what he has done for me

Thursday, April 30, 2009 Easter Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 8:26-40 Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20 John 6:44-51

 

Psalms 66:16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.

 

Right here is the heart of the Gospel.  What God has done for each one of us and then our being so thankful for his mercy and  grace that we want to tell others about it.

There is a tradition to tell of our conversion, called giving a testimony.  But God is with us each and every day.  And God is with us in the person of Jesus Christ.  We must also tell about all of that.  We must be careful to make sure our testimony is about what God has done and not who we are and we have done.

 

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to see what you have done for me so I can tell others about how you are with me each and every day.

Amen

he dragged off men and women

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 8:1-8 Psalm 66:1-7 John 6:35-40

 

Acts 1:3  But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

 

We think this could never happen, but it has before many times.  Here in this day and age, especially now, there lies the potential for a ruler or government to come to your house and arrest you because of your beliefs.  That is the way the world is  going.  The Homeland Security office has likened Christians who oppose abortion and gay marriage as being like terrorists.  This is just another step on the path.

The question is when that day comes are we going to be willing to stick to our faith in Christ or will we deny him as Peter did. It may have worked out OK for Peter, though he was put to death eventually, but we have his witness and testimony for our benefit.  I am not sure we will have the same opportunity that he had.

 

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always be faithful even in the face of danger and persecution.

Amen

the bread of life

 

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 St. Louis Mary de Montfort, Priest (Optional Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 7:51 -- 8:1 Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21 John 6:30-35

 

John 6:35  Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

 

Often the debate about the bread of the Eucharist is whether it is the actual body of Christ or not.  But Jesus doesn’t say that the bread is his body.  He says that the bread is his body given for us. He says that he is the bread of life.  We don’t consume Jesus when we eat the Communion bread.  We enter into a covenant relationship with him.  We accept his loving mercy and we pledge to follow him even to death.  Like a marriage ceremony is the sealing of a marriage relationship, so too is the Communion meal the sealing of our marriage relationship with Jesus.  The two shall become one flesh.

 

Father, help me by our Holy Spirit to follow you no matter what you call me to.  Help me to see you truly as the bread of life.

Amen

Do not labor for the food which perishes

Monday, April 27, 2009 Easter Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 6:8-15 Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30 John 6:22-29

 

John 6:27  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal."

 

How much time do we spend working for money to feed our selves and to provide shelter and clothing for our selves? How much time do we spend trying to get our selves into better physical condition, and how much time do we spend exploring self-help methods and reading books about how to build up our self esteem?

Then, how much time do we spend meditating on God’s laws?  How much time do we spend contemplating the meaning of the sacraments?  How much time do we spend learning how to love others and to die to our selves?

In a way, our worlds are totally upside down.  We spend almost all our time on the food that perishes.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to spend my time and efforts on the food that you give me that leads to eternal life.

Amen

He who is a hireling

Friday, April 24, 2009 St. Fidelis Roy of Sigmaringen, Capuchin, Priest, Martyr (Feast)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Revelation 3:7-8, 10-12 or 2 Timothy 2:8-13; 3:10-12 Psalm 119:137-144 John 10:11-1

John 10:12  He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

In this day and age we have a tendency to evaluate how we are being fed and what the church is doing for us.  To be truly Christ like, however, we need to be more like a shepherd and be willing to lay down our lives for the sake of the flock.  That can manifest itself in many different ways.  Perhaps it means not leaving a church for another, maybe it means not leaving a small group or even your own family.  The question is what are we leaving to the wolves and not laying our lives down for?

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to be faithful in what ever you call me to be.  Help me to be willing to lay down my own priorities for the sake of others.

Amen

have no want

Thursday, April 23, 2009  Easter Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 5:27-33 Psalm 34:2, 9, 17-20 John 3:31-36

Psalms 34:9  O fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want!

Why do we want to win the Lottery?  Why do we want to be loved by friends and family?  It seems that almost all the problems that we get into are in some way due to striving for these things.  We feel as though something is missing in our lives and we must do what we can to get it.

God can be and is all those things that we lack.  He is better than winning the lottery.  He can create anything out of nothing.  He is better than a friend.  He will always be there no matter what.  He is better than family.  He loves us more than any person can.

It seems that if we have God we have all the things that we strive for and there is no longer any need to even think about doing what is wrong to get them.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always remember that you can do everything and that you are always there for me and that you love me more than I can even imagine.

Amen

lest his deeds should be exposed

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Easter Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 5:17-26 Psalm 34:2-9 John 3:16-21

John 3:20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

We often try to appear intelligent and sensitive to the plight of mankind by allowing for evil people to be thought of as being “saved”.  we think that you don’t have to be a follower of Jesus Christ to be saved. We think that you don’t have to be righteous to be saved.  Basically everything that the Bible says we say we know better. But the Bible says what it says. But it may be because we don’t want to be judged for our own sin that we are willing to accommodate the sins of others.  We may be  tolerant of homosexuality because we don’t want our own sins of adultery and slander and licentiousness to be exposed and judged. But, that doesn’t cut it I’m afraid.  God doesn’t grade on a curve and all will be made known in the end.  Our only hope is in Christ.  So we should stop fooling ourselves and start living in the light.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to come to the light rather than hide from it.  Help me to confess and repent from my sin rather than cover it up with  political correctness.

Amen

yet you do not understand

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 St. Conrad of Parzham, Capuchin, Religious (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 4:32-37 Psalm 93:1-2, 5 John 3:7-15

John 3:10  Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this?

We all too often get down on Nicodemus, but remember he at least came to talk with Jesus and find out what he didn’t understand.  How many of us can even do what he did?  Are we willing to come and ask and listen in order to understand, or do we assume that we know it well enough?  And in fact don’t we even think we know it better than everybody else and we are willing to argue with them to prove it?  Maybe Nicodemus has a bit of humility here that we could learn from.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to not think that I know it all, but rather to seek you and your word to better understand your grace.

Amen

terrify them in his fury

Monday, April 20, 2009
Easter Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Acts 4:23-31 Psalm 2:1-9 John 3:1-8

Psalms 2:5  Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

It is amazing to me how arrogant people are, how boldly they stand in defiance of God.  Think about it for a moment.  If God wanted to he could do anything, and we can basically do nothing.  We are totally at his mercy and yet there are those who think they can beat God.

The day will come though when they have to face him and then they will shake in fear.  Why continue to play this game and put our own salvation at risk?

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to know that you are the  creator and sustainer of all things and you can do anything, even things that I can not imagine.

Amen

no other name

Friday, April 17, 2009
Friday in the Octave of Easter (Divine Mercy Novena Day 8)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Acts 4:1-12 Psalm 118:1-2, 4, 22-27 John 21:1-14

Acts 4:12  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

This may be controversial, but at the end of the day it is what is true, and the truth wins out.

Recently President Obama decided to cover the IHS (symbol of Christ)  in the background of one of his speeches.  This raised quite a stir.  Why would he cover the name of Christ?  He can give all the excuses he wants, but at the end of the day he covered the name of Christ so as not to distract from himself.

Do we do the same?  Do we, in our own ways, put Jesus under a cover so as not to be a distraction from us?

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to never cover the name of Jesus, but to boldly proclaim that Jesus is the son of God and my savior.

Amen

repentance and forgiveness

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thursday in the Octave of Easter (Divine Mercy Novena Day 7)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Acts 3:11-26 Psalm 8:2, 5-9 Luke 24:35-48

Luke 24:47  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

What is the Gospel that is preached today?  It seems to me that we tend to fall on one side or the other.  There are churches that focus on repentance, or  more precisely, holiness.  Then there are a great number of churches that focus on forgiveness, or more precisely acceptance.

The thing is these two go together.  One is of no value without the other.  Repentance does us no good without forgiveness and forgiveness without repentance is just indulgence.  There needs to be both together.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to remember that I need to forgive and repent and that I need to trust in your forgiveness to strengthen my repentance.

Amen

known to them in the breaking of the bread

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Wednesday in the Octave of Easter (Divine Mercy Novena Day 6)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 3:1-10 Psalm 105:1-4, 6-9 Luke 24:13-35

Luke 24:35  Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I think that we are too ready to discount that God works through the bread of Holy Communion.  We tend to relegate it to a simple memorial that “reminds” us of Jesus’ suffering.  But here in this famous account more than a reminder is evident.  They are miraculously enlightened.  They were prevented from knowing that it was Jesus they were speaking with until he broke the bread.  Now, it was more than just breaking the bread.  He walked with them and opened the scriptures to them and then he broke the bread.  But the scriptures claim that it was in the breaking of the bread that he was revealed to them.

Jesus says that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood we have no life in us.  But if we eat his flesh and drink his blood he will raise us up on the last day.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to truly believe that you are the creator and sustainer of life and all creation.  Help me not to fall into the earthly mindset that must have all things explained before I will allow myself to believe.

Amen

Repent, and be baptized

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Tuesday in the Octave of Easter (Divine Mercy Novena Day 5)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 2:36-41 Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22 John 20:11-18

Acts 2:38  And 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 shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So, the people asked Peter what they should do because of their sin, how can they be saved.  Peter said to ask Jesus into your hearts.  He said to say the sinners prayer.  He said to come forward at the alter call.

Well, not exactly.  He actually said to repent and be baptized.  That is what Peter has told us through the Holy Scriptures.  If we think we have another plan, then I guess I don’t know where it comes from.  But, there are plenty of people out there putting their hope in the sinners prayer and asking Jesus into their hearts.  It might work, but I don’t see any proof that it will.  If we are Bible based Christians, then we should read the Bible and pay attention to what it says, not what the latest charismatic teacher says.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to listen to you words and to put my hope in you and not the latest feel good theology.

Amen

Tell people

Monday, April 13, 2009 Monday in the Octave of Easter (Divine Mercy Novena Day 4)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Acts 2:14, 22-33 Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11 Matthew 28:8-15

Matthew 28:13  and said, "Tell people, `His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.'

Today there is a battle between those who are called liberal and those who are called conservative Christians.  The Christians are saying that the liberals and the government are trying to silence them and discredit them in order to remove their influence in public policy and morality.  Some might say that they are overly suspicious and that the liberals in government would never do that.  Oh really?

Well in today's reading we have the clearest picture of the government lying to the people, hiding the truth about Jesus Christ.  Yes, it can and is done all the time.  Those who will not follow Christ are not satisfied to let those who will follow do so.  They will stop at nothing to prevent them.  Even having the government lie about it in order to undermine the Christian faith, and it is happening today.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always see the truth and to follow you whatever the information that is given me by those who do not believe in you.

Amen

unless it had been given you from above

Friday, April 10, 2009 Good Friday (Divine Mercy Novena Day 1)

First Reading: Psalm: Second Reading: Gospel: Isaiah 52:13 -- 53:12 Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25 Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 John 18:1 -- 19:42

John 19:11  Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin."

 

Jesus was clearly indicating that this was planned.  Jesus was planned to be crucified.  At first this sounds very cruel.  Why would God plan to have his son crucified?  Why put him through this ordeal?

The only thing I can think of is that the alternative must be worse.  We think about how horrible suffering is in this world.  But how horrible is eternal spiritual suffering?  God can do anything.  He can make people from rocks, he can raise the dead, he can part the seas.  We must believe that God has the best in mind since he can do anything.  So we must believe that suffering is necessary for our souls.  Suffering is a part of this life.  We must be able to accept it if we want to be like Christ.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to accept the suffering that comes my way and understand that you can do all things and that your love goes beyond my understanding.

Amen

For as often as you eat this bread

Thursday, April 9, 2009 Holy Thursday Evening – Mass of the Lord’s Supper

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:1-15

1 Corinthians 11:26  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Here Jesus gives us Christian worship.  There are many different forms of worship in the church today, and we certainly have freedom to express our thanks to God in ways that are meaningful to us.  This, however, is different.  The Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, is something that Jesus has directly instructed us to do.  He makes many references to drinking the cup and eating the flesh.  This is the new covenant.  As Christians this is the most meaningful and most powerful thing we can do in the context of worship.  Here we have the death and resurrection all wrapped up in one.  We have forgiveness of sins and repentance.  We have sin and innocence.  It is all there, and we are instructed to participate in it.

Often churches thinking that if they practice this too much they will lose the meaning of it.  It isn’t their feelings that saves them.  It is the sacrifice that Jesus made for them.  To not participate in this is to reject what Christ has done for us.

On this day we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  We should cherish this with all our hearts.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to see with new eyes what you have done for me so that I will more fully appreciate the wonderful gift you have given us in the bread and the cup.

Amen

Let him come near to me

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Wednesday of Holy Week

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Isaiah 50:4-9 Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31, 33-34 Matthew 26:14-25

Isaiah 50:8  he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.

We have heard the saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”.  This is put forth as a defense, so that we know what our enemies are doing, but in Jesus’ case it was a sign of vulnerability.  We are called to be vulnerable before the Lord.  In order to trust in him we must be willing to be totally at his mercy.  This is a tough one because we all want to stand for what is right.  But it is God who judges rightly.  We must be willing to be vulnerable to be right with God.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to be trusting in you no matter what the danger or circumstances confront me.

Amen

Will you lay down your life for me?

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Tuesday of Holy Week

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Isaiah 49:1-6 Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17 John 13:21-33, 36-38

John 13:38 Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times.

We tend to get a little too confident in our own abilities and faith sometimes.  we may think we know what we want, but when faced with the reality and the responsibility of it we hesitate or even quit.

Peter was ready to die for Jesus at that moment, or so he thought.  But the minute danger came around he denied that he ever knew Jesus.  The grace of God is very visible here.  Peter was the leader of the church.  That means that he was forgiven for this over zealousness.  God can forgive our pride as well, but we must be careful that we don’t get lost in it.

 

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always realize that all good things come from you and I can only do what you have empowered me to do.  Help me to answer your call but not get ahead of it.

 

Amen

The poor you always have

Monday, April 6, 2009 Monday of Holy Week

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Isaiah 42:1-7 Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14 John 12:1-11

John 12:8  The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

Jesus has a way of getting right to the truth of the matter.  Judas wasn’t really concerned with the poor.  He wanted the money.  How many of us are really concerned with helping people rather than helping ourselves?  Not just with money, but socially and personally.  How many of us get more satisfaction that we helped than we do that the people are truly helped by us?  I would argue that much of what we do doesn’t really help in the long run.  We still have the poor, and Jesus says that we will always have the poor.  So the question is what are we doing about Jesus?  Will we always have him?  Maybe we  think that in helping the poor we are in fact worshiping Jesus, and I agree with that to an extent.  But I think that Jesus here is getting more at our true motives and I think we need to be honest with ourselves about what our true motives are.  Not that we stop helping the poor, but so that we can truly help them in a way that really matters to them more than to us.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to be able to get out of this self serving mode that I am in.  Help me to see what is truly needed and what is true justice and then help me to be merciful as you are merciful.

 

Amen

because you

 

Friday, April 3, 2009 Lenten Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Jeremiah 20:10-13 Psalm 18:2-7 John 10:31-42

John 10:33  The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."

 

Today I don’t think that people would fault us for doing good works.  But, they do for proclaiming that Jesus is the son of God and we are brothers and sisters of his.  Our association with Christ will tend to bring out persecution.  People don’t like it when others stand out in some way, when others have been blessed, or when others claim to posses some special status.  But in Christ we are all special, we have been blessed and we do have special status.  This drives Satan crazy and those who come after us then are aligned with him.  We must be ready and not give in to the temptation to minimize what Christ has done and who he is and who we are in him.

 

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always know that you are God and there are no others gods.  Help me to know that you are my father and Jesus is my brother.

 

Amen

As for you

Thursday, April 2, 2009 Lenten Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Genesis 17:3-9 Psalm 105:4-9 John 8:51-59

Genesis 17:9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

God made an "everlasting" covenant with Abraham. This is a type of promise that he will be a great nation. But, there seems to be a little bit of a string attached. God says to Abraham, "As for you". This means that Abraham has a responsibility to keep the covenant. There is nothing that Abraham can do to obligate God to give him what he promised. Abraham only has God's word on that, but it is the word of God. If we don't trust God then who do we trust?
All Abraham can do is keep the covenant. Jesus gives us a new covenant and we are instructed to keep that as well. If Abraham would not keep his end of the bargain God might just rescind his offer. Jesus says unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood there is no life in us. But if we drink his blood and eat his flesh he will raise us up on the last day.
Now, eating and drinking is more than just consuming food. More on that at another time. But for now what we need to be doing is keeping his covenant.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to not forget to keep your covenant. Help me to honor all that you ask me to do and to be faithful through the power of your Holy Spirit.

Amen

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 Lenten Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 Daniel 3:52-56 John 8:31-42

Daniel 3:95 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

We often rationalize our decisions when we are faced with what appears to be a no win situation. These three men, however, chose what appeared to be a certain death. They were willing to do this even if their God would not save them. They would still not worship a false god, even if it meant their death.

I don't know how many of us are willing to make that decision today. Yes, we may die for a loved one, or a noble cause. But how easy it would be to just bow down and stay a live. How many times during the day do we just bow down when we hear the music play? How many time do we give in to protect our lives the way we see them? How many times do we try to just stay alive rather than uphold the name of the Living God?

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to be filled with the faith and the fire inside to be willing to endure the fire outside rather than compromise the faith.

Amen