John 6:16-21 Conquering Our Fears

John 6:16-21 Conquering Our Fears

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Fear is one of our greatest fears. To some extent we have a fear of the unknown, of uncertainty, even of life. Some of us have a fear of being corrected, of being yelled at, of being bettered.

Many of us share a fear in suffering, of pain and of death. But too many of us have a fear of doing what is right, of being holy and good. This fear is brought home; in marriage, in relationships, in having or raising children. There is a tremendous amount of fear in responsibility and decisions.

We fear losing our friends much more than we fear losing our faith and God.

I will not even attempt to provide practical tips for overcoming our fears. There are many self-help books and workshops on the market today that do a good job in managing our lives. But the fact that there are so many self-help books in general is a strong indication that something in our culture or our way of life has changed and gone very wrong.

A few years back a young altar server told me I was late for Mass. Good for him! But then I had to tell him that he messed up while serving. His mother was very upset. “You should not have told him”, she whimpered. His self-esteem has been crushed! He will never want to serve again. His super bloated ego will never again be inflated. “He will not want to serve again!” He did, three days later. That’s how long it takes to die to ourselves and rise from the dead or admit to the truth and move on. May we never fear what makes us better and stronger.

A graduate from a very good Catholic High School once asked me if he should marry his girlfriend. I asked him to tell me a little about her. Well, her father killed himself on an overdose of drugs, her mother is an alcoholic. She had an abortion, many boyfriends, she has been a stripper and currently lives in an apartment with a dog she treats like a human and feeds it steaks. I looked at him and said, “Have you lost your mind?” May we never fear the God-given gift of common sense! May we never fear pleasing God above ourselves and others.

A young lady told me that her cousin in College had a drinking problem because every morning she drinks a six-pack. She told her cousin that she needed to get help immediately. The cousin was furious! The young lady asked me, “Did I do the right thing?” So when did our friendships become more important than saving a life?

There is a teenage girl who is pregnant and her mother is telling her to get an abortion. One of her friends is trying to help her to keep the baby but doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. She asked me, “If I try to help her will she hate me? Am I doing the right thing?” May we never fear serving our God.

The Apostles were on choppy waters and full of fear. The Lord approached, walking on water, and they became even more afraid, not because he was the Lord, not because he was walking on water, and not because he approached them. They were afraid because they lacked faith in Him and in themselves. Let us ask the Lord to increase our faith so as to decrease our fears.

John 6:1-15 We Do Not Have Enough

John 6:1-15 We Do Not Have Enough
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“As for me, I will declare this forever; I shall sing the praises of the Lord!” (Ps. 75:9)

Once again the Apostles, those closest to the Lord, are experiencing the real limitations of human logic and reason. God never asks us to play dumb; to suspend our human faculties. No. He does not insist that we become less human. He does not demand from the Apostles that they “Stop thinking!” Rather, he asks them to stop thinking like men and start thinking like children of God. In other words, he asks us to elevate what is natural and raise it to Heaven so that it can become supernatural. He asks us to believe even when it appears to be humanly impossible! This is the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. This is the miracle of the Eucharist, of Christ’s real presence in the simple made holy. The Lord invites us to believe just as we live. We live because we believe. We believe in tomorrow. We believe in life. We can believe, so “believe also in me.”

One of our readers, Sarah, left a comment yesterday that is absolutely fitting even for today: “I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I don’t feel it. I believe in God, even when He is silent. “

Lord, increase my faith in you, my devotion to you, my love for you.

In today’s Gospel, the Lord invites us all to take our human logic, intellect, reason and will and lift them up. Undoubtedly, the Apostles asked themselves, “How in the world will we provide for so many people? How can we do this? Does the Lord not see what we see, the number of people out here? We can honestly say that what He is asking for is physically, emotionally and psychologically impossible. The pressure must be tremendous. The Apostles must be near their breaking point. Will they begin to cave in and fall back?

How often have I felt that the Lord demands way too much from me and it’s not fair? After all, the Apostles, like us, are made of skin and bone. I do not have enough to give to you.

Please do not think that the story I am about to tell you is to make myself sound amazing. Those who know me know better. It can never be about me but about the One works through me! We all know that once the Lord called his servants his friends, their relationship with the Almighty changed forever. Even though I have seen it so many times, I am still amazed at how the Lord takes our little gifts and turns them into something enormous.

Not too long ago, I decided to help someone on a monthly basis until their child was born. I would help them with a monthly donation. I know the family very well; they are like family to me. I did it and I was concerned, so concerned, that I would not be able to keep up with it. The end of the first month arrived and on that morning, standing next to the office door, there was a woman with an envelope. She was waiting for me because she wanted to return a donation I had made to St. Vincent de Paul Society. Inside the envelope was my gift, doubled. It was exactly the amount I needed to give. I could not believe my eyes.

The next month arrived and I received a letter in the mail. Inside was a check with the exact amount of money I needed to give. The reason for the check was hilarious. This individual had made a promise to the Lord during Lent: No more cussing. Well, for every cuss word she said, she would give me a dollar. I could not believe my eyes! It was exactly what I needed. Isn't it amazing what God can do through sin?

I do not have enough to give. That is so true and that is why the Lord does not ask us to suspend our minds but to open our hearts, our minds and our will to His Heart, His Mind and His Will. My empty hands are physically, spiritually and emotionally similar to the empty tomb - an open invitation from God to witness something beautiful from Him.

He alone is all I need.

John 3:31-36 Whoever Believes Has Life

John 3:31-36 Whoever Believes Has Life
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How true, Lord, how true it is. Whoever believes begins to live. I want to live. Only you Lord have the words of everlasting life. Those who believe, your faithful few, engage the giants, kill the giants, and move on to the next giant. Your faithful can move mountains, climb over mountains, and endure the pain and agony of conquering the mountains. You invite us to overcome our fears, to share the Good News and give the gift of the Holy Spirit. You, Lord, came from above and you are above all things. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that cannot be defeated, overwhelmed, not even death. How I dread the fact that I shall have lived my life at fifty-percent. Is that good enough? Yes, some for you, some for me. Would you still love me? Yes, but I love you more.
If you think the Navy SEALs are tough you are right. But as one former Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, put it, “John Paul II would have made a great Navy SEAL!” (- Lone Survivor) Why?

The Church is not in the business of eliminating their enemy but converting them. And if we think that was a tough mission - to capture or kill Usama Bin Laden, then imagine a team of highly skilled priests and nuns like John Paul II and Mother Teresa sent in with the impossible mission to convert him? Mission impossible? Not with God. Who knows, this guy may have preferred execution over exorcism, but as the title of this meditation suggests, “Whoever believes has life!”

The conversion of sinners is still a source of scandal, even in our “tolerant” psyche. “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:27-33). These words should ring in our hearts and minds at all times. But we know better. We know the reality of our battles. Our feet are firmly planted on what is below rather than what is above. We love to ration the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have all heard it loud and clear: Do what is logical. Do what is sound. Take the safe and sure path. But the Gospel is far too clear to ignore. “The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.” What are the earthly things? Take it easy. Relax. Don’t rush into anything. Accommodate. Negotiate. Be flexible. Think practical. Think of yourself first. Don’t burn any bridges. Don’t take life so seriously.

I recently had breakfast with a wonderful mom who is currently going through some very rough times. She is experiencing spiritual purification. She told me all her troubles. They are many and they are serious. But what frightened me more than anything else was her question to me. “Is God upset with me? Am I doing something wrong?” I told her with all my heart and with total confidence in my words, “Absolutely not!” In fact, while all of this is happening she is reading a book entitled, Total abandonment. How providential! You see, ask and you shall receive! The Lord is providing, like always!

Today’s psalm highlights my point: “Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the LORD delivers him.” Amen! Am I allowing the Lord to deliver? Am I taking a leap of faith?

Let us place our trust in none other but the Lord. Let us not live the end of our lives regretting what we could have done or what we could have been. Life is too precious for regrets. It is a scarce reality in our Universe. Before we could see, we existed. Seeing is not believing; rather, believing is seeing. And we shall see the face of God at the end of our lives if we place him above all earthly things, for HE IS before it all was.

John 3:16-21 God So Loved The World

John 3:16-21 God So Loved The World

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The Apostles must have preached a short and long version of the Gospel. They needed both because too often they were getting arrested and thrown in prison for The Lord. So what must have been the short version of the Gospel? It is the one that is so familiar to all of us:

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

This verse has traveled around the world and has been seen and read by millions throughout the centuries. But I think its greatest impact has been through football games, golf tournaments, tennis matches and baseball games. As a child I was curious to find out what John 3:16 meant. I first saw it on TV during a football game. Later that day I went, found a bible, and read it for myself. No one else had ever motivated me to do so. I cannot recall a single time looking up a verse in the Bible for CCD or Faith Formation class. Whoever this individual was, who held the poster while the Dophins kicked an extra point, well, he gave witness to his love for Jesus and it worked. After all, I had done what they had hoped I would do. I had been evangelized by them.

How simple our Christian message is. How beautiful and timely it is. A few weeks ago a young woman I know was visited by the Jehovah Witnesses. She was having a horrible day. She wrote to me afterwards and said, “Today, God revealed himself in a different way Father! The door bell rang this morning. It was a Jehovah Witness. He read to me from his Bible, he read Corinthians Chapter 13: ‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding [peace of] brass or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.’ I would never change my faith for anything Father, but as he read that, I started crying non-stop!”

Even with their extremely poor, misguided and manipulated translation, faith and thought process, this "witness" did not lose the essential gist of God’s word. It had not been the first time my friend had heard this verse in her life, but as she stated in the very beginning of our conversation, “the door bell rang” and she opened it. The Holy Spirit does work in mysterious ways. We have plenty of proof of that throughout history.

In both cases I see something very similiar. The power of God's word and the surprise of having heard it (or seen it) in the most inconvienient or unconventional way. Well, the Lord is The Way, and his way is surprising. What a disservice we have done to the world by keeping our religion to ourselves; by believing the secular lie that religion is a private matter - something better left in the home and never preached on the street. What a Big Lie it is to believe that religion should never be discussed with a friend. I disagree. They must be discussed, but always with love and compassion. If that is not possible, then work on it! Solve the problem and preach the Gospel. We are all waiting to hear it spoken and lived through you.

The Sadducess, temple guards and chief priests were at a loss. They were at a loss for they had lost the Good News - the greatest message ever from the greatest Child of Israel. Their world was falling apart and still they could never come to connect their loss with Christ’s death.

We know better. The loss of Christ during Holy Friday is a powerful reminder of who and what I risk losing, and how I need to double my efforts to never allow the Lord’s death to occur in my life, by my decisions and due to my lifestyle.

One sure way of doing this is to be the first to share the news with those who have been away for far too long, whether it is convenient or inconvenient. This is how we know that God so loved the world, by sharing his life with us.

John 14:6-14 You Will Do Great Things

John 14:6-14 You Will Do Great Things!
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On day, Philip told the Lord, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us [to believe in you]." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves."

So words and works are the way to penetrate the mystery of who Jesus is and who is inside of him. But the Lord goes even further than this. He tells us, "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these." So, just as importantly, our words and works will reveal the mystery of who we are and who is inside of us.

Jesus tells his disciples, "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (Jn 13:34-35)

Edith Zirer was a 13 year old Jewish girl back in 1945. She had just been liberated from the Hassak concentration camp. After three years in the camp she came out emaciated, sick, alone, weary and near death. It was a miracle that she climbed on top of a coal train on a cold winter day in January. She had nothing to wear except the stripped uniform given to her by the Nazi guards. She felt so cold and miserable from the journey that she got off the train, fell down on the floor and rolled herself up in a little ball in some corner of the small station. That's where she saw a young man, dressed in a long black robe, heading towards her. She recalls that he was "very good looking." The young man was still a seminarian. He did not hesitate to come close to her and ask her what her name was. "Edith", she replied. A little later, she would come to realize that he was the first person to call her by name in three years and not by the number on her arm. The man disappeared twice only to return with something hot for her to drink and eat. Edith could not stand so the young man "took me in his arms and carried me for a long time." All the while the snow fell. They traveled together to Krakow. He covered her in his brown jacket and spoke to her about his parents' and only brother's death; how he felt lonely and the need to not be overcome by sorrow. She asked him what his name was and she would never forget it. He said, "My name is Karol Wojtyla."

Thirty-three years later she would see that name again, from Israel, in the headlines of the Haifa newspapers: "Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II!" On March 23rd, 2000, she surprised the world and told her story at the Yad Vashem Memorial to the Holocaust. She was able to personally thank the Pope, the man who saved her life 55 years ago. He was present at the Memorial.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these. Yes, he called us by name, even though we were weak and weary. He lifted us up even when we were filthy in sin. He carried us upon his shoulders even though we were at the point of death. He called us by name and loved us to death.

What did Jesus mean when he told his followers they would do greater works than his? What could be greater than Christ's miracles except that we would be witnesses to them in our life time.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!

John 3:1-8 Born Again

John 3:1-8 Born Again

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This week we have read over and over again how the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit became bold in their preaching of the Gospel. I am amazed at how this small group of men and women, once bolted up in fear, are now bold in their faith. It is the action of the Holy Spirit. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is evident: they have been confirmed in their faith.

Many of our youth too have recently been confirmed in their faith. Our bishops have traveled throughout their Diocese confirming thousands of High School students in the many parishes that are scattered throughout the country. It is a time for renewal, of being born again, of being alive again! I just hope none of them made the promise I made on the day of my confirmation. I still remember it, in horror, the promise I made to God after being confirmed. I said, “I’m done! I’m finished and you will never see me again!” Why? Looking back on it all I can say that the confirmation classes were a joke. Our catechists were a mess. Some believed their own brand of Catholicism; others transmitted their own “cafeteria” style - pick and choose – dogma on dogmas. What I thought was only happening in my Diocese was actually happening throughout the country. And the “American” Catholic Church would eventually pay a dear price for it. Hundreds of thousands of Catholics left the Church either because they did not know their faith or they did not know how to defend it. The seminaries were no different. Vows and promises were made with the understanding that they were unreasonable and that one day they would be dismissed. After all, we were the American Church, we knew better. Well, the vows remained and continued to rub the Church’s men the wrong way, and eventually too many of them rubbed them off.

Blessed John Paul the Great changed everything. He not only changed the world, he changed the Church. He brought enthusiasm back into the Church. The windows in the Church had been left open far too long and the air inside had become hot and sticky. John Paul II was a divinely appointed AIR-CONDITIONER! He brought us back to life - a lot of us. He inspired revolution – the God revolution. During his tenure the Church almost doubled in size. He knew what we all had to do, and he led the way. He brought down walls, first communist walls and then secular ones as well. He rejuvenated the Pro-Life movement, gave it young faces, a style, articulation and grit! He did it by bring the youth back to the Church. The World Youth Day celebrations were an opportunity to teach and share the faith with honesty and joy. It’s okay to believe in tough sayings. It’s great to go against the current. It’s actually better to be last than to be first!

John Paul II helped many of us to get over the Nicodemous Syndrome. What is it? Ah, it is that horrible ailment where I can only live my faith when no one else is around. Many professionals have it. Many politicians have it too: where faith, conscience and public duty cannot coexist.

Nicodemus was a night-time believer. That is, he never really came to the Light. He never graduated. He had good intentions, the best maybe. But he never took the next step at the cross (road) of his life and make known to his friends and neighbors the most important truth ever known to humanity: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND SAVIOR! Amen.

John 20:19-31 Peace Be With You

John 20:19-31 Peace Be With You

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How is God different from us? Is it in his eternity or in his almighty power? Of course he is the source of all that is good, right and holy. Of course he is all-powerful, all-present and all-knowing. But I think that God is far more different from us in this: His love, compassion and mercy. After all, he did not manifest his power, privilege and prestige through his son. Rather, he emptied himself in all of these things except for love, compassion and mercy.

I do not seek the death of the sinner, but their salvation (Ez. 18:23). I did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it (Jn. 3:17). “I came to seek and save what was lost (Lk 19:10).

I do not seek the death of the sinner, but their salvation (Ez. 18:23). How many of us could really say this? How many of us have recently prayed this prayer: “Heavenly Father, I want you to bless my enemy with strength. I want to see him/her healed, cured, loved, changed and made whole again.” The Lord prayed it! And He prayed this for me! At times I forget this truth. If I am a better man today, it is because of the Lord, and because of the many earthly souls that are praying for me. I know it. But how many of us are praying for the one who has hurt us? Or are we doing everything in our power for their destruction? Do we make sarcastic comments and send them hurtful e-mails and spiteful letters? Do we spread vicious rumors about them because we love to hurt? Oh, the irony! Can we not leave them alone for good; to do good? Must we constantly stab them in their back by perpetuating the negative? Do we realize the pain we have caused our Lord and them? Hardly. We only use our eyes to look out, and never to look in. Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. Today is the day the Father has made to forgive, and for us as well.

I did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it (Jn. 3:17). Recently, I spoke to a friend of mine and he told me that he hoped 2012 was true! I said to him, Why? He remarked, “So that God puts us out of our misery! This world is such a mess! I cannot wait for it to come to an end.” Oh my goodness! How our minds tend to wander in the night. Did the Lord come to gather what was lost and destroy it? No. Neither should we! After all, we may find ourselves on the wrong side and in the bonfire!

Thomas, one of the Twelve, had been absent when the Lord first appeared to the Apostles. He felt left out. And he had every good reason to feel this way. Does the Lord not know everything? Did He not know that Thomas was missing? Does the Lord not have better timing? Could he have not appeared at a better moment, let’s say, when all the Apostles were gathered together? Why did the Lord put Thomas to the test? St. Peter reminds us of the answer, “We rejoice, but for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1Pt 1:3-9)

Thomas suffered greatly from the Lord’s absence. But only momentarily, for the Lord appeared to Thomas and just for him. His words are a reminder of how we should always live our lives: “Peace be with you.” Yes, Peace be in your heart; peace be on your mind; peace with your neighbor; and peace between you and our Heavenly Father. The Lord did not have to explain himself. He simply appeared. He didn’t have to, but he did. The Lord’s appearance (in our lives) is synonymous to his Divine Mercy.