No need to re-invent the wheel - The “wheel” works just fine as it is

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading a passage from the Acts of the Apostles…….The Acts of the Apostles should serve as a “benchmark” for the Catholic Church…..Jesus’s newly formed Church was on fire! - The zeal for the Lord rested on the original twelve - And the newly baptized faithful were all in!….Are we all in?…..Does the Catholic Church today look like the Church from the Book of Acts?……Interestingly enough, when preaching to the people, St Peter echoes the words of John the Baptist…..”Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”…Notice when asked by the crowd - “What are we to do?” - Peter tells them the “formula for salvation” - “Repent and be baptized - and will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”…..And that “formula” has not changed in two thousand years to this very day….The question is - Is this the “blue-print” we use when preaching to our people?…..Reading the Gospel is great but if we do not repent first of our sins - We will never understand the message of the Gospel…..St Peter “gets it” - Do we today?……Catholics must understand that if we do not regularly confess our sins Sacramentally, not only will we not be open to the Holy Spirit, but the grace of the Blessed Sacrament when consumed at Mass will not penetrate our hearts…Is this message preached from the pulpit? - Is this message taught in our homes and schools?……Its about going back to “basics” and what is documented in the Acts of the Apostles “lays it all out”  clearly for us…..Follow the “blue print!” - Its not about “re-creating the wheel” - Its about “painting by numbers”…..Everything we need to know as Catholics is writing down! - Repent and Believe the Gospel

“Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full”

Because we are human and born with a fallen nature - We do not “see” clearly…Even the best of us - Catholic teaching tells us we live “behind the veil”, meaning we can not see God as he truly is - Heaven and Earth is currently separated by a “veil”…..Notice in the Gospel today from Mass, Mary Magdalene, a person who followed Jesus and who knew him personally - When Jesus was resurrected, Mary Magdalene could not recognize him - How is that possible? - This illustrates what I am writing about in this reflection - Mary Magdalene’s “vision” was impaired because she was “behind the veil”……”When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!”….We too live “behind the veil” and because of that, our “vision” of God, as well as our understanding of God is impaired as well….However, as we grow in sanctity, the “veil” gets thinner and thinner….And our understanding deepens - And our vision becomes clearer…….For years I serviced with the Missionaries of Charity as their driver in Manhattan before I was married…Over the years, I noticed that when a sister died of natural causes, Mother Teresa’s sisters would have a Funeral Mass and when the Mass was over, go right back to work - The mourning period was so short - So I asked the sisters one day about it…..The answer I got I thought was interesting…..”Joe - Death is simply like going from “one room to another room in a house” ”…..I never thought of death in this manner - The “transition” between life and death for Mother Teresa’s sister was seamless! - Maybe I never thought of death in that way is because I simply was not as close to God as the sisters were…For them, the “veil” between heaven and earth is much “thinner” then the “veil” was for me….This should tell us something - Not only does death not have the final word - But the closer we get to God on this “side of eternity”, living in union with his Holy Will, the easier the transition to eternal life will be for us as well - Like going from “one room of the house to another room.” - Seamless and Simple!

“Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you”

Today at Mass, when asked by the crowd what they should do in order to follow Jesus, St Peter tells them clearly as documented in the Book of Acts…”Repent and be Baptized - And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”……Pope John Paul II, who arguably was the most significant man of the twentieth century - When asked what was the most important event of his life - His response may surprise you - The Pope said - “The day I was Baptized”….How would we answer that question? - What is the most significant event of your life?……As Catholics, our job is to “remove” all the obstacles that get in the way of the Holy Spirit….In essence, we need to “get out of our own way”…And our Baptism is the first step in that process….Next, we must go to Confession frequently and regularly - The saints recommend going once a month - By doing that we “remove” sin from obstructing Divine Grace, which continuously falls upon us….Lastly, when we are “all cleaned up” from sins, which are forgiven Sacramentally - When we receive the Eucharist at Sunday Mass, we will be fortified and strengthened to live as a Catholic is called to live…..There is the “blue print!” - And its not some esoteric concept for the few to understand…Is this what we are doing? - Is this what is taught in our homes and in our schools? - Is this preached from our pulpits?….Why asked those questions? - Because this is what St Peter did as noted in the Acts of the Apostles…Does the Catholic Church today resemble the first believers as documented in the Book of Acts?…..Repent and Believe the Gospel!…..Notice the word “Repent” comes before “Believe” - That is an important observation because that is how “it works”…..Follow the “blue-print!” - No need to re-invent the wheel - The “wheel” works just fine as it is…………JMJ