“Every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.”…..Still don’t believe me?

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the in the Gospel of St Matthew the “blue print” of how to build a good and fruitful life…..But before we “build” this life…We must be convinced that “God’s way” is better then our way….Most people are not convinced….We “think” we figured it out”…We “think” we are so “smart”…We “think” God’s way is outdated…..The problem is we “think” too much….A holy nun once told me…”Joe - Stop thinking so much - Just pray and do!”……"Everyone who listens to these words of mine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."

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call him while he is near.”

The American mindset is fiercely independent…That is a good thing - To a degree…..However, no matter who we are or how gifted we may be…We were created by God and without God as Scripture tells us we can do nothing that will last…..Most people have to figure this out by first trying it their way….And fail….Making mistakes is a part of every human life…However, as I tell my children….”We all make mistakes, the key is to learn from them” - Those who learn from their mistakes lead successful lives and those who double-down on their mistakes do not”……Take that statement to the bank!…..Years ago I met a friend of mine who is the Godfather of one of my children…Michael came from a family, which had no religion at all. His parents were divorced and Michael lived a crazy life as a young man….His story about how he became Catholic and turned his life around is amazing…Michael as a young man partied a lot and one day after drinking too much, he got into a very bad car accident and was in the hospital for two months…During that time in the hospital, he decided to become Catholic and get Baptized…Kind of crazy how the idea came into his head because he had experienced no religion at all from his family or friends, yet this “idea” came to him and he followed through with it - God works in mysterious ways!….Sadly once Michael became Catholic that was not the end of his crazy life…Michael got married and continued to party and his marriage was not Sacramental…He had one child with his then wife and the child was born handicapped….After seven years his son died……….This put Michael “over the edge”…His marriage fell apart and he knew he was in trouble….So a friend of his told him to speak with a priest, which he did…The priest told Michael to go on a Pilgrimage….Which he did…That is where Michael and I met….From there we became fast friends….Michael began to “dig himself out” of his bad habits…He became a daily communicant (went to Mass every day)…Developed a prayer life…….Gave of his time to the poor……Stopped all the partying……..And slowly God began to work in his life…After about seven years of this…Michael met another woman, this time he went about the relationship the right way…His first marriage was not Sacramental so he got an annulment from the Church…He did not “sleep” with his girlfriend before marriage and finally he got married in a small ceremony in the Catholic Church in West New York…Michael now is very happy - A changed man for sure!…He went from a crazy party guy, who almost killed himself in car accident, he endured the death of his son whom he loved with all his heart, a failed marriage…Only to find God, become Catholic, get married within the Church and live a new life built upon the gospel, which we hear from Mass today….."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”…Michael’s story is not unlike many of our stories…Michael had to “try it his way”…Only to fail….In his misery he found God…….He discovered that God loved him…..He re-built his life upon the “rock” of his Catholic faith…And the rest of history!

“Open to me the gates of justice; I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD”

St Matthew today lays out the “blue print” to a good life…A life built upon the will of God….Our Catholic faith is time tested…Two thousand years of wisdom, of which we can learn from…..God gives us his Church and his Truth, which protects us from our biggest and most fierce enemy - Our very self!……Still don’t believe me?….You don’t have to look too far to see the mistakes of humanity…How people refuse to learn from mistakes…How they double down and triple down on the same behavior “thinking” somehow the outcome will be “different this time”…..I stand before you today and say this…”God’s ways work!…..How do you know I am not lying to you?…St Matthew again gives us the answer….”Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.”…..Still don’t believe me?