That “voice” is still “crying out in the wilderness” to this very day…Can you hear it?…”My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me”

Today the Universal Church honors the Feast Day of St Andrew…Andrew was the first of the apostles to encounter Jesus and once he did, he immediately went to find his brother Peter and tell him about the man….Andrew was a regular guy, a fisherman…In his business I am sure he met countless people…What was it about Jesus that made him as Scripture tells us….”At once they left their nets and followed him”?….There is something about the Truth…When it is heard it stops traffic…But why do some people not care when they encounter it or ignore it?……The Truth resonates in the hearts of men…When a heart is pure, it yearns for the Truth…..”My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me”…….This is why Andrew left everything to follow Jesus…His heart was pure…It was not “caught up” in the fleeting things of this world……So how does one purify their hearts to “hear” Jesus's voice?…..That is the question we need to address…….How can as St John the Baptist put it……”A voice crying out in the wilderness” break through to us?

“Their voice has gone forth to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world”

The world believes what it sees…..”Nice words” are just that “nice” but they do not change people…..Catholics go to Mass and many times hear a great homily from a priest…They may even talk about the homily in the car as they drive home…But when does that person do what St Andrew did today? - After Andrew met Jesus he “dropped everything” and followed him….Mere words no matter how perfectly articulated can not produce such an outcome…..Only a witness, a person fully converted to the will of God can cause someone to react as Andrew did….When you encounter a holy person, a person fully alive, TRUST ME, you know it…Such an encounter with a person like that “leaves a mark” that is not easily removed or forgotten……Such an encounter causes one to question themself - Why can’t I be like that?…What is missing in my life?…….Words do not make a person question their very existence, only a witness can do that………Years ago when I would travel to India to volunteer with Mother Teresa’s sisters I met a French volunteer…At the time Erik was studying to get his Masters Degree in Business…He came from a well-to-do family in Southern France, he had a pretty girlfriend at the time and was on his way to living a very prosperous life…While in India Erik spent many months serving the poor and developing his relationship with Christ through prayer…..Erik had everything going for him….After graduation he got a job trading currencies for the Bank of Hong Kong, he was living in London, making good money…But something was “missing”….He told me that he would go to Mass everyday and still volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity on the weekend in London….He said he was living a “schizophrenic life”…On his free time he would serve the poor and at work he was making tons of money….At daily Mass in London he would always see this one nun…They never spoke but each day he would see her…..Soon there after Erik made a decision to leave his lucrative job as a Currency Trader and become a Dominican Priest….And after he was ordained by chance he ran into that nun he would see at daily Mass in London…The sister saw that Erik was now a priest and approached him and said…”I would see you everyday at Mass and I would pray that you would one day become a priest”…….Erik, now goes by the name Fr Jourdain Marie and is currently living in Rome getting an advanced degree at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)…..Erik had “everything” a person would want in this world and “everything” did not satisfy him…….”My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me”

“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life. They are more precious than gold, than a heap of purest gold; Sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb”

In the Gospel of St Matthew today at Mass we are told how St Andrew left everything to follow Jesus…I also told you about my friend Erik from France, who also left everything to follow Jesus…What made them do it?……And why would someone “give up” so much to follow Christ?….The answer comes down to the heart…...”Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God”…..A pure heart can hear the voice of God…..Therefore we must strive to purify our hearts…..One Sacramental Confession with a Priest will do the trick - Just one!…..Mother Teresa used the analogy of electricity: “The wire is you and me; the current is God,” she said. “We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us, and produce the light of the world—Jesus"...…But before that happens, we have to “clear away” all the “obstacles”, which get in the way of the Holy Spirit - Then the “electricity” can pass through us…Then not only will we see the “light” but we will also “hear” the voice of God…..That “voice” is still “crying out in the wilderness” to this very day…Can you hear it?…”My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me”

It all comes down to the word - Authority!…..Jesus has authority and “I” do not…..This is reality……We can not save ourself and we can not change what is impossible to change

Today at Holy Mass St Luke tells the world something very important….Something the world to this day has not learned….Even people within the Church…Many do not “hear” these words of Christ….”Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”…How easily we forget that Jesus is GOD!…..And nothing and no one can eliminate his words or his Church….Oh, how the world tries to this day!….How people inside and outside the Church try to “improve” on what can not change…..This is why I never fear, the Church of Jesus Christ will be the last thing standing on the face of this earth…Not because I said so, because Jesus himself said so..........…..”Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”…..The world views the Catholic Church like it would any other power structure…And clearly because it is composed of men there is a political element to it…However, God’s hand is upon it…Trying to fight against it is like try to hold back the ocean…It simply cannot be done…Yet, the world keeps trying…It all comes down to one word - Authority….Jesus himself gave the Catholic Church authority…And sadly people hate this word…”Don’t tell me what to do”….Or…For the people who think they are “smart” both inside and outside the Church…”I know a better way to do this”…..Again, it all comes down to the word - Authority!…..Jesus has authority and “I” do not…..This is reality……We can not save ourself…We ALL die….We can not move what is immoveable.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem”

In 1950 Roberto Rossellini directed a film called The Flowers of St. Francis…..The structure of the film is a series of short stories depicting the life of St Francis….There are many aspects of the film that are very powerful but allow me to tell you about one of them…..In the movie there was this very simple man who was one of the original followers of St Francis…Francis each day would send the brothers out into the world two by two to preach the Gospel but he never let this one simple minded brother go because he feared for his safety…...He was too innocent…But the simple brother would keep asking Francis to go…And finally Francis agrees….So this very simple man goes into this corrupt town and the people laugh at him, they abuse him…They will not accept anything he says…..As time goes on the city falls into disarray…The city literally in the film goes on fire and chaos ensues….As this happens everyone runs from the city in a panic….At the very end of this chaotic scene…The last man standing is the “simple” brother…..Everyone flees and everything is destroyed except him…….This short story masterfully told by Roberto Rossellini captures every period of world history since the beginning of time…Mankind “thinks” he has it all figured out……And in the end it is proven once again…Mankind had nothing figured out and once again mankind destroyed itself......”I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words in this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book.”

“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest in which she puts her young – Your altars, O LORD of hosts, my king and my God!”

Jesus is reminding us in the Gospel of St Luke today…Its impossible to destroy or manipulate what cannot be changed….I can hear it now….”That is what you think”……….”I’m smarter than you”….”The Catholic Church is behind the times”….”I figured it all out”……..For 2000 years powerful men and woman, brilliant minds, empires and even men inside the Catholic Church have said those very words…And history tells us…They all failed miserably……..So what should that tell us all today?……It all comes down to the word - Authority!…..Jesus has authority and “I” do not…..This is reality……We can not save ourself and we can not change what is impossible to change

Two criminals, one repents and the other does not…..Which one are you?

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Luke’s gospel….Ask yourself why did Jesus come?….Jesus came to pay the price for the sins of mankind….He also came to forgive sins - My sins and yours……That was his purpose…The question is…Do you recognize that reality?…….What do I mean by that?…If Jesus came for those two reasons, we must infer that we are ALL apart of the “mess” that was created by mankind because of sin…Also, one must infer that we need a means by which we can be forgiven…..That again implies that sin exists and that we are ALL sinners…..This concept is fundamental to believing in Christ, his Church and the desire for eternal life….Do we believe this?…..St Luke tells us today in his gospel….”Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”…What does this mean?….It means that Jesus was the “seed”, which was planted 2000 years ago to spread the message of salvation throughout the entire earth….There will come a time and God the Father only knows that time, when the entire world was not only told about Jesus and his Church but was also given the chance to turn to Christ.....And ask to be forgiven through his Church...….Whether we accept that invitation is completely up to us…But when that time comes…And Jesus returns…And when he returns, trust me, he is not coming back as some homeless “Hippie”….."There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory”

“Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand”

Dutch Schultz was a Jewish mobster in the 1920s and 1930s. Schultz, whose real name was Arthur Flegenheimer convert to Christianity and received the last rites from a Catholic priest before he died and was buried in the Roman Catholic Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York…….Schultz was a “bad dude” and committed many crimes during his life but when the time came, when he knew he was going to die, he repented and asked for a Catholic priest…..Joseph Stalin was another “bad dude”, a man known for being a murderer. During his reign in Russia untold millions of people were put to death by his command. The numbers are so high that experts can only give broad estimates as to the actual total. According to the story told by his daughter, Stalin was plagued by terrifying hallucinations as he lay dying on his bed. Then suddenly he sat halfway up in bed, clenched his fist toward the heavens, fell back upon his pillow, and was dead. It was as if his last gesture in life was literally a clenched fist toward God….Whether or not this is true about Stalin’s death can be disputed, the point I am making here is this…Here we have two murderers, one turns to Christ and the other does not…The story of these two men is not unlike the story of the two men who were crucified along side of Jesus 2000 years ago…Two criminals, one repents and the other does not…..Which one are you?

“Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb”

St Luke tells us today….”Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”…….God is giving us all time to face reality…What is that reality?…That we are all sinners…That there is “one way off the island” and that “one way” is to take Jesus’s hand and say these words - “Bless me Father for I have sinned”…If we commit to making a Sacramental Confession with a Priest, trust me when I say, you will be glad you did!…..Peace will flood through your enter body……How did a Jewish murderer, Dutch Schultz come to this conclusion?…Because written on the hearts of all men is the Truth - We either accept it or we do not……Schultz took a leap of faith……..”Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”……..St Luke is telling us…The time does run out!…The “final buzzer” will sound off…Two criminals, one repents and the other does not…..Which one are you?

“Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life”

Today we hear at Holy Mass from the Gospel of St Luke…..Jesus tells his friends that following him will not be easy…Jesus does not “sugar-coat” reality…“They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives”…We all want to belong…As I say on my radio show all the time…”We all want to get invited to the barbecue”…In our desire to belong, do we give our true self away?….Do we compromise what we know to be true to “get along”…..This is one of the driving factors, which keeps us from becoming the people God called us to be…..At the end of the day, we all have an “audience of one”…And that audience is God alone…..Its God’s opinion of us that matters…Never let “the crowd” steal your soul

“Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life”

I began my career on Wall Street as a Branch Examiner…I would travel around the country and audit the various branches where Financial Brokers sold stocks and bonds to the public…During the audits I conducted I would have to give a presentation to each branch reviewing the various internal and external regulations, which impacted their business…The crowd at my presentations could be very hostile at times…Wall Street brokers are not the most “gentle” of people as you can imagine…This one year during Lent I pinned a cross into the lapel of my suit jacket as an outward sign of the penitential season, which prepares us for Easter Sunday and the Resurrection of Christ…This one presentation I gave was outside of St Louis and when I got up before all the brokers to speak, I felt all eyes upon the cross pinned to my suit jacket…It was hard enough to give that presentation but with that cross pinned on my suit, I felt like it was pinned into my bare flesh!….Why tell you this?…Because the “world” will ALWAYS reject the ways of Christ and the Church…ALWAYS!…Jesus today is warning us ahead of time…So don’t expect anything less!…..In Scripture, after Jesus was killed I always remember the story of Joseph of Arimathea…Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus and very rich…He held social standing and had a lot to lose…After Jesus was murdered he approached Pontius Pilate and requested the body of Jesus so it could be properly buried…He also paid for the burial, giving Christ a tomb for his body to be placed, which was originally intended for himself and his family…This took great courage on the part of Joseph of Arimathea, he had a lot to lose but his love for Christ propelled him to “take the risk”….As followers of Jesus we too must take risks!….The Holy Spirit will help us if we allow it to enter our heart…..I have always found when we enter “the space” of vulnerability…When we "expose ourself" in the name of Jesus Christ…When we have no control…Its there - In “that space” that we encounter the Lord…We must be willing to enter “that space”!

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch. Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”

Jesus today warns his friends….”In the world you will have trouble”…..We must accept trouble as it comes because it is a reality - It comes with the territory of being a follower of Jesus Christ…We were not born to “get along”…We were born to light the way!…..Before Jesus entered Jerusalem and suffered his passion he fasted for 40 days…During that time the devil tempted him three times….”Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him”…..We too must be willing to endure…And make no mistake, we will be tempted too!….But as Jesus today told his friends......”In the world you will have trouble”...…He also told them……”By your perseverance you will secure your lives”…….And when times get tough - Angels will come and minister to you as well……So ”put out into deep water and lower your nets”

“Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life”

The time to prepare is now…..Are your “spiritual bags” packed?

Today we hear at Holy Mass from the Gospel of St Luke…..People were admiring the beauty of the Temple and Jesus addresses them….“All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down”…....How easy we get caught up in the “things of this world”…Believing them to be permanent……The only thing that lasts forever is our soul…The soul is eternal and is destined for one of two places - Heaven or Hell…Think about that….The next time you see a big crowd, say at a football game or in Time Square in New York City…Each and every person you see among the huge crowd will end up in one of two places - Heaven or Hell…….We all claim to want to go to heaven - But the road to heaven begins in the here and now…If we do not want the things of God now, what makes us think we will want them in heaven…….In Luke’s Gospel today at Mass, Jesus tells the people that the Kingdom of God will come when we least expect it - In a Flash!……No one knows the day or the hour…The time to prepare is now…..Are your “spiritual bags” packed?….What does that mean?…Are you living in a state of grace?…Are you free from mortal sin?…..These questions may make us feel uncomfortable but they need to be addressed in a sober manner…Because we do not know when the Son of Man will return………But make no mistake, that day will one day be upon us…Let’s make sure we are ready!

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

It was a Tuesday, September 11, 2001…A beautiful Fall day and I was at work six blocks from the World Trade Center in New York City. Just a “another day”, but soon I realized it was not just “another day”….My office was on the 32nd floor facing the Trade Center…The first plane hit the buildings as me and my buddy watched from his office window. We thought a horrible accident took place…After the second plane hit, my building shook violently and the fire from the impact could be seen very clearly from my window…We all knew that was not an accident…Why bring this up?….That day was like any other work day, no different from how today began in fact…People got up, got on buses and trains and went to work and by 9:00am, thousands of people were dead!….Many of the people who died that day worked on Wall Street, as I did….Many of them had wonderful lives….They lived in beautiful towns, their kids went to private schools, they took wonderful vacations two times a year…That all ended in an instant!…And I watched it all unfold right before my eyes!….Were these men and women ready to face the Lord?…..In the first reading today from St John, he describes the end times when Christ is about to return…..”Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap the harvest, for the time to reap has come, because the earth’s harvest is fully ripe.” So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested”……Tuesday, September 11, 2001 as we all know was not the “end of times” that St John wrote about, however it was the end for thousand of people who lost their lives…And their end came upon them in an instant!….....”That was not supposed to happen", many people said - But guess what? - It did!……It was just another Tuesday…A beautiful Fall day in September…But as it turned out it was not just “another day”……And in a flash everything changed!….Were the men and women who died that day ready to face the Lord?

“Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life”

Today in Luke’s Gospel from Mass, Jesus is reminding us that everything we see, no matter how beautiful, will eventually be no more…The only thing that is eternal is our soul…“All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down”…..So the question is - Where are we focusing our efforts and attention?…Do we prioritize the state of our soul?…….Jesus goes on to say these words to the crowd….“See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them"…….There is only “one way off the island”…..Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth & The Life….And when “push comes to shove”, as it did on a beautiful Fall September day known in the history books as “9-11”, will we be ready?…..The time to prepare is now…..Are your “spiritual bags” packed?

The Truth is like a lion, all you have to do is let it loose, it defends itself……So be confident and let it loose!

Today Holy Mother Church honors St Catherine of Alexandria a 4th century saint…Saints are interesting people…So I thought I would tell you about her…St Catherine was an ordinary person, who happened to be gifted with great intelligence….Catherine defended her religion against the Roman emperor’s most distinguished scholars and they could not stand toe-to-toe with Catherine…So what did the emperor do?….Ordered her to be killed - Sounds like our current political environment, but let me focus on the subject at hand…The means of torture for Catherine to be executed by was to be very severe and at the last minute the wheel she was to be fastened to broke and because of that a lesser means of execution was utilized…God is merciful!!!!….Why bring up the life of St Catherine of Alexandria?…Because her life shows us that you do not have to be a scholar to have a firm grasp of the Truth…And when a person holds fast to the Truth, no one can stand against them….The Truth is like a lion, all you have to do is let it loose, it defends itself.

“He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

One of the greatest books I ever read was a compilation of all the canonized saints of the Catholic Church…One of the saints that stood out to me was St Joan of Arc…Like St Catherine of Alexandria, St Joan was forced to defend the faith after she was falsely accused of being a heretic…But here is the interesting thing about St Joan, she was illiterate….St Joan of Arc, a real historical figure lead the French Army at 17 years old against the British Empire and could not read!!!!…..And when she was put on trial, she was grilled for days in an attempt to try and trick her and convince the public she was a heretic……..And the greatest minds of her time could not do it!….How is that possible, St Joan was illiterate?…..Because the Truth is like a lion, all you have to do is let it loose, it defends itself!……..Our world is full of deceptions and lies…Powerful people manipulate others to gain more power and material wealth…They take advantage of the weak and vulnerable…..In many ways, nothing has changed since the time Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago…..However, when Christ returns all that will come to an end….The world will stand face to face with of the King of Kings…And when that happens, there will be no way to get around the Truth, there will be no “wiggle-room”, the Truth will stand before us clear as day…In the meantime know this….You do not have to be a scholar to embrace the Truth…Neither St Catherine of Alexandria or St Joan of Arc were scholars and because they fully embraced the Truth, no one could stand against them, they could not be defeated…Why is that a fact?….Because the Truth is like math….It is what it is…..It defends itself

“Stay awake! For you do not know when the Son of Man will come”

We must not be afraid to live out our Catholic faith fully in a world that rejects Christ and his Church…We should be confident, knowing that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life….And no one, not even the greatest scholars of our day can refute the eternal Truths of Christ and his Church….You don’t believe me?…Ask St Catherine of Alexandria and St Joan of Arc…..Peope are still talking about them hundreds of years after they have gone on to their eternal reward....Yet, our world today will keep trying to defeat the Truth - And they will fail…..Do you know why?…….Because the Truth is like a lion, all you have to do is let it loose, it defends itself……So be confident and let it loose!

Which Kingdom do you belong to?…And who is your King?

Today Holy Mother Church commemorates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe……When we pray the Rosary on Tuesdays & Fridays, we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries…..The third Sorrowful Mystery is where Jesus is crowned with thorns and faces off with Pontius Pilate…This is a powerful scene…Two men of power…One of this world and one of another…”Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?”……Pilate speaks to Jesus as if he was “conducting business”…His words are “masked”…Jesus cuts through the subtle inferences and gets to the heart of the matter…”Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king.”…..Two Kings facing off…One with a crown of jewels and another with a crown of thorns….Which Kingdom do you belong to?…And who is your King?

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.”

Americans have a way to sanitize Christianity…There was nothing “sanitized” about the way Jesus lived or for that matter the way he died…..In many places of worship in America the corpus (Jesus broken body) is removed from the cross…We do not want to focus on that…Let’s just stick to the Resurrection and forget about Good Friday….When Jesus and Pilate faced off, two worlds collided……And to this day, when we live our Catholic faith in the world…To a certain degree, the same thing happens…Are you willing to “face off” with the world?…To live differently?………..One year I was in India and Mother Teresa’s sisters asked some of the volunteers to help take a group of handicapped children to the Air & Space Museum in Kolkata. This museum, like in any city in the world was visited by well to do and educated citizens, no different from New York City…..…I remember the faces of the people on the line, as they stared with wide-open eyes, almost in disbelief as a bunch of foreign volunteers and Catholic nuns carried severely handicapped children into the museum….Such a scene echoes the image described by St John in the Gospel from Holy Mass today…..”My kingdom does not belong to this world”….This is the choice we all must make…..Which Kingdom do you belong to?…And who is your King?…No need to answer…The way we live our life gives the answer

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!….Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!”

In the Gospel today from Mass Jesus tells Pilate something very important….”For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”……This statement does not only apply to Jesus…It applies to each and every one of us…To testify to the Truth….Not “our truth”, whatever that means - But the Truth!…We do that by our words but more importantly by the way we live our life each and everyday…When we commit to living in this way…We follow the example of Jesus Christ, who “faced off” with Pilate…Two Kingdoms collide!……Which Kingdom do you belong to?…And who is your King?

You do not know the day or the hour - The time to prepare to stand before the Lord is now…….“Viva Cristo Rey!” …….”Long Live Christ the King”

Today Holy Mother Church commemorates the life of St Miguel Pro SJ….Many people do not know who this man is….So I will tell you a bit about him and his life….St Miguel was a Mexican Jesuit Priest who served his people in the early part of the 20th century when Plutarch Elias Calles was the president of Mexico….At this time the government of Mexico was vehemently anti-Catholic and put many restrictions upon the faithful and the Church….Fr Pro ministered to his people in disguise all over Mexico City…..Once he was finally arrested and he was accused falsely of a bombing plot, the government executed him publicly by means of a firing squad…..Before he died, he forgave his enemies stretched out his arms in the form of a Cross and declared…”Long Live Christ the King” (“Viva Cristo Rey!” )…That happened in 1927, less than 100 years ago…..Do think that something like that could not happen here in America?…If you don’t think so, you are not a student of history…..Or do you even care?….Fr Miguel Pro “fought to the death for the law of his God and did not fear the words of the godless, for he was built on solid rock"……What is your life built upon?

“Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel”

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined”….....We will all face death…This is an inevitable fact…….Have you ever thought about the hour of your own death?…How you will face this reality?…..Have you ever witnessed a person who fearlessly faced death?………My Aunt Lydia was a person who faced her death fearlessly…She had cancer and went through all the treatments….And when she was 81 years old, her cancer returned….At that point she refused treatment and resigned herself to the reality that she soon would die…My Aunt Lydia lived her Catholic faith her entire life…She prayed the Rosary, volunteered at her local food bank, went to Mass…She also was blessed in this life to be materially well off…I note that because she assisted many members of my family who were not…She helped her cousin financially who had seven children when her husband died…She assisted financially my first cousin, her nephew, when he was going to lose his home…And I am sure there were many other things my Aunt Lydia did that I am not aware of….Why do I mention this now?…Because of the way my Aunt Lydia lived her life, when it came time for her to die, she was not afraid at all….I was with her in the hospital the day before she died…..Her last words to me were….”Joseph, I wish you luck in this life…I can’t wait for the joy”! - She was talking about going to heaven - And if you saw her face when she said this - She meant every word!…When I left the hospital that day, I knew that would be the last time I saw my Aunt Lydia on this side of heaven…When I returned to the hospital the next morning…The nurse who was with Lydia that night as she lay in bed dying - This women never meant my aunt before this - And this is what she said about her to me…”Your aunt was a very special person”…I guess they had a conversation before Lydia passed away….And when this nurse told me this…All I could do is say to myself…Yes, I know she was very special…She died as she lived - A child of God

“Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war”

St Miguel Pro and my Aunt Lydia were faithful Catholics…They faced death fearlessly because they knew that God existed and that God always takes care of his own….This type of courage in the face of death can not be “faked”…Its a grace…Because God is real and so is grace!……Many people say they believe in God…They also think that they have time….That they will reconcile with God before its "too late", before their hour of death comes….That approach if you ask me is a huge mistake!….How we live is usually the way we die…And if your life is built upon God, you will face death without fear….“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”…….You do not know the day or the hour - The time to prepare to stand before the Lord is now…….“Viva Cristo Rey!” …….”Long Live Christ the King”

This is how Jesus “drives out” sin in the world to this very day…..Grace juxtapose against sin…The two are like oil and water

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Luke…Far too many people think Jesus was just some hippie…......”Its all good”…..Today’s reading tells us other wise….”Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves”….As we read, Jesus literally and physically drove out thieves from the Temple…But how does Jesus do the same thing today?….Each of us, our very bodies are a Temple of the Holy Spirit…Jesus had and has one purpose, to free us from sin and enable us to live a life of grace….To this very day, Christ is “driving out sin” from within his Church and don’t forget YOU are his Church!…….Jesus was not some “hippie”….Its not “all good”

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

Some things just do not go together…One example of that is grace juxtapose against sin…The two are like oil and water…..Like two ends of a magnet, they repel naturally away from each other…This is why St Paul tells us in Scripture…”Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”…….Whenever I hear in the news that a Priest did something very wrong…The main stream press in America by the way only covers the clergy when they do something wrong, when the overwhelming majority of Catholic Priests do good each and everyday…But let me stick to my intended point…When a member of the clergy does something bad….At the root of it, something “broke within them”….....What do I mean by that?….Were they praying their Rosary every day?…..Were they going to a Sacramental Confession once a month (at least) with their Spiritual Director?……Were they receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the state of grace daily at Mass?…..Were they doing a daily Holy Hour in silence before the Blessed Sacrament?…..The answer I will bet is no….Again, something “broke” within them…They “disconnected” themselves from the life of the Holy Spirit…..Like the fallen clergy we sometimes read about in the newspaper, the same thing can happen to us!…..This is why it is essential we do the prescribed activities given to us by Mother Church as well, its not just for the clergy!…......Oh, I can hear it now....…”I don’t need to do that”!….....Really?….....How is the world doing?………You don’t have to look very far to get your answer…….The pull of sin is within us all - No one is exempt!…..However, when we make it our priority to “put on the armor of God” as St Paul rightly notes, we then are prepared to face the temptations of the world…..This is how Jesus “drives out” sin in the world to this very day!

"How sweet to my taste is your promise!"

Today in the gospel, Jesus sees what is happening in the Temple, how sinful men were corrupting it…And Jesus jumps into action…..He literally drove them out….When we make it our business to stay in the state of grace…..Praying daily, Fasting weekly, Going to a Sacramental Confession Monthly, and receiving the Blessed Sacrament as often as we can…....We too “drive out” the “thieves” within our heart that corrupt the Temple of our Body…..This requires as we saw today by Jesus’s example a physical response….We must utilize “the tools” given to us by God and Holy Mother Church…..Do you think the devil is not real? - Big mistake if you do!….The devil is not only very real but he is stronger then you, smarter then you, knows all your weakness and he “prowls the earth like a lion devouring souls”….So what can we do?….St Paul tells us…”Put on the armor of God”….This is how Jesus “drives out” sin in the world to this very day…..Grace juxtapose against sin…The two are like oil and water

Peace begins with in our own hearts…If it is not in our own hearts do not expect it to be in the world

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Luke…..”As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes”……Jesus was a Jew, and his own people rejected him….Jesus saw exactly what they were rejecting very clearly and as scripture tells us today, he wept over what he saw…..Today this same rejection of Christ and his Church is no different then what took place 2000 years ago….And just as Jesus wept then, he weeps now…Our world talks "a good game" about peace but as Jesus stated …..”If this day you only knew what makes for peace”….Like many words thrown around in our society, the word "peace" is so easily said but when push comes to shove is ignored…..Why?…Because as the song goes…..”Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me”…..Peace begins with in our own hearts…If we are not at peace with God, we can not expect to be at peace with those around us, never mind will we have peace in the world……..To have this peace the Jesus talks about, we must reconcile our sins to God….This is the ONLY path to true peace………..St Luke tells us that peace is “hidden from our eyes”….What is preventing us from finding true peace?

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts”

Today the Universal Church commemorates the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary…….Why is this day significant?……Because Mary was born perfectly pure…She had to be because within her womb she carried Christ….And because Mary was pure, she could see perfectly….”Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall SEE God”…..The human race unlike Jesus and Mary are born into the world as sinners (that means all of us) and therefore we do not see as we should…..Sin blinds us….Many people equate sight with analytical intelligence…A person’s intelligence has little to do with “seeing” as God would want us to see…..I have heard married people say things like, “What does a Catholic priest know about being married”……To be honest with you, a lot!……If a priest is doing what he is supposed to be doing and most of them do for the record, they are living in a state of grace and because of that grace, they can see what someone who is not in the state of grace can not see…..In order for us to “see” we must first work on purifying our own hearts…What purifies our hearts?….Daily prayer, Weekly fasting, A Sacramental Confession and the reception of the Blessed Sacrament…..This is reality!…..And this is the path to true peace…And sadly, this path is rejected…It was rejected by the people of Jesus’s time and it is rejected today…And this is why St Luke tells us in the gospel…..”As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes”

“For the LORD loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with victory”

Today’s gospel from Mass shows us that Jesus had a heart from his people even though they rejected him…Jesus knew full well the consequences of their rejection of him and this resulted in him weeping……In the final analysis, we each must make a choice…We can not control other people…..God himself gave us free will and he respects it….….With that being said, if we want peace….We all say we do!….Then we must prescribe to “the things” that make for peace…..If we do, we will have it and if we do not, we will not - Its really that simple….As the song goes…....”Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me”…..Peace begins with in our own hearts…If it is not in our own hearts do not expect it to be in the world

God is not just a word…God is real…..We need to “get out of the boat” of our “comfortable life”…That is where the “big fish” are!

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Luke in the gospel…In this text Jesus tells us a story about a King and his servants….“A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return”…….Each of us has something to do and while we do not earn heaven, heaven is a gift which we can not earn, God has given each of us a unique task…..And he expects us to do it…Some may say….What can I do for God?…My answer to that person saying that now is…A lot!…..If we only knew our potential…If we only had the courage to pursue it with reckless abandon!…….Jesus tells us very clearly…...”The Kingdom of God is within you!…Do you fully understand what that means!…Fear is the only thing that holds us back….What will people say?…..What if I fail?……What will happen if I take this risk?……Fear is not from God, it is from the evil one…..We need to “get out of the boat” of our “comfortable life”….That is the “space” God works in, when we “expose our self” and trust in him alone….When we meet him there in that “space”....When we stand in front of him "there" with nothing in our hands…In that encounter and in that "space" God smiles and says to us…Now we can begin!

“I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord”

People do not like to be uncomfortable….We want to feel we are in control…We want to feel like we are “safe”…..Ask any wildly successful person in the business world what they think about feeling “comfortable”…They will tell you flat out, that is not how “things get done”….The same goes for being a follower of Christ…….We need to “get out of the boat”……..A friend of mine told me a story about a French girl who felt called to become a nun…This girl was an only child and grew up in a wealthy family……She told her parents when she was sixteen….”In two years I am going to leave you and become one of Mother Teresa’s nuns, you should adopt other children”…How can a sixteen year old girl be so convinced of making such a radical decision?……She gave up a very comfortable life and she knew very clearly what was asked of her by God - And she did it!….We must have a similar conviction in our own life…But before we do…We must be assured of the reality that God is real!…This requires and encounter with him…Which can be had if we sit before the Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament in silence…I have repeated this in these refections time and time again…When we know who it is that loves us and created us…When the reality of God becomes as tangible as the nose on your face….Then you will “get out of the boat”….And you will do GREAT THINGS!……Why settle for a mediocre life?…Stop “playing it safe”!…..If you only knew what you are capable of - YES YOU!……..I love the story in scripture when the first apostles, all of them fishermen, did not catch any fish and worked all night…In the morning Jesus tells them to throw their nets in the opposite direction…Peter, the master fishermen at first says…”Lord, we worked all night, that is not going to work, we won’t catch any fish”…But then Peter says…”Because you said so, I will do it”….And guess what?…Peter catches tons of fish!…In that moment, Peter understood something very important and says to Jesus, “Depart from me, I am a sinful man”…Jesus responds, “From now on, you will not be catching fish, you will be catching men”…..For St Peter to arrive at “that moment”, understanding fully who it is that is standing in front of him, not just some “guy” but God, it was that realization that propelled him forward to become who God called him to be, “the rock” which Christ built his Church upon….Peter then realized he needed to get out of his comfort zone…And so must we!...That is where the “big fish” are!

“Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created.”

In the gospel story from Mass today there was one man who was afraid to use what was given to him by the King……”‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man……He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you………You knew I was a demanding man…….Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten”……We all have something to do - Yes that means YOU!…..But before we do it, we need to understand that God is not just a word…God is real…..We need to “get out of the boat” of our “comfortable life”…That is where the “big fish” are!

Do we know what it means to be lost?…If you do, you too would give people a chance…..Deep down we all want to be “good”……Give people the opportunity to be good…They may surprise you

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Luke in the gospel…Jesus does something that is shocking to the status quo…He befriends a known sinner…”Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house”……People love to point fingers and “think” they are better than others…When in fact, we are all sustained by grace and could just as easily be much worst then the greatest of sinners…..Jesus today met Zacchaeus exactly where he was, that does not mean Christ condoned his sins, however it does mean he loved Zacchaeus so much that he did not want to have him stay in that condition…As a result of Jesus’s gesture of friendship, Zacchaeus repents….This is what true “accompaniment” is, a term used by many in the Catholic Church today….“Accompaniment” is nothing more than friendship….It does not mean you lower or “mask” Catholic teaching, it simply means you extend a hand of friendship, showing a person what it means to be a follower of Christ by your life’s example…..Deep down we all want to be “good”….Give people a chance, they might surprise you

“Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

In the history of the Church some of the biggest sinners became the greatest of saints…..There is something special about a person who has “been around the block”, who then repents and turns their life to God…They can give a perspective that others can not…..Nothing is wasted, even our repented sin is used by God to help others……There are somethings that can not be learned in books…One of those things is empathy….To fully understand how someone feels because you yourself went through the same thing….When Jesus was on the cross, only a few people stood by his side…One of those people was Mary Magdalene…Scripture tells us that seven demons were removed from her by Christ…..And once Mary Magdalene “turned the corner”, there was no stopping her….Notice when push came to shove who went running for the hills and who stayed…The 12 friends of Jesus liked to “talk a good game”….At times they even pointed fingers and criticized people only for Jesus to correct them….With all there “big talk”, when Jesus needed them the most, the first 12 apostles ran away….Not Mary Magdalene!…Why do you think that was the case?…I think because Mary Magdalene knew first hand what it was like to be isolated, wounded and alone….She could deeply identify with Jesus as he hung on the cross, therefore she was not going to let him suffer alone…Jesus honors Mary Magdalene’s courage….When he rose from the dead, Mary Magdalene, the known sinner was the first to see him in his glorified body…..”But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni”………..If I had to “go to war” against the powers of hell….Give me 12 public sinners who fully repented their sin any day of the week…..These are my people…And you know what?…They are Jesus’s people too!

“God loved us, and sent his Son as expiation for our sins”

In the Gospel today St Luke tells us about Jesus giving a public sinner a chance….Do we give people a chance?…Do we think we are better than others?….Jesus did not condone bad behavior and frankly nor should we…But how do we respond to it?…..Its so very easy to see the wrongs of this world…However, its hard to address those wrongs positively and the only way to do that is to give a good and consistent example day in and day out…To give that example, we must first change ourself and that requires grace….This is how we change the world - The only way!………”For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost”…….Do we know what it means to be lost?…If you do, you to would give people a chance…..Deep down we all want to be “good”……Give people the opportunity to be good…They may surprise you

But there is a cost…The question is….Are we willing to pay it?

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St John in the first reading from the Book of Revelation….…John is telling the followers of Christ that in order to “continue on the road” one must endure many trials….”You have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary”…..How easy it is to say we believe in God when all things are going well…..What about when the “world turns against you”?…When you can not do what you want?……This is what St John is addressing…..To follow Christ means we are to be “in the world and not of the world”….That is very easy to say but the reality is, at times to live that out, it can be very challenging…This is why we need grace…To attempt this “path” without relying upon daily prayer, weekly fasting and the Sacraments if you ask me is futile - Not going to happen!….”The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”…..There is no such thing as “cheap grace”….And there are no short cuts.....”A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.”

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

For those of us who have “been around the block” for some time, we know that “doing the right thing” is challenging to say the least.....Our world rewards the “quick buck”…..To do things God’s way is never easy…But when we choose to do things God’s way, we have peace and joy…However, that does not take away from the “cost of discipleship”…And make no mistake, there is a cost…This is where the “rubber meets to road” and where people “fall away”….Human beings want to have their “cake and eat it too” when it comes to following Jesus and his Church, however it does not work that way!……The road to heaven is “different” from the road taken by the “worldly”….Catholics are to serve as “salt and light” in this world…We are to walk among the world but not be like the worldly........Fr Lawerence Abello was a Jesuit in India…His life impacted many, including me…Fr Abello took a vow when he became a Jesuit….Poverty, Chastity and Obedience…And Fr Abello took those vows very seriously…..The man was brilliant but if you saw him, you may have mistaken him for a poor simple-minded man…His shirts were always worn out and his sandals were beat up…He walked everywhere he went…..When I would go to India, many of the volunteers from around the world would laugh at Fr Abello…They thought him to be “strange”….I on the other hand thought otherwise…..Fr Abello was a holy man…Why do I bring this up?…..The path of discipleship can stare us right in the face and we can miss it…Why?…Because we “look” at it with worldly eyes….Fr Abello was not like other people and because he was not, people thought he was “weird”…Think about how people looked at Jesus…Here you have this guy with no place to call home, going from town to town with “12 rough looking guys” speaking Truth to power…I bet the people of his day thought Jesus to be “weird” too….Why bring this up?…There is a cost to discipleship…And if we want to follow Christ and embrace the will of God…We must be willing to “pay that cost”

“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Catholic tradition refers to Jesus as the suffering servant…..If that is true do we somehow think we as his followers will not suffer?….As American Catholics we have been conditioned to have a “comfortable life”….And there is nothing wrong with some creature comforts…However, we were not made to be “comfortable”, we were made for greatness!….And that requires sacrifice - Period Full Stop!……The question we have to reconcile with ourself is this - Are we trying to establish our “kingdom” here on earth?…....or….Is our Kingdom in heaven?…It all boils down to that…And frankly you don’t have to answer with words…Our life’s choices communicates the answer loud and clear for everyone with eyes in their head see - That not only includes we Lay Catholics in the pews but Priests, Bishops & Cardinals as well.....For those who have ears - Let them hear!…..Why was Jesus so effective as a communicator?…Because he practiced what he preached! - He lived the words he spoke!…This is what we as Catholics must do as well…But to do this, we must accept to cost of discipleship and that requires grace…..When we do, our words will be heard and if we do not, our words will be ignored - Period Full Stop!…..The Boston College Philosophy professor, the great Peter Kreeft put it this way…..”You can praise Jesus, disagree with him, quote him, disbelieve him, glorify him, or vilify him. About the only thing you cannot do is ignore him, and that is a lesson that every age learns in its own way. You can't ignore Jesus, because he changed things”….And so will we…But there is a cost…The question is….Are we willing to pay it?

So be vigilant….And be ready!……The invisible will become visible

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Mark in the gospel….….Mark today gives an account of the last days….."And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”…….Jesus was born poor to a humble family…He lived and worked with his hands and for three years as scripture tells us….“Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.”……Basically, Jesus was “invisible” to the world around him…..Think about even today, the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar, Jesus is there fully present, so simple, so humble yet “Invisible” to far too many…….Why do I say all this?…When Christ returns, that will not be the case…Jesus is the Lion of Judah and when he returns again as he has promised….He will come in “great power and glory”……And when that happens the world will be turned upside down!…One either believes this or one does not….But make no mistake, Jesus was no “hippie”….."In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”…Are we prepared to meet the King upon his return?………. When the invisible will become visible

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.”

I have often mediated upon how the Holy Family lived their lives “invisible” to the world around them…How people did not realize who Jesus was and even when he spoke, how they “missed it”….Even today, Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament and the world ignores him……I have had the great privilege to see with my own eyes how the poor of this world do not ignore Christ…Whether in the housing projects of New York City…A shantytown in Haiti…..A soup kitchen in Montreal….or a village in India….While the rest of the world “misses it”…Many of these people do not…They have “eyes to see”….Their lives are geared towards Christ and when he returns, they will be ready……Allow me to tell you about one of “those people”…Bleecker Street Pizza in Lower Manhattan is one of the best places to get pizza in all of New York City…One of the cooks there, his name is Roland is from Albania….Roland has AIDS…I got to know him when I served with Mother Teresa’s sisters actively before I got married in Lower Manhattan…Roland works very hard and whenever he could on Saturdays, he would come by the sisters convent to pray before the Blessed Sacrament…..He is a joyful and generous man always with a smile on his face…..The world around Roland “passes him by” - Like he is invisible….To Christ however, he is “seen”…Do we have eyes to see?…..Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament and Jesus is always fully present in the poor too…If you want an authentic encounter with Christ, serve him in the poor….How many people do not believe in God only and until they "roll up their sleeves" and serve Christ in the poor….Jesus tells us very clearly…....”What you do to the least - You do to ME”…….If you do not believe in Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, I suggest you first look for him in the poor…"Writing a check" is too easy, go and serve them with your own two hands, get to know the poor, and in time you will find your heart will expand and your eyes will open…Then that “little piece of bread” consecrated by the hands of a priest will take on a different appearance to you….The invisible will become visible

“You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever”

St Mark reminds us today in the Gospel that Jesus will return again…But in order to “be ready” for him, we must have “eyes to see”…My friend Roland who makes pizza in New York City has “eyes to see”…To the many people who come into his pizza shop, he is “invisible” a “no-body” but to Christ, he is a child of God, “a somebody”………Jesus, Mary and Joseph were once too “invisible” to the society in which they lived…They were “no-bodies” too…However history tells us otherwise….Scripture too tells us…”He will gather his elect from the four winds”….Yes, that includes a pizza maker from Bleecker Street in Lower Manhattan…Where the “invisible” have eyes to see…….So be vigilant….And be ready!……The invisible will become visible