Our Guardian Angel

God has provided us with a wonderful gift. And that gift is our Guardian Angel. You know Scripture has so many references to Angels, to our protectors, those heavenly spirits whose only job is to safeguard our journey to heaven.

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In Psalm 91, which many of you recite on a daily basis, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

We find in Daniel, “My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me”.

In Exodus, “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.

In Hebrews, “Let all God's angels worship him.” And we just read in our Gospel that our angel, our Guardian Angel is always looking at the face of Jesus.

It dawned on me today, I am here because I want to adore Jesus. My Guardian Angel is by my side, and yours is by your side, adoring the same God, always worshiping. What is that like? If we had the ability to see our Guardian Angel, right here, right now, kneeling or prostrating themselves in front of Jesus how could it not but strengthen our desire to adore our Savior, or humble us to the point of great repentance.

We are never alone. We know from Scripture that Jesus tells us, “I am with you always, even to the end of time”. And through his love for us, sent us an angel to guard us on our way. And tonight we have all the heavenly angels surrounding our Jesus on his altar.

Together, with our Guardian Angel let us adore the greatest gift God could ever give us, His only Son. Blood of Christ inebriate us. Amen

Blazing Fire

“Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven”, words taking from Scripture, expressing God’s anger by coming like a blazing fire. Blazing fire! That was the nickname we gave a nun in grade school, blazing fire, I can tell you her left hand was a blazing weapon.  

She was my teacher in fourth grade in the days when we had those many air raid drills where we had to hide under our desks when the air raid sirens were heard. I remember it well, “Shades down and under the desk” preparing for the real thing.

Yes, only a drill, but they were important drills, preparing for the worse, hoping for the best, in case of some type of an enemy attack.  Drills preformed with perfection prevent the real thing from being unfamiliar to us. We’ll be ready.

Football teams participate in drills preparing for the big game. The military engages in maneuvers, preparing them for the real battle. The fire department, police and first responders perform drills preparing in case of a catastrophic event. We do the drills, to be prepared.

One day in fourth grade I was being disciplined by the Sister Elizabeth, blazing fire herself, for something I’m sure I didn’t do, at least on purpose, and then she punished me by walking me by the ear, into the cloakroom and closed the door. There I was all alone.

Suddenly, the air raid sirens started to blare and I could hear through the walls the scampering about of the kids sliding under their desks, pulling down the shades and Blazing fire herself, barking out her orders. But, they forgot about me.

But, in that closet they also kept the pretzel bag, full of freshly baked salted pretzels that would be sold that day at recess. And it smelled so good.

Temptation got the best of me and I pulled up a strip of ten pretzels from inside the bag and tried to break one off, just one little pretzel, but, it slipped and a strip of 10 pretzels fell on the dirty hardwood floor exactly right next to the closed door that led into the classroom.

Thank God, the siren muffled the sound, but I knew that plenty of loose salt fell all over the filthy floor and if I didn’t clean that up, big trouble, the wrath of a nun called blazing fire would be upon me.

I threw the pretzels back into the bag, but for the life of me I couldn’t think of anything to sweep up all that salt. So, I was on all fours, pushing the salt in every direction away from the door.

The air raid sirens stopped and the cloak room door opened and there, Blazing fire herself came in, and there I was on hands and knees almost kissing the floor, blowing away the remains of any salt. Talk about trembling fear. But, something strange happened.

She reached down and helped me up, and apologized for leaving me all alone in the closet, and then commented, “but how good and obedient you were, down on your hands and knees, during the air raid drill.

But she, said some powerful words, “Always be prepared, for some day when you least expect it, it will be the real deal”.

Those words are like the real meaning of life.  We don’t know when God will call us. And every day is a drill and someday a drill will be the real deal.  Thank you blazing fire.

But, the true meaning of “The blazing fire” or “blazing like an oven”, as Malachi claims is a metaphor. It is the image of a brushfire that burns the stubble left over after the grain has been harvested.  It is the short growth that wasn’t cut and had been dried by the heat of the sun, and it is useless except as a fire starter.

So, what is God telling us? This blazing fire destroys all possible growth, any hope of any regeneration as the roots and the branches are burned, no promise of any new fruit. Every aspect is consumed by fire.  This was God’s anger against the Israelite nations, the stubble, for being the stiff-necked people they were.

It is a metaphor, so remarkable in its brevity and yet filled with so much for our imagination. For us, it is the Day of the Lord, the day of the harvest and the day the stubble will be burned, the day when the good will be rewarded and the evil punished, it is the fulfillment of God’s promises and the realization of the destiny of the world.

It is looking ahead at the end of history, to the last things, distinguishing between the wicked, who are burned, and the righteous, who by being prepared, who knew that the preparation would remove all fear of dying. Leaving no doubt, there is a heaven and there is a hell.

But, before all of this, there will be persecutions.  We’re told, persecution will not merely be an occasional episode, rather, it will be an “indisputable reality” for the Church and for individual Christians.

Through the ages, Christians have been burned, beheaded, crushed and fed to wild animals because of their God.  This is the picture most of us imagine when we hear the word “persecution”. But persecutions can be experienced in a different reality. It can be experienced by you and me in everyday life.

You can be heckled at work because of your faith, for standing up for moral issues and principals, you can be cursed at when praying in front of an abortion clinic, or just being made fun of by friends and family, because your God comes first on Sundays. You are becoming the righteous with your daily drills, and they will become the stubble.

Jesus tells us, every generation as Christians who will always be persecuted, even by family members, because of our love for Jesus.

And then, there will be awesome sights and the mighty signs that will come from the sky. And, at the end of the world, when Jesus comes in all his glory, many will be afraid, many will hide, except those who are prepared, those who know the drill by practicing their faith every day. 

At the second coming, Christ will be a blazing fire, not out of anger, but to snatch up those who are righteous, who practice their faith by defending God’s Word.  

The rest, those who were ashamed of God, of defending God and obeying his commandments, will be the stubble, to be set on fire and thrown into eternal darkness. He said, if you are ashamed of me and my words in this faithless and sinful generation, then I will be ashamed of you.

There is that old expression that says, “You know the drill”.  Make every day a drill for Jesus’ coming, be prepared, because one day, when we least expect it, it will be the real deal.

Pilgrims to home

When we were young and doing our own thing, we never stopped to think what kind of soil we were. We didn’t care! Didn’t about God’s word. It meant nothing to us, We didn’t understand it, nor did we want to understand it.

But now as we look back over our lives we realize, we were probably just too stubborn, like the rocky ground, not much could penetrate our thinking.

Some of us may have had other interests that took us away from God, maybe it was the immediate pleasures of what we thought the world had to offer. And it choked us. But, that was then.

Regardless of what kind of soil we were in the past, God, in his great love for us kept on sowing good seed, day after day came God’s word upon us.

And with his great love we finally allowed the seed take root, to be fed and nurtured and that seed is who we are today; God’s good soil. Today, at this very moment, we are being fed by listening and absorbing the richness of God’s word.

We are a different person today, a better person in the eyes of God and that’s how we have to live our lives, not by what other people may think of us, but what God thinks of us. He is our judge

We need to live in this world with courage, For God tells us, “Do not fear, I am with you”.

So, as we move forward on our pilgrimage to the next life, we carry God’s word in the good soil we have become. Challenges, yes! But strengthened, for, “Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are with me at my side”.

There is hope

Today, we need reminders of hope. We live in a depressed world, a material world, a world dominated by the devil.

But, we still hope, thanks to our closest friend and Brother, Jesus. Not, because He died, but because He rose from that death to a new life for us. A deed beyond all good deeds he did to save us. There is hope that we can make it to that same resurrected life, just by living a life of compiling our own good deeds, storing our treasures in heaven. There is hope beyond the walls of this world.

St. Peter emphasizes that hope, that eternal inheritance, that bliss, that joy for those who are serious about their journey on this earth.

St. Paul tells it so well, when he says “To offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God”. That is being serious, because it means living this small speck of space on our eternal time line completely with God in mind, loving our neighbor and dying to our self.

Today reflect on our Savior, reflect on our life. Reflect so much where we have been, but most importantly, with hope as to what lies ahead. Yes, with that hope steering our ship with the help of Jesus, the co-pilot of our live.

I like to think that when we die we are brought to a suspended room tilted to one side.  And, on the closed door of that room is our name. Together, with Jesus, our door is opened and inside we see all of our deeds that we’ve compiled on our earthly journey, the good on one side and the bad on the other.

Yes, Love and happiness is on one side and the rodents are on the opposite, with the room tilted towards which side holds the most. And as we enter into that room, we have already judged ourselves and remain eternally on the tilted side. Even with purgatory there is eternal hope of love.

Each day begins a new leg of our journey. May each day inspire you through hope, to tilt your eternal room with your good deeds.

What a God

Life is a journey. A journey, we hope will bring us to that table of plenty. Every day we live on this earth is a return journey to God. A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. But the real Banquet is a true gift from God, and God is inviting us in the Eucharist to His table, to share in the banquet He prepared for his Son.

 This is your personal encounter with Jesus. A personal devotional to the one who has emptied himself for us. And what a gift, what a God. But how will we respond, how will we prepare for this invitation to the altar of God today? When we walk up to receive the Blessed Sacrament, will we be too preoccupied with all kinds of distractions, walking up for a piece of bread? Or will we respond with our hearts overflowing with love and gratitude for the Lord’s gift of spiritual refreshment – his real Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.

 The Father gives his last and best; he has nothing better. The only thing God does not know, is how to give a gift greater than himself. What an amazing God. And today, God is calling us as his guests to this same feast, to the banquet for his son, to His altar. Why don’t many people come? God will not ask us how entertaining was the movie we saw or the sporting event we attended or even how successful we were in life. But, He will ask, “Did you accept my invitation? Then enter to my heavenly banquet”.

 For us, receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament can and should bring joy, joy so deep it is indescribable. Receiving Jesus with a heart dressed in the white garment for a wedding feast, with righteousness and holiness, can bring tears, real tears of joy for a gift we can’t explain from an amazing God. On death beds or after serious repentance, many times brings to a person the true meaning of receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus? But why? Why does it sometimes take a severe affliction to our lives to understand how much Jesus loves us?

Marie, who recently passed away was in a nursing home. For weeks she couldn’t receive the Blessed Sacrament because of physical reasons, but when we visited her, she would whisper and pray so hard and beg us to allow her to receive Jesus, her closest friend. She cried for Jesus. Once we walked into her room and Marie was asleep and as we walked over to the other resident in the room we began to recite the Our Father with that woman, Charlie tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to Marie who with eyes closed, had her hands folded in prayer, lip-syncing the Our Father, squeezing so hard her knuckles were white. Tears of joy and yet, tears of loss, flowing down her cheeks. She couldn’t physically receive the Blessed Sacrament, but she prepared and brought herself to the table of the Lord. Her heart was dressed in the white garment for this feast.

 There was Jose, a patient in the hospital who didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Spanish, a farm hand recovering from an accident. I thought he would understand when I said “do you want to receive Communion, Jesus. I could tell he didn’t know what I was saying. I showed him my pyx, but still I wasn’t getting through. I opened the pyx and held up the host, the blessed Sacrament in front of him. He knew, his eyes filled up and he cried and said sobbing, si, si.

Yes, He understood, he understood that this was a feast, God the Father’s gift, and he was prepared to join Jesus at his table. He needed Jesus. When we receive God’s Gift of Jesus today, we may not shed the tears of joy like Marie and Jose. But, it’s OK if we do. But in your heart welcome Jesus as a friend, a helper, a brother, the Son of our amazing God. Receive Jesus, knowing that it is Jesus and the greatest Gift the world has ever known, a gift from God the Father to those who are prepared to receive Him. Yes, the rich foods and choice wines are on the table.

We pray God someday will call us to that table. And, what a wonderful celebration it would be like Marie, like Jose in the hospital, if we put on our spiritual white garment, prepared and come to the feast to receive Jesus today. Make it special today. With joy and thanksgiving receive Jesus with a heart full of love. And, yes, tears may flow, for He has emptied himself just for you. He has nothing more to give. What a gift – What a God.

Follow Me

“Follow Me”! Gentle, yet powerful words from Jesus. Gentle, but so strong are these two words that maybe they were even a command. At the very least, an invitation, “Follow Me”, and Matthew got up and followed. 

 When I was in the service in Ft. Benning Ga, there was a very moving and inspiring statue on the grounds of Ft. Benning simply known as the “Follow Me” statue, a Memorial, depicting an infantry soldier charging forward and gesturing for others to follow. “I am the Infantry! Follow me”, it says. A motto instilled in the mind of every soldier. 

 And to follow takes courage, and those who have ever been in or prepared for combat have an appreciation of the meaning of courage. To follow into the unknown, into any battle takes courage, and our journey to heaven places us in a battlefield every day of our lives. The physical pain and suffering we experience in life, the mental anguish, and the spiritual combat of fighting for our life against satan and temptation. 

These are our crosses, these are our battles, and, in spite of this chaos, Jesus tells us to “take up your cross and follow me.” Follow Me is not a suggestion, no, it is a command to follow Jesus into life’s battles and there we will find our strength, for he assures us, “I am with you always, even to the end of time”. Yes, it takes courage to follow, soldiers have lost their lives on the battlefields; shed their blood for you and me. 

And, Matthew and every other Apostle, every martyr, help purchase our salvation by shedding their blood for Christ. Follow me, a motto for every Christian, is our key to heaven. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. By following our Leader, we can enter into the Kingdom of heaven With determination and courage, and through the power and grace of God, we become like that statue, charging forward, reaching out and gesturing for others to follow.

 Our world may be in turmoil, and our lives being tossed on the rough seas of life. But, there is an invitation to leave that world behind and to come to the shore. It is then, at that shoreline we become his Disciples. And when they brought their boats to shore, they left everything and they followed him.

On a mission

Jesus is sending us on a mission, knocking on doors, no less. And we know that when we knock on the door of Jesus, his door will be opened, yes. And when he answers he welcomes us with open arms. It is that same love, that same hospitality, we want to share with everyone we meet.

 So, we take that great love of Jesus and with the courage that comes with that love, we accept, as his disciples, this mission to knock on the doors of others. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus journeying on this earth to bring ourselves and lost souls into Jesus’ fold. One of my favorite pictures, or holy cards is that of Jesus knocking on someone’s door.

You just stare and reflect and hope, that the person on the other side will open and let Jesus into their lives. St. Teresa puts it so well, “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours”. That is now our mission. We are his feet walking from door to door. We are his hands, knocking on each door that we stop. That is what God wants from us, to be that person knocking on the heart of every lost soul.

That not only takes courage, but it places all our trust in God. Courage, too, to wipe off the dust from our feet, when the door is slammed closed in our face. We are his instrument. And if a soul of the door we are knocking is ready, the door will open and Jesus will enter. Like a great salesperson, at every doorstep, there is hope, but what a consolation when a heart welcomes that gentle voice. A heart that was dead to God.

 Our knock doesn’t have to mean a physical knock at a home, or a conversation, although it can. But, it is how we live our lives that knocks at the heart of a person. How we speak, the places we frequent, our humility, our compassion and forgiveness. And the answer to the knock isn’t a physical opening of a door, although it could be, but it is a heartfelt yes to God’s invitation of how another person lives.

 For, they see, they reflect, and God does the rest. Don’t tap lightly, for, God has given us the courage to pound on the door of a soul and pray God has prepared and blessed them to answer. There is someone out there ready and waiting for the sound of your knock. Sometimes, the day ahead is difficult to face; problems and concerns have mounted, possibly even affecting our sleep.

But, if we look up and give God a chance, he will walk with us through this day’s journey. “ You will not find our Lord in your heart unless you seek him, and those who find him don’t ever want to lose him but want to share him.