Wednesday of Holy Week - The Fire of Life

She watched the silversmith, hold a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ (Malachi 3:3)

 

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

 

Pope Francis said, “Jesus was lifted up on the cross to descend into our suffering, to plumb the depths of our human experience, to draw near to us and not abandon us in our suffering and our death. To redeem us, to save us.”

 

The process of making silver as an example of what it is like for God to refine us. God uses the heat of life to purify us until we see in the sliver vessel of ourselves, the image and likeness of Whom we have been made.

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

Tuesday of Holy Week - Life Is Difficult

 

Pope Francis said, "During these days, the Church enters into the great meditation of the Lord's Passion. The suffering Christ is present in the person of the poor, the excluded, the sick, the hungry, those who bear the mystery of the cross with Him.”

Scott Peck began his book, The Road Less Traveled with these words, "Life is difficult."  He believes that this is true, “but most of us can't see it. Instead, we moan … about the enormity of our problem.

Peck says that he wrote that not because as a therapist he hears his

patients say that, but because he has been tempted to say that himself.

You could call it the "Law of Exceptionalism," the idea that this has

never happened before, at least not to the degree that it has happened

to me. "Exceptionalism." 

I like that cartoon I saw a long time ago showing a huge desk, a huge

CEO sitting behind the desk, in a huge leather chair. Standing meekly

in front of the desk is a man in work clothes, obviously a lowly

employee in that corporation. The worker says to the boss, ‘If it's any

comfort, it's lonely at the bottom too.’  Life is difficult for everyone. Someone explained to me once why they don't like Lent. They said, "I'm not into suffering." I like that.

 

Like it's optional. Like it's an adopted lifestyle.  Well Jesus was not into suffering either. You remember he prayed, ‘Let this cup pass from me.’  But when the time came for him to go … He set his face steadfastly for Jerusalem."  [Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com]

 

St. Francis de Sales wrote, “Walk joyously through life and if at times you cannot walk with faith and courage.”  He, also, said, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God." 

Remember whatever God allows in your life, is allowed so you can come to know, love and serve THE LORD. Whatever difficulties come your way, give you two choices curse them or offer them to God, you heavenly Father in the manner of our Savior Jesus Christ.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

Monday of Holy Week

 

Holy Week is the most solemn week in our liturgical calendar, when we commemorate the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

Take a few minutes today to ponder part of St. Andrew of Crete’s reflection. 

“So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him.”  [Order of Readings]

 

Spread your heart before the Lord in thanksgiving for His great love, and give Him your soul.

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

Holy Week

        

Our Lenten season is moves into Holy Week, I want to briefly explore with you two “Privileged Places” for you and me to more fully and faithfully deepen our awareness, our love and our knowledge of Jesus Christ during Holy Week. (epriest.com. 02/19/12)

 

But before I do that, we (each of us) must honestly admit that we are sinners, not bad people, but sinners, nonetheless.  Isaiah tells us God wants to forgive us, “…your sins I remember no more.”  In the Office of Readings, we find this verse, “Lord, to whom shall we go? – You have the words of eternal life.”

 

We know that God will forgive our sins, BUT we need to recognize them and confess them, so God can forgive them.  There is an old rabbinic story about a faithful Jew who every morning wrote on a piece of paper, “I am but dust and ashes” then he put the paper in his pocket.  Throughout the day he would take it out and read it, this prayer spoken originally by Abraham (Genesis 18:27) served as reminder of his unworthiness and humility before God.

 

One day he showed his paper to his rabbi; the rabbi was moved by the man’s reverence.  Then the rabbi took a piece of paper and wrote, “For my sake, the universe was created.”  The rabbi asked the man to carry these words as well and said “Let there be a balance in your life.  Realize that of yourself, before God, you are nothing – but because you are created in God’s image, out of love, you possess the greatest dignity imaginable: you are a child of God.”

 

As we prepare for Holy Week mindful of our sinfulness, may we strike a “… balance between realizing our humility before God & our identity as God’s beloved.”  (Connections, February 26, 2012“Striking a balance)

 

After the Gospel is proclaimed, the priest/deacon kisses the Book of the Gospels and inaudible prays, “Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away.”  Lent reminds us of our ongoing need for conversion, our need to allow the Word of the Gospel to penetrate our hearts and guide our wills.

 

The two “Privileged Places” open to us to deepen our conversion, help us acknowledge our sinfulness and allow God’s mercy and forgiveness to penetrate our lives are THE GOSPELS AND THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST!  As you prepare for Holy Week take spend some time in AWE and THANKSGIVING for being a child of God who has been give the Lord in Word and in Eucharist.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

OLPH School Homily Cycle I 3/26/2021

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032621.cfm

 

COVID has disrupted our lives, my wife and I haven’t been to Georgia to visit our son Brian, his wife Laurie and their children CJ and Berkleigh since Christmas 2019.  Laurie has made great progress, so they thank you for your prayers and your continued prayers [especially 1^st grade this Lent].  She recently received this report card on her progress. [see below] COVID has caused a lot of death and sickness, but also enabled many people to be generous and kind to those in need.

 

Pope Francis said, “Lent is about discerning [figuring out] where our hearts are directed…. Where is my life’s navigation taking me – towards God or towards myself?”  In our First Reading Jeremiah’s friends were not trying to help him, they didn’t want him to succeed.  But God was with him and he trusted God.

 

 

 

In today’s Gospel they tried to stone Jesus because they refused to believe that He was “the Son of God.”  Following Jesus sometimes is very difficult, doing the right thing is sometimes very difficult.  Jesus calls us to be kind and to find good in each person we meet.

 

Each morning I begin my day with the Direction of Intention.  It sets me in the correct path for the day and I return to it during the day.  At the end of each day, I try to pray the Day Is Ending Prayer but most days, truth be told, I fall asleep before I finish.  I do manage to offer the Our Father for someone who has no one to pray for them [as I asked you to do].

 

We should remember what Pope Francis taught us, “Prayer is the breath of the soul.”  So, we need to pray to spiritually stay alive.  This Sunday is Palm Sunday, and we begin a most holy and solemn week to prepare us to celebrate Easter Sunday and the Easter Season.  We celebrate the Trinity One God, Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  As Lent draws to an end let’s take time to review what we have done or failed to do and make next week a special week of spiritual gifts that we can give to God.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

 

Yesterday we celebrated [The Annunciation of the Lord] Mary’s Yes to God, our yes to God can happen if we follow my daughter Elizabeth’s plan.  On her refrigerator is a piece of paper with a To-Do List:

1.    pray

2.    be patient

3.    be present to my family

4.    spend time listening to God

5.    pray.

That is a very good list for any season, but particularly for Lent.  Catholics and many other Christians are trudging through our journey of Lent.  Today spend some time praying and sacrificing for the healing and consolation for all those who have been affected by violence since Lent 2021 began, pray for a conversion of hearts, pray that our communities and nation will blessed with peace.

St. Francis de Sales reminds us, "What is the prize if it is not Jesus Christ?  How can you take hold of him if you do not follow him?"

Lent calls us to look deeply into our lives, to seek forgiveness and to offer forgiveness.  To seek forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so that the Lord’s grace can touch us more fully and form us more profoundly.  Think about the noise that constantly surrounds us, maybe this story about a monk who joined a very strict monastery can help us.

In a very strict order of monks, each monk was only allowed to say two words every 10 years:  one day the Abbot met with a monk and said, you get two words, the monk replied, “Bed Hard”, 10 years later the Abbot said to the monk you get two words, the monk replied, “Food Bad”, after another 10 years the Abbot said to the monk you get two words and the monk replied, “I Quit.” 

The Abbot replied, “Thank God you’ve done nothing but complain since you got here.”  We are not going to run into that situation, but time for silence, for quiet, for listening to God should be part of our daily Things To-Do.  Remember that To-Do list I shared with you earlier:

1.    pray

2.    be patient

3.    be present to my family

4.    spend time listening to God

5.    pray.

Our society is filled with constant noise, SILENCE is good for us spiritually and emotionally.  Don’t expect thunder and lightning; rather listen for a gentle whisper – that is why the SILENCE is so important.

In the Common Law tradition SILENCE GIVES ASSENT, so our SILENCE can be our yes to God’s plan for us.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

In his book How the Light Gets In, the late poet and essayist Brian Doyle reflects on “the one sweet thing about being Catholic”: Confession, asking for and receiving forgiveness….  Doyle learned, the “crucial part” of the sacrament comes “after you leave the church.”  He wrote: “. . . You walk To the river and while you are pretending to watch for herons You envision each person against whose holiness you did sin, And to each you apologize, and ask for forgiveness. Some of Them are long gone from this world but not from the Infinite Mercy who remembers all levels and forgetteth not a sparrow.

 

You are absolved not when a man says so but when you have Asked, with every fiber of your being, to be forgiven, to walk Home clean, to start again, to be possible. What we really ask For in the sacrament of reconciliation is to be a question mark Again, to be verb, to be not what we did but what we might

Yet be able to do; a map of the unknown, an unfinished song.”

 

When Jesus calls us to “repent,” he’s not calling us to cease and desist; he’s not

calling us out for our sins and failures. “Repentance” is a call to change, to look at our lives and our world in a new light, to become the person of hope and faith we seek to be. The Eastern Orthodox theologian Kallistos Ware writes that, correctly understood, repentance “means, not self-pity or remorse, but conversion, the recentering of our whole life upon the Trinity. It is to look, not backward with regret, but forward with hope — not downwards at our own shortcomings, but upwards at God’s love.

 

It is to see, not what we have failed to be, but what by divine grace we can now become; and it is to act upon what we see. To repent is to open our eyes to the light. In this sense, repentance is not just a single act, an initial step, but a continuing state, an attitude of heart and will that need to be ceaselessly renewed up to the end of life.”   [From The Orthodox Way by Kallistos Ware.]

 

Today give thanks for the grace of forgiveness that God has given you look forward to today with Hope and Awareness of God’s great love for you.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

“God Is Seeking You in Love”

Maybe this story can help with our Lenten Reflections: “God Is Seeking You in Love”

 

Fred Craddock tells the story of his father, who spent years of his life hiding from the God who was seeking him out: "When the pastor used to come from my mother's church to call on him, my father would say, ‘You don't care about me. I know how churches are. You want another pledge, another name, right? Another name, another pledge, isn't that the whole point of church? Get another name,

another pledge.'

 

My nervous mother would run to the kitchen, crying, for fear somebody's feelings would be hurt. When we had an evangelistic campaign, the pastor would bring the evangelist, introduce him to my father and then say, ‘Sic him, get him! Sic him, get him!' My father would always say the same thing. ‘You don't care about me! Another name, another pledge. Another name, another pledge! I know about

churches.' I guess I heard it a thousand times.

 

One time he didn't say it. He was at the Veteran's Hospital. He was down to 74 pounds. They had taken out the throat, put in a metal tube, and said, ‘Mr. Craddock, you should have come earlier. But this cancer is awfully far advanced.

We'll give radium, but we don't know.' I went in to see him. In every window—potted plants and flowers. Everywhere there was a place to set them—potted plants and flowers. Even in that thing that swings out over your bed they put food on, there was a big flower. There was by his bed a stack of cards 10 or 15 inches deep. I looked at the cards sprinkled in the flowers.

 

I read the cards beside his bed. And I want to tell you, every card, every blossom, every potted plant from groups, Sunday School classes, women's groups, youth groups, men's bible class, of my mother's church—every one of them. My father saw me reading them.

He could not speak, but he took a Kleenex box and wrote something on the side from Shakespeare's Hamlet ….  He wrote on the side, ‘In this harsh world, draw your breath in pain to tell my story.' I said, ‘What is your story, Daddy?' And he wrote, ‘I was wrong.'" It is not until you know God is seeking you in love, not in condemnation; it is not until that moment that the gospel becomes Good News for you.  [Fred Craddock, adapted by James Fitzgerald, Serpents, Penguins, and Crosses]

 

This Lent review your wrongs and ask God for Forgiveness, if possible, go the Reconciliation [Confession] and receive God’s Grace Sacramentally.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

Lent Calls Us to Pause and Think About What Is Most Important

 

"Like an hourglass with a certain number of grains of sand within it, God has appointed your life to last only a certain number of days, and you have absolutely no idea how many there are ....

 

In God’s presence, consider: I have no idea when my life will end. All I know is that death will come for me eventually. Am I doing anything to prepare for the real possibility that God may call me, sooner rather than later? If he called me into eternity today, would I be ready?"  [Patrick Madrid A Year with the Bible, p.190]

 

“Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have embraced.

Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven.”  [Psalm 85]

 

God has given you today to shine His light on the world, let His light shine through your actions.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

Exodus 19:4-6a

“You have seen for yourselves how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” 

[Morning Prayer, March 15, 2021]

 

Lent reminds us to “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.  The kingdom of God is at hand.” [Office of Readings March 15, 2021]

 

Reflect on this cartoon and your attitude toward the Ten Commandments:

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

Homily Cycle B 3/21/2021

 

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032121-YearB.cfm

 

God made 7 covenants with the Israelites, [6 through the house of Israel and the house of Judah] in the Old Testament and 1 the New Testament.  Today’s first reading from Jeremiah is the 6^th covenant that God made.  Jeremiah tells us that the Lord said, “I will place my law within your them and write it upon their hearts; I will be there God, and they will be my people.”

 

Our Responsorial Psalm echoes God’s Call to us to turn to Him for mercy and allow God’s grace to Create a clean heart in [us].

 

In 2001 Rolf Lovland, a Norwegian composer wrote the lyrics to “You Raise Me Up” beautiful and powerful song made famous by Josh Groban.  It was, also, the theme song in the movie “The Lion King”.  One of its stanzas is “You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains.

You raise me up to walk on stormy seas

I am strong, when I am on Your shoulders

You raise me up … To more than I can be.”

 

Beautiful and Powerful this song points to God, however, the last part of that stanza should be changed to “You raise me up … To be All that I can be.”  What is All that we can be, people living their image and likeness of God as disciples of Jesus Christ building His Kingdom by our lives.  Allowing the Light of God to shine through our lives.

 

I our second reading we learned that Jesus is “… the source of eternal salvation …” – the Source of Eternal Life.  And today’s Gospel challenges us with a unique and profound request by the Greeks; “…we would like to see Jesus.”  They don’t want to look at Jesus, they want to meet Him to ascertain whether to believe in Him or not.

 

Today’s Gospel Verse provides us with an important insight to reflect upon during Lent.  “Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord; and where I am, there also will my servant be.”  Do you consider yourself a “servant of the Lord”?

Do you think it is a great privilege to be a servant of the Lord?  If not, why not?  If yes, why so?

 

We are called to give our entire being to God, for God’s Kingdom.  Our Entrance hymn this morning was “I am the Bread of Life”, Jesus is the Bread of Life, we need Jesus to be satisfied.  Being the Lord’s Servant is a great privilege, a blessed calling.

 

The Lord’s Covenant of “Love and Forgiveness is the key to our temporal & our eternal joy.  Jesus tells Andrew, Philip and possibly the Greeks visitors true glory lies in loving God.  By dying to our selfishness, like the grain of wheat that dies to produce much fruit, we will produce much fruit for the Kingdom.  When we accept the Covenant of Jesus, the Covenant of “Love and Forgiveness” as our guiding principal in life, we become Servants of God.

 

I suggest that for the remainder of Lent [and the rest of our life here on earth] we commit to live, breathe and love the Sign of the Cross.

“In the name of the Father [God creator of the universe],

and of the Son [Jesus, my Lord & Savior],

and of the Holy Spirit [Breath of Life, guide me.]

Amen. [I will it Lord].

 

The Sign of the Cross should remind us of our commitment to the Lord’s Covenant.  If we do that Jesus will Raise us up to be all that we can be a loving and forgiving daughter or son of God, and that will make our world a better place.

 

 

 

For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on being the Lord's servant and the Sign of the Cross.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised.

 

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

The prophet Isaiah reminds us our “…light shall break forth like the dawn….” [58:8]  Psalm 112 teaches us that “Light shines through the darkness for the upright ….”  Jesus taught us, we are called to be saints and missionaries for His Kingdom, and to do that we need to be “salt” for the Kingdom and “light” for the world. 

 

In Jesus’ time salt was a precious commodity; Jesus is telling you & I that we are precious.  Salt is best when it brings out the flavor of something else; light is best when it illuminates something else.  To be salt, in the Spirit of Christ, is to bring forth the “flavor” of God in everyone.  To be light, in the Reflection of Christ, is to illuminate the presence of God in the midst of the darkness that exists in our world.

 

Salt and sun, of themselves, are useless.  Their value is realized only when they mix with other things, bringing out the fullness of whatever they contact.  Jesus reminded us that we are precious and that we have good in us because He put it there.  He gave us that goodness so we can learn to love God and help others to do the same.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

St. Joseph Pray for Us

 

                                                Year of St. Joseph

 

 

Prayer to St. Joseph:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To you God entrusted his only Son;

in you Mary placed her trust;

with you Christ became man.

 

 

Blessed Joseph, to us too,

show yourself a father

and guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,

and defend us from every evil.

Amen.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!