If we ignore the one who loves us more then anyone ever can or will - The only people we are fooling are ourselves! - Just look out the window - How are “we” doing?

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading how our first parents, Adam and Eve were deceived…..

”After Adam had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to him and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me— she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”

How could this have happened?….Adam and Eve were given everything, yet the serpent was able to trick them….Keep this in mind as well….Adam and Eve were not “stained” by original sin when they disobeyed God…I state that because we ALL are and as a result suffer from the strain of original sin, which clouds our judgment and weakens our will…Why bring this up?…Do you think it’s still possible that the “serpent” can trick mankind into choices that ultimately destroy him today?…..The answer is ABSOLUTELY….Our world has “bought in” to what Pope John Paul II called the culture of death…..And the results of this “buy in” speak for themselves…And mankind is still not convinced!….We double down and triple down on bad decision after bad decision….Only to witness generation after generation getting laid to waste!…..Scripture clearly tell us: “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides [of the blind]. If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit”……..The only people we are fooling are ourselves!

“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala”

Before I was married for seven years every Saturday I volunteered at a hospice run by Mother Teresa’s nuns in Lower Manhattan…..This particular hospice was rather famous…It was the first home established for men who had acquired HIV in the world…Mother Teresa herself founded it in 1985 at the peak of the AIDS epidemic before medication was available to treat the virus….Many of the men who took there last breath there lived active homosexual lifestyles…..I always wondered…..After years of living lives away from God and the Natural Law, where were all their “friends” when they were about to die?……Not a one came to visit or help - Not a one!…It was the Catholic Church who assisted them……I have witnessed many of these men as death drew close request to be baptized….Again, where were all the guys at the bar to help them eat or even walk across the room as their life was slowing being drained from their bodies?!?……As we heard today in the first reading…Mankind still has not learned…Why?…Its the same sin of Adam and Eve that plagues us today…..PRIDE - “I know better!”….Really? - Do we know better? - Just look out the window - How is it working out?……God loves us and God's laws apply to us ALL, whether we want to accept them or not - They still apply - That is reality!….Over the course of many years teaching the Catholic faith, this is the analogy I would use to illustrate what I just stated…..If you tell me you do not believe in gravity - My response - Ok - Climb to the top of your house and jump off…..Once you hit the cement, you are still free to not believe in gravity…However, your broken body is still broken, regardless of what you chose to believe……I will say it again…The Natural Law and the laws of God apply to us ALL, whether we acknowledge them or not…Your free to chose whatever road you want - But the outcome is not a choice…..This applies to all aspects of human life….Why?…Because we were ALL made by God and when we choose to reject God - Something inside us breaks…Those who have ears - Let them hear!

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.”

Today we hear at Mass the story of how Adam and Eve were tricked out of their perfect life…Paradise was lost!…..The question today to ponder is - How have the “collective we” been tricked?…Do you “think” you are “too smart” to be tricked by the “serpent”?….If you do, I got some news for you - You are an easy target…The devil is VERY real - He is smarter then you - He is stronger then you - And he knows all your weaknesses (and we ALL have them)…So what are we to do?……”Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”……If we ignore the one who loves us more then anyone ever can or will - The only people we are fooling are ourselves! - Just look out the window - How are “we” doing?