Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah that although Israel was in ruins, a remnant will survive and carry on…And from that remnant, the people of God will thrive again…”The people that escaped the sword have found favor in the desert. As Israel comes forward to be given his rest, the LORD appears to him from afar: With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you. Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel; Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits. Yes, a day will come when the watchmen will call out on Mount Ephraim: “Rise up, let us go to Zion, to the LORD, our God.” For thus says the LORD: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The LORD has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel”……Due to our sinful nature, mankind drifts from God in waves….The Old Testament is filled with stories of how Israel abandoned God, their society falls apart, a person is risen up by God and the people follow that chosen person and society begins anew once again…While this trend repeats itself in the Old Testament over and over again, it also repeats itself to this very day across the world….Even in the Catholic Church….God always rises up saints and it is through saints that the Church is renewed…….This is why there is nothing more important - No personal goal more pressing - No material achievement more impressive - Then to strive and to become a saint….God created each and every person to live a holy life and we all have everything we need to make that happen……St John tells us…..”A light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it”…..Society is not renewed by science, politics, or business…Its renewed by saints……God did not leave his people orphans!!…From the wreckage of every society - A “remnant” carries “God’s light” forward!……Pope Benedict XVI spoke about this in 1969……”From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge -- a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so it will lose many of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, it will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision……The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. It may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but it will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man's home, where he will find life and hope beyond death”…Once again, a Prophet is risen up by God to address the wreckage of society (Pope Benedict XVI) and a remnant will emerge from the ashes of that wreckage……"Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth”….From every broken promise and wrong turn mankind makes - God gathers up the shattered pieces and builds again.
“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock”
My great grandmother came from Southern Italy and raised a family in Newark, New Jersey….This woman was a devout Catholic and gave birth to seventeen children, of which twelve lived…..My mother told me she was constantly in church, a woman of GREAT faith - At the end of her life, she went blind but even that did not discourage her!….Her life clearly was not easy but my mother told me she had a wonderful sense of humor and was always joyful…..I never met my great grandmother but I and thankful I have her blood in my veins…..Why do I bring this story up?…..Because even after living a devout Catholic life, giving a tremendous witness, raising twelve children and even more grand-children! - Most of my mother’s family are no longer practicing Catholics…And the family has scattered and fragmented across New Jersey sadly……While most of my mother’s family are “catholic” in name - They clearly “lost something” and do not have the faith of my great grandmother, who gave birth to seventeen children raising them in poverty with a smile on her face!….The only one who has carried on the Catholic faith - To the best of my knowledge is me and my family - I am the “remnant”, which rose up from the ashes on my mother’s family….Now I have five children and a “new story” begins…..God is faithful, even when human beings are not - From the ashes of every ruined society - God renews what was lost…..”I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them. You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God”……..Never for a minute doubt God’s fidelity to his people…We are his people and will carry on!
“The LORD shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings”
Today we are reminded in the first reading from Mass that God is faithful….Israel was in ruin but God spared a small group of people, the remnant, to carry on the faith and to rebuild the nation…The same thing will happen to America….America is destroying itself….We have turned our backs to God and the consequences of that decision should be clear to all who have “eyes to see”….But from the wreckage of what America used to be will come a remnant, which will rebuild society again…..Count on that!…..This is how God works and history often repeats itself…..America will not be “fixed” by political means - Nor will technology be the answer to our problems - Saints will rise up and show “the people” a way forward…And something new will begin again……There is nothing so “broken” that can not be “fixed” by God - God has done it before and he will do it again…..”A light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it”…..JMJ
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