Life Giving Water

In today's gospel we learn that Jesus tells us that he is the Life Giving Water that we all need, and those who come to Him will never Thirst. Christ promises to fill us with water that will spring us to Eternal Life, for in Him all of our thirsts are quenched as our Savior grants us life, peace, happiness, joy, faith, hope, and love. Jesus provides the spiritual nourishment that we need as Christians and ensures that we are filled with the Lord and the Holy Spirit every time we celebrate the Eucharist. The message is clear and simple, those who take of Christ's body and blood are filled with the Savior and those who believe in this miracle shall be some day united with God in the world to come. When we hear the voice of the Lord we must remember to not harden our hearts, but be receptive and take Him in for He will always help us in times of trouble and times of need. For we know how much God loves us in that like the gospel says, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." There is certainly no greater gift than to "lay down one's life for one's friends." We are friends of God and He has sent us His Spirit to reveal and teach us all things. It is our test as Christians to remain faithful and trust and continue to drink of the cup of salvation that is available to us all in our Lord. As Jesus said, "I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many," we too must remember that life is not going to be easy but by persevering and withstanding all tests we too will reign with our Lord as He has promised us. So let us go therefore and drink of this Life Giving Water and do our part as disciples of Christ to share this cup of Salvation with all those around us by living a life of honesty, love, compassion, and friendship.

Listen to Him

In today's gospel we learn how important it is to listen to the Son of God Jesus Christ who is ever present and interactive in our daily lives. God said to the first disciples "This is my Son with whom I am well pleased, Listen to Him." It is important for us Christians to respond to this message from God. The only way that we can become renewed in multiple areas of our lives is to work with the Lord through obedience and by listening to him in the events of our daily lives, as well as while in prayer. It is important that we do God's will because His will is what will ultimately bring us to become full human beings and our complete selves. God knows what is best for us and wants us to be co-creators to His will. The future is certainly not set in stone, God has given us the ability (free will) to choose the ultimate good that will lead us to become closer to Him and become better people. Our lives are continuously unfolding and developing so we just have to be aware of the presence of God all around us and respond positively. We have to try our best to embrace challenges and look at them as opportunity's to grow closer to God who makes us holy by helping us to persevere and overcome temptation and sin. By staying in touch with God and noticing Christ in the lives of others, as well as making Him present to others we fully can experience the Lord in our lives and will understand this transfiguration we too are going through. Although we probably will not be shining as white as light or as snow, as Jesus was in THE TRANSFIGURATION when He appeared to the disciples conversing with Moses and Elijah, we will be transformed from our old ways to new ways of life in Christ. Therefore, by continuing to listen to Jesus and learn from our old selves, we have the best chance of being born as new creatures in Christ to God the Father who will continue to Love us the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Lent A Time of Reflection and Evaluation

Today marks the first Sunday of Lent, a time of reflection, evaluation, and preparation for our Lord's Resurrection on Easter Sunday. We learn in today's gospel that Jesus was tempted by the Devil in the dessert, first to make stones into bread, second to cast himself down from a high point to allow the angels to save Him, and lastly to gain all the Kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship the Devil. Jesus did not give in to any of these temptations, but continuously relied on God and trusted in the Lord when He was tempted. Like Christ we too during this Lenten season as well as every day of our lives will be tempted to do certain things. We are left with decisions to make, when we choose what is good we better our relationship with God through perseverance, while when we go down the dark road we separate ourselves from the Lord because of sin. Lent is a time in the Church calender which allows us to reflect on our actions and behaviors, in order to evaluate ourselves and make necessary changes. Lent is a time of repentance, where we die to our old selves, sinful ways, and are born in Christ to new life through the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Christ invites all of us to this spiritual birth, however we must act upon this incredible invitation positively with full confidence that we no longer have to live in bondage to sin. It is important to realize that we can only overcome the troublesome matters of our lives with the Lord by our side. We must continuously work at the things we are not good at and avoid the situations that lead to our sinfulness. Then and only then will we be able to overcome the evil things that are holding us back from gaining closer to our Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit we can do all and overcome all. Therefore, continue to make the effort and stay strong, reflect and evaluate who you are. For Christ is always near, it is just a matter of allowing God into our lives and then we will see clearly that the possibilities in life are endless.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

In today's Gospel we hear "Blessed are the poor in Spirit" in the Beatitudes. Christ calls each of us to be poor. What does this exactly mean. Jesus calls us to poverty, not in the sense of destitution, but to be poor as to be dependent on God. Many times we get accustomed to or comfortable with the lives we are living, especially with our material possessions. Whatever we have it is important to remember that it is a gift from God, blessings that we cannot receive without the Lord's abundant grace and mercy. Without God we are nothing. With Him we are made complete, His people who are dependent on the Lord and on Love which rules our lives. Material wealth and possessions can be dangerous if we do not remember that God grants these gifts to us. People can fall away from God and become independent of Christ, which in essence is suicidal. The poor in spirit are those who rely on God and spiritual wealth which rules their lives and allows them to use material gain to benefit the society at large. We are called to this poverty to trust in our Lord and realize that we must live in communion and dependence with Him, as well as our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. The Gospel is very clear in saying, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these (other) things shall be added onto you." When the Holy Spirit is ruling our lives and we have dependence on God we cannot go wrong and we may have full confidence that the Lord will take care of our every need. Psalm 23 puts this message very clearly saying, "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want." Material wealth and pleasure in this world will end, however a relationship with the Lord and the promise of Eternal life will last forever. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theres is the Kingdom of God."

A Prayer for Evangelization

LOVING GOD

You called us each by name
and gave your only Son to redeem us.
In your faithfulness, you sent the Holy Spirit
to complete the mission of Jesus among us.

Open our hearts to Jesus.
Give us the courage to speak His name
to those who are close to us
and the generosity to share His love
with those who are far away.

We pray that every person throughout the world
be invited to know and love Jesus
as Savior and Redeemer.
May they come to know His all surpassing love.
May that love transform every element of our society.

We make this prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and forever,
AMEN

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Change, A Necessary Thing

In Today's Gospel we learn that change is something that is necessary, something which brings forth new doors and opportunities in our lives. Without change we would not be able to respond to where God continues to call us and lead us throughout our lives. Change is something we all need to participate in. It is God who calls us to change when our vocation continues to shape as our relationship with our Lord develops and matures. Change is also necessary for us because we are sinners who need to repent and rid of our old sinful ways. We all have things that hinder our relationship with God whether it be the use of fowl language, over indulging, our sexual appetites, or some other iniquity, we have to change our ways to follow the Lord more closely. It is evident that we can become caught up in our sinful ways and become used to living in this sin. We may even become comfortable with it, therefore we don't feel that it is such a "big" deal, when reality is that we cannot grow in the life and love of the Lord if we do not make the effort to reform our ways. It is by the grace of God and His loving Holy Spirit that we are able to be set free from the bondage of our sins, thanks to Christ who died on the Cross for us. God calls all of us not only to reform our lives, but to be accepting to the new relationships, opportunities, and conditions that come about even when we least expect it. We see in this weeks Gospel that Peter, Simon, James, and John accepted the change which God called them to. Christ came to them as they were fishing and said, "Come follow me." Jesus told them that he would make them "fishers of men" and that they would be his disciples to spread the Gospel to all nations, through baptism and proclamation of the Word. These men took on Christ and changed, maybe something that was not necessarily all too comforting at first, yet they realized that God had plans for them that would allow them to become their authentic selves. Therefore, we urge you to not resist change when things develop in your life, but to embrace it as the disciples did and trust that God will lead you on your way in this life and forever in the life to come. Change is a gradual process and we all will face the temptation to go back to our old sinful ways, but behold as the scriptures say those who accept the Lord have become new creatures in Him. Live in the Spirit and in the Lord and allow God to work in your life for change and repentance is the way we can grow in love and relationship with our Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world.

Listen to the Lord

A true and personal relationship with God is what Christians stride for. We know that God is our everything making us who we are, the Lord making our lives complete, for without Him we are nothing. There are many ways to walk with the Lord each day as our lives can be a constant prayer with Christ by our side. When we are with others, when we are alone, when we are going about what we view as meaningless daily routines, God is there with us. It is certainly important to take time out of our busy schedules to devote some quiet time to our Lord and Creator. When we do spend time with God, whether in formal prayer and through the constant prayer of our daily lives we must do our best to listen. Listening is the most imperative thing in order to know what God is calling us to do, what He is asking of us, and what He has in store for our future. We can hear God through other people. We can hear God through His Word, the Bible. We can hear God speaking to our hearts when we spend quiet time with him. We just have to take the time to listen. The important aspect of listening is something that will take us beyond, something that will make our relationship with God the best it can possibly be. To be a friend of Christ is to listen to not only our Savior, but to accept what He has to say and make changes when the Spirit speaks to us. Most of the time it is us doing the talking and although we do have to share with God our concerns, frustrations, and joys, He knows what is best for us, what we need, and everything else because He knows us better than we know ourselves. So we urge our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to first listen to God for He will reveal all to those remain faithful and has much to tell you in a multitude of ways. By listening to the Lord our lives will be different because Christ is at the wheel, in the driver seat, and we are passengers along for the ride. Be God’s right hand man by listening to the Holy Spirit, praying, serving, and loving on all as Jesus the Son did. Remember God blessed us with the ability to hear and to listen. Put his Word into action in this world, listen to what He has to say and become the man or woman the Lord made you to be.