Please Pray for Fr. Joe & Bob
     

Prayer for Grace for our Country

Dear Father united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present, celebrated around the world, in the Holy Spirit. We offer up all we do united to the Mass. We unite in one mind and one heart as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ our head in the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, through the powerful intercession of Mary with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory, and we beg for the saving grace, for our country, the United States. Please help us. We further pray for unity to always do the will of God in love. We spread the Blood of Jesus on the leaders and people of the United States and cast the devil into hell. We consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and all our dioceses, and beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God help us. We pray for our families, the priests, the Church and the world. In the Name of Jesus please hear us, we pray. We pray for our president and leaders. We pray that we are united as one nation under God to work together in love as God wants.  

   

R. Jesus said all through Mass May 15, 2021

“I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive.”

We need God today.

Dear God, Your love for us is real.

God is the answer.
Loving God deeply.
Depending on Him.

Oh Jesus, I love you! 

29 Years Ago

May 19, 1992

R. I must treasure each moment I have right
now because I can never have it back again.

I love You Jesus
I love You Holy Spirit
I love You God the Father

 

May 23, 1992

R. Jesus, Jesus hear my prayer, though I walk
in the valley of darkness You are there with
Your rod and Your staff to comfort and love
me –

Jesus: I will make the light shine on you.
I am your God and you are My child,
My light is deep within you, know
it and experience this in your life.
I am your God, I will not leave you –

   

12 Years Ago 

Feast of the Ascension

May 24, 2009

HOMILY – (Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mark 16:15-20) In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke gives us a very graphic, easy to picture description of the ascension of our Lord. But he can’t describe to our satisfaction what happened to Jesus after “a cloud took him from their sight.” The cloud tells us there is much more to the ascension than we can comprehend right now. The world of God will always be mysterious to us until we get to experience it ourselves. To the extent that they can, the letters of Paul and of others in the New Testament make many attempts to describe theologically what lies beyond that cloud. For example, today’s second reading tells us Jesus’ ascension took him “far above every principality, authority, power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.” In other words, he is greater and more exalted than all of creation. Although he was always Son of God, now, even in his humanity, he is seated at the right hand of the Father in eternal glory. It is a glory that is beyond anything we know at present but hope to share with him someday.

    I find it interesting that in the Acts of the Apostles (our first reading) St. Luke tells us Jesus ascended 40 days after Easter, but if we read the conclusion to the gospels of Mark, Luke and John, Jesus is described as ascending to the Father on Easter Sunday. This has always baffled me, but I have tried to reconcile this confusing time element by assuming Jesus’ mystical, theological entrance into the glory of the Father happened almost immediately after the resurrection. Jesus, however, made many appearances to the apostles and to others after his resurrection and I think of the ascension 40 days later, as described in today’s first reading, as the last of those appearances.

    What does any of this have to do with us? How can we apply it to our own spiritual lives? I want to give four suggestions about the ascension that might have some meaning for us.

    First of all, we must keep a balanced sense of who Jesus is. Sometimes we may feel very chummy with Jesus. He is our brother, our friend, our daily support, one who is understanding and loving; but he is still so awesome, so greatly exalted. He is Lord and God, he has the authority to tell us how to live and he deserves our adoration and honor. It’s fine to feel close and intimate with Jesus and he wants us to; otherwise why would he give himself to us so freely in the Eucharist. We have to balance this closeness with his greatness as our Creator to whom we owe all we have and all we are,

    Second, when Jesus’ finished the job the Father had given him, he handed that job on to us. One of the last things he said was: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Would that we could be half as enthusiastic about our faith as the people who sell products on TV worth $19.99!

    Third, even though we can’t see his risen body, he is still with us. The last words in Matthew’s gospel are: “I am with you always.” Of course, the Eucharist gives usthe same message each week.

    My last point is an inspiration that came to me early this week as I began to meditate on the ascension. It was an idea that kept reoccurring. It seemed as if our Lord was telling me: “be sure to say this about the ascension.” Where Jesus has gone is where he wants to bring us. He didn’t come to this world just because he was bored with being in heaven and needed something else to do. He came to us and took on our human flesh for only one reason: to take us to himself and to share his life with us. At the Last Supper he told us: “I am going to get a place ready for you and I will come back and take you with me so that where I am you also may be.” Our real home is not in this world, as much as we may love our homes. Our home is to be with God. His ascension shows us what he has in mind for us. We say we believe this each week: “I believe in the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.” Today’s feast is a lesson about not getting too attached to our present lives. As the letter to the Colossians said on Easter Sunday: “seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

    When life is comfortable for us, we don’t like to see things change. That was true of the apostles too. The apostles didn’t want Jesus to leave them, but he challenged them to move from a comfortable familiarity with him to a new way to be with him. Sometimes too he challenges us to move into unfamiliar territory, sometimes in little ways and sometimes in major ways. Sometimes events themselves, even tragic and unpleasant ones, disrupt our lives and force us to change. Life never stays the same, but the essentials of our faith continue to anchor us and call us to set our sights on what is ahead for us if we stay united with Christ. Somehow God can draw good out of everything for those who love him. If we stay one with him, we shall one day share his glory. That is our hope, no matter what comes our way.

 

 

Pentecost

May 24, 2015

INTRODUCTION – We hear in our first reading St. Luke’s account in the Acts of the Apostles of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Spirit came with a loud noise, tongues of fire, and the gift of the apostles being able to speak new languages. The coming of the Holy Spirit took place in the presence of Jews from all over the world. However, the greatest sign of God’s Spirit at work was the courage shown in the apostles, especially Peter who just weeks prior was afraid to admit that he even knew Jesus Christ. After the Spirit came, his fear was gone and he went out publicly preaching about him.

HOMILY – Pentecost is one of the oldest and one of the three most important feasts of the Jewish people. In Greek it means 50th day – that is 50 days from Passover. Passover celebrated God freeing his people from their slavery in Egypt. About a month and a half after leaving Egypt, God’s people arrived at Mt. Sinai where God made a covenant with his people identifying them as his special people. The Ten Commandments God gave them was part of that covenant. Pentecost was a day of pilgrimage when pious Jews would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate this event. Jesus’ followers were there, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. On that occasion, we are told the Spirit came with a loud noise – like a strong wind – and in tongues of fire, symbols recalling the way God was experienced on Mt. Sinai hundreds of years earlier. Also the Apostles received a unique gift of tongues to be able to speak in foreign languages. Since Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims at this time, the Apostles knew what they were supposed to do with this unusual gift - to tell anyone around, no matter from what distant place they came, the good news about Jesus Christ.

    A person can hardly talk about Pentecost without talking about the Holy Spirit. But that opens up a very large topic. I pulled out my book on the Holy Spirit, almost 600 pages long, to help me decide what to say. Even though there’s much that could be said, we still struggle when we try to think about what the Holy Spirit might be like, might look like, or to try to make contact with the Spirit. We are taught the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit will help us if we happen to have to take a test. Pretty much this is all the typical Catholic knows about the Holy Spirit and I’ll bet the normal Catholic is greatly surprised to discover that someone could have written a 600-page book all about the Holy Spirit. Let me just mention some of the symbols of the Holy Spirit that are mentioned in the Scriptures. The first one is breath, air or wind. Jesus breathed on them and said “receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus’ breath imparted the Spirit. Water is another symbol. Jesus said: “let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says. Rivers of living water will flow from within him.”

He said this in reference to the Spirit. (Jn 7,37-39) Fire has been a symbol of God since the days of Moses and the burning bush. That’s why red is the color of the Holy Spirit. A dove is a familiar image, but trying to explain the symbolism of a dove would take a few more paragraphs, so we won’t go there. Less familiar is the anointing by the Spirit which Jesus talks about using a quote from Isaish: “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me.” (Lk, 4,18) The finger of God is another symbol. It is by the finger of God, the symbol of God’s power, that Jesus casts out demons (Lk 11,20). There are other names and symbols of the Spirit, such as Paraclete, which would take more time to explain than we have right now. The last symbol I would like to consider is the symbol of the Spirit being a gift from the Father and the Son. Although Jesus is God’s gift to us, it is the Spirit who is mostly referred to as a gift (Acts 8,20; Jn 4,10 & 4,14; Acts 2,38, 10,45 and 11,17 Heb 6,4-6) My favorite reference to the Spirit as a gift: “what father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish: Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk.11,12) I am grateful that God is so lavish with God’s gift of the Spirit, but if I put them all together, I still struggle, in spite of all the symbols the Scriptures use, to relate to the Spirit, to connect with the Spirit, to know the Spirit as a person.

    A thought came to me this week that helped me picture the Spirit a little more concretely. Look into your own heart or look into a mirror. St. Paul asks: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” (I Cor 3,16) I’m not saying every simple detail you see in yourself is of God. It may not be. Paul lists a whole batch of human traits that are not of God: “idolatry, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, selfishness, envy, etc.” Paul also gives us a long list of traits that are from God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness. self-control.” (Gal, 5,19-24) Do you see these traits in yourselves, do you see them in others, then you are seeing what the Holy Spirit looks like.

    We should see these traits in the Church too, for the Holy Spirit, as we just heard, gave life to the Church at Pentecost by sending the Apostles out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without Pentecost, the Church would have died a quick death because the Apostles were too afraid to proclaim Jesus Christ. But with the Spirit, the Church came alive. That’s why we call Pentecost the birthday of the Church. It is through grace and the Sacraments, the Spirit continues to work to help the Church to grow. Take a look at yourself in the mirror sometime this evening or take a look at a friend whom you love and who believes in God as you do and say to yourself “that’s what the Spirit looks like when we hold God in our hearts.” Amen.

   

R. Jesus is alive. 

And Jesus loves me. 

And I love Jesus!!!!

The Saints knew Jesus loved them.
Our strength comes from God.

Only God can ultimately make us happy.

The Father’s eyes are on us.
God knows the very hairs of our head.

Happiness is growing in the life of the Spirit.
Happiness is life in Him.

God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in the graced baptized soul.
Indwelling of God, in us, living dwelling in us.
God alive in us.

Free will.
We know our actions have consequences.

Our choices have consequences.
   

Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter - 2000 Issue 3

Relationship with Others (excerpt)