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.

How to warm your heart

When I was a child in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia, Mrs. Brown would shuffle down the street towards St. Bernard’s church, wearing an old bandanna, moccasins and a shabby grey shawl. She never missed church regardless of the weather. 

On really cold days she may wear two shawls for warmth., but she was a widow and so poor – really had nothing. We all referred to her as the crazy lady not out of any disrespect, but because she’d be mumbling words and bobbing her head every once in a while, going down the street. Little did we know at the time she was saying the rosary and bowing her head at the name of Jesus.

On one extremely cold snowy day in February, the crazy lady was headed to daily mass coughing violently and wearing only one shawl. She was cold and she was shivering.

A older man at the corner candy store came out and wrapped an old jacket around her. He said “Keep it and stay warm. She smiled, thanked him and headed across the street to church. What a beautiful thing that man did and how happy it made her. What so ever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto Me.

She wore that jacket for most of that winter and seemed pretty proud of it.
On another cold day in March, the crazy lady was again headed to church clutching her jacket, when out of the same corner candy store came running a little girl chasing her puppy that just broke loose.
Mrs. Brown tried to comfort the little girl by putting her hand on the girl’s head, who was now crying and cold and was determined to find her dog. So, yes, the crazy lady took her jacket off and put in on the little girl and said stay warm and God bless you. With only her shawl and bandana, went across the street to church.

I was naked and you clothed me.

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