2nd Sunday of Lent - Transfiguration

 

Have you ever been camping, and after you pitched the tent, then later, during the night, someone walks up to you holding a portable lantern near their face, and you see their face shining in the night?

Today, we have the account of the Transfiguration, and we get a glimpse into His divinity. Six days after predicting His death and resurrection, when Peter, James, and John climbed a high mountain, called Mount Tabor, He shows His glory to them. It wasn’t during the night, but during the day, when Jesus face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white, and they could see Jesus in all His glory.

In a flash the disciples eyes are opened. They can see who Jesus really is. He is more than a rabbi, a miraculous healer, or gifted preacher. He is greater than even Moses or Elijah! Jesus is God.

During this event, they saw Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. Jesus, as God, and messiah, represents the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

By revealing His glory, Jesus showed them what it would be like when He rose from the dead. Seeing this, gave the disciples strength during the hard times to see Jesus suffer and die. That’s because they would understand Jesus would come back in glory, and we will too, when we are in heaven with Jesus.

Jesus’s disciples didn’t fully grasp their mountaintop vision or how they would need to cling to it as Jesus headed toward the Cross. They didn’t know how their faith would be tested or how important it was that Jesus was more than a just man. And they didn’t know what Jesus meant when He said He would die and rise again. But Jesus knew. That’s why He told them to keep the revelation to themselves until He had risen from the dead.

In His transfiguration, Jesus was giving His disciples a gift to sustain them for the day of His crucifixion. On that day there would not be three tents, but three crosses. Jesus would not stand between Moses and Elijah he would hang between two thieves on the cross. On that day they would abandon their teacher and Lord to His cruel end. But Jesus’ transfiguration no only helped the disciples during His crucifixion. Even more, it foreshadowed an even greater revelation of His divinity: the resurrection!

Jesus’ glory was just as present on the Cross as it was on the mountaintop. The disciples just couldn’t see it. They needed a heavenly perspective and so do we. That’s why Jesus invites us to go up to the mountain every day for a glimpse of His glory: to see Jesus, the Son of God, who will be with us always, to the end of time.

When you have a difficult time, remember what Easter will be like, when we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead.

So whether you’re at Mass or gazing upon Jesus during Eucharistic Adoration, look to Jesus today.

Ask Him to open your eyes. Let Him strengthen your faith and fill you with hope!

Oh, Virgin Mary, during difficult times in my life, just as you gazed upon your dead Son on the Cross, and knew you would see Him risen from the dead, help me to look forward to seeing the glory of Jesus in heaven.

1st Sunday of Lent - Meaning of 40 Days

 

On this First Sunday of Lent, we heard the Gospel state, “the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert and He remained there for forty days, tempted by Satan”. And after the 40 days, “Jesus then came to the region of Galilee proclaiming the Gospel,” stating, “This is a time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

What is the meaning of 40 days of Lent and what is necessary for true repentance?

In the English language, the special season before Easter is called “Lent.” The word comes from the “lengthening” of daylight hours as we progress from the darkness of winter to the new light of spring. But other languages, such as Spanish, have a name for this season that is derived from the word for forty. It is the season of the forty days.

  Most people know we do penance for forty days because Jesus fasted forty days in the wilderness. But did you ever wonder why Jesus was out there for forty days rather than seven or ten or fifty days? Think back to the Old Testament. 

Noah and all who entered the Ark watched rain fall for 40 days and forty nights. And at the end of the 40 days, there was hope that they would once again be able to walk on land. In Noah’s case, it’s the rebirth of a sinful world cleansed by raging floodwaters.

Moses was on Sinai for 40 days and then came down the mountain with the 10 commandments, the Law. It preceded the birth of the Law, which would guide the people on the way of righteousness.

The Israelites wandered around the desert for 40 years, seeking freedom from the slavery of the Egyptians with the hope of entering the Promised Land. A place God would provide for all their needs. But before they arrived, they crossed the Red Sea, which miraculously parted, so that they could be free from the slavery of the Egyptians. When Pharaoh and his army were hurled into the sea after the Israelites safely crossed, it was like a birth of a new Israel liberated from sin. It was the birth of the people of the covenant.

All these “forties” are necessary and were a prelude to a birth of something new. And Jesus? What did His forty days mean? It was the birth of a new Israel, the birth of His Church which would help mankind to be liberated from sin, reconciled to God, and governed by the law of the Spirit rather than a law chiseled in stone. It was a birth of a people of the New and Everlasting Covenant. As the rainbow symbolized the old covenant, God made between Himself and the people, the Eucharist is not only a mere symbol, but in fact, the New and Everlasting Covenant, between God and His people.

We can see by the historical facts from the Old Testament, the reason why Jesus remained in the desert for 40 days. There was deep meaning to it. Mysteriously, Jesus allows Himself to be tempted in the desert. Perhaps, showing us that He was like us in all things, but sin. Yet, He also wanted us to know God was doing something new. He wanted to also show us that if we turn to Him, who conquered ever sin and the devil in the desert, He will help us to overcome our temptations. His overcoming the temptations in the desert, was a prelude to His crossing over from this life to the next by His victorious conquering of sin and death on the Cross and His glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven.

When Jesus gave us, through the apostles, the waters of baptism, He gave us a new birth into the life of God Himself. He gave mankind a way, so that all could now enter the Promised Land of Heaven and be freed from the slavery of sin. But after Baptism, our journey to the Promised Land of Heaven has not arrived, because we- ourselves go about wandering through life suffering from temptations.

When Jesus came out of the desert, He gave us words to help us to know what we should do. He said, “This is a time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Our first thoughts with regard to repentance, is that we think of asking for forgiveness for our sins. But repentance is much deeper than that. By reflecting on repentance, it reminds us there is much more to repentance than getting our sins forgiven.

Repentance means, we will change our life. It means conversion. It means sort of a birth in the Spirit. And this is why we should turn to Our Blessed Mother, the advocate of sinners, and beseech Her to help us have a true and lasting repentance, so that at the end of our life, we cross the waters from this world to the next and enter the Promised Land of Heaven.

6th Sunday, Healing of a Leper & Lourdes Healings

 

Today is Feb. 11^th, the annual World Day of the Sick. Today, we will look at Jesus healing of the leper and speak about Our Lady of Lourdes and give advice to the sick.

In the first reading, we heard the rules concerning lepers. When lepers were near others, they were required to shout, “Unclean, unclean” to prevent others from having any contact with them. They were separated from the community for fear of spreading the disease.

When he approached Jesus, the leper kept his distance. But, Our Lord stretched out His hand to touch him, healed his illness and restored him to his community and family once again.

This action of showing the blotch on the skin to the priest and the priest restoring the leper to the community is symbolic of what happens when we commit a serious sin. If we commit a mortal, we separate our self from God and the mystical body of Christ. And if we want to be restored to the community of believers, and restored in our ability to receive Holy Communion, we do as the leper, we go to a priest, and we show him, so to speak, “the blotch of sin”. Then, Jesus in the priest absolves our sins, restores our relationship with God, and once again restores us to the body of Christ. And we can once again receive the Eucharist worthily.

In 1858 in the grotto of Massabielle, near Lourdes, France, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous, who was 14 years old. The first apparition was on February 11^th near the River Gave by a grotto. The grotto was a place where pigs fed in the area and took shelter there.

While in front of the Grotto of Massabielle, Bernadette describes what she saw: “I saw a Lady in white. I was a little frightened, and thinking I was seeing things (an illusion), I rubbed my eyes, but in vain…. The Lady took up the Rosary, She held in her hands and She made the Sign of the Cross. I tried again to make it and this time I could. My great fear went “away” as soon as I made the Sign of the Cross. I knelt down, and said the Rosary before this beautiful Lady.”

In a later apparition, Bernadette asked the Virgin Mary Her name, She said, “I am the Immaculate Conception”. She told Bernadette: "Pray and do penance for the conversion of the world." The Lady asked Bernadette again to scrape the ground in the "pigs’ shelter", saying, "Go to the spring, drink of it and wash yourself there". She moved on her knees to the back of the Grotto, kissed the disgusting ground used by pigs, ate the grass, and took mud in her hands and smeared her face. Later, the spring of water would prove to be miraculous.

During the third apparition on Feb. 18^th, Mary said, "I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the other.”

In four years after the apparitions, the Lourdes Shrine recorded 7 Church approved miracles on Jan. 18^th of 1862. As of today, there have been 70 Church approved medical miracles. Since the beginning of the apparitions, there have been 7000 unexplained cures. Doctors of all religions examine the evidence to determine if it’s an unexplained miraculous healing.

Here are a few of officially approved healings.

Justin Bouhort was born in Lourdes in 1856. He was a sickly child since birth. By age two—the age of his miracle cure—he could not walk, suffered from malnutrition (as a result of previous infections), intellectual disability, and tuberculosis. Justin’s mom took him to the Grotto of Lourdes to plead for help from the Blessed Mother Mary. She bathed her son in the waters, then ventured back home with Justin. Justin recovered quickly and even began to walk! He grew into adulthood healthy. His miracle was approved on January 18, 1862.

Marie Moreau, was born in 1841. In 1858, when Marie was 16 years of age, she contracted an inflammatory disease of the eyes. Despite the remedies tried, her condition led to a severe degree of visual impairment, bordering on blindness. Her father went to Lourdes to get some water from the Grotto. On November 8th,1858, the family started a novena of prayers. In the evening, the young girl soaked a bandage with Lourdes' water, and tied it over her eyes. The next morning, Nov. 9^th at the moment Marie removed the bandage, her eyesight was fully restored. It was declared a miracle, on Jan. 18^th, 1862.

Sister Bernadette Moriau was born on September 23, 1939, in France. At the age of 19, she entered the congregation of the Franciscan Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and graduated in 1965 as a nurse. However, at the age of 27, she began experiencing pain in her low back and underwent 4 unsuccessful surgeries. By 1975, Moriau was no longer able to practice her nursing. She began to have neurological ailments began, was fit for a spinal neurostimulator, was on morphine medication, was diagnosed with sphincter dysfunction, began wearing a cervical-lumbar corset. In 2005, her left foot was put into a splint after developing a contracture. In February of 2008, she made her pilgrimage to the Grotto of Lourdes, France. While retracing the steps of St. Bernadette, Moriau said she could feel the presence of little Bernadette, the Blessed Mother, and Jesus. On July 11, 2008—at the same time as the Eucharist procession in Lourdes was taking place—Moriau had her hour of adoration at her community chapel. It was there that a warm sensation fell over her. She was completely healed and was declared an official miracle on January 10, 2018.

Gabriel Gargam had a twofold healing, spiritual and physical. Born in 1870 at 15 years of age, he lost his faith. At the age of 29, when the train he was traveling from Bordeaux to Paris collided with another train, and threw him fifty-two feet from the train. He was taken to a hospital. Formerly a robust man, in eight months he weighed 78 pounds, his feet developed gangrene, could not take solid food, and was on a feeding tube. Doctors testified the man was a hopeless cripple for life. Previous to the accident Gabriel had not been to Church for fifteen years. But, his aunt begged him to go to Lourdes.

When he arrived at Lourdes, he went to confession and received Holy Communion. There was no change in his condition. Later he was carried to the miraculous pool and tenderly placed in its waters – but no effect. Rather, he lay motionless. On the way back they saw the procession of the Holy Eucharist (the Blessed Sacrament) approaching. Because he was motionless, his family thought he died and placed a cloth over his head. As the priest passed by carrying the Sacred Host, he gave a blessing over the sorrowful group around the covered body. Soon there was a movement from under the covering. While the family were looking on dumbfounded and the spectators gazed in amazement, he got up and stood erect, walked about and said he was cured. The multitude looked in wonder, and then all fell to their knees and thanked God for this new sign of His power at the Shrine of His Blessed Mother.

In this story, Gabriel cut himself off from the mystical body of Christ for 15 years because he no longer attended church. Just as a leper does not participate in the community, and separated himself from the Church.

Our Lord wanted his soul to be healed first, then his body. After he received Jesus in Holy Communion at Mass, he was bathed in the waters from the miraculous spring which prepared him for his physical healing. It was through Mary’s prayers and intercession that he went to confession, received Holy Communion and was bathed in the waters. Then Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, physically healed him when the priest gave him benediction.

The events of Our Lady of Lourdes remind the sick today, what is most important is the healing of our soul. If we want healing of our body, we need to first allow Jesus to heal our soul.

Eventually all of us will die, but our soul will live forever. If we die, while our soul is cut off from the mystical body of Christ, due to serious sin, then we will be cut off from heaven, and go to hell for all eternity.

But, if we live out our faith regularly attending Mass, going to Confession frequently, praying the Rosary daily, and accept our sufferings with love as a penance for the conversion of sinners, we will be ready for our eternal home in heaven.

My friends after you allowed Jesus to heal your soul, by washing away your sins, do not be afraid-- to ask for a physical healing through the prayers and intercession of the Virgin Mary. She was not afraid to come to a pig’s shelter and give us a miraculous spring of water, that has touched the lives of over 7000 people in an unexplained manner since 1858 in Lourdes, France.

5th Sunday - Year B - Jesus Heals Today

 

In the Gospel today, Jesus healed the mother-in-law of Peter, and He cured many sick of their various diseases. The Gospel tells us the whole town came to the door of Peter’s home.

Jesus today heals the sick and many times we are unaware of it, but there are times He heals in a miraculous manner.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Chase Kear, a 17-year boy from Colwich who had a pole-vaulting accident resulting in severe damage to his skull. Doctors said there was no way he would ever be normal again and they thought he would soon die. But through the prayers of many people asking Fr. Emil Kapaun for his intercession, Chase Kear had what many believe to be a miraculous recovery. The Vatican is investigating the alleged miracle.

On Jan. 19, 2015 there were reports that three 14-year-old boys who fell through the ice, at Missouri's Lake Sainte Louise. One of the boys, John Smith, was underwater for 15 minutes when rescuers found him.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported he was taken to a hospital with no pulse, and his friends who fell through the ice were treated for hypothermia. They performed CPR on John for 27 minutes.

Dr. Kent Sutterer said, "He was dead for 45 minutes," and that there was a "very poor chance of survival." But when the doctor called John's mom into the room, he said, "she started praying loudly.” His mother, Joyce Smith said, "I don't remember what all I said. But I remember saying, 'Holy God, please send your Holy Spirit to save my son.' ... All of a sudden I heard them saying, 'We got a pulse, we got a pulse.”

Today, John's brain function is normal, and he's at home walking and talking like any other teenager. Due to this alleged miracle, a movie, “Breakthrough” came out about the true story.

The next story just happened today. While I am certain it will never be declared a miracle. I believe the Lord did something. Today, is the feast of St. Blaise, while hearing confessions, I had the hiccups. And just after someone left the confessional, I prayed, “O Jesus, please help me. Take away these hiccups.” Immediately, the hiccups stopped. While some may say, that was coincidence. I don’t believe so. While I never prayed asking St. Blaise, the patron of throat disorders, for his intercession to stop the hiccups, he may still have interceded for me, asking Jesus to stop the hiccups.

What most of you don’t know, is that I was having migraines 2 or 3 times a week. The migraines were caused by arthritis in my neck due to past injuries. If I would take the medicine, as soon as the headache would start, they would prevent the migraine. But despite that, I still had migraines 2 or 3 times week and many times it was associated with weather change. When my arthritis would flare up, I would get a migraine.

A friend from Wichita asked me to come to a prayer service called “Encounter Ministries”. He suggested the group of 4 pray over me asking Jesus to heal the migraines. My response, was “A priest should accept His sufferings with love and offer them for the people of his parish. If Jesus wants to heal me, that is fine. But if He chooses to not heal me, that is fine too.” After they prayed over me, I have had only one migraine since October, whereas before, I had 2 or 3 migraines a week. I believe Jesus healed me.

As I mentioned before, last year, I had 5 surgeries and 9 procedures. I was getting a bit worn out with all those doctor appointments and all those surgeries and procedures. Sitting in all those waiting rooms. I saw it as an opportunity to pray for others who I would meet at the hospital and doctor offices.

While it took some time, for my thick head to understand, I now finally realized, Jesus used the doctors, the anesthesiologists, the nurse practitioners, the nurses, x-ray staff, etc… to heal me. Today, Jesus uses ordinary medicine, surgeries, etc.. to heal too.

What we all need to remember is, St. James, Chapter 1:17, “all that is good, all that is perfect, is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow caused by change.”

My friends, every good gift, every good thing, comes from God. And therefore, God is the one who heals in hospitals and surgery centers. He is the one who can heal anytime, or anyway He wants. We need to open our eyes to see all that He is constantly doing for us.

Sometimes, God doesn’t heal us because He knows it is best for our soul to accept the sufferings we have and see them as opportunities to grow in love for others. Suffering purifies our own soul and when we unite our sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross, He can use our sufferings to give others the grace of conversion, the grace to turn back to Jesus, and to discontinue going down the wrong path of life.

I have also seen Jesus work apparent miracles through the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. We come in contact with Jesus through all the sacraments. Many misunderstand it. Anointing of the Sick is to be given when there is a potential danger of death. Potential, does not mean the person is in fact in danger of death, but that it’s possible. For example if a person is going to undergo anesthesia, he or she should be anointed. The sacrament can also be given to the elderly or to anyone whose health has declined, even the seriously mentally ill can be anointed.

The problem is some think we shouldn’t be anointed until near death. But this is not true, we should not wait for near death. Because if we aren’t careful, the person will die before they get anointed. If a person is conscious, and if in mortal sin, they are to go to confession before anointing, otherwise they won’t receive graces from the sacrament.

Last week, I anointed our 7^th grade PSR teacher during class, because she was going to have knee surgery, so the children of her class could see how a priest gives the sacrament of anointing of the sick. I explained the three purposes of anointing of the sick.

First anointing forgives sin, even mortal sin, when the person is unconscious or unable to go to confession. This comes from the book of James who said, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” James 5:14–15.

Second, anointing of the sick gives us grace to endure our sufferings or the sufferings to come if we are going to have surgery or chemo-therapy or for some reason when we know we are going to suffer physically soon. We need those special sacramental graces to prevent us from losing hope and it helps us to turn to Jesus in our need. This is why we should also not wait to anoint someone. Because they need those graces to persevere through their suffering.

The third purpose is that Jesus can use the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick to physically heal. As a hospital chaplain for 5 years, I anointed thousands of people.

Not very often, but there were times when it seemed Jesus worked what appeared to be-- a miracle. One such person was a woman, whose boyfriend said, she was brain-dead. The doctors suggested they pull the plug. I visited her in intensive care and anointed her. The next day she came out of her coma, and within 3 days, she walked out of the hospital. Is brain-dead, not really death? Or did Jesus work a miracle, despite brain death?

A sixteen-year-old girl at Council Grove, Kansas kept fainting during PE and during sports activities. One day, she fainted and hit her head. They took her to the hospital and the doctors discovered she had a heart problem. On their way to Children’s Mercy hospital in Kansas City, they stopped by St. Rose of Lima church in Council Grove and I anointed her.

When she arrived at Children’s Mercy, they ran all sorts of tests and said there was nothing wrong with her. They said there was no way the tests results sent from Council Grove could have been the same patient. They accused the Council Grove doctors of sending wrong tests. But, the Council Grove doctors were adamant and said they are absolutely certain they sent the right tests. So what happened? After she left the hospital in Council Grove, and before she arrived at Children’s Mercy, she was anointed, and we believe Jesus healed her. The girl never had another fainting incident again.

It is wonderful that Jesus heals the physical bodies of people, just like He healed Peter’s mother-in-law and the blind man and the lepers, and the paralyzed man. And He physically healed people through our prayers or through a group of people who pray, or through the Sacrament of the Sick, or though the intercession of saints and Jesus heals through ordinary means such as medicines, machines, and doctors.

All this is wonderful and a great witness to His power and love for each person. Yet, it is better for us that Jesus heals our souls by forgiving our sins and heal our souls through Holy communion. All those who Jesus healed and all the people who Jesus physically heals today eventually die. Our body will someday die, but our soul will live forever.

Our soul is infinitely more important than the body. It is more important that we help our soul to live a life of grace. At the end of the world, our soul and our body will be reunited at the resurrection of the dead. All of us will have an incorrupt body and will never die again.

Today, let us turn to Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, may we come to Him often in the sacraments to receive His healing touch and His love. And may, Mary, Help of the Sick, pray for the sick and dying, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

4th Sunday - Demons & Hell

 

Once when I was an associate at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Wichita, I visited a classroom at the Catholic grade school. And when I entered the 4th grade room, I asked the children if they had any questions. One boy raised his hand. I said, “What’s your question?” He said, “Is there any sin in heaven?” I said, “No, there is no sin in heaven.” He said, “Are you sure, there is no sin in heaven?” I said, “Yes, I am sure, there is no sin in heaven.” He said, “But, didn’t the bad angels sin in heaven?” I thought, well, the kid is right, there was sin in heaven. Realizing the very smart question, I said, “Well, yes, there was one time when some angels sinned in heaven. But, now, there will never be any sin in heaven.”

In the Gospel today, Jesus expelled an unclean spirit from a man. What is an unclean spirit? It’s a fallen angel. In the book of Revelation Chapter 12, it describes about the war that was in heaven. Michael the archangel and his good angels fought against Satan and His bad angels, but the bad angels were defeated and lost their place in heaven. Satan’s name was originally Lucifer, which means “light bearer”. Lucifer was the most intelligent, most beautiful and strongest of all the angels. Some saints believe, that God showed all the angels in heaven, the future day when Jesus would take on human nature and become a man, and they would have to bow down and worship Jesus in His human and divine natures. And all the angels had one choice to either do what God wanted, or to choose to disobey God. Two-thirds of the angels chose to serve God, while one-third of them chose to not serve God. It’s believed Lucifer cried out, “I will not serve!” and at that moment, St. Michael knelt before God and cried out, “Who is like God?” in rebuke of the devil. Michael became the leader of the heavenly armies. His willingness to serve God, and to recognize that there is none other like God, was an act of obedience and humility to shame the pride of the devil. And so God allowed Michael to cast the devil and the rebel angels out of heaven.

The fallen angels became unclean spirits also called demons. So a demon is really a fallen angel. Each of us has a guardian angel assigned to protect us. And we can call upon St. Michael, who will come to our aid when we need protection against evil spirits who try to tempt us.

About 8 years ago, Bishop Kemme asked all priests to pray the St. Michael prayer at the end of all Masses, which is why we do that here at Holy Trinity.

Today, some people think there is no hell or that hell is empty. But today’s Gospel is reminder that there are evil spirits who possess people, but Jesus who is God has infinite power over them and can expel them.

Fr. Chad Ripperger, a famous exorcist, who many people watch on YouTube, recently said that many people no longer believe there is a hell. He also said, “Fear of the Lord, is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, people really lack today.”

What is fear of the Lord? Does it mean, that we should be afraid of God, or afraid that God will punish us for our sins? While we should have a healthy fear of being punished for our sins, especially for going to hell. That’s not what “Fear of the Lord” means.

To Fear the Lord means, that we should have a fear of offending God because we don’t want to hurt Him, whom we love. Whenever we sin, we hurt God. All we have to do is look at a Crucifix, and we can see how our sins hurt Jesus. Some think, well, that was 2000 years ago. But, the truth is our sins today caused Jesus to suffer like that 2000 years ago. Whenever we sin, we hurt Jesus. We should have a fear of hurting Jesus, because we love Him and don’t want to cause Him pain and suffering.

In fact, Pope Pius XI, said, “Every sin must be said to renew in a certain way the Passion of Our Lord, crucifying again in themselves, the Son of God and making Him a mockery.” In other words, the fear of hurting Jesus, should cause us to avoid sins. I think today, most people think when we sin, it doesn’t hurt anyone. But it does. First, it hurts Jesus. Second, it hurts our soul. Third, it can hurt another person whom we offend. Fourth, every sin wounds the mystical body of Christ. So there is really no such thing as a private sin.

Today, some people don’t think there is a hell, or they believe hell is empty because God is too merciful to send anyone there for all eternity.

But, there really is a hell and people really do go there. The Church teaches there is no forgiveness after death. If we die unrepentant, in the state of mortal sin, we will go to hell forever. Hell is place of unending torment.

Sister Lucia, described one the visions the children of Fatima had when the Virgin Mary appeared to them in 1917. She said,“Mary opened Her hands once more, as She had done the two previous months. The rays of light appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of fire. Plunged in this fire, we saw the demons and the souls of the damned. The latter were like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were floating about in that conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames which issued from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now they fell back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fright (it must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons were distinguished from the souls of the damned by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. That vision only lasted for a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, Who at the first apparition had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that we would have died of terror and fear.” The Virgin Mary showed the children of hell, and at that time Francisco was 9 years old, Jacinta was 7 years old and Lucia was 10 years old. Rather than causing them to be afraid of God, they were afraid that souls would go to hell, so they began to do penances, to prevent people from going there. They tied a rope around their waste as a penance, and gave their food away to poor children.

Hell is eternal, its forever. It is a dogma of the Catholic Church, that demons and the damned who go to hell, and will be there for all eternity.

In the Gospel of Mark Chapter 9, Jesus describes what hell is like. He said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.” (Mark 9:43) Catechism from the Council of Trent, describes Hell as a “most loathsome and dark prison in which the souls of the damned are tormented with the unclean spirits in eternal and inextinguishable fire.”

All it takes for a person to go to hell - is to die with one unrepentant mortal sin on their soul. That is why if we commit a mortal sin, we should never delay in going to Confession. Rather, we should immediately come to Jesus in the Confessional, and He will wash away our sins and give us peace.

God does not send souls to hell. Rather, a soul who died in the state of unrepentant mortal sin, will turn their back of God, and will send themselves to hell, because they know they are not worthy of heaven and can’t be with God.

All of us should have the fear of hell and the fear of the Lord. We should be afraid of going to hell, but more importantly, we should be afraid of hurting Jesus, whom we love.

Today, what we need to do is to live our life with Jesus and if we live our life with Him, we have nothing to fear, because we trust in His mercy. He is a God who loves us infinitely.

I think one of the biggest problems we do today is compartmentalize our faith. What I mean by that is that we go to Mass on Sunday, we make our Holy Hour, but when we are at home or at work or at school, we don’t think of God. We live our life as though God is not part of it. We put our faith in a box.

But, we need to live our faith every day at all times. So how do we do that? It’s really rather simple. All we need to do is realize at all moments Jesus is with us. Jesus is always at our side. Jesus is inside us through baptism. Jesus wants to be part of everything we do.

Here is an example. When I was a seminarian, one day, I decided to ask Jesus what He would like me to eat for supper. I was just walking down the hallway at the house, and said, “Jesus, what do you want me to eat for supper?”

I never heard a voice. I didn’t have this shazzam moment.

Rather, I thought well, I can go to McDonald’s and get a hamburger, or I can go to the grocery store and buy some beef and make my own burger. I just decided, I would go to the grocery store and get some hamburger. As I walked to the meat department, I couldn’t believe it. There in front of the hamburger section was, a friend of mine, that I went to college with. We hadn’t seen each other in 20 years.

It was at that moment, I believed Jesus inspired me to go to the grocery store and get hamburger, not just to make my own hamburger, but to see a friend. I later thanked Jesus for inspiring me to go to the grocery store, though originally I had no idea it was Him who inspired me to go to the store.

When having difficulty at work, ask Jesus for help. When you get into the car, say, “Lord Jesus where do you want me to go?” When you are working on your homework and are having trouble with it, ask Jesus for help. When you need to make a quick decision say to Jesus, “What should I do?”

Ask Jesus to walk down the street with you. To go to the post office. Be sure to ask Him what He wants you to eat for supper. Tell Him you love Him. Don’t forget to thank Him. And if you just sinned, tell Jesus you’re sorry.

If Jesus is our best friend, we don’t leave Him at Church. Rather, we take Him everywhere we go and that will make our day a much happier one. While He may not take away all our sufferings, He will certainly help you to endure them. May the Virgin Mary, intercede for us to help us to realize Jesus is always with us and loves us, and we may turn to Him all times throughout the day and do everything we can to not hurt Him, because we love Him.

3rd Sunday - The World Needs To Repent

 

Today’s readings highlight repentance. In the first reading the prophet Jonah was sent by God to call the people of Nineveh to repentance. Nineveh received this warning from God because they were the chief enemy of Israel. Yet, God wanted to forgive them, and all they had to do was repent. As Jonah walked through the great city, he proclaimed, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed”. The people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and all of them great and small put on sackcloth. Due to their repentance, God did not destroy their city.

John the Baptist was sent as a messenger proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” But after he was arrested, Jesus appeared saying, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

Today, the world needs to repent like never before. There is so much evil and darkness in the world. Over 65 million unborn children have died since Roe vs. Wade in 1973. We thank God for overturning of Roe vs Wade several years ago.

However, in Kansas, due to the failed Value Them Both Amendment, Wichita now has 3 abortion clinics. Out of 12,317 abortions reported to Kansas Department of Health and Environment in 2022, 8,475 are from those residing outside Kansas. However, there was a drop of 5% in Kansans who had abortions.

Since abortion is illegal in Missouri, a clinic worker at Planned Parenthood in Kansas City, Missouri admitted to taking minor girls, without parental consent, out of state (to Kansas) for secret abortions.

According to KMUW News from Kansas City, “Eighty-one out of every 100 patients who go to the Trust Women clinic for an abortion have crossed state lines to get there. An average of 54% are from Texas, 21% are from Oklahoma and 6% are from another state that doesn’t border Kansas, clinic officials say. “Our clinic receives an average of 3,000 to 4,000 phone calls a day,” said Zachary Gaylord, the Wichita clinic’s communications director. “We have capacity for around 40 to 50 appointments per clinic day.”

God was going to destroy the city of Nineveh, but because the people repented he didn’t. During the time of Noah, the people would not give up their sinful behavior and so God destroyed all that sinfulness by causing a great flood. God threatened to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to the sin of sodomy, but they did not repent and God did destroy them.

God’s mercy is contingent. There must be repentance and one must ask for His mercy. How can God forgive, unless it is asked for?

St. Faustina helps us to know that God’s mercy in infinite. She called it an ocean of mercy, unfathomable. She said our sins were like a tiny piece of sand dropped into the ocean of mercy.

Saint Faustina saw an angel coming down from heaven to destroy a city in Poland and no matter how hard she prayed, it had no effect. That is, until she heard these words, “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and the whole world.” And when she began to pray what we later came to be known as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the angel lost its power and did not destroy the city. She prayed for mercy, and it was given to that city. It was later revealed that the reason God was going to destroy that city was due to the killing of the unborn there.

Bernard Nathonson, was an abortionist who performed over 70,000 abortions. He was a Jewish man. When he watched a live abortion on an ultrasound, he repented and then took classes to become Catholic. When he was baptized Catholic at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, all his sins and all the punishment due to his sins were all washed away.

Abby Johnson was a director of Planned Parenthood in Texas. That facility did thousands of abortions. She was a baptized Protestant. She, like Bernard Nathanson, watched an ultrasound of a live abortion, which caused her to come to repentance.

She eventually took classes and joined the Catholic Church. She made her first Confession and then on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, when she received Holy Communion, all her sins and the punishment due to her sins were all washed away in the ocean of mercy.

The question for us is, what have you done to end abortion? How much have you prayed for the protection of the unborn? Have you ever donated to a crisis pregnancy center, who could use your donation to help young unwed mother’s during a difficult time in their life.

We are all part of the mystical body of Christ and so when one person sins, it negatively affects the body of Christ. By failing to confess our sins regularly, we bring down the mystical body of Christ. But, when we confess our sins regularly, at least monthly, we help play a role in bringing about God’s kingdom. By practicing our faith, by adoring Jesus in Adoration, by attending Mass and receiving Communion also during the week, we become an army helping the Lord to defeat the devil and his works. Satanists call abortion their sacrament. The more abortions there are, the more the devil causes havoc in the world.

The Virgin Mary appeared in the United States calling us to repentance, otherwise She said there would be great tragedy.

On Oct. 8^th, 1859, at Robbinsville, Wisconsin, Our Lady of Good Help appeared to a young girl named Adele Brese. Mary said, ‘I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning, and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession, and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them.” Twelve years later, on the exact day of October 8, 1871, the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States occurred. Approximately 2000 square miles of northern Wisconsin and Michigan, twice the size of Rhode Island, were destroyed by raging infernos. One town, Peshtigo, lost about half of its 2000 inhabitants. Up to 2500 died. It is an officially approved apparition in the United States.

When the 3rd secret of Fatima was revealed in 2000. Sister Lucia had said, “...we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand. Pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!”

18 years earlier, on May 13^th, 1982, one year after Pope St. John Paul II was shot, he gave a homily in Fatima and said, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel!" (Mk 1:15) These are the first words that the messiah addressed to humanity. The message of Fatima is, in its basic nucleus, a call to conversion and repentance, as in the Gospel. This call was uttered at the beginning of the 20th century, and it was thus addressed particularly to this present century. The Lady of the message seems to have read with special insight the signs of our time. The call to repentance is a motherly one. The call to repentance is linked, as always, with a call to prayer. In harmony with the tradition of many centuries, the Lady of the message indicates the Rosary, which can rightly be defined as "Mary's prayer," the prayer in which she feels particularly united with us. She herself prays with us. The Rosary prayer embraces the problems of the Church, of the See of Saint Peter, the problems of the whole world. In it, we also remember sinners, that they may be converted and saved, and the souls in purgatory.”

Monday, Jan. 22nd, the 51^st anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, is the National Day of Penance and Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn as decreed by the US Bishops. All Catholics in the United States to pray and do penance for the unborn. We could fast, abstain from meat, do a Holy Hour, pray extra Rosaries. Today, let us heed the call to penance through the approved apparition of the Virgin Mary, who repeats the words of Her Son, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

Let us go to confession at least once a month, let us pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy often imploring God’s mercy to end abortion. We should also especially pray the Rosary daily, cease offending God by living the Gospel and truly believe in it by living our life as a disciple of Jesus, who said, “Come and follow me.”

2nd Sunday Vocations

 

Today’s readings are about God’s call and those who are called to follow Him. In the first reading, Samuel was sleeping in the temple, near the ark, which was the dwelling place of God, when he heard the voice of the Lord, call him by name. He awakens and thinking that Eli was calling him, he states, “Here I am.” After going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Eli responds stating, he did not call him, and tells him to go back to sleep. After three times, Eli realized, the Lord was calling Samuel, and so, he told him, the next time he hears his name, he is to respond stating, “Speak, Lord your servant is listening.”

The psalm also speaks of the Lord’s call. It states, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”

In the Gospel, Our Lord calls some of His disciples. After John the Baptist points to Jesus and states, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Two of John the Baptist’s disciples heard what he said, and began to follow Jesus. Later in that afternoon, Andrew, who was also one of John the Baptists disciples, found his brother, Peter and told him, he had found the Messiah and both began to follow Jesus that day as well.

Today’s message is about vocations. A vocation is a calling. The Lord calls many men and women to follow Him. Men are called to the priesthood and/or religious life, as monks, friars or hermits. And women are called to be religious sisters or nuns.

God uses different means to call men and women. For example, when St. Francis of Assisi was praying in a run down abandoned church called San Damiano, he heard the voice of Jesus come from a Crucifix, saying, “Francis, build my Church. As you can see its fallen into ruin.” St. Francis believed Jesus wanted him to start a religious order of men dedicated to penance, that later became known as the Franciscans.

Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare nun of Perpetual Adoration, who founded EWTN, the Catholic cable television network, realized she had vocation to become a nun after doing a novena to St. Therese and was miraculously healed.

St. Ignatius of Loyola discovered his call to start a religious order called the Society of Jesus, after he was wounded in battle and began to read the lives of the saints, while he was recuperating in a convalescent home.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta received her call to start a religious order when she was riding on a train. She said Jesus spoke to her asking her to quench His thirst by taking care of the poorest of poor.

Fr. Don Calloway, as a young man, got involved in selling drugs and stealing, but when he read a book about the story of Our Lady of Medjugorje, decided to become Catholic and then later a Catholic priest. We are going to watch his conversion story this Wed. at the Faith Formation Class after Mass.

Blessed Fr. Solanus Casey came to understand God was calling him to become a Franciscan priest, due to seeing a murder while he was a street car operator in Detroit.

Fr. Stu Long, who became famous due to a movie about his call, discovered his call to the priesthood after a motorcycle accident.

Fr. Isaac Coulter, a priest from our diocese discovered his call to the priesthood, when he made his own altar, chalice and Mass books as a little boy.

Even though there is a great shortage of priests and sisters in our country, and throughout the world, this is not the case in our diocese. There are three stumbling blocks to vocations in the United States. And all begin with the letter “P”. They are pride, power and pleasure.

Pride causes one to not go to confession, to be blind to one’s sins, and so, one therefore is deaf to the Lord’s call. Serious sins block God’s graces, and pride can cause one to not even acknowledge one’s own sins. Pride wants us to be self-sufficient, to place our self, and our desires, above God and to seek our own selfish desires. But Jesus calls His followers to be humble and self-giving.

The second “P” is power. If young people seek power, fame, worldly glory, honors, and money, they are unable to hear the Lord’s call. The desire for power causes young people to want to move up the corporate ladder, to control others, to win at all cost, to be selfish with one’s money and goods and seeks to live a life of luxury.

The third “P” is pleasure. Excessive pleasure causes one to be deaf to the Lord’s call of a vocation as well. The seeking pleasures of the eye and body, the desire for immediate pleasure and satisfaction causes deafness to the call. Pleasures include inordinate shopping and purchasing excessive clothes and wardrobes, or expensive money wasting hobbies. Other sinful pleasures include indecent images, excessive food, drugs, abuse of alcohol and pre-marital activity. But, Jesus calls His followers to die to self and to be pure and chaste.

The response to the vocation shortage caused by pride, power and pleasure, can be found here in our own diocese. They are: Eucharistic adoration and monthly confession to conquer pride; stewardship to conquer power, and mortification to conquer excessive pleasure.

Young men and women, who come to Eucharistic Adoration pray, in humility, and hear the voice of Jesus say, “Come, and follow me”. As Samuel heard the voice of the Lord, while near the ark, the dwelling place of God, so, the voice of the Lord can be heard in prayer, before the new and everlasting Covenant, the Eucharist. And when young people go to confession, humility replaces pride, because we realize we need God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Through our time, talent, and treasure by way of stewardship, we conquer the desire for power, and discover true power is in the giving of our self. Stewardship overcomes the stumbling block of power, and so, one hears the Lord call to serve and to give.

Mortification conquers excessive pleasure. Because God dwells within us, we are to protect our eyes from sinful images, and our bodies from harmful things, such that we strive for purity and chastity. Through Mortification by way of prayer and fasting, young people turn away from false pleasures and are free to respond to God’s call.

More and more young people today, are willing to turn their back on peer pressure and the ways of the world. They are tired of being told all sorts of lies by society. They seek truth and are willing to lay down their lives to follow Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life. They want to serve and to live a life of virtue and holiness. They want the world to be a better place.

Today, let us pray for all young people, that Our Blessed Lady, who always did the will of God, will inspire young men and women to hear the voice of Jesus, and respond, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”

Baptism of the Lord

 

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Since, Jesus is sinless. Why did He want John the Baptist to baptize Him? There are at least four reasons. First, when Our Lord was baptized, it was the first public revelation of the Blessed Trinity. For thousands of years, the Jews believed that there is only one God, and they were right there is only one God. Yet, they could never have known there are three persons in one God, until Jesus came to reveal the Blessed Trinity. When Jesus was baptized, the event revealed He is His Son of the Father and that there is a third person, the Holy Spirit, who appeared in the form of a dove.

Another reason, Jesus was baptized, was to sanctify all water. The water poured on the head of Our Lord was made holy and therefore all water is made holy by His baptism.

The third reason why Jesus was baptized was to give approval of John’s baptism. Jesus wanted all to know that what John was doing was in accord with the will of the Father. He was baptized by John as an example for us, so that we too would choose to be baptized.

The fourth reason, Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized was out of humility, such that He allowed Himself to be numbered among sinners, though He was free from original sin and never committed any personal sin in His life.

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and not a washing away of original sin. However, the Baptism which Jesus instituted, when He told His apostles, to “Go therefore and baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”,--was different then John’s Baptism.

Though sinless, Our Lord took the sin of all mankind upon His shoulders, as He carried His Cross, to Calvary. He was crucified, resulting in the baptism of His bloody death. Out of love for us, He consented to His death, for the remission for our sins.

Through the waters of Baptism, we go down under the water, in order to die to sin, as Jesus died on the Cross. When we rise out of the water, sin is washed away and we rise to new life, which is a life of sanctifying grace and life of union with God.

We see in the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles did as Jesus told them to go out and baptize. Immediately after the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter stood up and said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit.” St. Luke then tells us about 3,000 were baptized that day.

The effects of baptism include: washing away of original sin; the complete forgiveness of all personal sins; for those who are old enough to have committed sin; the complete remission of all punishment due to sin; the restoration of our friendship with God; the gift of sanctifying grace in the soul; the Blessed Trinity comes to dwell within our heart; we share in God’s divine life; we become a child of God; a member of God’s family; a member of the Catholic Church; a member of the local church; we receive spiritual gifts such as faith, hope and charity; and the gift of being able to go to heaven when we die.

Baptism is the door to the other sacraments, so that we can receive Holy Communion, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, to be ordained a Priest and to go to Confession. It can also make Marriage (a sacrament) between two baptized persons.

Baptism puts a seal on our soul. It’s called an edible mark. This means once we are baptized, we are always baptized and so the sacrament cannot be repeated. And suppose, a baptized person would, God forbid, deny His Christian faith and become Muslim or Hindu or Jewish. Then he is still baptized. He can never remove his baptismal seal. He takes it with him to eternity.

Jesus made it clear baptism is necessary for salvation. He told His disciples, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Although God has not made known to us any means other than Baptism for salvation, this does not mean God is restricted to saving by baptism.

Today, let us give thanks to God for the gift of our baptism. May we invite the non-baptized to be baptized because we desire that they will have the opportunity to go to heaven. And let us choose to live our life always rejecting Satan, and striving for virtue, so we may enjoy the glory of heaven, and our eternal union with the Blessed Trinity forever.