Luke 21:5-19 The Day Is Coming

Luke 21: 5-19 The Day Is Coming

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When the Lord came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to the custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”...he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free. (cf. Luke 4:7-10) He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” All were amazed!

As Christians, we believe the Messiah has already come; that the greatest questions have been answered; that the Savior of the world is only one, Jesus the Lord! The Kingdom of God is among us! So why do I continue looking for another Savior or placing too much hope in another?

We work so hard constantly seeking to build secure areas, safety nets, and comfort zones. We want things done the right way; that is, my way. We look for safety in family, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends. But the Lord tells us today, do not look there. It is not them. Do not follow them. The Lord loves to foil our plans, cross our boundaries, break down our walls and rattle our cage! And we resist!!! But what he is actually doing is breaking open our tomb and coming to our rescue. He alone is our one true brother, companion and friend. He alone is my Lord and Savior.

We look for too many "saviors" among our peers: doctors, lawyers, journalists, politicians and even engineers! But none are among us. Only Christ and his beautiful bride is mans best Savior. The rest fall and fail miserably short. They are destined too for they are only human. I am reminded of a humble acknowledgement made by a secular Jew and brilliant scientist, Albert Einstein, in 1940. He said,

“Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks…Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.” (Albert Einstein, December 23^rd, 1940, Time Magazine)

“By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” Stand firm in the Lord. Stand up for the Truth. Today, the Church alone stands up to the enemies of life, liberty and happiness. America’s Declaration of Independence is nothing more than Christ’s declaration of Isaiah’s prophecy. Let us never forget where truth, life and liberty are found. Let us never place our unconditional and unilateral trust in human institutions for “the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Rather, let us go and work as servants of the Master’s vineyard, helping to build, one soul at a time, a civilization of life, love and liberty. “The day is coming” (Mal 3:19-20a).

Luke 18:1-8 A Just Decision

Luke 18: 1-8 A Just Decision

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I have made many mistakes in my life. Judged too much; given in too soon; given up too often and condemned too quickly. I am fully aware that I could have made better decisions, followed more sound principles, and developed better habits. Through it all, the Lord has shown to me His Way; that mercy and truth can co-exist as long as each is willing to take the back seat now and again to the other.

I cannot remember what Saint said it, but I do remember what they said. “If you ever have to choose between truth and mercy, choose mercy.” I am not even sure if the saint was a canonized saint. Regardless, it is a rule of thumb that is definitely not easy to apply. After all, we are not all called to live, speak and share the truth? Yes, but mercy always leaves the door open to God’s graces. How he wishes to move a soul is not necessarily my way, but I can be sure it is the best Way. Also, mercy shows tremendous hope and patience. The Lord’s timeline is not necessarily mine. He, like the Church, thinks in centuries. At best, I think of only today and tomorrow! So I ask the Lord to continuously inspire me, illuminate my mind and open my heart to give me His grace to make a holy decision.

Render to me, O Lord, a just decision.

Remove all that is selfish in me.

Surprise me by your past.

Encourage me along the path.

I will walk; never stop, along the way,

But continue to pray till the very end.

How important is prayer? It is essential. Without it I will never cross the abyss that separates me from my Lord. My actions will continue to fall short. My decisions will be precisely that, my decisions. “Blessed the man who fears the Lord” (Ps. 112:1), who desires to be just rather than to be right. Who is moved by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Who seeks the one who is good instead of what is simply good. Prayer insists: Do not speak until you have listened! Do not seek until you have found! Do not be harsh unless you have been in the light.

The Lord was harsh, but never in a moment filled with darkness and confusion. He knew what he must say. He said what His Father would say. He spoke the Father’s thoughts for He is the Word of God.

May I never grow weary in seeking what is good, right and holy. May my meditation today be a prayer to Him. May I secure His rights rather than my own. May a decision never be just a decision but always a just decision. A decision worthy of Thee.

Luke 17: 26-37 Shocked

Luke 17: 26-37 Shocked

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“They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day… the flood came and destroyed them all.”

I truly have a beautiful ministry. I work with the youth all the time and it gives me an opportunity to convey to them what I never heard as a child. All I heard while attending school and going through CCD classes in the evening was how special I was (and everyone else); all the wonderful things I would do in my life; and how I had what it took to realize all my dreams. Of course there is nothing wrong with pipe dreams. But as a cynical teenager boy, I didn’t really believe in any of it. I believed in war, survival of the fittest and only the tough survive. Of course working for the Lord was never brought up or mentioned as a possibility. Many careers were mentioned, but never being a priest. So I truly enjoy ministering to the youth. I love them and I hope they love me too.

Recently, not too long ago, I told a group of teenagers that they were all dying. They looked shocked! But once the initial shock was over, they understood perfectly well what I was saying. It is just that teenagers do not consider themselves as dying. They consider the elderly dying. But they look at themselves all too much and they know themselves all too well. They think they are strong when they are not. They think they are tough when they are not. And what surprises them more than anything else is when one of their peers dies before them.

I still remember the day I took my High School graduation picture. There we were, all of us in front of the camera. We were the largest graduating class, the baby boomers had finally grown up. We were over one hundred students, with big smiles and expecting to be “free at last” from the "slavery" of our parents and ready to conquer the world in just a few hours. How silly we were to think those were the toughest years of our life!

A few weeks later, I remember looking at our picture with some friends and, for some strange reason, asking them a weird question. Guys, who you think will die first? It didn’t take us long to find out. Almost immediately, a young man named Bob Wheeler died in a motorcycle accident. He had just received it. It was his parent's graduation gift to him.

So too, the day will come when I am brought up to the Lord. I pray that I will not be surprised but be prepared. Allow me Lord to examine my life before you do and ask the questions that I know will be asked of me: What did I do? What could I have done? What did I fail to do? Who did I place my life, my trust, my faith in? Who did I listen to? Who did I receive?

No one likes to answer questions. But questions should not be feared, for the Lord gave us the answers to the most important questions. Who are you? A beautiful gift from God. What must I do? Love. St John in his second letter tells us, “For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments.” And it is not a new commandment. In fact, it is the one we received from the very beginning: let us love one another. (2Jn 4-9)

The One who created us gave us his heart. For this reason, “our hearts are restless until they rest with Thee.” For this reason I will never be satisfied until I am free to give it all. “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.”

We know what the Lord demands from us. Let us never be shocked by what is to come.

Luke 17:20-25 Flashes of Brilliance

Luke 17: 20-25 Flashes of Brilliance

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Lord, you taught me how to shine: to keep myself close to you. What a beautiful day I had yesterday. May the Lord in his goodness renew my spirit and keep me close to Him. In the morning, I carried my cross horribly. After completing my meditation I fell into temptation – argument, conflict and judgment. How I can fall! Not only once, or twice but three times! How important it is to live what you preach! How useless I felt and sick to my stomach I became. But that was not enough for you. You harvest what you plant. And so, the day of disgrace continued until a young man came into my office complaining about some problems he had. A twenty-five year old getting his life back in order and on good terms with the Lord. Here, I saw my opportunity to escape from frustration and sin and to place myself in grace. He needed help and I was there for him. It was the perfect time, perfect place, and perfect grace!

I was complaining and he was complaining. How unfortunate life is, so many hurdles to overcome and so many valleys to get out of. Today, no one was there to listen, understand and help. So he came to talk to me. Not thinking of getting anywhere fast, he was shocked when I told him that I would take him where ever he needed to go. It was a simple task and I was more than happy to help. It is said that man’s best friend is a dog and an ATM machine. But life is better than that. With the Lord, you can always be sure to get more than what you ask for. And so, we complain more than we should.

We drove, we arrived and we accomplished our task. But as I was accomplishing my good deed for the day, it became necessary to visit a home where there was a sick child. The little boy was in bed and was obviously sick. There was a feeding tube placed in his nose and a pale look on his face. I asked the mom and she told me and showed me the tumor that was in his tiny little leg. Although he was sick, he was a beautiful baby boy, no more than six.

I blessed the child and became aware that soon he would lose his leg. The mom was concerned, like all loving moms, but the question the child raised was even more concerning. “Mommy, I know they will cut my leg off. But mommy…How will they put it back on?” Here was a question that not even Einstein could answer. Or better still, that Einstein should never answer. Some things must be left to God. As Isaac asked his father, “Daddy, where is the animal for the sacrifice?” What could the poor man say except, “God will provide.” And so he did, without him even knowing it. The Lord did provide by giving us His son. Wow! Better than expected, much more than the response from an ATM machine, and better than a dog responding to our commands. The Lord teaches us that His Love conquers all.

We got back into the car and my young son was nearly in tears. How could I complain all day long? How could I be so selfish? How tiny my problems are compared to this little boy. Amen. I too had my epiphany: “The Kingdom of God cannot be observed, for behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” By God's grace, the two of us were in the perfect place, at the perfect time and received the perfect grace. We had a chance to meet with baby Jesus who would give us a portion of his passion and fill us with his grace to battle the day's temptations that would come our way. “Just like lightning flashes and lights up the sky, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected."

Luke 17:11-19 Stand Up and Go

Luke 17: 11-19 Stand Up and Go

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Why is faith so important? It allows us to stand up and go!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC #26) states that Faith is man’s response to God: “I believe.” On a very personal level, faith is a journey that I willingly undertake to go and seek the solution to my existence. Like the ten lepers that met the Lord as he was traveling. They went out, into dangerous terrain, the open fields, and they met the Lord. Their faith, possibly a “blind faith”, led them to be cured and at least for one, to be saved. To believe in the Lord means to go out and to trust in Him. He alone is the one that can move mountains and rise from the dead. He alone is the one that can save me from death and place me upon his shoulders, the highest of mountains! He alone can move the toughest of mountains, my heart!

Faith allows me to stand up, to see my littleness, and be joyful! The Lord does not belittle anyone. The Lord loves me, even when I cannot love myself. He knows everything about me and he still reaches out to me. The sun shines on the righteous and the wicked; the stars perform for all mankind while the rain pours on the deserving and undeserving. All creation points to Him. “The Lord is my Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” (Ps 23:1) My littleness is his jewel. My littleness is what makes me great! “When I am weak, then I am strong.” My littleness allows me to easily pass through the eye of a needle. My child-like heart gives thanks for all that He has done. Regardless of my past, I will forever be a child in the eyes of God. If I feel as if I am too great, too strong, too tall, then the Lord provides a solution to it all: fall to your knees and make yourself small.

Faith in the One True God, the God of Love, our God who is a Father, opens his ears to my call. I call out and He calls me son, daughter, my beloved in the midst of pain and suffering, twisted upon a cross and left to die. The ten lepers were just as sinful as the Twelve Apostles, maybe even less. Regardless, He heard their cry and swept them off their feet. “The one leper fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.” My faith is a response to His grace. Justice demands that I go and thank him. Love demands that I love Him in return.

Thank you Jesus for being my Lord, my Savior, and my all.

With all this said and done, we cannot forget the most important reason for our faith, the faith of our fathers, the faith in Our Father, and that is to reach out to the foreigner. To proclaim the Truth! To proclaim that the Lord Jesus is King! He is King of the Universe and King of my life. The Universe is one with me in proclaiming the glory and majesty of the Lord. The Lord provides us with EVERYTHING: a family, a home, a universe. Sin distorts and twists it beyond belief! But, although it is hidden away, it is there for all to see. I must show myself to the priest! I must give a reason to believe. I cannot waste my time with slander, malice or envy. “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.” (Ti 3:1-3)

Stand up and go. Live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Do something beautiful today. Respond to God’s presence by taking a chance and living life to the full. Enjoy the most amazing gift that the Lord has given to you: this day.

John 2:13-22 Sit, Sip and Stare

John 2: 13-22 Sit, Sip and Stare

Lord, allow nothing to get in the way between us. Let my heart burn with an eager desire to serve you faithfully and unconditionally. How can I not think of the words of St. Francis: “Make me a channel of your grace...”

Of course my love for you could never compare to your love for me. What you have put into our relationship, I could never do. You know, all too well, I would buckle, crumble and fall apart. My pride consumes me. My vanity speaks louder than all the mighty seas! Yes Lord, I know, our relationship is like a river of grace flowing my way while tiny drops of living water are given away. I want to hold on to it all! Not out of love for you but out of love for me!

So many graces you have given to me, only to be lost by my disobedience. You lead me to streams of living water and all I do is sit, sip and stare. I see their faces before me for the sun will not allow the moon to take its place. Too many faces, all too familiar: the empty smile, the hopeless child, the broken home, the abandoned man. The names escape me but the shame will not betray me. A life consumed by despair, fear and emptiness is a life lost to sin. How many graces have I lost by my laziness, fear and disobedience? This is all too difficult to contemplate as I sit, sip and stare by the river.

Is it fear of rejection that I mention not your aim? Is it disgust with myself that I empty out your name? I sit by the river and stare at your abandoned people. I refuse to look the other way because I wish to see no evil.

Your grace is enough for me! Yes, your grace is always enough for me. I have plenty of room to swim in it, laugh and play in it, place my hands and my feet and immerse my body in it and run my fingers through it; but not so for the other. Your grace is enough FOR ME! All for me! My Jesus is in the sky, in the stars, in the sunny day, beautiful day. My Jesus in the happy days! There is no Jesus in the night, in the cold, in the rain or in the pain. No, my Jesus cannot use me as he sees fit. He must fit in my use of him.

“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.” (Ez. 8-9)

Life and Love is truly like a river that flows, where every living creature can multiply and live, and where there is an abundance of life. Where ever God’s graces flow, everything shall be made clean again. Life shall come back to life.

Lord, make me a channel of your grace. That is all that I wish to be for YOU, for “You alone are the holy one, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ!”

Allow the Lord to take his staff, dig through the mud, and allow a small channel of his graces to flow through you. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High. (Ps. 46:5) Do not allow anything or anyone, especially yourself, to hinder this amazing flow of life giving water. Sit, sip and stare. Kneel, consume and reflect before the Lord. Dig, work and give the Lord today.

Luke 17:1-6 I Am Sorry

Luke 17: 1-6 I Am Sorry

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“I am sorry.” Are these not the hardest words to say? Are they not the hardest words to accept? And yet, we are more than capable of giving them and receiving them. In the mystery of creation, the Lord placed in our hearts the ability to offend and to ask for forgiveness. Only man can offend and only man can forgive. This is truly a divine mystery. If we were simply animals, we would move on, relinquish, or fight back. Our animal instincts would instruct us to be weary and to never let our guard down.

And yet the Lord instructs us, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” In both cases, the Christian is called to a much higher form of evolution. A forgiving man is the highest form of humanity! It is the stuff of champions. It is holiness! And we have been called by the Lord to constantly help our brother. Regardless of how many times he pushes away, falls down or insults us to our very core.

I remember learning this lesson in the novitiate, in Italy. A young brother (that is, seminarian), a mere seventeen year old, would often lose his temper and take it out someone. Today, I can sympathize a great deal with this young man. I can only imagine how it must have felt to be a teenager, in the seminary, away from home and learning a new language. Well, the Novice Master placed him in my care. It was not such a good idea. One evening, after a youth event, I stuck around to talk to a group of parents. This seminarian was eager to get home as quickly as possible and not to lose our ride. In the end, I made us late and we missed our ride which meant we had to walk all the way back home. He was furious with me and swung at me! He nearly hit me. I reported the entire incident to our Novice Master and he calmly told me to continue working with this brother. I told the priest that I could not handle him and that if he tried to hit me I would hit him back! “You cannot do that”, he told me. “You do not have permission to do that.” I asked him, “Then what am I supposed to do?” He calmly told me, “It is obvious…you take the punch. Isn’t that what our Lord did?” He continued, “If you want to be a holy priest, that is, the only type of priest the Lord accepts, then you must live like him. Take the punch.”

We are all called to be holy; which means, we are all called to be like Christ. Isaiah, in his canticle, reveals to the world that "The Lord goes forth like a hero, like a warrior he stirs up his ardor; he shouts out his battle cry, against his enemies he shows his might." (Is 42:13) What is the might of the Lord? What is his battle cry? I will tell you what it is, "I forgive you." This is why our God is above all other gods. Why the Lord can do whatever he wills. He could crush me, annihilate me, obliterate me. Instead, he forgives me. In the sight of the Lord all knees shall bend, all men shall fall from their horses. Women will bow before him and kiss his feet. Why? Because no one has ever shown greater love than He.

“Lord, increase our faith!” The Apostles were not embarrassed to ask for it! They knew they needed it. “Lord, increase my faith!” May I dare say it, but I truly believe that forgiveness is the greatest sign of holiness. How we forgive our neighbors, our relatives, our family members, our friends and enemies is the greatest sign of faith we can give to our neighbors, relatives, family members, friends and enemies. How I ask God for forgiveness and forgive myself is the greatest sign of the living God present in our lives. Let us not lose the incredible opportunity the Lord has given to all of us, to imitate the Lord and to rise to a higher standard of human living – the highest form of evolution – the Saint.

Jesus reminds us, “Sin will inevitably occur.” May the Lord in his kindness allow us to be his hands and feet, his eyes and lips, his face, his faithful followers who search out, reach out and help carry the wounded and weary and bring them back to the fold. May the Lord grant us mercy and compassion, the tools that Christ used to bring us back to him.