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Homily

Second Sunday of Advent – Prepare the way!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps. 85:9-14; 2 PT. 3:8-14; Mk. 1:1-8

Prepare the way of the Lord!  The Lord’s way is not our way so the Lord is calling us to more than just changing the way we live, he is seeking a transformation of mind, heart and soul, and a mastery of our flesh.  Prepare the way of the Lord in our very being beginning with an act of repentance.  The was the message of John the Baptist that the Lord’s way begins with repentance for our sins that is why he came before Jesus preparing the way for his coming.  Do we desire the Lord’s coming?  We hasten his coming by “conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion”. 

Isaih calls us to “Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God.”  The wasteland is all the sin and corruption of souls by a culture of death.  The “highway for our God” is the sacramental life he left us in his church.  The young Carlo Acutis who died at the age of 15 and was beatified in 2020 called the eucharist his “highway to heaven”.  He used his computer programming skills to promote devotion to the eucharist documenting Eucharistic miracles.  He took who he was, his skills, his youthfulness, his interests and he used them to proclaim there is a God and he is in the Eucharist.  He is a modern –day John the Baptist proclaiming in the wasteland of our times to prepare the way of the Lord. 

Preparing the way of the Lord begins from within and matures into a calling in the way we honor, serve and give glory to God.  From within we come to believe there is a God, we are his creation, and he is calling us to himself.  What is our response, “here I am Lord” or “not yet Lord”?  Once we know there is a God, we play with fire if we choose to ignore his call for our salvation.  Thinking back to the parables Jesus gave to the apostles and the people, they served as a warning as well as a call to something greater to come.   The Lord comes with power to reward his people and to separate the sheep from the goats. 

The power of the Lord is for this day, he “does not delay his promise”.  One day or a thousand, it is all a breath from the Lord.  The Lord is coming and the Lord has come.  The first coming we prepare to celebrate as our Christmas time, Jesus in the flesh, in a manger, walking the earth and preparing souls to receive the Holy Spirit.  The second coming we are reminded of when the “heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire”.  Do we imagine a literal fire or the fire of the power of God, the fire of his light, and the fire his purging of souls?  It is the fire of his promise that also brings about “a new heaven and a new earth”. 

When we say “water and oil don’t mix” we recognize that certain circumstances cannot exist together.  Heaven and hell have a great chasm in separation of each other.   Sin and sanctity, one carries the passion of the flesh and the other the passion of the spirit.  The same is true of us if we remain in sin then we cannot receive the Lord’s justice and peace, kindness and truth, and all the benefits the Lord is prepared for those who do love and serve him.   What our true heart’s desire is this day will determine what happens next in the presence of the Lord. 

Behavioral science will affirm we are creatures of habit.  When we develop good habits, it leads to right action in our next circumstance just as bad habits can project negative consequences from future actions.  We prepare the way of the Lord through our discipline of faith.  Prayer is not an occasional act that happens only in Mass or in times of desperation.  Prayer is a discipline of being in contact with God as we offer up ourselves throughout the day.  It is not how long a prayer is but how meaningful our thoughts and words are with exclamations such as “Jesus I trust in you” and “Let thy will be done”.  It is the discipline of the day that prepares the way of the Lord for his coming in all we do and offer to him.  Life is not an accident by chance, it is about how we have prepared today for our tomorrow to come.  Tomorrow does not delay, let us be prepared. 

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Homily

First Sunday of Advent – Be watchful! Be alert!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 63:16B-19B; 64: 2-7; Ps. 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; 1 Cor. 1:3-9; Mk. 13:33-37

Be watchful!  Be alert! We begin our first Sunday of Advent with this reminder from the Lord.  We are watchful for his coming not just into the world but in our lives.  Advent is a season of longing for the Lord, for something greater to come into our lives.  It is the power of his love manifested in each and every way in which we turn and give him glory, in an answered prayer, in the beauty of his graces, and in the unity of souls.  Also, be alert to the signs of our times, to the dangers of the deceiver and be ready to recognize the Lord’s coming and to the fulfillment of his promises. 

The first reading asks the question “Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways?”  It is the same sentiment we ask the Lord when we see so much evil in the world and wonder why the Lord permits this to be.  It seems that the culture of death continues to grow, polls say that less people attend church, and people identify more as spiritual in their own thinking than religious in worship of God.  We say things are getting worse than better in this world.  In the spirit of Advent, it is a way of longing for the Lord to come and put an end to evil and sin.  The patience of the Lord is for the conversion of sinners while there is still time. 

The Lord longs for our love but true love is a free gift of oneself from our freedom.  The Lord created us with the freedom of our will to give of ourselves in love.  It is reflected in the sacramental life when we give of ourselves in marriage, when a man gives himself up to be a priest, when a woman chooses to enter religious life and when we bring a child to the waters of baptism to become a child of God.  We not only give of ourselves in love but when we wander away in our own selfish desires it is the love that is missing in our lives that brings us back to God. 

When a child wanders away from the values and upbringing that they were raised by, a parent soon realizes there comes a point where there is nothing they can say or do to change the mind of the child.  They can only pray that they will return home to the values and practices of their faith in God.  A parent waits patiently and prays to God and God waits patiently and sends his messengers calling the child to come back to the faith by their own free will.  True love is a free gift from God that we can only give back to him in our freedom. 

To be watchful and alert is to mindfully be taking care of the Lord’s work that he “might meet us doing right”. We are to mindfully allow God to mold us in his own image as clay in the potter’s hands.  We pray to the Lord to “make us turn to you” because we recognize the weakness of our own flesh resistant in doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  Yet the Lord relies on the freedom of our own will so we pray for transformation of our will by his Spirit that we may not be “lacking in any spiritual gift”.  The Lord promises to reveal himself to us when we come to him searching, wanting, and in faith. 

“Show us Lord, your love; and grant us your salvation.”  Like a child, clings to his mother, we are to cling to the Lord.  All too often we recognize that as a society we have become “soft”, no longer believing in sacrifice, frustrated without our conveniences, intolerant to others who don’t think like we do, and calling for “safe spaces” and entitlements.  To sacrifice is not a value we desire.  It does not appeal to the flesh and our will is weak even when we recognize the value of sacrifice.  Work involves a sacrifice, raising children comes with sacrifice, and our faith reminds of the Lord’s sacrifice for us as we look to the crucifix.  With sacrifice comes great reward.  There is the expression, “where there is a will there is a way”.  When the way involves sacrifice, we quit before we ever get going and fail to reach the mountain top. 

This attitude has carried into our church whereby if the Mass time is not convenient, we don’t find a way to still go to church and we give ourselves a pass on Sunday.  God does not give passes to miss Sunday Mass.  Some complain the church is archaic and not progressive enough with the times while others that it is too liberal and needs to return to the “good old days”. 

We want the church to adapt to our views and ways when we have to recognize the church is the bride of Christ guided by the hand of God working through the Spirit in all it’s priesthood.  For every priest who is being obedient to his calling there are over 10,000 opinions who would want to change something within the church.  The church stands on faith and the word of God and we must join in and participate in faith trusting in God.  The Lord has left his servant in charge and his servant is the church.  We can see the face of God in his church and through his church we shall be saved. 

Be watchful!  Be alert to the working of the spirit that we may not be lacking in any spiritual gift as the Lord reveals himself to us this day in his church, in the Eucharist, in his Word and through the faithful and the stranger.  The Lord will show us his love when we cling to him as an infant to his mother and as a child holds onto the hand of his father.    

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Homily

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ – King of the Universe

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ez. 34:11-12, 15-17; Ps. 23:1-3, 5-6; 1 Cor. 15:20-26, 28; Mt. 25:31-46

Viva Christ the King!  We come to the end of the liturgical calendar year in celebration of the Lord’s victory over death and the coming of the kingdom of heaven.  It is a day of judgment, the separation of the sheep from the goat, the righteous from the accursed.  Our celebration is a reminder that we are to live with the end in mind.  We are to live our God given purpose for being called a son or daughter of the living God.  If in baptism we have died in Christ and today we are reminded to live in service of our baptismal promises? 

Last Sunday we were reminded of our responsibilities that come with all the gifts of the Lord in the parable of the “talents”.  Today we are reminded the end is coming and we are to be ready to receive the Lord.  Readiness requires action just as faith requires trust.  We can say “I have faith” but respond in fear.  When Peter called on Jesus so he could walk on the sea, he stepped out in faith but began to sink for lack of trust.  We often see faith as an act of the mind, to believe in something.  Believing is only the first step of faith, then comes to trust in the Lord.  Trusting is an act of the will, to step out on the waters of life and take the next right step is true faith. 

Just as there is an end of time to come there is also an end of our time as mortals for there is but one human death and then comes judgement.  So also, as there is a kingdom of God to come their is a kingdom of God that is already with us in Jesus Christ.  When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist we receive the kingdom of God to transform our lives.  What our mortal bodies cannot contain is yet to come in the glorified state of heaven.  We live and we love in anticipation of something greater that awaits those who live their faith in action. 

St. Augustine in a discourse preached we are all to sing to the Lord “not with our lips but with our lives.”   It is how we live our lives that makes the most beautiful music to the Lord.  The perfect song is sung by our love of God and neighbor.  We don’t all have the prefect pitch of voice or can play a musical instrument but we are all given the gift of silence to sing by our actions our faith and trust in God.  The Lord leads us today in the gospel where we are to walk in the Lord. 

The next right step of faith God calls us is to act in the care of those in need.  The love of God is seen in the love of neighbor.  Even among the faithful today we see in the reading that the Lord “will judge between one sheep and another”.  What does this mean?  The Lord’s judgment at death is immediate between the souls of the just all according to how we served the Lord.  We have this idea that heaven is this one place we all go to and some even believe there is no hell.  Wrong!  That is the first separation to come. 

We also see in the angels that there are different levels of angelic choirs.  Jesus tells us “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places” he is going to prepare for us.  Not all are the same place as we have not all lived the same virtuous life.  God promises a new body one where the flesh is no longer resistant to the spirit.  Today the spirit desires to come to church but the flesh wants to stay in bed and sleep.  The resurrected body will be one with the spirit giving glory to God. 

Christ’s victory over death was not for himself but for all humanity.  We recall that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh.  Jesus victory over death is also a victory over the cause of death which is sin.  It is a victory over the spiritual death of sin and the mortal death of the body to give us an eternal incorruptible body that desires the glorified state of heaven.  In the glorified state we will each shine with the light according to the virtues we lived on this earth.  There is nothing I shall want of this world when we give ourselves over to our King. 

Psalm 23 is one of the most read at funerals.  It reminds us that we are to live for the Lord.  It also reminds us that we don’t take anything of this world with us when we die.  Our desire is for the riches of heaven.  The riches come when we follow Christ our shepherd and king.  These are the spiritual riches that bring us joy, peace, and love. 

I sometimes share the story of the death of my mother who died December 12, 1997, the day of the apparition of the Virgen de Guadalupe.  I was working at the hospital when I got the call that she did not look well and to come home.  We had been taking care of her at home expecting these to be her final days.  When I arrived at home, she was awake and alert but in cold sweat and in agony.  Suddenly she sat up and pointed to the ceiling and said “look, look!”  I asked her what did she see but she only responded “look!”.  I asked again, do you see angels, Blessed Mary, Jesus?  She just said “Yes, look”.  Then she laid back in bed and died. 

As soon as she died snow started falling outside her window.  This was Harlingen Texas and we all know snow is rare for us.  The news reported that just for a few hours it had snowed in Harlingen before it melted away.  For Harlingen it was an anomaly, but for us it was a moment in which heaven touched earth and gave us a sign from heaven. 

“Ground Zero” is taken as a place where many innocent people died a tragic death.  It becomes a place that is memorialized for generations to come and remember.  Our “ground zero” is the Mass where we recall the death of Christ for all his people.  Here we memorialize the death of Christ and celebrate the victory over death through Christ.  Here we bring our humanity to die to self and rise to God’s divinity.  Here is our victory. 

Viva Christ the King. 

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Homily

33rd Sunday Ordinary Time – Fear of the Lord

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Prov. 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Ps. 128:1-5; 1 Thes. 5:1-6; Mt. 25:14-30

Fear of the Lord!  Blessed are those who fear the Lord.   Wisdom is given to them as children of the light.  Fear of the Lord comes from receiving the Lord’s revelation of his truth and responding in love of God to his will.  The Lord’s truth recognizes good and evil, mercy and justice, the blessings of obedience and accounting for sin.  Fear of the Lord is a reality check when we realize our own mortality and God’s divinity, there is a God and we are not him. 

In today’s time the world is filled with people who are led to believe they can be their own god.   They can choose what sex they want to be, what child they want to give birth to or terminate, and what day they want to end their life.  These choices come when there is no fear of the Lord.  They are made in freedom but they do not set you free.  The bondage of these choices come from the consequence of mortal sin against the love and the law of God.  The day will come when faced with the truth of God and the understanding of “what have I done” that the soul can turn to God and his mercy and seek forgiveness but we must humble ourselves before God. 

Fear of the Lord is what unites a worthy wife, brings prosperity to a man, makes for children of the light and comes with greater responsibilities in the kingdom of God.  A worthy wife is the heart of the home in our domestic church who labors for the good of her family.  The church is the worthy spouse of God who labors for the salvation of souls.  The love of a wife is a compass in the mind of a man that brings prosperity to the home and together the children grow in faith, hope, and love.  Together they face life challenges and serve the greater good.  This is the kingdom of God with a call to greater responsibility. 

Now who wants more responsibility?  This is what God is seeking out of his people, to multiply the blessings that come from the call to love and serve the Lord.  When we face a challenge, we can respond with “why me?” or “why not me!”  Those who say “why me” seek to bury their “talent” that is the graces and gifts of the Spirit, and avoid the call from God.  Those who say “why not me” are not fearful of the world but carry the fear of the Lord and courage to say “yes Lord”.

I retired five months ago from a career of 40 years and was looking forward to the idea of “slowing down”.  In the first month there were so many funerals happening that I began to call myself the “deacon of the dead”.  We all like predictability and before I could say my calendar dictated my day.  Now my calendar can be completely open but by the end of the day I am completely tired because saying “yes Lord” is willing to die to oneself one good deed at a time.  The word “retired” implies to become tired all over again.  “Hello” that is not in the human plan for getting old but then God came calling on Abraham at a very old age.  He calls on the young and old alike to serve in God’s time. 

God does not want part of us, he created all of us for himself.  This is where the parable of the “talents” is understood by the works we are too multiple from the gifts we receive.  Here the parable a “talent” is unit of money equivalent to 6,000 denarii with one denarii equivalent to a day’s wages.   In today’s terms that would equal 25 years of income for just one talent.  Ten talents equal 250 years of wages to create from the gifts we receive from God.  None of this is possible from human effort but then nothing is impossible when there is fear of the Lord willing to answer the call.  After all, it is God who works through us. 

God’s wealth is eternal and his gifts for us are to be multiplied to serve eternity.  One good act of service to God for his people can have eternal blessings.  The blessing we serve in one life can lead that one person to be a blessing to many others many times over.  It is the multiplication of the loaves that keeps feeding everyone with plenty left for future generations to come.  We will never know the good one act of charity can have in the transformation of many until we reach the glorified state and all things are revealed to us. 

The parable emphasizes the great value that God is entrusting to us in our life.  That value does not represent the wealth of this world but the importance of God’s gifts to his people.  We are blessed!  A blessing is the power of God and we are to exercise the power of God in our lives.  From our baptism we are given the gifts of the Spirit and the power to reject sin, to make holy, and to bring others into his kingdom.  When we were born, God gives us the gift of ourselves with a free will with his desire that our lives be lived as the gift of ourselves to him.  Let us live the fear of the Lord without fear in our giving of ourselves for his greater glory.  Amen.

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Homily

32nd Sunday Ordinary Time – Stay awake!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Wis. 6:12-16; Ps 63:2-8; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Mt. 25:1-13

Stay awake and keep vigil for the Lord for he comes as wisdom “seeking those worthy…and graciously appears to them” when we thirst for the Lord and for his wisdom.  Who and what do we thirst for?  Do we thirst for the riches of the world or the riches of the spirit?  At night do we ponder how we will succeed in all our desires of life or how we will be ready to receive the Lord this night?  This is what separates the foolish from the wise. 

We just celebrated All Souls Day on November 2nd and I was asked to do a prayer service at Heavenly Grace funeral home.  Before starting I walked among the people and one elderly lady said to me “that as soon as she walked into the funeral home, she felt nervous, not ready”.  We don’t like thinking of our mortality.  We go about our life as if that day will never come.  We become the foolish virgins living our life hoping that at the end we will still get into the wedding banquet of heaven. 

You may recall the story of the king who knew his hour of dying was approaching and so he got on his horse and rode all night long to escape the angel of death.  When he finally stopped to rest out in the wilderness the angel of death appeared to him saying “I was told to wait here for you.  Why would you pick this spot to come and die?”  Why do we do some of the crazy things that steal away our days and choose to live as if we can escape the consequences of our actions? 

When we choose to live to eat rather than eat to live; when a celebration of life becomes an excuse to abuse alcohol; when work is no longer to support our life but our reason to live; when the bond of our children is stronger with their friends than with their parents because that is who they see more of; we become the foolish virgins of the parable asleep to the things that matter most and get us to heaven.   Do we stay awake to what we were created for or have we lost our focus? 

There is a lifestyle exercise done in three steps.  The first step is to list everything that is important in your lifestyle.  Most people will write down family, friends, faith, work, sleep, social life, etc.  Step two is then to prioritize what is most important first, and on down the list.  This is the difficult part to acknowledge where God or faith is in our priority.  Family is generally first or second in priority.  The third step however is the most revealing.  Now in a 24-hour day where does our waking time go?  What time do we give our Lord in prayer, contemplation, and reflection on his Word each day?  We believe family is very important but is our home a central station where everyone stops to eat and sleep before going on with their life?  Is leisure time an opportunity to bond with those we love or time to escape into the world of social media, television, or gaming.  The reality of the foolish and the wise is soon revealed. 

We read today, “taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence.”  Prudence is making right judgment.  Right judgment comes from an informed conscience.  Many may say, “I follow my conscience” but an ill-informed conscience is the wisdom of the foolish virgins.  The world is full of people who follow their conscience but there is no unity in the world.  Each mind desires to create their own truth and the result is chaos.  True wisdom comes from above, from the light of the Spirit of truth to enlighten the soul.  There is but one truth and it does not come from the mind itself but from the mind that seeks God.  If we thirst for truth then we thirst for God.  Stay awake to the voice of truth which is the source of all wisdom. 

“My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.”, says the psalm.   To thirst implies a longing, a sense of need, an awareness that only God can satisfy us.  The one who thirsts seeks, remains vigilant awaiting the arrival of our God.  He comes in the silence of our prayer, he comes as a word of knowledge that speaks to our heart, he comes as a spirit of love to comfort a suffering soul, he comes as a neighbor who appears at our door just at the right moment when we needed God most. 

The Lord does not delay for he is the God of the present closer to us than we can imagine.  The Lord desires to remain with us and in us but our souls must be as the wise virgins, free of sin, having the light of the spirit, ready to receive him in body, blood, soul, and divinity.  This is our call.  For this he came into the world and for this we were created as a vessel of grace for the kingdom of God.  Stay awake and don’t miss the coming of the Lord. 

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Homily

31st Sunday Ordinary Time – One God and Father

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Mal. 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10; Ps 131:1, 2, 3; 1 Thes. 2:7b-9, 13; Mt. 23:1-12

One God and Father creator of all and one master, the Christ to who we give our glory.  All creation points to our God and we are to follow with all our being created in the image of God.  As we often hear it said, it is not about us, it’s all about our God.  When we are born our first gift of life is the gift of ourselves and what we do with ourselves is our gift back to God.  The greatest gift of ourselves we give our God is to grow in spirit and in truth as we die to ourselves for our salvation and that of this world.  God calls us into his hands to be his hands, feet, heart, and mind by doing his will.  This is the unity prayer of Jesus “that we may all be one” in our God and Father. 

The gospel today instructs us to call no one on earth “Rabbi”, “father”, or “Master” for we have but one God, one Father, and one Master.  Yet we call our priests “father” so as the expression goes “what’s up with this?”  Our separated brothers and sisters in Christ from other denominations like to point to this scripture and question “why do we call a priest father” yet even they refer to their earthly father by this title.  The scripture passage says “call no one” and yet we are born of a father and mother and all make at least this one exception so then “what’s up with this?” 

Recall that all things are to point to our God and the priesthood is a call to die to oneself to then be “in persona Christi” that is serving God in the person of Christ.  Our reference to the priesthood by the title “father” is a recognition of Christ himself who is the one who sanctifies and who we glorify.  The priest in the person of Christ makes Christ alive in the sacraments we receive through him.  The priesthood is to be God’s servant who dies to himself so that it is no longer him but Christ who works through him as St. Paul claims. 

The gospel today is a warning that no one is to be looked at as a god.  In Jesus’ time many kings and rulers wanted the people to bow down to them as a “god” and to have no other gods but them.  The price of disobedience was death.  This is one reason we have so many martyrs from the early church who refused to acknowledge a king as a god.  Jesus comes to teach us that he who wishes to be the greatest must be the servant of all and he laid down his life to give testimony of this.  The priest is the servant of God to give testimony in living a godly life. 

The question for us to consider is who may we be placing as our god above the one God and Father.  Does our politics become the god we serve above the church teachings.  We see how the state has by its policies created this division in which we must choose between “Ceasar” or God.  The state is not the only one seeking to be our god.  There is the god of addictions, the god of pornography, even the god of social media where people lay out their lives for attention seeking more “likes” and followers.  Does any of this give us the peace of life we seek or is this the cause of why we “break faith with one another”?

I was at a conference and the presenter asked the question “what makes you happy?”  The answer for me came quickly, “to be at peace”.  Being at peace makes every other experience a gift that adds to the happiness of life regardless if it is a joyful, sad, challenging, “sunny or rainy” day.  Being at peace helps us to “let go and let God” trusting in his divine providence so that all things work for his glory.  Why are we anxious, fearful, ruminating on all our worries?  Where is our peace?  It can only come from the God of peace in who we can rest in his peace.

It is the Lord who says, “my peace I give you” and so the psalm reminds us today “In you, Lord, I found my peace.”  We have but one God and Father from whom we receive the Son and the Holy Spirit to be the light of our salvation.  To God and God alone do we bend our knee in worship.  May the peace of the Lord be with us all this day.    

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Homily

30th Sunday Ordinary Time – Two great Commandments

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex. 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-4, 47, 51; 1 Thes. 5c-10; Mt. 22:34-40

The two great Commandments reflect both the law and the spirit of the law.  Today the Pharisees continue to test Jesus in an effort to trap him into error of the law.  For the Pharisees all the Commandments had equal value so to choose one would indicate less priority to the others and a way to trap Jesus.  Jesus takes the first three commandments in summary as the love of God and the rest in summary of love of neighbor capturing the spirit of all ten. 

In Exodus from the Old Testament law, we hear the words “You shall not” repeated often comprising of many specific laws of how to treat others.  They offer clarity to how we are to behave, how our hearts are to respond to certain situations as signs of both obedience to God and care of others.  This was a time when the people were governed by legislative authority as subjects to a king and responded to a God who ruled by the law.  For these people the word, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord” meant keeping all the laws.  Jesus comes to transform all the law into two great Commandments because he is about to establish the law of God in the hearts of his people. 

We would think that with the coming of Jesus the transformation of the law would happen rapidly but for many even today God remains more as a distant, authoritative, and legalistic God than a personal, compassionate, loving Father.  It begs the question, how are these individuals in their authority as parents, bosses, judges, or in their priesthood or religious authority?  It can be easier to follow the rule of law than the spirit of the law in practice.  It is easier to say to a child “because I say so” than to have a teaching moment that builds trust.  If we cannot build trust within our home, how are we to raise a child to trust in God? 

Christ came to transform our hearts that by his mercy upon us we may to be a people of mercy and charity.  It leads us to a greater good in the true image of God.  Charity places the good of the other before our benefit because we trust in God to provide for our needs as we provide for others.  This is the law of reciprocity in which it is in giving that we receive.  We cannot outgive our God who multiplies our riches in Christ with his blessings.  It today we see the need let us be open to Christ’s transforming love in which our charity is both the love of God and neighbor. 

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28th Sunday Ordinary Time – Dressed for success!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6; Phil. 412-14, 19-20; Mt. 22:1-14

Dressed for success!  The Lord has prepared his wedding banquet for his people and we are being invited to the wedding feast but before we come, we must be prepared by being dressed for success.  In the gospel today the Lord offers us a parable in which he compares the kingdom of God to a wedding feast.  If the kingdom of God is already at hand, then the wedding feast is ready for us and it begins with the celebration of the Mass. 

Many have been invited of the house of Israel he tells the chief priests and elders but few are chosen.  Many of the invited guests have refused to come thus the invitation has gone out to others on “the main roads” which opens the invitation to all the Samaritans and Gentiles.  The invitation however requires that we come wearing the proper wedding garment, that we be dressed for success. 

Before we come to be received by the Lord, it requires us to be dressed for success with the garment of righteousness, the undergarment of purity, the headdress of humility, and the shoes of justice.  Otherwise, the Lord will ask of us, ““My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?”  Dressed for success also requires of us to be washed clean of our sins.  It begins with a good confession and a commitment to avoid sin and all its near temptations.  We are not to come to receive the Lord in mortal sin or the Lord may pronounce those words we hear today in the gospel, “Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”  Just because Jesus calls us “my friend” does not excuse of from the proper attire to enter the kingdom of God. 

The guest to the wedding feast must also bring the gifts that come from the fruit of charity.  Charity atones for many sins and helps purify the undergarments of our passions.  Without the gifts of charity, the other garments only appear as illusions of righteousness, humility, and justice.  To be dressed for success it takes time and cannot be rushed right before the wedding feast.  We work on our dress on Sunday as we are sent forth into the world to live a virtuous life and do the work of charity.  This work is carried out through every opportunity our Lord gives us to encounter him in the world.  It is how we respond to the calling of our God given purpose.  We multiply the fruit of our gifts for the Lord until we return to the wedding feast the next Sunday where he receives us once again having prepared the table of the Lord. 

This is why the Lord says, “many are invited, but few are chosen.”  Though we are all created by God with a God given purpose, our lives don’t center around our calling.  We approach the world in terms of how the world can satisfy us and all our needs and wants.  We don’t consider enough how we can serve our God in the blessings we receive from him.  We think in terms of what “I” can do before we even think of what God can do for us and through us.  If we approach life ego-centrically then our choice of garments turns into self-righteousness, pride of self, rationalization that always justifies our actions, and the impurity of our concupiscence taking over our hearts.  How can the Lord respond to us but with the words, “I do not know you.” 

The feast that the Lord prepares for his people is with “juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.”  For those who have dressed for success death has already been destroyed forever having prepared to enter the kingdom of God as the soul separated from the body at the end of our mortal life and enters the glory of God penetrated by the light of holiness.  No one knows what the Lord has prepared for those who love and serve the Lord.  It is only a comparison to juicy rich food and wines.  

No one can go through mortal life without shedding tears.  Suffering came into the world by disobedience thus obedience opens the wardrobe to wear the proper wedding garment.  When God wipes away our tears, he brings about our healing and he will reveal to us his plan for salvation that we may participate as heirs to the kingdom.  What does this mean?  It means that God is a personal God who desires to make himself known to us.  In coming to know God we are guided to wear the appropriate garment for each event of life, knowing also how to respond to the test and challenge of life. 

Sometimes we must put on the garment of warrior for Christ while at other times we must wear the robe of silence and perseverance.  The wardrobe the Lord offers us may also be garment of sacrifice or the colorful dress of joy.  Knowing what to wear must meet with the appropriate circumstances and desires of the Lord.  This is why we must always seek the Lord first and remain attentive to his voice in our hearts, mind, and spirit. 

Today in order to “live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” we begin by accepting Jesus into our hearts to be transformed into his temple.  The Lord desires that we be the temple of the Lord as we open ourselves to him then his house becomes one with us in being as we receive him in our souls.  Today this word is fulfilled in our hearing as we come to receive him, body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist.  The house that the Lord builds in us cannot be denied as we place our trust in him.  We walk in the dark valley of sin in this world but fear no evil.  We have been anointed with the oil of salvation and as we like to say, “Ain’t no party like a Catholic party, cause a Catholic party don’t end”.  It lasts forever, thanks be to God.

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Homily

27th Sunday Ordinary Time – Jesus the cornerstone!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 5:1-7; Ps 80:9, 12-16, 19-20; Phil. 4:6-9; Mt. 21:33-43

Jesus is the cornerstone of our life.  The psalm reveals that the house Israel is the vineyard of the Lord but Isaiah prophesizes that the Lord’s vineyard has produced wild grapes.  All his investment in the vineyard of the house of Israel has not given the fruit he desires.  He desired “judgment and justice” but these wild grapes have brought about the “bloodshed” and “outcry”, it is the bloodshed of Jesus and the outcry to crucify him.  It leads God to ask “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?”  Looking at the history of salvation is a sad commentary on humanity that repeatedly has rejected God but not all.

God has provided for kings, rulers, priests, and prophets and the people have “neither heeded the voice of the Lord, God, nor followed the precepts which the Lord set”.  Is the world any different today than in all history?  Jesus came and his word has spread to the ends of the earth.  It has spread because Jesus sent his disciples out with the power of his name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend yet rebellion prevails in the hearts of many.  Sin remains the greatest pandemic that brings death and destruction. 

What was left to do by God for humanity was to send us his son who was rejected and crucified.  In all the history of salvation God has sent us his servants with the law of God in his priests and the warning of things to come through the prophets.  We are being called to repentance, conversion, and renewal in our commitment to God.  The house of Israel is no longer the chosen one.  The chosen one is the house of Jesus, the cornerstone of our life.  The new tenants of the house of the Lord come through faith, hope, and love of Jesus and without Jesus there is no salvation. 

If we belong to the house of God then as in all homes God has his standards and rules.  In God’s house it begins with the Commandments.  Part of the rules that Jesus called for was for his people to gather together as church to come and worship, receive the word, and receive his body and blood in the Eucharist.  Then he went farther knowing that just being part of an institution with rites had failed in the past.  He desired to make a home within our souls and bring a transformation from within the heart of a person.  We are to be the temple of the Lord. 

When friends or family come to visit over the weekend, one of our expectations is that they join us for Mass.  Sometimes it has been challenging to get compliance and resistance is quick to respond.  The most common resistance is stating they did not bring clothes for church.  Well, I have clothes in different sizes and somehow there is always something that fits the person.  Too many people want God to agree to their terms of living and the rationalization is endless.  “I don’t need to go to church, God is everywhere.”  “I want to receive communion but I don’t want to go to confession.”  One thing being said more often in our days is “I am spiritual but not religious.” 

Does anybody really believe that God is going to adjust his standards to ours?  Thank God that he is patient, slow to anger and abounding in mercy but he is not compromising his way to salvation so it bears warning to say “get with the program”.  This reminds me of the story of the priest who was being recognized at a celebration.  Over the stage was a banner that read “God is other people.”  When the priest got up to speak, he began by addressing the banner saying it was missing a grammar correction.  It should say “God is other, people” with a comma after “other”.  The comma makes all the difference. 

Somehow because we are made in the image of God too many believe that God is just like us in our way of thinking, feeling and free will.  In fact, we are told that when we see the poor, hungry, and suffering we are to see God in others.  God works through us but is not us and God’s way is not our way.  With God comes the “House Rules” not meant to chain us but to set us free from sin and evil.  Life in God’s house calls us to set our minds on what is positive and carry a mind of excellence.  This is not easy and it requires of us to have trust in God.  Do we trust God completely?

I was at what is called a low ropes training and one of the exercises required each person to stand on the bed of a truck and let themselves fall backwards to a group on the ground who would catch them before hitting the ground.  It is a trust exercise and though it was easy to do it also was not easy unless you felt you could trust others.  Not only is it difficult to trust other people, it is even more difficult to let go and let God trusting him with our life.  Yet God is calling us to do just that.  How can we learn to trust God more?  It comes through prayer and petition.  It come through setting our mind on what is pure, true, lovely and gracious.  In other words, focus on the good and when negativity enters the mind reject it as you would the devil himself with the words “get away from me Satan”.  

In the past few years, we have endured a pandemic where the world reacted with great fear instituting many demands and restrictions.  They called it the “new normal” meaning it was here to last and our lives would change forever.  The rules for the house of the world changed and it was justified to save lives and considered prudent action.  Any attempt to question the rules was severely mocked and people from all institutions including science were “canceled” in different ways for challenging the rules. 

The pandemic did not last but it did last long enough to cause many to become anxious and hypervigilant.  It caused children to become withdrawn and fearful of the unknown after all “what if…” and just complete the statement will all the possibilities.  The world turned inward to itself with the pandemic and God was never spoken of in the public square.  Those who belong to the house of God had our faith tested, our trust in God succeeded or failed depending on our practice of faith. 

Faith is an exercise that requires constant movement in the direction of God.   This is having a mind of excellence, where we recognize God is working for our salvation in all and through all and we are listening and responding to his call.  “Keep doing what you have learned and received” from God through prayer and petition and through his Church and his servants with thanksgiving for all you have received.  Let our hearts not be troubled.   When God is with us who can be against us?     

Finally, a famous quote by St. Francis of Assisi says, “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  The impossible comes from God who makes up for what we lack and makes all things possible.  Amen.

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Homily

26th Sunday Ordinary Time – Jesus Christ is Lord!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ez. 18:25-28; Ps 25:4-9; Phil. 2:1-11; Mt. 21:28-32

Jesus Christ is Lord!  He is Lord over life and death having emptied himself “God greatly exalted him” giving his name the honor of our worship.  There is power in the name of Jesus.  It is the power of God’s mercy when we turn from our sin and ask for forgiveness.  Today the Lord is responding to those who say “The LORD’s way is not fair!”.  This is a theme carried forth from last week when all the labor workers received the same daily wage regardless of the hours they worked.  Not only did they receive the same wage but Jesus responded “The last shall be first.”  “Not fair” we say but who among us has the mind of God to judge his ways or his will. 

The Lord asks “am I not free to do as I wish?”  We answer to God and he does not answer to us thanks be to God, otherwise who would be saved since we are all sinners.  God in his generosity is reminding us of how much he loves us by demonstrating his mercy upon those who turn from evil and sin to do “what is right and just”.  The error in our judgment is thinking that our negative behavior has no consequences with God.  We hear that God has atoned for our sins on the cross thus our sins will be forgiven in the end and we all get to go to heaven.  How foolish to think our mind is the mind of God. 

I am reminded of a picture I saw on Facebook of a little girl pointing her finger with a serious look.  The caption at the top of the picture reads “you don’t have to worry about dying, you will live forever”; then at the bottom the caption says, “worry about location, location, location”.  Location implies heaven, hell, and purgatory.  Hell is for the dammed who refused the mercy of God.  Heaven is for those who have reached the glorified state of holiness.  Purgatory is for those who turned from their evil ways and sins but by their imperfection upon death must suffer the pains of purification of the soul before entering heaven.  Thus, the Lord’s ways are both merciful and just according to his will.  The Lord desires for all to come into his glory but there is a road to travel that all must pass through that is fair and just. 

Our goal of life is to reach salvation by following the “paths” laid out for us by Jesus who desires us to come to “truth”.  The first right step in this journey is to come to him in humility with an open mind and heart to be fed from the table of salvation.  This table is God’s offering through the sacramental life of the church.  It is to be church where we become “of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing” that we may empty ourselves out for him by our love of God and charity to neighbor. 

The gospel message reminds us that we are called to obedience even when our own will rebels in our humanity, even when we have refused in the past, even when we think God is not interested in our actions.  God knows our faults but is waiting for our obedience with his gift of mercy.  If we only give the illusion of being obedient externally for all to see we fool only ourselves before God.  This is the day to say “yes, Lord” and just do it, that is the obedient step towards God who is waiting for us with all his love.  

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