A new start and a new beginning…Isn’t that what New Year’s Eve is all about?….Make this a Happy New Year

Today at Holy Mass in the first reading we hear from St John……”I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth”…..The Truth is written on every human heart…This is why when the Truth is spoken, heads turn and listen…Something about the Truth resonates deep within us…This should tell us something about ourself - Who we really are….Jesus very clearly said, “I am the Truth”…Jesus Christ was the Word that became flesh…..”My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me”…The interesting point I want to make about that last statement made by Christ is, which echoes the same intent from the verse I noted from St John above…..We hear the voice of Jesus, we all do, however, some do not follow it…This is what we need to explore today in the is reflection…Why do some not follow it?…Is it because they do not think it’s practical?….Do they lack faith?….Do they love the comforts of this world?…..How can we overcome these obstacles?….St John gives us the answer…..”Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world…..Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him”…….Before we overcome the many obstacles that prevent us from following the Lord, we must encounter God’s love for us…..Without this encounter, God is simply just a word…The Mass is a waste of time…The Blessed Sacrament is a tasteless cracker….However, when we know we are loved…When we feel this love viscerally, everything changes…The year is coming to an end…Make it a point to find this love I speak about…”From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”….....”Words” do not change lives…Love does

“All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be”

Its New Years Eve and the world will look for “something new”….Instead of looking for something new, maybe we should look to something old…Something eternal…That something is God……What are the barriers, which we have “put up”, which prevent God from reaching us?…..One of the neighbors on my street has suffered two very personal losses in the last couple of years…His wife died and shortly there after, his daughter died……Joe Tasino is 71 years old…He is alone in the world with his one son…..On the weekends when my family cooks big meals I have my children bring Joe Tasino a plate of food…For one I want to teach my children the importance of helping others but secondly, I want to extend a hand to Joe T…He is a good guy….I want to make him feel he is not alone in the world…..When my children knock on Joe T's door with me, Joe’s house is always all dark inside, no lights are turned on…I have noticed as our practice of “stopping by” on the weekend continued, Joe Tasino has “opened up”…He smiles more, he loves my children, who hug him…..Words will never bring about such a change, only love put into action can do that…How does this relate to us and this New Year?…Like Joe Tasino, we may have been hurt by life…We may feel disappointed by outcomes that “did not go our way”…And when that happens we can isolate ourselves from others and God….Scriptures tells us….”Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”……God waits for us and like Joe Tasino who opened his front door to my children, if you “open the door” to God this coming year, you too will smile again…..Make it a point this new year, which begins tonight, to sit before the Blessed Sacrament as often as you can - Say 15 minutes each week - Not a lot of time to invest in yourself …You do not have to be a practicing Catholic to sit before the Blessed Sacrament or even Catholic for that matter and its free!….No one is going to “lecture you” as you sit in silence before the Blessed Sacrament……If you make this a practice this coming year…..In the silence you and God can “work out” all the “things” you need to work out……I will also bet, that if you commit to this practice something amazing will happen…Something new…..Isn’t that what the New Year is all about…A new beginning!

“The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who accepted him he gave power to become the children of God”

St John tells us in the first reading today at Mass….We all hear the Truth - Why?…Because it is written on every human heart…But just because we hear it and even know it, does not mean we follow it….Its the following part we need to work on this year…But before we follow it, we must feel that God loves us…Love is the game changer, words are not….Joe Tasino opened the door of his home to the smiles of my children and as a result, Joe T smiles himself now…..Jesus knocks on our door as well…But only we can open the door - That is the first step - Open the door!….If we do this in the coming new year…Something new will take place….A new start and a new beginning…Isn’t that what New Year’s Eve is all about?….Make this a Happy New Year

”A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations and adore the Lord. Today a great light has come upon the earth”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel from St Luke about a simple woman…Her name is Anna and St Luke tells us a portion of the story, which is contained in the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary - The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple….Anna was an "everyday person", however she dedicated her life to God…And God gave her insight into the mysteries of heaven as a result…..”She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer”…..Once again, the “formula” is revealed to us…”Fasting and Prayer”…..Fasting sharpens our senses and makes us feel our mortality and as a result, it opens us up to the voice of God…Prayer is nothing more then a conversation with a friend…We speak to God in the silence and He speaks to us deep within our heart…..These two “tools” - Fasting and Prayer were Anna’s secret…And because she was faithful to these “tools” on a daily basis, she grew very close to God….And so can we

“She spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem”

Why would one want to grew close to God?…..That is a fair question….The closer we grow to God the more we discover who we really are…Why we were created and what we are supposed to do in the here and now…Also in practical terms…People who are very close to God are joyful….That is a sign if you really want to know if someone of close to God - Is that person joyful?…There is no such thing as a miserable saint……Jesus came to give us life in the here and now!…..Conversely, St John tells us very clearly in Scripture that - “If we do not eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have no life within us”…..Not my words, so don't shoot the messenger……The very Body and Blood of Christ received at Mass animates our life when we receive it in the state of grace…And it shows….Don’t believe me?…..Speak to a very holy person and tell me they are not full of joy….Tell me there is not “something special” about them…If you doubt what I say…Reach out to me and I am happy to direct you to someone I am describing…….It was Good Friday and I was in the Bronx for the afternoon service…..As always, I was running around like a chicken without its head…The mid-day service was about to begin, the Church was getting crowded and I had to go to the bathroom, so I went to the basement where the bathroom was located…As I was running back up the stairs some nuns were entering the Church….I know this because as I was running I almost knocked one of them over….Just before I ran into this one nun, I stood face to face with her…This sister was very old…Her body was bent over…However…Her eyes were on fire!!!!…They were like headlights of a car….And she had such a gentle smile…..The look on her face literally stopped me in my tracks - Literally!…..This is what I am talking about…This is what holiness looks like…The result of prayer and fasting…The result of being close to God…..This should be our primary goal in life….When we grow closer to God…We are fully alive!…..This is the life that Christ promised us - In the here and now!…Why would we trade that for a “box of cracker-jacks”? - For the “things of this world” that are so temporary!….......”Things” fade and pass away - Even "good things"…....Again, Jesus said…”I have come to give you life and give it to you in abundance”…That is in the here and now - God takes nothing from us - He olny gives!

“From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace”

Anna in today’s Gospel from Mass understood why one should pray and fast….Because to know God is to know ourself…To be close to God is to have joy and peace….The Catholic Church gives us all the “tools” we need to acquire this state of being…Do we utilize these “tools”?…And if not, why not?….Maybe its because we do not believe in the possibility of us ever becoming holy…Maybe we have never met a holy person….Ok, so here is an idea…Why not seek people like that out? - Seeing is believing - Right?…Prove me wrong!….I bet if you do, you too will be frozen in your tracks as I was when I looked into the face of that old nun on Good Friday and saw joy deep within her eyes.......This nun while her body was old, she had the eyes of a child…..I left out a part of this story…As the Good Friday Service began, I continued to watch this nun…It came time to process up the aisle of the Church to venerate the cross, which is a Good Friday custom across the Universal Catholic world….As I watched this very old sister struggle to walk up the aisle and venerate the cross…I began to cry…..God is real…We find him through fasting and prayer…And when we find him we know it…..Still don’t believe me?……God comes to us in the “ordinary” people and places of the world…Like Anna in our story today from Mass…She was about as “ordinary” as they come…So was that old nun I encountered on Good Friday in the Bronx…But its in the ordinary that we encounter the extraordinary…..It’s there - Do you see it?….”A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations and adore the Lord. Today a great light has come upon the earth”

Its not “rocket science”…It begins with these two words…”I DO”!

Today the Universal Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph…..These three were the first Church and the family to this day is what is referred to as the Domestic Church…..Its in the family that we are formed, whether we become a neurosurgeon or a truck driver…We all come from a family…This is why its vital that society strives to safeguard family life….St Paul tells us in the second reading from Mass today…..”Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts”……Words are very easy to say…Just like the words we repeat when we get married….”I DO”……The question is….How do we put these words into action?…..The answer can be summed up in one word - GRACE……Our society disregards grace….We either think its something “made up”…..Or we are too overly confident in ourselves, thinking we do not need it…..Let me take this time to remind you….WE ALL NEED GOD’s GRACE…..And because God loves us - He gives it to us…..But in order to receive God’s grace, we must open our hearts and bend our will to receive it - Its not an “automatic”……This is why marriage is a Sacrament - Its not just a “piece of paper”…..To do all the things that St Paul notes today at Mass - We need God’s grace…..This is one of the fatal mistakes of my generation….We have shown God the door and God is a gentleman, he never forces himself upon us….But when we show God the door, things fall apart….Its time to invite God back into our lives and into our marriages

“Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son”

What keeps us from structuring our marriages according to the precepts of the Catholic Church?………The answer - We think what the Church teaches about marriage is outdated and cannot be done……If we step back from that mindset and think objectively - Two thousand years of wisdom can be founded in what the Church teaches and if you want real life examples they are also there for you as well…..I remember when one of my childhood friends was getting married…His mother was talking about what a “real marriage” was all about…..She had four children and her first husband died…She then got remarried to a man who accept her four children as his own and then they had another child together…..That my friends is a marriage grounded on “solid rock” - You can’t “fake” that - It speaks for itself…..Such a marriage is a witness to the world…These people I am talking about were not rich by the way…Nor where they super educated…They did however ground their lives in something much larger then themselves……God’s grace can not be “self manufactured”….We have to make ourselves available to it….My generation “thinks” in its hubris that they do not need God…I got news for you - That was and is a BAD decision and the statistics prove it…..I look at my own family….My parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles…They were not educated, and some of them had hard lives…Yet they were married for decades…They raised children who became productive members of society….How did they do it?……They understood what marriage really was all about….Its not a “piece of paper”…..….Today I read the story about a saint….St Gianna Beretta, a lay woman who married Pietro Molla around 80 years ago….They had four children together…During the birth of their fourth child doctors said that Gianna’s life was at risk and that the child needed to be aborted. Gianna refused and the child was born healthy but she died giving birth….Pietro was left to raise four children alone, which he did…That fourth child, which could have been aborted went on to become a medical doctor…..Do you think that story could have happened without the grace of God?…..Do you think Pietro could have raised four children without a wife and without the grace of God?……No matter who we are, life is going to throw everything and “the kitchen sink” at you…..God made marriage to be a Sacrament….To look at it any other way is a huge mistake….And when we view marriage through the eyes of God, we love our spouses more and more each day…I can speak for myself…My wife has given birth to five children and has sacrificed infinitely for both me and our children…I can say with honesty…I love her more today then the day we were married…God has blessed us not because we are “special”…But because we gave God permission to “bless us”…God is the one who is “special”!

“Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us”

Today Holy Mother Church reminds us that every family is meant to be like the Holy Family…..Many will read this and say - Can’t be done!….Well, I am here to tell you it can be done!….Its as my own mother would say to me all the time - “Joe - Its a choice”…We must make a choice and commit to God and give him permission to work in our life and in our marriage…….When St Paul was complaining about a “thorn in his side” - In prayer this is what he heard….“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me”……This “power” is available to all of us!…..But we have to give God permission and if we do, God will give us this “power”…..It’s not “rocket science”…It begins with these two words…”I DO”!

”If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just”

Today at Holy Mass the Universal Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Innocents……”When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet":

“A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.”

Life is precious - “blah blah blah”!…..Something “we” say all the time…..But it really is!!!!…..Herod feared that a King would be born and take away his power…So he ordered thousands upon thousands of children to be killed…His plan failed..Jesus was born and his Kingship goes on to this day…So much can be learned from this story…I could go on for days…I will leave you with this…..Man plans and God laughs!…..Mankind can not thwart the plans of God…So get on board - The ship is sailing with you or without you

“Broken was the snare, and we were freed. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth”

The Feast of Holy Innocents is a day to honor life…Our society gives lip service to the protection to life…And frankly there was a time in my life that I did as well…As many know yesterday a childhood friend of mine died…He was a father at 19 years old…I remember when he told me his girlfriend was pregnant…..At the time both of us were just boys and wild boys at that!…….I remember when his first son was born and was about 3 years old…Tony my friend was raising his family in the Mid-Western part of America (Indiana), where his wife’s family was from……Back to my story…My friend was back in New Jersey with his young son and wife…..At the time I was around 21 years old and having children and getting married was probably the farthest thing from my mind…So here I am sitting at my friend’s parents kitchen table watching his 3 year old son run around the room…I can remember it to this day…I thought to my self…....I would have aborted this child and here this human being is fully alive and so happy and running around….I am not lying to you when I tell you this - This is what went through my mind……I absolutely would have ended this child’s life…My friend however did not…He also went on to have three more sons……God has a plan and God’s plan is infinitely bigger and better then our plans!

"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.”

We all fall short….Its apart of being human….That is why Jesus came and walked the earth…That is why he gave us a Church…To strengthen us with his very Body in the Blessed Sacrament and forgive our sins when we fail in the Sacrament of Reconciliation……And we ALL fail……..Today at Mass we hear about a great act of evil….A powerful man (King Herod) out of fear and out of the love of power took the lives of countless innocent children…..God gives man free will and sometimes mankind abuses this great gift…However, God “corrects” our mistakes…He did so by sending us his only son and establishing a Church…….We all make mistakes….Its for us to acknowledge those mistakes…Ask for pardon…Rely on heavenly grace….And push forward…..”If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just”

”Its like going from “one room to the next” - So simple - Like putting one foot in front of the other

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St John…Both readings were in fact from St John…John was the youngest of Jesus's first disciples…He was also the only one to stand at the foot of the cross and Jesus trusted his Mother’s care to John….There was something special about John…His gospel is unlike the other three gospels….His insight seems much deeper…....”What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life”…..Clearly John saw and heard something that others did not…..How is this the case?…Why was John so perceptive and the other disciples seemed to “miss it”…..I believe the secret to St John’s insight can be demonstrated at the Last Supper……”The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side”…John was the one “reclining at Jesus’ side” - In some Scripture translations it is said John “rested his head against the chest of Christ”…..His proximity to the Sacred Heart of Jesus gave John “something” the others did not…..Also, John for many years lived with Our Lady, who as we all know was without sin and the Mother of God…Think about how her presence over the years impacted John…This is not a formal theological opinion, its simply my opinion…I believe it was that time that John cared for Our Lady that he was given divine inspiration to write the Book of Revelation, which he wrote when he was in exile on the Island of Patmos towards the end of his life…Why tell you all this?…Pay attention to what St John has to say!…..John was a mystic…..As the first reading from Mass tells us today…..”We are writing this so that our joy may be complete”

“Light dawns for the just; and gladness, for the upright of heart. Be glad in the LORD, you just, and give thanks to his holy name”

Death is a mystery…We all die but death itself is something that can not be fully explained…Clearly when someone we love dies, we miss them…Our lives change….I remember once talking to a very holy nun about death…She told me something I will never forgot…She was not afraid to die at all…She said…”Joe - Death is like going from one room of a house into the next room - Nothing more then that”….When we are very close to God, that is how death is perceived…A smooth and natural “transition” from “one room into the next”…….I noticed how when one of the Missionary of Charity sisters die…I have seen this happen….The sisters rarely mourn like we do…No matter how much they loved the sister who died…Because these women are so close to God…Death is simply a “transition”…....The sister is given a burial Mass, the body is buried and life moves on……As I have watched this process play out with these nuns, I have found it almost “non-human” in a way when looking at it simply on the surface in real time…Because death seems to have no grip over them……Why is that?…Because they are so close to God……In reality, death is just the beginning for the person who “passes on”…..The sisters in a “mystical” way understand that - They understand in a much deeper way then we do….That is why they do not mourn like we do…….St John was a mystic as I stated above….He tells us in his writings….”I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away." The One who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son”…….Death is a mystery…The closer we are to God, the easier the “transition” is - For both the person who dies and the people left behind - As that Missionary of Charity sister told me….Its like going from “one room to the next”

“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

St John the beloved disciple was exceptionally close to Christ…..He understood what the other disciples did not……After Jesus was crucified, he appeared to Peter and John on the shore - He was cooking them breakfast but Peter was unable to recognize Jesus - Only John could “see” who it really was calling to them............…..”When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus…..So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea”……John could see what others could not….He could see because he “rested his head upon the chest of Christ” during his life…..Fast forward 2000 years……The mysteries of life are all revealed to us when we follow the example of St John…When we rest our weary head upon the Sacred Heart of Jesus…..Only then will “the eyes of the blind see, and the ears of the deaf be opened”…….Its like going from “one room to the next” - So simple - Like putting one foot in front of the other

”In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world”….While there is still breath, there is hope

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Matthew….The text addresses a reality of discipleship that many ignore…To follow Christ means you will have enemies - Period Full Stop!…….”Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name”……This is where the rubber meets the road for some and because of this reality, many “walk away” or water down the Truth, creating a “god” in their own image and likeness - To “please the crowd”…..Jesus himself had enemies because he spoke the Truth and know this….If you speak the Truth and follow Christ - So will you…..One may ask…How can someone deny something that is true?…Something which will help them?……We witness this everyday……And this sight to behold is nothing short of tragic……In the first reading from Mass today St Stephen was speaking the Truth and the people who heard him not only had no response to what he was saying but the text tells us….”They cried out in a loud voice and covered their ears”……Tragic!……The Gospel written centuries ago is played out today in real time over and over again….Jesus tells us very clearly……You are going to have a tough time if you follow me! - That is part of the deal people!…He also tells us…………….”whoever endures to the end will be saved”………..This implies going to heaven is not a given, like most Americans believe….Going to heaven is a battle, mostly against our self……Going to heaven is a daily choice and if we choose it, you will most assuredly have enemies in this world…..In the Beatitudes, which are the “blue print” given to us from Christ himself on how to get to heaven, Jesus addresses this reality…..”Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you”……..This is the good news - People will sometimes surprise you…And God does not give up on anyone…And nor should we…While there is still breath, there is hope

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD: the LORD is God and has given us light”

Observing human behavior on social media and in politics is interesting…..The smartest people can be the most illogical and act against their own interests…There are many reasons why people do this…Pride, wounds, love of money, fear of rejection - we can go on and on…….. I have learned that arguments can not change that in a person……Only God can and he constantly is reaching a hand to people…But ultimately we make a choice - And time does run out……Years ago, I attend a lecture with a friend of mine who is an engineer….My friend had “issues” with the Catholic Church……The lecture was given by a Jesuit Priest……This priest by the way was brilliant and his talk was focused on the existence of God without using any religious dogmas in his argument….That God in fact does exist and human reason proves it…..The argument was flawless…..I would dare say, there was not one person on the face of the earth who could have refuted this priest's positions and trying to do so simply would make such a person look foolish to anyone who was objective…After this lecture I went to lunch with my friend, who was brilliant in his own right….I assumed he thought the lecture was amazing as I did…To my surprise, my friend did not…His exact words..”I do not agree with the priest’s math”…..I thought to myself - How?…..The argument presented was flawless - But that was not the problem…The problem was within the heart of my friend…He was not willing to change his life and because of that, there was no argument, no matter how logical, no matter how factual, no matter how flawless, which would result in him accepting the conclusion that God is real and that God is synonymous with the Truth….My friend did not have a “head” problem…He had a “heart” problem….We see this same “problem” all around us today……I have learned that we can not argue people into the Church…All we can do is give witness to the Truth….The “fruits of that witness” should speak for itself - Right?…Sadly, even then, some people will not acknowledge reality….Even when they suffer because of their choice…And that is tragic to see - Truly tragic!…..Jesus was God and he preformed miracles and gave the best “witness” the world ever saw…And the world killed him - And many refused to change their life….How can we possibly think we can do any better then God himself…..We must accept that some people will not accept the Truth…That some will not change…And some despite everything they see….Will double and triple down on bad choices…However, people will sometimes surprise you…And God does not give up on anyone…And nor should we…While there is still breath, there is hope

“Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy”

Today in the first reading from Mass we hear about how St Stephen was murdered for speaking the Truth…The people not only could not refute Stephen’s arguments but when they realized they had nothing to say, they literally as the text tells us - “covered their ears”…..Now this is the interesting part….Watching all this in real time was a man named Saul…Saul was the leader of the mob and fully on board with the murder of Stephen….However, something happened to Saul as he watched this scene….Saul began to change….And in time, Saul did in fact change and became who we know today as Paul.....And Paul became a saint!…..Not just any saint either…St Paul preached to the known world of his time relentlessly and his writings are read to this very day…..As I stated above…..People can sometimes surprise you!…And God does not give up on anyone…And nor should we…While there is still breath, there is hope…Our job is not to worry about “changing people”…Our job is to be consistent…..To speak first with our actions, grounded in love and Truth - Then with our words…… And to leave the rest to God……But know this…..”In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world”…..While there is still breath, there is hope

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the second reading from a letter to the Hebrews…..”In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being”…God is constantly speaking to us…He does this through the events of our life each day…He does this through his Church…He does this through prayer…He does this through the Scriptures…But as this letter read today at Mass states……Today God speaks to us through the birth of his son…..God manifested this encounter with the human race in the form of an innocent child…..This encounter invites us…It does not command us through force or by means of earthly power….St John tells us in the Gospel today….”And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth”………Jesus very clearly tells us that he is the Truth…Anyone who thirsts for the Truth will find at the end of their search Jesus Christ and his Church…..What are the things that “get in the way” of that search?

“A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations, and adore the Lord. For today a great light has come upon the earth”

The Nativity Scene is a microcosm of the world…Kings were there and so were the poor…They all were searching for something to give them fulfillment…Also present in the Nativity of Our Lord was a family, which is the smallest cell of every society…..We all come from a family and because of the importance of family, this is what the devil has attacked directly….Families have broken down in America and as a result our country is falling apart…Because families have broken down, so may people are wounded…..Like walking corpses…When I walk to my office in New York City, my heart weeps at what I see…The “walking wounded”….So many of Americas problems can be solved so simply…By looking to what we see today in the Nativity Scene…A father and mother devoted to a child……From this scene comes the cure for all our problems……Jesus came into a fallen world - And that is why he came and walked among us……Human beings were made by God and are made for God…To deny this is to deny reality and when we make this choice - To deny who we were born to be…Something breaks within us…Today is a reminder once again…That God has not given up on the human race…A child was born for us…As a reminder - Once again - God reaches out to us....…As a father I want to teach my children the importance of reaching out to others…This is fundamental to the life of a Catholic…We must live our faith with concrete actions…..On my street where we live there is a man who lost his wife and recently his daughter passed away as well…He is retired and taking care of his son…..I always send my children to his home with food on Sundays….To teach them, that we must love our neighbors…Its so easy to not “see” those right in front of us who are lonely and hurting…Anyway, back to my story…The highlight of my Christmas last night was seeing my two sons give my neighbor Christmas dinner…My son Matteo, who is seven years old after he gave food to our neighbor gave him a hug…Our neighbor is a retired police office - A "tough guy", who presently looks like a biker, he has a long white beard and has a lot of tattoos…When my son gave him a hug, he almost started to cry….That was the highlight of my Christmas so far….. “He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him”

”The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”

The second reading from Mass today tells us that God is constantly “reaching out” to us…..Today he comes to us in the form of a child….My son reached out to our neighbor who was alone last night on Christmas Eve…That encounter was also a sign, that love is stronger then death…That light will always defeat the darkness….That we are God’s people and we have something very important to do….To be bearers of the Light…As St John tells us in the gospel today…..”A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world”…..We are not the source of the Light but when we graft ourselves into the life of Christ, he shares his Light with us and in turn we must then share that Light with those around us, in concrete ways with our own two hands…..…..“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”

Jesus is in our midst today, born humble, lost, alone and despised….Do we “see” him?…..Is there still no room in the Inn?

Today at Holy Mass in the first reading we hear from the Prophet Samuel who tells us about King David…Jesus was born from the line of David…..Similar to Jesus, David was born a “no-body”…..”It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel”…All this happened right under the nose of the world…No one gave David a second look as he worked in the fields…Similarly, the same thing happened with Jesus….Born in a barn…..Juxtapose the “blindness” of the world to Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin…..When Mary greeted her, this is what she said….”When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”…Elizabeth immediately knew that God was in her presence…So the question we should consider is….How did Elizabeth understand and the rest of the world “missed it”…….The birth of Christ took place in real time - Its a historical event….And as his birth was taking place, the Inn Keepers turned Joseph and Mary away…They were “blind”……How can we ensure we do not “miss it”?

“O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.”

Mother Teresa was clear - When her sisters helped the poor around the world, they were directly serving Christ himself in the flesh….These are Mother Teresa’s words….”When we touch the sick and needy, we touch the suffering body of Christ”…..She goes on…..”Jesus comes to meet us. To welcome him, let us go to meet him: He comes to us in the hungry, the naked, the lonely, the alcoholic, the drug addict, the prostitute, the street beggars. He may come to you or me in a father who is alone, in a mother, in a brother, or in a sister. If we reject them, if we do not go out to meet them, we reject Jesus himself”…….Mother Teresa tells the world very directly, that we are still “blind” and “miss” Jesus in our very midst…He is in the poor she tells us - Or better put, He is the poor walking among us right in front of our eyes, poverty has many disguises, its not always material…..There are many ways to encounter Christ…One of those ways for people of good will to encounter Jesus, without knowing it is Christ is when they serve the poor with their own two hands…There is a great mystery in our service to the poor, which human eyes do not perceive…When we give ourself to others who need our help…..”Doors” begin to open in our hearts and our eyes slowly begin to “see”…I have witnessed this many times with people who serve the poor with Mother Teresa sisters around the world…..They may not realize it in real time, but as serve the poor, they are touching the wounds of Christ, when they reach a hand to assist the forgotten, the lost and the marginalized of the world…..In time, those who serve the poor “see”…And this acquired sight leads to the Blessed Sacrament, which is the light of the world

“The daybreak from on high has visited us”

Samuel the prophet reminds us at Mass today, that King David was a no-body and soon Jesus will be born, another “no-body”….In these two men, great things resulted….And the "sophisticated" world missed it….Mother Teresa also reminds us that we must learn to “see”….And in order to gain our sight, we must extend a hand to others - Giving of our self - Its too easy to give money……Mother Teresa said it best….”Jesus is the one we take care of, visit, clothe, feed, and comfort every time we do this to the poorest of the poor, to the sick, to the dying, to the lepers, and to the ones who suffer from AIDS………We should not serve the poor like they were Jesus. We should serve the poor because they are Jesus”…..Jesus is in our midst today, born humble, lost, alone and despised….Do we “see” him?…..Is there still no room in the Inn?

”Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts”…….The question remains….Are we prepared to meet him?

Today at Holy Mass, we hear in the first reading from the Prophet Malachi……..This text tells us how God will send Elijah to prepare the people for God….To say that God needs to “prepare” people implies we are all not ready to stand before the Almighty….Our lives are a work in progress……”For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver”…..Habits are hard to break…To break bad habits and acquire virtue takes time and grace……This does not happen overnight…..No one is perfect and the first step towards perfection is admitting our faults and weakness - We all have them!…..This is why going to a Sacramental Confession at least once a month is vital…..In doing so, not only are our sins forgiven but we are given grace to overcome “bad habits” (i.e. our sins), which more times then not, we can not break free from on our own - We need God’s grace!……This is how we grow in virtue…..We need divine assistance - All of us need this assistance!…..The Catholic Church is not a museum for saints, it is hospital for sinners…..Jesus is the divine physician and the Sacraments are the medicine for the world….Malachi the Prophet tells us today…..”Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts”…….Are we prepared to meet him?

“All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees”

What keeps us from peace?…Ask yourself this…Why do we fear change and facing our own faults?…..Fear does not come from God and we must recognize this reality…..Christmas is two days away and the greatest gift we can give to Jesus is our sins in a Sacramental Confession…..The last couple of years I would go to St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan to go to Confession before the noon Mass on Fridays (The Cathedral is near my office)…I notice that the same people are always on the line with me…..People struggling to overcome vices and bad habits - As I am - We all have them - And its a process to uproot our “issues” - And the “medicine” we need is God's mercy and grace…This is why Jesus came and walked among us and frankly we ALL need his help to free us from our weakness…Don’t believe me - Look around - How is the world doing without God?…..One of the years I went to India I brought over with me a group of third order Franciscans……A Franciscan priest also came with us…Fr Leo was a great baseball played from Texas in his younger years…Believe it or not, he almost made it to the Major Leagues as a second baseman but something must have happened along the way….He felt “the call” and became a priest…Every night after we would work at the various centers around the city of Kolkata serving the poor, the Missionaries of Charity would end the day by exposing the Blessed Sacrament for a Holy Hour in their convent….Both the nuns and the volunteers would attend this event together - It was some sight to behold - An interesting mix of people……….To the suprise of many people reading this reflection, not all the volunteers were practicing Catholics and some of us were, lets just say “rough around the edges” - But I think that is what made the Holy Hour so great!…..I have met Jews, non-believers, hippies, you-name-it in Kolkata, who came to serve the poor with Mother Teresa’s sisters…..People come from all over the world to help out of the goodness of their heart…Any way back to my story…On this trip, Fr Leo during each night at the Holy Hour would sit in the far corner hearing confessions…It was always interesting to see who would stand up and go to confession…Sometimes you would see a nun, various volunteers, etc…This one time, this girl with long dreadlocks and covered in tattoos gets up abruptly and walks over and sits with Fr Leo and gave her confession….It was an odd sight to see in many ways because this young girl you would have thought would have been the last person to go to confession by the way see looked (A lesson for all of us not to judge people!)….So there you have it - A Franciscan priest, who was an ex-baseball player from Texas, talking to a hippie girl covered in tattoos in a convent of nuns in India…..Only Jesus can bring people together like that…Speaking personally, it was a beautiful sight to see…..I will always remember it

“Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand”

Today in the first reading the Prophet Malachi is trying to prepare us for the coming of the Lord…Christmas is coming!….Are we prepared? - And I am not talking about buying one last gift….Have we prepared our hearts for the birth of Christ?…..This is why we should consider going to a Sacramental Confession with a Priest - In fact, make it a habit, go to Confession once a month…..Make this Christmas the greatest Christmas you ever had….Give your self the gift of peace……Its free…………..”Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of old, as in years gone by”…….Malachi the Prophet tells us today…..”Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts”…….The question remains….Are we prepared to meet him?

Our strengthen lies in the “little things” - Strive to do them well!

Today at Holy Mass, the last Sunday of Advent, we hear in the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews something interesting………..“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight”…….This statement speaks to me because its the “little things” that count the most…..We can so easily lose focus, we all want to go “big things”…But God came to us as a little child…The birth of the King of Kings took place “below the radar” of the world….More times then not, this is how God works…In the “little things” of life….The Holy Family, the first Church, Jesus, Mary and Joseph for thirty years lived their life hidden from the rest of the world…The Holy Family did all the things normal families do…..This should tell us something….We need to focus on the “little things”…God has placed us exactly where we need to be…..Its in the present moment, in our homes, with our family, with our friends, at work…Its there that we live out the gospel message…Notice I said “live out”…Let the “big things” take care of themselves…Concentrate on the “little things”…As Scripture tells us….‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities”…Our strengthen lies in the “little things” - Strive to do them well!

“Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted the son of man whom you yourself made strong”

Next to Jesus and Mary, St Joseph is considered by many to be the holiest of saints…Do you know throughout the entire Bible not one word is record of what St Joseph ever said…St Joseph found his sanctity in performing his day to day duties, serving his wife and children…He did not write books, he did not have a podcast, he did not give lectures in front of big crowds…He was simple and performed the most basic of tasks - But here is the difference - St Joseph did everything in and for God…So much so, he is the Patron Saint of the Universal Church…Just think if we focused on the simple things and lived in the present moment!…Think about how God can mold us if we did just that!…..Jesus tells us in Scripture….”In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words”…I write this because this applies to me!!!…..My wife and I have a very structured prayer life but many times I find that my mind drifts, I say the words but my focus is on something else…Even when I sit before the Blessed Sacrament, my body is there but my mind is somewhere else….I need to learn to live in the present moment - So pray for me!…How much more can God use the time I give him…If I focus…..Our “greatness” is found in small things - Remember that!…..Many people who grew up in Rutherford New Jersey as I did knew Patrick Fahey…Patrick had eight children and I grew up with many of them…He was a simple man and worked as a crossing guard in town after he retired…Everyone knew Patrick…He was so joyful….So full of life…..He always had a “good word” to share with everyone and to be honest with you, everyone was his friend, he talked to everyone!…Patrick raised eight children without a car…He rode his bike to where he worked as a crossing guard after he “retired” and he worked into his eighties…Patrick was a “simple man”…But Patrick was a light that pointed to God…At least for me he did - And I am sure his life’s example did the same for many others….Patrick did all that by living and being simple…….”Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities”……Our strengthen lies in the “little things” - I need to remember that!…..The example of Patrick Fahey's life reminds me and I miss my friend to this day…That is what saints do…They remind us…They point to Jesus…They show us the way!

"May your help be with the man of your right hand, with the son of man whom you yourself made strong. Then we will no more withdraw from you; give us new life, and we will call upon your name.”

The second reading from Mass today tells us…Leave the “big stuff” to the “fancy people”…Let’s stick with doing the “small things” well….Jesus came to us as a helpless child born in a barn…The world around Jesus when he was born could care less…They did not “see” what was happening right in front of their eyes…So it is when we do not pay attention to the “little things”….We need to learn - I need to learn to pay attention to the “little things”!!…Like my old friend Patrick Fahey, who I miss dearly…Patrick paid attention to the “little things” and he did them well…Maybe that is why he always had a smile on his face - And everyone who encountered him had a smile too…..Our strengthen lies in the “little things” - Strive to do them well!

The cup must be “emptied and then filled again”…You are that cup - Its time to “fill up”……That is the “big secret” my friends….And when you come right down to it…. Its really no secret

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Luke….In the text we hear about Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth who needed help…Elizabeth was older than Mary and pregnant - So Mary “went in haste” to assist her….This is the entire gospel summarized in a nut-shell….When Catholics are filled with the Holy Spirit - They “go out” and give the Holy Spirit away….”Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give”….When people hear the word “give” they immediately think of money….That is not what I am talking about………And that is not what Mary gave away - She gave away “herself”…Nothing is more powerful than a self sacrificing witness….This is the clarion call of every Baptized Catholic….To “give yourself away”….What do we get in return?…..True Joy & Deep Peace…Pay attention, this is the important part…..When we “die to our self” and “give ourself away”, we “make room for God” in our heart…And in turn, God fills us with his very self……This is the secret my friends…”It is in giving that we receive”…And I am not talking about money…Its far too easy to “write a check”…..I am talking about something far more valuable - The “gift of self” - I am talking about YOU and ME

“He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals”

Today’s gospel from Mass ended with this statement from Elizabeth to her cousin Mary..............….”Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled”……Mary took the word of God to heart - She actually believe it…Its so easy to read what Jesus said and take it for granted - Thinking the words do not apply to “me”…..Mary did not do that, and nor should we…We need to take Christ at his word….There is great power in the words of Jesus especially when his words are put into action………Jesus tells us many things in the gospel and far too many people in the world, when they read the words of Christ say to themselves…”This can’t be done” - “This is not realistic”…..And to a degree they are right…If we try to do what Jesus told us relying upon our own strengthen and natural gifts, we will surely fail…But if we rely upon grace, we can do it…..”Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father”……….When the world witnesses self sacrificial love…The world has no response except to stand in awe…There is no argument against it….Self sacrificial love witnessed penetrates even the hardest of hearts…It speaks to people and communicates what words will never communicate…”I care about you”….......”You mean something to me”…........This is how the gospel spreads…The only way it spreads - One person at a time - From me to you……Every Christmas Season Mother Teresa’s sisters would have a Christmas party in Lower Manhattan for all the people who lived in the Elliott-Chelsea Housing Projects…..And the sisters would spare no expense…They would cook for days, give gifts, provide a bus for the families and even have us volunteers pick up the elderly….No expense was spared….They welcomed these people as they would welcome Christ himself…..Actions like that speak to the heart….There is an old saying…”People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care”…….The words in the gospel are life giving but just saying the “words” will mean nothing to people unless they “see” the words fleshed out in real time…..This requires self sacrificial love….This is where the "rubber meets the road"…Mary today in the gospel from Mass shows us how to do this….....First - Mary said YES to the angel and as a result she was filled with the Holy Spirit….What happened next?…..She “went out” to help her cousin and in doing so, she “gave away” the Holy Spirit……Here is the take away…We can not give what we do not have…First - We have to be “filled with God”….We do that by daily prayer, fasting and living a Sacramental life…..Only then does the second part happen - The “giving of self” away to others…..This is the “One-Two Punch”…This is the "dynamite" of the Catholic Church…This is what we are all called to do as Catholics…Words don’t cut it

“Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst”

Mary today in the Gospel understood..To be a follower of Christ means we must live for others…..Love gives, it never takes…..However, this type of living witness can not be accomplished on our own……Jesus tells us point blank…..”Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father”……Before this happens, the cup must be “emptied and then filled again”…You are that cup - Its time to “fill up”……That is the “big secret” my friends….And when you come right down to it…. Its really no secret

”May it be done to me according to your word”…..At the statement of Mary the gates of hell trembled!….And when we say that statement to this very day….The gates of hell tremble once again!

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Luke….Mary is presented with the impossible……”Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus”…….As we all know, Mary was a virgin and having a baby as a virgin simply does not make any sense - Right?!?…..The angel Gabriel addresses that claim……"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God”….So here is the question…Do you really believe nothing is impossible for God? - Do we put God in a box, thinking he operates like we do?…….God can do anything…More importantly, God can use YOU to do the impossible….Our job is to respond like Mary did - With absolute trust…..Recognizing that without God we can do nothing but with God all things are possible

“Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

Those who know about Mother Teresa may not know that before she founded the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa was a high school principal in an elite school for all girls in Kolkata…She served in that school for 20 years until God called her to work for the poorest of the poor in the streets…If you read about Mother Teresa's life, she would say that if she did not pick up the first person she saw in gutter, the work that God called her to do would not have happened…It began with helping that first person……All good things start small…….On one of my trips to Kolkata I visited a Leper Colony that Mother Teresa founded on the outskirts of Kolkata - The Leper Colony is still there to this day…Before Mother Teresa founded this home for lepers, people who contracted this disease literally were expelled from the city, young and old alike, left to die along the railroad tracks…No joke…So when Mother Teresa heard about the plight of those people, she went to help them with one other nun…..And under a tree, she began to distribute food and clothing…..Over time people heard about what this brave nun was doing and donations started to come in…All by the way unsolicited…Money just kept coming in…..Why do I tell you this story?…When I visited this leper colony and was told how it started and how the project grew…All I could think to myself is HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!….How could this huge village start from two nuns giving out food and clothing from under a tree…They did not even ask for money, yet people just donated tons of money…And with the funds, they gave the lepers of Kolkata dignity, a safe place to live, they created jobs for them so they could support their families…I simply could not believe how this could happen…Literally out of no where……….As I read the gospel this morning hearing what St Gabriel said…..”For nothing will be impossible for God”…This story came to my mind…..The Missionaries of Charity serve all over the world…..Feeding and caring for thousands upon thousands of people a day…I know because I have seen this with my own eyes…Did you know that the Missionaries of Charity NEVER solicit money - Never have…That all the donations they get come in unsolicited - To this very day…..As a person who works in corporate America and has an MBA - Tell Mother Teresa “business model” to Harvard School of Business…Allow me to “pitch it” right now….We are going to have 5000 nuns and around 100,000 lay volunteers all over the world….We are going to feed hundreds of thousand of people a day…..Without asking for one penny…And all the money we need is going to come in to address what we have to do without us asking for it….That is what Mother Teresa’s “business model” looks like - No joke - And it works - To this day!….If I was to “pitch” that business model to a bank asking for a loan - What do you think the loan officer would say - Allow me to translate - BEAT IT!……Yet, this is how the Missionaries of Charity operate around the world…..How you may ask yourself?……..”For nothing will be impossible for God”

"He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior. Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob."

Today we read in the gospel about the impossible…A virgin gives birth to a child…Many people in the world say - Whatever!….Did not happen!…..Or…….People read this story and say, “God can’t work the impossible in my life”…….This is what I say to all the nay-sayers - WRONG! - God can do all things!…..I have found as a father of five that when we trust in God - With a radical trust - And we do our part - God can and does do the impossible…..We just need to learn to trust him…What prevents us from this kind of trust is we do not want to “give up control”…..This mindset limits us because we are all limited…We need to remind ourself God is limitless…..When we give up control and “step out into the deep”…God steps in…..God waits for us in “that space”……As he did with Our Lady….Mary gives us the example…..She was human, just like you and I - She was confused and afraid, just like we are at times……"How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”…But Mary “stepped past” her fears and put her hand into the hand of God and NEVER looked back….This is what we must do as well…..Step out into the deep!……”May it be done to me according to your word”…..At the statement of Mary the gates of hell trembled!….And when we say that statement to this very day….The gates of hell tremble once again!

Work with God not against him….”He has your back” - As the saying goes in my part of New Jersey….He is creating a master piece and that master piece is YOU!!!

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Luke…..The text tells us about the birth of John the Baptist…How his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth always wanted a child and could not conceive one…..At that time and in the culture in which Zechariah and Elizabeth lived, there was a stigma attached to not being able to have children…Therefore Zechariah and Elizabeth had to live with a certain amount of shame…..Then out of nowhere, in her old age Elizabeth gets pregnant…This is what she says…."So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others”……..Why did Elizabeth have to suffer unjustly for so long?…..This is a question we all can relate too…..God uses suffering more times then not to form us…Its in times when we “go without”, its in those times that God develops within us so many virtues…And that is the name of the game…To allow God to mold us….Create us to be an instrument of use for the Kingdom of God…Speaking from personal experience…That can be a painful process….But know this….I have learned to trust the process!……And God is not done with me yet…Nor is he done with YOU…He loves us too much to leave us as we are

“For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength”

Years ago a friend of mine who was a priest would ask my wife and I to give talks to young married couples about to stand before God and be joined together as husband and wife…The first thing I would ask these young men and women is this……”What is the goal of your marriage?”…..Many of these couples were in their twenties and they would just look at me not knowing what to say…I would ask it again, because in many cases I knew what they were thinking……The goal of many American marriages is to live a comfortable life and retire after years of marriage with money in the bank staring at the ocean…While there is nothing wrong with being comfortable…That is not the goal of a Catholic marriage…The answer I was looking for was first for the young man to stand up and say…”My goal is to get my wife and children to heaven”…Next I wanted to hear his soon to be wife say…”My goal is to get my husband to heaven and my children as well”….BOOM!!!!…That is the answer!…And that is no small task in this day and age…Why bring this up now?…..In order for God to form us into the people we need to be….There needs to be changes made and sometimes those changes can be painful…Trust me…..I am speaking from first hand experience here…But it is within those times that God forms us…..As Catholics we have all the “tools” to make this happen!……You see at the root of the problem, many in the world today do not view life as God views it….God only wants one thing - You in heaven!…..And many times because we have free will, we make choices that keep us from being the people we were born to be - A holy people…God will always respect our free will…However, God loves us too much to leave us in a condition, which prevents his grace from penetrating our hearts…So what does God do?…..He presents us with situations, which cause us to question our current state, with the goal of drawing us towards heavenly things….When a young man discerns the priesthood or the married life, the best thing I heard about the discernment process is this…Follow your peace…God will not give you true peace if you choose something that keeps you from himself…So what does that mean for us now?…We must follow our hearts - Easier said than done - Right! - But we must do it…If we follow our heart, we will be given true peace and that is where we need to be!…….There really is one goal in life…To allow God to sanctity us so we can enter heaven…..Think about this for a second…Most people want to “do good” in the world…..The closer we get to God on this earth, the more good we can do…First within our families then in the world around us…I wrote this yesterday in the morning reflection…A holy life is a powerful life!….However, to get to where we have to be can be a struggle….But God is the master builder…He knows what he is doing…Trust him!…..”He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit”……Just as a father when he looks at his 13 year old son…He knows how the “finished product” will look…God does the same thing with us…He is infinitely patient…His mercy is beyond all telling…And his grace is there for us to sustain us through it all!……Work with God, do not work against him….”He has your back” - As the saying goes in my part of New Jersey….He is creating a master piece and that master piece is YOU!!!

“O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds”

The gospel today tells us about how it took along time for John the Baptist to be born….And once he was born…John lived in the desert…Only to be formed for a longer period of time…Until the time was right!…John the Baptist was the precursor to Christ…And as with everything in life - All good things take time…God formed John the Baptist to be the man he needed him to be…And John cooperated with the hand of God in that process of formation…And look at the impact John had on the world….So it can be with us as well…We need to learn to cooperate with God….We are ALL the work of his hands….So if I was to ask you…Why were you born?…What is your purpose?……Like I would ask young Catholic couples about to get married…What is the purpose of your marriage?……This is what I want to hear….”My purpose is to allow God to form me to be the person I was born to be….And in doing so by my life's example, I will bring those around me to want and see the same thing for themselves”….This is what John the Baptist did….”I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”…..Work with God not against him….”He has your back” - As the saying goes in my part of New Jersey….He is creating a master piece and that master piece is YOU!!!