Are those just “words” too?

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the gospel of St Luke what it means to really love….Do we know what love is?…”Love is Love” - Right? - WRONG!!!!…For love to be real it must cost us!…..Jesus tells us today to love our enemies…Hmmmmm! - Interesting - Is this what we see in the “mob” on Catholic Social Media?…….or…….Are the words of Christ just that - Words - Meaningless words?!?….St Paul in the first reading adds to this idea in his letter to the Corinthians……”Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone supposes he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if one loves God, one is known by him"…….Again…Is this what we see on “Catholic” Social Media?….Brothers “building up” Brothers…….The words of Jesus Christ must be taken seriously if we expect the world to take us seriously as Catholics…This requires grace….It does not matter how “smart” you think you are! - Without grace - We fail…What are you doing to acquire this needed grace?…Do you fast weekly? - Do you pray daily?…..How about going to frequent confession, which holds us accountable when we fail? - It also gives us grace to overcome our weaknesses……Grace is not self manufactured and your “degrees on the wall” mean very little when it comes to living the Gospel…And its in the living out of the Gospel that we are measured in the end…..“To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?”……The “idea” here is that we “win over” our enemy…Not “get the last word in” on a social media thread…or…Win some meaningless debate, which makes us “feel” superior….Jesus does not tell us things in the Gospel to “hear himself talk”!…..How about us?…..Do we “post” on Social Media to hear ourselves talk?…..or……Do we us social media as a means to communicate the Gospel? - As it was written - Not our “version” of it……As Mother Teresa would tell her sisters…”I take Jesus at his word”…..Speaking personally - So do I….I am sure you do as well….This is why we need grace…What are you doing each day to acquire this needed grace?

“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

Many of the “asks” of the Gospel are impossible if left to our nature gifts and abilities - “The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”…Loving our enemies is one of those “asks”….Without Sacramental grace - THERE IS NO WAY that is going to happen!!!….There are many aspects of the Gospel that are like this...This is why everything we do as Catholics (what I call the daily “blocking and tackling”) must be to “tend to the soil” of our soul, building up of our interior life, making room for God to give us this needed grace......Stop trying to “self manufacture” what cannot be manufactured!…..Many “high achieving people” forget this…They rely on their nature gifts and abilities way too much….God can use the simplest of people and many times that is exactly who he uses - Why? - Because humble people are convinced of they are “nothing” without God…..And when we are “empty of self” - God then fills us with Himself…This is the only way we can love our enemies - If we are “full of ourself” - THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN……Years ago I was laid off from my job at Morgan Stanley….I worked four out of the seven years at Morgan Stanley for my boss Larry - I thought we were good friends…The day I got laid off…Larry did not show up for work - Interesting?!?…And when they laid me off abruptly, he never even reached out to me at home….I was deeply bothered by that…Years later…I was working at another Investment Bank and I heard Larry got laid off…And believe it or not, he reached out to me asking for help to get him a job at my current employer…A part of me wanted to “laugh in his face” and tell him “tough luck”….But instead I saw this an an opportunity to show Larry what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ…So I went out of my way to help him get a job at my bank…Larry did not get the job but he was extremely grateful for all my efforts….And our friendship was restored as a result……”Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same”…..Words matter - Especially Jesus’ words - Do we take them seriously?..And if we do, the only way we can “live those words out” is by God’s grace…Because “without me, you can do nothing” - Right?!?….Are those just “words” too?……..JMJ

“Rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful”

So how are you doing?

Today at Holy Mass Jesus in the Gospel of St Luke provides us with the measure by which we can evaluate if we are an true follower of the Gospel…The Beatitudes……This is the “Blue Print” to heaven…How do you “measure up”?…..“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man”…..Jesus then goes on to tell us what it means to fail in our duties to God and neighbor…”But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false  prophets in this way”…….How many of us view “success” in these terms!?!…..We must choose what “kingdom” we live for - The Kingdom of this earth is diametrically opposed to the Kingdom of heaven…..And there is no sitting on the fence!…..”Polite society” crucified Jesus Christ and we look to “political society” for approval? - WHY?…..As Catholics “our job” is to live in the world but not be of the world….God did not come down from heaven to “accommodate” people…Jesus walked among us to show us a better way - And “the crowd” killed him because they were not “willing to go there” - How about you? - Are you willing to “go there”?….Have people of today changed since the days of Jesus Christ?…What do you think that means for us? - That somehow we can have an easy life and still have God…and get to heaven?….Does not work that way!…..The life of an authentic follower of Jesus Christ is a life of sacrifice…Beware of those who do not live sacrificially - Who do not share - Who have an easy life…..The road to heaven is narrow and the Beatitudes tell us how to walk that road…So how are you doing?

“Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way”

Is money evil?…..The short answer is no….But if you have been blessed by God to have it - Do you share?….That is what makes money evil - When we have it and do not share it…..If you ever want to see what a person cares the most about - Look at his checkbook…Does he spend his money on himself?…or…Does he spend his money on others?…..If we take the time to read the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church, many American Catholics just might be shocked…..If you want to do some “homework”…Read Rerum Novarum or Caritas in Veritate…Again, these documents may shock you too…..In my life before I was married, I have traveled extensively throughout the “third world”…I have been to Haiti, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Africa, Paraguay, Brazil, Colombia and India…There are more…You get the point!…I have seen how the majority of the world lives…..Do you somehow think God does not love these people?…..That we in America, who have been blessed, “somehow” are exempt from helping?…..No one ever became poor by sharing….The way I “see it”….As a father of five children…It is my job to provide for my children - Not necessarily giving them what they WANT but providing what they NEED…I must educate them, provide a roof over their head and clothes on their back, feed them….But if I then have extra money, it is my DUTY to help others…Catholics should be detached from material wealth and live simply - Is this what you see? - I ask that because the world is watching?!!?……..And if you do not see it that way…WOE TO YOU!…..Again, do some reading….The Church is very clear in what it teaches about how we are to be good stewards of our wealth….And if you see other Catholics not doing what they are supposed too…Even if those Catholics are among the clergy…THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE…..WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF….”The last will be first and the first will be last”

“Rejoice and leap for joy! Your reward will be great in heaven”

Today we heard at Mass Jesus teach us abut the Beatitudes…Whenever I hear this Gospel - I always think to myself - How am I doing?….The one Beatitude I have the most trouble with is…”Blessed are the meek”…I am not meek sadly - I have a big loud mouth!…And that needs to change!!!!! - St Joseph (the saint I was named after) did not say one word throughout the entire Bible and he is arguably the Church’s greatest saint…..I need grace and beg God for that grace - So pray for me!….The life of a Catholic must be a life of contradiction…..And if your life is “like everyone else” - Stop and think long and hard….Those who have been given much - Much will be expected……And as Baptized Catholics, we have been given the Fullness of Truth - That means we have “full knowledge” as to what is right and wrong……”But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more”……So how are you doing?…..JMJ

God is not found in noise and “all that glitters is not gold”

Today the Universal Church commemorates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary…..This moment in time marks the beginning, in many ways, of God’s plan to save mankind….Mary was born without the smallest hint of original sin….Her heart mirrors PERFECTLY the heart of her son…..And Mary’s fiat - Her YES - To give birth to Jesus Christ echoes to this vey day……As the world was blinded by material pursuits, God choose a simple girl, someone no one even looked twice at, to be the Mother of God…..This all happened in plain sight of the rich and powerful - And they did not even think to look twice at Mary - They still don’t….Yet God through this common girl brought his son into the world…..In many ways this is how the Kingdom of heaven “operates”…It operates quietly, in plain sight, but sadly not noticed by most….The Kingdom of God does not shout - It does not have too…In the first reading today at Mass, the Prophet Micah, who pre-dates the birth of Mary tells us….”You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. (Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, And the rest of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.) He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God; And they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace”……Our world today is “searching” for God…Consciously or unconsciously - But searching none the less…..God is not found in the “shouts” - Or in the “noise” of we all surround ourselves with….God is found in the small and in the simple….In the women in the last pew of a church at Daily Mass….In the smile of a child…..In the family enjoying a Sunday afternoon in the park….We are looking for God in the wrong places!…..God choose Mary and for the most part - No one noticed….To this day, nothing has changed…..If we are to find God, we must make time for silence…To listen to the ever-small voice in our hearts….Its there we find Him….And if we want to keep Him - We must follow a “different path” from those who embrace “the noise”…..To this very day, Jesus comes to us under the guise of simple bread…He is very vulnerable in that humble state - Yet he comes to us anyway….This happens in plan sight and “the world” still does not notice….As the plan of salvation progresses forward!…..The purity of our heart determines what we “see” and don’t “see”…..Intellectually knowing something and seeing something are two very different things!

“Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God”

For those who work in “Corporate America”, we know how the powerful of this world “operate”….Only those with the “best” resumes get hired…”Money moves the dial” - And the “big show” of material wealth is the measure of a person's value…God however “operates” completely in a different way!….God choose Mary and Joseph to raise the Son of God…..They were “nobodies” in the eyes of the world!…Yet this is who God chose…All this happened in plain sight and for the most part - No one noticed!……Years ago I used to get my shirts for work dry cleaned professionally….On Saturday I would drop off and pick up my shirts…..In the window of the dry cleaner I would always see this Hispanic woman working quietly…She probably took the bus into town because clearly she could not afford to live where the dry cleaner was located…This is the woman who did all the work and no one gave her a second look!….Sometimes when I saw this woman, who clearly was very poor I would think to myself of Mary….Our Lady too was invisible - She was always in the “background”…Yet Mary - This ”invisible woman” changed the world with her YES!!!!….Do we “notice” those who society disregards?….Do we evaluate people based upon the standards of the materialistic world?……Mary and Joseph as the world frantically “raged” - Very quietly raised the Son of God!….”The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us” - And again - No one noticed….To this very day, Jesus Christ is not found and WILL NOT be found in NOISE…..If you ever go into a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed…Something my wife and I do regularly, you will find that many of the people who are sitting in that chapel too are “nobodies”….People the world could “care less about”….But these are “God’s people”…And these are the people God works through - Quietly

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins"

Today the world rages on!……People will “chase after money”…..Argue over non-sense!…Concern themselves with superficial ideologies that will amount to nothing!….As all this happens, the Catholic Church commemorates the birthday of the most significant woman who ever was born - And most people have no clue!…..How ironic……”Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound”……God stands before us to this very day - We find Him in the Blessed Sacrament - But if our hearts are not clean - We will not see him there….How many people take for granted the gift of the Blessed Sacrament? - How many people walk by a Catholic Church in big cites all over the world and do not even give the Church a “second glance”?…..Years ago, I was helping two nuns set up for a Holy Hour in a Church in New York City…..When the Blessed Sacrament was exposed on the altar and the doors of the Church were opened….I looked at all the people walk by on the street - Only three of us were in the Church - me and the two nuns…I thought to myself….The Savior of the world is in this Church and all these people are “blind” to Him - They could care less!…..So it was on the day Mary was born - And so it is to this day….”Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God”…..God is not found in noise and “all that glitters is not gold”…….JMJ

Worry about yourself! - That is a “full time job”

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Luke we hear about how the “scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely”…..Jesus taught before their eyes and clearly, at the minimum, they understood what this man said and did “cut people to the heart”…That did not matter!….They wanted to trap him!…..Do we give people “credit when credit is due” them?……..Social Media is filled with “short clips”….That includes Catholics Social Media…Many make a “living” out of “tearing down” Bishops and the Pope…”Sound bites” are extracted, without giving any context and agendas are broadcasted to the world….Why do we want to teardown?……The answer can only be found in our own hearts - Search for the answer - WHY!?!….Today in the Gospel Jesus knew he was being “watched”…He knew that if he helped this poor man on the Sabbath, that he would be criticized….And he helped him anyway!….Think for a moment of our Pope…He is no “dummy”…He knows that every single word he says is going to be dissected all over the world…Yet, he still gives of himself to the press and the throngs of people who hang on his every word…Speaking personally, I would not be as gracious!……Maybe that is why I am not the Pope!…..Upon reflection on the Gospel reading today - I thought to myself - Do I do what the scribes and the Pharisees do?….Do I “watch people closely” on social media - Looking for them to “slip up”?….And if they do - Do I pray for them? - Or - Do I criticize them? - Or, worse yet - Do I criticize them for money!…..We are all apart of the Body of Christ and if one of our members sins, this affects the entire body….How can we help each other?…First off, by not “jumping on top of the pile” in the social media “scrum” - By attacking others…Secondly, when we see this behavior - Do we pray for those who do “pile on”? - They may "think" they are “doing good” - May the Lord “open their eyes”!….Because healthy people do not behave in this manner…Listen, I am far from perfect - “I get it” - But to obsess about the sins of others 24/7…Something is wrong there - Look deep within your heart and address what is wrong - Take it to Jesus Sacramentally…..In this Gospel story today…Are we like Jesus? - Who helps a man, even when he knows he is going to be attacked?…Or…Are we like the scribes and the Pharisees, who find fault because Jesus did not do his “good deed” the way they wanted him too?……As I tell my children when they fight with one another and then tell me “who did what” and who should be blamed and who should get in trouble….I tell them this - Worry about yourself! - That is a “full time job”!

“My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me”

I go to confession two times a month….There is a parish behind my office in Manhattan where I attend daily Mass and they offer confession three days a week during my lunch hour - Thanks be to God!…One of the sins I find myself confessing over and over again is the sin of the Pharisees….I find myself saying this phrase, both with my words but also in my heart very often…”Those People!”….I think to myself….”Those people are so stupid”…Or….”Those people need to stay away from me”…..What I am actually doing when I say that, whether I admit it or not is…”I am better then “those people”….And that my friends is a sin!….And that is why I confess this over and over again - Asking God to heal me……Before I enter the confessional and I examine my conscience…This passage from scripture often comes to my mind……”He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner. ’I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted”…….Once I am finished with confession and the Priest absolves me, I realize I owe others the same mercy as I was just given…But sadly I fall back into the same “trap”…Over and over again…So I ask all those who read this reflection to pray for me!…..Intellectual, I know all the good we do is the result of God’s grace…Everything is a grace!….But being Catholic is not an “intellectual pursuit” - Its a way of life - Its an encounter with a person - Jesus Christ!…..”Knowing something” and “doing something” are two very different things - This is why we need to ask God for grace….And we get that grace by living Sacramentally, praying daily and fasting weekly……A little bit of mercy goes a long way….So….. “Be merciful just as your heaven Father is merciful”

“Your boasting is not appropriate. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened”

Today in Luke’s Gospel from Mass we see another example of Jesus doing something good and the scribes and the Pharisees unfairly criticizing him…People love to criticize others…I do it to sadly - I too am in great need of God’s grace and mercy - So pray for me!…But do you ever notice?…That we mostly criticize people who “do not have their act together”….This makes us “feel good” about ourself - RIGHT?!?….Or…We we do this to “validate” OUR self - OUR agenda….Makes us “feel good” - RIGHT!?!…..This is an illness!!!! - And I speak for myself - I needed to be cured - Do you?…..God sees everything!!! - He knows how we “operate”….Ask God to help you see yourself as He sees you….No one is perfect!….Once again….I am the father of five children under twelve years old…..When they fight with one another and then tell me “who did what” and who should be blamed and who should get in trouble….I tell them this - Worry about yourself! - That is a “full time job”!……….JMJ

The best sermon is a sermon that is lived!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel that a great responsibility has been placed upon our shoulders as Catholics…If we have been fully formed in our faith, we MUST live and educate others in the fullness of Truth….While the people who make up the Catholic Church are far from perfect (me being on the front of “that line”) the Catholic Church contains the fullness of Truth - Which means the Church is PERFECT - In what it teaches….And if we have been formed in the Truth and do not proclaim it fully - WE WILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE BEFORE GOD….This is not my “opinion”…We are told this today by the Prophet Ezekiel…. “You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. If I tell the wicked, "O wicked one, you shall surely die, "and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself”…The fullness of Truth must be proclaimed…We are NOT doing anyone any favors by “glossing over” the “hard parts” of what the Church teaches….Or even worse, being intentionally ambiguous when preaching what the Church teaches…At the end of the day…People know only what they know…And God will judge us accordingly…But God also knows what is in our hearts…That also goes for if we use the fullness of the Truth as a weapon to harm others…The Truth must be spoke with charity, said for the good of our neighbor…….Weaponizing the Truth is a sin and does no one any good……As Catholics we are called to…KNOW the Truth - SPEAK the Truth - LIVE the Truth - And if required, SUFFER for the Truth…..The Deposit of Faith does not belong to us - Our job is to simply “pass it on” - As it is - Doing so with love for our neighbor in our heart

 

“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation”

In America, as well as in the countries of Europe…Mortal sins have become mainstreamed….No fault divorce; usury, same sex marriage, abortion upon demand - to name a few…These sins are abominations to God - All capital sins!…And today our people do not even “blink” at them any more….Do we “think” God does not see what we are doing?….That God somehow “understands” and that everything is simply “ok” without the need for change?….Now, when was the last time you heard a homily from the pulpit addressing these capital sins?…How about a homily about the harm contraception has done to marriages and how contraception leads a society to abortion? - When was the last time you heard that?…..Now, I am not “picking” on the Catholic clergy - I am just stating a fact - I have eyes and ears - And what I just stated is sadly a fact…This is why we as Catholics must pray for our priests and bishops….Do you fast and pray for the Church?….Every Wednesday, my wife and I fast for the Church….If you are a Catholic and are frustrated by what you see going on in the Church - In the clergy and the laity - I state that because Catholic Social Media is full of such voices….My advice is to FAST aggressively for the Church one day a week…Remember the words from the Book of Leviticus before you “post” something on social media negative about the Catholic Church and its clergy…..“You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove him, do not incur sin because of him”…..Speaking the fullness of Truth is required of us as Catholics - Bishops, Priests, and Lay Catholics - NO ONE is exempt of this grave responsibility - But if the Truth is not spoken with charity - We not only bring sin upon our self - We also are not helping our neighbor, in fact, we probably making matters worse!…..”Clarity with Charity”….And leave the rest to God…..St Paul said it best…”If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing”

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law”

Today at Mass we are reminded of the responsibility we have been given by God as Catholics….How is the world going to know the Truth if we do not proclaim it?…..So many people today no long know how to live - Just look out your window!!!….How is society going to know how to live properly if we as Catholics first do not witness a “good life” by the way we live ourselves to others around us?…..Actions speak the loudest…If we are not living what the Church teaches - How are we supposed to “think” the secular world around us is going to embrace the Catholic faith?…..The best way to teach the faith is by example - And this requires Sacramental grace, daily prayer and fasting…..People believe what they see!!!….The best sermon is a sermon that is lived!……JMJ

“I must decrease and He must increase”

Today the Universal Church celebrates the Feast Day of St Teresa of Kolkata…..Known to the world as Mother Teresa…..The order she founded, the Missionaries of Charity, is active to this day in 133 countries…..Mother Teresa took Jesus at his word…She radically “stepped out” into the “deep”…How about us?….Jesus Christ was a revolutionary - The most radical man who ever lived…As Catholics, we too are called to be radical - To love radically….Today at Holy Mass in the first reading St Paul tells his friends….”What do you possess that you have not received?……At our Baptism, we were grafted into the life of Christ - Do we realize the gift which was given to us?…Mother Teresa did - She radically abandoned her life to God…..When we die and stand before God…All the good we have done will be shone to us - Also all the bad….God will also show us the good we COULD have done - If only we trusted him more….Each of us were born to become saints - Mother Teresa understood this - What Vatican II calls “the universal call to holiness”…..Mother Teresa left her family at eighteen years old to become a nun….And in her late thirties she felt another call - To serve the poorest of the poor…At the time Mother Teresa was a high school principal at an affluent all girls school in Kolkata…She loved what she did…..Her life was very comfortable…But once again, she radically chose Christ, leaving everything behind - AGAIN!….Comfort is the enemy of a holy life - “Write that one down”….To live radically for Christ - To radically abandon our plans - Our dreams - And to pour out our life - This is the path to holiness!…..And that “path” will “steal our comfort”…..Are we willing to go there?…..This is how we become saints….Not by “reading”…Not by “speaking” - But by doing!…..Fueled by Sacramental grace, fasting, daily prayer…..Our world today needs witnesses…..The secular / unbelieving world is not interested in our Catholic Sermons - NO ONE CARES!!!! - However, the secular world will be “rocked” to the core by the witness of sacrificial love - This is what Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity did and do….Their witness unsettles a world blinded to God and his Church…..This “witness” only happens because the sisters are willing to give up their comfort and live radically…As St Paul reminds his friends today at Mass in the first reading….”For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and men alike. We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment”…If we want to “change the world” as Catholics - We can not be like “the world”….And to love radically is the only way that happens…..Sacrificial love witnessed “stops traffic” - It reflects Christ and it is that “reflection” that changes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh

“Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self. Mother Teresa”

Years ago before I was married I backpacked through Vietnam and Cambodia…It was Sunday and I was in Phnom Penh Cambodia…I was able to find the only Catholic Mass in the city…A French Missionary Priest presided over the Mass in an open room on the second floor of a building that looked more like a warehouse…There were no pews, everyone sat on the floor…I was one of three non-Cambodians in the room….As I sat on the floor, in walks the Missionaries of Charity Sisters and as Providence would have it, they sat on the floor right next to me…My experience in Cambodia was in many ways a beginning of a new chapter of my life and that encounter with the Missionaries of Charity was a “beginning” of what became a seven year odyssey that took my around the world….The sisters and I spoke and exchanged addresses and for a time we wrote letters back and forth…They convinced me to go to Kolkata - And the following year - That is what I did…..I served the poor at the Home for the Dying and Destitute in Kolkata for three weeks…And from those three weeks spent in Kolkata, I made my way to their home in Manhattan, where I was the Saturday driver for seven years….I also returned to Kolkata five more times…Each time God had something “new” to show me…..Catholics MUST put their faith into action…..And when we serve the poor - We serve Jesus……There are many ways to encounter Christ….One of those ways is to serve the poor…Jesus tells us in St Matthews Gospel….What you did to the least - You did to ME!……..As Americans we have NO IDEA how hard life is for billions of people around the world - NO IDEA!…..And its very easy to forget these poor souls….One thing is for certain - God does not forget them…And he sees what we do and what we do not do to help our fellow man….Put your Catholic faith into action!….Do not conform to this age - But transform it…Not by words - But by your actions!

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

Mother Teresa was declared a saint for many reasons…But under all that she did - What Mother Teresa did that most people will not do is - She radically and reckless trusted Christ…Even when the world did not understand her - Even when the Catholic Church did not understand her - And she did all this to the detriment of her own comfort….This is what we must be willing to do - Are you willing to go there?…..The first year I went to serve the poor with the Missionaries of Charity in India I got very sick…For two days I laid in bed in the apartment I rented in Kolkata….. I had a fever, the pollution of the city effected by respiratory system, I had dysentery….I remember laying in my bed thinking…”God - Did you call me here to kill me?”…I got no answer - But I knew deep in my heart that was not the “Plan”…Once I regained my strength and was about to return to America…I spoke to a French volunteer…He too was there to serve the poor…He was an older man, a watch maker by trade…I told him how sick I got and that I would never come back to Kolkata again…This man listened to me very closely and simply said….”You will return”…At the time I thought he was crazy to say that…But he was right…I went back to Kolkata five more times!…..As Mother Teresa famously said - “For love to be real - It must cost us - It must empty us of our self”…..Listen up!!!! - Because that was Mother Teresa secret!!!!…And that too is the “blue print” we as Catholics must follow, no matter what state in life we have been called too…..”I must decrease and He must increase”….JMJ

Live for an audience of one…..Only one “Thumbs Up” matters

Today at Holy Mass St Paul once again addresses the Corinthians….He tells them to live for an “audience of one”….That no other opinion matters except God’s opinion - Is this how we live?….Social Media is all about “self affirmation”…..Finding people who “LIKE” us, agree with us and in turn make us feel important….The entire world can be against you and if God is for you - That is the ONLY thing that matters!….”Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God”…..Every word that comes out of our mouth - Every action performed….Everything we fail to do…God sees!….God also knows the intentions behind everything we do…Why do we contribute to Catholic Social Media?….God knows why and that is all the matters…The same goes for “assuming bad intentions” about others….That is not our job nor do we know the hearts of others…Our “job” is to worry about our intentions - Ensuring they are pure - Repenting when they are not - Persevering even when no one cares to listen…..And if everyone is listening - Not letting it “get to our head”…….Is this what we do? - Because this is what we should be doing…..And God knows our heart, even if others do not……Jesus was a man who was deeply misunderstood - Even by his closest friends…As Catholics, if we are following Christ the way we are all called too, we also will be misunderstood…..Are you willing to be misunderstood?……Live for an audience of one…..Only one “Thumbs Up” matters

“I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life”

Are you willing to leave the ninety-nine in search of the one?…..Jesus did this time and time again…..Mother Teresa established the first Hospice for men who had full blown HIV in the world in New York City…At the time, AIDS was a death sentence….No one wanted to go near these men…Gay men infected with AIDS were modern day lepers…Mother Teresa saw past the judgments of the world and took these men in - For years these men died under the care of the Missionaries of Charity…Many of them came to Christ as a result - Many were Baptized as well….While the world “judged”, the Missionaries of Charity “rolled up” their sleeves and simply loved these men - They did not affirm bad behavior - They simply cared for men who needed care - They let their actions do the talking!…..I served in this home for seven years and I have witnessed miracles (with a lower case “m”)…Hardened men - Public sinners - Outcasts - People the world ignored…I witnessed many of these men convert and request to be Baptized - In fact, I am the God-Father to one of them who read at my Wedding Mass…..How did this happen?…..In that Hospice run by Mother Teresa - There was no judgment…Only love put into action…People do not care what you know until they know how much you care….The best “sermon” is to go out of your way and feed a hungry family…An empty stomach has no “ears”!

“The salvation of the just is from the LORD; he is their refuge in time of distress. And the LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him”

Today St Paul, a great man by every measure, tells his friends not to judge him - That only God can judge him…..The same goes for us….God knows our intentions and what is in our heart…."There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops”…Before we hit the “send” button on our computer - Do we think of the words we are about to “post”?….St Paul reminds us today…Live for an audience of one - Only God’s opinion matters!……”It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord”…..When a person lives as St Paul instructs us today - There is great freedom - There is also great power found in living in this manner as well…..Catholics should not belong to “any camps”…..Do you “identify” as a Republican? - Do you “identify” as a conservative? - Do you “identify” as a nationalist - Do you “identify” as a “TRAD”? - Do you “identify” as a “Progressive Catholic”?……”Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God”…….Live for an audience of one…..Only one “Thumbs Up” matters….JMJ