Mk 16:15-18 Conversion and the Cross

Mk 16:15-18 Conversion and the Cross

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There are many wonders in the world – seven I believe. But none of them compares to the conversion of St. Paul who was ruthless and cold-blooded in his handling of Christians. The one who was persecuting us is now standing beside us! This was the herald’s message from the King of Kings! Could it be? Could it possibly be true? What drives a man to change his life and turn it upside down, which in Christ becomes right side up? What drives a man to change his life - lose his life, lose his friends and family and be received with shouts of doubts from those you have joined? The only possible answer can be truth and grace.

In these current days we have seen miracles take place, especially in England. The headlines have been bold and clear: Anglicans Join Catholic Branch, Seven Anglican Priests and 300 parishioners join Catholic Church, History overturned as Anglican Bishops are ordained as Catholics, etc… Why is this so big? For historical reasons! The Church of England and the nation itself, which endorsed Protestantism and spread it like butter throughout its vast Empire, and persecuted Catholics beyond the realm of horror, is today experiencing a meltdown. Do we need to remind anyone that once upon a time any Catholic priest caught in England was sentenced to death in the most gruesome of ways: hung, drawn and quartered! Although there is now a 5:1 ratio of Anglicans to Catholics, today there are more English Catholics who attend Mass on Sunday than Anglicans. England and its home grown church is experiencing, like St. Paul, a seismic shift of counter-reformation magnitude! May the Lord of peace and unity help the Holy Father see it through to the end.

I will not even begin to imagine why all of this is happening. We will leave this to the Lord to unveil the mystery of why now, why there, why this revolution! Is there anything to boast about? I thoroughly concur with the comments from a Catholic Bishop in England that now is not the time to sound triumphant, but rather it is a good time to do penance. After all, it was scandal that caused the wound to occur in the first place and it will be holiness – penance - that will bring the festering wound to heal. There will be many crosses to carry in the next few years, but conversion and cross remain mysteriously entwined. Salvation comes from the Cross and we must carry it throughout the world. This is our Good News.

Let us ask the Lord to give us the strength and courage to boldly proclaim the Good News to our co-workers, friends and family members that Jesus Christ is capable of revolutionizing our lives by bringing to us the peace and unity we all desire. May the God of love remind us of the greatest and most profound commandment he gave to all his followers: Love one another as I have loved you. This alone is capable of converting the hardest of hearts, the strongest of head-strong individuals, the most militant atheists, and the most love deficient of all! This way alone there will be no turning back.

Mk 3:22-30 United

Mk 3:22-30 United

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I hope you remember seeing the movie or reading the story of how the heroic passengers of United flight 93 gathered together and prayed the Our Father before storming the pilot’s cockpit and successfully averting another national tragedy. United! They were gathered together in their one belief in Jesus Christ and they died so that others might live. The plane’s appearance is strikingly similar to that of the Cross.

Think for a moment of all the great things we would be able to accomplish if all Christians were united in heart, mind and soul. I do not mean that we all have to lose our identity. No. But if we were all united in truth and love imagine what wonders the world would see!

The Lord came to unite, not divide. He unites his flock. He gathers the wheat! God unites, the devil divides. He uses the sins of pride, vanity and sensuality to create division within us and among ourselves and reinforces it with animosity! I deserve this award more than they do! If I don’t get what he (she) has…Sin entrenches us in our position. There is no progress with sin.

The Pharisees and Scribes could not keep up with Jesus. He’s just too much for them. He’s just too big! So, they resort to fear: “He is possessed by Beelzebul” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Fear is not the fruit of ignorance alone, but rather the result of a dab of pride mixed in there.

There are those who say that religion divides; that religion needs an enemy in order to exist. I would say that the Pharisees and the Scribes picked the wrong enemy and they no longer exist! I would say that an Enemy will always exist because of religion! Sin – not religion - is the root of all evil, and we should not be surprised that Christianity continues to generate and attract so much hatred. After all, Christ is still the center of Christianity! He is the one mediator of a new covenant. His second coming will not take away sin but will bring us salvation!

So the goal must be unity. We need to stick together. We need to stop attacking each other and begin to attack the problem. “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” I used to think that that quote came from Abraham Lincoln. I should have known that a wise man like him would have learned it from a wiser man. If we are wasting time constantly shoring up our own defenses how will we ever overcome the gates of hell? If we are knocking each other down with our petty little differences, how will we ever knock down the walls of Beelzebul? For this reason the Lord spoke out against his Apostles and in favor of the man who was driving out demons in his name but not counted among the Twelve. The Lord said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me, for whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mk 9:40)

And now for the clincher: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” The Lord and his co-workers gather; whereas the devil and his co-workers scatter. (Mt 12:30)

Mk 3:20-21 By My Side

Mk 3:20-21 By My Side

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What side are you on?

It is sad, very sad, that even St. Paul and the early Christians experienced divisions within the Church. Right from the very beginning, because of sin, we have a propensity, a tendency, a leaning towards division, separation, of taking sides. (cf. 1Cor 1:10-17)

If I must take a side, then the best side to take is by the side of Christ.

This may come as a surprise to you, but Christians do not take sides. They reach out and cross the lines of division. They break down barriers. They do not really believe in separation of state and religion because the state needs Christ and Christ needs us! There is a big difference between establishing a religion and hiding religion from public view. The Christian, especially the Catholic Christian is trained and programmed by our Lord to knock down any walls of division. After all, what could be more moral or more loving than to help someone cross the abyss of lies, sickness and death, poverty of mind, soul and body - of sin? Is that not what Christ did for me?

Today at Mass, we had the presentation of the candidates for RCIA. I told them how division within the Church is the greatest scandal that ever took place. Divisions within the Church and among our separated Christian brothers and sisters has caused so many wounds in the body of Christ. As I looked at all the candidates I could not help but say, Today, I believe that the Lord is smiling. By being here I want you to know that you are healing a wound in the body of Christ. Or even better, you made his wounds worthwhile. You’ve come back to Him.

The Lord is disgusted by division because it breaks the unity between God and man, and man with his neighbor. What binds all mankind together is love and truth. Both are necessary. How can I love someone if I am not truthful to them? How can I be truthful to someone without love? Believe me, it makes sense. Think about it for a moment.

Love unites. We show our love by expressions of unity: holding hands, hugging – that is, eliminating, reducing, the space between us, or that which separates us from each other. When we make eye contact, we unite two hearts and minds so as to communicate our deepest thoughts and desires. The fruit of that love is unity: two becoming one, which becomes three, which is an image and likeness of the Holy Trinity.

Let us pray to the Father that we stand by His Son’s side, the One who crossed the depths and heights to hold us in the palm of his hand.

Mk 3:20-21 Out of Your Mind

Mk 3:20-21 Out of Your Mind

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Are you out of your mind?

Was the Lord out of his mind? It appeared to many that he was, including his Apostles. Afterall, he went to Jerusalem even though he knew how that would end. He cured the ill knowing that they would not stay quiet. He preached and traveled to the point of exhaustion. He ate little, prayed much and sacrificed his time and life for his Father's Kingdom. In doing all these things, he revealed the mystery of who He is: The Son of God.

For a couple of weeks now I had on my schedule to celebrate a Mass for a group of scouts out at Purtis Creek State Park. It’s about an hour and a half away from Richardson. On the day of the Mass, I realized that it would conflict with a Confirmation retreat that would be going on over at our church, so I asked them to bump up the Mass to 5:30 pm – actually, change it to a Communion Service - so that I could get back in time for the retreat at 8:00 pm. The head of the group recommended that we just cancel it. Why bother driving out there for just a half hour? I insisted that we do it. After all, I had already told the children that I would be there.

What is remarkable about this true story is that on the same day of the Mass, I had lunch with a great family man and I invited him to come out with me, just to have some company; but he too had a conflict in the evening, and if I could change the time of the celebration, make it a little earlier, then he would be more than willing to drive for me.

Are we both out of our minds? Yes. Are we both in love with the Lord? Yes. I really believe this is how we show our love for others, even little stinky scouts! And this is how the Lord shows his love for us: by giving us all the help we need.

Today, let us show our love by extending ourselves beyond belief! By going the extra 80 miles! By giving when it hurts! By showing the miracles the Lord would love to give and by increasing our faith, hope and love for a world that is so in need.

Today, let us be driven by our love - the Lord's Love, and not so much by our mind. Let us march for the Lord!

Today, let us reveal, by our works of love, the mystery of who we are: We are Christians!

Mk 3:13-19 The A Team

Mk 3:13-19 The A Team

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Here am I, Lord. How he loves us! Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted.

The Lord went up the mountain for only one reason: to pray. This was the moment he had been waiting for – to share in a very intimate way his divine life with twelve men whom he could call friends. The Lord had been inspired to invite, to call forward, to reach out to these twelve men of Israel. He made no mistakes. Thomas Reid’s Essay on the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1786, stated what has now become famous, “In every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of the weakest link of the chain, whatever may be the strength of the rest.” The names and lives of the Apostles bear witness to the strength of the divine! Reason is trumped only by the cement of the Holy Spirit.

Waiting below, the Apostles must have been anxious to know whether or not they had made the cut, or better, if they had been cut out from the rest of the world. What makes this band of brothers so special is that they did not comprehend the magnitude, the significance of this moment. Little did they know! Little did they even imagine! Their mental or emotional states were not in harmony with the divine estate! In fact maybe some of them, like Thomas perhaps, even dreaded this call into the unknown. What does this all mean? How will things change for me, for you, for the whole world? I find it hard to believe that their faith was any stronger than mine? Were their efforts any greater than mine? And yet, does the Lord not continue to call? Does he not continue to call you and me? Has the Lord not shaken the very foundations of our lives?

I love the song, “How He Loves Us So.” But I do not love it that much! It is not radical enough. The Lord is jealous for me. He loves like a hurricane and I am a tree! Hurricanes only bend when they are far away. The Lord is not far. He is near to me. In fact, he is most near the broken hearted! He uproots me, throws me, and plants me in another planet, galaxy, even Universe! This is what he did to them. This is what he did to me and to you!

With time, the list has been modified, not in names, but in order. Yes, Peter comes first – always. Judas comes last – always. It may not have always been that way though. We would be foolish to think that Judas had been an outcast from the very beginning. I doubt it. I would not be surprised if Judas had been the most zealous in his desire to know, love and serve the Lord. An injection of doubt can easily turn into the poison of envy, jealousy and pride. As it quickly circulates through the system it arrives to the heart and intoxicates the eyes, ears and tongue. Once penetrated, it must have been hard, almost unbearable, for Judas to even bear the sight of Jesus or how sinners would bow down before him, listen to his teachings and keep silent over his expenses.

If the Lord does not call me into an intimate relationship with him, then I have been poisoned by doubt. Look and see for yourself the symptoms. Then call upon the Lord for the remedy and be ready to join the team!

Mk 3:7-12 Large Crowds

Mk 3:7-12 Large Crowds

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The unclean spirit shouted, “You are the Son of God!” Jesus warned him sternly not to make him known.

The devil knows perfectly well who Jesus is. The devil knows and makes him known to others. Why? So the crowd will worship Him? No. St. James states, “You believe in God, you do well, but even the devil believes.” The problem with the devil is that he does not obey. Whoever does not obey the Will of God is in collusion with the devil. The devil disobeys because he refuses to love. I feel so sorry for those “satanic” worshippers who consider themselves friends of the devil. They do not understand or realize that the devil has no friends. All who work for satan end up being destroyed at the hands of satan. He has no allegiance, no camaraderie - no spirit of unity. It is, to say the least, a dysfunctional relationship. It’s an all for one relationship.

So why does the devil make known the Lord’s true identity? Because he wishes to speed up the process. He wants his hour to begin. Let the controversy begin! Is God not one? Is God not above? How can this man heal on the Sabbath? How can this man forgive sins? Only God can do so. Who does he make himself out to be? The devil wants the pain and suffering, the trial, the death of Christ to begin. He wants us to put God to death! But the moment has not arrived. The hour is fast approaching, but it is not here. The unclean spirit wishes to promote controversy, scandal and division. All the things that we thrive on! Yes. We love a good scandal. We love to read People magazine because we love to know who the stars really are; what they struggle with; what they are stricken with; what demons they possess! How often do we stroke the flames of discord, scandal and division by fomenting speculation that on the surface appear innocent and truthful, but underneath it all are unclean.

Here is the underlying problem: the spirit spewing the truth is the prince of lies. The words are correct but the purity is not there. The truth is spoken but love is absent. For this reason, the Lord wishes to have nothing to do with it. It is not enough to say, Lord, Lord! It is important to fall to our knees, to acknowledge or sin and to ask for mercy and forgiveness. The Lord does not seek the large crowds. In fact, they are at the point of crushing him! No, large crowds are meaningless. It is the person the Lord seeks. It is personal, intimate, conversion the Lord desires. One repentant soul is worth more to the Lord than a million fans!

We have all sinned! We are all in it together! When we make one worse than the other, we sin because we lie. When we glamorize sin, and try to cover over it up, we can rest assured that the truth shall disclose the fruit of sin. We are all ugly in the inside. The Cover Girl is just that - a cover, a cover for the truth that remains within.

“Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” This is what the Lord desires. More than anything else, he wishes that my will be His. “Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me.” (Ps 40:6) Let us follow the pattern of the Lord, who climbed upon the highest cross even as the crowd grew smaller and smaller.

Mk 3:1-6 Stretch Out Your Hand

Mk 3:1-6 Stretch Out Your Hand

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“Stretch out your hand.” But it is withered? He stretched it out and it was restored.

There is much the Lord can do and there is much I can do. The Lord did not put us on an earth that was already cultivated, groomed and furnished. He wants our participation. He wants only what we can give to him and he will push me to realize what I am capable of giving, achieving and realizing. This is the history of my life. This is the history of the Church! This is the reason why the Lord gave us eyes, legs, ears, hands and a mouth: to live his life over and over again until He comes again. He is the First and the Last. I am the middle.

I once heard the story of a young man who was shot in the eye by his little brother with a bee-bee gun. He was an aspiring athlete – baseball player – but after the accident, he lost his sense of depth (depth perception) and could no longer hit a baseball. He fell into depression and despair. The only thing that seemed to help him was running. Soon, he was running all the time and getting better and faster at it. When he heard about a local competition, to climb to the top of a certain mountain, he went about training for it and set a new world record. He discovered a remarkable life lesson: how to turn a handicap into a success story.

The man with the withered made it in the bible! He was successful because he sought out the Lord to restore his withered hand and came home restored and filled with faith. In contrast, the Pharisees and the scribes saw that the Lord had worked on the Sabbath and, poisoned with envy, set out to destroy the Lord – even though it was the Sabbath! They too had worked on the Sabbath – plotting with the Herodians to plan out their miserable deed. For this reason, Jesus asks the question “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to save life rather than destroy it? He hoped for an answer. He received none. Do I realize that by my words and actions I may be responsible for saving a life or destroying it? Do I answer the call, ignore it, or worse - Do I hang up? Do I make up excuses in order to excuse myself from my Christian duties? Do I fulfill my ministry or do I excuse myself? We can see how easily the Pharisees grabbed on to sophisms in order to have something to accuse Jesus of. Do I do the same?

To walk away from my brother who suffers is to put enmity between God and myself. After all, as I walk away there could be nothing further from the truth! God loves us, which means he sends us. We are his most beloved! He created me and said, “This is very good.” When we are in doubt, when we are not sure how far we should go, the answer comes from an unlikely source: the man with the withered hand.

Jesus says to all of us today, “Stretch out your hand.” And not because we need to be healed, but because we can!