Don't Live as the World Lives, But Through Love and the Power of God

In today's first two readings we hear a strong message from both the Prophet Isaiah and Paul who speak about life in this world, while not being of this world. As Christians we have to go about living in a world that is broken, full of trouble, temptation, and sin, however we do not have to be of this world. Certainly, we live in a time when independence and being the best, most powerful, and of greatest success matters most to so many people. Yet, the Word we hear to today teaches us that these people may think that they have it all, but really they are missing out on the greatest thing that any man can have, a a faith and life filled with love fostered by God the Father. Love is a gift that God gives to us freely, it is something that we cannot earn but just receive because we are His children. In the Gospel story we hear of the servants who work and expect something in return, one works for the entire day, another for half the day, and the third for only a few hours. The one who worked the entire day becomes jealous and mad when he learns that the third servant only worked a few hours yet received the same wage. This story is one that we can all learn from, it is not about what we do or how much we do it, but about what God does for us and how we respond and receive what the Lord gives to us. Certainly, the first servant missed out on the blessings that he was receiving because he was focused on earning a wage for the work he did. With God, we are all valued whether we do great things, or small things in great ways. It is not so much about what we do as how we use the gifts, blessings, and love that comes our way to positively love the world in which we live. The Kingdom of God is spread on earth and is among us so long as we love others as God loves us. Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians tells them that to be with Christ is the utmost blessing and greatest gift, namely death is gain, while life here on earth must be lived for Jesus. He also tells them that he would like to go to the Father now, however he knows that his work here on earth is not yet done and that the people of Philippi need him, they need his love. Love takes sacrifice, it is not easy while living in a world where competition, greed, envy, and pride are so ever present. Although, it is a challenge, the greatest gift of all is Love and this love that we receive while in an intimate relation with Christ and by sharing our lives with the community of believers must be spread throughout the broken world in order to make it whole and full of true life once again. For "Christ came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28) How great a position we are in. God loves us because of who we are, and what we do by sharing this power of love that comes from our Father essentially displays our Love to the World. Therefore let us keep this love in our hearts and know that we are the children of God who are to be love for the world, love in the world, love throughout the world. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.....faith, hope, love remain, but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13)

We all can Relate to the Prodigal Son

It is in the Gospel of Luke where humankind can learn so much and reflect upon the story of the Prodigal Son. For many, this story hits home right away, however it has many messages as Jesus teaches us about the problems of pride, independence, and the fault of following the rules too closely. The younger son is given his inheritance and instead of being patient and listening to his father on how to manage this wealth he instead goes away to foreign lands, wastes all his money on prostitutes and empty pleasures. Eventually the youngest son has nothing left and has to fend for himself because he cannot go back to his Father, for he has too much pride and believes that even though he has been given great riches, he does not need to be dependent on his Father. Thus, the great pride clouds the young man's self being and he goes as low as working with pigs, something that is seen as a disgrace in the Jewish world. Not only does the young man work with the swine, he longs to eat of the slop which the pigs feed from because he himself has no food and the country he is in is suffering from famine. Certainly this young man hit rock bottom he was dead, yet he did not believe that he was dead. Finally the young man realized that he had to go home, he was sorry for his pride and ashamed of what he had done. He decided to go and tell his Father that He was no longer worthy to be called Son. Upon the young man's return home , as soon as his Father saw him he went to Son and kissed him, a sign of forgiveness and a symbol of the grace of life that was given back to the Son because he had returned. The Father decided to slaughter the fattened calf and clothed his son with the finest robe, providing a party for the Son and his friends. Some might ask why would a Father do this for his Son who squandered all his inheritance, committed sinful acts, and defamed the family name in the process by going as low as a Jewish man cold possibly go. Well, the Father was grateful that his Son had come back, from death to life, from being lost, to being once again found. Certainly, the Father represents God in this parable and the Son, we, the children of God. How often do we subside to temptations and things that we know we are not fit to do or should not partake in, but we do it anyway. The major problem that many of us have at one time or another during our lives is pride. When pride takes control of our hearts and we believe that we can be totally independent, we feel we no longer need God and this is extremely dangerous. However, we also must realize that God is continuously trying to reel us in, get us back on board and be arisen from the dead back to life, namely a relationship with Him, our Father. The grace that the young man received was a free gift given by his Father and presents the mercy, love, care, and investment that God has in all of us. Furthermore, this brings us to the second valuable point in this parable, that God does not care so much about the rules as He does the relationship we have with him. Certainly, the older son, the one who remained faithful to his Father and did not squander or even spend any of his inheritance but was a faithful servant all the while when his brother was gone, he missed the boat. Yes, the older son followed the rules, and yes it is good that we obey the ten commandments and statutes of the Church, but we must not get so concerned with the law to forget about the relationship that we must have with our Lord. The older Son did not have a close relationship to his Father and this was represented when he displayed jealousy and complained to his Father when his younger brother came back and received a party after squandering everything. What the older son failed to recognize was the transformation of his brother from death to life, from being a slave to sin to being freed to righteousness. What the older brother did not recognize was that all that was his Father's was his also, but he was too worried about things that did not concern his relationship with his Father. In addition, the older son represents all of us who at one time or another tend to focus on what other people are doing, whether or not they are following the rules. We at times can fall into this trap of judging others for their faults, while we ourselves are far from perfect and should be paying more attention toward fostering a better and closer relationship with Christ because with the Lord as our right hand man the rules will be taken care of. Codependence or interdependence is what we must focus on and be willing to live by, through Christ we are made complete and holy and righteous. For the Father invested so much in us, his creation. He sent his only begotten Son to die so that we may live, this is a huge commitment. Certainly God is not looking to catch us in the act of committing a sin to banish us from his Kingdom, this is a wrong idea. For our God is a God of compassion, love, and generosity. He is willing to work with us and for us, we must trust in Him and continuously foster a deep relationship through prayer, delving into the Word and living out the gospel through love. We are all prodigal sons and daughters at times in our lives and it is important for us to remember the lessons that both sons in this parable learned. We cannot go wrong with our Lord who is "The WAY, The TRUTH, and The LIFE." So lets celebrate that we are alive in Jesus Christ, we have life and by faith and grace have the promise that God our Father will make sin dead to us through the Cross and blood of the Lamb.

No ordinary Tree

Today we are in the 24th Sunday of ordinary time and we hear a message that certainly is not ordinary whatsoever. In the gospel John reminds us that Christ was sent for us as the expiation for our sin, in order to rescue us from the snares of damnation to the abundant life after death. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17). This is the message of salvation, the reason why the Savior came to the world, to bring us from death to life through this incredible act of love. Love was ever present and God displayed this love for the world when he brought human kind into creation by making us from the dirt of the earth into living beings by blowing life into us, giving us our spirit. Adam and Eve betrayed God by eating of the forbidden tree, however Christ atoned for the sin by dying on this not so ordinary tree some 2,000 years ago. We live in this world a world that at times sees us as ordinary, yet we are more than what the eyes can see. Yes, we are body, but we are more than this. The flesh which we bare has no real meaning other than being the place which holds our spirit and soul. It is ever so important for us to never judge the outside of one but the contents of the heart because that is where the truth to a man or woman whom has been created in the image of God remains. The fruit of our spirit is where the essence of whom we are is and continues to develop in this world. We must continue to keep the cross, that not so ordinary tree, at our side and at the center of our life. In this world we are promised that we will have trouble as Job 14:1 proclaims, "Man born of woman
is of few days and full of trouble." Indeed we are human and with this we will have hardship and struggle in this age, however we must remember that our Lord Jesus went through the same troubles and temptations that we face, yet he conquered all without sin. How wonderful it is for us to be linked to this Savior, we was both human and divine. We can relate to him and our Lord Christ can relate to us and plead to the Father that God Almighty must remain patient with us. By bestowing this not so ordinary attitude of the wood of the cross, that expiating tree and message of life that we hear from John's gospel, there is no doubt that we can overcome all of this trouble through, faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ. For human life is a segment of creation in which we a body, soul, and spirit are ignited and sustained by God through his Son Jesus Christ. This life we must remember has much purpose and is for serving and loving God and neighbor, as it is in the world to come which we will prosper fully and rejoice in our Heavenly Home. Thanks be to God, for the faith we receive through grace which has come to us by way of Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord. So times are never ordinary when Christ is by our side, we are linked to a not so ordinary tree which is the Cross, the sign of our faith. The message is clear and proclaimed perfectly by Saint Paul who said, "To live is for Christ, to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21). In this world we will have trouble, but we also have a Savior who gives to us and sustains us, being willing to live and help us through our tough times. We are the flock in the fold and he is our Shepherd, so long as we live for Christ here on earth we shall gain life everlasting in the world to come.

September 11th: A Message That Goes Beyond One Day

Today marks a sad day in American history, September 11th, the day when our Nation was brutally attacked by terrorists, causing the death of hundreds of innocent victims. September 11th, marks a day when all remember those who died in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania field. September 11th marks a day where people across the world said, "I am an American." There is so much to say about this day which we refer to as 9/11, however there is a magnificent question about brotherhood, respect, and love which looms over America and the world. After the events that took place on September 11th, there was a remarkable display of Christian brotherhood, charity, love, and peace between all people of various races, ethnicities, religions, and cultures. The response to the tragedy that struck America was remarkable, yet sad at the same time as it lasted for a while but then faded away and now seems to merely exist on every September 11th in the calendar year. It is amazing how humans respond to tragedy and misfortune, to events that hurt our fellow man. However, why does it take an event like September 11th, to rise the multitudes to come together as brothers and sisters as one, a collective piece in this humanity we are a part of? Why does it take aircrafts being launched into buildings, and people dying to get a response from the human race? Should not we live our lives like all Americans and people who hold true to this Nation do on every September 11th? Should we not be their for our fellow Americans and fellow brothers and sisters across the globe when times are good and times are bad? Why does it take an event that is tragic to spark the love that lays in our hearts dormant until death strikes and people are so brutally affected? We live in a world where genocide, human rights violations, war, and terror are evident every day, yet response to such matters only occur for a period of time. Why is this? Why do human beings not step up to the plate and give their all to combat evil in this world, gaining peace and reconciliation for all by means of love, fellowship, and suffering for another's gain? The answer seems complex, unknown, and mysterious, however, the answer lays before us. Jesus said in the gospel of Thomas (found in the dead sea scrolls and revealed to the public after Vatican II) that "The Kingdom of God is before you, the problem is that people do not see clearly." What did our Lord mean when he said this to the disciples some 2,000 years ago? Well, God and the love of God is within us, the mission is set before us, and we are called to respond everyday, not just on September 11ths, namely tragic times. Who are we and what do we hold to be important to us? If love rules our lives then we have the Kingdom of God now and will continue to have it in the world to come. But if we do not, and we merely react to things and are those people who respond for a while and then drift away, we are lost sheep who need the Shepherd but refuse his call. So on this September 11th I urge you to reflect on your life, your situation, your past, your present, and your future. Who are you? How do you live life? Are you willing to open your eyes wide and see the Kingdom of God before you? This is a daily call to love God and neighbor. It's dates such as 9/11 that remind us of this call and then its up to us to act appropriately no matter how hard it may be. For Christ sacrificed so that all may live, the least we can do is to sacrifice so that our fellow may gain the life he and she deserves. May God grant peace and rest on the victims of September 11th and all those victims whom have been robbed of life because of tragic events.