We can not “self manufacture” the life we all want - Don’t believe the lie….“Harden not your hearts” - We need to “plug” into the Life of God because if we do not - The “light” goes out

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from a Letter to the Hebrews…..”Oh, that today you would hear his voice, “Harden not your hearts”…How easy it is to get cynical….To allow the world to make us hard…We all have “seen too much”…But the Scripture’s today remind us…..Be open….Give people the benefit of the doubt…Be positive…….Be a person of hope……..Its very easy to acquire a hard heart if we only focus on the “things of this world”…..But God did not make us for this world….He created us for “greater things”….The Letter to the Hebrews goes on today…..”Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today”…All we have is today, God does not promise us anything more than that…Strive to live in the present…Don’t let thoughts of “what if” that may never happen ruin the present moment……..But how do we do all this?….These things are easy to say - right?…..We do them by and through grace……The grace of God makes us forever young!…..Daily Prayer, Weekly fasting and living a Sacramental life…These things are the “tools” of grace…..Without them, its very easy to allow what we see and experience in the world to make us hard……The first reading today at Mass ends with this…….....”We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end”…..We must persevere until the end…..Our human condition gets tired…We get “bored”….We grow weak with time…But again, the Spirit of God and the grace of the Sacramental life makes the life of a Catholic forever new!….This “life” is shown in our smile…In our eyes…And in our voice…..This is the Life of God, shining in and through us - So “harden not your hearts”

“Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people”

As a married man and a father of five I miss my weekly interactions with Mother Teresa’s sisters in Manhattan…Before I was married I served with them every Saturday for seven years…I was their driver…….My life has changed and my responsibilities as a family man only allows me to go into the city and work with the sisters periodically…So the question is - Why do I miss working with these nuns?…..Part of the reason is their joy…Mother Teresa’s sisters are filled with the Spirit of God…And when one is around a person like that, like Jesus himself, that person “draws you in”….Joy is contagious!.......This past Christmas I took two of my sons into New York to help the sisters prepare for Christmas…..The joy in the eyes of these nuns can not be explained…It defies all worldly logic and reason…They have nothing and frankly their life is not easy…Yet, they could be the happiest people I have ever met…..Our world needs to experience this for itself…This is why saints and only saints change the world - Because they inspire the rest of us to change and become who we were born to be!…..Scripture tells us that Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain and he was transformed into what we will all see when we see God face to face in heaven - The “veil was lifted” and they were given clarity into something beyond everyday sight….But once that vision was over, Peter, James and John had to “go back down from the mountain”….They had things to do!…They had responsibilities….This is what happens to me when I go and visit the sisters…Its a “Transfiguration moment”…A moment where I get a “glimpse” of something that the world does not see…I get a small look into the heavenly realm….Something that is hidden but very real…I take those “moments” and “go back down the mountain” back into my "day to day" life……Why do I tell you this?…We all must find “that place” that feeds us…The place that gives us a “glimpse” into heaven…That feeds our soul…..The Mass is also “that place”…If we receive Jesus in the state of grace…After we consume the Blessed Sacrament our soul is filled with God….This is how we remain “new”…This prevents us from becoming hardened by the world……Remember what Psalms 23 tells us in Scripture….”He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul…….Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”……Jesus tells us very clearly in Scripture….”Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you”…..This “life” Jesus speaks of can be evidenced in our voice…In our eyes…In our laughter….All of which is visible in the life of Mother Teresa's sisters - And this can be ours as well……No darkness can take that “light” away - This is “the light” that transforms the world!

“A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

The first reading from Holy Mass today is a reminder…Its very easy to get hardened by the world…This is why I illustrated the need to encounter the Lord frequently…We have this “encounter” though holy people, like what I do when when I serve with the Missionaries of Charity - Holy people exist - We must make it a point to seek them out!….We have this “encounter” when we go to Mass and receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament….Its in those moments that we get a glimpse into heaven - An ever so small glimpse but a glimpse none the less…Its those moments that sustain us - They keep us “young”…They gives us “life” - Our soul gets restored….When we “disconnect” from God, none of what I explained can happen - We can not “self manufacture” this kind of life……When we “disconnect” from God, we get “old” fast and before our time…We become cynical…..The world hardens us…..This is why we need to follow the example of the saints…Peter, James and John were led up a mountain by Jesus and he was transformed before their very eyes!…We too must find “that mountain”…....We must encounter the Lord there and if we do, our hearts will not get hard……..”Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today”

We can not “self manufacture” the life we all want - Don’t believe the lie……..“Harden not your hearts” - We need to “plug” into the Life of God because if we do not - The “light” goes out