Your heavenly Father knows what you need…….. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”

Today at Holy Mass Jesus sends his friends out into the world…And the task at hand does not seem too easy…And surely not for the faint of heart….”Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way”…The world resoundingly rejected Jesus and his message…Still does to this day…And Jesus said very clearly in Scripture….”Remember the word I spoke to you, No slave is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me”…..To truly follow the ways of Jesus Christ means you will not have it easy in this world…I will take it a step further…If you “have to easy”…You are not following Jesus…Jesus had enemies because the “sons and daughters of this world” reject the message of the gospel…Still do to this day…With all that said....Catholics are called to be “in the world but not of the world”…We are to love the world so the world can see Jesus in us….That is the task at hand and that is what a follower of Jesus Christ is called to do…We are not here to “have an easy life”….Save the “easy life” for heaven!…While we are here upon this earth, we are to “roll up of sleeves”….”To be gentle as doves but as wise as serpents”…And proclaim the Kingdom of God by our very lives!…..God did not call us to an easy life…He called us to greatness found in and through him!…And the greatest adventure ever to embark upon is to pursue with all your heart, mind and soul the will of God!

“Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.”

I am the son of a barber and my mother was a secretary…If you told me at the age of sixteen that I would travel the world, be on the radio, communicate daily through the written word to thousands around the world…I would have told you that you are crazy….All this happened because I chose to follow Christ and embrace my Catholic faith…..The single BEST decision of my life was made when I was twenty-two years old and decided to practice my Catholic faith fully…No decision even comes close!!!….Because of that decision I met my wife through the Church and have five children….EVERYTHING I have and have done is because I decided to follow the will of God as a Catholic…And God is not through with me yet!…….The questions today I want to put forth to you are these…...What holds us back?…Are we afraid of what others will think?…..Do we take Jesus at his word?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear? All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”

I remember one day in Kolkata I was on the back of a motorcycle going over a bridge traveling with a priest into a small village on the outskirts of town…I could not believe it was me on the motorcycle - It was like watching myself in a movie - But it was real…..God took the son of a barber from New Jersey and placed him on the other side of the world……Why could that not be you?….That does not mean you have to go to India….But I will guarantee you this…If you “stepped out of your comfort zone”….And trusted God…You would be amazed at what God could and would accomplish in and through you…I am nothing special but I will tell you this….My father in heaven is special…And I trust him!…And so should you!

“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”

Getting back to the gospel today from Mass…Jesus sent his friends out amongst “wolves”…Armed with nothing but faith…And you know what?…That is all they needed…Twelve blue collar uneducated men changed the world!…With nothing more then the cloths on their back….They faced down the powers of hell, spoke truth to power and planted “seeds” that bore fruit to this very day….I will say it again…Twelve uneducated blue collar men did this!….What about you?…… Just think what God can accomplish through you if you really trusted him…..Be not afraid!!!!

Your heavenly Father knows what you need…….. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”