“What is to give light must endure burning.”

Christians must restore their spiritual and moral unity. It is not enough to say we are Christians. We must live as Christians. Genuine Christians derive the rule, style, and strength of their life from the Faith. ~ Pope Paul VI 

Scripture Text: Phil 2:12-18

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.

For God is the one who, for his good purpose,

works in you both to desire and to work.

Do everything without grumbling or questioning,

that you may be blameless and innocent,

children of God without blemish

in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,

among whom you shine like lights in the world,

as you hold on to the word of life,

so that my boast for the day of Christ may be

that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

But, even if I am poured out as a libation

upon the sacrificial service of your faith,

I rejoice and share my joy with all of you.

In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.

Our contemporary  culture is  becoming more and more secular. 

It  ignores --  and even  openly disparages -- worldviews that include God, Jesus  and religious  values.  Tragically more and more Christians, influenced by secular culture, are embracing agnostic and secular worldviews and abandoning  commitment to God, Jesus and  church.   

Following Jesus as his disciple was not easy then and is not easy now! 

We Christians are challenged  to resist  the secular conditioning of our culture  and to become forthright in committing ourselves openly  to following Jesus. Not unlike the first followers of Jesus, we too risk criticism as we openly witness to the centrality of Jesus in our lives to our  families, friends and communities. 

But the Lord's presence in our lives makes it all worthwhile.

Be "set aflame and burning bright" (Jn 5:35) with the light of Christ. Remembering always, "The light shines on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it" (Jn 1:5).

“Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.”

In the last analysis, the individual person is responsible for living his own life and for "finding himself." If he persists in shifting his responsibility to somebody else, he fails to find out the meaning of his own existence. - Thomas Merton

(Gospel Text: Lk 14:15-24)

One of those at table with Jesus said to him,

"Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."

He replied to him,

"A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.

When the time for the dinner came,

he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,

'Come, everything is now ready.'

But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.

The first said to him,

'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;

I ask you, consider me excused.'

And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen

and am on my way to evaluate them;

I ask you, consider me excused.'

And another said, 'I have just married a woman,

and therefore I cannot come.'

The servant went and reported this to his master.

Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,

'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town

and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out

and still there is room.'

The master then ordered the servant,

'Go out to the highways and hedgerows

and make people come in that my home may be filled.

For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"

As you can imagine, planning a “great dinner” is no easy task.  There is a lot of preparation and work involved.  

When the time of the banquet has arrived in today’s gospel, all of the host’s guests back out.  He is angered and rightfully so.  He spent time, energy, and money preparing this special meal with his guests in mind, and they declined to come at the last minute.

With a table full of food and no one to enjoy it, the master orders his servant to fill the table with the blind, crippled, poor, and lame.  When that has been done and there is still room at the table, the master asks that those from the highways and hedgerows be invited.

This story shows us our responsibility, our invitation.  We are all invited to God’s banquet table to dine with him.  We are freely given this invitation; not because of our own doings.  If we accept this invitation, we have the responsibility to show up, to participate, and to feast on the food the Lord provides for us.  We should not be lukewarm, accepting the invitation then coming up with a poor excuse to not show up.  Accepting this gift and truly following God means we are also accepting the responsibility that comes along with it.  We may have to make sacrifices, our lives may change when we have accepted the invitation of God, but dining at the banquet table of Christ and feasting off the good food He provides for us is worth it.

“Go to the poor: you will find God.”

“My little ones, never forget that the poor are Our Lord; in caring for the poor say to yourself: This is for my Jesus—what a great grace!” – St Jeanne Jugan

(Gospel Text: Lk 14:12-14)
On a Sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

The welfare system is not working. 

Thank God it's keeping people alive in the short term. However, it's not setting them free. It may even be enslaving and conditioning people in a generational cycle.

The “Progressive” idea of family isn't working. 

Thank God for marital faithfulness in a society of broken promises, broken families, and broken hearts. 

What if the nuclear family became an extended family — even a Christian community? What if welfare was not a government program? What if family hospitality took the place of welfare? What if Jesus intends today's Gospel reading to be taken literally? What if Jesus is right again about loving the poor, offering hospitality, being family, and living life?

Are you trying to share meals with "beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind"? (Lk 14:13) Are you caring for the poor in a hands-on way? Are you caring for your brothers and sisters in Christ in a practical way?

If we lived in Christian community as described in Acts of the Apostles, maybe we would do the acts of the apostles in feeding and freeing the poor. 

Jesus is right.

“Love Your Neighbor” wasn't a suggestion

It is not enough for us to say: "I love God," but I also have to love my neighbor.  St. John says that you are a liar if you say you love God and you don't love your neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? ~ Mother Teresa 

(Gospel Text: Mk 12:28B-34)

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,

"Which is the first of all the commandments?"

Jesus replied, "The first is this:

Hear, O Israel!

The Lord our God is Lord alone!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind,

and with all your strength.

The second is this:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these."

The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.

You are right in saying,

'He is One and there is no other than he.'

And 'to love him with all your heart,

with all your understanding,

with all your strength,

and to love your neighbor as yourself'

is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,

he said to him,

"You are not far from the kingdom of God."

And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Do you wish to honor the Body of the Savior? 

Do not despise it when it is naked. Do not honor it in church while outside it is naked and numb with cold. For he who said ‘This is my Body,’ and made it so by His word, is the same one who said, ‘You saw me hungry, and gave me no food. As you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me. Honor him then by sharing with the poor. 

Jesus wouldn’t be calling us to be Good Samaritans unless He knew that we, with His help, could live up to that mission. He the Good Samaritan tells us anew, “Go and do the same,” promising us that if we do it, we will LIVE, fully, in this life and in the next.

We can’t give what we don’t have.

God is love. Not God is POWER or PERFECTION or CREATIVITY or JUSTICE or BEAUTY … even though God has all of those attributes and more. God is LOVE , which means all love comes from God.

Therefore, go to God and purify your heart, in turn you will see Christ in the face of your neighbor and love him as yourself.

“Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending.”

"If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are." – Mother Teresa

(Gospel Text: Lk 14:1, 7-11)

On a Sabbath Jesus went to dine

at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,

and the people there were observing him carefully.

He told a parable to those who had been invited,

noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.

"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,

do not recline at table in the place of honor.

A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,

and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,

'Give your place to this man,'

and then you would proceed with embarrassment

to take the lowest place.

Rather, when you are invited,

go and take the lowest place

so that when the host comes to you he may say,

'My friend, move up to a higher position.'

Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,

but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Many of us go through life with a sense of entitlement. We expect the best seat on an airliner, protest when we are not served better at a restaurant, or cry foul when not given the recognition we deserve at home or work. Although everyone likes to be treated well, Jesus’ parable reminds us of the dangers of thinking too highly of ourselves.

When it is “all about me” we often forget about the “them.”

And as in both Luke 14:1 and in our own lives, the “them” is often the less fortunate and marginalized. So, Jesus reminds us of the importance of humbling ourselves to others. Care less about our stature and more about others’ well being, especially those who are poor, discriminated against, imprisoned, or experience mental health problems. Humbling ourselves and serving others not only helps those being served, but psychological research demonstrates its powerfully positive impact on the server as well. And, more importantly, by humbling ourselves in front of God, He will exalt us!

"Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die"

"I would go so far as to say that if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say of himself that he was able to stand directly before God.”- Pope Benedict XVI

(Scripture text: Wisdom 3:1-9)

The souls of the just are in the hand of God,

and no torment shall touch them.

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;

and their passing away was thought an affliction

and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are in peace.

For if before men, indeed, they be punished,

yet is their hope full of immortality;

chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,

because God tried them

and found them worthy of himself.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,

and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

In the time of their visitation they shall shine,

and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;

they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,

and the LORD shall be their King forever.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

and his care is with his elect.

Today the Church calls us to pray for the dead, since we believe death does not necessarily mean immediate entry into heaven or hell.

God is much more than "the Man upstairs" who is our friend. He is also our Judge, who "will test the quality of each man's" good works and holiness (see 1 Cor 3:13). Some of the dead who die in the Lord will not have lived a life as fruitful as God expected. God in His mercy will still grant them eternal life. Thus, these deceased folks "will suffer loss," yet "will be saved, but only as one fleeing through fire" (1 Cor 3:15).

There is a degree of "holiness without which no one can see the Lord" (Heb 12:14). What happens with the above folks who are granted eternal life yet are lacking in the enduring fruit and holiness God requires? Jesus has gone to "prepare a place" for us (Jn 14:2). As the above Scriptures indicate, He also has to prepare us for the place. If we have died in Christ, but aren't yet prepared for His place (see Heb 12:14), then Jesus has to finish the job before He can take us into the heavenly feast. The Catholic Church, guided by the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:13), has taught that the above Scriptures and other truths indicate the existence of a "place" of purification (see Mal 3:2-3) we call purgatory. In purgatory, the souls of those who have not prepared themselves sufficiently in their time on earth are purified for the awesome privilege of seeing God face to face. Since they are fellow members of the body of Christ (Lk 20:38), we need them and they need us (1 Cor 12:21ff).

Let us help them with our prayers.

“Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.”

God’s invitation to become saints is for all, not just a few. Sanctity therefore must be accessible to all. In what does it consist? In a lot of activity? No. In doing extraordinary things? No, this could not be for everybody and at all times. Therefore, sanctity consists in doing good, and in doing this good in whatever condition and place God has placed us. Nothing more, nothing outside of this.--Blessed Louis Tezza

(Scripture text: Rv 7:2-4, 9-14)

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,

holding the seal of the living God.

He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels

who were given power to damage the land and the sea,

"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees

until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,

one hundred and forty-four thousand marked

from every tribe of the children of Israel.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude,

which no one could count,

from every nation, race, people, and tongue.

They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,

wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

They cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,

and from the Lamb."

All the angels stood around the throne

and around the elders and the four living creatures.

They prostrated themselves before the throne,

worshiped God, and exclaimed:

"Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,

honor, power, and might

be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,

"Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?"

I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows."

He said to me,

"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;

they have washed their robes

and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."

So many of the saints lived modest, even hidden lives while on earth, and they were probably greatly surprised by the welcome they received once they reached heaven’s gates. Like Jesus, they were frequently misunderstood and even considered enemies while on earth. But now they are celebrated throughout the world and given seats of honor in heaven.

Talk about a magnificent turnaround!

The saints we honor today include John of the Cross, who was imprisoned and beaten by members of his own religious order, but is now a Doctor of the Church. They include the Mohawk maiden Kateri Tekakwitha, who was denied food on Sundays for refusing to work on the Sabbath, but whose scarred face was miraculously smoothed and made beautiful after her death. They even include Peter, who was executed for leading a radical religious cult.

There are countless other saints— including many of our relatives—who responded to Jesus’ invitation and followed him faithfully. Imagine how astonished these hidden ones were when they entered heaven to cheering crowds!

Imagine, too, the reception awaiting you as you keep saying “yes” to the Lord.