What You Do With What You Have

Turn to the person next to you and take turns telling each other: “You will be a saint”… Go ahead and tell each other (WAIT for people to finish)…

How does it feel to be told that you are going to be a saint? For some – you may have felt glad - but for others – it might be quite an uncomfortable thought and feeling and so you might have thought “Me, a Saint?” - but that is our calling – to be a saint.

Being a saint is the ordinary goal of the Christian life. French Catholic novelist Leon Bloy said: "The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint."In other words: The only real sadness is not to be the person God wants us to be.  To be a saint... to be holy is to fulfill the will of God… for our lives…

If you really think about it - Only perfect people – only saints can go to heaven… For most of us – when we die- we will not be perfect – and so we will not go straight to heaven - but God loves us so much – we will be purified in Purgatory to prepare us for heaven…our true home… so we can see God face to face…

As we reach the end of the liturgical year - in fact, we will celebrate the Feast of our Lord Jesus Christ the King next Sunday - the readings today and during the past few weeks remind us of the end of our earthly lives - be it the end of the world, the final coming of Christ or our own individual death - when we will be judged as to what we have done with our lives - what we have done with what God has given us.

The Gospel reminds us that God entrusts each of us with his gifts and grace and he gives each of us a particular work – unique for each of us … in our section of the world – in our particular times – and so we are responsible to God for what He has given us.  So, what is your unique mission in life?

Admittedly - we all do not have the same “talents” – so to speak… we were not given the same gifts and we were not given the same amount of gifts… but it does not mean God has favoritism. He loves us all equally.

Yes - some people have a lot more ability than others. Some people have been given a lot more opportunity than others. Some have more physical beauty than others…Some people have a lot more money than others. All of us would probably like to have more than what we have. But, the important question is this: What are we doing with what we have, be it much or be it little?

And that is how our Lord will judge you and me… based not simply on what we accomplished, but we will be judged based on what we accomplished with what we had or had been given… again, be it much or be it little.

To those who are rich or powerful or those who have more abilities or more beautiful physical attributes or given more opportunities than others – including spiritual gifts - Before you feel so proud or before you look down on others – Remember this: “Much more has been given to you, much more is expected of you…”

Stewardship is not only in terms of time, talent and treasure. Stewardship is also about sharing our faith which is also a gift from God entrusted to us… for us to share our faith.

With all the violence and all kinds of crises in the world – plus also our own personal and family problems - Is there hope for the future – Is there hope for humanity? And what will this future be like? The late Pope Benedict XVI addressed this question and he said: “Christ is our future….. only in Christ can humanity find redemption and hope.”

It means - it is urgent that we proclaim the promise of life in Christ Jesus, Who is our Hope.

The greatest gift we can give our children - our loved ones and others - is a Life in Christ… so that with a personal relationship with Christ – others will also see and value things in this world in right perspective…what really matters…

… what life is all about…and therefore that they will also find joy, peace and hope… regardless of the circumstances they may find themselves in.

Saint Mother Teresa said: “Jesus said: I am the truth.”  And it is your duty and mine to speak the truth.  Then it is up to the person who hears it whether to accept or reject it.” … In other words: We have the obligation to speak the Truth but we do not have to convince anyone… We just have to do our part.

People are so uncomfortable sharing their faith because they are worried that they will fail. Admittedly - we know - that often - people do not accept the gospel truth and values… but we should not feel that we have failed when people do not accept the gospel values, because – actually - it is only through God's grace, only by the power of the Holy Spirit – and NOT through our own efforts, that someone may convert and be saved… BUT, we are called to do our part and cooperate with the grace of God; we are called to participate in the saving mission of Christ…

St Mother Teresa said: We are called not to be successful but we are called to be faithful… - even by just simply sharing our faith and giving someone - something to think about - (planting a seed, so to speak), we may help change the course of their lives – and to bring them one step closer to knowing the living God.

We do not have to talk about doctrines.  We do not need to be theologians. We do not have to re-tell the entire story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

The perfect strategy can be summed up in two simple words: “Be yourself”. It means simply talk about your own experiences of God’s love… how good the Lord has been to you. Talk about how having Christ in your life made a difference in your way of life… as a source of true happiness, peace, joy and hope and courage and strength. For example, you can share an insight you received in prayer or at Mass. Talk about an answered prayer or an unexpected little miracle.

The Gospel speaks about investing our talents – investing our faith –There is this principle – that our faith grows in the measure we share it…. the more we share our faith – the deeper and stronger our faith becomes.  Just as money will not grow if not invested, if it is not risked. Similarly, in the very act of sharing, our own faith grows stronger.

Yes, it is not easy to share our Christian faith in our secular and even atheistic society and times we live in. It is dangerous… a “risky business”… to share our faith.

Our faith is under constant attack from a lot of different angles… including social media. For many of us, we find ourselves defending our faith…Our society tells us to keep our faith to ourselves… to keep it private… But our Holy Father, the Pope, said: “Any tendency to treat religion – our faith - as a private matter must be resisted.”

If we keep our faith to ourselves, we will lose it…as the Gospel says: “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Life is not made for hoarding- accumulating treasures or wealth or knowledge or abilities just to benefit ourselves….to “get” the most out of life… Life is not for us to be just comfortable… Everything is by the grace of God and everything God has given to you and me is intended to be shared… to love people…. to be invested in people.

In Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation  – The Joy of the Gospel – Evangelii Gaudium -  In response to the question - - Why do Catholics NOT share their faith and therefore why do Catholics NOT lead others to Christ? -  The Pope says:  because Catholics lack joy: because if we have joy, then no one needs to tell us to share and spread the faith, as we will do so naturally and spontaneously, the same way that we share anything that we are passionate about.

So, the question is: Are you joyful about your faith? Are you joyful being a Christian or is it a burden for you to be a Christian?

Our lives – like the Eucharist – must be blessed, broken, poured out and shared… that is how and when we will truly be happy.

 God bless…

Fighting Against Hypocrisy

Children love Halloween because they like to pretend.  Putting on a mask and pretending is perfectly acceptable for a child; but putting on a mask and pretending is not acceptable for a follower of Jesus. God is not satisfied with people pretending that they are great followers of Christ.

 St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1Cor 13:11): “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; but when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

 We are not called to appear to be a holy people. We are called to really be a holy people… to take off our mask, so to speak, and let the glory of God and His light shine forth through us so that we can be like the Saints we are all called to be…. We are all called to be saints. Fittingly enough that we celebrated the Feast of All Saints the day after Halloween.

 In the gospel Jesus gives the example of the Pharisees. He says they wear all the holy costumes; these Pharisees went to all the important banquets so that everyone else could see them; but, they were just putting on a show. They knew how to hold their arms up in prayer. They said the proper pious platitudes. They pretended to be holy, but they were not holy.

 In the Gospel of Matthew 23:27 – Jesus addressed them: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.”

 That is why Jesus said: “Do whatever they teach you and follow it; respect their position - but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.”

 Humility begins by seeing ourselves in the light of truth… seeing ourselves as God sees us. So, how does God see us?

 My brothers and sisters in Christ, with all due respect, if God were to look at you and me – Would He see religious people wearing a nice pious costume and saying all the proper things, but actually living an immoral life?  Would He see a mother or a father, who quickly proclaims being a Christian, but in reality is really someone who is not open to God in his or her life.

 It is important to say the right things, but it is equally important to do the right things.  It does little good for a parent to teach a child to be truthful if the child hears the parent tell a lie.  It is useless to teach a child work ethics if the parent is lazy.

 It is useless to teach the kids faithfulness to the Church if the parent does not even go to Mass regularly.  All of us must keep in mind: “People – especially the kids - would rather see a good sermon than hear one!”

 A father was giving a sermon, reprimanding his teen age son who got in trouble. At the end, the son told his father: “What you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying.”

 Hopefully, you will not give your children reason to say that to you.

 Personally - What I really find helpful for me – in trying to be true to what I am called to be is when my wife, my two sons and daughters-in-laws are in the pews when I preach or give homilies... Reminding me that even if I could say all these nice eloquent words up here, what really matters is if my family can see consistency in me in what say up here when I preach and the consistency in what they experience with me at home… when I am with them in private… meaning – there is no duplicity.

 So my family will not roll their eyes…while I am giving the homily.

 Just imagine what my family would be thinking or feeling if I say all these nice words up here but if my family know that I am really a horrible person to live with at home, but only dressed in deacon’s costume … if I am not walking the talk, so to speak.  My family actually constantly reminds me to be consistent.  Of course, I fail every now and then.

 The Gospel tells us to fight against our own hypocrisy. How can we do this? For one, we cannot demand more from others than we demand from ourselves.  I cannot preach or demand that others fulfill their worship obligations if I do not fulfill mine.

 All of us have people looking up to us.  People look up to us as role models or for guidance. 

 I cannot demand that others fight against immorality if I live an immoral life. You cannot demand that others to be kind and caring, if you are mean – for example - to your in-laws you've never liked from the start of the relationship.

 If you are young, you cannot claim to be a Christian if you are nasty or disrespectful to other people especially to the elders. 

 For students, you cannot claim to be a Christian if you join those kids who bully or hurt other kids at school.  You cannot demand that others be good Christians if you destroy people's reputations by gossiping. You cannot tell people to forgive if you yourself do not forgive the person who has hurt you.

… Things to think about.

 How else can we avoid being hypocrite?  - By taking responsibility for our own lives rather than entrusting our lives to others.  

 As we heard in the Gospel, “Call no man "father" or "rabbi" or "teacher"” which means do not call anyone your master or guru, because if we have a master or guru for our lives, then we tend to NOT take responsibility for what we do because we can say that we are just following what we were told to do.  

 We call our priests “father” in that they are to be the head of our faith family in our parishes, but we should not give them the responsibility for our lives.

 We cannot be content with saying we are a follower of this or that person, be it a priest or a great inspirational or motivational speaker or whomever and let that person determine our lives. We have our intellect, our free will and the ability to set the course of our own lives. We must take responsibility for our own faith lives.  We cannot have a second-hand faith, so to speak.  We must have our own personal intimate relationship and encounter with the living God.

 We need to have our own belief and our own personal knowledge and intimate personal relationship with Christ… NO longer a second-hand faith.

 Maybe from your younger years into teenage years, you maybe were just a follower but we all need to get to the point in our lives when we can say personally: “I believe in God not because my parents told me, not because the church told me… I believe in God because I have experienced God’s goodness and mercy myself in my life.” … that is first-hand experience of the loving presence of God, the reality of God. So, how real is God to you?

 One time I was watching EWTN show entitled Journey Home and it was about a protestant pastor who converted to Catholicism.   The former protestant pastor said that his conversion to Catholic faith was actually out of obedience to Christ and not because someone convinced him – intellectually.

 Christ must be our guide in every aspect of our lives and if our lives reflect the presence of Jesus in the world, then we would really and truly be followers of Christ… actually, we are called to be more than just followers… but to really be other Christs in the world.

 St Paul said: “It is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20)

 May the grace of Christ, whom we receive in the Eucharist, give us the grace, the ability to live our Christianity…to live and practice the faith we profess…

 - Because people are watching….and most important of all, because God is watching.   

God bless…

Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar; Give to God what belongs to God

October is Respect Life month. While we thank God that the terrible reign of Roe vs Wade case has ended, we also recognize that abortion still continues in most states and is aggressively promoted at the federal level.

As stated by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities - this year – the Respect Life month theme is "Living Radical Solidarity".

While ending legalized abortion remains our pre-eminent priority, the most immediate way to save babies and mothers from abortion is to thoroughly surround mothers in need with life-giving support and personal accompaniment. This is radical solidarity. 

St. Pope John Paul II first defined “radical solidarity” in this way: “In firmly rejecting ‘pro-choice’ it is necessary to become courageously ‘pro woman,’ promoting a choice that is truly in favor of women. … The only honest stance, in these cases, is that of radical solidarity with the woman. It is not right to leave her alone.” 

The USCCB states that being in radical solidarity with women who are pregnant or raising children in difficult circumstances means putting our love for them into action and putting their needs before our own. Pope Francis reminds us that solidarity “refers to something more than a few occasional acts of generosity.”

This new mindset requires that we come alongside vulnerable mothers in profound friendship, compassion, and support for both them and their preborn children. It means addressing the fundamental challenges that lead an expectant mother to believe she is unable to welcome the child God has entrusted to her. 

This includes collective efforts within our dioceses, parishes, schools and local communities, engagement in the public square, and pursuit of policies that help support both women and their preborn babies.

We are the hands and feet of Christ in the world today and we each have a personal responsibility to care for one another. 

With that in mind – We reflect on the Gospel reading "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

Jesus’ reply makes an important point for both first-century Jews and for us today: - meaning - we can, and we should, meet both our civic and religious obligations.

So - What “belongs to Caesar”? In other words, what are our civic duties?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “It is the duty of citizens to contribute . . . to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom” (2239). This includes a moral obligation “to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country” (2240).

… In other words - It is for us to observe which we need to obey to ensure a civilized, peaceful and orderly society….  and in that sense - we give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

So - What belongs to God?

You see - Even as we render to Caesar, so to speak – what is legitimately his, we still need to acknowledge – that Caesar, all law - has to do with God…  Everything belongs to God.  God is the creator and He sustains the whole universe… God touches on everything in existence… and so people cannot say that certain aspects or areas of their lives do not belong to God…. The bottom line - Everything belongs to God… including Caesar… and that we are called to be stewards of God’s creation – a privilege to share in His divine life that comes with responsibility.

So - When the things of Caesar conflict with the things of God, the primary loyalty of the human heart belongs to God.  God’s laws are primary.

Peter and John when they stood before the Sanhedrin Court, they were charged with the crime of preaching in the name of Jesus, and their only defense was: “We must obey God rather than man.”  … meaning - when the decrees or laws of any government or any organization conflict with the dictates of conscience… we must obey God rather than man.

Everything is by the grace of God and everything is a free gift from God and the sin of Adam and Eve – the sin of people of today - is that instead of trusting God and submitting to God’s will,  they grabbed the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil – meaning – they grabbed, they took the prerogative that belongs to God alone - people do not want to leave it to God to decide as to what is right and what is wrong – and in modern pro-choice language – they say: “This is MY life; this is MY body”  - and I can do whatever I want -

– It is my choice whatever I want to do with my body – I decide what is right and what is wrong for me – I choose and decide when life begins (abortion) and when life must end (euthanasia).

People and the government are now even re-defining what marriage is… and people are saying – take God out of our bedroom.

People wanting to be God…  that is the root cause of the Fall of Man… the deadliest of sin - pride.

The purpose of God’s divine law, His commandments which are being taught/proclaimed by the Church are not to restrict or limit our freedom but to lead us to true freedom – ultimate freedom – sharing in God’s divine life – for us to be what we were created to be and meant to be … which leads to true lasting joy and peace within our hearts no matter what circumstances we might find ourselves in.

A simple analogy is a train.  A train is made to run on its track (like the laws and the commandments of God; they are like tracks) and the train will never be more free than when it is on its track.  Take the train off the tracks – yes – it will still move forward and it might be free to go in all directions – but it will not be truly free – because it will never reach its destination… where it is intended to be.

God is the giver of life.  Human life is a spiritual, moral issue, and when the laws of men are immoral, when they are attacking the laws of God and the sacredness and dignity of human life, then Godly men and women, the People of God should speak out and even protest…

The Church is therefore not venturing too far into politics, not venturing/not meddling in medical profession – in our bedrooms - because they are not areas of our lives absolutely separate from the practice of our faith.

Let us keep in mind the encouraging words of the Holy Father: “Any tendency to treat faith or religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of our lives, do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel.”

As we share our faith more publicly, we will be opposed.  Jesus said: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” 

We all have the same right as anyone else  ... we can express our opinions in private and in public.  We have the same rights as those who oppose God’s teachings but, so often, we are afraid to express His truths for fear that we will be ridiculed or for fear of the consequences.  Jesus says it very plainly .... stand up and demand that God be given what is His! Give to God what belongs to God!

If the apostles and the many men and women before us suffered trying to spread the word of God, we too in the words of St. Paul must bear our share of hardship for the sake of the Gospel.

We were created in God’s image - in his own likeness (Genesis 1:26-27).  Therefore - We rightfully belong, not to ourselves, but to God who created us and redeemed us through our Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor. 6:19-20).  St. Paul said that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1). 

We should find courage and strength in what Jesus said (at the conclusion of Matthew‘s gospel): "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me . . . make disciples of all nations. . . . and behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Mt 28: 18-20).

Jesus said: “In this world, you will have troubles; but do not be afraid, I have overcome the world.”

We are all called to be faithful citizens and we have dual citizenship – so to speak – we are citizens of this nation and more importantly – ultimately - we are citizens of heaven… our true home.

God's Invitation

Today’s Gospel continues the theme of the parables we heard these past few weeks. There is again God’s invitation and people’s refusal to respond. 

Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve. That is how God loves us. All is grace. Everything is free. We have already been saved in Christ Jesus. We cannot earn our way to heaven… and the only proper response to God’s grace and love is faith – entering into a personal relationship of love and trust with Him. 

God continues to invite us.   He does not force us.  He respects our freedom. He knocks into our hearts.  We can ignore or refuse that love.  But God is always there, inviting us to share in his joy and his divine life.

It is important to note that Jesus compares the joy of responding to God’s love in faith - to enjoying a banquet – a wedding feast - a party filled with warm laughter, rich food, choice wine as described by Isaiah in our first reading.

For our reflection - I would like to focus – not on those who did not respond but on those who responded and came – referring to us who are here.

We heard in the Gospel: “And when the king came to see the guests, he saw a man not dressed in wedding garment… and he was thrown out of the house.”  That seems strange and unfair.  He responded but somehow he was treated like that just because he was not dressed properly – literally.

Well - It means that we cannot only say that we believe in God. Even the devil believes in God but he just does not obey. We cannot only say we love God and that we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior ... we have to prove it by the way we live.  We must dress appropriately – so to speak - meaning we need to clothe ourselves with righteousness – filling our minds with good things – and practicing and living our faith.

You are here because you believe - but  - Are your hearts and minds really here? Do you really rejoice in your faith? Or is being a Christian a burden for you? Is coming to mass every Sunday a pure obligation – something to meet and fulfill and after that you are done. Being a Christian, having faith in Christ means more than good behavior and securing a place in heaven later on when we die...  A true Christian life means joyous living – in the here and now – regardless of the circumstances we might find ourselves in - even in the midst of pains and troubles in this life – living a life that is rich and deep and full of peace, experiencing peace which Paul describes as "the peace which surpasses all understanding"…

In our second reading (Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20):   St. Paul found consolations in his faith in the worst of times and the best of times.  St. Paul found strength in Christ in every situation. 

(Philippians, Chapter 4:11) St. Paul said, "…Whatever situation I find myself in I have learned to be content…I have learned to cope with every circumstance .” Paul experienced weakness in his life – (2 Corinthians 12:10) – being shipwrecked - being beaten many times…being imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel.

2 Cor –12:10, "Therefore, I am content with weakness, with mistreatment, with distress, with persecution and difficulties for the sake of Christ." Here's the key: "For when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong." As we heard in the second reading: “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”  Can you truly honestly say that for yourself?

He's talking about his experience, his glorious experience of God ‘s presence and the reality of God’ power in his life.  Philippians 4:4. - "Rejoice in the Lord, always. I say it again. Rejoice." – It means that even when we're confronted with bad news, with our own weaknesses, with misfortunes; Paul says, "Rejoice! Be content!" Why? Again - Because when we're powerless, God is strong within us.  God is not out there. God is within us.

In other words – when we respond to God in faith – if we are in personal communion loving relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ - we will discover for ourselves the joy of the Christian life, a life that has richness to it, a life that shines and gives comfort and joy also to others, much in the same way a wedding feast gives to everyone – that feeling of blessedness of life – even in the midst of pain and struggles in life.

… And that is how and why - one will not be able to help it - but proclaim and share the Good News of God’s love in Christ with others so they, too, can experience the fullness of life as beloved sons and daughters of God…. Meaning God’s grace, and joy and peace and hope and love flowing through us… not just for our sake but for the sake of others… for the love of God and for the love of our neighbor.

In Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation  – The Joy of the Gospel – Evangelii Gaudium -  In response to the question - - Why do Catholics NOT share their faith and therefore NOT lead others to Christ? -  The Pope says:  because Catholics lack joy: because if we have joy, then no one needs to tell us to share and spread the faith, as we will do so naturally and spontaneously, the same way that we share anything that we are passionate about.

So, are you joyful about your faith?

Pope Francis said and I quote: “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting Him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.

The Pope continues: I quote: “How good it feels to come back to the Lord whenev­er we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking His mercy. Time and time again He bears us on His shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.”

“Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire us more than His life, which impels us onwards!”

It is so beautiful - in the Gospel acclamation before we read the Gospel – about hope - this is the source of our hope – the love of God – which bring us joy, peace and courage to face whatever life may bring us.

My brothers and sisters in Christ:  As we prepare ourselves to come to the banquet feast table of the Lord, let us pray that we are truly appropriately clothed – so to speak - worthily to receive and partake of the Lamb of God….  With truly grateful, joyful and hopeful hearts.  Amen.

When Life Is Not Fair

In the kingdom of God, there is family, there is community – not just a society or group of individuals. In a society – there is this “we-and-them”, there is rivalry - survival of the fittest. But, in a family, there is only “all of us - we – us” - and NO them. There is the spirit of cooperation rather than competition.

In the Gospel parable, the workers in the vineyard complained because they saw each other not as family members but as rivals, as competitors. If the latecomers in the vineyard were seen as family members of the early workers, the early workers would have rejoiced with them at their good fortune rather than grumbling. There is one popular “oldies” song that goes: “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.”\

We need to expand our concept of family beyond our blood relatives - because we are all members of the same Body of Christ, of one Spirit, with one heavenly Father… who is so generous … who loves us - who sees all of us as His sons and daughters… and so we are brothers and sisters.

Whether we convert at the end of our lives after living sinful lives or whether we have spent our whole lives serving the will of God, the bottom line is - all is a gift, In the end, all is grace. Everything is by the grace of God.

You see - The Gospel parable is really about God’s generosity, His grace, His goodness and mercy and His invitation to us into a more intimate relationship and that is what we call faith – relationship with God – the only proper response to God’s grace…. The parable is not so much about fairness- but about relationship.

 This parable is not just revealing to us information about God but it also shines light, reveals to us certain darkness in us that resists God or it reveals to us our misunderstanding of how God works.

From our first reading, the Lord says and I am paraphrasing: “My thoughts, my ways are infinitely above your thoughts, above your ways.”

The problem is we often get caught up on issues of fairness – comparing ourselves with others, with one another.

We often feel discontented - because we often compare our lives with those who are doing better, with those who have more or seem to be treated better than we are in life. You see - there will always be someone richer, more talented, or luckier, so to speak.

So, when it seems life is unfair - we need to take a fresh look at the good things in our lives – the things we often take for granted. When we “feel cheated in life”, let us just think of those with less – the less fortunate - and not those with more.

The workers in the parable did not feel they were mistreated when they were hired - first. It is only when the owner extended his generosity to the workers hired late in the day. You see - We usually do not have problems with people’s generosity, with God’s generosity to us - when we are the ones receiving it – when others are envious of us - because we feel special.

All of us are like the workers in the parable who were hired later in the day… and so, we can say that we are all “latecomers.”

If we want to compare ourselves with others – let us compare ourselves with the saints who are as ordinary people as we are. Compared to the countless martyrs and saints who served God faithfully and who gave up their lives for the sake of the Gospel, serving others, how do you think we are - compared to them? - But God is equally generous and compassionate with the saints as He is with us. He offers us His divine life, He loves us, as much as He loves the saints and sinners alike – No Less…

So, when we feel cheated in life, treated unfairly; when it seems life is so unfair – when bad things happen even to good people and when the bad people seem to be the ones enjoying life and the ones prospering – we need to continue to trust God – His goodness, that He is just…that God is fair and He is in control….even when things do not make any sense and even when we cannot understand.

As it has been said: “Life is not fair; but God is good!”

In the grand scheme of things, we can see only a very tiny portion of the big picture… of God’s plan…

We need to be in a relationship of love and trust with our God instead of on the basis of “What is in it for me, Lord?

Here’s the big question for all of us: Why do we follow Jesus, why do we obey his teachings? Why do we obey the Ten Commandments? Why are we here – why do we come to Mass?

– Is it because we want to go to heaven – and because we are afraid to go to hell?

Do we follow Jesus so He will bless us? … so that he'll make our family happy? So that bad things will not happen to us? Do we pray the rosary or the novenas or go to pilgrimages or first Fridays because of the promises - that no misfortune will come to us… that we will receive all the “indulgences”.

I am not saying those are bad motivations. But we are invited to go beyond those motives. Because – in a way we can say – with all due respect – those motives are basically the same as saying: “What is in it for me, Lord, if I do all those things?

Again, everything is by the grace of God. We cannot earn our way to heaven.When we go to confession – one of the versions of the Act of Contrition – we say: “I detest all my sins because I fear the loss of heaven and the pains of hell – and here’s the most important part - but most of all - because I offended thee my God who are all good and deserving of all my love…”… out of love…relationship of love…. that we are afraid to offend God.

All of the parables that Jesus told - always have - as the core purpose - to teach us something about our relationship with God.From that perspective - we can understand Paul’s letter to Philippians (1:21) – we heard from our second reading. Paul is not focusing on himself but on his relationship with Christ – with God.

Basically - St. Paul was saying and I am paraphrasing: "For me life means Christ. Even if I die, it doesn't matter. If I live – thanks be to God! - there' so much more I want to give. If I die - thanks be to God! – that means I will be with God! If I live, I can continue to bring others to God. I am not going to live for what I can get out of life.”

 That is how he found contentment in whatever circumstances he found himself in – even in prison… where he wrote this letter of encouragement.

… and so – for us - What happens now if after doing all our devotions – faithfully coming to Mass on Sundays or even on weekdays. God forbid – what if bad things would happen to us? – What happens when we feel cheated by life? Unfortunately, that is when people lose faith and they begin to doubt. They no longer see God as good but unfair. God does not seem to be real anymore.

Salvation is really when following Christ is no longer about us – no longer about ME, MY, OURS… Salvation is about Jesus and our love for our neighbor and the life that we give – the life that we share…

Mark Twain said: The two most important days in our lives are: First, the day we were born. Secondly, is the day when we find out or discover or realize why… why we were born.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us examine our reasons why we do what we do, why we follow Christ. Let us be honest with ourselves.

Let us continue to pray for the Lord to purify our intentions, to increase our love for God for who God is and our love for our neighbors and desire that God would also generously bestow His infinite grace and mercy upon everyone who turns to Him in repentance.

Let us pray that we may serve God and our neighbors - with joyful, grateful and generous hearts, not looking for how much we can get - but rather looking for how much more we can give, how deep we can love.

At the end of our lives, that is all we can take with us – how much we have given of ourselves – how much we have loved; we can take only what we carry in our hearts….

God bless…

On Forgiveness and Love

We live in a world where human failure is a fact of life, and some of those failures are uncorrectable.

Try to imagine what this world would be without a working, functioning principle of forgiveness. 

The fact is - None of us can live or none of us can do anything with another person for very long without it becoming necessary for one of us to forgive the other.  We all make mistakes.  And sometimes we are even deliberately unfair or maliciously unkind to others. At that point - forgiveness becomes an absolute necessity.

Think about these: How could a married couple make a success of marriage without a willingness to forgive and be forgiven? It would be impossible. How could two people build a friendship and sustain it across the years without a working principle of forgiveness. That would be impossible.

How could a father and mother raise children and keep family together - without constant use of forgiveness.  The answer is simple and absolute – they could not. All human relationships would be virtually impossible without forgiveness… without the healing touch of forgiveness.

Here is the greatest irony of all: We cannot even live with ourselves unless we are willing to forgive our own sins and weaknesses. All of us have made uncorrectable mistakes. We have said and done things we are not proud of. We cannot unsay or undo them. We cannot entirely forget them. The only thing we can do is forgive them, and that is not easy but it is absolutely necessary.

None of us can ever be a whole and healthy person until we have learned to forgive ourselves.

All of us are sinners, even the ones we perceive to be saintly people. That leaves God two choices: God can either destroy us or he can redeem us.

Human nature being what human nature is, fallen and broken - if God is going to work with us and relate to us, God must preserve the principle of pardon or forgiveness. 

Not that God owes it to you or to me or to anyone. It is just that there is no other way for God to relate to us and work with us… except with mercy. Grace is getting what we do not deserve; all is grace; everything is by the grace of God. Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve. That is how God relates to us.

In other words - What else could the Lord do with human iniquity besides pardoning it?

We are all sinners, enslaved by sin and we cannot redeem ourselves and so we need a Savior.  So, God has stepped in and wiped the slate clean in Christ Jesus.  He has forgiven us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Romans 8:39)

 Now, in turn – we are all called to do for one another what God has done and continues to do for us.  Just as we have been forgiven, so must we forgive. And we will never get through with that. We will always need forgiving, and we will always need to forgive.  Forgiveness is a fact of life and it is absolutely necessary.

As we heard in the Gospel acclamation: (2 Cor 5:19)

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Why should we forgive at all? To mention just two very definite answers to that question.

First, we should forgive because we need forgiveness ourselves. As we pray in the Our Father as the Lord has taught us – Jesus included “forgive us as we forgive those who sinned against us…” or “trespassed against us”.

As much as we have been forgiven in the past and as much as we will need forgiveness in the future, we have no right to place a limit on our forgiveness of others.

Secondly - We should forgive because if we do not forgive, it will hurt us more than the one who hurt us. Not to forgive is like an infection – in the soul – spreading poison through the entire life. The person who refuses to forgive inevitably becomes sour, cynical and sad.

The process of forgiving is fulfilled when you can want or desire good for the person who has wronged you instead of wishing evil to fall upon him or her… The good of the person then will be your intention for reconciliation, as we heard in our readings today, to help the person grow and become a better person… not to get even.

Then you can say you fulfilled the commandment “Love your enemy”.. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” because love – true love is willing the good of the other… even if the person is unloveable.

The problem is: when we come before God for our sins, we ask for Mercy but when it comes to other people’s sins or faults against us, we demand justice.

If you cannot forgive, maybe you need to examine your own relationship with God and your own experience of forgiveness, of being forgiven.

As Thomas Merton said: “We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.

Forgiving someone falling short of our expectations does not mean glossing over sin, or justifying it - but it DOES mean always trying to treat people with the respect and honor they deserve as beloved children of God – as our brothers and sisters  in Christ who have great dignity in God's eyes.

Admittedly – all these are much easier said than done. On our own, it is impossible… but by the grace of God – everything is possible.

 Mercy is not about pretending that something has not happened, that sin does not matter.

Mercy is about accepting to love as one is… as God is LOVE.

God created us in His own image and likeness - which is LOVE - and so our very nature is to love.

As we heard in the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans:

“Brothers and sisters:  Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another”.

I will close with this story which some of you may have heard before but it is fitting:

There was this man who saw a scorpion floundering

around in the water. He decided to save it by

stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him.

The man tried again to get the scorpion out of the

water, but the scorpion stung him again.

Another guy nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept

stinging him.

But the man said:

"It is the nature of the scorpion to sting.

It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love

just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?"

Meaning -

Do not give up loving.

Do not give up your goodness.

Even if the people around you sting.

God bless…

Great is Your Faith

The New Testament is full of incidents where individuals had a face-to-face encounter with Jesus.  But - in all those incidents, there is probably none as moving or as difficult – even as confusing - to understand as the encounter with the Canaanite woman - as we heard in our Gospel reading.

 People might get the impression that Jesus seemed to be unsympathetic and even rude, degrading to the woman - a Gentile – an outcast. It is just unfortunate that we cannot hear the tone of Jesus’ voice as he spoke or we cannot see his facial expression as he talked of “giving that which belonged to the children to the dogs.”

 But - the woman - evidently, saw in it not a rejection or a snub but an invitation to persistence.

 Jesus’ words about dogs and children are a kind of a saying or a cliché that Jesus probably heard all his life: “Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

 And so – the woman, understanding Jesus’ intent, the woman says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the children’s crumbs or scraps that fall from the table.”  What a wonderful exchange between Jesus and the woman.

 The woman understood what Jesus meant when He said: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

 Meaning – The woman accepts the priority of Israel in God’s plan of salvation but she also says, in so many words: 

 “​You are Israel’s Messiah.  You are the one through whom God will bring salvation to the whole world – not only to the Jews.  But - Please, allow God’s plan for the future of the whole world to break into this present moment, and bring healing to my daughter now.”

 Meaning - She believes that Jesus has so much power that he will have more than enough left over from what Israel does not need or want. 

 The woman lived in a culture where women were meant to be seen and not heard, but she could not keep quiet because of her love for and her concern for her daughter.

 Her faith was not shaken by the attitude of the disciples who wanted Jesus to send her away.

 So - Jesus is moved and responds to such striking faith: “O Woman, great is your faith!  Let your wish be granted.”  Jesus’ words give voice to what the woman’s words have already demonstrated: her faith.

 Faith life – Christian life is such a paradox in the sense that true believers in God are born in hard times .,,  not when things are going well.   Great faith grows in times of doubt and despair.

 In the hardest times, faith reaches its greatest height.  It is strange but true.  Until we have known great despair, we cannot know great faith – personally. Great faith has always come out of situations of despair, of hopelessness.

 But – it does not mean that we pray or look for misery or desolation or trials - so that we will grow in faith.  Life will bring them to us and they will transform us.

 The saints - down through the centuries – gave us wonderful examples of faith even in the midst of despair and darkness. 

 So, let us never lose faith even when we often experience delay in God’s answers to our prayers. Being delayed is not being denied.

 The silences of God often refine our desires. Meaning - They help us - they give us a better understanding of the God from whom we seek help.  We often come to God for physical or material needs but later find out God meets even our even bigger or greater needs – more than we asked for.

 The reward for our faith is not always having our prayers answered.  In this case in the Gospel story, the woman received what she asked for. But there are many times when the things we want most are not given to us.  And even then, we are assured of God’s love and concern.

 It is the strength of our faith that takes us through the greatest challenges of life.

The Gospel story presents us with ideal way to pray and to have humble interior disposition we must have - when approaching God – with humility and persistence and utmost trust in God.

Some of you may be living with a quiet kind of desperateness or hopelessness that is destroying your happiness and peace.  You may not be able even to express it. You may not even want to discuss it with anyone.  And - hopefully NOT – you may even be considering – something very foolish.

 Let me urge you to do what the Canaanite woman did. Turn to God who loves you and cares for you…

 In the Gospel, Jesus said: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

 Yet, after Jesus’ resurrection, He told his disciples: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”  (Mk 16:15).

• Meaning - Even to the Gentiles… Meaning - to us.

• By virtue of our baptism in Christ, we are now Beloved Sons and Daughters of God – Children of God… co-heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.

We do not need to settle for “crumbs falling from the Master’s table”, so to speak. Those are for dogs!  Jesus’ death on the Cross – our being baptized into His death - has promoted/adopted us and made us children of the Master.

 The Master invites us to the table and feeds us with the finest spiritual food.

 In the Eucharist, Jesus not only gives us food and drink – He gives us very Himself – His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. You know what – the truth is - Every Mass is actually a Healing Mass. You do not have to look for or wait for a Healing Priest.

 But remember - We separate ourselves from His table when we go back to sinful life.

 Jesus sees all that is good within the human heart.  He saw the faith of the Canaanite woman.  He sees your faith. He sees my faith.  Jesus knows how hard we are trying our best to be faithful to Him and to serve Him.

 How wonderful is that?! We have such an awesome God!

He knows us better than we know ourselves.  He loves us more than we love ourselves.

 Hopefully, may we all get to the point in our lives, when we can say:   “We, not only believe - we know.” Amen.

 God bless…

Christ is in the Storm of Life With Us

Being a Christian in our society, in a very secular and even atheistic world, holding on to our faith - is hard – to say the least.  Like the disciples in the Gospel reading, it is like rowing a boat against a strong wind.  And so often - we are torn between our faith and our fears.

At times, we are like Simon Peter.  Our faith is strong, and it seems that we could walk on water.  At other times, our fear is stronger than our faith.  And it seems that we will surely sink.

Some days, we truly believe in Christ…. that He is real…. That He is with us…we believe that His love will finally conquer the world, and there will finally be peace… and therefore we are ready to give our lives for the sake of the Gospel…

But there are other days when the only thing that seems real is trouble. We are surrounded by struggles, aches and pains and sufferings… and we are afraid.  So, we give in to fears and doubts, thinking we have no choice but to rely solely on our own power and resources… because it seems God is silent and has forgotten about us.

Waves and wind – such a powerful metaphor for all those that cause fear and doubt in our daily lives... the stresses and responsibilities of our daily lives.

How often when a crisis comes in our life, we concentrate on the crisis instead of on God…. We take our eyes off of God.

When troubles come our way - often - we forget that God is still with us.  We feel and so we think God has abandoned us.  But our faith tells us that God is always with us. We cannot always rely on our feelings.  The truth is that God is with us always, whether or not we feel His presence…no matter what our feelings tell us.

Faith life – Christian life is such a paradox in the sense that true believers in God are born in hard times.  Great faith grows in times of doubt and despair.

In the hardest times, faith reaches its greatest height.  It is strange but true.  Until we have known great despair, we cannot know great faith.  Great faith has always come out of situations of despair.

But – it does not mean that we pray or look for misery or desolation or trials - so that we will grow in faith.  Life will bring them to us and they will transform us.

The saints - down through the centuries – gave us wonderful examples of faith even in the midst of despair and darkness. 

Cardinal Basil Hume wrote of St Thérèse’s of Lisieux – the Little Flower – “Even when she experienced nothing but absence, emptiness, darkness, she held on to the assurance of being loved and carried in Jesus’ arms….that is trust, clinging to God when everything in our experience would seem to contradict His very existence, or at least His love for us.”

The Lord knows that we are not saints, not yet anyway.  He knows that we are weak.  He accepted Peter with his failures and weaknesses, and turned him into the Rock of the Church.  The Lord takes us as we are and He walks with us on the water…in the storms of life.

God did not say that there will be no storms in our lives but He promised that He will be with us in our storms…  and so when a storm hits, we are asked to take the hand of Jesus and let him lift us to safety… so to speak. Peter gave us a good example - He cried out to Jesus, and he re-focused.  He said: “Jesus – save me! Jesus – save me! What saved Peter when he was sinking? - He reached out in faith.  And Christ saved him.

Jesus challenges us to keep our eyes on Him, to depend on Him, to believe in Him no matter what is going on in our daily lives.

Christ is in the storm of life with us.  Jesus is peace in the midst of the storm. Of course, this is much easier said than done…but our faith tells us to not give up… because the alternative is despair – which consumed Judas and we do not want to go there.   So - keep trying, keep trusting… sinking in life begins when we take our eyes off of God… when we forget and do not trust in the love and grace and mercy of God.

God only asks us to have the courage to put our faith in Him…and to not be afraid.”  It is a matter of the will, a matter of choice.  We have our free will.  We have to decide… whether or not to make that leap of faith in God.

In the Gospel reading, Peter began to sink when he concentrated too much on the threat of the wind and the waves instead of focusing on the presence of Jesus right there in front of him.

May the Lord increase our little faith so that in all the storms of life we shall have our eyes and our trust constantly fixed on Jesus and his power and not on the crisis, not on ourselves and not on our weaknesses.

With all the news of Maui fires, of hard times many people are going through, violence, all kinds of sickness, natural disasters, etc., everyone of us here has crisis or storms in our lives in one form or another.  Some of us here may be in the midst of a storm and on the verge of sinking in fear, into despair and hopelessness.

We have three choices – either to look at the crisis, or to look at our weakness, or to look at Jesus.

Jesus gave us an example in the Gospel of how we can prepare for and manage in the midst of the storms or chaos of life.

 We heard in the Gospel – Jesus went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

We need to be people who go alone by ourselves to be alone with the Lord every day of our lives in order to have peace even in the midst of crisis.

Yes -We are all busy to some extent or another.  People and responsibilities are pulling us a thousand ways!

That is why the busier we get, the more reason we must spend quality times with the Lord every day.

If coming to Sunday Mass is the only time you pray during the week – that is not good! You and I have to be alone with the Lord – our God - every day… even for a few minutes.  

 This is the most necessary thing in our lives, that we be still in the presence of God every day – so that we can continue to have peace even in the midst of the conflicts of life, even in the midst of weaknesses and darkness.

In prayer, we will be given the wisdom and the courage and the peace and we will know what to do, when to do it and how to do it, to whom to do it.

If we continue to focus and re-focus our eyes on God… If we keep our eyes on the Lord, the Good News is - we, too, can walk on water.

Jesus Be My Everything

Admittedly, at times - we can get so bogged down by struggles in this world and therefore we need to be reminded that this troubled world is not our final destiny.  The Gospel story of the Transfiguration of Christ gives us a glimpse that there is another world that is just as real as this world we live in….

As we heard in the Gospel: “Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Jesus.”  Moses and Elijah lived and departed from earthly life centuries before and there they were living and conversing with Jesus…sharing in His glory… giving us a glimpse of the eternal dimension… that there is life after death… with transfigured or resurrected body.

The transfiguration experience boosted the faith of Jesus’ apostles. An occasional glimpse of the other world can bring meaning and strength and hope to this present world.

 How about us - can we somehow expect a Transfiguration-like experience, to prepare us – to encourage us to carry our crosses daily in our lives to follow Jesus?  to boost our faith?... to strengthen us and give us hope?

 The answer is, yes; that is what Jesus is preparing for us at this very Mass we are celebrating. Our experience might be greatly different from what Peter, James or John experienced.  There will not be any blinding light nor voice speaking from the clouds; but, our experience can certainly be just as powerful…

 Of course, that will not happen by some kind of magic.  Our own transfiguration experience will depend on how much faith we bring to the experience… meaning, depending on if our hearts are open.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the efficacy of the sacrament – meaning - the grace we receive in the sacraments – like the Eucharist - depends on our disposition – depending on our openness, our willingness to cooperate with the grace of God.

 There is a common phrase – “You get out of it what you put into it.”  

Those who get bored during the Mass….Those who say that they get nothing out of the Mass…. They should ask themselves this question… What are they bringing into this celebration?  What kind of attitude do they have coming into Mass?  How much thought and how much preparation did they have or how did they prepare themselves for the Eucharistic celebration? Again, “you get out of Mass what you put into it.”

In just a few minutes, we will offer to God the bread and wine – along with our offerings of ourselves, our struggles, our hopes, our dreams – through Christ, with Christ and in Christ – WHO makes our offerings acceptable to God, our Father.

 At the consecration, the Holy Spirit will change our gifts - into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Then - at Communion, when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ - Jesus will fill us with his glorious presence.  In that moment we, ourselves, can be transfigured, if you will.  We become what we partake; we become what we eat – We become the Body of Christ… As St. Teresa of Avila said:  Christ has no body now on earth but yours. Yours are His eyes, yours are His hands and yours are His feet.

That is why at the end of the Mass, we are sent – in the peace of Christ – to be other Christs in the world. …to be the living witnesses and sacraments of God’s love, grace and mercy…

Peter wanted to stay or extend the stay up in the mountain because “it is good to be here.”  The same thing with us, after our Eucharistic celebration - we need to go down into the valley, so to speak, of our day-to-day existence – into the ordinariness of our lives - because the Mass must be lived. 

Meaning - Our faith must be expressed in action, in living out the Gospel values… – proclaiming and sharing the message of salvation in Jesus Christ… by the way we live.

As St. Augustine puts it in one of his sermons on the Transfiguration, Elijah and Moses are there as “servants and ministers. Meaning - they are vessels: Christ is the fountain.” So, on the Feast of the Transfiguration, it is time for us to examine the focus of our mission as Church. Do we, as God’s church, also point to Christ without any ambiguity in all that we do and say?

Meaning - Think of all that we do: our worship, fellowship, Bible studies, feeding the homeless, advocacy for social justice, and all of our good works towards our neighbors and outreach, etc. The question, in light of the Transfiguration, is this: Do all the works - everything that we do - point clearly and plainly to Jesus Christ, the Son of God in whom the hopes of the world and the longings of every human heart are brought to peace beyond understanding? If not, then something must change.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church – the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life… meaning - all the other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, of the Church - are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.

 The Eucharist is all about Christ – His presence in us, among us, with us.

 For us Christians, “Life is about Jesus Christ. Anything and everything that matters flows from Him and returns to Him.”

This is the fundamental message of Christianity. It is exemplified in today’s feast: The Transfiguration of the Lord.

To put more perspective, Moses was the great Law Giver. Elijah was the greatest of the prophets. Meaning – Jesus is the fulfillment of everything foretold in the Old Testament.

Jesus is the center of history. Jesus is the center of the universe. Everything that matters flows from Jesus and points to Him. Jesus is the one who fulfills God’s plan for mankind.

So, we have to listen to Jesus because we also have a role in God’s plan for mankind. That meeting with Moses and Elijah had transcended time. Moses  lived about six hundred years before Elijah, and Elijah lived about eight hundred years before the birth of the Lord.

 But on that mountain of the Transfiguration, they were united in time. It was as though all that Moses gave, all that Elijah prophesied, was happening in the eternal now of the Word Become Flesh, Jesus. We are part of that Eternal Now.

From the clouds, they heard: “This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Those words are directed to us as well as to Peter, James and John.

Each of us has a role to play in God’s Plan for mankind. The late great pope, Pope Benedict XVI said: “The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.” We were created for greatness, to share in the Triumph of the Kingdom of God.

 How? How do we share in the Triumph of the Kingdom of God? We do this by living our lives in such a way that we reflect the presence of God in that unique way that we were created to do… that people whose lives we touch - experience the love, grace and mercy of God through us. Each of us can uniquely provide the world with an image of God the world never saw before and the world will never see again. We can and must do this. That is why we need to be united to God in every aspect of our lives and at every moment of our lives.

Again, as I have said at the beginning, at times - we get so bogged down by struggles and temptations in this world and we lose perspective of what life is all about and what really matters, therefore, we do not and cannot hear the voice of God anymore with all the worldly noises – and so - we need to get away from the world, so to speak – spend more time in prayer every day – to listen to the voice of God… even for a few minutes each day…

Yes - so many people are now living in seemingly hopeless desperate situations… and we are called to trust in God even without knowing how God is going to care for us, even though we have no idea how God could possibly help us.  But - as the Pope said:  Only in Christ can humanity find redemption and hope.

So, let us love Jesus with all our hearts, with all our mind and with all our might and let Jesus love us.

And so we pray – in the words of a popular song – please repeat after me: “Jesus, Be My Everything!”  AMEN.

May You Rest in the Peace of Christ

So - How are you feeling?  If you say or think you are tired, or sleepy - you are not alone.  Studies confirmed the fact that people are not getting enough rest, not enough sleep, not enough relaxation to stay healthy.  The stress of life is wearing us out, body and soul.  No wonder, with all due respect, at times, we come to Mass, our job, or school, without much energy and enthusiasm and eagerness.  It is not that we are bad or lazy.  It is just that we are just plain tired.

How come?  For example - We carry our cell phones - everywhere we go - all the time; we want to multi task, talking to relatives and friends or clients while working, even while driving.  We drink more caffeine and energy drinks so we can stay awake longer to catch up on the pressing list of things to do. 

And what is worst - This constant running around, multi-tasking is exhausting not only our bodies, but also our souls.  Yes - We need a nap, or a vacation, certainly.  But even more, we need a word of grace from God for our weary souls to re-assure us.  Because, if we are not careful, all this running around causes us to neglect our inner lives, distracting us from the nourishment and care of our souls.  And as a result, even a good nap or even a good long vacation does not really quite heal us.

In fact - It is funny and quite ironic – and you probably can relate to this- people come back from vacation more tired than they were before they went on vacation… right?

Our readings today have a message and good news for those who are not only physically tired but especially for the weary, troubled…withered souls… pretty much - all of us.

Jesus offers us the rest we need to refresh our souls… “Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  The good news is: Jesus knows, and cares, about our weariness.  We are not alone.

When you are worn out, what you do not want to hear is someone who dismiss or make it sound like what you are feeling is not important. 

Jesus does not make us feel our weariness is less important.  He invites us to find rest in Him.  He does not accuse or blame us.  Jesus simply offers us himself, like a strong shoulder, to lean against.  He gives us permission to admit the truth--we are tired and feeling burdened. 

We have been working and living too hard, too long.  And so consequently, we have exhausted our inner lives by neglecting our spiritual life, by neglecting the primary relationships that give us peace and joy… which are our relationships with God and with one another.

 St Augustine said: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

That is why Jesus continues to invite us: “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”  It is what we all need, all of us.  We need to set aside our burdens and worries so we can sit at the feet of Christ, in the presence of a wise and loving God, and to catch our breath again… to give us opportunity to examine / re-examine our way of life and see if some of that weariness is of our own making.That is why it is very important to pray everyday… to commune with God every day. The busier we become, the more challenges we face, the more time we have to spend in prayer – every day - talking and listening to God… we need to step away from the busyness of life, to re-focus our lives on what really matters in life… to let Jesus enter deeper into our lives and to put our trust in God … who is our hope not just for the future but God is our hope for the present… Only in Christ can we find hope.

Jesus said: “My yoke is easy, my burden is light”. The image of the yoke is an image familiar to Jesus’ first century audience. A yoke allows a person or an animal to carry a huge amount of weight by distributing the weight evenly on both shoulders. 

 In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to those “who labor and are burdened”.  As a background and to put things in perspective – to better understand why Jesus said what He said: Actually, Jesus is referring to the fact that the scribes and Pharisees had so distorted the Law of Moses that the practice of the Jewish faith had become a burden that was too difficult to carry and the religious leaders did nothing to ease the weighty burden.  (Matthew 23:4).

The religious leaders had developed many customs, false doctrines and religious practices which Jesus condemned – for example, their Sabbath Law… which they used against Jesus because Jesus healed on a Sabbath.

And so, Jesus – using the image of the yoke - was actually offering to relieve the heavy burden of the system of works that the Pharisees in His time laid on the backs of the people. And so, Jesus invites them to carry the light and easy yoke that Jesus will give them. In other words, in contrast, Jesus’ New Law of love, grace and mercy is actually liberating, freeing, light, and easy.

But you might think – Jesus’ new commandment of love – especially loving your enemy; especially His call to moral perfection and His many teachings are also not that easy to follow and can even be overwhelming.

But we have to trust that since Jesus Himself says that “my yoke is easy, and my burden light,” then we can be certain that they are…light and easy.

Why and how we can say that? - Jesus gives us His Spirit; Jesus gives us the means by which we can fulfill His commandment. When we find some moral obligation to be difficult or even overwhelming, we can rely upon the grace that God will give us to fulfill His command.

God not only calls us to the heights of holiness, He also provides us with the grace to fulfill His commandment.

To better understand – you see – instead of imagining of an animal with a yoke carrying a heavy burden all by himself – imagine this better image of a yoke - two animals side by side with a yoke over their shoulders – and they are yoked together - meaning – Jesus Himself is yoked with us – Jesus is with us - Jesus promised to shoulder our burdens with us – to carry the yoke with us, so that we in turn - could also bear the burdens of others.

Jesus said that His yoke is easy… meaning - Having Jesus at the center of our lives - as we discern the will of God for us and how to live our lives, with Christ in our life – we need to remember this: More work, more grace. In other words: The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.

In other words, God’s grace is always enough for us whatever circumstances we might find ourselves in.

 On the other hand - If you feel you are so blessed… Remember: Blessings come with a mission:  in other words: if you get more grace, expect more work…much has been given to you, much is expected of you. So, put together - More work, more grace. More grace, more work. All by the grace of God… which is always enough for us.

Jesus invites all those who find life burdensome to come to him for rest.  Jesus did not promise to do away with our burdens but rather to help us carry them.

Jesus wants us to learn - with the gifts of the Holy Spirit – to have a wiser way to go about our daily activities - a wiser way to live… and so face the burdens and challenges of life - wisely.  The rest that Jesus promises is actually a joyful refreshment in the midst of the burdens of life… refreshing our soul… with peace beyond understanding.

So, my brothers and sisters in Christ- as we heard in our first reading: Rejoice heartily, rejoice heartily all you people of the Lord, Shout for joy, for our Savior has come… who is inviting us: “Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Trust me.

And so, on that note and in that sense, I say to you my brothers and sisters: “May you all rest in peace – May you all rest in the peace of Christ, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Amen.

God bless…

Preparing for Our Own Death- Funeral Homily

Yesterday, I was also at another funeral.  The man died unexpectedly. The family – which is a very closely-knit family - had gatherings and parties – celebrations - two weekends in a row right before he passed away… In fact, I saw a video of him singing and dancing with his lovely wife…. Having a wonderful lovely time. So – his death brought total shock.  The family is heart-broken to say the least. My understanding is that Brother Rey – we can say – also died quite unexpectedly – so soon. In the Scriptures, our Lord warned us to stay awake for we do not know when He will be coming for us. I know – and I acknowledge - in my own life - the few times I could have died - came as a surprise to me. In fact, I was in a car accident about two weeks ago. 

 Death is not something people like to talk about – especially the youth… who look forward to a bright future. That is great but it is also healthy to talk about death in moments like this as a reality check.

 It was said: “Not everyone is given the chance to grow old. So, appreciate and thank God for every single day of your life.”

 Why do we fear talking about death? I think it is because it reminds us of our own death. And this reminder, far from being a negative experience, has been a great source of conversion of people’s hearts and minds throughout the centuries.  There's an old saying, "Remember death." If only we meditated on, prayed about, and accepted the fact of the reality of our own death how different our lives might be!  Death can be a great source or motivation for us to "get our act together."

… for us to learn to appreciate the greatness of life, and see things in a whole new perspective… greater and deeper awareness of what really matters in life… relationship with God and with one another…

 We need to examine the way we worry and struggle and relate to one another.

 We need to examine why are we bearing grudges against one another... Why are we trying so hard to outdo one another, manipulate one another, control one another, even humiliate one another?... Why are we being so judgmental toward one another?

 At a family reunion, the discussion turned to the subject of "Living each day as though it were your last." When it was the grandmother's turn to speak, she said, "I think it's a fine idea to live each day as though it were your last.”

 She continued: “But I've always tried to live by one idea that is slightly different. It is this: 'Treat all people – especially your family – treat all people you meet each day as though it were their last day.' Wow!

 Those people who died suddenly – unexpectedly – if they could speak, they would tell us to live in the now. – meaning that it is indeed all the time we have – there is only today.  We have no guarantees beyond this day in which we are living.

 Therefore, the things we would do, need to be done today, if at all possible.

 The gifts that we would give need to be given today, if at all possible.

 The words of appreciation that we would speak, need to be spoken today, if at all possible.

 That compassion that we feel - needs to be shown today, if at all possible.

 The strained or broken relationships – conflicts among family members and friends – grudges and hatred and contempt - that need to be reconciled, that need to be healed - need to be worked on starting today, if at all possible.

 As one first century monk said: “Repent one day before your death.”  Since we do not know when that will be, it is therefore wise to repent – to turn our hearts to God - every day.

 If you have any bad or unhealthy habits or sinful lifestyle that you need to stop or avoid, well, you know what you need to do today.

 Our lives are very fragile, aren’t they?  Tomorrow may never come. Life is unpredictable. Our lives are like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. We have no guarantees beyond this day in which we are living.

 My brothers and sisters in Christ, life is too unpredictable and too brief to live it without God at the center of our lives. The truth of the matter is that all of us are just one heartbeat away from eternity.

 So - Don’t put off this decision: Decide today to give your life to Jesus… who is the Way, the Truth and the Life…Jesus is the answer to all of life’s questions… Jesus is the key to all of life’s struggles.

 He is the Resurrection, Who exchanged His life for yours, and who, in the next life, will greet you -- if you receive Him into your life in this life.

 Scripture says: “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

 In the words of St. Pope John XXIII: “If we are deeply rooted in our faith in Christ, if we live a true Christian life, then any day is a good day to die.…” because our true home is in heaven. Unfortunately, people tend to forget this or ignore this: We are just pilgrims, travelers in this earthly life – just passing through in this life.

 If we live in Christ, if we die in Christ, we will rise in Christ.

 For a Christian, dying is the most sacred event of life. Our dying is not simply a ‘systems failure’. The medical staff may say’ ‘He didn’t make it’ but – at death - God in fact is making us his own. God hurries towards us like the father who runs toward his prodigal son and catches him up in a loving hug (Luke 15:20). God comes to us at our death as a bridegroom comes for his bride, and guides us through ‘the dark valley’ of death (Psalm 23:4)

 At death, as we heard in the Scriptures, Jesus fulfils his promise: ‘I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be. (John 14:3). (Sacred Space)

 Having Jesus in your daily life is not going to cause you to miss out on the fun and good things of life.

Jesus is not a kill joy. The truth is – with Jesus in your life, you will enjoy fullness of life… peace beyond understanding, lasting joy and happiness - if you live your life according to God’s will.

 So – build your life, your career, your family – on Christ… Have Jesus as the center of your life… as the center of your family life.

 As a spiritual exercise, a suggestion – When you find the time and the courage:  Write your own obituary…. choose a date of death…

…Summarize in a few short paragraphs, who you were and what you did before you died…

 For example: Brother Rey’s Obituary states (just excerpt):

“… He leaves behind a legacy of loving, cheerful, and cherished memories that will forever remain etched in our hearts…”

“… We remember that bright light that encompassed his being each time he walked into a room…” – beautiful!

 So - What do you think people will remember about you or what will people say – especially your family – when they give the Eulogy - when the time comes – which will surely come.

 Most importantly – If God is looking at you right now as you see Him – Is He smiling at you or is He shaking His head. And - when you die - what will God say to you? 

God bless…

“Peace Be With You"

Pope Francis has announced that the Church will celebrate a Jubilee Year in 2025, with the theme of “Pilgrims of Hope”.

You know my last name is Peregrino which literally means pilgrim meaning a person who travels to a holy place. So, we are actually all Peregrino’s journeying on our travel towards heaven, our true home.

Every now and then - this question is asked; "Will the Catholic Church continue to survive?" 
We might as well ask ourselves that same question and, of course, the answer is and always will be; YES! The Church will survive without any doubt. 

If we examine the first reading and the Gospel today, the same question could have been asked.  We find the apostles and others behind locked doors in the upper room out of fear.  They were afraid that if they ventured out they might be arrested and suffer the same fate of Jesus. 

Would this small group of frightened followers of Jesus survive?  From a worldly point of view, the answer would be a resounding NO.  Yet we know what happened.  The Holy Spirit came upon those men and women who made up the Church and with His sevenfold gifts they were able to go out and spread the Gospel to the four corners of the world, so to speak.

Will the Church continue to survive?  Of course, it will!  It will survive and prosper because it is the Church of Jesus.  It will survive because He promised to be with us always.  The Catholic Church will survive because the Holy Spirit continues to dwell with us and to guide us today just as surely as on that day in the upper room when He came upon Mary and the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. 

You will notice that in every single Catholic Church you will find a confessional, a place for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

For those of you who have not gone to confession in a while, do you still remember what it is? When was the last time you went to Confession. There is a confessional; there is a Sacrament of Reconciliation because we are a Church of sinners, who seek the mercy and forgiveness of God.  I do not know about you, but for me personally, that is such a great consolation for me because I am a sinner and I seek the mercy and forgiveness of a loving and merciful God. 

To know that Jesus gave the Keys of the Kingdom to His Church to forgive our sins – again, personally, is such a great comfort for me.  Jesus calls us in our sinfulness to reform our lives and live by the Gospel message and He has given us - the Church with all the Sacraments - to guide us and assist us in our journey of life towards heaven, our true home.

The Catholic Church will survive… as the Body of Christ.

Now – on a personal level - The question is – Are we – personally – as individuals – will we be able to persevere in faith and survive – even in the midst of the trials and temptations in this life?

In our Gospel reading today, we see the apostles at a time when they were very much like you and me. They were behind locked doors because they feared the Jews.  In a very real sense, they were in prison so to speak. The doors were locked but they were locked from the inside – meaning – they were behind locked doors simply because they did not have the courage and strength to go out and face up to life.

Aren’t we like that sometimes – imprisoned by fear, intimidated by life? Often times – it is not so much fear of harm from our enemy - but – often times it is just a haunting uneasiness, restlessness – a recurring anxiety that something bad is waiting to happen. A man fears for his job. A mother fears for the future of her children. A young person fears the rejection of his peers. A woman fears for her health. A father with heavy responsibilities fears for his financial stability.

Thus, we find ourselves virtual prisoners, held hostage by our own fears. And it is not all imagination because the truth is – life can really be a dangerous and difficult journey…. We live in such a very secular and even atheistic society and we often hear or see violence and sufferings.

The apostles ran from life and barricaded themselves behind closed doors… not so much because of the danger that surrounded them but the storm that was raging within them – because they felt themselves to be utterly incapable of coping with the circumstances of life… Aren’t we like that more often than not?

Here’s the Good News:  After His Resurrection - Even though the doors were locked because the apostles were gathered in fear - - Jesus walked in –– and addressed the apostles’ deepest and most desperate need…

First of all – Jesus greeted the apostles with: “Peace be with you.”  Jesus did not blame them for abandoning him but instead - He said “Peace be with you” .... because the apostles needed to hear those words of forgiveness for themselves for their own failures as disciples….  So that – in turn – having experienced the mercy and forgiveness of God - they can announce the Good News of God’s mercy – the Good News of the forgiveness of sins – so that forgiveness will flow through them - to others – to the world.

Jesus turned their attention from themselves to others… Now, they can love even their enemies…  calling them to share in His work of redemption …. and we – my brothers and sisters in Christ – the People of God – the Church - we are all called to share in the mission of Christ by virtue of our baptism IN Christ.  We already have everything we need by the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill our mission.

What the apostles needed above and before anything else was peace, someone or something to calm the troubled waters within, a sea of tranquility at the center of life that no external storm could disturb.

And who among us does not recognize that same need in his or her own life? – The need for that inner peace regardless of what we are going through.

Again – life these days is no picnic – there are dangers that are very real, disappointments that are inevitable, responsibilities that are unrelenting, and admittedly – sad to say, some dreams that will never come true.

 And so how wonderful it would be if each of us possessed an inner peace to which we could turn – in good times and bad, and know that it would always be there. We all need – some serenity of soul to come to at night and go out from in the morning. 

 But how do we get it? Where is it found? The Good News, the Gospel tells us that Jesus breathed upon them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit… - simply speaking – meaning – “Receive the life-giving loving presence of God.”

We already received that same Holy Spirit at our baptism and confirmation.  God already dwells within us, so we can share in the very life of God and so it is now a matter of constant awareness of God’s presence in our lives and to continually walk with God, conversing with God everyday - not from the head but from the heart… from within.

All of us face all kinds of uncertainty which can cause anxiety and restlessness, and even distress… The Good news is - only in the presence of God – we can face uncertainty with perfect Peace… and even joy.

Jesus said: In this world, you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Peace is a personal awareness and conviction of one’s ability to cope with whatever life may bring.  Peace is awareness of deep wells and reserves from beyond ourselves – so that our power is not so much in us but through us… allowing the Spirit of God to live in us and work through us in faith and trust in God.

St. Paul gave us his personal testimony to this effect in his letter to the Philippians: “I have learned to be content whatever circumstances may be…. I have strength for anything through Christ who strengthens me.”

We always have the nourishment of the Lord’s Word in Scriptures and in the Eucharist… to strengthen us.

Together with Mama Mary and the apostles – May we all continue to take comfort in the words of Jesus, "Peace be with you!  Receive the Holy Spirit.  Be not afraid, I am with you always until the end of the age.

Amen. 

God bless…

God’s Love, Our Love, A Mother’s Love

John’s Gospel – Chapters 14 to 16 including today’s Gospel, are known as Jesus’ “farewell discourses” after the Last Supper. Jesus prepares his followers for the time when he will be present among them in a new and different way, with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

 Jesus speaks about making his home in us, and about us “abiding” in him.  He talks about giving us a kind of peace which the world cannot give and which the world cannot take away – even in the midst of life’s struggles – with sufferings and fear of death all around us.

 Jesus tells us – in fact, commands us – to love one another.

 What we need to understand is that when Jesus spoke of love, it was not in terms of emotions.  For Christ, love is primarily a matter of the will, of the attitude and action.  There is no virtue in liking someone.  There is also no sin in not liking someone.  It is what we do with those feelings that results in sin or in virtue. 

 For example, it is not sinful to be angry… but the command is “Do not sin in your anger.”

 We can speak of our love for the poor. We can shed tears of compassion for the poor, for those who are suffering. But unless we are willing to put some time, effort, and money to help the people in need and suffering, all our talk about how bad we feel for other people really means nothing. 

 The important thing about love is not what we feel, not what we say, but what we do.  We show our love primarily by the things that we do. Love requires self-sacrifice. Love is self-giving… dying to self.

 The important thing is not about saying we are Christians – but the question is – are we living, are we being Christians? We have Marian devotions particularly during the month of May.  The question is – do we have Marian way of living – Life of total surrender and trust in God and love of Jesus.

 Jesus said that by our love for one another, people will know that we are His disciples.

 Anyone can say, “I will do good to that person, because I like him.” But - It takes strength of character to say, “I really do not like that person, but as a Christian, I will do good to him and wish him well anyway.”

 Again, for Christ, love is primarily a matter of attitude and action.  The attitude is: regardless of how I feel about a person, I will treat him as I want other people to treat me. And this is where we start to get real. 

 We may not be able to control how we feel, but we can control what we do. Of course – this is much easier said than done and therefore many people are quick to say and conclude that Jesus’ commandment of love – especially love of our enemies - is unrealistic. It is just nice church talk; but not in real life, it just won’t work.

 Of course, admittedly, on our own, if we rely just on our own effort, we are doomed for failure from the outset.

 With all due respect, unlike Buddha, Mohammed and other leaders of non-Christian religions, Jesus did not just leave his followers with teachings or values and concepts and principles to live by - Jesus left his disciples – us - with His abiding and intimate presence through the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said: “Behold – I am with you always until the end of the age…”

 Jesus said: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.” – the Third Person of the Trinity.

 Jesus left us with a special connection to Himself through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is Risen, He is alive - is still present among us, within us, around us.  We know Him through the Spirit of God deep within our hearts…

 No leader can teach his followers how to anticipate every possible event or crisis the future might bring.  So - it is NOT enough just to learn how the leaders met their challenges by reading history…

 Case in point, at the start of Covid19 pandemic in 2020 – everyone was at a loss – even government leaders, scientists and even doctors admitted that the medical school and previous experiences did not prepare them enough for the Covid pandemic crises.

 The Good News is - Jesus knew we would face different challenges in the 21st century – which are quite different from 2000 years ago or even 100 years ago or even 10 years ago or even a few days ago… So - the Church – us - We – need to rely on the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  

 How? By loving Jesus – by keeping our eyes focused on Jesus and keeping His commandments, by observing them, by being open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit…

 The first thing you should do each morning is what? PRAY. It is like plugging yourself into the wall to get your batteries charged for the day. Praying is much more important than doing your hair, that’s more important than anything else you do in the morning. What’s important is that we pray - that we enter into this intimacy with Jesus, that we enter into prayer that we might have the Spirit of Christ, that we might have life in Christ every day.

 They are necessary in order to activate so to speak the gifts of the Holy Spirit – like wisdom and understanding - poured unto us at baptism and confirmation in order for us to live in the presence of Jesus – Jesus is the answer to all of life’s questions… Jesus is the answer to all of life’s problems.. the key to peace beyond understanding even in the midst of problems, pains and sufferings …

 Jesus said: “Those who has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus is the sacrament of the Father…similarly - those in whom the Holy Spirit lives most fully – those who are in communion with Christ – are the living sacraments of Jesus - people see Christ in them.

 They do not even need to speak of it… because when the beauty of Christ is reflected in us, it speaks more effectively than the most eloquent words.

 The simple point is – with the Holy Spirit as our Advocate and Helper and Guide - if we are one with Christ – if we have the mind and heart and attitude of Christ, the evidence of our union with Christ – of being Christians - is seen in our daily lives.

 St. Francis of Assissi said: Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary, use words.

 With all the troubles, violence and sufferings in the world - more than ever, people really need now to experience the loving, gracious and merciful presence of God through us who claim to be Christians. So – my brothers and sisters in Christ - the question to us is this: Can people see Christ in us? Can people experience the loving, gracious, merciful presence of God through us – as individuals and as a community?

 On that note: In the Spirit of Celebrating Mothers’ Day:

From Jewish Proverbs: “God could not be everywhere, so He created mothers.”

Another proverb: “A mother understands what a child does not say.” Wow!

 St. Therese of Lisieux said that the loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.

 All of these meaning - Mothers are the embodiment – Mothers are the living sacraments of God’s love.

 A mother’s love is unconditional. Our mothers love us whether we are beautiful or ugly, smart or dull, able-bodied or handicapped; our mothers love us whether we are a success or a failure in society, whether we are grateful or ungrateful.

All these qualities of a mother’s love are for us a foretaste of God’s tender and untiring love for us. And this is what we are celebrating… on Mothers’ Day.

 We are celebrating Mothers’ Day because through our mothers’ hands, God cares for us when we are in need; through our mothers’ mouths God speaks to us words of consolation when we are heartbroken; through our mother’s heart God pours out to us His unconditional love that never gives up on us.

 So, we acknowledge and appreciate all mothers and we say, “God bless you all mothers.”  We thank and praise God for you, mothers.

 But of course, we cannot and should not forget spiritual mothers because it is a fact that there are women who cannot literally or physically be mothers – because of one reason or another… but they are also so motherly in their own way.

And so I say to all of you: Happy Mothers’ Day! God bless…

“The Way to Heaven is Heaven”

Jesus said – “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Jesus is the way to God. He is the way to Heaven.  St. Teresa of Avila said it so beautifully: "All the way to Heaven is Heaven, because Jesus said, ‘I am the Way."  When Jesus says, "I am the Way" that means that we need to enter into a personal relationship with Christ Himself. He’s not just an example for how we live our life so we can enter Heaven. If we do that, if we just follow rules and regulations, we can easily become like the Pharisees.

The Pharisees took the commandments and they took all the revelation of God, and they said, "Ok, this is how I’m going to live my life."  They thought they achieved their salvation because they just followed the pattern laid out for them… the rules and regulations; the ten commandments became 613 commandments. 

Christians do not simply follow a set of rules or just believe in some doctrines. As the late Pope Benedict XVI said: Christianity is not just an intellectual pursuit; we follow a Person.  Non-Christian believers live by the teachings of their leader… like the Muslims, the Buddhists, with all due respect. They live their lives following the teachings of their leaders. But – we Christians – we live IN the Risen Christ… Christ lives and so we live…The Spirit of Christ is IN us by virtue of our baptism… We go to the Father through Christ, with Christ and in Christ.

Jesus said: I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life… Jesus is the answer to all of life’s questions. Jesus is the answer to all of life’s problems. That is why the Pope said: In these troubled times, only in Christ can humanity find hope. Since Jesus is fully God and fully man, He is the perfect mediator between God and man – perfect bridge between heaven and earth. It is in following Christ that we find our way. It is in believing in Christ that we discover truth. It is in accepting Christ in our life that we gain life… not just temporary life but eternal life.

 Jesus is not just a mystery to be solved – but Jesus is a Person, a Being to encounter – a loving presence to experience – that with Jesus, we already start experiencing Heaven inside of us.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.  The kingdom of heaven is at hand. You do not need to physically die to experience heaven. Especially in the Eucharistic celebration, the Body of Christ gives us a foretaste of heaven.

 Jesus said, "I am the Truth." We need to follow what is true.  We hear people talk about leaving the Catholic Church, or going to some other Church or religion, or that they go to a certain church because it makes them feel good, or that they are leaving the Catholic church because they are not being fed. 

 The question is: "What is true?" Don’t go for feelings, because feelings are deceptive. You might go to a church or a community and think, "Oh, this is great because everyone loves me and that’s so good." But, is it TRUE? You may join a cult and or a church and everyone may love you and it may feel good for you, or you feel good about it but - is what they teach - true?

 What’s TRUE, and what ISN'T TRUE??  Truth is truth - It’s not a matter of opinion.  Truth is truth whether we believe it or not; whether we understand or not and accept it or not.  Again, truth is truth.

Are you in search of Truth, or are you just in search of a good feeling or a feel-good relationship? Because, ultimately, the only thing that matters is what is true. Truth will always lead you to God… to true happiness, to true peace, true joy.  All truth leads to God, Who is the Source of all that is good… because God is true. 

Jesus said - "I am the Life."  During Easter Season we talk a lot about life – life after death, life before death, an abundant life.  Jesus said "I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full." 

Meaning – it does not matter whether you are young or old or even if you are in your senior years. The best is yet to come.  Just because you are advanced in age, it does not mean that life is over and that we are just waiting for our time to die and go to heaven. Yes, of course we need to find hope and joy in the life to come but we can still live life joyfully peacefully here.

To live in Christ is not only to live life to its fullest but also because of Christ, we can see beyond death.  (John 14:19) – “Because I live, you also will live.”

In his prologue to the Gospel, St. John says, “In Jesus was life, and His life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

If you want to be a person of life, the first thing you should do each morning is PRAY. It is like plugging yourself into the wall to get your batteries charged for the day. That’s much more important than doing your hair, that’s more important than anything else you do in the morning. What’s important is that we pray - that we enter into this intimacy with Jesus, that we enter into prayer that we might have LIFE in Christ every day.

There was a dialogue between a recent convert and an unbelieving friend:

The friend asked the convert: So you have been converted to Christ?

Yes… said the convert.

Then you must know a great deal about him.  Tell me: What country was Jesus born in?

I do not know… replied the convert.

What was his age when he died?

I do not know.

How many sermons did he preach?

I do not know.

The friend finally said: You certainly know very little for a man who claims to be converted to Christ!

The convert finally replied: You are right. I am ashamed at how little I know about Christ.  But this much I do know: Three years ago, I was a drunkard. I was in debt.  My family was falling to pieces.  My wife and children would dread my return home each evening.  They do not want to be in the same room as I am. But now I have given up drink; we are out of debt; ours is now a happy home.  All these Christ has done for me.  This much I know of him!

To really know Christ is to be transformed by what one knows… into Christ…

So, the challenge for us is to be people who know that Jesus is the Way, to be people who search for Truth and to be people who have Life in Christ. When that happens - This is the Promise of Jesus as mentioned in the Gospel. "I solemnly assure you, the one who has faith in Me will do the works that I do..."

..."And will do greater ones than these."

And with that we truly become the Body of Christ. When we receive communion, we become what we partake.  We become the living sacraments of Christ – the presence of Christ on earth… so that others also experience the loving gracious merciful presence of God through us.

We are called to be Christ to one another.

Many Catholics are afraid of the word evangelization.  To evangelize is simply this – you do not need a degree in theology.  To evangelize – to proclaim the Good News, you just need to tell your story – what difference Christ makes in your life.

To proclaim the Good News is like a beggar telling another beggar where to find food… We are all beggars of God’ love, grace and mercy … when you know where to find food, then you tell others where to find food; where to find the way to heaven, the truth about who and whose we are, and the life…. the meaning of life… what life is all about… how to live life to its fullest.

Let me close with this:  Father Glenn gave the homily this morning and I just want to close with this; he said it so beautifully as a summary:

 “Christianity is so much more superior to all other religions, with all due respect, however sublime and noble they maybe in themselves.  In our religion, in Christianity, our way of life is not a philosophy, or a system or a ritual. Our faith, our religion is an encounter with a person.  Why is Jesus the Way? Because He is the Truth, the perfect revelation of God given to us in human form, and because He is the Life, He shares with us the very life of God.

Finally, Jesus does not give us complicated doctrines to follow, doctrines capable of making us lose our way.  Simply, Jesus takes our hand and walks with us in our journey through life.  He gives us one very important commandment.  He says: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Nothing more. With that, who can get lost when Jesus is the Way, when Jesus is the focus of our lives, when the directions are so simple? There is only one guide in our life: Jesus, the Way. And there is only one map: LOVE. All the rest is secondary.

God bless.

The Power of the Resurrection

Today - we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy… reminding us of God’s great love for us and His compassion for us in our suffering.  

People might think that God’s Mercy toward us is something quite easy for God… but – do not forget – It cost God His Son’s life – the horrible suffering and death of Jesus… meaning – we were purchased at such a great price… 

… to save us from our sinfulness, from the brokenness of our humanity …

As we ran away from the Father, we ran into the arms of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

… meaning, there is no place to escape the invitation of God’s Divine Mercy.

… As St. Paul said: Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The gospel story invites us to faith, to make a decision – to make a choice to believe in the Resurrection or not - like the doubting Thomas.

Bishop Barron said: “The Resurrection of Jesus is the be-all and the end-all of the Christian faith. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then all bishops, priests, and Christian ministers should go home and get honest jobs.”

In other words – simply put: If Jesus is not risen, we should all go home now instead of just wasting our time here.

But - if Jesus really did rise from the dead, then He must be the center of our life. As Thomas said: “My Lord and my God!” – the greatest and the most profound profession of faith.

St. Paul said: “If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… we are the most pitiable of all people.” (1 Cor. 15:14-19).

Fr. Glenn, began his Easter Vigil homily with this question: “Does our Easter celebration have any connection with reality?” And so I prepared my homily and built on that in the light of our Gospel reading today and the Feast of God’s Divine Mercy.

Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus. You see - God’s love, grace and mercy will not really mean much for us if we do not respond in faith.

What is the essence of the Good News? How is it summed up?

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Reality check - admittedly, it is easy to be a person of faith when all is well and wonderful in our lives, when all is going right. But it is not as easy to have faith – it is not easy to feel the presence of God, the Risen Christ, when we are faced with really deep crises, when things go wrong, very wrong …. like when our loved one gets sick or dies, or when we are afflicted with a serious illness, or when our plans for our lives or our loved ones are shattered… when crisis tears at our hearts…

Too often we are like the disciples who are confused about matters of faith and we struggle with doubts, at times even anger at God and yet Jesus offered his disciples and continues to offer us his wonderful gift of mercy.

We will doubt to some extent or another, until the time when we see our God face to face.

But until then, what are we supposed to do?  Let us recognize and accept and embrace our humanity – that doubting is part of being human - and let us humbly ask God for his grace and mercy.  Doubting does not mean that we have lost our faith.  It simply means that we are being called to a deeper faith.

Let us pray that we might have a mature faith, able to grow even through crises… that we might all be included in that phrase the Lord said, "Blessed are those who have not seen but believe."

Let us continue to choose to believe and accept and always remember that God is always gentle, merciful and patient with us more than we can ever imagine…. Remember that we can be honest with God…. That He will never condemn us for questioning and remember always God loves us and that God understands our fears and our doubts… 

Let us continue to say: “Jesus, I trust in you!”

Again, Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus. Many people think that faith means believing in life after death…that we will go on living after we die, right? Of course, but that is only a part of it.

But – think about this - Eternal life as endless existence is not attractive to some people. There was an eager young minister who said: “I have good news for you. In Jesus Christ you can go on living forever and ever.” But - one elderly man said, “You call that good news?

“Listen”, he said, “I’ve had about enough of this business of living, and the last thing I want is an eternity of it.” (He’s tired of living and does not even want to exist anymore). “Someday, I want to just lie down, go to sleep, and never wake up.” The young minister went away baffled. It had never occurred to him that someone might not want to live forever – if that is all there is to it.

So – What is the Good News? Does the gospel have something better to offer?

The gospel of Jesus Christ offers us a quality of life. Christ came to give us, not endless duration of time, but a different quality of life. Easter faith is not about an unending quantity of what we have now. Easter faith has to do with a quality of BEING – our state of existence, a matter of the heart - that the boundaries of space and time cannot hold…Words are not enough to describe it because – just as the Scriptures say: “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard and it has not entered the human heart what God has prepared for those who love Him” … Meaning - It is just beyond our worldly human comprehension…

The late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said: “Christianity is not an intellectual system, not a collection of dogmas, or a moralism. Christianity is instead a love story; it is an event, an encounter with a person, Jesus Christ – an encounter which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”

In other words - Life in Christ means a life that stretches beyond this world… a life with new and higher purpose.

Eternal life begins now – on earth as it is in heaven – As Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” … now, even in the midst of earthly struggles.

Here’s another reality check - to ponder - While Easter faith refers to a different quality of life, this does not mean a life without suffering. What we often want is to be saved from suffering, from pain, from inconvenience.

But, the reality is - there is no problem-free existence in this world.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have troubles.” Following Jesus never meant walking away from trouble.  Actually, it more likely meant walking straight into trouble. Think of those people of faith – especially the saints - who knew persecution, poverty, and pain precisely because they were Christians. Easter faith does not mean having resurrection without a cross…. having Easter Sunday without Good Friday.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have troubles, BUT be of good cheer (take heart, do not be afraid), I have overcome the world.” (Jo 16:33)

Easter faith means believing in the power of resurrection. It means believing that it is out of death that God brings life. It means believing that in every human situation there is “a saving possibility.” Meaning – There is no situation is beyond the redemptive power of God’s love. And so, if you are in a “bad situation” in your life now, do not lose hope. Hold on to faith.

I will close with these excerpts from Pope Francis exhortation: “The Joy of the Gospel:

“We need to realize that Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past. Where all seems to be dead - signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. Often - it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit.

However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world - beauty is born anew.  Human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection.

With a power that fills us with confidence and unshakeable hope, the Risen Christ tells us, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev 21:5).” (Unquote)

That is why it is “Good News” = “New”

To this I invite you, my brothers and sisters in Christ - to respond in faith. Jesus tells us: “Behold, I make all things new.” We respond in faith - Please repeat after me. “Jesus, I trust in you.”

God bless…

Our Blindness

In the first reading, David was the youngest son of a family of many sons. According to the custom of the time he would have been the last person to be chosen as leader.  However, as the Scriptures tell us so often, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; God’s ways are not our ways.  God turns things upside down; God chooses the weak of the world to confound the strong – David, an insignificant shepherd was chosen and anointed as a leader.

Humans see and judge by appearances, but God looks into the heart and there God finds the real person.

God does not judge based on age, beauty, physical strength, social or financial position or status or religious role.

The question to us my brothers and sisters is:  By what criteria do we judge others?  Do we consider some people too insignificant for greatness?  Do we categorize people according to physical features, earning power or social status or academic achievement.

Today, we are invited to look carefully at how we perceive, how we look at others.  Do we look at people’s heart, as God does?

As a community, have we excluded people because they are different and they do not seem to fit? 

We are called to have the eyes of God. When you look at other people, do you see Jesus in them? Do you see Jesus Christ even in your enemy – even in the person you don't like?

Wisdom is seeing ourselves, seeing others, seeing our situations, seeing reality as God sees them.

Lent is the time we step back and examine our lives as to how closely we follow Jesus.  If we are not following Jesus, then who or what are we following?

Evaluation is the mother of improvement. The Greek philosopher Socrates said: “An un-examined life is not worth living.”

With all our Lenten reflections and fasting and prayers and alms-giving - Hopefully, by the grace of God - come Easter – it will really be spring time in our spiritual life - everything is us will be new – we will be a new creation.  Hopefully, we will see ourselves, others and all of creation as God sees them… or at least better than as how we used to.

The Gospel story illustrates the power of Jesus to heal not just the blindness of the eye but, above all, the blindness of the heart.

Let us look at the people in the Gospel story and see if we can see ourselves in them for reflection – if we can relate to their blindness.  I encourage you to read the full Gospel reading if you have not yet read it – John 9:1-41– I only read the short version of the story for our Gospel reading. Again, John 9:1-41… a magnificent story which is also our story.

First, the disciples – why are they blind – The disciples - believed the blindness to be the result of sin, the disciple asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” - they were so pre-occupied with a theological discussion, rather than serving the man in need.   Rather than responding with passion to a person, they passively debated his predicament – they only talked about it but did not do anything.

Secondly, the parents of the man born blind – why are they blind? - because when they were asked about the healing of their son – they refused to answer because they are more concerned with their own security – they were afraid of the Jews because the Jews agreed that whoever acknowledges Jesus as the Christ would be expelled from the synagogue.

St. Paul said that we must be willing to bear our share of hardship for the gospel.  Not only must we put away our prejudices, our indifference, our blindness to the needs of others – but we must be ready to suffer for our choice for the love of God.  We must choose – Will it be the standards of the world or the power of God in Jesus Christ?

Thirdly – the neighbors - the neighbors argued about whether this was the same blind man who once sat and begged.  They could not recognize the man because they probably turned their heads away, they did not look at him every time they approached him before.  Beggars, the poor are somehow transformed into people when we look into their eyes. 

People think that it is both emotionally and financially safer if they avoid contact particularly eye contact with the poor.  It is apparent that the neighbors did not care enough to get a good look at the blind man before; otherwise, they could have easily recognized him – The neighbors were blinded by indifference. They didn’t care.

Fourth – the Pharisees -- the blindest of the blind, because there was Christ, the Messiah, in front of them, the very presence of God and they missed Him.  They missed God.  They were so concerned with their Sabbath rules.

The Pharisees were also blind to everyone’s needs but their own.  They used people in the pursuit of their own objectives.

The Pharisees were so closed minded and they were so set on what they think to be true and so they saw only what they wanted to see.

Meaning – actually – this is true for all of us – at times we cling so tightly to what we think is true that when the truth comes, which we deeply desire, and stands before us, we refuse to see… because our mind is so set.

So - Who’s not blind in the story? – Jesus - Jesus saw the man born blind for who Jesus was – a person to be loved.  Here’s the irony - the man born blind saw Jesus for who Jesus was.   In our Gospel story, the blind man’s understanding of Jesus gradually became clear; he went from seeing him as only a man at the beginning, to seeing him as a prophet, and finally, as the Lord.  He was given a perfect 20/20 vision, so to speak, both physically and spiritually.

The story of the blind man is also our story. To learn from Jesus, we must first admit our ignorance of the truth, to be healed we must first acknowledge our blindness, to be forgiven we must confess our sins. 

On that note, the renowned archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to say that in the past Catholics believed in the Immaculate Conception, but today, sadly, people think they were also immaculately conceived - meaning, they think that they are also sinless – without sin… and that is why they do not go to confession anymore.

So - When was the last time you went to confession?

In the Gospel, Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?"

Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sinned. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains." (John 9:39-41)

Meaning - In other words, if you say: “I do not have sin to confess”, then you are blind and your sin remains.  The sacrament of Reconciliation offers us continual opportunity for healing our blindness and for us to find peace for our soul. 

When we go to confession, as in the other Sacraments, we encounter Christ so intensely and intimately.  Jesus listens to our humble confession of our sins that burden us and when the priest gives us absolution – it is actually Christ who absolves us of our sins and it is Christ who heals us of our blindness to our sinful behavior and therefore it is Christ who opens our eyes to God’s love, grace, mercy and peace.

Do not miss out on the grace waiting for us in confession.

Christ is always there waiting for us to humbly confess our sins, to acknowledge our need of His love, grace, mercy and peace and to heal us of our blindness… It is the best way to prepare for our Easter celebration and share in Christ’s resurrection.

Again, please go to confession. Do not deprive of yourself of God’s awesome gift of His mercy and peace.

God bless… Be at peace…

A Matter of the Heart

For our Gospel reading, we continue to read from the Sermon on the Mount. Lent will begin in two weeks - I strongly encourage you to make as part of your Lenten activity - to read and reflect on Matthew’s Gospel - Chapters 5, 6, 7 - the Sermon on the Mount - Jesus’ basic teachings - in which Jesus lays out for us the guiding principles for life.

In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself and gave directions to His people through the law and the prophets. The law began with the Ten commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai.   

Just as Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, Jesus climbs the mountain of the Beatitudes to present the New Law to the people… called the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew's Gospel was written primarily for Christians who were Jews who knew the commandments, but they knew them as their rabbis had taught them. Their rabbis, for the most part – Pharisees, unfortunately, put all the emphasis on the letter of the law and on its external observance.

Jesus taught his followers that their attitude towards the commandments must be different, and must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees… because merely fulfilling the law was not enough.  The attitude and lifestyle of a Christian must reflect living the law. That is why Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes… we heard two Sundays ago.

Instead of giving a list of do’s and don’ts like the Ten Commandments, Jesus gave a list of what we are called to be:

- To be Peacemakers, Merciful, Pure in Heart, Hungry for Righteousness.

- To be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World as we heard last Sunday.

Jesus taught his audience to understand that obedience is not the ultimate purpose of observing the law. You see, it is not in the action itself but it is in the motivation behind the action - why we do what we do - where the person's true identity is found and formed.  People see our actions but God sees our intentions. We can never deceive God who is able to look into our hearts and God knows what lies there in our hearts.

We are all called to be other Christs in the world.  We are called to be selfless givers.  We are called to be eternal lovers of the Father. 

On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains that our external actions must be a reflection of what we really are like because if what we do is not a reflection of who we are, then we are hypocrites.  “Hypocrite” - that’s the word that Jesus used over and over again to describe the Pharisees.

To demonstrate his point, Jesus contrasted the written law of the Torah with the new Christian attitude.

Jesus said, "You have heard it said - that murder is wrong, but harboring hatred in your heart is also wrong even if you do not physically kill someone because murder is conceived by hatred in one’s heart.

The person who hates but does not murder is actually NOT a good person.  He is just a person who has followed the social norms perhaps to avoid punishment.

Instead of feeling proud or self-satisfied because we have not killed someone, let us examine our hearts to see the angers or resentments in our hearts we may have towards others.

Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Meaning - When you look at a person with lust in your heart; when you watch pornography – you turn the person into an object for your personal pleasure -  … instead of seeing the person as a beloved daughter or son of God.

To think and entertain evil thoughts is the same as actually committing the sinful act. So do not entertain the evil thoughts that cross your mind. It is not a sin to be tempted but it becomes a sin when you act on the wrong desire. 

You may not have committed murder or adultery, but maybe, if given the opportunity and if you think that you will not be caught, maybe you might have done it… because it is already in your heart.

We heard in our first reading – God gives us a choice: choose Him or reject Him. If we reject God, we die. If we choose God, we live. Before man are life and death, . . . whichever he chooses shall be given him. (Sirach 15:17)

Free will. It is God’s greatest gift to us. Of course, our heavenly Father longs for us to choose life in him, but he will never force himself on us. We need to remember this:  God respects our choice. We are free to choose but we are not free from the consequences of our choices.

So - How can our righteousness then exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees? The Good News is - We have what they did not have: By virtue of our baptism - We have the Spirit of Jesus dwelling in us. By our own merits and strength, admittedly - we cannot keep the commandments; but Jesus is with us, in us and so by the power of the Holy Spirit - we already have in us the strength and understanding and the power to live a whole new life of obedience to the Father. 

We actually do not need anymore the extra reminder or commandment of the written law because we already observe the law naturally within our hearts.

From the book of the prophet Jeremiah 31:31-34)

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant. I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts…”

St. Paul was a Pharisee and a strict observer of the following of the law of Moses - as such - he believed he was working out his salvation by his careful observance of the law.

But - once St. Paul was converted, after encountering Christ, he began to realize that even perfect observance and following every precept of the law did not lead to salvation because salvation actually comes from our personal relationship with Jesus and Jesus’ free gift of love.

I am saying this with all due respect – unfortunately, there are people who have relationship with religious practices but they do not have personal relationship with God.  This is very important - we do good works or avoid evil as an expression of faith – rooted in our personal relationship with God - and not to earn or merit our salvation because – if you think about it - if we can earn our way to heaven by good works, or by reciting long formulas of prayers, that would be trying to save ourselves through our own merits and efforts - meaning - if we can earn our own way to heaven – then we do not need Jesus.

The truth is – Everything is Grace - We cannot do anything enough, we cannot pray long enough to earn our way to heaven. We cannot save ourselves. We need a Savior… Jesus.

So – you might ask: What then – why do we pray – what do we hope to gain by our good works and avoiding violating the ten commandments?  For example - Why are you here in the church? You have to ask yourself - Why do you come to mass? Hopefully, your reason is more than just to fulfill an obligation – so to speak – and more than just out of fear of hell or out of fear of not going to heaven you need to get to the point in your spiritual life that you are beyond that reasoning.

We must move from the external actions to interior worship. Going through the motions alone is pointless. We must allow God to act on us and within us as we participate in the external celebration of the Eucharist. Doing good works and avoiding evil - is how we say thank you to God. 

We love God and we love others because that is how we respond to the fact that God loves us. He loved us first.

Christianity – to follow Christ - is extremely, to say the least, demanding upon us all because it calls us to be 100% committed to living in the presence of   Jesus every day… not only in our behavior – but also deep within our hearts…

The question is:  Is it worth it to follow Jesus?  It is not easy. The answer - From our second reading today:  

What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,

and what has not entered the human heart,

what God has prepared for those who love him.

In other words: Is it worth it to follow Jesus? Definitely… You can bet your life on it – so to speak - beyond what we can ever imagine. We are IN for a glorious surprise! 

God Bless

Beatitudes: Guiding Principles for True Happiness

Homily on “Beatitudes – Guiding Principles for True Happiness – based on the Gospel of Matthew 5:1-12a:

Today's gospel reading is the well-known Beatitudes – which many consider as the core of Jesus’ teaching, the essence of the gospel, the guiding principles for Christians to live by – how to live and how to have true and lasting happiness and peace which the world cannot give and which the world cannot take away.

Beatitude is another word for true or authentic and lasting happiness or "blessedness".  The state of blessedness by living the Beatitudes is what Jesus calls being in the "kingdom of God", the “kingdom of heaven”. 

The fundamental message of the Beatitudes is simply this – simply put in other words – plain language:  Happy are those who work for the coming of the Kingdom of our heavenly Father; happy are those who by their lives reflect the love and goodness and mercy of the Father; happy are those who serve their fellow human beings in Jesus’ name; happy are those who put up with difficulty, trouble, confusion, - those who bear with frustration, disappointments, conflict, weariness, exhaustion in the service of God and others.

Yes, the beatitudes seem contrary to common sense.  They are actually in conflict with the values of the society we live in – they are in fact counter-cultural.  They are paradoxical just as the Cross of Christ is paradoxical.

And so you might think: What is blessed or fortunate about being poor in anything?  Or what is fortunate about being meek?  What is blessed about being sorrowful or in mourning? Or what is to be happy about being insulted and persecuted and having every kind of evil uttered against you? So, what is blessed about that, you might think.

For many – it would make more sense to say "Blessed or Happy are the rich."  "Blessed are those having fun; blessed are those experiencing worldly pleasures."  "Blessed are the powerful."

But you see – being rich, or powerful or having worldly pleasures – does not necessarily mean being in the state of blessedness or authentic lasting happiness.

In trying to come up with an illustration – what came to mind was Mother Mary – As her cousin Elizabeth greeted her at the visitation: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Mary’s life with Christ was not easy – giving birth in a shelter for animals, being exiled to Egypt, standing at the foot of the cross of your child, being tortured and crucified.  They do not sound being blessed.  But Mary lived with Christ and IS NOW with Christ in heaven.  She is now the Queen of Heaven and Earth… Our Lady of Peace.  She is the Cause of Our Joy.

Mary said in her Magnificat…. “The Almighty has scattered the proud in their conceit.  He has cast down the mighty from their thrones but has lifted up the lowly. The hungry - He has filled with good things; the rich - He has sent away empty.”

From our Second Reading II  -  1 Corinthians 1:26-31 -  It is the weak, not the strong - It is the lowly, not the exalted – whom God chose. God chose those who count for nothing in the eyes of the world – God chose them to show the world the things that really count… what really matters in life.

The Beatitudes or blessedness - speak of having faith in God – Faith that is deep enough to find something good in every circumstance, whatever it may be – good or bad.  The Beatitudes speak of a JOY which pain, sorrow, grief, loss – and even death itself cannot steal from us.

You see - Jesus’ teaching – His Way – is really revolutionary.  Jesus said: “Be in the world but not of it.” – meaning – we should not be attached to the world or follow the values of the world.

Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world.”

Of course, Jesus does not demand that we abandon the world or hate the world. The world is good. At creation, God saw them good. Jesus is basically saying – a person is wise and blessed if he or she realizes that material possessions, worldly pleasures and power cannot provide a lasting happiness… everything is fleeting.

The person who has built his happiness – or sense of security - on the size of his bank account or investment portfolio, on career advancement or social or political recognition, on the love and affection of others, on comforts, or on indulgence of physical pleasure – that person has built his house on sand… so to speak.

These worldly success and possessions may give us pleasure and thrills, but they cannot satisfy the deepest longings of our heart—nor will they endure. 

For Christians, the key to happiness is putting God first in our lives, placing all our trust in God because only God can guarantee the true happiness and peace that our hearts really deeply long for.

St. Augustine said: "You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." … only God can satisfy the deepest longing of our hearts for happiness and peace.

Sadly, on the contrary - the world says that mature humanity does not need God to run its affairs… The way of the world is - no more God.  No more God in school, no more God in government, no more God in marriage, no more God in family, no more God in the bedroom.

The world says that we have the science, the knowledge, the power and the technology, we can now decide when and how to create life even in a test tube or dish; we can even clone life and so now - we decide when life begins and when life ends.  The world’s attitude towards God is independence from God.

The truth is – the world has a false sense of self-sufficiency; false sense of greatness.  That is why the world is abusive towards God and that is why the world is abusive towards human beings – the world is abusive towards God’s creation.

The truth is – as simple as this - the greatest in the kingdom of God is a child. Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 18:3-4)

Being a child means - being poor, being helpless, being humble before God – knowing what we are before God - being dependent on God… NOT being independent from God, but being dependent on God for wisdom… for guidance… for everything… acknowledging that without the Lord, we are nothing - we cannot do anything.  In God, we live, we move and we have our being.

Greatness in the kingdom of God is measured according to one’s capacity to need God… Again, greatness in the kingdom of God is measured according to one’s capacity to need God - being like a child in one’s attitude towards God – being child-like but NOT childish… but being child-like.

So - Let us live the Beatitudes – so that like Mary – like Christ – being  Eucharistic people - we will be truly blessed – truly happy - that even in the midst of our brokenness – in the midst of life’s struggles and pains - we will continue to celebrate and give thanks and therefore continue to share our blessedness – continue to be blessings also to others – living a life of true and lasting peace and happiness.

On that note…God bless…

In Christ, There is No Ordinary Life

We now enter into Ordinary Time. But, any Sunday in Ordinary Time is no less important than the other liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. The word Ordinary as used here comes from the word “ordinal” or “numbered” simply to mark our Sundays and in that sense we are in ordinary time, but there is never anything ordinary about the message of the Gospel.

In fact, Sundays in Ordinary Time - are devoted to the mystery of Christ in its fullness – for us to become more familiar with the Person of Jesus and His way of living…

 - Today’s Gospel (John 1:29-34) is actually another Epiphany - another revelation of who Christ is – as John the Baptist said: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” – which we hear before Holy Communion at every Mass.  Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s sacrificial love for the world.

On these Sundays in Ordinary Time - we focus more on various aspects of our faith, especially the mission of the church, our mission in the world…what it really means to be a Christian.

From our First Reading today: “I will make you a light to the nations; that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Are these words speaking to you? Are they speaking to your heart? If so, are you “up for it”?  Is there anything that demands a response from you? Like Mary, ponder it in your hearts.

From our Second Reading (1 Cor.: 1:1-3) – we heard St. Paul addressed the Church in Corinth - To the church of God that is in Corinth -  We can phrase it to say:  To the church of God in Vallejo - To St. Catherine of Siena faith community - you who have been baptized and sanctified in Christ Jesus, you are called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Holy” means – to be set apart for a unique purpose - called out of this world, set apart for God… Being in this world but not of it…

The universal call to holiness is a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that all people are called to be holy – not only priests and religious – but also all lay people living an everyday life and doing ordinary work: There is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of us to discover it.

All of us – no exception - are called to share in the mission of Christ in the world… so that through us – other people will also be transformed and also experience having Christ in their lives….

Jesus did not merely “appoint” the twelve apostles, but He actually transformed  those ordinary men into apostles.  Jesus transformed very ordinary and unpromising persons into active vessels or instruments of divine grace…into living Sacraments through whom God can pour out His love, grace and mercy. 

You see – God uses ordinary people, to do the extraordinary. God did this with the apostles. He did this with His saints.  He can and will do this with us.  God makes us, ordinary people, extraordinary….  The truth is - “In Christ, there is no such thing as an ordinary life.”

At our baptism, we were all - in effect – in essence - commissioned as “workers in the vineyard of the Lord” – as laborers to help with God’s harvest… because “the laborers are few”.  Again, the call to share in the mission of Christ is not only for the priests and the religious. 

When we come to the table of the Lord to receive Holy Communion – as we receive the Body of Christ - we renew our own baptismal commitment to witness to our faith.

That is why at the end of the Mass – having received the Body of Christ - we are sent to proclaim the Good News of God’s love – to glorify the Lord by our lives - to be in the world - what we have become – the Body of Christ - to be the presence of Jesus in our world—in our homes and workplaces and neighborhoods, our schools, starting with our own families.

We are all called and sent to proclaim how really good the Good News is!

What I just said and about to say have been preached to us - so many times - in so many ways.  If we have not really given this a lot of thought, maybe it’s time we did… because this is what life is all about… Life is not just about getting the most out of this earthly life. Life is not just about being comfortable.

Part of our mission is “to comfort the afflicted; to afflict the comfortable.”

- to wake people up to reality… to the truth… to shake them out of their complacency and indifference.

But of course – we cannot give what we do not have.

So – the question to us is this: How does our ordinary daily life reflect or show our faith in the Incarnation of Christ – what we celebrate at Christmas - God becoming flesh – the Word – the Love of God becoming flesh in us?

How does our life reflect our faith in the Risen Christ who conquered sin and death?  Are we truly Easter people…

This life in Christ – who lived His life in total surrender and obedience to the will of His Father - is the key to fullness of life, sense of fulfillment, true peace, true happiness, true joy, life filled with hope.

… The goal of all the baptized… is making the relationship with God as the focus of our lives – living our lives centered on Jesus Christ… doing God’s will.

Again – if you want to be truly happy - true joy and lasting happiness, fullness of life, eternal life – which we all want – they come from doing the will of God in our lives… by being what God created us to be.

You know what? The only real sadness is not to find God’s will for your life – not to find your own unique vocation – not to find God’s unique plan for your life and therefore failing to do God’s will. Failing to live your life according to will of God brings about the real sadness… more than all the other sadness you might experience in life.

We have to realize that no one – no one can take our unique place in God’s plan of salvation – to reach those people God uniquely placed in our life.  As Saint Francis of Assisi said: "You may be the only gospel a person will ever read."

The saints – who were ordinary people as we are – they became saints not because they were perfect; but because they allowed God to transform their imperfections.  We are all called to be saints. That’s our vocation.  Saints do not mean only those saints the church canonized publicly and recognized with feast days.  Saints are those who lived faithfully their ordinary lives.

In its most basic sense, a saint is a “holy one,” someone who is set apart for God's special purpose. As a result, every follower of Jesus is a saint. All of us are called to be saints.

To be a saint does not mean that we need to run away from the demands of family and profession and escape to a monastery, to a convent or to the desert to become a saint…. God expects us to be saints in the ordinary concrete situations of our personal, family and business or professional lives.

We have to remember this - St. Therese of Lisieux said: You cannot be half a saint. You must be a whole saint or no saint at all.

There is a wonderful statement by St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta which we should all take to heart and which we should remind ourselves of - everyday…

She said: “Each time anyone comes into contact with us, they must become different and better people because of having met us. We must radiate God’s love.”

Meaning - If we have the Spirit of Christ in us, naturally - we ourselves become Good News also to others. Our words and actions become signs of God's loving presence in the world. “And the Word became flesh.”

…And that is our vocation…

Amen.

God bless…

Ponder in Our Hearts as Mary Did

In the words of Pope Francis, at the beginning of this new year, let us entrust this year and ourselves to Mary, the Mother of God.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Non-Catholics question why we Catholics have so much devotion to Mary instead of just focusing on Jesus… why not go straight to Jesus.

Well – as St. Louis de Montfort said beautifully – Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus…

All proper and true devotion to Mary leads to a greater understanding of Jesus, her Son.

What we celebrate today is a great example.  You see, actually, this feast of the Solemnity of Mary as the Mother of God, one of the oldest in the Church, goes back to the first centuries of the Church, when the Church was trying to explain and express in words - the reality of who and what Jesus is – in defense against heresies in the Church…

….because there were all sorts of heretics who denied either the divinity or humanity of Jesus – meaning there were groups who claimed Jesus was only a man and not God and there were groups who claimed Jesus was only God and not really a human being like us… that Jesus only appeared like one.

So, the Church tried to explain and express who Jesus is and what he is.   Who is Jesus?  Jesus is the eternal son of God the Father, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  What is Jesus? Is he by nature God or man or both? The Council of Chalcedon clarified that when the Second Person of the Trinity became man, he was both totally human and totally divine at the same time… admittedly, this dogma is beyond what our human mind can grasp… so we are called to faith… to deep supernatural mystery of our faith.

Our faith tells us that Jesus Christ is truly human, with a human mind, will and body.  Jesus Christ at the same time is also truly God.  His two natures, human and divine, are united in the one person of Jesus, the Son of God.

In the fullness of time, God who is outside of time and space entered into our world through a human mother.

…And Mary is the mother of the human nature of Jesus….and since the total person of who Jesus is cannot be separated from what he is… both fully man and fully God at the same time... therefore, Mary is truly the Mother of God… because Jesus IS God.

Our celebration is actually a bold proclamation that Jesus IS God.

That is the theology behind the feast we celebrate today.  It is important for us to be aware of this dogma of our faith. We have been entrusted with a rich tradition. We should understand the basic elements of our tradition.

Now…what does this feast of Mary, Mother of God, say to you and me, or what does it mean for us, right here and now, not as theologians, but – on a practical level - as individuals and as a faith community struggling to follow Christ, struggling to be true Christians, to serve God in our lives every day.

From our second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Galatians: God's plan was that his Son be born of a woman so that we might become God’s adopted sons and daughters. The Son of God became one of us… God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, and as God’s beloved children, now – awesomely - we can call God “Abba, Father”.

God is our Father. Jesus is our brother. The Holy Spirit, the Advocate - is in our hearts.  Mary is our Mother.  Wow!!!  That is the truth. So, we should be indescribably joyful about that!

We have heard this many times, but do we really understand/truly grasp this truth, this reality - what it means… and therefore, are we living our lives accordingly, as beloved sons and daughters of God?

We really need to ponder this in our hearts like Mary did.

God is Our Father and so, when we are troubled with the struggles of life, when we have doubts and when our faith becomes weak, we must continue to be confident that God, who is always near to us, really hears our prayers.

We have to remember this truth – because of Mary’s cooperation with God’s plan, we are now beloved children of God - God who is not an unapproachable ruler, not someone out there in outer space but God who is with us… Emmanuel…God who cares about us… and God who truly knows and understands our human struggles and pains and sufferings…because He became one of us in the flesh.

That is what our feast, Mary being the Mother of God, means for us.

Again, true and proper devotion to Mary leads to Jesus… just as Mama Mary said at the wedding feast at Cana: “Do whatever Jesus tells you.” The question is: Are we listening to what Jesus is telling us?

I think it was Thomas Merton who said: “The root of people’s problems is actually the lack of contemplation.”

Today, we honor Mary - not adore Mary as the Protestants accuse us of – but we honor her as our Mother, as the model of contemplation.

Mary reflected or pondered the word of God in order to discern what God was saying to her at every stage in her life as the handmaid of God… a great example for us.

God constantly reveals Himself to us.  He speaks to us through divine revelation.  He speaks to us through the Bible, the teaching and preaching of the Church - as well as through our personal experiences, if only we made time to reflect on them as Mary did…until they sink into our hearts…

As we start the New Year – As our new year’s resolution - let us resolve to listen more to the voice of God, and ponder it in our hearts as Mary did. 

Let us make reading the Scriptures daily as one of our goals.

We do not know what this coming year holds for us…Only God knows… Let us pray with Mary for deeper and stronger faith in our ever-faithful God, who is and will be with us in bad times as well as in good times.  Mary continued to say “yes” to God all her life although there were things, there were times she could not understand.

Let us pray today to the Holy Spirit, the Spouse of Mary – for His gift of understanding…for us to realize that God, God’s love is far greater than what our intelligence can comprehend…

Usually this time of the year, we also look back into the past, so, let us pray/proclaim as Mary did: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my Spirit rejoices in God my savior…He has looked with favor on His lowly servant…”  This Magnificat should be part of our prayer every day.

Let us pray for humble grateful hearts for all the blessings God has showered upon us and let us pray for generous hearts to share our blessings with those less fortunate; with those to whom life has not been so kind.

January 1st is also the World Day of Peace. Mary is our Queen of Peace, our Lady of Peace…. The beginning of the year is also a great time to pray for the blessings of peace in this troubled world in these trying times beginning within ourselves and in our own families.

Let us pray that we will always remember and trust that no matter what our past may have been, no matter what we have done, there is always God’s mercy and forgiveness…

…God is always ready to forgive us; no matter what the world has done to us, no matter what we have done - there is always the grace of beginning again, new year, fresh start.

Let us take time today and examine our hearts to see if there are any relationships especially within our own families that need healing; any relationships that need to be reconciled. Start now.

Let us try our best to forgive.   Our Lord, the Son of Mary, the Prince of Peace, calls us to love not only those who love us but also those who do not love us, who do not like us.

Let us pray that we be living instruments of Christ’s peace.

My brothers and sisters in Christ – As God has made Mary full of grace, let us pray - may God fill us and our loved ones with His grace this New Year and in the years ahead.   Amen….

Wishing you all and all your loved ones: Blessed Grace-filled Holy New Year!!!

God bless…