Mark 2:18-22 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.  People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”  Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.”

Today, we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.  He was a great American.  But first and foremost, he was a great Christian.  He followed the Lord and preached the Gospel truth.  He spoke at a time when few wanted to hear him.  He spoke in a way that few speak today.  In nearly all his speeches he mixed religion with politics by quoting sacred scripture and demanding civil rights for all. 

I wonder how many people told him that he should stop doing that.  I’m glad he ignored them.  I’m glad he saw through their shallow argument.

Today, the first African-American President of the United States is being inaugurated for a second-term.  He would not be there if it were not for the very public and personal sacrifices and leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.  The President’s inauguration falls not by coincidence but by divine providence on the reverend’s birthday.  As Fulton Sheen once said, “It appears as though ‘coincidences’ occur more for those who pray”.

What makes sacrifice so unthinkable and so unbearable?  The pain that it causes!  What makes sacrifice so thinkable and bearable?  When the pain is connected to a worthy cause!  

Why do so many Christians so often stand up and stand out?  What is it about them that makes them so unrelenting even in the face of threats, bodily harm, ridicule, hatred and lies?  What takes hold of them, for they are so often and so routinely led to the slaughter with a smile on their face?  Simply put and remarkably said: they know they are not alone.  Their lives are incorporated into Jesus Christ.

Like nearly every authentic Christian, Rev. Martin Luther King was ahead of his time by being a follower of Christ.  Like the Lord, He was a pain in the neck to his neighbors.  He was an annoyance to his enemies.  He was the butt of all jokes and the head of all scorn.  But to his own, his faithful few, he was the cause of constant prayers and the source of so many hopes and blessings.  I can’t even begin to imagine all the death threats he received.  I can’t even imagine for a moment all the hate mail he read.  So, how did he do it?  How did he continue?  Why did his followers continue to follow?  Because their pain was connected to a worthy cause; because their lives were connected to a most worthy person; because their eyes of faith were constantly gazing upon the hidden Lord!

Why did the Lord’s disciples not fast?  Because their eyes, their ears, their lips and their hearts were feasting every day on the Lord.  They lived in the presence of the Holy One.  It’s not that they didn’t suffer.  It’s not that they didn’t sacrifice!  It’s that all their sufferings, all their sacrifices, all their fears and tears were entirely bearable because they were in the presence of Almighty God.  It isn’t that they were immune to pain and felt no hunger and had no fears.  No!  It’s that they could bear all things, endure all things, and hope all things because they were in the presence of true and non-negotiating Love.

How could anyone fast or look away from the face of Love???  How could anyone avoid the sun on a clear day?  How does one not drink from a stream of sweet water? 

By the grace of God there would be no fasting!  Not yet, at least. 

Yes, the day would come when the Lord would be taken away from them, and then, only then, would they begin to fast and mourn, not out of despair, but out of respect:  Mission accomplished.

The Son that once shined so bright before their very eyes would no longer be visible to their naked eye.  There would be no more “son” bathing.  There would be no more abundant wells of miracles and refreshing sweet water.  The followers would now have to pick themselves up where they last stood and learn how to dig, and dig deeper than ever before, to find their source of life, the spring of life, the gift of grace, the empty tomb, the risen Lord. 

They would have to learn to dig with faith.

Mark 1:21-28 Unicorns and So Much More

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Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, and on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught….All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority.”

I feel so bad for unicorns. In some recent comments, some nasty readers have been so cruel to them! Insisting that they don’t exist! How mean! How awful! Why? Why such disdain for unicorns?

“So, if you say that there is a 50:50 chance that God exists, are you saying that there is a 50:50 chance that unicorns exist?” Hush now, please! I wouldn’t want a single child to hear such horrible lies. After all, unicorns do exist. It’s not a 50:50 chance they exist, it’s for sure they exist! Ask any adult if they have seen a unicorn and they will know exactly what you mean. Ask any young person and they too will know what you mean. They may even draw one for you. Ask a child and they will tell you, a thousand words a minute, not that one exists, but that millions exist!

And they will be absolutely correct! For unicorns exist in movie theatres, in art galleries, on top of desks and computers, in bedrooms and in toy stores!

“Now, hold on a second. They don’t really exist! They are not made out of flesh and bones.” Let me get this straight: in order for something to exist, it must have flesh and bones? Does a rock need to have flesh and bones in order to exist? Poor plants! Poor moon! Poor sky! Poor computers! Poor Internet! Why must you be so insulting? Why can’t you let them “be”? From insulting every child are you now determined to insult every creator, every inventor, every man? Have you no decency, man! Are you jealous? Must you take credit away from someone who deserves it?

What constitutes existence? Do ideas not exist? Of course they do.  Do representations of ideas exist! Of course they do, check out any blueprint!

For Plato, Forms (or ideas) were the blueprints of all that exists, and being intelligent meant being able to grasp the world of Forms with one's mind. For what you build must first be conceived!

As for me, by dismissing unicorns, you dismiss every idea ever conceived. With one illogical thought, you dismiss the world of every video game. With the wild swing of an axe, you chop the heads off of every character ever created and every invention ever made. Why? Because “they don’t ‘really’ exist”??? And they don’t “really” exist because “they are not made out of flesh and bones”?

They do exist, sir, and there is a lot to learn from them, for they exist in a very familiar way:  they are an image and likeness of man and his world.  There is no shame in saying that we imagined them, created them and made them, and that they dwell in a virtual world created by us! Now, they may be inferior to us, stuffed by us, sculpted or plastered and painted by us, but that's only because that's the best we can do...for now. For I have no doubts that one day we will be better at it, just like God is.

The problem with comparing God to a unicorn is that a unicorn belongs to man’s created world, not in the heavens.  They belong to us while man belongs to God’s created world.  We can take credit for the unicorns.  We can't take credit for the narwhals. 

Yes, unicorns, as well as computers, the web, the internet, the virtual world, all belong to the world created by man.  And unfortunately, just like an atheist, all of them (unicorns included), know not who their creator is.

That’s divine justice for you!

Unicorns exist from the creative minds of men, just like men exist from the creative mind of God; and just as unicorns are made in the image and likeness of horses, so man is made in the image and likeness of God. After all, something cannot come from nothing, not even an idea.

“A man with an unclean spirit cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” I have no doubts that one day, maybe thousands of years from now, man will create a “flesh and bone” unicorn. Maybe they will even create a type of “humanoid”. Let’s hope and pray that they are not as ignorant as “Dolly” was or as rebellious at their creator as man is.

Unfortunately, there appears to be a pattern here.

Mark 1:14-20 Following The Lord

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As Jesus passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen.  Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Then they left their nets and followed him. 

When I read today’s Gospel passage, I am reminded of my own vocation. 

I never thought I would be a priest.  Never!  Never.  I grew up in a Catholic family but religion was not something that was forced down our throats.  Rather, getting a good education was.  Growing up in upstate New York, my dad always reminded me of the importance of getting a good education.  He appreciated what a good education had done for him.  It made life easier.  He was the only child in his family that went to college and earned a Ph.D.  He earned his doctorate in Jurisprudence. 

Now I have to admit, I wasn’t really interested in getting an education.  I was more interested in making money.  So, when it came to choosing a major, I chose the most marketable one around:  Imaging Science.  It paid off, and before I even graduated from R.I.T. with a B.S. degree in Imaging Science, I landed a job with the Eastman Kodak Company.  I was considered a “lucky” guy by many.  After all, “if you got a job with Kodak, then you had a job for life”.  How funny!  

But when I found out that I could make even more money with a Master of Science degree, I went to work on it and earned my M.S. in the same field of study.  It seemed to take forever to complete my thesis:  “A Computer Simulation of an Electrophotographic Halftone Device.”  [Remember FORTRAN and SLAM?], but I did. And after spending nearly every night for a year on it, I finally defended it in front of professors in my own department and in other scientific disciplines. 

Now that my life was set I was ready to have some fun.  I earned it.  But it was at this moment that my life turned right-side up. 

I began to date a young lady who was not a Catholic but a very committed Christian.  She loved Jesus Christ and she wanted to share her faith in Him with me.  I wanted nothing to do with it.  I thought it was great that she was a Christian (she had great morals), but I didn’t share in her zeal or passion for God or Church.  After all, I was pretty sure that all religions were the same and that they were all superstition. 

So while she was busy trying to convert me, I got to work trying to convert her; that is, make her see religion the way I saw it:  as nonsense. 

What better way to accomplish my mission than to use my own Church’s beliefs and tear them apart.  But I was shocked at what I found.  I was shocked because I discovered how wrong I was.  I thought I would find a bunch of superstitious nonsense; instead, I found out that I was the “superstitious” one, for what I thought the Church believed in was not at all what the Church believed in.  Finally, I came to realize the questions I had were not original at all.  In fact, they had been asked many years ago.  And I was surprised to learn that many of my questions had been asked before and answered long ago.       

Not too long after discovering my faith, I began to change my life.  I am so glad that I did.  My job would no longer be my life.  My beliefs would no longer be in manmade documents.  My security would no longer be in my job.  Rather, my life would be in God’s hands.  His commandments would be my code of conduct and my security would be in following Him. 

I hate repeating myself, but in the past I have said that most people are followers, very few are leaders.  Most people are “regurgitaters”, very few are thinkers.  So, the questions I asked myself were simple and straightforward:  Who do you wish to follow?  Who do you wish to model your life after?  Who do you wish to quote?  Who do you wish to be like?  Men or God?  How about both?  How about the God-Man:  Jesus Christ.

I did.  And I have never looked back for I have never found someone superior in character, in words, in deeds, in values, in moral, in principles, in conduct, in strength, in courage, in determination, in perseverance, in fortitude, in compassion, in mercy, in truth, in justice, and in love than the Lord.

It was at that moment that I saw the world (including myself) as it truly is:  upside down (or fallen).  When I changed my life, all I really did was to stop standing on my head. 

When we stand on our head we chase after the wrong things in life.  But every time we chase after the important things in life we begin to stand on our feet.  Yes, it’s the same world, but from a different perspective.  The former causes a lot of headaches.  The latter does not. 

Let’s follow the Lord.  Let’s leave our things and follow Him. 

Lk 3:15-22 The Baptism of The Lord

Lk 3:15-22  The Baptism of The Lord

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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.”  After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized…, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him…A voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Why on earth did the Lord get baptized?  Only sinners need baptism.  Was the Lord a sinner?  No.  Did He need to be baptized?  No.  Then why? 

I am not sure.  I am not 100% sure.  But knowing Him, I would have to say that He wanted to be with us.

Who did the Lord spend most of his time with?  Was it with the religious?  No.  Was it with the people He liked most?  No.  It was with the humble and the sinners.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, spent nearly all his time and ministry talking to, listening to, and dealing with sinners.   I am not surprised in the least that He would get in line and be baptized by John.

The Lord wants to be with us.  The question is:  do we want to be with Him? 

Not too long ago, I was communicating (by e-mail) with an atheist.  I actually enjoyed the conversations we were having.  I told him that I would like to continue the dialogue.  He wrote back with the following:  “To be honest with you, I think I am wasting my time.”  

A waste of time?  Interesting… What he is saying is that the risk of losing eternity is not worth a few minutes a day.  Interesting.  Very interesting.

See for yourself what an atheist has to offer us.  See how much we have to offer them.

I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.  I find this statement truly remarkable, for it takes a very special man (a humble man) to admit something like this; to say that they are not God and that they are not the Savior of the world.   I’m not kidding.  A lot of folks really think they are.  A lot!  They truly believe it.  And here is the proof:  the few empty chairs at Mass. 

This morning, while I was giving the homily, I noticed an empty chair.  I walked down to it.  I looked at it.  I even imagined a person who should be sitting in it [Yes, I was a little dramatic regarding the whole thing.].  I told the congregation, “Someone is missing.  Of course we would love to think that they are sick or unable to attend today’s Mass, but we all know the truth.  We know that many people do not go to Church because they truly believe they can make it without God’s help or that they don’t need God 'all the time'". 

When Christ chose His Apostles He said to them, “Follow me”. The Twelve knew what that meant.  It meant following the Lord twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the rest of their lives.  The Apostles didn’t say to Jesus, “Okay, Lord, we’ll see you next week.  Hey, by the way, same time, same place?” 

No.  Following meant all the time and in everything.

When I was living in Mexico, I discovered La Michoacana (Mexican ice cream).  It’s great stuff.  And the flavors are as many as there are fruit.  So, while I was learning Spanish, I decided to learn every single flavor of ice cream I could.  Every day I chose a different flavor.  I didn’t immediately like every flavor.  Some flavors were bitter; others were sweet.  But I forced myself to taste all of them.  Gradually, I acquired a taste for many of them.  From this experience, I learned a great lesson. 

So often we deal with Christ like we deal with ice cream:  we pick and choose only the flavors we like.  So we end up always picking the same flavors or very few flavors. 

When you go to Christ, do you go to Him like you go to an ice cream parlor?   Do you go for the same reasons (flavors) all the time?  That is, the “merciful” Lord; the “compassionate” Lord; the “loving” Lord?  Have you ever tried anything else?  Like the “obedient” Lord; the “faithful” Lord; the “sacrificial” Lord?

It's time we all try it!  Let's try it!  Let's try to mature in our faith.  Let's try to acquire a taste for the Lord:  “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (Ps 34:8). 

We shouldn’t just follow the Lord once a week.  That’s not following; that’s bothering.  Likewise, we can’t just pick and choose some teachings (flavors) of the Lord.  We need to try them all, the sweet as well as the bitter.  We need to acquire a taste for all of Him, for the crucified Lord is as important as the Risen Lord.       

Only then, only this way, will we even hope to hear, at the end of our lives, the same words that the Father spoke to His son:  “You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased.”     

John 3:22-30 He Must Increase; I Must Decrease

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Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John (the Baptist) and a Jew about ceremonial washings.  So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”  John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.  You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ…The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice…He must increase; I must decrease.”

 “He came from such humble beginnings”.  I have often heard this said, especially at funerals, but I never really reflected on it much.  Now that I have, I have something to say about it.

What we say is not always what we want to say.  When we say that someone came from humble beginnings, what we are really saying is that they started off with nothing or that they came from very modest beginnings.  That makes a lot more sense to me, especially when someone is talking about a rags-to-riches story.  For when it comes to humility, there are no guarantees that a poor man is a humble man or that a rich man is no longer a humble man.    

Humility has little to do with our condition in life; it has much to do with our attitude towards life. 

People of faith have an easier time at being humble than people of little or no faith.  It’s not that the humble are humble because they think they are wrong (you can’t be humble if you are wrong.  You can only be honest); rather, the humble are humble because they know they are right.  They are right in being grateful.  They are right in being generous.  They are right in being honest.

Humble people know how grateful they should be to a hidden God.  They should be as grateful as the recipient of an unknown organ donor; as grateful as the recipient of an anonymous donor; as grateful as the recipient of an unknown prayer.

Humble people are humble because they are commonsensical.  Humility does not come from scraping at the bottom of a barrel; it comes from turning the barrel upside down and opening it.  

God is not humble because He is small; God is humble because He makes himself small.  He is not humble because He is man’s servant.  He is humble because He makes himself man’s servant.   John the Baptist was not humble because he was insignificant.  He was humble because he made himself insignificant.  “He must increase; I must decrease.”

Humility has little to do with our state of life; it has everything to do with the way we posture ourselves in this life.

St. John the Baptist positioned himself perfectly the moment he pointed to the Lord and said that which would be hard for any of us to say:  “He must increase; I must decrease.”  He is the one.  I am not. 

To be humble means to submit oneself to reality (“You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ”).  To be humble means to know the difference between being the “groom” and the “best man”.  To be humble means to posture yourself properly before the great One (“I stand and listen to him”). 

To be humble means to adore no one - not myself or others – but the Lord. 

“Beloved:  We have this confidence in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1Jn 5:14).  When we pray, we often pray for one thing:  happiness.  And when we pray for happiness, we often attach it to something.  But happiness, like holiness, is not attached to something; it is attached to Someone:  Jesus Christ.  With Jesus we find holiness; with holiness we find our happiness.  Happiness and holiness go hand in hand, just like sacrifice and love, just like the Lord and I.  In order for us to be holy and happy, we must be humble:  So this joy of mine has been made complete.  He must increase; I must decrease.

Luke 5:12-16 A White Patch

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It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”  Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it.  Be made clean.”

Leprosy normally starts off as a small white patch.  According to Jewish law, a person with a white sore must show it to a priest.  If the priest was uncertain about it, the person would be quarantined for seven days.  At the conclusion of the seventh day, the individual would be re-examined.  If the white patch had grown or spread, then that person would be expelled from the community, the community of the living, and be left to roam among the walking dead. 

Back then, leprosy was a death sentence.  But the horror of the disease did not come from any physical pain (in fact, while the disease gradually destroys the nervous system it eliminates the possibility of feeling any pain) but rather from an immense suffering associated with isolation, loneliness and abandonment.  The disease not only left the person physically scared, it also produced psychological trauma.

A small white patch.  Like leprosy, every sin starts off small.  If it is not dealt with immediately, the problem will only continue to grow bigger and bigger.  Very rarely does it go away on its own.  Very rarely are we strong enough to handle it by ourselves. 

Sins start off small.  It almost always does.  Little by little we lie more and more.  Little by little we steal more and more.  Little by little we flirt more and more.  Most people don’t start off with hard drugs; they start off with soft drugs.  Most teenagers don’t start looking at hardcore pornography; they start with soft porn.  Most kids don’t start drinking in access; they steal a sip here and there.

I mentioned yesterday that Congress received horrible approval ratings, worse than head lice and cockroaches!  But what I failed to mention is that they received greater praise than North Korea and Lindsay Lohan.  Lindsay Lohan!  Remember her?

Remember when she was the shining star at Disney?  Remember how she was handpicked for her innocence, purity, charm and beauty?   By the time she was sixteen, she was adored and loved by millions of fans.  If twitter had existed back then, she would have had millions and millions of followers. 

But the same people that fed her have killed her.  The same people that stroked her ego have cracked it into a million pieces.  And while her fans fanned her flames, her producer, promoter, and maybe even her own mother and father demanded that she deliver more. 

Everyone loved to follow her while she was destroying herself.  All the paparazzi surrounded her while she was inebriated, intoxicated and being incriminated.  They finally stopped following her after everyone else was disgusted by her.

But who created her?  Who took her innocence away?  Who took her childhood away?  Who took advantage of her to profit off of her?

In order for her to rise to the stars, her advisors stripped her of her humanity (limitations) and gave her a goddess appearance; that is, that there was nothing she could not do.  Now that they used her and abused her, they have urinated all over her and left her as some disease infested woman.

This is what a secular society does to people.  This is what communism did to their people.  Communist nations were the first nations in the history of the world to declare themselves “God-Free” zones. 

When he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”  What makes Jesus truly God?  His compassion and mercy.  He never writes anyone off.  He never sends anyone off.  The Lord touched the man whose whole body was full of leprosy.  He touched him and healed him.  With one touch he welcomed him.  With one touch he brought back his dignity.  With one touch he gave him back his humanity.  Then, he healed him.

Today, we should pray for each other; we should pray for all sinners. 

Today, we should reach out to one another; we should reach out to everyone. 

Today, we should help as many people as possible to get closer to the Lord. 

 Let’s put some skin and blood into it and help rid the world of those awful little white patches.    

Luke 4:14-22 Where He Had Grown Up

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Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his 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 is written:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”  …He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

In his “Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right”, Karl Marx wrote the following:  “Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.  Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation.  It is the opium of the masses.”  

Usually the most people ever heard or read from the above quote is that “religion is the opium of the masses”.  That’s too bad, since Marx did say much more than that. 

Of course one can argue with Marx and say, “Atheism is the true opium of the masses”, for it often advertizes itself as the “no regrets”, “no worries”, “just have fun” alternative to religious demands.  What exactly these slogans mean depends upon each individual, I guess.

I still remember a few years back when the British Humanist Association started an ad campaign on London buses with the message:  “There’s probably no God.  Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”   Richard Dawkins, zoologist and atheist superstar, insisted that the ad remove the word “probably”.  Now for a scientist, even a zoologist with a PhD, to make such an unscientific claim like that proves just how much ideology, and not math, is involved in their campaign…and in his calculations!

Well, it might be working. 

Recent polls have suggested that most young adults are losing their religion.  This should not be surprising at all if we also include recent facts showing that more young people than ever are on drugs; most public schools are inflating grades like never; more young people are cutting themselves and having more sex earlier and earlier than ever; and so many parents are failing their children like never before. 

A new analysis of the American Freshman Survey, which has accumulated data for the past 47 years from 9 million young adults, reveals that college students are more likely than ever to call themselves “gifted” and “driven to success”, even though their test scores and time spent studying are decreasing.

Dr. Keith Ablow writes:
This data is not unexpected.  On Facebook, young people can fool themselves into thinking they have hundreds or thousands of “friends”…they can choose to show the world only the flattering, sexy or funny photographs of themselves, “speak” in pithy short posts and publicly connect to movie stars and professional athletes and musicians they “like”.

Using twitter, young people can pretend they are worth “following”, as though they have real-life fans, when all that is really happening is the mutual fanning of false love and false fame.

Using computer games, our sons and daughters can pretend they are Olympians, Formula 1 drivers, rock stars or sharpshooters.  And while they can turn off their Wii and Xbox machines and remember they are really in dens and playrooms on side streets and triple deckers around America, that is after their hearts have raced and heads have swelled with false pride for “being” something they are not.

On MTV, Oxygen and other networks, young people can see lives just like theirs portrayed on reality TV shows fueled by such incredible self-involvement and self-love that any of the “real-life” characters should really be in psychotherapy to have any chance at anything like a normal life…

With the “fall” of religious belief comes the “rise” of self-belief (narcissism).  After all, the “natural” tendency that we all share is to knock God out and replace Him with someone else...like ourselves. 

Yes, with the “fall of God” comes the rise of the “selfish man”.  This is a very natural tendency.  It goes back to the very beginning.   

With the rise of secularism, all natural tendencies have become something to embrace, to tolerate and accept; not something, at times, to reject, fight, or conquer. 

With the rise of secularism, the most worthy institutions have become worthless, laughable, and easily “rejectable”.   In a recent poll taken, it seems like more Americans prefer head lice and cockroaches to Congress!  I feel sorry for Congress.  I really do.  After all, they have to do more babysitting for Americans, give more hand outs for Americans, solve more problems for Americans, and create more laws to help Americans than ever before!  So of course they can’t keep up!  Of course they are always behind!  Of course they can't get anything done because no one, especially parents and young adults, is doing much at all to help.  American "families" are creating more adult babies than our nanny state and national debt can handle.

I don’t think Karl Marx ever imagined that happening.  But maybe that’s what happens when we tell people to stop worrying and start enjoying their life.

Jesus Christ is Lord.  So what did He do about it?  He rolled up His sleeves and He went to work.  He brought relief to the poor, liberty to those held hostage by sin, recovery of hope to the devastated.  Although Jesus is God-Almighty, He rolled up His sleeve and gave blood.

We don’t believe in a God that lives somewhere up there.  We believe in a God that is a Father, a true Father, a real Father, who lives and works and dies for His children.  But like so many children, can they even trust their very own father?  No wonder why they are having a hard time believing in the Father; in believing in truth and love.

The Lord never told us to not worry about this life.  He told us to start working in this life.  He told us that the way we live our life on earth will determine the way we live it forever.  That’s not something to worry about.  It’s something to think about. 

The Lord went back to where he had grown up.  But it wasn’t just the town of Nazareth that helped him to grow up.  Most importantly, it was the presence of His Mother and Father (on earth and in Heaven) that had helped Him to grow up.