Asteri

To Asteri ♦ La Estrella ♦ The Star ♦ La Stella This is a newly born page. I often get requests from the good people at the parish to share reflections or to explain my understanding on some topics. My daily life as a priest is extremely busy and I cannot meet with everyone who asks me for these requests as often as I would like to. Hopefully someone will find answers to some of their requests in this "blog". Thank you and may God bless you abundantly.

[toasteri]

Return to Him...

About a year ago, on February 2 of 2023, I had a heart attack. This happened, as all bad things happen, suddenly one morning while I was beginning a hike with some friends. Because of this, I abandoned this blog which I had intended to be a part of my ministry.

The life and energy I had before February 2, seemed to vanish almost completely. Since then, I have had many, many hardships, many terrible days, many days when I have felt I have been about to die. Once, I used to get up at 3:00 am just so I could spend an hour and a half lifting weights, now, some days, I find it hard to just get through my morning shower, because my chest feels like it's about to explode. When once, a 50 lb dumbbell began to feel too light, now a gallon of milk feels like 100 lbs. Once, a five mile hike began to seem too simple, now walking from the curb to the front of the house feels like a five mile hike. And, one day after another, I feel that it is going to be my last. But I have not died, God has continued to be merciful to me and has continued to keep me here.

As the days have gone by, and then the weeks, and then the months, and now...one year after this changed my life... I have come to understand that God does not cause any of the 'bad things' that happen to us.

When bad things happen to us because the consequence of our first ancestors' decision to choose to rely on themselves, God is the one who comes to us and asks us to become co-workers with Our Lord, Jesus Christ in the salvation of the world.

WE have the choice to accept what is happening to us and unite it to the Cross, or reject it and make of it a lost opportunity. God asks us to unite it to the Cross so that others may come to the Cross through our faith in Him.

Jesus also said, "what you did for these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me" and "Love your God, with all your strength, with all your mind, and with all your soul and your neighbor as yourself".

When tragedies or illnesses happen to us, notice how many people will leave you, distance themselves from you. It is only a handful that will remain around you. Usually, our closest family, but very few others.

Your illness is an invitation for sanctification of all. Jesus is allowing them to minister to Him through you, "what they did for your (or didn't do) they did or didn't do for Him". When they are invited to love you as they love themselves, they are showing that they love God as God is to be loved, "with all their strength, with all their mind, and with all their soul". But when they rather excuse themselves from being loving towards you, they are missing an opportunity to minister to Jesus through you.

You are, in your illness and your hardship a vehicle for the sanctification and the salvation of those who choose to do for your, the least, what Jesus would like to be done for Him. You are the concrete way, to love the neighbor, in whose person, God is to be shown this love.

See yourself as this great co-worker in the salvation of those around you. If they do not see this opportunity, pray for them as Jesus did just before returning to the Father, because "they know not what they do". They do not understand what they are missing out on.

A year after my life changed, and after so many people walked away from me and stayed away, I have often met with Satan prowling in those who do not understand and make it clear through intrigues and assumptions that they would rather I be gone, BUT I have also seen Christ in the few who accept my diminished ability and my "candle in the wind" constitution---somedays, I have great strength, some days I can barely speak.

These few are some of the beautiful people of my parish, my family, my daily Mass goers and a few weekenders, the "mature" ladies and gentlemen, the lovers of peace of our Divine Mercy, the angelic children of the school, my army of Altar Servers and the my mother and her prayers. These are my blessings, which outweigh the 'non-blessings'. They motivate me to give 100%, even on days when I feel I can only scrape about a 10%.

Who and what are your blessings. count them.... you have them. Look beyond the pain and the hurt, and you will realize that they are what makes it worth getting up every morning and desire to be alive.

[toasteri]

El Ascenso a Dios

Photo by Jakub Stekla on Unsplash

Evangelio: Mateo 5:1-12a IV Domingo Ordinario | USCCB

Porque Dios es misericordioso, su voluntad ha sido que las almas que lo aman y que renuncian las cosas banales por El reciban aun en esta vida las doscientas veces mas que Jesús prometió. Por ende, tenemos las Beatitudes que el Señor predico en el monte; y aunque las vemos a través de las sombras de la imperfección que no desaparecerá por completo mientras permanezcamos en este valle de lágrimas, en este exilio terrenal, las Beatitudes son las cumbres de la perfección y la felicidad que nos guían a lo gloria misma.

Las Beatitudes pueden ser una fuente de consuelo para almas que añoran por una migaja de amor y están sedientas de felicidad.

Las Beatitudes son un suspiro, un aliento de vida nueva para las almas que han aguantado mucho. Son un nuevo aliento, para alentar a vivir allá en esas mansiones, en esas cumbres, respirando la brisa de las alturas del Señor; y dejarse llevar y sentirse enaltecido porque Él te levantara sobre alas de águila, “y te cubrirá con sus plumas y bajo sus alas hallarás refugio” (Ps. 91:4).

Las Beatitudes son una maravillosa cadena de montañas de las cuales cada pico es un escalón en el ascensor que llega hacia Dios.

Cada una de las Beatitudes, en las palabras de Santo Tomas, "es algo perfecto y excelente—una cumbre en si mismo/a; y a la misma vez es el comienzo de una felicidad por venir aun en esta vida".

Todas las Beatitudes son cumbres nobles, pero hay una constante ascensión desde las primeras hasta la última, que nos promete la gloria misma.

Primero, la libertad del desprendimiento, o desapego que nos da la pobreza del espíritu, la frescura de las lágrimas; luego la plenitud de la justicia y la gentileza de la misericordia; y muy cerquita del cielo, la luz de la pureza, la paz del amor y el estasis del martirio.

Cuando Jesús dejo abrir sus labios para revelarnos los secretos de las Beatitudes, nos pintaba un paisaje del ascenso espiritual hacia la felicidad y de las cualidades que deben tener los que ascienden al cielo porque nos estaba revelando un auto retrato de El mismo, el discípulo perfecto que encierra todas estas cualidades, Jesús, pobre de Espíritu que lamenta y duele por su gente, que es manso y tierno y tiene hambre y sed de justicia, es misericordioso y puro de corazón y busca la paz y cuando lo hieren, lo insultan y humillan pone la otra mejilla. Es perseguido por anunciar el Reino de Dios.

El primer paso por quien desea alcanzar la vida bendecida descrita por las Bienaventuranzas  es renunciar, sinceramente, totalmente, y completamente a las alegrías falsas y pasajeras que ofrecen las cosas vanas de este mundo como los honores, las riquezas, los carros caros incluso nuestra reputación y todas aquellas cosas que otros nos pueden quitar.

Por más de veintiún siglos el antídoto contra la vida vana y la felicidad engañosa de riquezas, honores y placeres se ha desplegado en las paginas de los Evangelios: Pero ¡ay de ustedes los ricos! Porque ya están recibiendo todo su consuelo.

 »¡Ay de ustedes, los que ahora están saciados! Porque tendrán hambre. ¡Ay de ustedes, los que ahora ríen! Porque se lamentarán y llorarán.» ¡Ay de ustedes, cuando todos los hombres hablen bien de ustedes! (Lk 6:24-26). Pero la gente no sabe como leer los Evangelios. Deslumbrados por el mundo, ya no toman en serio la palabra de Dios. Por eso cada vez hay menos y menos gente feliz en el mundo. Muy poca gente tiene el valor de atreverse a ser feliz porque la felicidad verdadera se encuentra en Jesús, con Jesús y a través de Jesús.

Es difícil arrancar nuestro corazón de las cosas pasajeras de este mundo como las riquezas, los carros caros, los títulos de honor, las cenas de gala, para entregarle nuestro tiempo y nuestro corazón a Jesús. Aun así, la felicidad no se encuentra en estas cosas: El Reino de Dios esta dentro de ti.” Porque el reino de Dios no cobra vida en la comida ni en la bebida, sino en la justicia, en la paz y alegría en el Espíritu Santo que solo podemos conocer a través de Jesús (Rom 14:17).

[toasteri]

The Ascent to God

Photo by Jakub Stekla on Unsplash

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Because God is merciful, it has been His will that those who love Him and are willing to put Him above the things of this world may receive even in this life the two hundredfold that He promised. Consequently, we have the Beatitudes which Jesus preached on the hill.

And even though we see them through the shadows of our human imperfection which means that we are not able to fully comprehend while we are here in this valley of tears called earth, the Beatitudes are a roadmap towards reaching eternal happiness.

The Beatitudes can be a source of consolation for those who hunger for love and thirst for happiness.

The Beatitudes are a whisper, a breath of new life for souls who have longed for a word of hope, if they are willing to hear it, it can be found in the Beatitudes. They are a breath of fresh air, to inspire us to live in those highest places that God has for those who follow Him, letting us be carried away by Him to the highest spiritual places, unafraid because “He will raise you up on eagles' wings, He will shelter you with his pinions, and under his wings you may take refuge” (Ps. 91)

The Beatitudes are an ascending chain of mountains where every peak is a step which gets us closer and closer to God.

Each of the Beatitudes is, in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas, “something perfect and excellent—a peak unto itself, and at the same time it is the beginning of the happiness to come even in this life.”

All of the Beatitudes are noble ideal peaks, but there is a constant ascension from the beginning all the way to the very last one, that promises us heaven itself.

It begins with the freedom of detachment, or letting go that spiritual poverty gives us, then the cleansing waterfall of mournful tears; after which comes the fullness of justice and the gentleness of mercy. And there, very close to heaven, there is the light of purity, the peace that only love can give and the ectasis of martyrdom.

When Jesus let His lips be opened to reveal to us the mysteries of the Beatitudes, He painted for us a landscape of the spiritual ascent towards that happiness AND the qualities that must be possessed by those who aspire to ascend the stairway that leads to heaven where the Beatitudes lead.

Through the Beatitudes, Jesus was painting a self-portrait. A portrait of Himself AND the portrait of the qualities He desires in each of His disciples. Jesus is poor in spirit and mourns and weeps over His people, Jesus is meek and humble of heart. Jesus hungers and thirsts for righteousness. Jesus desires mercy and is pure and clean of heart. Jesus seeks peace and turns the other cheek when his beard was plucked and when he was spat on. He is persecuted for announcing the Kingdom of God is at hand.

The first step for him or her who desires the blessedness described by the Beatitudes is to be willing to sincerely, totally and completely give up the false and passing joys of this world.

For over twenty-one centuries, the antidote against the frivolous life and the misleading happiness, like honors, wealth, the material things that can be suddenly lost; the antidote to these frivolous things, has been found in the pages of the gospels:

We are cautioned in Luke 6: Woe to you, who now receive all your consolation.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you,…” (Lk 6:24-26) Unfortunately, many people don’t take the time to learn how to read the Gospels and what this warning means. They become fascinated by the things of the world and no longer take time to find out what the Word of God means in our lives. That is why there are less and less people willing to be happy.

It is hard to take our love away from the things that don’t deserve our love like wealth and the things that can be taken by others like cars, and anything that is outside of us or anything that others can manipulate like our reputation, our prestige.

It is hard to take our love away from those things, to give it all to Jesus. Those things do deserve our attention, yes. They do deserve an important place, but love? No!

Happiness, real happiness is peace of mind. Real happiness is being at peace. Often, when Jesus first greeted people he told them, “Do not be afraid”. Another way of saying “do not be afraid” would be, “be without anxiety”, or “be at peace”, or “be free from anxiety and fear” which is being at peace, therefore, real happiness, is a sense of not being afraid, not being anxious, being at peace.

So, happiness can’t be found in the things purely of this world.

The Kingdom of God is inside of you. Because the Kingdom of God can’t be found in things. It can’t be found in food, or in drink, it is found in justice, in peace and the joy of the Holy Spirit that we can only find through Christ.

[toasteri]

All Part of the Plan

Photo by Tom Geerts on Unsplash

Reading: Hebrews 10:32-39 / Gospel: Mark 4:26-34

Jesus was a Jew and so were the earliest disciples of Jesus. But the historical truth is that the earliest Christian churches were successful, not really among the Jews in Israel, but among the so-called Gentiles—the non-Jews, in the lands to the East of the Mediterranean.

Among the earliest of Christ’s missionaries, like St. Paul, this was of deep concern. For example, in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul spends an entire three chapters, chapters nine to eleven, explaining how this success of the Gospel and the birth of the Church among the Gentiles was all part of the plan of God.

St. Paul sees the success of the mission to the Gentiles as eventually leading to the conversion of the Jewish people, as a sort of circling around; a going the long ways around things since they had been hard of heart and for the most part rejected Jesus as the Messiah. So, through the conversion of the Gentiles, St. Paul believed the Jews would eventually be converted.

In any case, the early Christian churches were mostly made up of Gentile, or non-Jewish converts. This is the concern that shows up in the Gospel reading from St. Mark’s Gospel today. The parables in today’s reading are about the unexpected success of the Gentile mission in the churches where the Gospel was written.

For St. Mark, this growth, which we could even call a great and plentiful growth, of the Gentile mission is and must be none other than the plan of God to restore the original unity of humanity: Jews with Gentiles, men with women, masters with slaves.

St. Mark tells us that this restoration of unity was at the heart of Jesus’ mission and was the primary reason His opponents wanted Him crucified.

[toasteri]

Let HIM Find You

Photo by Daniel Jensen on Unsplash

1st Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-8, Gospel: Luke 10:1-9 Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops | USCCB

The First Reading mentions, Timothy and Titus. Two of St. Paul’s closest co-workers and friends, St. Paul speaks to Timothy as a third-generation believer. He refers to the faith that came first to live in his grandmother Lois, and then in his mother Eunice and then finally in Timothy himself. Apparently, then, Timothy’s faith was born in his home, thanks to his grandmother and mother.

The same can be said for many of us. We owe our Christian faith to the faith of our parents and grandparents. However, we can’t say that of St. Paul. His parents and grandparents were Jewish. For St. Paul, it was his encounter with the risen Lord that brought him to the faith in Jesus, most probably leaving him in a situation of conflict with his parents and grandparents.

Both Timothy’s and Paul’s experiences reminds us that Jesus can touch the lives of people through the faith of family members, but He can also touch their lives in other, less conventional ways.

Jesus is always seeking us out in one way or another. In the Gospel reading, He reached out to the people of His time by sending out a very large group of seventy-two disciples with the message, “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.” And the advice Jesus gave to the seventy two disciples tells us that Jesus was aware that this mission He was sending them on to touch the lives of a bigger number of people spread through a larger territory than He had been on with his disciples would not always be welcome. He told them, “I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”

But regardless of whether people accepted or rejected Him, the message didn’t change, “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you” Jesus said, because Jesus is always very close to us.

He never tires of seeking us out. Let Him find you.

No matter how ungrateful, how, lazy, how little interest we show in Him, because, again his message doesn’t change, “The Kingdom of God is already near us.” Open yourself to His merciful love and let Him find you.

[toasteri]

Not God's Puppet

Photo by Evan Fitzer on Unsplash

Gospel: Mark 3:31-35 Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | USCCB

In this same chapter from the Gospel of St. Mark beginning on Verse 20, we hear that because of all the wonderful healings that Jesus has been doing, the crowds of people following Him are getting larger and larger and following Him everywhere. Verse 20 says that “He came home, and such a large crowd gathered (presumably they came into the house Jesus was staying in) that they made it impossible for Jesus and his disciples even to eat.” When Jesus’ relatives heard this, they said “He is out of His mind” so “they set out to seize Him”.

Then followed the brief confrontation with the scribes during which Jesus spoke about an everlasting sin. Having put the scribes in their place, Jesus then seems to more or less ignore his mother and relatives – or does He? Jesus did not leave what He was doing, which was, teaching his disciples and ministering to the crowd which St. Mark tells us had followed Him to the house where He was staying in order to go and see His mother Mary and those referred to as His brothers and sisters, which were most likely other close relatives as we’ve come to understand from other past explanations because Jesus did not have siblings.

Instead, Jesus sent a message declaring He now had a new family, the family of His disciples and those who listened to His word, lived that word and therefore did God’s will.

It must have been very difficult for His family, especially for Mary to hear that message. Jesus was not going to be managed or to be controlled. Jesus’ family had to learn to let Him go to fulfill God’s will for His life. It is a lesson for us to learn in relation to others, especially those we love.

We feel we know what is best for them and we want them to respond to what we think they should do in the way that they should do it. Often, we forget that God, that Jesus does not treat us that way because He respects our intelligence and our freedom to choose and to act.

Remember when Jesus came upon the blind man, Jesus asked the blind man a question. But—it was not that Jesus did not already know exactly the answer to His own question. Jesus knows the question and the answer before it is even asked and before we even think an answer to any imaginable question. But HE wants us to be ready, to come to the point of realizing that we need His healing, His forgiveness, that the time has come to receive the glory of His mercy, the glory of His power. Mark 10:50-52 tells us “Throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus jumped up and came to Jesus. “What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “Master,” said the blind man, “ Master, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.…”. Yes, Jesus knows what we need. And HE wants us to be the ones to see that we need it. Otherwise, we would be no more than puppets. But we are not God's puppets, we are free to decide. That is what it means to have free will.

If we were not free to decide when to feel sorry for our sins for example, we would be no more than miserable puppets. How awful and inappropriate would it be for example to be at one of the celebrations with which we mark our human existence like a birthday, a wedding, a Baptism and for God to suddenly decide that you need to right then and there feel deep sorrow and regret for your sins and at such a joyous moment, for God to decide that you need to feel deep misery. NO, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven…a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…a time to seek, and a time to lose…a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eclesiastes 3:1-8) and Jesus waits for us to be ready to come Him, He trusts that we will make the right choice.

That is the learning we have to come to terms with when it comes to our loved ones, to acknowledge our powerlessness over them and let them go to make their own mistakes. This can be painful because we don’t want them to suffer, especially for parents.

The Virgin Mary, I’m sure would not have hesitated to carry the Cross for Jesus as she did not hesitate to carry Him in her womb, but it was not God’s will for Mary to carry the Cross. God’s will was for Mary to carry Him in her womb and be the Mother of God and later it was Jesus’ will for her to become our mother.

God’s will was for Jesus to carry the sin of Adam and Eve, the sin of pride, arrogance, disobedience, opening the gates of heaven for us and with His ascension carrying us, the human race into heaven, but in the process, He had to die for our sake so that all this might be accomplished. This was God's will and purpose for Him.

What is your purpose. Your purpose is to carry your cross, however heavy or however light. But you will never be alone. Believe in Him. He promised, "I will be with you always, even to the end of time." (Mt. 28:20)

[toasteri]

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

[toasteri]

The Everlasting Sin

Photo by Peter Forster on Unsplash

Gospel: Mark 3:22-30

“ Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” (Mk. 3:28).

Since Jesus first uttered these words in his ongoing persecution from the scribes and other such ignorants, people have debated about the unforgivable sin that Jesus speaks about. There are many great sins and all of them can be forgiven if a person repents and asks for God’s forgiveness.

The first Reading does say that “Jesus Christ was offered up to take away the sins of many”. There is forgiveness for those who have thought that maybe their sin was too great, and they could never be forgiven. Jesus forgives those who can’t forgive themselves, but they need to ask Him. Jesus asked the blind man, “what do you want me to do for you?”.(Mk 10:51) Jesus respects our freedom. Even though He knows what we need, He wants us to be the ones to make the decision when and where the time has come to seek His forgiveness.

Unfortunately, there is an unforgivable sin. It is called “final impenitence”. It tends to build up and creep up on people. Impenitence means not feeling sorry, not feeling regret for our sin, not wanting forgiveness. It means the final rejection of God. It is unforgivable because a person doesn’t want forgiveness because they don’t feel they need it.

It happens to people slowly when they begin to justify their sins. It begins with allowing themselves to commit more and more small sins like more and more little white lies, then they begin to justify bigger sins until they no longer appreciate the enormity of what they are doing.

And their conscience, the great gift from God of His light to all of us, is shut down. And we no longer feel we need to repent or be sorry for “our sins”. We have NO sins. We don’t want forgiveness.

Final blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the unforgivable sin can happen. To understand what Jesus meant in the Gospel of Mark, we should notice that Jesus’ miracles in this Gospel have all been to restore the health and wholeness to the people he encounters.

The Holy Spirit of God must be behind these miraculous healings and encounters Jesus has with these people because they are filled with hope and goodness.

So the unforgiveable sin is to deny God, the goodness and hope present in His Spirit, and to give in entirely to despair.

We Christians should always be people of hope.

[toasteri]

The People Who Sit in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light!

"Ecce Homo" by Antonio Ciseri-Gallery of Modern Art of Pitti Palace, Florence Italy

Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death a light has arisen.” (a light has shone)

This prophecy of Isaiah that Matthew sees fulfilled in Jesus is a rich promise for all of us. In one way or another every one of us know what if is to walk in darkness. Remember a time when you have walked in the darkness. Walking in the dark does not always mean that shedding a light in the darkness will be that helpful. We do not know what we will see when the light reveals what is hidden in the darkness. Sometimes the light can reveal things that can scare us.

If we are outside in unfamiliar places and all we have is the moonlight to illuminate us, sometimes the light can illumine familiar and safe surroundings that lead us back to safety – but other times the light can reveal a path that just takes us into the unknown and we have no other choice but to follow the path trusting where the light will take us…

The message of Jesus is urgent “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” His approach to individual men and women is clear and direct. His call to the two sets of brothers Simon and Andrew and James and John is “Follow me” and AT ONCE, they followed him. AT ONCE.

(Simon, Andrew, James and John walked in darkness and suddenly saw a great light. They were dwelling in a land overshadowed by death and suddenly a light rose and AT ONCE like the Three Wise Men of the Epiphany, they began following this light.)

Nothing suggests that these first four disciples who would later be called Apostles were consciously unhappy with their lives as their lives were being lived. They were fishermen and what they did and how they lived would have provided them what they needed for their day to day lives and those of their families, but life is more than the here and now.

It might be shocking to realize that Jesus calls his disciples away from those things that we all cling to, from the here and now, because He wants us to live for greater things, not just for here and now.

And the first four left their nets at once and followed Him. Simon and Andrew and James and John get startled by the light of the world who is Jesus, the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus is the light that the prophet Isaiah prophesied. He comes to shed His light on the darkness of our lives. If we do not hear His call, it could be that so far from being afraid of the dark, we could have made ourselves comfortable, in our darkness. Pulled down the blinds and locked the doors. We may be too comfortable in our own darkness to let the light of Christ in.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life…

“I am the way, the truth and the life” [Jn 14:6] said Jesus, “whoever believes in me will have eternal life” [Jn 5:24] because “I am the way, the truth and the life”

What is the way? The way is our faith and our struggle to be active in our faith. And that is the key, being active. Yes, Jesus shows us the way to eternal life, but we have to follow him. We have to do our part. Whether it is in the festive life or in mourning. In mourning our losses whatever they may be.

What is the truth? The truth is the Word of God. The Word of God is Jesus. Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, what is the truth-- and Jesus said, I am the Truth. His life, His word, the Gospel, the truth of His promises.

Claudia, the wife of Pontius Pilate was the only one who interceded for Jesus with Pilate, without any success. There is a very famous painting called "Ecce Homo" by Antonio Ciseri. "Ecce Hommo" means "Behold the Man". You can find a copy of it online. That image shows Jesus with His hands tied behind His back, naked from the waist up and His red tunic covering HIm from the waist down while Pilate points at Him as he addresses the people down below. Besides Jesus standing there being unfairly spoken about, the most striking figure in this painting to me is someone that almost passes unnoticed: Claudia. Claudia is said to be Pilate's wife. The story goes that when Claudia heard Jesus say, "I am the Truth", Claudia was startled by a great light. Pilate had asked Jesus "what is the Truth?" and Jesus responded, "I am the Truth". Like St. Paul on the way to Damascus, the light of Jesus startled and lit up a new way for Claudia as it did for St. Paul, for Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John.

She had tried to change Pilate's mind before when she had told him she believed Jesus was a holy man and if he went along with harming Him, something terrible would happen, but now, she was sure HE was more than holy.

The painting shows Claudia directly opposite Pontius Pilate, walking away from him. Claudia is the only one besides Jesus wearing a red colored garment. She is lifting up her red mante.

In religious paintings, everything is meaningful. Lifting up her red mantle, like the one Jesus is wearing and clutching it with her hand, means that following the way of Jesus, she will lose what she is grasping or holding on to tightly. Red signifies blood and life. She will lose her life to follow the way she has begun, the way of Jesus. She has turned her back on Pilate because the light of Jesus has shown her a new way, His Truth, His Life.

And finally, what is the Life? That; -- is eternal life, the fruit of His promises. It is the KNOWING -- That we are in this world because of something greater than ourselves. We have a purpose for being here. We are not an accident. Life is not an accident. I don't care if anyone tells you you were created through artificial insemination or because your parents "weren't careful" you are God's creation. You are willed by God. No one is an accident. If God had not wanted you to be, you would not had been.

What makes people give up everything for Jesus is the fact that they discover this, that they are wanted. When Jesus says, "I want you --- "Follow me". But it is not until you realize that no life is an accident that you will find your purpose.

Simon, Andrew, James, John and Claudia realized that their life was more than the here and now. That there is something more beyond the moment we take our last breath on this earth and that we need to give meaning to each of our breathing moments while we can still have the breath of life.

You and I are here because of the will and the intention of a divine creator. You and I are here to do the will of God. His will is to love Him and to love one another. And if we follow His will, and if we follow the way of Jesus, and listen to His Truth, we will live ETERNALLY.

[toasteri]

The Lord is My Light and My Salvation

Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash

Funeral Homily/Sermon Based on: Psalm 27 / Gospels: John 5:24-29 and John 14:1-3

On behalf of our church, I would like to offer the family my condolences. The funeral mass like all masses is celebrated in memory of our lord Jesus Christ as he ordered it when he said at the last supper “do this in remembrance of me.” But the mass is offered as an intercession for the soul of the person who has died. That is why your participation is very important so that it has the greatest effect.

The responsorial psalm we heard today, psalm 27 speaks of light, life, hope and salvation. It can be odd to some that the psalm at a funeral speaks of light life, hope and salvation, but that is what eternal life is for those who died in the hope of the resurrection. That is why we are all here, because we hope, we believe in the resurrection, is it not?.

But there are others out there who even during the times and seasons of their life when they are not mourning the death of a loved, they are hopeless and in deep darkness and all this because of a lack of faith. Because they refuse to have faith a being greater than themselves.

The late pope St. John Paul ii a long time ago said that these people welcome what he called “a culture of the shadow of death”. To them, there is only what they live here and now. For them, life is only an accident, without purpose or meaning and because of that, they are only interested in satisfying their own needs and wants like god’s lower creatures, the animals do.

Sad, when we think about it. To believe that there is nothing waiting for us beyond this life; after death--- often leads people to desperation.

How fortunate we Christians are. – we who believe in Jesus, in our savior.

The words of the gospel we read from today say: “whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life” [Jn 5:24] “I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the son of god, and those who hear will live.” [Jn 5:25] with this promise, Jesus tells us that death is not something to fear. He promises to resurrect us on the last day [that is the day of judgment] to live with him in eternity, as the responsorial psalm says: “to dwell in the house of the lord all the days of our life” [Ps 27:4]

Death has its purposes, among them to make us reevaluate about what we have lost and what we still have. About the time and the things we can still fix if it is up to us to fix them, if not, we must leave those things in the hands of God that are not up to us to meddle into. Death also has the purpose of reminding us about our own way and where that way is taking us. It has the purpose of making us look at the direction we are going while we still have time to either keep going or change our way.

“I am the way, the truth and the life” [Jn 14:6] said Jesus, “whoever believes in me will have eternal life” [Jn 5:24] because “I am the way, the truth and the life”

What is the way? The way is our faith and our struggle to be active in our faith. And that is the key, being active. Yes, Jesus shows us the way to eternal life, but we have to follow him. We have to do our part. Whether it is in the festive life or in mourning.

What is the truth? The truth is the word of Jesus. Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, what is the truth, and Jesus said, i am the truth. His life, his word, the gospel, the truth of his promises. Like the ones we hear in this homily from his gospels today. This is the Truth.  

And, what is the life? That- is eternal life, the fruit of his promises. It is the knowing that we are in this world because of something, for a purpose. We are not an accident. Life is not an accident. We are here because of the will and the intention of a divine creator: we are here to do the will of God. His will is to love him and to love one another. And if we follow his will, and if we follow the way of Jesus, and listen to his truth, we will live eternally.

I invite you to lift up your hearts and I want to hear your answer. Whisper it if you must. Your hearts should be lifted up to the lord.

Thank God for the life of your loved one. Because your beloved is still very much a part of you, don’t be silent. Every life that leaves this world deserves a last great amen and an our father from all the lips of every Christian.

Let our praises thank god for the gift of eternal life that our lord Jesus Christ has won for your dear loved one whom we say goodbye today and take comfort by these words of Jesus, “do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in god; believe also in me” [Jn 14:1]

And so, today don’t let your hearts be troubled. Instead, let us continue to pray and ask God that He may welcome your dear beloved in paradise where to live with Jesus Christ for all eternity.

[toasteri]

THERE is never a moment when Jesus is never THERE.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

1st Rdg: Hebrews 7:25-8:6 Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

The high priests that the First Reading speaks about were many, but even so, death ended their priesthood. Jesus holds his priesthood permanently. Consequently, He is able to save those who come to God through Him, because He lives forever to intercede for us with God the Father.

It is hard to say which of St. Paul’s letters is the most important. Since his letter to the Hebrews is about the priesthood, I would say it’s one of the top three. And verse 25 is the heart of the entire letter.

Verse 25 says: “Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them.”

This is the high priest we need – an enduring priest. The priests of Jesus’ time were called Levitical priests and they could not be for the people what they needed. They put the rules first, remember all those arguments Jesus had with the Pharisees?

The people needed a high priest who was luminous and holy and completely innocent and eternally able to bring us to be with His Father in Heaven. THAT COULD ONLY BE JESUS.

There isn’t a second, an hour or a time of your life when Jesus is not able or willing to save you or I. His power to save is limitless, yes is true. The grace of God in Christ extends further than you can imagine, to the deepest, most outrageous sin that you have ever committed. His grace is sufficient for you. The devil will always try to shame us into thinking that He is a vengeful and merciless God but remember His words “For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Lk 19:10).

“Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through Him.” (Heb 7:25) One of the key responsibilities of a priest is to make atonement for the sins of the people. That is to offer personal sacrifices, like fasting and the insults that sometimes they receive from their people as atonement for them. Jesus does this atonement perfectly. We go through God through the person of Jesus. He is the one who brings us into God’s glory.

There is never a moment when Jesus is never “there”.

I remember back in Wisconsin in the Seminary when we were studying Hebrews and someone asked a professor, “What would you do if you knew Jesus was in the next room praying for you? The professor told the seminarian: “Hebrews 7:25 tells us Jesus is in the next room praying for you: The next room is eternity.

He prays a prayer of absolution for you when you ask forgiveness for your past sin. He prays when you sin in the present moment hoping that you will repent.

And He prays that you will not fall into temptation.

That is what living forever to make intercession for you means.

[toasteri]

Hope is a Grappling Hook

Photo by Hu Chen on Unsplash

Reading: Hebrews 6:10-20 Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbott | USCCB

The story of Israel is a story of many things. Among them, it is a story of God’s fidelity and care despite and through all the inconsistencies of Israel’s “unfaithful history”.

St. Paul puts it clearly when he says, “So when God wanted to give the heirs of his promise an even clearer demonstration of the immutability of his purpose, he intervened with an oath, so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us.”

God’s promises about our future and the future of human history are confirmed in the Resurrection of Jesus.

Even though the Letter to the Hebrews from the First Reading compares hope to an anchor, it can also be compared to a grappling hook. A grappling hook, if you are not familiar with it is used by mountain climbers. It is somewhat like a huge fishing hook. You throw it up towards where you want to climb with the intention that it grapples or grabs on to something strong to hold your weight and you can climb. Therefore, its strength depends on what it grips.

If it grabs a plant or a bush, or dirt, our hope is doomed. But if it takes hold of a solid rock, or a strong tree, our hope will be secure. The anchor or hook of our hope is fixed on the rock of Christ’s Resurrection.

The Resurrection of Jesus is not only a fact of history but a power today by which Jesus brings us closer to Himself through the Sacramental life of the Church.

Christian hope is not wishful thinking. It is a “grappling hook” secured to God’s Word and the Sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ.

Hope is not simply being optimistic. It is that quiet but certain knowledge that there is more to this mortal life and that we are on our way to realizing what that “something more” is when one day we too give thanks to the Lord in the company and assembly of the just because the Lord will remember His covenant forever.

Because you and I follow a God who keeps His promises. Just before He was betrayed in the Gospel of John, Jesus made this promise: “In my Father’s house there are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; so that where I am, there you may also be.”

[toasteri]

Behold, the Lamb of God!

1st Rdg: Is 49:3,5-6/ 2nd Rdg: 1 Cor 1:1-3 Gospel: John 1:29-34

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Last week’s First Reading spoke about God’s Servant who would bring justice and light to the world. And today again, the First Reading speaks of how God’s servant will lead the people of Israel back to God and bring God’s salvation to the whole earth. There are four passages in the book of Isaiah that speak of servant known as the “Suffering Servant”. They are known as the Servant Songs of Isaiah and were written about 500 years before Jesus was born. They beautifully describe God’s perfect servant, Jesus.

We can’t speak about Jesus without speaking about sheep and lambs and servants because these are all words Jesus and those surrounding Jesus use to describe Him. Something I found interesting is that at the time of Jesus, the Jews looked down on shepherds, but they loved sheep. They did not care for shepherds because they considered them low class, dishonest and unsanitary because of their usually being so close to their animals.

The Jews, however had a high concept and placed a high value on sheep as part of their economy and culture. The sheep provided wool for clothing and food for meals both in the context of small family celebrations and large communal and ritual celebrations. Sheep are very docile animals. They were prescribed in the books of the Law as the preferred animals to be offered to God in sacrifice.

Lambs are important to us even today even though most of us may not never have seen one in real life. They are important to Christians because Lamb of God is one of the titles used to refer to Jesus Christ. John the Baptist refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God in today’s Gospel. It is the image of the lamb offered in sacrifice we invoke right before Communion.

What does the symbolism of ‘Lamb of God’ mean? There are three important references to sheep or lambs in the scriptures that can help us understand:

The first Reference is the Paschal Lamb: About 1300 years before Jesus, when God was about to free the Jews from their slavery in Egypt, Moses instructed the people how to protect themselves from the last plague that would descend over the land of Egypt. That last plague would be the Angel of Death who would take the life of every firstborn male of any age, human or animal in the whole land. Moses told the Jews to sacrifice a pure lamb, take its blood and sprinkle it over the doorpost of their homes and that the Angel of Death would pass over the homes who did this. Then, they were to roast the lamb and have a meal as a family and eat the meat of the lamb. That meal became the annual Passover meal; the annual commemoration of God setting His people free.

The second reference is to Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. There are four sections in the Book of Isaiah that describe the Suffering Servant. They are known as the Servant Songs because of their poetic and melancholic style. Today we heard about how the servant has a great responsibility to “bring [God’s] salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Is. 49:6). This is to be accomplished through the Servant’s suffering and His rejection.

Isaiah quotes the people witnessing the suffering of the servant who then realize what has happened and say, “While we thought of Him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted (as if for his own sins, yet), he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins. By his stripes [those are his lashes and wounds] we were healed. (Is. 53:4-5) “Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, He was silent and opened not His mouth. Through His suffering, my Servant will justify many, and their guilt He shall bear.” (Is. 53:7-11). These lines were written 500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

At first, these four Servant Songs were not thought to apply to the Messiah because the people expected a Messiah who would be a king or a priest who would be a powerful, glorious, majestic, or some victorious figure or leader – not a suffering servant. It was only after Jesus’ death and resurrection that these servant songs were seen to clearly and perfectly apply to Jesus, the Messiah.

The Third Reference to Jesus as the Lamb of God is perhaps the most obvious and is from the Book of Revelation. It clearly combines the suffering servant with the symbol of the lamb when Jesus is described in the following: “Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes.”

Seven, in the Bible means fullness. It means complete, totality. The seven horns means that He had fullness of power, complete and total power. The seven eyes mean fullness of knowledge, complete insight. That He had complete and total knowledge. In the Book of Revelation, the main title for Jesus is the “Lamb”

All this comes together here with this image of the Lamb who seemed to have been slain standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures.

One of the most interesting aspects of the four living creatures is that they demonstrate that Jesus, the Lamb of God, is equal to God Himself. Their worship of the Lamb in Revelation 5:6-14 is clearly directed towards Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:5;9-10), and they say “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:11-12) and “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever” (Revelation 5:13) and they fall down and worship the Lamb, along with “Him who sits on the throne” – God, the Father.

Toward the end of the Book of Revelation, St. John tells us that the Wedding Feast of the Lamb has begun. This is a symbol of God’s reign, when there will be no more death, no more mourning, no more pain. Then the angel said to St. John, write this: “Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” (Rev. 19:9).

This is the invitation right before communion, we are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb, at every Eucharist, you are invited to be blessed with the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lamb of God. Be Blessed by the Blessing of the Lamb of God. You are blessed by the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Even if you don’t take communion, His Body and Blood still Blesses you in a Spiritual Communion through the blessing you are invited to walk up to receive. NEVER be ashamed to come up to receive HIS blessing. His grace is sufficient for YOU. If you don’t receive His body and Blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion because you are not Catholic or because you are not in condition to receive, you are still invited to receive HIS blessing. It is not the priest's blessing or the minister’s blessing; it is the blessing of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, our Lord and Savior. No priest worthy of his ordination should deny you the blessing OF JESUS CHRIST during communion or any other time.

Amen.

[toasteri]

HIS Mercy is There For The Asking

Gospel: St. Mark 2:1-12

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

When some people hear or read today’s passage from the Gospel of St. Mark, they wonder why the first words Jesus spoke to the paralytic were “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Most of us would have expected Jesus to tell him, “Rise, pick up your mat and walk.”

Why does Jesus focus on the man’s sin? It isn’t that Jesus focuses on the man’s sin. Jesus is trying to answer what others are thinking about this man and about why he is a paralytic. At the time of Jesus many people understood that there was a direct correlation between a person’s illness or disability and that person’s sin. Jesus rejected this connection; he had done so on another occasion.

On another occasion Jesus and His disciples were walking by a man who had been blind from birth and his disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents? (Jn 9:1-3) And Jesus rebuked them saying “Neither this man nor his parents sinned”.

Maybe the paralyzed man in today’s passage had grown to feel that his disability was because of some sin he probably didn’t even know about, and that God was punishing him. He didn’t have the strength or the will to make the effort to come to Jesus himself, but he had good people who had faith, but who also had the will to bring him to jesus.

That is something we are lacking in our church. We have people with faith, but we are timid Christians. We are afraid to invite, to bring, to make holes through which to bring others to Jesus.

The four men in today’s Gospel put a paralyzed man on a stretcher. Somehow carried him up to a rooftop, made a hole in a perfectly good roof and then lowered him down until he was in the presence of Jesus, and this is the faith that so impressed Our Lord.

Jesus is a merciful Lord.

Many of us say we believe, but there are many people who have difficulty believing in how His mercy is there for the asking, How His Heart overflows with mercy.   I truly believe in a Jesus whose heart is full of a desire to forgive, cleanse and give us His mercy. He has been showing this in the Gospels all week.

Jesus said to St. Faustina of those who believe and trust in His mercy, “These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death.” (Divine Mercy Novena, 7th Day, Daily Prayers, Diary, 1209-1229)

[toasteri]

Your sin is not greater than God’s mercy

Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

We are in a part of the Gospel of Mark where one of the intentions of St. Mark is to focus on the authority of Jesus. His authority is seen in the way people drop everything to follow Him. His authority is seen as Jesus is seen casting out the unclean spirit of the demoniac by Jesus simply saying, “Be quiet, come out of him.” Jesus has authority over sickness, healing Simon’s mother-in-law.

Leprosy in the time of Jesus was a serious disease. Touching a leper, like touching a corpse, resulted in being unclean. Only a priest could declare a person to be clean or unclean of this disease. Those who were determined to be unclean were required to live outside the community of Israel, wearing torn clothing, leaving their hair messy, covering the lower part of their face, and crying out “Unclean! (According to Leviticus 13:45-46 and Numbers 5:2-4) and According to the Talmud, the Scriptures followed by the Jews at the time of Jesus, the closest a leper could come to someone without the disease was six feet.

This is what makes today’s opening verse so startling. The leper comes to Jesus, imploring Him, and kneeling and says to Him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” This man has great courage to come anywhere near Jesus. Maybe he is staying six feet away from Jesus. But people feared lepers. People wanted them to remain far away from the community. But this leper not only comes to Jesus but does something incredibly bold. He declares that Jesus has the authority and the power to make him clean. All that matters is if Jesus is willing to do so.

The reason this is an incredibly bold request is because cleansing lepers is not something that people were able to do. The leper is showing a great awareness of who Jesus is.

We might remember a couple of times in scripture when leprosy was cleansed. The first one I’d like to point out is Naaman the leper who was cleansed by dipping in the Jordan River seven times at the prompting of Elisha (2 Kings 5:7-8). The Elija/Elisha prophet figure was able to give instructions for cleansing leprosy. The other time when leprosy was cleansed was when Moses called on God to cleanse the leprosy of his sister Miriam (Numbers 12:9-16). Moses and Elisha were the only ones who pray for God to cleanse leprosy. These two accounts proved that at each of these times there was a prophet in Israel. Moses and Elisha are God’s prophets, God’s representatives. YET, ONLY GOD CAN CLEANSE. In all of Scripture, only Moses and Elisha called on God for the cleansing of leprosy. Yet this leper comes to Jesus and is aware of the great authority of Jesus. Notice what he says: “If you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus is greater than Moses and Elisha because he will not have to pray to God or follow instructions for cleansing. This man realizes that he will be cleansed just by Jesus’ own will.

In what happens next, Jesus, it says “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.” No one else would have dared touch the leper, except Jesus. Not only would this make you ceremonially unclean, but there is the fear of catching the disease. You would suffer the same as this leper.

Jesus had already shown that the authority is in his words. He could have just said, “Be clean” as he had said to the demoniac, “be quiet”. But Jesus, with great intention stretches out his hand, touches him and says, “I will it; be clean”

Jesus is making a point about who He is. Rather than being rendered unclean by touching this leper. Jesus reverses the direction of purity and gives cleansing rather than be defiled. Jesus’ cleanness is more powerful than the leper’s uncleanness. Touching a leper would make any other person unclean. But Jesus is more powerful than the leper’s uncleanness.

This is the power of the message of what Jesus has the power to do and what Jesus has come to do. Jesus has the power to cleanse us. Jesus came to cleanse sinners. God has more forgiveness than you have sins to be forgiven of and to be forgiven for. The apostle Paul taught us a great hope that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20).

We are the unclean. The ones who should be out on the fringes and shouting, “unclean, unclean!”. We are the ones who deserve to keep away from Jesus because of our uncleanness. But Jesus came to us and says, I do will to make you clean.

The tale of the leper is one of two leper metaphors for what Jesus does for us as sinners. As sinners, we are spiritual lepers. Sin’s effect is that it works towards alienating us from God. But God provides a way for us to be made clean. Jesus reverses the direction of purity and brings us cleansing.

Jesus not only has the ability to cleanse, but the desire to do so. The leper in today’s metaphor does not doubt Jesus’ ability to cleanse. What is the leper’s question, however? He questions Jesus’ willingness to do so. “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

The leper represents us. I believe that many of us do believe and trust in the ability of Jesus to cleanse us. We doubt his willingness. We look at our sins and we know that He is powerful enough to cleanse us of our sins. We don’t say it, but deep down we think, “But does He desire to cleanse me?”

The answer is a loud, resounding, “YES!” If you come to Jesus for cleansing, Jesus’ answer is always “Yes, I do will it”.

Your sin is not greater than God’s mercy. Your sin is not greater than Jesus’s ability to cleanse you and forgive you of your sin. Your sin is not greater than Jesus’ desire to cleanse you and free you from your spiritual leprosy. Jesus will never say, “no, I do not will it, do not be made clean” because He is the same one of whom St. John says He was with God and was God from the beginning and from the very beginning, this is the same God whose intention was for us to live in Paradise. With compassion He looks at you and stretches out His hand to heal you if you will come to Him and in faith you ask him like the leper, and tells you, I “I do will it, be made clean”.  

[toasteri]

How the Intercession of Mary works

A woman went to the doctor and after some questions about her medical history, the doctor, who was Catholic commented:

--- I see you made it a point to write here on your medical form that you are a Christian and that you believe in Jesus!

--“Yes” replied the patient.

The doctor commented:

-- “I love those Christians who talk a lot about Jesus. There’s only one problem: they talk much about Jesus; they don’t mention his mother, Mary.

(There was a dead silence)

Indignant, the woman said: “Doctor, may I ask you a question?”

-- “Of course said the doctor

“If, one day I come into your office and your receptionist tells me that you are not here, but she says your mother is in your office and she would be more than happy to see me, would I want to be seen by her?

-- “Of course not” answered the doctor.

-- “Not in this context, because the one who obtained a medical degree was I, not my mother.”

So, feeling justified, the woman continued: “Then doctor, you see, who died on the cross for me was Jesus, not His mother.”

Then the doctor responded:

-- “But if you arrived at the lobby of my office and found my dear mother sitting there and there were no more appointments available for you or any member of yours or any other family and even if you had no way of paying whatever the consult or procedure was needed, but if she asked me to receive you …I would gladly do so and even provide the medications and treatment necessary, free of cost. You know why? Simply for the mere fact that it has been a request of my dear beloved sweet mother.

A “want” of my mother, is a “done thing” for me.

At the Wedding of Cana, the mother of Jesus had a concern for a young couple who were in the middle of celebrating their wedding. The wine of their wedding celebration had run out. Mary, the mother of Jesus noticed. Concerned, she walked up to Jesus. She did not ask him or demand anything. She merely presented the situation to her son. Because it was a concern for is beloved mother, Jesus blessed this young couple even though He had said His hour had not yet come, but no good Son disobeys His mother and Father as the Fourth Commandment says, “Honor thy Father and Mother”. And Jesus honors both His earthly parents and His Heavenly Father. The Virgin Mary does not do miracles because she is not God, but she intercedes with Her Son for us and in that way, She procures miracles for us. In that way, she is a worker of miracles.

[toasteri]

“You made him for a little while lower than the angels”

1st Reading: Heb 2:5-12 / Psalm 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9/ Gospel: Mk 1:21-28

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

“You made him for a little while lower than the angels”

The First Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews is about human dignity lost and then found.

It quotes the Psalm about the dignity of humanity that is superior to all of God’s creation. We are made in the image and likeness of God, “little less than the angels.” To be made in the image of God means that we have the power to study and to understand the universe and ourselves. We have the power of will and to rise above our instincts and emotions to give direction to our life.

We have a spiritual and immortal soul that will last forever. We have the power of conscience and to discern what is right and wrong. And we have the capacity to be in communion with God. We are capable of transforming others through our love and of being transformed by theirs.

But these gifts, our glory CAN BE and have been disfigured. Our desire for God can be turned towards other things. Our conscience can be degraded, and we can rationalize almost anything. Our love can become manipulative and controlling.

This kind of world is the kind of world we are all familiar with because it is the world we live in every day.

Jesus came to restore our dignity and to give us the grace to put all things in order again. The demonic control from which Jesus releases the man in today’s Gospel prefigures the liberation He brings to all of humanity. “Human dignity regained” is what redemption is all about.

And the way Jesus does this, Jesus simply said “be quiet! Come out of him!” and these calming words had a profound effect on this man’s disturbed spirit. Jesus did not react to people; RATHER, He responded to them, and He responded to them out of His deep relationship with God. As a result, His presence brought peace where there was disturbance and calm where there was aggression.

Jesus can have the same calming effect on each of us when we open ourselves to Him in our brokenness and our need. As we do so, we grow in our relationship with Him and we can respond to OTHERS out of that relationship rather than REACT to them.

The letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus’ life on earth shows us how we can maintain our dignity in a fallen world. The work of Jesus’ redemption shows the great respect and love Jesus has for us and for our dignity.

In responding to others out of our relationship with Him, we can become channels of His calming and healing presence to others.