Obstacles

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51
Gospel: Matthew 16:13-23

Obstacles, they are all around us. No matter what we are doing or what our goal is, there always seems to be something in the way that tries to deter us from our goal. While at times we are prepared for these or see them coming; there are other times when obstacles seem to come out of nowhere or from the least expected places. Such was the case in the gospel today. One minute Jesus is telling Peter that he is blessed and that he is going to get the keys to the Kingdom of heaven, the next minute Jesus is telling Peter to get behind Him and that he is an obstacle. I mean really, what is going on here? Well, Peter shows us one of our natural tendencies which Jesus uses as a great teachable moment. Peter like all of us have a tendency to speak and act on things which seem like the right decision, I mean is Peter wrong for not wanting Jesus to die? Certainly not, but because he was "thinking not as God does, but as human beings do" (v.23), he was not in tune to what needed to happen.

I think that we can all relate to St. Peter; speaking without fully understanding. While Peter's intentions were good, he was not seeking out what the will of God was or what truly needed to be done. This thinking as a human being thing can really be a big obstacle in our lives and can be very hard to overcome. Many times in our Christian faith we are called to do things that are not easy or seem very impossible. When we think as we do, we may not reach our goal because getting to the end seems too hard or completely impossible. It is in these moments that we need to get ourselves out of this was of thinking, and tell it to "get behind us!" If we begin to seek out God's will for us, and get into the habit of thinking as God does and asking for His guidance for our lives, then we can begin to get through these obstacles. It will not matter if we see the obstacle coming or they completely blindside us, we will be able to get through it. It will not matter if this "human thinking" is coming from someone very close to us or from ourselves, if we focus on God's will, then we can get through any obstacle.

Obstacles are everywhere, constantly in our way as we work towards our goal. And you better believe that in your faith journey there are going to be so many obstacles trying to prevent you from getting close to God and to reaching the Kingdom. It is not easy, but we all know that in the end it will be worth it. My old football coach used to always say; "if this were easy, then everyone would do it!" Obstacles are always going to be there, how will you respond when you come across one?

One things that always helps me find peace when going through a difficult situation is to remember the scripture verse from proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not"

Remember, if it were easy, then everyone would do it.

Heavenly Father you bless us every day with your love and mercy. We thank you for the gift of our lives and pray for the strength and courage to overcome the obstacles that are keeping us from growing closer to you. Lord we pray for all those who are turning away from you and who are in need of healing. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Glory of God

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

First Reading: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 97
Second Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-19
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9

God bless you all on the feast day of the Transfiguration of our Lord!

I recently took a cruise about a month ago, and on our last night there, my wife and I went to out on one of the upper decks of the boat in order to see the sunset. Now we were running late since we had just finished dinner, but as we got outside and went to the railing, we looked out over the water and saw the tip of the sun set just beyond the horizon. I can't being to fully describe how amazing it was to be at that place at that time, and seeing something so beautiful take place.

On this Feast day, we celebrate another event in the life of our Lord in which three of the disciples were eye witnesses to this spectacular event. The gospel tells us that on the top of a high mountain Peter, James, and John all saw the Lord transfigured before their very eyes. We are told that "his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light." Can you imagine being Peter, James or John at this moment? I cannot even begin to imagine what it was like to see our Lord in all His glory. I am convinced that all the words in our language would not be able to fully describe how brilliant this event was. From this moment, Peter, James and John could not have been convinced otherwise that Jesus was really the Son of God. While this moment may have only lasted a short time, we all know that this memory stayed with these men forever. For this event is written of by St. Peter in the second reading today.

In the Second book of Peter, Peter recalls this event, and he notes that "You will do well to be attentive to it..." He is saying here, "hey wake up, I have something important to tell you about!" Peter is speaking to us about the power and majesty of our Lord and how as he was instructed to listen to Christ, so we should also be attentive to this message. Peter is trying to let us know that his message is reliable and that it is not something that was just "cleverly devised" but something that he had seen for himself. If you were going to visit a new country and you were looking for information, whose advice would you trust more; someone who read a book about that country or someone who has seen that country for themselves?

St. Peter gives us insight into something that he himself caught a glimpse of, the Glory of God. We are very blessed that he makes this account known to us. We can begin to get fabulous images of what it must have been like upon that mountain with Jesus and His disciples. This account should excite all of us about getting to heaven, because in there that we will be able to be in the presence of our Lord in all His glory for all eternity! I pray that we always keep this end prize in mind while here on earth.

Lord, we thank you and give you praise for this day and for the accounts of your faithful servants. We praise you for your glory and for your saving grace in our lives. We humbly acknowledge your majesty and power and ask for your continued guidance in our lives. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sticks and Stones

First Reading: Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102
Gospel: Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14

We have all heard the saying as a kid that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Well, we all know that physically words may not hurt us, but emotionally they do. And perhaps it is not always other's words that hurt us the most, but sometimes it is our own words that are causing our downfall.

In the gospel today Jesus tells the people that "It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one." So we are lead to think here, what in the world do the words that I say have to do with who I am? And how is it that they defile me? Well, I have some thoughts in regards to this. If we are constantly speaking of things that are not good and of God, then the reason is most likely because we are not putting good and Holy things in our minds. I believe that "Garbage in = Garbage out!" We must always be aware of the things that we are surrounding ourselves with and who we are letting lead us. Think about a little child who is just learning to speak. Ever heard something surprising come out of the mouth of a little kid and then think to yourself, where did they learn that word from? All they are doing is repeating what they hear. We are not so different, except in the fact that we might start to take in things that we hear as truth, and depending on what things we are surrounding ourselves with, this can be very dangerous. Always be aware of what we are surrounding ourselves with and ask yourself, is this good and Holy or is this of the world? Remember, "Garbage In = Garbage Out."

I would like to share one of my favorite quotes with you for a reflection:
Watch your thoughts, they become your words
Watch your words, they become your actions
Watch your actions, they become your habits
Watch your habits, they become your character
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny
-Frank Outlaw

Heavenly Father above, you are the source of all that is good and Holy. We pray for the courage and the wisdom to take out the things that are leading us away from you and to replace those with things that build us and your kingdom up. Lord we pray for all those who are struggling with living of this world vs just in it. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Distractions

Memorial of Saint John Mary Vianney

First Reading: Jeremiah 28:1-17
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-36

Distractions. They are everywhere, and they seem to be different for every person. We have so many things in our lives that distract us and cause us to take our focus off of what we are doing. Perhaps it is the TV, the newest weight loss regimen, a new get rich quick scheme, constant noise that we are usually surrounded with, a friend, etc. Think about it, what in your life distracts you? One thing that I am always distracted by and have a bad habit of is constantly checking my email. It doesn't matter where I am or what I am doing, the thought will just randomly come into my mind and I will go check my email. Many times this happens at work, and there are so many times that I stop what I am working on to check my email, and even though it is usually work related, I still get distracted by it. It then usually takes me several more minutes to get back to get re-focused on what I was working on before. I understand that email will constantly be a distraction in my life, that I must work through and balance out how much time I am spending doing this. We all have distractions in life that we have to work through, Jesus referred to things like distractions as crosses. Jesus says in the gospel of Luke; "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot by my disciple." (Luke 14:27)

For me a distraction is email, but for Peter in the gospel today he was distracted by fear and doubt. As Peter was called to come out of the boat he also began to walk on the water towards Jesus, but he was quickly distracted by the strong winds and the waves. At this distraction, Peter began to sink into the water. Jesus then asked him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” I am sure that we can all think of times when Jesus probably asked us this very question. Jesus calls all of us out of the boat, but everyday we get distracted by other things, we turn away and take our focus off of following Him. It is when we turn away that we begin to sink, and many times like Peter we begin to panic. Why do we doubt? Why do we become afraid? These are questions for each of us to ask ourselves inside.

Fear and doubt. We all feel them and display them; these are major distractions in our lives and can many times prevent us from following our Lord. Fear and doubt are crosses that we must all carry, they are a part of our nature and to get past them we must look to the Lord. He is so mighty and powerful that there is nothing that He can't do. We need learn to trust Him at all times, no matter how great the distractions.

Lord Jesus we thank you and give you praise for each of our lives. We ask that you increase our faith so that we might be better followers of you. We ask that you help us each to work on our temperance and reverence for you. Lord we pray for those who are caught up in the many distractions of this world. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sunday August 3, 2008

Good morning brothers and sisters. As stated before on Sundays, I will not be posting to this blog. I will be enjoying the Lords day and time with my new wife. Below are today's readings.

Enjoy and God bless!

First Reading: Isaiah 55:1-3
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145
Second Reading: Romans: 8:35, 37-39
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21

Courage under fire

First Reading: Jeremiah 26:11-16,24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 69
Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12

Courage. A trait that all our great heroes of the past and present have. The dictionary defines this as: "the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear." (source: dictionary.com) Think about who some of your favorite heroes are. Perhaps its St. Paul, George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr, Joe Montana, etc. Didn't they all possess this trait of courage that we all admire so much. I will be the first to admit that courage is not exactly radiating from me all the time, but when it does I know that God is very present and is the source of this courage. I also realize that when I am not filled with courage, it is because I let fear get the better of me. Fear has a way of crippling us and causing us to not be able to act in situations when we are called to let the Lord lead us to courageous acts. I believe that it is in these moments that we are severely lacking in trust of the Lord and His power.

In the readings today, we have two examples of great courage. In the cases of Jeremiah and John the Baptist there are two very different outcomes, which are important to take note of. When the prophet Jeremiah was brought before the princes and the people, the priests and prophets of that time asked that he be put to death. Pretty scary situation if you are in Jeremiah's shoes (or sandals), so how does Jeremiah respond? With courage. He says “It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and city all that you have heard. Now, therefore, reform your ways and your deeds; listen to the voice of the LORD your God, so that the LORD will repent of the evil with which he threatens you. As for me, I am in your hands; do with me what you think good and right." Wow, listen to that! He does not cower, does not shrink away, doesn't say "oh, I was just kidding with you guys." No, he proclaims the Lord's message even more and says do whatever you want with me. Can you imagine the amount of trust that Jeremiah must have had in God during this time? I pray for that kind of trust every day.

Now in the gospel today we see a hero of mine, John the Baptist who is in prison for having the courage to speak against the union of Herod the tetrarch and Herodias. This statement by John does not sit well with Herodias and ultimately leads to his beheading. We are not told how John reacted during this time, but from hearing about him in other readings and knowing that he was "filled with the Holy Spirit", I have no doubts in my mind that even to the end John was courageous. John the Baptist was not afraid to serve the Lord and to give of himself totally to the glory of God.

I think that we see from these two examples that courage can have different outcomes on us, sometimes they are good, as was the case of Jeremiah who wasn't put to death in this instance; or sometimes they are bad, as in the case of John the Baptist. Good or bad, when acting courageously, we are serving the Lord and allowing His will to be done in us. As we see from both examples having courage takes a lot of trust in the Lord, I pray that we all have that trust and lack of fear when being called to be courageous for the glory of God.

Lord, we thank you for your word today and for the example of your great servants Jeremiah and John the Baptist. Let us learn from their example of being courageous and trusting for your glory. Lord, let us serve you in all that we do and let you will be done in our lives. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Getting nowhere

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori

First Reading: Jeremiah 26:1-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 69
Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58

Have you ever heard the term "I might as well be speaking to a brick wall?" I am sure that many of us have felt this way and said this many times; this being especially true when speaking to kids or family members. It can be very frustrating when trying to talk to a loved one who does not seem to want to listen to anything that you have to say. In both of the readings today we see that Jesus and Jeremiah are experiencing this same kind of frustration. In the first reading the prophet Jeremiah is told to tell the people that they need to obey God and listen to Him. But the people rebel against Jeremiah and seek to put him to death. Jesus is back in his hometown preaching to the people there and all they have to say is; "hey isn't this the carpenter's son? When did he get so smart and learn to do all these great deeds?" (not actual scripture reference, just paraphrasing) Because of the people's lack of faith, Jesus then did not work His mighty deeds there.

In each of these cases, Jesus and Jeremiah had important messages for the people, but they were unwilling to listen. Their messages where for the sake of saving the people from themselves, from their sin and wicked ways. They went to the people to try to help them because they loved them. I am sure that most of us have found ourselves in similar situations before; we have someone who we care about hurting themselves or going down a self destructive path. We try to talk to them, but they do not listen, they usually either doubt us or take the mentality of "shooting the messenger." We all know how frustrating it is, and it seems the more that they resist, the more that we want to persist. We want to save these people, but we are completely baffled that they do not see the concern that we have for them.

One thing that we have to remember in every situation is that we have no power to save anyone. If the person is going to be saved, it is through Christ and his great mercy. No I am not saying when you see someone hurting or doing something they shouldn't to just let them alone and say "oh its okay, Jesus will take care of it." He does use us, we are simply the vessels, and it is always important to remember our roles. I believe that when confronted with a situation or before you need to talk with someone, it is always important to pray to God for the strength and courage to confront the situation or person and to ask God, "God what is my role in this? What do you want me to do?" Remember, it all comes from Him!

Our lives are not meant to be easy, and being a Christian does not mean that we will never encounter problems or have to deal with people. We are meant to be spiritual warriors, fighting the good fight for Christ and for His glory. So the next time that you are confronted or you need to confront someone, "do not worry about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say." (Luke 12:11-12). It may feel as though you are getting nowhere, but trust in the Lord and in His timing.

Lord Jesus, let us have open hearts and open minds to hear what it is you have to say. Let us be open to you working in our lives and in your plan for us. Lord we ask this all in your name. Amen.