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Homily

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – The new self

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Eccl. 1:2; 2:21-23; Ps. 90:3-6, 12-14, 17; Col. 3:1-5, 9-11; Lk. 12:13-21

The new self is in the image of the creator putting to death the earthly and receiving Christ.  The old self is vanity, seeking the passions of the flesh and storing up the riches of the world.  The greatest treasure of earthly life lies in the kingdom of God that lies within the soul until we enter into the heavenly glory.  The new self is restored to the sanctity of life no longer drawn to the passions of this world but to the inner voice of God.  It is a hunger for the gifts of the Holy Spirit and a distaste for the vanities of the world. 

The treasure of the kingdom of God is our unity in the one body of Christ that is the bond of love that gives life meaning and purpose in which we live and die to self for the other, the one we love.  It is Christ above us to lift us up to things that are above, Christ within us in the Eucharist to nourish body and soul with divine grace, and Christ before us in our neighbor to call us to serve him daily. 

The new self must also guard one’s body as the body and soul are one being and what affects the body impacts the soul and what the soul lives gives life to the well-being of the body.  Everything else is vanity!  Christ reminds us that it is in the body where he comes to build the temple of the Holy Spirit.  The body is given no less respect that the mind or emotions from the heart.  Respect for the body extends from what we drink, eat, inhale to who we expose our intimacy with.  All impact the soul and our relationship with self and with God. 

The old self is a restless mind that does not seek rest in God but in how it takes control over its life and influences others.  This vanity is an illusion of power and not a trust in a greater power than ourselves.  A restless mind brews anxiety, fear, and obsession that can spiral out of control into paranoia, panic, and depression.  It is a mind in which every action is scrutinized and no answer seems to be sufficient and peace is always beyond reach. 

It is often said we are to trust as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on self.   This requires a life that is actively engaged in prayer even as we move about our day seeking the will of God not our will and the wisdom to know the difference.  The new self is wrapped in prayer as we lift our mind to God and open our heart to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus comes in the moments of life to engage us where we are.  This is the new self who hears his voice and opens up his heart.  Prayer is the answer. 

The Lord prospers the work of our hands when we not only offer it up for his blessing but we offer ourselves up in the love and sacrifice of our hands.  We are part of the labor of love that gives life and blessing to those who come to share and receive from our work.  Our work is to be a blessing that adds to the goodness of life.  The rich man desired to store up for himself his harvest and is called a “fool” for his greed.  In the beginning of life, we seek to build up our human treasures and keep seeking the next best material thing and in the end of life we end up giving away what we possess, trying to hold onto only our health to extend or days. 

The Lord fills the earth with many good blessings to bring joy, peace, beauty, unity, and our daily bread.  If our hearts are not filled with gratitude, we fail to recognize God’s presence and blessings in our life.  It follows the principle of compounding gains or losses meaning the more we focus on the negative the greater we engage and invite negativity into our life while the more we focus on the positive the greater we are open to receive positive blessings in our life.  The Lord fills the heart that is open and ready to receive his goodness but he cannot give to a closed heart.  Put on the new self and live with the end in mind, as if it was the first day of life and the last day of life, and the only day that matters.  “Christ is all and in all.” 

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Homily

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Ask and receive

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen. 18:20-32; Ps. 138:1-3, 6-8; Col. 2:12-14; Lk. 11:1-13

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find” says the Lord.  Abraham pleaded with God for mercy on his people.  Great was the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah for their grave sin worthy of death but great was the prayer for mercy from Abraham to save the innocent among the guilty.  Today we live the great sins Sodom and Gomorrah around the world worthy of the Lord’s justice but great is also the prayer of the Church for mercy and forgiveness.  The weeds remain among the crops till the day of harvesting.  Jesus reminds us in the gospel, God’s love is a father’s love who desires what is good for his people but we have to come to him, ask, seek, knock and persist through prayer and he will answer. 

The outcry for justice versus the outcry for mercy is heard in the heavens.  Unfortunately, not enough souls are praying for mercy because there is the forgotten truth of “sin”.  Pontious Pilate asked Jesus “what is truth?” and today the world questions “what is sin?”  Morality is seen as an individual choice defined by each individual so that one person’s claim of sin is another person’s claim of righteousness.  From the global intifada call for “death to Israel” to the legal claim to the death penalty and the abortion of a child, it is all seen as justice for some without sin.  The lost don’t seek their own mercy from a loving father because there is no connection to the truth of sin.  There is no asking for forgiveness or receiving of mercy for failure to acknowledge God’s truth. 

The modern-day perversion of the human body is beyond the sins of the past through relationships in adultery, prostitution, and homosexuality.  The human body has become the object of self-mutilation through attempts to transition into the opposite gender beginning in early childhood promoting our children to question their own sexuality and gender identity.  The body is now a billboard for identity within groups or simply for self-expression.  Lost is the awareness that the body is in union with the soul and as we dehumanize the body the soul is injured from its true identity created in the image of God.  We become unrecognizable to who God created us to be.  Morality is not a personal choice but a command from God.  Failure to live by his commands is sin. 

Hope is not lost as St. Paul reminds us “even when you were dead in transgression…he brought you to life…having forgiven us all our transgressions” for having asked we receive his mercy and forgiveness.  The legal claims against us for our sins is “obliterated” as he nails it to the cross.  This is the good news and we should come and be reconciled with our God through the sacrament of reconciliation.  All this for those who turn to him in recognition of our sin but if we fail to recognize our sin, fail to ask and seek, believe in our own self-righteousness then we remain lost captured by the snares of the devil. 

Ask and receive says the Lord.  Many will say that they prayed and “nothing happened”.  My first roommate in college as a freshman said to me one day after he found out I was a Christian, he prayed and asked if there was a God to show him.  He said nothing happened so he claimed to be an atheist.  When we approach God asking on our own terms, we will be disappointed and likely nothing will happen.   We are to ask in humility, seek God’s will, and approach God with love fulfilling the first commandment.  Jesus taught his disciples to begin prayer by recognizing the holiness of God that includes his love, mercy, and justice.  We pray for his kingdom to enter our hearts through forgiveness and reconciliation.  We receive “our daily bread” not only when we come to communion in the eucharist but in communion with each other united by the Holy Spirit.  We are obligated to forgive as we are forgiven and plead that we will not undergo the “final test”. 

What is the “final test”?  In Jewish apocalyptic writing it is a period of severe trial before the end of the age.  In historical terms we know all the disciples died and the world has continued for thousands of years but we still await the “end of the age” which is to be a severe time in history.  We currently are living in an age of mercy but as the world falls into greater sins the outcry to heaven is for the end of time to come. 

Our time, that is the lifetime of our human condition is short and we too must pass through a final test in the battle for our soul with the evil one.  We must fight the good fight and remain faithful and persevere to the end because every day counts and every moment is a test of where we stand.  The final test is also the test of the eucharist.  Do we believe in his body and blood soul and divinity coming to us in the bread and wine we receive and do we ask and receive in a state of grace our daily bread?  This is the test we are faced with to stand with God as our Lord and savior in the sacrifice of the eucharist where our sins are obliterated.  God is our hope and our glory. 

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Homily

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Perfect in Christ

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen. 18:1-10a; Ps. 15:2-5; Col. 1:24-28; Lk. 10:38-42

“He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord” having been perfect in Christ.  Abraham is perfect in Christ in his justice and generosity to the “’three men” being a servant to their needs.  He is rewarded with the promise of a son with his wife Sarah.  Martha likewise is being a servant to Christ without a just heart as she complains to Jesus about her sister Mary.  Abraham makes an offering of his resources while Martha makes a complaint of her service.  Mary however makes an offering of her heart “the better part and it will not be taken from her”.  Every day we are called to be of service to our family, friends, work, neighbor and even to a stranger and justice is served when it comes from the heart.  The unjust find fault and complain “why me” instead of “why not me”. 

St. Paul rejoices in his suffering because he makes of an offering of it to serve “what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ”.  What could possibly be lacking in Christ who is God with us?  What is lacking is this unity of our suffering with his for our sins and those of the whole world.  What is lacking is our response to his sacrificial love in meeting the first and greatest commandment.  The love of God with all our heart, mind and soul is lacking when we remain attached to an attitude of “me first”, far from being perfect in Christ.  What is lacking is our desire to be one with Christ because it requires our surrender to his will not ours to be perfect in Christ. 

Perfection is both an act and a process.  The perfect act of perfection is Godly love.  Christ’s perfect act of perfection was his surrender to the cross for the salvation of souls.  Each day we are given an opportunity to make an act of perfection in our charity, suffering, offering of ourselves and worship of our God.  Be perfect as God is perfect is one act of perfection at a time It is how we respond to the test of life with the right attitude of mind, right love of heart, and right desire of will. 

Perfection is also a process that requires perseverance, patience, humility and desire.  Too often the human condition falls into the trap of justifying oneself by rationalizing “I am not perfect”.  I can only imagine God responding with “And what are you doing about it?”  This should not be an excuse for our state of life but a realization of what separates us from God.  It should lead us to an examination of conscience for what needs to change in our lives.  To recognize our imperfection is the first step towards spiritual growth.  In supplication we are to seek God’s grace to be made perfect in Christ.  The process comes through our daily life as God sends us his messengers like he sent Abraham those three angels as men. 

Perfection is also an act of justice.  Jesus death on the cross was the justice paid in atonement for the sins of the world.  Purgatory is the Lord’s justice in atonement for the sins we have committed to be made perfect in Christ.  Many assume that Christ’s death on the cross for our sins implies a direct path to heaven for us but the imperfect soul must be cleansed for only the perfect can see the face of God and live.  We are reminded of this in the book of Wisdom “as gold in the furnace he proved them” (Wis. 3: 1:6).  The fire of purification brings us to be perfect in Christ.  Justice is perfect love and I for one remain in the process of seeking that perfect love. 

Abraham provides for a meal to the three men who arrive and Martha is busy about preparing a meal for Jesus, both indicative of the perfect meal to come through Jesus.  The perfect meal began with the last supper and culminated with the final cup to drink on the cross.  Jesus is the perfect meal that bring us closer to his perfect love.  Today we celebrate that perfect meal in the Eucharist that we may be made perfect in Christ. 

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Homily

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – The Great Command

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Deut. 30:10-14; Ps. 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37; Col. 1:15-20; Lk. 10:25-37

The Great Command of the Lord “is not too mysterious or remote…it is something very near to you…you have only to carry it out.”  This command in our “mouth” and in our “hearts” is not based on the law of commandments and statutes.  Commandments and statutes provide us a roadmap in which we implement the great command of God.  The Great Command is to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and our neighbor as ourselves.  This “love” however is sacrificial love.  It is the love of Christ Jesus in his sacrifice our us that we may sacrifice ourselves for him.  It is not a mystery because Jesus has revealed it to us in his person.  It is not remote because he offers himself to remain with us and in us to fulfill the great command.  Our mission is to grow in this love that makes all other commandments and statutes a natural process of living in Christ Jesus.

In the gospel, the scholar of the law wants to tests Jesus on his view of the law.  Perhaps he wants to see if Jesus is going to uphold all the laws of the Jews but when Jesus asks him to give his interpretation, he is able to summarize all the laws into the great command and Jesus affirms his answer.  His desire to justify himself by asking “who is my neighbor” is from a practical position to know who is “in” that category and who is “out”.  Is it his tribe, all Jews, or what about the Gentiles?  Jesus’ response with a parable gives “neighbor” a whole new meaning.  Neighbor separates no one by race, ethnicity, religion, tribe or territory.  To be neighbor is to be a servant to those in need.

When I was young it was quite common for someone to knock on our door and it would be a child from the neighborhood asking for his family if we had “some flour, butter, oil…a screwdriver, hammer, or any number of things” to lend, share or give them.  Being a neighbor was looking out for each other, offering to help, caring and asking “how are you doing?”  Today we have a tendency to live in isolation by the rule of “don’t ask, don’t tell”.  The great command however remains and when tragedy strikes as it did this past week in Texas with the flooding people respond in great numbers because God is not only with us, he lives in us to respond to the need.  Praise be to God, we live because the great command lives in us. 

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Homily

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts. 12:1-11; Ps. 34:2-9; 2 Tim. 4:6-8, 17-18; Mt. 16:13-19

“But who do you say that I am?”  This question by Jesus to the apostles was answered by Saints Peter and Paul not just with words but with actions following in the footsteps of Jesus to lay their life down for their faith in him.  What is our action of faith that speaks louder than words in answering the question for ourselves?  True faith is reflected in our actions and our actions strengthen our faith that we may stand strong against the powers of the evil one.  Who Jesus is in our life is based on our relationship with him, our daily walk and talk to God in three persons, worship of the Father, love of Jesus and calling to the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. 

King Herod had “James, the brother of John killed by the sword” and now Peter is arrested expecting a similar fate.  What is also happening is that “prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf”.  Intercessory prayer by the Church is a powerful source of prayer and God hears the prayer of the faithful.  God sent his angel to free him from the bonds of evil because his work was not done.  Peter is being formed in the image of Christ, just as Christ was imprisoned in Jerusalem during the feast of Unleavened Bread so is Peter imprisoned during this same season but for now the angel says to Peter to “get dressed” meaning it is not his time to die.  There will be a future time it will be his time to be martyred and others will dress him and lead him where he does not want to go. 

Peter would still be martyred but on God’s time after the early church had grown and established itself as a force under the authority of the apostles.  We too have a window of time in this world with a divine purpose called to give of ourselves for God’s greater good.  This is how we answer the question of who God is for us fulfilling what we are called to be. 

St. Paul gives us a beautiful literary farewell “poured out like a libation…competed well…finished the race…kept the faith…the crown of righteousness awaits me”.  It is so good and poetic that we can forget how much he suffered as he poured out his heart and ran a race to spread the word of salvation “rescued from the lion’s mouth” before being captured by those who were after him to kill him.  It is not generally good to use the word “I” in a homily but I believe the greater we surrender to the will of God the more we are rescued from the lion’s mouth, from those who would do evil in our lives. 

The words “let go and let God” and the prayer “Jesus I trust in you” answer the question “who do you say that I am?” if we put them in practice.  If we believe then we trust and if we trust then we fear not and if we fear not then letting go of that which we cannot change is welcoming the peace of God into our hearts.  Too often we say we believe but fear disrupts our trust and we fall into the desire to control even that which is beyond us leaving no room for God in those moments when we are under the test of faith.  Faith is not a lack of action but acting with trust in God seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, being prudent by taking right action of what we can control and letting go trusting in the will of God to be our champion.   Jesus asks the question to reveal himself as God the Son in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus is our God who reveals to us the Father and delivers us to his love and mercy.  He does this through his own sacrifice on the cross.  He is our champion to carry us from death to life, from sin to sanctity and from purgatory to heaven.  He offers us his sacred heart, a heart that feels all our suffering, grieves all our sins, rejoices in our repentance from sin, heals our wounds and yet still bleeds for the sins of the world.  The sacred heart of Jesus reminds us that he remains fully human and divine in order to remain with us in our own journey of faith.  He desires to be our shepherd whose voice we hear and guides us in right paths. 

Saints Peter and Paul can be seen as having been the bridge that established the universal church.   St. Peter led the Jewish tradition of old into the truth of Jesus the anointed one who they had been waiting for while St. Paul led the evangelization of the Gentiles into the revelation of the “unknown God” revealed in Jesus.  It is our turn now to be a bridge for believers and non-believers.  We must ensure that believers don’t simply live by religious tradition coming to church for weddings and funerals and only major holidays but are actively engaged in their faith and that nonbelievers are drawn to the mystery of faith through what they witness in the church.  This is our calling so let our actions answer the question of who we say Jesus is in our lives. 

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Homily

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110:1-4; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Jn. 16:12-15

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is a celebration of the “living bread that came down from heaven” as a sacrifice to offer us life eternal.  The power of Jesus to transform five loaves and two fish into food to feed thousands is the miracle to understand the power to transform bread and wine into his own body and blood that we may believe and receive him so he may transform our lives.  This miracle was foreshadowed from the days of Melchizedek in the coming of Jesus, as Melchizedek blesses Abram, we the people are now blessed by Jesus our high priest as God Most High.

It is the belief of Jesus in the Eucharist that separates Catholicism from other Christian denominations.  How is it that Christians can accept and believe all the miracles Jesus did as well as his claim that he who sees him sees God but deny him when he says “this is my body, this is my blood” in the bread and wine.  Some even claim Catholics preach cannibalism just as in the times of Jesus when many followers also left him as we read in the gospel of John 6:66 “many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him”.  For those in search of the “mark of the beast” in the numbers 666, what could be a greater mark than to deny Jesus in the Eucharist.  It was “a hard saying, who can believe it” (Jn. 6:60) then and remains so even for many who claim to be Christian. 

Carlo Acutis, the teenage boy who used his computer skills to document many of the Eucharistic miracles prior to his death made this his life mission, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  Eucharistic miracles like in Lanciano (8th Century), Santarem (13th Century), and Buenos Aires (1990s) and show consistently blood type AB positive including the Shroud of Turin is believed to be AB blood.  They also show to come from cardiac tissue which spiritually unites our hearts to the heart of Jesus.  In these miracles Jesus reveals himself as present to us today as he was when he walked this earth.  What we also have in these miracles in an example of how science is not inconsistent with faith.  Carlo’s canonization as a saint is now set to take place September 7, 2025 having lived and died in his service to God at a young age. 

This leaves us still on this earth seeking that perfect sanctity, a work in progress, uniting our faith with reason but ultimately no one can save us with their faith.  It is up to us to believe and by believing to allow Jesus into a more perfect union with our own hearts.  Believe and let God be God for who nothing is impossible.  It is only impossible by our lack of faith as he created us with our own soul to act by free will and to accept or deny him.  We cannot accept him on our terms but as he has revealed himself to humanity, as he claims to be and in the way he has decided to reveal himself.  The decision is ours but eternity depends on the faith we choose to live. 

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Homily

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Prov. 8:22-31; Ps. 8:4-9; Rom 5:1-5; Jn. 16:12-15

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one God in three Persons.  In God the Father we also celebrate the gift of Fatherhood as Father’s Day.  God the Father is above all things, God the Son is through all things, and God the Holy Spirit is in all things.  Father’s Day is a call to Father’s to also rise above all things with the love of a father in order to lead by witness and sacrifice his domestic church at home united in body to his family.  A father’s love of sacrifice is never done, so every day is a Father’s Day in heaven and on earth.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is a mystery which we cannot fully bear now but the “Spirit of truth (that) he will guide us to all truth” is already at work uniting us to this mystery of faith.  “When the Lord established the heavens, I was there”.  Who is this “I” who is like a child “playing before him”?  It is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God who “found delight in the human race”.  It is the Holy Spirit that then glorifies Jesus because it guides us to all truth, the truth that Jesus is Lord.  It is the Holy Spirit that is our guardian through the gifts of the Spirit to lead us in right path. 

Jesus not only found delight in the human race but he comes into the human race to offer his sacrifice for us that we may be saved.  Imagine a time of war and the son comes to his father to join in the service and go to war knowing the possibility that this son may die in war as a sacrifice to a greater cause of freedom.  The love of the Father accepts the will of the son and gives him his blessing in the agony and sorrow that a sacrifice has to be done if we are to live in freedom.  We are at war against the sin of the world even as the Son has given his life for the love of humanity.  The battle continues calling other sons and daughters to offer themselves for the cause of freedom.   Who is willing to offer themselves up to serve God? 

An article on Catholicvote.org (Why young adults are finding the Catholic faith irresistible; June 9, 2025) was describing the rise of young people “flocking” into the Catholic Church, especially Gen Z and it is not just in the U.S. but also in Europe.   In a survey seeking to find out what is driving this movement two examples seemed stand out.  For a female it was the solemnity of the Mass with its music, architecture, and beauty that gave her a sense of “peace”.  For a male it was the “brotherhood” that sense of freedom to be men among men in what is our current woke culture where “masculinity is under attack”.  In other words, it is a sense of love of God being manifested in his church appealing to the senses of men and women in different ways but still the same God.  They are seeking something greater than themselves but it is not “something” but “someone”. 

Those coming into the church who seek will find that the call to love is also the call to serve and the call to serve is a call to sacrifice.  We all must grow from infant faith to mature faith, from believing to living daily the faith.   We are all at different stages on this journey but with the same Triune God at work in all of us.  Daily life is filled with sacrifice that builds endurance, character, and hope in the best and worst of circumstances.  As the Father has given the Son to humanity and the Son has sent us the Holy Spirit, we must all make an offering of ourselves as the greatest sacrifice of love to the Trinity.  The reward in heaven is greater than any sacrifice we make.  We live in the present with the end in mind for eternity. 

Can we say “The Lord possessed me” and we are doing the will of the Father?  If we can say the Lord has taken possession of us then we are living in the wonder and miracle of the Trinity.  With the eyes of faith, we can behold the working of the Spirit in our lives, in our relationships, even in our suffering there is peace because something greater is present in our lives and we have nothing to fear.  As is often stated, “when one door closes another one opens” and not just any door but the right door for our lives.  This is following in the spirit the will of the Father and gives glory to the Son who makes all things possible. 

We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ through whom we gain grace.  We are not justified by our own works but the grace that comes from Jesus which validates our justification in which we are able to accomplish our works.  In the love of Jesus we sometimes forget to call on the Holy Spirit who is the one at work to strengthen us by the gifts of grace ready to be poured into our souls.  Our prayer, “Come Holy Spirit, take possession of our hearts and strengthen us by your grace” is this intimate union with the Holy Spirit that transformed the disciples from student interns into apostles of authority through the gifts of the Spirit.  We too are to pray for these gifts that our lives may be transformed. 

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is that we have but one God in three persons united by the same will that is bound in love.  Marriage is to be a unity of one man, one woman and one God bound in love to fulfill a greater good.  It is sacramental meaning sacred as two human hearts receive God in a covenant of love to do the will of God.  When we are open to the will of God then God reveals himself through each other in marriage.  God speaks the language of love to raise each other up and help each other get to heaven.  This is the closest to understanding the Trinity we can compare to for now until God reveals himself to us in eternity. 

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Homily

Pentecost Sunday Receive the Holy Spirit

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 2:1-11; Ps. 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; Rom 8:8-17; Jn. 20:19-23

Receive the Holy Spirit!  Pentecost Sunday is the gift of the Holy Spirit to each according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  What is our gift and how are we using this gift to serve God and the greater good?  For the apostles, the Holy Spirit is the “Advocate”.  In legal terms the advocate speaks for them but it does so through the inspiration it gives them.  It allows them to speak for Christ and not for themselves.   

The Apostles spoke as one voice through prayer, fasting, and discernment.  We too share in the gift of the Advocate by listening to the voice of God in prayer, fasting, discernment and by the voice of the Church.  Since the early days it was the one voice of the Church that addressed many of the questions of the people such as circumcision, ritual foods, or moral behavior.  This was a time when there was no “bible” to study only the word given to the apostles and the traditions carried forth and those left behind.  It was a time of major change in matters of “God” and Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to guide this transition. 

Just today, I was walking through the grocery store and I heard two men discussing a religious matter when one spoke up with a louder voice saying “even the Pope said, ‘who am I to judge’” (a quote attributed to Pope Francis) making his final argument.  The moral clarity of the Church and for the Pope is not to pass personal judgment but to defend the judgment that has already been passed on from Christ to his people.  There are certain judgments that are not left for re-litigation but for enforcement through obedience.  The Lord has passed judgement on issues of life and death, right and wrong, truth and lies and these judgements are not hidden but defended so that ignorance of the truth is not an excuse. 

The Ten Commandments are a judgment that separates holiness from sinfulness.  Hell welcomes all sinners without conditions or exceptions “as is” but Christ welcomes all sinners to repentance “as called to be” for heaven.   The Holy Spirit comes not to affirm us as we choose to be but to purify us with the fire of holiness to be all that God is calling us to be.  The “call” is for transformation, renewal, and the fire to change the world by the change that starts from within the soul. 

In the first reading the Holy Spirit comes in the form of “tongues as of fire” but the “tongues” were different to each as evidence by those who heard them speak in different languages.  For some Christian groups the gift of tongues has become a litmus test as proof of being saved.  The gift of the Holy Spirit is not simply the gift to speak in tongues as a charismatic revival of the spirit.  For those who receive this gift they must still pick up their cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus by the daily practice of the faith.  Even those who spoke in tongues spoke in different languages to be understood by various native people of different regions.  Speaking in tongues is just one of many gifts that the spirit produces according to God’s purpose. 

The Holy Spirit comes in many forms with various gifts to be a servant of the Lord and fulfill a calling.  The gift may be to step up as a martyr as did St. Maximillian Kolbe, or the gift of love for the poor as did St. Teresa of Calcutta, or the gift of defending life in all its forms from conception until natural death as a voice in public office, or the gift of raising a future priest, Nun, or Pope by faithfulness to the Church in the domestic church at home.  There are many gifts but the same spirit and the gift of tongues is just one gift.  Again, “What is our gift and how committed are we to this calling?”  The answer is in the fruit of the gift and taking time daily for a spiritual inventory is a good way in making progress for what we have done or failed to do. 

Receive the Holy Spirit and you shall live in the spirit as we bury the flesh.  We bury the flesh when we deny ourselves not what is good but what excess.  It is good and essential to feed the body but it works against the body and the spirit when excess is given to the body bringing sickness and disease.  We bury the flesh when we deny ourselves the pleasure of sexual temptation in all its form of lust but not the sexual union that comes in marriage.  We bury the flesh when we deny ourselves the pride of desire to be first but welcome the desire to be the best that God created us to be.  We bury the flesh when we deny the need to control others according to our will and allow God’s will to be done.  In this we set the spirit free to work its grace in our lives. 

The apostle also reminds us that “if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him”.  Suffering with the Lord begins with our self-denial of the flesh.  Self-denial is our invitation to the Holy Spirit to come and take possession of our hearts and strengthen us by his grace.  It is easy to question the Lord as to why our prayers are not answered without even giving a thought as to why we have not made a sacrifice of our own for the Lord.  It is good to ask but it is important to make an offering to the Lord.  The great sacrifice of the Lord was an act of love for humanity and thus our greatest act of love comes through sacrifice. 

We are one body in Christ but it is our many gifts from the Lord that allows us to love, grow and support each other called to serve one another, lift each other up and help each other get to heaven. 

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Homily

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 1:1-11; Ps. 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph. 1:17-23; Lk. 24:46-53

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is also about the blessing of the “promise”.  The promise of the Father is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit comes with the power to bring forgiveness of sins, it is the promise of the kingdom of God, and it is the power to speak “in persona Cristi”, in the person of Christ.  Scripture is the word of God but the word is given to those called to serve in the image of Christ as his priests with Christ as our high priest.   This is the power of the church as the body of Christ to be a channel of grace upon his people.  This promise is for us through the waters of baptism as priest, prophet, and king. 

What are we to fear if we carry the promise with us.  We don’t fear living but not living up to the gift of the promise. The gift is a calling to be witnesses of Christ in forgiving, in teaching and by example.  When we look to the Ascension of the Lord, we bring together the cross, the cave and the ascension.  Each day we are to live the cross of suffering and surrender to the Lord. In the cave we also die with him putting to death our temptations of the flesh and mind that represent sin.  In carrying the cross and dying to self we can truly rise with him in spirit and in truth.  When we come to receive our Lord in the Eucharist we come to be purified in his body and blood that we may rise to new life and a greater presence before the Lord, as Jesus prays that we may be one in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

In the reading, the two men dressed in white is the appearance of angels as ordinary humans.  When was the last time an angel addressed us personally?  If it did happen the possibility that we even recognized we were being addressed by an angel is unlikely.  We see with the human intellect and fail to recognize with the heart God’s messengers.  Recall how Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and how they failed to recognize him until the breaking of the bread.  What we can learn from this is that their hearts were burning even when their eyes were blind.  We cannot be before angels and not have our hearts touched by their presence.  To be in the kingdom of God is to be with the angels and the saints.  It is why we pray not only to God in the Trinity but to the angels and saints who are with us in our journey of faith. 

Even greater is the gift of the Holy Spirit at work within our souls.  The Holy Spirit is the gift of “wisdom and revelation” that our hearts be “enlightened” to confirm God’s truth and say “I know that I know” God’s will for me.   There is no doubt what God is asking of us.  God does not ask without providing “the surpassing greatness of his power for those who believe”.  Faith leads to action but it occurs within the act of total surrender to the will of God trusting in his divine will to work all things for the greater good.  The Holy Spirit is more than a companion on the journey, it is the force within the soul to bear the cross, to give life to the soul, and to raise us up in victory uniting us to the Lord in his ascension.  The Holy Spirit is the promise of God’s indwelling presence in our souls.  “Come Holy Spirit, take possession of our hearts and strengthen us by your grace.” 

The purpose of the Ascencion of the Lord was not to leave us to our own doing but to send us the guiding power of the Holy Spirit.  The work of the Lord is to operate from within our soul, to manifest himself through us by remaining within us.  We are to be the temple of the Lord and seek to remain in the purity of the Holy Spirit.  Do we fail often?  Absolutely, we fail but in the mercy of God he lifts us up again and our souls are strengthened by his grace in the call to be perfect as he is perfect.  It took the Israelites forty years in the desert to reach the promise land and so in God’s time we will be formed into his image, the image of Godly love.  That image may not be what we anticipate it to be as a “perfect human being”.  The Lord’s perfection is his work being done through us.  It may be through our sickness, our incapacity to do for ourselves, our conditions of dementia, being bedridden, or in poverty, homeless, or abandoned in a nursing home waiting for death.  Our call to holiness may be as the caregiver of those in need.  The Lord’s perfection works in mysterious ways through our brokenness that others may be called to serve as instruments of God’s love and gain their perfection. 

The Lord has ascended into heaven but he also remains always present for those who call upon his name, the name above every other name and at the name of Jesus every knee will bend.  We kneel to the Lord that we may also be lifted up with the Lord this day. 

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Homily

6th Sunday of Easter – Peace, I leave you!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Ps. 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Rev. 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn. 14:23-29

Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you” says the Lord.  It begs the question, “are we at peace?”  What separates us from the peace the Lord has left us with?  For one, Jesus says it is not the peace that the world gives.  In the world “peace” is represented by the absence of war yet the world has a history of always being at war.  In the world “peace” is a truce whereby people agree to avoid conflict but Jesus does not promise us we will be free from conflict in our lives.  The peace of the Lord is not the absence of conflict but the security of God’s love in facing our conflicts.  If God is with us who can be against us.  Even in death we are at peace because we welcome him and enter into his peace of eternal life. 

The “peace, I leave you” comes by way of keeping his word, living his commandments.  In the first reading there are “some without mandate” meaning taking it upon themselves to give orders who are causing conflict among the gentiles.  They want to impose the old law of circumcision upon the gentiles as a condition of being “saved”.  Jesus knew that this would happen unless he left an authority in the world to resolve disagreements and power struggles.  This is why he gave Peter the keys to the kingdom and today those keys have been handed over to Pope Leo XIV.  The ring he received in his inauguration has the image of Peter and the net on its face.  It is the continuity of authority to guide the church that Jesus entrusted to his disciples. 

As much as the word of God comes to us through scripture it is impossible to anticipate every possibility the apostles would face.  Authority to “bind and loose” was needed going forward after the ascension of the Lord.  This authority however would not be guided by human reason alone but by the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell within the soul of a person to bring the peace of Christ in leading their actions.  They would not be left alone but God is with them and he is with us to bring us peace as we confront our everyday decisions when we trust in God and listen for his voice to reveal to us right judgment. 

Sadly, today we see how the church has become divided as scripture is taken as the only authority to be interpreted by each person as their personal revelation.  There are some who say the Lord spoke to them and now they have authority in guiding others.  We now have endless “Christian” denominations guided by either a council of elders or a sole individual inspired by scripture.  This is not the structure Jesus gave his disciples for the Spirit to create divided pockets of followers or for the truth to become relative.  Jesus prayer to the Father was for unity, that they may all be one as the Father is one with the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Pope Leo XIV motto is “In Illo uno unam” translated “In the One, one” meaning that in the one Godhead we be one with him.  In order for there to be true and lasting peace there can only be one God in the Trinity, one Church with God’s authority, and one true interpretation to scripture.  The world seeks peace by the illusion that the greater the diversity and freedom to do as we will the more a soul will find peace.  This experiment is failing humanity as the greater the freedom to determine truth as a personal choice the more distress, anxiety, and fear enters a soul as it faces the reality that truth must be a shared reality, a universal truth or it is a false truth. 

We see in the first reading how easily division can happen in a society or in a church unless there is a unified authority to address various opinions, ideology, or rules.  The early church understood the importance of being unified and turned to the apostles and elders to settle the matter of circumcision.  This is what we refer to as the magisterium of the church headed now by Pope Leo XIV.  It is both the man and something greater at work within the man and that is the Holy Spirit. 

Pope Leo XIV’s call to his brother Cardinals is to walk with him on this journey in humility and obedience seeking the will of God in all matters.  In the same way each cell within the body of Christ, that is each local church is called to walk together seeking the will of God, open to the Holy Spirit, and obedient to a greater authority remembering that it is the authority who must also answer for how they guided their flock.  This begins with the authority within the home, the domestic church as the first teachers of faith by word and example.  Proper authority is entrusted to act in the person of Jesus whether as parents, pastor, bishop, cardinal or Pope. 

What is “truth” asked Pontius Pilate as he stood face to face with truth in the person of Jesus.  Many are asking these days “what is truth?”  Truth comes with authority but we don’t want to surrender to authority, not even a supreme authority who is a God of all creation so many remain wandering in the desert of life seeking to become their own truth and going nowhere.  Truth is Jesus.  He is the way, the good shepherd who brings us his peace and the truth of salvation.  The truth is love, Godly love and obedience to this love is by way of relationship that our hearts be one in love and all peace will follow.   May the love of God be with you and let us live his peace.   

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