Ascension of the Lord

Posted on May 21, 2020May 20, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Acts 1:1-11; Ps. 47:2-3,6-9; Eph. 1:17-23; Mat.28:16-20

“I am with you always, until the end of the age” is our hope and salvation as Jesus visibly ascends only to remain as the invisible God with us. The disciples went to the mountain of Galilee and “when they saw him, they worshiped but the doubted.” What a contradiction to see, worship what you see and doubt what you see reminds us only in Christ can we do all things through him who strengthens us.

In the midst of uncertainty as the disciples found themselves even in seeing the resurrected Jesus, they doubted his real presence. In the midst of uncertainty how often do we doubt the presence of God and promise that Jesus is with us? In receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ in the Eucharist how many remain in doubt to his real presence even after seeing Eucharistic miracles where the host turn into flesh and drips blood? The power of faith to believe is the coming together of our will to the will of the Father to give life in the spirit of truth.

Jesus provided “many proofs” he is alive yet they doubted. The human spirit desires what only the Holy Spirit brings to the soul, the voice of God. God enlightens the soul to truth out of the darkness of doubt through the waters of baptism; it confirms us in faith to the divine will to witness against the passion of idolatry; it feeds the hunger for love out of his own body and blood in the breaking of the bread; it brings conviction of sin to be cleansed in confession against condemnation of the law; it fosters unity in one body with the Trinity and fellowship of humanity against division of relativity; it raises sacrifice for a greater good against indulgence of narcissism; it brings peace and joy where there is fear and confusion; it is God with us and who can be against?

God sees the depth of the heart’s prayer as worship with doubt or worship in faith. Jesus asks Martha, “Do you believe this?”. He was referring to himself as “the resurrection and the life”. Martha responds “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God…” First, Martha came to believe indicating faith is a journey and each of us are on that path with its’ own share of joys and sufferings that bring us to this revelation. Second, Martha arrived at a point of faith that allowed Jesus to perform the miracle of faith in raising Lazarus.

The Spirit is present and active but where are the believers who have arrived without doubting in this power of God present in us and with us? We remain as the people of God in the desert looking beyond for the promise land wandering, waiting, hoping, yet doubting. Jesus is with us yet we must arrive in our faith as he walks beside us while our hearts are burning, wandering and wondering. Believe and receive the promise waiting to be revealed.

There was a radio talk show in which the person interviewed came to believe and converted from atheist to Catholic. The one statement that had a profound impact in her conversion was when they heard “what if you just believed for 30 days what do you have to lose”. She decided to act in faith what she was discerning and see what would happen knowing that if nothing happened the worst thing in the end she would “eat some crow” for her foolishness. The encounter with God was not delayed as after only a few days there was a new profound faith giving birth in her soul that was left with no doubt. Let us come to believe and set doubt aside so God can enter into our faith and make greater miracles of us, through us, and for us.

For forty days Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection and before his ascension to bring conviction and instruction as to the kingdom of God. They were to “wait for the promise of the Father…in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit”. This promise is given to us who wait upon the Lord in faith already believing and “shout to God with cries of gladness”. Thank you Lord for receiving me who receives you this day present to manifest power and glory in this humble servant for this I know your promise is everlasting.

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Homily

5th Sunday of Lent

Posted on March 28, 2020March 27, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Ez. 37:12-14; Ps. 130:1-8; Jn. 11:1-45

“I will open your graves…I will put my spirit in you that you may love…” In the mercy and fullness of redemption “whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” O death where is your sting! The sting of the serpent is lost in the power of the resurrection for the just. Who are the just? The just believe in him, receive the spirit, live in the spirit and are righteous. Faith is the first act of salvation to believe by our free will we humble ourselves to the mystery of faith. “Living” our faith is the fruit of believing.

Lazarus is raised from the dead “so that you may believe” in the power of Jesus, in the resurrection and in the “glory of God”. Lazarus however remains in the flesh subject to a mortal death. Jesus resurrection is the victory over death itself. Only the foolish see death as an end but our hope is in immortality. You shall know the just by their love for God is love and our love unites us to God in immortality. Jesus provides us a window into the immortality to come in four visible signs.

The first sign of immortality is an “impassability” in which there is no more death, suffering and disease. The mortality of this body is all that perishes but the soul and spirit are alive for eternity. “He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Mt. 22:32). The power of this impassability is seen in the transfiguration as Jesus in transfigured by the light of heaven seen next to Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah are the visible sign of life after a mortal death of the body.

The second sign of immortality is “sotility” meaning a freedom from the material world. The visible sign is Jesus appearance to the disciples through the doors after his resurrection. Physically present he asks his disciple Thomas to touch his wounds and believe. Even before his resurrection he already demonstrated his divinity and walked on water towards his disciples. This is also seen in documented cases where souls are permitted to appear after the death of the body to holy souls and ask for prayers, masses, and penance to end their purgatory.

The third sign of immortality is “agility” to move through space at the speed of thought for the soul obeys the will. The visible sign is Jesus appearance on the road to Emmaus, on the shores of the sea, and in the room where the disciples were. This was his freedom to be present wherever his will desired. The souls of the just receive this gift to be present to God and to us most especially at the celebration of the Mass. The Mass opens the gates of heaven for the sacrificial offering we celebrate for our salvation and the redemption of souls.

The fourth sign of immortality is “clarity” meaning free from imperfections by being in the light of love, mercy, truth and the beatific vision. The only death is the death to lies. The visible sign we share of this clarity is the Word of God as he gave to the disciples and becomes our reality when we believe and follow the word made flesh, Jesus Christ. The reality of the word is made present when we believe, receive the Spirit and become the temple of the Lord. We are called to be the visible sign of immortality. Do you believe this?

O death where is your sting! We can think of death as coming to destroy life but it is Christ who comes to save us from evil, sin, sickness and darkness. We can think of death as an ending to a life as we know it and this is a reality, for we cannot reenter this existence again; let us also think of the new beginning into the immortal promises of God, the beatific vision of love itself. We can think of death as losing a part of ourselves when a loved one passes on left with the memories and treasures in our hearts; let us also think of gaining an intercessor for us whose love remains at our side as a worker for Christ in heaven. We can think of saying “goodbye” with tears in our eyes as the last breath of our loved one nears or we approach our final breath; let us also think of the reunion in heaven welcoming the souls of the just into the light of love and immortality. We can think of a “going away”; let us also reflect on the welcoming home into heaven. Finally, we can think of death whispering “you must go now”; let us listen to the voice of God calling us “Child of mine, arise!”

This is our Easter we celebrate each year, each time mortal death arrives, each time a soul is saved in baptism we are a recreation into immortality. In fact, our own mortal body passes through a death throughout our years of life as our cells die away and new cells are created so that every five years we live in a new body. Have we not left behind the child for the adolescent, the adolescent for the young adult, the young adult for the middle-aged person, and finally arrived at the elderly stage? The gift of the spirit also takes our soul through a journey of faith when we die to the old attachments to sin and are recreated into the image of our creator in greater holiness.

We are called to perfection and we cannot live out our perfection in isolation. It is in unity and fellowship with the church we come into immortality. We do not save ourselves, Jesus saves! Jesus saves by following him, his word, and his church. This Lenten season is as time to conversion while mortal death surrounds us in this COVID-19 pandemic. We are being called to repentance and conversion as children of the faith. The world does not recognize him but the faithful recognize him and our trust is in Jesus. Let us continue to pray, fast, and be charitable. It is to the degree of charity that we gain our perfection for immortality. What we do now matters! We are called to holiness, an unconditional love, sacrificial love, and purposeful living in love. Do you believe this? Believe and be saved!

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Homily

3rd Sunday of Lent

Posted on March 14, 2020March 11, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Exodus 17:3-7; Ps. 95:1-2, 6-9; Rom. 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn. 4:5-42

“Lord…give me living water” to worship in Spirit and truth. God is Spirit and the living water comes in Spirit and truth for us to do the will of the Father. Jesus is the messiah sent to do the will of the Father “and to finish his work”. Jesus now send us to continue in the harvest reaping and sowing the work of God. We share in the fruits of the work done by others who came before and now it is our turn to sow for the future of those to come. What we reap is from the sacrifice of those who responded to the voice of God in salvation history and who proclaim “Jesus is Lord”. What we sow is testimony to the faith we proclaim in our own calling to sacrifice for love of God. The gifts we receive is seed for sowing a harvest yet to come.

Today in the gospel we enter into the process of conversion with the Samaritan woman. Her encounter begins with a man she recognizes as a Jew thirsty for water. Her reaction is to question first that which separates her from him, she a Samaritan and he a Jew. She worships in her “mountain” of Sychar and he in Jerusalem. We often find ourselves more concerned questioning with what divides us from others, rich or poor, minority or majority, race, creed, male or female that with what unites us. If we allow what separates us to dominate our hearts then soon there is no one left to unite our hearts with, no other and we miss out on God who comes to us in other as he appears now to the Samaritan woman as Jesus.

The next step in her conversion is questioning this Jewish man’s identity, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” Jesus response is an offering of an eternal gift “whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst”. Her response is to seek and ask “so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus then tells her what she has not confessed and in this her conversion rises to believe Jesus is a prophet. For many in our world Jesus is a historical figure, a wise “prophet” with good teachings but difficult teaching to follow. This level of conversion allows a person to accept only the teaching they justify to themselves and to ignore what is not in their “comfort zone”. Truth and acceptance of truth is the beginning of conversion and now the woman sees a prophet. Who is Jesus in my heart?

The woman then “listens to him” and his teaching of God the Father in Spirit and truth becoming more united to him by proclaiming “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” To this Jesus responds, “I am he, the one speaking to you.” Her heart is now opened to the message, she leaves her jar and goes back to town to tell the people “come see…Could he possibly be the Christ?” We are invited to “come see” what Jesus is ready to reveal in us when we worship in Spirit and truth. We “come see” as a community together and he reveals himself in the celebration of the Eucharist. “Come see” what the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ” is ready to reveal to us as the body of Christ when we receive him in Spirit and truth. We see Christ and “he will tell us everything” when we listen to his voice in the Word, the teaching, the prayers, and receive him in the Eucharist.

Now the woman in community with her town gather and invite “Christ” to stay with them proclaiming “we know that this is truly the savior of the world.” This happens because they too come to “listen to him” and his word leads them to conversion. Jesus calls us to fellowship “where two or three are gathered in his name” he comes to us to unite us in Spirit and truth. From stranger to Jew to prophet, to Christ and finally to “savior of the world”.

Is Christ my savior or am I still on this journey of faith resisting the call to worship in Spirit of truth? The Spirit is the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us at baptism. The Spirit of God is ready but where is our spirit of faith, hope, and love? The Spirit responds to the will given us to go forth, take the next step of faith, trust in the Lord, “come and see”. Surrender is a powerful force not of weakness but of strength when our surrender is to God. Let us invite him now to give us living water, the hour has come and he is “the one speaking with you” in your heart.

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Homily

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on January 25, 2020January 24, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Is. 8:23-9:3; Ps: 27:1, 4, 13-14; 1 Cor. 1:10-13, 17; Mt. 4:12-23

It has begun! Jesus is calling his disciples to ministry leaving behind the old ways and the beginning of “the way” of truth and light. Baptism is the beginning of our call to leave behind the old ways of the world and follow the way of the Lord. The way of Jesus was to teach, to proclaim, and to cure.

The first call of a parent is to teach their children the ABCs of “the way”, that is to believe, to confess, to pray, to serve, to love and to come to Mass. A child learns to proclaim their faith through the faith of their parents. If a parent is silent in their faith then the child will be silent in his or her faith. If a parent proclaims the word of God in their lips “Thanks be to God” acknowledging his presence then the child will keep his heart and mind conscious of God’s presence in their life. If a parent brings healing to their child with an act of love the child will in turn give testimony to this love by loving others. How often a child falls when learning to walk and a mother is there to teach it’s only an “Ouchy, its ok” healed with a kiss. How often does a father teach a child to serve with the simple expectation they have to help their mother, share their toys, be obedient. The home is the domestic church where the first lessons of faith and life are learned.

The world is full of “rivalries” even within the faithful as we see in the second reading where Paul is urging the people “that there be no divisions among you but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.” Rivalries start in the home as two sibling fight for attention, possessions, fairness, in competition and they carry it over to their peers, their sports, their community, and even their church. St. Paul is addressing the conflict between who the people follow, Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ? Today we have Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Evangelicals, Episcopalians, and the list goes on for the Christian communities. Today there is a movement for division among the Methodist church between the traditionalist who seek to support the core belief of marriage between a man and a woman and the progressives who support same sex marriages. These are deep divisions and the work of the evil one who seeks to break the hearts of unity until there is no faith but that of each person his own. The breakup of the family is breakup of the church.

It is often said, “The family that prays together stays together”. The ABCs begin at home and the breakup of the home is the beginning of the end of the foundation of the church. We see and hear of all the attacks on the family. I speak of antireligious movements, abortion, euthanasia, end of life assistance to say a few. “Of whom should I be afraid?”. We live in times of darkness, a culture of death but that is not new it has always existed from the evil one “who prowls around the world seeking the ruins of souls”. Two people can be sitting side by side and one is living “in the land of gloom” with despair, hopelessness, fear and distress and the other is living the light of salvation in hope, joy, comfort, and peace.

Today Jesus calls fishermen to come and follow him that is to be his disciples. The plan of salvation was to call each of us to do the same and be witnesses of our faith proclaiming it to the ends of the world. No one knows when that end is coming but we do know there is an end to our mortal life and then what? Now is the time of conversion and atonement confessing our sins and entering the light. Christ calls for unity in his one body and today we receive his body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist. “The Lord is my light and my salvation”. Today is the day of great rejoicing because through our baptism there is the light of heaven.

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Homily

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on November 2, 2019November 3, 2019 by Deacon Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Third Sunday of Easter

Posted on May 3, 2019May 5, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Acts 5: 27-32, 40b-41; Ps 30: 2, 4-6, 11-13; Rev 5: 11-14; Jn 21: 1-19

“Follow me”. The core message of the call to Christianity is follow Jesus. In the third apparition of Jesus to his disciples Jesus continues to bestow on them the power to follow with the authority of Jesus. He has already appeared to them and called them to go forth with authority as he breathed on them in the first apparition with the words “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He has given them the power to forgive sins, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained”.

These disciples are now being given authority to be the witnesses of Jesus himself as apostles and carry forth with authority the will of the Father. What is their response? Jesus finds them back at their trade as fishermen going back to the day in which he first called them to follow him at the beginning of Jesus ministry. This is the process and the cycle of conversion and growth in holiness.

We have been called from the day of our baptism to follow not in weakness but in the power of the name of Jesus. Baptism has given us the virtues of faith, hope, and love to believe in God and to practice what we believe. In the waters of our baptism we are cleansed and we receive the Holy Spirit. It is the fire to grow in perfection living out the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. This spirit of courage gives wisdom to understand in right judgment the will of the Father, seek justice for all, have the fortitude to act rightly, and the temperance of balancing the scales of love of God and love of other in our unity to him.

Then comes life in all its truth, goodness, beauty, and unity to be one with our creator, to “follow me”. Our response is often “I go my way.” The disciples have seen the miracles, the sacrifice of Jesus for them, the resurrection of the Lord, the fire of the Holy Spirit descend on them and they go seeking their way. Their way is often our way, the way of our comfort zone. We seek to return to what is known than to for forth into the unknown but that is not the cycle of life.

Life is always going forth into the unknown but not alone. In the unknown God is with us to lead the way. We are not the same person of our childhood, our youth, or our later stages of life. I am reminded that every five years our cells completely replicate and we are not the same person we were before. If we question that reality then just look in the mirror and be convinced. Not only our features change but we are in a transformation into someone new and the old passes away. The laws of physics are the force of motion forward and we must prepare for this destiny. Mortal life is but a fraction of this destiny thus we are called to vigilance and readiness to respond to the call of this moment. What is God asking of me to respond in faith, courage and love?

The unknown is the journey of faith what tomorrow brings us. It brings us growth and maturity for the young, hopes and dreams as we discover our gifts and God given graces, struggles and challenges in our obstacles that strengthen our spiritual muscle, and letting go to let God move in us to go forth and follow him. Our temptation is to hold on and not let go or let God be our God. We hold onto our self-image when God offers us his image. We hold onto our strong will that is unreceptive to the guidance of the spirit simply because as Jesus prayed, “they know not what they do”. We hold onto our control because of our insecurity when God offers us a power greater than ourselves. We also hold onto our sins because we find a false identity in our weakness and hide in our darkness of the soul.

The soul is given the light of Christ to be kept brightly burning, not looking back but going forward in this light. The disciples first left their nets to follow Jesus to be baptized, catechized, to live the passion with Christ and now receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Where does Jesus find them in today’s readings but back in the comfort of their trade still waiting for a messiah to come? Jesus has come for them and for us to go forth giving testimony of God’s real presence in our lives. Trust Jesus and your light will shine with the power of the word made flesh in our being.

Still they needed the real presence of Jesus to go forth after the resurrection. We need the real presence of Jesus to go forth in our lives. He makes himself present in our prayer life, in the Eucharist, and in our sacrifice of love for other. He is prepared to manifest his miracles through us and bring all to salvation. He instituted the church as one body of authority to carry forth his love in the sacraments and in fellowship as Christians.

Three times Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me?” Do we really love God? He waits for our answer with the rising of the sun to rise to follow him. He wants us to follow him by doing the will of the Father. Jesus lets Peter know his calling is “feed my sheep, tend my lambs”. We need more holy priests. We need them as pastors of the flock not administrators of the parish. To administer the parish is the “other duties as assigned” but the call is to be a pastor. A pastor tends to the spiritual needs of the people, administers the sacraments, and goes out to be with the flock in their world in order to call them back into God’s kingdom.

“Follow me” into the light and release the yoke of sin we carry with false pride. Our pride is in the one who gives us the power to follow in ways of truth, goodness, beauty, and unity. This is the resurrected life of our Easter time. This is living in the perfection of the Lord this day. We are in this moment in time called to follow. Fear not the call into the unknown but in unity to our God be open to amazing grace and we will be his apostles in Christ.

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