Did You Answer The Call or Did It Go To Voicemail?

Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul urges us to live in a manner worthy of the call we have received.  The question is have we answered that call or have we ignored it and allowed it to go to voicemail?  It seems to me that we live in a world where we do not have much humility - the "I" word is one of the most important in the language and what affects the "I" is much more important than what effects the other.  Do we bear with one another with love and patience through love?  Get caught in a traffic jam and see how everyone is bearing with one another and examine how you feel as that red Audi moves from lane to lane without signaling and in doing so cuts you off.  Unity, peace, and love will most likely be the farthest thing from your mind. 

There is hope because inside of us there is a desire to live in peace.  It is the fondest dream of every human being to live without fear and with fellowship with his neighbor.  Now, in the world today we do have a problem.  The supply of humility, gentleness, and peace is in short supply.  We are more ready to think evil of our brothers and sisters than good. This is very sad, especially if you are feeling that way about fellow Christians because these will be the people that you will be living face to face with when you enter heaven.  

What we are called to do is to take the lead and become a distributor of peace by being humble and gentle and taking into account the fact that the person next to us is a person beloved by God and we may be the only face of God this person will see in his or her life.  We must not waste any opportunity to be the one who enriches another person's life with the gifts that God has given to us.  Sharing peace and joy with another will increase the amount of peace in the world and in your own soul. 

How do we do this?  First of all, we have to remember that the person next to us is one of God's children, a true brother or sister to us.  This can be difficult depending on the circumstances.  Next, we have to reach deep inside and make sure that this person, when he or she is done interacting with us, will feel a little bit of the love of God that is in our heart.  If we do this, we will be faithful to the calling that Paul has reminded us of in today's reading.  It starts with us, not with the other person, that is what we have to remember. 

Pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory...You know why, don't you?  It is because it is an act of charity that will please Our Lord very much. 

Service, Hospitality, Forgiveness

A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,                       
and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,
"If this man were a prophet,
he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,
that she is a sinner."
Jesus said to him in reply,
"Simon, I have something to say to you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
"Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days' wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?"
Simon said in reply,
"The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven."
He said to him, "You have judged rightly."
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,
"Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,      

but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
You did not give me a kiss,
but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
You did not anoint my head with oil,
but she anointed my feet with ointment.
So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;
hence, she has shown great love.
But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little."
He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
The others at table said to themselves,
"Who is this who even forgives sins?"
But he said to the woman,


At the time of Jesus, everyone wore sandals or went barefoot. If a Pharisee (or anyone else for that matter) wanted to keep his house clean, well, he would have to offer the visitor a way to wash his feet which would have been dirty and dusty from the road.  This service was the custom and guests expected it. This particular Pharisee did not think much of Jesus (or his house, I guess) because Jesus was offered no way to wash his feet when he arrived.   A woman, who is described as a sinful woman, entered the house and cleaned Jesus' feet with her tears of repentance and anointed them with expensive ointment.  The Pharisee knew she was a sinful woman.  How he knew was probably from time to time he used her services otherwise why would she feel so free to enter the house?  This woman provided what the Pharisee did not and showed Jesus that she was sorry for the way she was living her life and she took what she had heard Jesus say over time and repented of her sins.  Her hospitality, her service, the love she showed for Jesus in her actions gave her that what she needed most, forgiveness for her sins. 

The poor souls in Purgatory are waiting for your prayers. Please do not forget them. 

All You Need Is Love (and coffee)

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, love is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things endures all things.

I am a child of the '60's and the '70's.  I guess you could have called me an undercover hippy type. I didn't appreciate all of the great rock bands of the era as much as I liked folk music.  I collected everything I could find by Peter, Paul, and Mary and other people who sang songs with a story.  It turns out that the difference between most rock pieces and most folk pieces of the era was the tempo because most of the songs were hawking love in some shape or form.  Of course, the love that they were selling was the eros kind of love, the physical love of procreation figures highly in the lyrics of the age.  That kind of makes sense too because we Americans speak a language that has only one obvious definition of the word love with us having to glean the other types of love our Greek ancestors spoke about by analyzing the context the word is found in.  The children of the period could not be bothered to engage in such things analyzing context because they were too busy with the procreation thing!  Americans of the current age are not much further along when it comes to the word "love."  Love for most of us is a feeling.  It is the feeling we get when we meet the one whom we feel a part of. We feel this procreative type of love at the beginning of every relationship that we find ourselves in.  It is a very strong, deep, and emotional feeling.  It burns very hotly and it does have a tendency to weaken, sometimes rather quickly, and we say that "we have fallen out of love."   Well, this love that we can and do fall out of is called Eros and its purpose is to ensure that the human race continues by making procreation a much-beloved activity.  But eros is not the be-all and end-all of love.  If it was, human beings would be like a herd of any animals, rutting, and mating just for creating new humans.  But we humans engage in this activity even when age makes it impossible to create new life so there must be another thing at work here.  

When the time for procreation is over we still love our mate but our love evolves.  We still have the eros in our life but we turn to love that lasts forever.  Agape love, the love of eternity. We love the person for their spirituality and even if the excitement of those first few months together or even first few years has faded, we still look at the person and we see the good that God has put there and it is this goodness that we saw above the eros love that excited our bodies.  This agape love is what keeps us together and it is the kind of love that is not self-serving.  It is the kind of love that makes us a servant to the one that we love and it keeps us together from first blush to end of life.   Read what Paul says about love and do not worry if, in your particular relationship that first feeling of eros has disappeared and is only a memory, it is agape love, the love that binds one spirit to another that will win the day. 

Oh, I forgot, you need one more thing, especially in the morning and that is a hot cup of coffee to chase the night and the cobwebs away.   Peace and Joy to you and yours this day. 

Purgatory - you know what I am going to ask so why don't just resolve to do it...pray for the poor souls in Purgatory today. 

Broken Gears - The Catholic Church in 2018

Brothers and sisters:
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Now the body is not a single part, but many.

Now you are Christ's Body and individually parts of it.
Some people God has designated in the Church
to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

David was sure proud of his clock. Eight hundred gears were powered by a sturdy spring and the clock accurately reported thirty-two separate functions.  The precision jeweled movement made almost so discernable sound and it was so finely made that a single winding would last thirty days.  The tolerances were so fine that the clock was predicted to gain or lose more that one second every five years.  It was a marvel of mechanical ingenuity.  Now, one day, a small gear, no larger than the end of David's little finger stopped moving because of a small bit of corrosion.  The clock stopped and all of the other gears were unable to do their job because one gear had stopped moving. 

This is how it can be in our spiritual life.  We are going along, fat and happy when something happens and our view of the Church changes. Today the Catholic Church is going through a terrible time when we pew dwellers feel upset and betrayed by our hierarchy who shielded criminally tainted deacons, priests, bishops, and even cardinals who violated either their vows if they themselves abused anyone or they violated their sacred roles if they made it possible for the renegades to ply their trade elsewhere because they transferred them to another unsuspecting parish.  

We had an opportunity beginning in 2002 to clean up, once and for all. the horrible mess created by a small cadre of renegade priests who practiced perverted lusts on children, teens, and adults. The UCCB in the United States formed an independent committee to investigate and to report to them what needed to be done.  The UCCB did a remarkable job on one hand.  I cannot participate in Choir unless I fill out an authorization for a background check just in case our adult choir has any contact with young people over the course of a year.  I would imagine this procedure has helped rid the church of people whose only interest in our youth is of a carnal nature.  

But the committee set up to investigate were given only what a diocese under investigation would deem safe to give them.  The effect of this was to negate what that committee was chartered to do.  They starved the committee and provided very little information that could help them to determine where the problems were entrenched in the church.  The effect of this was that it created and an adversarial situation in which the magisterium was on one side and the people were on the other.  The people were now not made to be served by the clerics but rather were made to be feared by them.  They then covered up for their cronies and quietly paid people off for silence.  In the meantime perverts whose predilections were well known to those in power were being promoted in spite of their sinful and notorious ways of life that changed forever the lives of those they preyed upon.  Our hierarchy squandered the opportunity to cleanse the church at that time.  It has been revealed that knowledge of some to the shenanigans filtered all the way up to the pope and still one man who made it his policy to abuse young seminarians at his "summer home" where he would bring one more seminarian than he had beds for and he would choose one to share the bed with him.  This manner of life was well known to those above him and yet he was promoted and even attained a job that brought him close to the holy father. 

The Church now has another opportunity to cleanse itself.  The time for covering up is over. Those that are guilty of breaking their vows should be removed from office and laicized without any unnecessary delay.  What do we need to do here in Pewland?  We need to pray for the Church and its leaders and we need to raise our voices and let those in charge know that we will NOT stand for this type of nonsense any longer.  The evil must be purged from our midst.  Forgiveness? Sure!  There is not a sin that cannot be forgiven in the confessional.   But you don't put a thief in charge of a bank vault and you do not expect a man who has broken his vows of celibacy to not break them again.  They can have a rich spiritual life outside of the ministry and can spend the rest of their lives in prayer asking for forgiveness for what they have done to the Church.  Scandals will come and go and this one has worn out its welcome.  We must purge our ranks of wolves in sheep's clothing and allow the vast majority of deacons, priests, bishops, and cardinals who have maintained their vows faithfully to rule the church and its people with a just love for God, His Church, and His People.

We Need To Use Them Both - Faith and Works

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works? 
Can that faith save him? 
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
"Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, "
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it? 
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.
Indeed someone might say,
"You have faith and I have works." 
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

This Sunday, we have that pesky reading from that book that Martin Luther wanted to excise out of the Bible because it contradicted his teaching that we are saved by faith alone.  Now don't get me wrong, faith is important.  Without faith in Jesus, we never get away from the starting gate. But having faith alone is like having the keys to a car with no engine.  Jesus calls us to demonstrate our faith in him by taking up our cross daily and following Him.  If we do not do this we will be surprised when we arrive at Heaven's Gate and He tells us that He never knew us. 

The Gospel reading today tells us the same thing. Peter, you have to love the man, he is so human, is the first to pipe up to Jesus calling Him the Christ, the anointed one of God - there he displays his faith.  In the very next paragraph, after Jesus told his followers that the Son of Man would have to suffer and die, why Peter tells this same Man whom he just identified as the Son of God that this death would never happen.  He is then called "satan" and told to get behind Jesus.  Jesus tells us that those of us that follow Him must give up their lives and if they do they will truly be His followers and preserve their life for eternity. 

So carry with you all of the faith you can muster and show that you have faith by works that edify Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through those that are in need in this world. 

Pray this day for the poor souls of our righteous Protestant brothers and sisters who are at this very moment in Purgatory with no one to pray for them. Just because they did not believe in Purgatory in life does not mean that it is not a reality for them.  Truth is the truth even if no one believes it.  This is a worthy work of charity that is easily done.  Pray for the poor souls.  Tomorrow, you might be one of them! 

Our Lady of Sorrows

Jesus' father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
"Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
and you yourself a sword will pierce
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.


"Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."  Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Mary accepted a lot when she accepted the task brought to her by the Archangel Gabriel.  As a simple, young, and pious girl do you think she had any idea of the complex life that she had agreed to with her fiat, her "yes" to God?  

I think that she was well equipped to deal with the life that she had agreed to because first of all her natural inclination would be to do the will of God over her own will.  This was very strong in her because she was preserved from the touch of original sin, she was the Immaculate Conception.  Without the contamination of original sin, her whole way of thinking would be different than other young women that lived in her town.  She would in using her free will, be more inclined to say, "Yes" to things of this nature even though she would know that her life would be complicated by her affirmative decision. 

The relationship between Jesus and Mary is deeper than the relationship between God and creature.  There was always one person that Jesus could count on in this world.  It was not Peter, James, or John, his favored disciples.  They would be as loyal as they could but we know that in the moment of greatest need that they were off like gazelles being chased by a lion. 

Mary, on the other hand, remained ever faithful and accepted the life of sorrow that came with her motherhood.  We remember seven major sorrows in Our Lady's life.  They are: 

I. The prophecy of Simeon

II. The Flight to Egypt

III. Loss of Child Jesus for 3 days, later found in His Father's House

IV. Witnessing Jesus carry his Cross

V. The Crucifixion of Jesus

VI. Taking Jesus Down from the Cross

VII. The Burial of Jesus

Our Protestant brothers and sisters do not give Mary much respect because they do not understand what type of woman she was.  To them, Mary was the mother of Jesus, and they thank her very much and consign her to no further thought as just being mentioned in the Bible should be enough credit for anyone.  We Catholics, on the other hand, say that we understand better about what Mary went through.  Is this really true?  Have you ever thought about the effect that the things that happened to Jesus had on His Mother?   She was capable of great joy and sorrow.  Meditate a little today when you have a chance on the seven sorrows of Our Lady and you will begin to learn what a great woman she truly was. 

Pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory this weekend.  Remember especially the millions of Protestant souls there that have no one at all to pray for them.  Your prayers will be remembered and appreciated. 

God's Love - Antidote to Scandal

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him. 




There are great truths that govern the universe and keep things in organized motion.  There are rules that keep celestial bodies in motion around a central star, such as our earth revolves around our star, which we call the Sun.  There are rules that govern the motions of balls on a billiard table, rules that explain what happens when an apple tree lets go of one of the fruits and it unerringly finds its way to the ground.  There are rules governing how fast we are allowed to travel in the universe from one place to another.  All of these rules point to an intelligent designer and we call this intelligent designer, "God." 

It is this intelligent designer who has set everything in motion and keeps it working according to His pleasure.  He creates because He loves and He loves and so He creates.  God also watches over the whole of His creation.  He knows where every grain of sand on a seashore began life and where it is now and where it will be in the future.  Nothing, absolutely nothing can escape His attention. 

This same God sent His only Son to a world that He created and populated with creatures built in His image.  These creatures rebelled and although He could have destroyed them in His righteous fury, His love conquered all and His Son came and taught us the ways of His Father.

It is good for us to remember that God is in charge of the universe and that He keeps things ordered.  It is good for us to remember that all that is unseen will be revealed and that this will be done in God's time to further His desires for the people that have been created in His image and likeness. It is good for us to remember that we have the promise of the Son that His Church will stand the ravages of time and any scandal that might be revealed.  So, all that the Church is going through right now is for the best.  The field of wheat once harvested is a place that looks deserted of life but the seeds of the next harvest have already been planted and through cultivation and care of the soil a new harvest will spring up and this will be the finest crop of all. 

Please remember to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  Where they are today, tomorrow you might be!