Blog Post 6/16/2022 - Advice from Jesus on the Law

 

Jesus gives us a synthesis of the 10 Commandments to help us live them properly.

In the Gospel of Matthew “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.  Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.  Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  [5:17-19]

Jesus came among us to fulfill the law.

Jesus went up a mountain, sat down, and began teaching, reminding us of Moses, because  Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God.  Jesus is the New Moses who will promulgate from this Galilean mountain the definitive Law. Bishop Barron wrote “An Irish wag once summed up the Catholicism that he was taught with this phrase: ‘In the beginning was the word, and the word was no!’”

Jesus offers us the Law of Love; Love God and Love our neighbor, if we do that, we will live the Ten Commandments.  Jesus offers us The Law that will make us Happy, and Blessed.

May God Be Praised!

Blog Post 6/15/2022 - Living with and in the Spirit

 

 

Living with and in the Spirit

 

 

 

 

“Alone we are only a spark,
But in the spirit we are a fire.

Alone we are only a string,
But in the spirit we are a lyre.

Alone we are only an anthill,
But in the spirit we are a mountain.

Alone we are only a drop,
But in the spirit we are a fountain.

Alone we are only a feather,
But in the spirit we are a wing.

Alone we are only a beggar,
But in the spirit we are a king”.
                          Amado Nervo

May God Be Praised!

 

Blog Post 6/14/2022 – Reflecting on THE MOST HOLY TRINITY [continued]

 

 

Appropriately we are on our third day reflecting on the MOST HOLY TRINITY.  One of my favorite stories about the Blessed Trinity comes from my ancestral land, Ireland.  I don’t know if it is a true story or not, but it worth sharing.  At the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation the Bishop [as Bishops traditionally do] was asking the candidates for Confirmation some questions about the faith. 

The bishop asked about the Trinity, a young man offered this response “one in three and three in one”, the Bishop responded, “I don’t understand”, the young man said, “You’re not supposed to Bishop, it is a mystery.”

Although the Trinity is a mystery, we can reflect on it and develop a deeper understanding of it, realizing that we will not fully understand it here on earth. The Bishop of Perth in Ireland preached in 2017 on Trinity Sunday, one the insights he shared was this, “At the very heart of the mystery of the Trinity, of course, is the realization that God is not isolated and alone but is, in fact, in some mysterious way, a communion of life and love. We have been taught by the Scriptures to speak of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and these names all point to the idea of relationships.”

The Trinity calls each one of us to a relationship with God, the God who loves us totally.  Spending time reflecting on that is a “good waste of time.”  Lord, give us the courage to profess our faith by the life we lead, wasting time inside the Trinity, Father, son and Holy Spirit.            

Think about this powerful piece of advice from St. Francis de Sales, "From time to time, withdraw yourself from the company of other people so that you can peacefully talk with God about the interests of your soul."  God Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

May the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit [God] be praised!

 

Blog Post - 6/13/2022 - Reflection on THE MOST HOLY TRINITY [continued]

 

Today the Monday after Trinity Sunday, I would like to offer a few additional thoughts on the Trinity for your reflection, but first let join with me and pray:

Lord, open my lips to praise your holy name, cleanse my heart from all worthless, evil, or distracting thoughts.

Grant me the wisdom and love, I need, to pray this Office with reverence and devotion. 

Father let my prayer be heard in your presence, for it is offered through Christ Our Lord, please fill me with Your Love that I may shine Your Radiance in this world.

Come, Holy Spirit, [Come] fill the hearts of Your faithful. 

And enkindle in us the fire of Your love.

Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created.

And You will renew the face of the earth.  Amen.

 

Now that we have prayed let’s look at the Compendium of the Catholic Church for some insight on the Most Holy Trinity.

 

“44. What is the central mystery of Christian faith and life?

‘… the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity.’”

 

“45. Can the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity be known by the light of human reason alone?

‘God has left some traces of his trinitarian being in creation and in the Old Testament but his inmost being as the Holy Trinity is a mystery which is inaccessible to reason alone ….  This mystery was revealed by Jesus Christ, and it is the source of all other mysteries.’”  [Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church]

Tertullian, one of the theologians of the early church, who explained the Trinity this way, God the Father is "a deep root, the Son as the shoot that breaks forth into the world, and the Spirit as that which spreads beauty and fragrance.”

Today’s reflection on the Trinity comes from an ancient story about St. Augustine, one day he took a break from writing about the Trinity to walk along the seashore. There he came across a child with a little pail, intently scooping up a pail full of water out of the ocean, then walking up the beach and dumping it out into the sand, then going back down to scoop out another pail of water to pour into the sand.

Augustine asked the child what he was doing, and the child explained that he was "emptying the sea out into the sand."  The Bishop gently tried to point out the impossibility of this task, the child replied, "Ah, but I'll drain the sea before you understand the Trinity."

There's truth to that child's comment. We don't understand the Trinity, but we're ready to go to war to defend it. Well, maybe not anymore. But there was a time when battles were fought over church doctrine, and even today churches are being split over whose interpretation of the Word is correct. And it's tragic.

God in three persons--Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Do we fully understand this wonderful doctrine? No, it is a mystery to be lived and loved because it is perfect LOVE.

May God Be Praised, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

Blog Post 6/12/2022 – THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

 

As we celebrate THE MOST HOLY TRINITY, let us focus not on the mystery to be understood, but on the mystery to be lived.

Water in Christian theology is seen a means of purification, and so we ask God to cleanse us every time we use holy water, pray the prayer below when you place your fingers into the holy water font.

“Sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed;

wash me, and I shall be made whiter than the snow.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” [Psalm 51]

Then bless yourself, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  Realizing that you are praying inside the Trinity.

My favorite metaphor for the Trinity was developed by the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, “Every act of speech consists of a speaker, a word, and the breath that animates the voice and enables the word to be spoken…. Within the Trinity the Father is the speaker, the Son is the word, and the Holy Spirit is the breath.”  [Hans Urs von Balthasar’s description of the Trinity in Longing to See Your Face by Thomas Scirghi, p.37]               

May God Be Praised!

 

 

Blog Post 6/11/2022 - A Heart to Heart Message

 

“The human heart despite the centuries has not changed, its fundamental rhythm is still the heart beat of God.”  [St. Francis de Sales]

 

“Original sin interfered with that heart beat giving us ‘spiritual A fib’ the corrective medicine is the sacraments, in particular, the Eucharist and Reconcilation.  Be sure to take your spiritual medicine regularly.”  [Dcn. George Kelly]

 

May God Be Praised!

Blog Post 6/10/2022 - Reflect upon Life

 

 

 

Jesus in Mary's Womb

Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz’s “Life Monument,” is an 8-foot bronze and steel sculpture of Mary and the unborn Jesus in her womb. (5/28/2022;CNS photo/Carol Glatz)

 

 

 

Today spend some time reflecting of the gift of life.

 

May God Be Praised!