Because everything is as gift……And gifts are either used or they are wasted……..“For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Matthew, Jesus tells a story about three men…..Each of the men have a certain amount of talents…One 5, the other 2 and the last 1…..The two with 5 and 2 talents did something with what was given to them….However, the man with one talent did nothing…..When the time for judgement came….God recognized the two men who did something with the talents given to them…However, the man who had one talent and did nothing with it was in big trouble…..What can we learn from this story?…..Many things actually….For one, everything we have is a gift…..Second, what has been given to us was given for a reason, to be shared first with our family and second with our neighbor…Lastly, there are consequences for being selfish and thinking what was given to us, is only to be used for ourselves….Those who have been given much - Much will be expected!…….Its very easy in life to take for granted the many gifts given to us and only utilize those gifts to benefit our self….Only when we “look” with the eyes of God can we see the great responsibility bestowed upon us to use what is given to us as something to be shared. This is how we build the Kingdom of God on earth…..”Thy Kingdom come..Thy will be done…On earth as it is in heaven”….Remember those words?……Or are they just words?

“Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.”

Many years ago I was backpacking in Vietnam. This trip was my first time in Asia and also the first time I was exposed to third world poverty. Walking the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) I noticed many of the barbers of the city would cut their customers hair on street corners. They did not have a barber shop like the barbers in America. Their customers would sit on a crate set up on the sidewalk….As you can imagine these Vietnamese barbers were very poor…I noticed this sight because my father in America was a barber and as the son of a barber in America I grew up in a house fully owned by my family and was educated in private schools…..As you can imagine…The sons of Vietnamese barbers in Ho Chi Minh City would have none of the things I had living in America yet both our fathers did the same thing for a living…..While I thought about this comparison on this backpacking trip…I began to reflect…God loves equally the son of the Vietnamese barber and me exactly the same…Yet, I have been given so much more….So the question becomes…Don’t you think God expects so much more from me?…I would think so!…..God loves both sons equally, one was just given more then the other…Therefore…The one who was given more - Must do more with what was given to him

“Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise”

Traveling abroad can give one prospective however such experiences do not guarantee for us to “see” with the eyes of God and recognize our responsibilities to others. Only through daily prayer, fasting and living a Sacramental life do we come to “see” the world the way we were made too……St Paul reminds us in the first reading from Mass today….”Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord”…Again, beautiful words spoken but do these words sink in?……..Not until we have “eyes to see” and "ears to hear" will we view our many gifts the way we are called too

Beautiful words mean very little unless those words “take flesh” and are put into action.

As with all things, there is a cost for not viewing the world as one should……..Jesus tells us about that cost in the gospel….”For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away”……..God gives us free will and with all our choices soon to follow are the consequences of those choices….Our time here on earth is very short…..Its for us to “figure out” what we are to do with what we have been given…Because everything is as gift……And gifts are either used or they are wasted……..“For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

“Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour”….We can not have it both ways…..Some “things” are not for sale

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Paul…He writes a letter to his friends the Corinthians…In the letter he tells them about what true wisdom is….”The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”…What does being “saved” mean to many Americans today?…..Jesus gives us the answer himself…..”For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”…Somehow we have convinced our self that we can be “saved” without the cross…There is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday!…..We have sanitized our Catholic faith…St Paul today tells us like it is and so does Jesus….We can not have it both ways!

”Where is the wise one?…..Where is the scribe?…..Where is the debater of this age?….Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?”

Death is the great equalizer…I work in a section of New York City by Central Park South…The street next to my office building is referred to as billionaires-row….At lunch somedays I take a walk and I see the wealthy coming and going in and out of their high-rise apartments…Some days, I see very old people in wheelchairs being pushed by poor Caribbean women from the Bronx…These people at one time I am sure were uber-powerful…And how their only company is a poor woman they pay a minimum wage too who push them in a wheelchair down the street…..No one no longer cares what they did for living…Where they went to school….Where they worked…What they owned….The “party’ has ended….…Life has boiled down to a wheelchair and their only company a poor woman for hire to push their feeble body down the street…..Was it all worth it?…….We all have to answer that question for our selves

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the learning of the learned I will set aside”

In the gospel today at Mass St Matthew tells us about ten virgins…Some are wise and others are foolish….When God returns…And keep this in mind…God will return when we least expect it…As it is when many people die…We do not know the hour or the day…But when God returns…St Matthew tells us the foolish virgins have “no oil” in their “lamps”…They ask for some oil from the wise virgins but the reality of the situation is the “oil” is not transferable…The “oil” in the parable told by St Matthew represents nothing material that can be traded…It represents personal virtue….Its too late for the foolish virgins…And as the story was told by St Matthew today…These foolish virgins have “no oil” in their lamp and find themselves in the “dark” outside and the “door” is locked…..This is how the scene plays out…..

“Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.' Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

Like the wealthy old women I see near my office building in Manhattan in wheelchairs….Life has come to an end…Their money no longer means anything…Their health and strength is gone…All that matters at this point is….Do they have “oil” in their “lamp”?…..We all know from St Matthew today that this “oil” can not be bought nor can it be traded…This type of “oil” is the currency of holiness…Did they make the pursuit of a holy life a priority?…Or did they disregard the ways of God and trade God’s ways in for the things of this world?…Which at this point can no longer bring any benefit to them…..”Where is the wise one?…..Where is the scribe?…..Where is the debater of this age?….Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?”

”For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”

St Matthew assures us about the wise virgins in his story today…..........They were prepared!…......”Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour”….We can not have it both ways…..Some “things” are not for sale

”He must increase; I must decrease”

Today the Universal Church honors the Passion of St John the Baptist…John was fearless…He spoke truth to power and it cost him his life….His “capital crime”, which cost him his life was he spoke out against the governor marrying his own brother’s wife…..”John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so”…..The sin of adultery, sex before marriage and remarriage after divorce was probably a common occurrence in the time of St John the Baptist as it is today…Yet John addressed it and called it out……What is “acceptable” to man is not acceptable to God…Interestingly enough, the governor (Herod) while he was not a follower of Jesus and John the Baptist liked to listen to him…..”Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him”…..This proves that even the hardest of hearts know when they hear the Truth…Because the Truth is written on all of our hearts…However......The fact that we hear it is not enough…We must act upon it…As did John the Baptist….This requires our YES and God’s grace

“No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends”

There is a real cost to living the Truth……Period - Point Blank!….We may not be called to give our life like St John the Baptist but anyone knows who is working and living in the world…..The "ways of God" are not expressed around “the conference tables” of the power-brokers who rule this world…Its for us to make a decision each and everyday….And many times to choose the ways of God over the ways of the world cost us…In real time…It may not cost you your head…But it can definitely impact your life and the life of your family…This is the cross that Jesus speaks of…There is no such thing as “cheap grace”…The cost is real…..And so is the cross!…And we can’t not have it both ways!

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”

In my “walk” as a practicing Catholic…I have learned that Jesus works in the space of our sacrifice….What does that mean?…When we make a choice that costs us something…Its in that space that we encounter the Lord…..Its in that space that the Lord “works”…..In order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must make room for it in our life…That means we must empty our self of our very self….In doing so we make room for God to fill us with his very self…..A glass of water filled to the top can not be filled with milk…Not even God can do that!……First the glass must be emptied of the water…Then the milk can be poured in….This process of emptying ourself is challenging….In many ways it goes against our very nature of self-preservation….But if we follow the example of Jesus and the saints and “pour our self out”….What we become in return sets the world on fire!…The life of God shines through us…This can be tangibly seen and such a witness impacts all those we encounter

“Shine through me, and be so in me …..That every soul I come in contact with…. May feel Your presence in my soul…..Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!….Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,……So to shine as to be a light to others; The light, O Jesus will be all from You; none of it will be mine; It will be you, shining on others through me”

Getting back to St John the Baptist and the Gospel from St Mark today at Mass…John spoke the Truth and when he spoke it even the powerful of the world recognized that John spoke with authority…Why?…Because John the Baptist emptied himself of his very self and was filled with the Holy Spirit….”He must increase; I must decrease”…This cost John is very life…However…Two thousand years later….The death of John the Baptist is being commemorate…Who talks about Herod, the man who killed John?…John’s words had power not because John was powerful but because he gave God permission to enter into his life…In order for him to do that…He had to “make room” in his life for God.. He “emptied himself out”…And because he did…His words had great power & authority…The power was not his…But that power was felt..And that power was real!

”He must increase; I must decrease”

”Good Intentions” do not and will not….”Make It Happen!”…..It’s not magic - Its all about grace!

Today at Holy Mass in the first reading we hear from St Paul….In his letter to the Thessalonians he tells them something very important….His message is for us as well…..”Practice what you preach”……The world will never listen to you if the world does not see for themselves what Catholics claim to believe….Now that does not mean we have to be perfect…No…However…..Catholics can not and should not live like everyone else…If we “fit in” with the world…Are we really following Christ?…Did Jesus fit in?…Or…..Did Jesus stand out?

“Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us”

We all know the famous saying…”The road to hell is paved with good intentions”…We all have good intentions…However, “good intentions” don’t equal results…Every January 1st, Americans make their New Year’s resolutions…..And more times than not…By February 1st….All those resolutions made 30 days prior…All made by the way with “good intentions” are forgotten…Why do you think that is?…..Because in order to execute, especially when it comes to virtue, we need grace!….That is the “missing link” in the chain!…..And we disregard it….And as a result…All our “good intentions” go out the window!….If you go into any book store…There is an entire section for “Self Help Books”……Its a huge industry…The reason why the book stores continue to dedicate an entire section to these Self Help Books proves just how little they work…Why is that?…Because anyone can diagnose a problem if they are looking clearly at the problem from a distance…Its another thing all together to resolve the problem

As Catholics, if we are not actively doing the following….. Praying daily….Fasting weekly…..Going to a Sacramental Confession monthly…Receiving the Blessed Sacrament at Mass in the state of grace at least weekly……There is NO WAY we are going to model the life of Christ to the world…..EVERYTHING relies on grace…But I assure you…If you do these things I just noted…Utilizing all the “tools” that Jesus gave to us in the one Church he founded……..You will stand out and set the world on fire!…No “Self Help Book” can accomplish that.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father”

In the gospel today at Mass Jesus warns his friends that if we do not “walk the walk”….Not only will people not believe you…But the world can and will see right through you!…..”You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones”….I am convinced that if the world was to witness our Catholic faith..In all its fullness…The world would stand in awe…..This is the only way to change the world and spark change…To witness the life of Christ before others…And the only way to do that is to utilize the “tools” of the Church……This is why prayer, fasting and the Sacraments are vital…..This is why the Eucharist is called “food for the journey”…To disregard these tools frankly is foolish….No “Self Help Book” is going to "get the job done”…….However…..When we open ourselves up to God’s grace…..The world will stand in awe……”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”

”Good Intentions” do not and will not….”Make It Happen!”…..It’s not magic - Its all about grace!

”Cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean”…….”At night there are tears but joy comes with dawn”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Matthew…Jesus address those who consider themselves religious……But in a sense he is addressing all of us…..”Cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean”……How easy it is to see the failures of others and not address our own…..This is why regularly going to a Sacramental Confession with a Priest is vital….This practice provides “a mirror” into our very heart and not only are we forgiven but God gives us grace to overcome our sins in time…We all need this grace because we are all sinners…..Do we all recall the story about the tax collector and the Pharisee in the Bible?………In this parable, “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”

Jesus came for sinners…The minute we start to think we are not a sinner…Is the minute that we distance our self from God

Being a father of five young children is very hard….I fail all the time…And because I fail I go to confession two times a month….Most of my sins center around my lack of patience when it comes to my children and I will be very honest…When I confess my sins and tell the Priest what has come out of my mouth at times…I am going to be very honest…I am deeply embarrassed…Why do I tell you that?…In that “space”…When I humble my self before God…When my confession is finished…I feel God’s grace FLOOD into my being like a tidal wave!…No joke…….I can’t even put it into words…Its literally a FLOOD of grace…..Tangibly felt!…..The devil knows this and that is why he tries to shame us and keep us away from going to a Sacramental Confession...Never let him win!

The foundation of all the virtues is humility….Jesus humbled himself in becoming a man and when we humble ourselves…The Lord honors us with his very presence….This encounter with the Lord is very real…And is available for everyone

Today the Church honors St Monica, the mother of the great St Augustine…Augustine was a “wild child”…And his mother Monica prayer for him for years and years…Only to see him repent of his sins and become a great saint…..The power of prayer and fasting for those we love can not be emphasized enough…There comes a point where words do nothing…Facts mean nothing…..Logic means nothing…People do not want to hear it…When we get to that point…We must fast and pray….There is TREMENDOUS power in this practice…A good friend of mine told me that when he was young he left the Catholic Church…His father would get up every night in the middle of the night and pray for his son on his knees…Not only in time did my friend come back to his Catholic faith…He is now on television evangelizing the world

Getting back to our gospel today from Mass…Jesus calls out those who say they are “religious” and think they are perfect….We all know full well…None of us are perfect…This is why we all need Jesus and the Catholic Church…Because we need to be nourished by the Blessed Sacrament and also need to be forgiven when we sin….And when we do that…The sky is the limit!…..Don’t let the devil shame you into not confessing your sins with a Priest….When we stand before God in humility, Jesus not only will honor your efforts…He will overwhelm you with his grace!……This is how we move mountains!….But before we move the “mountains” we must knee before God….”Bless me Father for I have sinned!”…What beautiful words!…These are the words of saints!

”Cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean”…….”At night there are tears but joy comes with dawn”

People believe what they see….So show them…”You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Matthew…In the text Jesus addresses the hypocrisy of the Pharisees….“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves”…Its important to note the difference between someone who is imperfect, which is all of us and someone who says one thing and does another…….As Catholics we are all sinners and we all fall…However…When we fail we should confess our sins regularly and “get up” and try again…This is how we grow in virtue and holiness…By God’s grace and mercy……This is how we mature as followers of Christ…Our life should speak for itself…..And when actions speak…They speak loudly

I remember speaking to a friend of mine a few years ago….The parish where we grew up was building a new rectory…This friend of mine was Catholic but sadly did not go to Mass anymore….We were speaking before getting on the train to go to work in the morning and he commented about the new rectory being built in town….”Wow, What a beautiful house”….And to be honest, the rectory was very beautiful, far nicer then the homes of probably most of the families that attend Sunday Mass at that parish…This to me speaks volumes…..Pope Francis very clearly said…”The Shepard must smell of the sheep he tends”….Now I am not saying that priests should live in poverty, however, when the clergy live better than the people they serve, that is a problem…That is not something that attracts people to God…..Now…Let me be fair and “turn the page”……One of the many things that attracted me to serving along side of Mother Teresa’s sisters was the fact that they lived the gospel message themselves….They live for the poor and also the sisters themselves live very simply….They have only what they need…..Frankly, this same standard should apply to Catholic families as well…If we have been blessed with a job that pays very well…..Do we live like kings and lord our money over people?…Are we generous?.....Are we open to life and have many children?….Do we buy things simply to “show off”?….The same standard “we” apply to the clergy also applies to the faithful in the pews…..If we say we believe in God…..How we live tells people everything they need to know.

If we do not “walk the walk”….The world will not believe what we claim to believe with the words of our mouth

One of the most impressive things I ever witnessed from Mother Teresa’s sisters was one Saturday afternoon three of the sisters were headed to this poor woman’s house who lived near the convent. The sisters were going there to pay the woman a visit, to clean her apartment and do her laundry for her…..When was the last time you ever saw something like that from priest or a nun?…Better put…When was the last time you have ever done that for a neighbor yourself?…Sadly, I wish I could say I do that for people but I do not…Maybe that is why what I witnessed registered so deeply in my memory……Because when actions speak…They speak loudly!

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’

Getting back to the gospel today from St Matthew…No one is perfect and we all fail, however our life needs to do that talking for us…If we say we are Catholic, does the world know it by what it sees as opposed to what we say or “post” on social media?…..Now don’t get me wrong……Its ok to fail….We all do…Never forget you are human and so is your neighbor.....But when we do fail and we will…Do we confess our sins to a Priest?….Repent and try again!….If you do, that does not make you a hypocrite, the likes of which Jesus warned his 12 friends about today in the Gospel…It simply makes you a human being…It makes you a Catholic who is trying…And when you do that…No words are necessary…..That is how the message of Christ spreads…Don’t preach me a sermon….Show me one and when we ground our life in daily prayer, the Sacraments and weekly fasting…This kind of “witness” becomes second nature and do you know what else happens?….In the process we become transformed and when we are transformed…We transform the world around us

People believe what they see….So show them…”You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden”

“Choose Life”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the gospel of St John…..In the text Jesus lays it all out there….Black and White…No ambiguity…..And as you can expect people do not like what they hear……They begin to complain and grumble and some leave….."This saying is hard; who can accept it?”……In response Jesus does not backdown…Instead he doubles down and asks his 12 friends…."Does this shock you?”…."Do you also want to leave?" …St Peter's response to Christ is how we should respond when we are challenged and are resistant to change….."Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God”….When you get right down to it and if we are honest with ourself we will come to the inevitable conclusion that no matter who we are…We die…”The party ends”…Jesus offers us the one chance we got…”To get off the Island”…He provides “the boat" - The Catholic Church, which is there for us to be nourished by and through the Sacraments…..St Peter gets it!…He recognizes the challenges but he also recognizes the reality behind the challenges….”There is only one way off the Island”

”I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live”

No matter how intelligent a person can be, people have a way of rationalizing away the the truth…Somehow people think reality does not apply to them….And sadly when we deny reality, there are consequences…..Through our free will we get to make a choice but we can not choose the consequences…Bottom line - Jesus was not selling anything!…Nor does the Catholic Church…..The door is ALWAYS open to EVERYONE...... However…..We do not enter heaven on "our own terms"…..The Truth does not change and we have no authority to change it….."This saying is hard; who can accept it?”……..Jesus because he loves us gave us the tools to “get the job done”…We are all flawed and that is why Jesus founded a Church, which gives us the Sacraments, which enable us to not only accept the teachings of God but live them out….Without grace, we are finished and to try to live the Christian life without the Sacraments in my estimations is a fools errand….We are only so strong and only so faithful…Eventually, reality catches up to us

When a Catholic finds himself or herself in a situation where they are not in the state of grace and when that person has full knowledge of their situation, they should refrain from receiving the Eucharist and take the time to pray. That does not mean you do not go to Mass, but simply abstain from receiving and pray…This is not my opinion by the way but a perennial and unchangeable Church teaching…Don’t let anyone fool you and most important don’t fool yourself…During this time away from the Blessed Sacrament, I assure you if you pray with sincerity of heart, the Lord himself will guide you back to a state of grace……A good father NEVER turns his back on his child and God will always show you the way back to him….Many times its simply up to us to “see” the path forward clearly…Daily prayer especially time spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament in adoration and fidelity to Our Lady will clear ANY obstacle in our way…If we take the time and allow God to work in our life.

"If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."

Getting back to our gospel today from Mass….Jesus was not selling anything….Nor should we as Catholics…As the old saying goes…”It is what it is”….”I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live”…St Peter figured it out and his response needs to be ours….Its time to face facts…..”It is what it is”…..”You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God”

”Choose life”

God is found outside of many of our preconceived ideas of who he is….. And in order to see him….We must first work on purifying our hearts

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the gospel of St John…..A question is raised about who Jesus is and where he is from….."Can anything good come from Nazareth?”…….Jesus was God and he was staring the world right in the face 2000 years ago…And the world did not see him….However…In our gospel story today a guy named Nathanael does recognize who Jesus is…How does he do that?….Jesus explains to us how….”There is no duplicity in him”……Why is it that the Truth is seen by some and not by others?……When our hearts are darkened through a conscious choice to turn from God……We become blind…We do not see and hear the Truth…Even when it stares us right in the face…"Can anything good come from Nazareth?”…Jesus was right in front of him…Yet people could not see him….The same scenario is playing out today in the here and now…..”Blessed are the pure of heart…For they will SEE God”

People constantly “size people up”…They have preconceived ideas in their head as to who God is and what he looks like….We have been conditioned by our family, our upbringing, our education, and our culture…..Interestingly enough and more times than not, God is found outside of all those preconceived ideas….And in order to see him….We must first work on purifying our hearts

As many know I am involved in a monthly rosary rally and a number of people have attended regularly for many years…I want to share with you what I have observed about two of these men who attend the rally regularly, of which I am blessed to call friends. One is an ordained Deacon and one is handicapped. Whenever we all get together each month we usually meet in the parking lot of the Church and as the noon hour approaches, we walk to where we will pray the public rosary. I always notice that my one handicapped friend who needs the assistance of a chair he wheels always lags behind…But without fail…My friend the Deacon is always beside him.....The Deacon does not blow a whistle and draw attention to what he is doing to help this man out however he is always there beside him and quietly he helps him….Many times (me included)…We all walk far ahead of them…Forgetting that our one friend is struggling….But the Deacon does not forget…What is it that the Deacon saw that we missed?….The answer to the question should be obvious but helping the handicapped man was not obvious to the crowd (me included in that crowd)….Jesus tells us very clearly and he gives us the answer to my question...…"What you do to the least…You do to ME!"…Seems to me we all missed an opportunity…Jesus was walking among us…And we missed him…Well, the Deacon did not miss him….Because his “eyes” were open

”Blessed are the pure of heart…For they will SEE God”

Jesus was a poor man, the son of a carpenter and came from a town where a bunch of “nobodies” came from….Yet in plain sight God walked among the people of Nazareth…In the here and now…Jesus walks among us too…He is not usually found in the first pew of the church…But in the back broken and alone…..He is found in the wounded and in the weak…..Do we “see” him? Or do we walk far ahead and tend to what we “think” our own personally contrived image of who and what God is......When in actuality we miss out on what is staring us right in the face……."Can anything good come from Nazareth?”……God came from Nazareth……And God was a “nobody”……Are we willing to slow down so we can stop and “see” him? If we do choose to “slow down”….”I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man"

God is found outside of many of our preconceived ideas of who he is….. And in order to see him….We must first work on purifying our hearts

You tell me you see one thing….......I assure you…..I see something else…And that makes all the difference

 

Today at Holy Mass St Matthew in the gospel lays out two simple rules…The only two things we need to pay attention too…Is this too much to ask?…..“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself”…....So simple…..But is it?…..Without grace…Without daily prayer…Without fasting…Without the Sacraments……These simple “asks” get distorted…Why?…Because we are all flawed by nature….Jesus knew this and that is why he made himself poor and walked the earth…He gave us the “medicine” to cure the ills of the world….That “medicine” is himself…In the Blessed Sacrament

“The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments”

If we can see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, which is nothing more than simple bread consecrated by and through the hands of a Catholic Priest, we will be able to “see” God in others and because we “see” God in others, we will treat our neighbor as we would want to be treated….This is the “trick”….The human mind, no matter how intelligent has a way of rationalizing away our highest held ideals…This is why we must rely on God…..Everything depends upon grace…EVERYTHING….Jesus tells us this very clearly

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing”

A priest told me a story once about how this Irish woman would come begging at the door of the Church in the Bronx. The woman lived on the street and was a drug addict. The priest was always kind to her and gave her food. Because she was Irish and she knew enough to come to the Church, the priest assumed she was Catholic. The priest said that many people told him to stop helping this woman, that she was no good. But the priest continued to give her food and always spoke to her with respect and kindness. Someone asked him…Why?…The priest responded…”When this woman comes to my door, I see her as she was when she was a girl on the day she received her first communion…..Somehow something happened between then and now…That is why she is on the street…..But when she comes to my door…I still “see” that young innocent girl”……This is how God sees us….As his child…This type of “vision” can only come through prayer and the Sacraments…..This is the only way!

“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”

The time we spend sitting before the Blessed Sacrament gives us “vision”, most specifically, it gives us “vision” into our own heart…..We are mystery to our very self….Only God can unlock this mystery…And give us “eyes to see and hears to hear”…..Getting back to that story of the priest from the Bronx…Everyone else who saw that woman only saw her as a person living on the street as a drug addict…The priest however “saw” something else…And because of that…The priest treated her differently…..The difference between the priest and everyone else here in this story is…The priest “saw” Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament…And everyone else just saw mere bread…..This is a mystery but what is not a mystery are the actions of the priest because of what he “saw” in the Blessed Sacrament…Because of what he “saw”, he responded and put his faith into action and helped that poor woman at his door…The people who were “blinded” did not help her....Its the actions that count!...And the actions were a result of what was "seen"

Jesus in the gospel today boils down everything in the law into two simple tasks…..Love God first and love your neighbor as yourself…So simple….....But is it?….How can a “blind man” see his neighbor never mind love him?…..Only God can give the blind “sight”……And this type of “vision” can only come through prayer and the Sacraments……..You tell me you see one thing…I assure you…..I see something else…And that makes all the difference

”Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find”…..”I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you”

 

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the gospel of St Matthew…..Jesus talks about “a big party” and everyone is invited…But here is the weird thing…The people who were supposed to show up…Do not show…So what does the guy do who was throwing the party?…He tells his friends to go out into the streets and invite anyone and everyone you see…Oddly enough, the people who come to the party are the people many of the “chosen people” originally invited wrote off…..Interesting!?!……This is something for us to ponder today….God works in mysterious ways and many times its the very people the world “writes off”…These are the people that come through in the end….So never write off anyone…And invite everyone to the “party”!…Jesus did…And Jesus still does to this very day

What is it that keeps people from following Christ?…..Well many things…Wounds…..Unconfessed sin…..Broken promises from parents…A false sense of hopelessness….We can go on and on….In the first reading today at Mass the Prophet Ezekiel addresses this directly….”I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes”…..God understands us in ways the world can never understand us….If only we give him a chance…..Miracles can happen…In fact they do happen!

“I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities”

Addressing someone who is “invisible” is empowering…It gives life and open doors….This week at work I was getting a cup of tea in the afternoon and one of the workers on my floor was stocking the pantry…There was no brown sugar, so I asked him if he had any. He told me no….Instead of leaving the conversation there I introduced myself to him and shook his hand. He told me his name was John and it was his first day on the job. After our brief conversation I went back to my desk. A few minutes later, John came looking for me and brought me the sugar I asked for…I was rather surprised and I shook his hand again and thanked him…I addressed him by name..."Thank you John".......John was not “invisible" to me on the 21st floor of my office building…John is a person…John has a family…And John is a child of God…All it took was to acknowledge him…Shake his hand…Ask him his name……And guess what?…John responded…..This is what God does…He “sees” us…And because God does this for us…So must we do this for our neighbor…Most especially to those who the world chooses to ignore....Who are "invisible"

“Then the king said to his servants, “The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.” The servants went out into the streets”

In order to have “eyes to see” we must open our hearts to God’s grace…..Jesus used 12 uneducated working class men to change the world….We need to stop “sizing up” people!……Give people a chance….Extend a hand…..Offer a kind word…Give away a smile…..Sometimes that is all it takes…..And many times its the people who were “supposed to come to the party”, they are the ones that don’t show up…But its the one who many wrote off…Who was “invisible”…That is the one who “shows up”…If only we give people a chance?

”Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find”…..”I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you”

“I myself will look after and tend my sheep”……….”You too go into my vineyard”

 

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Matthew...He tells us a story about a landowner who asks workers to go into his vineyard to work...Some go in the morning, some in the afternoon and some go to work at the end of the day....The landowner pays them all the same...And as you can guess, the workers who started working in the morning complain…..”Why does that one get paid as much as me? - I worked longer!”……..The landowner responds......"Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?".....God is a lover of souls...All souls....Are we?........All people who serve the Lord should ask themselves that question each and everyday......Why do we do - What we do for God?…Is it for and about ME?…Or…Is it for the love of souls and about God?……….God the Father wants all his children to find there way home…Our “job” is simply to assist him in that process for no other reason then we love our neighbor as we love ourself

“And he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.”

Its very easy to “lose sight of the trees when walking in the forest”…….God is not interested necessarily in what we “do”…He is interested in how we do it….Do we love people?…I mean really love them?……Do we care for their well being?…..Even those who disagree with us?…Or.....Do we want to simply be right?……..These are the questions we must constantly ask ourself.

One of the many things I love about Mother Teresa’s sisters is…They NEVER draw attention to themselves…Never!!!….Its all about God and the love of neighbor…This mind set can only be achieved through grace, which comes from the Sacraments, daily prayer and fasting…….Over the years of working with the MC sisters, they always had a way to bring me down to earth…Just when you think you did something “so good”…..When my head began to swell…Thinking I am something I am not…The sisters had a way of bringing me back down to earth…And that is a good thing!!!!……In the end…We are only humble servants working in the Lord’s vineyard…..Everything we do is because of God’s grace…EVERYTHING…And all glory should be given to God…..The devil always is on the prowl and is always looking to spoil what is good…..When we take our gaze off the Lord and focus that gaze upon our self…Even when we do “something good”….The devil wins the day!…..We should always do good for the sake of the action itself…The moment it’s about us…We spoil it.

This is one of the many reasons why I have a deep devotion to Our Lady…She is my Mother and your Mother too!…Everything I do…I do through her holy hands….Allow me to illustrate this mindset…..When a five year-old child paints a picture for his Dad for Father’s Day…The painting is messy…So what does that child do?…He gives that painting to his mother….And what does the mother do?….She puts a beautiful frame around the painting and “cleans it up”….That is how I view everything I do…Everything I do to a degree is flawed and “messy”…Because I am flawed…But when I give it to Our Lady (my Mom)…She “cleans it up” and presents it to her son

Getting back to our gospel passage today from Mass…..The workers who went to work early question the landowner….Why did you pay some of the workers who did less work then them the same amount of money?……”The boss” responds….I will translate New Jersey style…….........”Mind your business! - Worry about your self”….So that is the message today…..Don’t worry about what your neighbor did or did not do…Do everything for the love of God…..Keep your gaze off yourself and keep it on Jesus…….And do everything with love and for the love of souls….And when and where we fail - Don’t be too hard on yourself…Give “the work” to Our Lady…She will “clean it up” for us…As all good Mothers always do!

“I myself will look after and tend my sheep”……….”You too go into my vineyard”

"Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more" - Place your “bet”!

In Holy Mass today we hear from St Matthew…St Matthew was a tax collector, a man of “means” and when confronted by Christ he dropped everything and became one of his most fervent disciples…St Matthew was a “changed man”…..The things of this world no longer meant anything to him…….In the gospel today from Mass Jesus makes a promise to us……..”Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life”……The daily choices we make and the “things” we value define who we are….In essence we all make “a bet”…We either “take stock” in the promises of Christ…Or we dismiss them….Our words do not define the outcome of that “bet”…Our life’s choices say it all

Its hard to understand someone who has been given tremendous gifts (intelligence, status, power, etc) to only “give their life” over to the words of Jesus and his Church…But that is exactly what many of the saints have done and do to this very day…..They found the “pearl of great price” and they traded “everything” to get it…..To the world and to those who value “the things” of the world…This is pure madness!….But to the person who encountered the living God…This “trade off” not only makes sense but is not even considered a sacrifice

We get far more from God then what we give to him…..That is in the here and now!……..God can NEVER be outdone in generosity!

One of the years I served with Mother Teresa’s sisters in Kolkata I hung out with this French volunteer from Marseille (a city in the south of France). Erik at the time had a very pretty girl friend and was getting his Masters in Business. He came from a wealthy French family. His father was a diplomat and for a time believe it or not Erik and his family lived in Northern Bergen County New Jersey. Erik had everything going for him…He was brilliant…A very good looking young man…He was rich and his future was bright…..Erik and I kept in touch after India and he told me he took a job after graduation as a currency trader for HSBC (The Bank of Hong Kong) in London…Erik was on his way!!…Following in the footsteps of his family…..He would be rich…Marry a beautiful woman and live a wonderful life…He had all the gifts!!!….As time went on…I lost touch with Erik...Last year however, I got an email from him…He was inviting me to his ordination…He was being ordained in France as a Dominican priest!….Believe it or not!…..Because I could not believe it!……..The good-looking French son of a rich diplomat gave everything up!…..How or why would such a person who was given so much in this world do such a thing?….In one word - GOD!…Erik had a powerful encounter with God…..That changes everything…Why? - Because God is real!…Don’t think for a moment God is not real…Let's be honest here - People like Erik, who had EVERYTHING do not give up what most people in this world would literally KILL to have for some fantasy!…..God is very REAL!

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it”

All of us have been given gifts and not everyone is called to be a priest……..However…....Everything we have been given has a purpose!…And that purpose is…To serve God and serve our neighbor!…….And to the one given much - Much will be expected!….Jesus addresses those who ignore this message today in the gospel…This is what he said……”Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first”……This is not a threat…This is a promise!…….Mother Teresa would say…”I take Jesus at his word”…And so should we!……No one has ever become poor by helping others!….Everything we have is a gift….And when we look at our gifts in that way…It is very easy to share our life with others!

So back to my French buddy Erik who now is a Dominican priest….Erik just emailed me a month ago…His younger sister is getting married in New York City and he will be in town for the wedding at the end of August. We will be meeting up after 14 years….A lot has changed since the time we were both walking the streets of Kolkata in flip-flops…I am now a married man and the father of five children. Erik is now a priest…..God works in mysterious ways…But make no mistake…God is REAL and God is at work!

"Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more" - Place your “bet”!