Make a Place for Jesus - Reflection 13th Sunday OTA

This week as I was studying Sunday’s readings, my grandsons joined me. I explained to them to always make a place for Jesus in their hearts. When I sang Alleluia, my six year old joined in Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

My almost two year old grandson joined us at the top of his voice - Ali-ewe-yah, ali- ewe -yah, ali-ewe-yah.

Then I read Jesus’s words: because the little one is a disciple.

That is where my reflection comes from this week.

Elisha is a lot like Jesus. They came from the same area. They are both teachers. They both are prophets. They both are miracle workers.

A certain woman tells her husband. Elisha comes to be with us often, so let us prepare a place for him.

This woman was so receptive, hospitable, and full of kindness that Elisha felt there must be something I can do for her.

Elisha is a lot like Jesus, who is our teacher, prophet, and miracle worker. Prepare a place for him.

Many say they are born again. (Even Catholics)  Many identify as Christians. But, is He the most important thing in your life?

Many will say they live for him; and, many will tell you what it means to live for Christ Jesus.

Jesus puts it in rather blunt words.

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”

God doesn’t mean that exactly; or, does he?

Surely, Jesus doesn’t mean we are supposed to love him more than our parents, spouse, children, and grandchildren.

He does. Jesus says, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Those who try to live his words know one truth.

Love Jesus with all that you are and you will love others so much more. Love Jesus and he will live in our hearts. When Jesus lives in us, we will be able to see Christ in others. That takes a pure heart and if God is not first in your heart; the human heart may not truly be pure.

It is time for all of us to drop to your knees and make a place for Jesus in our hearts. Make hearts pure and ready for Jesus and He will make a place for us.

Jesus says we must come to him like children and this is with a pure heart. He said the pure of heart would see God.

Purity of heart is to will one thing in a constant and consistent path. That purity of heart should be given to Jesus, anything else divides the heart.

Look around at the many saying they seek justice and dignity; but, are their hearts pure for the one in whom is found true freedom, true justice, and true dignity. Sadly, most have no place in their hearts or agendas for Christ.

When politics is chosen over truth, purity of heart is almost always abandoned. There is no place for Jesus in the words and deeds of those who attack the Church. There is no place for Jesus in the hearts of politicians who say they are Christians and condemn Christian beliefs. There is no place for Jesus in the words and deeds of even religious leaders who do not speak truth because they are afraid to offend.

There is no place for Jesus in the hearts of many. Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict, spoke of this when he said that the future church would be a lot smaller. He knew that many had not made a place for Jesus.

No matter who they are. No matter what label they wear – Christian, Catholic, Pastor, layperson, deacon, religious, Priest, or Bishop - if they put anything in their hearts above Christ, they cannot love as Christ asks us to love.

God will always seek that special place within us.

Remember, the story of Elisha and the Shunemite woman. They fed each other. The woman gave Elisha shelter and nourishment. She made a special place for him. Elisha fed the woman with spiritual food and a great reward.

When we make a place in our hearts for Jesus Christ, He feeds us a love that comes from God. Whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. That is a great reward.

Because the little one is a disciple, fall to your knees. Sing out with the pure heart of a child to make a place for Jesus. Ali-ewe-yah, ali-ewe-yah, ali-ewe-yah.

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live your life and love one another. Amen

-- 

Peace and Love,

Deacon Bill Goss

Faithful Father’s Day - A Homily for Father's Day (12th Sunday OTA)

Happy Father’s Day; I try to be a good father for two daughters that I love very much. I’m proud of the women and mothers they’ve become.

I try to be a good grandfather. One thing that hurts is seeing the sadness in my grandson longing for his father. His dad is not there. He makes promises he doesn’t keep. When I go out of town, my grandson gets upset. He has me call him in the morning and evening to reassure him “I coming back.”

Because of his experience, he has doubts and misplaced faith.

I’m trying to restore his faith. It involves a lot of praying and presence.

 

All of God’s people need faith. But it must be the right faith, not misplaced faith. Look around, humanity has become confused about where to put their faith because of sin.

Sin causes confusion. Sin obscures the truth. Sin kills hope.

Society is weakened as the world accepts sinfulness and the confusing message of sin. That confusion weakens the human heart and hides truth so even reason fails against the misplaced faith of sinfulness. As the world tells humanity to put its faith in the wrong place, it brings a hopeless struggle.

 

We hear the whispering of others. “The world cries out terror on every side! Denounce! Denounce those who believe!” Those were the prophets Jeremiah  word’s in a time of violence and sin. People had become confused by sinfulness and were challenging those with true faith.

That is the way with humanity; we lose our way and blame others. It’s been that way throughout history.

Today, much faith is only in the things of this world. It is a faith that glorifies arrogance, greed and excess, materialism, sex, idleness, and envy. It brings bitterness, resentment, and anger.

Sin puts our selfish needs in our path to God. Sin has misplaced our faith to faith in the sins of man. None can escape it because all have sinned.

In that sin of selfish ego that belittles others because of difference racism lies. In the sin of selfish ego peaceful protest turns to civil unrest as personal agendas stoke anger, violence, and greed..

All this sinful selfishness pollutes faith and our world. The world is polluted with so much misplaced faith that something extraordinary and outside of us is needed for a change. That change will only come when we have faith in something other than the things of man.

 

That is why Jesus’ words, “Fear no one,” for we are loved by God the Father.

With violence abounding, it’s a hard thing to fear no one, but, remember this; each one of us is a dwelling place for God and His love. Each and every one of us is an image of Christ.

It is the spirit of truth, the love from God we share with one another that makes us a people of true faith. Our faith in Him is greater than the misplaced faith in the world.

The sin of misplaced faith is not in all people. God the Father knows that, He knows everything, even the number of hairs on your head. He is with us all the time. He knows our faith. He knows our heart. He did not create us to be sad and lonely in this world.

God the Father is a good Father. The type of father every father should strive to be. The type of mother every mother should strive to be. The type of person everyone should strive to be.

Even with all the misplaced faith in this world, God has not forsaken us. By His grace and the gracious gift of Jesus Christ our faith is revived.

For us, it involves a lot of praying and presence. Have faith, Jesus promised that He is coming back.

In faith, pray and ask for God’s favor upon us, our neighbors, and the world.

Be good, be holy, and have the faith to live your faith. Amen.

Feast of Corpus Christi - A Reflection

Yesterday, I was grilling. I have a pellet grill; you set the temperature and watch the time. But, a two year old in the house gives you something to watch.

My grandson wants to do exactly as I do. I put a lawn chair near the grill. He put his between me and the grill. I had to tell him, No child, that’s hot.

I would adjust the temperature dial and would move to something else and he would go for that same control. I’d warn him, No child, that’s hot.

He would laugh; it was if I had challenged him to do what he was told not to do.

We start young: not listening and doing our own thing. It’s always been that way. God told Adam and Eve, don’t eat from that tree. Basically, God said, No child, that’s hot!

We know how that went. Here we are; Still not listening to God’s word! Not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

The apostles warned us - don’t listen to the false prophets. Don’t listen to those who try to change the word of God. We are children reaching for the dangerous things. We find it a challenge.

One of the things the world challenges now is the real presence in the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ on the Eucharistic table.

It’s not the prepackage communion kits that some Churches hand out. It’s bread and the wine consecrated on the altar of God by his priest, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The bread we break, the cup of blessing we bless; it is the body and blood of Christ.

But we seemed to have forgot that. We are stubborn children that just want to do what they want to do. They want to get close to “Hot”, what is evil and of the devil in this world.

It is so easy for the many to believe in the bad in the world. All Christians believe in the evil that is all around us. However, some who call themselves Christians want to make the evil into good. Think about all the things that God the father tells us No child, that’s hot! He got a list.

He also gave us a way to be better. He gave us Jesus, who gave all that he had for our salvation. He told us to follow him. If we don’t want to know that “Hot” in this world then follow him.

And he gave us food for that journey. I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live forever;and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world .

It is a statement that divides the Church. If we believe the Gospel, it is Jesus’ own words.

And just like so many of those who walk with Jesus when he was on this earth, many say surely he doesn’t mean that it is really his flesh and his blood.

But he did.

Many have taken the idea of a personal relationship with Jesus as one which they make up their own rules. It’s all about them. It’s not about Jesus. It’s not about the whole world. It’s not about the one loaf, the many that is the Church.

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Can you really have a personal relationship with Jesus, if you don’t believe what he says? Are you really a Christian if you believe it all about you? If you can’t believe in Christ’s presence in the bread that is his body and the wine that is his blood, where is your faith?

Jesus’ body and blood was given to us to nourish His church. Pray brothers and sisters that we may always walk strengthened by this food.

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live your life and share his love with one another. Amen.

First Friday Mass Homily - Feast of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

The Saints are our examples on how to emulate Christ. Aw we celebrate today the feast day of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr, remember his example. We need examples. 

The world is filled with the wrong examples, which is the work of the devil. In those examples, the great deceiver brings fear, misery, and distrust. People are scared, unhappy, and jealous of one another. People want power. People want what others have. People don’t want others to have what they have.

The devil puts all these things into a people’s heart; but, they can never have them. They want these things but never find them. The evil one won’t let them; so, in fear, misery, and distrust, people turn to violence.

Most  want to live in comfortable familiar little worlds, so what should we do?

Look at the example of St. Boniface. He was born to nobility, educated, a teacher, and lived a peaceful life in an English monastery. When he was about 35, he left that comfortable familiar life to become a missionary in pagan Frisia and he failed miserably.

The Pope moved him to mission work in Germany and France. There he was successful and he became a Bishop. Yet, at 80, he resigned to return to his failed mission at Frisia.

St. Boniface lived the teachings of Christ and Church respecting the dignity of every person. He left the nobility of secular life and he left the nobility of the Church to be a missionary to the poor, the outcasts, and those on the margins.

He left comfort and familiarity to see Christ in people that were different from him and to love them. As Christians, it is where we need to be. It is where the world needs to be.

The disrespect and disregard of a person’s dignity based on the color and shade of their skin (no matter what it is) is what society has termed racism. Intolerance towards those different than us is bigotry.

If these are in us we cannot say we followed Christ. If anyone is preaching or promoting anything other than tolerance and respect, they are not of Christ. If we preach anything but peace we are not of Christ.

Remember the world and contemplate St. Paul’s warning to Timothy: The wicked will go from bad to worse.  But Jesus is calling us to be saints - Christ is calling us to sit at his right hand.

Boniface went back to his failed missionary work. He went with respect for the dignity of those who chased him away. He did it by faith, patience, love, and endurance so to imitate the life of Christ. And, his reward was to experienced Christ’s suffering; was killed for preaching the Gospel.

All who live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. It is the way of the world today.

We see the unrest and violence in the world. Instead, look for the saints who live for Christ and not themselves. Look at those who respect the dignity of all people and work for peace. Look with the eyes or your heart. These are the ones striving for Christ’s right hand. 

The devil will always fight them.