Transformed

In the very beginning of Jesus’ three-year ministry, he met Andrew and Peter and he said to them, “I will make you fishers of men”. And by following him they would be transformed into his likeness.

He told them, their hearts would blend into his heart longing for all people to hear and believe in the Gospel message.

He warns us as he warned the twelve that following him would have its many challenges and difficulties. Life was not going to be easy. And then, even with all those trials and tests with even your life on the line, do not fear.

 And you and I say, how can we not fear? We say that and feel that way because we see through human eyes, feel through a human heart.

But when we surrender ourselves to God by reflecting on his Words, we realize, we have nothing to fear if we are in God’s graces regardless as to what happens to our physical bodies.  It’s the soul we must protect. It is the soul that has eternal life. It is the soul we must defend from the evil one, the devil.

The body dies on this earth and the soul lives on and what state our soul is in when the body dies is where that soul will spend eternity. If we remain faithful to Jesus then Jesus will acknowledge us to His Father when out time comes.

That is why it is so important too never take a chance with your that has severe consequences, like eternal death. Keep God’s presence always within you and you too will be transformed into his likeness.

The killer frost, but the best is yet to come

To me one of the saddest days of the year is the first day of a killer frost. It brings with it not only the beginning of winter, but the death of many beautiful summery plants.

Every year we plant a bunch of begonias in planters around our back patio. And they are beautiful, full of life with many blossoms and flowers and color, until the first frost.

While the begonias are fresh, full of life today, tomorrow morning the beauty and color are gone, thanks to Jack Frost. The poor plants are draped over the planters, limp and lifeless. Here today and gone tomorrow and yes, life is over for the begonia.

I use the begonia as an analogy to life, our life. When the Angel of death approaches us, the killer Frost has arrived.  And just like the begonia, we don’t know when our frost will strike, or our angel of death will appear.

We are reminded in Scripture that life is fleeting, and we don’t know the day or the time when we will be called home, or when the second coming of Jesus will arrive, but be assured, they will come.  And from these readings we clearly see the warning of readiness, an invitation to keep ourselves prepared for the moment when we will be ushered in eternity.

Whether we meet Jesus when he calls us for our own personal judgment, or at His second coming, whichever comes first, we are praying and hoping for the mercy of Jesus. But our preparation begins every new day.

This vision in this beautiful reading of Daniel is a message of hope and also a challenge for those who are undergoing great sorrow. They are promised an enormous reward if they stay dedicated in their commitment to God.

We can only imagine, the struggles of this life at the end of the world culminating in a massive cosmic confrontation between the forces of Good and the forces of evil, a battle universal in scope.

In the beginning of time as we know it, was the encounter between chaos and God, with God bringing an orderly universe out of that darkness and chaos. And from that darkness God created the world. 

The entire universe will be involved, and at the end of time evil will be completely destroyed and the reign of God will endure unchallenged forever.

Today we struggle, but the struggle in this life is only temporary and the consequence for the faithful will be incredible.

For when this mysterious figure approaching on the clouds, the Son of Man comes in all his power and glory, he comes to gather us in, not to scatter us. 

Yes, we are living today, not reflecting that far into the future, but do we know when Jesus will appear?  Do we know when that killer frost will come?  Today needs to be a time of waiting and watching. We must live today as if the angel of death is approaching. We must live for the eternal banquet, for the meal where desserts are never ending.

A woman told her husband she wanted to be buried with her bible in her right hand and a fork in her left hand. Naturally, this extraordinary request puzzled her husband, so his wife exclaimed, she attended so many church functions and potluck dinners that after the main dishes were served someone would always instruct you to “keep your fork”. 

Those words were the signal that the best was yet to come – dessert.  So, she said “when people come up to you at the funeral and they ask, why does she have a fork in her left hand, and you can simply explain”, “The best is yet to come”. 

St. Paul tells us that “death does not have the final word”.  If we have lived a life pleasing to God, the best is yet to come.

Death Dealing

There are two words in Scripture that every one of us have already destroyed; “Be perfect”. Be perfect, how can we be perfect when first, we were all born with Original Sin, and second, we are human, prone to giving in to every kind of temptation?

And God knows how sinful we are. He knows we are human. He knows we are imperfect, sinful human beings. We not only sin but in some cases we sin frequently. And he also knows he has given us the most powerful, the most loving of all gifts, our free will. And with that free will, we make our choices.

God tells us in Scripture that, “He pardons all our iniquities, heals all our ills and redeems our life from destruction”. Our free will can make us or break us. It can bring us to holiness or it can be “death dealing” leading us to hell.

Use the gift of free will wisely for the rewards are worth it. Use that gift to bring ourselves to the path of perfection. Where there is a will there is a way, and that is God’s way.

They said yes!

Happy veterans Day Weekend to all those in, or who served in our military. And thank you

A little quiz for everyone on this very early chilly morning.  What do St. Stephen, St. Philip, St. Lawrence of Rome, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ephraim, all have in common? Well, they were all deacons who became saints. They were not priests, they were not bishops, no they were deacons. They were the deacons of deacons.

As a deacon, I am so blessed to have said yes to God’s call. In just these few short years, this ministry has opened my eyes to so many of God’s wonderful people. I have personally been so spiritually fed by all the beautiful people of our parish.

I urge all men, if there is an ounce, an iota of a sensation, a tingling in your heart, about becoming a deacon, pursue it. If there is doubt, erase it and let God be the judge.

But, my focus today is on another group of saints such as, St. John Vianney, St. John Bosco, St. Dominic, St. John of the Cross, and St. Thomas Aquinas, just to name a few. These saints also have something very much in common.  They are all priests.

They are not bishops, nor are they cardinals or popes. They are priests, who listened to and answered God’s call, devoting their entire lives preaching his almighty Word.

These were the men waiting at midnight who upon hearing the Master coming, went out to meet him. Yes, they are the ones who watched for and waited for Wisdom at dawn and were not disappointed.

There was a vocation for those special men, and there is that same calling today for many young men in our parish, a feeling, a sensation in the heart. To those saints, the Holy Spirit graced them, opening their eyes and their own spirit to a new light that shone brightly in their hearts.

That same Holy Spirit is begging today for a response from young men across the world, and right here in our parish. But, not all are answering.

Some ignore it, others are warned against pursuing such a call.  They are told, sometimes for selfish reasons, it’s not for you. But, for others it is a time for serious reflection. Hours and hours, praying to our Lord, listening in the heart, kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

It is finding the right answer through prayer and spiritual direction. It is faith working through the love of Jesus, culminating in a decision. And, many say yes, as priests before them have said their yes.

It is that yes that enables all of us to hear these glorifying words at every Mass, “Do this in remembrance of me”. Without that miracle, that God giving gift of the Holy Spirit working through our priests, there would be no healing power of the Eucharist. No priest, no Eucharist.

“Feed my sheep” Jesus says to every priest, as he said to Peter. And, it was with heart felt love, that Peter, proclaimed, “yes, Lord, you know that I love you”. And with that yes, every priest with the courage of Peter, says, “yes, Lord, you know that I love you”

St. Dominic made a difference, St. John Bosco, made a difference and every priest at every Church is called to make a difference in the spiritual lives of their flock.  Our priests in our diocese, in our parish make a difference.

For every one of us, God has a mission. Every priest is on a mission, a mission from God.

We read in the Book of Jerimiah, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare, plans to give you future full of hope”

They are chosen among men. God calls his priests from different backgrounds, diverse environments, the poor, the wealthy and even professionals and from these group of men, the priest is sent as a witness, for the service of Christ’s Gospel. A vocation married to the bride of Christ.

From the very words of Jesus, “For the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to preach the good news”. Yes, preach to the poor, the sinners, those who are lost.

For the Spirit of the Lord is upon our priests.  And, it is that image, that very icon of Jesus himself, our priests are repeating his acts of forgiveness, especially in penance and the Eucharist.

I say to our young men is God calling you? “Come and see”, Jesus said. Yes, come and see the meaning of this wonderful vocation. Because, through Jesus, He calls those whom he desires, and to those who listen he says, “Follow me”.

In our families, and in our parish, there are young men who may have had that twinge, that impulse of discernment.  Parents, you may very well be God’s voice, God’s instrument, in calling that young man to serious discernment. Scripture tells us, “We cannot impede God’s word”.

When there is a calling and the calling is answered, man and God unite, and discernment begins for the preparation to ordination. How beautiful the process.

The fruit of this union of God and man’s journey together, becomes God’s gift to his people. Fr. Mazz is that gift to us.

Like Elijah, God’s calling may not be in the wind, it’s not in the earthquake. No, God’s calling is that tiny whisper at the at the entrance of a young man’s heart.

Our prayers from this very parish have rewarded us with many men for our seminary, but we need so many more and that can only happen through your encouragement and prayer. God will do the rest.

The House that God Built

The house that God built is you, but we don't always maintain the appearance of his original beauty of the heart. God knows very well we sin and in some cases we sin frequently. And his most powerful, the most loving of all gifts, our free will can sometimes be the weapon that destroys the very beauty of our heart .

And with that free will, we make our choices. God's choice is holiness, which protects our heart from the elements of sin, maintaining its spiritual beauty .

And, we might ask, why is it so important to be holy? God tells us, “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy".

And, to go deeper, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you”. If we want God to be with us, to hear our prayers, to help us, then we must have a temple that is pure, a place for the Holy Spirit to call his tabernacle, his home. That is our heart.

The purest of any tabernacle that Jesus ever lived was the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, born without any blemish of sin. And that’s what Jesus is telling us, to become perfect just as he is perfect. To become like Mary, improve in our holiness every day.

Clean your hands before you eat

Wash your hands before you eat!  How many times as a child did you hear those words?  Or, as a parent, how many times did you shout them to your own children.  “Wash your hands before you eat”.

 And of course, they would look and examine their hands and say, “why, they’re not dirty”. To them, they probably didn’t look dirty on the outside, but we all know the germs, the hidden bacteria that makes a home on our hands. So, we wash our hands before we eat so we don’t get sick.

In Jesus’ time the washing of the hands was not so much in the interests of hygiene, but it was a ceremonial cleanliness that was at stake; hands washed and washed in a certain way.  The water for the washing was actually kept in a special jug, not just any water that they found in a nearby well.

This ceremony had to be so exact to the Jewish people that one time a rabbi who once omitted to the washing was buried in excommunication.

When Jesus was talking to the Jewish leaders, he was trying to make a point.  It’s not the ritual that makes us clean, but what’s in our hearts. Yes, clean and examine your hands before you eat, but more importantly than anything else, examine your heart. It is your heart that will condemn you, not how clean your hands are. Look deep into your heart.

And one of the most difficult things to do is to figure out ourselves, to get deep into our own turmoil and confusion; our own interior pain and see the things that others don’t. A true examination of conscience reveals our inner most thoughts and that takes courage. But, knowing ourselves can be the radar needed to avoid the near temptations to sin.

So, cleanse your heart with prayers every day, bring God into a pure heart and then you can feast.

Tortured

As Christians we know there is a life, a wonderful life after our pilgrimage journey on this earth for those who believe wholeheartedly, in the Son of God. St. Paul tells us “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” (1Cor 2:9).

We don’t need to be tortured as martyrs to become saints, but we do have to die. And the first death is death to sin.   We must die to sin and the near occasions to that sin. We must die to the tremendous pressures of this world, because when we die to this world we begin to live a life most pleasing to God.

It is a renewal, a renewed strength and courage that leads us to heaven. That is a spiritual martyr’s death, freeing us from the holds of eternal death that traps us forever in hell.   Martyrs of all kinds are welcomed by God in heaven; martyrs of physical death and martyrs that die to sin waiting for God’s mercy.

Every day brings hope, every day can bring us closer to our Lord, every day brings us closer to the resurrection of the Kingdom of God. Persevere, the reward is worth it.