He never forgets our name

There is place I know where you can go and everybody knows your name. It is on Beacon Street in Boston at a place called Cheers. Yes, it’s nice when everyone knows your name. That’s not always the case when you are in a grocery store.

How many, when you are in the supermarket or a department store, and ready to go down an aisle, see someone further down you know, but can’t remember their name.
So, how many would avoid that aisle, and hope to come back to it later?  Then the rest of the time shopping, you’re mentally going through the alphabet searching for their name, just in case you do run into them at the checkout counter.

It gets worst the older you get, people whose names you forgot are in every aisle. I end up just going around the perimeter of the store.
Or how embarrassing if you are with a friend or your spouse and you run into that same person in the aisle whose name you forget and have to introduce them.  You wish you were in Cheers.
Today, Jesus is introduced to the world by John. But, not by his name, Jesus, but, the Lamb of God. It’s not that John forgot his name.

He says, “Behold, there he is, the Lamb of God!” John uses that image, which is so rich, the Lamb of God. We are familiar with those images of animals.
Think of sports teams: The Chicago Bulls! The Philadelphia Eagles! The Seattle Sea Hawks.
Countries and nations love animal images as well. Some are majestic and full of spirit. For us it’s The bald eagle!

But for Russia, it's the bear; for China, it's the dragon. These are fierce images. So many of these animals are eloquent, some ferocious, some even aggressive.
And, then we have Jesus. The Lamb of God, a gentle lamb. No sports team, no country would want to be known as the Lambs.  That’s not frightening, it’s not fierce, it certainly doesn’t intimidate.
No, a lamb is gentle. A lamb is meek. And when John uses that image, he evokes, the story of Exodus.

The Israelites are slaves and they're instructed to slaughter the lamb and smear the blood on their door posts, so that when the Angel of death passes by, their children would be saved. Saved by the blood of the Lamb

Yes, John introduces Jesus to the world, for everybody to know his name. And now, Jesus enters the world to begin his ministry, and John, the precursor, the forerunner, the voice, the one introducing the Savior of the World must decrease.

With the words, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”, John the Baptist fulfilled his mission, the reason for his very existence, and, how his heart must have overflowed with joy and, gratitude, as he meets his God.

For now, the world was to see Jesus, no longer as an ordinary man, but the Lamb of God and even the Son of God.
Who are you Jesus? For there is shear wonder in hearing the phrase, “The Lamb of God”. You are the Lamb, the Savior who takes away the sins of the world. It becomes one of the most precious titles of Christ.

Every time we reflect on that wonder, we realize the love, the sacrifice, the suffering, and the triumph of Jesus and the Cross – For us!
He was introduced to us on the Jordan River, taking our sins and cleansing us through those waters, nailing those sins to the Cross, so we can live.

For Jesus is the lamb, that is led to the slaughter, the gentle and humble lamb, yet so strong and majestic, destined to lead the flock of God, by delivering them from their enemies. We are the sheep of his flock.
John made the world know his name – one whom he had not recognized before, but whom God truly revealed to him at last. Yes, John, the cousin of Jesus, knew who Jesus was, but didn’t know what Jesus was.

And then suddenly the Father, through the Spirit revealed to John, that Jesus was none other than the Son of God. John, like us was searching for the truth.
That is our search as we ask ourselves, “Who are you Lord in my life and who am I in your life”.
Call it divine revelation and like John the Baptist, we too can receive divine revelation that will stir our hearts.

The same Spirit who empowered Jesus and opened John’s mind dwells within us ever since our own baptism.
Yes, we search for the answer as to why we exist, and Jesus as always provides the answer.
Today we find it in the beautiful responsorial Psalm, “Here am I Lord, I come to do your will”. That is why we exist.

God knows us by name. He tells us in Scripture, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart”.
And, then God takes it to the next level, “For I know well the plans I have for you, plans for you to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.  

Reading Scripture we get to know more than his name, we begin to believe in that name, the Majestic, yet gentle loving Lamb of God. But, it’s only when we know and love that name that God tells us:
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will search for me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”.

Yes, it’s always nice to be at a place where everybody knows your name. But, if we follow the will of God, and the plans he has for us. then we will someday find another place filled with joy, where everybody knows your name and that is heaven.

A brother like no other

Imagine yourself seated in a banquet hall waiting for the guest speaker to come on stage. And Jesus enters. Looking at all of you his first words are, “who are my sisters and my brothers”? And then he looked around to all of you seated in the banquet hall, and with a compassionate smile and arms reaching out he says, “You are my brothers and my sisters”.
We do want to be called the brother or sister of Jesus?  We do want to be part of the family of Jesus? “My mother and my brothers and sisters
are those who do the will of my Father.”

We live in a world where morals and values are changing, and changing quickly.  We are altering God’s world to be our world, a selfish world. It is a world losing the brother and sister relationship with Jesus by doing our will and not God’s will.
So, we ask for God’s help, to bring us back. We strengthen our faith through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit when we pray, read Scripture and reflect on God’s Word. It is those words that keep us on that narrow road, by doing God’s will.
If we have strayed off the narrow road, God is calling us back, and is always calling us back, to do his will, to come back to his family, to pick up our cross and follow him. There is so much at stake. So much to gain and so much to lose.
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, a man filled with the Holy Spirit. The Morning Prayer Antiphon sums up his life and can be a model and inspiration for our own life. “Blessed be the Lord; for the love of Him, Saint Thomas Aquinas spent long hours in prayer, study and writing”. A true brother of Jesus.

The hidden heart

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, 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 must be 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.
Jesus 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.
Take a moment each day. Find a quiet place, your inner room and make a true examination of conscience. Allow it to reveal your inner most thoughts, your true feelings. That takes courage. But, knowing ourselves can be the radar needed to avoid the near temptations to sin, or make corrections on the road we are travelling.
So, cleanse your heart with prayers each day, confessing to God your faults and omissions as well. Bring God into a pure heart and then together you can feast on his graces.

Hello Neighbor

It must have unsettled his audience, when Jesus told them the story about the separation of goats and sheep. In those lands goats and sheep often grazed together during the day because green pasture was sparse. They were separated at night because goats needed shelter, and goats were also less meek and more restless than sheep.
The Day of Judgment will reveal who showed true compassion and mercy toward their neighbor. As much as we might like to judge the parables, the parables, nonetheless, judge us.
Jesus teaches us a very important lesson about loving our neighbor and taking responsibility for others.  God will judge us not only for the wrong we have done but also for what we have failed to do.
Jesus is coming back to reign over all the nations, over everyone. While the first time He came in humility- the true glory of humanity- the next time He will come in splendor- the true glory of God.
And, His first act will be to judge every person. The division takes place and then the verdict is handed down- sheep to the right and goats to the left.
I remember a common saying which says “What are left in the graves are the words left unsaid and the deeds left undone.” It is true. We live our life according to what we believe is essential. But if we try to look back in our own “life story,” we can see how much we’ve lost and failed in many instances where we could have made a difference. But, throughout  Scripture, Jesus tells us to wake up and make up for lost time.
Yes, there is power in us that can make a difference to the world. And Jesus invites us to use this power not only for our own benefit but for all of us. Every day is a new day. It is always an opportunity to make our words like a song that can enrich others and our deeds like a hand that can raise the weak and the lowly.

A heart to heart moment

“I have loved you with an everlasting love”. Find a moment today to gaze and reflect on the heart of Jesus and the love he has for you. Make it a moment, alone with your Savior, where heart is calling to heart.

Are you different

Are you different? Yes, God made us. God made the inside and the outside of each of us. And each of us so much different that the next.  No one has the same finger prints, there are distinctions within the voice vibrations and eye patterns can also be distinguished among people.

And, then we remain different. Some are old, while others are young. We have races of different color and languages from hundreds of countries. Some people are poor while others are quite rich and well off. People are of different sizes, in height and girth. You may be right handed, while I am fortunate to be left handed, but in my right mind. 

And for most of us, we recognize all these differences among all of God’s people. But, why is it then that we quite often judge these very same people because of how they look, dress, cleanliness, grammar and the list goes on.

There is the old adage, unless you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, don’t judge me.

This is what makes God so perfect, he doesn’t even look or care how we differ from others. He loves us in spite of all of our short comings, our looks, our cleanliness, whether we are fat or skinny.  No, God looks into our hearts and a clean heart makes a dwelling place for Jesus. That is why it is so important to keep our heart spiritually in tune with God.

Love me as I have loved you, God tells us, and we must follow God’s example and look at the heart of a person, the inside. Deep inside that heart we will see the face of God.

But, they're not dirty

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 you eat so we don’t get sick.

That’s what Jesus is telling us today. It’s not how pretty or clean we look on the outside, it’s what is in our heart. Is our heart clean enough for Jesus to live?

 St. Augustine had a very well known saying, “Late have I loved you, O, Lord”.

It is never too late to clean our hearts, clean the inside, so to speak, and when the inside is clean, then and only then, can we love Jesus with all our heart. Amen