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

Static or stagnant

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. We see the Holy Spirit working through the Father and Jesus and budding the faith of Peter throughout Scripture. And so important to know, that faith is not static, but it is meant to grow and develop and should never become stagnant.

Our own faith must grow to the point where we can make a similar proclamation.  It is one thing to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, anointed by God to save his people.  But, there is a far greater depth involved in understanding Jesus as God, possessing all the transcendent qualities of the godhead, equal in everything to the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

We could never in a hundred life-times, reach the limits of understanding God.  There is always more and more to learn; and only God can grant us that growth.

Zombies

Our imagination can be very rewarding on our spiritual journey. We must know, visualize and sometimes it takes our imagination to understand that God is with us every step of our journey.
Imagine our Lord saying to you, “Oh my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them”.
I remember, when I was young, passing through a cemetery at night.  I’ve taken this path many times before, but this was shortly after listening to this exact reading, “I will open your graves and have you rise from them”. Naturally, my imagination began to wander. It was pitch dark and the only sound was that of an owl hooting. I’m sure that owl hooted every time I walked through that cemetery, but tonight I heard it.
And, as I walked further and further passed the graves, I swore I heard all kind of noises coming from those very grave sites. Then the the old black and white version of the movie the “Zombies’ came to my mind. And I began to imagine these creatures, one arm at a time, bone by bone, pushing through the earth and watching me. Wasn’t sure if they had appetites, or what zombies ate. I just told God that now was not a good time to open up those graves.
I prayed and the words of Jesus came to me, “I am with you always” and I pictured Jesus walking next to me, side by side, yet leading and comforting me.
Yes, that was some imagination, but in that imagination there was faith. Faith in the fact that I pictured and believed that Jesus was walking this journey with me.
We have three readings that concern death and the resurrection to newness of live.
We see the scene of the grave yard, we see a tomb, the ultimate place of death and decay. We see prayers, extreme faith, a miracle and joy.
We have Lazarus.  Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus. But before Jesus arrived, his illness became fatal and sadness and hurt and even anger, overcame the two sisters. But if we look closely at the reading there was also hope, there was crucial and critical faith, for Martha says to Jesus when he arrived, “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you”. That was a prayer of faith.
And there was weeping and Jesus became troubled and he was extremely upset and Jesus wept.  Yes, Jesus wept, tears of sorrow, tears no different than ours for the loose of someone close.
They remove the stone and Jesus prays. Jesus prays for the glory of God, not his glory. He prays with the faith that we all must have. And then he shouts.
“Lazarus, come out”. Imagine Lazarus, laying in a prepared burial fashion, hands and feet tied and his face wrapped in a cloth.
He manages to stagger to the entrance of the tomb and people are in awe – the dead man came out. There is no conversation between Jesus and Lazarus, but I can imagine there was much said between the hearts of these two friends, their souls joined as they stood there both reflecting on that moment. And I can imagine that every time Lazarus went into his inner room to pray, he placed himself in that loving image of Jesus, talking to him again from his heart.
We are called to be always in the Spirit, and that requires prayer, yes, unceasing prayer and talking to God, it is having Jesus by our side.No one is spared death and the grave swallows up the righteous and the sinner alike.
But how we choose to live this life will decide where we spend eternity. Our weapon to heaven is prayer.
Our journey with Jesus begins at Baptism and we need to remember there will be hardships, temptation and our weaknesses will be become our crosses, but Jesus said, “I am with you always. Yes, believe and visually imagine Jesus with you every moment -allow him to guide your steps to heaven.
Lazarus is a symbol of all of us – dead to God and bound by sin. And, like Lazarus, each of is loved by Jesus.  Jesus weeps over our suffering and calls us by name to come out of our tombs of unbelief, self-centeredness, and ineffectiveness. In the face of death we are encouraged to choose life, and life can be found only in Christ, and his cross.
Yes, we will rise from our graves on the last day, but even now we can rise with Jesus daily.  He promised it and we can experience it as we unite ourselves to him.
There is a story of a  Catholic priest who stopped by to see a patient in a hospital room to say hello and asked how the elderly man was doing. "My doctors say I'm dying," replied the man, and I'm actually excited about it. I know I'm going to be with Jesus."
The priest asked how he could be so cheerful about death. The old man said, when I was younger I grew very discouraged about prayer. I tried to pray, but Jesus never seemed to be there and I never seemed to get an answer. So I just went through the motions. During a retreat a mission priest told me how common that was with prayer.
"The mission priest said, 'You'll have to become like a child. You know how little kids talk to their teddy bears? And get an answer? They use their imagination. Well, Jesus is really there when we pray, but we can't see him, unless we use our imagination.
Choose a room, the mission priest said, where you have some privacy. Put a chair in the room, and picture Jesus in the chair. See him in his robe and sandals, if you want. Then just talk to him in your own words. Tell him what you're upset about and what you're happy about.
Do this every day, soon it will take less time to get comfortable with Jesus, and easier to talk with him.
Then try this: After you have had your say, just be quiet and listen. 'You'll hear Jesus speak to your heart. The God, who made you, can put ideas, memories, and images into your head, and that's how God talks to you and answers your prayers.'"
"So I tried it," the old man said, "and it worked! It wasn't long before Jesus would sit right there and talk with me, and we've become the best of friends.
See this chair next to my bed? That's for Jesus. When the doctors told me I would die soon, I waited until they left the room. Then I invited Jesus
to come in and sit down, and I told him what the doctors said. 'I know, Jesus answered, 'I heard them. And I'm happy because we'll soon get to see each other face to face. That chair is special to me.
"That's why I'm excited about dying," the old man continued, "because I can't wait to be with my friend, Jesus." The priest was overwhelmed and, choking back tears, said he wanted to visit again.
But when he returned a few days later, he saw the man's daughter in the hall outside his room, crying. "He just died," she told the priest. "I left his room to get a bite to eat, and when I came back he was gone. I know he was ready, she said but what bothers me is how he must have suffered in his last moments.
When I found him, he was halfway out of bed, and his head was on that
chair next to his bed."
The priest took her hand and smiled. "Let's take a minute to talk," he said. "There's a story I need to tell you about that chair."

Fame and fortune or something better

As we mature we realize we can do some things better that others. Some even call us talented. Jesus uses a parable to explain how these gifts, the gifts he has given us,  can benefit all of man kind. 

 Many of us think of money that God gave the servants in the parable, but talents are also gifts. God has given all us talents, special gifts.  They are not ours, they are given to us by God to be used for his glory; to return these gifts in ways that bring others closer to God. 

These gifts are not to be used by us to hide, or to turn them to selfish ends.  No, these gifts are to be used to spread and advance the kingdom of god.

Sadly, many of those God has gifted have sold their gifts to "the world" for fame and fortune. 

This is a trap that many of God's most gifted people fall into. In the end, they sadly realize that they sold their soul to the devil himself for a little fame  and a few dollars which have little meaning in the big picture of life.

Great people don't just wake up someday and become great, they discover something they can do and then put it to work with lots of practice. Some can sing, some can write, some have courage, others can speak, others have an ear to listen and to console, others can move mountains and roadblocks for others.

We all have choices in this life. We all come to a crossroad at times when we can choose the Lord or this world. Take an inventory of your gifts and then decide how to use them for the glory of God.