"Sharing in the Glorious Freedom of the Children of God" (See Romans 8: 18-250

In today's first reading, Romans 8: 18-25, St. Paul asks us "to consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed  for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We  know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies."

Each of us lives in hope of a future glory, the redemption of our bodies.  We know not the day nor the hour when we will be set free of our physical  bodies and be clothed with immortality, entering eternal life with the Lord and all those who have gone before us. When anyone of us is sick unto death, Jesus says to us what he said about Lazarus:  "This sickness will not end in death but in God's glory and through it the son of God will be glorified" ((Jn 11: 4).  Jesus himself said to those who were upset with him when he spoke of his upcoming death,  "Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell  you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest."  In faith and hope, we know that our loved ones in heaven are at work and yielding a rich harvest in accord with God's will for humankind.  As St. Paul says in today's first reading, "we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance," for that time, when, we, too, will, in eternity, continue to yield a rich harvest with all of the angels and saints before the throne of God.

Until that time, let us use the moments when we are called to die to whatever hinders God's will from being realized in our personal lives or in the lives of others.

Being in Christ Jesus!

In the first line of today's first reading, Romans 8: 1-11,  St. Paul reminds us that "there is no condemnation for  those who are in Christ Jesus."  Let us rewrite that to read:  "Dorothy Ann (insert your name), there is no condemnation for you because, in baptism, you died with Jesus and were raised to new life in Him"  Why such a gift? Because in His assuming of human nature and in His
death and resurrection from the dead, Jesus put sin to death in us and in the world.  Does that mean that you and I do not succumb to sin by being deceived by Satan? No! Like Peter, who sank when he took his eyes off Jesus, we, too, are likely to succumb to sin when we take our eyes off Jesus.  The power of choosing the good over evil, truth over deceit, kindness and love over hatred and jealousy, compassion and mercy over judgment and condemnation come from God's dwelling within us!

By our becoming a member of the Kingdom of Jesus in our baptisms, by being born anew in baptism, we now are empowered to "live according to the spirit"  and to be concerned each day with the things of the spirit: love and justice, peace and harmony with God's holy will and with what is right and just and caring in our relationship with others and ourselves.  As St. Paul says to us:  the concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But," Paul reminds us, " you are in the spirit..."

Thank you, Lord, for being born in the spirit through our baptisms, confirmation, Eucharist, all of the sacraments  and by the love we receive and give to others, by living lives of integrity, honesty
 and fidelity to the ways Jesus taught us and the Scripture embody!

Jesus' Eagerness to Find Us Ready When He Comes for Us

In today's gospel, Luke 12: 39-48, Jesus tells us that we "must be prepared"  for His coming, for God will come like a thief in the night, that is, "at an hour[we] do not expect."   Jesus wants us to be ready when the Lord comes to take us home to heaven, that is, engaged in doing what the Lord commissioned us to do at our baptisms, our confirmations, our marriages, our profession of vows as men/women religious, as priests, as parents and husbands/wives, as sons/daughters and/or as single men and women involved in careers by which we do good for others and make the world a better place in which to live.  How sad if, on the contrary, we are found wanting, not engaged in doing the good we were sent here to do and, on the contrary, being irresponsible, indifferent, uncaring, unloving, dishonest, corrupt, abusive stewards, engaged in sinful practises, distant from the Lord and fellow human beings, unaware of unmet human needs,  and, in fact, not even knowing who the Lord is, who our neighbor is and who is in need of our compassion, love, and caring hearts!  "That servant who knew his master's will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall"  receive the consequences one justly deserves. Likewise, the servant who embraces the will of his/her Master will be justly rewarded for the good in which he/she engaged while waiting for his/her Master's return . 

We need to realize that God does not sent us on a mission and then not give us the graces we need to carry out that mission.  He equips us with the wisdom, the strength, the courage, the ability to live a disciplined life whereby justice is served, love between one another grows, forgiveness is rendered and mercy and compassion flourish!  God also gives us the graces needed to tend to the "weeds" in our garden in such a way that the will of our Father in heaven is not thwarted!

What a generous, caring, loving Master!  How can we not be vigilant for His return, knowing that, before His ascension into heaven, He promised to come back to us and take us with Him and that He would be with us until the end of our time here on earth!

The Explosion of Grace through Jesus Christ

Today's first reading, Romans 5: 12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21, explodes with the awesomeness of God's grace and the gift of salvation. Paul states that "death came to all...inasmuch as all sinned,"  when Adam, the first human being, sinned.  That may appear incomprehensible to us. However, let us think of the body of Christ--one body, the Body of Christ. We know that if any part of our personal bodies is diseased, the whole body is diseased. So, too, with the Body of Christ. If one body of the Body of Christ is diseased by sin, that is, by disobedience to God, each member of that body is, in fact, diseased by sin, as we are one body in Christ.  Paul goes on, however, to remind us that just as, through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death,..." so,too, through one man did grace and righteousness enter the world:  "If by that one person's transgression [that of Adam] how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many....For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Think of what Jesus gave us by His obedience to the Father unto His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, His triumph over death and His nailing of sin to the cross!  On that cross, where Jesus poured out the last drop of His blood for our salvation, Jesus tricked Satan and all of us. Satan may have believed that he had won the war in his seeking our demise and his efforts to block us from ever knowing eternal life with Jesus. He is the one who failed, not Jesus! And for us who may look upon Calvary as a failure, we, too, have been fooled. What looks like failure to the naked, human eye, is, in fact, our salvation. It is from the cross that "grace overflowed all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace, also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Empowered by Faith and Convinced of God's Promises

In today's first reading, Romans 4: 20-25, we read about Abraham's faith: "Abraham did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do. That is why it was credited to him as righteousness . But it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him; it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification."

May I, Lord, like Abraham, not doubt your promises to me: the promise of salvation, of being justified, of being made righteous by the Blood of Jesus!  May I not doubt the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon me at baptism and confirmation and reconfirmed throughout the events of each day when I call upon you for the help of the Spirit, that is, for the gift of wisdom, courage, prudence, understanding, counsel and fear of the Lord; and for the gift of piety.  May I not doubt your presence, Lord, at the core of my being and existent in every human being.  Every human being is an image of you; may I see your image in each person. Also, Lord, may I seek you in all that is, including the universe and all in it!  May I not doubt your promise to set me free and that you will save me from all of my enemies, especially those within me: pride, fear, envy, avarice, lust, covetousness, greediness, selfishness, and anything that blocks me from surrendering to Your will and serving you and others in faith, hope and love.  May I not doubt your mercy, compassion, and unconditional love.  May I not forget that you are forever freeing me to "worship you without fear" (Luke 1: 75) and that, in your sight, I am holy and righteous, made so by the blood of Jesus!  I ask for these graces in Jesus' name and through the intercession of  Mary, the mother of Jesus and my mother, too. Amen.

The Importance of Prayer and of Needing Assistance from Others

In today's first reading, Exodus 17: 8-13, we are given the story of the battle the Amalekites had come to wage against the Israelites.  Moses then ordered Joshua to choose certain men and engage the Amalekites in battle. He promised to enter into prayer:  "I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand....As long as Moses kept his hands raised up [in prayer], Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so [Aaron and Hur, who were with him,] put a rock in place for [Moses] to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported  his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands, remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword."

What do we learn from this Scripture passage?  First of all, that in no way are you and I able to wage battle against the enemies of our souls without the help of others. We need to choose the right people to assist us in the battle against Satan.  Alone, we will lose the battle! and if we surround ourselves with the "wrong" persons, we are also in danger of succumbing to temptation.  Secondly, intercessory prayer and our own recourse to prayer is essential to our success in overcoming temptations.  "As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight."  Thirdly, weariness is not an excuse to abandon prayer. If  necessary, sit down and rest but do not stop praying. Fourthly, engage partners to assist us in praying for God's mercy and strength to sustain the battles we face on our way to eternal life! Fifthly, pray for the humility to ask for help, to acknowledge our need for prayer partners.

Lord God, forgive us when we forget the importance of prayer and of asking for help to wage war against Satan.  Forgive us when we let pride dominate our attitudes and thus fail to acknowledge that we need others to help us in the battles we face that threaten our resolve to do good and avoid evil.

"Justified Freely by His Grace" (Romans 3: 22)

In today's first reading, Romans 3: 21-30, we are reminded that the righteousness of God is a reality for all who believe in Jesus Christ, that is, it is manifested "apart from the law and the prophets," though the law and God's prophets give testimony to it.  There is no distinction, St. Paul reminds us, between those who serve and know God's righteousness through the law and those who serve God "through faith in Jesus Christ..., as well as through observance the of the law. "[A]ll have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God."  And all "are  justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, who God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his Blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins...."   To this very day God, those who believe in Jesus Christ are made righteous and justified by Jesus' pouring out every drop of His blood for the redemption of all peoples.

I invite those reading this blog and myself, as well,  to apply St. Paul's message to ourselves personally, hearing St. Paul say to each of us:  Dorothy Ann (Insert your name)        , though you have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God, you "are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, who God set forth as an expiation  [of your sins] through [your faith] by his Blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of [your] sins."  Jesus, the Righteous One, has justified you and restored "the glory of God" in you, Dorothy Ann (insert your name),  by shedding every drop of His Blood, beginning with His circumcision, His sweat turning into drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, His scourging, His crowning with thorns, His loss of blood on the way to Calvary, nails being driven through His hands and feet, and His side being pierced on the cross.

You cannot, Dorothy Ann (insert your name),  boast of saving yourself--you are saved only through Christ Jesus' obedience to the point of death. St. Paul states: "What occasion is there...for boasting? It is ruled out.  On what principle, that of works? No, rather on the principle of faith....God is one and will justify  the circumcised on the basis of faith (the Jews)  and the uncircumcised (the Gentiles) through faith."  "There is no distinction."  The glory of God is restored in all peoples--every Jew and every Gentile--without any exceptions through the Righteous One, Jesus Christ!

God Has No Favorites

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 62,we praise God, saying: "Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works."   In the first reading, Romans 2: 1-11, St. Paul reminds us that God has no favorites. Anyone who does evil will reap accordingly and those who do good, as well. Whether Greek (Gentiles) or Jews, whether rich or poor, whether persons who hold high offices or "low", whether this race or another, this nationality or another, whether black or white or any other color,  whether Native American, African American, Chinese or Japanese, Russian or European, Scottish or Danish, and so on:  God "will repay everyone according to his [her] works, eternal life to those who seek glory, honor and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness."  No exceptions for anyone in any state of life or any nationality or any culture or any status!  To emphasize, St. Paul states: "Yes, affliction and distress will come upon everyone who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. But there will be glory , honor, and peace for everyone who does good. Jew first and then Greek. There is no partiality with God."

Oh, the mercy of our God so admirably revealed to us on the cross when Jesus said to the good thief, who rebuked the thief beside him who was mocking Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him when he got to His kingdom. "This day, Jesus said to him, you will be with me in paradise."  Because of God's mercy toward us, Jesus says the same thing to you and me when we acknowledge him as Savior and God and repent of our sinfulness: "This day you will be with me in paradise," not that we earned it but because Jesus secured it for us when he triumphed over sin and death through His resurrection from the dead.

Thank  you, my Lord and my God, "my rock and my salvation, my stronghold" (Psalm 62)!

God's Revelation of Himself

In today's first reading, Romans 1: 16-25, St. Paul says to us (I am personalizing the message, using "I" and "me" as the one to whom the passage is addressed):

"The wrath of  God  ("wrath" indicates how serious sin is) is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their  wickedness."  Whenever I resort to sin or intentionally give into the temptation to turn away from God, I suppress the truth that I am, by the grace of God, empowered to choose otherwise. When I sin, then the truth of the power of the Holy Spirit at work within me is suppressed. I grieve God!  Paul goes on to say: "...[W]hat can be known about God is evident [to me] because God made it evident to [me].  Since God makes Himself and His way known to me, I am, when I sin, that is, when I intentionally obey Satan or any other evil spirit, suppressing this truth about God, who is Truth itself. God's eternal power and goodness, God's divinity and eternal holiness, which God shares with all humankind and with me, exists within me as a thirst for holiness and goodness. I betray that thirst for God and for holiness when I intentionally engage in that which is evil.  Paul says: "Ever since the creation of the world, [God's] invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made." God has made every human being and all that exists in the universe, and the universe itself. All of creation embodies the "invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity." Therefore, St. Paul tells me, I "have no excuse; for although [I] knew God [I] did not accord him glory as God [by following the direction of good spirit and the Holy Spirit within me]...Instead [I] became vain in [my] reasoning, and [my] senseless mind was darkened. While claiming to be wise, [I] became [a fool] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man  [which I do when I choose God substitutes or even treat myself as above God.

Vanity of vanities! Lord have mercy on me when I make idols of material things, other human beings,  myself or the universe itself.  You and you alone are God!  You and you alone are Good! Righteousness and Truth and Freedom come from you and return us to You for all eternity. May I choose that path and no other!

God Has Made His Salvation Known (Ps. 98)

,In today's first reading, Romans 1: 1-7, St. Paul describes himself as follows:

• A slave of Christ Jesus
• One called to be an Apostle, that is given the grace of apostleship
• One set apart for the Gospel of God
• One who is to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles for the sake of Jesus' name

Who am I? Who are you?  In one of the Gospels, Jesus says that He no longer calls us slaves but friends because He has shared everything with us that the Father had given to Him.  We are persons called to servant-hood as well as called to a relationship with the Most High, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God Himself.  What a noble vocation!. What a graced relationship!  By our servant-hood and our friendship with Jesus, we, like Paul, are commissioned to bring about the obedience of faith in others whom we encounter in life.

As we pray in the responsorial psalm, Psalm 98, of today's liturgy, "The Lord has made known his salvation" to us through the Gospels and those who preach the Gospels to us in word or in deed. We, in turn, by our calling to be God's servants and friends, make the Lord's salvation known to ourselves as well as to others.  All of this is possible because of the wondrous things God the Father has done through His Son, Jesus, whose "right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice."

Lord, I think you for the wondrous things you have done and are doing in the lives of each of us!  Thank you for making your salvation known to me every single day of the year, in good times as well as in bad times, in every season of my life!  Thank  you for the call to be your servant and your friend.  Thank you for setting me apart and consecrating me to you in my baptism, confirming that gift in the sacrament of Confirmation and through any other sacrament that I am privileged to receive through your love for me. I offer this thanksgiving to you through Your Son,  Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

The Kingdom of God is at Hand

In today's Gospel, Luke 11: 15-26, the crowd accuses Jesus of casting demons out by Beelzebul, by the devil himself. Jesus, unafraid of the crowd's badgering him, Jesus responds:  "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house." If Satan, therefore, is casting out Satan, if evil spirits are casting out evil spirit, they Satan's kingdom of evil is going to collapse. No kingdom attacking its own power, its own inhabitants and the work they do, will stand. However, Jesus says, if "it is by the finger of  God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."  

Each of us had good and evil spirits at work within us. We need to,  with God's assistance, discern between good and evil within, between urges to do good and those prompting/tempting us to engage in evil actions or to entertain unkind, deceitful, corrupt, depraved intentions by which we harm others and ourselves.  As we draw closer and closer to God, Satan becomes more cunning in his ways of tempting us to do what is wrong and hurtful. So, too, do we need to become more astute in recognizing Satan's depravity and deceitfulness. Remember, also, that God is always with us. The Spirit is always at work within us and within others providing us with the Wisdom to know good from evil and the ways these spirits function within our humanity.

May our eyes and hearts and ears, Lord, be evermore attentive to Your voice, the voice of Wisdom!

Reverencing the Lord and Following His Way

In today's first reading, Malachi 3: 13-20b, the prophets speaks about those who boast of defying the Lord and His will and those who respect the Lord and serve Him . Concerning those who "fear [reverence] the Lord and trust in  his name...shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession, on the day I take action. And I will have compassion on them, as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. Then you shall again see the distinction between the just and the wicked; between the one who serves God, and the one who does not serve him. for low, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch."

In our pride, our rebellion, our defiance, our wickedness, we may now boast of being independent of the Lord and continue choosing our wills over God's but the day of reckoning will come upon us as a thieves in the night!  God is God; there is no other. Whom are we serving? Of what are we boasting? Do we avoid being humble and recognizing our dependence upon God, choosing to do whatever we please, even when we know that we are walking away from God, our Creator, our Redeemer and our Sanctifier?

May we be the blessed ones that the Psalmist speaks about in today's responsorial psalm: "Blessed the [person] who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night....For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes" (Psalm 1).

Lord, forgive me when I acted defiantly, disdainfully, and proudly followed those who were making poor, even sinful choices. Forgive me, when I have chosen the easy road  and threw discipline and sacrifice to the winds, refusing to be bothered with walking the straight and narrow!  Lord, have mercy!

"Be still and know that I am God" (Ps. 46)

In today's first reading, Jonah 4: 1-11,  we learn that God, indeed, had mercy upon the Ninevites and, because they repented, did not carry out the threat that the city would be destroyed in 40 days.  Jonah says to God:  "I beseech you, Lord, is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish".  God did other things about which Jonah also got angry, "angry enough to die," Jonah says to God.

God is no different in how he deals with us today! God is "slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish" and so we wonder where God is as evil seems to triumph!  God, I believe, is giving people time to repent. He is in no hurry to punish! He will wait as long as he desires for us to turn from sinful ways and come back to Him to follow the Spirit's lead and accept His merciful love.

It is very obvious as we read and reflect upon Jonah 4: 1-11, that God is in charge of every detail of Jonah's life! God's control is obvious in the shade tree that sprung up to protect Jonah from the beating heat of the sun and, also, in the tree's demise, leaving Jonah to battle the sun's heat.  It was God who responded mercifully to the Ninevites, opposite what Jonah wanted God to do.

As with Jonah, God also takes control of every detail of our lives, using us as instruments in executing His plans, providing shade and protection for us when we need it, correcting us when we fail to understand that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts!  Yes, God is at work even when things do not go the way we want them to go!

Lord, I ask forgiveness for the times, like Jonah, I got angry when you did not do things my way and challenged me to know that You are God and I am not!  Forgive me, Lord, when I dictate to You, telling You what to do, rather than seeking Your will! May I have a change of heart and mind to conform to Your ways, Your thoughts and Your will.  I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen!

Recognize Wrong Paths and Turn Around as did the Ninevites!

What an incredible God! Today's first reading, Jonah 3:1-10, tells the story of how God saw the wickedness of the Ninevites and did not allow them to continue without being confronted and given a chance to repent.  He cared! He acted by sending Jonah to warn them that they were gong down a path that would lead to their destruction. The Ninevites listened, repented and changed their lives for the better!

God does the same for us, sending us warnings and inviting us to repent of our wrongdoing and change our lives for the better. He does so for individuals,  communities, municipalities, families, churches, nations , countries,  businesses, governments, and so on.  God is at work when creation groans against us as the result of being abused or sinned against. Other persons rise up to confront us when we harm them. Nations confront one another. God uses whatever instrument is available and whoever accepts his/her responsibility to be the eyes and ears of Christ to call for repentance, just as God used Jonah.

Am I listening? What in my life do I need to change to become the person God calls me to become in Christ Jesus?  What attitudes need changing? Which of my behaviors do I need to challenge as not being in conformity with Gospel teachings?  Is pride, gluttony, avarice, greediness, selfishness, hatred, prejudice, judgmentalism, sexism, envy, jealousy dominating my behaviors? Or am I following the Spirit's Wisdom and cooperating with grace to act as Jesus acted: generously, humbly,  lovingly, compassionately, patiently, honestly, caringly, mercifully? Do I , like Jesus, pray for my persecutors: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing"? Do I conform my will to the will of my Creator God? Or am I following evil spirits whom St. Michael and the good angels  cast out of God's presence and who, now, are determined to keep us out of heaven as well?

Wake Up; Call upon God

In today's first reading, Jonah 1: 1-2: 2, 11, the Lord said to Jonah:  "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their wickedness has come up before me."   The wickedness in today's world also comes up before God.  Is it possible, as in the case of Jonah who fled to Tarshish "away from the Lord,"  that many people today are also fleeing from God, doing whatever possible to escape following God's will to address the corruption, the deception, the wickedness of sin-laden humankind?  Is it possible that the turbulence in any part of the world--natural or man-made "storms" --are the result of our having abandoned God?   Do we need someone, as did Jonah, to confront us with the question: "What are you doing asleep? Rise up, call upon your God. Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish"  in our wickedness!

With the psalmist, in today's responsorial psalm, we pray:

Out of [our] distress [we call] to the Lord, 
and he [answers us]; 
From the midst of the nether world [of corruption, deception, and violation of law and of people's rights  [we cry] out for help,
and you [hear our voices].for you cast [us] into the deep [of sin-infested behaviors], into the heart of the sea [of an abundance of lies and abuses of power],
and the flood [envelops us];
All your breakers and your billows
[pass over us].
Then I said, 'I am banished from your sight!
...When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord; 
[Our] prayer reached you...'"

Lord, God, have mercy upon us who have strayed from the path of righteousness, truth and justice in the search for wealth or an abundance of material things and pleasures of all kinds, especially pleasure at the expense of the innocent.  Forgive us, Lord, for wanting things our way instead of Your way and the way Jesus modeled for us!

God Does Not Disappoint!

In today's first reading, Habakkuk 1: 2-3; 2: 2-4, the prophet says to the Lord:  "Lord, I cry out for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not intervene.  Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at  misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord. Then the Lord answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith shall live."

We may wonder as we listen to the news each night: Does God really care? When is all this strife going to come to an end, we might be out cry to the Lord.  How many more children need be separated from their parents? How many more times need laws be violated? How many more treaties need be negated that were set up to protect us and Mother Earth? How many more atrocities need be committed by unjust governments, by criminals exploiting children and women for monetary gain? Are you listening, Lord?

Habakkuk reminds us that God is not deaf nor blind to what is happening anywhere in the world. He also reminds us that God's timing is perfect and that His vision for the world presses on to fulfillment.  God's justice and God's truth will not disappoint. God's solution to the injustice, the corruption, the lack of truth, the scandals, the lawlessness, the violence of any kind that exist in any nation will not disappoint. Neither will God's timing be late, though we may think it is! And just as God freed the Israelites from the oppression of Pharaoh, so, too, will God free all of humankind from the oppression of dictators anywhere in the world.  God knows better than we do how much Satan has deceived those who abuse their authority and those who support them; God is not blind or deaf to our cries for justice, truth and respect of law!  God will act at the right time and the right place and through the people He chooses to act on His behalf and through His power!  God will not disappoint ever!

I believe? Do you?

God Listens to the Poor

In today's first reading, Baruch 4: 5-12, 27-29,  Baruch reminds the people that they "were sold to the nations not for [their] own destruction... [but]because [they] angered God...[Y]ou provoked your Maker with sacrifices to demons, to no-gods; You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you....[C]all out to God. He...will remember you. as your hearts have been disposed to stray from god, turn now ten times the more to seek him; for he...will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy."

The responsorial psalm, Psalm 69, reminds us that "[t]he Lord listens to the poor--[that is, to those who  know their weaknesses and their need for God's help and ask for that help.]  See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the Lord hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."  And all of us are in bonds that only God can loosen, as Jesus loosened the bonds that bound Lazarus, for instance.

The message of Baruch applies to us today.  Like the Israelites, we, too, have sacrificed to demons-- greediness, selfishness, jealousy, gluttony, envy, narcissism, sexism, prejudice, hatred and so on--and to no-gods (wealth, hedonism, consumerism, materialism, sexism, and so on); we forsook the Eternal God who nourishes us in the sacraments, in the blessings of each day, in the love we give and receive from family and friends, in acts of altruism, generosity to the poor and oppressed, in honest living, and in faithfulness to what God asks of us in the ten commandments, in the Scriptures, through the Church and through the Holy Spirit at work in all of the events of our lives. 

May we come back to Jesus, serve the Lord and others in self-sacrificing love, in fidelity to our faith, and in building up the Kingdom of justice, love and truth. If we do so, as did the seventy-two disciples (see today's Gospel, Luke 10: 17-24), we will hear Jesus say to us as He said to them on their return from the mission Jesus sent them on: "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power 'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy..."  Do we believe that Jesus has given us this power?  Or have we stopped believing in the power of the Spirit given to us in baptism and confirmation, in any of the sacraments?

Heeding the Voice of the Lord

In today's first reading, Baruch 1: 15-22, the Chosen People realize that the evils of the past cling to them.  Acknowledging their sinfulness, the exiles in Babylon pray:  "Justice is with the Lord, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem, that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our ancestors, have sinned in the Lord's sight and disobeyed him."  The Israelites grieve the fact that "we have neither heeded the voice of the Lord, our God, nor followed the precepts which the Lord has set before us...[W]e have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and only too ready to disregard his voice." 

 We certainly can repeat those truths, as we, too, have often paid no attention to the voice of our God. We, too, have many times been disobedient to the Lord, our God.  Evil seems to cling to us, as the Chosen People realized had become their reality.  We can look back to Adam and Eve who followed their own wills, not the will of God for them.  Also, instead of owning their personal truth, Eve blamed the serpent--the devil made me do it--and Adam blamed Eve--it was her fault.  Neither accepted responsibility for the pit into which each had fallen.

How often do we deny our personal responsibility for the "pits" into which we have fallen. How often, that is, do we not blame someone else for our sinfulness, as Eve blamed the serpent and Adam blamed Eve. This behavior, and other ways in which the voice of the Lord goes unheard, abounds in our world today, in spite of the fact that we have Jesus in our midst! Will Jesus say to us what he said to the people of Choazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum:  Woe to you...For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and  Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgement than for you. And as for you Capernaum, 'will you be exalted to heaven?  You will go down to the netherworld.' Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." 

To whom am I, are you, listening?

Call to Faithfulness

In today's first reading, Nehemiah 8: 1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12, Ezra, the scribe, gathers all the the people together--men, women and all children capable of understanding--to listen to a reading of the Law of Moses.  The ;people, having returned from the Babylonian exile, having rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem and also having built a sturdy wall around the city fell into serious violations of the law, forcing "fellow fellow Jews to sell sons and daughters into slavery and overlook[ing] the hungry" (Carroll Stuhlmeuller, C.P., Biblical Meditations for Ordinary Time--Weeks 23-34, Paulist Press, Ramsey, New Jersey, 1984, p. 85).  As the people, from the rising of the sun until noon, listened to the scribe read, explain and challenge the people in their wrongdoing, they wept in sorrow and shame and repented of their sinful behavior.

Like the Israelites who needed to repent, so, too, do we. Nations throughout the world have rejected the Commandments of the Lord and engaged in activities that denies people their basic human rights to food, safe shelter, adequate health care and  necessary education to secure jobs that enable them to provide for their families.  So, too, today, the hungry are ignored. The people seeking refuge from danger in their own countries are abused and blocked from seeking asylum in countries they deem safe havens to raise their children. To make ends meet, some parents sell their children to the slave of agricultural camps and hostels where children are used to make money by human traffickers. the list of violations of the Gospel message and the en commandments goes on and on!

Repent and believe; the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, Jesus tells us in the Gospels!

Will we, like the Israelites, recognize our having gone astray? Will we listen to those proclaiming the Scriptures and explaining the Commandments of the Lord?  Or will be simply, pridefully, and sorely continue to miss opportunities of grace that lead us back to being faithful to our baptismal commitments and the disciplines necessary in living Jesus' way?  Will we as a nation, as individuals,  continue to reject God's way to the point that we will suffer the consequences, not just here on earth, but also in eternity?

Our Guardian Angels

Today we celebrate the feast of our Guardian angels. God has given every human person a guardian angel, a messenger from heaven.  As a child, I was taught the following prayer:  Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side to light, to guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

When I think of my guardian angel, I think of the many times I hear the words: "Watch out." "Do this!" Don't do that." "Good job!" "Try harder." "You can do it!"  I also think of the times that I was saved from death, as happened one night out on a dessert road with no lights anywhere around.  I car was following me (I had two other passengers in my car).  Frustrated that the car being me left its brights on, I let it pass me. A short ways up the road, coming over a small hill, was a car in our lane. We were traveling about 60 miles an hour. There was no way for the driver in front of me to get out of the way. They hit head-on and two women in the car were killed outright.  My guardian angel and those of my passengers, I believed, were at work that night!

Other people have told me similar stories of "miracles" that occurred as the result, they believed, of their Guardian Angel protecting them.

Lord, thank you for giving each of us a Guardian Angel.  May we be more aware of your generosity and that of our Guardian angels, who are at our sides "to light, to guard, to rule and guide.

Union with Jesus

In today's Gospel, Luke 9: 51-56, Luke tells us that Jesus is "resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him."  On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus enters a Samaritan village "to prepare for his reception there."  He is not welcomed "because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.

You and I are also on our way to "Jerusalem", to union with Jesus in his sufferings, death and resurrection.  Everything in Jesus' life mystically pointed to Calvary, to his returning to the glory of eternal life with the Father. Jesus was relentless in pointing to His Father, whom He left in glory to become a human being like us in all things except sin, and to whom He would return in glory at the close of His life here on earth.  We, in turn, will follow Jesus.  We came from God and will return to God the same way Jesus did, through the door of death, through the sufferings and joys of this life.
We have a foretaste of eternal life in the "resurrections" to new life that you and I experience every time we die to sin and rise to holiness, die to selfishness and rise to self-sacrificing love for the sake of another, die to deceitfulness and rise to honesty,  die to pride and rise to humility in how e relate to others.

We die and rise with Jesus every time we allow ourselves to die to sin and rise to that which is holy in how we deal with the vicissitudes of life.  The sufferings we endure in these processes are united with the sufferings of Jesus and through that union we are given the power to make right choices, to choose "resurrection" moments, moments that are holy!

As with St. Therese of the Child Jesus, whose feastday we celebrate today,  the Lord leads us and teaches us, and keeps us as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle spreading its wings, the Lord takes us up and bears us on his shoulders. In those holy moments of life each day, the Lord alone guides us. (
(Compare The Entrance Antiphon of today's liturgy).