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July 3, 2009 - St. Thomas the Apostle

July 3, 2009 - St. Thomas the Apostle

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Ezekiel 2: 2-5

As he said these words the spirit came into me and put me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said, 'Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been in revolt against me up to the present day. Because they are stubborn and obstinate children, I am sending you to them, to say, "Lord Yahweh says this." Whether they listen or not, this tribe of rebels will know there is a prophet among them.

2 Corinthians 12: 1-10

    Wherefore, so that I should not get above myself, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter me and prevent me from getting above myself. About this, I have three times pleaded with the Lord that it might leave me; but he has answered me, ‘My grace is enough for you: for power is at full stretch in weakness.’ It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me; and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, constraints, persecutions and distress for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 9, 2006 

INTRODUCTION – (Ezekiel 2, 2-5; 2 Cor. 12, 7-10) Sometimes prophets predicted the future, but most of the time they tried to direct God's people to live by God's commands.  Their efforts to do so were not always appreciated by the people.  The prophet Ezekiel lived about 600 years before Christ, before, during and after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.  He had to warn the people of the destruction that was to come if they did not change their ways.  We hear in today’s first reading God's warning to Ezekiel that as a prophet he would not have an easy job of it.  The passage prepares us for the gospel which tells of the cold reception Jesus received when he came to his hometown of Nazareth to preach.

HOMILY – (Mark 6, 1-6) We just heard about the reception Jesus received in his own hometown of Nazareth.  His family and neighbors already heard stories about his teachings and his miracles.  In St. Luke’s gospel we are told there was some initial positive reaction to his teaching there, but something happened.  Perhaps they rejected him because he came from the working class and was not educated as a rabbi.  They asked: “Where did he get all this?”  Perhaps he suffered the fate of all the other prophets who were rejected because the people didn’t want to hear the message about keeping God’s commandments and living a good life.  We know from the gospels not everyone was negative toward him, but there were enough people who were that they were able to convince the others.  The people were so negative, in fact, that St. Mark tells us that Jesus was not able to work any miracles there except for a few healings.  A lack of faith actually prevents God from helping us as he would like.  St. Luke tells us that before his visit to Nazareth was over they wanted to kill him, but he got away.

It is a blessing that God has not lost patience with us or given up on all of us. He continues to try to send us people to teach us how to live good and holy lives in spite of our rebellious natures.  It is a great honor for God to call someone to be his prophet, but it is also a difficult and often thankless task.  You who are parents know what it’s like.  The job of a parent is not as prominent as that of an Ezekiel or Jeremiah or Jesus, but to a lesser degree a parent’s role is the same as a prophet, trying to teach their children to be good and sometimes having to face a fair amount of resistance.  I remember my dad would always quote the proverb from today’s gospel: “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own house.”  My dad was a CPA and he got paid for his advice.  When he tried to tell us something at home, we never ignored him - that would have been like taking our life in our hands, but we didn’t always jump to agree with him.  So he would say “a prophet is not without honor…except in his own house.”  We always did what we were told (we didn’t want to face the consequences if we didn’t) but we didn’t always want to do it.  Parents, if they are good parents, have a difficult job at times, especially in today’s society.  It’s so easy just to give in every time a child wants something.  Children need to know their parents love them enough to do the hard job of trying to teach them what’s right.  Too many parents I have met argue: “Why fight it?  The kids will do what they want.”  They will do what they want if they can get by with it.  But if the parents don’t guide them right, the child will be less likely to make good value judgments when they are on their own.

It’s not just parents, however, who have the prophetic role of helping others to know God and to know God's ways.  In the sacrament of Confirmation we are all anointed to be witnesses of Christ and of our faith whenever the opportunity arises.  Sometimes we can witness through words of encouragement, as long as we don’t get too preachy.  Sometimes we can witness by sharing with another person how much help our faith gives us.  Sometimes we can only witness by our love, by a good life and by prayer.

There is one other aspect of our gospel we must not miss.  God usually communicates with us in very simple ways.  The people of Nazareth thought they couldn’t learn anything from a carpenter.  In our pride, our envy, our prejudices, our willingness to follow the crowd, we can easily miss the ways God is trying to break through our defenses.  This morning/afternoon he comes to us in a most simple way: as food and drink.  Yet for those who have eyes to see, in this holy meal it is infinite life and love that is given to us.

 

   

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      Betty is a handmaid who has prayed in the

        China Church for 11 years. To get from her

        house to the church she uses a walker and

        must go over a creek and a little bridge.

        We wanted a little place she could rest

        by the Church. We need about $1,000 to

        make this happen. Can you help us?

 

 

 

We are trying to get

Response to God's Love

and the Mass Book out.
 

Anybody who wants to help us

with a donation to get these 2 books

out in the Priestly/hierarchy mailing —

Please call Kathleen 1-888-211-3041

 

 

July 31, 1994

Words of Jesus to Members of
Shepherds of Christ Associates:

"My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.

"I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.

"I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."

- Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Founder, as given on July 31, 1994,
feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)

 

  

 

  

 

The China Church is over 140 years old

and we pray in there 24 hours a day.

It needs stucco and so does

the community building.

Can you please help us?

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Likewise the priest house

is 150 years old.

Jesus told us to repair it

which we have been doing.

We need $13,000.00 for this work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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in the hands of 1,000 people

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You can help put Fr. Joe's homily

book in the hands of

1,000 priests — it costs $1,100

This can help 1,000 parish priests

talk about Covenant for Lent 

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