I Choose Christ

Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

It started small, a puff air stirred the top of a mound of sand in the Sahara desert and it swirled up into the sky. The breeze did this again and again until a weather pattern formed over the Canary Islands.  The warmth of the ocean in that area was such that it formed a tropical depression and a storm was born, we called her Katrina. She grew in intensity and fury being powered by warm ocean currents and she was headed for the mainland of the United States. She formed a well-defined eyewall as the winds got even stronger. Ahead of her, she pushed the sea and soon she came ashore and the city of New Orleans would never be the same again. Thousands would be homeless, some would lose their lives.  There would be tragedy caused by humans, like the storm, running roughshod and looting stores for temporary gain.  There would be touching scenes of rescue where loved ones were reunited with each other and over time we would witness New Orleans rise again.  All of this started with a puff of wind and the lifting of a single grain of sand into the air.  Who would imagine?  

The turmoils of daily life, when compared to the destruction of the hurricane, seem mundane but are they?  A pair of socks left on the floor instead of in the hamper is a pretty small thing but like the puff of air that propels a bit of sand into the air that helps to create a hurricane, it can be the start of a storm that does much damage to a household.  Who would know that squeezing the toothpaste wrong, or forgetting to take out the dog, or neglecting a birthday or anniversary could cause so much turmoil?  How is it that the person you promised to love until death do you part be so cruel and mean as to forget to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home?  

In the birth of a hurricane, if you remove one factor, the hurricane is not born.  Oh, there will be a storm, it may rain a bit, there may thunder and lightning aplenty, but the fierce wind and storm surge will not form.  In daily life, it is the same thing. If you remove one factor, the storm will not form.  We Christians have to be the ones that calm the storms.  We have to see things as they really are. In other words, does it matter if you or your mate moves those dirty socks into the hamper?  It would be nice if they remembered to do so, but is it worth a fight?  It would be great if the toothpaste tube was squeezed from the top to the bottom, but what if it isn't?  Should this cause us to put on the boxing gloves and step into the ring? 

There are all sorts of things that happen to people in a relationship.  It is because they are people that they happen. We are not perfect but we are called to strive for perfection. As a Catholic Christian, we have to be ready to make the first move towards reconciliation.  We have to let the small concerns remain small and to tackle larger concerns with Christian charity.  

There will be storms in every relationship.  That is a guarantee.  How we handle them, how we choose to mitigate the circumstances will say a lot about our Christian way of thinking.  In the end, choose Christ and you will find peace.  Chose Christ and the small concerns will vanish like smoke and the larger ones will be solvable. Choose Christ over and over again as the circumstances present themselves and you will get ever stronger in faith, in love, and yes, in hope. 

Our brothers and sisters in Purgatory need our prayer. Don't forget about them. 

A poke in the Eye and a Slap in the Face

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. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."

At one time, the rule that is spelled out in Exodus, you know the old "Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" rule that was followed was the apex and most forward-looking rule in the practice of law that there ever was.  Before this law, there was no limit on what the offended person could do to soothe his angered soul.  For example, if you hit me, I could kill you.  You kill my son, I wipe out your whole family.  It was gunslinger justice thousands of years before guns were invented.  What the new law said is that any punishment had to be proportionate to the crime you were avenging.  In other words, if you hit me, I could not burn down your house or kill your son.  What I did had to be proportionate to the injury I received.  And yes, this was progress. 

Jesus wants us to go further. He wants us to forgive those that harm us.  He asks us to turn the other cheek and offer it to our adversary. He overturns the old law and gives us a new law.  We are to return good for evil.  This is not easy for us to do.  It takes an act of the will to turn the other cheek. This is not easy for humans to do.  Our very body, when injured in some way pumps ephedrine into our bloodstream which prepares the body for a flight or a fight. 

It is even harder when the injury to us is greater and is almost impossible for us to do it alone.  We are supposed to pray for those who harm us.  How many prayers were sent for bin Laden after 9/11?  I know I didn't pray for him and I can assure you that none of my friends did either.  But, the point is sometimes we have to do the hard things that Jesus asks of us in order to find the full happiness He wants to give us.  He gave us the example.  While he was on the cross, pierced hands and feet holding Him to the rough-hewn cross he did not call for hell-fire and damnation, he said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." 

We Christians have to hold ourselves to a higher standard than do the pagans around us. It will be hard sometimes to forgive those who wrong us.  I myself had to forgive a careless doctor who caused the death of my mother.  After my mother died, I was in depression for about six months and on the day that I forgave that wretched doctor, the depression left me and I was able to start to move on with my life. It wasn't easy and I can tell you that she and I will never be best buddies, but I do wish that she fulfills her destiny and uses her talents wisely and with great charity and that she ends up in heaven.  This was very hard for me to do, but once I did it, I experienced a freedom that I had lost and was able to get my life back. 

So, today, think about those in your life that need the forgiveness that you are withholding from them.  I can hear you say, "Michael, you don't know what they did, and how much it hurt."  What you say is true, but you yourself have become a slave to hate and it is burning your heart and soul and only you have the ability to stop it.  Forgive, yes.  And this does not mean that you have to go back being best buddies with them, you just have to put them back into the hands of God and remember Jesus forgave from the cross, you must do the same from your cross. 

Remember to pray for the holy souls in Purgatory.  Think of the millions of Protestants who have no one to pray for them since they do not believe in purgatory.  Think of those who have gone before you. Don't let your love for mothers, fathers, sisters, or brothers, friends or even distant relatives die at the lip of the grave.  Pray for them all.  Remember, where they are today, you might be tomorrow! 

We Walk By Faith

Brothers and sisters:

We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. Therefore, we aspire to please him,  whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.

There is one problem we modern Christians have that the Apostles and the people that lived in the time of Jesus did not have.  That problem is that we cannot see or hear Jesus in the flesh.  Jesus knew that this would be a problem in the future for He said, "Blessed are those who do not see but believe."   It was not the Father's plan for Jesus to be present in actual flesh and blood for all times although He did give us the Eucharist which is His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity and through this wonder Sacrament Most Holy He truly is present in a real way for us. Although it is His Real Presence, it is under the veil of bread and wine and the beauty and majesty of His holy countenance is withheld from our eyes. 

To see Him, we have to abandon this body that we call home and stand before Him to be judged for what we have done with our lives both the evil and the good.  This does put a nail in the coffin of sola fide because we are not going to be judged on whether we had faith but on what actions our faith caused us to carry out. 

Soon this torridly hot Sunday let us continue with the eyes of faith and love the One who loved us so very much that He, in His physical body, showed us how much we are to love one another.  In the example He left us, He stretched out his arms and died on the cross for us. 

Please say one Our Father, One Hail Mary, and one Glory Be for the Poor Souls in Purgatory this Sunday. 

Should We Be Taking Oaths?

Jesus said to his disciples:

"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

Do not take a false oath,

but make good to the Lord all that you vow.

But I say to you, do not swear at all;

not by heaven, for it is God's throne;

nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;

nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Do not swear by your head,

for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'

Anything more is from the Evil One."

At one time or another, we may be called on to swear an oath which means we are invoking God and saying that we guarantee that what we are saying is the truth and God will back us up a hundred percent.  This is done, for example, when we testify in a court case. The taking of an oath binds us to be truthful and not at all deceitful because the matter at hand is important.  Why is Jesus against the taking of oaths?  

Actually, Jesus is just calling His followers to be truthful all of the time.  To take an oath and swear that something is true which is not is a terrible sin.  It violates the commandment against lying and more importantly, we are using the name of God to issue a guarantee for something that we know is false and that is blasphemy. 

Jesus knew that His people had all sorts of ways of taking oaths that were not oaths at all and left the person taking the oath free to lie.  For example, you could swear on your head that what was saying was true.  That offered no guarantee but sounded good.  Some people would swear on the temple, again the sages said this was not an oath, but if the same person swore by the gold in the temple, well then he was obligated.  It was quite a convoluted system. 

Jesus understands that we may one day have to take an oath and He is not forbidding we do so.  He is saying that no matter if we are under oath or not, we are obligated as one of His followers, to tell the truth at all times and under all circumstances. This is part of being a Christian, maybe even one of the hardest parts.  What do you think?

Remember to pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory today. 

A Remedy for All That Ails You

"Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise, your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."

If you ever wanted a reason to believe in Purgatory, the words of Jesus in this passage taken from Matthew Chapter Five is a fairly decent one on which to base your belief.  There are others but this say of Jesus ends with hope.  He does not stop after the words "you will not be released."  He continues with "until you have paid the last penny."   So Jesus is telling us that there is some mechanism in place to forgive wrongs after death.  That would be Purgatory, the place where you prepare yourself for final entry into heaven.  

There is no reason for you to go to Purgatory, none at all. It is a painful place for your soul to live in but it is a place full of hope because you are assured that one day you will be escorted from Purgatory and brought to live in eternal bliss in heaven.  In that respect, it is a joyful place because while you live in pain, you live with the knowledge that you have lost the ability to offend God any further and that brings joy to your soul. 

People plan today for their retirement a period of time, perhaps for some twenty years or so, where they have to do no work nor answer to no boss.  People rarely plan to stay out of Purgatory.  It is easy to do but does take some effort on your part, cooperating with the graces that God sends to you.  Here, in a simple list, is one sure fire way to avoid having to go to Purgatory.  

1. Perform an examination of conscience
2. Make a good confession of all of your sins.
3. Promise to avoid the things you have confessed in the future. 
4. Say the act of contrition and accept the forgiveness of God and His Church. 
5. Say the penance that the priest has assigned. 
6. Do good works and sacrifices for others because God is good. 
7. Live your life as a committed Christian, a lover of the pure, the innocent.
8. Pray daily for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. 
9. If you sin, return to step 1 and begin again. 

Purgatory is a real place with real people in it.  You, in fact, may know some of them. There are untold millions of Protestants there with little support from those that they left behind because of the fact that the reality of Purgatory is not believed by them. Your prayer is worth more to them than diamonds are to a diamond merchant! Our prayers and sacrifices when applied to the Poor Souls in Purgatory help shorten the time that they will be there. I have to tell you that they will not forget their friends, those that prayed and sacrificed for them.  

God is a God of love and mercy.  That is why Purgatory exists.  It is not there for punishment or because God likes to see His children in pain.  It is there because the souls that live there are not yet ready for the bliss of heaven. They have minor sins that were never forgiven or perhaps are still attached to some sinful thoughts, such as anger.  Heaven is a place where happiness reigns and there is no evil or sin.  When you come out of Purgatory, you are cleansed and ready for heaven.  God bless you on this day. 

It's Just A Little Sin

Jesus said to his disciples:                                                                             
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

The water was angry.  It was stopped in its rush downstream by something called a dam. It was flowing freely and without a care in the world when suddenly it was barred from going any further.  It's anger built up but no matter how hard it pushed against the wall of the dam it was stopped dead in its tracks.  Then, with one more mighty attempt it was able to move a single particle of sand.  The water was happy again.  It would take some time but it would break free of its prison. As the current of the once mighty river hit the dam a certain portion of its pent-up power was committed to the place where that one grain of sand had failed.  The years passed and through drought and flood, the dam held the river back. Then came the great spring storm. Inches upon inches of rain fell on the countryside and it all emptied what it could not use into the great river which soon was overflowing its banks.  At the dam, unseen by man, the place where the one grain of sand had fallen away so many years ago had become larger and the dam was cracked and the water entered the dam and finding more weak spots it exacerbated them and widened them making the dam even weaker.  Then the water found its way through to the other side. A powerful torrent broke through and the dam already weakened by the water that had found and formed cracks inside gave way and the waters that had been pent up for so many years finally was able to continue its journey downstream.  Trees, rocks, boulders, houses, and outbuildings and people were swept away by the raging torrent. The water was free again. 

 When we sin, even the smallest sin, can cause erosion of our morals, of our conscience, of our ability to love God.  It may not be much at first, but if we can "get away" with a small sin and feel no consequence, maybe we can please ourselves just a little bit more with a sin that is just a bit larger but still small in our eyes.  Over the years we learn to sin and sin starts to take over our lives. Eve was just going to look at the fruit, surely there was no harm in that was there?  Just so.  Jesus says that those of us that commit these small sins and teach others to do so will find ourselves in the back of the great hall in heaven.  

Let me ask you to think about something.  It may be true that you do not have any major sins on your conscience.  That is a good thing. So why not do a fearless examination of your conscience, leaving no stone unturned, and this weekend make time to go to confession.  Does that scare you?  What do you have to be frightened of?  You know your sins and God knows your sins. You are just two friends getting together to make things right between you.  The sacrament of penance is truly one of the greatest gifts of Jesus to us.  We can be forgiven any sin if we just admit to ourselves and to God what we have done wrong and promise to try to not do it again.  What could be easier?   Don't let the devil have any hold on you. He only needs a tiny hole in your defenses to do his dirty work. God is there to help.  Step out of the land of fear and enter the land of love, joy, and above all forgiveness. 

Remember to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory.  

The Hidden City

Jesus said to his disciples:
"You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father."


I have always been a fan of Ian Fleming, the author that has given the world the secret agent that never grows old, whose name is, "Bond, James Bond."  If there is one thing that you learn from his books is that the science of disguise is the science of small changes made to a person that add up to making that person blend in and disappear into the background.  In other words, hide in plain sight.  

A Christian, on the other hand, can wear no disguise. A Christian that blends into his environment is like salt that is no longer flavorful or a lamp that is put underneath a bushel basket, in short, useless. 

The world has a great supply of greed, sin, avarice, envy, and evil. It has that these things in abundance.  It also has an endless supply of sadness, depression, and violence.  We have something that the world needs.  We have the truth that there is a God that loves them beyond measure.  We have a God who is not a slavemaster, but a Father who wants nothing more for His children than happiness in this world and eternal joy with Him in the next world. 

This is why we cannot be secret agent Christians. We have to show by example how wonderful it is to be at peace with God, to be assured that there is one thing in the universe that will never fail and that is the love of God.  This love should excite us so much that what we have inside of us should be reflected on the outside.   The knowledge that the Father of the universe loves me personally and knows me by name should be reflected in how others see us live and love and tackle the problems of life.  They will see and they will know that God is a loving Father and they will want to meet  Him as well.  So, put your lamp on the table, be salt for the earth and light up all of the lights on the city on the hill for we have a God and Father who loves us without end,   AMEN!

Praise God for providing Purgatory for us and praise Him further that He allows us to help those there by our prayers and sacrifices.  Please pray for the poor souls today.  Remember, as they are today, someday you might also be.