MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

Jesus Christ speaks with the authority of God because He is God. As Christians we need to constantly remind ourselves what is the source of Sacred Scripture, The Teachings of the Church, and Sacred Tradition. These things have all of their origins from God. This can be easily forgotten when we are living in a world influenced by secularism which serves as a gateway to sin. We can see this as very evident in society today where religion, faith, and God are being minimized in favor of people trying to build upon their own vision of what life should be regardless if it is against God. There is the presence of self-justification for people’s actions if they appear to be immoral or against God. Free-thought without the influence of God is encouraged with a forceful removal of that which has its origins in God. The concept of God is casually dismissed in favor of His absence. This arguably divides God’s creation against itself and sows chaos. Where there is chaos there is an absence of God; that which creates division and discord does not come from God. In a world filled with calamity it is clear that the answer to peace, love, and prosperity has been and always will be an awareness of God.

 

When things are ordered correctly a better result is always realized. When things are disorganized is when bad things tend to happen. God is supposed to be set above His creation and He is supposed to be recognized within His creation. He is a part of it and cannot be separated from it. When people think they can separate God from what He created only bad things can result. Human beings are capable of great things if they are done with God. We are also capable of terrible things if God is removed from the equation. In the first Scripture Reading today God said as much when He warned, “Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it.” This was not a threat but more of a warning that those who did not listen to Him would face the consequences of their actions. I feel that we all can reflect on times in our lives when things went horribly wrong. Most likely, during those times, the advice of God and His presence was the farthest things from our minds. To live a fulfilling a life we must include God in our plans.

 

The Apostle Paul explains in his letter to the Corinthians how putting God first in our lives leads to less anxiety and less distraction. He presents a comparison between married people and those who have chosen a consecrated life closer to God. He did not advocate for one status above the other but instead presented a comparison between the two in this description. To become closer to God it is better to remove all earthly obstacles that just might inhibit the relationship. It is also good not to erect new obstacles by our choices. Making choices with God as the most important factor will bring about the best results and will help make our fears and anxieties to fade away. Putting God first makes us His servants and places us in the right order of things with God above all. This way of thinking also offers us solutions to everyday problems that we have and will encounter for the rest of our lives. Nothing is insurmountable with God and acknowledging this will automatically give us a new confidence. This confidence comes from God. Being distracted from God is a danger that we all should avoid. That which distracts us should be eliminated.

 

If we were to review a typical day in our lives, what would we find? How much time do we spend distracting ourselves through entertainment, pleasures, and frivolous things that are meant to stimulate ourselves but serve no purpose beyond that? From multi-media, sports, music, to eating and drinking, how much do we actually do which means anything except to satisfy some sort of urge in the moment? This spills over to our sexual conduct also. How much time do we spend reacting to our sexual urges that have the power to consume us? This review is not presented as a reprimand or an advocacy for removing all of these things in an extreme way. It is more to serve as a warning that all of these things can take precedence in our lives and blind us to the true joy of living that can only be discovered through experiencing God. When God’s love enters our life everything else will pale in comparison. Things built around and with God will bring about a more fulfilling life than just chasing after earthly pleasures. This goes back to Paul’s warning of putting things in the way of a relationship with God: it weakens us and causes fears, anxieties, and resentments to seep in. God does not want us to feel this way. He just wants us to experience joy and His love.

 

In the Gospel Reading today Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. Those present were astonished at His wisdom and the way He taught them. They were being fed mentally and spiritually. The forces which opposed Him, manifested in the form of an unclean spirit, were tortured by His presence, and were cast out. Nothing could stand up against Him. When we listen to what Jesus is saying, enter into relationship with Him, and conduct our lives under His direction we too will experience what those in the synagogue experienced that day. We will enjoy a new way of living directed by the Light of Christ where the darkness in this world will never overcome us. To build a house correctly the foundation must be solid with no cracks. Cracks lead to a compromising of the entire structure. Listening to God insures that our life will be built on a solid foundation that can withstand the strong winds of sin and temptation. What God says and how we listen will give us all the shelter we need to overcome all challenges and obstacles. 

 

Deacon Tom

 

Texas retains control of Shelby Park; GOP governors offer National Guard...

GOP governors back Texas in defiance of SCOTUS border ruling | Vargas Re...

TX: Gov. Abbott cites the Constitution saying Pres. Biden has failed to ...

 

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 68

Reading 1 Jon 3:1-5, 10

The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:
"Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you."
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD'S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,
"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, "
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (4a) Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Reading 11 1 Cor 7:29-31

I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.
From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
those weeping as not weeping,
those rejoicing as not rejoicing,
those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully.
For the world in its present form is passing away.

Alleluia Mk 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 1:14-20

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
"This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel."

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Brothers and Sisters,

 

 

 We are called by Jesus Christ to abandon our life as we know it and embrace the Christian Way. It is through this act that Jesus then becomes our guide, teacher, and advocate. The world is indeed passing away. It is being changed by those being influenced by the presence of Jesus Christ in their lives and by others choosing to embrace temptation and sin. Through these individual actions society is being shaped and formed. The Kingdom of God is slowly being revealed while, at the same time, the reality of evil is being unmasked. We all constantly stand at a fork in the road, offered constant choices which will lead us in either direction. At first, these choices might seem difficult but, through the exercise of our faith,  the Love of God offers direction.

 

The readings from Sacred Scripture today act as a warning bell. Creation is not eternal. Our lives within God’s Creation are limited. How we conduct ourselves will affect which road we will take and who we will bring with us. We have been given the gift of free will and are encouraged to use it. With this conduct comes consequences in this life and the next. If we are to truly experience joy and freedom now then we must accept Jesus’ invitation to live with Him and love Him. This love has the power to overcome anything that threatens to overwhelm us if we surrender to it. Without Jesus’ love this life becomes hollow and empty; filled with sorrow and disappointment.

 

Our consciousness is a beautiful thing. It is Jesus working within us. As long as we listen to Him, there is always time to correct our behaviors and make the adjustments necessary to become closer to Him. The past cannot be changed but the future always offers more roads to choose from. Jesus is always walking beside us, pointing the right direction to go in. There will be times when His advice is ignored and we stumble along into dangerous territory but even then He will offer a helping hand or point out a way out of the mess that we created.

 

Take the example of the prophet Jonah. He was sent to a gentile city, Nineveh, to proclaim its destruction in forty days. This served as a warning to all of those within the city who did not recognize God for who He was and who refused to follow Him. The citizenry repented and God showed mercy. The people of the city did not change their ways out of fear but because their eyes were opened to the realization that the lives they were leading were indeed leading to their destruction. There was a better way and they saw it. Their consciousness was their guide and it led them to redemption. We all have that opportunity through Jesus Christ. There is nothing that is too broken that cannot be repaired through the Love of Jesus. He will heal us and correct our actions if only we let Him.

 

When Jesus called to Simon and Andrew, they too immediately saw a different way through Jesus. They were drawn to Him, abandoned their lives, and followed Him. When we pray, focus on our relationship with Jesus, and live our faith, that same longing because evident within us. It can be described as a sort of surrendering to God’s will and an understanding of what He wants. What God wants is very simple. We are the ones that make it more difficult than it really is. He wants us to love Him. An expression of love is obedience and trust. It is through this obedience and trust that a new life is revealed, and our full potential is recognized.

 

The only struggles that we will encounter when we start walking with Jesus and allow Him to be our guide are the ones we will create ourselves. This will be a continuous struggle as Paul warned us in his Letter to the Romans. He tells us that the flesh is constantly at war with the spirit because they are incompatible. Our flesh is defect because of Original Sin while our spirit is drawn to God. We must heed this warning and not let the flesh overcome the spirit. It is the flesh that will lead us down the wrong road. When we follow the spirit, it will naturally bring us closer to God. And closer to God is where we should want to be.

 

Deacon Tom

 

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 65

Reading 1

1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19

Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD
where the ark of God was.
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am."
Samuel ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me."
"I did not call you, " Eli said. "Go back to sleep."
So he went back to sleep.
Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.
"Here I am, " he said. "You called me."
But Eli answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep."

At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD,
because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time.
Getting up and going to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You called me."
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So he said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening."
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!"
Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10

R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
"In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
to do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!"
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Reading II

1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20

Brothers and sisters:
The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord,
and the Lord is for the body;
God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him.
Avoid immorality.
Every other sin a person commits is outside the body,
but the immoral person sins against his own body.
Do you not know that your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
For you have been purchased at a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body.

Alleluia

Jn 1:41, 17b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We have found the Messiah:
Jesus Christ, who brings us truth and grace.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 1:35-42

John was standing with two of his disciples,
and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,
"Behold, the Lamb of God."
The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
"What are you looking for?"
They said to him, "Rabbi" — which translated means Teacher —,
"where are you staying?"
He said to them, "Come, and you will see."
So they went and saw where Jesus was staying,
and they stayed with him that day.
It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,
was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
He first found his own brother Simon and told him,
"We have found the Messiah" — which is translated Christ —.
Then he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said,
"You are Simon the son of John;
you will be called Cephas" — which is translated Peter.

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

Listening to one another has been a practice that has been used less and less often in society today. Part of communication is trying to understand what the other person is thinking, feeling, and believing. The reason why is also important. All too often, we develop a pre-conceived notion of another person based on our own prejudices and beliefs. Our reaction to any type of communication, including how we listen, is then perceived through this filter of prejudice. Conflicts tend to rise because of this and the pursuit of wisdom, one of the virtues that we should be always seeking, then ceases. A cycle of ignorance and emotional decisions then results which enflames more anger and discourse. We can see the results of this in the world today. Many of us live our lives through a spectrum created by ourselves, believing in certain things, and seeing things a certain way so that we feel comfortable with ourselves and how we are conducting ourselves instead of trying to improve ourselves. It conjures up the scene set at Babel: everyone is talking, and none are listening, or even attempting to listen. Violence, pain, and suffering are by-products of this.

 

It can be argued that how we listen to other people is a direct reflection of how we listen to God. Are we impatient? Are we dismissive? Are we shallow in our thoughts and actions? We learn through our faith and through Sacred Scripture that God is speaking to us all the time. He never ceases from doing this. He never withholds His presence from us. What we have is a continuous dialog that is occurring. Sometimes, it is through words while other times it is through the Spirit and His love. Communication is 90% nonverbal and so it is with God. We must be aware of not only what is being said, but how it is being said and through what vehicle. The only way to do this is through practice and listening. The distractions all around us must be forced out. What will then remain is just us and God. When we engage in conversation, we know when we are giving someone our undivided attention or when we are distracted. We know when our mind is wandering. We know if we care or when we don’t care. We then react to this state of mind. Listening to God and engaging in conversation is not exempt from this.

 

To get closer to God and to experience our relationship with Him, we should be attentive and aware. Paul reminds us today that our bodies are joined with God and that we are one Spirit with Him. In other words, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, thus our bodies are Holy Temples. With that comes great responsibility. In other words, how well do we maintain our temple? This includes physically, mentally, and spiritually. We were indeed created in His image and Christ dwells within us. We are living in the Trinitarian Relationship as a result. Yet, it is up to us to be actively involved in that relationship. What we take into our bodies, what we do with it, will have a direct result on our relationship with God. What thoughts we think and how we react to these thoughts will determine if we can hear God when He is speaking to us. How often we pray and contemplate God’s love will determine if we can feel Him.

 

The Gospel Reading today is one of my favorite ones. Jesus, revealed as The Lamp of God by John the Baptist, was being followed by Andrew and John. Jesus stops, turns around, and asks them a powerful question: “What are you looking for?” This is a question and a challenge for all of us. Why are we here today? What are we looking for in a relationship with Him? Are we doing our utmost to follow Him and pursue Him if we do indeed believe what was said about Him? Are we doing our best to listen to Him? Taking an inventory of ourselves and recommitting ourselves to a deeper, more productive relationship with God is a spiritual necessity. It is also necessary to live a truly joyous life. God wants so desperately to have a relationship with us. He also wants us to be joyful. He is always ready and willing to share what we have to do to achieve these things. The question presented to us is: “Are we listening to Him?”

 

Deacon Tom