”I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Luke in the gospel…..The theme of today’s gospel is the importance of perseverance…How easy it is to give up….This is why we MUST be faithful in daily prayer, weekly fasting and living a Sacramental life….Sadly, far too many are not convinced of this reality…Do we need reminding from Jesus himself again?…….”I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing”…….Life is a marathon, it’s not a sprint….In order to “make it across the finish line”, we need to remain connected to “the vine”….You don’t believe me?…..You don’t have to look very far to observe human weakness…..It’s in each of us…This is why we need to “stay connected to the vine”.

“God has called us through the Gospel, to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Think about for a minute how many man-made things do not last more than a mere 50 years…..How many business fall apart when they are transitioned over from parents to children…How many governments, who at one time had so much power and as time went on fell into disarray……..How many marriages start off with passion only to fall apart as the years go on….These examples should show us very clearly how our human failings, which we all possess effect the very things we build up and hold dear…..Jesus understood this, this is why he established a Church and gave us the Sacraments…..Sadly far too many take the importance of a Sacramental life for granted………The late Vietnamese Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan was a prisoner for thirteen years, nine of them spent in solitary confinement. The communist government targeted Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan for his faith and family connections to the former president of South Vietnam. During his time in jail, Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan wrote about spirituality, survival, and hope in prison. He smuggled messages out of prison on scraps of paper, which were copied and circulated in the Vietnamese community. These messages were later published in the book The Road of Hope……….Allow me to make a point here......How does a person survive nine years in solitary confinement?……I will tell you how…..Through daily prayer and living a Sacramental life……And here is the good news - We too can utilize these “gifts”…Jesus gave them to us specifically for this purpose…To help us to “run the race”…To enable us to persevere……Until we come to terms with our own human frailty, we will never completely rely on Christ….Once again…The road to heaven is a marathon and not a sprint…Jesus gave us his very Body & Blood to nourish us along that journey…My advice to you is this…..We need all the help we can get! - Don’t take for granted your capacity to sin and fall away from God….”The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”

“Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just”

Today in the gospel from Mass Jesus reminds us indirectly about our human weakness…..Do we have to bring up the fact that each of Jesus’s 12 friends ran away from him in the end….Even after seeing all the miracles - They still ran away!!….That should be all the evidence we need to know to convince us - That we must “cling to the vine”

”I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The road to heaven is narrow and the world will throw everything it can at you to discourage you and prevent you from continuing down the path…But fear not……”I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world”

“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from St John….Interestingly enough, he addresses a problem, which still exists today……How society “thinks” they have “moved beyond” God….These are his exact words, not mine……”Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son”…….At the root of all these “progressive ideas’, from St John’s time to the present day is the fact that mankind does not want to “bend its knee” to God…So he “invents a God”…..And in doing so, “the world” indirectly proclaims itself “god”…..…”I make the rules”….”I live by my terms”….Very easy to say when we are young, strong and rich…But has we know, we all get old, lose our strength and our money can not buy us eternal life…….To expand on this idea put forth by St John…The one who is most “progressive” is the one who sees past the “sparkle and glitter” of this world and builds his / her life upon eternal truths that have and will last…..Have we “invented” a God that does not exist?….Do we call our self “spiritual”, worshiping this imaginary “god” we created?…..As St John rightful said….”Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God”

“Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law”

The great CS Lewis said the following: “We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world it's pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistake. We're on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.”……Haven't we seen enough in this world?…Don’t you think it’s time to maybe try a “different path”?

“Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

“Don’t tell me what to do”…This was the sin of Adam and Eve and this is the sin we see today played out again and again….How is it working out?….The answer should be very clear….Not too well…The world is a mess….Yet mankind doubles down on bad ideas…All because we echo the words of the fallen angels…”I will not serve”….Jesus tells us very clearly…”I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit”…He also tells us….“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined”……..And we still do not want to hear it! - “Don’t tell me what to do”!………..God’s way works….Its time tested…But my words will not convince you of this….This is why the world needs witnesses….Only saints change the world…Saints live radically different lives from the rest of society…They show people that God’s way not only works but when you embrace it, you thrive in this life…Speaking personally, I saw that first hand with Mother Teresa’s sisters with my own eyes…..They showed me - Not with words - But by their example that God’s way does in fact work….What I suggest to anyone who reads this refection is, expose yourself to the radical life of Catholic Church…Its there if you search it out……..Stop focusing on the “bad actors” within the Church….Volunteer at a soup kitchen, Volunteer at shelter, Volunteer at a hospice….In doing so you will meet the most interesting of people and you will also see with your own eyes that those people having “something” the world does not have and desperately wants.....…You will soon come to want that “something” for yourself……..And if you volunteer long enough in one of the places I just mentioned…You will come to understand that what you see…”That something”…Is the Holy Spirit…That God is real…That God loves you…And that you can have “that something” too

“I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another”

Circling back to St John in the first reading today….We all want “progress”…..However, without God we do not have progress, we in fact regress both personally and as a society….…The one who is most “progressive” is the one who sees past the “sparkle and glitter” of this world….God came to give us life and give it abundantly in the here and now!….God takes nothing from us, he only gives…..See for yourself….Expose yourself to radical witnesses of the gospel….Experience for your self the joy of giving……Haven't we seen enough in this world?…Don’t you think it’s time to maybe try a “different path”?

“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be”

The Son of Man will return…Like a flash!…….Are we ready to meet him?

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Luke Jesus tells his friends some shocking news…….“The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation”………How easily we forget that Jesus is going to come back…He may even come back today…Are we ready to meet him?…..Jesus told his 12 friends many things and for as much as he told them, most of it went right over their head…In many ways we are no different…The Son of Man will return…Like a flash!….Are we ready to meet him?…In the mean time, Jesus tells his buddies….“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you”…..Inside of each of us is the Kingdom of God…Sadly we are afraid of it…We bury it…Because the world rejects it….But for those who do not….The road to heaven is heaven…But make no mistake…As Jesus said today in the gospel…..”He must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation”….The world will always reject those who embrace the ways of God…..…“My kingdom does not belong to this world.…….For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”…....We can not have it both ways!…..The Son of Man will return…Like a flash!…….Are we ready to meet him?

“The LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who were bowed down; the LORD loves the just. The LORD protects strangers”

How do we prepare to meet the Lord?…..A valid question…..The answer to that question is rather simple…We get Baptized and we are free of any mortal sin when die…What is mortal sin?….There are three components to a mortal sin…The sin is grave in nature, We have full knowledge that the sin is grave in nature, and We commit the sin anyway…..ALL mortal sin MUST be confessed to a Catholic Priest!…….This is how we are ready to meet the Lord……When we stand before God (or when Jesus returns, which ever comes first) we will see ourselves as we truly are….Sadly many people in the world today are “blinded” by many things: Self rationalizations, their desires for material gain, pursuits of disordered passions, etc…These things “cloud our vision”…..When the Lord returns, we will see “clearly” and frankly that is a terrifying thought…Because far too many in the world are not ready…But as the saying goes…..”Ready or not here I come!”…......Many years ago I was backpacking in Vietnam….The French occupied Vietnam for a 100 years so there is a significant Catholic presence in the country…On this trip one of the days I spent in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and for an hour on this given day I attend Eucharistic Adoration at a local Church…The Church was packed with people!…Little did I know, the people believed that the sun was appearing in a odd way in the sky at the same time everyday in late afternoon…Similar to the miracle of the sun in Fatima, Portugal…So at this designated time everyone came to pray and I just happned to be in the chapel at that time.....…So when that time arrived - Everyone flooded out of the Adoration Chapel and were frantically pointing at the sun as if Christ was about to return…It was a rather chaotic sight to behold!....Watching this as on outsider standing among these people made me reflect….How will it be when the Son of Man returns from the sky?…He said he would come back - Right?…How will the world receive him?…Are we ready?…Am I ready?

“The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. The LORD shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.”

Jesus in the gospel today tells us that the Kingdom of God is within you…That we can experience a “taste of heaven right now”….By striving to do God’s will and living in a state of grace….He also tells us that he will indeed return - Like a flash!…..When we hear these words from the Man we all call God - Do we take his words seriously?….How easy it is to “gloss over” the words of Christ!……Mother Teresa would always say…”I do what I do because I take Jesus at his word”….I think that is a very wise and a common sense approach to our shared Catholic faith…Because if we really believe that Jesus was God and that he rose from the dead…Then we have to believe everything he said - Right?…..The Son of Man will return…Like a flash!…….Are we ready to meet him?

What is God calling you to do?….What is stopping you from doing it!……You of little faith, why are you afraid?

Today the Universal Church honors St Frances Xavier Cabrini, known to the world as Mother Cabrini……This woman shook the foundations of the world!….A tiny woman, much like Mother Teresa, Mother Cabrini abandoned herself to the will of God and God used her to assist immigrants in America during the early part of the 20th century…Interestingly enough, Mother Cabrini did not want to come to America, she wanted to go to China...... When she met with Pope Leo XIII, the Pope told her that she was needed in America, so she went, abandoning her dreams to go to China…..She was needed in America!….When asked to open a hospital in America, Mother Cabrini at first pleaded her ignorance of health care….That night in a dream Our Lady appeared to her and said….”I am doing the work you refuse to do”…Mother Cabrini awoke from the dream and as a result took on the work of building the hospital…What should this tell us?….God has plans for us!….And he WILL enable us to accomplish those plans!…We must have absolute confidence in God and “set aside” our “ideas”…That is a revolutionary concept, one many will shy away from…That is a terrible mistake!…Jesus Christ was the greatest revolutionary that ever walked the earth…We too must be “revolutionaries”….God can use us but before he does, we must trust him, his ideas are far greater then our own….Don’t you think its time to “put down the glass in your hand and reach for the jug?”

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; Beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul”

The first time I traveled to India I got very sick…I found myself for two days with dysentery and a fever in bed…I was traveling all alone so I had no one to help me….Fear was trying to set in…I kept thinking to myself…”How will I get home?”…I can’t even get off this bed…As those two days wore on, I was fully convinced that God called me to go to India…I was sure of it…I was also sure God did not send me there to die….Right before I went home and got back on the plane I was very weak…I was convinced I would never return…..I was speaking to a French volunteer and was telling him how sick I got and how I would never come back…This man looked me dead in the eye and said…”You will come back”…He was right…I came back five more years in a row…The devil uses fear, his greatest weapon, which prevents us to be the people God called us to be…Fear causes us to question God’s love for us…Never let fear stop you!…..When you know in your heart what you must do, keep moving forward!…God’s plans are ALWAYS better than what we “think” our plans are or "should" be!

“He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side With your rod and your staff that give me courage.”

Like Mother Cabrini, we have our own dreams and plans…Mother Carbini wanted to go to China…The Pope sent her to America - And she went….Mother Cabrini did not know anything about founding hospitals….Our Lady spoke to her in a dream……Mother Cabrini put aside her fear and founded many hospitals…..“God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called”…Let nothing hold you back….Nothing!….St Paul assures us in Scripture….“For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”……Do you need more examples of how God works?…..”God called Noah to build an ark, even though Noah wasn't a carpenter or shipbuilder. God also called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, even though Moses doubted his ability. God equipped Moses with the power and grace to do the job”…What is God calling you to do?….What is stopping you from doing it!……You of little faith, why are you afraid?

“Who are you Lord and Who am I”…When we know deep within our being that we are not God…He is the creator and we the creation….Then serving others becomes natural…..What prevents you from this mindset?

Today at Holy Mass we hear a theme discussed in both readings…The idea of being a servant…Historically speaking Jesus is referred to as the “suffering servant”….Jesus led from the front, by giving us an example of obedience to the will of the Father and unconditional service to humanity…..”Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, 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, to the glory of God the Father”…..This passage from St Paul tells us everything about who Jesus Christ was…..He came to serve….Therefore so must we…..What prevents you from this mindset?…When we “give ourself away” in this manner we find out who we truly are

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him”

Getting back to the question I put forth above…..What prevents you from fully grasping the mindset of a servant?……If I were to be honest…..Its our pride…We have a false sense of who we are……I am not pointing fingers here, I do as well, its a very human trap to fall into…Especially for Americans because our life here in this country is so comfortable……St Francis found the answer to this question by praying in front of the San Damiano Cross and asking God this one simple question…”Who are you Lord and Who am I…When we ask that question with a sincere and open heart, we come to the conclusion that we are here on this earth for a limited amount of time…Nothing can change that….And any “false sense of self” we create is just that false……….Have you ever watched someone die?…I have many times….All people die the same way…Their breathing gets very heavy and each breath gets spaced out longer and longer from the last breath until they stop breathing all together…I have watched this happen many times in India and I have seen it with my own father….We all die the same way…..Death is the great equalizer…It should remind us that the greatest thing we can do here on earth is to give of ourself to others….This is our legacy…Everything else is forgotten and turns to “dust”….And when we “give ourself away” to others, we serve God in the process….I have met all kinds of people in my life…Wealthy people and poor people alike all over the world…The happiest people I have ever met were people who had the mindset of a servant…This is the path to heaven but before we “get on that road” that leads to eternal life…Like St Francis we must answer for ourself the question he wrestled with…..”Who are you Lord and Who am I”

“The just shall possess the land and dwell in it forever”

In the Gospel today St Luke is rather blunt about the the role of what a servant is….He basically said….If you decide to serve others as God asked of you, don’t think you are somehow “better” then the rest of the world that chose not to serve…You are only doing what was asked of you by God himself - Period Full Stop!…This is what Jesus did…..Remember the words of St Paul?……"Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God"….To understand that gets back to the question put forth by St Francis….”Who are you Lord and Who am I”…When we know deep within our being that we are not God…He is the creator and we the creation….Then serving others becomes natural…..What prevents you from this mindset?

Do not put “limits” on the Carpenter from Nazareth….He refuses to be put in a “box”…..So maybe its time for us to “step out of that box” too?

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel, St Luke tells us about how we are to approach those who offend us…..”If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry, you should forgive him”…..Everyone you talk to will say they want to “Go to Heaven”…And that makes perfect sense…However, there is a few “prerequisites” for that ask to become a reality….One of which is to offer and accept forgiveness…..Why is that?…Because we are ALL sinners and we ask God repeatedly to forgive our fallings and short comings - That is why!…”His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you? Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”…But lets be honest here, some hurts are very difficult to forgive…Many people in this world have suffered injustices and wounds that are very difficult to forgive…This is understandable and if we soley rely on our own strengthen, we will NEVER be able to forgive or heal…But with God’s grace all things are possible…I have learned over the years to “know my limits”…Know when something is “beyond my strengthen”…Be honest with your self and when you reach that point, rely solely on God’s grace…..One of the “secrets” of the interior life is…When we come to the end of our self - God begins his work in us…God is greater than any hurt, any wound and any injustice….Jesus also knows from first hand experience what it means to be treated unfairly…He has holes in his hands to prove it!

“Shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life”

The gospel of Jesus Christ turns the world on its head…The message of Jesus is written on every heart…While the “world” rejects Christ, that message is there…Its for us to reveal it by word and deed…..When a person does something wrong in many cases, they know it deep down…..By not responding in kind to wrongs, in many ways its like placing a mirror in front of that person and in doing so it gives them an opportunity to confront their mistake and hopefully correct it…Years ago at the AIDS Hospice run by the Missionaries of Charity in Lower Manhattan there was a man living there named Earl…Earl was an alcoholic who lived on the streets for years…He was trying to get his life together…One day he came into the home run by Mother Teresa’s sisters drunk…I knew he was drunk but did not say anything…When it came time for dinner, the superior saw Earl and she knew he was drinking too…Earl was asked to leave the home for the night….He knew the rules…However, Sister said, “Come back tomorrow Earl and we will start again”…Earl did come back the next day and for many years after that he lived at the Hospice and his faith in God grew….All because he admitted his mistake and Sister gave him a second chance….Our God is the God of second chances!…..And if a hurt is too great for us to forgive…Acknowledge to your self that you do not have the strengthen to forgive and ask God for the grace….God has no limits…And God can do the impossible…The “impossible” begins many times when we come to the end of ourself….This is where God does his best “work”

“He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior. Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob”

In the Gospel today the friends of Jesus ask for something…........”And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you”…......Some times to forgive is beyond our strength…And that is ok to admit…We are only human…However, God can do the impossible… Jesus is very clear in the gospel today…..”If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you”…..Do not put “limits” on the Carpenter from Nazareth….He refuses to be put in a “box”…..So maybe its time for us to “step out of that box” too?

”Give yourself to God, all that you have, all that you do, all that you know and all your talents - and you will be dearer to him than ever before and richer too”

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of Mark we hear Jesus telling us about giving of our self…He is not talking about money as many may think upon first reading this passage…God has plenty of money, he does not need yours!….God wants something more…God wants YOU…Not part of you…Not “some” of you…God wants ALL of YOU……”Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood”……Far too many “think” that if we give ourself completely to the Lord that we will be “missing out”…Nothing could be farther from the truth…..When we abandon ourself to God’s will…We are filled with peace and joy…..Some thing the world can never take away or give for that matter……However it must be stated - Its very easy to say things like….”I abandoned my self to God’s will”…I say that because to do so is a process and I am “working on it” to this very day….But in order to “complete the race”, we first must begin…..Trust builds upon trust….."Rome was not built in a day", nor will you be….However, we need to begin in order to finish.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

I always wanted to get married and have children…But God did not bring to me my wife until I was 43 years old….And for many years before that I was alone…During that time, I believe God prepared me for marriage, he formed me in my Catholic faith…..Why bring this up?…For the seven years right before I was married I served of the poor working along side Mother Teresa’s nuns…I was their driver every Saturday and believe me when I tell you, I was sent on many “adventures” throughout New York City seeing a side to the city that many do not know exists…I always say, those seven years were like what a religious brother goes through before making their final vows to their particular religious order.....…That period of time I refer to as my "postulancy" before I made my vows before God to be a married man…The Missionaries of Charity during that time formed me…I owe them everything!…I learned to trust God’s providence from them….I learned a radical way to follow the gospel from them…..I also learned when you do those things, God will give you great joy and peace, unlike the world can ever give you…..When I got married I knew that if I trusted God and did things "God’s way", he will always provide for my family…I told my wife this and we have never been in want of anything, God has always provided for us and our five children…..To arrive at this “place” was a process…I had Mother Teresa’s nuns to show me…..I saw how Divine Providence works with my own eyes….We all must learn to trust God in this manner…His love for us all is beyond all telling!…We must have the courage to “take a different path” in the world…In doing so God will reveal to you just how real he is…How much he loves you and the world, who blindly “thirsts” for God so desperately….God always provides….Trust me….That does not mean the “road will always be smooth” but a “path” to “get through” on that "road" will always be there for you…Trust me!…More importantly…Trust God…He can do the impossible.

“The LORD keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free.”

“In those days, Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, "Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink." She left to get it, and he called out after her, "Please bring along a bit of bread." She answered, "As the LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die." Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.

“The LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who were bowed down; the LORD loves the just. The LORD protects strangers”

In the Gospel today from Mass St Mark tells us about a widow who gave everything she had to the Lord….Its not about money people…Its about YOU…God wants YOU….We all have the tendency to “hold firmly” to “our way”…to “things”…to our pride…The sooner we learn to “let go and let God”…The journey begins…The greatest adventure one can embark upon…”Give yourself to God, all that you have, all that you do, all that you know and all your talents - and you will be dearer to him than ever before and richer too”