"Peace - Just Looking" A Refection forthe 6th Sunday Easter

Peace - Just Looking Acts 15:1-2,22-29; Psalm 67:2-3,5, 6, 8; Rev 21:10-14,22-23; John 14:23-29

Thanks to Fr. John Kennedy for inspiring this reflection.

Peace is something we like to window shop "just looking for peace."

Humanity seems to shop for peace. 

Millions shout to sign a petition and are silent on human trafficking. We fight to define love and fail to bring peace to the abused and neglected. In the U.S., we fight over bathrooms and in other parts of the world people fight to remain alive.

Human peace hasn’t changed the world. 

True peace is in Christ. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

And, Jesus didn’t bring the change people expected.  

Many of Jesus’ disciples left because his teachings were not what they thought they should be.

Those closest to Jesus doubted, locked their doors in fear, huddled in despair and tried to go back to their old life. And, they witnessed the empty tomb.

His death on the cross and resurrection was victory over sin. It was not the overthrow of the tyranny of the Roman Empire. The people wanted revolution, insurgency, upheaval, rebellion and riots in the streets.

Jesus was not the messiah people expected.

Instead, Jesus brought peace. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

It seemed the early Church may have forgotten this. Some who had come down from Judea were telling the Christians at Antioch they could not be saved unless they were circumcised.

Who were the Judeans? How could they say what the Lord requires for salvation? The did not bring peace but unfeeling, hard-hearted and meddling directions. Instructions from their idea of God. A God who wanted a certain amount of flesh from your body before you can be saved.

It sounds hard. It doesn’t sound like peace. (A piece of flesh is not the peace of Jesus.)

Peace is found in the truth of Christ. This peace should be found in the Church. 

Christ’s Church should be a vision of heaven. It should gleam with the splendor of God. It should be radiant in the word of God; jeweled by the Holy Spirit and the sacraments. It does not need the sun or the moon. Its light is God and its lamp is the lamb.  

The Church is not there yet; because, it’s still in this world. Like the Judeans, believers still identify the will of God with the human will. God’s will is tagged to patriotism, hierarchism, capitalism, feminism, legalism, or the (-ism) of financial success. God’s will is given as a reason to leave a spouse, break a promise, and even kill.

We keep telling ourselves, we know the way to peace. We tie peace to the human will and neglect the will of God.

Human nature ignores peace. Believers can fall into the trap of forgetting Christ to worship the temporal and cultural fantasy that exists in humanity’s turmoil. “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.”

Humanity's idea of peace doesn’t bring change to the world. We're just shopping.

Real peace is the peace Jesus promised. The Father will send an advocate, the Holy Spirit that will give peace “not as the world gives peace.”

On the Epiphany, Pope Francis’ ended his homily with a prayer that all would find “the courage to be liberated from our illusions and our presumptions, and to seek courage in the humility of faith.”

My Brothers and Sisters this is where we find the peace of Christ.

Love: Follow Me - Homily Reflection 5th Sunday Easter

Love: Follow Me

Acts 14:21-27; Psalm 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13; Revelation 21:1-5a; John 13:31-33a, 34-35

They will know you are my disciples; by the love you have for one another.

During formation, the Bishop asks each deacon candidate “What is your theology? What will you preach?” I gave the only answer I knew “God is Love.” That’s what my daddy told me and that’s what my momma told me.

It’s the motto of my ministry. Y’all be good. Y’all be holy. Preach the Gospel by the way you live and love.

Love is Jesus ministry. Love is glorifying God. It’s in the directions Jesus gives, “Follow me.”

To follow Jesus is to love. It is the identity at the core of our Christian faith. Love in the humanity of Jesus, son of Mary, and love in the divine relationship with God the Father.

This is Love that most people have not found yet; even those who say they are “saved.” They are not "saved" from themselves.

We live in the world that tells us what to love. It tells us success is the most important thing. So our pride and self-centeredness closes the door to God’s love and opens the door for sin. The world can even fool us to mistake sin as love. This is the worldliness we need to be saved from.

The greatness of God’s love is that He doesn’t give up on us. God seeks us even in our imperfections. God’s love is who and why we are.

God’s love is at the deepest core of our identity. It is the reason we were created. For many, our own ego hides this love.

But, God is dwelling in us; you are the temple of God and scripture promises God will always be present. The presence of God is love and grace. We know these following the commandment Christ gave us.

Love one another. --- Love is not about us.

To know love, we must change and grow by faith and love in Him that is something more than ourselves.

God opens the door to faith. To knowing that you belong to Christ and are in His love and grace; turning to the love in you and away from sin.

Christian singer Matthew West has a song “Do Something.”  He sings about troubled world. He knows there needs to be a change. He sees poverty, abuse, and hate in the world. Disgusted he shakes his fist at heaven. “God, why don’t You do something?” God answered, “I did, I created you”

He created us from love, He created us for love, and our destiny is his eternal love. (Ilia Delio, "Love at the Heart of the Universe," Oneing, Vol. 1 No. 1 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2013), 22.)

Fight the sin of our pride and open your hearts to the love of Christ.

Work hard to keep it, fight the distractions of the world. And the Holy Spirit and grace will bring us to heart, mind, and love beyond our own.

This is conversion. This is being saved. This is being born again. No matter what you call it, this is the love in which God makes all things new.

Jesus invites us to God that is love.

We’re created for God and his love. God’s there, love’s there; keep looking.

Tell everyone about God’s love. Go out to the world and make disciples.

Love others enough to want them to find the love of Christ.

Never give up God’s love, even when others are trying to pull you away.

The truth of our faith is sharing the love that is Christ and his words,

Follow me.   

Follow Jesus. We’re never going to change the world by standing still. (Do Something by Matthew West)

That’s love. 

Our Particular Way - Homily Reflection 4th Sunday Easter

Our Particular Way

Acts 13:14, 43-52; Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5; Revelation 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30

I’m telling on myself. Last week we had a visiting priest.  He said when he was growing up; the priest in his parish considered it a mortal sin to wear blue jeans to church. They were work clothes not church clothes.

I had blue jeans on under my vestments. I said “When the Lord calls us he takes us with all our particularities.”

Then this week, I found this wisdom in the Catechism. By our Baptism, we are incorporated into Christ and are made to be sharers in our particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ.

Jesus told us, “You are to be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” We are called to witness our own particular way.

He calls us. He knows us. And we follow him as we are. Revelation describes “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.”

This multitude is us; but, it’s everyone. It is the poor, hungry, and homeless. He loves the unloved, abused and neglected. His sacrifice was for victims of war and the masses of refugees.

How do they hear his voice? How do they know the Gospel? It’s up us to “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel.”  

The apostles, the disciples, and those who followed Him would do as Jesus asked. Paul and Barnabas continued on to Antioch in Pisidia and almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 

Paul preached and people believed; but, things didn’t go well. Preaching the Good News upset the world view of the leaders. They argued against Paul and Barnabas. They stirred up a persecution against them. It was a messy situation for those preachers.

Life is messy. It is from the messiness of our own particular way we are called to proclaim the gospel.

It’s not going to be perfect. Preachers aren’t perfect. Preaching isn’t perfect words. Preaching is being good and it’s being holy. It’s the way we love others. Real preaching is done in the messy particulars of life.

We are called in our particular way, some to stand up to proclaim the gospel in front of the people; but, all are called by the way they live. We are to live and preach what we believe.

Share the good news in our particular way in this world. Live the gospel and people will hear His voice through our lives.

Every believer will witnesses to someone. Hearts are opened by love, even in the simplest way. Preachers have parents. Saints live in the world. Maybe your witness will be to a future saint.

Amen. We are all called to be preachers. We’re called to be an instrument of salvation; bringing His voice to the poor, the hungry, and the homeless; witnessing His love to the abused and the neglected; and speaking His peace to those who do not know peace.

Preach salvation and those who hear His voice will believe.

The world needs voices like St. John Paul II, Pope Francis, Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and Mother Angelica. They were called; lambs who heard His voice. Pray for those discerning vocation.

Pray we listen with joy to the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts. The world needs voices like yours and mine.

The word of the Lord continues to spread.

This week two laypeople stood before an audience including Bishop Duca, most of the priests, and many deacons from the Diocese. Two beautiful people proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ to a room full of preachers. This is one of the stories they shared.

A Bishop wished to have dinner with a Catechumen’s family before the Easter celebration. The Bishop arrived for dinner and was escorted to the dining room by the young son. Hanging on the wall was a painting of the Last Supper.

The Bishop complimented the painting. He tells the boy how the painting is a symbol of the family’s faith that preaches the gospel and witnesses to all who come to their table.

The boy says, “So you like the painting that’s going to make momma real happy. She brought it just for you when she heard you were coming for dinner.”

Preach the Gospel in our particular way.

The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. May each of you be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit in preaching the good news of Jesus Christ in your own particular way.

Y’all be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.

Best Friends - Reflection for 3rd Sunday Easter

Best Friends

Acts 5:27-32,40b-41; Psalm 30:2,4, 5-6,11-12,13;Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

I heard a preacher on the radio this week say, “Jesus is my best friend.”

It brought memories of Gorum Baptist Church where we sang, “What a friend we have in Jesus; all our sins and grief to bear! What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer!”

Alleluia and amen.

Every Christian should have Jesus as a best friend; but, how good of a friend are we?

Think about our lives and how good a friend we are to Jesus. It can be disheartening. We remember Jesus when we need. We pray when our sins become too great. We seek him in our grief. The rest of the time, most of us live our regular lives.

Peter and the apostles, they were Jesus best friends.

One betrayed him.

The others went fishing.

Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.”

After discovering the empty tomb, Peter and the apostles went fishing.

They knew he was the messiah and the Son of God. They heard him prophesy and found the tomb empty. Jesus was their best friend and they went back to everyday life.

Everyday life has a tendency to keep us from Jesus. It’s the same problem most of us have; life in this world!

We want so much. We want to make an impact on the world, friends, or family. But, the world sees us as points on the timeline of forever; a moment in history’s existence. 

That’s not how God sees us. He knows us and sees our greatness.

“Do you love me?” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Something happened at that point in the timeline of history by the Sea of Tiberias.

Maybe the apostles sang “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me” as they rowed to the shore. This was a point of conversion.

Jesus said “Follow me,” Peter’s and the apostles’ lives changed. Later, at Pentecost embolden by the Holy Spirit, they left their lives as fisherman to become a fishers of men.

Being a point on the timeline of history is not a bad thing, if we do as Jesus asks “Follow me.” 

A line starts at a single point. The middle is a single point. The end is a single point. An arrow is shot from a single point on the bow. A moment is a single point. The single points make a difference. 

To make a difference, our point must point towards Jesus Christ.

Jesus consistently asks us "follow me.” Hearts are changed in those who say yes.

Follow Jesus and hearts are changed. They go from mourning to dancing. Changed men, led by Peter, stood up and said, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Get out of the boat. Stop being a non-discreet point in history. Be the point that is the arrow pointing to God.  Be one that shows the way to a divine relationship with Christ. Every point is a new beginning of something.

What happened on that seashore was the point the apostles opened themselves to a new relationship with Christ. It was the apex of a new friendship with Jesus and a union with God.

As Jesus’ friends, why do we only go to Him in grief and despair? Why are we afraid to be identified with his name? It’s easier to go back to our non-discreet timeline of everyday life in this world.

Jesus asks "Do you love me?" That's the point friendship with Jesus goes both ways. 

Our friendship with Jesus dances as part of everything in the universe that cries out: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb - blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever.”

Pointing others to God is the greatest point to make on the timeline of history. Our friendship with Jesus is what points to the divine.

Instead of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” a new song - “What a friend Jesus has in me; I sing his love and charity! I praise His salvation and redemption. What a friend Jesus has in me.”

Y’all be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.

"The Question" Reflection for 2nd Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday

The Question

Acts 5:12-16;  Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19;  John 20:19-31

In the Acts of the Apostles we read, “Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles.”

Signs and wonders are not things of the past.

A friend told me about his friend’s sister. His friend is a Baptist preacher; and, the preacher’s sister converted to Catholicism. It began with a question to a priest about the Catholic faith. Signs and wonders are still working through Christ’s apostles.

My friend then asked me the question, “What do Catholic’s believed?”

My reply, “I believe in God the Father….” He was amazed, it was what he believed.

He asked about the Blessed Virgin Mary, it's the question you’ve all heard in one way or another. “Do Catholics worship Mary?” Then we discussed the real presence. He liked my answers.

My greatest failure was that I didn't tell him about Mercy. This is the Year of Mercy. This is Divine Mercy Sunday and I failed to talk about mercy.

I should have explained how we are justified by faith through God’s Divine Mercy. This is grace. We do not receive Grace by our performance, works, or future plans. Grace is the source of mercy. Grace, the source of our faith which is a deep confidence in a loving God, comes to us as Divine Mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the truth of Jesus. This is the good news the apostles preached. It is the gospel that attracts believers like the sister of a friend of my friend. “More than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women were added to them.”

Today believers have lost their way, but many returned to their faith and home to the Lord. 

Believers come from Christian churches outside our faith. These are believers who have discovered the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

There are believers who came to believe from unbelief. Think of the courage it takes to leave family and friends to follow Christ.

They come to believe because Christ has touched them. Their hearts have reached out to God, The Holy Spirit has thrust their hands into the side of Christ. They believe, “Do not be afraid…. I am alive forever and ever.”

They are believers. They no longer doubt, praying “My Lord and my God.”

Remember, I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me, when someone asked you the question, “What do you believe?”

Have confidence in the Lord’s words, “Do not be afraid….” The nail marks of Christ are in the hearts of believers. It is our faith. Believe and testify with life; don’t hide behind locked doors. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and through this belief you have life in his name.

“Many signs and wonders will be done.” They are not things of the past. Live out loud in the signs and wonders of your faith and belief in Jesus Christ.

When someone comes with the question, by God’s grace and the Divine Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord speaks for us. He removes our fears and doubts with “Peace be with you....”

Y’all be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen

Common Stuff - Homily Easter Sunday

Common Stuff
ACTS 10:34A, 37-43; 1 COR 5:6B-8; JN 20:1-9

Each of us has something in common with the apostles from that first Easter morning. What can it be?

Breakfast – not all of us had breakfast; we don’t know about the apostles. Possibly, it is coffee; no coffee for the apostles. In the gospel, they all got up and went for a run. Nope, I didn’t run.

The mother might think, “It’s getting everybody up and dressed to come to Jesus just like Mary.” That’s a good suggestions but I don’t think that’s it.

Maybe, it’s belief. The disciple Jesus loved “saw and believed.” I’m not sure what he believed except that Jesus wasn’t in the tomb. The gospel says “He did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”

Mary believed. She believed that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. She ran to the first person she saw and asked what had happened to the body of Jesus.  

Peter believed, probably, that Mary was a hysterical woman.

The gospel doesn’t tell us what Peter believed. He ran to the tomb with a “show me” attitude. What Peter sees makes him think; but, he did not yet understand the Scripture.

Peter doesn’t go and gather the apostles saying let’s start Jesus’ Church. He doesn’t go immediately and preach the Gospel. I think Peter, known to be a hot head, was mad; so he gets his friends and goes fishing.

In three years with Jesus, the apostles heard Jesus prophesy, saw miracles, and recognized Him as the Son of God. Yet, at the empty tomb did they understand, Jesus was risen.

Amazingly, it might not be belief we have in common with the apostles. We believe Jesus has risen. Maybe we can figure it out by the other readings.

Peter who went fishing speaks in the Acts of the Apostles. “He commissioned us to preach and testify that he is the one appointed by God.”

Paul wasn’t one of the original 12, but he persecuted Christ. Paul writes, “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”

It seems their understanding was awakened.

That’s it. THEY WOKE UP AND GOT OUT OF BED.

They woke up that Easter morning just like we did this Easter morning. They went to find Jesus. We came to find Jesus. Alleluia! We open our eyes to the promise of Easter morning.

A lot of people have things in common with the apostles. It is true in the United States and all over the world. People get up on Easter morning. They go to find Jesus and find an empty tomb.

Some go home. Some go back to sleep. Some go fishing for something else. Some speak against the Church. We all react different because we believe but we don’t understand.

Belief isn’t easy.

I presided at a funeral for a young man who died in a horrific accident. Speaking with his mother she said that he went to mass some of the time. Mostly, he had fallen away. He was well read and well educated. I wondered if this caused him not to believe.

I asked his mother about her son’s beliefs. She said I know he believed because he was always mad at God.

During my life, I have been mad at God and I know others with the same feelings. We believe but we don’t understand.

So many times we’re still asleep; but, the wonderful thing is we can wake up.

Jesus Christ is risen. He is alive. Because he is alive he comes to us. He comes to us in the love and charity we have for each other. He comes in the justice we bring to the world. He comes to us in the face of the poor, the suffering, the persecuted, and the marginalized.

When people come to St. Lawrence they don’t find an empty tomb but God’s temple alive with Christ.

I pray those looking for Jesus find him. I pray they find Jesus in our faces. I pray they find believers that live and preach the gospel of Christ. I pray those angry with God lose their anger and wake up to his mercy. I pray we all wake up to the promise of Easter.

Christ is risen so everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name. His mercy endures forever, even for those of us who are still asleep.

Y’all be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen

One Great Story - Holy Saturday Homily

One Great Story
GN 1:1—2:2; ROM 6:3-11; LK 24:1-12

My friend Jennifer tells about a Holy Saturday Mass she attended in Arizona and how beautiful it was. The liturgy readings began and the 1^st reading from Genesis was a beautiful recitation from memory by a religious sister. At the verse God created the stars; a child came out and threw gold glitter in the air.

Picture it. It makes me smile. Thanks Jennifer, that’s a great story.

Tonight I want to tell One Great Story. It’s about our original blessing.

You’re not going to find much on original blessing in the Catechism, PSR or Sunday school books. They focus more on original sin. 

God does it differently. Original blessing comes before original sin in the Bible. We were blessed before we ever sinned. It’s in the first book the first readings of Genesis.

God said let us create man in our image in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Created in God’s image, that’s a blessing.

God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.  Being found very good by God, that’s a blessing.

Then God blessed them, saying: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.” Amen my brothers and sister, that’s God’s original blessing..

Sin came, our sin, original sin. It wasn’t created by God. God didn’t look at sin and say “It is good.” Sin is a human creation. We brought sin upon our self.

Even though sin entered the world, God’s mercy continued to bless those who believed. It’s one great story, our salvation. And, we don’t have to be perfect to be part of the story.

We have God beside us. God does not give up on us, He is always with us.

Helen Keller who was born blind and deaf said, “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in light.”

For a long time, that is the way God chosen people lived - walking in the darkness of sin with God’s protections

Then God sent his light: The Light of Christ. Jesus Christ, our salvation, came as the light of the world to erase the darkness of sin.

The Gospel starts, “at daybreak on the first day of the week.”

Daybreak, the Son has risen. The light of the world has come. And those who believe know these things:

• The tomb’s empty
• Death’s been overcome
• Jesus Christ is victory over sin,
• The blessing of Christ’s salvation is greater than any our sins have taken away. 

That is why the Easter Proclamation, Exult! It means rejoice my brothers and sisters.

Our baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, washes away the original sin. We reveal our original blessing.  

Imagine that little girl running out and throwing glitter into the air; because, in Jesus Christ, God has thrown the stars in the sky. We are no longer in the darkness of sin.

Rejoice Catechumens. You celebrate tonight your relationship with Christ and his church by receiving the Holy Sacraments. Rejoice!

Rejoice every one! Rejoice because in faith we grow in our union with Him. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are living for God in Christ Jesus. It’s one great story for us all.

Rejoice, the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty! Rejoice in the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ. Rejoice because our sins are forgiven and we reclaim God’s original blessing.

In his mercy, God looks at us and finds it very good.  

I’m going to end my homily the same way the Gospel ends.  Go home and be amazed at what has happened.

Amen.

"Do Better, That's It" A Passion Sunday Reflection

Do Better, That’s It

Luke 19:28-40; Isaiah 50:4-7;  Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24;  Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Sister Augusta is a Daughter of St. Paul and in March 2016, she turned 100 years old. Sister summarizes faith, “We are with Jesus. Jesus is with us. We are with Jesus. That’s it.”

These are simple words given to a convoluted world. A world of whatever goes politics and religious practices, agnostics, and atheist. It’s a world that smiles when it is called post-Christian. It’s quickly becoming a post-justice world; a world that practices injustice under the guise of advancement.

Injustice against people or groups is rampant in this world. It’s injustice that treats people as if they’re nonmembers of the human family. Bias against the color of a person’s skin, cultural identity, or social status denies them dignity. In this world, neighbor harbors hate, bigotry, and prejudice against neighbor.

It’s not Christian no matter how you package it. It’s injustice influenced by sin that even causes Christians to stumble. It’s the injustice Jesus faced. Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

We know we’ve got to do better; but, what is better? Is better what’s best for self? If it’s better for me, it has to be better for the world. It’ll be better for my children. And we make better in our image of better; a better that usually profits us.

It’s better at the expense of our neighbors. Its better whispered from darkness; darkness that whispers against Jesus. Day after day I was with you in the temple and you did not seize me; but this is your hour, the time for the power of darkness.”

The darkness uses the world. Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, even though they had been enemies. There's a political saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". Today, do we know the enemy.

Herod and Pilate were in agreement on Jesus in opposition to the Sanhedrin. Herod and Pilate didn't like the Jewish Temple authorities. And the Jewish  authorities didn't like them. This strengthened their ties. Neither found Jesus guilty, they gave the decision back to the peoples.

The whole assembly brought charges saying, “We found this man misleading our people; and maintains that he is the Christ, a king.” The decision was religious and political.

It fulfilled prophesy of Psalms 2:1-2: Why do the nations protest and the peoples conspire in vain? Kings on earth rise up and princes plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one...

It is prophesy for today. Nations and peoples conspire. Politicians plot against God, humanity, and the Christian faith. The influences of sin, corruption, power, fanaticism, and betrayed trust stain our world and always brings injustice.

Christ’s passion and the cross were to correct wrong. The world hungers for Christ; but, we choose Barabbas. We look to politicians, cultural divas, and those who scream loudest; even if they scream injustice. They make better in their own image.

There are true disciples out there. Jesus said, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!  Pope Francis lives this; he words testify the Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint.

All of us are called to be disciples, humbling and emptying ourselves to God, being God’s servant making the world better through Christ. We won’t find better in politics or celebrity or attention hogs. We bring better to the world when we bring Christ.

How do we do this? According to 100 year young, Sr. Augusta, it’s simple, “We are with Jesus. Jesus is with us. We are with Jesus. That’s it.”

In Jesus, we do better, that’s it!

Y’all be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.

Just Doodling - Sunday Reflection - 5th Sunday of Lent

Just Doodling  Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11

Dt 9:10 - The LORD gave me the two stone tablets inscribed, by God’s own finger...

February 5 was National Doodle Day. Doodles, those little drawings we make without thinking. They reveal our subconscious and inner thoughts. Most of the time, doodles come from boredom.

When we doodle, we draw whatever we like. Our doodles are individual to us and to our lives. Amazingly, different people will doodle similar things and this allows the experts to analyze them.

I doodled. My favorite doodle was a curved road map that went all along the margins of my paper. I put in flowers, trees, cars, airplanes, and direction signs with arrows and zigzags.

I am happy to share that psychologist say flowers and trees show a person who is family centered and warm hearted. The curves reflect harmony and love. The vehicles, arrows, and zigzags are symbols of a determined energized mind that needs to be challenged. 

Another symbol of determination that I would draw in the margins of my note book was a cross.

Early in the morning he arrived in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. And they questioned Jesus on The Law.

And, Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. Jesus inscribes in the earth a doodle by God's own finger!

Maybe, he was bored with the scribes and Pharisees always challenging him, trying to catch him by his words or actions contrary to the Law of Moses. But, Jesus was not challenged and caught them in hypocrisy.  

“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.”  With these words, Jesus points out that they don’t keep the Law of Moses; and, the finger of God begins to doodle again. 

Jesus did a great thing for the woman. By his words of justice, mercy, and repentance, she can stand by him at the end.

Although it’s not written in the Gospel, Jesus did a great thing for all the people present. By his words of justice, mercy, and repentance, they leave with the task to examine their conscious and draw closer to God. 

The Lord has done great things for us.  Even greater, the Lord does great things for us!

We should try to live the example of this gospel: Come to the Lord, examine our conscious, ask forgiveness and reconciliation, go and from now on do not sin any more.

Like the woman in the Gospel, the Lord allows us to stand near him. The Lord gives the supreme good of knowing Jesus Christ; no matter what rubbish we’ve lived through. We may gain Christ and be found in him. Forget what lies behind but strain towards what lies ahead … the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah prophesied the Lord, Remember not the events of the past … I am doing something new!  He makes us new. By his justice and mercy the Lord continues to do great things for us!

I wonder what Jesus doodled. I’m sure Jesus’ doodle showed determination; maybe, he drew “The Cross.”

Y’all be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.

"What is That?" - Sunday Reflection - 4th Sunday Lent

What is That?  Joshua 5:9a,10-12;  Psalm 34:2-3,4-5,6-7;  2 Corinthians 5:17-21;  Luke 15:1-3,11-32

There was a father and a son. By the father, the son was promised prosperity; yet, he desired the world.

The son did not honor his father. He took his inheritance and misspent it. Ultimately, he was punished by his own hand, living in poverty, starving, and near death. He didn’t think he was worthy to return to his father.

Dying from hunger, the son returned to be a servant in his father's house so he could eat. Seeing his son, the father rushed to meet him. He killed a fatted calf to celebrate his son’s return; giving forgiveness and reconciliation to the son.

Instead of being happy by the mercy of the father and the return of the prodigal son, the brother said, “What is that?”  I’ve been the perfect son. You never did this for me.

The prodigal son was not perfect, just forgiven.

After being rescued from Egypt, God led the Israelites to the Promised Land.  But, they weren’t happy. The people didn’t accept the mercy of God. 

They desired things of the world. They praised what they had in Egypt instead of praising God. Instead of honoring God, the Israelites took what God gave them and squandered it. In punishment they brought upon themselves, the Israelites wandered in the desert, always hungry and near death.

Starving they turned to God. God gave them food. They weren’t perfect, just forgiven.

Philosopher Eleanor Stump writes, “When the food first showed up on the ground, the Israelites said, “Mah Na,” words in their language for “What is that?” and manna is what it came to be called.”

What is that? We asked this question a lot about God’s mercy. We can’t seem to accept it. So we throw away the gift that is the riches of mercy from our Heavenly Father.

God never changes. The Father gives himself and in that is the gift of the Son; the gift that is never taken away. He never takes away his mercy.

Paul tells us that God reconciles the world to himself in Christ. God does not count our trespasses.

The problem is we count our trespasses.

Mercy, what is that?  I don’t deserve; because. I am not the loyal son, Pharisee or Scribe. .

Mercy is not what I deserve. But, it is what God gives.

God’s mercy is realized in our reconciliation. It is waiting to feed us the fatted calf and parched grain of reconciliation. Mercy is the Father’s arms and the Promised Land.

Recognize the message of mercy and be open to reconciliation. We are the lost son, tax collector and sinner. We don’t have to be perfect, just forgiven.

God entrusts us with this message of reconciliation. We are his ambassadors to the world.

“Y’all be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love.” Amen