3rd Sunday of Lent – You shall not!

Posted on March 1, 2024February 29, 2024 by Deacon Joe

Ex. 20:1-17; Ps. 19:8-11; 1 Cor. 1:22-25; Jn. 2:13-25

“You shall not!” says the Lord over and over again as he gives his commandments going into some detail to make sure we know how to live these commandments. He goes into great effort to describe the behavior of the “children of those who love me” in the first commandment. We get two more proactive commandments in “keep Holy the sabbath day” and “Honor your father and your mother”. Three of which “you shall” and seven of which “you shall not!” However, in avoiding the seven that “you shall not” we also demonstrate our love and commitment to God.

We avoid what offends the relationship of those we love. This is why love of God is sacrificial love but not only love of God but true love between husband and wife, brothers and sisters, parents and children. In true love we are willing to sacrifice for the other. We value the other so much as not to offend the one we love. Sadly, this is not the culture of our times where the “self” is before all else and the other becomes “cancelled” through marital divorce, legal persecution, abandonment of the elderly, abuse of children, and even claiming the right to die or to kill the unborn. Yet before we assume we are living in the worst of times recall that all this was also in existence when Jesus entered the world and how he died for us.

Divorce granted since the time of Moses, legal persecution is how the Jews brought charges against Jesus, abandonment of the elderly justified by giving alms to the synagogue, abuse of children in the massacre of the innocents trying to kill baby Jesus, right to end life at all stages is how people were conquered and power was won. The world remains a den of thieves and we must separate ourselves from the culture of the world by remaining alive in the culture coming from the law of God which gives justice to true love, Godly love.

“You shall not” is not about depriving us of freedom but of safeguarding us from the human condition of sin that leads to a loss of freedom and ultimately back to slavery. What slavery one may ask? The slavery of disordered attachment to the passions of the flesh, to the material world, and to the ego of pride to be our own god. Disordered attachments are the cancer of the soul leading to death.

A parent says to a child “you shall not” more often than giving permission to go forth and do their own will. The wisdom of a parent knows the risk and harm that can come certain actions. It is more than an act of love to watch over our children, it is a call of duty to raise up a kingdom for God in the law of love of God and neighbor. The world has accepted the lie of the evil one to become your own god by “remaking” yourself into what sex you want to be, “reimagining” your world by the passions of the flesh that drive the imagination, and “cancelling” any who question or stand for a different set of values.

Today it is not enough for a parent to simply say “you shall not” when there is so much pressure on our youth to follow in the world’s “alternative” lifestyles. Today we must all stand and be a force to how we are to “go forth” together in the way of the Lord. We must be able to instruct our youth in how to answer to the challenges they face and why do we believe what we profess. The practice of apologetics, that is of defending the faith through reason and discourse must be taught at each stage of a child’s growth age appropriately. What is a child to think when the teacher arrives to class in a dress and make up as a girl but yesterday was male? Should they remain silent or be free to say “I know you’re a man dressed like a girl”? This is our call of duty as a parent and a church to guide the faithful in the world we must all live in.

The Lord asks us today where is your “zeal for your house”? What matters in defending our faith? The world preaches political correctness, let it be to each his own but the world is not satisfied with following its own way. It wants to create a future generation of followers and keeps seeking to enter our homes and claim our children with greater rights decreed by law. We don’t see Jesus becoming physically aggressive often but his actions were always aggressive against what was the sins he confronted. He did not hold back in speaking the truth.

The Lord’s truth is that no matter how much people and institutions try to conquer and control others, the force of his power is beyond any human authority. He claimed it when he says, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews did not understand what they were about to do in bring Jesus to death “but Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body”. In the same way no matter how much we see and must live through in the world, even death will not claim us because we believe in the resurrection of the dead and Jesus is our testimony. Lent is our time to recall and live what matters most so that we shall not deny him. We go forth united to the one God in three persons. Let the world ponder that. Jesus knows us all.

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Homily

27th Sunday Ordinary Time – Jesus the cornerstone!

Posted on October 7, 2023October 6, 2023 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

6th Sunday of Easter – Spirit of truth!

Posted on May 13, 2023May 12, 2023 by Deacon Joe

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Ps 66:1-7, 16,20; 1 Pt 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21

Spirit of truth is alive through the Holy Spirit. It is our Advocate who remains with us if we keep his commandments. If we keep the commandments, we validate our love for God. Keeping the word of God is the key to unlocking the mysteries of faith. Do we want to see God? Keep his commandments and allow him to reveal himself to us for he desires to give even more of himself to us. In our humanity we resist him who is the fulfillment of love itself not because we don’t desire him, in fact our hearts are restless because we were created for him. We resist him because by our own free will we resist obedience to another but not all.

History gives us many a witness that it is possible to live and die for another. This is the witness of Jesus on the cross. This is the witness of many saints who fulfilled the call to “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts”. They did it though obedience to God’s will. Just as Jesus was obedient to the Father through the cross many saints sanctify Christ as Lord through their obedience to be servants of the Lord or even slaves to his love.

If the Lord came calling for us today, would we meet him with a “clear conscience” for having kept his commandments or would we hide our face for having offended him by our sins. Praise God for his sacramental gift of confession to wipe away our sins for I suspect we would literally die before the face of God without it. We sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts by keeping his commandments. This is the Spirit of truth Christ came to once again make clear to us.

Keeping his commandments is not new, from Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit, to Moses and the Ten Commandments, and then the Jewish laws, in all of salvation history obedience to God’s law is the road to salvation. Yet in all salvation history we see the resistance to obedience and many are lost by the same rebellion of Lucifer whose pride desired to be his own god. Is our pride still desire to be our own god, have our own kingdom, conquer the world or do we surrender it all to the true God creator of all?

There is a new birth in the family and everyone is drawn to the innocence and tenderness of a child who desires to be held and nurtured. How long before the child grows and by his own free will begins to rebel? Resistance to being dressed, to being fed vegetables, having a sleep schedule, and that is just the beginning. Then comes “concupiscense” from the Latin “concupiscentia” meaning ‘with intense desire’”. What are our intense desires? They begin with the desire to satisfy the flesh but also grow into the desire of the mind for power, prestige, and profit or as the common expression says, “what is in it for me”. This is our sin as we rebel against God and the devil knows how to play on it to tempt us to fall just as he did Adam and Eve.

The Spirit of truth cannot be deceived. Recall the adage “you can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”. Well, you can never fool the Spirit of truth at any time and keep a conscience clear. When the Spirit of truth resides in us then we can still try to deceive others by our concupiscense but we cannot deceive ourselves and believe it. The truth that resides in us will not rest until we bring reconciliation with God and others. This is a blessing though some may consider it a curse, the moral conscience to do right. A moral conscience comes from God’s law of serving a greater good.

Keeping his commandments gets tested not only from within but also from without by a world that does not know him and lives not by a Spirit justified by God’s truth but by the spirit of self-justification. The spirit of self-justification follows the principle that “it’s all about me”. Because it is all about me then if you disagree with me, you are the enemy that must be eliminated. That is the lesson seen in the crucified Christ and the experience we live with in a culture of cancellation and death. If they could crucify Christ who walked doing what is good and spoke of Godly truth then we can see how easily the world can finds ways to silence, cancel, and if needed destroy a person for holding onto their faith in practice. From bakers to Little Sisters of the Poor no one is exempt from the evil one.

Thus, “it is better to suffer for doing good” than to follow in the “evil” that this world calls its good. Self-justification lives by the false teaching under the title “my truth”. Someone’s truth no matter how justified if it is in opposition to God, to his commandments, his revelation of truth in Jesus Christ is the danger of self-condemnation. It is a slippery road of darkness of the soul caught in the trap of lies to justify the past. Having to say “I’m sorry for my sins” is an act of humility and the first right step to forgiveness and healing.

It is a false teaching when some say your freedom of religion means you can keep your faith as long as you don’t act on your faith. Faith is a practice of daily living to be expressed “with gentleness and reverence keeping your conscience clear”. Faith lives, walks, talks, and acts out of obedience to God convenient or inconvenient, within the walls of worship and outside the walls in the public square. It is more than something we do it is who we are as Christians. Faith and love are one bound together by our actions. Love is not a feeling but an act of the will for the one we love.

We love God, then we unite our will to the will of God by obedience to his commandments. We love the other, family, friend, stranger then we will to do for the good of the other. We love ourselves well, then we will to take care of our mind, body, and soul by listening to the interior life coming from the spirit of truth. This is God’s will that we may all be one. This is the purpose of the incarnation, Jesus coming from the Father to be one with us that we may receive him in body, blood, soul and divinity in order to go forth alive in the spirit of truth, without fear, trusting God by our obedience to his will. His will is our good that we may enter the gates of heaven.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity “Abba, Father!”

Posted on May 29, 2021May 29, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Deut. 4:32-34, 39-40; Ps. 34:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22; Rom. 8:14-17; Mat. 28:16-20

Abba, Father is in the Son and the great “I Am” together with the Son proclaim, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” through the Holy Spirit. The unknowable mystery of the Holy Trinity, God in three persons is knowable by the incarnation of Jesus the visible sign of God and the invisible but knowable Spirit that moves within our souls as children of God and “heirs with Christ if only we suffer with him”. “Did anything so great ever happen before?” It is the greatness of Abba Father coming to us in the incarnation of Jesus Christ with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

“Ask now” how are we to suffer with him? Moses says to his people to “Ask now” and question themselves if “anything so great ever happen before” that they have seen or heard from God who has been their Abba Father giving them victory over the powers of other nations. For what they witnessed “by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm and by great terrors” they are to “keep his statutes and commandments”. This is how we are to suffering with him. When we keep his statutes and commandments, we suffer with him living a virtuous life in the face of the enemy who is ready to devour us with the powers of evil. Ask now for the grace to suffer with Christ “that we may also be glorified with him.”

Something greater than Moses has entered into the world and remains with us in Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. He remains with us through the Eucharist to suffer with us if only we suffer with him for our sins and the sins of the world. He remains with us through the Holy Spirit with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be our compass of peace and direction when the signs of fear come to threaten our joy and salvation.

There is a time to suffer in silence and prayer as we wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit as the disciples waited in the upper room in prayer after the ascension of Jesus. Once the Holy Spirit descended upon them came the time to suffer by the act of proclaiming one God in three persons. The means to suffer in silence is through prayer while the means to suffer in act is through the commandments. Love one another is not a choice but a commandment in good times and in bad. We are to pick up the cross of love and carry it as Jesus did even as he was being rejected and crucified, he prayed to Abba Father to forgive them. Forgiving our enemies is an act of love of God and obedience to the commandments.

We live in a nation that seeks to claim its headship in three coequal branches of government. In the headship of government is an independence of disunity with a multiplicity of shades of truth, goodness for some but not others, beauty found in power not love and serving the purpose of special interest groups and not all. It is an imperfect relationship with limits of authority. In the Trinity we have a unity of three persons reflecting the one truth, one goodness, one beauty, and one love for the one purpose of our salvation that has no bounds. As in the time of old nation rises against nation, people against people, and the power to rule by division is the work of evil breaking all the commandments. This is not a promotion for antigovernment but a call to the reality of a broken world in need of the unity under the one triune God.

Separation of church and state in our times is seen as the power of the state to silence the voice of the church in the public square yet it was in the public square where the apostles went forth to proclaim the truth of the Trinity. It was a threat to both the ruling church and state yet they suffered for the cross by their voice in the public square. Perfect love comes to those who accept the cross to suffer with our triune God not in secret but as witnesses to faith.

We can grieve each person of the Trinity. We grieve Abba Father when we welcome sin and fear not to grieve him or seek his mercy. We grieve Jesus as friend when we seek him not by not coming to receive him body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we seek him not in the sacraments of the Church through which we invite the gifts of the Holy Spirit to come into our lives.

Perfect love is the unity of the Trinity as one God in three Persons each reflecting the love of the other. The Holy Spirit in us reflects the love of Jesus as our savior. Jesus reflects the love of Abba Father as the Word became flesh to be the visible God with us. God the Father reflects the glory of his perfect love in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Each give light to the other as we are called to give light to his love by our love. There is the old expression “three is a company, four is a crowd”. We are to live in communion as a “crowd” of believers in perfect love. There cannot be simply “God and I” without the other who we are called to love.

How we reflect the love of God and humanity in our personhood brings us closer to the perfect love we are called to live. We behold the glory of God and enter into heaven according to the measure of our love. What glory is there for as parent to wake up in the middle of the night to change a crying baby’s diaper unless the act comes out of love for the child. In the same way what glory is there for spending one-third of the day at work investing in the success of the owner if the purpose is simply to receive a check. Or what glory is there for the athlete to train for hours knowing the main prize will only go to the one who comes in first if not for the act of training itself being a reward to glory in. Glory comes in the act of love the moment in which we recognize God is present and our act gives glory to him. This is our unity and walk to heaven.

Again, we behold the glory of God and enter into heaven according to the measure of our love. In Abba Father’s house there are many mansions but not all reflect the same measure of love coming from us for God. How we reflect our love of God in this world matters how we will view the glory of God in the next. The treasure we build for God will transcend this world with the measure of glory to come. All things matter for God and what we do for the least we are doing for Abba Father.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Ascension of the Lord – The Father’s Promise!

Posted on May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Acts 1:1-11; Ps. 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph. 1:17-23; Mk. 16:15-20

The Father’s promise is “I will be with you through the baptism of the Holy Spirit”. The Father’s promise is to be with us as he has through salvation history as we read in Genesis 26:3 “I will be with you and bless you”; Genesis 31:3 “Then the Lord said to Jacob: Return to the land of your ancestors, where you were born, and I will be with you”; Exodus 3:12 “God answered “I will be with you and this will be your sign”; Joshua 1:5 “As I was with Moses, I will be with you I will not leave not leave you or forsake you”; “Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through waters, I will be with you through the rivers you shall not be swept away”. The Father’s promise has a major “If” in 1 Kings 11:38 “If, then you heed all that I command you, walking in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments like David my servant, I will be with you.” The Father’s promise is for those who surrender to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit he is with us.

The Father’s promise is a Spirit of wisdom and revelation given to those who believe and are baptized to “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel” while the Lord continues to work with us “through accompanying signs.” Jesus appearance to the disciples for forty days after his resurrection and before his Ascension bringing about the transformation of his disciples into apostles to lead his church with the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Father’s promise is one of a “surpassing greatness of his power” and protection in the name above all names that in the name of Jesus comes the authority to face the evil of our times.

The evil of our times comes is a cultural war for the souls of people. Just as the Lord continues to work with us and through us so does the evil one continues to work against us and through others in our battle for the souls of God’s people. The signs of our time drive out demons through the waters of baptism and the Holy Spirit for those who believe the Word of God and follow his commandments. Demonic spirits work though others to create chaos claiming evil in the streets is justified for injustice in the world, lies are justified for a cause while others who speak truth must be silenced, even death is claimed as justified for the right to choose self over others beginning with the unborn.

In Jesus name we are to pick up these “serpents” of ideologues that prowl about the world for the souls of the innocent with our “hands” of the truth of the gospel and fear not. The poison we are fed to drink are the ideologies that create division raising the power of the state over the rights of the church. These will not harm us when we hold to the truth of the gospel message. Today many have fallen “sick” to the secular normalization to degenderize male and female, to separate church from state, to divide faith from science, and to raise one race above another as racist from birth. All these poisons cannot stand when the people of God go forth to speak the truth of the gospel message. It is a message of the love of God and a promise to be with us until the end of the world.

The Father’s promise is to be with us as he works through us in the fight for souls against the powers of darkness with the light of truth. Today our children are being taught to see the world through the lens of racial bias simply based on the color of a person’s skin regardless of individual views and it falls under the title of “Critical Race Theory” which is no more than an attempt to gain power of one group over another. Any attempt to voice opposition is quickly labeled “microaggression” for speaking out with an opposing view meant to silence dialogue not engage in dialogue but we are called to go out with the right to speak the gospel message trusting in the Father’s promise, united to Jesus’ Word and with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Father’s promise to be with us, to navigate our path does not promise the “easy road”. Just by looking back to all the martyrs who suffered and died for the faith we know we must pick up our cross and follow the “road less traveled” of which many have chosen to fall away. Who will remain standing with the Lord? What other promise can we look for? The promise of the evil one was “you will be like gods” proven to be the greatest lie and yet it is the path this world continues to seek to be your own god, have your own “truth”, identify yourself in whatever gender of choice, and live your life for yourself above others. In the end it comes down to these two choices, the Father’s promise or the promise of the Evil one.

The Father sent the Son who left us with these words, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus does not leave us with a critical race theory but with the commandment of love, truth, unity and goodness for one another. This is the truth of inclusiveness that brings us the promise of the Father.

The Father’s promise is not a theory of humanity but the essence of life coming from our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Let us remain in him and in his promise this day until the day we will see him face to face. Let us pray for the promise of the Father’s mercy for those who do not believe, do not accept, and do not follow the only promise that brings us salvation and heaven.

We celebrate the Ascension of the Lord after “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs…appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God”. The biggest proof is he is alive! Had he not presented himself alive the world would be reading about one more prophet still waiting for the messiah to come. Instead, Jesus is the cornerstone of salvation and the promise has arrived for those who believe and accept God is with us.

As the disciples were to be transformed into apostles with the coming of the Holy Spirit, they waited in Jerusalem for nine days in prayer. Tradition now waits in prayer for nine days when we do a novena for the promise to come in answer to our prayers. Let this day be the beginning of a novena for us in our homes and in our personal prayer life. Let us pray for the Lord to come with the power of the Holy Spirit with the grace we need to go forth “to the ends of the earth” without fear.

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Homily

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on February 15, 2020February 15, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Sir. 15:15-20; Ps. 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34: 1 Cor. 2:6-10; Mat. 5:17-37

Keep the commandments by choice to the greatest potential and you too shall live. Today we are reminded “life and death, good and evil” we receive by choice, we sin by choice, and we walk in the law by choice. The best choice is to “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ mean ‘No’. Anything more is from the evil one”. “Yes” and “No” are absolutes without preconditions in obedience to the law of God. What is fear of the Lord? It is fear of the disobedience of the “law” of God. “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!” Follow the law and the choice is the water of holiness and life but choose to disobey the law and the consequence is the fire of sin and death. The human experience is conditional, negotiable, self-justified.

The conditional experience asks “What’s in it for me?” Negotiable in seeking the greater reward for the least sacrifice. Self-justified with a sense of entitlement. Conditional, “Going to church every Sunday but what do I get out of it?” It is negotiable, “As long as I confess my sins God will forgive my sins in the end.” It is self-justified, “No one is perfect, I have a right to still be angry” as the sun sets on life with no guarantees of tomorrow. How can we simply do the right thing when our feelings are not there yet ready to accept that choice? It is an act of the will to say, “I go to church…I avoid the near temptation to sin…I forgive despite my hurt.” This is following the law of the Lord by choice and the blessings will pour into our lives. These are conscious free will decisions we choose for the greater glory of God. Nobody said it was an easy road.

The “easy road” we follow is to do the least, a minimalist like a child who is told to clean their room and they push everything under the bed that is on the floor. Is the room clean or simply giving a false illusion? In the “easy road” we bargain with ourselves, minimize the fault, blame the other, share the guilt, “after all everyone does it” we tell ourselves. We must ask ourselves, “Is this the best of us we offer our God?”

The best of us begins by making the right choice and trusting in God to get us there. Choose to go to Mass and expect to receive a blessing from God. When we expect the best of us, we receive the best God desires to pour into our lives. Choose to avoid the near occasion of sin even when tempted by the circumstances and our heart remains focused on the good not the bad. It is tempting to want to blame the other for our weakness rather than to take responsibility for growing in virtue. Choose to forgive the other so God may heal our hurt and we return to the joy of living. The right choice produces the right results in the natural law of God, not complicated but challenging.

The early church was called “the Way”. It was the way to fulfill “the smallest part of a letter…until all things have taken place.” To surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus spoke of was a low bar since it was based on doing the least often in the interest of those same scribes and Pharisees who had the most to gain in their indulgence. The Way demands the greatest out of us for the “Spirit scrutinizes everything”. How do we teach others to break the commandments or follow them? By our example we normalize behavior for the water of blessing or the fire of suffering our sin. The seed of sin for anger, adultery, swearing, lust lies not in the world for the world is food for the sinner who eats of this flesh. The seed of sin is already dormant in humanity and waits for the moment to be given life.

What is wisdom but the foundation of truth! It is eternal truth that passes through time from generation to generation when we put our trust in him. Wisdom is seen in our Blessed Mother Mary who chose obedience in the Spirit and was given the crown of glory. Wisdom “God has revealed to us through the Spirit” received through love of God and the fulfillment of the law of God. The choice we make makes us unto itself. Choose laughter and find joy, choose kindness and find peace, choose generosity and find wealth, choose the commandments and find yourself, finally choose prayer and find God. Do the next right thing and grow in righteousness. Trust and see by the choice we make “the mysteries of the kingdom”. Alleluia! Alleluia!

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Homily

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on October 14, 2018October 12, 2018 by Deacon Joe

1 Wis. 7: 7-11; Ps 90: 12-17; Heb. 4: 12-13; Mk 10: 17-30

Wisdom is naked truth! “Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away” wrote Antonine De Saint-Exupery. We have all grown up with “dichos” those sayings with one liners of wisdom that capture the essence of a teaching. They are easy to remember but serve to penetrate our minds and hearts “sharper than a two-edged sword” cutting “down to the bone” as we say and to our souls.

When Solomon prayed in the first reading prudence was given to him. Prudence as in having the ability to discern with right judgment was his reward. He could have prayed for victory over his enemies, his health and his wealth. He recognized the one priority as “wisdom greater than any priceless gem, silver or gold.” When Solomon set his priorities according to God’s order “all good things together came…and countless riches at her hand…” He was given the treasure of wisdom but also the earthly treasures of his kingdom with honor.

The Word of God cuts judicially “both ways”. One side cuts through to the prime rewards of obedience to God’s commands. We see this in the Gospel when the young man “with many possessions” testified to his obedience to the commandments Jesus presented to him saying, “Teacher, all these things I have observed from my youth.” His life has been blessed with many material possessions. It also cuts from the other edge where sin and reckless behavior gives rise to adversity and sorrow. Having entered my 60’s already I realize the sins of my youth have already started to be revealed in my aging problems. I have quite a bunch of friends. I wake up with Buddy Aches, spend the day with Arthritis, eat with Tummy Hurts, and go to bed with Ben Gay. These are the good guys to help me face my enemies. We pick our lifetime friends by the choices and lifestyle we live and they are very loyal in sickness and in health.

Hebrews however gives us God’s wisdom in his order to judicial process. In the world we normally have an inquiry that leads to judgment and ends with verdict for execution. In Hebrews we see the execution has already been set by the Word of God “living and effective”. Those who “follow me” receive the retribution of reward or suffering from the judgment of naked truth as our minds and hearts are revealed. At the end comes the inquiry “to render an account” no one escapes in the final opening of the seal revealing our life story. This revelation is the judgment set to be executed though our life journey “living and effective” in our days and the account will come beginning at the moment of death into our afterlife and the naked truth is revealed. It is said freedom is the right to choose what I want, when I want it, and how I want it. Sounds good until we recognize it comes like a two edge sword with the consequences of our choices. Wisdom recognizes freedom as the right to take responsibility for ourselves. Which way is cutting is in our hands.

In Mark’s gospel the young man calls Jesus “Good teacher”. His title for Jesus limits his view of Jesus as a prophet, a man of wisdom. Jesus wisdom is to pose a question and without waiting gives the answer. Indirectly the question is asking him ‘who do you say that I am?’ He cuts to his heart by responding “no one is good but God alone”. Hint, hint! The young man is to discern the divine nature of Jesus but apparently doesn’t get it since he continues to call him “teacher”. Jesus presents six commandments to follow to which the young man affirms “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus looks at him with love to penetrate his heart like a two edged sword. It is always easy to look at an infant with love. Not so easy to look at our enemies, our friends, or sometimes even our family with love. It makes us vulnerable. Do it and people will question you, “What’s wrong or what do you want?” We don’t know how to accept love as easily.

Jesus is calling him to love God as the first priority noted in the top three commandments not stated but implied by the action he calls him to follow. He gives him two directives to fulfill his call to perfection. The first is the perfection of letting go to the degree there is “no more to take away”, no more to hinder his journey of faith to God. William of Ocam says, “It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.” We accumulate our “stuff” all with special meaning, stuffing our closets, garages, and even get a storage shed unwilling to let go. Every now and then we shuffle through it, forget how most of it ended up with us and then reorganize our stuff again.

The second directive was “follow me”. The message for us is “who is Jesus in my life?” If he is my Lord then our first priority is to follow him in our daily lives fulfilling the top three commandments. We then order our lives according to our relationships with others. Material treasure is not to hinder our priorities to God and neighbor. Jesus sets the record straight at the end regarding “wealth”. He does not condemn wealth it is a part of creation. We build wealth out of God’s creation. Jesus raises our awareness with wisdom to the truth wealth can have when we allow it to possess us and keep us from a right relationship with God. The drive for wealth can come at the expense and injustice to the poor when we don’t pay a living wage. It may promote greed not generosity, false witness not truth, stealing not integrity, adultery not chastity, and even murder not life. We allow it to become an obstacle to a right relationship with God.

Wisdom is personified as a woman while the commandments come from a Father. The wisdom of God comes to us through a woman who gave birth to a son, Jesus and his truth is given in the proclamation of the Word made flesh. Mary’s wisdom was her fiat entering into the universal plan of salvation. Her riches and glory came in raising her son, loving her husband, and being obedient. In Mary the execution was set for her life but she had to consent and live the judgment of the Lord’s passion. Mary followed the plan receiving the judgment awaiting her reward for her account on earth and now in heaven as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

The book of Wisdom* written by sages of the time we would consider as our contemporary prophets and theologians. Sages recognized a great truth in the order of the universe. The God of all creation has established natural laws of the universe. In this New Age movement some identify with these natural laws and try to tap into them with meditation, aroma therapies, mineral therapies, yoga meditation, and other Zen like approaches seeking peace, harmony, and well-being. They focus on the universal principles of the cosmos without recognizing the source of creation, the prime mover, the God of the universe. The problem is they stop short of making this connection to the source of life itself. These sages of the past in observing the world recognized each component in this world has a place in the overall plan of God’s design.

Today we would make comparisons of cause and effect, food chain, evolution of nature, and each person in life makes a difference in the larger plan of God. It is not just about you, it is about your contribution to the greater good and for the faithful our contribution to salvation history. Sages also believed if we disregard our calling we will bring about our own hardships. The dynamic of life is in constant motion like riding the rapids in a canoe, sometimes calm and other times fast, rough and rushing. Proverbs says, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom” (Prov. 9:10) Fear of the Lord is the realization of the two edge sword created by the awesome creation of the natural law we are members of and of the consequences that come by rebelling away from our call to “follow” his plan for us.

We are headed into the holiday season secular and Christian. Some celebrate Halloween, or the Day of the Dead, All Souls Day and we get sugar overload. Then Thanksgiving comes with all kinds of carbs and dressings followed by Christmas and juicy fat tamales by the dozen, ending in New Year’s drinks, nachos, and guacamole. We indulge and rush to get more stuff we call our treasures in toys, shoes, electronic gadgets and there is always the next best phone or 4-D mega screen TV and more. We wake up and discover we just gained another 20 pounds of bondage in our “freedom”.

The knife cuts both ways as we can celebrate in fellowship with church festivals, Posadas, Holy Days of obligation, processions, adoration, rosaries, family reunions and yes some treats in moderation. Freedom is taking responsibility to the naked truth. Advent is coming and it is a good time to move in the direction of having no more to let go of. In Spanish we say, “el que mucho abarca poco aprieta” meaning “the more we try to squeeze into our life the less we gain”. Gain more with less and we will be on our way to perfection.

*The Paulist Biblical Commentary; “Wisdom Literature”; Paulist Press, New York/Mahwah, NJ, 2018. Pg. 423-425.

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Homily

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on September 2, 2018September 2, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Dt. 4: 1-2, 6-8; Ps. 15; Jas 1: 17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“From within…they defile”. Today’s call is for purity of heart, of body, and of faith. Perhaps we can say that we have come a long way in wisdom and intelligence. We understand our humanity more from a psychological and behavioral approach or have we? What about from a spiritual awareness? From an applied perspective everyone starts from ground zero to learn the lesson for themselves. What is the lesson? It is the lesson of how obedience, chastity, truth, faith, and love are living the good life. We all like the good life but we do not always see the good God in his creation. In fact some tend to focus on the “cup half empty”. The Catechism of the Church summarizes it well:

“The faithful must believe the articles of the Creed so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe.” (CCC 2518)

Our first reading is the call to obedience. As a parent would say to a child, “Do it” and you will come to understand the good that comes from it. The child’s natural inclination is to believe only what it sees with a limited understanding but God who sees the end result takes the behavioral approach in its commands. Do it, then you will see the goodness of the Lord. Do it then you will discover a greater truth that you can only see by following these “statutes and decrees”. Behaviorist would say trust the process, don’t wait to understand or feel ready to change from within. Change the behavior and you will accomplish the change from within you seek.

In the same way, God the Father is saying observe the commandments “carefully” and you will be wise and it will purify your heart. He is also saying don’t add nor subtract from them, follow my plan. Here is where we struggle. We want to change the plan to meet our comfort zone. The Doctor says, “Take this pill for 14 days” and we start to feel better in 7 so we stop taking it without understanding the consequence of not allowing the full benefit to take effect or we start skipping days or taking only half. Do we know the physiological and pharmacological relationship between the medication and our body? No, but we take away or we add sometimes when we like the benefits like pain pills that become abused. The Old Testament says, “Follow God’s plan”. We tell our children “eat your breakfast”. The response, “I’m not hungry”. God says, “Eat my word”. We say, “I’m too busy.” Then we become malnourished spiritually.

Jesus comes into the world speaking truth to the mind and love to the heart. This is a huge paradigm shift in God’s revelation to humanity. He does not take away from the obedience of the commands but enriches the understanding of the commands through the gifts of the spirit. Jesus tells the Pharisees that they have created their own “human tradition” the laws on top of the law of God and failed to live God’s law in spirit and in truth. We run the same risk if we use Canon Law, the “Big Book of Rules” in judgment and not in mercy to serve God’s commands.

What is this human tradition? In our times we have different customs from region to region and across the continent such as the selection of music, when we kneel and how long we kneel, or whether people hold hands or not or liturgical dance in some countries. Many of these customs develop regionally and the church allow for adaptations to integrate itself into the culture without compromising the essential rites of the General Instructions of the Roman Missal (GIRM). The human tradition is to battle over the little “t” observations and lose sight of the big “T” purpose of the gospel.

Perhaps the question we must ask ourselves is “Does this fulfill the gospel proclamation of salvation?” What is “this”? “This” is our hearts, this is our actions, this is our rules, and this is our voice. It is what comes out of our mouth that defiles not what comes into it unless it becomes the poison of alcohol, drugs, or if we become consumed with pornography, certain video gaming, and even ideologies the world creates separating us from God.

Through obedience to the commands in our external behavior and purity of hearts in our internal beliefs of faith we will act in justice and live in the presence of the Lord. We often say, “God is love and God is mercy” but we don’t say enough of “God is righteous”. Love, mercy, goodness and holiness are feel good attributes of God however “Righteousness” is also an attribute that calls for justice and justice means obedience to God’s law. Injustice comes from within. Seeds of anger lead to evil thoughts and acts of revenge; lustful thoughts to unchastity as sexuality begins in the mind; selfish desires to theft remember that candy bar you grabbed as a child at the store; rejection in the heart to murder, once you objectify a person it becomes easy to kill them in your heart and actions; sexual drives to adultery blaming “hormones made me do it”; greed to lack of charity and loss of generosity the source of love; jealousy to malice with emotional hijacking causing acts of violence; deceit to manipulation, once you buy the lie yourself lying to others comes easy; licentiousness to immorality, the license to sin with euthanasia and killing the unborn; envy to covetousness, worshiping the material god; contempt to blasphemy, using the name of Jesus to cuss or “G-O-D-damn” as if God has anything to do with our anger; arrogance to overbearing, otherwise called “full of it”; and imprudence to folly without the guidance of the spirit poor judgment results. In summary, impurity leads to injustice and apart from the Lord.

Religion that is pure and undefiled is two parts, the giving of self to others and the guarding of self from the sins of others. The world is very creative in coming up with new ways to defile the mind under the cover of “entertainment”. The serpents promise has not changed to “be like gods”. What enters the mind defiles the heart and it manipulates the will to sin. Jesus came with the gift of the Spirit to wash us clean. We are called to be servants, servants to God who chose the cross and remained undefiled. Let us pray to our Blessed Mother in our weakness recognizing the strength of her love to endure suffering at the side of Jesus. Let us be ready to answer the call. We are all called to be saints. Jesus is the way.

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