Still don’t believe me?…….”And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken”……..Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the Book of Judges how the children of Israel forget what God had done for them and as a result their lives become disordered…..If you read the Old Testament, this is a reoccurring theme - Exodus and Return……Exodus and Return……Exodus and Return…..”They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken, and did not follow their example of obedience to the commandments of the LORD”…..When one reads world history objectively, the same pattern also presents itself time and time again…..Mankind sacrifices, works hard and succeeds…Only to get complacent…..He forgets what “got him” to be successful in the first place…..Corruption and decadence sets in….Which always leads to collapse….Sound familiar?!?……So the question becomes - What keeps mankind at the “top of his game”?…….If we are honest and object, one can only conclude that we are ALL subject to temptation and sin…..This in religious circles is called concupiscence…Jesus who was fully man and was also fully God knew this very well about us…This is why he established a Church…We are baptized as children to “wipe away” our original sin and to graft us into the life of God…However, that DOES NOT remove our inclination to still sin….IT DOES NOT MATTER WHO YOU ARE!…..IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW SMART YOU ARE!…..IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW STRONG YOU ARE!……This is the fatal mistake of mankind!!!!!!…We forget that we are susceptible to sin…And guess what happens?….WE FALL…..This is the story of mankind…..So what do we do?…..Jesus gives us the answer…..He established a Church, which gives us the Sacraments, which are “the medicine for the world”….By living a Sacramental life, we are given grace…..Grace is the “missing link”….We all need it…..This keeps us “on the road to heaven”….Why?…Because without it we “get distracted”…..We succumb to temptations…..Grace is the key!…..And sadly mankind takes this for granted….And as a result, we fall…We stray and the story of salvation history repeats itself over and over again…..Exodus and Return……Exodus and Return……Exodus and Return….So how do we stop this destructive pattern?…..Live a Sacramental life…Allow God’s grace to animate your life…..Don’t you think its about time we break this cycle?

“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?…..He answered him, Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good”

How does a married couple remain faithful to each other for fifty years?…….How does a priest remain chaste and devout?……The answer - Grace….How does the Catholic Church define grace?…………”Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God's call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification”……..Many American Catholics are aware of the sexual abuse scandal that took place in the 20th century…….As an objective observer…And I think I can say this with certainty - Clearly, the clergy who committed these unspeakable acts, stopped praying, stopped going to confession regularly, and stopped receiving the Eucharist in the state of grace…I will bet everything I have on that assertion…If a married man is having an affirm with another women and committing adultery - Do you think that man is going to confession with a Catholic Priest regularly?….Praying the Rosary everyday with his wife?….Receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the state of grace at Sunday Mass?……These two activities are like oil and water…They can not mix……A person will either commit to one lifestyle or commit to another…..Now these are extreme cases and clearly are not the norm………But the same idea (to one degree or another) applies to us all…..Without grace…Without the Sacraments…..We are ALL vulnerable to temptation and sin………You don’t think so?…..You think you’re so strong?…You think you’re so smart?……Think again!

“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven”

Today at Mass we hear in the first reading how the Israelites “mess up”….How did they mess up?…They forgot about God…..So it is with our world today…Secular society “thinks” it does not need God’s grace…How is that working out? - Do I even need to solicit an answer…….At the end of the day we ALL must admit that we are only made of flesh and blood…Scripture tells us that very clearly…..”Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”…Still don’t believe me?….Do you remember the story of St Peter?……Peter saw the miracles of Christ with his own eyes….He lived with Jesus for three years…..And STILL, when the “rubber met the road” - He denies Christ and betrays him………St Peter had the best of intentions as so many of us do - And he still failed!!!!…What does that tell you?…I can only speak for myself - I need and rely of God’s grace each and everyday…And we get that grace in and through the Sacraments….Those who have ears - Let them hear…..Still don’t believe me?…….”And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken”……..Cock-a-doodle-doo!