Any more questions out there?…..Its really plain and simple…….Jesus was a carpenter not a physicist….We need to stop making things that are not complicated so complicated

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the gospel of St Luke…The people are coming to John the Baptist and asking him for advice….“What should we do?”…What John tells them frankly is very practical, its not some esoteric soap-box litany of “things to do”…..“Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise. ”Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He answered them, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed. “Soldiers also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” He told them, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages”….And so it is to this very day 2000 years later….Doing the work of the Lord is written on the hearts of all men - Its very practical and frankly in many ways its straight up and down common sense…Yet - We still inquire, like the people who approached John the Baptist - “What should we do?”…Is it that we truly do not know what to do?…..Or….Is it we know what to do and do not want to do it?….We need to stop making things so complicated…Jesus was a carpenter and his first disciples were fishermen…..What they taught was not “rocket-science”……It all boils down to this - We are to love God above all things and love our neighbor as ourself……And Jesus because he knows we are all flawed, gives us a Church, which gives us the Sacraments to help us to do the one thing he asks of us…..Anymore questions?

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.”

I do not pay attention too much to Catholic Social Media even though I have a radio show, which airs primarily throughout Connecticut…Why you may ask?…Because many of the people heavy involved in Catholic Social Media, while in most cases these men and women are highly educated and very smart...…I find they focus on things that frankly would take care of themselves if their primary focus was to communicate First Principals….What do I mean by First Principals?……..Go to a Sacramental Confession once a month…Pray the Rosary with your family each day…..Fast every week……Make it a practice to go to Eucharistic Adoration on a weekly basis…Go to Mass daily (if you can) and Always receive the Eucharist in the state of grace…..These are First Principals….Anyone can do them…And if we do them, everything else will fall into place….Why is that?…Because in doing these things, we will be given grace and everything relies upon grace…Also, in doing these things the Holy Spirit will dwell within our soul…And when the Holy Spirit finds a home within our soul we are given certain gifts…What are those gifts?……Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord…….Once we have these gifts…Everything will take care of itself…Speaking personally, my faith is grounded in First Principals……Its not complicated…I try to keep it very simple…Why?…Because Jesus was not complicated…Jesus was a “blue-collar guy”…..He said things clearly and as Catholics we have everything written down, if we ever have any doubt about what the Church teaches and why it teaches what it teaches…Frankly, the rest is up to us….So, stick with First Principals…….And if you do, I will bet the question asked today by the people to John the Baptist….“What should we do?”…..Will no long be asked…Why?…Because the answer as far as “What should we do?” - Is written on the hearts of all men

“Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

John the Baptist was a rough and tumble kind of guy…Like Jesus, he told it like it is…..The message of Salvation is very plain and very simple…You do not have to have a PhD to understand it, so in my opinion we should stop making things that are not complicated so complicated……We are to love God above all things and love our neighbor as ourself……And if we ground our Catholic faith in First Principals, we will execute on that one and only thing Jesus asks of us….Any more questions out there?…..Its really plain and simple…….Jesus was a carpenter not a physicist….We need to stop making things that are not complicated so complicated