”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”