As Easy as Pushing a Button?

I was headed on the three A.M. Train to Williamsburg, Virginia to spend the July fourth holiday. As a perused my Facebook news feed, there it was, staring me in the face. What good luck! Could it really be true?! Is it really that easy? Just push a button?
   It stood before me. One of my favorite pictures of Jesus on the right, hugging a person who has just entered the kingdom of heaven. On the left, a high cliff with lost souls throwing themselves off into the fires of hell. 'Type 1 for salvation, 2 for damnation' it read. So all I need to do is type 1? No following the life that Jesus led? No following the command he gave to the 72 followers?
  Well, if only it was that easy, but today's gospel tells us otherwise. Jesus makes it very clear that He sends each one of us into the world to preach the arrival of the kingdom. And each of us is entrusted to cast out demons and save souls, demons of greed and other addictions, false prophesies of society and harmful life choices. And we are told to not revel in the miracle of saving others because it is not ourselves who are doing these things, but the Spirit. We are to remain humble, as Pope Francis has told his clergy this week, and be thankful that we are already entrusted to the father's house.
  So how do we do these things? Do we stand on the street corner on a soapbox and read bible passages? I suppose one could, but it is in how we live our lives. As people interact with us or pass by where we are standing, do they see Jesus? Do our actions, siting the old adage of speaking louder that words, actually follow what we profess? These are questions we need to revisit again and again and, even if we are falling short, inspire us to make a new effort to reach these ideals.
  The seventy-two are not named in the bible. We are those people. Unnamed, unknowns. Simply living and preaching the good news of Christ resurrected. And though this is more difficult than pushing a button, the rewards are greater than we can imagine.
  I will say this. I typed a one. Can't hurt to be safe. But I rather think that it didn't matter to Jesus what I typed, but rather what I lived.

Peace.

Summer Sun and God's love

I love the summer. I love being able to sit outside in the gentle summer breeze and feel the warmth of the sun on my face. As I close my eyes, the feeling reminds me of God's powerful love. I also love the summer for summer vacation and no school! But that is another feeling.

  God shows us His love in so many ways. The situation I described above. The movement of the clouds if you take the time to watch it. The signing of birds. The love of others. We just need to open our hearts and be ready to receive it. And there is the catch. In this busy world where we are constantly on the run, trying to get to work, to home, to the kids soccer game, to the sale, we leave little time for reflection, or solitude. Yet this is perhaps the most vital time for our spiritual wellness. Recall that Jesus reminded us to pray to the Father in the quiet of our room, not where it can be a show to others. Now I do not think that was meant to be the only way to pray. I find great joy in joining in prayer with others at mass and other liturgies. But I do believe it was meant to help us understand how vital it is to remove ourselves from life's distractions so that we can hear the voice of God.

As summer time is upon us, this time of relaxation and vacations, we may be in the best situation to take advantage of theses chances. Perhaps this will wallow us to understand the importance and change our lives so that we always get these chances. Lord knows I am guilty of not finding these chances. Hence why it has been so long between posts. But I hope to find the time to post more regularly as well, since these posts tend to follow my quiet time of prayer with God.  Find your quiet time and, if you like, let us know here how it changes your life.

Peace

Our Fathers

Let me first take the time to wish all fathers a very blessed and happy Father's Day. I hope you all enjoyed your day, got some rest, and got some family pampering time. It takes a lot to be a good parent and moms and dads deserve some recognition for trying their best. I got some wonderful cards and phone calls for Father's Day. I also received a few gifts that I am thoroughly enjoying. But I received an unexpected gift as well. Yesterday, as a teased my son about the cleanliness of his car, he decided it would be a good time to clean it out. I went up to our apartment and, several minutes later he walked in carrying a large folder. He announced that, "we really had not finished unpacking because he found this." From the folder he removed a large photograph of his grandfather, my dad, that used to hang in the office of my accounting and insurance business that a formerly ran with my brother. Isn't it interesting that dad chose to make this appearance on Fathers Day.
  Now some people may say this is coincidence, but I beg to differ. I truly believe that all those ancestors of ours who have gone before us in the faith are constantly looking over us. They leave us little reminders of what the right path or choice is. And they send these little reminders to let us know they are on the lookout for us. You see a parent's love can never end, not even in death
  It is because of God's unceasing and unselfish love for each of us that we refer to God as Father. He holds for us that same kind of love as a parent for their child. It is unending and nonjudgmental. It wants everything to work in our favor and yet allows us to make our own decisions and learn and grow from our actions and choices.
  Through my Dad's life, the way he lived, I learned how to be a good, supportive father. I learned how to be a loving and considerate husband. And I learned that the needs of others are always more important than my own. I may fall short of what I learned from time to time, but when I do, I realize what I have done and make efforts to change. What my Dad taught me, is what Jesus taught us about His Father. That as we try our best, we will stumble, but get up, brush yourself off and try again. There is no giving up and no failure. Giving up is the failure.
   Thanks Dad. I know you're watching over me. And thanks for showing up this weekend especially. I'll find you a place to stay in our home.
  Happy Fathers Day everyone.

-Peace.

Hiatus over

Having finished preparing my students for regents exams and finals, I am ready to continue sharing reflections starting tonight. 

Groups of Fifty

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. It is a celebration of the basis of our faith, the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharistic meal. It is a belief that makes us truly Catholic. I have preached on this date every year since I was ordained and I have always spoken about the true presence of The Lord.
  As I prepare to preach today, and as I reflected on the readings, something else was intriguing me. The Holy Spirit was causing me to ponder a different view on today's readings.
  We are all very familiar with the miracle presented today. Perhaps it is the story of the loaves and the fishes that is one of the more interesting ones that we hear as children. So we know that there is no way that this small amount of food could possibly feed 5000+ people. And yet the bible passage states that all were satisfied and there was still food left over. But there is a line often skimmed over. As the apostles ask Jesus what to do, He tells them to sit in groups of 50. Why? Why can they not just sit they way they are now? Why, if someone is shy, can they not sit alone? This may makes some of the five thousand uncomfortable. After all, when we go to an event, such as a wedding or dinner dance, one of the first things we do is pick up our place seating card and then seek out who we are seated with. We try to determine if we know anyone, or are with the people we prefer. And Jesus forces them to sit with a fairly large number, assuring that though they may know a few, no one will know all.
  Would the miracle not happen if they were not seated this way? What was the purpose?
  If someone said to me that on the way to work this morning they passed a giraffe crossing the parkway, I would have a hard time believing it. But that belief changes if several, or twenty, or even fifty people witness the same fact. It also changes based on who says it. I am less likely to believe a stranger that a close relative, or someone I know is rather learned or trusted. All of these ideas are factors here.
  As this miracle takes place, the fact that there are fairly large groups sitting together makes it easier for all to experience the miracle and know the awesome power that has just touched their lives in an intimate way. And since it happens in every group, as they speak with those in each group, the truly understand that this was not some trick, since all had the same experience whoever they were with. This was an act of Godly power. Jesus revealing His divine nature.
  Ad on this feast, as well as every Sunday and Holy day, we gather as a group and experience a similar miracle first hand. We gather as ordinary bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the body and blood of the one , risen Lord. And although to non-believers this may still look like bread and wine, be understand differently. We, in the faith of our hearts, in the faith of our minds, in the faith of our souls, see not merely bread and wine. We see out Lord becoming a part of us in a most intimate way. In a way that no one else can. And even is science can not prove that Christ is present, we know better. Because we were told it was true by a learned person, a trusted person, a divine person. We were told this by our God Himself, Jesus Christ. And with the faith of a child we profess that we need no proof, because it must be true!

My Next Preaching Engagement

I will next be preaching on Sunday, June 2 at the 10:00 am and 11:45am masses at St. Joseph Church located at Fifth Street and Franklin Avenue in Garden City, NY. If you stop by, please let me know you follow the page.

Unexplainable Trinity

How does one preach about the unexplainable? This has been the dilemma of every preacher as they ponder the Holy Trinity. There is nothing that exists on earth that can be like it. There are no words man has developed that can describe it. There are no ideas that can understand it. So how does one preach on the unknown and unexplainable?
  Many of us know that St. Patrick, forever famously depicted holding his shamrock, tried using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to his congregation. He explained how the shamrock, while three distinct leaves, was just one shamrock. This explanation sufficed for many years and has sprung many other examples as attempts to explain and understand the belief in a triune God.
  Other examples are: The egg. One egg, three parts. Shell, white and yolk.
                                       Water. Existing as liquid, solid and gas but always
                                                       the same chemical makeup.
All of these, while valid attempts, fall short. Each contains the same deficiency. Our belief is that God is Triune and exists always as three 'persons,' Father, Son and Spirit. Never separated. Always acting together. And in that belief, when the Word became human, though Jesus left the Father and Spirit to become man, at the same time, He remained with the Father and the Spirit. So for these examples to be valid, I should be able to split them apart and yet they will remain one!  Hmmm..... If I remove one leaf of a shamrock, it is no longer one whole.  If I separate the egg, it is pieces of one egg, but it is no longer still one. If I freeze water it is no longer liquid and gas at the same time, unless we accept that water exists independently as each and heat always as all three somewhere in our world at the same time.
   Here is where the faith of a child must kick in. For it is only through the eyes of faith that we can accept the unexplainable. It is only through the eyes of faith that we can accept the unknown. It is only through faith that we can gain understanding. Faith and prayer. Through faith and prayer we learn to accept that we are not yet complete, that we do not yet know everything. And, just as a child matures, we will learn as a people of God as we continue to mature in faith.