Weekly Reflections

My dear sisters and brothers we are called to serve God by our baptism. Many of Christians were baptized as infants and they don’t remember their baptism. Others were baptized as children, old enough to remember their baptism but perhaps not old enough really to make a choice! And some people became Christians as adults. All of us, me and you, who were baptized are called to fallow Jesus and serve God and people every day of our life. After our baptism God is calling us to follow Him; the Lord Jesus invites us to be with Him and Holy Spirit gives us strength to walk with the Lord.

Many times, we do not recognize that God calling us. Sometimes we dislike that the Lord is calling us. Like those in today’s Gospel from Saint Luke, we sometimes find different reasons not to go together with our Lord when we are invited. In today’s Gospel one the men which was calling by Jesus said- “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Sometimes we reject this invitation. Many times we are choosing our own way.

Our Lord tells us stories like those in today’s Gospel because He knows our weaknesses even better than we do. We are given the witness of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, Saints, because we always need encouragement. Saint Paul is always reminding us how to follow God.

My dear brothers and sisters,

After our Baptism and confirmation we are called to serve God and one another through love. We are invited to continue to trust in the Lord, no matter how many times we fail. We are invited to walk with the Lord, no matter how many times we have turned down His invitation. We are invited to renew our good intentions, no matter how many times we have had good intentions and have done nothing.

My dear Brothers and sisters,

Jesus Christ came into our world to save us, bring us salvation, open the gate for everyone to heaven, not to condemn us. Jesus Christ calls us to believe in Him and gives us the power of the Holy Spirit in our weakness, gives us grace and power for spiritually growing in our daily life and being true disciples. May the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of our Lord Jesus draw us to the Father and give us strength this day to take one small step toward the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus Christ and help us in our weakness.

Jesus in today’s Gospel asked his disciples “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said: “John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets.” Then He asked the next question only they could answer: “But who do you say that I am?” And again Peter, who was never without words, whether the right ones or not, gave the bonus answer for all of them: “THE MESSIAH OF GOD.” Peter gave the right answer.

My dear bothers and sisters,

Jesus is asking us today, and every one who may believe in Jesus “Who do you say that I am?”

Some people today give answers that fall short of the whole truth about Jesus. For some, Jesus is just a teacher with beautiful ideas not popular in today’s society. Perhaps many more do not know how to answer, or perhaps try to ignore the question, hoping that it will go away.

Each person will have different way of answer. Yet there is something basic to all of us who recognize Jesus as the Messiah as our God. The more we acknowledge Him as the Messiah, as our Redeemer, the more we must deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Jesus.

We know that to follow Jesus and His teaching is not easy, not popular in our society, in our families. Many times we struggle in our families to put Jesus FIRST, then us, and after that the remainder of society.

Today as we celebrate Father’s Day, let us think what our heavenly Father would like us to do. Let us think what we as His children should do to please Him. It is about recognizing Jesus for who He really is.

Today we acknowledge and recognize our earthly fathers. With their wife they are our first teacher of faith and life. Today we thank them in various ways for the dedication to our families. And again, we give them material gifts, sent them cards, which is a beautiful way to express our gratitude toward them. As the family of St. Francis parish let us give them one more thing, a prayer. Now let us please kneel down and pray with me for our fathers living and deceased:

God, you are the Father of all creation. You promised the people of Israel long life and prosperity if they would follow Your commandments. One of those commands was “honor your father and your mother.” Help us to live this commandment each day of our life.

May we honor our fathers through their life. May we remember them with gratitude for the things they has given to us, and may Your blessings be poured out upon them.

We also ask a special blessing upon our fathers and grandfathers who have gone before us. We cherish their memory and pray that they are secure in heaven with you.

Heavenly Father, source of all wisdom, give strength and hope to all who are fathers today. Grant them wisdom, courage, mercy, and the grace they need to live out this most holy calling. Give them joy and peace in You. We ask all this in Christ’s name. Amen.

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

As we celebrate today’s Eucharist, we are invited to reflect on our own faith.

Today’s Holy Scriptures tell us that, our task is to believe and repent. When we believe, God transforms us. God is the one who forgives sins and change our lives. We can be saved, when we open ourselves to the justice and mercy of God.

The first reading, from the Second Book of Samuel, tells us the story of King David, who is one of the great people of faith in the Hebrew Scriptures. He is also an incredible sinner. Yet he always trusts in God’s mercy and forgiveness and truly repents of his sins.

King David is a full human being, with lots of desires and incredible energy to serve the Lord. His love for God does not stop him from sinning but when he recognizes that he has sinned, he repents with all his heart. So, King David is a wonderful example for all of us. He shows us how to repent and change his life and seek God as his highest good.

The Gospel has the same lesson. The Gospel remind us of something very important. God is the one who forgives sins. Jesus said in today’s Gospel to the woman,” Your sins are forgiven”. She was sinner but she wasn’t ashamed to repent in front of everyone. She is another incredible example to all of us of how to live the mystery of our faith.

We can take the words of the Letter to the Galatians as a model:

I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. The more I recognize that I am loved, the more I can live from that love with complete trust and confidence in the Lord.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, in our daily life we make mistakes and we sin, but we have to trust completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our task is to believe. When we believe, God transforms us. God saves us. God loves us. God invites us to eternal life. Let us live and walk in the way of the Lord.

Today we celebrate the fifth Sunday of Easter. In the second reading John tells us about his vision of a new heaven and a new earth. He describes the New Jerusalem and presents us with a wonderful picture of what heaven will be like. In the New Jerusalem God lives with his people and he is fully present to them. The end of his reading he said: The one sitting on the throne spoke: Now I am making all things new.

My dear brothers and sisters,

This newness is in a real sense, which is already upon us. The simple fact of Jesus’ resurrection makes the whole world new. After Jesus’ resurrection everything has a much deeper sense for all those who follow Christ.

After our Baptism we live a new life in Christ. Through our Baptism we have become part of his work of the salvation in the world. There is not just a new heaven and a new earth; there are also new people—the Church. We are the leaven for the world, the salt of the earth, the new chosen people.

In our Gospel reading Jesus instructs the eleven, and also us, how to be his disciples. He says: Love one another just as I have loved you. By the love you have for one another everyone will know that you are my disciples. So Jesus clearly wants us to be known as his disciples by the world. It is in this way that his salvation will become known and that everyone will eventually come to him.

When I go to different places and I wear a clerical collar people know who I am, that I’m the priest. They know, therefore, what I stand for. In a very real sense I represent Christ. But it shouldn’t be just the priest, should it? It should be all of us; for we are all ambassadors for Christ.

If we are to be faithful to Christ we can’t be secret followers, we have to walk in the light, we have to openly give witness to Jesus. We must allow people to know what we are and who we stand for. And we must live lives that will not discredit our faith, in Christ. If we are to be effective witnesses to Christ in the world then we have to have Christ at the very forefront of our minds. We need to show Christ in everything we do. We must be aware of and act on his loving presence at all times of the day.

With this, people will come to know Jesus Christ.

Christ has risen! Alleluia!

The word, “alleluia”, signifies “give praise to God”. Blessed are those who follow him and praise him.

No other event has been recorded in the history of the world comparable to the one that took place on that Sunday morning when the women discovered the empty tomb of Our Lord. Yet, the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, can only be recognized as such through faith.

With the Resurrection of Our Lord, a new age dawned in the salvation history of humanity, a new chapter was written in the story of the love that God has for us.

My dear brothers and sisters

We Christians should understand that the Resurrection of Christ is not only a historical happening. Almost two thousand years have passed since this most important of all events in the life of Christians occurred. As followers of Christ, we should see in the Resurrection the mystery of the redemption of humanity and our own personal redemption. Jesus Christ lives today, and every day, with us. His Resurrection changed the history of humanity, the meaning of faith and religion for the People of God.

The Resurrection of Christ was not only the confirmation of all that he said and taught during his earthly life, it was also the confirmation of his divinity, of his divine authority, of his absolute power over life and death. He had promised that he would rise from the dead. And he kept his promise.

On a personal level, today, we Christians have a great deal to celebrate.

The triumphant Resurrection of Our Lord shows us two aspects of the Paschal Mystery that are fundamental for our personal life. In the Easter Proclamation we heard that through his Resurrection, the Lord has saved us from the darkness of sin and has given us an opportunity to share completely in the love of God, in the grace of the Holy Spirit. We joyfully celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord.

Through this great event, Our Lord calls on us to transform our lives, to keep trying to do better, to persevere in our attempts to be faithful to be as faithful to God as God is to us.

Christ has risen! Alleluia!!

Whistler was a famous artist known to many for his painting of a calm old lady in a rocking chair, entitled: ”Whistler’s Mother”. One day a friend asked Whistler’s help in hanging a beautiful picture. After several minutes of thought the artist declared: “Man, you are beginning at the wrong end. You can’t make that painting fit the room. You will have to make the room fit the Painting.”

That is what we must do about today’s Gospel. Jesus paints a new and beautiful picture of what His true followers must be like. He gives us four of the Beatitudes, the marks or signs of a truly holy and happy person. Jesus tells us what we must do to be worthy of the promise: “Your reward is great in Heaven.” The reward is great in this world too; there is big satisfaction and peace in knowing what we must do to please God.

God’s picture is too great for the heart and mind of ordinary man or woman. We need help to set up this way of living. We cannot do it alone. It is impossible to accept poverty and hunger and grief and hatred and criticism for the sake of Christ without Jesus’ help. We need help and be sure, Christ will provide it.

This picture of true happiness is so different from the picture of happiness painted by the world, by our friends, our television, magazines, even by our education and social customs. Many who have no faith in Jesus admit that our religion and Jesus’ ideas are wonderful, however not realistic, impossible.

Is it possible to live the Beatitudes? Yes, if the Master helps us make the wall of our heart larger, more generous, to measure up the size of the picture Christ paints of what He wants us to be.

Jesus never asks the impossible. The difficult, yes, but never anything beyond our strength. And if Jesus asks some more of us because we are His followers, He will provide extra strength to each of us. But we have to ask for that strength, and we do during our public worship. Watch the words: “Make us grow in love,” grow more in the desire to please God by following the directions His Divine Son gives us today, and every day.

Recall and repeat the words from our first reading: “Blessed, is the man or woman who trust in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord.” With one voice and one heart we will pray the words our Savior taught us: “Thy will be done.” What is the will of the Father? It is that we live the words of His Son, especially what we heard in today’s Gospel.

With Jesus’ help, so generously given in this Holy Sacrifice, we can make our hearts larger, we can live the Beatitudes. May Jesus help us to be poor in spirit, to accept hunger and sorrow, criticism and insults for His sake. Amen.

My dear brothers and sisters, today’s readings are telling us that we are all part of the plan that God has for the world. All of us have a task in this world. You and I are chosen by God to live in this world, fight against evil, change our own lives, help another and make world around us better.

The readings speak about this. In today’s first reading Isaiah responds to the question of the Lord, “Whom shall I send?” with “Here I am, Lord, send me.”

In the second reading Paul tells the Corinthians that God chose him to preach the Gospel even though he had previously persecuted the Church.

In the Gospel Jesus calls Simon Peter and James and John to be part of the plan and fish for men.

My dear brothers and sisters, Jesus calls you and me every day to fish for people who live around us. Some of them might be members of the family. He calls us to let people know that there is hope, and that Hope’s name is Jesus Christ. He calls you and me to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel: Life is Beautiful! Life is Eternal! Life is Jesus Christ!

Many times we ask ourselves: Why me, I’m not that good! I have not enough strength. Send somebody else!

Similar thoughts came to Isaiah in the first reading, “I am a man of unclean lips.”

Paul in today’s second reading said: “I persecuted Jesus Christ.” Peter in the Gospel said to Jesus, “Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man.”

Remember what happened. An angel cleaned Isaiah’s lips. Paul was on his way to Damascus when Jesus appeared to Him and called him to change his life. And Peter heard the Lord tell him, “Do not be afraid of me, from now on you will be a catcher of men.”

Do not be afraid Jesus said to Peter and is telling to us now. He knows us, our ability. We are good enough to promote the Kingdom of God in our world, in our families. God is giving us his grace and power. We need to trust God. We have been called to change the world. We have been called to bring Hope to the world, and proclaim the Gospel.

We only have one life we can live. We have been called by Jesus Christ to make this one life the best life possible, His Life. We have been called, all of us, to be fishers for Christ.

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

We return today to ordinary time in our liturgy celebrations. Last Sunday we celebrated Baptism of the Lord and we renewed our baptismal vows during Holy Mass. Today is second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Gospel from Saint John for today’s Sunday is telling us about first miracle which Jesus did in the beginning of His public ministry.

For 10 anniversary of my priesthood I went to Holy Land. I went for pilgrimage with my classmates priests. We spent two weeks traveling from one to another historical place. We visited different towns, villages and places connected to the Bible. One day we spend at Cana in Galilee. We touched the place where Jesus did the first miracle during the wedding and started his public ministry. At that time I felt like new ordained priest one again. After this pilgrimage to Holy Land I understood better the Holy Bible and Jesus. Jesus changes me, my personality, my priesthood and my style of preaching.

My dear brothers and sisters the public ministry of Jesus begins, as John tells today in his Gospel, at the wedding in Cana. How this happened!

Mary notes that the wine is about to run out and she is concerned. How embarrassing it would be for this young couple to begin their lives together if they could not provide sufficient food and drink for their guests. Mary brings her concern to Jesus and water is turned into wine in abundance. The wedding reception continues and the party goes on. What a wonderful work Jesus does! Because of him the joy and happiness of the celebration continues.

In the last sentence of today’s gospel we read: “Jesus did this as the beginning of His signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed His glory, and His disciples began to believe in Him.” This sentence is central for John.

The divinity of Jesus is manifest in this sign and His glory is revealed. Seeing these great wonders, His disciples begin to believe in Him.

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

In Cana of Galilee Jesus worked the first of His signs and throughout his public ministry He would continue to work and perform miracles. For the most part what He did was either ignored or rejected. His public ministry would culminate in the saving act of our redemption – His death and resurrection. In this Christ event He revealed His glory for all. His disciples believed even more fully that He truly was God’s Son.

Jesus continues to work His saving acts in our midst. Day in and day out Jesus is there for us. Without fanfare and in the quiet of our souls He works with us. The trick is to see these saving acts and to know of His presence so that we can believe even more fully that Jesus is the very center of our being and, then to publicly avow this.