Don’t turn what is simple into something that need not be complicated…Focus on First Principals…And the results will happen organically

Today at Holy Mass St Luke tells us about the first missionary….Our Lady…..With these words her journey began…”Let it be done to me according to thy word”….BOOM!….Christ enters her womb…And what does she do next?….She GOES OUT to others!….SIMPLE - Right?….This is the natural order of things…..Love gives it never takes…Once we allow (notice the word ALLOW) Christ to enter us…..Organically, we are moved to GO FORTH and give him away…….Each of us is unique…And that means each of us will work in different ways in how we reach out to the world….However, the starting point is the same…..”Let it be done to me according to thy word”…And what propels us is the same as what propelled Our Lady - Jesus himself…..Our job is SIMPLE and everything else will take care of its self organically….We are to prepare the “dwelling place” for God within our soul…How do we do that?…Through regular Sacramental Confessions (Monthly)…Once we “prepare a place” for Jesus within our soul…We invite him in by receiving the Blessed Sacrament…SO SIMPLE - Right?….Someone reading this may then say…What am I do it next? - The answer - DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT…Once you "take care of business” on your end - Jesus will take care of the rest…What you do will happen organically

 

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant”

When we pray the Rosary on Thursdays, the third Luminous Mystery is the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God….When one mediates on this mystery, the thought of trying to proclaim the message of Christ without first developing our interior life is futile….Everything comes from our interior life, which is fueled by daily prayer, fasting and the Sacraments….All the “work” we do for God comes from that…To try to do “God’s work” before developing our interior life is frankly a waste of time…Why?…Because "the work" is God’s work - Its not our own…..Remember these words…”You cannot give what you do not have”…Develop your interior life first and then watch what God does through you…”The work” will “spring forth” organically…..Every Saturday afternoon before I was married in Downtown Manhattan at 2:00pm in the afternoon, I joined Mother Teresa’s sisters to pray a Holy Hour in silence before the Blessed Sacrament…For seven years every Saturday, that is how my afternoon began!….At 3:00pm, once prayer time was over - “The work” began….Our world today dismisses prayer - A HUGE mistake….Why?…Because again…”You cannot give what you do not have”…..God has to become real to us…For too many, God is simply a word…This needs to change…..And this CAN change IF we spend time in silence before the Blessed Sacrament…Something I still do to this day for one hour each week before my children wake up in my home - My wife does the same….Far too many complicate the Catholic faith…Its really so simple…Jesus was a simple person and we must strive to be simple too….If we stick to “First Principles” - Everything else will take care of itself…It will all happen organically, as it did for Our Lady - Mary had something to do - And you have something to do too!…St Luke tells us about it today in the Gospel at Mass…”Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 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”….Mary is our Mother and like all Mothers, she instructs us…Mary was pure, so what must we do? - Strive to become pure - How do we do that? - By regularly giving a Sacramental Confession to a Priest - Don’t worry - Priests have heard it all - Your “sins” are not so special!….What else did our Mother teach us?….Once she said YES to Jesus - She “went out” to help others…This is what we will do too, it will happen organically - You just take care of First Principals - Jesus will take care of the rest.

“He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.”

Today in Mass we hear about what is commonly referred to in Catholic circles as the Annunciation, as well as the Visitation of Elizabeth by Mary…For all you Catholic Rosary devotees out there…These are the first two mysteries of the Rosary (The Annunciation - The Visitation), which are prayed every Monday & Saturday known as the Joyful Mysteries….In these two mysteries a lot is revealed to us…We are taught what it means to live out our Catholic faith in a meaningful, simple and practical way….We need to stop complicating what is not complicated!…..Our Lady was so simple, like her son…We must strive to become simple too….It all begins with these words….”Let it be done to me according to thy word”….BOOM!….Christ enters her womb…And what does she do?….She goes out to others!…..Don’t turn what is simple into something that need not be complicated…Focus on First Principals…And the results will happen organically