Our Lady of Perpetual Help School Mass - Homily Cycle II 01-10-2020: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/011020.cfm

This weekend the NFL will have four football games on Saturday – [Vikings vs 49ers] and [Titans vs Ravens], and on Sunday - [Texans vs Chiefs] & [Seahawks vs Packers].  Who will win, we don not know?

On Monday NCAA Championship Football game will be played by LSU and Clemson, who will win, we do not know.

There is much in life we do not know but our first reading today gives us the assurance of the ultimate winner, Jesus Christ.  Our reading says, Who believes in Jesus Christ is a victor, so no matter who wins those football games each of you is a victor!

In our Gospel, Jesus heals the leper and instructs him to go to the priest and offer what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.  Did you ever wonder what that proof was: two birds alive and clean, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop?

Today we are reminded that Jesus heals, Jesus is the son of God, and

Jesus follows the traditions so that His message will be heard.  Remember Adam and Eve – they disobeyed God.  In Matthew’s Gospel 21: 28-31, he tells the story of two sons, their father asked each of them to go work in the vineyard, the 1st said yes buy didn’t go; the 2nd said no, but then went and worked in the vineyard.

Which son obeyed his father?  The second we are called to go to Jesus in prayer and to receive Him in Sacrament.  We are, also, called to listen to God and our parents to say yes to their requests and then to follow through.

For a few minutes think about how much God loves you and how you might love God back by being a good son/daughter and a good student.

May God Be Praised!

 

Today’s blog is very short, but take some extra time to ponder Thomas Merton’s profound insight: “…the root of Christian love is not the will to love but the faith that one is loved by God … irrespective of one’s worth.” 

May God Be Praised!

 There is a Jewish proverb, “God could not be everywhere, so he made mothers.”  A little boy complained of pain "all over," so his concerned mom took him to the pediatrician.

The Doctor asked, "So where does it hurt?"  "It hurts all over," the boy said.  "What do you mean, all over?" 

The boy touched his knee with his index finger and cried, "Ow, that hurts!" 

Then he touched he left cheek and cried, "And that hurts, too, Doctor!"  

Then he touched his ear, tears running down his cheek, "Even that hurts!" 

The doctor looked him over and said "Son, you have a broken finger."

Christ comes to change our perspectives on life and how to live our lives, on the decisions we make, on the things we value and seek and on the way we deal with one another.  [Connections 01/17/2010]

Many years ago, when Johnny Carson hosted the Tonight show he interviewed an eight-year-old boy from West Virginia, who had rescued two friends in a coalmine.  As Johnny interviewed the boy it became apparent that the youngster was a Christian.  Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school; the boy answered yes.  Johnny then asked what he had recently learned in Sunday school.

 

“Last week we learned that Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine.”  Johnny asked, “What did you learn from that story?”  “If you are going to have a wedding invite Jesus!”   

Following that little boy’s advice, we should invite JESUS to our weddings; really into our lives. 

Fr. Matt Malone, S.J. wrote, “While the real presence in the Eucharist is the presence of God in Christ par excellence, God’s presence is not restricted to the Eucharist.  ‘The world is charged with the grandeur of God’, the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote.”  [America Magazine, 11/11/19]

May you live in the radiance of God today and every day.

May God Be Praised!

As Christians we should be Preparing constantly and especially when we get ready to participate in the Source and Summit of our lives, the Eucharistic. 

How do you prepare for something IMPORTANT?

Are you faithful in your daily preparation to bring the light of Christ to our world?

Do you fully respond to God’s Call?  Or are you “wearying God”?

Are you savoring God’s presence in your life?

Are you looking forward to seeing God’s face?

Are you Hoping to see God’s face?

Do you believe you will see God’s face?

        

St. Paul reminded the Romans “…we are called to belong to Jesus Christ … called to be holy.”

Being holy is demanding work.

The Beatitudes,

Prayer,

Praise,

Sacraments,

Good works,

Conforming our will to God’s will;

doing what God wants no matter the cost.

God asked the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph to take on a difficult job, sometimes God will ask us to take on a difficult job.  Pray for the courage and the willingness to say yes to whatever God asks of you.

May God Be Praised!

In the scriptures we read “Behold, the Lamb of God.”

We are so familiar with the phrase “Lamb of God” that we read it without much thought, we hear it without listening to it; we listen to it without hearing it.

St. John’s Gospel develops a lot of our Christology.  Let’s hear what John proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

John the Evangelist tells us that John the Baptist recognized JESUS as the Son of God, and he announces it to the world!

Faith comes from hearing the WORD of God in our heart and allowing it to determine our being!

We are servants of God called to obey God’s WORD, called to obey the Lamb of God in the lives we lead.

The Roman Centurion proclaims, “Lord I am not worthy to receive you only say the Word and I will be healed.

We should be humbled by the fact that our God loves us so much that God stoops down to be with us.

St. Francis deSales reminds us that we are called to be holy and we exercise that holiness “… in different ways” by our jobs and family responsibilities.

Behold God in your midst …

“An eight-year old boy is facing surgery.  He asks his doctor, ‘What’s it like to die?’  Neither the doctor nor anyone else on the medical staff can answer his question directly – but one hospital employee can.

She isn’t a doctor or nurse or child psychologist.  She cleans the floors.  One night the boy asks her, ‘Are you afraid of dying?’  She put down her mop … and [replied], ‘Yes, I am, but I do something about it.’  She tells the boy that she believes in God and finds comfort in the words of Jesus.  She talked to the boy as an equal, not as a superior.  The two talk for a long time.  She has put the boy at peace simply by listening to him.”

Behold, the Lamb of God …”  (Connections, January, 2008)

On January 14, 2008 a friend of mine John Viercinski died, his funeral was filled with sadness and filled with joy.  Sad because he is no longer with us and joy-filled because he is in the land of the living.

John and his wife Marie celebrated their 30^th wedding anniversary in August 2008.  They have four adult children (John, James, Julie & Maria) and are a lovely family.  James (Jimmy) has severe cerebral palsy but his family took him everywhere and included him in every phase of family life.  In 2007 Jimmy became too heavy for John to lift in and out of bed.  So they placed him in a home, St. Joseph Center in Swoyersville, PA.  In November, 2006 they had a Mass and reception (like a wedding reception) to celebrate Jimmy his life, his new life and housemates.

The card we received has his picture on it and on the back it says “Think of me …Pray for me … Send me a card … Call or stop by … Thank you for supporting my life.”

Jimmy doesn’t say a word but he speaks of God’s love always, he learned it from his Mom, his Dad and his brother and sisters.

Behold, the Lamb of God …

Each one of us is called to point to Christ by our lives.  Take a few minutes to think about what your life is pointing too!

May God Be Blessed!

 

“When the song of the angels is stilled, 

When the star in the sky is gone, 

When the kings & princes are home, 

When the shepherds are back with their flock, 

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the brokenhearted,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among brothers,

To make music in the heart.”  

[Dr. Howard Thurman]

Begin the work of Christmas today!

 

May God Be Praised!

 

Homily Cycle I 01-04-20 Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010420.cfm

The first reading advises us to “Beware of deception” – the deception we most need to be aware today is Secularism and Relativism disguised as individual rights and the only way to live.  In our Gospel we heard: “Behold the Lamb of God”, “Rabbi” and “We have found the Messiah”.

We prayed in the Collect {Opening Prayer}, a “… new light … through your only Begotten Son ….”  Andrew called his brother Simon Peter to follow Jesus, the Messiah.  We are called to follow Jesus more faithfully each day we are on earth.

“God is using your present circumstances to make you more useful for later roles in His unfolding story.”  [Louie Giglio]

How will we do that, maybe this story can help enlighten us.  A rabbi asked his students: “How can we determine the hour of dawn, when the night ends and the day begins?”

        

One of the rabbi’s students suggested: “When from a distance you can distinguish between a dog and a sheep?”  “No,”” was the answer from the rabbi.

        

“It is when one can distinguish between a fig tree and a grapevine?”  asked a second student.  “No,” said the rabbi.  “Please tell us the answer then,” said the students.

        

        

“It is … when you can look into the face of another human being and you have enough light in you to recognize your brother or your sister.  Until then it is night, and darkness is still with us.”

For us it is when we look into the face of each human being and see the face of God!

May God Be Praised!