That is why we are called “Practicing Catholics”…That implies we not perfect therefore we need to “practice”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from a Letter to the Hebrews…..We are reminded of what Jesus had to endure and that we too will have to endure…..”Let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him Jesus endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood”……….There is no such thing as “cheap grace”…..We must be active participates in our journey back to God….You do not just float into heaven…This is why we must fortify ourselves with Sacramental grace and daily prayer

“We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses”

Years ago a good friend of mine left the Catholic Church and began attending a non-denominational church…He asked me if I wanted to go to their Bible Study…I agreed but for a very different reason....... I wanted to “clear the air” of the many misconceptions that are believed about what the Catholic Church teaches and what Catholics actually believed…And I did just that…..One day at the Bible Study we got into a conversation about salvation…Most Protestants believe in this idea, “Once Saved - Always Saved”….Meaning all you have to do is “believe in Jesus” and no matter what - You go to heaven….....Well, the Bible does not say that…And most Protestants say…”I believe in everything in the Bible”….....Oh really?!?….....So this one day I had this discussion with a man who was once a Catholic and left the Church…I told him this “Once Saved - Always Saved” idea is not only a false teaching but it is not Biblical and I can fill a sheet of paper with verses from the Bible that would support what I am saying…So the next week I did just that…I filled a sheet of paper front and back with verses from the Bible that contradict the “Once Saved - Always Saved” belief, which is embraced by most American Protestants…When I went to give him the piece of paper, he pushed it away from himself on the table we were both siting on like I was giving him a plate of poison to ingest…..He would not even read it….All verses from the Bible I might add…..What is the lesson here to be learned?…..”We hear what our itchy ears want to hear"…..There is no such thing as cheap grace….As St Paul tells us…..”So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling”…..Just so we are clear - Without Jesus dying on the cross, no one would be in heaven…However, we have to cooperate with the will of God if we too want to arrive at our heavenly home - Its not an "automatic"......…We all have a part to play….....Now, that does not mean we “earn” heaven like many Protestants “think” Catholics believe…....But it does mean we must strive actively each and every day allowing God to purify us in prayer and through the Sacraments

“I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him. The lowly shall eat their fill; they who seek the LORD shall praise him: “May your hearts be ever merry!”

We are told today in the first reading from Mass that Jesus is the “perfecter or faith”….This however requires our participation in the process…Like anything in life, whether playing a sport, working on a university degree, or simply playing checkers with your son…..Practice makes perfect!…….We need to take the advice of St Paul…”work out your salvation”…….And “in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart”…..We need the assistance of Sacramental grace and daily prayer……..That is why we are called “Practicing Catholics”…That implies we not perfect therefore we need to “practice”

How did Adam and Eve get tricked?……Why did Judas betray Christ?….As Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones rightfully sang it….”Pleased to meet you, Hope you guess my name - But what's puzzlin' you Is the nature of my game”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel according to St Mark….Jesus encounters a man with an unclean spirit…The exchange between Jesus and the man is telling…..“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” (He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory”…..Jesus knew exactly what he was up against but the people did not “see” the force of evil which stood right before their eyes…Interestingly enough too….The evil spirit (Legion) also knew what stood against him - The very power of God…….In our world this battle between good and evil still exists to this very day and is very real….Scripture tells us that the devil “roams the earth like a lion” - And you know what? - It’s true!….Evil most times wears a “mask”….And sadly people do not recognize it…..There are many things that exist in our “mainstream culture” that are an abomination to God…Only with the “eyes of faith” can we "see" properly….Back to our story from Scripture…After Jesus confronts this unclean spirit…You would think the people would be happy…Just the opposite…They ask Jesus to leave their town….”Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district”………The people were fooled - Their own eyes betrayed them - Not many things have changed to this very day……When bad is called good - The “lights” go out and darkness falls upon the earth…And only when and until we “see” with the eyes of faith will we recognize what stands before us…“Legion is my name - There are many of us”

“Blessed be the LORD whose wondrous mercy he has shown me in a fortified city”

The image of “Sight” is something that is used throughout Scripture…..Human Beings see what they want to see…What is vey clear to one person many not be perceived by another...Our Gospel story today at Mass illustrates that reality for us - The people did not “see” something, which was evil and was tormenting them - However Jesus saw it for what it truly was…..When St Paul encountered the Lord on the Road to Damascus, he was blinded for three days…Scripture tells us when he regained his sight ”scales” fell from his eyes…..Catholic tradition has taught that before Our Lord returns there will be what is commonly referred to as an Illumination of Conscience…This is when all of humanity will “see” their souls in the light of God’s Truth…St Faustina, a visionary of the 20th century has written about the Illumination of Conscience, which is meant to be a warning, to draw us closer to Jesus and to increase our faith.….This what St Faustina wrote:

“Write this: before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort: All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day.” (Section 83)

Only with the eyes of faith can a person truly see…..Like St Paul, we all have “scales” which cover our eyes, due to concupiscence….In order to “see” we must actively work at purifying our hearts…Only the pure of heart truly see….Why mention all this?….....Ask the Lord to allow you to see yourself as you truly are…..Seeing both the good and the bad aspects of your life......…….Ignoring the spiritual battle, which is ongoing in the world and within our very hearts does not make it go away…This “battle” is happening in our own homes right before our eyes!…What do we allow to enter our homes?….What images do we allow ourselves to see?….What “ideas” do we give the time of day too?…..“Legion is my name - There are many of us”…….Only with the “eyes of faith” will we "see" what stands before us…The battle is very real…..And the “stakes of the battle" are very high!

“Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.”

Today in the Gospel Jesus confronts evil…He does not pretend evil does not exist and he calls it for what it is……And so must we….The devil does not wear a “red suit” and have a “long tail”….He walks among us in disguise…He inverts good and bad…He takes the Truth and “twists it” ever so slightly only in the end to distort the Truth until it can no longer be recognized……Before we confront what stands before us, we must first be able to “see” what stands before us…..“Legion is my name - There are many of us”……Ask yourself the question…..How did Adam and Eve get tricked?……Why did Judas betray Christ?….As Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones rightfully sang it….”Pleased to meet you, Hope you guess my name - But what's puzzlin' you Is the nature of my game”

”I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it……..that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ”

Today at Holy Mass a theme of purification cuts across the readings….”For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD”….What does this message imply?…That we all are a work in progress…God uses events, people and life itself to “refine us”…To “open our eyes” in order for us to respond to him…Why?….To sanctify us and prepare us to be with him for all eternity…Human beings establish many goals in life for themself and their family…For as different as we all are, there are as many different goals…In reality, there is only one goal that matters, to allow God to sanctify us…And in order for that to happen, we must cooperate with him……Because it does not happen on its own…Why must we do this?…Because in order to stand before God and be with him for all eternity, we must be made holy…..Many Christians have an inaccurate view of heaven…That includes many Catholics….We do not spend eternity in heaven until we are purified…That view can be biblically substantiated - Happy to have the conversation…Yet we “hear” what our itchy ears want to hear…..God is our father and he does not “throw us into the deep end of the pool” all at once…Little by little he draws us to himself…Its for us to respond…And let the sanctification process continue

"Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!"

Because we all have a fallen nature, we are all in need of God’s grace…And the Sacraments are instruments of God’s grace…..If a person makes a habit of going to confession once a month, they will find that they continue to confess the same sins over and over again…Why?……Because we all have certain weakness.....…However, with each confession, God not only forgives our sins but he pours down grace upon us to help us over come our sins…This is how we sanctify ourself and grow in virtue - It takes time….Speaking personally, when it comes to my lack of patience, I repeatedly confess how I fall short in this virtue, especially when it comes to my children when they do not behave…I have found that by going to confess regularly, my patience has grown…Thanks be to God and the help from St Joseph…That is not because of me - Its because of God’s grace - But I still am a work in progress and I recognize that……We have to help ourself in life and again, our number one priority should be going to heaven…And as a good priest once told me…”Joe, You just don’t float into heaven”…Far too many people think that to be true…..”Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested”…Jesus understands our humanity because he was fully human…..We should never be afraid to confess our sins to a priest…This is the reason why Jesus walked the earth - To free us from the burden of sin…God in heaven rejoices when we go to him with our sins…..As Catholics, lines to the confessional are very short these days…This needs to change…..In order for “eyes to open” to the mysteries of the Kingdom of God and for our hearts to be opened to the grace of the Blessed Sacrament, we need to avail ourselves to the sanctifying grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation….This is a gift…To not see it that way is a mistake…..Don’t let the devil deceive you….The fear and anxiety we may feel about going to confession is a “smoke screen” created by the evil one himself…All we need to do is “step through the smoke” of our fear….And once we do, all the anxiety and fear will disappear…God offers us something no one else can - Freedom….Take him up on the opportunity

“A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel”

The need to be an active participant in our sanctification process is highlighted today at Holy Mass…..God is the “potter and we are the clay”, which means we all need to allow God to “mold” us into his image and likeness…This takes time, so be patient with yourself…However, time does run out…There is no greater priority then to want to end up in heaven for both yourself and your family…That will not happen on its own….God is working as we speak to sanctity us all…Like a gentle stream that slowly molds the rock in which the water passes over….Its for us to recognize what God is doing on our life, cooperate in God’s redeeming work and utilize what the Church gives to us (i.e. Sacraments, prayer and fasting) to help complete the work….”I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it……..that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ”

This is our road map - The will of God……Not “seeing” what is in front of us should not prevent us from putting one foot in-front of the other….God knows the way….Put your hand on his shoulder and keep stepping!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from a Letter to the Hebrews about Abraham, the father of a nation and a man of great faith……”By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go”…….Abraham was a man of great faith, yet as Scripture tells us, he was unsure where God was leading him…But here is the key…It did not matter that he did not know where God was leading him - Abraham simply trusted and went forth anyway…And so must we!…….God used Abraham when he was a very old man to do the impossible, to be the father of a nation…Abraham did not ask for the details - He just did what was put in front of him…Scripture tells us he “obeyed” - There is that dirty word again - “Obeyed”……We too do not know where God is leading us, we do not know what today will bring never mind what the future will hold…Like Abraham we need to trust and take the next step in order to make tomorrow possible…Like a blind man, we must put our hand unto the shoulder of God and allow him to lead us…We all are so fixated with controlling everything…..There is no surer guide then God himself….He knows the way…..We need to learn to trust him and His Holy will

Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

Before I was married I led a bible study at my Parish for many years…We would meet every Saturday Morning…One of the guys who attended was blind…His name was Jim and he worked as a bagger at Shop Rite, his disability did not stop him from working…Jim was fearless and would not be defeated by life because of his lack of sight…When I would pick him up at his house Saturday mornings, he would place is hand on my shoulder and I would lead him to the car and then to the door of the Church…Sometimes I would reflect upon how Jim trusted me…He simply put is hand on my shoulder and walked, one step after the other…Jim did not know where he was going but trusted we would get there…This is how I need to be…To trust God blindly!….To simply put my hand upon God’s shoulder, trust in his will, do my part and KNOW at the end of it all we will arrive at the final destination…What prevents us from trusting God in this manner?…Do we think we know better?…Getting back to my friend Jim…Jim was not born blind, he went blind as an adult and he accepted his handicap and kept stepping forward….I admired Jim tremendously and when he passed away I wept at the funeral Mass…He was a fearless man who would not allow life to defeat him…Jim trusted…He put one foot in front of him and kept moving forward not knowing where he was going but knew he would get there…This is how I need to be…I tried to learned from Jim - I am still trying…..God knows the way…..We need to learn to trust him and His Holy will

“So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore”

Today at Mass we heard about Abraham…He was the father of a nation and God used him to do great things…But the interesting thing about our story today is Abraham the entire time did not know where God was leading him…And that did not matter because he knew the one who was leading him knew where to go…This is how we need to think…….We must strive to do the will of God with absolute trust in the outcome…..This is our road map - The will of God……Not “seeing” what is in front of us should not prevent us from putting one foot in-front of the other….God knows the way….Put your hand on his shoulder and keep stepping!