Don’t be deceived - More importantly - Don’t deceive yourself!

Today at Holy Mass St Peter proclaims to the Jewish people that Jesus was the man he said he was - Jesus Christ, a man who spoke words no one ever heard before rose from the dead!!!…Peter witnessed this - And the crowd would not believe it….Has anything changed today?….”On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. “You who are children of Israel, hear these words. Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it”……What keeps people from believing real time events that occur right before their eyes?……If Jesus was to return today - Now that everyone has a camera on their I-phones - And recorded Jesus descending from the sky - Would the world believe? - Would the world change?…..My guess is NO - I state that because belief in Christ requires a willingness to change - It requires to acknowledge we made mistakes - That we are sinners and we have sinned….That we were wrong about many things…..And the world is not willing to do this - Even if they saw with their own eyes a miracle - Even if they saw Christ’s return!…..This is why the key to believing - The key to being a practicing Catholic - Is simply a humble spirit….Humility is the foundation for all the virtues - Humility allows us to recognize Truth - Its our pride that leaves us “in the dark”….Pride twists Truth into self serving agendas and ideologies - Even within the walls of the Church….We see this in our American political system too….Words like “Justice”….“Equity”…..“Democracy”…..“Freedom”…….All great “words” - Concepts all people want - Right?…But behind these words are self-serving men with self-serving agendas - And the masses get lost in the “fog”…..This is why the crowd did not believe the words of St Peter….Their ideology was challenged by Peter so it did not matter “what they saw” with their own eyes - The many miracles and even the fact that Jesus rose from the dead - If it meant “changing their mind” or “changing their life - They were out! - They were not having it!…..Sound familiar?

“Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

If one has a logical, objective and linear mind, when you observe how people of the world view ideologies and the politicians that spew rhetoric around those ideologies - An objective and logical person will lose his or her mind!….How people will denial reality - For example - The reality that they cannot offer food!!!!! - And yet. embrace an ideology, politician or political party that lies to them consistently while robbing them blind - Only because they will not change…They would rather suffer then change!…This is the sad story of man kind…And we see this on full display in the readings today at Mass……”The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep. ’And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day”…When one, as an objective observer of human behavior, watches mankind repeat the same mistakes over and over again, one may want to literally scream!!!!…When we get to “that place of frustration” - We must turn it over to God - Because only God can address certain realities - And history shows that God does in fact - FIX - What mankind can not FIX……God plays the “lone game”…..And in time, God’s time not our time, all things work towards a greater good……..This is why as Catholics, we must unite ourself with the Lord and the Church - Not some political ideology - The closer we get to God, the more He can use us - The way He wants to use us, which may be very different from what we “think” we are meant to do…..Only saints change the world - Not politicians - Not the ruling class - Not titians of industry…All those people “change” the world on a temporary basis…But saints leave a lasting imprint and are the catalyst for lasting change…This is why we as Catholics need to ask Our Lady to make us saints…Not for the purposes of becoming remembered…But because the closer we get to God, the more God can use us - For His Glory and the good of the world…Is your priority to become a saint?

“You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever”

Today, the day after Easter Sunday, the readings at Mass point to how mankind even when presented with tangible realities, still refuses to believe….Human beings many times would rather suffer and delude themselves then believe their very own eyes!….Again - Sound familiar?……The good news it - Jesus Christ meets us exactly as we are - We are sinners and Jesus loves us - He encounters us we are! - But then he asks us to change….People who are open to change, no matter what the change find God and the people who are not, frankly will never find God…..The world does not “revolve around us” nor do we determine reality on “our terms”…And the simple fact of the matter is - God is reality! - And to deny God - Is to deny reality!!…..One day, no one knows when, Jesus Christ will return again - And when he does return, He will turn the world upside-down!…..Literally upside-down!!! - That day will be a wonderful day for some and a terrible day for others - That is reality…….”As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation”…Salvation is found through Jesus Christ…Jesus Christ was one man - The only man to ever rise from the dead - Did you “Catch That?” - He also founded one Church - The Catholic Church…..We will not find salvation on “Our Terms” - Does the world fully understand that reality?………“God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”…..What we “see” and believe has very little to do with our eyes and ears when you get right down to it - Seeing and hearing has everything to do with our will - As St Paul tells us….”We hear what our itchy ears want to hear” - “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry”.……Don’t be deceived - More importantly - Don’t deceive yourself!…..JMJ