4th Sunday of Lent – Taste and see!

Posted on March 26, 2022March 25, 2022 by Deacon Joe

Josh. 5:9a, 10-13; Ps. 34:2-7; 2Cor. 5:17-21; Lk. 15:11-32

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” In Christ we are a “new creation; the old things have passed away” and we are called to be “ambassadors for Christ”. As baptized Christians we all have a calling to reconciliation. From the ministry of the priesthood and the sacrament of reconciliation to the baptized faithful we carry a message from Christ “as if God were appealing through us”. The message is to seek reconciliation with God and with each other so we may taste and see, through reconciliation the goodness of the Lord. We are to pray for our enemies, bring peace into our homes, and spread the good news of reconciliation to our neighbors.

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” in our neighbor. It is not that hard to love thy neighbor in the abstract until they move into our neighborhood living close enough, we hear their music outdoors, their dog poops in our yard, and their yard starts to look like a jungle. We’re suppose to love “that”? We’re suppose to love “them” not “that”. We’re suppose to seek reconciliation to support the peace and the God of peace will work through us so we may taste and see how something negative can be transformed into the goodness of the Lord. Ambassadors speak for the one they represent and we represent Christ first before it becomes about “us” and not all about us.

Our Protestant brothers and sisters are much more accustomed to asking others “are you a Christian?” In asking it seeks to find common ground as a believer with what unites us before we ever look at what separates us. Then as ambassadors for Christ they will refer to bible passages to share their faith and their love of God as an invite to join in a faith discussion. If you have ever been asked the question what was the response? Hopefully it was “yes, I am Catholic” and able to speak for the faith we carry as One, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We are ambassadors of the Church and we can bring reconciliation to our separated brothers and sisters by the message we deliver of faith, hope, and love through an understanding of our Catholic faith with others. We want others to taste and see the goodness of the Lord by spreading the faith in God under his church.

One of the blessings out of media resources is Catholic programming in radio, television, podcasts, social media, internet, and even audio books. Programs specifically targeting either a return to the Catholic church or the apologetics of the church in understanding our faith are having a great impact. I hear callers say they are not Catholic but enjoy listening in or by “chance” they tuned in and began to listen. Often it is Catholics who are being catechized further in understanding our faith through media. Every week I post the Sunday homily to the webpage www.thedeacon.net to share the gospel message because it may be the word that someone needed to hear to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord”.

Catholic media can be a bridge to spiritual direction. The Church supports and believes in the value of a spiritual director but how many of us have a spiritual director? I suspect not many and one reason is there are few available to provide that one-on-one guidance on a regular basis. Pastors are generally “fire fighters” for crisis situations. I met with a priest for spiritual direction recently and he informed me he would probably be leaving the diocese. Given the reality that there are few priests available to meet with he suggested using Catholic reading material as a form of reflection, prayer, and guidance. If you give me a book, I’m good and happy. We need to grow deeper roots into our faith and media resources is one form of feeding the soul so we can have a well-informed conscience.

Taste and see the healing power of God. In the gospel, Jesus gives us a parable of the mercy of God in the Father and the fallen nature of humanity in the two sons. The son who squanders his inheritance in a life of corruption “was dead” says his father, an indication of living in mortal sin. By his return to his father, he “has come to life again”. In our day we have many sons and daughters being lost in corruption of addictions of all types, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, even to power. They live in the culture of death dependent on what is evil and separated by mortal sin rejecting the love of God. Their inheritance of heaven has been lost but hope is the last to die for their return home through the mercy of God. God’s love heals the broken, sick, and lost when our senses recognize only a power greater than us can heal us, lift us from the pit of sin, and restore us in right relationship with our God, our family, and our friends.

Taste and see in the “older son” the danger of the sin of self-righteousness. When we judge ourselves better than others, more deserving, and entitled we fall into the pit of pride slowly eroding the image of God by the denial of all our venial sins creating separation not unity. What is the “taste” the older son had? It was a taste of “bitterness”, bitter that his brother had returned and was being welcomed back with love by his father. The bitterness of pride creates a false sense of self-righteousness.

The older son believed by his obedience he had earned his entitlement and was never even given “a young goat to feast” with his friends. His error in judgment was in comparing himself to his brother and expecting a reward based on his merits. Perhaps the older son may have even felt there was favoritism by the father if you recall the story of Cain and Abel. The jealousy of Cain for his brother Abel caused him to shed the blood of his brother, just like the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers caused them to want to kill him. Do we celebrate the success and blessings of others or do we taste and see with bitterness their joy?

Let us compare ourself to no one else but if we are tempted to compare ourself then let us look to Jesus and ask ourself “are we living the life example and message he gave us?” We take a tea cup and fill it to the top and we take a beer mug and fill it to the top, both are 100% full but each has a different capacity and purpose for what it is capable of holding. Each of us is given a gift and possibly more than one gift that we can taste and see what good our gift can produce. For example, my gift as a deacon is a great blessing but it is not the gift of priesthood. So much more is expected from a priest that is not my calling. Pray for our priests because they will give account of all the lives they served or failed to serve. Let us be humble and thankful for what God is asking of us in our state of life for to who more is given more will be demanded. We may only have one talent but one talent can move mountains when it comes from God.

This Lent let us “taste and see the goodness of the Lord…in the land of the living” by faith and action to our calling. Let us be among the living in the presence of God and pray for those among the dead in the darkness of sin. This is our time to bring reconciliation into our lives by taking the first step towards mercy…that is to God himself in the act of penance for our sins.

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” in the Holy Father’s consecration of Russia and the Ukraine and of all humanity this week on the day of “The Annunciation of the Lord” what miracles the Lord can bring to these nations and for all of us as we pray for peace and an end to war. It is our calling to join in with our prayers asking God to reveal to us his goodness and by his mercy and love bring also our conversion. Amen.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – To preach repentance

Posted on July 10, 2021July 15, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Amos. 7:12-15; Ps. 85:9-14; Eph. 1:3-14; Mk. 6:7-13

To preach repentance! Want to be a prophet, don’t expect a “welcome” mat. Amos was sent packing home, John the Baptist was beheaded and Christ was crucified for being prophets. We are call called to be prophets by our baptism to preach repentance. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two to preach repentance taking nothing for the journey except faith and hope. Repentance (metanoia) is a turning away from sin and returning to a relationship with God. Repentance is the first step to salvation. In repentance it is not about the universal “me”, my regrets, my fears, my needs but about him and our surrendering to him to respond to his calling and receive the grace of redemption. Healed by his body and blood Jesus saves. Repentance includes the four elements of responsibility, regret, resolve, and repair (Dr. Laura Schlessinger, NYT 05/10/98).

Taking responsibility is more than feeling “sorry”. When a child says “I’m sorry” it comes from being caught in a wrong more than understanding the wrong. Responsibility comes with understanding the wrong our act has caused on another. When we sin against God, do we understand the wrong our act has caused God? If we sin against our neighbor, we may see the harm it has caused them but we don’t always understand the harm we cause God. Sin harms our relationship with God because the injury is to the heart of love. Sin is a rejection of love itself from God. By divine will we are all created in the image of God and we harm the love of God for his people. It is as simple as if someone causes harm to your child then you yourself are harmed not just the child. We are all children of our heavenly Father.

Once we come to take ownership of our responsibility for having sinned, we experience regret meaning that we come to an awareness that changes how we think about ourselves, our actions, our relationship with others and with God. With regret we enter into the heart of love for the injury caused, remorseful and willing to begin the process of healing that love by an interior change. If nothing changes in us then our regret is not about love of other but remains simply a self-centered love. This is a key element of repentance when we answer the question “what will be different” about me, my actions, my love for God. True regret is an act of change for the better. God calls us to be perfect, a perfection that comes from our unconditional surrender to him. Regret is one step further away from our sin and a step closer to perfection with a change for the better.

With regret we are empowered with a resolve to be the best God created us to be. We receive the fire of the Holy Spirit directing us to where God is calling us. This resolve is a willingness to surrender ourselves to God with greater trust out of love. Our obedience to God is the fear of separation from God after experiencing the darkness of our own sin and the grace of forgiveness. Because of the darkness of sin, we may not yet know how good it is to be walking in the light of grace but we do know the consequences of having allowed sin into our hearts and seen the impact to our relationships with others. It is a past we don’t want to relive and a path we don’t want to continue. With resolve we make a decision to follow a new path by beginning to seek God’s answer and our calling. We pray for his revelation and we take the next right step in faith and hope. This was the resolve of the disciples surrendering themselves to the will of God.

We then ask ourselves “what can I do to repair the relationship”? For Catholics repair begins with going to confession. If we are to heal our relationships with each other we need to return to God and receive his forgiveness to be guided to right action with others. We pray for those who we have hurt and when possible, we ask for forgiveness and seek to make amends with those affected by our behavior. We expect more from ourselves than from others allowing others to heal on their time not ours. Too often we want others to forgive and forget but injury takes time to heal. Broken trust is more than a broken bone. Trust goes to the soul of a person. If frustrated because someone keeps bringing up the past recognize the pain behind the broken trust and pray for their healing. Reconciliation takes three the sinner, the wounded, and the reconciler who is God. With God and in God we become one again with each other.

The disciples were sent to preach the message of repentance but we also see in the first reading Amos a shepherd also was sent to prophesy to his people. By our baptism we are also sent to prophesy a message of repentance and forgiveness. Of course, we cannot offer what we do not ourselves live so it must begin with us. Who do we need to forgive from our past or even from today? Repentance and forgiveness work together for reconciliation to heal the wounded heart. We must repent ourselves as penitents seeking God’s mercy. Mercy opens up our hearts of rebelliousness to forgive others as we are forgiven. Jesus is ready with his mercy to forgive us to heal his own wounded heart by our transgressions. We have but only to come and seek his mercy.

No one lives without suffering. We are called to pick up our cross and live through the passion of Jesus. We live through our agony by going to our prayer garden. Our prayer garden is the interior room where we enter into peaceful dialogue with God. We live through our scourging when suffering is beyond our control offering it up as a sacrifice of love. We live through our crowning with thorns as others criticize and judge us but we do not respond in like manner. We live through the carrying of our cross for living through the things we cannot change and we die to ourselves to allow God to reign in us. This was the journey Jesus sent his disciples out to live in preaching repentance to a rebellious people. This is part of the journey of life and salvation.

Some of the disciples carried the red robe of martyrdom. Others lived the white robe of martyrdom. In the image of Divine Mercy, we see both the red rays of martyrdom and the white rays of martyrdom coming out of the side of Jesus. For us today, we are to live the white robe of our daily sacrifice. God the Father has blessed us in “Christ with all the spiritual blessings in the heavens…to be holy and without blemish before him”. When the world speaks of microaggressions let us speak of micro-martyrdom in living all the little sacrifices of life for the greater good. Repentance leads us to holiness without the blemish of sin to be perfect as we are called to be. Spiritual blessings build up the kingdom of God with every act of love.

If the promised gift of the Holy Spirit is the “first installment of our inheritance toward redemption” what greater glory is yet to come. We are being redeemed that is bought back by the blood of the lamb to share in his glory what eyes have not seen. Imagine our inheritance of peace, justice, and joy free from the burden of sin, sickness, and sorrow. Imagine the glory of the resurrected body not limited by time, space, or matter. Imagine the beatific vision of being in the presence of God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, Blessed Mother Mary, all the angels and saints and reunited to our loved ones. The sting of death removed and the glory of heaven revealed.

Now consider one who we would want to be in heaven with us, a parent, child, spouse, friend and finding out they are separated from us by the stain of sin suffering in purgatory waiting for prayers of consolation. Imagine if it is us who are the one waiting for those prayers, an offering of a Mass intention, enduring the justice of God for not having answered the call to holiness in this life. Imagine the hopeless lost from heaven who we knew and had an opportunity to share the good news of repentance and salvation but we remained silent.

Recall it is not always about what we have done but also what we have failed to do as the words of scripture remind us in Mathew 25:44-46 “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs? He will answer them ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life”. Who is ready to claim “righteousness” before the Lord? Praise God for the sacrament of confession that we can make this day a new beginning and be washed clean. When was your last confession? Well maybe its time again, nothing like the present to renew ourselves in the body and blood of Jesus and wash our baptismal robes ready to receive our Lord and savior.

Let us go out to “preach repentance” by beginning with an act of contrition ourselves when we pray, “Lord God, in your goodness have mercy on us: do not look on our sins, but take away all our guilt. Create in us a clean heart and renew within us an upright spirit.” With God’s help we do what is possible so he can work the impossible in our lives.

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Homily

1st Sunday of Lent

Posted on February 29, 2020February 28, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Ps. 51:3-6, 12-13, 17; Rom. 5:12-19; Mat. 4:1-11

Get away, Satan! Jesus rebukes Satan from the three temptations of humanity in today’s gospel. In psychology terms it is called the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id is the temptation of the flesh to hunger for self-gratification of the passions of the body, hunger being primary. The Ego is the temptation of the mind for self-gratification to “test and see” is there a God of truth, goodness, beauty and love? The Superego is the temptation of the spirit for self-gratification of a higher consciousness “to be like gods”. These are the weapons of Satan. Get away, Satan the father of lies and come to me Jesus, word of God.

The first man and woman’s eyes were opened “and they realized they were naked”. Their eyes were opened not to wisdom as promised by the serpent but to their sin and immediately tried to cover the naked truth of their disobedience. Can anyone believe they can cover their naked sin before God? The season of Lent is a process of admitting our nakedness of sin to God and returning to a state of grace for our disobedience.

Which is our greatest temptation to overcome this Lent? The sins of the flesh in our passions to indulge our appetites for food, sex, alcohol, drugs; the sins of the mind to indulge in gaming, control, obsessions; and/or the sins of the spirit for pride, power, prestige and profit. “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.” The first step is one of humility, we need God to be our change agent, we cannot do this ourselves. It is in relationship with a power greater than us that change comes. Alone we are like dust in the air and Satan is the wind that stirs us up and lets us fall. Without humility we are still trying “to be like gods” with the false image that the power is ours alone.

The second step is one of confession. Our confession of faith requires us to go before God and before brethren that is who we have sinned against and ask for forgiveness. This too is an act of humility in order to seek reconciliation there is a humble testimony that is made after a fearless moral inventory of our sins. Our “acquittal” we do not give to ourselves. We are not judge, jury and executioner. Our acquittal is in the reconciliation with God and others.

“But the gift is not like the transgression.” The consequence of sin is suffering and death but the gift of forgiveness is beyond atonement for Jesus has atoned for our sins. The gift is “the abundance of grace and gift of justification” to reign with Jesus Christ. Jesus reigns and we are invited to reign through the power of the Holy Spirit not as slaves but as children of the light. A new child in Christ is our calling and Jesus does not give up on us, let us not be the one who gives up on ourselves because of the temptations of Satan. Get away, Satan!

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Homily

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Posted on March 30, 2019March 30, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Jos. 5:9a, 10-12; Ps. 34: 2-7; 2Cor. 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

To be called Christian is to be ambassadors for Christ in the proclamation of the good news. The good news for our times is God’s love and mercy and it is emphasized in today’s gospel reading in the parable of the Prodigal son. In this triangle between the Father and his two sons we each can see ourselves being called to respond to the God’s love.

Often in men’s retreats I have attended come a group of men at all stages of their conversion and commitment to the faith. The son who asked for his inheritance and then squandered it in a life of sin is the retreatant who comes in hope of reconciliation but their sin makes them struggle with a sense of unworthiness until they witness the testimony of a sinner who like them has found forgiveness, peace within themselves from God and through God are able to stand and share their journey of conversion. They see the God of mercy in the love of others and approach the Father’s love with fear and uncertainty until the Holy Spirit is received as confirmation, they are a new creation born of the spirit.

The rebellious son is a spirit of the human condition that by our actions says, “I have no need for God for I choose to do it my way.” This predates to the original sin of Adam and Eve we would define as egoism where we define morality as “my truth” and I determine reality in a sea of relativism. In my reality then I must have “my space, my choice, my freedom, my everything” otherwise I am a victim of your hate, your intolerance, your racism, your bigotry. To avoid you my enemy then I must retrieve into the bubble of my isolationism or you must be destroyed as the evil one. My choice for freedom of you is your extermination.

We may accept that “God is there” somewhere but we go our way trusting in our own “goodness and wisdom” until we have squandered our inheritance of faith in a God, hope in a power greater than us, love unconditional, and compromised all our values in search of success defined by the values of the world. By then relationships have been hurt or even broken without hope of reconciliation. What is left? Do we simply “try again” or do we return to the God of mercy and love? “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord”.

The retreat also brings men who have remained close to the Church, following in obedience as the son who remained in the Father’s house and does not understand the “injustice” the world has delivered them. “How can a good God allow for the suffering in their lives?” The heavy burden of sickness, death of a loved one, the loss of work, the tragedy from abuse as a child all weigh upon the soul, hidden by their actions is the anger and resentment to the Father. What has obedience done for me, “not even a young goat to feast on” while other sinners seem to have the “better life”.

The response of the Father to his son, “everything I have is yours” is a reminder God is ready to pour out his blessings on his sons and daughters but our rebellious spirit is holding on to our sense of “injustice” in its own rebelliousness to the Father. We can be in the Church but not of the Church without the “agape” love which is unconditional ready to be the ambassador of mercy “as we forgive those who have trespassed against us”. The retreat is a conversion of love and mercy for the sinner called beyond the spirit of obedience to grow in the image of Christ, the God of love.

Then we have the Father whose relationship with his two sons gives the impression of bias in favor of the younger over the elder. As parents no two children are the same and the discipline and or leniency in which the children perceive of their parents is often questioned as perhaps also the expectations of them as they are growing up. In the human condition we feel “its not fair”. In the context of the culture of the time the younger son’s actions by daring to ask for his inheritance are a betrayal and the death of a relationship. The Father never loses hope and “while he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion”. The Father longs for the return of his son because his love is an unconditional love. This is the Father’s unconditional love for both sons as he explains to the elder “everything I have is yours”. In this statement Jesus reveals the kingdom of God belongs to his faithful as our inheritance.

If we have the kingdom of God to celebrate as faithful followers from the Father how are we living with this treasure? The elder son did not have a sense of ownership from his Father’s inheritance. There remained a separation with the Father created by the son who remained obedient but not living an intimate relationship with his Father. For us the question to ask ourselves from our baptism promises is what relationship do I have with our God and Father? If we come to Church and leave the same without a deeper conversion what is keeping me away from his love leaving his graces at the altar. God is ready to pour out his graces into our lives to live our inheritance and we don’t ask, don’t seek, and we don’t trust.

The younger son “was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” In the fifth commandment, “You shall not kill”, it is not the Father who kills but the son who commits the crime against himself in dying to sin. In returning to the Father he is born again of the spirit. This is our Lenten call today to free ourselves from the bondage of our own sins and return to the Father whose arms are waiting to receive us. He remains outside the door of our hearts with his sight on us filled with compassion and mercy. Come, receive and live the kingdom of God, let us live our inheritance to the fullest.

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Homily

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on September 16, 2017September 18, 2017 by Deacon Joe

1 Sir. 27:30-28:7; 2 Rom. 14:7-9; Mt. 18:21-35

Think twice! I love dogs. All our dogs have a special place in my heart but I am not one to kiss a dog. Some people do but I pass on that. Now if you said kissing a dog brought me freedom well I might think twice. I also love jalapenos but I would not want to eat 100 of them. If I was told eating 100 would bring me the grand prize then I might think twice. This Sunday’s message continues the Lord’s call for forgiveness. If you recall I started last week with the basic principle that God is a God of order. In the order of salvation history Jesus presents an analogy of God’s love and mercy in forgiveness of our sin in the form of a debt. We love to hear that. The order of forgiveness also has a mandate to forgive others and that his mercy also requires justice. We are not as eager to hear that justice requires something of us. It requires equal justice of our neighbor. His mercy depends on our acts of forgiveness for equal justice in the order of salvation to be perfected in salvation history. In short sin has consequences and forgiveness expectations.

The gospel reminds us of the consequence of sin but with hope. How many of us have hoped for purgatory? I suspect not many but think twice. We want to be forgiven with a straight ticket to heaven and no conditions. The hope of today’s gospel is that when we fail to be forgiving there is still the hope of settling the debt without eternal damnation. Purgatory is our hope. We don’t speak of purgatory or preach of purgatory very much, it makes people uncomfortable. It is like asking someone to kiss their dog. Why go there? For many our sins call for justice and purgatory is an assurance of heaven but not yet. What is purgatory?

The Catechism titles it “The Final Purification”. All our baptismal life we have been called to holiness, to be the light of Christ and to be sanctified by our faithfulness to God, Church, and God’s people. Sometimes the weakness of our human condition makes it difficult. Sometimes our readiness to respond is uncommitted. We desire to be holy but not yet. Heaven however requires holiness.

1^st Corinthians 3: 10-15 speaks of a building upon a foundation that is given to us, “namely Jesus Christ” but to be careful how we build upon this with our lives “because the work of each will come to light for the Day will disclose it. What day, Judgment Day. “It will be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands…it will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.” Purgatory is the cleansing fire. Many of our separated brothers like to ask the question, “Have you been saved?” The theology is that once your saved heaven is the next destination on some “jet” wings. We don’t hear the question, “Are you a saint, holy and purified? The assumption is that baptism took care of that for all eternity. The problem with the argument is that scripture speaks to the “elect” about correcting their sins and the consequence of the cleansing fire for our sins “for the Day will disclose it”.

Dante describes purgatory as a “place where we go to wash our baptismal robles” of those sins. It is a cleansing by fire. The white garment received at baptism is a sign of purity but life brings about the stain of sin. The stain is cleansed in confession. It is also cleansed in suffering, to carry the cross, to fight the good fight of faith, hope, and love. Cleansing does not need to wait for purgatory. The invitation is here and now every day of our lives. In contrast wrath is one of the capital sins found in Dante’s circles of hell.

I was listening to Catholic radio and they were speaking of death. The host mentioned the days when churches had their own cemetery on the same grounds as the church. It was a reminder of those who have died in Christ, to pray for them, and to celebrate life in the body and blood of Christ who conquered death and brings us new life. It was also a reminder of our mortality and to prepared by our receiving each day as a gift from above and making an offering up to God our good works and sacrifices.

We pray for the dead and offer up Masses to assist the “dead” in their purification through the sacrifice offering at the altar in atonement for their sins. The Catechism (1032) quotes St. John Chrysostom saying, “If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died to offer our prayers for them.”

There are many stories in the lives of the saints where they have experience apparitions of a person who has died asking for prayer or an offering of a Mass. These include priests or religious who claim to suffer in purgatory waiting for freedom from the fire of purification. The soul is alive waiting the day it too will be reunited to a glorified body but not yet. The final beatific vision has not arrived.

Jesus raises the bars of justice when he says “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, “you shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…liable to fiery Gehenna (Mt. 5:21-22). Gehenna is the “unquenchable fire…reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body are lost” (CCC:1033). Thus we have in the first reading the admonition speaking that “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” So let us just clarify. The emotion of anger of itself is not a sin. It is how we respond to this emotion. The thoughts that feed it to wrath and vengefulness leads to sin. It is the holding on to these emotions that becomes an act of the will for sin is an act of the free will. “Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay and cease from sin!” says scripture today.

Mercy requires a merciful heart for healing of sin. “Pay back what you owe” is not from a vengeful God who was patient with us all our lives waiting for the good works of mercy from us and then strikes us dead. It is a consequence of the choices we made by our free will. It is like the old commercial from Midas, “pay me now or pay me later”. Purgatory is later. Mercy demands justice and justice demands acts of mercy. What we are to give is small compared to what we are being offered without comparison. The good news of today is that God is waiting for us to take that first step of mercy and he will take the ninety-nine steps to bring us he love and mercy. Dare we be so proud as to hold onto the anger and wrath or do we fulfill this day the commandment of “love one another as I have loved you.” Choose wisely but remember that heaven requires holiness and holiness is a process of purification and purification is something we can start this day in the celebration of the Mass. Purification begins with a confession of our sinfulness and an act of atonement that is accomplished by our good works of mercy and love for one another.

We had someone come and speak to our community here at St. Francis Xavier of her vision of heaven and hell after a death experience. Those are transformational events that bring life, death, and eternity into reality. We are to live each day as if it is our first, our last, our only day to live as a gift from above to love to forgive and to be the best God created us to be.

The lifespan of a dog is perhaps 10 -13 years but in human years is 60-74. Do we want to extend our time in purgatory in dog years or human years? The kiss of death is sin but for a kiss of freedom think twice the grand prize is waiting.

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Homily

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Deacon Joe

Today’s principle message is of reconciliation. To arrive at reconciliation we need to take a step back to the 1^st principle of God. God is a God of order. In God we have a need for order and unity. It can be said that if God is a God of order and science is the study of an ordered universe then science is the study of God revealed in his order. Science is however subordinate to the highest order of truth, a lower order of truth. What does all this philosophy have to do with reconciliation?

To be in unity with God we must be reconciled with each other. We must restore order to our relationships. In contrast disunity is the poison of disorder. We must begin with ourselves. “if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Our hearts must be open to reconciliation to be in unity of mind, body, and spirit. Perhaps our struggle of relationships is a deeper struggle of self. Our own restlessness and disunity promotes disorder in our relationships.

The first reading is God’s call to reconciliation with Him, to hear his voice and be in right relationship with the God of love while the second mandate is to be in reconciliation with our neighbor. With God we have a sacrament of reconciliation to renew the bond of love. With neighbor we have a calling to dialogue but dialogue requires the desire for unity and free will cannot force unity in a hardened heart. Thus as the gospel reading makes clear our obligation is limited by the heart of the other. We can directly seek reconciliation and extend peace, we can seek unity through others and we can turn to the church as a voice of truth. We then must let go and let God in God’s time work in the hearts of others.

The order of unity is love where two or three agree on anything through prayer it shall be granted for the greater good. In the first reading God testifies that we are to proclaim the Word of God when we hear him speak. God speaks in scripture all the time but there are those moments in time when it speaks directly to us. It is when the person in the pew feels “that is coming towards me”. It enters our soul to awaken us to his truth in our particular situation and to reconcile us in our relationships.

The Word also takes flesh in our flesh when we witness evil, sin, injustice, abuse, and neglect to awaken our duty to respond to the danger of eternal death. There is a cultural paradigm shift going on in our society to silence speech whether by so called “safe zones” or by outright inflammatory speech and violence. Billy Graham started his ministry on a street corner preaching the Word of God’s love, mercy and call for reconciliation. Today, I fear he would be stoned to death, persecuted or injured for offending a group of people in the pubic square.

God seeks to reconcile the world to himself and we are called to be the voice of dialogue beginning at home, in our communities, and in our engagement on world issues. The consequence of sin is death. How many souls remain resentful and unforgiving? Malachy McCourt states, “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” Many souls are dying with resentful hearts. They feel justified in their resentment. They see forgiving as a sign of weakness, giving into the other person or giving up their cause The cause is never given up if it seeks truth, not my truth or your truth but God’s truth.

What are we to do? Rev. Dr. William Mitchell says, “Forgiving is a gift given in the face of a moral wrong, without denying the wrong itself.” Give the gift don’t dney the harm that can eat us up alive inside. We give the gift and let God take care of the rest. This comes from a heart of love greater than the wrong done. It is a voluntary decision to give up the desire for revenge and release a person from any interpersonal debt incurred by wronging you. This comes from a mind that is willing to make an act of forgiveness, perhaps by going to confession to invite God to help us release the pain and receive his grace. Forgiveness is a process both emotional in dealing with the anger, hurt, and disappointment and of the mind in understanding the behavior, the person, and having empathy.

What are we not to do? We don’t minimize the reality of what happened. We don’t forget or repress the memory we learn to let it go. Sometimes memory has its own sense of humor. We stop talking to someone for years and we don’t remember why but we remember the anger. Forgiving is not making excuses for the other or oneself. Forgiving is not tolerating negative behavior that only keeps us angry. Forgiving is not something we do after we “get even”, two wrong don’t make it right. I remember a woman who came in for counseling for depression and anger management. She was very remorseful for hitting her husband with a 2X4 piece of stud saying, “he made me mad”. Anger is not a sin it is what we do with our anger that becomes a poison.

Forgiveness, reconciliation, mercy is seeing Jesus on the cross and accepting his love is open to all sinners and we can be an instrument of his love. The world is in need of more and more reconciliation. The path to destruction begins with the silencing of the voice of the other leading to disunity, then disorder and finally destruction. Even if we disagree we need to be at least willing to agree to disagree in dialogue. God works where two or three are gathered in his name.

Who is our model for forgiveness and reconciliation? The one called “full of grace”, Blessed Mother Mary a model of humility. The Mother who stood at the cross of her Son’s persecution remained in perfect love and did not sin. Did she feel all the human emotions of anger, grief, pain and suffering? Yes, she did. She overcame them with love. In Jesus, God became more like man to bring us to reconciliation. In Mary humanity became more like God to be perfect as God is perfect. God entrusts in us the message of reconciliation to be more like Christ. This too takes great courage.

Literature speaks of four great themes of life. There is a “comedy” where anything that can go wrong does go wrong but in the end all ends well. There is a “romance” where life has its passion and challenges that seek a higher unity of life. There is a “tragedy” with a sad ending, a sense of loss and emptiness. There is also an “irony” where we are left with no understanding and confusion. So how does this play out with reconciliation?

“Comedy”: Why did it take so long to make up? I don’t know but you started it. You also held onto it for so long but now together we end it.

“Romance”: I was so angry because I love you so much. I wish it had never happened but we are much closer now and understanding of each other.

“Tragedy”: What happened cannot be undone and letting go is not easy. I still love you but life goes on without you now and I can accept it.

“Irony”: Though I will never completely understand I trust in God and accept his will for my life.

In each of these themes of life we can find God’s peace and reconciliation. Let us harden not our hearts to his voice calling us back to his love and mercy. Forgiving all injuries is a spiritual work of mercy. “Love one another” and we will receive God’s peace of heart.

Let us pray an act of love and reconciliation. “O my God, I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul, because you are all-good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me, and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.” (Handbook for Catholics, Loyola Press 1995, pg. 8)

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