25th Sunday Ordinary Time – The Lord is near!

Posted on September 19, 2026September 17, 2026 by Deacon Joe

Is. 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18; Phil. 1:20c-24, 27a; Mt. 20:1-16a

“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near” is both an invitation and a warning. The Lord is near, easy to be found who desires to remain with us but we must come to him so he can reveal himself to us. The invitation is to recognize God in his infinite love and mercy calling us back to him. He is with us even as we live in the flesh that our labor may be fruitful. God is a generous God to those who serve him in his kingdom. The invitation also includes a warning that our day is passing quickly and soon this life will come to an end and with it our opportunity to seek the Lord while he may be found. If we but call out to him he is near to us ready to enter into our hearts.

“The Lord is near to all who call upon him”. In general, there are two kinds of Christians. One view God as creator who after creation remains apart allowing humanity to live by self-determination. The other side views God as someone who has predetermined all that is going to happen and we are just living it out like a play. Both views by are wrong. Today’s readings reveal to us that we have a choice of how we live our life in relationship with God. He is near if we call upon him but he also allows us to be distant from him by our free will.

The person who says “where is God” when hardship or tragedy comes reveals himself as someone who believed in a distant God, living “their life” and forgetting to call upon him for a deeper relationship. The person who calls upon God in daily life is not immune from hardship or tragedy but is already being carried through to the other side of the turbulence able to weather the storm and by their faith is invited to come out and walk on water trusting in the Lord. He is near to those who call upon Him always whether in thanksgiving or in supplication. If we only wait to call out to him after the house is on fire the damage is done.

The hope of the gospel is that we can come to God whether it is the first hour of our life or the last hour of our life while in the flesh. The story of the landowner who goes out to hire workers throughout the day giving each the same wage at the end of the day appears by human standards as an injustice unless we recognize that love and justice work together. The love and mercy of God is being extended to us who forget to call upon the Lord as we go about living our lives until at the end we recognize our need for God. It is extended to those raised agnostic with no teaching of the gospel who by the grace of God one day hear the word and receive it in their hearts. It is extended to the broken and suffering who in their pain call out in agony and receive mercy from God.

The gospel story also has a parallel to the story of the prodigal son. The son who demanded his inheritance and walked away from the Father left to create his own self-determination and squandered his inheritance, that is the kingdom of God. He had enough common sense to return to the Father and seek forgiveness. The son who remained with the father working all his life felt cheated by his father who received his brother back with great love and mercy. It is a reminder that even the faithful sometimes don’t realize all that we are receiving from the Father which by the grace of God have not fallen away like the prodigal son. In both parables, the landowner and the father demonstrate a generous heart. The love of God is the love of a Father.

Recall what we tell our children when they are little, “I love to the moon and back.” They grow up and realize we can now travel to the moon and back so compared to God’s love of “infinity and beyond”, no comparison. It wasn’t that long ago when our kids couldn’t wait to move out of their parent’s house and be independent and we were “helicopter parents” trying to follow them. Now many are in no rush to leave the nest and we can’t wait for them to go get a job and have their own life. The moon is college and they went there and have come back home. The Lord reminds us, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways”. We are all a work in progress so when we turn to him, we open up that his will be done.

Those who come into his kingdom and serve God all the days of our lives receive the promise of heaven. Those who are to come later in life can also receive the promise of the Father. Some are faithful from the cradle to the grave but many of us have veered through our life separating ourselves from God, Church, even from our family falling into sin. The love of God is mercy and justice. In mercy God desires all to enter heaven and in justice he provides the path of purification we call purgatory to “wash our baptismal robes” as Dante claims. This is where love and justice meet.

Purgatory is the promise of heaven but not yet and can be the joy of suffering in redemption for our sins already forgiven. We can liken this to going to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. When we go to confession the priest gives us the absolution and our sins are forgiven. He then gives us our penance which we are to joyfully fulfill in thanksgiving to God for his love and mercy. Purgatory is the heavenly penance we owe our Lord for his justice in final preparation for heaven.

God desires all to be saved and today he gives us all hope that it is never too late to seek the Lord, turn from our ways and follow his call to salvation.

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Homily

24th Sunday Ordinary Time – Remember your last days

Posted on September 12, 2026September 10, 2026 by Deacon Joe

Sir. 27:30- 28:7; Ps. 103:1-4, 9-12; Rom.14:7-9; Mt. 18:21-35

God is mercy and mercy is forgiveness! “Remember your last days” before you proclaim “no justice no peace”. We are called to “forgive your neighbor’s injustice”. Why do we “hug them tight” our wrath and anger when they are the poison of death while others remain alive? In part, it is because we fail to see ourselves in the sinner. In the heart we give thanks we are not like them and justify our “’righteousness” for anger and vengeance. When we remember our last days the only thing that matters is our own judgment day before God. He will judge the mercy of our hearts based on the love we offered to others.

When Peter asks Jesus “how often must I forgive”, he is thinking between human relationships. Our world however is not just between us humans, it is between us and God. Jesus binds the debt of forgiveness between humans to himself and his sacrifice for us. We owe it to Jesus to forgive others as he has forgiven us infinitely. In this we die to ourselves when we come to realize it is not about us but how we are called to serve him with all our heart, mind and soul. Jesus gave himself completely on the cross for us and we are to respond to this sacrifice in like manner giving ourselves completely to him.

False righteousness is like rejecting the leper for his visible disease while walking in ignorance of the invisible cancer growing inside. “Remember death and decay and cease to sin!” Anger and wrath become the poison we consume that leads to the death and decay of our humanity.

Jesus likened “the kingdom of heaven” to a king who “settles accounts with his servants” and whether “we live or die we are the Lord’s” waiting our own day of judgment. “Remember your last days” is God reminding us to live with the last days in mind so that our actions will be based on our preparation for eternity.

Love humanizes us to a greater degree than the animal instinct to attack back. Love is the antidote to our anger and wrath. Love does not imply we never get angry. Do we have a right to be angry? Yes, anger has a just purpose in life. Anger is like a fever in that the problem is not the fever but what underlies the cause of the fever. Anger is a symptom and we need to examine the cause on its merit. It moves us to speak and right action. Jesus became angry in the temple with the money exchangers. He was moved to action. His action did not end in anger but a call to love God above all.

Justice is the offering of Jesus for our sins for his mercy. It is conditional on our forgiveness “as we forgive others”, our brothers and sisters, neighbors and strangers “from the heart” for the injustice. Jesus speaks to the disciples that “heaven is likened…(to) his master (who) handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt”. As servants of the Lord there is a place for those who fail to forgive “until ‘we’ pay back the whole debt” which as a Catholic church we identify as purgatory. Purgatory is for the chosen who remain with the stain of sin of unforgiveness.

We live in times when the streets proclaim “no justice no peace” seeking reparation for a history of people who have long passed from the earth. Some believe you can be the victim of other’s history standing in for another’s suffering with expectation of compensation as an entitlement. They “hold them tight” wrath and anger for a historical identity as victims without personal sacrifice of suffering in the name of social justice. This is likened to blaming God for the sin of Adam and Eve for falling into a world of sin and suffering. It is a ludicrous philosophy of victimization for all creation.

Who do we need to forgive? It begins in the domestic church, husbands and wives must forgive each other from the heart; children forgive parents for imperfect parenting at best and abandonment or abuse at worse; forgive our friends and neighbors who we have stopped talking with. The root of forgiveness lies at the seed of love from the home. It begins with a decision to forgive and a prayer of petition to receive the grace of forgiveness in the heart. We don’t wait for a feeling to forgive to arrive before forgiving. We act on the command of God to forgive and trust God with our heart to bring us peace.

Take a moment to do an act of forgiveness for anyone who comes to mind who has offended thee regardless of how great the offense was. Do it as an act of love for God regardless of any emotion felt toward the offender. Picture the offender in your life as the sinner on the cross who was promised paradise after he asked Jesus to remember him when he enters into his kingdom. Remember your last days having surrendered all your past sins with a true act of contrition letting go of all anger and wrath and receiving the mercy of God knowing as you have forgiven others you are being forgiven.

Amen.

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Homily

All Souls Day – The Faithful Departed

Posted on November 1, 2025November 3, 2025 by Deacon Joe

Wis. 3:1-9; Ps. 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Rom. 5:5-11; Jn.6:37-40

Who are the faithful departed? Some claim to be saved by faith alone while others to be saved by their baptism having fulfilled the law but the faithful departed are the ones who have died to themselves to live in imitation of Christ. To these faithful departed, death has no sting overcome by the cross of Jesus. Faith without works is dead while baptism is the beginning of a life in Christ for those who accept the call to take up the cross and follow. The faithful departed have run the good race, denying themselves their passions to live the passion of Christ. God is calling us to a closer walk with him that we may be faithful before we depart from this life.

Why do we pray for the dead? If they are already in heaven then they don’t need our prayers, we need their prayers. Revelation reminds us that “nothing unclean” can enter into heaven. Everyone does not die in a state of perfect grace but many die with the promise of heaven in need of cleansing before entering into the light of heaven.

The love of a Father is to correct his children and so we are “chastised a little” not only to correct our souls but to purify them “as gold in the furnace”. Suffering is a gift we can unite to the cross as redemptive suffering making up what is lacking in Christ as St. Paul reminds us. What is lacking for salvation is our fiat, our “yes, Lord” for he cannot save us without us coming to him. This is life in Christ and in imitation of Christ. The invitation is an open invitation while there is still time. In our suffering we are reminded of the mortality of the flesh and our weakness without God. Suffering can serve as our purgatory in this life as a cleansing of our sin.

In our humanity we are prone to excuse our actions with words like “I’m not perfect…I’m only human…we all make mistakes”. The words we don’t hear are “I’m a sinner”. The sinner we are is what we bring to confession. Jesus came and revealed to us that God recognizes not only the sins of our actions but the sins of our hearts. We all carry a heavy load of sins in the heart. The faithful departed have been cleansed from all sin before they can stand before the throne of God. This is the purpose of our sacramental life, to be cleansed, to receive God’s mercy, to do our penance in this life.

We have a tendency in funerals to imply that the deceased has gone to heaven, but we don’t know that. We like to say, “they were a good person” but Jesus says, “only God is good”. So where does that leave us? It leaves us with a promise that God is faithful to the faithful in this life who have departed. It is the promise to the “elect”. To those who are unfaithful he remains faithful to the promise of a heaven and a hell to separate the elect from those who have chosen to separate themselves from God by their actions. To the faithfully departed there is also a final cleansing in purgatory.

This was the promise Jesus made to the “good” thief on the cross when he said, “today you will be with me in paradise”. “Paradise” is not heaven. Paradise is where the faithful departed were awaiting the coming of the Messiah when Jesus descends to the dead. The thief did not steal heaven, but he did make his final confession on the cross and descended to the dead to serve his purgatory.

The promise to the “elect” is that he shall shepherd us and “there is nothing I shall want”. A loving Father knows best. God’s love is that we remain in right relationship with him, called to be holy. For the faithful departed hope has not disappointed and all things are revealed in serving a greater purpose for our salvation and that of others. We are in the hands of God and he provides for us a kingdom of peace, justice and righteousness guarded from the evil one.

This week was the movie premiere of “Triumph over evil”. In one of the scenes Fa. Amorth, the famous exorcist priest from Rome who died in 2016, retells his experience of an exorcism where the demon complaints of the bright light in the room. The demon says the light is coming from “the woman”. The woman is blessed Mary who the demon won’t even say her name. In another occasion the demon complains of the monk who is in the room with a rosary. The apparition to the demon is Padre Pio. The faithful departed are in heaven ready to pray for us, to intercede through Jesus to the Father. How much more our faithfully departed who loved and know us are ready to pray for us if we call upon them.

God is faithful, perfect, and loving and he calls us to be in imitation of Christ in the same way in this journey of life before we enter into eternity as faithfully departed souls. It is our turn now in this brief time on earth to respond to his call.

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Homily

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Perfect in Christ

Posted on July 19, 2025July 17, 2025 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

33rd Sunday Ordinary Time – In those days

Posted on November 16, 2024November 16, 2024 by Deacon Joe

Dn. 12: 1-3; Ps. 16:5, 8-11; Heb. 10:11-14, 18; Mk. 13:24-32

“In those days after the tribulation” now becomes our days, the end times in which we live. As we come to the end of ordinary time the readings speak of what is to come in the “end times” or Eschatology. Traditionally this is taken as futuristic, something to come along the historical clock that marks human time. We should however also consider the end of ordinary time in the context of the end of our earthly time and the beginning of the divine life, the glorified state of coming face to face with our Lord and our particular judgement day.

Daniel also speaks of what is to come in those days which is now our inheritance. In other word, Jesus died for us and he is our inheritance here to remain with us when we choose the path of salvation. Jesus is the “path of life”. Jesus is the turnkey of what was predicted and is now with us in our times for the “wise” to shine brightly and the foolish in “horror and disgrace”. As we come to the end of the Church calendar year we are reminded to “remain vigilant at all times” because we never know the hour when our own ordinary time on this earth can [JG1] come to an end.

Who can say they are living the perfect life of holiness ready to “stand before the Son of Man”? We are weak and only through God do we gain the strength to stand before him by remaining faithful to his will. The flesh is weak and often settles for being minimalist when it comes to God. The common sentiment is “I go to Church and I am a good person” and that is enough. I once had someone say to me “I know I am sinning but as long as I go to confession before I die God will forgive me.” Do we really want to be gambling with God? We have a poor understanding of judgment.

Judgment is for everyone. We will all be judged and suffer the pain of our sins and it starts at the moment of our death with purgatory. Purgatory is purifying our souls from the stains of sin that we may be perfect as God calls us to be. We are called to holiness and nothing impure can enter into the glory of God. How long we will suffer in purgatory is being determined today by how little or how much we are dedicated to loving God. God isn’t interested in a “part-time” Christian or a cultural Christian who simply follows the social norms of society. We are to remain in him, to pray always, to offer ourselves up to him in all, through all and with all of our being that our judgment will come to pass quickly. The Mass is the prayer in which we offer ourselves up to him and seek his mercy.

Jesus also speaks of his second coming “in the clouds with great power and glory” to gather his elect. By our baptism we have joined the elect but we remain with our free will to choose to remain in him or go our own way. It only makes sense that what we do with our lives matters to God. As some protestant theology preaches “once saved always saved” is a false teaching. There is a “work” in salvation that we are called to be and do and not everyone is committed to doing the work. The elect comes by being consecrated to him as a daily commitment to the divine will. This is the cross we are to take up daily focused on his coming into our lives. It is a work of joy and celebration done with love.

We are the post resurrection generation that will not pass away until all that he promised is fulfilled. How long will this “generation” last is not ours to know. What matters is the lesson of the fig tree applied to our own lives. God will look to see the fruit of our lives and the growth of our souls. We may appear withered and dying away by our sins, spiritually dead with no life to give. The Lord approaches our “gate” to call us to account for ourselves and we are living in those times. What we call ordinary time we will look back as the extraordinary suffering of our sins and the new ordinary will be the glorious for all eternity.

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Homily

12th Sunday Ordinary Time “Fear no one”

Posted on June 24, 2023June 22, 2023 by Deacon Joe

Jer. 20:10-13; Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35; Rom. 5:12-15; Mt. 10:26-33

“Fear no one” except for “the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna”. In this world we are to fear no one as sheep under the care of our shepherd. Without fear we are to be bold Christians unafraid to stand for our faith and acknowledge our God before others. This is what the culture of death cannot accept, that we are not to fear proclaiming our faith in the public square. In fact, the test of fortitude is to acknowledge our heavenly Father before others or we too will be denied before the Father.

Consider the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. With prudence the Holy Spirit can guide us to right action and with justice we can discern what is just in the eyes of God but unless we have the fortitude to stand for what is just and take right action, we can fall into the sin of omission afraid of being judged by the world and compliant by our silence. Do we have the courage to let others know “I am a Catholic”; to silently pray by making the sign of the cross before a meal at a restaurant or if you are a student at lunch on campus? Do we dare repeat the words of the church when it says abortion is intrinsically evil? If we deny our faith before others, have we denied God himself? Let us pray for prudence to take right action before others,

We also receive the gift of temperance that we may recognize the right balance in standing for justice without falling into sin by extremist reactions. We are called to be warriors for Christ by following as imitators of Christ and not imitators of the evil one. Recall how Jesus corrected Peter for his wrong intentions, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Mk. 8:33) We must always discern right action in times of wrong by seeking the mind of God or risk becoming zealots of our own ideology.

Just as in the early church there was a time of persecution for proclaiming the one true God, today the cancel culture is back seeking to destroy anyone who does not accept the mantras of what is viewed as “progressive” ideology. There was a time when the compromise seemed to be silence, just keep your views to yourself and leave politics, religion, and money out of the conversation. That is no longer the approved standard.

Unless you demonstrate support for progressive ideology with chosen pronouns, gender affirming language, even required colors in clothing that support certain views there will be an effort to punish and cancel a person. Unless people demonstrate support for freedom without restraint in termination of life of the unborn, assisted suicide, and gender transitioning at any age you will be persecuted.

What is true for Jeremiah is become true for society at large. There is “terror at every side!” ready to denounce anyone who dares to oppose what is labeled as “progressive”. Ironically to call the current culture “progressive” is an oxymoron. Our times reflect the words of Isaiah 5:20 “How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad and bad things good, who think darkness is light and light is darkness”. This is nothing more than the work of the evil one and many have fallen seduced by a “feel good” philosophy. If it feels good then do it.

Did it feel good for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross? Not at all. By his goodness he opened the gate into heaven by way of the cross. Does it feel good to face your fears in order to overcome them? Not at all. It would seem best to run from those fears but that only adds greater fear. It is in facing our fears that we struggle and learn how to overcome them. Does it feel good to get old and see our body struggle with illness, our mind lose cognition, and lose our independence? Not at all. Yet, it is in dying that we are born again into the kingdom of God, the resurrected life and the glorified state. This the world cannot understand or accept but we have come to believe in the Son of God sent to redeem us and give us true freedom.

The “feel good” philosophy is the gate to Gehenna where some fall into damnation and others come to be purified by fire. Gehenna between the 7^th and 10^th century B.C. was a valley where child sacrifices were made to the gods, the modern-day abortion world to the god of self. In the time of Jesus, it had become the city dump outside of Jerusalem where the trash was burned, the modern-day confessional where we go to dump our sins and be forgiven. For Jews it also came to represent a sign as a “place of purification” which in Christian eschatology is taken to be purgatory (Britannica.com) the modern view of washing our baptismal robes of our sins. Gehenna is the fire of transformation from great sinner to great saint but not for all.

It does not have to be Gehenna for us when we choose God’s way. God’s way is the imitation of Christ. Christ is the image, person, and God we are to follow. For this he came to show us the way to salvation. “Fear no one except the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna”. Who has the power to do this? Is it God after all he is the one creator of all who can destroy all; is it the evil one who comes to destroy body and soul through sin; or is it something we have done to ourselves by our own free will? Let us pray that we will not be the one to find out the answer by having denied Jesus. Remain in him and he will remain in us.

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Homily

3rd Sunday of Easter – Road to Emmaus

Posted on April 22, 2023April 20, 2023 by Deacon Joe

Acts 2:14, 22-23; Ps. 16:1-2, 5, 7-11; 1 Pt 1:17-21; Lk.24:13-35

Road to Emmaus is seven miles from Jerusalem. It represents a lifetime journey of faith for us to encounter Jesus along the way that our eyes may be opened. For the baptized child faith comes as a gift of the Holy Spirit but a gift to be unwrapped and explored discovering all of our earthly days all that the gift can reveal about God, self, and others. A child is born with eyes open to believe what we feed their minds and hearts, what to follow, and where to go but we cannot give what we do not ourselves have. We must have God as our destination site or the world will quickly draw us away from our God given purpose but not only us but also all of our household.

Today we speak of having a “bucket list” with destination sites as places for special occasions, where memories are made, dreams come true and we get to live out our indulgence of this life. They are expensive and often last but a short time before returning to what we call “reality”, our daily commitments of life. Is heaven on our bucket list? Reality is life is short in this world before we enter into eternity and eternity has only two main destinations, heaven or hell.

Purgatory is a destination site along the way to heaven to cleanse us of our impurities. Let us try to take care of our impurities now so that purgatory is more of a pit stop than a layover of centuries. Did you know that heaven is outside of time but purgatory is not? Part of the suffering of purgatory is the sense of lasting time waiting to enter the glory of God. Something to ponder! Heaven should be number one on our bucket list and all the rest of our priorities need to be gauged on whether they help lead us there or distract us from God. The road to Emmaus is the road to have our eyes opened to God who draws near to us to be loved and to love us.

For the two disciples on the road to Emmaus “Jesus himself drew near and walked with them but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him”. One may think that Jesus prevented them from recognizing him but we should also consider the state of mind of the two disciples “downcast, conversing and debating” looking back at all that had happened. Their own state of mind in disbelief and their walk was out of step with faith. When we walk out of step with faith our eyes are prevented from seeing Jesus, who draws near to us to be at our side.

When bad things happen in life it is easier to ask “why”, why me, why now, why did this happen? The more we question the more we walk out of step with faith looking back as the disciples did and failing to see God who is always present. Rather than begin with why, ask God to reveal himself. God help me to see you, the work of your grace, your hand in my hand with the eyes of faith that I may be an instrument of faith trusting in your divine providence. This is walking in step with Jesus recognizing it is all about God and God is all about our salvation.

Bad things happen not by the will of God but by the freedom he has given us, but his mercy is everlasting when we repent and come back to him. When we ask God to reveal himself, we will come to understand better why bad things happen and how God brings us good out of evil. We will recognize the power of his love transforming us with his sacred heart as a father of love. We have only to look at the cross as evidence of his power of transformation. Yet we a “slow of heart to believe” to come to him in search of the divine truth.

The disciples were “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!”. We can say that they spent three years in formation walking with Jesus, receiving his teaching, and even telling them of his own death and resurrection. We are disciples also and for many considered life-long cradle Catholics. We have in all of history more access than at any other time to all the writings from the beginning of Christianity, from the canon of the Bible, from early Church Fathers, from church encyclicals, compendiums to interpret for us, documentaries, spiritual writings, and yet let us be our own judge where our interests lay and to who do we give our time to. If we are slow of heart to come to the well of life-giving water, we will be “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke”.

The disciples’ eyes were opened not by seeing Jesus but as he vanished from their sight. Their hearts were burning but they needed the miracle to believe. We receive the miracle of the breaking of the bread each time we come to Mass. The road back to Jerusalem is our journey back to the Church to come and celebrate what we have received from Jesus. We encounter him again in his Word not only all that the prophets taught but what he himself is saying to us this day by his word before receiving him in the Eucharist. What does this mean?

The word of God and his body and blood is incarnated into our flesh to be Christ to the world. This was the transformation of the disciples into apostles after the resurrection having received the gift and power of the Holy Spirit. This is the power of Jesus to transform us as we come to receive him in the Mass. Having received him in the Eucharist, we can say Jesus is truly flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone and spirit of my soul.

This is the time of our “sojourning” and the gift of life is to be treated with “reverence” because we are being called to holiness. We think of coming to Mass and showing reverence as a holy place and so it is. Let us also go out from Mass as temples of the Holy Spirit with the same reverence because Jesus not only draws near to us but now remains in us. Let us give reverence to the holiness we carry within by the way we talk, the way we act, the choices we make. It will draw us near to the one we love and we will never be alone.

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Homily

26th Sunday Ordinary Time – Man of God

Posted on September 24, 2022September 26, 2022 by Deacon Joe

Am. 6:1a, 4-7; Ps. 146:7, 8-10; 1 Tim. 6:11-16; Lk. 16:19-31

“Man of God…compete well for the faith.” “Man” represents all humanity, all of mankind gifted with body, soul, and spirit for the glory of God. “Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” Now by our riches in Christ let us follow Jesus in his poverty in sharing our riches for the greater good. This is the race we are called to run against all the other competitors of this world who seek their own victory over us.

Who are these competitors? There is the greatest of the world’s challengers, God calls out as “Mammon” with all the lure of earthly riches we identity as the “devil of covetousness”. Mammon competes for the heart of mankind with a “me first” view of a world of winners and losers. The faith of Mammon is in its riches. God calls out Mammon “lying upon beds of ivory” as the “first to go into exile”. We compete well with Mammon when “you, man of God, pursue righteousness” with a vision towards the eternal. Living with the end in mind endures all things, perseveres to the end, awaits the greater riches of heaven.

Man of God, there is the competitor of faith called pride who challenges us with his arrogance. The pride of faith in self above all things. Pride competes with the arrogance of being better than “thou”. Pride has all the answers and even when it is wrong it claims the privilege of being right for themselves. It competes with the faith of relativity, wrong for the other is still right for them. We compete well for the faith when we recognize there is one truth, absolute and eternal and it comes from God. We overcome pride with the faith of humility. A humble heart has the ear of the Lord.

Man of God, there is the competitor of faith called seduction who challenges us with concupiscence to lure the soul into indulgence of the body. It places faith in the pleasure principle always seeking to avoid pain by indulgence in pleasure. It runs its faith into exile as the more it demands the more it becomes an obsession for pleasure ending in powerlessness and death. We compete well for the faith when we hold true to chastity. Chastity places faith in the purity of heart for the good of the other. Chastity holds onto the faith that it is in giving that we receive.

Man of God, there is the competitor of faith called complacency. The heart of this competitor assumes God’s love and mercy does not require any act on our part to get to heaven, just believe. God has destined us so no worry about running the race at all just live and let live. It is not what we decide to believe of God but what God has revealed to us of himself to accept. Recall God is not made in our image and concept, but we are created to be in his image. To be in his image is an act of how we choose to live and run our race. God is not complacent in our lives and his teaching for us is one of action.

Mankind faces many other competitors who will consume us with their gifted skill drawing us into their world that create more separation of each other than unity. Media is major one drawing us to be more narcissistic searching for more “likes” more “selfies”, more riches of anything that we can consume and little of what we can give.

The riches of God’s gifts come through the cross, his love, mercy and redemption. They come through the Holy Spirit to strengthen us with virtues in the race and they come through his poverty fully human to share our humanity in order to raise us up to his divinity. The riches of God we receive is for us to respond to our encounter with him in the poor and the suffering to feed, shelter, and visit with him.

Jesus’ parable of the “rich man” is a reminder of the riches we have been given, the many blessings we sometimes take for granted and rather than share our blessings when we encounter “Lazarus”, we overlook the need that is before us. The rich man is not given a name, but he is addressing the Pharisees who dressed in fine garments. The rich man however knew Lazarus by name and sought his help a sign of hope. The Pharisees believed that the dead would rise again so for them this parable is about what is next for the dead and for them.

In hell hope is lost forever so what is this “netherworld” the rich man is found in? This reading is one of several used to indicate this is a place we now recognize as purgatory. The “netherworld” is considered “the place of the dead”. Some attribute it to hell but recall in our creed we say that Jesus “descended to the dead” but for those in hell it serves no point. When Jesus died, we read, “…and the tombs were opened. And many bodies of the saints, which had been sleeping, arose” (Mat. 27:52). Just to clarify we also say in the Apostle’s creed “descended into hell” so “what gives?”

So as a disclaimer, I am not an expert in early language translations however it is my understanding that the word “hell” was used for both the place of the dead and the place of damnation though not the same place. This is important for us to understand that Jesus did not go to the place of damnation to rescue “saints” as we read in Mathew 27:52. This is often an issue of confusion for many but important to spend some time clarifying for us this “netherworld” where the rich man was sent. While he is suffering greatly it also leaves us with hope in a God of justice and mercy. The rich man was going through God’s justice but left with hope for mercy.

Given the witness of the rich man in the netherworld who could still see “Father Abraham” and pray “have pity on me…for I am suffering torment in these flames”, how serious are we to “compete well for the faith”? In baptism we are reborn into holiness to receive the grace of God but the race is lifelong and we face many competitors for our souls to fall into sin. The sacrament of confession is a renewal of our call to sanctity but we don’t seek it out enough and death can come suddenly.

For this reason, we are reminded in scripture “Therefore, it is holy and beneficial thought to pray on behalf of those who have passed away, so that they may be released from sins.” (2 Mac. 12:46) One day that soul in the place of the dead may be us in need of prayer. Call it purgatory, call it the netherworld, call it the place of the dead, even call it the hell of torment but not damnation, just know what we do today will determine what comes after death. Man of God live with the end in mind that we may not be caught by surprise when we face what is to come.

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Homily

6th Sunday of Easter

Posted on May 16, 2020May 15, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Ps. 66:1-7, 16, 20; 1Peter 3:15-18; Jn. 14:15-21

Faith and works unite love and justice into the one body of Christ. It is the works of the will that reveal faith as the visible sign of invisible grace given to us who seek and ask. This is the testimony of Philip in today’s reading (Acts) who proclaim Christ to the people of Samaria with visible power in the miracles he performed. How do we demonstrate the power of Christ in our daily lives?

1^st Peter in his letter calls us to testify to God’s power in us when we “suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God.” The “if” reminds us not all suffering is the will of God when evil remains in this world. The will of God comes in suffering from keeping his commandments. These works of our will call upon the “Spirit of truth” to be our Advocate when we respond with “gentleness and reverence, keeping our conscience clear”. This is our challenge to call upon the Advocate in our struggle faced with adversity.

How easy it is to fall into a battle of wills with those we love most. The impulse is to return “fire with fire” sometimes aggressively getting loud and demanding or sometimes very passive aggressive with rejection through silence and denial of our love. The human “battlefield” is what the disciples of Jesus hoped for yet Christ followed the righteous path for the sake of the unrighteous”. Our human battlefield begins within for the sake off a greater good.

Let not the peace of Christ be disturbed by what comes from without but from within for the evil one is always baiting our souls to fall again into temptation. What is from without is “dis-ease” meaning a lack of ease about what we cannot control and what wants to control us. Our power is to reject all dis-ease as from the evil one and claiming the peace of Christ he offered his disciples at his at his appearance after the resurrection when his first words were “Peace be with you”. Let our hearts not be troubled by pandemics that rise and fall taking innocent lives for even if this suffering comes into our lives the promise of the resurrection is waiting to rescue us.

In listening to a Catholic radio program, the guest was giving his conversion story from Protestant to Catholic. He concluded his story recalling how his father a Baptist “died” from a heart attack but was brought back to life in the ambulance. Later that year he asked his Father what his death experience was like. His father said it was not what he expected. To his surprise instead of seeing heaven he went to this “intermediary” place where he had to give account of his life. As Catholics we identify this intermediary place as purgatory and also the Church suffering. It suffers as it waits for justice and heaven. We fail to speak more on purgatory as is needed in our call to repentance while we battle in our time as the Church militant. This is our battlefield for justice in heaven and earth.

The battlefield is fought and won within our souls with the help of the Advocate bringing us the spirit of truth. Our battle is a sacrificial offering of our day living in the Spirit of truth called to pick up our cross and follow the spirit in faith to victory. Jesus is waiting to claim victory for us when we unite our will to his we become one body in Christ with the power of the unseen God.

In the human existence we often confuse love as forgiveness with an avoidance of consequence. Love and justice in God are both present and justice is his. A child says “I’m sorry” and expects the parent to not impose justice. Children don’t understand the value of justice and if it is not fair justice may even lose faith in love. As children of God we often come to expect forgiveness without justice but justice belongs to God and it comes with love. Dante described purgatory as the place we go to wash our baptismal robes. The “place” is a process of cleansing of sin that remains as we leave our mortal bodies and claim our promise of heaven. It is not a denial of God’s love but a perfection of our love to receive his glory as an unblemished tabernacle of our souls. It is the unity of love and justice as one. Faith unites to love as works unites to justice for faith without works is a call to death eternal. We are a people of the resurrection in faith and works for the greater good.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on August 10, 2019August 9, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Wis. 18:6-9; Ps. 33:1, 12, 18-22; Heb. 11: 1-2, 8-19; Lk. 12:32-48

“Where is that in the bible?” Many non-Catholics question the church’s position on purgatory. They ask “where is that in the bible?” Purgatory is in the Old and the New Testament as a just judge comes to ensure the cleansing of our baptismal robes in our call to sanctity. Listen to these words, “That servant who did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly.” Who is God speaking to, the sinner who died without faith in hell or to the ones he says “All these died in faith”? Satan is the master of the fallen, Jesus is the Master of the redeemed. There is no doubt that justice belongs to God and he promises a time of atonement. Jesus died for our sins yet when was the last time we went to confession to seek forgiveness of our sin? If this night our life is demanded of us what then?

The Catechism teaches in #1030 “All who die in God’s grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” The bible tells us in the book of Maccabees (2 Mac. 12:43-44) to atone for the dead through prayer “for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death” yet even in the Old Testament we have Maccabeus talking a collection to send to Jerusalem for “an expiatory sacrifice” for the dead soldiers. We are reminded how important it is to offer Masses for the dead and pray for them in atonement of their sins. Yet how often in a funeral do we hear of purgatory? Focus is given to being in heaven as our hope which is the final destiny but not necessarily a straight ticket.

“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more” reminds us of the one sin we often fail to recognize. It is the sin of omission. The ten commandments have a focus on what “you shall not” but Jesus comes to fulfill what we shall be called to do. There is a truth of accountability in God’s justice for all. When will it be demanded if not now? It comes at death in the purging of our sins in a state of purification called purgatory.

Just as the more we give the greater the reward the less we serve the greater the sin by God’s commandment. Charity is God’s call for justice and the sign of our love of God. Wisdom says, “Your people awaited the salvation of the just”. The just are the “holy children of the good” doing the will of the Father offering sacrifice of charity. Charity is a sign of faith a “realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen”. Faith is the awareness that our time is coming when we will be before God and he recognizes his own in the love we offered in obedience just as Abraham did. Our obedience is to respond to the call to serve. We are a people of faith and we know our Father’s will, are we preparing ourselves by acting according to his will or is purgatory our next stop?

Why settle for purgatory when we are called to be saints? The opportunity to be charitable is constantly around us? It begins in the home. Husbands and wives when we get upset, frustrated, or even disappointed with each other what do our children witness in our behavior? We can respond in outbursts, anger, criticism, blame or in charity express our concern, disappointment, and our desire for something greater of each other. When we see our children picking on each other using language we ourselves say is it simply kids misbehaving or are they already following down a path that justifies being uncharitable. Love is patient, kind, generous, charitable and at times a difficult challenge. Our heart cries out “If you only knew what I have to live with!” Our goal is to get each other to heaven so don’t simply live with it, make it better. It begins by working on ourselves and we will see the impact our life can have on others.

One thing is certain that a just God knows the degree of our sinfulness, our understanding, and our will to be just, loving, charitable, and merciful. Dante speaks of purgatory as the place we go to get our baptismal robes cleaned. The stains we carry are the stains we have not confessed. It is a sure sign of heaven coming, an inheritance delivering us from the death of sin we carry. Today that sin can be confessed and our sacrifice is to “avoid the near occasion” of sin yet when we fail, we have a loving Father ready to reconcile us back to him.

Finally, where is the “evidence of things not seen”? It is there on the cross and in the resurrection of Jesus. For all who give evidence by their testimony, Jesus is alive. “Stay awake and be ready!” The Son of Man is coming and it is in the bible, in the Mass, and in our hearts.

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