to say the new spirit accepts and blesses relationships committed to homosexuality. Others interpret it to include the need to accept some level of artificial birth control. Careful with taking liberty that some seek to have that brings confusion where the devil manifests itself. It is not of God who is the God of truth, goodness, beauty, and love. May the God of love triumph!

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Homily

First Week in Ordinary Time Friday

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Deacon Joe

1Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a; Mk 2:1-12

“Who do you say that I am? This being the first week in Ordinary Time, First Friday, the beginning of a New Year in the Church quite appropriately begins with the beginning of Jesus ministry claim to be the Son of Man. We just celebrated Christmas time, our waiting for his coming. Now that he is here beginning his ministry, “Who do you say that I am?”

If you recall Moses in the burning bush asks god, “who do I say sent me?” He responded say that “I Am” sent you. The Israelites knew their scriptures and understood from a prophesy of Daniel that one like “the Son of Man” from all eternity would come to save them. They expected a king a mortal king to rule over them on earth. What are all elders of Israel asking of Samuel? They want a king who will win their battles, who will make them and keep them a free people. There is an underlying theology to understand. If you believe that this mortal life is all there is then you live and die to preserve this life, not for you but for your earthly kingdom and your descendants. You want to safeguard your earthly kingdom and your descendants. You want to safeguard your earthly treasures whatever they may be. With this theology we can understand the importance to the elders to have a king rule over them.

The Elders criticize Samuel because his sons do not follow his example. Let me pause here from scripture and ask. What do we wish for our sons and daughters, to be the best God created them to be or to follow our example? It is not a trick question. Not that we have been a bad example though we all sin and have our regrets. We do want them to follow good virtues but that is not the point the Elders are making. Samuel was a leader and it appears his sons have no interest in becoming the next leader of the people. We want our children to be good leaders of their home, their profession, their community. The key work is “their” not “our”. Historically if a family was not farming it was expected the children would grow up to be farmers and help in the business. We teach our children what we know best and love. If a man played sports and has that drive to be a warrior, he buys his son a ball and dresses him as the outfits that promote being the “#1 Fan!” The child may want to grow up and be in the band instead and as parents we might accept it and support them but do our kids feel the same pride from us or do they grow up believing “my dad wanted me to be a farmer, or a football player”. Have we asked ourselves “have we become the best or ourselves or are we still trying to live up to someone else’s dream for us? Our desire is for our children to be the best God created them to be. If they are truly to be a gift to us and to the world we set them free. Our prayer for them is to discover how they are God’s child. Now for the rest of the story, as the famous Paul Harvey would say.

Jesus returns to Capernaum and he was at home. Can you imagine being away from home for some time maybe to a retreat, or off to college and when you return home to a family reunion you declare, “I am the son of God and plan to live the rest of my life as a saint.” What would be the response, “You?” We have ACTS retreats in our community and some return home having experienced a real conversion. Their family isn’t ready for such a drastic change. They question, “What happened to you?” Jesus is prepared to do the will of the Father, to bring forgiveness, mercy, reconciliation to the world. That is not the type of king they seek. The reaction of the people is “blasphemer”. He does the miracle so they may believe that he is “the Son of Man”. The people recognize that by claiming to be the Son of Man he is making reference to Daniel’s prophesy that says the Son of Man from all eternity will come to rule. He is the one from heaven destined to come and is now with them. The miracle is a confirmation of his claim to be from heaven, God with us, Emmanuel. Take that to the bank as the saying goes. Some philosophers confuse his claim to be the “Son of Man” as being the son of humanity, more human that divine. We want to make God more like us what is the “new age” philosophy of ‘I’m ok, you’re ok” not to change us to be more like God. Church teaching is Jesus is fully human and fully God, the second person of the Trinity, coming to restore our humanity to his divinity. Thus we should claim to live our lives as saints. I am called we are called to be with the great I Am.

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Homily

Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop

Posted on January 9, 2018January 9, 2018 by Deacon Joe

1 Jn. 3:11-21; Jn. 1:43-51
Have we made any New Year’s Resolutions? Like most people over the years, I have tried making New Year’s resolutions. Initially they had more to do with health like losing weight, exercising more or reading more. In a way they were practical things. Then I began focusing on more personal development like being more patient. I learned be careful what you ask for because to learn patience expect trials to test your patience. I am not the most patient person standing in line and it always seems that I pick the grocery line with the price check, or manager’s overwrite, so I start looking at my phone to exercise patience. With time I began focusing on more spiritual goals like prayer, study, and service. Lately I find myself seeking greater virtues like generosity and this year I sense God’s call to greater joy. If you see pictures of me, I don’t smile much more often I have the “serious” look. I was once asked to make a metaphor of me. I said I was an inverted hurricane, outside calm and collected but inside the winds of the hurricane are strong and sometimes destructive. God calls us to be the best he created us to be and that may be the best resolution of all.
Today, Jesus’ invitation is two-fold, “come and see” and “follow me”. In Jesus, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything”. He knows who is a true child of faith, who belongs to the kingdom if we but follow him. Nathaniel asks, “How do you know me?” God knows our hearts and our hearts condemn us or give us confidence in God. How is it that Nathaniel went from being a doubter to a believer and follower so easily? Jesus provides the answer, “There is no duplicity in him.” Duplicity by definition means “deceitfulness” and other synonyms include “double-dealing, underhandedness, trickery, and dishonesty”. At first we might say, “There is no duplicity in me”. An examination of conscience however may question “how honest am I to myself?” Nathaniel was honest in his comments. Often we try to be politically correct. As soon as someone asks, “How are you?” Our immediate reaction is to say “Fine”. Do we really want to open up and be honest about our aches and pain, physical or emotional? No! We wear a happy mask, we give politically correct answers, we try to see things as we want them to be then when reality hits we are not ready to deal with it and we miss being true to ourselves. Nathaniel saw reality, ready to deal with it, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” That is a bold statement. Jesus is reality. Nathaniel also knew his scriptures, he knew the prophesy of the Messiah, his heart was ready to believe because he had prepared himself by being true to himself and others as God created him to be.
To be labeled a “murderer” is a strong accusation yet may we not be slowly killing ourselves in duplicity, without love of self and neighbor. There are saints like Saint Theresa “The Little Flower” who are gentle souls and there are saints who are rascals, not easy to get along with like Padre Pio but in both there is no duplicity, “What you see is what you get”. Sainthood is not for the weak of heart. It is a response to the call, “come and see” with love and you will recognize the Son of god with us and follow to remain in Him. St. John Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia came to the U.S. seeking to be a priest becoming the first bishop to organize a diocesan school system going from one school to two hundred and opened up a new parish each month. Being true to himself in his frugality he had only one pair of boots his life in the U.S. and when given new vestments he preferred to pass them onto newly ordained priests. At the age of 48 he collapsed and died in the streets while out on errands. There was no duplicity in this simple man though he rose to be bishop of Philadelphia.
What is our resolve this year that we can follow with courage and sometimes sacrifice to be the best God created us to be? He created us to be the image of himself which is truth, goodness, beauty, and love. The real self, come and see and follow.

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