Today reflect on your CHOICES and how the choices we make give meaning to our lives – for good or for bad!

The movie “Invictus” staring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon takes place in post-apartheid South Africa in 1995.

Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela who was … elected President of South Africa after being imprisoned for 24 years by the white racist government.  Nelson Mandela was the embodiment of black South Africa’s hopes and aspirations.

The country was on the brink of civil war, many expected a bloodbath: the black majority demanding justice for the decades of poverty, brutality and oppression they endured.  Mandela sees the Springbok Rugby Club as the vehicle for reconciliation.  To black South Africans the all-white Rugby Club and their green and gold colors were the despised symbol white rule.

South Africa was scheduled to host the World Rugby Cup President Mandela decided to enlist the Rugby Team’s white captain to help transform the team from a hated symbol of apartheid into a rallying point for the new nation of South Africa.  Mandela CHOSE to forge a path of forgiveness and reconciliation rather than revenge.

(Connections 2/7/10)

 

Jesus asks us to deny our self and follow Him; He asks us to CHOOSE HIM!

           

St. Francis deSales said “It is our works and not our words that give testimony to what we are. “  (Sermon in a Sentence, p.56)

This week allow God’s grace to transform you, allows God’s Love to purify you and allow God’s mercy to fashion you.  If you do you will have a great week.

May God Be Praised!

“The darkness that exists in the world cannot extinguish the light of a disciple of Christ, let your light shine every moment of every day."  Deacon Kelly

 

“When you experience suffering you are asked to climb upon the cross with Jesus, and we hurt.  Jesus hurt too!  His pain and our pain are immense.   
But when we can find the courage to offer our suffering to Him and allow Him to take it into His heart and His arms, Jesus starts to transform our suffering into the wounds that Jesus asked Thomas to touch and slowly we begin to allow our suffering to be blessed for good, for good in God’s time.” 
Deacon Kelly

“Suffering in the wounds of Christ is experienced first when our cross is joined to His, and second when we begin to heal and our wounds are joined to the wounds of the Resurrected Christ.”  Deacon Kelly "Many men keep the commandments in the way sick men take medicine: more from fear of dying in damnation than for joy of living according to our Savior’s will.  Just as some persons dislike taking medicine, no matter how pleasant it is, simply because it is called medicine, so there are some souls who hold in horror things commanded simply because they are commanded . . . On the contrary, a loving heart loves the commandments. The more difficult they are, the sweeter and more agreeable it finds them, since this more perfectly pleases the Beloved and gives Him greater honor." [St. Francis de Sales, Finding God's Will, p.201]   Lord, we praise you with our lips, and with our lives and hearts. Our very existence is a gift from you; to you we offer all that we have and are. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. – Amen. May God Be Praised!

Around 382 A.D. St. Jerome translated the Bible from Hebrew & Greek into Latin; the Latin he used was Vulgate – the common persons Latin, not Classical Latin. 

St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ we need to pray & read the scriptures, so that the faith we have been given can grow stronger.  The mustard seed of Faith can move a mountain; it can move the mountain of our indifference, our selfishness, & our sinfulness.

St. Paul said to “take the words … of faith & love that are in Jesus Christ” & make them our guiding principles & allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within us & guide us.

Reflect for a few moments on how precious your Gift of Faith is to you & on how much time & effort you are committing to being the best Catholic you can BE!

May God Be Blessed!

O Lord where are You?

Have you ever cried out to the Lord?  Have you ever wondered where the Lord was during a crisis?  Have you ever wondered why there is so much violence, pain, suffering and poverty in the world?

Habakkuk asked those questions in his day.  There is no easy answer; certainly there is an ultimate answer.  The ultimate answer is the FULFILLMENT of the KINGDOM OF GOD at the end of time.

The question of why there is pain and suffering will not be answered until we are with God in heaven.  The psalmist instructs us not to “harden our hearts.”  We are to keep our minds, our wills, & our hearts open to God’s WORD and allow God’s WORD to form us as followers of Jesus.

St. Paul asks us to guard the rich heritage of our faith.  How can we do that?

By being Beacons,

by being Shinning Stars,

by being Lights to the World,

with the lives that we live!

We don’t do this for accolades – but we do it because we have been given the GIFT of FAITH.  The Apostles asked Jesus to “Increase (their) faith.”  Did they want have larger role in Jesus’ Kingdom?  More power, authority, prestige?  Or did they want to follow Jesus more fully and faithfully?

Jesus tells them the faith they have been given is gift sufficient.  Their gift of faith (& ours) is to be: Lived, Loved and Shared.

The Lord gives us the faith we need; our job is to use that faith to grow closer to Jesus.  We must nurture our faith; live our faith as best we can.  We are called to make our FAITH the center of our lives and our actions.

May God Be Praised!

Moses talked to God and God did not to destroy the Israelites.  The psalmist asked God for “… a clean heart….”  St. Paul reminds us about his grateful heart for the grace that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave him.

 
Luke in his Gospel tells that God constantly seeks us, always desires to enter into a deeper loving relationship with us.  Luke relates the famous parable of “The Prodigal Son”, really prodigal sons.  Each son in his own way repudiated the father’s love.  The Father – forgives- beyond our wildest imagination!

If you have ever been privileged to be a conduit of God’s grace to someone, you know the deeply satisfying joy that one can experience.

This story may shed some insight into bringing God’s joy to someone, “An instrument of grace.”

“She possessed extraordinary musical skill as she approached her 16^th birthday. All of her teachers saw and heard in her playing great potential.  With each new piece she learned, she became more excited about her music and devoted hours mastering her technique. 

Her parents realized that the viola she played did not match her talents or her conductor's expectations.  The family of four lived frugally & responsibly – for them as most of us know, every dollar counts. 

But Mom searched and searched and soon found an excellent instrument. 

She never told her husband the cost, nor did he ask - she did note that it cost more than the 20-year-old Volvo he was driving.  But when they gave the viola to their daughter at breakfast on the morning of her birthday, the cost did not matter. 

Mom and Dad knew the joy that only comes from sacrifice; their daughter experienced the joy that comes only from being so loved.

[From "Treasure chest" by Kenneth H. Carter, The Christian Century, July 24, 2007.]

That was a moment of Grace, God’s Grace!

The experience of being part of God’s grace, being an instrument of God’s grace is a great blessing.  Many of you are praying for family members or friends who are “lost” and are not practicing their faith, but are drifting aimlessly in the spiritual dimension of their lives.

You may wonder if the shepherd will ever reconcile with the sons.

The Gospel message is don’t lose HOPE – God is seeking and searching!  God will find the lost among us.  God will reconcile the estranged among us.  Our job is to love Jesus, pray to Jesus and living lives to provide a glimpse of God to the world.

Jesus has given us: through His miracles, a new power; through His suffering, a new patience; through His resurrection, a new hope; through His ascension, a new majesty. (Adopted from Lit. of the Hrs. Wk III, Morning Prayer, Ps.96 Ps. prayer)

Many of the parables remind us that we are flawed and sinful; each one of us needs the sacrament of reconciliation on a regular basis.  The parables remind us that: God’s love is personal, unconditional and joy-filled. 

Grace enables us to realize God’s love and compassion in our lives.  Sometimes we are blessed to be the conduits of God’s grace and sometimes we are blessed to receive God’s grace.  The bottom line in the Gospel message is JOY!  (Connections, 09/12/10)

Remember to thank God for the JOY you have received; the JOY God has given you and the grace that God has given you.

May God Be Praised!

A parish priest in Palermo, Sicily sponsored a children’s poetry and art competition around the theme of peace.  He received over 120,000 entries, the winning one was a poem entitled, "Painting Peace."

                                    

“Painting Peace”

“I had a box of colors.

There was no red for the blood of my wounds.

There was no black to paint the mourning of my loved ones.

I didn’t have yellow for the world’s jealousies.

I had blue: I sat down and painted peace.”

PEACE seems to elude the human community that is why our preparation for the Kingdom of Christ, “The Prince of Peace”, is so important.

“He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.  O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”   

[From the Canticle of Isaiah 2]

Today pray for peace, live for peace and bring peace to all those you meet today.  Paint peace by your life.

May God Be Praised!

Homily Cycle C 7-14-19 Who is my neighbor?

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071419.cfm

Frank Sinatra sang, “And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each & every highway
But more, much more than this I did it my way.”

We are called to live Jesus’ Way, and what is Jesus’ Way?

In our 1st reading from Deuteronomy Moses said to the people, “For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious & remote for you….  No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths & in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out.”

St. Paul tells us, “Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God … in Him were created all things.”  Today’s we hear St. Luke Parable of the Good Samaritan.  Before we explore it let me share this story with you, The kind of player you can’t coach

A 7^th grade girl ran track for her junior high team.  One of their Saturday track meets had to be rescheduled to the following Saturday.  She had signed-up to help with a community service project her church organized.

She told her coach who responded, “You can’t let your teammates down.  I expect you to be here for the meet.”

The next day she spoke to her coach again, he said, “You are either here for the meet or you can turn in your uniform.”  The following day after a sleepless night filled with tears, she handed in her uniform.  When asked about it she responded. “This is about God.”

[Adapted - Table Talk, Cycle C, p.148]

A difficult situation for anyone let alone a 7^th grade student.  Was there a need for her to fulfill her commitment to the church service project?

Jesus asked the lawyer in today’s Gospel, “What is written in the law?”  The Samaritan helps a hated national enemy a Jew why, was written in the law?  No, the Samaritan helped because it was the right thing to do, to help someone in need when you are able!

Remember the Go Fund Me Scandal a few months ago, a homeless man gives his last $20 dollars to a woman motorist stranded so she can get some gas for her car.

People responded to the homeless man’s plight with great generosity, then they found out they were duped by scam artists.

It is not easy to follow Jesus, to live His Way, BUT it is the only way to be His Disciple.  “The Good Samaritan dwells in our midst in the selfless kindness & unheralded generosity of good people.” [Connections, 7/14/19, p.4]

When Jesus asked the lawyer the law, he responded love God and love my neighbor.

Maybe the neighbor who needs our help is on our southern border?  For a few moments, in silence, reflect on who is your neighbor?

May God Be Praised!