Jesus did not write a book, he established a Church, which is comprised of both saints and sinners……I am one of the sinners!…That is why I am Catholic for that very reason!…This is why I need to live a Sacramental life…So I can “see”…My very life depends upon it!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Mark, Jesus makes a shocking statement…..….....”But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first”……I have often pondered this statement, due to the fact that I have traveled extensively throughout the world and have encountered many different types of people…..When Jesus returns, the power structure of the world will flip 365 degrees!……Think about that for a moment……A man living in a penthouse apartment in Manhattan may not be viewed as favorable by God when compared to an illiterate laborer working in the streets of Brazil…..When we view the world through the statement Jesus makes today - The question that comes to my mind is - How do we view others?……Its very easy to “pass people by” without considering them as human beings…All of us do this every day…..But how can we change our line of sight?…….St John tells us in his Gospel…If we claim to love a God we do not see and do not love our neighbor who we do see, St John says we really do not love God - A strong statement indeed, but when you step back from it objectively, its an accurate statement…But how can we “see” our neighbor differently?…..If we are able to see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we will view our neighbor, even strangers differently…And in order to “see” the Blessed Sacrament for what it truly is…We must be in the state of grace…How does one enter into the state of grace?…By making a Sacramental Confession with a Catholic Priest….The world is not convinced of what I just said, not even some baptized Catholics are convinced…But what I just said is reality!…We forget that Jesus walked this earth as a man…He understands humanity very well - He understand how “we” operate!…This is why he gave us a Church, which in turn gives us the Sacraments…..We can “complain” all we want about the men who run the Church…But it is only through that Church that humanity receives “the medicine” it needs in order to “see” our neighbor as our self…..As the saying goes…..“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?”…..Without Sacramental grace, humanity is unable to see clearly….This is why many who are first will be last

“Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom”

Years ago, I would have coffee each morning with a homeless man at the train station of my home town. This man also attended my Parish on Sundays…His name was Daily Dowd…..Daily is now with the Lord…I would always tell him, he was a saintly man because he was…Anyway, back to my story…Not everyone could appreciate Daily and I get it…His cloths were always dirty and his physical appearance was not well maintained….One day I was in daily Mass and Daily came in late and was approached by a man who was not pleased to see him in the back of the Church….This man chased Daily away from the pew and pointed him to go over to the side of the altar…Ironically enough, that was where the tabernacle was…So as irony would have it, Daily was “chased away” from the back of the Church, only to get the best seat in the house, next to Jesus in the tabernacle…No one seemed to notice this - But I did…..Mother Teresa used to say the following, “When I die and stand before the gates of heaven, the poor will defend me”….I think about that statement often…I also think about Daily often…He truly was a saintly person….And no one “saw” him…He was completely invisible to the world….In many ways this is how Jesus today walks among us….Mother Teresa would teach her sisters that when you serve the poor, you are serving Jesus himself - And she meant it!….This should change our prospective…However, the only way to “see” in this manner is to be in the state of grace…One can not “manufacture” this kind of vision….One day while I was working in the Home for the Dying in Kolkata, a man came to the door. His hand was in a plastic bag and two of his fingers were literally all bone…The flesh and skin had rotted away….There was no room in the home, all the beds were taken….I begged this one sister to take him in - And the sister eventually found a place for him……There are many things that prevent us from seeing, even the best of us…Trust me!…I “miss” opportunities each and every day due to my “lack of sight”…This is why we must stay close to the Sacraments…Only by the grace of God will we “see”…And if we are “blind”, we too will fall “into the pit”…..“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?”……Our sight does not depend on how “smart” we are…Or what we do for a living…Or where we went to school…..What we “see” all depends on how close we are to Christ…This “closeness” can not be self manufactured….It does not matter who people “think you are!”…”Many that are first will be last, and the last will be first”…..I am a sinner and one day I too will stand before God…..Like Mother Teresa, it is my hope that the poor will defend me too

“Peter began to say to Jesus,” We have given up everything and followed you. "Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more”

Today in the Gospel Jesus reminds us to take stock in how we value others…When we see our neighbor, what in fact do you “see”?….People have away to “size others up”…..We make quick judgments….Jesus is telling us today to “take another look”…..However, the only way we can acquire this “vision” is by and through God’s grace….Its very easy to “pass others by”…I do it each and everyday on the streets of New York…This is why we must cling to the Sacraments!….Jesus did not write a book, he established a Church, which is comprised of both saints and sinners……I am one of the sinners!…That is why I am Catholic for that very reason!…This is why I need to live a Sacramental life…So I can “see”…My very life depends upon it!