Mass Excitement

How To Have Peace Of Mind and How to Be Prepared to Meet God

2009-12-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

A couple of Christmas’ ago, my brother gave me a big jug of some “muscle drink”. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the “before and after” pictures on the jug were of me! The” before” picture was my face superimposed onto a girl’s body. The “after” picture was of my face superimposed onto a profession bodybuilders’ body. My brother was also kind enough to put an insulting “quote” and testimony from “me”! Yes, it was hilarious, insulting, and hilariously insulting.

Yes, at Christmas time, we must prepare for traveling, gift-buying, and sometimes, even prank gifts in the spirit of brotherly love.

Reading II
Phil 4:4-7

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

This week’s Mass readings, call us to prepare for the coming of the Lord (and I don’t mean Santa Claus). The readings also clue us into how we can have peace which is something that every person wants. Right?
Peace that Surpasses All Understanding
In the 2nd reading, Saint Paul says that if we tell God about our concerns and needs “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Here we are promised an unheard of peace, one that “surpasses all understanding”. We are promised that this peace will “guard our hearts”. At first glance, it’s hard to understand how telling someone our needs and requests will lead to this incredible peace.

But Paul’s language suggests much. For one thing, his words suggest that God LISTENS to those who speak to him. After all, why would someone encourage another person to speak to a person who does not listen? Yes, Paul is suggesting something that each one of us needs to understand well- that God listens to us when we pray even though it often seems like no one in the world cares about us or that no one in the world understands us.

But with God, it is different. He listens to us and knows us intimately and he even knows us more than our best friends knows us (check out Psalm 139). And then of course there are people who listen, but do not care. Why should we tell someone about our concerns who listens but does not care? Paul does not explicitly say this, but it only makes sense to tell people our desires and requests if they care. Ah yes, God cares. Putting our concerns before the Lord in prayer will bring a peace that “surpasses all understanding.”

Peaceful, Happy People

Fortunately, I have met the Cardinal in my Archdiocese many times. Anyone who has met him and spoken to him would agree that he is a man of great peace. He is a man of great calm.
I also know a great friend of God who works as a nun ministering to college students. Indeed everyone who meets her sees that she heeds the words from the 1st reading “be glad!” and “be happy!”1 Her face beems with a supernatural joy constantly. Wow! It is a great pleasure to be around her.
I also know a missionary from the Southwestern United States. She is calm like the morning time at a secluded beach. To me, these people are living proof that telling God our concerns and needs brings a “peace of God that surpasses all understanding”. This peace will “guard our hearts”. How wonderful it is to know that you are under the protection of God!

The practical application is that we should pray.

Preparing For the Coming of Lord

John the Baptists mission was to prepare the way of the Lord.
Now, when you know that a guest is coming to visit your home, what do you normally do? Most people make a sincere effort to clean up their home.
In a very similar fashion, John recommends the same in the Gospel. He basically tells people to stop sinning and gives several examples. We believe that God knows everything. And so, there is no way that we can spiritually “sweep things under the rug” or throw our things into the closet. Jesus sees our spiritual mess no matter how clean we appear to be on the outside.
And so, this is largely why John the Baptists preaches repentance as the best way to prepare for the coming or the Lord. We can’t just prepare to clean up, we have to ACTUALLY clean up our souls through repentance.
The Lord will come to us in more than one way. He will arrive in his second coming, at the Euchartistic table at Mass, and he comes to us when we are in the presence of other people. In all 3 of these situations it is critical that we be prepared, most of all by getting rid of our sinful behaviors.
Just as it is feels good to have a clean house in preparation for a guest, having clean souls, through repentance, baptism and confession, we can rejoice, “be happy” and “be glad” at the Lord’s coming when we encounter the Lord through one another, at Mass, and when Jesus comes again in glory.
I’m quite sure that repentance is a great part of the reason why these people I have mentioned above are so peaceful.
Actually, the missionary lady I mentioned once told me that a man predicted to her that she would die. Her response was “I am ready”. Can you and I say with peace that we are ready? Let’s ask the Lord to prepare us and let us do our part to prepare for the God who loves us.

1- The first reading says “rejoice” which means “be glad” or “be happy”

Reading 1
Zep 3:14-18a

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you
he has turned away your enemies;
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

Responsorial Psalm
Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6

R. (6) Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

Gospel
Lk 3:10-18

The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.”

Now the people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Exhorting them in many other ways,
he preached good news to the people.

The Eucharist- Just a Piece of Bread? Mass Readings for August 9, 2009

2009-08-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I was at Church where a middle-school-aged boy said to everyone "it's just bread" referring to the Eucharist. I think the boy was saying out loud what many Catholics incorrectly believe to this day.

We Catholics believe that the Eucharist, is the source and summit of our faith. If the Eucharist is the source and summit of your faith, you should be able to answer this question: "Why is the Eucharist the source and summit of your faith?" This week's gospel helps us to understand the Eucharist more.

Gospel
Jn 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, ”
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Ordinary Bread Versus Jesus

Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist, yet when we look upon the consecrated host, we might find ourselves "murmuring" just like the Jews in the Gospel. We might say something like, "That's Jesus? Is this not the bread that just came out of a plastic bag? Do we not know where it was manufactured? Does it not taste like bread?"

After the murmuring in the Gospel, Jesus says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him". This seems to be a reference to baptism where we are given the gift of faith. In other words, we cannot believe in the Eucharist except by the hand of God which comes upon us at baptism (at baptism we receive a supernatural faith).

As Catholics we do NOT believe that the bread changes in a scientifically-measurable way. But don't we believe in electrons and atoms even though we have never seen them? We Catholics believe that the bread has become Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit even though we can see no difference. Now if the Eucharist is Jesus in his ENTIRETY, then how can the Eucharist NOT be the source and summit of our faith? Is it not Jesus whom we worship? Is he not the source of all that is good? Is he not God? Jesus is Lord. The Eucharist is Jesus. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. If you find this difficult to believe, remember that there was only one teaching that resulted in some of Jesus' followers leaving him. It was the teaching of the Eucharist. You can read about Jesus' followers leaving him in John Chapter 6. Even the apostles who remained with Jesus had difficulty believing. In John 6:60 his disciples say to Jesus, "this saying is hard, who can accept it?"

If you are having difficulty believing that the Eucharist is Jesus, you should trust in God and use the faith he has given you. You must USE your God-given faith! After several of Jesus' healings, Jesus told the healed person "your faith has saved you". Now let's take a look at what happens at Mass every week.

Holy Mass

The Eucharist is the summary of our faith. The Eucharistic encounter is like the short story of man. God creates man, man needs God. God gives himself to man. Man accepts.

In the Eucharist, we can see that God gives himself to us freely. God knows that food alone does not satisfy the needs of man, but only God can do that. In his generosity, God gives man what man needs- God himself. In preparation for our weekly encounter with God at Mass, we refuse mortal sin (which makes us incompatible with God) and instead seek God even though many mortal sins can give us temporary pleasures (e.g. premarital sex, stealing, missing Mass etc).

When faced with the decision of whether or not to attend Mass, we might say just as the apostles said to Jesus "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." At the celebration of the Eucharist (Mass), we admit that we cannot live without God. We admit that the things of this world are not enough for us. We acknowledge that we need God and that we cannot live without him. And what does God say in reply? "Your faith has saved you."

Yes, it's neat that Elijah received food from God at a time when Elijah was fleeing for his life. But I am sure Elijah would have preferred to have what most of us have access to every day- the Euchurist. Jesus says in this week's Gospel "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

A Preview of Heaven

In this gospel, Jesus says, "I will raise him on the last day". What does this have to do with the Eucharist? Paragraph 1402 of the Catechism says that "If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and grace," then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory."

That's right. Jesus says, "I will raise him on the last day because the Eucharist is very closely related to heaven. The activity that we do every weekend (Mass), which some Catholics find boring, is truly a snapshot of heaven. Perhaps what makes heaven so great is that God gives himself to us (even though we have done nothing to deserve his love) and like we do during Mass, the holy souls in heaven respond to God by acknowledging his greatness in never-ending praise. Can you believe that the same thing happens at Sunday Mass? God gives himself to us eternally, and we respond in praise (even our attendance is pleasing to him) and thanksgiving. At communion, we experience a real union with God as he becomes one with us and his divinity enters our bodies which can only happen because God has sanctified us through baptism.

When Jesus said, "Do this in memory of me", he didn't just mean that he wanted us to remember him. He was telling us to celebrate the Mass; to break bread with one another. And of course part of Mass includes an invitation to participate in communion. We have an opportunity to respond to the invitation to holy communion as Mary responded- "Behold, I am the servant (handmaid) of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

Because the Lord cares so much about us, he gives himself to us at Mass. He does this because he loves us.

Read more about the Eucharist

Reading 1
1 Kgs 19:4-8

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
And delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.
And your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,
And from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Reading II
Eph 4:30—5:2

Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma

"I Feel Lost"- Mass Readings For July 19, 2009

2009-07-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel lost? Do you ever feel alone? The readings and commentary this week address these concerns. They dig into what causes us to get lost in the first place. There is commentary following the first reading.

Reading 1

Jer 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds
who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture,
says the LORD.
Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
against the shepherds who shepherd my people:
You have scattered my sheep and driven them away.
You have not cared for them,
but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.
I myself will gather the remnant of my flock
from all the lands to which I have driven them
and bring them back to their meadow;
there they shall increase and multiply.
I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them
so that they need no longer fear and tremble;
and none shall be missing, says the LORD.

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;
as king he shall reign and govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell in security.
This is the name they give him:
"The LORD our justice."

Separated From God and One Another

In the first reading, God warns the bad shepherds who have "mislead" the people and scattered" them. The Lord says "You have not cared for them,
but I will take care to punish your evil deeds." The implication here seems to be that bad shepherds commit evil deeds and those evil deeds mislead and cause "scattering". The Catechism echoes this belief in paragraph 817 which states "The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism1- do not occur without human sin". The Catechism here reminds us that sin causes disunity (division).

The fact is that sin ALWAYS involves disunity and separation. Picture Adam who reached for the apple because he wanted to be "like God", but without God (separation).2 "In sin, man seeks to attain his goal without God."3 This reminds me of a child who in defiance of his parents breaks his hand away and walks into traffic without his parents. Typically when we commit sins like stealing, drunkeness, sexual sin, dishonesty, and cheating, we are not interested in doing these sins with God at our side. In our hearts, we might say something like, "I'm just going to sin a little bit, I can do without God for a brief moment." In doing so, we willingly separate from God.

Our sins not only separate us from God, but cause disruptions in ALL of our relationships. And that is the state of many of our lives. Many of us walk amongst a "vast crowd" which is divided and unguided. Sin separates us from God AND each other.

It is also important that we realize that in encouraging others to sin, we separate them from God as well. When we cause others to sin, our just God says, "You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds."

The Good Flock and the Good Shepherd

But clearly, God makes a distinction between the bad shepherds and the "remnant of his flock". It is up to us which group we will walk with. For those who have chosen to be in the Lord's flock, God says "I myself will gather [them], and I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble." Despite the wretched condition that sinners have put themselves into, God shows his desire to help, to guide, and to provide security for us- his "flock".

The Gospel reading, involves nearly the exact same situation. There are people in need of a shepherd. The difference is that in the Gospel situation, we see the fulfillment of God's promise of appointing shepherds and raising up a righteous, and just King. The gospel reminds us that the apostles are appointed shepherds and that Jesus is the King described in the first reading. We should take particular note of Jesus' reaction to the "vast crowd" who were "like sheep without a shepherd". Despite the pitiful condition of the flock, Jesus looks at them with pity. Pity can be defined as "sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy"4. So despite the fact that we are sinners, we need only read this gospel to know what God thinks of us and our sinful situation. He is hurt by our suffering, and in his mercy, he wants to help us. He looks at us with pity.

Ultimately, the readings this week teach us a simple and important lesson. We feel lost because we ARE lost. We are lost because of sin. Division and separation are natural consequences of sin. We need someone to guide us. God knows that we are lost. He cares that we are lost, and he desires to lead us into heaven.

This responsorial psalm is perhaps one of the most common ones at Mass. There is a reason for this. This responsorial psalm is the prayer of a soul who notices Jesus' look of pity and realizes Jesus' goodness. The soul then puts great trust in the Lord and says, "The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want."

a related blog "Nice Guys Go To Heaven?"

1-schism means separation from Church because of doctrinal difference
2-Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 398
3-CCC 415
4-dictionary.com

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Reading II
Eph 2:13-18

Brothers and sisters:
In Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have become near by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, he who made both one
and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh,
abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,
that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,
thus establishing peace,
and might reconcile both with God,
in one body, through the cross,
putting that enmity to death by it.
He came and preached peace to you who were far off
and peace to those who were near,
for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Gospel
Mk 6:30-34

The apostles gathered together with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them,
"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.

Who Should We Evangelize?

2009-07-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

Often times when I am hanging out with fellow Christians, we end up talking about evangelizing others. People say things like, "I'm trying to bring my co-worker to Christ" or "my dad's a non-believer and I'm trying to convert him." On the surface it sounds great. Many believers feel so loved by God that they want to share this love with others. But here is the question: are we really being sincere in our desire to evangelize?

Not only do we need to question our sincerity, but we also need to learn how to go about "making disciples of all nations" as Matthew Chapter 28 says. That's what this week's readings are all about. God addresses an important Christian topic: evangelization. Let's begin with the 2nd reading. The other readings will come after the commentary.

Reading II (From July 5th Mass)
2 Cor 12:7-10

Brothers and sisters:
That I, Paul, might not become too elated,
because of the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,
to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness."
I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,
in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Preaching to Difficult People

All 3 readings this week involve someone trying to evangelize amidst opposition. In the first reading, it's Ezekiel trying to evangelize the Israelites. In the Gospel, it's Jesus and the people of his native place (Nazareth). In this reading, it's Paul who is trying to evangelize. In all 3 readings, the "preachers" encounter difficulty, but it is the 2nd reading that talks about the difficulty in detail and teaches a critical lesson in Christianity.

Paul is suffering from a "thorn in the flesh". This Hebrew expression is similiar to "thorn in my side" and typically refers to a person.1 And so it is very likely that Paul is encountering difficulty because of some person. And it's not just a little bit of difficulty. Paul describes EXTREME difficulty. After all, his "three times" of begging that the "thorn" might leave him is similar to Jesus' thrice request that his Father let the "cup" of the passion pass Jesus by.

In modern language, I would say that Paul is suffering because of a difficult person. Jesus' reply to Paul's cry for help is "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." Notice that Jesus does not take away the suffering that Paul is encountering. Paul's "weaknesses" are his "hardships" and his "constraints". And so, Jesus is essentially saying, "I will not take these difficulties from you Paul because it is these difficulties which will perfect you and it is through these difficulties that my "power" is revealed/given fully to you."

Our Difficulty Can Lead to Christ and Heaven

Just how does that work? Well, just like Jesus in Gethsamane, Paul persists in his mission despite extreme difficulty (an extremely difficult person in this case). His persistence shows not only that Paul is sincere, but his persistence and perserverance allow him to participate in a GIANT opportunity to imitate Christ.

Everywhere Christ went, there were annoying, difficult people, and often times these people wanted to kill him. His best friends (disciples) bailed out on him at his execution, and the respected rabbis hated him. Everywhere he went, he was mocked and tested. Jesus' motivation was to help people. His motivation was not to make himself feel good. But it is in these difficult moments that we can see the sincerity of Jesus' love. For instance, he prays for the people who had just pounded nails through his innocent hands, for example. Jesus did not let personal pain and threats (understatement) stop him from loving people.

And so Jesus knew that Paul's difficulty would perfect Paul and make him strong. That's why Jesus didn't take away Paul's difficulties.

Sincerity and Difficulty

Again, most Christians have a desire to evangelize.This week's readings test our sincerity. Will we only help easy-to-love people or will we seek to help the "thorns" in our lives? This week's readings also give us insight into what difficulty really is.

Through this week's readings we can see that Paul is just like any other person in that he encountered both difficulty and difficult people. Like most Christians, he had a hard time and asked God to take away his difficulty. But God knew that Paul's difficulty was not an obstacle, but rather a doorway and a means through which Paul's faith would be strengthened. Again, difficulties are not obstacles to life, they are the means through which we can experience eternal life (the kind of life that matters most) if we react the way Paul eventually did and the way that Jesus always did when he faced difficulty.

Paul was illuminated through this experience. Through this incident, Paul and we are shown the mind and the love of God. Acts of sincere love allow us to see people with the eyes of Christ, who views every difficult person not as an obstacle, but as a dignified person worth saving no matter how challenging it is. Once again, God opens our eyes because he loves us.

Where We Can Go From Here

Every Gospel is a call to action, not a call to nod our heads in agreement. So here's what we need to do:

* thank God in all things. Our trials, difficulties, annoyances, and sufferings are gifts to us

* we must seek to serve others no matter how difficult the circumstance or the people.

* we must pray more. The first reading (below) says that Ezekiel embarked on his evangelical mission AFTER he spoke to God. Paul came to understand one of the most important lessons of his life through a conversation with God. We must pray more. Praying 120 seconds every day (30 seconds for each meal and 30 seconds before bed) is not enough for us to stay in touch with God and his plan for our lives. We must talk to God constantly and at length!!!!

God loves us- a lot.

1-I learned this from the footnotes in the New American Bible

Reading 1
Ez 2:2-5

As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me
and set me on my feet,
and I heard the one who was speaking say to me:
Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites,
rebels who have rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day.
Hard of face and obstinate of heart
are they to whom I am sending you.
But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD!
And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—
they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4

R. (2cd) Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven —
As the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
Have pity on us, O LORD, have pity on us,
for we are more than sated with contempt;
our souls are more than sated
with the mockery of the arrogant,
with the contempt of the proud.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

Gospel
Mk 6:1-6

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, "Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?"
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house."
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.

click here for more commentary on suffering

How To Eliminate Fear

2009-06-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

Fear is a strange thing. Our fears affect our every day lives. We fear embarrassment and so we exaggerate or lie in order to avoid being embarrassed. In fear of angering a friend, sometimes we fail to give him/her the advice that we know he/she needs. We fear being criticized, and so we are hesitant to present our ideas to others. In extreme cases, people have such great fear that they take their own lives.

No one wants to live a life of fear. This week's Gospel speaks of fear and how to overcome it. Would you like to know how to overcome fear? Read this brief gospel.

Gospel

Mk 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
"Let us cross to the other side."
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!"
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?"
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
"Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

The disciples were lifetime fishermen. A squall came up that was so violent that the disciples were TERRIFIED. This squall, which was violent enough to TERRIFY professional fishermen, must have been pretty serious. When they awoke Jesus, he sad to them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?". In these few words, Jesus suggests that if they DID have faith, they would not be terrified.

Jesus says here that fear comes from lack of faith. How does lack of faith make us afraid? Why don't we have faith? How do we get faith and how do we hold on to it? Before we answer these questions, we must see what/who controls everything.

The Power of God

Most people understand the power that water has. For instance, in hurricanes it is flooding (water) that causes most of the deaths. Over 100,000 people were killed in the 2004 Tsunamis in Asia. Yet ironically, water is also necessary for life to be sustained. In the Gospel and in the first reading, God makes it quite clear that he has power over water and in doing so, he communicates to us that it is HE who has power over all things including life and death.

The disciples knew that Jesus was powerful. After all, Jesus had already cured many people at this point in the Gospel of Mark. He had also showed that he had power over demons and even the power to forgive sins. It was a known fact among Jews that only God could forgive sins.1

Doubt

And so, perhaps it was not Jesus' power that they doubted, but rather Jesus' concern for them. After all, the disciples accuse him of not caring when they ask," do you not CARE that we are perishing?" We Christians do the exact same thing today. Terrible things happen including the deaths of our loved ones and because we can't see God, we ask "do you not care Lord? Where is God? (perhaps he is asleep?)"

But our Christian faith tells us that "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company."2 We often doubt God during hard times and wonder just as the disciples wondered about Jesus saying, "is he going to help us?" Our faith replies, "of course God is going to help us! God CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN SPECIFICALLY TO HELP US!"

This is a great of example of how lack of faith creates fear. If we truly believed what our faith professes, namely that God loves us and wants to save us, then there is NOTHING to fear. Our faith assures us that God cares about us. And not only does he care, he has the power to help us. Our faith says that God has power over life and death. That's what he is expressing to both Job and the disciples in this week's readings.

How Lack of Faith Creates Fear

The Catechism says that in faith, we believe EVERYTHING that God has revealed to us.3What has God revealed to us and how does this relate to fear? Let's use the Apostle's Creed as a guide to our faith:

* "For us men and our salvation he came down from heaven"- If we do not believe these words, then we believe that we are alone. Or else we believe that God does not "care" about our salvation. And where does that leave us? It leaves us alone and AFRAID. We must believe our faith and our fear will subside.

* "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead"- Remember how we fear embarrassment and being criticized? Our faith tells us that God will come in glory as our judge. If God is our judge, why the heck should we fear the criticism and judgment of others? We shouldn't! God is our judge, we needn't fear the judgment of men. Our faith in God protects us from this irrational fear.

* "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins". Did you ever notice how everyone hates to see themselves on camera? Most of us are afraid of others seeing us on camera. But even greater than that this fear is the fear that others might find out the terrible things we have done. Would we not be terrified if everyone knew our darkest secrets and sins? Our faith tells us that the only real judge that exists offers the forgiveness of sins. Our faith tells us that our sins can be forgiven. God himself offers us forgiveness of our sins and so again our faith shows us that there is nothing to fear. If we DON'T believe this, we remain afraid.

And so, if our faith (which is a gift from God) wipes away our fears, then why are we still afraid? We are afraid to the extent that we do not believe what our faith professes. Our faith is a gift from God. Just like any gift that a person gives, it can be rejected by the recipient. The reason we are afraid is because we reject our faith which is a gift from God.

As Catholics, we believe that we can sin against our faith. As Paul says in 1st Timothy 1:18-19 "Some, by rejecting conscience, have made a shipwreck of their faith." Each time we sin, we profess to God that WE DO NOT BELIEVE. Again, we reject our faith by sinning. The next time I am about to commit a sin, I should ask myself, "do I really want to do this? My faith gives me courage. While this sin will only bring me fear. I would rather do the right thing and stay close to God, my protector"

There is great news ahead...faith. But,how can we get it?

Faith

Through our baptisms, we have been given faith. We already have it! We are afraid because through sin, we have rejected our faith. The solutions is extremely simple- we must say sorry to God NOW. We must stop sinning now! We will sin again. Every time we do sin, we must say sorry to God and return to him. And therein lies the ultimate solution to fear-remaining with God. Remember that God is all powerful. He loves us. Without him, we are so very AFRAID. We must stick with God. We can stick with him (have him in our boat) by obeying his commandments. In obeying the commandments, we profess WITH OUR ACTIONS that we believe. And what does our faith do? It wipes away fear. Isn't that what we want?

The Catechism offers us practical advice about faith: "To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith." In other words, we can nourish our faith by reading the Bible and the Catechism (which contains the entirety of what Catholics believe). I have to ask myself these questions: "How often do I read the Bible? When is the last time I read the Catechism? Have I ever prayed to God for faith? When was the last time I did that?"

Summary

* Fear rules the lives of MANY people
* Fear is caused by lack of faith
* God loves us and he wants to save us. That's why Jesus came
* Faith comes from God as a gift
* We can either accept or reject this gift of Faith
* Now that we have faith (the key to erasing fear) we must not sin against our faith
* In order to nourish our precious gift of faith, we must read the Bible and the Catechism
* We should ask God to increase our faith

God DOES care about us. In fact, he loves us. Do you believe?

1-Mark 2:7
2-Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 162
3-CCC 150

Welcome to Your Real Family

2009-06-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the movie "August Rush"? In the movie, a little boy longs to find his parents and ultimately finds them with tremendous joy. Every person wants to belong to a happy family. Every person wants a home. This week's Mass readings speak of the family that every soul longs for, and reminds us how to enter that family. Please read the 2nd Reading and the Gospel. They are both very short. Commentary follows the Gospel. The first reading and the Psalms are after the commentary.

Reading II
Rom 8:14-17

Brothers and sisters:
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.

Gospel
Mt 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

God's Greatness and Love

In the first reading, Moses talks about how incredible it is that God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by miraculous means. He says that, "This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other." Moses has a pretty good point here. The 2nd Reading on the other hand, reminds us that God does something even more extraordinary than a rescue by miracles. He offers to adopt us into his family.

Some people want to be a part of a great family. Perhaps they want to be members of powerful political families or members of the royal family in England. But God offers us something much greater than this. He welcomes us into the GREATEST family. The head of THIS family did much more than create an Earthly kingdom like Rome or the English empire. He created the universe! Is there another family whose head created the universe? Paul reminds us of how to enter God's family in the 2nd Reading when he talks about "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God". Here, he makes a reference to baptism. In baptism, God adopts us into his family.1 It is only through baptism that we are literally changed and then live anew "led by the Spirit".

Through baptism we become God's heirs. When we think of the word "heir", what comes to mind? "Heir" makes me think of someone who will inherit something. So in baptism, what is it that we inherit? Through baptism, we are given the grace to enter heaven2 and we share in "the priesthood of Christ in his prophetic and royal mission."3 In other words, through baptism we inherit Jesus' MISSION.

The Great Mission

Here we clearly see Jesus calling the baptized to the "priesthood in his prophetic and royal mission". It is not necessary for us to be the original apostles to understand this. In fact, we ARE apostles of God today. In the Gospel, Jesus clearly reminds us of what God's intentions are for mankind when he says, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". God intentions towards all people is that they be joined to him as adopted sons and daughters. We, who have inherited Jesus' mission are expected to make disciples out of everyone.

Take Courage

Just as the 2nd reading says, the Holy Spirit whom God has given us is not a spirit of fear. In other words, we are members of God's family, and in God's family, there is no reason to be afraid. And since we are truly adopted children of God, we can call God "Father" as Paul says in the 2nd reading.

The good news about joining Christ's priesthood and mission is that we don't have to be scared about being ill-equipped. God himself equips us for our Christian mission through the sacraments. In the second reading, Paul speaks of us "suffering" with Christ and being "glorified with him". The Catechism says that "Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united with him: "In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification." This is especially true of Baptism, which unites us to Christ's death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which "really sharing in the body of the Lord, . . . we are taken up into communion with him and with one another." (paragraph 790). All this means is that we CAN undertake this mission because God helps us through the sacraments.

The Highest Purpose

God's evangelical mission for us is a great mission and the best we could ever have. Christ's request that we bring others into his loving family is the highest purpose that any person can have. As Christians, we must be thankful for this honorable mission and we must take courage because God gives us the equipment (the sacraments) to undertake this great mission. Jesus says in the Gospel, "behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Let's keep that in mind when we go to Mass. Let us remember our mission every time we make the Sign of the Cross. Let's think of how God keeps his promise of remaining with us each time we take the consecrated host in our mouths.

In the Gospel reading, the disciples saw Jesus after his crucifixion "but they doubted". At Mass, let us not doubt but rather believe that Jesus is "with us always, until the end of the age." We belong to the holiest, most powerful, most loving family EVER because................

God loves us

Real Life

I just returned from Vietnam, where I met my mom's side of the family for the first time. They were so loving to me from the first moment they saw me. My older cousin (whose face I'd never seen before) was glowing when she greeted us. She hugged us as though she had known us for a long time. She later showed me her poor home. My heart ached when I saw her little shack, which sits atop a pool of dirty, foul-smelling water. She cried as she told me about how water enters her house when it rains (it rains nearly every day in Vietnam). She also wept as she told me how unacceptable her house was for her 17-year old daughter to live in.

In the end, a Catholic family decided to buy a house for my cousin and her family. You see, my mom's family has not been baptized (they are Buddhists). During my trip, I constantly thought about how I wanted them to be baptized. I pray that my poor relatives in Vietnam see the face of God through the people who are helping them financially. I do have great confidence that my cousin's new sponsors will remain strong because those sponsors are sustained by God through the sacraments.

some kids outside of my cousin's house

the interior of my cousin's house

my cousin holding my 2nd cousin

me with some kids near my cousin's house

me in my cousin's house

my brother and some kids

me about to eat a strange Vietnamese fruit

1- Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 1270 & 804
2- We can still destroy our opportunity to go to heaven by sinning seriously (persistence in mortal sin to the end of our lives)
3- CCC 1268

Reading 1
Dt 4:32-34, 39-40

Moses said to the people:
"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
This is why you must now know,
and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God
in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22

R. (12b) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For he spoke, and it was made;
he commanded, and it stood forth.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

How To Stay Close To God Forever

2009-05-07T19:40:00.001-07:00

For most of my life, I was not a religious person. I was happy and pleasant to most people. Yet I do recall a yearning inside of myself for something meaningful. I yearned for goodness. I wanted peace. Despite the fact that I had nearly everything that I wanted, including good relationships and a decent looking future, it felt like something was missing.

That feeling never went away until I began a relationship with God. Now, my happiness has changed into a more permanent JOY. I do not fear death. I am at peace. I feel more in touch with reality than ever before. Even though life is not perfect, I no longer feel as though that "something" is missing from my life.

And so, God has blessed me because I feel as though I am closely joined to him. This week's readings speak of being joined to Christ. Why would any person want to be joined to Christ? A few good reasons are listed above. So do you want to be joined to Christ? Do you want to live a life in which you are close to God? If so, what does a person need to do in order to stay joined to the Lord? This week's readings offer the answer. The Mass readings are below after the commentary.

If we want to be close to God we must first be baptized so as to receive forgiveness of our sins and to be born anew. This week's commentary will focus on life AFTER baptism. The Gospel reading and the 2nd Reading talk about "remaining" in Christ. In other words, the message in the readings focus more on those who are already connected to Christ. And so, the 2 readings tell us explicitly what we must do to remain in Christ and have him remain in us.

The 2nd reading says that "Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them". So if we keep the commandments, we will remain close to God? Yes! It really is that simple. Why is it this simple?

Reasonable Requests

Many people view God's commandments as rules similar to the rules they must follow at work like "show up to work on time" and "don't use the company car for personal use". But the commandments are not like human "rules". They are more like reasonable requests and invitations made from one person to another. For example, say that I am married. My wife says to me, "I will be 100% faithful to you, please remain faithful to me. I promise to never cheat on you. Do not cheat on me. I promise to never steal from you. Do not steal anything from me. I promise to always tell you the truth. Do not lie to me."

Although her requests can be challenging, they are very reasonable. And what would happen to my relationship with my wife if I always told her the truth? What would happen to our relationship if I never looked at other women lustfully, but rather I looked at my wife with great admiration and respect? Our relationship would grow. Our relationship would strengthen. I would be a happier man. That is God's intention in his commandments.

The commandments are not like human rules. They are reasonable requests from God. Unlike humans, God is 100% faithful and honest with us. God's commandments invite us to love him and each other.

Purpose and Fulfillment

The commandments also fulfill a great longing inside of every human being. Human beings will always inevitably ask this question "what am I supposed to do with my life?" To this, God answers "follow my commandments". When we carry out and live the commandments, our desire for meaning and purpose are answered and fulfilled because when we obey the commandments we are answering a call from God himself. This is why Jesus says, "my yoke is easy, and my burden light."1 His request to us is very simple and reasonable. In our hearts, we wrestle and we dig with great pain searching for meaning and purpose. Jesus responds with great simplicity: "keep my commandments". Paul echoes this is the 2nd reading "Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them." And this is why we feel fulfilled when we obey the commandments- because in doing so, our relationship with God strengthens, and that is the desire of every man, whether he knows it or not.

Let us remember that in following God's commandments, our desire to live meaningful lives is fulfilled. Only after we are baptized and only after we follow the commandments does this feeling of "missing" something in life disappear and is replaced with peace and fulfillment.

Hell and Disconnecting Ourselves From God

Although keeping the commandments and remaining in God fills us with happiness and joy, we can still destroy our relationship with God. In the Gospel reading, Jesus says "Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned." This situation of hell is described throughout the Gospels. Usually, Jesus describes it with words like, "wailing and grinding of teeth", "burning", and descriptions of "fire" and such. In the above paragraphs, I wrote about the happiness and joy of having a relationship of faithfulness, honesty, and righteousness. This happens not because God likes us more when we follow the commandments. It happens because as we follow the commandments, WE draw closer to the Lord.

When we disobey God's commandments (sin), we separate ourselves from him. When we commit serious sin (mortal) we willfully disconnect from God completely.2 Let's go back to this analogy of me and my wife. Suppose I cheat on my wife. This act by its very nature destroys our relationship. The act is a serious offense against my wife. If I persist in cheating, no kind deed will make up for it. It doesn't matter if I buy her flowers, take out the trash, and write happy songs about her. And so, this is what is meant by Jesus in the Gospel reading. This situation of serious sin against God is described in the Gospel where Jesus says, "without me you can do nothing." Mortal sin separates us from God completely and often causes the worst heartbreak a person can feel.

Fortunately, God offers us forgiveness. All we have to do is ask for it and stop sinning, just like the man who stops cheating on his wife. For Catholics, we must go to confession in order to receive forgiveness for our mortal (serious) sins, and fortunately, confession is free of charge.

There is a very popular notion these days that if you are a good person that's all that matters. But make no mistake about it. If I feed the poor, go to Church, and I'm nice most of the time, while committing serious (mortal) sin without an intention to quit, my soul is lost, and no pleasure in the world will make up for it.

Heartbreak

Now most people know the feeling of heartbreak. People have been writing songs about heartbreak since writing started. That's because heartbreak hurts so much and it's unforgettable. THE WORST HEATBREAK THAT A PERSON CAN FEEL IS WHEN A PERSON DIVORCES HIMSELF FROM GOD.God is the perfect spouse. The Bible describes Jesus as the bridegroom and the Church (you and me) as the bride. Nothing is worse than being separated from this perfect bridegroom (God). Nothing that a man does to bring himself happiness will make up for this, the highest form of heartbreak.

God is the perfect spouse. He is perfectly honest and perfectly faithful. He invites us to have a perfect relationship with him. He is the vine, we are the branches. All we have to do is follow his very reasonable commandments. God reveals himself through his commandments. He reveals his desire for us. He desires that we love him and each other for eternity- with happiness and joy.

God loves us!

1- Matthew 11:30
2- CCC 1861

P.S. One of the most common mortal sins I can think of is the sin of premarital sex. Please read about this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2390. If you had sex outside of marriage and have not confessed, I beg you to go to confession right now, and vow to never do it again until marriage. No fleeting physical pleasure is worth an eternity without our beloved God- the only true BEST FRIEND we have.

Reading II
1 Jn 3:18-24

Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God
and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit he gave us.

Gospel
Jn 15:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Reading 1
Acts 9:26-31

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him,
not believing that he was a disciple.
Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles,
and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord,
and that he had spoken to him,
and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem,
and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord.
He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists,
but they tried to kill him.
And when the brothers learned of this,
they took him down to Caesarea
and sent him on his way to Tarsus.

The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.
It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,
and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32

R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear the LORD.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
"May your hearts live forever!"
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
all the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth;
before him shall bend
all who go down into the dust.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Faith and Romance- Divine Mercy Sunday

2009-04-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm going to talk about romantic love a little bit this week. This week's readings speak of faith. But what is faith? How can I be a better believer? And oh, is it okay to make out with your girlfriend? I'm going to talk about that too. There is commentary after the 2nd Reading and the rest of the readings are after the commentary.

Also, you can now follow this blog by clicking on the "follow" button on the left. Basically, it will help you meet others who have similar reading interests, learn about other blogs, and tell others what blogs you are reading. Perhaps one of your non-Christian friends will see that you are reading a Christian blog and will follow you here...

Reading II
1 Jn 5:1-6

Beloved:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him.
In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments.
For the love of God is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and blood.
The Spirit is the one that testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.

Science and Faith

Why does faith in Jesus Christ conquer the world? First of all, faith is certain (Catechism of the Catholic Church 157). Faith is certain because faith comes from the mouth of God. God is the creator of Earth. He created me and you and everything else. He understands the reality behind and in everything. He is the only person who understands EVERYTHING perfectly. He is the one who wrote the laws of science. If you look at scientific laws like the “laws” of physics, motion, gravity etc., you will recall that no human invented these laws. No human invented gravity for example. Mr. Isaac Newton merely OBSERVED gravity, he didn’t INVENT it. All science and all truth originates from God.

Faith is an adherence to God and complete reliance and belief in ALL that God professes (CCC 150). At first glance, it seems crazy to believe EVERYTHING that someone says. But God is not like any mortal we’ve met. He is the one who created everything. From a logical standpoint, it makes sense to trust the knowledge and teachings of the one who created everything, everyone, and all of the laws of nature and science.

But this scientific reason for believing is still not reason enough. Ultimately, our faith (which comes as a supernatural gift at baptism) allows us to believe EVERYTHING that God professes. Is it irresponsible to do this? It is VERY irresponsible to do this with ANYONE other than God. We are hesitant to believe everything that someone says because we have been lied to so many times. For instance, we are hesitant to believe some salesmen because are salesmen are paid to sell, not to tell the truth. We are sometimes hesitant to believe people who claim to love us because many times in the past we have been hurt and lied to by people who claimed to love us.

Trusting Bus Drivers and God

But, God is unlike ANY human and the ways of God are far above the ways of man (Isaiah 55:8). The reason we believe in the truths of God is “because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who neither deceive nor be deceived.” (CCC 156) This gift of faith in his authority is something we receive at baptism. Now why should we trust someone in this way? Well, I trust my life to the judgment of bus drivers and taxi drivers all of the time, even though I don’t know them. But, God is someone that we can come to know. In looking at what he does, we can see WHO he is. God humbled himself to become a lowly man (Jesus). Then God suffered true human humiliation, torture, abandonment and death as a service to us. In his actions, we can see his pure motivation, which is simply- to love us. Ah, now only God is capable of loving PERFECTLY and COMPLETELY, and so it makes perfect sense to trust God much more than we trust bus drivers or taxi drivers who also hold our lives in their hands.

Yes, I trust my life in the hands of bus drivers and even more so, I trust every word out of the mouth of God. Reality and logic backs up my belief in God. It makes sense to trust a person who never lies, and has my best interest at heart at all times. It makes sense to put faith in the one who created everything and who knows everything.

Conquering the World

And so this is what is meant by John in the 2nd reading when he says that faith conquers the world and that the one who believes in Jesus is victorious over the world. If we rely on the ONLY person who loves us perfectly (God) and we have faith in the only person who knows him completely (Jesus) WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR. We needn’t fear death (we will rise along with Jesus) we needn’t fear poverty (Jesus lived happily as a poor man) we needn’t fear abandonment or humiliation (if we are abandoned or humiliated we have a chance to imitate Jesus). And so with this well-placed confidence, we will be “victorious” as St. John says. This is how even today, faith in God conquers the world.

In a practical sense, faith in God is practically achievable. Baptized Christians already have the faith given to them by God through baptism. We must cooperate with our faith by believing everything that the Holy Catholic Church professes to us. We are talking about the same Church started by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago and whose Pope can trace his office back to Peter himself who used to hang out with Jesus and fish with Jesus. Yes, I’m talking about the same Peter who was the only guy who recognized Jesus for who he was.

St. John is extremely practical in the 2nd reading when he says, “love of God is this, that we keep his commandments.” That’s easy to understand isn’t it? We must love God with all of our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. We must musn’t lie, steal, cheat, or kill etc. Our reliance upon God will bring us victory. With victory comes joy, fulfillment, truthfulness, security, and HEAVEN among other things.

Believing Without Seeing

In the Gospel, Thomas refuses to believe unless he sees first. So why is it that “blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”? Believing in God without seeing is a blessing because, God is always right and good. However, our own “eyes” are not 100% right or trustworthy . Life has taught us that some things are more (or less) than they seem. We are often sure of OURSELVES only to find later that we were wrong.

This problem originated in the garden of Eden. God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit. Yet they thought the fruit was “pleasing to the eye” and they sinned against God and against themselves. So the truth is, we cannot trust our eyes completely. We cannot even trust our own judgment completelely. The only person worth trusting in all things is God. So blessed are those who believe without seeing. Blessed are those who believe EVERYTHING that God professes through his Catholic Church even if they “have not seen”.

Real Life

Once upon a time, I loved a girl. We liked each other a lot. Not long after we started dating, we were kissing, hugging, and holding hands. We didn’t commit any sin so far as I can tell, but it seemed like we grew more and more physical until we started to get dangerously close to sinning. Soon, I started to get concerned. I noticed a strange movement in my heart. I felt a small fear that God would take the “fun” out of my relationship if I consulted him. And so I had a brief time of distrust in God’s plan of chastity for me. I remember thinking “God, I don’t want you to take this physical intimacy away from me!” I also noticed that thoughts of sexual immorality began to pass through my head a lot more since I became physically intimate with my girlfriend. This also bothered me.

I went to confession and asked the priest about this. He told me that I should talk to my girlfriend about my concerns. The priest told me that I should decide along with my girlfriend where to draw the line when it came to physical intimacy.

So I talked to this young lady whom I loved. She told me that she had been concerned about this exact same issue. She also told me that she had been avoiding confession because she was afraid of the same thing as me-that God would take something away from her.

Ultimately, we decided that we would never kiss again unless we were married. I felt at great peace about this decision. I remember thinking “I would rather nudge my girlfriend towards heaven rather than hell.”

Chastity is part of our Catholic faith and it is discussed in detail in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Why does God want us to be chaste? Why does he want us to believe EVERYTHING he professes about chastity? Because he loves us. He wants us to be happy. We are his beloved. And, he wants us to go to heaven.

God loves us.

Reading 1
Acts 4:32-35

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.
With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.
There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24

R. (1) Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the house of Israel say,
"His mercy endures forever."
Let the house of Aaron say,
"His mercy endures forever."
Let those who fear the LORD say,
"His mercy endures forever."
R. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
R. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord."
But he said to them,
"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe."
Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Does God Want Me To Suffer?

2009-03-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday Mass Readings are at the bottom.

Bad Weather

This week's readings talk about suffering and obedience. Speaking of which, it has been quite cold today(Wednesday) here in New England. Last year, I was in the American Southwest in the Spring where this Sunday it will be 80 degrees and sunny (wow). The 34 degrees here is quite a contrast. The point is, this cold weather causes me and my fellow New Englanders some pain. Not only that, but people around here seem to be losing jobs and suffering seems to be upon us. But what does all of this suffering mean and what is the point of it anyway? This week's readings are going to explain it for us whether you live in the Southwest, in New England, or in Europe.

The Purpose of Suffering

The second reading says that Jesus "learned obedience from what he suffered." Okay, so Jesus learned from HIS suffering. What about me? What can I possibly learn from being stuck in traffic for 2 hours? WHat is there to learn from having my heart broken? What can I possibly learn from losing my job?!!

The truth is that the suffering itself is not enlightening. It is how we REACT to suffering that determines whether suffering teaches us, helps us, or destroys us. For example, Matthew 26:39 makes it very clear that Jesus expressed "the horror that death represented for his human nature" when he said "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me."1 In other words, Jesus knew that suffering was coming, but he didn't run away from it. He accepted it. His obedience was part of what made him "perfect" as the 2nd reading says. And, so I am quite sure that even if Jesus had to deal with 2 hour traffic jams and lousy weather (he slept during a life-threatening storm and was constantly barraged with crowds of people) he would have endured it all.

Jesus' Lifestyle

What if Jesus was obsessed with his OWN pleasure just as we often are? We would be in deep trouble. In truth, we would not have been born if Jesus was obsessed with his own pleasure. If he was, he would have never created us.2

This Sunday's Gospel says,"whoever serves me, must follow me". In the context of Sunday's readings, "following" Jesus means to do as he does. It means to "hates our life in this world." In contrast, to "love our lives in this world" means to do as popular culture teaches. Popular culture teaches us to get as much pleasure as possible and to avoid as much pain as possible. Jesus, on the other hand says that we should serve one another. To focus on personal pleasure as the highest value in life would truly be a life wasted- a life "lost".

Meant To Imitate Jesus

Romans 8:29 says that "For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" We are meant to be "conformed" to the image of Christ. One definition of conform is "to make similar in form, nature, or character." And so, we are meant to be made similar to Jesus. How does Jesus react to terrible upcoming suffering that is far worse than bad weather or losing one's job? Let us recall that Jesus was innocent. Are ANY of us innocent? Do ANY of us know what it is like to be completely INNOCENT and yet be sentenced to death? Jesus knows. In the face of this terrible upcoming, undeserved suffering he says in this week's Gospel "I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour." In other words, Jesus does not run from suffering because he was born to serve and to save us. He knew that to save us and to serve did not mean to seek personal pleasure. He knew that to serve meant to sacrifice of himself.

So the next time I am faced with suffering, maybe I should remember that I am "predestined to be conformed to the image" of Jesus. Maybe I should consider that the purpose of my life is NOT to enjoy as much pleasure as possible. Maybe I should keep my eyes on my role model Jesus and seek to be like him. It's likely that if I seek to be and to act more like Jesus, I will notice the weather and all the pleasures of this world less and less.

We are meant to be like Jesus. And what an honorable name and an honorable life to imitate.

God loves us.

1- Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 612

2- Incidently, this reminds me of abortion. Most abortions are performed because the pregnant couple had just planned on having sex and not having a baby. The baby is inconvenient to the parents. The parents care about their own pleasure more than the innocent life they have already created. On the other hand, God gives us life even though we might not love him in return.

Reading II

Heb 5:7-9

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Gospel
Jn 12:20-33

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
'Father, save me from this hour'?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name."
Then a voice came from heaven,
"I have glorified it and will glorify it again."
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
Jesus answered and said,
"This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Reading 1
Jer 31:31-34

The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15

R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

How to Be the Greatest

2009-03-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

Are you important? Are you great? Do you want people to think you are great? What does it mean to be great? This week's commentary will explore this. The readings are after the commentary.

Love Compared to Recognition

Last night, I read Matthew 20:20-28. This passage is the story of the lady who asks Jesus to let her sons sit at the right and left of Jesus. Jesus responds "you do not know what you are asking..." He then tells the disciples,"whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve..."

The mother, along with her sons, wanted recognition. Even the other disciples wanted recognition, for they were offended at the 2 who sought to sit at the Lord's side. The disciples and the mother thought that greatness meant to be recognized. But Jesus said that to be great is to serve, not to be recognized. Being great means to give the most. Perhaps that means to love people who are hard to love. Maybe that means to give everything we have to someone who cannot repay us and will not thank us. To be great means to be a servant.

Serving Someone You Don't Like

Think of a person you don't like. Perhaps this person annoys the heck out of you or is just difficult. Yes, THAT person. What does this person do to annoy you or cause you difficulty? What is his/her name? Are you willing to serve this person? Are you willing to be perfectly loving towards this person with no promise of recognition or even gratitude? As Christians, we are called to do this.

The soldiers and most other people who Jesus was giving up his life for, did not even like Jesus. They made fun of him. They even hit him and spit on him. They tempted him. They hurt him. Even Jesus' friends abandoned him. Was Jesus still willing to love them and SERVE them? He WAS willing. Jesus was not RECOGNIZED for who he was (King and Lord of all). He was looked upon like a piece of trash. Jesus' people felt he was so inferior that he didn't even deserve to live. Yet he was still willing to love these same people with no promise of human recognition or even gratitude. That is service, and a picture of greatness.

A True Follower of Jesus

That is what Jesus meant when he said, "you do not know what you are asking" in Matthew 20. To be great means to give EVERYTHING to God. Are we willing to do this? I have to examine my life and ask myself, "do I live to serve myself? Or do I live a life of sacrifice for love of God and a life in service for anyone and everyone?"

* At work- do I work to serve myself or to serve God and others?
* With people- do I do things in order to serve myself, or do I GIVE and SACRIFICE myself for the benefit of others?
* My relationship with God- do I obey God because I want him to reward me, or do I obey him as a gift of of love to him?

Do I do things in order to be recognized or repaid, or do I simply SERVE and love?

God's Wisdom Versus Our Wisdom

Let's look at the contrast between Jesus' sincere gift of himself and the disciples' desire for recognition. With this in mind, we can better understand Paul's words in the second reading, "Christ crucified is foolishness to people [gentiles]. But to those who are called, Jew and Greeks alike, Christ [crucified is] the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." We human beings desire recognition and it looks foolish to pass up recognition and to focus instead on loving someone who cannot return the favor. But God's love is brilliant, pure, and perfectly REAL. What looks like weakness (Jesus does not fight back against physical abuse or insults) is really just love in its highest and truest form. God's wisdom is perfect and our common way of thinking is foolish in comparison.

The Call of the Commandments

The responsorial Psalm for this week (Psalm 19) says that "The law of the Lord is perfect......giving wisdom to the simple". This helps us to understand the first reading which lists the 10 commandments. We've heard the commandments since we were kids. Telling the truth (commandment 8) is a perfect way to speak and if we always tell the truth, we will be "wise" even if we are "simple". Paying for music instead of illegally downloading it for free may seem "foolish" yet it can be a loving act towards the musicians who worked to create it (commandment 7). If we take a look at the commandments, we will see that they are a detailed description of what it means to love PERFECTLY-that is, to serve and to be great.

Jesus does not impose the commandments upon us. He GIVES the commandments to us. He SHARES the commandments with us. If we want to know God's motivation for giving us the commandments, we need only picture Jesus carrying the cross. Despite ridicule, pain, and being abandoned, he carries his cross. He loves us and he wants to give us EVERYTHING. That's why he gave us the commandments. He wants us to live as he lives.He wants us to be happy and loving towards God and toward one another. We are given the commandments because God is perfectly wise and he wants to help us live lives of joy and peace. The commandments help us to do this. The person who obeys the commandments is happy and holy.

Real Life

I had a friend who loved me perhaps more than any other person has ever loved me. One day, my friend told me that maybe I should think about moving to a far away place in accordance with God's will ("he" was talking about a specific place). I knew that my friend enjoyed my company and I certainly enjoyed his. Yet, my friend believed that it was God's will for me to go to this far away place perhaps never to return. Eventually, I decided to go. In response, my friend told me that he thought it was the right decision.

I later realized that my friend loved me with a very special love. He loved me with the love of God. He was willing to give up whatever pleasure and benefits he got from having me around (forever) in order to let me do God's will. My friend loved both me and God perhaps more than anyone else I have met. This love reminds of God's love. God's love is self-sacrificing and self-giving. It is beautiful. It is real.

God loves us!

for more commentary on the commandments paste this into your browser

http://massexcitement.blogspot.com/2008/05/are-you-missionary-for-god-or-devil.html

Reading 1
Ex 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17

In those days, God delivered all these commandments:
"I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves
in the shape of anything in the sky above
or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;
you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,
inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
the one who takes his name in vain.

"Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your beast,
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

"Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house.
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11

R. (John 6:68c) Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

Reading II
1 Cor 1:22-25

Brothers and sisters:
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Gospel
Jn 2:13-25

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
"What sign can you show us for doing this?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jews said,
"This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?"
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
many began to believe in his name
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.

Don't Tempt Me!- Temptation- Why and How to Fight It

2009-02-28T19:25:00.000-08:00

Temptation is more powerful than a locomotive. Sometimes we fall victim to temptation. This week's readings speak of the purpose of temptation and the means to fight it. The readings are after the commentary.

The Desert of Temptation

This week's readings speak of the desert. Mark's account of Jesus' time in the desert is not highly detailed. Mark speaks of wild beasts and of angels ministering to Jesus. Isn't it interesting that it was not the devil who brought Jesus out to the desert, but rather the Spirit? In other words, it was God's will that Jesus be sent to the desert to be tempted. I once heard someone say that each time we are tempted, it is an opportunity to tell God that we love him. When temptation comes, we say to the temptation, I love God more than I love you (the temptation). Although we should do our best to avoid temptation, it will come. When it does, God will use it to strengthen us in our relationshiop with him- if we remain obedient and faithful.

Jesus was tempted by the Father of lies, the master of deceit- Satan. Satan was cunning enough to deceive 2 people who didn't even suffer from original sin- Adam and Eve. Matthew Chapter 4 says that the devil waited until after 40 days to tempt Jesus- when Jesus was most hungry. We have something to learn from this, that when we are in great need, the devil seizes the opportunity to tempt us. When we feel the need for love, companionship, belonging, he comes in when our needs are greatest. In our times of great need, we must be aware of temptation and pray to God for help.

The Battleground of Life

In a sense, the story of the 40-days in the desert is the story of our lives. It is similar to the story of the Israelites' 40 years in the desert. Our lives are a spiritual BATTLEFIELD. On one hand, we have the God of the universe on our side. On the other hand, we have the dark tempter who knows exactly how to best tempt us. Yet, we can see here in this week's Gospel that Jesus has angels ministering to him. Do we have angels ministering to us? We do indeed. Matthew 18:10 says "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, 9 for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. Paragraph 336 of the Catechism says that we are "in the blessed company of angels". No matter how powerful the temptations we face, God gives us free will, but there are angels at our side fighting against evil.

Our lives are a constant fight between good and evil. But God offers us protection. In Isaih 43:4 God says he offers us protection, "Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you." Let's recall that the bible is the speech of God. His love and his desire to protect us is a real as it gets and we can hear out of his mouth.

Protecting Yourself

The Responsorial Psalm and Psalm readings this week show us how to protect ourselves from temptation. "Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior." David the Psalmist loves God. Here, David asks God to show David his ways. David wants to know God and he wants God to teach him. In this day and age, we are people with many years of education. People around the world are more literate now than they have ever been. Yet it seems as though we are more confused now than ever. In this week's Psalm, David shows us an example of who we should seek advice from.

In the practical sense, we are called to read the Bible. We are called to read the Catechism. Not only has God given us his angels to minister to us, his very speech is written down and he has given us a way to get to know him. Many of us spend more time reading the Mcdonald's menu than we do the Bible. Many of us read the newspaper far more than we read God's word. We are in the desert. We are in a war. Not only are our lives at stake, but our eternal souls are on the line. Will newspapers and magazines prepare us better, or the bible?

Temptation will come. Either the devil will use it to send us to misery, addiction, and hell, or we will use temptation as an opportunity to say yes to God, and say "I love God more" over and over.

Real Life

Not long ago, I was trying to figure out if God wanted me to a be a priest. Each night, I would ask God "do you want me to be a priest?" Night after night, week after week, I did not get an answer. I was frustrated with God because he wouldn't give me an answer. I was tempted to grow angry with God. I asked him "why won't you tell me? What is the point of me not knowing your will? How do you benefit from this lack of clarity?" In the end, God gave me the answer to all of my questions. He let me know whether or not he wanted me to be a priest. He even let me know why he didn't tell me at first. The reason why he didn't tell me at first was because he used this period of uncertainty to draw me to himself in prayer. Because I didn't have an answer to my question, I kept coming to God each night begging him for an answer. Despite temptation to grow angry with God, I was drawn nearer to him. He did indeed have a purpose in NOT answering my question. In all things, even uncertainty, God loves us.

Reading 1
Gn 9:8-15

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
God added:
"This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth,
and the bow appears in the clouds,
I will recall the covenant I have made
between me and you and all living beings,
so that the waters shall never again become a flood
to destroy all mortal beings."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (cf. 10) Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R.Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Good and upright is the LORD,
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and he teaches the humble his way.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Reading II
1 Pt 3:18-22

Beloved:
Christ suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.
In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,
who had once been disobedient
while God patiently waited in the days of Noah
during the building of the ark,
in which a few persons, eight in all,
were saved through water.
This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.
It is not a removal of dirt from the body
but an appeal to God for a clear conscience,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God,
with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

Gospel
Mk 1:12-15

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
"This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel."

You Have Been Commanded to Preach!- How to Evangelize- For Mass on Feb. 8th

2009-02-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been in a position to evangelize someone? Do you feel comfortable preaching the Gospel? This week, we will discuss how to evangelize and our mission as Catholic Christians. There is commentary following the 2nd Reading.

Reading II
1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That, when I preach,
I offer the gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.

Obligated to Preach

This week's readings (particularly the 2nd Reading and Gospel) remind us of our mission to preach the Gospel. This week's commentary shall focus on evangelizing or "preaching the gospel". Paul speaks of his "obligation" to preach the gospel in this week's second reading.
Now why does Paul feel "obligated" to preach the Gospel? Is it because he was knocked off of a horse and saw a vision of Jesus? Paul knew the mission of the Church as Jesus expressed it to his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20; "go therefore and make disciples of all nations". So Paul knows Jesus words and his command that every Christian (including you and me) is OBLIGATED to make disciples of all nations. 1st Timothy 2:4 says that God "wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." The truth is required in order to be saved. Truth is something that we must bring to others.

Now why does God want us to make disciples of all nations? Is it because we Catholics belong to a really cool social club and getting more members will make us feel less lonely? Of course not! THe Catechism paragraph 850 tells us that "The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love." In other words, the reason why we should be preaching the gospel is to SHARE!

Any person who has come close to God experiences an incomparable love that is second to nothing/no one! Are we to enjoy that love and keep it to ourselves while others suffer miserably and perhaps even fall into the pit of hell? Of course not! This is the reason why we must preach the gospel. We are meant to share the love with which God has loved us.

Why We Don't Preach the Gospel

A very common reason why we are not preaching the gospel today is that we are afraid. We are afraid that we might upset someone. In fear, I might think "maybe that person won't like me anymore if I make them feel bad or guilty." Well, which is more important, that a soul enter heaven, or for someone to like me? How terribly proud I am that I think being likable is more important than someone's salvation and God's command to share his love with others! Nothing is more important than doing the will of God, not even winning more friends.

In addition to pride and fear, we don't preach the Gospel enough because we sin too much. For instance, how can I possibly share the chastity and purity of Christ with someone when I am in a sexual relationship with my girfriend? How can I speak of God's trustworthiness when I tell lies everday (we incorrectly call them "white" lies)? It is IMPOSSIBLE to preach the gospel effectively while living in mortal sin. It's like trying to give a serious speech while in your underwear. It doesn't work! Let's remember that sin distorts our view of reality, of each other, and of God. Therefore, we cannot preach the Gospel without following God's commandments.

How to Preach the Gospel

Many people fear "preaching the Gospel" because they are not eloquent speakers or they lack scriptural and Catechetical knowledge. It's true that we need to learn more about our faith by reading scripture and Catechism. But we needn't speak at all in order to preach the Gospel. Is it possible to end a relationship with someone without speaking? Of course it is. I could end my relationship with my best friend without a word by stealing from him! I could end my marriage without a word by cheating on my wife. Just the same, I can love and bring people closer to God without a single word. This chart show the effects of loving actions versus sinful actions.

As you can see in this chart, we must obey the commandment of God, which is to love God and each other. Loving God and one another involves ACTION. If we obey God and live as he wishes, we will experience his love, and come to know him. Only then can we share him with others through our actions which will inevitably lead to the salvation of souls. We can also see here that it is impossible to preach the gospel while intentionally committing serious sin.

Practical Tips on Preaching With Words

* stop talking- listening carefully and completely is a way to love people. The desire to speak often stems from pride (I want to prove/explain MYSELF). Saintly people are ALWAYS good listeners because they don't have the desire to be heard, they only have the desire to love
* read the Bible daily and read the Catechism as much as possible
* remember who you are talking to- some people are starving and ready for God. They ask lots of questions. You should answer as many as possible. Other people are very opposed to God, so listening and loving might be the best form of preaching at these times
* pray for at least 30 minutes a day- prayer brings peace and detachment from the world. Often times, we sin because we are attached to things or pleasures. In prayer, we experience the love of God and we experience detachment from the world. We are better preachers when we better pray-ers.
*slow down or stop if you get angry- remember that "the ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of LOVE." It's hard to LOVE when you are angry- so it might be best to take a timeout if you are angry.

In conclusion, we must remember that it is our duty and our command from God to evangelize.

* We musn't let fear of rejection stop us from sharing the Gospel of truth.
* The less we sin, the better evangelizers we will become. We cannot preach effectively while committing serious sins
* We must become better listeners
* We should pray for at least 30 minutes and read the bible every day. We should read the Catechism regularly

God loves us!

Reading 1
Jb 7:1-4, 6-7

Job spoke, saying:
Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (cf. 3a) Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.

Gospel
Mk 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you."
He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come."
So he went into their synagogues,
preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

I Am Sorry For What I Have Done- Conscience, Guilt, and Conversion. For Mass on 1-25-09

2009-01-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

What is the worst thing you've ever done? Are you sorry? Why do we feel sorry anyways? Should we listen to our consciences? This week's readings offer the answers. The 2nd Reading, Psalms, and Gospel are after the commentary.

Reading 1
Acts 22:3-16

Paul addressed the people in these words:
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,
but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death,
binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.

"On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
I replied, 'Who are you, sir?'
And he said to me,
'I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'
My companions saw the light
but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, 'What shall I do, sir?'
The Lord answered me, 'Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything
appointed for you to do.'
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,
I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

"A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
'Saul, my brother, regain your sight.'
And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said,
'The God of our ancestors designated you to now his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay?
Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,
calling upon his name.'"

Conversion

Paul's conversion is a clear picture of conversion for all people. Although most of us have not been knocked off our feet by a bright light, many of us have experienced conversion. Part of conversion is being convinced that we have sinned. It can be painful. Yet in conversion, God convinces us that our consciences were right all along. In conversion, God shows us the ugly reality of our own sinfulness, and this an act of God to show us the truth. This "sting of conscience" is an act of love by God with the intention of drawing us back to him.

I suspect these thoughts ran through Paul's head after he saw the light and heard Jesus speak:

* This Jesus is Lord, he can appear as light and he has the power to blind me. He is all-powerful
* Jesus made an effort to speak to me, he must care about me to speak to me in such a personal way
* I persecuted this Jesus. I killed his people. Why did he not destroy me? Is it because he loves me?

An encounter with God always seems to be accompanied with a GIGANTIC feeling of love. Knowing this, I imagine how Paul felt.

How did Paul feel when he heard the loving voice of Jesus and stood in the holy presence of God? It must have been very hard to be in Jesus' loving presence and hear him ask the conscience-stinging question "why are you persecuting me?" Notice that Jesus says, "me" here. If Paul felt the love and greatness of God in this moment, and I believe he did, it must have hurt deeply when Paul realized that he was hurting God with his actions. Paul thought that he was HELPING God by killing Christians. By asking "why are you persecuting ME?", Jesus was telling Paul that when Paul persecuted Jesus' Church and his people, Paul was persecuting Jesus himself.
After Paul saw this light, he was blind for 3 days. I think that God made Paul blind to remind Paul that Paul had to rely on God for EVERYTHING- including eyesight. This blindness was a strong message to Paul that God was almighty and Paul needed to rely on God alone. Paul was lead by hand to Damascus. He had days to think about God and his experience. Paul neither ate nor drank during this period, which indicates that he was probably engrossed in his supernatural experience of Jesus such that he thought of nothing else.

Persecuting Jesus

We can see here that Jesus wanted Paul to know that a persecution of Jesus' people was a persecution of Jesus himself. As Catholics, we believe that "sin is an offense against God." "Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from God's love. Sin is thus love of oneself even to contempt of God."1 The Catechism says that "when we deny him (Jesus) by our deeds, we in some way seem to lay violent hands on him.2 Paul heard this truth from the mouth of Jesus himself. Jesus speaks these words to us as well. As we sin, we hurt Jesus. When we lie to one another, Jesus wants to know "why are you persecuting me?" When we commit sexual sin, Jesus asks, "why are you persecuting me?" When we hoard our money and resources in greed, Jesus asks "why are you persecuting me?"

The Catechism says that "conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him."3 Conversion is a gift from God! Conversion is God nudging us towards him! To feel guilt for our sins is a present from God! It is a gift similar to the pain we feel when we touch a hot frying pan. If it didn't hurt, we might leave our hands on the frying pan forever until our hands melted! God doesn't want our sin to "melt" us, and that's why it is a grace when our consciences feel sorry for sin.

So why did Paul stop killing Christians? He realized it was wrong! He felt the same sting of conscience that we all feel when we do wrong (sin). Paul had been persecuting Christians for a while and he stopped cold turkey because he realized that he was persecuting God. So Paul experienced deep sorrow (repentance). "Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace."4 This definition of deep interior sorrow from the Catechism describes Paul's conversion very accurately. Paul certainly had the "desire and resolution to change his life". Even better, Paul didn't wait long to change.

No Time For Delay

Acts 9:20 says that Paul "began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues." Perhaps this was in response to Ananias' words from the 1st reading: "Now why delay?" In the 2nd Reading this week, Paul says, "I tell you brothers and sisters, time is running out."

The Devil wants us to delay our conversion. In C.S. Lewis' book the Screwtape Letters, a senior demon teaches his nephew that it's hard to disrupt Christianity by discrediting Jesus, or trying to convince Christians that the devil is more powerful than Jesus. The 2 demons decided that the most effective way to disrupt Christianity was to make Christians think that "Jesus is okay, but there's time aplenty to follow him later on. There is absolutely no rush." The devil's deceitful message when we are on the verge of conversion is that we can don't have to change today, but rather tomorrow.

Paul did not fall for this trap, he made a decision immediately to "change his life, with with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace." Let's remember this the next time we commit a sin and feel God-given sorrow about it. Instead of waiting for tomorrow to quit our sin, we must stop our sin now.

In summary, let's remember that conscience and sorrow for sin is a gift from God and a call to him. Each time we feel sorrow for sin, we must realize that this an invitation to come to God and to change our lives immediately, relying on help from God always.

Real Life

I've told this story before, but it is so closely tied to this week's readings, so here it is for those of you have not heard it before.

In November of 2006, I went on a mission trip (my first ever) to minister to the poor people of Juarez, Mexico. I was living your average American life and thought to myself, "why not do some mission work?" because I had time off of work. Here is the most powerful incident that happened to me during my visit- I wrote about it the same day it all happened:

"So, we pulled up to the first house and it was a rotten, wood shack. The street outside was dirty and falling apart. The house was about 10 square feet at most and the neighborhood was the worst-looking one I have ever seen. Anyhow, I was not scared, but I was a little bit intimidated as I and Jim (another volunteer, age 60) walked up to the creeky, wooden gate which was falling apart. You had to slither your way through the gate because it would not open the whole way up and it was covered with rusty nails and was completely dangerous.
Jim and I squeezed in and were greeted by a very HAPPY, pleasant old lady. Her face was beaming with enthusiasm and joy as she saw us approaching. I had a huge bag over my shoulder full of vegetables and food.

She greeted us both in Spanish and I quietly smiled. "Passe" she said as she smiled again. I guess that means "come in" because I heard a lot of people say it to me today. She is one of the smallest ladies I have ever seen. She is very skinny, has white hair, dirty clothes, and a distorted face. One of her eyes looks like it has glaucoma. I was afraid of hugging her too hard because she looked about as frail as a dried up cracker.

The house was actually too small FOR HER! I had to duck to get in and once I got in this dark house, I had to duck in order to enter the "bedroom". THe house consisted of the "kitchen" as soon as you walk in and a bedroom. I can't remember what teh floor looked like, but it wasn't pretty. Once we ducked in, we were also greeted by another younger woman probably in her 30's. She looked much healthier than the older woman. She greeted us with a smile.
I could see in the tiny bedroom that there was a girl lying in bed. SHe was probably about 11 years old and she was taking a nap. She woke up and joined us, but she was not smiling. She looked sad.

Before I knew it, we all ducked into the tiny, dark, dirty bedroom and joined hands. Jim started to say a prayer in Spanish. All the while, the 2 women were praying along with him and I stood right across from the little girl.

The situation looked absolutely desperate to me. I dont know why the young girl was at the house, but it had occurred to me that she couldn't afford to go to middle school. Millions of thoughts and feelings began to run through my mind and my body:

* God will save these peoplr
* this house is in terrible shape
* how do these people continue to live?
* who will save these people?
* how long will the old woman live?
* praise God, we are trying
* I am partly responsible for these people's poverty, because I have given VERY LITTLE to the poor since I turned 18.

As our hands were joined, we were united for a moment. We all were asking for the same things. We all wanted good health, enough food, happiness, and mercy for us all and I knew that God heard every word that we uttered and every thought running through our minds. I looked down at my shoes and I could see my own tear drops on them. At this point, the tears were streaming down my face. I felt so bad for teh little girl and the old woman. I was the only one crying I guess because it was my first time in one of their homes. I was afraid taht I would make the little girl even sadder if she saw me crying, but there was no stopping it at this point."

Okay, fast-forward to present day April 2008. I look back at this memory and can see quite clearly what happened to me on that day. God spoke to me while I was in Rumalda's house. He said, "Hey, I love you. I love these poor people. I am love. Can you see that? Do you see the light that I am?" Yes, I saw the light that was God. 2 things were revealed to me:

* God is love. That is who he is.
* In the light, I glanced at myself and could see my own sinfulness. I could see the pettiness of my life. My life suddenly looked ridiculous. My desire for a flat-panel television looked ridiculous! But God did not show himself to me in a mean way. Truly, it was loving because he wants me to know the truth about him, my life, and the reality of this world.

God loves us!

1- Catechism of the Catholic Church 1850
2- CCC 598
3- CCC 1432
4- CCC 1431

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 117:1bc, 2

R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Reading II
1 Cor 7:29-31

I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.
From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
those weeping as not weeping,
those rejoicing as not rejoicing,
those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully.
For the world in its present form is passing away.

Gospel
Mk 16:15-18

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
"Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

"Are You In Darkness?"- For 1-11-09 God's Salvation and Generosity

2009-01-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

Do you ever feel lonely? Do you ever feel like you are in a dark place and you are trapped? This week's readings talk about this subject and the only person who can rescue us.

Reading 1
Is 42:1-4, 6-7

Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

What is this blindness about? What exactly is meant by "confinement", "the dungeon" and "Darkness"? In my last blog entry, I mentioned that in a dream, God told Joseph that Marys' son would "save his people from their sins".1 And, so this is one of the main reasons why Jesus came to Earth. This state of sin that we are in without repentance is the "darkness" that God is talking about in this reading. Below is the an interpretation:

Blindness and darkness- Sin makes it either difficult or impossible to see God. The story of the blind man and the Pharisees in John Chapter 9 mentions how the Pharisees are unable to recognize Jesus because of their sin. In contrast, the blind man, who acknowledged his blindness was able to see Jesus. Pride and other sins cause blindness to the truth. Truth is a person- Jesus Christ. Blindness to this truth is the worst kind of blindness.

Darkness

Prisoners, confinement, and the dungeon- Sin is a rejection of God's love. For instance, God always tells us the truth. This truth brings love to us and to our lives. And, so when we reject God by sinning, we outcast ourselves from God. Life (and death as well) are absolutely and completely lonely without God. We feel "confined" without him who loves us. The Catechism reminds us that sin "reproduce(s) itself and reinforce(s) itself. Sin cloud(s) conscience and corrupt(s) the concrete judgment of good and evil." One sin leads to another and they create even more sin.5 For example, one lie leads to another and another and before we know it, we are trapped. We become "prisoners" to sin and we find ourselves in a "dungeon" created by sin. The good news is that Jesus offers to rescue us from this poor condition.

Reading II
Acts 10:34-38

Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
"In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him."

Key points to take from here are that:

* God shows no partiality- We have all sinned and God does not pick favorites, he offers forgiveness and salvation to EVERYONE- even me and you.
* Acting "uprightly"- forgiveness and salvation require that we acknowledge our sins to God and that we ask for his help.
* "healing all those oppressed by the devil"- again the theme from the first reading continues, that God knows that we are oppressed (unjustly ruled over) by the devil and he comes to rescue us.

Gospel
Mk 1:7-11

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed:
"One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens,
"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Why The Father Was Pleased With Jesus

When I first read that God said to Jesus "you are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased", I thought "Oh big deal, of course the Father is pleased. Jesus is God and so the Father is pleased with him." But wait a second. Jesus was a real human. He had a human will.2 That means that Jesus could say "yes" or "no" to anything the Father asked of him. Jesus' baptism was the beginning of his ministry. The purpose and completion of his ministry was to die for us. Jesus knew that his purpose was to die. "The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant."3 In other words, by accepting baptism, Jesus was accepting a horrible death. Instead of "doing his own thing", Jesus submitted to the desire of the Father, and began his difficult mission. Jesus said "yes" to this even though he didn't have to. And so God the Father's reaction was "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Our Opportunity to Please God

In sin, we raise ourselves higher than God (in our hearts) at the expense of God and of ourselves. The opposite of this is Jesus. He does not exalt himself higher than the Father. He humbly submits. By his loving and perfect obedience, we are saved.4 It is an incredible grace that we have Jesus not only as our savior but as our role model. We can imitate him today and tomorrow with every decision that we make. When faced with temptation, we can either sin (raise ourselves higher than God)or we can submit to our Lord by doing the right thing. Then we can hear him say "with you I am well pleased".

In summary, let us remember that sin can put us in a dark, lonely place. Because God loves us, he comes to our rescue and is available each and every moment of every day. God picks no favorites (even though we feel like his favorite when we experience his love). He is our role model and we can and should imitate him all the days of our lives.God loves us!

Real Life

A couple of years ago, I started to think seriously about becoming a priest. So I applied to a religious order. I was very excited about becoming a priest. The application process was extremely thorough. I had to undergo a psychological evaluation, thorough background check, and IQ test, and had to write a long paper about my life, amongst other things. I was excited at the prospect of helping others and God as a priest. Then came the day that the committee, which consisted of several priests, was to decide on my application. The night before the decision, I prayed that God's will would be done by the committee. The next day, I received the very surprising news that my application was to be deferred, which means, rejected until next year. The vocations director was very surprised at the decision.

Since I had already sold my house and packed my bags to enter the seminary, I decided that it might be good for me to do mission work while I discerned God's will further. I spent the next year as a missionary. During this time, I got to see God's beautiful face many, many times. (click on one of the videos to the left here to see) He injected me with an intense love and desire for him. Even today, I am happier than I have ever been even though God has led me to a city where I have no family or history.

I will never forget that I tried to "do my own thing". God, it seems, had a different plan for me. I was put on a path I did not foresee and he gives me a joy I never imagined possible.

1-Matthew 1:21

2- Catechism of the Catholic Church 475

3- CCC 536

4- Phillipians 2:6-9 and CCC 1850

5- CCC 1865

The Holiest Family- for Mass December 28, 2008

2008-12-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

If you ask the average person what is most important in their life, many would answer "family". So what sort of family member does God want us to be? What does the Bible teach us about living happily with our families? This week's Gospel reminds us that Jesus lived with normal parents who were just as human as us. God wants to teach us what a real family is. There is commentary following the first reading and the Gospel. There is a real life story at the end.

Reading 1
Sir 3:2-6, 12-14

God sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.
Whoever honors his father atones for sins,
and preserves himself from them.
When he prays, he is heard;
he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,
and, when he prays, is heard.
Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;
he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.

My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins
—a house raised in justice to you.

The message here is quite simple- that we should honor our parents. But why should we honor them? First of all we are commanded by God to do so. If we honor our parents, the act itself is a way to imitate God. After all, Jesus loves the Father. We can see in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus' humanity feared death yet his love for God the Father took precedence.3 Jesus was scared of Death, but the Father's will was/is more important than any concern Jesus had. We can also see that God the Father loves Jesus at Jesus' baptism when GOd's voice could be heard saying "this is my BELOVED son". In other words, God the Father said, "I love Jesus." Our love of our parents is a reflection of the Father's love for Jesus and Jesus' love for the Father. We imitate God and his love when we honor our parents. This brings us joy.

This love of our divine father is the basis of God's command to love our parents. Why should we love them anyway? No matter how many bad things our parents may have done to us, we owe our lives to them. Didn't mom and dad sacrifice financially to support us? Didn't they suffer through long nights of crying and changing our diapers? What can we possibly do to repay our parents for giving us life in all of its beauty and challenges? We can start by loving them. In doing so, we please God and get a little glimpse of God's enormous love.

Reading II
Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.

No commentary.

Gospel
Lk 2:22-40 or 2:22, 39-40

When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
They took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
He took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
—and you yourself a sword will pierce—
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

Joseph and Mary- Real People, Real Parents

Let's remember what happened before this visit to the temple. Mary had seen an angel and conceived the child who the angel called "great", "Son of the Most High" and that the child would "rule". Joseph had a similar message sent from God to him. In the dream, the angel said that Jesus would "save his people from their sins". As a Jew, Joseph knew that only God could forgive sins. He must have wondered "who is this child in Mary's womb who will save people from sins?" He may have understood better when the Magi arrived from Luke Chapter 2. Joseph and Mary put Jesus in a manger. When the Magi arrived, they prostrated themselves before the baby Jesus. Let's imagine for a moment what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph. There already saw great signs occurring before the birth of Jesus. Then Joseph and Mary watched as grown men laid face down in a display of tremendous respect for an infant boy in a feeding box. Oh holy night indeed!

The gospel reading reminds us that Mary and Joseph were required by the law to dedicate their child to God. They already knew Jesus was special and they had been told that Jesus was God.2 Now, Mary and Joseph could have thought to themselves "this is God's only Son. We don't need to go to the temple". They could have considered themselves "above the law". Instead, they acted in obedience and took Jesus to the temple because as it was written in this week's Gospel, it was "the law of the Lord".

This Gospel reading and the story of Jesus' conception and birth tells us much about the Holy Family. The Holy Family could not be called Holy without their obedience to God. Joseph wanted to divorce Mary until the angel told him not to. Joseph obeyed. Mary was "troubled" when she heard message of the angel Gabriel, yet she gave her complete consent in perfect obedience. If it was "possible", Jesus wanted the cup of his passion to pass from him yet he was obedient to the will of the Father.3 At the center of the Holy Family was obedience to God. We are meant to imitate the Holy Family and we are meant to be obedient to God and have him and his holy will at the center of our lives. The reason why God entered the world in the midst of a family is that he once again wanted to help teach us to live by his own perfect example. He did this out of love and generosity to us.

Real Life

The 2nd Reading speaks of love within the family and of gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. The Catechism tells us specifically that "everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect." Our faith demands obedience to this command from God.

For all of my life. I did not get along with one of my brothers. In fact, I didn't like him. When he walked into the room, all I could see was the person who "offended and quarelled" with me. Instead of forgiving him, I would always fight back. Sometimes, I hated my brother. I later went on a 2-week long mission to Mexico. There I witnessed the beautiful love of God. When I returned, I was completely full of the love that I saw and experienced in Mexico.

I did not normally meet up with my brother alone. In fact, I normally preferred not to meet him at all. But after the mission trip, things were different. I was eating lunch at my brother's house one day, and suddenly it dawned on me. "I am here eating lunch with my brother and I am enjoying myself. I am happy to be here."

Once I became obedient to God's will to love my brother and forgive him, my brother became a whole other person to me. I could finally see the nice brother I had all along as God opened my eyes and heart through his loving commandments. Not long afterwards, my brother was literally sending me cookies in the mail and buying me plane tickets to meet him and my family. With God closer to the center of our lives, we (my family) have started on the road to being a holy family.

God loves us!

1-Matthew 1:21
2- Jesus was called "Son of the Most High" to Mary. Luke chapter 2 tells us that the "shepherds" told Joseph and Mary that Jesus was "Messiah and Lord".
3- CCC 612 say that Jesus' human nature was horrified at death

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R. (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

How to Prepare for Death and Life

2008-12-10T19:33:00.001-08:00

Today, my friend told me that his dad just found out that he has cancer-the bad kind. I asked my friend how his dad felt about dying and he replied that "he seems alright about it". What does it take to feel peaceful about death? How can we prepare for a meeting with God? The Gospel readings this week give us a clue to the answer. There is commentary after the Gospel.

Reading 1Is 61:1-2a, 10-11

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.

I rejoice heartily in the LORD,
in my God is the joy of my soul;
for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.
As the earth brings forth its plants,
and a garden makes its growth spring up,
so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise
spring up before all the nations.

Responsorial Psalm
Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54.

R. (Is 61:10b) My soul rejoices in my God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
R. My soul rejoices in my God.
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
R. My soul rejoices in my God.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
R. My soul rejoices in my God.

Reading II
1 Thes 5:16-24

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
In all circumstances give thanks,
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise prophetic utterances.
Test everything; retain what is good.
Refrain from every kind of evil.

May the God of peace make you perfectly holy
and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body,
be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you is faithful,
and he will also accomplish it.

Gospel
Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but came to testify to the light.

And this is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests
and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
He admitted and did not deny it,
but admitted, “I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘make straight the way of the Lord,’”
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.

Preparing For Jesus' Coming

The Gospel reading speaks of John the Baptist and his ministry. John was born to "make straight the way of the Lord". That is, his mission was to "prepare the way of the Lord".1 The birth of John the Baptist finally signaled the end of the prophets and the coming of the Savior. In order to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord, John the Baptist offered the people baptism. The baptism described in last week's Gospel of Luke chapter 1, involved "acknowledging their sins," and turning away from their sins as the means to prepare for the coming of the Lord. This repentance goes hand in hand with the 2nd reading this week where Paul wishes that we be "holy and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is necessary that we prepare for our Lord's coming by confessing our sins and turning away from them. Whether we are preparing for Jesus' birth or for our own deaths, the way to prepare for a meeting with the Lord is to turn away from our sins. If we turn away from our sins truly, we can face God, just as the good thief who was crucified next to Jesus did. He admitted his own fault and saw not only the face of Jesus that day, but he is with Jesus in his glory right NOW.

Jesus actually quotes the first reading (Isaih 61) in Luke 4:18-21 and says that this reading applies to him. In other words, Jesus says that he is the one Isaih was talking about who would "bring glad tidings to the poor." Who is "the poor"? The Catechism paragraph 716 defines the poor in this particular reading as those "who humble, and meek, rely solely on their God's mysterious plans." Here again, we are reminded of how we can prepare properly for the Lord. We must humbly rely on his mysterious plans.

The Right and Wrong Way to Prepare for Jesus' Coming

The gospel of Luke gives us an example of a person who was not completely prepared for the coming of the Lord. We are also given an example of a person who prepared and reacted PERFECTLY to "God's mysterious plans." John the Baptist's father, Zechariah heard the "mysterious" announcement of John's improbable birth from an angel. But Zechariah did not believe what he heard and so the Lord made him mute until the birth of John the Baptist because of Zechariah's unbelief. On the flip side was Mary. When she heard the angel Gabriel's announcement to her (which was strikingly similar to the announcement of John's birth) Mary replied differently than Zechariah despite the fact that the announcement to her was much harder to believe (pregnancy without sex). And so, we are given a glimpse of how "poor" Mary was. She was very humble, and "relied solely on God's mysterious plan." And so, she is the grandest example of a person who was prepared for the coming of the Lord. Instead of becoming mute, she rejoiced as we see in this week's responsorial psalm which quotes Mary's response. Because of her humility, she was able to hear the "glad tidings" that God had promised(1st reading).

Mary's Reaction to Holy Communion vs Our Reaction

Colossians 2:9 says of Jesus "in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity". This means that in Jesus is not just the characteristics of God, but God in his entirety. After Mary said, "May it be done to me according to your word", the Holy Spirit "came upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her." She then conceived Jesus, God in his entirety in her body. This was her "first communion"- as Blessed Theresa of Calcutta once said. This was Mary's first encounter with Jesus as he became present in her body. Let's imagine for a moment what it meant for God to be inside of Mary, the humble girl from Nazareth.

Personally, when I encounter God by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the feeling I always have is love, peace, and IMMENSE joy. Should it surprise me that Mary reacted the way she did? She said, "my soul rejoices in God my savior." It would be incredible to have Jesus dwelling inside of me in his entirety.

But wait a second, in our Catholic faith, we believe that "by the power of the Holy Spirit", God in his ENTIRETY comes to dwell in another created thing- bread. With humble hearts we respond, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed". How incredible it is that God wants to dwell in us just as he dwelt in the Virgin Mary!

In this week's readings, we are given instructions on how to prepare for the coming of the Lord. We are to confess our sins to God and we are supposed to be humble. That means we have to "rely solely on God's mysterious plan" for our lives. The words we hear at the end of mass tell us what "God's mysterious plan" is for us.

Our Call To Action After Communion

Now we can clearly see that God loves us just as much as he loves the Virgin Mary. He wants to dwell in is. He wants to save us. After receiving Jesus in her womb, Mary rejoiced and she loved Jesus perfectly as a mother. Now what about us? What do we do after Jesus comes to dwell in US? Right after we receive Jesus at communion, the priest tells us to "go in peace to love and serve the Lord."

Now it is hard to love our enemies. It is difficult to forgive. It's challenging to love our families and friends. We wonder, "how can we love enemies?". Forgiveness, mercy, giving our hard earned money to poor strangers, and being chaste in a world of lust seems so difficult that knowing how to do it may seem like a mystery. But THIS is God's mysterious plan for us. God's plan that we love him and one another may be hard to believe or accept, but it IS God's plan for us. What will my decision be today?

Shall I be mute like Zechariah, or shall I rejoice at God's mysterious command as Mary did? God will help us make the right decision.

God loves us.

Real Life

When I was a missionary, I used to visit this man named "Eddie". "Eddie" was very ill and could not leave his home. He was skinny. He was bed-ridden. He never seemed to get better and he looked like he was on the verge of death everytime I saw him. The worst part of his situation was that he held a tremendous anger towards someone. I can't remember who he was angry with but I was told that he was having difficulty forgiving someone. He seemed like he was in a self-chosen prison of anguish to me. My heart was very troubled at the sight of him. One day, the missionaries came to visit him, and he was already dead. I hope that "Eddie" found a way to forgive before the end.

I also used to live on a ranch with a lady named Marion. Marion was over 90 years old. She was a holy lady who feared the Lord. The last time I went to visit her, she had a special gleam in her eyes. When I looked into her eyes, I felt like I could see that she was in close proximity to God. I sensed that she was nearing death, yet it did not trouble me. In fact, it put a smile on my face because when I looked into her eyes I felt like I was seeing Jesus. Ironically, I was visting a friend of mine recently and I held her friend's newborn son. When I looked into his eyes, I saw the same "gleam" I saw Marion's eyes. It seems like we are close to God when we enter the world. If we prepare properly, with God's help, we can leave this world in the same fashion.

Marion and me on the day of our last visit June 2008

1-Mark 1:3

Nice Guys Go to Heaven?

2008-11-18T19:53:00.000-08:00

What is going to happen to me when I die? Am I going to heaven or hell? If I do no harm to other people, will I go to heaven? The answer is in this week's readings.*

Reading 1
Ez 34:11-12, 15-17

Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock
when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.

As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD,
I will judge between one sheep and another,
between rams and goats.

Help For the Lost and Scattered

The first reading tells us about God and about us. Have you ever felt like you were in a "cloudy, dark place? We've all been there. God says in this reading that he is well aware of our suffering. He knows that we are lost. He knows that we have strayed. All we have to do is look at our lives and we will be reminded that WE HAVE STRAYED. We are injured. We are sick! So, in this reading, we are reminded of our condition particularly in the spiritual sense.

And what to do we learn about God in this reading? I think the most powerful words here are "I MYSELF". "I MYSELF will look after...... I MYSELF will pasture... I MYSELF will give......" .

As Christians, we are so blessed to know what was meant by God in this reading by the prophet Ezekiel. God literally came "himself" and his name is Jesus, the only begotten Son. He is begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. This is what God meant in this reading by, "I myself". So we are reminded of our need for God in the first reading, and of how much God loves us. He came down to Earth to shepherd us.

Reading II
1 Cor 15:20-26, 28

Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
When everything is subjected to him,
then the Son himself will also be subjected
to the one who subjected everything to him,
so that God may be all in all.

More commentary after the Gospel.

Gospel
Mt 25:31-46

Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."

A Shepherd Who is Also King And Judge

Both the 2nd reading and Gospel speak of Jesus as King, In the 2nd reading, Paul says that he reigns. We don't usually picture a shepherd who "sits upon his glorious throne" and "reigns". His title of shepherd tells us of his kindness and compassion towards us. His title of "King of the Jews" speaks of his power over all things. John 5:22 says the Father "has given all judgment to the Son". John 5:27 continues, "he [the Father] gave him the power to exercise judgment."

So Jesus is the compassionate shepherd and he is also the judge. Even in his judgment he is loving. Any loving parent warns his child not to touch the stove or to put their hands in electrical outlets. Just the same, Jesus wants us to go to heaven which is why he says, I myself will "seek you out" (1st reading).He seeks us out, and protects us.

Like a loving parent, Jesus warns us about judgment. Many of us think that if we don't hurt anybody, we will go to heaven. But in this Gospel, Jesus calls the act of ignoring our "least brothers" EVIL. He calls the ones who ignore the less fortunate, evildoers.

It's time for me to ask myself a couple of questions. When is the last time I gave money to the poor? When is the last time I visited someone who was suffering and alone?

These wretched conditions in the gospel (alone, hurt, in need) sound familiar don't they? Weren't we just reminded in the first reading of how WE suffer from these things and how God has come to help us? That's right, God asks us to do what he himself does to us.

Once again, God tells us the truth about heaven and hell not for the sake of being mean to us. He tells us because he is INVITING us to imitate him. He wants us to love like he does in the 1st reading. It is our job to seek out people in need. If we don't try to love as God has loved us, we willingly refuse the LOVE (the invitation) of God. In failing to love one another, we willingly refuse God himself and accept hell instead (CCC 679). God loves us too much to let us put our fingers in the electric outlet. He wants us to go to heaven. He tells us we cannot get into heaven without loving the least of our brothers.

God loves us.

*salvation comes from faith in Jesus Christ and baptism. (CCC 1987) After baptism we can lose the grace we receive by committing serious sin. This week's readings focus on life after baptism. After baptism, it is absolutely necessary to help those in need if we want to enter heaven.

Real Life

This video features a homeless man I met. He lives in Charlotte, NC. The video shows some people I filmed serving the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Don't Mess With Jesus' Wife!- Nov. 9, 2008

2008-11-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

The central theme of this week's readings is the Church. The first reading talks about what the fruits of the Church are and how the Church brings life. The 2nd reading tells us how we ARE the Church and how the Holy Spirit is in each of us. Finally, the Gospel reading reveals Jesus' love and dedication to his Church (his spouse-don't mess with her!).

Reading 1
Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12

The angel brought me
back to the entrance of the temple,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the southern side.
He said to me,
"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."

Life Flows From the Church

The first reading describes the Church. What does Church mean? Church means an assembly or gathering, generally for a religious purpose.1 The Church isn't just a building nor is it a city in Italy. It is us baptized believers joined intimately to Jesus Christ who is our head. The first reading talks of Church (the temple) and how it brings life. Water flows from it in every direction. Even the leaves of the trees along the bank of this water shall never fade.

All of this is a reference to the Church (the baptized and Jesus the head). The Church gives life because it is only through the Church that we can receive baptism, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments. Jesus says that "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you".2 Jesus also says that baptism is necessary for salvation. We can receive neither of these without the Church!3 We thank God that he charges less than $100,000 for the gift of life through the Church. Actually, he charges us nothing!

Let us remember that the sacraments give us growth and healing.4 We are given salvation and access to all other sacraments through baptism. How can we possibly grow without God whom we are united to through baptism? As far as healing goes, few of us know a greater healing than forgiveness. God grants us incredible healing when we go to confession. Some of the healing we are aware of, some of it we are not. Life cannot be experienced without God's grace. God's grace comes from him through his Church. This is the meaning and context of the first reading and the temple whose water brings life in abundance.

Reading II
1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17

Brothers and sisters:
You are God's building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

We the Temple

In the second reading, Paul says that we are temples of God. We are temples of God because in baptism, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and we are joined to God. "the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members."5 Yes, it's wonderful that the Holy Spirit is inside of us but Paul warns us that "one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ." In order for us to share this life-giving "water" with others, we have to remain attached to Jesus who is our head and our boss.

Jesus gives us orders which we must follow in order to remain in our baptismal grace. After all, as Catholics we believe that this grace we receieve at baptism can be lost by grave (serious) sin.6 We must never commit serious sin and if we do, we must ask forgiveness immediately and then go to confession. Confession comes from the Church and is part of this life-giving water described in the 1st reading. Confession is part of how God keeps his promise that " their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine." (1st reading). Confession is like all sacraments, giving us growth and healing. Next, let's take a look at Jesus' bride and what he thinks about her.

Gospel
Jn 2:13-22

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
"What sign can you show us for doing this?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jews said,
"This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?"
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.

Jesus' Bride

Many of us have heard that we (the Church) are the bride of Christ. In John 3:29, John the Baptist announces Jesus as the bridegroom. Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom in Mark 2:19. In 2nd Corinthians 11:2, Paul says that we are betrothed to Christ. That means that we are meant to be with Christ from the beginning and he came to take us as his bride. And what does Jesus say about husband and wife in Matthew 19:6? They are no longer two, but one flesh. Does a husband have deep intimacy with his bride? Absolutely, and just the same, our flesh becomes one with Christ each Sunday at the Eucharistic altar. We the Church are his bride.

The Catechism tell us that God reveals himself by what he does. God wants us as his BRIDE. He wants us to be joined not as two, but as one. He wants us never to separate. He chose us as his betrothed. And what does this tell us about God? It tells us that God loves us as a perfect husband loves his wife with the highest intensity. He loves us and he desires union with us.

The Gospel reading, speaks of this famous scene where Jesus gets angry because the temple (the Church- his bride) is being degraded. Jesus gets upset when someone messes with his bride. So, through this week's gospel, we are reminded that Jesus loves us deeply and wants us to be his forever and he will fight any evil that attacks us. Yet, in this we must remember that we ourselves are the "money-changers" who sin against our bridegroom, Jesus is the perfect spouse. He does his part perfectly as the one who loves us beyond comparison. From this day forth, how will we respond to his love and faithfulness?

Real Life

I know a married couple (married around 30 years) and they are missionaries. I once saw them dancing before mass. They were arm in arm dancing in a circle and completely full of joy. Since I had been hanging out with them for a while, I already knew that they loved each other. But on this particular day, I was amazed at how much joy they had and how much they truly loved each other. On another occasion, I saw the wife give a second helping of food to her son despite the fact that she had eaten nothing herself and nothing remained from dinner. She was selfless and incredibly generous to her kids and seemed to be unconcerned with herself. It seems that the closer we are to God, the more we begin to resemble him. God wants us as his holy spouse and our union is fruitful because it is rooted in God, who is love.

He loves us!

1-CCC 751
2-John 6:53
3-Even if we are baptized by a non-priest, the authority to do so comes from the Catholic Church.
4- CCC 798
5-797
6-CCC 1446
7- Matthew 19:6

"What Are You Wearing?" Mass- Nov 2, 2008

2008-11-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

This week is the feast of all souls. And so the theme of the readings revolves around life, death, and baptism. The first reading speaks of how the "just are in the hands of God", which means that we can rest easy knowing that we belong to God and our hope is in God. The 2nd reading speaks of baptism, which is the means by which we are put into the hands of God in the first place. Finally, the gospel tell us that God will give this gift of salvation to anyone who comes to him, because this is why Jesus came to Earth in the first place- to save everyone who comes to him.

In order to keep the commentary reasonably short, the commentary will focus on baptism. You will read here about how we are all wearing "Christ", something that no clothing maker can promise. Commentary follows the 2nd reading. The rest of the readings and the responsorial psalm are after the commentary.

Rom 6:3-9

Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him,
so that our sinful body might be done away with,
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.

What is Baptism?

"Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments."5 I always thought that baptism was this cool little party where everyone gets together and the priest pours water on a baby and everyone claps, followed by some congratulations and photos. But baptism is not some meaningless ceremony. It is the foundational, and most important event of our spiritual lives. Our baptismal day is the day when we become God's children.

Paul speaks of "dying and rising" in this reading and of "growing in union" with Jesus through baptism. But what is he talking about? How is that we are baptized into Jesus' death? First of all, let's recall that Baptism is our entrance into the Church. Baptism joins us to Jesus. God saves our souls at baptism and forgives all of our sins.

Yet, without the death of Jesus, there would be no Church to enter. Without Jesus' crucifixion, we cannot experience eternal life, nor can we be joined to Jesus . In other words, Jesus' suffering and death "opened to all men the fountain of baptism".1 Our baptism is rooted in Jesus' suffering and death for us. This is what Paul means by being "baptized into his death". Jesus' death allows us to have baptism. Only through his death are we able to be saved.

Effects of Baptism

In baptism, we are forgiven ALL of our sins. We are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We are given grace from God the Father, we are given grace through the merits of Jesus' suffering and death, and we are given grace as the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us at baptism. Truly, we become temples of the Holy Spirit2 because the Trinity comes to dwell within us.

In baptism, "the two principal effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit."6 Paul says in this reading that in baptism, we die with Christ and are raised with Christ. This means that in baptism, we are forgiven all of our sins and we die to sin. If Jesus is so good to die on the cross for us, then we join in that death and we say "no" to sin once and forever. This is why at Easter Vigil we remind ourselves of our baptismal promises ("do you reject Satan, sin," etc) and say "no" to sin again and again. We rise with Christ in the sense that if we say no to sin, our lives are different and we are "raised" new persons.

In this reading, Paul talks about living "in newness of life". Here, he is describing this "new birth in the Holy Spirit." A few of the major effects of baptism are:

* forgiveness of sins
* we become new creatures- The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. The Holy Spirit helps us to operate under his inspiration, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.3
* the Holy Spirit enables us to believe in God, hope in God, and to love God.4
* there are other effects as well.

Since we are forgiven our sins, made anew with the presence and help of the holy spirit, and have confidence in Jesus, we will certainly have what it takes to live "in newness of life" as described in this reading. Yet, despite what God has given us, he also gives us the freedom to oppose, refuse, resent, and even renounce what he has given us. So, baptism is a great gift, but we must take good care of what God has given us. Every day, we must declare to God that we are not "slaves of sin".

Seeing God's Grace

So, back to the baptisms we see in church. Because we are measey little humans, we cannot truly see the fullness of God's grace, but we do get a beautiful sneak peak. God wants us to know what he has done for us so we see the following at baptisms:

* The sign of the cross- the baptized person now belongs to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
* The baptismal water- Water springing forth from the ground symbolizes life. We are given life, and that life comes from God.
* Holy Oil-makes known the grace that the person has received from the Holy Spirit
* White garment- symbolizes that the person has "put on Christ" and has been washed clean by the blood of Christ

We must remember that there are spiritual realities that we can only get a glimpse of. For instance, the blood and water that flowed from Jesus are forms of baptism. It is a sign of the spiritual reality of Jesus' sacrifice and the outpouring of grace upon all of mankind. Just the same, we are able to see these things at baptisms, as signs of a spiritual reality that is deep, real, and incredibly beautiful. The next time we attend a baptism, we must remember what God is doing for the baptized and what he has already done for us.

The Eyes of God

So we have an idea of how God sees us. He sees us marked with a sign that we belong to him. He sees us full of life which came from him. He sees us anointed with his grace. He sees us pure and beautiful-wearing the white robe of baptism (which HE bought us : )). THe next time we look at a person lustfully, let's try to see them wearing the beautiful white robe of baptism. The next time we get angry at someone in traffic, let's notice that holy oil upon their heads. We live in a country where almost everyone is baptized. And so, when I am in danger of looking at a woman lustfully, do I really want to stain the white garment that God has clothed her with? When I am angry with someone, do I really want to hurt someone who is anointed with holy oil and full of the Holy Spirit?

What about when I sin in general? Do I want to stain the white garment which God has given me? No I do not. I belong to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I must respect myself. I must not let anything enter my eyes, ears, or mouth which is incompatible with the Holy Spirit which dwells within me.

The first reading says: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God". "they are in peace." ...."because grace and mercy are with his holy ones"

God loves us so much that he has given EVERYTHING to us. Because of his death, we are offered baptism, and we are beautiful baptized children of God. Because of God, we wear white robes and we belong to him forever. The good news gets even better in this week's Gospel. In it, Jesus says "I will not reject anyone who comes to me". God loves us!

1-CCC 1225
2-1 Corinthians 12:13
3-CCC 1266
4-CCC 1266
5-CCC 1213
6-Acts 2:38

Reading 1
Wis 3:1-9

The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the LORD shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

Gospel
Jn 6:37-40

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”

The Greatest Commandment- October 26, 2008

2008-10-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

This week's liturgy of the Word is about the greatest commandment ""You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." What does that really mean in a practical sense? How do I do it? Why is this the greatest commandment?

Reading 1
Ex 22:20-26

Thus says the LORD:
"You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I will surely hear their cry.
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;
then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.

"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people,
you shall not act like an extortioner toward him
by demanding interest from him.
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge,
you shall return it to him before sunset;
for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.
What else has he to sleep in?
If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."

Aliens and Slaves

What is this talk of "aliens" all about? Here we see the origin and purpose of the commandments. The purpose of the commandments is to remind us of our calling in life (to know, love, and serve the Lord.) The basic story of human history is this: God loves us, he made us, we screwed up, and now he is here to save us. In Exodus 20:2, the first thing God says as he introduces the commandments is, "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me." In other words, I loved you by saving you from slavery. I want you to love me the same way I love you by being faithful. Don't cheat on me- "you shall have no other Gods." Before God commanded us to love him, he loved us first.

Is it a reasonable expectation for God to ask us to love him back? Is it reasonable for a loving wife to expect love back from her husband? Of course it's reasonable! God is making a very reasonable request of us here. And who wins anyway if we follow the commandments? EVERYONE wins! The essence of and purpose of all of God's commandments is this: God loves us with all of his heart, with all of his soul, and with all his mind. He wants us to love him back. How do we know that God loves us like that? We need only look at the cross. Jesus loved us with all of his heart which was pierced by a lance on the cross. He loves us with all of his soul because he lowered himself by becoming a frail, limited, human being. He loves with all of his mind because even though his human nature feared death (let this cup pass), he submitted his mind to the Father completely out of love for our little human souls. That's why the greatest commandment is the greatest commandment- God loves us, he wants to share in this love of his for eternity- including today, tomorrow at lunch time, and 10 minutes before we die- forever.

Justice

What a relief it is that God says he is compassionate and will hear our cries even when we are cold and in need of a cloak. It's quite comforting to know that if we are heartbroken like widows, or lonely like orphans, God will "surely hear our cry." God is "compassionate" as he says in this reading. But, that also means that God hears the cries of ALL of the people WE have "wronged". He hears the yearning of everyone WE have caused to cry. He hears the cries of the poor people WE have ignored all of our lives. Because God is perfectly loving, he is also just. He asks us to follow the commandments and he EXPECTS us to follow them. God knows what true love is, and he wants us to live it. The 2nd reading shows us how to do that.

Reading II
1 Thes 1:5c-10

Brothers and sisters:
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit,
so that you became a model for all the believers
in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
not only in Macedonia and in Achaia,
but in every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us
what sort of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God
and to await his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

Paul pays a tremendous complement to the Thessalonians here. He calls them "a model for all the believers". A model for ALL believers?!! Wow! They must be doing something right! What is that SOMETHING that they did? They had become "imitators of us and of the Lord." The Gospel reading says that the greatest commandment is that "You shall love the Lord, your God,with all your heart,with all your soul", and your neighbor as yourself. The Thessalonians knew exactly how to obey that commandment- by imitating the Lord. That is what the commandments are- an invitation to imitate the Lord. It is such a powerful way to live and to love God and one another that Paul had "no need to say anything" (no need to preach) to the places where the Thessalonians' faith had traveled. What is faith? It is an adherence of man to God and a surrender of a person's will and intellect to God.2 The Thessalonians had faith. They turned away from their idols, joined themselves to God, and surrendered their will and intellect to God. If they had not done so, they would have looked just like any other community. Instead, of doing as everyone else did (worshiping idols), they imitated God. And what was the result? Their faith and their example evangelized people with such power that Paul didn't need to go anywhere that the Thessalonians had already gone. Let's move on to how we can obey the greatest commandment in a practical way.

Following The Greatest Commandment

We have already established that God first loved us and now he wants us to love him and one another as his great commandment says. Does that mean we have to all quit our jobs and become priests? Of course not. We must remember that salvation is not something that happens as one big event. It is more of a "daily" thing which requires persistence, as Luke would say. Yes, this sounds boring and even more difficult to follow this command every day, but that is our call. When we ponder whether or not we should do something, the answer is always available. Suppose I want to obey the greatest commandment. And let's say that I have to make an everyday choice. All I have to do is ask myself this: In making this choice, or taking this action, am I contradicting my call to love God with all of my being and my neighbor as myself?

Here is an example. Suppose, I want to download my favorite song off the internet. I can download it for free and illegally and not get caught. But in doing so, am I contradicting my call to love God with all of my heart and my neighbor as well? First of all, by stealing, I am disobeying God and telling him that I like music more than obeying him (his commandments). By stealing from the musician (my neighbor) I am clearly not loving my neighbor. Now, this method of discernment is not going to be helpful with decisions like what color to dye your hair, but with the important decisions in life, God's greatest commandment and the our call to love our neighbors as ourselves will assist us on the way to heaven if we allow it to.

Real Life

For the last year, I lived as a missionary on a 640-acre ranch. The people I lived with were full-time unpaid missionaries. They never once tried to evangelize me or lecture to me about the faith. Rather, every time I saw them, they treated me in a loving way. I was continually amazed at their self-giving, self-sacrificing love. It wasn't long before I loved them right back. After all, how can you not love someone who loves so sincerely and so beautifully? I began to realize that this love with which they loved me came from their shared faith in God. It made me want to get closer to God. So, they evangelized me without using words.

I noticed that they took God's commandments very seriously. When one of God's commandments were inconvenient for them, they still obeyed. Their faithfulness to God and his greatest commandment were instrumental in evangelizing and saving my soul.

God loves us!

1- Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6
2- CCC 150, and CCC 143

Gospel
Mt 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

"Who is God's Choice?" For October 19, 2008

2008-10-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

The Gospel message this week revolves around this fact: everything that we have we owe to God. The first reading points to the fact that God is our beginning. The 2nd reading reminds us that we are chosen. Finally, the Gospel warns of how ugly it can be when we do not trust in the Lord and fail to respect his wisdom and goodness. There is commentary following the 2nd reading. The responsorial psalm and Gospel are after the commentary.

Reading 1
Is 45:1, 4-6

Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I grasp,
subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:
For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
of Israel, my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.
I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
people may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.

Reading II
1 Thes 1:1-5b

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God,
how you were chosen.
For our gospel did not come to you in word alone,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.

The theme of these 2 readings is very clear. The 1st says that God calls Cyrus by his name even though Cyrus does not know him. God even arms Cyrus. All that God says to Cyrus, he also says to us. The fact that God calls us by name means that he knows who we are. He gives us a "title" which means that he also knows WHAT we are. That's right. God is the ONLY person who COMPLETELY knows WHO and WHAT you are!

Made and Known By God

We Christians believe that God created us out of nothing. Isn't that what you believe? Our existence is not an accident as many evolutionists suggest. If we did not come to exist out of pure chance, then why did we come to exist? We exist because God is more loving and generous than we can imagine. He wanted to make me and you so that we could experience his love. He gave us a high dignity by allowing us to choose to love him out of our own free will. God knows us because he made us -just like an architect is the one who knows his building the best.

Why did God make us? Because he is a loving father to us. It is a great experience to give someone a gift. When I was in the 3rd grade, my dad bought me a bicycle. I was SO happy. My dad must have been thrilled to see the look on his little boy's face! Like a loving father, God simply gave us life becauese loves us and perhaps he not only wants to see the smiles on our faces, but joy and peace as well. It's hard to understand why God would be so generous to create us out of thin air, but he is a loving person. This loving act of creating us is SO incredible that God can easily say, "I am the LORD and there is no other,there is no God besides me." God's incomparable generosity is part of what makes him so great.

Chosen By God

Notice how the word "chosen" is used in both of these readings. These words are being spoken to us today. We are the modern-day Thesallonians and Israelites. We are the people of God. Imagine you are at school and everyone is playing kickball. The two team captains pick teams. Wouldn't it be great to be the first one "chosen"? That is exactly what God has done for YOU. He did not choose fish, birds, or monkeys first. He chose you. Unlike all other living things, he chose YOU first. Everything on Earth is made for YOU.1 In addition, he doesn't just leave us to roam around and figure things out on our own.

Our faith says that "God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end.2The 2nd reading talks about "endurance in hope." Just a couple of weeks ago we spoke of how hope is a gift from God. Through hope, we desire the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness and we put our trust in Christ.3 So when Paul says that "our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit", he is saying that these words we hear at Mass have power and God wants to do more than just talk to us. He wants to help us and remain with us until the end.

An Every Day Thought

The Thessalonians have an "endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ". Our faith also teaches us that "Recognizing this utter dependence with respect to the Creator is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and confidence". If we keep pressing on in life and put our complete trust in God, he will take care of us. That is the promise he has made to us. Wisdom 11:24-26 says about God "For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it?" In other words, God would not create something that he hates. Why would he do that? The only reason we exist is because God wants us to exist. He wants us to exist because he loves us. This reality should remain constantly in our hearts and minds. No matter what happens, no matter how painful, no matter how ugly, no matter how bad we are, we are still here because God wants us to be. He loves us.

The Point

* Because we were created by God's hands, he is the only person who knows us completely
* Because God chose to give us life, everything we have comes from him
* God made us so that we could experience and reflect his love
* Hope comes from the Holy Spirit (God). In this way, God guides us towards him everyday
* If you exist, God loves you. You exist because God wants you to.

Real Life

About 6 years ago, on a snowy night in Kentucky, a police officer knocked on my front door. He came to tell me that my sister had crashed her car on the highway. She had been ejected from the vehicle and when they found her, she was underneath her car. The cop gave us the impression that she was alive. So, I got into the car with my family and a friend. We drove to the hospital and the car ride was deathly quiet on the way to the hospital. When we arrived, I was scared. I imagined that if she were alive, her body would be mangled and it would be a disturbing sight. We entered the hospital and were shocked to find her laying in the bed completely intact. Despite being ejected from her car on the highway, she had no broken bones, but only a fractured nose and a fractured vertebrae! She was unconscience, but she awoke later.

After reading these readings, I am reminded that my little sister remains alive today (she made a complete recovery) because God wills it. She (just like me) was not living a holy lifestyle at the time of the crash. Maybe she was not headed towards heaven at that time, and God wanted to save her. "God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end."

God loves us.

1- CCC 358
2- CCC 301
3- click here to read about hope from Sept. 28th

http://massexcitement.blogspot.com/2008/09/lifes-not-fair-but-what-about-god.html

Gospel
Mt 22:15-21

The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion,
for you do not regard a person's status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax."
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
They replied, "Caesar's."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10

R. (7b) Give the Lord glory and honor.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Worship the LORD, in holy attire;
tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The LORD is king,
he governs the peoples with equity. R. Give the Lord glory and honor.

"Time to Feast" - For Sunday Mass October 12, 2008

2008-10-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

This week's readings are quite similar to last week's. God speaks of how he gives us all that we need to enter heaven and to do his will. With this in mind, God has high expectations of us and there are terrible consequences if we don't give him the thanksgiving and respect that he deserves. Last week, we focused on prayer as a way to be good stewards of God's grace. This week's commentary will focus on the grace (undeserved help) that God gives us. What exactly does God offer us and why should we care? There is commentary following the 1st reading and the Gospel.

Reading 1
Is 25:6-10a

On this mountain the LORD of hosts
will provide for all peoples
a feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
the web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from every face;
the reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.
On that day it will be said:
"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!"
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.

Isaiah's Prophecy

We must recall that Isaiah is a prophetic book written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. The accuracy of the prophecies in this book is amazing. Isaiah's prophecies include the virgin birth of Jesus (7:14), Jesus' death for our sins (53:4-6), and other prophecies as well. This week's reading from Isaiah talks about the time when God will "destroy death forever". What is Isaiah talking about? Death comes from sin1 and we Christians believe that Jesus' crucifixion "liberates us from sin"2 (and thus, death). So the day when God "will destroy death forever" is the day of Jesus' crucifixion-which destroys death. Let's look at what God is offering us in the context of this reading.

Freedom From Blindness, Sadness, and the Veil

In life, we have all experienced sadness. Yet, what brings us the deepest sadness? Is it the death of a loved ones? No, we shall see our loved ones after we die. It seems that the saddest experience of human life is sin. In this dark place that sin creates, we feel guilty. We feel alone. We feel ashamed. We grow scared. Have you ever felt this way after sinning or being the victim of a sin? Sin is sad enough to bring tears. In this reading, we remember that God "will wipe away the tears from every face". God, doesn't want us to wallow in our sadness which we have created through our own sins. He wants to "remove the blame (reproach)" we deserve for our unrepentent sins and the sins others have committed against us. God offers to free us of the darkness and blindness of sin. In John chapter 9, Jesus mentions this "blindness" which comes from sin. And this is the "veil" that Isaiah talks about in this reading. Sin is the darkest veil which prevents us from seeing God! In 2nd Corinthians 3:16, Paul talks about this same "veil" being taken away by Christ. The image of a veil is used in several places in the Old Testament to describe something which blocks people from seeing something else. The "veil" hides the Angel of the Lord3, the Lord himself4, and the glory of God5.

The Savior

So here we are, blinded, by sin (the veil) and drowning in our own tears. The sin in our life is our greatest source of sadness and fear. Then, God comes to Earth and dies for us. Isaiah says, "On that day it will be said:"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the LORD for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!" If we are sad because of sin (often the reason for deep sadness), we need to look at a crucifix and see our God who died for us because he wanted to wipe away our tears and remove the veil of blindness ("the web that is woven over all nations") which we wear every time we sin. We are reminded in this reading that God loves us and he wants to help us.

Experiencing God's compassion and love for us is so beautiful and powerful that we must give thanks to God and remember what he has done and continues to do for us. With God's love and compassion in mind, we remember that we can "do all things in him who strengthens me" as Paul says in the second reading.

Reading II
Phil 4:12-14, 19-20

Brothers and sisters:
I know how to live in humble circumstances;
I know also how to live with abundance.
In every circumstance and in all things
I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry,
of living in abundance and of being in need.
I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.

My God will fully supply whatever you need,
in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel
Mt 22:1-14 or 22:1-10

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people
in parables, saying,
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants
to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying,
‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops,
destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.’
The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,
and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests,
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?'
But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet,
and cast him into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’
Many are invited, but few are chosen."

Here Jesus talks about a feast "the king" gave for "his son". This feast for the son fits with the crucifixion reference in the first reading. There are messengers who invite people to this great feast. Jesus is talking about how God sends messengers calling us to God. We hear and see the messengers of God through our parents, our children, priests, and even non-Christians who love us. In these people, we see and hear God calling us to him. These are some of "the messengers" that Jesus was referring to in this reading.

Too Busy for God

One of the people invited in this reading, refuses to go because of his business. The root word of "business" is "busy". Is this not our most popular excuse today when God calls us to love and serve him in our everyday lives? What are we so busy doing? We are busy watching TV. We are busy working. We are busy talking on our cell phones. Sooner or later, the end of our lives will approach. We will want to enter "the feast"- heaven. Yet, after we die, Jesus might say to us "how is it that you came here unprepared (not dressed in a wedding garment)?"

I pray that our excuse is not "I was busy" because that's just not going to cut it as a good excuse. This week's readings tell us that God knows what pitiful condition we are in. He knows our sadness. He knows our lonliness. He knows our blindness caused by lives of sin. There is only one way to take all that sin and sadness away. It took the death our beloved, beautiful, innocent Jesus. We are talking about the beautiful infant Jesus born in a manger with the purpose of growing to DIE on the cross. God is not "too busy" for us. How can we be "too busy" for him?

God loves us!

1- Romans 10:12
2- CCC 654
3- Numbers 22:31
4- Leviticus 16:2
5- Exodus 34:33-35

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

R. (6cd) I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Will Jesus Take it All Away?

2008-10-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

In this week's news, Jesus announced he will provide a spiritual bailout package. The strong moral decline has been caused by believers who have defaulted on their baptismal promises. Seriously though, unlike some working-class people, Jesus demands responsibility and that is a central theme in this week's Mass readings.

This week's readings revolve around the analogy of the vineyard. In the first reading, Isaih compares the Israelites to a vineyard. God has made preparations and have given the Israelites all that they need to serve him. But behold, Israel has produced "wild grapes". In other words, Israel has screwed up. Within the context of all 3 readings, we can see that God is displeased with the people he has entrusted his grace with. In the Gospel reading, the tenants (us-the people of God) make very poor use of the master's property. Despite the fact that the tenants (us) have been given all they need to proper, they act in an evil manner. The chief priests and elders know what justice calls for: "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." Jesus replies, "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit." Personally, I don't want all that I have been given to be taken away from me. I don't want to waste what God has given me and few people do. These readings suggest that there are terrible consequences if we "do not produce fruit".

In the second reading, Paul tells us to "have no anxiety at all". He recommends that we pray and "the God of peace will be with you." This week's commentary focuses on prayer. Why do we pray? How do we pray? How does prayer protect us from being "evil tenants", and how can prayer keep us from losing everything that God has given us? There is commentary following the 2nd reading. The rest of the readings are at the end.

Reading II
Phil 4:6-9

Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.

Why We Should Pray

First of all, why is prayer important? Prayer is our relationship with God.1 After all, we can't go tandem bicycling with God, or play video games with him, so we must talk to him instead. Prayer is the encounter of God's desire for us, and our desire for him.2 Prayer is a way to experience union with God.3 Prayer is a way we nourish our relationship with God, just as conversation nourishes any of our friendships. First, we will discuss thanksgiving and petition, quality prayer, and finally, the peace and "fruits of prayer". In all of this, we shall learn how to be good "tenants" and avoid losing what God has given us.

Saying Thanks and Asking for Favors

In this reading, Paul includes thanksgiving as an important part of prayer. Why is thanksgiving important? First of all, it is God's will. The bible says, "In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."4 But why is it God's will? For one thing, expressing thanksgiving brings joy . It makes us happier. Thanksgiving is an expression of truth- the truth that all that we have comes from God. This idea of all things coming from God is a major theme of this week's readings. Thanksgiving gives us joy because it allows us to enjoy life. After all, have you ever been on vacation with one person who is constantly complaining while another person is extremely thankful? Which person is more full of joy? The thankful one of course! So, joy is a "fruit" of the holy spirit.5 That means, that joy becomes a permanent disposition of ours through the grace of the Holy Spirit. This comes largely through prayer. So, constant thanksgiving can make us permanently thankful and therefore, permanently joyful! God wants us to be joyful because he loves us and THAT is why it is God's will that we give thanks constantly.

Paul also says that we should "make our requests known to God". Why should we ask God to do things for us? We ask for God's help because "petitioning" God is an important part of prayer because when we ask for God's help we show that “we are aware of our relationship with God"6 In other words, as we ask God for help, we admit that he is involved in our lives and that we NEED his help. THis is critical to our relationship with God. After all, if we don't think we need him, then, we will go on without him, perhaps straight to hell. John 14:13 says that we give glory to God if we ask for anything in Jesus' name. In other words, asking God for favors admits that God can do anything and therefore asking God for help glorifies him. God wants us to ask for his help. We must do it every day!

To give thanks to God and to ask for his help, is to be a good "tenant" and to remain on the "vine" of life- God.

Quality Prayer

In this reading, Paul says that we should think about what is pure, just, etc. Isn't that what prayer is? In prayer, we think about God who is perfectly pure, just, lovely etc. God is great! With our eyes and hearts focused on someone so beautiful, we will experience "the peace of God that surpasses all understanding". Even popular secular literature admits that we tend to become what we think about most. To pray means to think about God. To think about God brings peace.

"The life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him.”7 Communion can be defined as "intimate communication". How would you like to be in intimate communication with the creator of the universe? That's what prayer is! God desires prayer and he desires communion. On the other hand, the devil despises that we experience communion with God. And so during prayer, we find ourselves distracted (the devil is pleased with this). I remember being at mass one day, and I couldn't stop thinking about fantasy football (an online game where grown men pretend like they are football coaches). During prayer, we experience distraction and in this distraction, we can see our attachment to THINGS and creatures (people).8 We are trying to pray and we find ourselves thinking about money, work, and our significant others. Sometimes, it seems like we are thinking of anything and everything besides God during our prayers! This experience reminds us that we are too attached to the world and not attached enough to God. We are warned in Matt 6:24 that we cannot serve 2 masters, yet continuous distraction and focus on something other than God during prayer can be a sign that we are INDEED trying to serve 2 masters.

The remedy is simple-we must pray more and reduce the amount of time and passion we give to things and people.9 If we are attached to God, we will be be good tenants, and we WILL produce fruit. God will help us do that.

Prayer is Not Enough

In this reading, Paul tells us to "Keep on DOING what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me." Christian life and prayer cannot be separated. Christian prayer involves continual sacrifice. In order to pray, we must turn off the television, be off the phone, and away from people. Christian life is the same way. Christian living involves sacrifice of time, resources, and personal ambitions. So our prayer resembles our christian life and our Christian life looks like our prayers. Paul says "Keep on DOING. Then the God of peace will be with you." So to pray that we will forgive the trespasses of others, and not actually do it, is a waste of time, energy and life. However, if we do what we pray, the peace we experience will be extraordinary. That is the promise of this reading.

Paul says, "keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me." I'm not sure if I've EVER known anyone who had the confidence to say that when talking about life in general. I have, however heard people say things like "daddy smokes, but you shouldn't" or "Yes, I am involved in premarital sex, but you shouldn't be". The reason Paul had the confidence to say "do what I do" was because he practiced what he preached! In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, "yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me." So when Paul hears Jesus saying,"the kingdom of God will be given to a people who produce its fruits." He has no fear. His life and his prayers are the same- both given to God. If we pray unceasingly and live out our prayer life by loving God above ALL THINGS and our neighbor as ourselves, we will have no fear and "the peace of God will be with [us]."

The Point

* prayer is our relationship with God. No prayer means no relationship- period
* constant thanksgiving to God brings joy! that joy can become a permanent part of us!
* we should ask for God's help for every area of our lives. If we don't want to let him into an area of our lives, it's usually because we are sinful in that area, or we are excessively proud (we think we don't need his help)
* prayer is intimate communication with God. This can only bring peace and happiness in life
* distraction in prayer reveals what we are attached to. Without an increased detachment, our prayer life and our Christian life will suffer
* we ask for God's help in prayer, but we must do our part as well, by living the faith by putting God above EVERYTHING and EVERYONE and by treating EVERYONE with love.

Real Life

I spent a year as a missionary. Those missionaries pray constantly. They pray everytime we drive from our home to El Paso. They pray during the drive from El Paso to Mexico. They pray during the work itself in Mexico. They pray all of the time! At first, I thought it was TOO MUCH prayer. But after a while, I began to dislike the prayer a lot less. I began to develop this unfamiliar intimacy with God. Worry and stress started to be replaced by peace, joy, and courage. I made a documentary of this missionary community. Click below to see the 7-minute documentary.God loves us!

1- CCC 2558
2- CCC 2560
3- CCC 2725
4- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
5- CCC 1832
6- CCC 2629
7- CCC 2565
8- CCC 2729
9- Loving people is what God asks us to do, but if we are more attached to a person than we are to God, we cannot serve God.

Reading 1
Is 5:1-7

Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend's song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes,
but what it yielded was wild grapes.

Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?
Now, I will let you know
what I mean to do with my vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!
Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to send rain upon it.
The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his cherished plant;
he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20

R. (Is 5:7a) The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
A vine from Egypt you transplanted;
you drove away the nations and planted it.
It put forth its foliage to the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Why have you broken down its walls,
so that every passer-by plucks its fruit,
The boar from the forest lays it waste,
and the beasts of the field feed upon it?
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
O LORD, God of hosts, restore us;
if your face shine upon us, then we shall be saved.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Gospel
Mt 21:33-43

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

"Life's Not Fair. Is God Fair?" - God's Gifts To Us

2008-09-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

This week's commentary is a message of God's incredible love. There is an uplifting story at the end. There is commentary after the 1st reading only.

Reading 1
Ez 18:25-28

Thus says the LORD:
You say, "The LORD's way is not fair!"
Hear now, house of Israel:
Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?
When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,
it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die.
But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed,
he does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life;
since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.

In this reading, God is talking about death. It's clear that he is not talking about mortal death, because regular mortal death is something that happens to everyone. Eternal death relates to heaven and hell. Regarding THIS subject, people 2000 years ago and people today complain that there is a heaven and hell. Whether we like it or not, heaven and hell both exist. Most people believe in heaven, but less people believe in hell.

Here virtue is discussed. But what is virtue? Virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.1 In other words, virtue is a natural inclination to do good. This is God's gift to us.

The first reading talks about how a man turns away from virtue and then dies. Where does virtue come from? Virtue comes from God. God gives us 3 virtues as a grace to us and for his glory. They are faith, hope, and charity. These cannot be earned, they are given to us by God and we have the choice to use these gifts, or to refuse and destroy them.

Charity

God has instilled in us charity. Charity is the inclination towards “loving God above all other things for God’s sake and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God”. Some people think that we humans are evolved from apes and that we developed purely out of chance. Evolutionists assert that we are just a masses of cells moving around the planet. If I am just a mass of cells, then why do I feel like I should be nice to everyone? Why do I feel bad when I mistreat people? Why do I feel bad when I mistreat myself? The answer is that God has instilled in me (and you) the inclination towards loving God above all other things for God's sake and my neighbor as myself for love of God. That's why we feel remorse and envy, whereas ladybugs cannot. Sometimes we act charitably towards others. In those tiny moments of charity, we are given a glimpse of how God loves. Charity is one God-given virtue that "someone turns away from" in the first reading. God gives us the gift of charity, and we often reject it, or refuse to use it.

Hope

God has also given us the virtue of hope. Through hope, we desire the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness and we put our trust in Christ.2 Hope sustains us because hoping and trusting in God does not result in disappointment.4 God keeps his promises. Hoping in God gives us joy even when we are suffering difficulties. It's just like a man who loves his family immensely. He can still smile after a terrible day at work. Hope is a precious gift from God.

Every person wants hope. When asking someone how they are doing, have you ever heard them say, "same old crap, it's just a different day"? We all need hope and we all want something to hope in. God has already infused this hope in us at baptism. Shall we waste it, or use it? Another important note: our hope is nourished through prayer. Just like the wife who misses her husband- her hope is nourished when she hears his voice over the phone. Her hope is restored even though she misses him. We must pray if want something to hope in. If that prayer is to God we have something even better: some-ONE to hope in. He doesn't disappoint. Hope is a gift from God.

Faith

God has given us the natural inclination to "believe in everything that he has said and revealed to us, and everything that Holy Church proposes for our belief."3 You can see this in children. They have not yet sinned against their faith, so they believe everything that their loving parents tell them. Sooner or later, the parents (unlike God)are not 100% truthful to their children, so the children have difficulty believing. We all have faith until we sin against it. Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin had faith, until they sinned against it. Just like everything else in life, God gives us the choice to refuse him so that we can also have the choice to choose him willingly. Just like charity and hope, every person wants faith. Everyone wants to believe in something. That may explain why most people in the world believe in God even though they have never seen him. It seems illogical to believe in something you can't see. Yet,the reason why we have faith is that God wrote that desire in our hearts because he loves us. God completes that desire to know him when he gives us faith at baptism. Faith is a tremendous gift because if God did not give us faith, we would never know him- and how tragic would that be? Most people believe in the God they cannot see because he gave us that desires to kno him as a gift to us.

The Reason For the Gifts

These virtues God has given us. 2nd Peter 1:4 says, "he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature". So, through baptism, God has given us faith, hope, and charity, so that we can be and love like him. Think of Jesus on the cross. He has been abandoned by his friends, he is humiliated by spectators. He has nails in his hands and feet. But, because Jesus has faith, he believes that God will offer salvation to all of God's lowly people, so Jesus remains on the cross. Jesus has perfect faith. Because Jesus has hope, he knows that heaven is just around the corner, so he suffers without complaint even though it hurts like crazy. Because Jesus has charity,he thinks only of forgiving the people who had tortured him as well as the thief next to him.

Jesus is a very good person. We love him and we wish that we could be more like him. Isn't that what all of our heroes are made of? Our heroes are often men and women who sacrifice of themselves for the benefit of the less fortunate or for the sake of goodness even though the world hates and kills them for it. And so, God wants us to share in his great love and to be just like him. He gives us hope, faith, and charity that is necessary. In this reading, the Lord says, "When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die." We know very well that God has given us everything. He has given us faith, hope, and charity. If we refuse these things, we will surely die. Because they come from Jesus "the vine", the branches cannot survive without the vine. So if we sin against our faith and refuse God's virtues, not only will we die, but we will choose an eternity in hell with the same God who offers us life eternal.

How to Practice Virtue

We musn't be afraid to hear this. We must take courage. Is God not telling us what he desires for us through his gifts? His gifts tell us that he desires each one of us to be in heaven with him.

* Faith- In order to keep it, we must not sin against it. If we have sinned against our faith (we always do), we must quit that sin and go to confession.

* Hope- In order to maintain our hope, we must pray. Praying 30 seconds before each meal is not enough. If prayer time was listed on your phone bill, would God be the most contacted person? Or would it be your boyfriend, or best friend? Would Jesus even be ON your phone bill? We must pray constantly and God will nourish the hope he has already given us.

* Charity- In order to persevere in charity, we must be loving to our enemies. That means we have to love people who hate us and we even have be loving towards people who ANNOY the heck out of us (especially those people). Jesus loved those hard-headed annoying apostles, so he wants us to do the same.

Real Life

Since I left missionary work, I've been looking for a job. I believed from the beginning that God would find a job that HE wanted for me. I believed that God would give me a sign when the right job came along. As decision time approached, I prayed even more for God's help especially in making a decision. I made the decision about which job to take just recently. This past week, I had interviewed with a lady. She sent me an email a day later which said,"Something interesting happened after I dropped you off [at airport]. I kept thinking about this would work out so I started working on straightening out some really old files which are pertinent to [the job]. In the card I sent you something that I found in those files."

This morning, I received her card in the mail. Inside was a greeting card with 3 napkins inside. On these napkins was my name in bronze-colored embossing. For some reason, in the file cabinet related to the job, she found 3 napkins with my name on them right after the interview. She wrote in her card, "I hope Chicago*[she knew I had an interview with another company the same week] is pleasant. But, I really hope and pray that Detroit*[the city where her company is] is calling you." I smiled when I saw this and then I went to my bedroom.

When I got there, I was filled with this incredible feeling of warm and perfect love. I believe that God was reminding me which job he wanted me to take. But this feeling would not go away and I started to get emotional. Even though I know God loves me, I kept wandering "why do you love me so much Lord?" So I dropped to my knees in tears and told God, "I love you, I love you, I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you." I thought of Jesus asking Peter if he loved Jesus. Then I thought of the 3 napkins in the letter. I thought of faith, hope, and charity, and I thought of the 3 napkins. I thought of God's incredible faithfulness. Not only did he want to communicate to ME which job to take, he wanted to communicate it to my future boss as well! When this happened, I saw in my mind God (with a white beard) embracing me. I felt as though God was hugging me. I felt as though I was in his presence. Before his immense glory and love, I felt very, very small and I wondered: "Why does he love us so much?" If you ever wondered if God cares about your job, he does. He cares about everything you do. God loves us!

*This picture was taken on 9-27-08. These are not the true city names.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14

R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Reading II
Phil 2:1-11 or 2:1-5

Brothers and sisters:
If there is any encouragement in Christ,
any solace in love,
any participation in the Spirit,
any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests,
but also for those of others.

Have in you the same attitude
that is also in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel
Mt 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
"What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not, '
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go.
Which of the two did his father's will?"
They answered, "The first."
Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him."

1- CCC 1803
2- CCC 1817
3- CCC 1814
4- Romans 5:5

Answering the Call and Getting Paid- God's Call For Us

2008-09-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

This week, the stock market had it's biggest daily drop since the September 11th attacks. Some people are even afraid of an extended recession also known as a depression. This week's Gospel talks about the employer who unlike the stock market, always pays up. That employer is God.

This week’s readings are about how God calls us. The 1st reading describes what we are called to do. The Gospel, talks about how, when, and by whom we are called. Finally, the 2nd reading, tells us how to respond to the call properly. This picture also reminds me of the face we often make when God tells us that we have to STOP sinning.

Reading 1
Is 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.

God Calls

Isaih says that God calls us to forsake our wicked ways and to turn to the Lord. Quite simply, that is the fundamental command that God gives us. That is the fundamental call of all Christians. Jesus said “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.” So many Christians, especially those who want to take their faith up a level are asking, “what does God want me to do?” More fundamentaly important than any charitable work, is God’s demand that we keep the commandments. Immediately after speaking the fundamental mission of the believer, Isaih talks about forgiveness. Why is that? Why is forgiveness such an important part of God's call to us?

Why does lack of forgiveness prevent us from answering God’s call? First of all, does God not ask us in his central prayer to forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us? Forgiveness is an indispensable party of daily, Christian life. Lack of forgiveness, is a not just a speed bump, but an impenetrable WALL between us and God. We can't answer God's call if we don't forgive because lack of forgiveness shows mistrust in God. How can we have a relationship with God if we don't trust him? We can't!

In the Lord’s prayer, we are told to forgive those who trespass against us. That includes forgiving OURSELVES! When we sin, we sin against God and we sin against ourselves. Our sin makes us afraid and angry. WE become angry towards ourselves and God. We fear ourselves and we fear God. Forgiveness allows us to rely on God’s mercy as Isaih says in the first reading. Forgiveness frees us of the anger and fear that sin creates. Isaih goes on to say that God’s ways are much greater than ours. His mercy and forgiveness is much greater than ours. We have serious difficulty forgiving ourselves and others. God’s mercy is so great that we can call on him for help. Once we take that step, we are well prepared to accept God’s call. We put our trust in the Lord and we give up our unnecessary baggage (unforgiveness).

God calls us to to turn away from sinfulness, and towards him. He asks us to forgive ourselves and others as we rely on the mercy of God. If we don’t do this, we cannot answer God’s call to us. Now let's look at the call from God.

Gospel
Mt 20:1-16a

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock,
the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock,
the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
‘These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply,
‘My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The Gift of Salvation

This gospel is about how God offers salvation to all. Jesus uses this parable to teach this important lesson about God. Those people who the landowner calls are those standing in the streets. These people are probably not the most powerful people in the city. These are the people who are desperate and perhaps the less desired workers. It is not that these workers are great that they are offered wages. It is because of the landowner’s generosity. Just like the landowner, God calls and offers wages (salvation) to everyone. Salvation is free of charge- even to lowly sinners like ourselves.

So God calls everyone at different times in their lives. Some people have been living holy lives since birth and there are some who answer God’s call late in life. All are recipients of God’s same generous salvation . That is an important message in this parable. Equal wages in this gospel reminds us that we are not saved by God because we have done anything to earn it. We all get salvation (the same wage) because God offers it to us because of his generosity.

Some of the workers complain because they thought they would get more. This is very similar to the Gospel account in Luke 9:46 where the disciples are arguing over which one of them was the greatest. Jesus says, “the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." It takes real humility to admit that all we have comes from God and the salvation and forgiveness we have received from God comes free of charge. So, no matter how good our behavior is, and when God calls us, we are not better than anyone else.

Now, that we know that God saves us for free, what is he calling us to do?

Reading II
Phil 1:20c-24, 27a

Brothers and sisters:
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
I am caught between the two.
I long to depart this life and be with Christ,
for that is far better.
Yet that I remain in the flesh
is more necessary for your benefit.

Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.

How to Answer the Call

Paul says that to answer his call is to “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ” or to do what God (the landowner) says. So God is asking us to answer his call by obeying his commandments. In Matthew 5:19, Jesus says that : whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. God's calling as described in this week's readings is very simple. We need to follow the commandments. We have to love God, and each other- that is our calling.

The Point
· God is calling ALL of us to turn away from sin, and turn to the Lord
· It is impossible to turn to the Lord without first asking God forgiveness and forgiving others as well as ourselves. Forgiveness shows that we believe and trust in God’s mercy
· In God’s call, he offers to save us. He does so free of charge. No one who receives God’s forgiveness and help is greater than another.
· God calls us to obey his commandments.

Real Life

This week, I was talking to my mom and she told me that she had been going to church for 30 years and never really had faith in God. That didn't really surprise me. I have been concerned about my mom for a long time now. I don't think she's ever been to confession and this has been a big concern of mine for a long time. After all, what will happen to her soul if she does not reconcile with God before her death? She is my mom, and I want her to go to heaven!

On Sunday, she listened to a priest talking on television about the faith, and she felt her eyes being opened to God. She asked me and my dad some fundamental questions about the faith and said that she was very happy and finally felt like she was understanding God better.

I was so happy because I had been praying fervently for her for the last year, and yesterday, she took a big step towards God and towards heaven without anyone forcing God down her throat. It’s true that God does call some people at “the end of the day” but, we must persist in prayer until the end our lives and even after we die. We must ask God to help us trust in him and turn to he “who is generous and forgiving”.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18

R. (18a) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Jesus Eats His Wheaties

2008-09-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

If Jesus was alive today, which breakfast cereal would he eat? Personally, my favorite is Capn’ Crunch. Few people like original Cap’n Crunch but I find those sweet scrumptious morsels even more desirable than my favorite meat Spam. On a serious note, I think Jesus DID eat breakfast. The 2nd reading this week hints at how Jesus is a lot like us. There is commentary following the 2nd Reading and the rest of the readings are at the bottom.

Reading II
Phil 2:6-11

Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

God Assumes Humanity

Jesus was God. God created everything on Earth. He created everything for man. He created mountains for us to see. He created animals as a gift to us. He created man and woman as a gift to each other. He made life possible for each one of us. He knew the risks involved in making a creature that could think on its own. God knew that his creature could even grow to hate his Creator. Yet our God is a loving God. He has given us everything even though we have done nothing to deserve it. He has given us life.

Now God knew that we had screwed up the world and we were drenched in terrible sin. So he decided to come to Earth to rescue us from this sin. This same God that created the Earth “emptied himself” and “humbled himself” by becoming human. Why is it an act of humility to go from having unlimited power to being human?

In Genesis, it says that whatever God said, came true. His word is so powerful, that all he has to do is say something and it happens. God is more powerful than we can imagine. Yet when God became human, he took on the vulnerability, frailty and weakness of humanity. He was born an infant. As an adult, he probably ate breakfast. Can we even fathom how ridiculous it is for God to eat breakfast? Why should he have to eat breakfast or drink water? After all, he is God!

Jesus’ Humanity

I would compare God becoming human to me becoming an ant. I don’t want to be an ant. I don’t want to eat what ants eat, and I don’t want to die easily like ants do. Like you or I becoming and ant, God assumed every bit of humanity including its limitations. Humanity restricted God even though Jesus was God. In Luke 2:52 it says that Jesus “advanced in wisdom”. That means that he got smarter. So just like you and me, he was well……. Not as smart when he was a toddler compared to adulthood. Most likely, he was drooling on his clothes and chewing on his mother’s new shoes as well! In Mark 6:38, Jesus asks “how many loaves do you have? Go and see”. Our Catholic faith tells us that Jesus’ human knowledge was true human knowledge and thus “could not be unlimited”(CCC 472) We should also keep in mind that because Jesus was begotten of the Father, he was the only human ever that knew the Father completely. Jesus remained God and human at the same time out of his own free will. He accepted all restrictions of humanity.

But don’t be scared of this teaching, because you have believed in Jesus’ true humanity ever since your baptism. As Christians, we MUST believe that Jesus was fully human! Otherwise, his death was not real and so it would be meaningless and fruitless. As it is, Jesus’ death was as real as ours is because he was as human as we are. And so, his suffering was real suffering, his human fear in Gethsemani was real human fear, and his death was a real human death with real human blood. He cried real human tears at Lazarus’ death. We should keep this in mind when we feel as though God does not understand us. We should remember in our times of suffering that God knows precisely what it means to suffer greatly. His willingness to become human is a display of his greatness and just how much he loves us.

In this reading, Paul says that he “humbled himself”. If we think of Jesus as a toddler and we picture Jesus eating breakfast and shedding real tears, and CRYING in an itchy manger, it is very easy to understand that when the same God who made Heaven and Earth took on this silly, vulnerable, weak humanity, he truly “humbled himself”. God knew that it was necessary to become human. He did it because he loves us. And so with all of our hearts, minds, and souls we should “exalt him.” At the name of Jesus, our knees should bend and we should be reverent at this most holy name of the God who so loved the world that he gave his only Son.

This Week

This week is called the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for sin and he made himself an offering for our salvation. Without the cross, we would be doomed. With the cross we are saved. During this feast, we must keep in mind that WE are responsible for Jesus’ death on the cross. Without our terrible sins, the crucifixion would have been unnecessary. Those men who crucified Jesus did not understand as we understand that Jesus is Lord. Yet, we do know who he is. So when WE sin, we hammer the nails into Jesus’ hands and we whip him across his back again and again. For those present at the crucifixion, Jesus said, “forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Yes, Jesus killers didn’t fully know what they were doing or who they were killing. However, we don’t have the same excuse. It seems to me that we DO know what we are doing when we sin, and we DO know WHO we are hurting. And, so the sin we see everyday should fill us with absolute disgust. We should vow now to never again willingly lay violent hands on Jesus.

The Point

· God lowered himself when he became human for our sake
· God shows us how much he loves us by becoming a lowly human
· With each of our sins, we crucify Jesus again by refusing to love him back.

Real Life

Reading 1
Nm 21:4b-9

With their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38

R. (see 7b) Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Hearken, my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable,
I will utter mysteries from of old.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
While he slew them they sought him
and inquired after God again,
Remembering that God was their rock
and the Most High God, their redeemer.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But they flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues,
Though their hearts were not steadfast toward him,
nor were they faithful to his covenant.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But he, being merciful, forgave their sin
and destroyed them not;
Often he turned back his anger
and let none of his wrath be roused.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!

Gospel
Jn 3:13-17

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus Says "Lay the Smack Down!"

2008-09-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

I knew this guy named Mister G. He was telling me an old war story once. He said that he was somewhere in the Pacific when he and a fellow soldier saw a young local girl. Mister G’s friend, grabbed the girl, and raped her right in front of Mister G. Mister G said that the whole thing was awful. I was only about 13 when I heard this story, but I remember thinking “why didn’t you stop this guy?”. Mister G said he didn’t stop the guy because he was his superior officer.

This is an ugly story, yet it very clearly expresses the message in this week’s Gospel- we are supposed to stand up for what is right. Commentary is after the Gospel.

Reading 1
Ez 33:7-9

Thus says the LORD:
You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die, ”
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,
the wicked shall die for his guilt,
but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked,
trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt,
but you shall save yourself.

Reading II
Rom 13:8-10

Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, ”
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Gospel
Mt 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that ‘every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.
If he refuses to listen even to the church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”

Take Courage and Criticize

Both the 1st reading and the Gospel encourage us to criticize and discourage sin. In the first reading, Ezekiel is told that he is the "watchman for the house of Israel." But as we read in context of the entire Bible (as we always should) we can see in this week's readings that God is not just talking to Ezekiel. He is making the same demand of all of us Christians. In the Gospel reading, Jesus said, "if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault." And so, God wants all of us to take courage and reprimand others when they sin. Does that mean that every time someone makes a mistake, we should criticize them? No.

What's Worth Criticizing

This week's Gospel is telling us what sort of things are worth criticizing. Popular magazines suggest that we should criticize each others clothes (best dressed vs. worst dressed). The same popular opinion suggests that men be criticized for not making enough money, and that women should be criticized for their physical appearance. But in this week's readings, God is telling us what is truly worth criticizing- sin. For instance, in the 1st reading, God tells Ezekiel to turn (dissuade) the wicked from his way- in other words, tell him to stop sinning. In the Gospel, Jesus says that if "your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault." The 2nd reading says the same: "love does no evil (sin) to the neighbor. So Jesus gives us permission to point out sinful ways. It is sin that God is so concerned with that he wants us to point out sinfulness so as to discourage it.

In Romans 1:32 Paul is talking about sin when he says, "they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." In that passage, he is saying that not only is it wrong to sin, but is very wrong to give approval to those who sin. And why doesn't God want us to sin? Because it separates us from loving union with God. We Catholics believe that if we persist in mortal (serious) sin without repenting until death, we permanently and irreversibly abandon God and choose an eternity in hell. God does not want that! He wants loving union between us! Just look at communion, confession, and marriage as examples of how God desires loving union!

The Way to Criticize

God even gives us practical means to criticize each other for our sins. Just look at 1st Corinthians 13:4-6 where Paul describes love:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
: it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
: it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth."

So let's say I am criticizing my brother's alcohol abuse. Do I realize that this is a sin which hurts my brother, God, and others? Am I patient and kind with my brother when I criticize? Am I inflated when I brag about my own sobriety and self-control? Am I rude? Do I criticize my brother in front of others in order to make myself look better (own interests)? Am I quick-tempered when I find my brother drunk? Am I happy that my brother is a drunk and I am a success in comparison (rejoiceful over wrongdoing)?

I once heard a story of a lady who visited St. Padre Pio in the confessional and he chased her out of the confessional. She returned later and asked Padre why he had chased her out. He said, "I saw your 2 sons in hell because of your permissive parenting!" Yes, not only do the things we do and say have the potential to send others to hell, but what we DON'T say can end in our loved ones suffering for eternity. We have opportunities everyday to discourage people from sin, and yet we pass up those chances because we care more about getting along with others temporarily than we do about the eternal destination of our loved ones. We must take courage discourage people from sinning!

The Only Way

Matthew 7:3-5 talks about removing the wooden beam out of your eye before trying to remove the splinter from your brother's eye. The point of this passage is not that we should never criticize. Rather, it ends with "remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." In other words it's okay to help your brother out by criticizing his sinfulness, but it is impossible if YOU don't stop sinning first. So it's impossible to tell our friends to be chaste when we are sleeping with our boyfriends/girlfriends. It's impossible to teach our children charity when we ourselves are not charitable. It is difficult or impossible to stop our friends from sinning when we are completely addicted to our own sins. We have to quit our sins.

Real Life

A little more than a month ago, my sister and I met a homeless man outside of church. He stopped me and asked me to pray for him. I was a little bit surprised because homeless people don't usually ask for prayers. "What do you want to pray for?" I asked. His name is Sean and he told me that his sister and his mom had died and their deaths had "messed up his mind". So we prayed and then my sister and I bought him lunch. We also prayed again for him and told him that God loved him. He wept for at least a few minutes after the prayer.

Last week, I had lunch with Sean and it was my first time seeing him since my sister and I bought him lunch. He is from Rocky Mount, NC and he is 36 years old. He likes to fish. Again, I saw him outside of Church. As soon as I sat down next to him outside of the church, he started crying and he told me that he had been "going through some things" and that he didn't know why he had to suffer so much. He also told me that he seriously considered suicide just 3 days before. I asked him if he wanted to have lunch, and he said yes. As soon as he sat in my car, he said, "I apologize for how I smell". I said nothing.

So we went to Chic-fil-a. Sean told me with tears in his eyes that last night, a man saw Sean sleeping on a bench and pulled out a gun and told Sean that the park was his. Sean said he was scared. Just a couple days prior, Sean was sleeping in the same park when I group of young people urinated in a cup and then poured it on Sean. He did nothing in response but leave the area. I noticed that Sean was skinnier since I last saw him and I asked him why. He told me that he saw a doctor who told him that he has sickle-cell anemia. I later realized that this incurable disease causes extreme fatigue, and pain particularly in the joints. Sean became sad after the diagnosis and ate less.

Sean showed me a wound he had on his hand. He told me that he received the wound while sleeping under a bridge. He told me that the sleeping under the bridge was terrible because there are animals like rats and snakes that live there and he was all wet from the rain. He said, "thats no way for a person to live."

The whole time that Sean told me these stories, he did so with much humility and he did not feel sorry for himself. Rather, he felt it was bad that a person should suffer the way he did. He told me that he didn't kill himself because that was the coward's way out.

Later that night, after I dropped Sean off downtown near the church, I had dinner with my Mom. I was thinking about Sean and felt terrible that I was eating this gourmet meal while he slept under a bridge and literally ate from the garbage can. I was distracted and was playing with my food. My mom asked where I had been earlier and I told her I was with Sean (she had heard about him before). Then she asked me where Sean sleeps. I pictured this nice man sleeping under a bridge and I started crying big time when I told my mom where Sean slept. Truly, I felt like my heart was broken thinking about Sean. We are talking about someone I know who sleeps under a bridge! Sean is a nice guy. He doesn't deserve that!

I felt like sharing this story because I realized that these homeless people I see on the streets have names. They are people. They need help. Sean is on a waiting list to receive housing and if you want to help him out, please contact me. People with sickle cell anemia have a life expectancy of 42 years and Sean is 36.

Sean King

God loves us!

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

The Way to Heaven- For August 31, 2008

2008-08-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

I had a crush on this girl once before and she was at my house. She was from Eastern Europe and she was a Muslim. I was infatuated with her. I had left my Bible on a table. So before she came over, I flipped the Bible upside down so as to hide the cover. I was thinking that she might like me less if she saw a Bible. I also knew that I might engage in sinful activities with her and I didn't want the Bible around to remind me of my wrongdoing.

What a HORRIBLE sin! What a capital insult to God! Paul said not be be ashamed of the Gospel. Could I have expressed my shame of the Gospel in a more real way?

This story is similar to Peter's denial of Jesus, which we will discuss this week. If you want to know what is at the heart of Christian living, please read on. There is commentary following the Gospel and the other readings are at the end.

Reading II
Rom 12:1-2

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.

Gospel
Mt 16:21-27

Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”

Denial

Since the Gospel talks about denying ourselves, let's take a look at the classic story of Peter's denial of Jesus in Matthew 26:69-75.

Peter denies knowing Jesus to the point of cursing and swearing. Well, let’s imagine for a moment what it would be like to have your best friend arrested for a heresy against the church (a crime that would bring death). We are talking about the Church that you love and that you have given yourself to. What would that do to your reputation if everybody knew that you were best friends with a foul, blasphemous heretic- a man who according to the local priests was so horrible that he deserved to die? Yet in your heart, you are CERTAIN that this man is no heretic. He is the Son of the living God. He is God himself. You are certain of it. This was Peter's situation.

Now someone asks you, “hey, aren’t you friends with that heretic who just got arrested?" Uhhhhhhh………….. So here we are- Peter had an important decision to make. Would he “deny himself and take up his cross” (suffer embarrassment and persecution), or deny Jesus (God)?

In the second reading, Paul suggests us "to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice". Sacrifice means to surrender or give up for the sake of something else. Paul equates sacrifice with not acting like (conforming) to the current times. He also suggests (indirectly) that if we DON'T conform ourselves to the current times, we will be able to discern the will of God. In other words, the people of "this age" do not like to sacrifice themselves, nor do they know the will of God. The inability to sacrifice makes it difficult or impossible to know the will of God.

Now Peter had a major decision to make. Should he suffer extreme embarrassment and perhaps outcasting by the local Church, or should he "offer himself (his reputation) as a sacrifice holy and pleasing to God" as Paul says?

This is the decision we make every day. Do we deny ourselves, or do we deny Jesus? Do we sacrifice something that we want, or do we do whatever is popular? Jesus offers the answer in the Gospel. Here is what decision time looks like today:

Work and Money- The boss tells you to exaggerate or to lie for the financial benefit of the company and yourself. Do you deny yourself by losing the money and support of your boss, or do you deny Jesus by doing what is unethical?

Sexual Temptation- Do you deny yourself pleasure and remain chaste, or do you deny Jesus by giving in to temptation?

Telling the Truth- If you tell the truth, you will be embarrassed, but if you lie, you will be impressive to others. Do you deny yourself by speaking the embarrassing truth, or do you deny Jesus by lying and looking good to others?

Difficult People- A difficult person says something that annoys you. Do you sacrifice yourself and just put up with this person, or do you deny Jesus by fighting back?

Being a follower of Jesus is challenging. Every day we are left to decide between serving ourselves and serving God. Jesus loves us and he makes the following promise: "the Son of man will repay all according to his conduct"- that is, God will give you what your actions deserve. For people who "conform to this age" that is bad news. For those who've denied themselves for Jesus, these words are a promise of an eternity of joy. We must act accordingly.

Gospel

This gospel continues right after last week's where Peter was praised for being the only man who recognized Jesus. Peter knew that Jesus was God. Peter knew that Jesus was king of the Jews. Peter loved Jesus and he figured that it made no sense for the King to die. So he says, "God forbid!" But Jesus tells Peter that he is not "thinking as God does" (sacrifice yourself), but as human beings do (conform to this age). The 2nd reading describes the essence of our Christian lives and the mission of Jesus. We are not to conform to this age, but rather we are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God. Before Pentecost, Peter and the other apostles had difficulty understanding this. If they had understood this, they would not have run away when Jesus was captured. Again, it is suggested by Paul in the 2nd reading that without sacrificing, it is hard to see (discern) the will of God. That is why Jesus uses the powerful words "get behind me SATAN! You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Peter wanted Jesus to NOT sacrifice himself. Running away from sacrifice is to avoid the Christian life and mission- "to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice" as Paul says. Jesus is the perfect picture of how to live the real Christian life. He offers his body "as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." He also does not conform to this age.

The above examples, show real world situations we face every day. The world says to us "God forbid!" if we want to pass up overtime pay to be with our families, the world says "God forbid!" to couples who sacrifice of themselves by having lots of children. The world says to us "God forbid!" to a night of prayer rather than hanging out with friends. Our teacher says “Whoever wishes to come after me must DENY HIMSELF, TAKE UP HIS CROSS, and follow me. Personally, I know some people who live this way, and they look strange to the world. Yet in their eyes, you can see that their destiny is heaven and they have an incredible peace knowing that God "will repay all according to his conduct.”

The Point

Sacrificing our lives to God is a central part of Christian life
Jesus came to offer himself as a sacrifice for us. Why do we refuse to imitate him?
Every day, we choose to deny ourselves, or to deny Jesus. In the end all will be accounted for.
Without sacrificing of ourselves, we will not be able to know what everyone Christian wants to know- the will of God.
If our lives look like everyone else's in the world (conformity) it's unlikely we are aware or even concerned with God's will
Denying ourselves is a powerful way to imitate Christ.

Real Life

By a sheer gift from God, I lived a poor, missionary life for the past year. Every day, it was impossible to have what I wanted. I wanted air conditioning and it was difficult to sleep. But, I didn't get my way. I wanted to watch sports, but there was no television- I didn't get my way. I wanted to do as I pleased- yet I could not leave the property without permission. I wanted to use the internet, there was none available at the ranch. I wanted to hang out with friends, but they lived 1500 miles away. I wanted to take a shower, but I could only take 2 per week. The first 3 weeks was very difficult for me.

Everyone knows what happens when you give a child everything he wants. Soon, he literally screams because he can't have what he wants. In every situation, he is looking to get what he wants. He becomes mean to others and self-centered. He is difficult to be around. He can be very annoying to his friends in school (if he has friends). He has difficulty appreciating things. He often complains. Everyone has met children like this who always get what they want.

If everyone understands this, then why do we give ourselves permission to do whatever we want when we become adults? Why do we give ourselves what we want all of the time? Have we forgotten what that does to people? The more we get our way, the more we WANT to get our way. It is a powerful cycle of greed and blindness to God's will. If we weren't obsessed with having our way all of the time, we might be able to understand the life of Christ and how to be like him.

Now, when I visited my family last Christmas (after 4 months of a lifestyle of sacrifice), I noticed something. I was so accustomed to NOT getting my way, that I no longer CARED about getting my way. I would listen to someone talk, and I could SEE THEM clearly. I was able to listen patiently and keep my mouth shut. Before, I would be talking to someone, and I saw them as an obstacle to my schedule, and my goals. Before living in the desert, I was constantly thinking about what I wanted to say while someone was talking and so I was a terrible listener. I wanted my way all of the time.

And so what happened to me after living months of sacrifice? I no longer wanted my way because I was so used to it. So when God asked me to do something inconvenient, like listen to an annoying conversation, or tell the embarrassing truth, all of a sudden it was easier because I was accustomed to doing things I didn't want to do- sacrifice. After all, who actually enjoys fasting? Who likes telling the embarrassing truth? Who likes to say "no" to beautiful girls when they want to sin with you? These are not my favorite things to do!

Maybe we should sacrifice just as we do during lent with our primary fast being a fast from sinning. Maybe if we stop ourselves from ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, watching our favorite TV program, buying the newest toy and instead give our time and resources to God, we will understand sacrifice better. If it becomes part of our everyday lives, we might even be able to respond properly when Jesus says "I am going to suffer and die". Instead of saying, "God forbid!", we might say, "okay, I understand why you are doing this. I'm coming with you. Let me deny myself, take up MY cross and follow you my Lord."

God loves us.

Reading 1
Jer 20:7-9

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;
you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
the word of the LORD has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Would the Real Pope Please Stand Up?

2008-08-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI's homily

MASS FOR THE INAUGURATION OF THE PONTIFICATE OF POPE BENEDICT XVI

St. Peter's Square
Sunday, 24 April 2005

"How could 115 Bishops, from every culture and every country, discover the one on whom the Lord wished to confer the mission of binding and loosing? Once again, we knew that we were not alone, we knew that we were surrounded, led and guided by the friends of God. And now, at this moment, weak servant of God that I am, I must assume this enormous task, which truly exceeds all human capacity. How can I do this? How will I be able to do it? All of you, my dear friends, have just invoked the entire host of Saints, represented by some of the great names in the history of God’s dealings with mankind. In this way, I too can say with renewed conviction: I am not alone. I do not have to carry alone what in truth I could never carry alone. All the Saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me. And your prayers, my dear friends, your indulgence, your love, your faith and your hope accompany me."

Pope Benedict is.... AWESOME.

This week's Gospel, speaks of the beginning of Jesus' church. There is commentary following the Gospel only and the other readings are at the bottom. This week's commentary includes some new material and some excerpts from previous writings. This week's commentary is shorter, and Mass Excitement will probably be changing to a shorter format for the sake of readers.

Gospel
Mt 16:13-20

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples
to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Peter and the Papacy

In Matthew 16: 13-20, Jesus named Peter "Rock". His original name was Simon. It's because Peter was the only person who recognized Jesus for who he was that Jesus said he would build his church on Peter and give Peter the keys to heaven. Every man suffers from a big ego. So, before Peter had a chance to toot his horn, Jesus told him that “Blessed are you Simon, Son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”

In other words, “very good Simon, but you didn’t figure this out with that 3 pound brain of yours. Rather, my Father revealed it to you.” This revelation from God and Peter’s confession of Jesus’ identity is so important to Jesus that he says, “upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.”

What does Jesus mean by, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against "my" church. First of all, Jesus is saying the church he builds on Peter is "my" church. Whatever Jesus says comes true and he says that gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. He is talking about the Catholic Church and the only Church that existed for the first 1500 years after Jesus' death. Jesus gave the keys to Peter. The “key” or “keys” is a symbol of authority in the first reading, and in Revelations 3:7. In this Gospel, the language explicitly says that Peter is given authority.

At first glance, it looks rather strange that Jesus would “give the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” to Peter and allow him to “bind and loose” whatever he wishes just because he was the only person who knew Jesus’ identity. But, we should remember that Jesus is the greatest teacher of the faith ever because he is the only one who knows the Father COMPLETELY. Knowing who the Father is COMPLETELY is what makes Jesus such a good teacher. In a similar way, Peter was the first pope because he was the only one of the apostles who could recognize Jesus for who he was.

This has very important implications for us. We should listen to what Peter says. In John 21:2, it says “there are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.”

Personally, I want to know what “other things” Jesus did. It just so happens that there were 11 apostles who knew Jesus well (11 because of Judas). Peter was the first pope, and the other apostles were the first bishops and priests of the church. If we read the Catechism, we’ll find the other knowledge that God has passed to his church through his best friends on Earth and through continuous divine revelation. Peter has a successor today united with the bishops at our service.

Protection From Harm

In Matthew 7:25, Jesus says, "The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock." This passage is very similar to the Gospel because it says the house did not collapse because of "rock". The Catholic Church is built on rock. Ultimately, we profess that we believe in one Holy, Apostolic, Catholic Church in the profession of faith. As Catholics, we must believe EVERYTHING that the church teaches. That's right, we cannot call ourselves Catholic unless we believe EVERYTHING that the Church teaches with zero exceptions. Year after year, and century after century, the church is assaulted with heresies, such as, "Jesus was not really human", "Jesus was not really God", "there is no such thing as hell". How do we know who to listen to? God is practical, and he gave us our church leaders to teach us what teachings are RIGHT and which are wrong. Jesus knew that "rain" would fall, "floods" would come, and "winds" would strike the house (our church) and yet it would not collapse. Because Jesus has built the church on Rock, " and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it".

The Church teaches us that the Pope is the leader of the church. If we reject the teaching of the Pope's authority, we reject the teaching authority of the Church which was established for our benefit in the first place. On the other hand, an acceptance of our pope is an acceptance of a gift that God wishes to give us- the successor of the Rock which God has built his church on- Pope Benedict the XVI.

The Point

Unlike John the Baptist ("there has been none greater than John the Baptist") and EVERYONE else, God revealed to Peter who Jesus was, and so Jesus named him the first pope.
The Catholic Church is Jesus' church and Jesus gave the authority to Peter (a sinner), and to his successor, now Pope Benedict XVI (also a sinner).

Jesus taught many other things that were not written in the Bible and his best friends Peter and the bishops know him best, we must have faith in them and the teachings of our church

If we reject the teaching of the Pope as the leader of our Church, we reject the teaching authority of the Church and therefore we reject the Church itself, which is built on the Rock that Jesus himself chose.

Real Life

When I lived as a missionary, I used to go to this pond on the Lord's ranch which some of you are familiar with. I LOVED going to this pond. It was my favorite place to pray. It is a little bit bigger than a football field and surrounded by flat desert with beautiful brown mountains not far away. There are always animals there including ducks and other birds, coyotes, and lots of rabbits. I liked the pond most of all because of how quiet and isolated it was. Because of the silence, lack of distraction, and holiness of the place, my prayer seemed great there. I felt as though I made leaps towards God in those times of prayer.

I no longer live there, so I can't go there to pray. About 2 weeks ago, I walked to a park near where I am staying (I live 1,700 miles from the Lord's Ranch pond) and I sat on a park bench. It was cloudy and the weather was around 80 degrees with a breeze. I closed my eyes in prayer and I pictured the pond at the Lord's Ranch. I pictured the ducks, and I imagined the tranquility with the mountains in the distance. Indeed, the park where I was was also very quiet and I felt that God was telling me this: "you like the peace and tranquility at that pond don't you? Stick with me, and i will give you peace and quiet wherever you go". It felt fantastic and I remembered that my peace comes not from a place, but from the God of heaven who wishes to speak to us.

God loves us. >>>>that's a video on the right

Reading 1
Is 22:19-23

Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace:
“I will thrust you from your office
and pull you down from your station.
On that day I will summon my servant
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah;
I will clothe him with your robe,
and gird him with your sash,
and give over to him your authority.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and to the house of Judah.
I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder;
when he opens, no one shall shut
when he shuts, no one shall open.
I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot,
to be a place of honor for his family.”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8

R. (8bc) Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple.
R. Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
I will give thanks to your name,
because of your kindness and your truth:
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
Your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

Reading II
Rom 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given the Lord anything
that he may be repaid?
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.

"Olympic Gold" - Training by Prayer

2008-08-15T14:13:00.001-07:00

Olympic Gold This week, the world is watching the finest athletes show the fruits of lifetimes of training and discipline. The hard work might culminate in glory on top of the medal stand or the agony of defeat. One Swedish weightlifter threw his medal away- leading spectators talking steroids and javellin throwers criticizing his throwing technique). For us normal folks, the Olympics means just another week of getting fatter on our couches and assuring our girlfriends that we are superior basketballers, soccer players, and water poloers* than those so-called Olympians. Also, the Olympics is a great time to show that democracy is better than communism by dominating the communists in the trampoline event (yes, that's an actual event). At the Olympics, China hopes to prove its emergence as a world superpower by conquering the most dangerous territory in the world- the badminton courts.

*(you owe me a 5-cent royalty for every time you use the word water poloer)

But seriously, this week's commentary will focus on a relatively unknown champion of prayer, the Canaanite woman. There is commentary following the Gospel. The other readings are at the end.

Gospel Mt 15:21-28 At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

The Source of Evil

The Canaanite woman (Canaanite) shows her faith immediately when she names the cause of her problem- a demon. A couple of months ago, I wrote that sin is what we should fear.³ It is not the devil that we should fear because he is no match for God. It is our COOPERATION with the devil that we should fear. Ultimately, he cannot force us into hell without our consent. But, knowing that this world is ruled by the devil and that "he is author and instigator of all evils"¹ IS important. It is important because many of us think that we are enemies of each other. I used to go to abortion clinics to pray, thinking that the abortion doctors were our enemies. I soon realized that they are VICTIMS. They have been deceived by the Father of Lies and are in need of our prayers. And that goes along with Jesus' command to "love our enemies". The Canaanite knew what afflicted her daughter. She could have blamed her husband, her physician, or the beef salesman at the marketplace. Instead of naming them as enemies, she knew that "our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.²

^{3 http://massexcitement.blogspot.com/search/label/fear}

Enemies

This is a very important distinction because we Christians have difficulties with people all of the time. If we think that our brothers and sisters are our enemies, we will treat them accordingly. In some cases, we end up killing our brothers and sisters because we see them as enemies. Another reason why it is important to identify the enemy is so that we can defend ourselves against him on our way to heaven. Jesus calls the devil the Father of Lies. The devil's first words to Eve were lies which ultimately lead to her death and and the death of billions of humans through sin. How can knowing this information help us in our relationship with God? Our relationship with God depends on what we do. He has already died on the cross for us and will always love us to the maximum. During this life, we can choose how to react to God's love and this will determine the quality of our relationship with him. We love him back by following his commandments. The devil wants us to spend an eternity in hell with him. His game plan is to tell us not to believe what God says. Here is why it important to recognize the devil and his works in this life, and here is how we can recognize his lies:

Recognizing Lies Easily

If someone (always a victim of the devil's lies) tells us to do something that is against Jesus teachings and against the Church's teachings, we can recognize it as a lie and an attempt of the devil to send us to hell. Some saints have been known to be masters of discerning whether something is coming from the devil or from God and here is a simple and powerful way to tell where something is coming from. When people tell us that :

we don't have to attend church
we can get divorced if we want
it's okay to have pre-maritial sex as long as you love the person
you don't have to pray in order to know God
it's okay to hoard our wealth rather than share it

We can recognize immediately that these are lies spun by the devil and thus we can quietly and confidently ignore these lies. God wants us to know his enemy and how he operates. The Canaanite knew this. Another important thing to note is that this conversation she had with Jesus was a prayer. Isn't that what prayer is- a conversation with God? And so who does the Canaanite run to when her daughter is in trouble? She asks not her friends, doctors, or WebMD to help, but rather she goes straight to God with her concern. We should learn from this and seek God in prayer when we need help. Let's look at modern-day prayer

Praying Today

For almost all of my life, I prayed before some meals and sometimes at night for 30 seconds. This prayer had very little effect on my relationship with God and I never felt like it made us any closer. We are reminded in this Gospel that prayer is a conversation with a person- Jesus (and the Father, Holy Spirit - God). Now what if I started calling my best friend for 30 seconds every other day and before some meals for 30 seconds? What would happen to our relationship? It would dwindle down to nothing just like the people we send Christmas cards to once a year without talking to them. My friend would get pissed if I rarely spoke to him and for only 60 seconds at a time maximum. God wants MORE than a pretend relationship like this.

Dry Prayers

What if every time my friend came over to my house I picked up a book off the shelf and started reading it to him? He would probably get annoyed and it would not be as a good as actual conversation. This is what it sounds like to God when we recite prayers like the "bless us oh Lord for these thy gifts...." and "our father who art in heaven..." without even thinking about God. These prayers in themselves are good and I pray them myself routinely. But these prayers are not enough. God is a person. He wants a relationship. We have to spend TIME talking to him just like any other friend. When I started to pray at length to God, I found that it got better and better. So did our relationship. It reminds me of playing the violin. After I play for 30 minutes straight, it gets easier and easier and soon I am in rhythm. Not much later, I get on fire with the violin and it sounds great! The same goes for prayer. If we want to know God, we have to talk to him at length. Just like with any relationship, we have to work hard like the best Olympians- not like couch potatoes.

The Point

All evil originates from the Devil. He is our enemy- not our brothers and sisters
We should pray for our Earthly enemies. They are victims of the devil's lies.
EVERYTHING we hear that is against Jesus and the Church's teachings (they are the same) is a lie. We shouldn't do what liars tell us to do
Praying for 60 seconds per day is not enough
God is a person. We have to work at our relationship with him and spend time talking to him
formal prayers are not enough for a relationship with God. God desires sincere conversation with him.
8 hours of prayer a day is not necessary, but prayer often improves as the conversations get longer.

Real Life

During the last 11 months, I spent a lot of time visiting jail inmates and the poor. Every time we participated in these ministries, we prayed a long exorcism prayer to St. Michael asking for protection against the devil and his angels. This prayer was recommended by Pope John Paul II. The man who suggested this prayer during our ministries was very aware of the devil's hatred of the ministries we participated in. Anyhow, we missionaries were constantly aware of the enemy and said prayers against him. A few months ago, I was doing my regular jail visit in Juarez. When we entered the secured area near the cells, we heard the VERY loud screaming of a young lady in custody. She was wrestling very frantically with some cops and screaming "release me, release me!!!!!!" Even after they put her on the ground by herself, she continued to scream and scream. This was very unusual. Not long afterwards one person in our group was preaching to the inmates when suddenly, I saw some people carry out one of the inmates by his hands and feet as he yelled and struggled. At that point, it seemed clear that the devil was very upset with our presence that day. This type of thing (the nature and quantity of screaming and carrying a guy out of the cell) was very unusual. Soon after the man was carried out, we prayed right outside of the cells and asked the inmates to join us in a prayer out loud. I felt grace and soon I was weeping. I noticed that many of the inmates were weeping which was unusual. God was doing something great for all of us on that day. When one of the missionaries laid hands on the inmates, they started staggering, as though they were about to faint and they all cried. I think the devil was mad that we were there that day because God had plans to deliver tremendous graces. Actually, that day, we were short-handed for the first time in my memory. Perhaps God wanted to remind us to rely on him and would provide us with the help we needed. Just this past week, my mom lost her purse and she was very upset. She started crying so, I pulled out my copy of the exorcism prayer almost immediately after I prayed it, she found the purse.

God Loves Us!

Click here to view and print the prayer http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/3543/exorcism.htm

Pope JP 2 recommends the prayer
http://www.tldm.org/News6/exorcism.htm

1- CCC 2854
2- Ephesians 6:12
3- http://massexcitement.blogspot.com/search/label/fear r

Reading 1 Is 56:1, 6-7 Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants— all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you! May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. R. O God, let all the nations praise you! May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. R. O God, let all the nations praise you! May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him! R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

Reading II Rom 11:13-15, 29-32 Brothers and sisters: I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

"$30,000 Worth of Food"- Dependence and Faith in God

2008-07-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

This week’s readings are a continuation of last week’s message which reminded us that NOTHING is more important than the kingdom of heaven. God shows us that he knows what we need the most and he will provide for all of our needs. There is commentary following the 1st reading and the Gospel.

Reading 1
Is 55:1-3

Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
Come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread;
your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,
the benefits assured to David.

The Desert

God wants to remind us that we are seeking things which “fail to satisfy” rather than coming to him. God insists that we come to him so that we “may have life”. How is that we are seeking things that fail to satisfy? Let’s look at Exodus chapter 16 where the Israelites are stuck in the desert without food. In this chapter, the Israelites grumble against Moses and Aaron. Some complained that if they had stayed in Egypt, at least they would have died with food in their bellies. In response, God gave them manna, which was a mysterious bread that appeared out of nowhere. He proposed a very good deal- he would give them food every day as long as they would not store any food up overnight. It was a very fair deal to the Israelites.

Can you imagine if McDonald’s announced that they would give free food to anyone who wanted it as long as they didn’t store it over night? That’s a pretty good deal. But the Israelites did not listen to Moses. Some of them kept the food over night and it became spoiled and full of worms. God also commanded the people, to take 2 days worth of the manna on the 6th day and that on this day it was okay to store it up over night. God promised that on the 6th day, the manna would not spoil over night. It remained fresh just as promised. The 7th day was meant for rest and the Israelites were told not to go out to gather the manna because there would be none on the 7th day. Yet once again, the Israelites disobeyed God and went out to look for the food. They found none.

Those crazy Israelites look kind of dumb don’t they? God parted the Red Sea and saved them from Pharaoh’s army. He fed them food from Heaven in a miraculous way. Yet they would not listen to God’s promises nor have faith that God would provide for them. God promised to feed them just enough each day, yet each night they would try to store up the food. The bible is full of stories like this where God gives simple instructions which are inevitably disobeyed. The result is usually some sort of tragedy. The first of these instances is in the garden of Eden. But these stories are not meaningless, distant tales of long ago. WE are the modern day Israelites. We are the modern day Adams and Eves. Was God’s word in the first reading meant just to be read 2500 years ago? No! God is speaking these words to us now! “Heed me and you shall eat well!”

Storing Manna Overnight in 2008

In Matthew 6:25-34 (a passage certainly meant for us Christians) God promises that he will provide for all of our needs. Do we listen or do we behave like the Israelites trying to store up food that doesn't last? Do we "come to God heedfully" as described in the 1st reading, or do we "spend our wages on things which fail to satisfy"? Sadly, most of us are not listening to Jesus' suggestion that we be dependent on him for EVERYTHING and that he will give us EVERYTHING that we need. Like the Israelites, who disobeyed by storing the manna over night and looked for food on the Sabbath, we Americans are also obsessed with survival. We show our obsession with material things by consuming HALF of the world's wealth. 1 out of 20 people in the world is American, yet we consume half of everything! We consume and store up not just food, but EVERYTHING for ourselves! Can you imagine living in a college dorm where one of the tenants uses half of the food, water, and electricity? That would be absurd! Yet despite the incredible surplus the Lord has given us, we can't get enough. We work on Sundays as we go "looking for manna" that just isn't there.

The reason God did not want the Israelites to store the food overnight is because he wanted the Israelites to be dependent on God and to know that EVERYTHING comes from God and that God provides for ALL of their needs. God is a very effective teacher, but it still takes trust in order to have a real relationship with him.

God goes on to say that "I will renew you the everlasting covenant (promise)". That promise normally refers to the promise of the Messiah who would come from the house of David. Isaih is a prophet, and this reading is coupled with this Gospel because Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise made to David. Jesus is the only person who can provide for ALL the needs of his people. It is his voice saying, "come to me heedfully, that you may have life".

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18

R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Reading II
Rom 8:35, 37-39

Brothers and sisters:
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel
Mt 14:13-21

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,
he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already late;
dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages
and buy food for themselves.”
Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;
give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ”
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children.

Jesus Feeds

The Gospel reading transitions perfectly from the 1st reading. It says that Jesus was in a deserted place. 5000 men and probably at least 5000 more women and children left whatever they were doing to be with Jesus. Now, there were no street lights in those days, so they probably went to be with Jesus right in the middle of work day. This shows that these people had strong faith in Jesus. Strong faith usually precedes many of Jesus' miracles. Since the men had probably left their jobs and the women had left their houses, they showed great faith in Jesus rather than concern for Earthly things. They must have traveled far because the place is described as deserted and then one of the disciples suggested that they should leave to go buy food for themselves. If the villages were close by, there wouldn't have been a discussion, it would have been easy to walk down the street to buy food.

The point is that these 10,000 or so people who went to see Jesus left what they were doing and walked a long way because they had faith in him. His disciples, on the other hand, were still struggling with their faith. Now why would the disciples have been struggling with their faith in Jesus? At this point in the Gospel of Matthew, they had already seen Jesus cure a blind man, heal life-long hemorrhaging, heal a paralytic, and control the weather. By this point, they should have known that Jesus could do anything he wanted.

Today, we are just like the disciples. We have seen miracles and we know very well that God can do what he pleases. The disciples told Jesus to "dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” In Mark's account of this miracle, the disciples ask Jesus, "are we going to buy $30,000 (200 days wages in today's dollars) worth of food and give it to them to eat?"¹ Instead of asking this, the disciples could have remembered all of the miracles that Jesus had done and asked, "Jesus, will you provide us with food please?"

In the Gospel, Jesus tells them that "there is no need for them to go away." His response to their hunger was similar to the 1st reading, " You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat.... Heed me, and you shall eat well". Jesus gave the people what they needed. This occasion is the only one of Jesus' miracles that is mentioned in all 4 Gospels. It is an important passage for us and it's an important message from God. This miracle foreshadows Jesus' supreme gift to us- his own body and blood at the Eucharistic. This Sunday, Jesus will again fulfill his promise to give us ALL that we need- the Eucharist- Jesus himself. We've got to have faith. As the responsorial psalm says, "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs."

Concluding Thoughts

The gospel message this week is not that we should quit our jobs and become priests and nuns.² God wants our hearts in the right place. Through this week's readings, he wants us to ponder the following:

what things am I seeking which fail to satisfy?
am I too concerned with storing up things for myself?
in the beginning of the day, week, and year, am I concerned with growing closer to the Lord, or filling my life with more things?
do I have faith in God, or am I relying on myself for everything I need?
after all I have seen God do for me and others, do I act like I trust him completely?
do I ever think about the many who are without food?

Real Life

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the Tampa Airport. I was hoping to give up my seat in order to get a voucher for a future flight. I prayed and asked for God's will to be done even though I wanted that voucher. It turns out, I was unable to get the voucher because there was no need for me to give up my seat because some people didn't show up. I was a little bit disappointed. The flight left late and so I missed my connecting flight from Atlanta to my final destination- Charlotte. I was standing in this 2.5 hour-long line when I heard that all flights were full and I would not be able to fly to Charlotte until 30-something hours later. I felt sure that the Lord would take care of me. About 1.5 hours after getting to Atlanta, the 2 businessmen in front of me told me that they were going to rent a car and drive to Charlotte. They had just met each other in line. They asked me if I wanted to go with them. I was very pleased and agreed to go with them.

We stopped for lunch. Despite the fact that Southern cities are usually 2-10% Catholic, both of these men turned out to be Catholic which was very surprising. They paid for the rental car, the gas, and for my lunch. I tried to give them money, but they would not accept it. One of the men asked me to pray for his son who was going to Iraq. The other man gave me contact info to a good priest who was once his spiritual director. I think that God wanted me to meet these men. If I had gotten my way with the voucher, I would have taken the later flight from Tampa to Atlanta. I would have never met those men. I probably would not have made it to Charlotte until the next day, and a hotel would have been expensive. But God got me to Charlotte and he fed me. He keeps his promises to us.

God loves us.

===========Mass Excitement #23==========
1- Mark 6:37
2- Some of us are supposed to do EXACTLY this

Are You Ready for the Kingdom of God?

2008-07-27T12:19:00.001-07:00

This week's readings are about the rule of Jesus. We are reminded of who Jesus is, what he came to do, and how we can hear and respond to him properly. We are also reminded of what happens when we DON'T respond properly. There is commentary following the Gospel only. This week's commentary is shorter than usual, so it's a great opportunity for those of us with a short attention span.

Reading 1
1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12

The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night.
God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you."
Solomon answered:
"O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king
to succeed my father David;
but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,
a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.
For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"

The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
So God said to him:
"Because you have asked for this—
not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches,
nor for the life of your enemies,
but for understanding so that you may know what is right—
I do as you requested.
I give you a heart so wise and understanding
that there has never been anyone like you up to now,
and after you there will come no one to equal you."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130

R. (97a) Lord, I love your commands.
I have said, O LORD, that my part
is to keep your words.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
For I love your command
more than gold, however fine.
For in all your precepts I go forward;
every false way I hate.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, I love your commands.

Reading II
Rom 8:28-30

Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.

Gospel
Mt 13:44-52 or 13:44-46

Jesus said to his disciples:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

"Do you understand all these things?"
They answered, "Yes."
And he replied,
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household
who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."

The King and His Kingdom

What is this kingdom of heaven that Jesus describes in this Sunday's Gospel? First of all, kingdom comes from the word baseilia which means kingship, or reign.¹ So kingdom means the rule of someone, namely the king. In this case, who is the king?

In Luke 19:38, the disciples sing "blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord" as Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. JESUS is the king of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven (the reign, the kingship) is declared throughout the Gospel. Who better to announce the kingdom of heaven than the king himself? What does he announce? In Mark 1:15, Jesus says, "the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." So the kingdom of heaven is the announcement of Jesus' reign over all. Yet he makes this announcement in humility. Let's look at Jesus' humility for a moment.

The Humble King

God is humble and he displays his humility in many ways. For one thing, he does not think that he is so great that he wants nothing to do with us. Some people do actually believe they are so great that they want nothing to do with us. But God himself is humble enough that he gives us life for OUR benefit- not his. He certainly wants something to do with us, because he MADE us according to his plan. So, God is humble. You can see it visually if you picture the God of the universe born as an infant in a barn. He rode into town not in a Mercedes convertible, but rather on a donkey. He is humble. Some people who are not humble, feel as though they are too good to talk to the common man. But Jesus talks to us through the bible, through church, through prayer, and other means as well. In Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God, Jesus does more than talk, he announces, "here I am! I am here to save you (his name means "God saves"). This is more than just an announcement- he is offering to save us.

Salvation Through Faith and Baptism

The 2nd Reading assures us that "all things work for good for those who love God." Paul goes on to say that "those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified." So who is Jesus calling? He is calling me and you. He wants to justify us. That means he wants to forgive us our sins and communicate to us the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and baptism. God wants to forgive us through faith in Jesus and through baptism. What does it means to have faith in Jesus? It means that we willingly give ourselves over to God. Faith means we give our intellect and our will to God. Faith means we give Jesus the steering wheel. Faith means we submit to EVERYTHING that God wants to teach us. Faith means we let God take charge of our lives even if it hurts. Jesus wants to save us through faith in him and baptism.

In humility, God announces to us the kingdom of heaven. God wants to save us. This is the message of the proclamation of the kingdom of God. Remember that Jesus said, "repent, and believe in the gospel." The proclamation of the Kingdom of God is very easy to understand. Jesus says, "here I am to save you. Turn away from your life of sin, and turn to me. Although you are very lowly, I am humble. In my humility, I love you." This is really good news. It is great news that the only person who truly knows us, loves us and wants to be with us. He is offering us healing, peace, and salvation.

Gospel

This news is so good that when we receive it, we are willing to give up everything we have in order to receive it fully. In the Gospel, the persons sell all that they have. The message of this week's Gospel is not necessarily that we should sell our cars and houses. The message is that NOTHING is MORE important than the kingdom of heaven. Remember that the kingdom of heaven is the reign and the kingship of Jesus. He is a great king who loves us and it's NOT okay to turn our backs on him as he makes his invitation of love to us. We are reminded of this in the Gospel where the "wicked" are thrown "into the fiery furnace". God is concerned about us. He does not want us to be thrown into the furnace, so he asks us to stop sinning and to turn our lives over to him. Let's look at an example of how to answer God's call.

1st Reading

This Gospel message is seen very clearly in the first reading as well. It gives us a picture of someone who responds to God's call properly. As God mentioned, Solomon could have asked for a long life or riches. But Solomon had the attitude of the guy who found the pearl or the treasure in the field. Solomon knew that nothing was more important than serving God so he asked God for help to serve God's people. God granted his request because "all things work for good for those who love God". There is much to learn from Solomon's prayer as well. His prayer is very humble. His request for wisdom is already an admission that he is not very wise. He says, "I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act". Just 3 weeks ago in the Gospel, Jesus said that, "although you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike."³ Solomon did not have childlike intelligence- he was smart. He had childlike HUMILITY and dependence on God just like a child who depends on its mother. God answered his humble prayer. We should pray just as humbly as Solomon. It takes humility to admit that we are wrong (sinful) and then to give the steering wheel to our Lord Jesus in pure submission. This is God's call for us to give our lives to HIM.

The Point

Because of God's humility and generosity, he gave us life and he cares about us enough to talk to us
Jesus wants us to know that he desires our salvation and he gives us the opportunity to be saved
Jesus wants to save us through faith and baptism
Faith in Jesus means to give our intellect, will, understanding and all that we have to God. Faith means to believe in all that God teaches us. Faith means to allow God to be the absolute ruler or our lives
The forgiveness of sins is necessary for salvation and Jesus offers us our first forgiveness and life in him through baptism
God loves us and wants to save us. To ignore and to reject his invitation is to willfully enter hell by our choice
In order to hear God and to get to know him better, we need to be humble in our prayers and actions

Real Life

Back in his high school days, Father Richard Thomas S.J. was the wealthiest boy in his school.(According to Fr Harold Rahm, his former high school teacher). He went to a private Catholic school in Florida where virtually every student was and is from affluent families. So Father Thomas was quite wealthy although Fr. Rahm said he couldn't' tell by the way he dressed and Fr. Thomas never talked about it. Fr. Thomas even had a girl he liked in high school. It's likely that Fr. Thomas was being prepared to take over the family business and to live a prosperous life.

But Fr. Thomas gave all of that up to become a priest because he heard the Lord's call. It was a major disappointment to his father. As a Jesuit priest, Father Thomas made a vow of poverty which he took very seriously. He refused to use air conditioning even if it was freely available because he was supposed to be poor like the people he served. Whether he was in desert or in the high heat and humidity of Louisiana, he sweated it out. People in the El Paso/Juarez area still talk about Fr. Thomas all of the time. They still love him very much. Many people believe that he will one day be counted amongst the saints.

Even in this modern day, some people hear the voice of God calling, they give everything else up, and follow Jesus.

God loves us!

==============Mass Excitement #22=================

1- Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2816
2- CCC 2816
3- Matthew 11:25

"There IS a Hell and It's Not Empty!" #21

2008-07-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

This weeks' reading speak of judgment, hell, and forgiveness. There is commentary following the 1st Reading AND the Gospel.

Reading 1
Wis 12:13, 16-19

There is no god besides you who have the care of all,
that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.
For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
and you gave your children good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins.

1st Reading and Psalm -The Just Judge

The first reading describes God as lenient and talks about how he judges with lenience. Let's go through an exercise for a moment. Think of 3 really bad sins you have committed. Please do this now.

Example sins just to refresh your memory:

Renouncing God, cursing God, involvement in other religions, denying your faith
Sins against your parents
Abortion, assault
Sexual sin, adultery, pornography
Stealing, lying

Right now, think of 3 really bad sins you have committed during your life.

Those sins were terrible weren't they? You probably don't want to commit them any more. Now after committing those sins, did God kill you? Probably not, since you are reading this. We should remember that at any time during our sins, God could have lost patience with us and just erased us from existence or sent us to hell. Yet, he hasn't done this yet. He hasn't done it yet, because he judges with leniency. As this week's Psalm says, God is "slow to anger".

The first reading reminds us that God has taught us by his deeds. God teaches us by example. He gives life to us despite that he has nothing to gain from it, rather he only wishes to share. By God's example of generosity, we know to help the poor man on the street even though we have very little to gain from it. God offers us forgiveness for our sins, and in doing so, he teaches us to forgive our friends, family, and even the biggest enemies of God.

Our Hope, His Loyalty, Our Prayers

The reading goes on to say that we have a reason for hope. Our hope is that we turn away from our sins. What this means is that although God is the almighty judge and he does punish sinfulness, he gives us easy access to hope. We can give up our sins and live in peace and love with him and the entire family of believers. Our hope is that we turn away from our sins and to God instead.

In this week's Psalm, David says that God is "abounding in fidelity". That means that God is loyal. How do we know that he is loyal? Again, we can look at the sins that we committed and the fact that God has not abandoned us. Like a faithful spouse of an faithful spouse, he wants us to remain together forever even though we offended him terribly. His mercy and generosity shows that he IS LOYAL forever.

This Psalm says that God is good and forgiving. David then asks God to hear (hearken) his prayer. Remember that our hope is that we repent (turn away) from our sins. When we do this, we must turn towards the Lord, because he is good and forgiving. Many of us turn to our friends when we screw up instead of God. We ask our friends to hear our stories in hope that they will agree with OUR side of the story. Instead of asking for forgiveness from God, we ask for sympathy from our pals and in doing so, we wallow in our sins and we ARE NOT forgiven. Instead of doing this, let's take our sins to God the way David did and receive the forgiveness that we need and hope in.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16

R. (5a) Lord, you are good and forgiving.
You, O LORD, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship you, O LORD,
and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
you alone are God.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.
You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.
Turn toward me, and have pity on me;
give your strength to your servant.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.

Reading II
Rom 8:26-27

Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God's will.

Gospel
Mt 13:24-43 or 13:24-30

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'
His slaves said to him,
'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

He proposed another parable to them.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"

He spoke to them another parable.
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.

Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the evil one,
and the enemy who sows them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."

Judgment

This gospel is VERY simple and straight to the point. In Jesus' parable, the children of the kingdom go to heaven, and the children of the evil one go to hell for eternity. Who are the children of the evil one? Jesus describes them as, "all who cause others to sin, and evildoers". Are we evildoers? Do we cause others to sin? I remember once before, I knew a girl who was using a guy for money. I advised her to get all she could get. I caused her to sin. In another example, a friend of mine advised his buddy that because he is extremely wealthy, he should not have a girlfriend. He then suggested that his buddy could have sex with lots of girls instead of having just one girlfriend.

Some people might say, "people have their own choice". But make no mistake, our friends and family listen to what we say. As an example, do you ever see certain movies because your friends recommend them? Have you ever visited a doctor or dentist because of someone's recommendation? Of course you have. Our words are POWERFUL enough to lead someone to heaven or hell. We should be more careful about what we say to others.

We cause others to sin all of the time, especially our best friends. We tell them to watch terrible television programs. We allow our children to do whatever they want! We sing songs that glorify sin!⁴ The singers of these anti-heaven songs are causing others to sin! According to Jesus, what happens to those who cause others to sin? THEY GO TO HELL!

God the Merciful Judge

We have to remember that as Catholics, we don't believe in just certain passages of the Bible, we believe in the whole thing. The whole message of the Bible indicates that although hell exists, God is merciful. God does not want us to go to hell. He leaves it up to us. Our hope is repentance, just as in the first reading. We believe that God is slow to anger and he is forgiving. Just look at the good thief whom Jesus forgave only moments before the thief's death. This thief admitted to committing a crime that deserved death. In America, almost all men who are executed are killed because they are either murderers or rapists. This thief committed terrible crimes and Jesus forgave him because the thief was sorry for what he had done. Remember that Peter sinned terribly against God by denying that he knew Jesus. Jesus' reaction was to forgive him. It's important to remember that although we CAN choose hell, it's not the choice that God wants for us.

Jesus Warns Us

On MANY occasions, Jesus warned people about the existence of hell and the road that leads to it. Some examples include:

Matthew 5:22 - "Fiery Gehenna"
Matthew 5:29 - "Your whole body thrown into Gehenna"
Matthew 10:28 - "….both body and soul in Gehenna"
Matthew 13:42 - "They will throw them into the fiery furnace"
Mark 10: 45: "thrown into Gehenna"
Matthew 22:15 - "into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

Some people argue that God is loving and there is no hell. This argument is completely illogical and totally wrong. Just like the teaching of the Eucharist, the passion, and forgiveness, Jesus repeats his most important teachings. This warning about hell is an important teaching to Jesus and to us as well. In an act of love, Jesus warns his friends of danger. After all, a fake friend will pass his alcoholic friend a drink, while a real friend would knock the drink out of his friend's hands and then warn him about alcoholism. Just the same, Jesus loves us. He did not come to condemn us. He came to save us.²

Hope

In Matthew chapter 20, Jesus tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard. There are complaints when those who showed up at the last minute still got a full day's pay. Part of the message of this parable is this: even though we have all sinned, it is NEVER too late to say sorry to God and to turn away from sin. As David says in the psalm, giving us permission to turn away from sin, is "good ground for hope". Let's put our faith in Jesus, who came to save us.

The Point

Despite years of sinning, God has not killed us. He wants to forgive us
God is a generous, lenient judge. We can see this by looking at Jesus' life
A huge source of hope is that we can turn away from sins and receive forgiveness
We know that God is loyal because despite all we have done to offend him, he sticks with us to the end.
We nudge our friends and family towards the path to hell with what we say to them
Hell exists and God wants to warns us not to choose hell
It is never too late to turn away from sins. As Catholics we believe that in order to go to hell, we have commit mortal (serious) sin and persist in it until the end.³ So, there is always hope and always an opportunity to be saved all the way until the end of our lives.

Real Life

I have mentioned this incident before, but I would like to tell this story in more detail.

About 6 months ago, I went to a Catholic retreat. There, I saw a priest with a huge beard who gave several talks. I was very intrigued by this man as soon as I saw him. There was something special about him, and I wanted to meet him. So, I waited in a long line for confession and there were 3 priests available to hear confessions. I made sure that I got to see the guy with the huge beard.

When I sat next to him and looked into his eyes, I felt like I was looking at Jesus. It wasn't just because the guy was a priest and he had a beard. As soon as I sat down with this man, I knew that he LOVED ME. I just knew it. It was radiating from his whole being. For a very brief instant, I was a little bit scared, because I felt like he could see my bad spiritual condition. But because of his love, I almost immediately felt total peace and comfort. I felt as though I could tell him anything.

After confessing about 3 really bad sins and telling him that I was ashamed of these sins, he said, "those are pretty big sins". I raised my eyebrow at that surprising comment. He went on to say, "those sins are like drops in the ocean of God's mercy. Listen to me very carefully, God is going to forgive you now for all of the sins you have ever committed. Do you understand I said, "yes". I closed my eyes and felt a light touch on my head. It felt very strange and tingly, so I peaked through my eyes and saw that the priest was not touching me. It was literally the hand of God touching my head! During the absolution it felt as though a mountain was being lifted off of my back. While my eyes were closed, I could see the ocean of mercy that the priest spoke of. It was incredible.

Before the retreat had started, I was hoping that God would speak to me regarding my vocation and the purpose that he had for me for my whole life. Rather than reveal that to me, God granted me forgiveness. It reminded me of the story of the healing of the crippled man in Mark 2:1-12. The man wanted to be healed of his condition. Jesus didn't say to the man, "I heal you in the name of God!" No, rather he said, "your sins are forgiven". He gave the man exactly what he NEEDED, not what he wanted. Just like the crippled man, God gave me EXACTLY what I NEEDED instead of what I wanted, and soon afterwards it was easier for me to walk the path God had for me, just like this crippled man

On this particular occasion with the huge-bearded priest, God gave me exactly what I needed and exactly what he wants to give to all of us. He wants us to have real HOPE that comes through turning away from sin (repentance)

God loves us!

=======================Mass Excitement #21=====================

1- there is no #1 sorry
2 - John 3:17
3 - CCC 1037
4- I was recently at an abortion "clinic" and one of the visitors drove off listening to a popular song called "promiscuous girl" in which the singers celebrate promiscuity.

"How Can I Hear the Voice of God?" #20 - The Bible and Tradition July, 13, 2008

2008-07-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

This week’s commentary is about the Word of God. We will talk about how the Word of God still manifests itself to us today. Again, this week’s readings are the good news of the Lord. In these readings, we are reminded that God wishes to give us EVERYTHING that we need for salvation in a PRACTICAL way. There is commentary following the Gospel reading. The 1st and 2nd readings, and the psalms are at the very end of this document.There is a video included in the “Real Life” section (5 minutes). This week’s Mass Excitement is a little longer than usual, but I think it will be worth your time.

Gospel
Mt 13:1-23 or 13:1-9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The disciples approached him and said,
“Why do you speak to them in parables?”
He said to them in reply,
“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted,
and I heal them.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

“Hear then the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one
who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it,
and the evil one comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

Gospel

When we hear “the Word of God” we often think of the Bible. Indeed, the Bible is the “speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.”¹ Since the Bible is a way by which we can hear God speak, we should read it. The Bible gives us nourishment and strength because it is the Word of God.¹³ It makes more sense to read the Bible and receive advice from the one who created us rather than from late night TV talk show hosts, our friends, or the internet. Now, back to this particular Gospel. Let’s look at how we receive the Word of God from our Church.

In this Gospel, Jesus answers the disciples by saying that “knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom heaven has been granted to you.” Notice that Jesus says “granted”. That means that the disciples did not FIGURE OUT the faith and the meaning of the parables on their own. There understanding had been GIVEN to them. And why would Jesus give knowledge to these particular men? Is it because they were holy? No! The Bible tells us that they were sinners who struggled with their faith. They even fell asleep, leaving Jesus to be captured and condemned. Jesus did not give “knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” to them because they were already holy. Jesus can give it to whomever he chooses. He often chooses sinners, the unskilled, and people of low intelligence to do his will. His apostles are examples of this and so are we.

Jesus said to the disciples, “whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me.”² In other words, Jesus gave them authority and the knowledge to teach the Word of God. Jesus was fully aware that he had given the disciples knowledge of the faith and he entrusted it to them. All of this, he did intentionally and with purpose. Last week’s gospel said that “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” This reminds us that it is impossible to know God without the Father’s revelation or the consent of the Son. Jesus did give his consent and along with it the knowledge and ability to preach the Word of God in its entirety. That’s why Jesus says in this gospel that “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” A lot of holy people for many years wanted to know the Word of God, but they couldn’t until “the Word became flesh”. In other words, it was impossible to know the Word of God entirely until the Word himself (Jesus) came into the world.

It Takes Revelation

You can see that it’s true that NO ONE knows Jesus except the Father when you look at John the Baptist. Jesus said that “among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist.”³ That may be the highest compliment any man has received in the history of mankind because it came from Jesus! Yet despite how “great” John the Baptist was, even HE didn‘t recognize who Jesus was! In Matthew 11:2, John sends messengers to Jesus asking if he is the Messiah. So clearly, John didn’t know who Jesus was. Only Peter knew who Jesus was and he didn’t figure that out on his own either. Rather, Jesus said to Peter, “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” So it is true that “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” It takes the consent and the power of God to know God. So, who does God reveal himself to?

The Word of God and the Church

Most people think of the Bible when they hear “the Word of God” and again, the Bible truly is God’s word. Yet, most protestants believe that the Bible is the ONLY source of authority. That is flat wrong and illogical. After all, did Peter and Paul have the New Testament to guide them with authority? No! The new testament had not been written yet. So Peter and Paul DID NOT rely on the Bible as the sole source of authority. They had to rely on God’s continuous revelation (transmission of truth)to them. Paul is the author of most of the books of the New Testament. But he could only write because he depended on Peter’s leadership and the continuous revelations that Peter received from God. God gave Peter a vision (a transmission of truth) and only because of this transmission did Paul learn from Peter that God desired the salvation of everyone and not just the Jews.⁴ In another instance, Paul wasn’t sure whether the gentiles had to be circumcised or not, so he went to meet with Peter and the others. After a lot of debating, Peter (the disciple who recognized Jesus) stood up and told everyone that the “yoke” of circumcision was unnecessary for salvation. With that, “the whole assembly fell silent”.⁵ It is clear in the book of Acts that Peter was the leader of early church. So it was through the apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, with Peter as the head that shared the FULL truth of the Word of God to the early church through continuous “living transmission” from God. This continues to this day through the successor of Saint Peter and the successors of the first bishops like Paul and others. Getting the Word of God from our Church leaders has been something we’ve relied on since the time of Jesus. This is the way Jesus wanted it set up because he gave Peter the power to "bind and loose".

The Word of God Continues to Speak

Our Catechism says that we continually receive the Word of God through continuous revealing (divine transmission).⁶ We call this divine transmission “Tradition” with a capital “T”. Tradition is what we know, not what we do. “[Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.⁷ Again, “[Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God. Since the resurrection of Jesus 2000 years ago, God continuously reveals all that we believe to our church leaders. That is, continuous divine revelation has been used by God since the time of Jesus. Remember the example of Peter and Paul.

So God gives us Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s teaching authority to give us the Word of God. What does this tell us about God? It tells us primarily that God loves us immensely and that he is highly practical. He doesn’t just throw a THICK instruction manual at us without sending us someone to explain it. He started the Church with Peter and the apostles. He gave the apostles and Peter all they needed to spread the good news. He asked the apostles to teach what they had learned. “In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church, the apostles left bishops as their successors.”⁸ So even today, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God offers us the bishops and the successor of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI to guide, teach, and protect us.

Many people object to the infallibility of the Pope’s teachings because he is just a man and thus a sinner. We must remember that Peter was a sinner as well and yet the Father revealed to him the true identity of Jesus and that made Peter a superb leader. It is an honor to have the Pope as our leader. Despite the fact that he is a sinner, his definitive doctrines are infallible thanks to the grace of God.

Sacred Scripture and Tradition as Teammates

It is important to know that the teaching authority (Magisterium) of the Church is not superior to the Word of God.”⁹ Sacred Scripture and Tradition work TOGETHER to reveal the same truth.¹⁰ The Magisterium SERVES the Word of God. The Church’s teaching authority is a gift from God which helps us to penetrate our faith “more deeply with right judgment, and apply it more fully in daily life.”¹¹ In other words, we have serious problems understanding the Bible without someone to explaining it to us. Making mistakes in interpretation can be catastrophic for our faith and relationship with God. For example, an incorrect understanding of salvation has lead some baptized believers to think that good works are unnecessary for salvation and that we are saved by faith alone. This leads some baptized to believe that they can sin all they want and still enter heaven. Another great example is Jesus’ teaching about his body and blood in the Bible. As a service to the Word of God, the teaching authority of the church tells us that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. We Catholics know that center of our faith is the Eucharist because the Eucharist is Jesus. Where would we be without Jesus in the Eucharist? So church’s teaching authority is here because we are dummies and sinners and we need interpretation and protection from ourselves.

In the end, the way that God reveals his Word tells us about him. Namely, it tell us that he loves us and he keeps his promise that he is with us always until the end of the age.¹²

The Point

All of the apostles including Peter, understood the Word of God because God has revealed it to them. They are the ONLY worthy teachers because they have received ability and authority directly from God.
Because Jesus gave authority to them, whoever rejects the bishops and the Pope, rejects Jesus.
After centuries of prophets, none was greater than John the Baptist, but even he did not know who Jesus was. Only Peter knew because the Father revealed Jesus’ identity to Peter. Thus Peter was the outstanding leader of the early Church and Pope Benedict is his chosen successor.
We have received the Word of God through divine revelation to church leaders like Peter and Paul since the beginning of the Church. This continues today just the way Jesus wanted.
Holy Tradition contains the entire Word of God
God gave us authoritative teachers to protect us and to teach us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We should read the Catechism and encyclicals by our Pope. http://www.papalencyclicals.net/all.htm
The teaching authority of the Church is not superior to sacred scripture. It is there to serve sacred scripture.

Real Life

This past week, I went to Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, KY 40 miles from Louisville to discern God’s will. As soon as I got there, the monks and priests were praying the psalms. As I sang along with the monks, God made it crystal clear to me what his will was for me through the power of his word which was written 2500 years ago (Psalms). I was well over a 1000 miles from El Paso hoping that God would speak to me, and he did through the same book I had with me in El Paso. God’s word is alive and powerful!

I made a video of my trip there. Click below to see it.

1- CCC 81
2- Luke 10:16
3- Matthew 11:11
4- Acts 10:9
5- Acts 15:6-12
6- CCC 78
7- CCC 81
8- CCC 77
9- CCC 86
10- CCC 80
11- CCC 93
12- Matthew 28:20
13- CCC 104