Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 57203 times)

cassini · « **Reply #15 on:** October 25, 2023, 12:20:12 PM »

Fr Sean again:

Jesus’ Marching Orders

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Follow the doctor’s orders,” in order to get well. But have you heard the phrase, “Follow Jesus’ orders,” to get saved from sin and be able to love? An order is a command by someone in authority requiring you to carry out some task. A parent orders a child to do something. A policeman orders a driver to move his vehicle that’s illegally parked. A boss orders an employee to do a particular job. Legitimate orders imply legitimate authority can legitimately. A child can’t give an order to a parent, even though he or she might try. Why? Because a child doesn’t have authority over the parent. So when we talk about obeying commandments or carrying out orders we recognize that the commander has the proper authority. Jesus gives His followers their marching orders because He received His authority from God the Father whose orders He carries out. He tells us that if we want to be His followers we will show it by obeying His commandments (Jn 14;15). In other words, He is telling us that if we love Him as our Saviour and benefit from His presence we’ll carry out His orders. Mary articulated this in her advice to the waiters at the wedding feast at Cana: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). What He orders us to do is to love God and our neighbour. That sounds easy but, because of our proneness to selfishness, it isn’t. The nature of love is self-sacrifice for the good of others, exemplified by Jesus on the cross.

A lawyer asked Jesus, "Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?” (Mt 22:36). The Pharisees had divided the Law into 613 statutes. He was asking Jesus to prioritize them. The most important Commandment would be the one that called for the most obedience in order to be in God’s favour. The most important commandment would set the tone within which all the others would be viewed.

Jesus answered the lawyer: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first Commandment. The second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the prophets as well.” The lawyer was probably dumbfounded. To enter heaven it’s necessary to love God with all your heart (be emotionally committed to Him in a personal relationship), with your whole soul (allow God to be the center of your life), with all your mind (fill your mind with knowledge of Him). We do that by obeying the first 3 Commandments: Adore God alone; Revere His Holy Name; and Keep the Sabbath Holy. Jesus identifies a second Commandment which He connects to the first that orders us to love our neighbor as if he or she were us. Love of neighbour is spelled out in the last seven Commandments.

What does it mean to love your neighbor? What does it mean to love yourself? We need to understand love. Since God is love (1 Jn 4:16), to love is to be like God who cares wholeheartedly for His creation. The basic stuff of love is caring. To love is to care about yourself and others. We demonstrate love by c-a-r-i-n-g: concerned, accepting, affirming, affectionate, respectful, fostering integrity, nurturing, and generous towards others. Loving others as yourself means helping yourself and others to reach your and their fullest potential. Our fullest potential is achieved the more we become what God created us to be, namely His image and likeness. The Church tells us that we love our neighbor and ourselves by practicing the Spiritual and Corporal works of mercy through Admonish the Sinner -Luke 15:7; 17:3; Instructing the Ignorant-Matthew 28:19-20; Counseling the Doubtful -Matthew 13:18-23; Bearing Wrongs Patiently -Matthew 5:38-48; Forgiving Offenses Willingly - Matthew 6:14-15; 18:15-35; Comforting the Afflicted -Matthew 11:28-30; Praying for the Living and the Dead -2 Maccabees 38-46; Feeding the (physically and spiritually) Hungry -Matthew 14:15-21; 25:35; Giving Drink to the (physically and spiritually )Thirsty -Matthew 25:35; Clothing the (physically and spiritually) Naked -Matthew 25:36; Sheltering the (physically and spiritually) Homeless -Matthew 25:35; Visiting the (physically and spiritually) Sick -Matthew 25:36; Visiting the (physically and spiritually) Imprisoned -Matthew 25:36, Burying the Dead -Tobit 1:17-19. Thus we continually become our true selves, imaging and being like the caring God who created us. At death we need to be our true selves as much as possible so that Satan won’t cause us to lose our Faith in God’s love at the moment of death.

In loving God and our neighbour God gives us the grace to withstand Satan’s temptation to make our ego the centre of our life. Through Moses (Exodus 22:20-26) God ordered His people: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien ... You shall not wrong any widow or orphan ... If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors you shall not act like an extortioner toward them by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor's coat as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset because he needs it to keep the cold out that night.” In other words, our love of neighbor must reflect our love for God who is caring by obeying His order to be like Him and act compassionately towards the needy. Then we can pray from the heart: “I love you Lord, my strength, O Lord my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, … my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold …” (Ps 18: 2-4, 47, 51).

Sadly, we hear little of nothing about the necessity of obeying God’s marching orders today. This is why there is such disarray in the Church and in the world. We hear a lot about what we should do to save the planet, but little or nothing about what we must do in order to save our souls. Jesus commissioned His Apostles to “Go forth and teach all nations to observe all that I have commanded you …” (Mt 28-19-20). God’s orders to love Him with all we are and have and our neighbour as ourselves isn’t only necessary in order to enter Heaven, obeying them is also necessary for society to be mentally, emotionally, socially and morally healthy. Obeying them is necessary if we’re to be an orderly and civilized society. Nobody can be fully human without obeying God’s orders because they identify what we must do to build a just and caring community. If we don’t love God and neighbour we’re no better than the animals. Rejecting God’s orders is a rebellion against Him manifested in the deadly sins of pride, anger, greed, lust, sloth, envy, and an obtuse spirit. If you don't believe me just look around the world. The problems in the world and in the Church today reflect the disorder that follows from the refusal to carry out Jesus’ orders. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #16 on:** November 01, 2023, 11:24:55 AM »

Fr Sean again:

God Hates Hypocrisy

We all struggle with the conflict between integrity and hypocrisy. Integrity is defined as the faithful adherence to a code of behaviour. Our words and actions mirror one another. Integrity calls us to say and do what we mean and mean what we do and say. It ensures that we are who we say we are. Whether we agree or disagree with such a person we’re sure of what we’re agreeing or disagreeing with. People of integrity won’t change their beliefs and behaviour for the sake of popularity, possessions, power, or passion. There’s no hidden agenda. In private or public life they stand for what they believe. Hypocrisy is the opposite of integrity. It’s the pretence to be someone externally that we aren’t internally. Hypocrisy breeds distrust, disloyalty, and dishonesty. Actions and words belie one another. Its only concern is with personal popularity or power.

God expressed His hatred for hypocrisy and His call for integrity when He spoke to the priests through His prophet, Malachi (1:14-2:2-10). “And now, O priests, this commandment is for you: If you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart, to give glory to my Name … I will send a curse upon you, and of your blessing I will make a curse. You have turned aside from the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction … you show partiality in your decisions. Have we not all one Father? Has not the one God created us? Why then do we break faith with one another violating the covenant …?” When we act hypocritically we diminish our likeness to God and imitate Satan. There are bishops and priests today who took an oath to hand on the Church’s Apostolic Tradition that Jesus gave to the Apostles and ordered them to preach it “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) and now renege on that promise to suit the empty clamour of ideologies that promote the abnormal. Their blessings have become curses because they create the illusion that sin can be blessed thereby leading people to hell. They’re also causing division by substituting Jesus’ authority with their own. They give false instruction that contradicts the Church’s traditional teaching and violate the covenant that Jesus signed in His blood. They show partiality to ideologies that promote immorality and try to change the Church to suit their self-serving agendas. They speak with a forked tongue.

Jesus confronted hypocrisy and called for integrity in the religious leaders of His day. He ordered His listeners to, “do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice…. All their works are performed to be seen” (Mt 23: 3-5). Like the builders of the Tower of Babel, they wanted to make a name for themselves (Gen 11:4).They wanted to replace God. “They love places of honour at banquets and front seats in ѕуηαgσgυєs, getting marks of respect in public and of being called ‘Rabbi’” (Mt 23:6-7). They hobnob with the politicians and the so-called elites. Jesus criticized their use of titles to honour themselves, while ignoring God. Since the word ‘Rabbi’ meant ‘my master,’ Jesus reminds them of who the real “Master” is. “Avoid the title ‘Rabbi.’ One among you is your teacher, the rest are learners. Do not call anyone on earth your father. Only One is your Father, the One in Heaven. Avoid being called teachers. Only one is your Teacher, the Messiah...” (Mt 23:8-10). Jesus wasn’t ordering the elimination of these titles from the religious dictionary. He was simply saying these titles rightfully belong to God because they have their origin in Him and mustn’t be used for self-aggrandisement but to humbly serve the neighbour in God’s Name. Thus, Jesus declares, “The greatest among you must be the servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt 23:12) Integrity is the antidote to hypocrisy because it calls for an honest evaluation of oneself and one’s behaviour.

Is it only leaders who are prone to hypocrisy? No. Jesus is also confronting my hypocrisy and yours. None of us is immune. As Jesus said, we “… wash the outside of the cup while leaving the inside dirty” (Mt 23:25). We prefer show over substance. We want to be liked. That’s why Catholic teaching urges us to practice a monthly confession of sin. In Confession we recognize the dirt with which our hypocrisy stains our souls. In confession we accept that only God’s grace can heal our disloyalty to Him, to our neighbour, and to ourselves. We need humility to admit our hypocrisy and ask God and His Church for the grace to restore our integrity, our likeness to Jesus, so we can be credible Christians. To be credible Christians we must recognize that “in receiving the Word of God from hearing us “Church), you received not a human word, but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe” (1 Thess 2:7-9, 13). Therefore to avoid hypocrisy we must let God’s word take precedence over all other words we might hear in the world.

I don’t think we set out to be hypocrites. We’re weak and cave to Satan’s temptation to go along in order to get along by giving in to worldly pressure, convenience, pleasure, or fear. We abandon integrity by trying to please people instead of God. Jesus warns, “You cannot serve two masters” (Mt 76:24). Hypocrisy is always sinful and divisive because it involves ignoring the truth thereby lying to ourselves. This is often played out in the statement, “Personally I’m for … but publicly I’m against …” This split between my personal and public persona undermines the peace Jesus wants to give me. We see this hypocrisy in the following situations: parents who seek Baptism for their child but don’t raise him or her in the Faith; people who say they respect life but support the choice for abortion; people who say they love God but disobey His Commandments; people who say they are spiritual but not religious; people who want to be married but act as if single; people who identify as Catholic but reject the Church’s teaching; people who seek justice but behave unjustly themselves. Integrity says that if I want something I must do what is necessary to get it. If I want to be loved by God I must daily obey His Commandments. This is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit who urges us to pray: “O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty … Hope in the Lord, both now and forever. In You, Lord, I have found my peace” (Ps 131:1-3). God hates hypocrisy because it makes us totally unlike Him and enslaves us to what’s false enshrined in atheistic and destructive ideologies. Integrity and humility make us more like Jesus Christ, enhance our freedom, and give us a peace that the world can’t give. (fr sean)

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #17 on:** November 01, 2023, 06:59:08 PM »

Thank you.

cassini · « **Reply #18 on:** November 08, 2023, 01:32:23 PM »

Fr Sean again:
What’s Your First Priority?

The end of the year is in sight. November is here accompanied by falling leaves and cooler breezes, shorter days and longer nights. The time change gave us extra light in the morning but more darkness in the evening. The Church uses the seasons of Autumn and Winter to call her members’ attention to the reality of dying and death, the time and place of which we don’t know. This is something that many of us would rather not think about. But that would be foolish, since we can’t escape dying and death. Jesus notifies us that we “know not the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Mt 25:13). Shouldn’t we make preparation for this eternity defining event in our life our first priority?

In his book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey advocates that to be effective we must “work with the end in sight.” Thus, we keep our focus sharp and don’t lose sight of what we want to accomplish. St. Peter (1:8-9) points out to us that the goal of our Faith is the salvation of our soul. Since death is the end of our life on earth shouldn’t we make it our first priority to die in the arms of Jesus? Effective preparation always involves prioritizing what’s of primary importance in order to achieve the goal. If our goal is to go to Heaven, then it’s of primary importance to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, present in His Church, who alone can enable us to achieve it.

This weekend Jesus’ Church proclaims the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Mt 25:1-13). Jesus uses the story to stress the importance of personal preparation for the coming of the Lord. He is the only way to Heaven (Jn 14:6). He founded His Church wherein He calls us to join Him in and through her Sacraments, beginning with Baptism. Jesus enables us to meet Him sacramentally in each of the seven Sacraments where He graces us with repentance and forgiveness of sin, and is especially and uniquely present to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as our Shepherd who leads and nourishes us. St. Paul explains that, “We see now as through a glass’ darkly; then we shall see face to face: now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I am known” ( 1 Cor 12:13). In death everything that we are and will be is revealed in the ever-penetrating light of Jesus glorified, who is the “Light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Preparing for death is preparation for eternity and makes us appreciate life’s opportunities to deepen our relationship with Jesus without whom we face eternal damnation because we can’t free ourselves from our sins.

The parable instills in us that the wise are those who are prepared for all eventualities while the foolish aren’t. The lamp is supernatural faith and the oil is prayer without which the light of faith will go out. The wise bridesmaids refused to share their oil with the unwise ones. Were they being uncharitable? The responsibility of bridesmaids was to keep the light on in welcome for newlyweds to the bridegroom’s home after the wedding. To keep their lamps lit for a longer period of time than normal there was only enough oil for five lamps, not ten. Sharing the oil would have been irresponsible because then all would be in darkness when the newlyweds arrived. God teaches us in the Book of Wisdom (6:12-16) that wisdom, which is putting knowledge of the truth into action, is the key to adequate preparation. So knowing that they are going to die, wise people act on that knowledge and prepare for death. Knowing that Jesus is the only Saviour, wise people make Him the centre of their life. Jesus tells us in the New Testament, authentically interpreted for us by His Church, what we need to do to be prepared for His coming and so we have no excuse. The bridegroom’s words to the foolish bridesmaids, “Go away. I don’t know you,” are crushing, but they only have themselves to blame. At the end of the parable Jesus warns us: “The moral is: keep your eyes open, for you know not the day nor the hour.” In other words, make preparation for Jesus’ coming your first priority by getting to know Him while here on earth. We cannot know Jesus without making our relationship with Him the first priority in our life.

There are some things we can and must do for ourselves that no one else can do for us. Preparing for that face-to-face meeting with Jesus is one of those things that no one else can do for us. Others can assist us but we must meet the Lord on our own, accompanied by our Guardian Angel who will testify to our behavior. Nobody can pray another person into heaven. Each person is judged on the basis of his or her own conduct. God has given each of us the lamp of Faith and it is up to us to keep it lit with the oil of prayer and worship by being receptive to the Holy Spirit and a faithful member of Jesus’ Church.

Do people die without prioritizing an adequate preparation for death? Yes. Just because we’re baptized doesn’t assure us of salvation. Jesus Himself lamented, “But when the Son of Man comes, will He find any Faith on the earth?” (Lk 18:8). Why aren't people prepared? Because they’re busy with other things, or else they rationalize that God will give them a free pass. But God shows no partiality because He is just and has the same expectations for everyone. God is merciful but only to the repentant who seek forgiveness and commit to amending their life to one of virtue rather than vice. Yes, God will understand that they didn't bother to take the time and make the effort to follow Jesus, for which He, in justice, will hold them accountable. And so He will say, “Go away. I don’t know you!”

We give priority to what’s most important to us. Is Jesus the most important Person in your life? If He is, you’ll prepare to meet Him every day of your life. Making this your first priority means that your heart, filled with wisdom, cries out, “O God, You are my God whom I seek; for You my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water” (Ps 63: 2-8). The Lord will then say to you at the moment of death: “Come, you good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master! (Mt 25:23). The unwise and unprepared will hear Jesus’ damning words: “Out of my sight, you condemned, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). Whether we’re welcomed or condemned by Jesus is determined by what we prioritize each day. It’s our choice! (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #19 on:** November 15, 2023, 01:38:29 PM »

Fr Sean again:

To Invest or not to Invest: Success or Failure

To Invest or not to Invest: Success or Failure

When you die what do you want God to say to you? Will He say that you lived a successful life by the difference you made in the world? What would you like to hear others say when you die? There’s something about us that seeks recognition, acceptance, affirmation, and affection. We want to feel that someone will miss us when we go. Sometimes we hear people say - or maybe we’ve said it ourselves - when they’re leaving to go somewhere, “Will you miss me?” Then when the answer is “Yes,” the other person often responds with, “Oh, no you won’t!” How successfully we lived and we’re remembered depends on what we did with what God gave us. If we don’t invest what we have we gain nothing and can’t be successful.
What’s successful living? It’s the achievement of goals. It’s about having a positive impact on others. We’re successful when our contribution improves humanity and the world. Success is the experience of getting a good return on our investment. Success always implies investment whether it’s of time, treasure, or effort. In turn, investment assumes we have something to invest which will enrich us and others in some way. There’s no one as pitiful as a person who thinks he or she has nothing to invest. Such an individual has no hope of enrichment and has nothing for which to look forward. Bishop Fulton Sheen noted that the greatest insult anyone could heap on another was to label him or her as useless. But the person who doesn’t believe he or she has anything to invest renders himself or herself useless. Feelings of uselessness are expressed in low self-esteem and a sense of self-loathing.
Do people feel useless? Yes. Why? They don’t know God. If they did, they would realize that He didn’t create anyone to be useless since He has given talents to each person to be discerned, developed, and shared with others. If a person doesn’t believe he or she has talents or gifts to share with others then a genuine loving relationship is impossible. To love means to share - to invest in another. If there’s nothing to share, love dies. When people feel they have nothing to share, the only other option is to try and take what others have. Perhaps the reason so many relationships break up is because those involved in them don’t believe they have anything to invest in each other and simply concentrate on taking from each other. The end is a feeling of being used. Love, on the other hand, emphasizes the mutual investment of gifts in each other where the emphasis is on giving rather than on taking. Love is so enriching because each person invests his or her gift in the other thereby making their relationship successful due to the interest gained on investment.
God emphasizes the importance of investment of talents in the Book of Proverbs (31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31). “A worthy wife has value beyond pearls. Her husband has an unfailing prize.” What makes her worthy - the same goes for a husband, indeed for each of us – is the fact that she invests her gifts in her family and in charitable outreach. “She brings good, not evil … works with loving hands … reaches her hands out to the poor … the needy.” God then tells us that, “The woman who fears the Lord is to be praised … Her works praise her.” Her investment made her a success as a person. She was a God-fearing woman who served him by investing what He gave her for the benefit of others and through that investment enriched herself in God’s eyes and in the eyes of her family and neighbors. God tells us through the Psalmist: “Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be and favored” (Ps 128:1-5). Fear of the Lord, fear of losing or disappointing Him, is the motivation for investing what He has given us for the good of others just as He invested Himself in the Person of Jesus for our good. This is the investment that makes us a success in life. This is the investment that brings God’s blessing as it did with the worthy wife in Proverbs because through it we become successful people – givers rather than takers.
In the Gospel (Mt 15:14-30) Jesus calls His listeners to invest and not bury their God-given talents. A man “entrusted his possessions” to three servants, giving each an amount that he was capable of handling. Revealed here is the fact that God shares His possessions, graces, gifts with each of us in accord with our ability to use them. Everything we have is on loan from God. What has He given you? God gives us talents to be invested not just for our personal enrichment but also for the enrichment of others. He doesn’t want the talents back. But when He settles accounts with us at death we’ll have to show what we did with what He gave us. Jesus tells us that if we don’t invest we’ll lose everything. It’s by refusing to invest that we live unsuccessful lives.
When we die God will ask us what we did with His talent. What will our answer be? “I had no talent!” “I didn’t know You gave me a gift!” “I just kept it for myself!” “I was too lazy to do anything with it!” “I didn’t believe my gift was important enough!” “I used it for my own glory!” “You gave all the good gifts to others and the most insignificant to me, so I didn’t think it was worth sharing with anyone!”
Every one of us has received talents from God. He gave them to us so that we could make our unique contribution to the betterment of humanity and promote His glory. The return on our investment of what God gave us is what makes us successful in this world. This is the success for which God will reward us and for which we’ll be remembered. So how you want to be remembered is determined by whether or not you’re investing what you have been given. How are you investing your gift? Those who fear the Lord are happy because their fear of losing God’s friendship caused them to put their total trust in Him and invest themselves in the service of others.
If you haven’t been investing the talents God gave you, now is the time to start before it’s too late. “The Day of the Lord shall come like a thief in the night … therefore let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober” (1 Thess 5:1-6). Remember how Jesus’ parable taught that the investors received more while the non-investor lost everything? What will you have to show when the Lord calls you to settle accounts with Him and asks: “What did you do with my talents? Will He say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Mt 25:23) or “Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth” (Mt 25:30). You will either be remembered and blessed for investing God’s gifts or cursed for burying them. (fr. sean)

cassini · « **Reply #20 on:** November 22, 2023, 07:41:38 AM »

Fr Sean again:

Meeting Christ the King: Our Final Examiner

Jesus’ Church ends this year of grace with the celebration of Jesus as King of kings, our Saviour and our Judge. As the Lover of Justice He’ll hold each of us accountable for our words and deeds. Christ as King is the Lord of creation. Every person’s history on earth begins and ends with Jesus as the “Judge of the living and the dead.” (2 Tim 4:1; 1 Peter 4:1-8). Jesus warns us, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and, when He does, He will reward each one according to his behaviour” (Mt 16: 27). It’s appropriate that the Church ends her year reminding us that Jesus is King and will judge us as to whether we chose His Kingdom or Satan’s through our choices while on earth. The consequences are eternal. His Church teaches that there are two judgments: the particular judgment of each of us at death and a general judgment at the end of time demonstrating that love conquered hate, freedom conquered slavery to sin, good conquered evil, truth conquered falsehood, and beauty conquered ugliness. Heaven is the eternal enjoyment of love, freedom, goodness, truth, and beauty. Hell is the eternal experience of hate, slavery, evil, lies, and ugliness. Jesus is the final examiner who gives us our final exam that determines our entry into Heaven, hell, or Purgatory. He appeals to our reason by asking, “What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world (seeking popularity, pleasure, possessions, or power) and ruins himself? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for himself” (Mt 16:26)? Are our daily choices leading us to Heaven or hell?

St. John Henry Newman noted the following concerning our particular judgment: “Each of us must come to the evening of life. Each of us must enter on eternity. Each of us must come to that quiet, awful time, when we will appear before the Lord of the vineyard, and answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. That, my dear brethren, you will have to undergo. … It will be the dreadful moment of expectation when your fate for eternity is in the balance, and when you are about to be sent forth as the companion of either saints or devils, without possibility of change. There can be no change; there can be no reversal. As that judgment decides it, so it will be for ever and ever. Such is the particular judgment…When we find ourselves by ourselves, one by one, in His presence, and have brought before us most vividly all the thoughts, words, and deeds of this past life. Who will be able to bear the sight of himself?” (A Year with the Saints, p 101). The only witnesses to testify at our trial will be the Word of God and our Guardian Angel. Jesus warns us that, “Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words already has his judge, namely the word I have spoken – it is that which will condemn him on the last day” (Jn 12:8). For each of us the “last day” is when we die.

God told His people through Moses, “See, I set before you today … a blessing, if you obey the commandments of Yahweh your God … a curse, if you disobey the commandments of your God and leave the way I have marked out for you today, by going after other gods …” (Deut 11:26-27). God blesses those who obey Him lovingly. The disobedient bring a curse on themselves. Heaven is the blessing. Hell is the curse. The choice is ours. We hold our destiny in our own hands. Do we want to hear Jesus’ invitation, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the Kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:34) OR His dismissal, “Out of my sight, you accursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). Our final exam will show whether we lived an egocentric or Christocentric life?

God is a loving Father endowing each of us with the capacity to say “Yes” to a happy union with Him and with one another. He wants to be personally involved in our life as our Provider and Protector. “I myself will look after and tend my sheep … I will rescue them … I will pasture them … I will give them rest … The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy … I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats” (Ez 34:11-12, 15-17). But He cannot save us unless we freely choose to follow Jesus. That means acknowledging Him in the Psalmist’s words: “The Lord is my Shepherd, three is nothing I shall want…” (Ps 23:1). God's promises in Ezekiel are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, our Good Shepherd. Jesus assured the continuity of God’s pastoral providence when He founded His Church on Peter whom He commissioned to “Feed my lambs … Look after my sheep … Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15-17). This mission is primarily the responsibility of the Pope, Bishops, and clergy. But we all must participate according to our gifts in spiritually looking after Jesus’ lambs and sheep, especially the most vulnerable. He provides us with the wherewithal to do this in and through His Church that calls us to obey the Ten Commandments, live the Beatitudes, and carry out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. St. Paul assures us that “In Him who is the source of my strength I have strength for everything” (Phil 4:13). This is what faith in Jesus does for us so that we can live joyfully looking forward to meeting Jesus our King face-to-face.

Jesus has given us a preview of His exam in Matthew 25:31-46). Since the Examiner is Himself the Truth, we’ll have to be honest in our answers. God gives us every opportunity on earth to prepare for this test so we’ve no excuses. We’ll have to answer each question with a Yes or a No.

1. Did I make Jesus the centre of my daily life? Yes No

2. Did I help to feed those who were physically or spiritually hungry? Yes No

3. Did I help meet the needs of those who were physically or spiritually thirsty? Yes No

4. Did I help to show hospitality to the physical or spiritual stranger? Yes No

5. Did I help to clothe those who were physically or spiritually naked? Yes No

6. Did I reach out to those who were physically or spiritually sick? Yes No

7. Did I reach out to those who were physically or spiritually imprisoned? Yes No

On the basis of your answers, where would you be if you died now – Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory? Start answering these questions today so you can receive your desired result (All Yeses= Heaven; All Nos = Hell; 3 Yeses and 4 Nos = Purgatory). Remember, the final exam has no repeat, results are final. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #21 on:** November 29, 2023, 10:08:52 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Advent: Watching for Jesus or Santa?

The Irish playwright, Samuel Beckett, wrote a tragicomedy titled “Waiting for Godot.” Two homeless men interact as they wait in vain for someone who is supposed to make life better but never shows up. It highlights the anticipation of what never materializes. One person who’s coming to make things better will definitely materialize is Jesus Christ. Anticipating Santa’s coming will materialize for a relative few but for many it won’t happen. This Sunday Jesus’ Church begins another year of grace with the Advent season. The liturgical colour changes to purple symbolizing Jesus’ royalty as our King and our need for repentance in preparation to welcome Him. It also brings a new cycle of Bible readings to nourish our faith and our soul. It’s a period during which the Church alerts the world to celebrate Jesus’ humble birth in a stable in Bethlehem, refocus on His real presence in His Church, especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and to prepare for His second coming as the Judge of the living and the dead. We can make full use of this time of spiritual preparation to make Christmas a real celebration of Jesus’ coming to save us, or we can become caught up in the world’s false thinking that Santa can make us happy.

Advent is a set time to deepen our reflection on what God has done, is doing, and will do in and for us. Preparation is an essential step in achieving any goal. There are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happening, and those who wonder what happened. Advent is a time to make things happen in collaboration with the Holy Spirit who brings us to Jesus and who in turn brings us to His Father. Passive people watch things happening. Losers wonder what happened. I often saw students waiting until the night before an exam to study and then wonder why they received a bad grade. Preparation is about making sure that what we want to happen actually happens. A person who doesn’t prepare for what’s important in life will be caught unprepared and suffer the deprivation of lost opportunities. That causes deep regret. It’s like Aesop’s fable about the ant and the cricket. The ant worked all summer gathering food for the winter while the cricket sang the days away. When winter came the cricket starved while the ant was well fed. Sloth is a deadly sin. If we fail to prepare we prepare to fail.

Since nothing is more important than that face-to-face meeting with Jesus Christ that determines our eternal state, why don’t people prepare themselves for it? Satan tempts us to procrastinate. We excuse ourselves by promising that we’ll “do it tomorrow.” Actually there’s no tomorrow – it’s simply a figment of our imagination where we try to extend the present beyond its boundaries. Tomorrow never comes; all we have is today. So if we don’t do what we need to do today it will add to the burden of what we need to do tomorrow when it becomes today – if we live for it. The problem is that, as Jesus points out to us (Mt 6:34), tomorrow will bring its own realities that call for our attention and carryovers from yesterday become overwhelming. That’s poor time management. Procrastination is often a form of avoiding responsibility for not doing now what we should be doing now. A procrastinator puts wants before needs and so loses out on the essentials of life. The most essential thing for the creature is to be led by the Creator. Deepening our faith and love for God isn’t something we put off until tomorrow, but something essential we must do today. Jesus stresses the urgency of this when He warns us to, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come…whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning” (Mk 13:33-37). In other words, don’t postpone for tomorrow what you should do today because it may be your last day on earth.

Will you spend this Advent preparing for Jesus’ or for Santa’ coming? The world has made Santa the centre of Christmas at the expense of shutting out Jesus Christ. The world ignores that “santa” means saint, which means holy, which means being like God who is All Holy. Why is that? Because the world replaces Jesus with ‘Santa’ to create the illusion that material things make us happy; the illusion of love by emphasizing the giving of material gifts rather than the gift of self. Christmas – Christ’s Mass – celebrates God’s gift of His Son to free us from our sins – the greatest gift of all. When we prepare for the worldly ‘santa’ we focus on what we get. When we prepare for Jesus we focus on how we can give ourselves as a gift to others as He has made a gift of Himself to us. Preparing to celebrate Jesus’ coming motivates us to approach the Infant Jesus by making our self as spiritually and physically presentable as possible to Him. This motivates us to spend Advent getting rid of our sinfulness and other obstacles to the Holy Spirit that might dishonour Jesus and His Heavenly Father. Like those waiting for Godot, when we prepare for ‘santa’ we wait for someone who doesn’t materialize or make our life better.

When we celebrate Jesus’ birth and prepare for His second coming we’ll not be disappointed. He has come; He’s here now in His Church and in the heart of Christians. He definitely will come again as our Judge rewarding or punishing us “according to our deeds” (Rom 2:6). We must pray with Isaiah: “O Lord, hold not back, You, Lord, are our Father, our redeemer … no ear has heard, no eye ever seen, any God but You doing such deeds for those who wait for Him … we are the clay, You are the potter: we are all the work of Your hands” (Is 63:16; 64:3, 7). When we see God as our Father and Redeemer we know who alone brings us a happiness that’s consistent. Yearning for this happiness moves us to get rid of everything that might deprive us of that joy. He has made us and therefore knows our true purpose and what we need. He guarantees the continuity and enrichment of our life. So we pray with the Psalmist, “O Shepherd of Israel … rouse Your power and come to save us … Give us new life, and we shall call upon Your Name … Let us see Your face and we shall be safe.” (Ps 80:2-4, 16, 19)

God has come to save us and keeps us spiritually safe by sending His Son to deliver us from all evil. Safety is one of our basic human needs. If we don’t feel safe in our home, neighbourhood, or nation the quality of life deteriorates. Feeling safe is essential if we’re going to be able to enjoy life and live it to the full. God gives us that sense of safety by enabling us to unite with Jesus in His Church. Jesus comforts us when He says, “Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul. Rather, fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna” (Mt 10: 28). The Holy Spirit assures us that, “God bestowed His grace on you in Christ Jesus , that in Him you were enriched in every way… so that you lack nothing in every spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:3-9). We pray with Isaiah (Is 63:16-17, 19; 64:2-7): “Behold You are angry and we are sinful … unclean …our deeds like polluted rags… we are the clay and You are the potter: we are all the work of your hands”. May we let God mould us into the beautiful pot that He wants us to give as a gift to others this Christmas?

Now is the time to prepare to be moulded by the Holy Spirit in readiness to welcome Jesus. With Isaiah we pray, “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we are mindful of You in our ways!” This is why Jesus warns us, “What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” (Mk 13:37). Santa without Jesus is superficial and leaves us disappointed. So let’s spend Advent letting the Holy Spirit prepare us to make a gift of our self to others as God has made a gift of His Beloved Son to us. Then our days coming up to Christmas will be joyful rather than stressful. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #22 on:** December 06, 2023, 12:13:19 PM »

Fr Sean again:
Advent 2 B: How Are You Awaiting the Lord’s Coming?

There’s a saying that “He who hesitates is lost!” To hesitate when tempted may lead to losing salvation If we don’t take advantage of a good opportunity it may not come our way again. Opportunity knocks but once, says the sage. On the other hand, there’s another saying: “Look before you leap!” A good decision means that we gain more than we lose, especially in the long term. Not everything is as good as it looks. The wrapping paper may be beautiful but the package may contain trash. We’re told not to judge the book by its cover. An unattractive cover may hide very attractive content. An attractive cover might hide poisonous material. Don’t let hesitation deprive you of God’s guidance.
Advent is a special opportunity to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ coming – prepping ourselves to celebrate God’s love for us by coming among us as our Savior to free us from sin. Jesus’ Church uses this time to reflect on His first coming two thousand years ago, His coming to us now sacramentally, especially in the Holy Mass, and His coming again as the Judge when the world ends. The issue I want to raise during this 2nd week of Advent is: How are you and I taking advantage of this grace-filled opportunity to prepare for His coming? Are we using this designated and blessed time before Christmas to celebrate His birth, joyfully welcome His presence in and through His Church, and when we meet Him face-to-face in death? Do we give daily private and public witness to His presence in our hearts? Remember Jesus’ words to us: “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. Whoever disowns me before men I will disown before my Father in heaven” (Mt 10:32-33). If we don’t welcome the Son in our heart neither do we welcome the Father nor the Holy Spirit! We need to remember that, “No one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him” (Mt 11:27). We cannot enter Heaven except through Jesus. He’s the only way, and there’s no other since He alone has “the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68) and “No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). What must we do to welcome Jesus’ coming with our whole being?
Clear Him a Straight Path
John the Baptizer urges us, quoting from Isaiah: “Make ready the way of the Lord, clear Him a straight path” (Mk 1:3). How can we clear a straight path for the Lord to come into our world? What kind of society are we building now? How are we identifying ourselves, privately and publicly? How are we living our lives – is Jesus central in our heart, or do we treasure someone or something else more? To what or whom do we look as the source of our power and meaning? Let’s look at our decisions concerning the use of our time, talent, and treasure. This provides us with a good lens through which we can identify what’s most important to us. Let’s face it, what’s most important to us is what we think will make us happy. Only the God of the Bible can satisfy this deepest yearning.
What the Use of Our Time Tells Us
How we use our time tells us what our life is about. As time ticks away our life gets shorter and so does our time to do anything. Is the way we’re living and using our time now a good preparation for receiving Jesus? Are we using our time to establish a personal relationship with our Lord as a member of His Church? How much of our time do we give to prayer and worship (Mass)? How much of our time do we give to others - carrying out the spiritual and corporal works of mercy? Am I collaborating with God in His mission to save the world and being saved myself in the process? This is how we clear a straight path for the Lord to come to us.
Using Our Gifts and Talents
Are we using our gifts and talents for altruistic or selfish purposes? Are we wasting our gifts and talents because of laziness, lack of motivation, escapism, or ignorance? God gives us abilities according to our capacity to use them for our God and that of His Church. By investing these gifts in a manner that demonstrates love for God and neighbor, we’re preparing the way for the coming of the Lord to us and through us to the world at large. In the words of the Psalmist (Ps 85:9-14), thus the “Lord, let(s) us see (His) kindness, and grant(s) us (His) salvation.” God lets us and the world see His kindness when you and I commit ourselves to Him in prayer: “I will hear what God proclaims – for He proclaims peace to His people.” We prepare the path for the Lord to come to us when we take the time to hear what He proclaims through His Word preached by His Church.
How We Spend our Money
How we spend our money tells us what’s important to us? The best way to discover our participation in God’s mission is to examine the stubs of our checkbook or credit card bill. God’s mission is to shepherd His people. “Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:1-11). Through Peter (2 Pt 3:8-14) the Holy Spirit reveals that God “is patient with you, not wishing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance … Be eager to be found without spot or blemish before Him, at peace.” Are we using our money to help God shepherd our brothers and sisters who’re less fortunate, sick, or too young to take care of themselves? How do we use our money to help Jesus in “gathering the lambs and carrying them in His bosom”? Are we as patient with others as God is patient with us in giving us every chance to welcome His Son, particularly by asking Him to cleanse our soul from sin in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and promising to amend our life?
The Reward of Our Preparation or Lack Thereof
When you and I die will God say to us, “Come, my friend, you used what I gave you to show your love for me and your brothers and sisters. Thus, you demonstrated your willingness to be loved by me and to be led by my Spirit to embrace my Son. You couldn’t love another without my love for you first. Your love for others was a visible sign of my love for you and for them through you.”
Will God say to you and to me in death: “You selfishly used what I gave you, thereby demonstrating your rejection of my love for you? Because you rejected My Spirit of love you focused only on yourself and your own wants. Instead of making me the center of your life you made your ego the center. Now you have doomed yourself to be loveless for all eternity.”
To prepare for Jesus’ coming is to “await … new heavens and a new earth, where according to His promise, the justice of God will reside” (Pt 3:8-14). Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus, a convert to Jesus in the Catholic Church, wrote, when commenting on the Pope John Paul II’s Gospel of Life, “The third Millennium will witness a flowering of the culture of life or a continual descent into the abyss of the culture of death ... We Christians have the great privilege and responsibility of persuading the world to choose life - for God’s sake, for our sake, for the sake of humanity” (The Church’s Love Letter to the World). We contribute to the culture of life and stop the culture of death through continually welcoming Jesus into our life.(fr sean)

Grace · « **Reply #23 on:** December 06, 2023, 12:21:30 PM »

Beautiful sermons! Thank you

cassini · « **Reply #24 on:** December 14, 2023, 05:25:58 AM »

Fr Sean again:

Advent III: Are You Joyful?

The liturgical color changes this Sunday from purple to rose pink that reflects a call to rejoice. One might ask, given today’s atheistic, irreligious, materialistic, culture, what’s there to rejoice about? Governments legislate against Christian morality and freedom of speech. Church leaders publicly oppose the very teaching they swore to uphold. Thousands of unborn children are sacrificed on the altar of egotism every day. Children in schools are being groomed to accept sɛҳuąƖ perversion as normal. Life is no longer viewed as sacred and a gift from God who holds every individual accountable for his or her attitude toward that gift. People are helped to commit ѕυιcιdє. Adhering to the Church’s Apostolic Tradition is labeled as being “backwardism.” Jesus’ Church is now being called a “Synodal Church.” Marxism is rearing its ugly head, embraced by people who have never been taught to think critically and learn from history about the spiritual disaster left behind by that ideology. This is a world where more children are born outside marriage than from within that sacred covenant. The differences between man and women are so blurred that adolescence is made more traumatic for teenagers and young adults. This is the age of self-created truth, self-created gender, and self-salvation. It’s a time of irrationality and stupidity where ego, instead of God, is the determiner of what’s real, true, good, and beautiful. But, in the words of Katy Perry’s song, “Fireworks,” it is all “Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in.” So what is there to be joyful about?

Joyfulness

The notion of joy is directly associated with good fortune. When a person’s fortune changes from bad to good he or she has a reason to be joyful. When something good happens to us or when we accomplish a difficult task, joy is a natural response. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a spirit. Feelings come and go but a spirit lasts. Joyful people realize something good is happening in their life. They have something to celebrate. People who have no joy in their hearts and souls can’t cope with failure and so try to escape through the use of man-made fads and chemicals. Into this dark and self-absorbed world comes God with good news bringing joy to people of good will.

Christianity is the only religion that gives us the hope of resurrection. It provides us with a spirit of joy that comes from experiencing the “light that shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it” (Jn 1:5-7). The Christian is the one who recognizes the presence of a Redeemer that conquered suffering and death. The Christian is the person who knows the source of joy and receives His spirit. The Christian is the one who hears Jesus’ declaration: “I have come that you might have life and have it in its fullness” (Jn 10:10). This lifts up the individual from the darkness and absurdities of the fallen world in which he or she lives. This spirit of joy leads the person to embrace suffering and death as opportunities to grow closer to Jesus as He gives him or her knowledge of salvation “through the forgiveness of sins” (Lk 1:77-79). The true Christian is able to rejoice because he or she experiences good fortune in knowing that Christ has come to redeem him or her and pave the way to Heaven.

The Call to Be Joyful

God, through Jesus’ Church, calls us to rejoice this third Sunday of Advent. God is joy personified. Heaven is the state of being eternally joyful in God’s presence. Christians are those on the way to Heaven in the company of Jesus, God’s Word-made-man, who has come, is here now in His Church, and will come again to judge the world, when according to Him “we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (1 Peter 3:13). This knowledge makes our journey a joyful one, despite the obstacles and evils we might encounter on the way. This 3rd Sunday of Advent the Church reminds us that as we prepare to celebrate Christmas and the joy it’s meant to bring, we’re coming nearer to our death when, hopefully, our joy will be complete. But not everyone has this joy. Some people get more miserable the closer Christmas comes, like Scrooge. Others get more miserable when they realize their time on earth is passing with each day. Miserable people lack a spirit of joy - a spirit of generosity -generated by God’s gift of Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. The fact that death is a stark reminder that we’re not in control or that we are poor or that we are ignored doesn’t matter because the One who makes us joyful is in control and wants to wrap us in His loving arms.

The Bible Readings

Let’s look at the Scriptures for this Sunday. In the first reading (Is 61:1-2, 10-11) God anoints Isaiah to bring joy to His people who’re struggling. Called by God, Isaiah declares, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners … a day of vindication by our God! I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul … God will make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.” Knowing that God has anointed you in Baptism and sends you His spirit to lift up your spirit when you’re brokenhearted or enslaved by sin is the basis for joy. We can be joyful because Jesus has come to save us from our sins. He is a just judge who brought justice to the world. With His grace we can overcome our imperfections, weaknesses, and disordered desires.

The Lord comes to bring good news to you and me when we’re feeling lowly, grieving or sad, and encourages you to: “yoke yourself to me … and I will refresh you” (Mt 11:29). He comes to rescue us from addictions. He will vindicate us when we’re rejected or mocked for your faith and good works. He constantly blesses us if we’re receptive. Thus Jesus gives us His spirit that makes our life a joyful experience despite suffering or misfortune. Mary expressed this joy when she visited Elizabeth to share the good news God brought her. Through His Church, the Holy Spirit enables us to proclaim with Mary: “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit finds joy in God my Savior. He who is mighty has done great things for me. (Lk 1:46-54).

Through second reading (1 Thess 5:16-24) the Holy Spirit reveals what God wills for us. He wants us to: 1. Rejoice always. 2. Never cease praying. 3. Render constant thanks. 4. Do not stifle the Spirit. 5. Do not despise prophecies (catechesis). 6. Test everything to verify it. 7. Retain what is good. 8. Avoid any semblance of evil. 9. Let God make you perfect in holiness. 10. Be preserved whole and entire in spirit, soul, and body. 11. Be irreproachable when the Lord comes. 12. Be trustworthy and you will be made perfect. This is the formula for us as Christians that gives us every reason to rejoice.

Joy of Forgiveness

Finally in the Gospel (Jn 1:6-8, 19-28), Jesus’ Church is taking the place of John in the world today as the “voice in the desert, crying out: Make straight the way of the Lord!” To receive the joy that God wants us to have we must make straight the way for His coming to us by repenting of our sins and seeking forgiveness. John told those who came to see Him at the Jordan: “I baptize you with water, but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal-strap I am unworthy to untie.” John announced the coming of Jesus who would add to the grace of forgiveness to the grace of repentance. We cannot help but feel joyful when we repent and receive God’s forgiveness and that of His Church in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sadly, though, the denial of sin or the refusal to repent deprives people of the joy they look for in the world but which the world cannot provide. The sinner who repents and seeks forgiveness is blessed with a joyful spirit despite the recognition of being a sinner and the unworthiness of being forgiven. This we and for the rest of your life, be what God wants you to be, namely a joyful Christian. (Fr. Sean.)

The Real 12 Days of Christmas

From 1558 until 1829 the Catholics of England were forbidden by law to practice their Catholic Faith. As a result of this ban they devised secretive and symbolic songs to teach their children the truths of their Faith. The Twelve Days of Christmas was one of these songs.

The “Twelve Days” stood for the Christmas Season, Dec. 25 - Jan 6th). The “True Love” in the carol is God Himself, who gives true Christians special gifts on each of the 12 days.

1st gift: A Partridge in a pear tree. The partridge stands for Christ, who gathers His children under His wings. The tree reflects back to the tree of life in Paradise, which Adam and Eve lost through their sin and God promised to restore through Christ Jesus. God’s first gift, therefore, is His own Son, Jesus – His Word-made-man.

2nd gift: Two turtle doves. The doves represent the sacrifice which a Hebrew family had to make upon the birth of a son. Our sacrifice is the Holy Mass.

3rd gift: Three French hens. These symbolized the three gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, which were realized in the birth of the Savior.

4th gift: Four calling (collie) birds. They symbolize the four Evangelists (Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) whose four Gospels call us all to the Bethlehem manger of the Redeemer.

5th gift: Five golden rings. They symbolize the first five books of the Old Testament - the Law, Torah, Pentateuch - which Jesus came to fulfill and complete.

6th gift: Six geese a-laying. These symbolize the six days of the week when people labor and bring forth the fruit of the land.

7th gift: Seven swans a-swimming. They symbolize the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit necessary for living the True Faith.

8th gift: Eight maids a-milking. They symbolize the 8 beatitudes which bring God’s blessings on His people.

9th gift: Nine ladies dancing: They symbolize the 9 choirs of angels and the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23)

10th gift: Ten Lords a-leaping. Recall the 10 Commandments.

11th gift: Eleven pipers piping. This recalls the 11 Apostles, minus Judas, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to the whole world.

12th gift: Twelve drummers drumming. This symbolizes the 12 articles of Faith contained in the Nicene Creed proclaimed at Mass.

cassini · « **Reply #25 on:** December 20, 2023, 06:52:00 AM »

Dear Friends in the Lord, I wish you all a joyful Christmas and a spiritually profitable 2024. I will remember you in the celebration of the Holy Mass this Christmas and may the Prince of Peace bestow His peace on you, a peace that the world can’t give.

Sincerely in Christ, Fr. Sean

Prayer at the Crib

Lord Jesus, You left Your throne and glory in Heaven and came to earth to become a little baby, born in a stable and lay in a manger with no pillow for Your Sacred Head. The only heating on that cold winter’s night to help Mary keep You warm was the breath of the animals. The people in the Inn had no room for You.

You came to bring us joy, to lead us through the darkness of pain, failure, and even death itself. You are our light leading us through life. You offer us life that never ends. I want to welcome You into my heart as Mary and Joseph welcomed You on that first Christmas night. I love You, Lord Jesus and I know that You love me. I offer this prayer to our Heavenly Father through You, Infant Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Infant Jesus, bless my family and the families of all whose paths I cross each day. Amen.
Infant Jesus, pray for all infants, those born and unborn. Amen.
Holy Mary, Virgin and Mother of Jesus, Pray for my mother and all mothers. Amen
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for my father and all fathers. Amen.
Mary and Joseph, pray for all couples married in the Lord. Amen

A Christmas Love Story: The “M” in Christmas (Anon)
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.
My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.
Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snow-caps upon their heads.
Those in my son’s grade in the front row- centre stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song they would sing.
The first child held up C is for Christmas … the 2nd H is for Happy, and on and on until we noticed a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down - totally unaware that her letter "M" appeared as a "W".
The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at the child’s one mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".
Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.
In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.
For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: C H R I S T W A S L O V E
And, I believe, He was, is, and will be God’s love for us – He is Immanuel, God-with-us, present in His Holy Church, and uniquely so in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, until the end of the world! Jesus uses everything to get His Message across. Have you received it?

Nollaig Shonna Dhaoibh Go Leir!

TheRealMcCoy · « **Reply #26 on:** December 20, 2023, 07:18:31 AM »

Quote from: Patriley on September 14, 2023, 09:13:54 AM

What about family abuse and being abused as a child by your parent. How can the example of the monk be applied to that situation? Children aren't capable of removing themselves from abusive situations or defending themselves. So how do you approach forgiveness when you were mistreated as a child?

I am old and speak from experience. Both of my parents are passed. One died with conditional last rites, having lived in dubious circuмstances, and the other died in a state of witchcraft. I won't go into detail as to what kind of parents they were but you can guess.

Despite my childhood circuмstances, the only thought in my mind when they each passed was pity for their eternity. And I am no saintly person either. But their death made me fear my own judgment even more.

Meditate for one single minute on the eternity of your abusers and see how you feel about it then. I believe it will change your perspective.

cassini · « **Reply #27 on:** December 27, 2023, 12:27:56 PM »

Fr Sean again:
The Holy Family: God’s Blessing on Family Life

Back in the 1980’ A Catholic educator, Dolores Curran, released a study on family strengths (Traits of a Healthy Family) in which she identified the following characteristics of a healthy family: The members “communicate and listen to each other; affirm and support one another; teach respect for others; develop a sense of trust in one another; know how to play and enjoy good humour; have a sense of shared responsibility; teach the difference between right and wrong; develop family traditions; enjoy balanced interaction with each other; value service to others; foster communication; share leisure time; and admit failings while seeking help for problems.” A healthy Christian family places at the top of this list faith in Christ Jesus present in His Church where the family members adore and worship Him. The family is the first school of life for the child where the husband and wife model by their example and teach the children how to become well-adjusted and how to be a close-knit community in order to lead a physically and spiritually productive life.

To celebrate the gift of the Holy Family, Jesus Church calls us to reflect this Sunday on God’s Word from Genesis (15:1-6; 21:1-3), Psalm 105 (1-9), Hebrews (11:8-19,) and St. Luke (2:22-40). The main focus in each of these lections is faith in God which is the key to all healthy relationships, especially within the family. Sadly, broken families are more prevalent today than the normal traditional family of husband and wife and children united with one another. The family is the basic cell of both society and the Church. When the cell is diseased the body suffers. Children are left to raise themselves and suffer the consequences of a lack of well-adjusted models of what it means to be a joyful man or woman. This should raise the Church’s consciousness of the need to promote faith in God and receptivity to the Holy Spirit on the part of families. How does the Church do this? By bringing Jesus to them.

Mary and Joseph were privileged to meet Jesus in the flesh. Mary was highly privileged to carry Him in her womb. Joseph was so privileged to be Jesus’ foster-father. You and I aren’t so privileged to be able to physically, emotionally share Jesus’ company as the Apostles were. However we’re privileged to know that Jesus has made it possible for us to be in His company in and through His Church. He assured us of His presence when He said, “Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!” (Mt 28:20) St. Paul reminds us that having faith in Jesus’s presence in His Church mustn’t depend on what we see with our senses. The Holy Spirit informs us through Paul that in our journey with Jesus here on earth, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). This calls for humility because walking by faith requires us to rely on Jesus to show us the way rather than trying to figure out our own way. Our ego moves us toward doing things our own way rather than God’s way. Even as adults we’re like rebellious children wanting to do things our own way. Putting faith in Jesus and His teaching requires humility, which is the realization and admission that we don’t know what’s best for us in the long term, and we don’t know the true way to live and achieve happiness, and therefore we need someone to guide us, like a seeing-eye dog guiding a physically blind person. The person has to trust the dog’s movements rather than relying on his or her own sense of direction.

This faith is exhibited in Abraham. God began forming His family by calling Abraham as their first father. He responded to God’s call by faith, not by sight. “Abraham put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness” (Gen 15:6). The author of Hebrews explains, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go … ” (Heb 11:8). He trusted in God to lead him. Mary walked by faith and not by sight when she accepted the angel’s message from God that she was to be the mother of Jesus while remaining a virgin. Her response, “Let it be done to me as you have said” (Lk 1:38), reflects her faith not her sight. She acted on faith because she could neither see nor understand what was being asked of her. Her faith enabled her to put her trust in what was beyond her senses to observe.

Faith unites us with God who calls us to look beyond what we can see or understand. Faith connects us to God while our senses connect us to earth. This is why the Psalmist proclaimed, “Glory in God’s holy Name; Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord! Look to the Lord in His strength; constantly seek His face... He, the Lord, is our God; throughout the earth His judgments prevail. He remembers forever His covenant which He entered into with Abraham…” (Ps 105:3-9). Joseph’s faith in God enabled him to look beyond Mary pregnant by someone other than him. His faith overrode his senses. Mary and Joseph’s faith helped them to trust in God despite what they heard Simeon say about the infant Jesus in the Temple: “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted – and you yourself a sword shall pierce ...” (Lk 2:34-35). Jesus’ faith in His Father enabled Him to look beyond His terrible death when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mt 27:46), only to trust Himself to His Father with the words, “Into Your hands, O God, I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46).

Genuine faith is not easy because we tend to rely so much on our senses. This is why we constantly need the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen our faith. If we don’t see beyond what we observe we miss the bigger picture and the riches it contains. This is why people of faith are so resilient, hopeful, and loving. It’s supernatural faith, a gift from God that enables us to see Jesus in His Church’s Sacraments, and in a special and most loving way in the Holy Mass. It’s walking by faith in Jesus that husbands and wives and children develop and sustain the traits of a spiritually healthy family where the husband and wife in their love for one another model for the children the relationship wherein God created man and woman to complement one another and in which to procreate and raise children. They cannot do this without God. What we observe with our senses on earth isn’t enough to achieve what God created us to be. As you enter 2024 may the Holy Family be the model for your family with Christ Jesus being the centre of your attention and trust. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #28 on:** December 27, 2023, 12:34:34 PM »

'You and I aren’t so privileged to be able to physically, emotionally share Jesus’ company as the Apostles were' writes Fr Sean.

Can you imagine if we were alive at the time and place Jesus chose to enter the Earth.
Would we have recognised Him for what He was? I know we think we would, so what an experience it would have been. What would we have asked Him? What's Heaven like? Will we meet our loved ones in heaven again?What would you have asked Jesus?

cassini · « **Reply #29 on:** January 04, 2024, 05:49:49 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Jesus’ Baptism: Come to the Water!

This Sunday Jesus’ Church commemorates His Baptism. St. Mark gives us an account of the event. “It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him. And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (Mk 1:7-11). John was calling everyone to receive a water baptism of repentance for their sins. Jesus, who was pure, came forward to receive John’s baptism to which He would add the Holy Spirit making Baptism not only a sign of repentance but also a sign of forgiveness. To be baptized is to be cleansed of all sin and be restored to the likeness of God, which was lost by Adam and Eve. Jesus made Baptism a crucial sacrament for entry into Heaven. He clearly stated its necessity when He said: “I solemnly assure you, no one can enter into God’s Kingdom without being born of water and the Holy Spirit” (Jn 3:5). This is why the Sacrament of Baptism is the door to entering Jesus’ Church, the visible sign of His Kingdom on earth.

God prepared His people for this sacrament in the Old Testament. He revealed through Isaiah, “Thus says the Lord: All you who are thirsty, come to the water … come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life …. Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked man his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God who is generous in forgiving!” (Is 55:1-11). Every man, woman, and child, beginning in the womb, thirsts for God either consciously or unconsciously. As God’s creation our soul yearns to be with Him as our Creator. No creature is competent or secure without instructions from the Creator. Machines come with manuals written by those who built them filled with instructions as to how to use them properly and effectively. So also with us as humans, we need God’s instructions as to how to life joyfully and effectively. God urges everyone to “seek the Lord where He may be found.” He urges the scoundrel and the wicked man, those who treat others harshly and have no moral principles, to change their ways and thoughts, turning instead “to the Lord for mercy.” That means the sinful creature must stop following his or her own evil ways and thoughts and embrace God’s ways and thoughts if he or she wants to enter Heaven.

John’s water baptism marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. John, whose ministry was to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming, on seeing Him at the Jordan, now introduced Him publicly, “Behold! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). John, at that moment probably remembered the twelfth Psalm, “God indeed is my Saviour; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has been my Saviour … Give thanks to the Lord, acclaim His Name, among the nations make known His deeds … Sing praise to the Lord for His glorious achievement … Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Ps 12: 2-6). Baptism enables each of us to make these words of the Psalmist our own. Because the day you and I were baptized was the day that Jesus became our Saviour by bring us to His Heavenly Father to adopt us making us members of His Family, the Church on earth, the souls in Purgatory, and the saints in Heaven, through the power of the Holy Spirit. That was the day when God made us confident and unafraid by making Himself the source of our strength and courage. That was the day God made it possible for us to live in such a way that His words to Jesus would be His words to us when we met Him at the moment of death: “You are my beloved son/daughter; with you I am well pleased.”

How do we prepare ourselves in hopes of hearing these words the day we die? St. John answers our question by telling us to be receptive to God’s love. “For the love of God is this, that we keep His Commandments. And His Commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 Jn 5:1-9). To beget is to bring into existence. In Baptism God brought you and me into existence as His gifted children. He has given us the Commandants, not as rules to limit or restrict our freedom, but as essential ways that free us to love Him and our neighbour. These instructions show us how to embrace what is real, true, good, and beautiful so that we can be more fully human and fully alive.

Sadly, in too many instances parents and even some clergy treat Baptism as no more than empty ritual, completely missing the loving action of God putting His stamp on the child or adult. Baptism transforms the person from being a child of the world doomed to eternal misery to being a child of God blessed with the hope of eternal happiness and the means to achieve it. Parents and Godparents who request their child’s Baptism need a deep catechesis to understand its implications. Why? Because the first question the Church asks of the parents of the child is: What do you ask of God’s Church for your child? If they answer, “Baptism,” the priest or deacon reminds them of their responsibility: “You are accepting the responsibility of training your child in the practice of the Faith. It will be your duty to bring him/her to keep God’s Commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbour. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?” The expected answer from the parents in the presence of God and His Church is, “We do.” Since this is a promise made to God and His Church, God will hold parents and Godparents accountable for carrying out that promise.

If people are just going through the motions and saying what they are supposed to say without meaning it in their hearts they are committing a serious sin. Therefore an evangelical and catechetical preparation of parents and Godparents is essential so that they fully understand the seriousness of what God calls for in the Sacrament. I believe that one of the great opportunities for evangelizing parents, Godparents, whole families to learn how awesome and miraculous the love God makes visible in the Baptism is, and how the Church is necessary for fruitful and joyful living in which God unites us with Himself, is missed because of a lack of preparation. Every Sacrament has its own specific faith requirement. Therefore people requesting the reception of a Sacrament need to be made aware of the faith that is required of them for its proper celebration. Grace builds on nature and if nature isn't prepared grace can’t help the individual.

As you reflect on Jesus’ Baptism remember your own Baptism and what God did for you that day. If you died today, would the Lord be able to say to you, “You are my believed child; I am well pleased with you?” May 2024 be a spiritually productive year for you as God’s obedient child. (fr sean)

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