Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday)

  

How can we not hear the account of Jesus’ Passion and not be moved by it? Someone asked a young person, “What would you think of someone who didn’t cry while watching the movie: The Passion of the Christ?” The young person responded, “He would be evil.” That young person was so moved by watching the movie he could not understand why anybody could not be moved by watching the film. The Passion of Jesus moves us. It moves us because Jesus suffered. In the first reading today, we heard what we could describe as a prophecy of Jesus’ passion, that He would give His back to those who beat Him, His cheeks to those who plucked His beard, His face He did not shield from buffets and spitting.

The Passion of Jesus moves us because it is we, who have inflicted this suffering on Jesus. It was not just the Jewish leaders and the cruel Roman soldiers who brought this suffering on Jesus; it was our sins, that inflicted this suffering on Jesus. There is no past, present or future for Jesus; He is outside of time. The account of the Passion of Jesus moves us to flee from sin, to leave sin behind. That is why everyone goes to Confession before Easter. The Passion of Jesus shows us for what we are, sinners who have crucified Jesus, and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation we turn to Jesus again and ask for his mercy. And through the Passion of Jesus, we receive forgiveness, “through his wounds we are healed.”

The Crucifixion of Jesus was and will always be the greatest act of God’s mercy. God the Father could have destroyed the human race for killing His only Son, but He didn’t. Rather, His Son’s suffering and death and resurrection is what opened the gates of heaven. St. Faustina’s life and writings about God’s mercy is meant to stir our hearts to receive His mercy and to give His mercy. Our Lord said, the world will not have peace, until it turns with confidence to my mercy. After hearing all that Jesus went through, who could not appreciate the pain and suffering He went through, so that He could save us from our sins? Several years ago, very few people were able to receive the graces from Divine Mercy Sunday due to the lock-down. Perhaps, the world was not appreciating the Eucharist, the Mass and Confession as we ought, so God permitted that to happen.

To not go to confession, when understanding the depth of love revealed on the Cross, shows a lack of gratitude and appreciation for all Jesus went through. If we go to confession during Lent and receive Holy Communion, while in the state of grace, on the feast of Divine Mercy, the Sunday after Easter, all our sins and the punishment due to our sins will all be washed away in the ocean of God’s mercy. This once a year event is contingent us asking for His mercy in Confession, receiving absolution through a priest, and then receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. How simple is that for us? If we refuse His mercy, not knowing the day nor hour of our death, and if we die without receiving that gift freely offered, and if we are in the state of mortal sin, our judgment will not go well and we could very well burn in the fires of hell for all eternity.

Only Jesus can save us from sin, from hell and the punishment due to sin, and make it possible to be with Him forever. He wants us to be with all the angels and saints in heaven and forever experience peace, love and joy. Jesus, our only Savior wants to wash our soul clean and make it white as snow through the sacraments.

O Mother of Mercy, draw each one of us to the fonts of mercy, and obtain for us, a soul washed clean, and purified, as it was at the moment of baptism, and help us to be grateful for God’s infinite and unfathomable mercy, that flows from the Cross of Jesus on Calvary. Amen.

5th Sunday of Lent - Raise the Dead

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He had been dead four days and was warned that if the tomb would be opened, there would be a stench due to his decaying body. But, Our Lord, prayed to His Father and then said with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He rose from the dead and came out, still tied hand and foot with burial bands and face wrapped in a cloth.

The miracle of Jesus Raising Lazarus from the dead reminds us Jesus is the Resurrection and the life. Jesus, is both human and divine, and as God He has power over all things including death. The raising of Lazarus from the dead is foreshadowing of Our Lord’s resurrection on Easter and the General resurrection of the dead at the end of the world mentioned by Martha. At the end of the world, all the dead will come forth from the tombs and immediately receive a resurrected body, like the body of Jesus when He rose from the dead. Lazarus, however, though he was brought back to life, would die again because he was not resurrected.

Did you know Jesus raised two others from the dead, there are others in scripture who raised people from the dead and saints raised many from the dead?

Elijah the prophet of the Old Testament, by God’s power, raised a child from the dead. (1 Kings 17:17-24)

Jesus raised the son of a widow, who was being carried away in a funeral procession. (Luke 7:11-15)

Our Lord took the hand of the daughter of Jarius, who had died, and said, “Talitha cumi”, which means “Little girl, get up.” (Mark 5:21-43). And she came back to life.

In Matthew’s Gospel, at the death of Jesus, some were raised from the dead. “At that moment (of His death) the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.” (Matthew 27:51-53)

When Our Lord sent out His apostles, he commanded them:“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8).

And this is exactly what happened, we know that Peter and Paul raised the dead. In the Acts of the Apostles, a Christian woman named Tabitha died in the city of Joppa. “Peter... knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, rise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.” (Acts 9:36-42)

In the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that Paul raised a man from the dead, “Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and died. Paul went down, bent over him, and embracing him, said, “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!”...The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.” (Acts 20:7-12)

According to St. Irenaeus in the early 2nd century, “Some persons that were dead have been raised again and have continued among us many years.”

Did you know there are over 400 true stories of saints raising people from the dead? There is a book called Raised from the Dead written by Fr. Albert Hebert. Here is a list of some saints that raised people from the dead: St. Francis of Paola, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. John Capistrano, St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Peter of Alcantara, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Philip Neri, St. Paul of the Cross, St. John Bosco, St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin de Porres, St. Francis Solanus, Marianne de Jesus of Quito, St. Stanislaus, St. Peregrine, St. Gerard Majella, St. Charbel, St. Padre Pio, St. Margaret of Cortona, St. Felix of Cantalice, St. Rose of Viterbo, St. Francis Xavier, St. John Francis Regis, etc..

St. Marcarius, a holy monk living in the deserts of Egypt, encountered a man who didn’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus. In order to convince him, the saint invoked God’s power over a dead man and he was raised back to life. This miracle was spread throughout the Egyptian desert.

In the 300’s, during an excavation, St. Helena found the true Cross and two other crosses belonging to the two men who were crucified with Jesus. Not knowing which was the true Cross, she brought a sick man to the crosses and after touching the first two crosses, nothing happened. But when he sick man was touched by the 3^rd cross, he was healed. In order to be absolutely certain it was the true Cross, they dug up a dead man, who was just buried, and brought him before the 3 crosses, and after touching the first 2 crosses, nothing happened. Only when the dead man was touched by the 3^rd Cross was the dead man raised from the dead and became alive.

One of greatest miracle workers in the history of the Catholic church was the Dominican priest St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419). He converted 25,000 Jews and 8,000 Muslims; his total number of conversions was around 200,000 souls- among them Muslims, Jews, heretics, and apostate Catholics. St. Antoninus said that St. Vincent had raised 28 persons from the dead.

Here is one example: There was a rich Jew named Abraham, who began to leave a church in anger while Vincent was preaching. The instant the man left, part of the porch structure fell on him and crushed him to death. Then the saint rose from his chair and went to the body. He knelt there in prayer. Abraham came to life, and his first words were: "The religion of the Jews is not the true faith. The True Faith is that of the Christians."

When invoking the name of the Holy Trinity, St. Patrick is said to have raised 33 people from the dead.

Among the many miracles worked by St Philip Neri in his lifetime was the raising to life of Paolo Massimo, the 14-year old son of his friend Prince Fabrizio Massimo, on March 16, 1583. St Philip had tended the boy spiritually during his long illness, and was sent when it became clear that he was about to die. He was then living fairly close by at the church of San Giorolamo della Carità, but he was celebrating Mass when the messenger arrived, and the boy died before he could finish and be informed. Coming to the Palazzo Massimo, he prayed at the boy’s bedside, sprinkled holy water on his face, and, like the Prophet Elijah, breathed upon his face. He then called his name loudly twice, and Paolo Massimo returned to life. On seeing his spiritual father at his bedside, the boy asked to confess a sin that he had forgotten; St Philip heard his confession and absolved him of his sins.

Bishop Fulton Sheen is noted for raising a child from the dead. “Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen,” prayed Bonnie Engstrom. She had just given birth, and her baby boy was dead, his umbilical cord tied tightly around his neck. He did not breathe; his heart did not beat. Sixty-one minutes after delivery, his heart still did not beat, and the monitor showed nothing but “pulseless electric activity.” He could not be revived, and the ER doctors turned away to call the time of death. Still his parents prayed to Fulton Sheen. Then the baby’s heart began to beat. His mother and father believe it was the intercession of Fulton Sheen that brought him back to life – not only back to life, but back to health. James was stillborn and without a heartbeat for 61 minutes. He is now a healthy young boy! The Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved this miracle on July 6, 2019. The child, James Fulton Engstrom, shows no physical or mental defects from the hour he spent among the dead nine years ago.

All those who were raised from the dead, would later die again. But the raising of the dead, shows us how much God loves each and every person and how He desires us to live in this life.

In a few weeks, we will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. By His own power, after He had been dead for three days, He rose with a new resurrected body.

At the end of the world, everyone will receive a new resurrected body. The dead will come forth from their graves and those who are still alive will also receive a new resurrected body.

St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians 3:20-21 said, “But our common wealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body...” And Jesus Himself said, “..for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29).

In this life, we are to respect our bodies and after we die, we give them a proper burial to be prepared for that day when our body will be reunited with our soul after the resurrection of the dead.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” When He said, this He meant it in two ways. One way is that those who believe in Him, will not suffer eternal death and those who do believe in Him will live with Him forever in heaven. But, He also meant that He has power over physical death and at the end of the world, our bodies will be resurrected from the dead.

As we approach Easter in several weeks, let us prepare our souls by making a good confession, and receive Jesus in the Eucharist as often as possible, because as Jesus said, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, will live forever and I will raise Him on the last day.”

Solemnity of the Annuciation - March 25th

 

“Here I am Lord, I come to do Your Will” “Be it done unto me according to thy word”

The angel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and said, “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you”. The greeting, however, troubled Mary. The angel told Mary, She would conceive in Her womb, and bear a son, and call Him, Jesus. The angel said, He would be the Son of the Most High, be given the throne of David, rule over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom would have no end. But Mary could not understand how this could be, because She had made a vow of virginity. The angel told Her the Holy Spirit would come upon Her.

And so, the angel waited for an answer from Mary. God desired Mary respond with a Yes. She could choose either, a Yes or a No. And so, the angel waited, all mankind waited, and God waited, for Mary’s yes. Listen to the beautiful words of St. Bernard in a homily, called “In the Praise of Mary”:

St. Bernard said, “You have heard O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a Son; you have heard that it will not be, by a man, but the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits your answer; it is time to return to God, whom sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; The price of our salvation is offered you. Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it. David begs it. All the other patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. …. For your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race. Answer quickly, O Virgin! Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel, to the Lord. Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. Open your heart to faith, O Blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desire of all the nations, is at your door, knocking to enter. Arise in faith, hasten to devotion, open to praise and thanksgiving.”

And Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.” At that moment, when Mary gave Her “Yes”, Jesus descended from heaven in Her womb, and the world, would be changed forever, because of Mary’s “Yes”. When Mary gave Her Yes, She joyfully responded to Her vocation call to be the Mother of God. When Mary said, “Be it done unto me according to thy word”, it was as though She responded to God’s call, with the words of the responsorial psalm: “Her I am Lord, I come to do your will.”

Many years after the angel’s visit, Mary must have pondered often Her vocation call to become the Mother of Jesus and how God was so good to Her. She probably would have thought, “Who am I, God would send an angel to greet me?” Yet, She understood the importance of the role of Mother of God and totally embraced it Her whole life.

St. John, the Apostle, tells us what happened at the Incarnation. He said, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” And so, the incredible and unfathomable mystery, of God becoming man, takes place in the womb of Mary. Blessed Pope John Paul II said, “Remembering that the Word became Flesh, that is that the Son of God became man, we must become conscious of how great each man has become through this mystery, through the Incarnation of the Son of God! Christ, in fact, was conceived in the womb of Mary and became man to reveal the eternal love of the Creator and Father and to make known the dignity of each one of us.”

The Incarnation was the beginning of something new and incredible for mankind. God had come to save man and He chose to do so, by taking upon human nature.

The divine person of Jesus took upon our human nature to reveal God to us. God wanted us to be able to see Him, touch Him, talk to Him, to get to know Him, and restore our friendship with Him by becoming one of us. He became man, that we may become one with Him. Through the Incarnation, God reached out to us, to embrace us.

Our Blessed Lord became man, that He may accept death, death on a Cross, that we may have eternal life with Him, that He may dwell with us, and in us, especially through baptism, and through the reception of His flesh and blood in Holy Communion.

Today, on this most Holy Solemnity of the Annunciation, let us praise Mary’s Yes, and for Our Lord’s gift of becoming man, that we may have eternal life with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

St. Joseph Spouse of Mary - March 19th (the Lily)

 

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of Mary. Have you ever wondered why Joseph is often pictured with a lily? The lily is associated with St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, through an ancient legend that he was chosen from among other men by the blossoming of his staff like a lily. It’s believed, the high priest had asked the men interested in taking Mary as their wife to come before the priest and as the men were standing before the priest, a lily suddenly blossomed from Joseph’s staff. And so, the biblical passage, "The just man shall blossom like the lily" is applied to St. Joseph in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church for his feast day.

It was a most difficult marriage preparation for Joseph. At that time, Jews were betrothed one year before they were married. When a couple was betrothed to each other one year before marriage-- they were legally united, but did not live together. A year later, the wedding ceremony took place and then the couple came to live together. During the year before marriage after they had been betrothed, Joseph learned Mary was pregnant. He would have been shocked and dumbfounded. He didn’t believe Mary could have sinned, yet he knew he wasn’t the father of the child. What a terrible dilemma. In order to prevent Mary from being stoned to death (which was the punishment at that time for women, who committed such sin.) he decided to divorce her quietly.

However, Joseph received a visit from the angel Gabriel asked him to agree to God’s plan for Mary and reassured him it was by the Holy Spirit, Mary had conceived. The Gospel states, “When Joseph woke up he did what he angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.”

Marriage and virginity are two signs of the love of God for us-- and we see both of these united in the first couple of the New Testament, Mary and Joseph. Joseph is a model of chastity. And we know Mary chose to dedicate herself exclusively to God in virginity.

Although Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, he was as a true father to Jesus. Children, who were adopted by Jews had all the rights of a child naturally born of a father. Joseph was of the royal line of David. Because Jesus was the child of the Virgin Mary and foster child of Joseph, He would have the legal title son of David, which would fulfill prophecies.

When Jesus was found in the temple, Mary said to Jesus, “Your father and I have been looking for you.”. We can imagine the love and affection between Joseph and Jesus, and between Joseph and Mary. We can imagine Joseph’s pain at the poor circumstances of Jesus’ birth. We can imagine the pain he must have suffered when Simeon told Mary Jesus would be a sign that would be opposed and a sword would pierce Mary’s soul. We can imagine the pain Joseph suffered when he had to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safety to preserve their lives.

Joseph’s life of prayer gave him the strength to be obedient to God’s call to him. He was a just man, a man of honor as our Gospel today tells us. He had to have been a man of deep faith to fulfill his high calling.

It is believed, he died before Jesus died and that Jesus and Mary were present with him, as he died. That is the way all people of faith would like to die, in the company of Jesus and Mary. And this is why St. Joseph is the patron of a happy death.

And so we pray, “O Joseph, foster father of the Child Jesus, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, man of faith, watch over and protect us, keep us close to Jesus and intercede for us. Grant us perfect chastity, and especially the grace of a happy death. And when we draw our dying breath, may our last words be: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony and take me to paradise.”

4th Sunday, Lataere Sunday, Blind Man

 

“O Lord, open the eyes of my heart, that I may see you.”  

Today is Lataere Sunday, Rejoice Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent! The priest wears glorious rose-colored vestments as a sign of joy. This weekend, Holy Mother Church pauses from Her Lenten sorrow for the sins of men, and the sufferings of Christ, to give way to a foretaste of Easter Joy! Soon the Easter joy will ring out, “Christ our Light, has risen, from the darkness of the tomb!”

Try to imagine what it would be like to be born blind. The man in the Gospel would never have seen his father or mother or siblings. He had never seen a sunrise or a sunset, the blue sky, nor clouds or lightning, or the moon or the stars. He had never even seen the food he was eating. His whole world was nothing but darkness.

In the Gospel, the man born blind is healed by Jesus, who is “the light of the world”. What do you think was the first thing he saw? Probably, the water when he washed the mud Jesus placed on his eyes. Then after giving witness to the Pharisees, Jesus found Him and it was then, He saw the face of Christ.

The healing of the man born blind is seen by the Fathers of the Church as a miracle symbolizing the sacrament of baptism in which, the Holy Spirit, through water, is used to cleanse the soul and receives the light of faith: “(Jesus) sent the man to the pool called Siloam, to be cleansed and be enlightened, that is, baptized and receive in baptism full enlightenment.”

Since all of us were born with blindness of original sin, we can identify with the challenges this man faced. Just as the blind man’s physical blindness made it difficult for him to live in freedom and independence, so our spiritual blindness causes us to struggle to find our way to God, to see God in others. Just as Jesus healed this man of his blindness, he has washed you-- clean of sin and healed your spiritual blindness in the waters of baptism. Although our original sin is washed away through baptism, the inclination to sin remains, and we still find it difficult to see things the way God sees them. We lack the light to walk in love and holiness, and God can seem distant.

The blind man is a straightforward person, and believes Jesus is a prophet, and the Son of God. Whereas the Pharisees persist in not wanting to see or believe, despite clear evidence before them.

In this miracle, Jesus reveals Himself as the true light that enlightens every man, who came into the world. Not only did He give sight to the eyes of the blind man; He enlightens his soul, leading him to make an act of faith in His divinity.

Our Blessed Lord questioned the blind man, and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” and he responds by stating, “I do believe Lord” and he worshiped Him. The healing of his eyes became an occasion for the man to be enlightened as to who Jesus is and to believe in Him.

The Pharisees however persisted in their unbelief, which is why Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” The Pharisees knew He was talking about them, and so, they said, “Surely, we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, “We see”, your sin remains.”

Our Lord was referring to their spiritual blindness. They could not accept His good deed of healing a blind man, as something coming from God because they presumed Jesus was a sinner, but He was not.

If one was a blind during the time of Jesus, he could not work and so was dependent upon others to help him. Just like the man in the Gospel who had to beg for food and money just to survive. For someone to go blind today, they would immediately become dependent upon others.

There is at least one blind person, who I know, that lives in Little River. She is a wonderful person, who never shows dissatisfaction or unhappiness, but rather accepts her condition. Her joyful attitude bears witness to Christ, whose light she shines into the world through her.

I told you the story before of a man, who used to be a satanic high-priest, but was converted through the miraculous medal. His name is Zachary King. He lives in Wichita and is a motivational speaker. Zachary told me, he is blind because he never took care of his diabetes. One day, because he didn’t take care of his health, he woke up, and was blind. Yet, despite his blindness, he sees what is true and that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, he was enlightened to see the evil he was doing, to repent of it, and now he brings the light of Christ to all who hear his talks.

There is a documentary called “Purgatory”, that explains experiences of the afterlife. One experience in the movie, is about a little girl who drowned, and after she had died, they were able to revive her. The girl was blind from birth, and yet, she could describe in detail the pond, the birds, and telephone poles where she had drowned. Even though she has never been able to see, God showed her what it was like to see.

When I was an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, an elderly woman in her 90’s was going blind. She prayed to Jesus, “Please grant me the grace to not go blind”. She decided to do a novena to St. Lucy, and it so happened, by God’s divine providence, on the last and 9^th day of the novena, she had an appointment with her eye doctor. She was given an eye drop medicine with the name Luceria. Not only did it prevent her from losing her eyesight, she actually began to see better. St. Lucy is the patron saint of the blind, because its believed her eyes were plucked out, but God miraculously restored her eyesight. The elderly woman’s faith in God caused her to be healed of her blindness through the intercession of a saint and her faith brought the light of Christ to all who knew her.

Have you heard of Christopher Duffley? He was born 3 months premature, and as a newborn baby, he was addicted to cocaine because his mother took cocaine and Oxycontin while pregnant. His aunt and uncle adopted him. He was born blind and autistic. When he was 4 years old, he began to sing with perfect pitch and sang the song, “Open the eyes of my heart” The song goes like this, “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you. To see you high and lifted up. Shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power and love, as we sing, holy, holy, holy. “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you. I want to see you.” As a blind autistic boy, Jesus uses him to break forth His light through his voice. He sings the song, not to be physically healed, but to see Jesus, with the eyes of his heart.

Most, with disabilities, prayed at one time, the Lord would heal them. How much they desire to have the Lord, touch, and heal their broken bodies, and be restored to the fullness of health.

Many have ventured to Lourdes, France to obtain a healing through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, and some have been healed there. But the most common form of healing is the healing of the soul, where people have not gone to confession for a long time, will go and then are able to accept their physical condition and have peace in their heart by embracing it as a cross.

The Pharisees were blind to their sins and remained in their blindness. But the man born blind, was healed physically and came to know and believe Jesus is the Son of man, as he told Our Lord, “I do believe” and worshiped Him because He believed He is God.

In what ways can we be spiritually blind? If we knew our neighbor was blind, would we volunteer to help the person in their needs? If we know of someone, who lost a relative, do we show our love and support by prayers, visiting them, sending them a caring note? These are not just one time efforts to help others, but rather, we need to be a caring people to show our love and support in the long term. What’s it like to lose a spouse through death or divorce and then the single parent takes care for the children alone? My grandfather died at a young age and my grandmother had to take care of 5 children on her own. Was there anyone there to help her? Did the Christian community rally to support her in a long term manner? Flowers are nice, cards are nice, but sometimes they someone to talk to, they need money to help pay their bills.

When I was in high school, my grandmother’s waterline kept freezing in her home. Do you know why it was freezing? Because she didn’t have enough money to keep the temperature in her house warm enough and also was afraid to let the water drip too fast, because she didn’t have enough money to pay her water bill. She kept a pan underneath the faucet to catch the drops of water and she used that water to boil eggs. She slept on a cot in the only room that had a gas furnace, and closed all the doors to the rest of the house, because she didn’t have enough money to heat the entire house. Can you imagine living like that? After graduating in High School, I had a good job, and when I found out, that was the case, I put her gas bill in my name and they sent me her gas bill every month. How did God open my heart to see, I don’t know. I give Him all the credit.

Our hearts need to be open to see Jesus in the disguise of the poor, the down trodden. Our Lord said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.” God calls everyone of us to open the eyes of our heart, that we can see Jesus those suffering from any difficulty.

Do you know what the definition of mercy is? It comes from the Latin word, misericordia. “miseri” is misery and “cordia” is heart. The word means to open the heart-- to see the misery of others and relieve that misery, which is mercy.

We are all called to be lights in the world of darkness by our words, our good deeds, our acceptance of our crosses and using our gifts to help others. If we ignore someone in need, we are blind to their needs, while at the same time, the blind see-- because of their faith.

In the second reading, in St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he said, “Brothers and sisters: You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

Today on this Lataere Sunday, this rejoice Sunday, may we rejoice in the faith of the physically blind, who out of love of Jesus accept their condition and therefore shine forth the light of Christ to us, in this world of darkness. And may we bring the light of Christ to those who are in need of love. O Mary, Mother of the Light, by your intercession, may our heart be open to see the miseries of others and to relieve their suffering by our acts of mercy.

3rd Week of Lent Thursday

   

In the Gospel today, Jesus is accused of being the devil. Bishop Fulton Sheen speaks about how the Catholic Church is a contradiction to the world. "If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hated. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church that is accused of being behind the times, as our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a service to God. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected by men. Look for the Church which amid the confusions of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its Voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly it is other worldly. since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. But only that which is Divine can be infinitely hated and infinitely loved. Therefore the Church is Divine."

 

3rd Sunday - Woman at the Well (5 marriages) - Baptism

 

Many are thirsting for true love and Jesus is thirsting for love. Today’s readings help us to know how thirsting hearts can be united.

In the Gospel today Jesus has a personal conversation with the Samaritan woman. It was unusual for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan woman, especially a woman who was a stranger. She was considered to be a great sinner because she had five husbands.

But the woman's faith and love was destined to grow: Jesus spoke of a "living water" able to quench thirst completely and become "a spring of water welling up to eternal life" in her; furthermore, He showed her He knew about her personal life; He revealed that the hour had come to worship the one true God in spirit and in truth; and in the end He confided to her -- something incredibly rare -- He is the Messiah. In all of these ways Jesus quenches her thirst for knowledge, her thirst for faith and ultimately her thirst for Jesus. And yet Jesus was thirsting for her faith in Him and thirsting to be loved with a pure love based upon respect, reverence and adoration.

In this subtle conversation, He helps her to understand that her thirst for love, was in all the wrong places and His personal encounter with her helps her to discover a love she had never known before.

Through His divine knowledge, Jesus reveals He knew the woman had been married 5 times and was now with her 6^th man. But Our Lord helps her find a love not based upon physical intimacy but unconditional love, (divine intimacy) only Jesus, as God, can give. She had been thirsting for true love, but didn’t know where or how to find it, but Jesus reveals it to her. Jesus Himself will quench her thirst. And by her willingness to love Jesus in return, she quenches the thirst of Jesus.

Years ago, when I was an associate priest in a parish, I met a non-baptized woman, who had been married 5 times and who was now with her sixth man, similar to the woman at the well in today’s Gospel. The sixth man was different than her past husbands. He was Catholic, who was married once before and had custody of his children. It took a toll on this woman who had 5 previous husbands. She suffered greatly from the stress and pain of all those broken relationships. She was fearful of marrying again, but was thirsting to be loved in a way she had never known. She told me, she finally found the man, who loved her in a way she wanted to be loved. What set him apart from the other men, was he was Catholic who lived by his faith. He had told her he didn’t want to have relations with her until they would first get married in the Catholic Church. She was inspired by his faith, a faith, she had never known. He was a man who worshiped God in spirit and in truth.

She realized she was not only thirsting to be loved and respected by a man, she was thirsting for something even greater than a man could give. She was thirsting for God. She was thirsting for faith. Her parents never took her to church and she didn’t know much about God. She was so inspired by his desire to live out his faith, she wanted to become Catholic.

She wanted to receive the gift of the waters of baptism, so her sins would be washed away and the Blessed Trinity could dwell within her. When she attended Mass with Him, she began to hunger for Jesus in Holy Communion. She went through RCIA and was able to get all 5 annulments. At the Easter Vigil she was baptized receiving the life giving water, which made her a child of God. She made her first Holy Communion and was Confirmed. Later that summer, they were married in the Catholic Church.

She received all she wanted and even more. Her thirst was quenched by Jesus, through the life giving grace of the sacraments. She came to understand the true meaning of love. And Jesus’ thirst for union with her, was quenched when she was baptized and began to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. The two lonely hearts found each other and quenched each other’s thirst.

Some search from bar to bar for someone who will truly love them, but as the country song goes, “I was searching for love in all the wrong places. Searching for love in too many faces. Hoping to find a friend and a lover. God will bless the day I discover another heart, looking for love.”

Just as wayward hearts are searching to be loved, so there is a divine Heart beating and searching for love. This divine Heart of Jesus beating in the Eucharist is searching for lovers to be united to His Heart in Holy Communion.

Today, let us pray for wayward hearts, searching for love in the desert of this world. May they discover the deepest longing of their hearts, Jesus, as their friend and lover, so that God will bless the day they discover a Divine Heart searching for love.

 

2nd Sunday Lent, Year A Transfiguration - Eucharist

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus took Peter, James and John up a very high mountain and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white. The extra ordinary incredible event would be something the three apostles would never forget. But, why would Jesus reveal the magnificence of His glory to them?

Christ's Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in anticipation of his Passion. Pope Leo the Great, said “the principle aim of the Transfiguration was to banish from the disciples’ souls the scandal of the Cross”.

The revelation of His glory on Mount Tabor would give the apostles hope, in the midst of the terrible tragedy of His death. As Jesus said, He would be raised up on the third day. It would give them hope of the life to come.

God wants us contemplate the transfiguration-- and the glory and joy of heaven, because of the great suffering that every one of us will experience in the future. We can do this especially when we meditate on the 4th luminous mystery of the Rosary, the transfiguration.

Have you ever had a transfiguration event? Where God gave you a glimpse of His glory? After a thunderstorm, when clouds open and the sun shines through, we see the beautiful rays of light. Or if we look at the mountains in Colorado and see the clouds and snow tops, we are in awe and think of God’s glory. Or when a rainbow shines across the entire sky. We can exclaim, Oh Lord, my God, When I, in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed, how can I not contemplate thy glory?

When I was here 10 years ago, I was serving at three parishes rotating on the weekend, Holy Name in Bushton, St. Paul in Lyons and here at Holy Trinity in Little River.

After I was here for about a year, there was a period of two weeks, something amazing happened. One weekend, we had a Holy Hour in Bushton, and after the Holy Hour, an elderly woman came up to me and told me a story from her childhood. She said, when she was about 16 years old, during a Holy Hour, as she was gazing upon the Sacred Host in the monstrance, she saw Jesus. She told me this event that happened, over 70 years ago.

Then a few weeks later, I came here to Holy Trinity and after Mass a young girl from our parish told me the exact same thing. She said one day, during a Holy Hour when gazing upon the Host in the monstrance, here on the altar, she said she saw the face of Jesus. I don’t recall her name, but she was from our parish.

So within two weeks an elderly woman told me when she was about 16 she saw Jesus in a Host and then 70 years later, a young girl about the age of 16, from our parish told me, she too saw the face of Jesus in the Host. Isn’t that amazing.

Then, a few years later, I was assigned to Sacred Heart in Halstead as their pastor. One day, after Mass, a woman, about 70 years old, who had been singing in the choir, came down the steps from the choirloft and was crying. I said, “What’s the matter? What happened? Are you okay?” Wiping the tears from her face, she said, “You won’t believe what just happened. Father, when you were holding the Sacred Host above the altar, after the consecration, I saw Jesus!” She said, “I really did, I saw Jesus!”

Not much after that happened, at Sacred Heart, we started a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. A 12 year old boy and his two sisters and their grandmother, had just become Catholic. The children had only been Catholic for several months, when the grandmother and her three grandchildren were praying and doing a Holy Hour. The boy, said while they were praying, Jesus came out of the Host and stood in front of the altar. He said, he was wearing a golden crown and was wearing a white garment and a golden sash. Jesus told the boy, “Remove your shoes, and tell the others to remove their shoes. The ground on which you are standing is holy ground.” His sisters and grandmother knew something had just happened, because the boy was looking up and removed his shoes. He told them to remove their shoes and they did. When they came to me to tell me what happened, I was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to say. But, I believed him, especially since, he had never heard of the burning bush story in the bible, where God told Moses to remove his shoes because the ground he was standing is holy.

Back in Oct., when I was in Medjugorje, the little village, where its believed the Virgin Mary is appearing, some women from our group, saw what they called, “The miracle of the sun.” They saw the sun spin and then, the sun turned into what they said looked like a “white host”. They all believed the white host represented the Eucharist. It seems to me, it was sign from heaven. It is as though God was pointing them to the Holy Mass, to come to Mass often, to receive Holy Communion and adore Him during Eucharistic Adoration.

This last Christmas, I know of a priest, who had an interesting experience. During midnight Mass, after the consecration, as he elevated the Sacred Host above the altar, he said, the Host disappeared and there in his hands, he was suddenly holding the baby Jesus wrapped in a blue blanket. The priest said he saw the face of the divine Child, who looked at him. Then the child looked toward heaven and white and red rays came forth from His Heart toward heaven. Wow! Amazing!

None of these events have been investigated and these are just personal testimonies from people. But, I believe them and thought I would share them with you.

At Mass, God's glory is made manifest.  At Mass heaven is opened and we join the angels and saints who are giving God glory in heaven. At Mass, we sing with the angels and saints, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. At Mass we sing the words of the angels, Glory to God in the highest. And we say, we glorify you. We give you thanks for your glory.

Today, and every day, we have the opportunity to be a witness of God’s glory at Mass, when the bread is changed into the person of Jesus. During our Holy Hour, with the eyes of faith, we can gaze upon the glorious face of Jesus. We believe, He is here, just as He appeared on Mount Tabor, to Peter, James and John.

Let us pray,

O Lord, we pray, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you! Your Sacred Host is the cloud of glory and we want to look beyond the Host and see your glorious face. O Lord, as the Host is lifted up, we pray, shine the light of your glory, on us. Lord pour out your power and love, as we sing, holy, holy, holy, holy. Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you. I want to see you. Let the light of your radiant face break through the Host and shine upon us, O Lord! (Psalm 4:6)

And grant us your salvation through the intercession and prayers of the Virgin Mary. Amen.

 

1st Monday of Lent

 

When I was ministering at St. Francis Xavier Hospital, I met woman, by the name of Margaret, who became a nurse in 1955. After high school studied 3 years to become a nurse. She was a nurse for over 50 years at St. Francis Xavier Hospital in Tulsa and retired 7 years ago, but continues to volunteer in Employee Health at the hospital. She has been a nurse for 63 years. Last year she also became a patient. And I told her someday, she will have a great reward in heaven.

In today’s Gospel Jesus said, “When I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, when a stranger you welcomed me, naked you clothed me, ill you cared for me and in prison you visited me.”

Isn’t that what nurses do? They feed the hungry, sometimes by feeding those who cannot eat by themselves, or replace nutrition bags for those who have a feeding tube. They give glasses of water to the thirsty and replace IV bags for hydration. They help patients to put on their hospital gowns, change diapers and dump out bedpans and urinals and sometimes help the homeless with donated clothing. They care for the ill by changing their bedding and their bandages, they give medicine and pills to them. They check their blood pressure and temperature. Nurses go from room to room throughout the day dealing with all sorts of health needs. One room is a car accident. And in the next room, suddenly a Code Blue and they must do chest compressions. The next room is an overdose, another room is an elderly man dying, one room is gunshot victim. Nurses care for elderly patients, children patients, and all sorts of everyone in between. Most every person is a stranger but treated as a friend.

What are they doing? They are serving Jesus in the disguise of the sick. “When I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, when a stranger you welcomed me, naked you clothed me, ill you cared for me….”

This how we will be judged. On the day of judgment those who did acts of mercy, the sheep, will be placed the right and those who refused to give mercy, the goats, who will be placed on the left.

How glorious is the crown of nurses, who pour out themselves out of love for neighbor. Today, let us pray for nurses and all employees and volunteers of all hospitals. May all who work here open their hearts to see Jesus in the disguise of the patients. And when their life ends, those who loved and gave mercy to Jesus in the patients will hear Our Lord’s voice, “Come you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”