Blog Post 6/07/2022 – Praying with Jesus

 

 

 

A [possible] Jesus’ prayer, Abba, I have glorified you on the earth and accomplished the work you gave me to do, now bless our disciples and pour out our heavenly grace upon them, so they can complete our work on earth and live with us in Heaven. Amen.

 

 

“Lord, extolled in the heights by angelic powers, you are also praised by all earth’s creatures, each in its own way. With all the splendor of heavenly worship, you still delight in such tokens of love as earth can offer. May heaven and earth together acclaim you as King. May the praise that is sung in heaven resound in the heart of every creature on earth.”  [Psalm-prayer]

May the name of the Lord be praised in heaven and on earth, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

 

May God Be Blessed!

Blog Post 6/06/2022 Prayer & the Heart

 

“Purify our hearts with your truth, and guide them in the way of holiness, — so that we may do what is pleasing in your sight.  Give us the glory of your Son.”  [Intercession from Morning Prayer on May 20, 2022]

 

St. Gianna Molla offers us this advice, "The stillness of prayer is the most essential condition for fruitful action. Before all else, the disciple kneels down."

Before all else, the disciple kneels down, the disciple kneels down with her/his heart and will to God’s.

 

May God Be Praised!

Blog Post 6/05/2022 - Homily for Pentecost Sunday – Cycle C

 

 

 

Homily for Pentecost Sunday – Cycle C

Readings[for the day]: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm

 

St. Brendan prayed, "Help me to journey beyond the familiar & into the unknown.  Give me the faith to leave old ways & break fresh ground with You."  An appropriate prayer for Pentecost Sunday.  

In 1988 a short movie called “Umbrella Jack” was released. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUYPHAngykg

A boy named Billy befriends an eccentric old man, “Umbrella Jack”, who was a W.W. II veteran suffering from P.T.S.D. [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder].  He carried a tattered old umbrella, hence his name.  Several youngsters taunted him as a weird old man.

Billy was one of them, but he stopped participating in the taunts and befriended “Umbrella Jack”.

As we celebrate Pentecost, we remember that the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, & they were thought to be “eccentric.”  Some people are afraid of the Holy Spirit, some people make fun of the Holy Spirit, some people try to ignore the Holy Spirit, & some allow the Holy Spirit to guide their lives.  Where do you fit in?  We were Baptized & Confirmed in, with and through the Holy Spirit.  Teihard de Chardin, S.J. said, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

We just heard from Acts of the Apostles that “… the devout Jews …. Were astounded, & amazed….”  Then in our Responsorial Psalm we sang, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”  The face of the earth means how we live and love one another; how we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our actions and our thoughts.  Society at large should experience us as “eccentric”, as people who walk to the beat of a different drummer.

 

St. Paul tells us, there are different kinds of spiritual gifts given to us to build up the Kingdom of God.  Gifts given to us to share with the world, the message of God’s discipleship, where our true joy is found.

Cardinal Dolan offered this insight into our three most recent Popes – St. John Paul II, [Emeritus Pope] Benedict XVI and [Pope] Francis.  He said all three "are all giants," yet each "has particular talents."  John Paul II emphasized the soul, with his eloquent call to prayer & the revival of the spirit.  Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the head, renewing the Church's vast intellectual heritage, reminding us  that faith and reason allies.  Pope Francis emphasizes the heart: warmth, mercy, joy, tenderness, outreach, acceptance and love.

Does being Catholic make a difference?  I firmly believe it does because “Catholicism resists any move that reduces Christ to only one facet or moment of experience.” 

[John Kavanaugh, S.J., Sunday Web Site/Saint Louis University]

 

The Holy Spirit gives the Church, gives us the Fire of Divine Love to share with the world.

Think about the Holy Spirit praying with you inside the Trinity, Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

As Catholics we believe that the Holy Spirit bestows on us the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, reverence and fear of God [an awareness of God’s grandeur].  Those gifts are given to us to use for the Glory of God.

Sir Christopher Wren the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, was walking through the Cathedral one day & he stopped & asked two stone cutters what they were doing; one said, “I’m cutting stone!” the other said “I’m building a Cathedral!”  Our life guided the gifts of the Holy Spirit, will direct our soul to guide our head and heart to build a cathedral, that cathedral is the Kingdom of God.

 

Please join me in singing our Responsorial Psalm Refrain, “Lord send our Your Spirit & renew the face of the earth; we will sing it twice with as much gusto as we can.

For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on how you are using the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on how you are using the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 6/04/2022 Salesian Saturday Homily Cycle II

 

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060422.cfm

 

In our reading from the Acts, Paul speaks to the Jewish leaders wearing chains, we speak to God wearing the chains of sin.  Jesus wants to remove our chains of sin by allowing His grace to guide our lives.  Paul hoped for Israel to accept Jesus as their Savior; often we pray that some of our family members and friends will follow Jesus as disciples.

 

In today’s Gospel Jesus says to Peter, “What concern of it is yours.”  Mind your own business and focus your efforts on Following Me [Following Jesus].

 

This morning’s readings can be summed up with these questions:

1.     How do we live as a disciple?

2.     What attitudes guide our life?

3.     Are we growing in GRATITUDE for the gift of our discipleship?

 

As we reflect on those questions, I want to share with you a fourth question, form Yesterday.  I ended my OLPH School Homily with this question: What’s the best thing you can do today to make Jesus smile?

 

Following the Nike’s tag line “Just Do It.”

 

May God Be Praised!

Blog Post 6/03/2022 Homily Cycle II OLPH School Mass

 

 

Homily Cycle II OLPH School Mass

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060322.cfm

This morning Mass is very, very special because as Fr. Marty said at we began this sacred liturgy, he will be “Celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism.”  The Baptism of Ella and Madison McGinley.

Baptism starts our sacramental journey to sainthood.  It is the Gateway sacrament into the Church and therefore the life of Christ.  “At the very beginning of time the spirit of the Lord hovered over the surface of the waters. [Indicating] God’s lordship over all ….”  [Bishop Barron]

Oboe is used to tune the instruments of an orchestra – Baptism is our Sacramental Oboe, where we are “tuned” to the perfect pitch of God. 

In baptism, we take on a name — our Baptismal name but also, the name of Christ – Christian.  That name should, as Humpty Dumpty contends, “mean something,” it should indicate the “shape” of our lives and who we are.

Pope Francis reminds us that our Baptismal name is what God will call us for all eternity.

 

In the Sacrament of Baptism, the Water and the Words are essential.

Listen attentively to the Words Fr. Marty prays over Ella , Madison, their parents and Godparents in this morning’s Baptism.

In our Gospel this morning we heard Jesus say to Peter: feed my sheep, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep.  What Jesus is saying in today’s Gospel the 1^st time He said to Peter “feed my sheep” is feed God’s people spiritually today.  The 2^nd time Jesus said “lead my sheep” – He wants Church to lead the sheep to Him.  And the 3^rd time Jesus said “care for and spiritually nourish my people always” – He reminds us that our spiritual journey here is ongoing.

The Gospel concludes with this simple buy important Invitation from Jesus “Follow Me” because Jesus is the Way to: True Happiness & Real Fulfillment.

The famous Jesuit paleontologist, a scientist who studies the history of the earth by studying fossil records, Teilhard de Chardin said, “Above all, trust the slow work of God.”

Summer Vacation is coming next week, and things will slow down for many of us, but that should not slow down our love of God.  This summer take some of your “slow down time” and use it to pray, God is always listening.  In the meantime, think about What’s the best thing you can do today that would make Jesus smile?  And then, like the Nike Tagline, “Just Do It.”

 

May God Be Praised!

Blog Post 6/02/2022 – Christianity the Religion of the Already & the Not Yet!

 

Bishop Barron shared some thoughts on John 14:27-31a where Jesus promises his Second Coming.  “In one sense, Christianity is a religion of fulfillment (the Lord has come), but in another sense, it is a religion of waiting, for we expect the Second Coming of Jesus in the fullness of his power. We wait and watch and keep vigil.” 

 

Our waiting is our prayer life, our watching is our prayer life, and our vigil is our prayer life.  St. Francis de Sales recommended this simple and powerful goal for our prayer life, Live Jesus.

 

Waiting is rarely peace-filled and enjoyable, yet we know great things take time, perseverance and patience, when a couple become pregnant, they have to wait nine long months for their baby; when you plant a garden you cultivate and wait.

Bishop Barron shared this story, "How long does this analysis take?" a woman asked Carl Jung. He replied, "Just as long as it takes."

God’s plan is God’s plan our job is to live God’s Gospel as best we can while we wait for our call to “the land of the living” or to the Second Coming of Christ when those who still remain head to “the land of the living”, enjoy your preparation for eternity, it will be worth the effort.

 

May God Be Praised!

 

Blog Post 6/01/2022 – Why did God create us?

 

St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote, “Man was created for a certain end. This end is to praise, to reverence and to serve the Lord his God and by this means to arrive at eternal salvation.

All other beings and objects that surround us on the earth were created for the benefit of man and to be useful to him, as means to his final end; hence his obligation to use, or to abstain from the use of, these creatures, according as they bring him nearer to that end, or tend to separate him from it.”[The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, p. 18]

 

Today spend some time thinking about all the people God’s has put in your life and all the material things [gifts] God has given you and what you have given God.

 

May God Be Praised.