Lent - Day Ten - Into The Desert - Alone

First reading
Ezekiel 18:21-28 ©

I prefer to see the wicked man renounce his wickedness and live

Thus says the Lord:

  ‘If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practiced. What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?

  ‘But if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practices every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has practiced shall be forgotten from then on, but this is because he himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this, he shall die. But you object, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’

I wish I could describe to you the terrible silence that lives in the desert.  When the wind is calm and you are outside of camp you can almost hear your heart beating.  Just on the other side of the dune is your camp where men are eating, speaking, and doing chores but here, five hundred feet away there is nothing but the heat of the sun attempting to boil your brain and the heat of the sand that reminds you that you are in the desert.   There are no birds in the air and if you see birds, it is not good news because they will mostly be vultures who announce that something has died.   It is in this silent place, not too far from camp but certainly in another world that I found myself.  I fell to my knees and prayed by saying nothing, by thinking of nothing else than the great beauty that is God.  I pondered His love for me and the realization that He knew me personally and loved me personally even after all of the things I had done that were against His will, I cried and was in torment inside. Then my heart poured out wordless repentance and sorrow for my sin and there came into me a peace that defies my ability to describe it.  The love I felt entering my heart was hotter than the sun and it burned gladness into my soul.  I was beloved, I was a friend of the Father.  All was good with my soul. 

Lent - Day Seven - It Was So Important That He Said It Twice!

Gospel	Matthew 6:7-15 ©

How to pray

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,

may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test,

but save us from the evil one.

‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’

We saw something strange in the desert today, dark rain clouds passed overhead, lightning sounded but the hot air from the desert floor ascending consumed the water before it could hit the ground. I am not even sure how this storm made it over the mountains,  On our side of the mountains, there is nothing but sun and sand like a never-ending beach but no water to sully the dry, lifeless, and hot sand. 

The day had been long and except for the ten or fifteen minutes of the "storm", the sun beat mercilessly down on us.  Every step was harder than the step before.  Everyone, except the Master, was on edge when we stopped to eat lunch. The meal was over and we were checking the camels, making sure that none of the bindings were chaffing and that the load remained balanced.   Two of my companions were checking Hercules who as usual was in a sour mood when it happened.  One of the men checked a strap by pulling on it and thus loosened it and immediately the whole load became unbalanced.  The Hercules, not a camel to suffer fools easily started to walk away and the whole load fell off the camel's back into the grit of the desert floor.  The man who had charge of the camel called the other a bloody fool and as men do he followed that up with curses, threats, and saber rattling and a description of the culprit's home life that was hard to believe.  The two began to fight. The Master came and after a moment He demanded that they stop.  Reluctantly, they separated.  One of the men had what looked to be a black eye and the other was bleeding from his nose and his upper lip. Hercules for his part was standing and peering at his masters and if a camel could chuckle, that is what he would be doing at this moment.  

The Master was not happy.  He told everyone to unload and set up the camp because we would go no further this day.  The Master walked off to be alone while what He commanded was completed.  When the camp was set, the Master came to where the fire would be built and summoned us and had us sit around as we would at night.  Except that doing this during the day was almost worse than walking through the sun.  We sat with the vain hope that our hats would protect us from the sun.  Once we were all assembled, with the two combatants separated on opposite ends of the circle, the Master joined us.  He stood near the center of the group and He looked at us with eyes that, for once, did not reveal the inner peace that dominated Him.  Rather, the eyes seemed to register concern for someone or something.  This look was as rare as a rainstorm in the desert. He stooped and picked up a handful of sand and examined it intently for a moment and then He addressed us. 

"Every man here volunteered to follow me on this journey.  Every one of you took on the responsibility for taking care of one another, looking out for the good and pushing away the bad.  What happened to us today is a symptom.  There is tension between us and that may interfere with our journey.  We are on our way to Jerusalem for reasons that have been explained to you already.  You need to keep the goal in mind and it seems we have lost that because of petty squabbling and now even fisticuffs.  The two who were fighting, arise and face one another. Now approach and each of you apologize to the other."

 One of the culprits refused.  The Master took it in stride, almost as if he expected this to happen.  He told them to sit down. He began walking around the circle and continued his talk.

"We pray a common prayer. We say "Our Father" which means that we are all brothers.  We are not strangers who pass each other in the night.  Look at the people around you.  When you get to heaven these faces and those of a million trillion others will be ones you see.  When you go to Church on Sunday, look at the people in the pews.  Among them are your companions in heaven.  Yes. the lady with the squealing baby, and yes, the man who is constantly playing with his smartphone, and even the family that arrives late to mass and leaves right after communion every week.  Besides your friends, besides the people you know and love, there will uncounted millions of people that will be brothers and sister to you.  But once again, let us look at our common prayer, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  There! There it is!  Take heed of this sentence as you learn which is the hardest part of being one of my servants!  You must learn to forgive.  I was not kidding or exaggerating the need for you to forgive.  If you carry hate or bitterness in your heart for even one of your brothers or sisters, your entrance into heaven will be delayed or if your hate has hardened your heart so greatly, it may send you to be with the goats into everlasting torment. This fight that occurred today was minor and I know that it was caused by feelings of frustration and the uncomfortable heat we are dealing with during our journey.  But one bad word between friends can change the destiny of one or both of the brothers unless it is followed by an apology and a deeply felt need to right the wrong.  The devil looks for weakness. Imagine the dam at Aswan.  It is a marvel of human engineering.  But, all it takes is a small crack that is ignored by those whose job it is to tend the dam, and sooner or later, the dam will break and the loss of life will be great.  When you hate somebody, imagine if you will, that God's grace is in your soul protecting you and your brother insults you.  That is the crack in your dam and sooner or later the dam will burst, you will learn hate and your fate will be like that of the rich man who refused to feed Lazurus.   I say again, you must forgive those who hurt you.  In order to enter heaven, you must be a person of peace.  Now the two that were fighting, approach one another and settle this score at once." 

The two men walked towards one another.  One with his black eye showing beautifully against his tan skin and the other with a lip that seemed to be swollen twice as large as normal came together, embraced and when they dropped the embrace, each looked at the other, one pointing to a black eye and the other pointing to a split lip and they burst out laughing and took places next to one another in the circle.  The Master was pleased and he showed it with his warmest of smiles.  He left the circle and went to His tent. 

Humility

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;             
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."

Our wait for Christmas cheer to chase away the gloom of the long winter nights, cheerless cold and damp are coming to an end and the Church presents to us the words of the Virgin Mother of God.  In this prayer of Mary, we hear things that help us see how great she is and how humble she is.  She proclaims how great God is, she calls Him her savior.  How can God be the savior of Mary who was born without original sin?  Did she even need a savior?  The answer of course is, "Yes, Mary needed a savior."  I have addressed this in this blog before, but just to refresh our minds I will show how Mary could be both sinless and still require a savior.  

We must remember that God has always been and He will never have an end.  He is the one absolute in the universe He created from nothing simply by willing it.  He lives outside of the constraints of time and space and lives in the past, the present, and the future (as we see it) all at once.  The Mother of the Son being sent to Earth could have no taint of sin for in effect she would be carrying God inside of her for nine months, in effect, being a tabernacle or perhaps we could call her a human Holy of Holies as she was where God on earth was dwelling. No sin or evil can be in God's presence and that is why the Mother of God needed to be free of the taint of sin.  This was granted to her by God based on the merits of His Son dying on the cross for the sins of man.  God the Father could see this happening clearly and preserved Mary from sin.  Where we were drawn out of the pit of original sin, our bodies bruised by the fall, Mary, was carried over the pit and her soul received no injury from Adam's sin. 

Mary's life was both the same as any other young virgin in her neighborhood.  She would have been taught how to be a homemaker and would have been given the skills to turn a house into a home.  On the other hand, Mary would be quite different than her contemporaries.  From her conception, which came about in the normal way through the passion her mother and father had for each other, her soul would be pure white and this soul would take up residence in her and she would be turned towards God from the first day of her life to her last breath on earth.  She had in her the same free will that all of us were born with but she would be more inclined to say "Yes" to the things God asked her to do.  She could have refused the job of being the Mother of God but was not likely to. 

Well, this is all very well and good for Mary but what does it mean to ordinary people like you and me?  True, we were born under the shadow of original sin and we bear its mark in our soul to this day. This original sin of Adam, however, was removed by our baptism.  On the day of our baptism, we became sinless and we too could use our free will to live in the way God wanted us to live but all of us eventually had moments of weakness where we turned away from God.  This is the difference between us and Mary.  She was, from the day of her conception, able to use her free will to do the things that God asked of her without thinking of herself.  We on the other hand very often look to our own comfort and our own ambition because we exercise our free will to satisfy the "me" that resides inside of our soul.  Mary's first thoughts would be how to serve "thee." 

So in a matter of days, all of our planning for Christmas will bear the fruit of the effort we put into it. The real question will be, have we converted this holy day into a commercial feast or have he taken time to consider what Christmas really means?  

Have you lost someone you love to death recently?  A mother, father, sister or brother?  Perhaps a grandparent has passed away or maybe a close friend?   It is possible that they went right to heaven but maybe not.  We cannot judge the soul of another person, only God can. Purgatory is a place of preparation where the vast majority of us will begin our eternity as we purge those things that are incompatible with the Glory of God.  I am not saying this to be mean, just reminding you of what might be.  I would urge you to pray for the poor souls in purgatory, by name if you think someone you love is there. Your prayers will not be wasted because if the soul you are praying for is not there, the prayers will be applied to another.  Please, in these closing days of Advent, wrap a beautiful present for someone in Purgatory and pray for them.  They will be your forever friend if you do so.   Remember where they are today you someday also you may be. 

Don't Mess With Gabriel !

Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard. 
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you shall name him John. 
And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. 
He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. 
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,                to prepare a people fit for the Lord."  Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this?  For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."  And the angel said to him in reply, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, which will be fulfilled at their proper time." Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute. Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home. 

Zechariah was of the priestly family and as such he was entitled, once in his lifetime, to enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem and to polish the huge bunch of grapes cast in gold that adorned the holiest place in the ancient world.  It was a task that would have filled him with awe and reverence and great joy.  The Holy of Holies was where God dwelled and he could be no closer to God than there.  As it happened his work was interrupted by Gabriel who was sent by God to announce to the elder priest that he and his older wife were now to have a child who would be the Elijah, the precursor for the Messiah that everyone was waiting for.  Instead of just saying, "Amen and okey-dokey" he questioned Gabriel, telling him, "Gabe, I am an old man and my wife is past childbearing years..."  Gabriel did not take kindly to his questioning so Zechariah was struck mute until after the child was born.  The angel left, Zechariah finished his work and came out of the Holy of Holies.  The people waiting for him were astonished at how long he was in there.   I guess the rules were, "In and Out." and to be as quick as you could.  They asked him, "Hey Zech, what gives, why did you take so long?"  But of course, he could not answer.  While his fellow priests did not know what happened, they knew it was something unusual, to say the least.  Zechariah, his work finished, went home and found that his wife was indeed now expecting a child.  He must have been astounded at the turn of events in his life but he was still unable to speak.  Don't mess with Gabriel! 

We humans often forget that God is not bound by the barriers of time and space.  He lives in all times and places, past, present, and future all at the same time. For God, those things we would consider impossible remain very possible for God.  As daughters and sons of the God of the universe, we should remember this in our daily life.  We can pray for a miracle if we need one and if this miracle will serve to help us make it to heaven, then it will be granted.  On the other hand, sometimes the miracle is that we receive the grace to accept the will of God as it has been shown to us.  One way or another you will always receive when you ask with a humble heart, but you have to be ready to accept what is given.  Open your heart to the wisdom of God and He will overfill it with the grace to be a faithful son or daughter, worthy of and destined to be a saint in heaven.  That is why we have this time on earth and why our Father will always help in the way that best serves his desire for us which is Heaven.  

As we clean and decorate our houses to receive the Christ Child, we should remember the poor souls in Purgatory.  We can play a big part in their early release.  Say this prayer, the prayer of St. Gertrude the Great for the holy souls.  Jesus promised her that every time this prayer is devoutly recited that one-thousand souls would be released from Purgatory.  Say this prayer today and rescue and make one-thousand eternal friends! 

“Eternal Father,
I offer You the most precious blood   
of thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said
throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal Church,
for those in my own home,
and in my family. Amen

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. 

Things Will Be A Changin'

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,                         and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra's den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.

When you go to the movies today, you see previews of coming attractions. Movies that are scheduled to be there in the future but are not there yet. Our reading today from the book of the Prophet Isiah is just that, a preview of what is to be.  On the day the Lord returns, everything will change. Enemies will become friends. The nature of relationships between creatures will become one of peace and mutual care. On that day, Isiah says, there will be no harm or ruin, there will be peace.

This is what we are waiting for, the return of the Lord and the restoration of the world to how it was intended from the start.  When the Lord returns, those of us who are dead will rise to a great new morning, a world of wonders and a world of peace.  The Church wants us to know what it is that we are waiting for and wants us to know that we can help bring this about by living a worthy life now and to promote peace between peoples and to care for one another as it was intended for us to do from the start.  The Lord's day is coming and the Lord's day is already here! 

Our brothers and sisters in Purgatory long the Lord's day to manifest itself in their lives. They wait patiently and joyfully to be taken into the presence of God.  Your prayers and sacrifices can help them.  Won't you please pray for them today?  As they are, someday you might be. 

The King Comes In All of His Glory!

Today is the Feast of Christ the King and it marks the last Sunday of the Church Year.  Next week we begin anew with Advent as we begin our wait for Christmas when we celebrate the birth of a baby. But today we study the end of things. Much has been written about the end times and this blog entry is not going to prophesy when the end shall come, that I leave to God who alone knows the day and the hour.  I do, however, make use of the scriptures to show just what will happen on that day. 

Jesus, Himself, tells us exactly what will happen.  He will come in all of His glory and He will gather the nations together.  We will be separated, the sheep from the goats, and he will address each of the groups separately. 

To the sheep:

'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'

The sheep will be amazed, they could not remember when they had done all of these things.  To them the King will say:

'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

To the Goats:

'Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'

The goats will be puzzled and will wrack their brains trying to remember when they had seen Jesus in need. To them the King will say:

'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.'

The sheep will go to heaven and the goats will go to hell. 

There are those in this world that believe that just believing in Jesus and saying the sinner's prayer will forever protect them from losing their salvation. The scriptures, specifically the reading from Matthew that we have above tears down this comforting but dangerously erroneous belief.  To believe in Jesus and to make Him your personal Lord and Savior is absolutely required and is a wonderful first step.  But to believe in Jesus is just not enough.  The devil believes in Jesus as do all of the devil's demons. We have to believe in Jesus and do the work that needs to be done.  The work is described in Matthew as helping those that need help.  To believe and not do will not get us anywhere.

Each of us needs to develop a sensitivity to the state of the people around us, those that live in our cities and towns that are in need and we need to address those needs as if we were doing them for Jesus Himself.  Can you imagine what the world would be like today if all of God's people did the work of Christ?  It boggles my mind why Christianity has not had more of an impact on the problems that have plagued us over the years. As this church year ends with this sobering Gospel reading, let us begin today to look for ways to improve the lives of those who have less than us.  Let us remember that the face of Jesus is in the face of the person that is in need. 

The month of November is the month we remember those that have gone before us.  Some of those who have died recently have ended up in purgatory and they need our help.  Please, pray for the poor souls.  They will remember your efforts on their behalf for all eternity.  

Keep On Keeping On

Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. 
He said, "There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.'
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'" 
The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night? 
Will he be slow to answer them? 
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. 
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

We have to keep praying for what we need.  Asking once may not be enough.  In the parable, the judge keeps putting the woman off and she for her part does not give up.  I can imagine that every day the judge would be on his way to court, clutching his hot cup of Starbucks and his papers anxious to get on with another day of taking advantage of the law to line his pockets.  Then he passes this lady's house and out she comes, her mouth going at a hundred miles an hour and the breeze caused by her voice is cooling the hot caramel latte the judge is clutching in his hand. He swiftly walks by her and gets on with his day. The next day, he is confronted again by the lady, and on Wednesday yet again.  He rightly surmises that this issue is not going to go away and he knows that the case is really one that is open and shut, black letter law in her favor.  She is starting to be an annoyance and he is afraid that she will do him or his family harm.  So, he issues a ruling in favor of the woman just to shut her up.
Jesus is telling us that if an unjust judge can be badgered into doing his job and he has no fear of God or man, then your Father in heaven will rush to help you if you ask.  But we must be very persistent and faithful in our asking.  God loves us so very much that He will do everything He can to assure us a place in heaven.  Every grace and favor will be ours if we but ask.  We cannot do it alone and we were never meant to do it alone.  Even before the fall, God visited Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the evening.  He wants to help us so all we have to do is ask.

Please remember the Poor Souls in Purgatory in your prayers today.  They need our help and will remember those that help them.  Besides, as they are perhaps one day we 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? 

Friend and Foe Alike

You have to be careful out there.  The world is a wonderful place with many beautiful things. God has created it to be a thing that sustains both our body and our soul.  The world is both a friend and a foe and true wisdom will come to us when we can distinguish the difference between what is good and what is bad.  At the start, God knew this truth and he told His first children, Adam and Eve, that they should not eat the fruit of one tree and one tree alone.  Every other food source was okay. So, innocent Eve approached the tree one day, just to have a look at it and suddenly she was joined there by the serpent. The serpent posed as a friend and probably made a little small talk as he got ready to pump Eve with his venom.  He started with a lie, well not a full blown lie, an exaggeration would be fairer to say.  He asked Eve about the tree and she said God told them that they should not eat of this one tree or even touch it lest they die.  The snake smiled and said that God knew that if you ate the fruit you would become like Him and know the difference between good and evil.  Eve digested that bit of news and reached out and plucked a piece of the forbidden fruit from the tree. Keep in mind here that God had told them to not eat of the fruit, but the serpent put it in her head that she was not to even touch it.  So she had the fruit in her hand and in her mind, she was already guilty and she was bright enough to see her only defense was to become as God, so, she carefully examined the fruit and she saw it was beautiful, it was ripe, it looked delicious and since she had already gone against God, she felt that she had no choice, she brought the fruit up to her lips and took a big bite.  Her eyes were opened alright, she now saw God as an enemy instead of a friend.  She pulled another piece off of the tree and brought it to Adam.  She now took the place of the serpent and convinced him to eat the fruit. His eyes were opened too and together they hid from God.

Sometimes, our family, our spouse, our friends, can be the one that leads us to sin. They mostly do it innocently enough, often it is not their intention to do so, but it happens all of the time.  Sometimes we know where they are leading is sinful and since we do not want to offend them, we follow their lead. This is when our friend becomes our foe and becomes a person to be feared.  Your beautiful wife or handsome husband becomes for you a tempter and because you used your free will to turn away from God, you end up in a sinful condition. In this case, it would have been better for you to have been assaulted by a robber because he could only take your wallet and at the most your life while the other has managed to cheat you out of your soul.   

Now, wait a minute here. Are you saying that if something like this were to really happen to me I would be better off leaving my spouse than to stay with them?  No, because what God has joined, man cannot separate. What I am saying is that just because someone is your friend, that does not mean they are always going to be right. What we need to do in our daily life is to keep our eye on the prize and if temptation comes by way of a friend, we should take the lead and gently move them back onto the correct path.  A simple, "I don't think we should do that." may be all that is needed to change the situation.  We are called to lead those we love towards God, not away from Him.  It is the gentle prodding of one lover to another, one friend to a friend, one family member to another, that will bring them back home. 

Cooperate and coexist with evil and evil will be your only friend.  Take the lead, light a lamp and gently but firmly refuse to accept an evil direction in your life and reach out a hand to your spouse, child, neighbor or friend and with charity and love for them, help them back onto the path that leads away from Gehanna and towards the happiness of heaven. 

So, you don't believe in Purgatory?  Take my word that it exists and is a sign that God loves us very much.  Please pray for the poor souls today and today take a moment and pray for someone who is on their deathbed and is afraid, your prayers will help. 

Too Many Widows Burying Their Children Today

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.    
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
"Do not weep."


He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this, the bearers halted,
and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.

A parent should never have to bury a child, it is not the natural way of things.  Traditionally, our children are to grow up, make their way in life, and eventually carry on our name in the world by having children of their own. Their last acts of love for us are supposed to be to care for us in our old age and to bury us once we have died. 

Back in the time of our Lord this poor woman who is described as a widow was burying her only son. In that day a woman who was alone without a man to care for her needs was in the most pitiful condition.  She could not conduct business, she was not allowed to work and she would have been reduced to begging for her bread.  Some would have looked at her as being almost evil because the death of her son would have been seen as a punishment for some sin that had been committed by either herself or her son.  

Jesus knew all of these things and He took pity on the poor widow. He restored to her the son that would look after her and make sure she was okay.  Jesus would perform this act one more time and that would be from the deathbed of His cross when He made sure His widowed mother would be taken care of once He died. He told John the Apostle that she was now his mother and he told Mary that John was now her son.  

There are many children being killed today.  In the streets of Chicago in the Brighton Park neighborhood where I grew up violence is claiming the youth. A scant seven blocks from my ancestral home four people were gunned down just the other day.  Drugs and guns, a most deadly combination are forcing parents to bury their children and the hope for a better life for the next generation is extinguished by the juice of a flower and lead bullets.  I fear that there is no cure for this malady that afflicts our modern cities. The disease of drug addiction and the scourge of guns intertwine to enrich the funeral director and rob us of a peaceful future.  For we have yet to learn that violence begets violence and that putting trust in the things of this world, in wealth that will tarnish is a foolishness that will follow us into eternity, but the goods, the treasure will remain here for others to fight over. 

I ask for prayers.  Please pray for America and for the youth that lives here. Pray that they be given the wisdom to know that widowed mothers should not have to buy funeral goods for their sons and daughters. I ask for prayers for those that are addicted to drugs and alcohol that they may find their way out of their prison and into the light of sobriety.  I ask for prayers for those that deal in drugs, guns, and violence that they may be inspired to throw down the tools of their trade and to come out of their dirty business lest they slip into the firey gehenna where the flame never goes out.  There are just too many dead children and we must make it stop. 

The poor souls in purgatory need you to pray for them today. Please spend a quick moment in prayer for them, they will not forget you for doing this for them. 

A Prophet at Home

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,                            
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

It is always nice to come home after a long absence. You arrive and you are among friends and neighbors that you have known your whole life. There is a comfort in that. Today's reading tells about the time when Jesus went home. He must have looked around at the streets where he had played as a child.  He probably saw some of the carpentry that he and his father had worked on together.  He felt very comfortable and at ease in this place.  On the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and read from the scroll.  They complimented him on the wisdom he displayed. But then they remembered that he was one of them, he had played in these streets and had worked as a carpenter.  Still, he was said to have performed signs and wonders elsewhere, maybe he will do so here, but he did not.  When he was called on it, his neighbors got angry at his response.  They drove him out of the town to the brow of the hill that the town was built on but he walked through their midst and got away.  A prophet is never recognized in his home town. 

So it is with us.  We are called to proclaim the good news to family and friends and strangers.  It is easier to proclaim to a stranger, they don't know you.  When you speak to family or friends, well they remember that you stole from the cookie jar when you were young.  And, wasn't that you that came out of that tavern walking a crooked path? In short, they know you and all of your faults.  They know the good things about you too but it is human nature when confronted with a Gospel that would change their lives and take them from their comfort zone, that they look at who is proclaiming it and and remember that person and his or her sins which makes it more comfortable for them to ignore calls to change their ways. 

Be that as it may, we are still called to proclaim the Gospel to one and all.  We reinforce the Gospel by showing them that we have changed our life, that we have heard, we have listened, and we believe.  Our exterior self should be a reflection of our interior. We should reflect many different aspects of the Gospel, it should shine through and illuminate every aspect of our life.  We should be persons of love, care, kindness, and service.  There should be no person we look down upon and we should treat them all as if they are our sisters and brothers.  This includes our enemies as well.  Using force against force will bring destruction to both the the antagonists.  But wear away the force with love and a little bit at a time a boulder of hate will be worn down to the size of a grain of sand. 

Jesus has anointed us to be His messenger.  Take on this task and your soul will dance with joy.  

The poor souls in purgatory need your help.  Please, pray for them.  An Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be takes but a moment but it means so much for them.