For those who have ears to hear

Today at Holy Mass we hear Jesus in the Gospel of St Mark tell us very clearly how we are to arrive safely in heaven…..“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”…..This statement, while perfectly clear is rationalized away - Ignored outright - Twisted and manipulated by believers and non believers alike……The road to eternal life is narrow and Jesus is telling us this today point blank - Yet, ask many people about how we get to heaven - About living life on our own terms - About the meaning of suffering and sacrifice…..Some of these people are well intentioned too - Yet, they have twisted the words of Christ - They “created” their own “brand” of “Christianity” and “created” a “god” of their own making……..In order to follow Jesus Christ, one must first be honest with themselves and see Jesus for who he truly is - God - Which implies we are not God…..”We” do not make “the rules” and if we want to “get in” to God’s house - We have to follow His rules….That means dying to our own self…..There are no two ways about it!…..Now - Tell what I just stated to the large majority of the world - Again, many of these people are Christians - Some are even Catholic - And when you read to them what was read to us today at Mass from Mark’s Gospel - Somehow, they “don’t get it” - Or maybe better put - They don’t want to “get it”….Why is this the case? - Because people want to live their life on their terms - And still go to heaven - Jesus is telling us today very clearly - It does not work that way!…….”I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him”…….Jesus told us he is “The WAY” - He did not say he is the custom….So choose life!

“Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked. Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night”

The Natural Law is imprinted on every living cell of every human being - And because of this reality - We all long for God…And when we turn from God, most especially when we intentional turn from God, something within us breaks!……When a Catholic lives in the state of grace - Going to Confession frequently and receiving the Eucharist at least once a week at Sunday Mass….There is a peace that comes along with this state of living….And if we sin, most especially if we sin mortally - Our peace is taken from us…..This is a very real and tangible example that one can live through first hand, which provides understanding that not only is God real - But so is grace - How do I conclude this? - By the way we tangibly “feel” (i.e. Our lasting internal peace) while we are in the state of grace….Here is another “truth bomb” - We can not have it both ways - God and the world…Jesus tells us so in the pages of Scripture - “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”…..This reality could not be written any clearer - But the concept still has not penetrated into the human mind even after 2000 years of trial and error documented in pages of human history - Why is that? - The answer is - We refuse to “bend our will” completely to God…Its in that action - The “bending of our will” - Until it breaks - Its then that we truly encounter the Lord!……To understand this reality is to have a mature and adult faith…….St Paul, who was a man at one time in his life lived the wrong way tells us, from his own experience…..”When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things”…….So ultimately we all make a choice and to think we can have God and the world at the same time - Is simply a self delusion - The only people we “fool” is ourself…..How do we know we are doing the right thing and living the right way? - That we made the right choice?…The answer to those question comes in the form of deep peace, we either have or do not have - Follow your peace!…..The happiest people on the earth are the people closest to God….The “world” gets it wrong…..Human beings chase after many “things” and in the process they lose God and ultimately they lose who they are too - At their core…..It’s really very simple - “We” make it complicated.

“He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers”

Today at Mass Jesus tells us how we are to follow him….The question then is - Do you believe him?…And an even better question is - Are you doing what Jesus asked of you?…..”For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it”….No matter what state of life you are in: Single - Married - Consecrated Religious……We are all called to “give our life away”….This is the one and only path to heaven…..Sadly, many voices will tell you otherwise - And some of those voices many come from people that may shock you - Both inside the Church and outside the Church……..But the reality is this - Again told to us by Jesus Christ himself……“Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep”….Don’t be deceived!……There is one God - There is one Heaven - Jesus was one man who formed one Church…..It’s really very simply, once again, it’s “us” who make it complicated……As Our Lady told us at the Wedding Feast at Cana…......“Do whatever he tells you” - Some good advice right there - For those who have ears to hear………………..JMJ

”Now is a very acceptable time”

Today the Universal Church commemorates Ash Wednesday….A day to remember that no matter who we are - We are dust!…..Today is a day to fast….Fasting is important - It sharpens our prayer and opens us up to God….Fasting is not just for Ash Wednesday and Lent - Catholics should consider incorporating fasting into their weekly routines even outside of Lent & Advent…But back to Ash Wednesday…What is the plan for Lent?…..What are we trying to achieve?…..Lent is a means to an end - What I mean by that is - We do not fast for the sake of fasting - We fast to open ourselves up to grace…..And grace elevates our human nature…..Grace animates the soul and allows us to do what we can not self manufacture…But to obtain this grace, we must “make room for it”….And that is where fasting comes in…Fasting makes us vulnerable and when we are vulnerable, we cling to God - And God responds!…Today the Church reminds us…..”Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me”….Only God can forgive sin…Only God can free us from our transgressions…..The world refuses to acknowledge this reality and as a result the world around us is deeply wounded and those “wounds” project outward unto others……If only we “bend our knee” - And confess our sin Sacramentally with an open and humble heart…This is what Lent is all about…It is a time of preparation for something greater…It is a means to an end and the “end” is Easter Sunday…………One day we all will face God…Our journey on this earth will be complete….What will that encounter with God look like? - Will we be ready?…..Like any important meeting - We must prepare…Lent is a time to prepare - “Repent and Believe in Gospel”….That is what Lent is all about

“For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always: "Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight"

Lent is a opportunity to receive grace - If we take it seriously - Through our Lenten observances - When we “give God permission” to work in our life…We grow in sanctification - And that is “the name of the game” - We are not who we are supposed to be - Yet!……Life is a journey back to God - It really is nothing more then that….And like any journey, we learn as we go…..With that said - If you are not aware of “the goal” - You will not reach “the goal”……Sanctifying grace transforms us and without it we cannot become the people we were born to be……These next 40 days are an opportunity to grow in holiness…….So take this time seriously!……Don’t focus on “what you are giving up” - Focus on how what you are “giving up” is going to allow God to transform you…..And we all need to be transformed - Don’t think for a moment that you somehow “figured it all out”……”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”……So let us begin today this 40 day journey with an unsure spirit - What does that mean? - Challenge yourself - Make yourself vulnerable……..And if you do - God will act! - And you will receive grace in the process….One more step closer to “the goal”

“A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me”

Today at Mass the readings focus on prayer, fasting and giving alms…This is the customary activities of Lent…But what about when it’s not Lent?….As Catholics we should always be praying - Do you pray daily?…We should always share our bread with the hungry - Do you give to the poor regularly? - Are you generous?….As Catholics we should always fast weekly - Do you fast every Friday?……While Lent is a more pronounced time of focusing on the activities - We should not forget to pray, fast and give alms all year around....…This is how we become a holy people…….A people “set upon a hill” - A people that become “a light to the nations”….Lent brings to our attention really what we should be doing all year round - “Repent and Believe the Gospel”……This is not just a 40 day practice - Its a 365 day a year practice!……...”Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation”…….All journeys begin with the first step - Take that first step today - And keep walking forward - Straight ahead!……”Now is a very acceptable time”…….JMJ

”Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God”

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of Mark Jesus tries to explain to the disciples the miracles of the loaves…And the disciples “don’t get it”…..”Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?”…..In this exchange between Jesus and the disciples - Jesus also diagnoses the problem - Hardness of Heart - This is what keeps the disciples from understanding and this is what keeps us from “seeing”; hearing and understanding God to this very day……The unbelieving secular world measures a person’s analytical abilities and raw intelligence as the means by which a person “understands”……..When it comes to the ways of God, this has little to do with it - Some people reading this reflection may find such a statement hard to digest, due to the conditioning of our society around the importance given to a good education…….Remember - Jesus did not pick the most “capable of men” to be his first disciples - These twelve men had little to no formal education - Jesus picked men who the secular world overlooked and disregarded - Jesus saw “something” in these men and if I were to guess what that “something” was - Jesus saw their hearts and there willingness to be molded…….This is why he choose them…..Yet - Today in the Gospel even these “hand picked men” do not understand what Jesus was trying to teach them - But notice - Jesus did not give up on them……How quickly we give up on others…..Thinking we somehow are superior to them….While we as practicing Catholics may “see” certain aspects of the Holy Spirit at work in the world - We clearly do not “see” everything….Yet - We “throw stones” at others - At least I find myself doing this at times……No matter who we are - No matter how close we have come to God - We still live “behind the veil” of heaven and the earth....Even the best of us only “see” and understand  partially…This is why we must be patient with one another and bear with one another…..Jesus diagnosed the problem for our lack of understanding - Its a heart issue…The issue that exists to this vey day….”Blessed are the pure of heart - For they shall see God”…This is why we must strive to purity our hearts - This is more important them approaching our Catholic faith from an academic prospective - We can not “read our way” to a pure heart

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord; and my Father will love him and we will come to him”

As a father of five young children, when my children do something wrong and I address it, they usually tell me they love me in an attempt to “cover-up” what they did wrong and avoid consequences….When this happens I usually respond with this statement to them - “Show me you love me - Love is not a word - Love is an action”….Many people today express their faith with their words - But do they live their faith with their life? - Do they understand what it means to be Catholic? - “I desire mercy not sacrifice” - Remember that line from Scripture?…..The closer we get to God - The more our life will reflect the Holy Spirit to others - This has everything to do with our heart…..From a human prospective, we can not make our heart’s pure…We need divine assistance - This comes in the form of frequent Confessions and frequent reception of the Eucharist……..And in time, our “hearts of stone” will be transformed into “hearts of flesh”……Remember the story of the Good Samaritan?…..Two people passed a wounded man by on the side of the road and one of the men was a Levite (a priest) - But it was the Samaritan who stopped to help the man - What did the Samaritan “see” and understand that made him stop?………..Our position in life, our education, and our status has nothing to do with the purity of our heart and only when our heart is pure will be “see” God in others and understand the words of Christ taught to us in his many parables - To the unbelieving world, what the Samaritan did was “foolish” but to God, the Samaritan, who an outcast himself “got it” - The Samaritan understood the meaning of love and mercy……..Books will never teach us this lesson….Its a “heart thing” - So tend to your heart - Strive to make it pure

“Blessed the man whom you instruct, O LORD, whom by your law you teach, Giving him rest from evil days”

Today at Mass Jesus tells us that if our hearts are hard, we will never truly understand him…….Some people approach their Catholic faith from an intellectual prospective - That is a good thing, don’t get me wrong but this approach does have limits…..Being Catholic has less to do with books and an advanced education then it does with purity of heart…Jesus tells us - “Unless you become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God”…..A child has a pure heart and sees the world through the “lens” of purity……As Catholics this should be our fundamental aim - To return to childlike innocence - And we can only do that be living Sacramentally - Only God can restore us to this innocent state and in order for that to happen, we must cooperate with him…We must “make room” for the Holy Spirit to animate our life….Not all who “see” understand because they are “looking” through the wrong lens - We must “look” through the lens of our heart - And the cleaner our heart becomes - The more we will “see” and the more we will understand……….........”Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God”……………JMJ

Carry on - Full steam ahead!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first readings from the Book of James how trials we experience in life can be useful…..Suffering is apart of every human life and only the Catholic faith gives meaning to suffering…Something the secular world has no answer for.....……”Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”…….The process of sanctification is a long one…God knows the person we were born to be….And while daily prayer, weekly fasting and living Sacramentally moves us in the direction of God - So does the daily trials we experience…..Nothing is wasted with God - He is constantly forming us…We either can accept our daily trials or reject them and become bitter…..When we choose to accept the trials of life, they serve as a means of “chipping away” at our “rough edges”….And each of us has “rough edges”…..”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 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”……Clearly no one wants to suffer but when suffering comes your way - The question becomes - How do you react?…..If we view hardships as something that God allowed to happen and that there is a reason for it - Even if at the time we do not understand what that reason is - Then we will not be crushed - In fact, we will open ourselves up to growth…..Many times God permits hardships to transform us…..Because in many ways we do not even understand our very self - We do not see ourselves as God sees us…And because God loves us like a Father, he wants us to become the people we were born to be - A Holy People - And that takes time - It also requires us to make changes, which we may not be willing to make without God’s help - And those changes are made many times due to hardships we endure……With God nothing is wasted - We must learn to trust!…..We must give God our unconditional YES - And he will use our consent in ways we will not always understand……..”I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus”……Crooked roads will be made straight - The mountains will be leveled - Take each day as it comes and know your sanctification is found in your acceptance of life as it is - Both in the good and the bad experiences alike - Nothing is wasted or will be wasted!

“I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

Sometimes the worst thing that happens to a person, turns out to bear the most fruit for their spiritual growth in time……When we read the lives of the saints and even look closely at the lives of those we know around us…We can see how a tragedy experienced in one’s life can become a source of transformation…..God sees past all the tragedies that accord in history due to human sin and weakness and if we give God a chance, there is nothing that cannot be used for the Greater Glory of God - Even the worst of events!……..A priest one time told a story about a Shepherd he knew in the Middle East….One of his sheep kept running away and nothing he could do or say would stop this sheep from going astray…The Shepherd feared for this sheep because there were many wolves who would maim or kill this sheep when it ran away…The sheep was not fully aware of this danger - But the Shepherd was!…..So one day the Shepherd took this sheep into his hands and snapped his leg in two!…The sheep cried and cried…..But after the sheep was wounded, the Shepherd bandaged the leg of this sheep and for three months carried the sheep upon his shoulders, caring for it until the leg healed…Once the broken leg of the sheep was healed, the sheep understood that the Shepherd loved him because of the care he gave to him when he was wounded….And when that sheep could walk, it never went astray again….He learned to trust the Shepherd and listen to his voice…This story resonated deeply with me when I first heard it….How human beings do what they want and disregard God’s commandments…And many times its not until we “feel the burn” of the consequences of our poor choices that we come to our senses…..Mankind must come to realize that God sees “the big picture” in a way we do not…We need to listen to his voice - We need to trust in God’s ways - We need to understand that God not only loves us but uses everything we live through to sanctify us - Even the trials and the hardships - To prepare us to one day stand before him as we were intended to be - To be a Holy People - Sanctified by Divine grace……”I will sprinkle clean water over you to make you clean; from all your impurities and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  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”

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I hold to your promise.”

St James reminds us today at Mass that the “testing of your faith produces perseverance”…We are each “a work in progress”…….What many people forget, or do not believe outright is - Nothing impure enters into heaven…..And God who wants each of us in heaven knows we all have a “long way to go” before we are ready to stand before him….The process of sanctification happens not only in this life but if we do not fully complete what God intended for us through our given vocation - We spend time in Purgatory…This is a perennial Catholic teaching!…..So the way I look at it - “Do your time now”! - Fully cooperate with God and make it a priority to strive to become holy….This involves daily prayer, living sacrificially and also living Sacramentally - But it also involves living through the many trials and hardships of this world, which also form us if we allow them too……As the old saying goes….”I am the potter and you are the clay” - This is how we must view our life in the hands of God…He sees everything - He knows everything - And He loves us!…..Trust him and if we do - God will get us to where we need to be - But not without our cooperation - So cooperate!……”I will lead the blind on a way they do not know; by paths they do not know I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These are my promises: I made them, I will not forsake them”………Carry on - Full steam ahead!……….JMJ

Choose life and be “that light”!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from Sirach that mankind is given a choice - Life or Death - That without our cooperation with God’s grace - Without our firm YES to God…..We shall not be saved….”If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him”….American Christianity and that includes many Catholics believe that getting into heaven is a given….You can live anyway you want, as long as you are what is considered a “good guy” by the standards of the world - If you do that - You get into heaven…That means you are free to disregard God’s laws for the sake of your own desires and still “walk right into the pearl gates”……Today the readings at Mass say otherwise and the Church has never taught such a twisted idea of salvation……What is at the root of mankind’s rebellion?….There are many reasons but one of the driving reasons is - Many believe God’s commands take from us as opposed to give…People believe that somehow they will be “missing out” if they follow God, the Natural Law and his Holy will…..That is a lie told to us by the devil and far too many believe it!…..God only gives, he never takes and God’s commandments keep us safe - Safe from who? - The answer - Safe from our very self!……The peace and joy that comes with living in a state of grace as a Catholic far outweighs anything the world can give us…If we abandon God’s will for the “things of the world”, even if those “things” seem “harmless”, because we turned from God, our choice and whatever comes with that choice materially speaking will become tainted and “something” will seem to be missing - That “something” is the presence of God….We can not get around this reality…..Each of us was made for God - On each of our human cells, written in our DNA is God….And when we turn from him - Something in us breaks…..No material thing can replace this innate desire…..This is why the best choice to be made is the “God Choice”…..And when we make that choice - Our life not only has order to it but peace and joy rest deep without our hearts….”If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides”…….We cannot have both - “The world” and God at the same time - Many tell themselves this lie!…..To think we can is not to think as an adult with a mature faith….Life boils down to choices - Choose well!

“Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom”

God’s way works - Yet our world today not only does not believe it - But rejects this reality outright…..Let’s look at one aspect of how God’s way works…….Currently the family unit in America is deep fractured…More then half of American marriages end in divorce, which has deeply impacted our society leaving wounded people and children with life long “issues” to resolve……What is at the root of all these divorces? - Well, there are many reasons but one of the driving reasons is God is no longer the center of many American marriage….Vast numbers of people in America do not live their marriages Sacramentally….Some do not even get marriages in Churches…The reality is to have a good marriage, no matter who you are, takes work - But it also takes God grace - That is why marriage is a Sacrament…God understands the difficulties of raising a family - That is why he gives us his grace in the marriage covenant....But our society has rejected this grace…..This is a driving reason why so many marriages end in divorce….Let’s look at some numbers…….Currently 50% of all American marriages end in divorce…If a couple simply goes to Church on Sunday - That number gets cut in half to 25%……And if couples do not use contraception and utilize natural family planning, the divorce rate for those couples is only 3%….This is reality not religious dogma - The numbers do not lie!…Yet society chooses to ignore reality……Without God’s grace in marriage selfish behavior is soon to follow and selfishness is the killer of love…True love gives, it never takes and God helps us to love in a sacrificial way…When a married couple love sacrificially, their marriage thrives!…This is why God must be the center of every marriage…..To ignore reality has consequences.

“Be good to your servant, that I may live and keep your words. Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law”

Today at Mass we are told boldly that we have to cooperate with God if we want to enter into eternal life - Some may rationalize this message away……..or……Flat out ignore it!………But reality is reality……God is not some kind of “ogre” - God gives us his law to not only keep us safe but to allow us to thrive here on earth…..And nothing the world can give us can surpass the peace that God can give us when we live in a state of grace and follow his commandments……Again, the world is not convinced!……This is why Catholics must give a witness to the world….An unbelieving world must “see” what it means to live as an authentic Catholic…..To be open to life in marriages - To be generous - To be kind - To be friendly to all…..Why is this so important? - Because again - “Seeing is believing”…..The secular world does not believe that God’s ways works - This is why we must show them!……Our world today has radically rejected God - American society is reeling - It has become unmoored! - Basic common sense has become lost in a sea of confusion and chaos……What will change this trend?…..The answer - Witnesses!…Catholics must be those witnesses to serve as a reminder that God is real - That God’s way works - That God’a way brings joy and peace…..As many Americans believe - We are not going to “vote our way out” of the current environment we live it…..We cannot legislate morality as some believe we can…Only the witness of a holy people - A people “set apart” will change the minds of a society that has taken the wrong path and has “doubled-down” on that choice……..Only saints change the world…..It’s time Catholics “step up” and start showing the world that we believe what we say we believe….Words will not accomplish this task…….“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom”……..History is clear - The witness of Catholicism radically lived out has changed the world time and time again - When nothing else works - When words fail and ideologies fall short - God rises up saints…….”A light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it” - Ever think God is calling you to be that “light”? - Guess what? - He is…..Choose life and be “that light”!………………JMJ

If you can not feed hundred people - Then just feed one

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Mark that Jesus was a man of compassion…He has “eyes to see” human suffering…The question is - Do we?…….”Jesus summoned the disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat”….Its very easy to get desensitized to the sufferings of those around us…..So many in our society are “invisible”…They have “fallen through the cracks” of acceptable society and live on the margins….Its very easy to blame them for bad choices made and then disregard them as almost sub-human……Jesus today shows us he understood deeply what it meant to be human and that suffering is apart of the human condition…..While we can no solve the problems of the world, we can “do our part” to bring comfort and assistance to others when we can…As Mother Teresa once said…”If you can not feed one hundred people, feed one”……But before we do, we need to have “eyes to see”…..How do we acquire this kind of sight?……If we can see Jesus in the consecrated host, we will be able to see Jesus in our neighbor, most especially our neighbor in need…..We are given “this kind of sight” only by and through Sacramental grace…..Grace elevates human nature and without it we focus inward upon ourself as opposed to outward towards others…..St John tells us in his Gospel……”If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother”…….Many in our world today do not have “this kind of sight” - They are “blind” to the plight of others….How can this be?…..If we expect God to welcome us into heaven - As many do! - We then must do our part!…..What we do to the least of us, we do to God himself”….This is on the “final exam” and the “measure we measure out to others will be measured back to us”…..Those who have ears - Let them hear

“One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God’

There are many people in our world who have not had an authentic encounter with God - Now that does not mean God does not love them, maybe it simply means some people are not looking in the right places…..One way we can have a very real encounter with God is when we serve the poor…….Mother Teresa would say the entire Gospel can be taught on five fingers and in five words: “You - Did - It - To - Me”……….Mother Teresa would also teach her sisters that when we help the poor, we are literally helping Christ himself…….That Jesus is found literally in the poor…..I tell the readers of this reflection this reality because even if you are searching for God and have not found him yet - If you serve the poor with a sincere and open heart, “a bridge” to God opens up, even if you did not intend that “bridge” to be built…..For many years I have served the poor with the Missionaries of Charity all over the world (Haiti; India; New York; San Francisco; Montreal) ….I have seen with my own two eyes secular people, people who were not Catholic, even people who were living objective amoral lives who have sincerely immersed themselves in serving the poor and in doing so make huge strides in “awakening” to the reality of a God that loves them…..Serving others opens our heart - The gift of self to another human being “makes one feel good” for a reason - The reason is, we were born to “give ourself away”, its in our human DNA…..As St Francis rightfully said…”It is in giving that we receive”

“He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. They ate and were satisfied.”

Today we hear at Mass how Jesus himself feed those in need……Do we somehow think we are not “called” to do the same?……Being Catholic is not simply an academic pursuit - While there is so much to learn about the Catholic faith from books  - This is only a one dimensional aspect of what it means to be Catholic…We must put our faith into action!……Its one thing to “know something” and its another thing altogether to “do something”………But before we “do something”, we must acquire “eyes to see”….This begins by living a Sacramental life - Frequent Confession and Frequent reception of the Eucharist….We can not self manufacture “eyes to see” those who live on the margins of our society……Jesus today in St Marks’s Gospel shows us that he had “eyes to see” the suffering of mankind and he did something about it…..We are also told in the Gospel that Jesus was willing to “leave the ninety-nine to help the one who was lost”……How about us?…..Its very comfortable to stay with the “ninety-nine” who “have their life in order”…..And for those who have ventured out to the margins - We know that to “go out” to help the “one” who is lost can be very uncomfortable, it can even be outright dangerous - So hear is the question - Are you still willing to do it?…….Catholics all across the world “tick boxes” - What do I mean by that?……We go to Mass - We say our prayers - We have our personal devotions - And all these things are good…But do we “see” our neighbor in need? - And if we do - What are we doing about it?…….Catholic action “speaks” to the unbelieving world in a way that words never can……..So - If you can not feed hundred people - Then just feed one………………JMJ

Maybe its time to “get out of your own way” - So you can follow “The Way”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Mark how Jesus cures a deaf man…..”And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!") And immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly”….Clearing to “see” and “hear” is a gift……But how many today do not “see” and do not “hear”?…..How many “hear” the Gospel Truth and what they “hear” goes in one ear and out the other?…….Even within our Church!…..Think about it - Everything is written down!…..And yet for some - There is confusion - They do not “hear”……How is this so?……In order to hear God, our heart must be made pure…..What we “hear” and “see” depends completely upon the condition of our hearts…….So how do we purify our hearts? - The answer - Frequent Sacramental Confession……This allows us to see and hear the world as it truly is….But how many Catholics make this practice apart of their life?……If we are not going to Confession, we are not benefiting from the reception of the Blessed Sacrament as we should be…However, when we receive the Eucharist in the state of grace at Mass due to the utilization of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the “flood gates” of grace are open…..You would think this would be understood by all - Right?!? - You would think every Catholic would follow this “blue-print”…..But sadly this is not the case - Something is “getting in the way” of us “hearing”…….St John tells us in his Gospel….”My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me”……We can not follow Jesus unless we hear him……..In the silence sitting before the Blessed Sacrament, if we are living Sacramentally (frequent Confession and frequent reception of the Blessed Sacrament), we will most certainly hear God’s voice and when we do, its then up to us to follow him!

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

Our Lady tells us when Jesus performed his first miracle at the Wedding Feast of Cana - She told us…“Do whatever he tells you”…….Again, in the Catholic Church, everything is written down - So how are we so confused…..Just - “Do whatever he tells us” - Right!?!…Yet somehow we don’t and somehow the words on the page become “blurred”…..This is because of our will - We have not fully bent our knee to God…This is also because of our heart - It is not as pure as it should be……If we “work” on those two realities - Bending our will until it breaks and purifying our hearts - We will surely do as Our Lady tells us - To listen to her son…..All this is dependent upon grace!……Without grace we are lost!…..Jesus tells us - “Without me you can do nothing”…I repeat this statement in my many reflections often because I do not believe people believe it….We are far too dependent upon our self…..We must “put down” self dependence and rely on God - Trusting in is grace…..It’s his grace that allows us to “see” and “hear”….We can not “read” our way to God’s grace - In order to receive it, we must become empty of “self” making “room” for God’s grace……That is how we will “see” and that is how we will “hear”……And once we get to that point - The “following Jesus part” is not far off

"If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways, Quickly would I humble their enemies; against their foes I would turn my hand."

Jesus in the Gospel today read to us at Mass performed a physical healing……Many will “hear” this passage read to them and not really “hear” it - What is God telling us in St Mark’s Gospel today? - Maybe he is saying - We too are “deaf” to the words and actions of the Gospel!…..Because if the words do not penetrate our hearts - We simply will not act upon them…..Mother Teresa would always say….”I take Jesus at his word”….Why do you think that was the case? - Clearly we “heard” all the same things as Mother Teresa did - Yet she executed on the words of Christ and most of us do not, at least to the degree we should - What did Mother Teresa have that we do not?……In a word - Grace!…How did Mother Teresa get that grace? - Through daily prayer, fasting and through frequent reception of the Sacraments…Its really that simple - Why do we make it complicated!?! - Why do we make excuses?……Jesus is “The Way” and if we believe that - As we say we do - We must “hear” his voice…Do you “hear” his voice?….Or is that your voice? - Maybe its time to “get out of your own way” - So you can follow “The Way”……………JMJ