Sunday, April 21, 2019

Victory as Jesus carried our thorns for Salvation!: Easter (Sunday, April 21st, 2019)

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Easter Vigil and Sunday EasterAfter Holy Thursday—the last supper and the washing of the feet, after Good Friday, the death of our savior, we come to the Easter Vigil—praise God, and Happy Easter!
·     After another year, ups and downs, praise God and Happy Easter!
Have you had ever experienced victory in your life?  Sports, music, academics, hunting, fishing or beyond? 
·     Well tonight we are entering into a spiritual taste of the victory of Jesus Christ, his victory for eternity! 
Within our movie world, I would like to share a victory within the movie "Remember the Titans" at their last game, halftime and behind the score, Coach Boone said:
o  “It's all right. We're in a fight.  You boys are doing all that you can do. Anybody can see that. Win or lose... We gonna walk out of this stadium tonight with our heads held high. Do your best. That's all anybody can ask for.
o   Then, one of his leaders on the team, Big Ju, said: 
§  “No, it ain't Coach. With all due respect, uh, you demanded more of us. You demanded perfection. Now, I ain't saying that I'm perfect, 'cause I'm not. And I ain't gonna never be. None of us are. But we have won every single game we have played till now. So this team is perfect. We stepped out on that field that way tonight. And, uh, if it's all the same to you, Coach Boone, that's how we want to leave it."
That connection is a great image for us tonight because we are in a war—a spiritual battle between Satan, evil and God who sent His perfect Son to get in the game, that Jesus who won on earth
·     And we, like Big Ju, we are certainly not perfect, or sinless, yet we are still on a perfect team: the mystical body of Jesus Christ
We must consider to remember how we are not the saviors!
·     2 Corinthians 10:7-10.
o  And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
The paradox of Easter is that Jesus Christ did destroy all thorns forever and “the power of Christ may rest upon [YOU]”!
So,what do you believe about yourself?  
·     Are you your own team, your own winner, your own family with “no need of a physician” in your soul? 
o  If so, why are you really at Easter?  Simply for bunnies, eggs, Peeps, your family or checking a box off for your time at Church? 
·     Or,do you believethat we are sinful, we are sick, and we do need a savior, a physician for our souls who said: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sinand living for God in Christ Jesus.”

May we praise God for the best gift, the best family and the best team: 
God’s kingdom for all eternity which has already destroyed evil and opened the gates for victory

Happy Easter and know that you are always welcome in God’s house at St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Columban parishes!


Parish Bulletin Article: "A Thorn in our Body, Mind and Soul": 4-21-19

“A Thorn in our Body, Mind and Soul”

In one of my favorite verses in the Bible is in St. Paul’s writing to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 10:7-10. What he shared to this small community almost two millennials before can continue to speak to us today in our own lives. Here is what he wrote:
And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
St. Paul had shared a challenge in his life, which we do not know what had happened (e.g., a physical malady?, mental illness?, spiritual problems?) to himself but he repeatedly asked God to take that pain away from himself. However, every one of us has some sort of a thorn in our body, our mind our soul which we cannot “fix it” by ourselves. And, how can we ask God with these types of suffering?
Well let’s take these same words from St. Paul in our prayer, and praise God as He spoke back to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Also, can you, too, like Paul, realize that your suffering, thorns, and pain make us powerful (“I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities”)? Call that a gut check in our lives!
While we concluded our Triduum—Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and now continue to celebrate Easter itself, we must remember that we are sinful, and we are sick, just like Jesus taught us. Listen again in Mark 2:17: “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
The paradox of Easter is that Jesus Christ did destroy all thorns forever and “the power of Christ may rest upon [YOU]”!
At the same time, what do you believe about yourself? Are you “well…[with] no need of a physician”?  If so, why are you really at Easter?  Simply for bunnies, eggs, and Peeps, your family or checking a box off for your time at Church? 
If so, I will challenge, invite and witness that we Christians do believethat we are sinful, we are sick, and we do need a savior, a physician for our souls who said: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
May we praise God for the best gift for all eternity, that He sent His son who carried all thorns, both physically and spiritually during his passion and death, and then beat the game of evil and sin to receive victory with his RESURRECTION! He leaves with us that when we are weak, we may be strong on earth with our faith for him, and continue to walk together in our journey towards heaven.
Happy Easter and know that you are always welcome in God’s house at St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Columban parishes!

Why is it Good Friday? Humor in Jesus' mind?: Good Friday (April 19th, 2019)

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Good Friday

For all my foes I am an object of reproach,
a laughingstock to my neighbors
…”

(Jesus): I AM: When he said to them, "I AM," they turned away and fell to the ground.  "I have spoken publicly to the world…”
(Pontus Pilate) “What is truth?” 
(Soldiers): Crown of thorns, purple vestment… “Hail, King of the Jews!”
(Pontus Pilate): “Behold, the man!...Behold your king!”
(Chief Priests): “We have no king but Caesar!”
(Pontus Pilate): “"Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews."

Isaiah: (fourth servant’s song): 
·      Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,our sufferings that he endured,while we thought of him as stricken,as one smitten by God and afflicted.But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins;upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,by his stripes we were healed.”
·      We had all gone astray like sheep…”
o   Why do we do that today?
·      “…he surrendered himself to death

Hebrews:
·      For we do not have a high priestwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way,yet without sin.So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”





Priesthood, Eucharist and Washing the feet of Jesus' Disciples: Holy Thursday (Thursday, April, 18th, 2019)

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

A priest, eucharist and Jesus Christ!
Eucharistic #4
·     “For when the hour had come for him to be glorified by you, Father most holy, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end: and while they were at supper, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.”
·     “In a similar way, taking the chalice filled with the fruit of the vine, he gave thanks, and gave the chalice to his disciples saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF THE SINS.  DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.”
What an honor to serve you:
·     For Mass, for baptisms, confessions, first communions, confirmations, marriages, anointing of the sick
·     And day to day is totally different, and I love it, with both wonderful and challenging, sacred and sinful humanity, walking together with you
I do stand in persona Christi
·     “…meaning with the Catechism of the Catholic Church that “In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis…”
And, Jesus is the BEST:
·     You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am.If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet.I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do….I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:love one another as I have loved you.”
Thus I must follow our teacher, our master and our friend, as we, as pilgrims, must do the same, and as he washed the feet of his disciples we must do the same to our neighbors.




4 Oracles for the Savior in Isaiah and Judas' Spoke to Jesus: Holy Week, Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

Listen to the homily here.

4 Chapters in John: Holy Week, Monday

Listen to the homily here.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Our Tongue--Evil or Good?: Palm Sunday

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Sirach: The Evil Tongue or James
·      “In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze.”
·       “If you blow on a spark, it will glow; if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth.”
Speaking with the evil tongue 
·      Hosanna vs. Crucify
·      Peter: "Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you” vs. I do not know him
·      Judas with no words, but a kiss
·      Two criminals
·      Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
"Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us."
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
"Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, 
but this man has done nothing criminal."
Then he said,
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
He replied to him,
"Amen, I say to you, 
today you will be with me in Paradise."
Obviously Jesus had only truth and love with his tongue
·      Jesus: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."
·      “You are forgiven…”
·      “Sin no more…”
Isaiah: 
·      “The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.”
St. Paul
·      Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which 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.

How will you speak for Jesus Christ, our savior?