Luke 13:18-21 Young and Humble

Luke 13:18-21  Young and Humble

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Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?  To what can I compare it?  IT is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.  When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”

Yesterday, I received a card from a couple who have been trying hard and praying hard to have a baby for some time now.  It finally happened.  The card read:  “It’s a baby!”  At first it struck me as odd that it didn’t read “It’s a girl” or “It’s a boy.”  But after a while, I finally got it.  They could care less what sex their child was.  They were just happy to have a baby.

Babies are cute.  People love to be around them.  It doesn’t matter what they do in front of us or to us.  They can burp in our face.  They can poop in our arms.  They can throw up all over our shirt.  It doesn’t matter what they do.  Nothing they say or do could ever wipe away the joy in our heart or the smile from our face. 

But when babies grow up, they’re not so cute.  Why is that?  Why do kids become so ugly?  It has nothing to do with their physical size or physical appearance.  it has everything to do with their selfishness. 

When the Lord describes the Kingdom of God as being the size of a mustard seed, what he is describing is not so much its physical dimensions but rather its spiritual conditions.  The reason why the Kingdom of God is so small and so great is because God makes himself small so as to be great.  It is the reason why the Lord said:  If you wish to be great, you must make yourself small. 

Babies get everything they need and want and even more.  Why?  Because they ask for nothing.   I keep telling our school kids that if they want to get more from their parents they need to stop asking for more.

I know some parents who are very "concerned" about their kids because they never ask for anything.  So what do they do?  They keep giving them more and more.  Their kids know the secret.  One student never asked for a car and got a car.  One student never demanded more freedom and got more freedom. 

Interested? 

The rule is simple:  If you want to be loved, then start loving.  If you want to be great, then start serving.   If you want to receive, then stop asking and start giving.

If you think about it, the Lord does not demand much from us, except to love Him and to love our neighbor.  Oh, I forgot.  He also asks us to give Him our sins so that He can give us His love.

Be subordinate.  In his letter to the Ephesians (Eph 5:21-33), St. Paul challenges Church leaders to be “subordinate to Christ”.  He goes one step further and challenges members of the Church to be “subordinate to one another”.  He then demands wives take a leap of faith by being “subordinate to their husbands in everything.”  But like everything St. Paul writes, he demands that we do what we do just like Christ did for us.  It is not enough to love.  We need to love as Christ loves us.

The Church is a “sacrament” of the Body of Christ.  Christians are a “sacrament” of Christ’s continual presence in the world.  Husbands are a sacrament of Christ’s unconditional love and sacrifice for His bride (the Church). 

There is no demanding in any of these relationships, only giving of oneself and dying to self.  These are the conditions that make all relationships possible, powerful, beautiful, amazing and ever young and new… like a new born baby.

Like a child, the Kingdom of God will grow from a small mustard seed to a burning bush, but only if it remains forever young and humble of heart.

Luke 12:8-12 Acknowledging God

Luke 12:8-12  Acknowledging God(Click here for readings)

Jesus said to his disciples:  “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.”

Jake Finkbonner is the reason why Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native-American Indian who lived in the 17^th century, will be declared a saint by the Holy Father tomorrow morning in Rome.

In 2006, Jake Finkbonner was so close to death after flesh-eating bacteria infected him that his parents, Donny and Elsa Finkbonner, had last rites performed and were discussing with doctors donating the 5-year-old’s tiny organs. 

Fr. Sauer, who performed the last rites on Jake, four days after he cut his lip, said he immediately urged the family and the congregation back on the Indian reservation to pray to Blessed Kateri, thinking that maybe their shared faith and Native American heritage were relevant.

The Finkbonners are Native-American Indians and devout Roman Catholics.  Over the years they have felt a little ostracized by some on their reservation for being Christian.  [There’s a strong movement on most reservations for Indians to return to their ancestor’s spirituality.]  Regardless of it, the Finkbonners didn’t budge.

But every day the prognosis for little Jake got worse.  Donny Finkbonner recalled, “I remember the last day that we met with the whole group of doctors, my wife didn’t even want to hear what they had to say.  She just got behind me and was holding on.”  But rather than bad news, the doctors said the infection had suddenly stopped.  “It was like a volcano that was erupting, and they opened him up and it was gone.  It had stopped.  It was an amazing day.”

It took the Finkbonners several years to realize that the turning point had come a day after a friend of the family – a nun named after Kateri – had visited them in the hospital, prayed with them and placed a relic of the soon-to-be saint on Jake’s leg.

They went back to their calendar and noticed that the day the nun arrived and prayed with them was the day the infection stopped.

The similarities between Jake and Blessed Kateri are remarkable:  Just like the Finkbonners, Blessed Kateri was ostracized by her tribe for having held on to the Catholic faith.  She was badly scarred at the age of four during a smallpox epidemic.  Jake’s illness has left many physical scars as well.  

The doctor’s at Seattle Children’s Hospital told the family they should pray for a miracle.  They were the first to tell them they had no scientific explanation for their son’s healing.

To be a saint does not mean to live like Christ.  It means to live in Christ.  It means it is no longer I who live in me but Christ who lives in me.   I acknowledge the Lord in all the good I do because He lives and breathes and moves in me.  The goal of every Christian is to be another Christ:  a Saint.  Yes, we are sinners.  Yet sinners do become saints.  And history has proven that all saints are made from the same raw material:  sinners.

St. Kateri, pray for us.

Luke 12:1-7 Faith and Fries

Luke 12:1-7  Faith and Fries
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Jesus began to speak, “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.  I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more…”

A few Sunday’s ago, I went to a well known restaurant located in my neighborhood.  As soon as I walked in, I could see someone staring at me in a very weird way.  He looked shocked to see me.  [That’s not uncommon but it never feels normal.] 

He walked up to me and introduced himself to me.  He told me that his family owned the restaurant and that he was “The Manager”.  I congratulated him on his job and waited for him to explain why he was talking to me.  Finally, and with a little bit of nervousness, he said to me, “Father, grew up in the Catholic Church but have not attended Mass in a very long time.  Someone came in here a few minutes ago and asked me if I was saved.  He told me to seek God in my life.  That’s when you walked in.  I think God is giving me a sign.” 

Well, I was happy with that because it meant I would probably get a free meal.  [Just kidding.]

Definitely the Lord was inviting this young man, through a Christian, to reflect on his life and to come back to Him.

Contrary to current folklore, God is not a human invention.  He is a reality.  Man did not invent God.  God revealed himself to man.  We did not find Him.  He found most of us.  Some are still lost. 

God is not "something" you "added" to your life.  He is our life.  He is the beginning and the end of our life; He is the reason, purpose, and goal of our life.

Far too many people in this world (yes, even one person would be too many), continue to think that God is a crutch.  God is not a crutch.  God is our Creator.  Legs and lungs are not crutches.  If you want to walk, then you have to have legs.  If you want to breathe, then you have to have lungs.  If you want to live in this world, then you have to have God in your life.   

We tell people all the time what is good for them.  We tell complete strangers that they should think twice before eating this or that.  We hear it all the time:  watch out for carbs, watch your weight, and watch out for fat and steroids.  We have no fears telling our neighbor what their body needs.  But when it comes to our neighbor’s soul, we tend to remain silent, dead silent…unless we have a heresy we’d like to share.

Our faith was never meant to be concealed.  It was never meant to be locked up and whispered away.  It was meant to be proclaimed behind closed doors and in front of open doors.  To be more like Jesus Christ never hurt anyone.  If anything, it saved them. 

A few weeks ago, a stranger walked into this restaurant, ordered something and asked a complete stranger a simple question:  “Have you been saved?”   The question shocked him.  It surprised him.  It even scared him a little.  But what is more shocking and interesting is the fact that no friend or family member asked him or encouraged him to come back to Church; the Church he grew up in.  

It’s time we stop making our faith a private affair.  It’s time we stop worrying so much about what others may think and start helping others to think...and pray...and live.  It’s time we stop making excuses and saying, “Well, I just don’t want to offend anyone.”  If we can give our opinion on what food to eat, then we can give an invitation to the Lord’s feast.  No one will be offended that you invited them to Church or that you spoke to them with love and conviction (regarding the truth of Jesus Christ). 

Speak the truth and see what happens.  Invite others to come to church and see what happens.  You never know.  You may actually change someone’s life for good.

Let us share our faith, our hope and our love with others just like we share our fries; generously. 

Luke 11:5-13 The Year of Faith

Luke 11:5-13  The Year of Faith

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Jesus said to his disciples: …“If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

One does not solve a problem by making it bigger. 

As I sat around the dinner table last night with a beautiful family, I had to ask this mom and dad of three kids how they came up with their youngest daughter's name.  I never expected to hear what I heard.  I should have known better.

Facts are not opinions.  That’s what we all learned in school.  Well, the facts didn’t look good for this mom of two, or for her unborn child.  The doctor treating her said she ran the very serious risk of bleeding to death if she continued with her pregnancy; and that her unborn child, if it even survived, would have serious defects.  The doctor pleaded with her to use her better judgment.  He reminded her that she was already the mother of two small children.  Why run the risk for one more child?  Why in the world would she leave the other two motherless? The “logical” conclusion was to abort.   

With so much to lose and with so much pressure to come to terms with “reality”, it is a miracle she remained steadfast.  She refused to have an abortion.   

A few months before she gave birth, she had one last sonogram.  The doctor would not allow her to look at the image of her child.  When she pressed for a reason, the doctor told her, “Just in case you decide to change your mind.”   

Her husband, a good Christian man, had his doubts though.  He did not have her faith. 

The moment her child was born, her doctor began to cry.  This mother of two had given birth to a perfectly normal baby girl.  Mom and dad named her “Faith”.    

A few years later, Faith’s dad became a Catholic.

Today, Faith is a very beautiful, highly intelligent (straight A), playful and creative teen.  While her parents shared stories about her at the dinner table, all she did was smile.  And what an amazing smile she has.  

It's obvious to see that family life would be so different if they did not have their little Faith.  At Sunday Mass, mom and dad still look at her every time the priest, after the consecration, says, “Mystery of Faith”.

Why do I mention this story?  Because today, unbeknownst to me, the Holy Father inaugurated “The Year of Faith”.  I couldn’t believe the coincidence.  I should have known better!

Faith is our response to God’s grace.  I can take it or reject it.  And I do so knowingly or woefully.  Faith is an act of the intellect.  It is not an act of the emotions.  It is not “wishful” thinking.  It is
“thankful” thinking.  I am grateful to Him. 

I can honestly say I believe in God more than I believe in man because I have seen what man can do without God, and what God can do regardless of man.

I am a very logical person, but I am also a person of faith.  I can put the two together like faith and reason, truth and forgiveness, love and enemy, science and God, the mystery of our faith and the mystery of Faith. 

I can love when there is no reasonable reason to and have Faith when there is no logical reason to.

Lord, give us Faith to see what no eye could see, ear could hear and love could not reject.

Luke 10:13-16 Listen To Me!

Luke 10:13-16  Listen To Me!

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Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin!”  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented…Whoever listens to you listens to me.  And whoever rejects you rejects me.  And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” 

Not too long ago, an old man, working at John Paul II High School, told me when he first learned to pay attention.   He had enlisted in the Army and was given a chance at serve in the 101st Airborne Division.   

The Army instructor made it very clear to all the young recruits.  “Men, listen up!  Jumping out of a plane is very serious business.  Pay close attention at all times.  Follow instructions carefully.  If you don’t, you could pay for it with your life.”  As soon as he had finished these words, the men saw a plane flying directly above them.  As the instructor continued to speak to them, the recruits were distracted at what they saw.  Ten men had jumped from the plane.  As they were falling from the sky, one man’s parachute failed to open.  The recruits could not believe what they were seeing.   They watched in horror as the soldier hit the ground at over 100 mph.  They witnessed blood and guts splatter and scatter all over the place. 

It turned out to be just a dummy.  But it was a lesson he said all the dummies learned and never forgot.

Who do I listen to?  Who will I listen to?  Who will I obey? 

The people of Chorazin and Bethsaida rejected the Lord.  Do you understand?  They REJECTED God!  What happens to us when we reject God?  We end up falling from the sky and breaking apart.  We hit rock bottom and fast!  It doesn’t matter how much we have or how privileged we are.  If anything, the weight of our possessions just makes us fall faster!  And the more privileged we are, the more shocked we become!

We all want to be successful in our lives.  But what exactly does it mean to be successful?  That’s an important question.  If you want to live a successful life, then we better know what success means. 

Success is nothing more than holiness.  The holier you are, the more successful you are.  What could be more successful than being another Christ?  What could be more successful than life-everlasting?  What could be more successful than being the man or woman you were created to be? 

So what does it mean to reject the Lord?  It means to reject His Church. 

“Whoever listens to you [my disciples] listens to me.  Whoever rejects you rejects me.  And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”    Wow!  The Lord definitely stands behind his men, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, till death we unite.    

Say whatever you want.  Say to me that you are a very “spiritual” person but not at all “religious”.  Go ahead.  It means nothing.  Say to me that you believe in Christ but not in His Church.  Go ahead.  But know that what you are saying is not at all what Christ said.  “Whoever listens to you listens to me.  Whoever rejects you rejects me.”   

Someone said to me today, “Why should I go to confession with a priest that is a bigger sinner than I am?”  I told that person, “Because he would be very gentle to you!  He’ll probably be able to relate to you better than most others.” 

Let's use our common sense.  Is a doctor disqualified for treating patients because he has cancer?  Is a woman disqualified for being a marriage counselor because she is not married?  Of course not!  Is someone disqualified to forgive because they need forgiveness?

What are you trying to accomplish in your life?  Who is influencing you the most?  Is it God?  Is it your family?  Is it your friends?  Is it the entertainment industry?

I’m so sick and tired of hearing Catholic school teachers (and “Nick Junior”) repeat secular old and stale doctrines to our children.  Why do we keep telling children how important friends are when it is their friends that are causing so many of their problems?  Why are we failing to tell our children how important it is to make friends with their siblings? 

Think about it.  Why are so many girls confused about boys?  Because they never speak to the first boy in their life:  their brother (or father)!  Today, tell your daughter to ask her brother a simple question:  “What do guys usually think about?”  Do it.  So that she will finally know the secret about boys (and most men).  What do boys think about all day long?  “Uh…nothing???”  Yes, that’s it!  Boys don’t have anything on their mind, and if they did, it would be gross.  The secret is finally out and your daughter finally knows (and has no further doubts about it) that most boys are narcissists and pigs!  She just found out what her friends will painfully find out; that is, that boys don't care much about anyone or about anything! 

Why do so many boys have a hard time understanding girls?  Because they never speak to the first girl in their life:  their sister (or mother).  But if they did, then they would finally connect two important dots:  that their sister is actually a girl.  Help them mom and dad!  Why don’t we help them?  Tell your boy to ask his sister what she thinks about all day long.  And the secret will finally be revealed.  He will know that they think a lot more than he does, and that they think a lot about their hair, their clothes, their friends, romance, colorful stuff, etc…  Now they know! 

I think the biggest difference between a movie and life is the script.  In a movie people tell you where to go, what to do and what to say.  But in your life, you have the chance to write your own script.  You can determine what you will say, what you will do, and how you will live.  But since no one is an island, you will have to decide who will have the greatest influence in your life.  Who will it be?  Friends or family.  Secular ideals or God’s Word.  School/Country or Church.  My will or God's Will.

Christ speaks.  You decide.  Best of luck.

Luke 7:36-50 Hold Fast!

Luke 7:36-50  Hold Fast!

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A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him.  Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.  Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. 

Something wrong is going on when someone sins.  Something worse is going on when someone sins and calls it a blessing.  But the worst is when someone who does not sin turns away the sinner.

This woman's face was her scarlet letter.  Everyone knew her.  Everyone knew who she was.  Even she knew who she was.  She admitted it.  And she knew what she was doing was wrong.  Ah, if only there were more humble women like this woman...But come to think of it, there probably would be if there were more humble men like the Lord. 

By the looks of it, no sinner ever approached a Pharisee.  I wouldn’t.  Would you?  Would you stretch out your hand at someone who would be repulsed by it?  Would you call out for help at someone who saw you and turned the other way?  Didn’t they know?  Didn’t they just turn away?

No wonder the Lord was harsher with the “sinless” than he was with the sinner.  They were making it so hard for others to enter Heaven. 

The Lord did not come into the world to tell people that everything was okay.  He did not forgive our sins by telling us there was nothing to forgive.  Why do I keep telling people who do me wrong:  “Oh, that’s okay.  Don’t worry about it.  We can all be like that.  No big deal.” 

Sin is a big deal.  And it needs to be dealt with in a small and humble way.  That's the only way to deal with sin! 

As I was coming back to the faith of my fathers, I realized that I needed to go to Confession.  To know Scripture and the sacraments was not good enough.  I had to experience God through the sacraments.  I knew I had to go to Confession.  And it was time to go to Confession.  I had put it off way too long.  Over ten years had passed since my last confession and I had plenty to confess.  Teenage years are tough years.  And the last time I had gone to confession was when I was fifteen years old.  Oh boy!

So I decided to go to a parish that was very, very far away from my home.  None of the priests knew me (of course).  None of the parishioners knew me.  I waited in line like all the other poor sinners and waited patiently for the priest to arrive.  He eventually did and I was shocked!

He was a very old Franciscan monk.  I couldn’t believe it.  He could barely walk.  I thought to myself, “If this man hears my Confession he will die!!!”    But then a different thought began to stir in my mind.  I actually smiled.  I was convinced he wouldn’t be able to hear a thing I said.

Well, I told him everything.  He listened.  I cried.  He gave me the best advice I had ever heard.  He ended by saying, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.”  I answered, “For his mercy endures forever.”

Little did I know that this Confession would be the cornerstone of how I would hear all my Confessions.  [Or at least try to hear all my confessions.]

Little did I know that this Confession would bring be back – heart, mind, body and soul – into the arms of Jesus Christ and to an entirely new way of living my life.

Hold fast!!!  This is the ride of your life!

P.S.  We tend to associate the Lord with a few grandiose miracles.  But what we often think little of is what Christ did the most:  he touched the sick and spoke lovingly to the brokenhearted.  He did what the Pharisees should have done.  He did what we should all be doing.

Luke 7:31-35 Catholics and Politics!

Luke 7:31-35  Catholics and Politics!

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Jesus said to the crowds:  “To what shall I compare the people of this generation?  What are they like?  They are like children…For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of sinners.’  But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Everyone is an expert today.  Everyone.  There are very few professions that we still respect.  And by respect, I mean those whom I trust may know more than I do with regards to a specific discipline. 

Now, I still believe in experts.  And I believe in them because I know I can’t be an expert in everything.  I simply don’t have enough time to read up on everything.    

Early this morning I came up with two professions that I thought we still respected: doctors and lawyers.  But as I sit here writing this meditation, I believe I am wrong with regards to doctors.  I think we go to the doctors only as a last resort.  Why?  Because we think we know better.  So, we Google our symptoms; we self-diagnosis; we self-prescribe and then we finally go in to see the doctor.  When the doctor gives us our medication, we end up not following the instructions.  Why?  Because we think we know better. 

The same holds true for God and the Church.  We are like children.  And just like children, we tend to put as much trust in God and the Church as a child puts in the wisdom and experience of his/her parents.  Not much.

So who do we trust?  Superstars!  All kinds of them too:  music stars, actors and actresses, billionaires and their wives, politicians and their children.

I know this is old news but I was taken aback a little by Clint Eastwood’s off the cuff “one-liner” talk (?) or maybe discourse (?) or even "mime" a few weeks ago at the Republican National Convention.  I say “one-liner” discourse because it basically consisted of a bunch of “one-liners”, or more appropriately, aphorisms.  Some of which were incoherent; others which were deliberate; others that missed their point entirely; while others seemed to lead to trivialness and awkwardness.  We forgave him because he was an actor without a script. 

But why was he there?  Was it because he's a famous actor?  That’s it?  So, when did he become an expert in anything other than acting?

John F. Kennedy was the first pope that American Catholics respected and listened to.  When he spoke, it was infallible and ex cathedra!    He could do no wrong!  And when he did, we all turned the other cheek.  While he was running for President, he declared to his worshipers that he would not mix his faith with his politics.  The people listened, cried and then cheered!  He had just declared his first dogma of faith for American liberal-Catholicism. 

And the dogma stuck… up until his daughter’s day at the Democratic National Convention.

Leave it to his daughter, who continues to ride on her father’s coat-tails, to take her very own father’s dogma, of separating faith from politics, and mixing them back together again, but with a different political twist. 

She was there to win the “Catholic” vote.  She was there as a means to an end;  to use her "Catholic" to get us to believe her "politic".  Her mission was to convince Catholics that they too could be a good Catholic, like her, and also pro-choice, pro gay-marriage, pro everything-that-is-contrary-to-the-faith-handed-down-through-the-centuries.  She tried to erase all doubts by letting the congregation know that this would be pleasing to the "Holy Father"…her father. 

Well, the pope’s daughter spoke and everyone in Rome - I mean South Carolina - listened. 

But what makes her think she is an expert in anything other than being a Kennedy and a failed politician? Could it possibly be her name?  Is that it?

Now, if these individuals are the best the world has to offer me to change my mind or my positions, then I prefer to stay the course and place my trust not in the world or in a family name, but in a successor’s name:  the successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ.  Don’t you find it childish how these individuals dismiss him or ignore him?  I personally find it comforting that the Vicar of Christ is not a citizen of any nation, has no allegiance to any nation, and communicates above the fray.  I find it interesting how so many people would love to convince me that he knows nothing about anything, except being wrong all the time.  I find it befitting that those who criticize him the most know the least about God, Christ, the Church, the faith, history, culture, family and poverty; but know a ton about computers, economics and politics!

In today’s first reading, St. Paul writes:  “When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.”  In other words, when he was a child he used to think and speak as if he knew it all.  St. Paul acknowledges that his childishness went well beyond his childhood years.  What ended it for him was his conversion; that is, when he allowed himself to be a follower of the Lord and governed by St. Peter; when he finally realized that the Church was not a member of him but that he was a member of her. 

Jesus said, “Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” 

How many people listen to Pope Benedict?  Probably the same number of people who listened to Christ:  very few, when compared to the general population.  But wisdom is not vindicated by numbers; it is vindicated by her faithful children. 

Wisdom has nothing to do with money or last names.  It has everything to do with Christ and His Church.

Mt 23:13-22 Woe to you, you hypocrites! Wow!

Mt 23:13-22  Woe to you, you hypocrites!  Wow!

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Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites…You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”

Woe to you…you hypocrites…you blind guides!  Can you believe that Jesus said this???  Wow!!!

I’ve said it before and I will say it again.  We, as Christians, tend to think that the closer we are to God - the more blessed we are - the less we will suffer. This is total nonsense!  Christ is not in heaven because he is on vacation!  He is in Heaven because He leads us.  He does not rest in heaven; he coordinates precise tactical strikes on the hearts and minds of men.   Christ is no pacifist.  He did not go AWOL.  He did not earn his purple heart long ago; He earns it every single day.  What you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me.

God is sacred; Christianity is sacred.  But it’s not just about Him.  It’s also about us!  Life is sacred; marriage is sacred; family is sacred.  All other definitions are fiction.  All other definitions are an appeasement; an affront to Christ’s sacrifice and death.  Did the Lord die in vain?  God forbid!  Did He die and shake hands and agree to disagree?  Never!  Then why do we do this to Him?  Why do we make pretend that there are far more important matters than life, marriage and family?  Are we to believe that Christ’s death was an exaggeration?  He didn’t have to go that far.

Those who attack the sacredness of life, marriage and family do not have any difficulty in ridiculing, insulting and degrading those who think differently.  Oh well, aren’t you guys suppose to forgive us?  It’s amazing how selective is their memory and knowledge of Christianity.  Yes!  We are!  But we will not roll over and play dead.  We forgive you… for you know not what you are doing.  Let us not forget that it was Christ who forgave His enemies.  Let us not forget that His enemies never asked to be forgiven.  We know that by what they did next. 

Let’s not be hypocrites or blind guides.  Where did we ever get the idea of hiding in our Churches; preaching only to the choir; of playing dead; of not speaking out; of negotiating with sin?   

Christ was not a diplomat.  He died because he would not negotiate or surrender.  The Lord was not a weak man.  He conquered death!  All of us put him to death and He rose from the dead.  When we learned of what He did, some of us switched sides; some continued along party lines.  Once upon a time, you could tell a Christian from a non-Christian by what they were willing and not willing to do.  Those who were willing to sacrifice everything but their faith, honor, principles, morals and values were the Christians.  Now, you have Christians who are willing to sacrifice their faith, honor, principles, morals and values but not their homes, careers, income and/or status. 

The Lord never told his Apostles to mingle and mix with the latest trends; to go unnoticed; to not stand out.  Not even when all appeared lost did He call for a truce, or an evolving of ideas.  On the contrary, the Lord put his enemies on notice.  He declared all out war for the salvation of souls.  He declared it in the upper room on the night he was betrayed.  He declared it as He was nailed to the Cross.  He declared it when He said, “Do not be afraid.  Go throughout the world…”

He is looking for a few good men.  As soon as he can find a special operator that is willing to fight and die for Him, He will send Him.  This is the truth.  All other ideas of the ideal Christian are simply nonsense!  Or better yet, from the devil’s headquarters.  The devil would love for us to call off the attacks on abortion.  He would love for us to retreat on marriage and family.  “Let’s have a little respect here for people’s privacy, shall we?”  “You shouldn’t be protesting in front of our clinic doors.  Where are your manners?” 

In today’s first reading, we read of how proud St. Paul is with the Christians in Thessalonica.  Their faith is flourishing; the love they have for each other keeps growing; their endurance in the face of persecution and affliction is a model for others.  He considers their suffering as evidence of the just judgment of God.

Do you still believe that your trials and tribulations are proof that God does not exist or is absent?  Give me a break!  We know the apple does not fall far from the tree.  If they persecuted me, then they will persecute you!

St. Paul traveled to the ends of the earth to make one convert.  St. Monica traveled across the sea to convert her son.  Why did they do it?  For love of God and neighbor.  How did they do it?  By imitating Jesus Christ.  And both were very successful in accomplishing their mission.  And both paid a heavy price for it.

Let’s not make the Lord’s death (or St. Paul’s and St. Monica’s) in vain.  His death was meant to inspire us all.

Mt 22:1-14 It’s My Party!

Mt 22:1-14  It’s My Party!

(Click here for readings)

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the 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 feasts, but they refused to come… The king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.  Go out…and invite to the feast whomever you find.’  …The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good, a like.  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 his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, cast him into the darkness outside’…Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Knowing teens means knowing parties.  I don’t attend any of them, but I do end up hearing a lot about them.  Far too often the parties that end up bad are the parties whose guests go crazy.  When the owner of the house and patron of the party loses control of his/her guests, they end up feeling used.   I invited MY friends to MY party and they trashed MY place and MY party!

The meaning of this parable should be pretty obvious to all who read it:  The Jews are the first to be invited to the Lord’s wedding feast.  After all, they are the chosen people of God.  They are the rightful guests of the feast.  But the Pharisees, the scribes, the elders and the chief priests are doing their very best to (1) Ignore the invitation (and not attend); (2) to get others not to attend; (3) and to get others to trash the party and host as well.  So, the Lord does what anyone would do:  he extends the invitation to all.  The wedding feast will go on, regardless of who is and isn't there.

When I write a meditation, I do not base my reflections solely or strictly on the particular Gospel passage of the day.  I can’t!  I must always keep in the back of my mind the entire Gospels.  Otherwise, I will end up belonging to a different religion after every single meditation!  I find this to be a big problem with far too many Christians.  No wonder why we have over 40,000 different Christian denominations (including the denomination “Non-Denominational”) in our country. 

Wow, for a people who think they know the Bible; they seem to have a hard time knowing Christ.

Our problem with the Bible and Church may very well be the same as that of teens and parties:  We want to crash Christ’s party and make it our own just like teens wants to crash a friend’s party and make it their own!  Or better yet, we want to crash Christ’s Church and make it our own!   

How?  By barging in and creating mass hysteria by taking verses out of context; sliding passages out from under us; taking one word of His and running with it; picking His brain and assuming His thoughts; legitimizing the Lord by modernizing Him; and adding my thoughts to some of His words.

Let’s take, for example, the gospel verse:  “You must be born again…”  Obviously, someone took this in the late 1970’s and ran with it!  Suddenly, everyone was asking you:  “Are you born again?”  And then we have the “born-again” movement…that died an unceremonious death not too long ago.  You don’t hear that one too often, do you? 

Instead of crashing Christ’s Church, we end up defaulting on our own!

There are many more examples out there but let’s put it all to rest for now. 

What’s important to know is that when Christ invites us to his party, we should arrive spiritually and physically cleansed; with an open heart and mind; with proper attire; and open to thanksgiving more than to just complaining.

Mt 18:1-14 Broken Saints

Mt 18:1-14  Broken Saints

(Click here for readings)

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven…If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?”

There are some commonalities in life that are a bit confusing.  For example, those who are overwhelmed with joy often share something in common with those who are overwhelmed with grief.  They both shed tears.  Another, that has intrigued me for years, is related to today’s Gospel passage.  I have seen that those who are emptied by sin often share something in common with those who are filled by grace.  They both are broken.

I have to calm myself down when people tell me that there are many commonalities among the great world religions.  For example, that Aztecs had altars, just like Roman Catholics have alters.  But appearances, like so many things in this world, are not everything.  An SS officer may have a gun just like GI Joe, but what he does with it is an entirely different story. 

Although saints and sinners may both be broken, there is a tremendous difference between the brokenness caused by emptiness and the brokenness caused by holiness. 

Today, we celebrate the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe.  He was the only man that was sent to a Nazi concentration camp  who voluntarily gave his life up to save the life of a condemned prisoner.  He was a Roman Catholic priest. 

Sin breaks us apart.  It separates the heart from the mind; the body from the soul; the person from the community; the creature from the Creator.   The Nazis loved to separate individuals from their community and enjoyed watching them betray one another or turn against each other. 

But grace too breaks us apart; but in an entirely different way.  It releases us from our inner most fears.

It allows us to come out from under our hiding place.  Come out!  Come out!  Where ever you are!  When Maximilian Kolbe was not selected for death, he broke through the ranks of the saved and joined the list of condemned.  It was said that he came out from nowhere. 

Grace frees the “new man” from the old.  It breaks free the captive.  It liberates the restless heart from a very limited mind.  Grace allows something good to created from nothing.  From the emptiness of space came forth an explosion of love.  From the darkest corner of the planet (Auschwitz) came forth a ray of light.  Sacrifice breaks the back of despair.  It brings the dead back to life.  It is giving, rewarding, enriching.  But it leaves the human body twisted, broken and disfigured. 

On the night he was betrayed, he took the bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this all of you and eat of it.  This is my body which will be given up for you…Do this in memory of me.”

The Lord allowed his body to be torn (broken) so that it could be distributed to others.  Do this in memory of me in an invitation to do what the Lord did.  Allow the Lord to take you, break you, and give you to others.  Do this in memory of me. 

A broken saint is not the same as a broken man.  The difference is one gave himself away while the other never gave himself away.

Although the man who left his sheep in search of the lost one may have appeared just as confused as his lost sheep, we must remember that appearances are not everything.  Do not be fooled.  The Savior may have looked just as dazed as the saved; just as bloodied as the condemned; just as confused as the victim; just as much of a man as the rest, but he is not.  He is God; who appeared like us in all things, except sin.

Broken bread is still bread.  A pierced heart is just a reminder of a loving heart.