A Great Promise

I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, 

"Fear not, I will help you."

How can we fail when we have a friend such as this.  The God of the universe loves us so much that He watches and will grasp us with His right hand and will keep us from harm.  He tells us in this reading from Isiah that we are to fear not for He will help us. 

Look around the world today.  If there ever was a time when we needed the strong right hand of God to grasp us and pull us out of the pit it is today. Mind you, the world is still a very beautiful place.  There are abundance and plenty all around us. The sun rises and sets as it always has, the tides of the ocean are regulated by the moon. Plants take in the sunlight and grow and are nurtured by God's mighty hand and the animals of the forest find their food provided for them.  Yet, God in his love has done so much more for those of Adam's race.  Time and time again he has come to the aid of His children and all of us while at first grateful, later we fall away from His counsel, forget His laws, and we wander off on our own way again.  Does God turn His back as we would to one who offended us greatly? No, with infinite patience, care, and love He extends His hand in friendship ready to accept any and all that want to return to Him. 

In this season of Advent, I ask you to be cognizant of the state of your soul. Are you wandering down a path that will lead to your spiritual ruin?  Do not give the devil a victory by thinking you have not sinned.  This lie is the evil one's sharpest tool and one that is used to separate man from God. When was the last time you approached the Lord in the sacrament of reconciliation?  A year ago? Five years? A quarter of a century ago?  It does not matter how long it has been, make plans to receive the mercy and love of our God in the confessional.  He knows your sins already, you will not be telling Him anything He doesn't know.  But to heal you have to tell Him what you have done and apply for His forgiveness and mercy.  He has never rejected anyone who has come to Him in tears and sorrow, even if it took years and years to come to the realization that sin was present in life.

Forgiveness and healing are but steps away.  Show your love and faith in God by admitting your wrongs and resolving to do right.  Then the coming Christmas holy day will mean more to you than it did when you were a child because you will know the love and mercy of the God of the universe and He will grasp you with His strong right hand and never let you go again.  

Today would be a great day to say the rosary for the Poor Souls in Purgatory, it is the memorial of St. John of the Cross. Please remember the poor souls, they cannot pray themselves out of purgatory, they need your help.  Remember, my friend, as they are, perhaps someday you shall be. 

Tick, Tick, Tick

Jesus said to his disciples:                                                                   
"Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

The clock had stood on the mantle forever.  There was not a time that anyone going back five generations that a member of the family needing to know what time it was failed to see the ornate clock on the mantle.  Throughout all of those years, it was dusted, carefully wound, and it responded to this care by always providing the correct time.  One day, however, a bit of moisture that had started corroding one small part over a hundred years ago finally triumphed and the clock stopped.  Thinking that someone had forgotten to wind the clock, the young master of the house pulled a chair over to the mantle, mounted it, found the key and promptly overwound the clock effectively stilling the heart of the ancient clock, stilled forever, or at least until the clockmaker was able to fix it.  No one knew the exact time anymore.  They had to guess by where the sun was in the sky, where the shadows hit the terrace or of course they could look at their wrist watches or mobile phones.   Come on now, I didn't say it was the only clock!  

Just as the people in our mythical house had to judge the time using other means, so too must we.  We do not know the time or date when Jesus will return.  Maybe it will be before you finish reading this sentence or maybe it will be a thousand years after the next two millenniums fade into the period we call the past.  For the vast majority of us now living, it is possible that we will face the end of the world on our own, perhaps with family around us as we take our last breath in here on earth and make that trip to the judgment of Jesus.  We do not know when this will happen.  If we are young we feel it will be in the far distant future, sixty, or even seventy years from now.  If we are older, such as your author, we know that the time grows ever closer with every blink of our eyes.  The point is no matter if you are young, middle-aged,  or in those years we call the golden years, you must always be prepared for the call home because it will come without warning and at a time that will not be chosen by us.

I've often wondered how I would like to die.  Would I prefer everything to end at the snap of a finger, leaving this world and arriving in the next without knowing what hit me?  Or, would I like to have my end staged, gradually taking my leave as one disease or another does its mischief on my body?  I would rather have the later because it would give me time to say goodbye to those I love and to straighten any crooked lines I may have written on my soul.  But whatever God has planned for me, I accept at this moment and as I continue to live, I try to live my life in a manner worthy of my calling as an ambassador for Christ.  I place my soul into the care of the God that has loved me and who has guided me in spite of my stubborn will.  I look at the clock, its hands creep always forward, what time will the bell strike for me?  Only God knows! 

Our brothers and sisters in Purgatory need our prayers.  Won't you dedicate some of your prayer time to them today? 

Reading The Fine Print in The Gospel

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.  
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a much smaller amount.

He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,

'Pay back what you owe.'

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

But he refused.

Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison

until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,

they were deeply disturbed,

and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,

as I had pity on you?'

Then in anger, his master handed him over to the torturers

until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you,

unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."

The truth is simple, by Christ's death on the cross we were forgiven of our sins and on that day the gates of heaven swung open wide to admit believers into the bliss of eternal life with God in heaven.  This is truth in its simple yet glorious form, and God will certainly keep His end of the bargain.  

Do you remember Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the first version with Gene Wilder?  At the beginning of the tour of his candy factory each child had to sign a contract. The contract started with huge print and as it cascaded down the wall the print got smaller and smaller until it was minuscule.  The words, no matter how large or small all formed the basis of the agreement between Willy and the children. God does not use fine print in His contract with us, but we as humans tend to read the "good" things and gloss over the things that obligate us.  

It is true that we are forgiven.  The sins we commit against the dignity of God are forgiven as soon as we confess them.  We, in turn, are expected to forgive our fellow humans for what they do against us.  I can hear them coming now, the "buts."  Some of us are willing to forgive everyone except him or her or this group or that group because the evil that they committed against us was so great.   Those of us who are "But" people are in a whole heap of trouble because we are the unforgiving servant in the reading above and as you can see, it does not go well for him 

Forgiveness is the one selfish thing we can do that is approved by God.  When we forgive someone who has hurt us deeply, we are accruing graces through that righteous act and we are making our soul more God like in its attitude and outlook and we are doing something good for ourselves.  By forgiving even the biggest grievance we have against another, it becomes easier to forgive the smaller things and our life and our serenity is not disturbed as much by the thoughtless acts of others.  We also become more thoughtful ourselves and gain greater ability to put ourselves into someone else's shoes and in doing this we are offended less. Forgiving is a win/win situation for us while not forgiving is a lose/lose. 

God could not make his desires any clearer, but He does repeat Himself so as to make sure we have the opportunity to absorb the requirements he has placed upon us. 

1.  "Father forgive them, they know not what they do"
2.  "Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."
3.  "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us"  
4.  “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
5. So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
6. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

So, I think it is easily seen that forgiveness is one of the most important parts of being a Christian.  The word "but" cannot be used to absolve us from this duty.  It is NOT easy for us to forgive everything.  The word everything encompasses evils that are unimaginable in their scope.  Can we forgive Hitler for the Holocaust? We have to!  Can we forgive Stalin the millions of people he killed? We have to.  Forgiving is not approving what a person has done. The judgement against the Hitler's and Stalin's and bin Laden's of this world will be rendered by God, not by us.  We need not and should not approve what these people have done but we should leave it to God to mete out what payment these evil people should receive. No, it is not easy to be a Christian, if done right, being a Christian will always cause at least a little inconvenience in your life as you look deep inside yourself to see where you and Christ are most alike and where you are not.  Forgiveness is a habit and like all habits, it becomes easier the more you practice it.  When someone offends you, just think of Jesus on the Cross and what He said, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do.   There is no law saying you can't use those same words is there?

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE POOR SOULS IN PURGATORY. PRAY FOR YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY OF COURSE, BUT DON'T FORGET THE FORGOTTEN SOULS WHO HAVE NO ONE TO PRAY FOR THEM.  

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;  

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

the Almighty has done great things for me

and holy is his Name."

The greatest love story that was ever written was not Romeo and Juliet, but rather it was the love story between Jesus Christ and His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Among the last thoughts of Jesus even while suffering the agony of crucifixion was of His mother.  His disciple John was near the cross along with Mary and Jesus knowing that a widow with no family to take care of her would be in dire straits, He put Mary into the care of John. We cannot even imagine the pain that Mary herself was in watching her Son die in such pain and her pain added immeasurably to the agony of Christ on the Cross. 

From the time of her conception, Mary was preserved from the original sin that stained every other person that lived before us and will stain those that come after us.  She received the gift of salvation and her soul out of the uncounted billions of souls was the only one that was absolutely pristine and free from sin her whole life. God in effect saw the death of Jesus on the Cross before it happened and applied the graces to her at her conception.  She needed a savior and God Himself saw to it that Mary would be a fit tabernacle for the Son of God to reside in.

Mary, one day, finished her missions on Earth and she passed away and she was buried.  Quite a normal story up until now because all people die, that is the one universal law of the cosmos, death comes to all creatures.  When her tomb was later opened, still in the time of the Apostles, it was found to be empty.  The early Church believed that this empty tomb was proof positive that Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven to be with her Son.  

How do we know that this happened?  Is it in the Bible?  No, it is not in the Bible but logic tells us that not only was what we believe possible but it is also probable and the Church has declared it a dogma and they don't define dogmas without evidence.

First, the assumption was believed and taught from the earliest times in the Church, during a time when the Apostles still walked and worked among us. 

Next, we have the evidence of the lack of holy relics.  There are no relics taken from the body of Mary.  Relics were prized by the early Church and relics of the martyrs were considered holy objects.  It follows that if a "common" martyr's relic was thought of so highly, how much more veneration would a relic of Our Lady have generated?  Had they been available, they would have been enshrined and we could go to venerate them today.

"At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem, that "Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven."  (1)

Finally, the assumption of Mary is the promise of future glory for you and I.  What has happened to her, the taking of her body and soul to heaven, is what will happen to us.  Can you imagine on that glorious day when Mary entered heaven, the angels were singing as they hadn't sung since the day Christ was born.  The joy and happiness in heaven multiplied a thousand fold!  The Seraphim that guard the throne of God burned with the fierceness that total joy and total love generates.  The Holy City shined in golden splendor even more brightly and the shimmering of the sky and the streets proclaimed a joy completely unknown before this day as Mary and Jesus embraced in view of the citizens of heaven. From this moment on, heaven was, even more, happier than it had been before Mary arrived.  The joy of Jesus caused a thousand rainbows rich with the colors of brilliant jewels, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other colors too numerous to name in the sky above proclaiming the arrival of Mary and crowning her as Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, Queen of Martyrs, and the Joy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

So yes, today we Catholics revere Mary, the Mother of Jesus on this day that commemorates her assumption into heaven.  And this feast day is a promise for us to remember that one day we will arise and go to the Home of Our Father. Isn't it great to be a Roman Catholic and to be able to celebrate such a wonderful holy day?  Hail Mary, Full of Grace.  

The poor souls in Purgatory rejoice on this day as the time of their own personal entry into heaven comes nearer.  Imagine if you were a poor soul and you had nobody to pray for you, how would you feel if someone actually took the time to say some prayers for you?  Please remember our brothers and sisters in purgatory.  Remember that someday you may be among them and need someone to pray for you.

(1) Taken from: July-August 1996 issue of "Catholic Heritage"  To subscribe write Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750-9957 or call 1-800-348-2440. Published bi-monthly at a charge of $18.00 per year.

Road to Heaven Not an Expressway

If you know anything about Michael the Lesser then you know that I am a fugitive from a monastery. Back in the mid-1970's, I felt that I had a calling to be a Franciscan brother.  I began earnestly to look into the orders that were hiring at that time.  There were ads promising that I would learn to fly an airplane in my first year, some that promised I would live in Rome or the Holy Land and still others that made even more extravagant promises.  Then tucked away in the corner of Catholic Digest was a little ad for the Third Order Regular of St. Francis in a place called Loretto Pennsylvania, they made no extravagant claims, they just called young men to a life of penance in the Third Order Regular.  I applied and was accepted.  I quit my job and with eight hundred dollars in my pocket to last my postulant year, I packed up all of my worldly possessions into a television box (this was way before flat screen so the boxes weren't skinny) and after a tearful goodbye to my parents, who thought my idea was dumb, and my siblings who could have cared less, I flew off to Loretto.  For the next two years, I did my best to live the life of a Franciscan.  It is kind of nice living with a bunch of people who have the same thoughts and feelings about religion that you do.  On the other hand, living in community with a bunch of men was not the easiest thing to do.  One thing that I missed was the support of my family.  The other guys would come home from school and they would find a letter from this relative or that relative or a package of goodies from home while my pigeon hole was always empty. This weighed on my mind and did have a chronic case of homesickness, but I stayed the course for two years. Then, for reasons that I am not going to go into here (you can read about them in my autobiography "Glimpses of God" available through Amazon.com) I decided to leave. I packed up my television box and flew back into Chicago, my heart was broken and I was very angry at God.  My father picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at my former roommate's apartment.  The night before I ended my day with Compline, the Church's prayer said at the end of the day. This night, I ended my day by getting happily drunk at the Cork Lounge, I was a civilian again, dammit! Long story short, it took a year for me to recover to the point where I was not angry at God. He is most merciful and He allowed me to vent and yet stayed by my side through the whole ordeal.  Some mystics write about the dark night of the soul and how that is a sign you are close to God.  Well, forgive me, I know myself and I know that if that ever happened to me, I would perish. Through the years, God has taken me down some different roads. Some of the roads, if I had my druthers, I would not have taken, but He knew and knows what He is doing.  There is no way I would change anything that has happened in my life. The time in the monastery was my basic training.  It helped me grow up and become an independent person. All of the jobs and the people I've met along the way have helped me to become who I am. Change any one thing, any one incident, and everything that came after it would change and I never would have met and married my wife and my life would have been lonely and sad without her spirit joined to mine as we grow old together and love each other more day by day. 

So, what is the point of all this drivel, what do I as Michael the Lesser, owner and operator of one of the least known blogs on the internet want you to take away from this post?  I would say, be like Matthew in our reading.  He left everything to follow Jesus and he never looked back.  He is a man to imitate as we travel down life's roads.  I apologize for this posting, it contains the word "I" many more times than it should.  I do not see myself as a shining example to be followed, just a fellow traveler sharing stories along the way.  God Bless. 

The Beat Goes On...Sacred Love

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

Today is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. How do you explain to a Protestant why we worship and love a body part of Jesus?  I think you have to have the mindset of a poet to fully understand why it is we do what we do.  People who are forced to rely on just the Bible for their beliefs have no room for poetry in their religion.  Oh, they might love poetry and read it and are transported to places of utter beauty by the written word but that does not transfer easily for them into religious thought.  I am not saying this makes them bad people, just unfortunate ones.  

The words of Jesus contain great beauty and all of the truth one needs to come to know Him, but Jesus rarely displays his poetic side.  In today's Gospel reading he opens His heart and the beauty of His words fill the air with great beauty.  His Sacred Heart is a shelter for all of us.  It is through His Sacred Heart that Jesus dispenses mercy.  He calls all of us to Himself for in His Most Sacred Heart we will find rest.  In Matthew, he tells us:

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

This is the invitation of the Sacred Heart to His beloved sons and daughters.  He wants nothing more than to bestow on us, rest from our labors and knowledge of the great goodness and love of us that burns so brightly in the Heart of God.  All the striving and work we do on earth for the Kingdom of God will bring us to a sublime place of peace where we will be loved and honored forever and where we will sing praise to God and recount to one another the great deeds He has done for us. 

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O most holy heart of Jesus, the fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you, and with lively sorrow for my sins I offer you this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to your will. Grant, Good Jesus, that I may live in you and for you. Protect me in the midst of danger. Comfort me in my afflictions. Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Amen.

Can This Be Done?

Jesus said to his disciples:

"You have heard that it was said,

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.

When someone strikes you on your right cheek,

turn the other one to him as well.

It is a time of trouble for the Church. The Church is surrounded on all sides by those that wish her harm. In the Middle East, the very cradle of the Christian Faith we have seen more blood spilled since the time of the first Christians. Terrorists have killed innocent men, women, and children because the will not betray the Son of God. In our own country, our government has in recent time trampled upon the religious rights of its citizens, attempting to force even religious orders to provide contraception and abortion as part of the benefits that they provide their employees. Temporarily, the pressure has been removed because of the change of regime that came about this last January. Certainly, the amount of discrimination that is occurring against Christians in this country cannot be compared with that which is happening in the East. 

People in the East are willing to die rather than to forsake their Christian beliefs.  It has always been so in the Christian Church. Today, you can go on YouTube and easily find things that are pro-church and anti-church. On other places on the web, you can view evil men killing believers just because they are believers. What is it about this Jesus that makes people loyal unto death?  This is not a new thing, From the first century, Christians went to their deaths out of their love for Jesus and one another. The love the Christians had for one another was what attracted people to their group.  It was a different way of living in a culture that was cruel and hateful.  

I believe that inside of us all there is a desire to love and be loved. Through the generations, this desire has remained and we spend our time looking for what in most civilizations is lacking.  For the most part, we spend our lives being hunters and gatherers.  We reach out for the tings that we believe will make us happy.  Included on this list of things are food and shelter. I do not think that it is natural for a human being to say, "I now have enough."  I remember reading a story in high school about a man who visits a land where the natives will give him all of the lands that he can walk over in a twenty-four hour period.  There is just one rule.  He had to make it back to the starting position or he would get nothing. The man begins his walk and he notices how beautiful the land was. He walked over a huge portion of flat land that would be perfect for farming. He walked around a beautiful lake that would supply all of the fish he needed. He walked this way and he walked that way.  Time was running short he looked at his watch, he had to get back to the starting line.  He began to run.  Those hills that just yesterday which allowed him such breath-taking views of what was his now caused his legs to tire.  Minutes to go he sped up and just yards from the goal, he fell down dead.  The natives laughed and buried him where he lay.  In the end, the man claimed eighteen square feet of land, six feet down and three feet across. 

For the Christians, there was the point when they said that they had enough.  That point came when the love of Christ and their brothers and sisters filled up their hearts.  They shared with one another and they smiled and life became joyful.  This joyfulness was both a blessing and a curse.  For the world does not like to see what they do not understand.  What cannot be understood must be destroyed so that the normal way of hate and greed can be restored.  Yet, many were attracted to the Christian way because they saw it as the ultimate good and could change what was a hard life into what would become a joyful life as burdens were shared and people were loved for who they were and not what they could do for you. 

In the Eastern lands, the Islamic terrorists cannot understand the joy of these Christian people and so the will endeavor to destroy what they cannot understand. The Christians are not willing to give up the perfect joy of Christ for the misery of indentured servitude.  And so, they willingly accept death instead of betraying the One Who loves them. They know that their joy will be complete when they are with Jesus and while they do not look for martyrdom, they embrace it when it comes.  They do not die in vain.  Their example, their love for one another, will plant seeds in the desert and the seeds will grow and many of those whose lives are filled with hate for all things Christian will find themselves irresistibly drawn to the joy of Christ.  This is what happened in the first century and it is going to happen now. 

In America, our dry martyrdom cannot be compared to those who have given their lives for their belief in Christ.  But, we too will attract more believers if we stick to what Jesus has told us.  We are to turn the other cheek, we are to help carry other's burdens, we are to show love to our enemies and keep a holy joy in our heart.  It will not be easy for we run counter-culture to a people who seem to be in love with things that go against the law of God.  They confuse convenience with happiness and pleasure with joy.  Our example to them is that they can have so much more following Jesus than they can on their own.  

Today, I pray for the martyrs in the mid-East.  I thank God for them and for the example that they set for me.  I also pray that God moves His hand end brings to a conclusion the bloodshed in this part of the world.  I pray for our nation, that we take to heart the laws that God has given us so that we may have a happy life here and eternal life with Him later.  May we once again sing "God Bless America" and know that He will. 

Tears Are Flowing Like A River

http://www.poetrybyloree.com/393.html

I am not a bad writer.  True I am no Hemingway or even Poe and right now I am doing the kind of writing that I do not do very well.  Yesterday, at a concert in Manchester England an angry lone terrorist took it upon himself to end the lives of at least twenty-two people. We will probably find out that this murder was done in the name of God. I  cannot fathom why people find it necessary to kill in the name of God.  Is God so weak that He cannot fight for Himself?  I know my Church teaches that the Muslim worships the same God as I do, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob. I do not believe that these terrorists that find fulfillment in cutting off the lives of innocent men, women, and especially children know a thing about God. A person that professes to love God cannot be a lover of violence. So, I do not know who the radical Islamic terrorists pray to, I know it is not the God who went to the Cross for us. I know it is not the God who loves us with an unspeakable love that will draw us to Him in eternity if we want it and show that we want it by being faithful to the commands of His Son.  To hate is to defy God for God is love and hate is abhorrent to Him.   God does not even hate those that hate Him. He waits, He watches, He whispers, hoping that the example of Love that was shown to all by His Son will break through the cobwebs of hate that block salvation to those who insist on having their own way. If God could cry, his tears would flow like a river for He sees what we do to each other in His name and he realizes that we do not have the slightest idea of how much He loves and wants to draw us to Him.  Today we mourn for the twenty-plus people whose lives were ended and for those who were injured whose lives will never be the sam again. The grayness of cloudy morning where I am sitting writing this seems apt and proper.  Let us pray.

My God and Father, once again Cain has raised his hand against Able and the soil of your garden accepts the blood of your children. My Father, for those who have died in this latest atrocity, please be merciful in your judgment. To those who were injured in body, Lord, speed their healing and restore to them robust good health. And for those whose spirits have been injured, quash the thirst for revenge in their hearts, dear Lord, for the sword raised in anger will remain until it finds another sword with which to clash.   I pray that you move your hand and help end the violence. Let us regain the knowledge our ancestors had about how sacred life is. Let this rampage of the evil one end and rescue your children Lord for we know not what we do.   Amen.  

Save Yourself From The Corruption of This Age !

Peter testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them,

"Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."

Corruption is all around us.  It has been a constant companion to mankind from the very beginning of time. Corruption happens when a person entrusted with some sort of responsibility that affects other people uses his or her authority to enrich him or herself at the expense of his friends and neighbors. For the one that commits this type of fraud against his neighbor, it is always for some perceived good.  For example, in Chicago, we had an official of the public schools that used her authority to steer contracts to companies that paid her for the use of her office.  This lady had an excuse, it was simply that she wanted to make extra money so her grandchildren could go to college.  Now, grandchildren going to college is an important goal but she should not have placed her goal over the needs of literally thousands of Chicago Public School children who are already dealing with the corrupt politics of Mike Madigan in Springfield Illinois where he is using his political influence to keep the legislators from passing a budget. Corruption breeds corruption.  If it is okay for the likes of Madigan, then it should be okay for others as well.  

Corruption is a sin that is caused by a lack of faith in God to take care of His people.  Corruption always infuses riches into those that practice it and takes it from the coffers of those who need it most. In our reading today, Peter rises and tells us to save ourselves from this corrupt generation. How in heavens name can you do that in a world like ours?  

The first thing that needs to be done is our silence must end.  When we see a wrong we must point it out but we must also be ready to suggest a solution to the issue as well.  

Next, we need to watch and pray.  Our prayers will be answered but we need to be ready to accept the solution God sends to us.  Our cries will be heard and a solution will be offered.

We must be ready to take a risk.  The solutions we receive from our prayers may make us a bit uncomfortable. We must have faith that God knows what He is doing.  We must take the solution and run with it. 

We must be patient and be persevering.  Just because we ask for something once and we do not seem to receive an answer does not mean that an answer is not coming.  We must ask, and ask, and persevere in our prayer.  Our faith will be our rock. 

We must avoid the temptation to just give in and to go with the flow. The enemy may attempt to present a solution that would be great for you but would leave others out in the cold, in effect making you a part of the problem.  We must be selfless in our view and be ready to make a sacrifice for the good of others. 

We must not be afraid of failure. In our pride, we say that "Failure is not an option."  Look at the cross of Christ, if there was ever a monument to failure, that is it and look at what happened because of it, death itself was destroyed and we have inherited eternal life.  What appears to be a failure in our eyes, may just be God saying to wait.  That is hard for us to do, to just wait.  

We must remember that all of the advantages that a person of this world receives because of corruption will decay into corruption when that person is called to give an account of their life to God. 

Our life as a Christian will always be counter-cultural. It is why Christians are laughed at and scorned.  We show the example of what should be done and that gets in the way of what people, without God in their lives, want to do. 

To save ourselves and those we love from the corruption of this age, we need to not engage in it ourselves and we need to put our trust in God.  God has won the victory, we just need to keep the faith and keep ourselves from being drawn into the sin around us. It is easier to sin than it is to pray to be delivered from sin. 

Be filled with joy this Easter season.  God loves you very much.  He has proven it by what He has done and what He continues to do. Have faith even in the face of death that you will be rescued and be brought home to Jesus. 

A Christmas Story

I am sorry, it just could not be done, not even in a bastion of learning such as Saint Joseph and Saint Ann School in Chicago was back in the 1960's.  

How could a young boy or girl hope to master number lines, adding negative numbers or even diagramming sentences when Christmas was so near.  How could we be expected to remember the seven cardinal acts of mercy or the spiritual acts of mercy?  No, at this time of year the excitement of bright lights and wrapped packages and the looming Christmas break held every child’s attention.  While the good sisters taught us about the Advent season our eyes were focused on homemade cookies, tinsel, and those mysteriously wrapped packages now appearing underneath the Christmas tree.  And the tree itself filled the home with the rich scent of pine unless of course, your family had an aluminum tree because then you had to imagine the pine scent as the colored light changed and caused the tree to change color. No child, not even the teacher’s pets had much interest in reading, writing, or arithmetic as the nights grew longer and the time to Christmas came closer.  All of our eyes were turned to the sky not waiting for the Christmas Star, oh no, we were waiting for that mystical and magical ingredient of the season – called snow.  Because every kid had some way to propel themselves down a neighborhood hill.  For some it was a sled, for others, it might be the top of a garbage can, a hunk of cardboard or a plastic saucer.  It didn’t matter what vehicle you had or what hill you went to, you just wanted to experience the wind in your face as you slid down your favorite high spot. And who could concentrate on school work when in the afternoon you knew that the work would cease and that cupcake feast and present exchange called the Class Christmas party put all academic pursuits on hold until that time that seemed so far away called “after the New Year.”  Then finally the bell cheerfully chimes it permission to leave and donning scarves, coats, hats and boots we would leave the school, and soon the school would be silent and abandoned and as the echo of the kids excited voices faded the only thing that could be heard at SJSA was the sound of desks being moved so that the janitor could buff the floors to a lustrous shine to greet the returning revelers at the end of Christmas break.  .   Those days before Christmas at SJSA were very magical ones.  The sisters were released from their perpetual vow of not smiling and the crankiest among them adopted a Christmas countenance.  Meanwhile, in our homes things were made ready for visiting relatives. Children coming in from the slopes were warmed with hot cocoa and depending on their likes and dislikes perhaps a marshmallow or maybe some whipped cream would dot the surface of the chill chaser.    Yes, when we were young the Christmas season lasted a long time.  There was the anticipation of what was to come and that was for a child is what put the joy into the season. On Christmas eve, as the sky began to darken, excitement stirred in our hearts.  In our house there was ritual that was carefully followed every year. We would be allowed to open one of the beautifully wrapped packages before we went to bed. Every year we wondered what treasure would we behold once we opened that package.  Would it be the toy we had asked Santa Claus for?  No, no, it wouldn't.  Every year we would open that package and the contents would always be pajamas.  By the time I was eigh I got the idea but always hoped for something else.  Wearing our new pajamas we would cluster at the kitchen table where we were given hot chocolate made with real milk and whipped cream.  I suspect there may have been a sleeping pill in it too because no sooner would we be done with the treat than our eyes would start to feel very heavy and without being told, on this one day of the year, we went off to bed to dream of the treasures that would be ours the next day.  Chrismas Eve was a night filled with joy. It was the joy of innocence  Today I challenge each of you to become joyful as a child as you prepare yourself for Christmas. Let your heart anticipate the joy of Christmas day as we remember that the joy of giving to others will fill us with the same feeling for the Christmas season as we had when we were young.

Christmas - I Don't Understand.....

Christmas is here! Jesus is born ! Like all of you I am filled with joy because of this Holy Birth. But there are some things that I do not understand.

• Why does God love us so much that He would send His only Son to earth?
• Why did he come to be born unknown and in poverty being born in a place where animals were housed?
• Why would a young Jewish girl risk being stoned as an adulterer by returning from an out of town visit three months pregnant? 
• Why was the Holy Birth first announced to shepherds in the field? They were looked down upon because their jobs kept them out of the temple.
• Why didn't He simply appear on a cloud of glory with the heavenly host at His side?  He could have appeared in His Glory and could have converted the world in a split second.

I think the answers to all of my questions is Love.  God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are complete love.  Things happened the way they did so that we could make up our own mind and choose to become a member of the Household of God or if we wanted to, we could ignore Him and the gifts He brought for us.  That is true Love.  God gives us the power to accept or reject Him. When you think of it is an awesome power. But He entrusts us with that power because He wants us to be happy. 

On this Christmas day I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. To those that are lonely, to those who are estranged from their family, to those who have lost a loved one, this day is for you too!  Rejoice for the march to victory has begun today with the Birth of The Great King who began  life as poor child with no place to lay is head except in a manger.  

Aging

Charlie Brown Gives Up To The Inevitable 

Yesterday my biological gonged 60 times to signify that it has marked the passing of another year. Birthdays are a happy time for me. It is also a time for me to reflect as to where I have been, where I am now and where I am going.  I was very lucky, I had parents that loved me and cared about me and my future. When I was young I did not appreciate this fact as much as I do now as I cross the imaginary line from the fifties to the sixties.  With the medical problems I have managed to afflict myself with I am an unlikely candidate to see seventy and I accept that fact without sadness. In my time I have been able to live some of my dreams and not too many people can say that today.

I've tended to learn the hard way every time as the late grate Jim Croce sings;

Yeah, I've had my share of broken dreams
And more than a couple of falls
And in chasing' what I thought were moonbeams
I have run into a couple of walls
But in looking back at the places I've been
The changes that I've left behind
I just look at myself to find
I've learned the hard way every time

'Cause I've had my share of good intentions
And I've made my share of mistakes
And I've learned at times it's best to bend
'Cause if you don't well those are the breaks
Should have listened to all the things I was told
But I was young and too proud at the time
Now I look at myself to find
I learn the hard way ev'ry time

But in looking back at the lessons I've learned
And the mountains I wanted to climb
I just look at myself to find
I've learned the hard way ev'ry time

'Cause I've had my share of broken dreams
And more than a couple of falls
And in chasin' what I thought were moonbeams
I have run into a couple of walls
But in looking back at the faces I've been
I would sure be the first one to say
When I look at myself today
Wouldn't a done it any other way

There is no non-religious song that I have ever heard that touches me more than this song. I find that most of the time I have picked the hard way to learn the lessons of life but if I had to do it all over again, I don't think that I would do it any other way.  All of the experiences in my life from the nun that busied herself writing letters to advise my parents that I never delivered, to the time a drunken boss call and fired me over the phone and other good and bad things, make me who I am.  Change any one of those things and I would not be the same person I am today.  But most importantly I would not have had the chance to live with and love my wife Mary.  I could not conceive what life would have been without her, lonely bachelorhood would have been my lot. 

So, I thank the Lord for EVERYTHING and EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE I have faced in my life.  I thank him for all of the things He has given to me, and I praise Him for the things that he has chosen to withhold from me.  I have always felt His presence in my life, even when I was far away from Him.  

In the spirit of Francis Assisi; 

                           Praise you Lord for Brother Aging for with it comes wisdom and 

                           Thoughts of you and your love for me, 

The Beatitudes

I found this video on You Tube and for many of us the message that is delivered in this video will seem too simplistic. Quite honestly, it is too simple for theologians, Bible scholars, clergy, and any other person who spends time in apologetics.  I myself have written a paper on the Beatitudes and I have to confess that this video puts all my learned thought to shame.

I bid you dear reader to watch, no scratch that, take in this video. The truth it exposes will send shivers up your spine and perhaps give you some food for thought.

Leave a comment if you like. .  God bless! 

Making The Right Choice

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. (John 15:16)

The gospel reading this Sunday included part of the last conversation that Jesus had with his apostles. Chapter 15 verse 16 states that they didn’t choose Him but rather He chose them.  We all like to think that we chose to follow Christ, but He chose us to follow Him.  Does this mean that we had no choice? Does this mean some of us are destined to fall away and that we have no say in the matter?  Some believe that this is the case.  I do not believe this.  I believe that this verse applies to all people that have inhabited this earth from the beginning all the way to the end of time.  

Although we have been chosen, we are free to reject our being grafted to the vine and we can refuse to bear fruit.  If we did not have this freedom we would be nothing but slaves and God wants us to come to Him freely.  This freedom of choice empowers us to live in the freedom of God’s love or to live the life of loneliness and separation that sin provides. 

The thing to remember is that you as a person were chosen to be an adopted son or daughter in the Royal Household.  So we continue our Easter joy by remembering that we have been chosen to live in the freedom and joy our membership in the Household of God provides.  We are truly an Easter People and we can rest assured that if we love God and live as a member of His Household then He for His part will provide everything we need to spend eternity with Him in heaven. 

Until next time, God bless you. 

Michael the Lesser

I am the vine and you are the branches

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3  You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 10  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

12    "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13  Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14  You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants,  for the servant  does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command you, to love one another.

In Matthew 15: 1-17 we read the story of the vine and the branches. The obvious message of course is that we need to be connected to Jesus to bear fruit. But it also tells us what will happen if we are not connected. We will wither and be thrown into the fire and burned.  It also tells us that we will bear much fruit when we are connected to Jesus.  But what does it mean to wither?


As Christians we are called to a life of service to those around us.  This life of service is called ministry.  All to often ministers of the Gospel, both ordained and lay people start off to win the world for Christ.  But they do not actually connect with Christ, they try to pull the whole load themselves.  They tire, they get disappointed, they lose their taste for their work in Christ's vineyard and either do the minimum amount that they possibly could do, and do it without any passion or enthusiasm or even worse they leave the ministry all together.  This is what it means to whither.  We must connect with Jesus and then our ministry will eventually bring about what God intends it to bring.  There will still be long hours of labor and even doubts about what we are doing.  But we always must remember that if we are connected with Christ our ministry will flower and we have to remember that while we sow the seeds, God is in charge of making them grow and he will be in charge of the harvest.  
If we are faithful at the end of our life when we stand before our Lord we will hear those most precious words; 

"Well done good and faithful servant."