Here I Am - Reflection 3rd Sunday of Lent

(Readings)

My friend Deacon Clary Nash tells that he begins each day with this prayer. “Here I am LORD.”

I try to do the same.

When God called out “Moses, Moses.” Moses answered “Here I am.”

God answered Moses the same way. 

Moses asked “what shall I tell them is your name,” God answered “I am who am…. This is my name forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations.”

The word “am” is the present form of to be.  

"I am who am" means God exists. "I am who am" means God is being. "I am who am" is yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

If we answer, “Here I am, LORD.”  We are answering –  I exist in your being, LORD.

We can only answer with the uniqueness of who we are. It is all we have to offer God.

It doesn’t have to something big. It can be the smallest of talents but as a child of God, it only has to be given with love to touch the heart of those who need.

That is the message of the parable.  The LORD God has planted his being in each of us.

We either bear fruit in the gifts and talents we have as children of God and Christians; or, we do not. Jesus warns us about when we do not.

Each and every person alive can say “Here I am.” But, that does not promise eternal life. If their life fails to be in Christ they may think they are standing secure but should take care not to fall.

If you are looking to be in Christ and to exists in God’s will answer “Here I am Lord.“

We can begin everyday with that prayer. To be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live your life and love another. Amen.

Stand Firm - Reflection 2nd Sunday of Lent

Readings

Abram put his faith in God.

For that act righteousness, God promised Abram, he would be the father of many, the father of nations with descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. So numerous, they would be impossible to count.

Abram made a covenant with God.

Despite all his faults, Abraham stood firm in his covenant with God. And despite all their faults, many of Abraham’s descendants remain faithful to God

That is an amazing thing. Those of us are parents and grandparents realize that no matter how hard we try to raise our children to live the life that we expect them to have it doesn’t always work out.

We hope they have the same faith, the same beliefs, the same values, and true morals and just causes; but, sometimes we can be disappointed.

Our children are their own persons. They live their own life experiences.

From their experiences of God and others and the experiences of life, they become who they are. And yes, we who are the parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and influencers in their life are in that make up as well. We compete with all these other things.  

That is the place the apostle Paul was coming from as he preached to the Philippians. Brothers and sisters conduct your selves after the model of us, after the model of true believers, after the models of the followers of Christ.

Paul stated many conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. There god is their stomach. Their glory is shame.

Their God is what they find in this world.

Paul tells believers: stand firm.

The change needed to change the world’s impact on our lives is something more than this world. A true change is a personal experience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just like the experience of Peter, James, and John. These three men have been with Christ, his disciples; they were the inner circle. They lived at the heart of his teaching. They knew what he believed.  

They knew who he was; but it took this transfiguration to really bring home to them that Jesus was more than just a mere man. He was more than just a Messiah that would bring civil revolution to the world.

When the cloud descended upon the mountain, the face of Jesus changed. The way these three men saw Jesus changed.

Jesus was filled with the light of God, the light of the Christ. And a voice from heaven said this is my beloved son in whom I am proud, do as he says. They were in the presence of the living and incarnate God.

These three men witnessed the most marvelous event were afraid when the cloud descended and the heard the voice of God.  

They stood their ground.

What about us?

Today people experience God in ever day miracles and small ways. Every breath we take, every day we live, and every person we love. In all the things that make our small little world livable in this infinite creation, people fail to give credit to God.

We give credit to the gods of our stomachs. People regard these miracles and gifts the results of our own labors our own talents.

And then there’s a crisis or devastating illness, we search for something greater than the small everyday miracles and demand more. We turn to God ignoring all He has done for us and ask for instantaneous miracles.

No miracle is impossible for God.

But our lack of faith can make it impossible for us to realize the existence of these miracles. God’s miracles go unnoticed.

In these times, we must stand firm.

Instead, some will question God. God didn’t grant the miracles we demand.

Miracles can happen in an instant, but most miracles happen over a lifetime or generations or over the course of history.

The greatest miracle is God coming into a person’s life. The miracle is the presence of peace and joy in the time of crisis. It is the miracle of Jesus, Emanuel God is with us.

Build in our hearts a place for the one true God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Open our hearts to the light to come. That is the greatest of miracles. It is the answer to the question.

Friends during this season of Lent prepare a place for the Lord.

He will change us. We will come to conform to his glorified body. He brings us closer to him so we may all stand firm in the Lord.

Stand firm, for other's see God in our lives and the examples of our lives and our love. Through our lives He can live in others.

Stand firm, be good,  be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live and love one another. Amen.

The Battle of the Word - Homily 1st Sunday of Lent - C

(Readings)

Studying the gospel this week, something stuck in my mind. It was a rhyme from my childhood. Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Our mother’s taught it to us when we were young. My mother gave those words to a little boy picked on by older kids.

Since this rhyme stuck in my mind, I knew there was more to it, so I googled it. I couldn’t find the origin. I did find that it was part of an article in The Christian Recorder Magazine during Lent in March 1862.

The article’s words were - Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.  And it added this - True courage consists in doing what is right, despite the jeers and sneers of our companions.

This is a great message for this Lent.

The truth is that words will never harm us; but, the Word of God will save us;  …if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Many will profess this faith but they lack courage. They are afraid of words others will say. It becomes a battle of words.

The gospel shares the greatest battle of words found in the temptation of Christ.  It is the Battle of the Word; a battle between the Word of God and the words of temptation of the Devil.

After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness and filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus was tempted by the Devil.

The Devil taunts Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, prove it!” The Devil tempts Jesus with pleasures of the body and riches, power, and glory.

The devil was tempting Jesus, testing God, and the Devil failed.

The Devil failed because he has no power over God and the Holy Spirit. When you and I confess Jesus Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Devil has no power over us. In that, we can find courage.

All the Devil has is words; but words are all it takes for those afraid of the opinions, jeers, and sneers of this world. Words are all it takes for temptation to overtake the weak. Look only to the leaders of our country.

If you turned on the news Ash Wednesday, many of our nation’s political leaders had ashes on their foreheads. Ashes would have been a great example if they realized they were sinners. It would have been a great example if they wore ashes to repent for falling for the temptations of the Devil.

But sadly, most only hear the words of the Devil’s empty promises for pleasure, riches, power, and glory. Our leaders, who say they are Catholic and lawmakers who say they follow Christ, fall to temptations.  

And, they wear their ashes. They disrespect the Eucharist, receiving the body and blood of Christ and in the next instant champion the killing of the innocent.

The faithful ask how they can do this. Remember, even the devil admitted Jesus was the “Son of God.”

Our leaders say they are against abortion but can't tell another what to believe. Misguided by the devil, they believe their words are courage.

Instead, they are words that pierce the side of Jesus once more. They crucify Christ, The Word of God, again and again.

True courage consists of doing right despite the sneers and jeers of the world. It is proclaiming Christ, the Word of God, again and again. Christians must have true courage.

Like the courage of Jesus who told the Devil “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test."

We see this test in politicians and our country’s leaders. But also, it is in us. The words of temptation may not be as big; but, all people can put the Lord our God to the test by their words and deeds.

Inside each of our hearts is a battle between the Word of God and the words of temptation of the Devil. People don’t want to hear the Word of God. They are afraid of what others will say. 

Remember a mother’s advice. Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Words never harm us unless we fall for the temptation of the Devil’s words.

My friends, if we confess Jesus Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Devil has no power over us.

Instead have courage.

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

We are the Church - Homily 8th Sunday OTC

(Readings)

Recently, my company has required every person in our department take a basic skills course. Most of us have years of experience. Many have advanced degrees and a multitude of professional certifications.

The experienced folks complete the training. However, the younger people complain. They don’t need to be reminded of what they know. Maybe it’s good for the old folks; but for them, it’s a waste of time.

It’s amazing how people tend to blame instead of recognizing their own weaknesses and negativity.

The wisdom of experience tells us that a person can get lazy. Short cuts become habits. True knowledge is corrupted by personal opinion and opinions of others.

So, the company asks us to re-learn, refocus, and re-dedicate ourselves. We are to be the best and truest representation of our profession and the company.

It is a good idea.

It is a good idea in our life of faith.

For many, it’s been years since we completed catechism. Look around, many are experienced in our faith.  We know and see every day how the devil in this world is trying to corrupt us.

People of faith are bombarded by the right or wrong of others. Secular views encourage us to bad habits in our faith. We become lazy in practicing what we believe. Even our knowledge of the Catechism has become corrupted by our own opinion and the opinion of others.

Yet, we are all here at mass in faith to worship the LORD. Most of us could teach being Catholic and Christian. Our faith is verified by our experiences in this life.

But whether we realize it or not, we may be tainted by the world or by our habits and laziness. From that damaged place, the world criticizes the Church. It critiques the log that is in our eye.

It criticizes the leaders and clergy in their human sinfulness, and even the institution. The world criticizes us, which in truth is where the criticism probably belongs.

We are the Church.

People tend to blame ever thing else that is the Church instead of recognizing our own shortcomings, weaknesses, and negativity. Deacon Bill Goss is a face that people can put on the Church, but Deacon Bill Goss is not the Church.

I realize many shortcomings and weaknesses as a Catholic Christian.  I constantly fight the negativity that I see in myself and the world.

We share this; we who are the Church. 

This Church is everyday Bill(s) and Janet(s) and Paul(s) and Mary(s), Catholic Christians that are single people, spouses, parents, grandparents, children, siblings, friends, neighbors, volunteers, employees, and so many other things.

Since the Church is each and every one of us, I challenge you to go back to re-learn, refocus, and re-dedicate yourselves to our faith. We must be the best and truest representation of the Church if we are to bring the Church to the world.

This may be what Jesus was telling us in the parable, "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”

If you think you know everything about Church, faith, or God; your god is too small.

Each and every one of us should consider this wisdom of Sirach in taking our faith, putting in the sieve of the Catechism, shake it, and see what husks appear.  

Maybe, we will see what the world has put in us. Maybe we will remember what God asks of us. So we can “be firm, steadfast, fully devoted to the work of the Lord”

Just because we need to improve does not mean we are not good; instead be humble enough to recognize we may be part of the problem.  Every tree is known by its own fruit.  The fruit will show the care it has had.

If our love, our faith, our hope, our church settles for the status quo where will the world be, where will the church be, and where will we be?

This Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten season, go to mass, go to confession, go to retreats or study groups to re-learn, refocus, and re-dedicate our lives to God.

Masters or doctorates or fancy degrees are not required, only a loving heart.

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

Attitude Adjustment - Homily 7th Sunday OTC

Readings

David and Abishai snuck into Saul’s camp walking past the best soldiers in Israel to find Saul. They found him sleeping and at Saul’s head was his spear thrust into the ground. They could have taken so much; but, all they did was take the spear and a jug of water.

That spear was the sign of Saul’s kingship. Water to anyone who lives in the desert is life. Symbolically David took Saul’s kingship and life.

Saul’s kingship had become about Saul; he had fallen asleep forgetting God.  

Yet, David stood on a hilltop and said, Even though God delivered Saul into my hands, I will not harm the anointed one of God. Saul can have these back.

Using David, God gave Saul an attitude adjustment.

Many of us had parents who threaten with an attitude adjustment when we misbehaved. As a child, it was all about me.

In college, a young lady said to me, “You must be a football player.”

I asked “How can you tell?” Surely, it was my muscles and physique.

But she answered, “You have that attitude. You walk like a football player.”

I just knew she was hinting for a date, so I asked her out. Her reply was curt, “I don’t go out with football players.” She told me in a roundabout way, I needed an attitude adjustment.

I didn’t recognize it. I left walking the way she described. My chest was puffed up, nose in the air, and proud because I was as a football player. It was all about me.

She was right. I needed an attitude adjustment.

Today, I’m a Deacon, a minister of the Lord. Sometime or somehow, I must have changed. But the devil knows your weaknesses and always presents temptation. Even though I strive to be a servant, it’s easy to be tempted when “it’s about me.”

I look to see how many have read my blog or how many views, likes, and shares the Church’s Facebook or Twitter account receives. I like it just a little too much when someone says “I enjoyed your homily Deacon.” Hearing good things about our church and ministries build the ego and “it’s all about me.”

I need an attitude adjustment.

All these things can be labeled Church or ministry or Christian or Catholic, but are they what Jesus instructed us to do. Jesus asked us to love. In his love you find nothing on “it’s all about me.”

Jesus can change the arrogance of self. He can change our attitude to live the greatest commandment: love the LORD our God with all that we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Last Sunday, the beatitudes introduced us to Jesus’ attitude adjustment. Today’s gospel is its continuation and Jesus tells us “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Then we hear this famous attitude adjustment that a Christian is to make: If a person strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well….

These are hard things for us to do. The problem is our attitude is formed by this world. Everything tends to be conditional, even love. We only want to love if we are loved in return.

Jesus knows this about us. Jesus came to change us.

If you love only those who love you or do good only to those who do good to you, should you get any special praise for doing that?…. Instead, love your enemies and do good to them expecting nothing back…

That is the opposite of the way we think. We profess a Christian faith but have problems loving those against us. We only want to love those who love us back.

We forget all are children of God; all are created by God. We are created by God to endure in this earthly image and carry in us a heavenly one.  

By the love Jesus teaches, we can recognize the image of God in one another. He himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. If we love God, we must love all created in the image of God.  We are to be merciful to others just as our Heavenly Father is merciful to us.

With this love comes the ability to recognize that blessed are the poor, the hungry, and those who weep. Love is the condition we need to recognize that blessed are those who are hated and insulted because they love as Jesus loved.  

St. Paul said in scripture, “Be of the same mind, the same love, and united in heart by putting on the attitude of Jesus Christ.”(Phil 2:1-5)

Christ’s love “it’s not about me.” Jesus did not say for us to love ourselves, our accomplishments, and our egos. Jesus said love one another.  

Love the poor, the stranger, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and those in prison. He even told us to love our enemies. Love others by wanting for them what we want for ourselves; to stop judging and condemning others and to be a forgiving, generous, and loving person.  

We have this when our attitude choice is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and our entire mind; and love our neighbor as ourselves.

But that’ lacking in the world where politics, celebrities, and even our neighbors live their lives with an “all about me” attitude. 

Modern day Christians profess a personal relationship with Jesus but for many this is an “all about me” relationship. They say they are his disciple but their noses are in the air and chests puffed out. They fallen asleep to their anointing.

That relationship with Christ is about how we love one another. In that, the entire world needs this attitude adjustment. It begins with you and me.

Be good, be holy and love one another. Amen.

Believer or Disciple - Reflection 6th Sunday OTC

(readings)

We can all say that we are believers. Not all can say they are disciples.

I have been considering this for some time, because, I see many believers in Church.  I see many who profess belief in Christ on the street.

I don’t see many disciples in the world. Because being a disciple is about living what you believe. You can be a sinner, the church is for sinners. You can be lost, the church is for the lost.

You cannot be a hypocrite. A hypocrite is one who professes they are a Christian but does not try to live a life as Jesus instructed us.

It is easy to become a hypocrite because people believe in many things.  People believe in God. People believe in Jesus Christ. People believe in the Devil. People believe in all the things that are of this world. People believe false prophets, false teachers, false doctrines, or they believe in nothing.

A person can believe in God but be a disciple of the evil one. A person can believe in Jesus Christ, but be a disciple of this world. A person can believe and be a disciple of nothing.

Being a disciple of Christ is much more than just believing.  Being his disciple is following the instruction and participating in all Jesus gave us; the beatitudes, the greatest commandment, the Eucharist, and the sacraments.

In the scripture immediately before today’s gospel Jesus went to the mountain and spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and chose Twelve to be named apostles.

Then he went down from the mountain and gave the most important and influential sermon of all times, that is today’s Gospel.

The Sermon on the Mount was a teaching for all to hear, but it was instructions Jesus was specifically giving to his disciples. Jesus raised his eyes toward his disciples said: “Blessed are you who are poor; the hungry, and those who mourn; Blessed are you when people hate you, exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.”

Jesus instructed them further by warning ones that followed him that being a disciple is not about riches or power or celebrity.

“Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

The prophet Jeremiah warned, “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.”

And the Psalms tell us: Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the LORD.

Being a disciple of Jesus is more than just believing, it’s imitating Christ in the world; by living the beatitudes. It is living the greatest commandment to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Being a disciple of Christ is to love God with all that you are and to love your neighbor. 

It is to love in a way that allows you die to the greed and avarice of this world and its false prophets and disciples so you can rise up to bring Christ to the world.

Being a disciple is more than just believing, it’s living the instruction Jesus gave. It is participating in the Eucharist and the sacraments.  It is to believe in the real presence, the real body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

Being a disciple is to participate and believe in the sacraments. They are the same sacraments given to the apostles and the Church by Jesus.  It is through them that we the Church of Jesus disciples continue to participate in his life.  

Being a disciple is following the instruction Jesus gave.

After Jesus rose from the tomb, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.  

Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Disciples, Jesus is looking at us.

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

Dismissed - Homily 5th Sunday OTC

(Readings)

Tuesday, I visited a manufacturing plant in Shreveport. The plant manager told that he is from NW Ohio; so, being curious, I asked how he got to Shreveport.

He said for 20 years he worked for a large company. His employer was opening plants in Russia and wanted him to get the plants started.  

He refused to go so the company dismissed him (fired). Six years ago, he wound up in Shreveport.

As he told this story, we walked by a thermometer that read 80 degrees. He stopped, took a picture, and texted his daughter in NW Ohio. There, it was 5 degrees. This time of year in Moscow, Russia, temperatures average 19 degrees. That’s cold.

He thanks God for Shreveport.

Combine his story with the readings and I am reminded me of something from Deacon Formation that after the Eucharist, dismissal is a most important part of mass.

“Mass” means the dismissal. 

• ·        Go in Peace.
• ·        Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
• ·        Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
• ·        Go forth, the Mass is ended.

I use an older version, Go in peace to love and serve the LORD.

These words are more than just saying “it’s time to go.” They are a call to mission. Take the Eucharistic in us, the Christ in us and live as an imitation of Christ in the world.

Do we or are we like Isaiah, Paul, and Peter and feel we are not worthy?

Isaiah -"Woe is me, I am doomed! I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips….

Paul -I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle…..

Peter -Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.

Our words are similar before we receive Christ, repeating the words of the Roman centurion: “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof….”

This unworthiness is not about shame. It’s easy to mistake the two. Unbelievers do.

True believers are not ashamed of God, faith, or what we believe. Feelings of unworthiness come from a realization of our insignificance after we experience God.   

Isaiah, Paul, Peter and each of us compare who we are and what we are to the God experience. Coming to mass, drawing closer to God, and partaking in the body of Christ is experiencing God in a way that allows us to understand we are far less than God.

To experience God is peace, forgiveness, and joy. Nowhere is shame.

Prophets, apostles, and true believers wonder how we could ever be worthy to bring the experience of God to His creation. All the earth is filled with His glory. We realize this, are afraid and feel unworthy.

Jesus said, "Do not be afraid.” God’s grace allows us to know the limits of our humanity, St. Paul said, I am what I am.

In spite of our limits, God’s grace is not ineffective. God’s grace is upon wicked and sinful people like Isaiah, Paul, Peter, and us. God’s grace makes us worthy. 

The Lord asks "Whom shall I send? “ Friends, answer, "Here I am Lord, send me!"

Bring what you have; all Peter had was a boat and fishing net. What we bring may not be fancy but God’s grace is enough.

After, that meeting in Shreveport, several people went to lunch. The manager bowed his head and asked blessing, a simple powerful message.

So, at the end of mass when the Deacon or Priests says the words of dismissal:

• ·        Go in Peace.
• ·        Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
• ·        Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
• ·        Go forth, the Mass is ended. Or even
• ·        Go in peace to love and serve the LORD.

Remember each of us is sent out like the prophets, apostles, and all the great witnesses of God.

Dismissed, we are sent to do great things.

We answer, “Thanks be to God.”

Be good, be holy, and go and announce the Gospel of the Lord by the way you live your life and love one another. Amen.

Simple Directions - Reflection 1st Friday Adoration - February

(Readings)

We had a Deacons meeting with Fr. Peter Mangum, the Diocesan Administrator. He told us not to preach a theology we have trouble understanding or one too sophisticated people can’t understand.

Fr. Peter has never heard me preach. I begin with stories about work, family, and even underwear, pretty much the opposite of sophisticated.

This is why.

Jesus preached of everyday life. He spoke so people were able to understand and did not preach without parables; but, He explained everything to his disciples in private.

He still speaks to his disciples through the Holy Spirit. He explains everything to us in the private of our hearts. Some explanations are deep and sophisticated; some a little less complicated.

If it truly comes from the Holy Spirit, truth is in each explanation.

For people of truth (priests, deacons, and you my brothers and sisters) it is our responsibility to bring this message to the world.

Like when 3500 people walked for life and for truth in our home town of Monroe, Louisiana. A community of many faiths and ethnicities walked for life and justice.

There was no jeering, chastising, or protest; but, that is not the way everywhere.

We’ve witness over the past weeks that those who say they are people of faith can express flawed theology by their actions. A theology of a god that does not care about every life, every moment, and every choice we make.

That is not my God. That is not my Jesus. That is not theology of the one whose truth is told in the importance of a tiny seed; and, the truth of the importance of a tiny seed of life made in the image of God.

Friends, God gave simple directions. Jesus told us how important we are to God. It’s not a complicated theology. Amen.