Easter is such a grand and overwhelming mystery! It takes time, meditation and prayer to begin to grasp the mystery of Easter. Even an entire lifetime cannot grasp all of the mystery. Easter is the mystery of Life. Easter needs to be seen from God’s perspective, a Father’s perspective.
The Tabernacle and the Shepherd
Jesus shows himself as both the Shepherd and the Lamb. Remember how, at Mass, we say of Jesus’ Body and Blood, “Behold the Lamb of God”. He is the sacrificial lamb offered for our sins.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us he is the shepherd and the sheep know his voice. He is also the gate, the gate of heaven and eternal life.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.”
Jesus wants to lead us and guide us to eternal life.
Palm Sunday 2014
In Holy Week we celebrate mystery NOT history. These liturgies do not take us back in time but into what is happening now in our lives, today. We are invited to enter into the mystery and anticipate our own Resurrection with the Lord. We are reminded to keep the paschal fast on Good Friday and Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil. Fast and pray and give alms. In Holy Week we unite ourselves to Jesus, our sufferings to his, so that we might also join with him in the Resurrection.
How to Live in the Kingdom of God
Do you want to live in the Kingdom of God? I have a simple rule of thumb for assuring our lives in the kingdom of God. There are three steps:
First: Don’t miss Mass.
Second: Receive Holy Eucharist every Sunday and as often as you can.
Third: Go to frequent Confession.
It is that simple.
Tithing and Generosity
Today I want to speak to you about generosity and tithing. Over the years I have become convinced that tithing and generosity are keys to understanding the maturity of my personal relationship with Jesus and His Church. In fact, I believe that the way we tithe is a test of our relationship with God. If I don’t tithe my relationship with God is not sound, it is naïve, immature. If I don’t tithe my relationship with the Church is on shaky ground.
Pope Francis said last year, “It is an absurd dichotomy to think of living with Jesus but without the church, of following Jesus outside of the church, of loving Jesus without loving the church.”
Superstition vs Christianity
What is darker? The night? Or, Death?
What is brighter? Light? Or, Life?
We all live in fear of darkness, real darkness. Few things are as frightening as total darkness, like the darkness of the grave. And there is nothing darker than death and sin.
We live in the hope of life. There is no greater hope than Eternal Life. There is no light brighter than the Hope of life.
Can Dogs Go to Heaven?
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
That was Jesus’ preaching. Jesus is God. Heaven is where God is present. God became man and called us to Himself, in heaven. But we cannot have heaven unless we repent.
In many people’s thinking, if there is a heaven, then we should all be going there, regardless of our relationship with God. Perhaps you have heard the child’s question, “Can dogs go to heaven?” It is an innocent child’s question. We should know how to respond. It is a wonderful, teachable moment.
What is a Parishioner?
What is a parishioner? The Psalm says,
“Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”
Before we were baptized, we were under a death sentence. Without baptism we cannot hope for eternal life. Eternal life is only possible with God. Adam and Eve rejected God, and as a result, their children were shut out of Heaven. Because of our baptism our sins have been forgiven and we are admitted to life with God, life with the Sacraments, eternal life. Baptism makes us citizens of God’s Kingdom, citizens of Heaven; citizens of His Church. [Read more…]
Epiphany
Jesus’ birth was the greatest event in the history of mankind. The event was so great that all historical time is now counted as time before Jesus’ birth (“B.C”) and after Jesus’ birth (A.D., or “anno domini”, year of our Lord. The time before was when Death ruled the world. In the time after Jesus’ coming, Death was defeated. What other human event could be the center of our time?
Jesus’ birth was not a “surprise party”. God did not sneak up on men when he became a man. [Read more…]
Mary, Mother of God
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary. For thousands of years our faith has recognized that some feasts are of a higher order than others. We use the word solemnity today to indicate the fact that the feast of the Motherhood of Mary, Mother of God, is of the highest rank for the entire Church. Easter Sunday is announced as the solemnity of solemnities, as it is the feast that has the highest rank over all other Sundays and feast days.
Today is a major solemnity. [Read more…]
Preparing for Christmas
Seven hundred years prior to the birth of Jesus God revealed through his prophet Isaiah,
“The Lord himself will give you this sign: virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”
Today we hear Matthew recount how the birth of Jesus came about. Our God comes to us. Unlike every other religion in the world, our God comes to us. Our God reveals himself to us over and over again. And He comes to us.
Feast of All Saints
First celebrated in the 4th century, after centuries of official persecution in the Church. The Church realized that our Church is built upon the blood sweat and tears of a lot of people who loved and loved recklessly with their entire being. These are the ones who have made it to heaven and continue to love us and intercede for us with the Father.
Audio only.
November 1, 2013
The Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth
One of the important things about prayer is that when you are in prayer you are also open to God. You have initiated a conversation. It is easier to receive what God has to say to us when we have opened the line of communication with God than when we have not opened communication with God. Jesus is teaching us today about staying in prayer.
Let’s continue our discussion of the Seven Deadly Sins. This will help us understand prayer.
Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed
Faith changes everything. It doesn’t take much. But it requires action. When I was finishing my MBA at the University of Dallas, I was offered several times to go to work with the pioneer company making birth control pills. I was newly married, and my wife and I had experienced a courtship full of shared faith experiences. Our first child was on the way. I needed a job.
But, I knew I didn’t need this job; I couldn’t sell birth control pills. My faith prevented this.
Further, together we had experienced working in the missions in the mountains of Michoacan, in Southwest Mexico. Our shared mission experiences had stirred into flame our faith. We wanted to work in Latin America.
No One Can Serve Two Masters
Last year I preached to you, “Stop Stealing Paperclips”. If you cannot be trusted with small things, you cannot be trusted.
“No servant can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
Mammon is an Aramaic word meaning property, money, possessions, or that in which one puts trust.
You know as well as I do that we will spend most of our lives struggling with the master “Mammon”. We will each say to ourselves that we are not mastered by money and possessions. Nevertheless, we will all be jealous of someone else’s money, car, clothes or house. Still we will tell ourselves that we are free from slavery to mammon. However, in our hearts we will know that is simply not true. To be honest, it is a struggle to be free from the master “Mammon”. This struggle cannot be overcome without prayer and God’s grace.
The Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony
Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Jesus comments in today’s Gospel are all about discipleship.
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” And,
“… anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessionscannot be my disciple.”
Family relationships and possessions must be subordinated to the following of Jesus. The idea is that priority in the lives of disciples of Jesus, of Christians, must go to the claims of Christ. All other considerations are secondary, even those of family.
The Seven Deadly Sins: Envy
There is a universal call from God to all mankind for their salvation, not just the Jews, as we heard in the first reading from Isaiah.
They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, . . . Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.
However, we cannot take our salvation for granted and ignore the call to conversion and repentance. Throughout Sacred Scripture we are warned about being complacent about our salvation. We are all called, but we cannot ignore God’s call to conversion and repentance. The author of Hebrews tell us,
“So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.”
The Seven Deadly Sins: Greed
We recently began to consider the Seven Deadly Sins, or the Seven Capital Sins. The Church has been teaching and pondering the Seven Deadly Sins since the time of Jesus and St. Paul. First we began with the sin of Anger. Today we will continue with the Deadly Sin of Greed.
It is important to recall that sin is always a personal choice. Mortal sin is fatal; Mortal sin is like suicide; by your own choice you take your eternal life because mortal sin separates us from God. Eternal life is only possible with God. Only God is eternal. There can be no eternal life separated from God. Mortal sin is fatal because it separates us from our final destiny: Heaven and our Salvation. That is how we lose our Eternal Life. It is always our personal decision.
The Seven Deadly Sins include: Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Sloth or Laziness, Envy and Anger.
The Seven Deadly Sins: Anger
From the time I arrived at the parish I have desired to explore with you something you hear very little about these days, “The Seven Deadly Sins”, or the “Seven Capital Sins”. The Church has been contemplating “The Seven Deadly Sins” since the time of Paul. Later, Pope St. Gregory, Dante, and many others have written and taught about them.
Let’s understand a little more about sin. Sin is simply a morally bad act. Sin separates us from God. Mortal sin is deadly sin when it kills our love for God, and separates us from God. Mortal sin is like suicide. God does not kill sinners. Sinners kill themselves through their own decisions. There is no eternal life apart from God. Mortal sin cuts us off from our final destiny: Heaven, our eternal Salvation. The Seven Deadly Sins are mortal sins, because they are a “Source” of sin. If you do these sins, you will be committing not one, but a series of sins that flow from them and cut you off from God. That makes them deadly, when you lose eternal life.
Confession
My grandson Gabriel made his First Communion about three years ago, just prior to my ordination. Gabriel was going to his first Confession before his First Communion when he said, “Granddad, just think, if you were already a priest you could hear my Confession.” That caught me off guard, but I told him, “Gabe, I want to be your Granddad. It’s better for you to go to another priest.”
And then something happened that was wonderful, but absolutely normal. Gabe’s father came into the room and said, “Let’s go, Gabe” and took Gabe with him to the Church for Confession. It was such a normal act: Boy followed Dad out the door to go to Confession.