Really Sharing Jesus - Homily Christmas Day

 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122523-Day.cfm

Praise Be Jesus Christ, forever & ever Amen. Merry Christmas everyone.

Before I proclaim the Gospel, I bow down to receive a blessing from Father. As I walk to the ambo, I offer my own prayer. As I hold the gospel up, I pray for the Holy Spirit to be upon me in boldness and strength to proclaim the Gospel, and be with me so that my lips will not stumble and my tongue does not trip. I pray the gospel touches each of your hearts.

If I give the homily, I offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the message given me and offer it for God’s glory.

Last night, I gave the homily at the Catholic Campus Ministry's 8 p.m. Christmas vigil mass on short notice. I was tired. It had been a long day and all I had to eat since breakfast was sample taste from the gifts of candy and cookies given to me by so many people. 

I did not offer those prayers before I proclaimed God’s word. I did not thank God the message given me. I had prayed over the scriptures and written down thoughts in my prayer journal. I knew what God had put in my heart. I failed to surrender that message to God.

I knew it. I felt it. I focused on my imperfections.

I know the Holy Spirit was in the message but my pride got the better of me. I became apprehensive afterwards. I became the same way about my message today.

I prayed on it during morning prayers.

I reflected on my homilies over the years. The stories I share. The vessels use to carry my message. I considered how I expressed the truths the Word of God has revealed to me. Maybe the stories of my grandchildren or work or my childhood are a little too much sometimes.

I read the first passage from scripture this morning. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation...” And, I remembered Bishop Duca placing the Gospels in my hands saying, “Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”

The answer came to me in the profoundness of today’s Gospel, which are probably some of the beautiful scriptures of the Bible.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. 

All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.

In the incarnation of Jesus, the Word of God meets us where we are. The true light of God came into the world so that we do not have to leave this world or relinquish our humanity to know God.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. All we are to do is to be open to that light. Receptive to his word. 

The problem can be is that we want the spiritual stuff without the fleshy part. We want that cosmic spiritual picture John paints but truth is God came to be amount us in the reality of the nativity. A stable filled with the smells of the world. We live in this smelly world, which makes the the Word we share real to others.

Those who believe in his name are sent into the world to spread and share the saving power of the Word. To love the Word and share the Word of God we must live it making it concrete and ordinary.

God wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it. That real, concrete, and ordinary truth is given to us even in the high cosmic Christological spiritually found in the Gospel of John.

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.

Spirituality has to be experienced in the flesh. The saving power that is Jesus Christ has be found and experience in the world. The Word comes to the a person’s life in this broken world - as a single person or a member of a family. As a spouse with a large family or a childless couple. The experience as a student or laborer or professional, man or woman, child or adult. In that concrete and ordinary experience of the world the word of God speaks to you.

God speaks to us through the Son, the Word made flesh. For into the nativity of our life, God is perfectly hidden and perfectly revealed.

I have told you about my fears. How many of you have the same and are afraid to share? To overcome troubles pray for the grace of a spirituality filled with an even temper, a cheerful heart, sweetness, gentleness and brightfulness of mind to walk in his light and live by his word. This is really sharing Jesus.

Be good, be holy and in your ordinary and concrete lives in this world – preach the Gospel, the good news of the Word of God to the world.

Praise be Jesus Christ forever and ever – Amen

Merry Christmas.

Rich like Them - Homily Gaudete Sunday

 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121723.cfm

Praise be Jesus Christ – forever and ever. Amen.

This Gaudete Sunday I want to share this story: A rich man wanted his child to see what is was like to be poor. He took him to visit poor rural sharecroppers to see how they lived.

As soon as they arrived, the child felt the difference. He pulled off his shoes and wriggled his toes in the dirt. He made friends with the children and they screamed with joy as they ran across the fields and swam in the bayou. He had cookies made from scratch by smiling lady who laughed a lot and told great stories.

When they left, the boy remembered everything he did. Running everywhere without care compared to only having a back yard at home. In the city, hardly any stars are seen at night; but in the country, more are seen than can be counted. He remembered people living their life with happiness and joy.  

After the family returned to their wealthy world. The father asked, “Would you rather be rich like this or poor like them?” The child answered: “I want to be rich like them.”

Jesus proclaimed 'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.’

 Who are these poor?  In Hebrew, they were called Anawim? (ann-a-weem) the “poor ones” or the “faithful remnant” The people who remained faithful to God in difficult times. To the faithful remnant, the poor, and the broken heart, God sent Isaiah to prophesize. The poor ones yearning for God sent a man followed John, a voice crying out in the desert.   

The Anawim sang, “Rejoice in the Lord always; everyone rejoice! The Lord is near.”  This Sunday remember Gaudete means, “everyone rejoice.”

Sadly, many people do not know joy. Maybe the reason is that so many in this world have forgotten the 10^th commandment. “You shall not covet.” That sin can bring to the world the opposite of joy, which is suffering.

There is much suffering in the world - poverty, violence, war, disease, and oppression. Covetousness, human greed, makes these things rampant in the world. The most desired things are power, prestige, and possessions.

In the story about the rich father and his son, the father considers the poor as those with less things than him. The world is the same. It considers the poor those without the things the world says they must have. For many suffering is not in being poor, it comes from the sinfulness of coveting things.

This sin can numb a heart and deaden the spirit so one cannot know joy.

The things most covet, desire, and lust after becomes the real passion of a soul. They become the world’s false gods that many worship. These false gods bring false joy.

Most of the time, it is not even a conscious choice. Between here and home, each will be told the worldly things we need many more times than we will be told how much we need each other or how much we need God. This wounds the human heart.

The enemy has always encouraged humanity to put self as the center of the world.  

How often do we hear, “What about my feelings?”

Many pout, “What about my opinions.” And demand, “it must be done my way.”

The world tells us, these things are important. In these things, you will find joy.

But, all of this can bring a person to a place far from God. They oppose true happiness and Godly joy and allow a hardened cocoon of sinfulness to develop around the heart.

From that harden cocoon, many will say, I know Jesus. In that place, many will say they find joy.

After the father and son returned to their wealthy world. The father asked his son – would you rather be rich like this or poor like them? The child answers, “I want to be rich like them.”

God is found outside the hardened cocoon of self. To know Jesus and to find true joy requires a move to a place beyond the self-centeredness of this world. Then you will be able to feel the difference. Like the boy, pull off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the dirt. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.  

You cannot truly know joy if you covet the passions dictated by the world. To know joy, we must recognize a pure Godly joy –trust in it, believe in it, and pray unceasingly. Rejoice heartily in the LORD, in God is the joy of my soul….

Joy is not in the love of the false gods of power, prestige, and passions. Love only the one true God. In God’s love is where the human heart can find true and profound joy. The joy that comes from the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, which strengthens us - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me…, my spirit rejoices….

The poor and faithful remnant are rich in the joy found in God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “I want to be rich like them.”  

Be good, be holy and in this advent season everyone proclaim the good news -   “Rejoice in the Lord always; everyone rejoice! The Lord is near.” 

Praise be Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen

Considering What We Must Do - Homily 33rd Sunday OTA

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Praise be Jesus Christ – forever and ever.

When I was in about 2^nd grade, my dad had a Rambler American Station Wagon. It had a pushbutton transmission. I would watch him every day get in the car, start it up, and push the button to put it in drive.

It was the most fascinating thing for an 8-year old boy. I wanted to do it. Every day, I would watch him get in the car, start it up, and push the button to put it in drive.

I decided it was something I must do. I just needed the right opportunity.

At that time, my dad was pastor at Gorum Baptist Church. It was a small country church. There was no indoor plumbing, but an outhouse on either side of the church. One side was the lady’s outhouse. One side was the men’s out house. No real parking lot, just a sand and gravel yard for parking.

One Sunday, I had to use the outhouse. I saw the Rambler sitting there. Dad was busy leading the service. Mom was busy keeping my brothers from fighting in the pews as my dad preached. Everyone was inside worshipping Jesus. I can still hear the hymn they sung, “What a friend we have in Jesus…..”

Surely, Jesus wouldn’t mind if I did that one thing that I knew I must do.

So, I did everything I say my dad do - get in the car, start it up, and push the button to put it in drive.  I couldn’t reach the gas pedal or the brake, so the old wagon just idled forward. And, I ran over the outhouse.

I would like to assure you, no outhouses or station wagons were harmed in the making of this tale.

A friend asked me if I had a good homily to go with that story. I said “When it is right, the Holy Spirit will give me one!” Then I read Fr. Joseph Tetlow’s book “Handing on the Fire,” in it he writes, “What we are asked to do is keep His Commandments and accept the things we must do that His spirit confronts us with at every stage of our life.”

What are the things I must do?

It is an insight that goes hand in hand with my outhouse story. What is it that I want and what does God want. I don’t think Jesus really wanted me to run over the outhouse.  

It is also reflects the reading from the gospel - the parable of the talents. It is a parable that means something special to me.

The master of the house prepared for a journey and told his 3 servants to take care of his household and possessions until he returned. To one he gave five talents; to the 2^nd - two; to a third, one. The man gave to each according to his ability.

The one who had been given 5 talents was a obviously a very gifted and wise person. That servant was experienced. He probably had good people skills and was a wise businessman with a keen eye for the deal.

That servant knew he must do something.  The servant took the talents, put them to work, and returned the original talents with an additional 5 talents.

The master replied, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'

The second servant was given 2 talents. That servants abilities were probably not the same; but, but still good and useful gifts. The master of the house knew this and gave the servant the talents and freedom that would benefit his gifts.

That servant knew he must do something.  With the gifts that servant had, he were able return the original talents with an additional 2 talents.

And the master replied, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'

Then there was the 3rd servant. The master gave only 1 talent. The master still had expectations of that servant based on their talents and gifts. Maybe this servant was younger or not as experienced in this type of endeavors. But the master of the house recognized the servants gifts and talents and wanted the servant to do something.  

However, this servant could not accept the things they must do. The servant went off to hide his talents. The servant produced nothing, brought the talent and said - Here it is back.'   

His master said to him “You wicked, lazy servant!”

This parable does have a special place in my heart because I remember my Dad reflecting on the parable. He would have been 96 last week. It was the parable read at my dad’s funeral. I remembered my dad’s life, dedication to his family, church and these words -- “well done my good and faithful servant! Come share your Master's job.”

That same parable came back to me years later as I lay on a ventilator in ICU. I was dying. God put in my heart something closer to what the third servant heard. “Have you done what I asked - you wicked and lazy servant!”

With this in mind, I get anxious considering the things God asks of me. These are the things I must do that God has asked of me at the different stages in my life. However, prayer and study has allowed me to grow in this parable.  

We are to use what we are given for God’s purposes. We are to invest our lives, not waste them. We are to accept the things we must do.

The servant who received one talent did nothing with what he was given. He didn’t listen to what his master asked of him. He listened to his own ego and heard his own fears.

Many are guilty. They fear  the think I have little or no gifts and what I do will not amount to much. They hide their talents away ashamed and fearful. Nevertheless, Proverbs tell us we will be rewarded for our labor, even the most simple things done with great love.

Like each of us, the 3 servants were given opportunity to serve. Just like us, they had to face those opportunities differently. No two people have the same gifts to the same degree. Our gifts differ, according to grace given.

You can’t glorify God being the world’ greatest artist if you don’t have not been graced with the gift of artistic ability.

However, God does give us the gifts we need for the work God wants us to do.

·     The gifts of the Holy Spirit - wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

·     The gifts of everyday life - our skills, abilities, family connections, social positions, education, and experiences.

God does not endow people with identical or necessarily equal gifts. God does not expect identical or necessarily equal results from everyone's work. God does desire us to do things we must do with the gifts we are given. 

The things we must do are keep His Commandments and accept the things God confronts us with throughout our life. Each of us has the gifts (talents) and opportunities to work for God’s kingdom in this world. As we enter Advent, be like those servants and live with anticipation of the Lord’s return, doing what we must do.   

Don’t miss the opportunity.

Be good, be holy and follow Jesus, preaching the good news of His kingdom to the whole world.  Praise be Jesus Christ forever and ever, Amen.

What Should I Wear? - 28th Sunday OTA

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101523.cfm

Praise be Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.

I am not a fashion plate. Growing up, I was a big boy (husky). My family struggled financially. My clothes were from Grants, Kmart, or Howard Brothers. During the winter, I may get a pair of cheap boots or tennis shoes for school and a couple of flannel shirts. By summer, my jeans would be full of holes so they became cutoffs. Mom would take out her sewing machine to make shirts. Every now and then, there would be a new package of pocket t-shirts. My parents dressed my brothers and I to the best of their ability.

Today, I still have trouble dressing myself. Getting ready for mass, my stole gets twisted under my dalmatic. I put things on backwards. In fact, the last time I served Bishop Malone, he said, “Someone please help deacon, he seems to be having trouble.”

I cannot dress myself. Someone has to help. When I was young, it was my parents. Now, it is my wife!

That brings us to this parable about the wedding feast.

It is surprising to many the King invites everyone. Some people would say that this means everyone goes to heaven. In fact, Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is open to everyone. But, the truth found in this parable is that many are called, few are chosen.

The king was preparing the wedding feast for his son. He sent his servants out to bring his invited guests – but they did not come. The servants were once again sent out with the message, “I have prepared my dinner, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.”

Some invited guests ignored the servants and went about everyday business. Others seized the servants, mistreated them and then killed them.

The king was furious and sent troops to destroy the murderers. He then instructed his servants to invite anyone they found; both good and bad people to fill the hall at the wedding feast.

Many are called. Everyone is invited. The Kingdom of God is open to everyone.

It was a custom in those days for the host of the wedding—in this case, the king—to provide garments for guests. The garments would be the same, nice non-discreet robes that hid the person’s status so everyone was looked as equals.

Yet, the king sees a man without the wedding garment provided to him. Not wearing the garment was disrespecting the king and his son.  And, when he was asked why he had disrespected the King, the man had no excuse. “He was speechless.”

The King ordered his servants to bind the man and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

The Kingdom of God is open to everyone. Many are invited. Few are chosen. Many choose not to be chosen.

The Hall is ready. The food is on the table. The invitations to the wedding feast are sent.  You all look nice … but are you dressed in the right garment?

The few who are chose will be clothed by God. If we truly desire heaven, trust God has sent us wedding garments.  Isaiah wrote my soul shall be joyful in my God; he clothes me with the garments of salvation, and covers me with the robe of righteousness.

God the Father has sent all we need in Jesus Christ.  Gal. 3:27- If you are baptized into Christ  you have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. His righteousness becomes ours; His salvation becomes ours. Rom. 12:5 - We are one body in Christ.

Christ is the fine linen of righteousness. Col 3:12 - “Put on as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience”.  

Being clothed in Christ transforms our relationship with God by transforming us. That is in total contrast to living a life of disrespect and disobedience to God like one not dressed in the wedding garments. One not clothed in Christ.

In this parable, the wedding banquet represents heaven and darkness foreshadows hell. Those judged unworthy of the feast will be cast into the darkness where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

An atheist asked this question - Christians believe God created all this. They believe they are made in the image of God. They say there is a heaven and hell. If Christians believe all this is true, why do they not live that way?

That atheist is asking, “Why are Christians not clothed in Christ?” The answer is they choose not to be. God has sent to everyone – the good an the bad - a heavenly garment of righteousness to put on.

If people went to heavenly banquet dressed in their everyday life and choices, some would be in trouble.

Over my lifetime, many people have helped me dress. First, it was my parents. Then, it was my wife. Many of you have straightened my collar or untwisted my stole. Over the years, a beloved community of family and friends has helped me ready myself in Christ.

Friends, I pray you help each other put on the righteousness of Christ. Help me dress for that heavenly banquet and I pray I can do the same in you.

Friends, clothed in the righteousness and love that comes from Christ, share the good news and promise of heavenly banquet. Wear God’s glory for the world to see. 

Many are invited; few chosen. Praise be Jesus Christ, for ever and ever. Amen.

We all need a Parachute - First Friday of October 2023

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100623.cfm 

Imagine we are on an airplane about to crash.  Luckily, there is a parachute for everyone. The person handing out the parachute says, “Jumping out of a plane is very serious. Pay close attention at all times. Follow instructions carefully. If you don’t, it will cost your life.” 

We would pay attention and be mindful of the instructions! Even if we had to go to someone else to hear them.

Jesus is reminding those around him to pay attention and be mindful. Even if they have to get His gospel from his disciples. Listening to them is like listening to him.

The Church, which is every one of us, are the disciples that spread the good news of Jesus Christ today. His words are true today, “Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me. And those who reject me reject the one who has sent me.” Jesus will always be faithful to his disciples.

The Church, each of us, must always be faithful and mindful of Christ. People look to those who are believers to see Christ. Pay attention and be mindful for God will always allow himself to be found by those who seek him.

Yet, we exist in a shameful world. Many, including our leaders, have sinned in the Lord's sight. They reject God and desire the devices of their own wicked hearts. Seeking self-realized gods to justify what is evil in the sight of God.

That is why so many see this world as a plane about to crash.

There is hope in Jesus Christ. Hope manifest in believers by faith that claims as our only glory the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is our lifesaving parachute.

It is a faith shared by believers in living a life that is loving, respecting, and lifting up others. Disciples bringing Jesus in everyday life to family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and even strangers. Disciples share the lifesaving grace that is Jesus Christ.

The world needs that parachute.

Pay close attention. Be serious in sharing Jesus. Follow His instructions. If you don’t, it could cost someone eternal life.”

Friends, be mindful of Jesus, live the good news by sharing the promise of Jesus with the whole world. Amen.

An Angry Bee - Homily 24th Sunday OTA

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Praise be Jesus Christ – forever and ever. Amen

Jesus Christ invites us to love: love ourselves, love others as we love ourselves, and love God, as He has loved us.

Forgiveness is essential to hold this trilogy of love together. Today contemplate forgiveness.  

Wrath and anger are hateful things. Each and every one of us are sinners so we tend to hold on to them.  We find it hard to forgive. And as long as we live, we are probably going to experience these feelings, even if we try to avoid them.

God gives us the freedom to hold these unnecessary things. But God also gives us the freedom to let them go.

If we truly follow Christ and are obedient to God’s will. We need to be able to forgive. To forgive someone who hurts us or caused seemingly irreparable damage in our lives seems to be difficult task.  Many times, we get angry for the same hurt over and over again.

Do not forget, the evil one will pick at those hurts to bring them back again and again.

That may have been the reason behind Peter’s question. Peter thinking that he was good and generous when he  asked Jesus how often must he forgive, is it seven times? (Jewish law said to forgive 3 times. Peter must have thought seven was very generous.)

Jesus answered Peter: “Forgive…not up to seven times but seventy seven times.” Then Jesus throws a further twist into his teaching -  those who will not forgive will not be forgiven!

Why we must forgive? This is what we must contemplate. Here are three reasons:

First, forgive because we have been forgiven first. We are the servant  in today’s gospel who owes a great debt to the king. It was such a great debt, the servant could have never paid it back. With mercy, the king forgave his debt.

We are just like that servant. We cannot pay back all that God has given us. Jesus Christ paid the debt for our sins to forgive them all. In return we are asked to do the same for our brothers and sisters.

Second, forgive for our own good especially for our healing.  Not being able to forgive is a spiritual pollution.  The pollution of wrath and anger can keep us from happiness, joy, and love.

When I thought about this,  the children’s story of The Angry Bee came to my mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aEUjlxOK-Y 

In a beautiful meadow, there lived a colony of bees. The bees were all friends and enjoyed doing bee things together. Flying around in the sunshine and hunting for flowers. When they would find a flower, they would do their happy bee dance, and work together to make honey.

Sometimes flying around, the bees would accidentally run into to each other. “I’m sorry,” one bee would say.

 “That’s OK. I forgive you.” The other would answer and bees were happy flying and doing the things bee’s do together.

One day, something different happened when two bees crashed into each other. “I’m sorry.” said the first bee.

“You got in my way!” said the second bee. “I’m not flying with you anymore.”

The angry bee flew away. “I’ll show that bee!” said the angry bee. He sat on the leaf and waited for the other bee to feel bad.

Later, all the other bees went to fly in the sunshine and hunt flowers together; not the angry bee. He sat on his leaf being angry. He thought, “I’ll show that bee.”

The other bees hunted flowers, did the happy bee dance, and had fun doing things bees do. Not the angry bee, he just sat on the leaf being angry. “I’ll show that bee.”

When it was time to work together to make honey, all the bees happily worked together. Not the angry bee, he sat on the leaf being angry thinking, “I’ll show that bee.”

But it wasn’t working, the other bees were still happy.

The next day, the  bees came to the angry bee and asked if the bee would come fly in the sunshine and hunt for flowers. The angry bee said, “No, I am still mad at that bee.”

“Ok” said the other bees, see you later. They flew off and were happy.

The angry bee felt sad. He wanted to fly in the sunshine, hunt for flowers, do the happy bee dance, and make honey with the other bees.  The bee thought, “I can be happy again, all I need to do is forgive.” And, He did.

Third, forgive because if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven.

Jesus taught us to pray this way, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”  By our own prayers, we ask God - If there is someone I have not forgiven, then do not forgive me!

Do we really mean this part of the Lord’s Prayer? Every time we pray this and refuse to forgive others, our prayer is not sincere. If our prayer is to be truly sincere, we must forgive others.

We are adopted children of God. Love should be the way we think and act towards others in a reflection of the Father’s goodness. If we believe this truth, we live love others as Jesus taught us.

Love ourselves, love others as we love ourselves, and love God as He has loved us. Forgiveness is the essential element that hold this trilogy of love together.

Wrath and anger are hateful things. By His love, God gives us the freedom and grace to let them go.

Be good, be holy, and preach the gospel by the way we live our life, love, and forgive one another. Praise be Jesus Christ – forever and ever. Amen

Make Your Own Good Dirt - HomiLy 20th Sunday OTa

 

6-7; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Mt 15:21-28

Praise be Jesus Christ 4 ever and ever – Amen.

Have you ever had someone say something to you in one context, but when you think about it means so much moreLet me tell you about mine…

My good friend and brother in Christ is a landscape architect. He has traveled the world in that career working with large international companies. He not only shared his green thumb and professional talents, he shared his faith as a witness of Jesus Christ.

Even though he has been successful in the business world, he still loves to garden at his home in Alexandria. He has a beautiful raised bed garden with clean wide walkways and strives to keep it immaculate. What the garden produces is magnificent!

At a recent gathering at the Jesuit Spirituality Center, I asked if he had any pictures of his garden to show my wife.

He said “Sorry, Brother Bill but I do not have my phone. I can tell you the secret of a good garden is to make your own good dirt. You have to have good soil.  If you compost, you make good dirt and will not need any artificial chemical fertilizers. The secret making things grow is to have good dirt.”

I thought about composting on the 3-hour drive back to Monroe. God wanted me to learn something else and the Holy Spirit showed me what God wanted me to learn from that advice.  It was about God's mercy, faith, and salvation.

Those are the subjects of our scripture.

Isaiah that begins with this message from God - “Do what is right and do what is just.” The secret of making things grow is to make your own good dirt

Isaiah raised a few eyebrows when he pointed out God’s mercy is not just for the people that would normally be consider the fertile soil (tribe of Israel.) God’s mercy is for all people not just the people. If people Love the Lord – keep the Sabbath free from profanation - and uphold God’s covenant –they will make themselves good dirt.  The LORD will plant the seed of faith in that good soil and from that seed of faith in God comes mercy that reveals his salvation and justice.

“My salvation is about to come, my justice about to be revealed.”

Even those raised in a good Christian home can reject God’s mercy.  They have little or even no faith. They turn their back on God with excuses like I‘m too broken of a person. I made a mess of my life. I done such bad things. God could never love me. That part of them, the soil where the seed of faith is planted has been poisoned.

The injustice that is the evil of this world has been planted in hearts. Those who should know God’s mercy by knowing Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and are washed clean of sin in Baptism have become poison by what is around them. Their faith has become starved or choked or has withered under the heat of the deceivers influence. The evil of this world poisons them and the good  is overshadowed by what is not good. .

This becomes their truth – God does not know me. God does not love me.  I have done such bad things God could never forgive me. I am too far from God for his mercy.

Although the grace of God’s mercy is given to all, there little good dirt in the hearts of those whose allegiance is this world. They do not know or recognize God’s mercy around them.

The evil one justifies all that he does by boasting that this world is too broken for God to love.

The proof that we are loved is in the Gospel today.  The Canaanite woman comes to Jesus in faith seeking his mercy. She was fighting her demons. And, the disciples try to run her off. 

She was a foreigner and they did not think her good enough for Jesus’ message. Jesus even says -   my message is for the good soil – the people of Israel.

In never ending faith, this foreign woman asked Jesus for mercy. Let some of your goodness fall upon my child and me. Even dogs get the scraps from their master’s table.

Jesus looked at her and saw her faith. She was good soil made by faith.  This woman, a foreigner testifies to all - the justice of His mercy. The truth of his salvation. Because of her faith, her child was healed from that hour.

Friends composting takes all the scraps, refuse, and discarded materials from the yard, garden, and kitchen and makes it into something new. It is brought to the compost pile or bin and thrown in to be changed and to become good dirt.

It is the same for us- our sins, disobedience, all the bad things we have done that make us believe God will never love us can become  the best of soils to receive God’s mercy and justice.

The message St. Paul gave to the Romans is still true. It is a message so many need to hear.  You receive mercy because of disobedience; by the virtue of mercy we receive mercy. God’s mercy is for all.

Take it all to the confessional where our sins and the bad is thrown out and by the grace of God’s mercy we receive forgiveness. Work to be made good soil. It is not easy. There is going to be some stench coming out of us. By grace we become a good dirt and who we are meant to be.

Friends come and kneel at God’s table. Pray and ask for his mercy. Pray for justice. Let faith be in all that we bring to Jesus to make us good soil

Be good, be holy and make yourself good soil so that the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ can grow in you to share with others by the way you live your life and love one another.

Praise be Jesus Christ – 4 ever and ever. Amen.

The Naked Truth - Homily 15th Sunday OTA

Readings - Is 55:10-11; Ps 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14; Rom 8:18-23:Rom 8:18-23

Praise Be to Jesus Christ, for ever and ever.  Amen

When my children were babies and my grandchildren were small they loved to run around naked. They would get out of the bathtub and you would have to chase them down to put clothes on them. The truth was the loved to be naked.

Here is another - Our first parents, Adam & Eve walked in the garden with God. They were naked.  The serpent tempted them, do you want to know the truth of what it is to be like God, then eat of what is forbidden. They did, the truth they realized was nakedness, so they hid from God.

From those two little hints, maybe you guess that I want to talk about Truth. Or even more exact The Naked Truth.

Truth walks into town and Truth is naked. All the people ran from the naked truth and closed themselves to the truth. Truth became troubled. 

Then one day, someone approached him and offered to be his friend.

Truth asks his new friend, why is everyone running from me.

His new friends say, because you are naked. But, my friend if you come with me I will be able to help you. My name is Story. I am a tailor. Come with me, I will clothe you so you are no longer naked.

Truth’s new friend Story, made Truth many fine suits of clothes, among them were myth, poetry, and parable.  Because of these fine suits, people opened themselves to Truth.

That is why I like to tells stories. That is why Jesus uses parables. So that people would be open to the truth. Today, Jesus shares the parable of the sower.  However, reflect on the truths of that parable in a slightly different way. 

Most of the time, we focus on where the seed is sown – the hard path, the rocky grown, the shallow soil, the patch of thorns or the fertile ground. A lot of times the focus is which one am I.

That is one of humanity’s sins, focusing on our selves instead of God. God is the sower. Focus on the sower. Focus on that truth.

One truth is that God loves each and every one of us. God loves us so much He sows seeds with abundance. Seeds of his grace. Seeds of his mercy. Seeds in the Word of God.

The sower gives each the seeds of his grace and mercy. God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. God loves us and sees in us fertile ground.

A second truth of this parable is God’s mercy. God, who is rich in mercy, shows this truth to those who go astray. The seeds of God’s mercy falls on the hard path, rocky ground, the shallow soil, and even it the thorn patch. He gives mercy to those in poor soil the same as he gives mercy to those on fertile ground.

The truth of God’s mercy is like the rain and snow, which comes down to water the earth. If we open our hearts to God’s grace and mercy, it makes good, fertile, and fruitful soil.

Sadly, we are too much like our first parents. We want our own truth.

The evil one comes and steals away what is sown in the heart with trials, tribulation, or persecution of the world. With thorns of worldly anxiety and false narratives the devil convinces many to run and hide from God. Those worldly truths choke the grace, mercy, and word of God from our hearts.

And even now all creation is groaning in labor pains. Pain from those in the world who want to be God and make their own truths. This makes poor soil that rejects the sowers seeds.

At his trial, Jesus said to Pontius Pilate – “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.' 

Pilate said to him, 'What is truth?'

There is a 3^rd truth, found in the very first words of today’s Gospel. It tells the truth of Jesus. Jesus does not give up on us. 

He got up and leaves the house, goes to the sea (the place where he promise to make his disciples fishers of men), and large crowds were there.

Scripture does not give specifics about the house. Maybe it was a disciple’s house or a friend’s house. However, the truth is Jesus left the Father’s house to come to this world. This world represented by the sea. In biblical scripture, the sea represents the chaos and turmoil of creation. The large crowds reveal that Jesus came for everyone.

Jesus does not give them the naked truth. He preaches the truth by this parable because he wanted them to come to the truth.  I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.

Pray that we all are rich and fertile soil for the seed God sows in our heart through the Word of God. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God. Many longed to see what you see and to hear what you hear.

Be good, be holy, and preach the truth of the gospel in the story and parable of how we live our life and love one another.

Praise Be to Jesus Christ, for ever and ever.  Amen