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Sunday, August 31, 2025

Homily Reflection: “The First Taste of Heaven” - 22nd Sunday, August 31, 20

 

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Blessed be God. Praise be to Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen.

Come Holy Spirit, fill us with joy, fill us with the fire of your presence. Amen.

Last week, after my 4 year old grandson heard me offer this prayer, 

   he yells out “Holy Spirit don't set Pop on fire.”

    To me that childlike honesty is a glimpse of grace.

In a world that shouts,
“Look at me! Look at what I’ve done! Look at my place at the table!”
the Gospel whispers something far more beautiful.

It calls us back to a quiet, profound truth.
Not found in the spotlight,
but in the humble corners of our lives.
It’s the truth of humility.

And who is our teacher?
Jesus Himself.

He didn’t come in a palace.
He came in a stable.
He didn’t demand the seat of honor.
He bent low to wash the dust from tired feet.
The hands that shaped the stars became the hands that served bread.
His whole life was a surrender to divine grace.
And in that surrender,
He traced the path to glory through the valley of humility.

Sirach tells us,
“Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.”
That’s not just a proverb—it’s a spiritual law.
The higher we rise,
the deeper we’re called to kneel.

But how do we live this?
How do we find humility in a world that rewards pride?

It begins in the place you find yourself.
It starts at your table.

I remember my grandparents’ kitchen table.
My papaw built it big enough for all twelve of his children.
But as the family grew, even that big table felt small.
So on holidays, we had a schedule.
First, the grown men and guests.
Then the older grandchildren.
Then the little ones.
And last—always last—my mamma, my mother, and my aunts.
The women who cooked every dish.

As a child, I thought,
“That’s not fair.”  They should’ve eaten first.
They were the most important people in that room to me.

But my mamma just smiled and said,
“Mais non. We get our first taste when we’re cooking. It makes us happy seeing everyone else eat.”

That’s humility.
Not groveling.
Not pretending to be less.
But joy in serving.
Wisdom in surrender.
Love that doesn’t need applause.

And isn’t that the heart of God?

Psalm 68 says,
“God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.”
God doesn’t just protect the lowly—He delights in them.
He gives them a place.
And when we humble ourselves,
we find that place too.

Hebrews tells us we’re not standing at Mount Sinai anymore, trembling in fear.
We’re standing at Mount Zion—the city of the living God.
We’re part of a heavenly banquet,
with angels and saints and Jesus Himself,
whose blood speaks mercy, not vengeance.

So I ask you:

Where are you at the table?
At the head, seeking honor?
Or at the edge, seeking grace?
Are you waiting to be seen,
or watching to serve?

Jesus says,
“Take the lowest place.”
Not because you’re less—
but because that’s where love begins.
That’s where God lifts you up.
That’s where heaven breaks in.

Humility starts in the place you find yourself.
In the kitchen.
In the classroom.
In the hospital room.
In the pew.
In the silence of your heart.

And when you serve others for God,
even the biggest table becomes small.
It’s no longer about who eats first.
It’s about feeding one another.
Loving one another.
Seeing the face of God in the act of service.

So take the lowest place.
Not because you’re forgotten.
Not because you’re less.
But because you are loved.
And in that place,
you’ll find the first taste of heaven.

Be good. Be holy.
Let your life be the sermon.
Let your love be the witness.
Preach the Good News of Jesus Christ—
not just with words,
but with mercy in motion,
with kindness that stays,
with a heart that gives itself away.

Blessed be God. Praise be to Jesus Christ, now and forever. 

Amen.


Saturday, August 30, 2025

Our Journey of Faith: Walk with God - When Trials Become Truth

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In the very beginning of the movie Father Stu (2022), Stu is stumbling drunk outside a Catholic church. He’s angry. Lost. And in a moment of rage, he punches a statue of Jesus.

It’s a jarring image—but it’s also deeply human. Because sometimes, our walk with God doesn’t begin with reverence.
It begins with resistance.
Not with clarity, but with chaos.
Not with peace, but with pain.

Stu Long didn’t come to the Church seeking God. He came chasing a girl. He signed up for RCIA to impress her, repeating textbook catechism answers, going through the motions. It was all surface. All performance.

And I understand that.
Because I didn’t come to the Church seeking God either.
I came because my mother-in-law said:
“If you want to marry my daughter, you’ll get married in the Church.
You’ll raise your children in the Church.”
So I did.
I signed up. I showed up. I went through the motions.

But something began to change.

I started praying. I started listening. I started living the faith—not just studying it.
And slowly, those textbook answers stopped sounding like words from a book.
They started sounding like truth.
Truth that had been waiting in my heart all along.

This is how God works.

He meets us in our mess.
He meets us in our motives.
He meets us in our mistakes.
He uses our trials, our desires, even our detours to draw us closer.

The heartbreaks, the illnesses, the disappointments—they’re not punishments.
They’re invitations.
They’re the chisels that shape us.
They’re the mirrors that reveal us.
They’re the fires that refine us.

They reveal what God has already placed inside us:
A longing for love.
A longing for mercy.
A longing for meaning.

St. Paul tells us, “You have been taught by God to love one another.”
Not just with words—but with our lives.

And Jesus shows us what that love looks like:
“As I have loved you.”
Love that forgives.
Love that stays.
Love that gives everything.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of talents—gifts entrusted to us.
The talents entrusted to us may not always look like gifts.
Sometimes, they come disguised as trials.
But even buried pain can be redeemed when unearthed by love.

Fr. Stu’s journey reminds us:
Faith isn’t just learned—it’s lived.
And sometimes, it’s suffering that makes it real.

When we walk through trials with open hearts,
we begin to see that God has been walking with us all along.

So let us walk with God—not only in peace, but through every storm.
Let our trials become truth.
Let our faith become love—faithful, fruitful, and real.

Prayer for a Heart That Loves

Lord Jesus,
You meet us in our brokenness,
and You do not turn away.
You teach us to love—
not with words alone,
but with lives poured out in mercy.

“As I have loved you,” You say—
so let that love take root.
Shape our choices,
steady our walk,
and fill our hearts with joy.

Amen.


Friday, August 29, 2025

Our Journey of Faith; Walk with God - When Righteousness Costs Us (Passion of St. John the Baptist)

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Today we remember two moments of piercing truth:

The Passion of St. John the Baptist, who gave his life for righteousness…
And the tragedy at Annunciation Catholic School, where innocent lives were taken in a place meant for peace and prayer.

These moments are not easy to hold. They confront us with the cost of righteousness, the weight of truth, and the ache of injustice. And yet, Jesus speaks into this very pain:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

This is not a poetic comfort. It is a spiritual paradox.
Righteousness—true holiness—often invites suffering.
John the Baptist stood before Herod and spoke truth that no one else dared to utter. He lost his life, but gained eternity.
The children of Annunciation did not choose persecution, but their memory now calls us to choose holiness. To choose courage. To choose surrender.

St. Paul urges the Thessalonians:

“As you are conducting yourselves—do so even more.”
Even more. Even when it’s hard. Even when the world resists.
Even when parts of our own hearts still hesitate.

Because let’s be honest: most of us have areas we haven’t yet surrendered to God.
We hold back. We compromise. We say, “Lord, you can have this part of me—but not that.”
But holiness is not partial.
Righteousness is not convenient.
And the Kingdom of heaven is not built on comfort.

So today, in the shadow of martyrdom and tragedy, I ask you:
What part of your life is still unsubmitted?
Where are you choosing safety over surrender?
What would it look like to walk deeper into holiness—even when it costs you?

Let us not waste the witness of John.
Let us not forget the children of Annunciation.
Let us walk with God—not halfway, but all the way.

Because righteousness may cost us comfort, reputation, even life…
But it gives us Christ.
And Christ is everything.

Lord God,
You call us to holiness, even when it costs us.
You bless those who suffer for righteousness,
and You draw near to the brokenhearted.

Create in us clean hearts.
Renew in us a spirit that does not waver.
Help us surrender what we’ve held back,
and walk boldly in Your truth.

May the witness of John the Baptist
and the memory of innocent lives lost
lead us deeper into Your Kingdom.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” —Psalm 34:18

Amen.