Reflections From Michael The Lesser

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2020-11-11T04:40:00.003-08:00

I have moved my blog to YouTube under the name of Inspiration By The Slice. It features meditations, none longer than two minutes on the spiritual life. Please come and check it out - The Link below will transport you there!

Link to Inspiration by The Slice

Taking Care of Each Other

2019-12-29T06:28:00.002-08:00

First reading
Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6,12-14 ©

He who fears the Lord respects his parents

The Lord honors the father in his children,

and upholds the rights of a mother over her sons.

Whoever respects his father is atoning for his sins,

he who honors his mother is like someone amassing a fortune.

Whoever respects his father will be happy with children of his own,

he shall be heard on the day when he prays.

Long-life comes to him who honors his father,

he who sets his mother at ease is showing obedience to the Lord.

My son, support your father in his old age,

do not grieve him during his life.

Even if his mind should fail, show him sympathy,

do not despise him in your health and strength;

for kindness to a father shall not be forgotten

but will serve as reparation for your sins.

I remember in my youth that when my grandmother died, my grandfather came to live with us. There was no question about it, he just did. That was how it was done back in the 1960s and 1970s. I believe the concept of family was stronger back then. I am not saying this because I am a boomer and want to reflect favorably on the good old days. I just want to point out how things have changed.

Today, in similar circumstances, many families would start using a web service to find a place for the widowed or widower to live. In a way, this makes sense. Old people take up our time and we have so much to do, so many places to go to, so many things that eat up our time. Time is the one thing we never have enough of.

By doing this, we deprive ourselves of learning from the older generation. Our children hear the stories of their grandparent's youth. They won't know how they compare to their ancestors. This is because grandpa or grandma is in a home, out of sight and out of mind.

One of my prized possessions is a cassette tape that I made one day when I was grampa sitting while the rest of the family was on an out to town trip for a few days. It captured the moments between grampa and me talking and me listening to him play the harmonica for me. I will never forget those days, they are very precious to me.

I understand that sometimes there is no choice. The ravages of time can make the care of an aging parent difficult and sometimes professional help is needed. Dementia and Alzheimers take no prisoners and can cause behavior that is dangerous for others and for grandma and grampa themselves.

What the writer in our reading today is telling us that no matter what we need to care for our extended families and that no matter what, respect and love are always to be given to them even if their mind fails.

The Main Problem The Church Has is Francis.

2019-06-16T04:03:00.001-07:00

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE CHURCH AND WHAT WE PEW-DWELLERS CAN DO ABOUT IT

The problem has a name and it is Pope Francis.

I admire Pope Francis as a good man, but he is a lousy pope. I hesitate to say this but I think he is part of the problem. I do not think he is an abuser but he may have shielded some in his time as priest, bishop, and cardinal. I have no evidence to back up my claim, how could I? I am just one of the pew people and the whole synod thing and the proposed investigations are designed to keep people like me and you in the dark. The Church has had a long time to learn how do appear to be doing one thing and actually they are doing nothing. I suspect that Pope Francis has lied to us! I find it very unlikely that he had no idea about this McCarrick pervert had broken his vows by engaging in sinful, homosexual conduct over a period of years with boys and young adults while he was living in a seminary. Pope Benedict put this low life on permanent restriction telling him to live the rest of his life in penance and prayer and to refrain from appearing to be an emissary from the Church. The boy laid low for a while but when Benedict bowed out and Francis came in, this rainbow-colored cardinal was apparently rehabilitated by Pope Francis and set loose upon the world. Big mistake here Francis. McCarrick was one of the idiots that brokered the deal between the Church and the atheistic Chinese communists. The Church does not have a good record when making agreements with nations that are hostile to her. Do you remember the Concordant between the Nazi government and the Church? Do you remember how well that worked out? Priests were rounded up and sent to concentration camps where many of them died. With this new deal, the terms of which are being kept a secret from us, pew dwellers, allows the Red government to help appoint bishops. What a stupid thing to do. Where has it gotten us? Well, just like the World War II agreement, priests are being rounded up and sent for re-education. Churches are being bulldozed and/or being forcibly being donated to the government. Yeah, this agreement was dumb. Francis through his pervert McCarrick gave it all away and have demoralized the Catholics in that nation governed by the spiritually bankrupt mandarins that seek to strengthen their stranglehold on the people. Good job Francis, first-rate work.

When asked about McCarrick and how this man was able to collect so much power while he was supposed to be under discipline, Francis answered that he was not aware of any problem with McCarrick. Holy Father, that is a lie and you know it.

The fact is that the inmates are running the asylum. Years of covering up and paying hush money have come home to roost and it is time to pay the piper and he is demanding transparency. There is too much smoke and mirrors under the reign of Francis and too many careerists that are active, practicing homosexuals. There is no hope for the Church to police itself. The long black line will circle the wagons and obscure the truth.

Where did all of this hush money come from? It came from the pockets of pew-dwellers the world over. Money donated to fund charitable works and mercy were used to buy featherbeds and lubricants and booze and probably drugs as well.

What can we do about it? Some say that they will leave the Church and go elsewhere. That is a stupider move than any that McCarrick ever made. But, I hear you as if there is so much corruption, why should I stay. I will explain, and please understand that what follows is not my original thoughts, but thoughts of others that are better schooled than I am.

It is our duty to pass the Treasury of Faith to the up and coming generation. If we leave the Church, then this will not be done and there is a possibility that a whole generation will lose the beauty that is the Catholic Church. The holiness of the Church comes not from the Pope, the Cardinals, the Bishops, or priests. It certainly does not come from those that broke with the faith and engaged in Ilegal and illicit actions. No, the holiness of the Catholic Church comes from the founder of the Church, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person to the Holy Trinity and He promised us that no matter what, His Church would be protected by the Holy Spirit and the gates of hell would not prevail against her. But what do the gates of hell have to do with sexual perverts in the Church? Remember, the devil wants to bring as many of us to join him in the lake of fire as he can. He knows that the end of the world is getting closer and he will use our sins to drag us down to his level. He has been very successful in his attempt to bring down the Church. He scripted the fall of many priests who were not loyal to Christ and he arranged for the cover-up and the payments of hush money and then he bided his time and when he thought the time was right, he began the exposure and he sat back and watched as people began to forsake the boat of Peter and jump into the river where they were alone and vulnerable.

So, I am approaching one thousand words or so here so I probably should wind this up. What are we to do?

1. First and most important -- DO NOT -- leave the Church

2. Write to your local ordinary and let him know how you feel and how you hurt. Why write? It will help the Church management see that what they do has an effect on those of us in the pew.

3. Demand transparency – no more secret deals. As part of this, begin adhering to the deal with China in the same manner that they do, ignore it and do what is best for the Church.

4. Pray for Pope Francis that he gets off of his duff and starts cleaning the house. Pray that he learns that he has more important things on his plate than changing the wording of the Our Father or prohibiting us from using Yahweh in worship songs.

5. Say the Rosary EVERY DAY. Our Blessed Mother will help.

6. Keep watch and if you have children involved in Church activities, keep the lines of communication open. Let them know that you love them deeply and they would not be in trouble if they reported that someone, even a priest or deacon, had said or done something that made them feel anxious or uncomfortable.

7. If your young one reports something, you MUST take it seriously and report it to the authorities and only then to the Church so that an investigation can be made.

8. It is important that you get the police involved even if the accused has been a gentle, kindly, gracious priest as far as you can see. We cannot trust the Church to police itself. The management team has proven itself incapable of doing this.

9. Get involved with the Church in some way and keep your eyes and hears open. Your instincts may prove to be true. Make it known that you are watching.

Pentecost Sunday

2019-06-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

You Are So Small...Putting Things In Perspective

2019-06-08T06:11:00.002-07:00

IN MEMORY OF A FALLEN HERO - Memorial Day 2019

2019-05-27T11:30:00.001-07:00

A Guide to Heaven

2019-05-26T16:07:00.003-07:00

Second reading
Apocalypse 21:10-14,22-23 ©

He showed me the holy city coming down out of heaven

In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

Where is heaven?

This is a good question. My answer is simple, I don't know. Is heaven a "place" in the classical sense in that it occupies space somewhere "out there?" Well, you can answer that in two ways. First of all, it is the abode of souls, a multitude of millions of them. Souls, of course, have no physical substance to them. They, therefore, would require no physical world to house them. A soul is the inner essence of a person and we are told that we will recognize each other in heaven and that it will be a place of perfect happiness and joy. On the other hand, heaven is also the home of the Risen Jesus and His Mother, Mary who both have bodies that have been glorified by God. You might make a case that they are exceptions because of their special place in salvation history. But then you are faced with Elijah who, while still a holy man and a prophet, went to heaven in a fiery chariot. While he is an important prophet, his importance does not reach as high as that of Jesus and Mary. So, he too is in heaven with a physical body if we are to believe the scripture. I believe that our heaven, the home God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, is a real place where you can either have a physical body or be a spirit. The location of this place is beyond our understanding. I believe it is outside of our universe, inaccessible to us because we live in the universe where time moves forward at a constant speed and the citizens of heaven dwell outside of time. While in our universe it is forever expanding and is subject to the passing of time.

How do you get into heaven?

Our residency in heaven is assured and is a free gift because Jesus died for our sins. To enter heaven one just needs to be owned by Jesus. We must bear his mark on our soul. This begins with the Sacrament of Baptism. This Sacrament wipes away original sin and brings us into the household of God. We are then to live our lives as servants to one another. We are to love others as Jesus loved us. He loved us to death, His death upon a Roman cross. We are to become whole people, that is, holy.

So, Everyone goes to heaven then?

No, unfortunately, that is not the case. After Baptism has wiped away original sin and you become old enough to understand good from evil, it is possible for you to squander your inheritance and declare God as your enemy by living a life that places your will and your rules above God's. God loves you so much that He will allow you to do your will over His. He will, of course, try to win you back. You have to come back of your own volition, He will do nothing to force you. Some of the evil you do will cause consequences in this life but they are because of the natural world we live in. For example, if you murder someone, you may get the death penalty which is a consequence of your actions. People who consistently follow their own will and desire God to be out of their life will have their wish granted to them and after death will make hell their abode.

Also, not every "good" Christian goes directly to heaven. We may have some minor sins that we did not confess and did not make amends for. Or, we may have some attitudes that would cause discord in heaven. For example:

I found out in first grade that you stole my pencil when I was not looking. I loved that pencil, it had a red lead on one side and a black lead on the other. My grandma gave it to me and I always thought about her when I used it. You stole it. When you were on your deathbed and I came to visit and comfort you, you confessed to what you had done. I became very, very, angry at you even though I did not say anything. Shortly after this, you died. I lived a few more years and then I said good-bye to this world and passed away. Let us assume I arrived in heaven and saw you. Immediately, anger boiled up inside of my soul and discord and hate arrived for the first time in heaven. This cannot be. Heaven is a place of eternal happiness and peace. With the hate, I was carrying around for you because of what you had done to me on earth, I was not fit for heaven. Yet, it was a small matter and I was not damned to hell for it. What would become of me? I would choose to go to purgatory, a place that God has provided for us to get rid of those things that keep us from heaven.

Purgatory? Didn't the death of Jesus remit all sin?

Why, yes it did. Guilt for the sin was is not the point of purgatory. Purgatory is there to purge the underlying cause of the sin. In the case of me and stolen pencil, I would be in purgatory to purge the hate from my soul so that when I got to heaven I would be a whole person or a holy one. Purgatory also is the place where you satisfy the demands of justice for the sins you committed. For example, you stole, well, you would either make amends on earth while you were alive or in purgatory. Evil and God do not mix. Heaven will admit no sinful person. But God is a God of mercy and He will do what is best for His children, applying discipline as needed as a good father will but His discipline will be applied and be tempered with mercy.

Imagine, if you will, that you were getting married in the afternoon. In the morning of your wedding, you go and play a game of football with your friends. The field is wet and muddy and you are tackled several times and are quite dirty. Would you go to your wedding before you had a chance to take a shower and just perhaps put on some clean clothes? Well, purgatory is just that sort of a place. You are readying yourself to see God as He is. You do not want to do it in dirty attire.

What about those in hell, can they repent?

St Teresa once said, "Hell could be emptied with one tear of sorrow." This means that the people in hell want to be there, they want to be away from God, they do not have any desire to share eternity with Him. To repent from the evil of their lives would be abhorrent to them. They curse God and blame Him for all of their woes. Every corrupt thing, every curse, every evil ever committed are memorialized on the walls of hell. Each person is known by their own particular sin and the punishment they receive is appropriate to the crime. Some say that they would choose hell because that is where all of their friends are. Well, there is no friendship in hell, only hate, bitterness, regret, and thoughts of revenge against God and His followers. Your "friends" will be too busy hating and lusting after violence to be talking over old times with you. The fact is, they will despise you and do what they can to make you more miserable. There are no friends in hell.

The Dangers Of Christian Political Correctness

2019-05-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Gospel	John 15:18-21 ©

The world hated me before it hated you

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘If the world hates you,

remember that it hated me before you.

If you belonged to the world,

the world would love you as its own;

but because you do not belong to the world,

because my choice withdrew you from the world,

therefore the world hates you.

Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;

if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well.

But it will be on my account that they will do all this,

because they do not know the one who sent me.’

Where did we get the idea that to survive that we Christians have to be politically correct? I have to think that the idea came straight from the bowels of hell because remaining silent in the face of evil will, in fact, cause to allow us to have a very peaceful and serene life free from any anxiety and angst. While we are enjoying such peace and serenity, around us the world is burning. Our country moves farther and farther away from the principles that have made her great. We have evicted God from our way of life and have rushed headlong onto the path that leads to destruction. Abortion right up until the time of birth has been legalized in some places. These laws go on to the books without meaningful challenge from the Christian community, but there is peace.

Wake up, look around you. Evil was allowed its freedom between 1933 and 1945 and millions upon millions of people paid the price for the sloth that engulfed the world. But what are some things we can look work on? Get mad about these minor issues that confront us today:

Abortion - This act of human selfishness, where a baby is destroyed in its mother's womb is one of the greatest evils of all time. It was recognized as evil by everyone up until late in the twentieth century. Under the guise of women's health, it has killed more people than the Nazi's did in their industrialized killing centers. Get mad about this, refuse to be politically correct about it.
Persecution of Christians around the world - Yes, it is happening today. While we sit in front of our televisions watching sitcoms, Christians in the ravaged middle eastern countries are being persecuted by radical Muslims and maybe even worse than that, they are being ignored and left to their own devices as humanitarian aid which reaches Muslim refugees does not make it to the Christian parts of the country. Get mad about this, refuse to be politically correct about it.
The bad behavior of the Cardinals and Bishops - Oh, I am so tired of these blue-ribbon commissions, conferences, synods and the like that do absolutely nothing to really address the sex scandal of the Church. To put the investigation of these matters into the hands of the bishops and cardinals would be like staffing the parole board with convicted murderers and thieves. Yes, I believe what they have done is just that bad. Get mad about this, refuse to be politically correct about it.

The time to be silent is over. The time for action is now. We Catholics make up a large block of votes. We know that the principles we live by are the principles set down by Our Lord and that they represent the will of God. Our voices should be heard because we outnumber the opposition who has disguised themselves as those that possess the will of the people while actually being in the minority.

Our choices are simple. Do we live our lives quietly and blending into the woodwork, causing no waves, rocking not the boat we ride on? Or do we, like Peter, leave the boat in response to the call of the Lord knowing full well that He will not allow us to sink beneath the waves as we do his work on earth. We can and should be people of peace but it is incumbent upon us that when we see evil we should address it. We address it not out of hate or a sense of superiority, but rather we address it out of love because we see that the path that our brothers and sisters are taking will move them outside of the Father's will and thus lead them to an eternity in hell without God. This is too great a price to pay for political correctness.

Why did our Bishops and Cardinals Start Behaving Badly?

2019-05-14T05:55:00.000-07:00

First reading
Acts 1:15-17,20-26 ©

'Let someone else take his office'

One day Peter stood up to speak to the brothers – there were about a hundred and twenty persons in the congregation: ‘Brothers, the passage of scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, foretells the fate of Judas, who offered himself as a guide to the men who arrested Jesus – after having been one of our number and actually sharing this ministry of ours. Now in the Book of Psalms, it says:

Let his camp be reduced to ruin,

Let there be no one to live in it.

And again:

Let someone else take his office.

‘We must, therefore, choose someone who has been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was traveling around with us, someone who was with us right from the time when John was baptizing until the day when he was taken up from us – and he can act with us as a witness to his resurrection.’

Having nominated two candidates, Joseph known as Barsabbas, whose surname was Justus, and Matthias, they prayed, ‘Lord, you can read everyone’s heart; show us therefore which of these two you have chosen to take over this ministry and apostolate, which Judas abandoned to go to his proper place.’ They then drew lots for them, and as the lot fell to Matthias, he was listed as one of the twelve apostles.

There was a vacancy that needed to be filled. Once there had been twelve apostles, twelve men specially selected by Jesus to be the bishops of His Church. One of them betrayed the Lord and committed suicide leaving the vacancy.

It is interesting that this passage begins with us being informed that one day Peter stood up to speak to the brothers -120 people. Out of the crowd that was present, it was Peter that told the group that they needed to fill the office of the traitor Judas. Peter was held in great esteem because all knew that he was the one that Jesus appointed as leader of the Church.

The process that they used was interesting, they prayed and they drew lots. I guess Mathias got the short straw and was enrolled as one of the Apostles. They were relying on the Holy Spirit to show them the way. Today, we do not select our Church leaders by praying and drawing lots. The process we use starts at the seminary or maybe even before. Back in my youth, I had the notion that I had a calling to be a religious brother, a Franciscan to be exact. I wrote a letter to the vocation director who came to Chicago to visit me one Saturday morning and we had a long talk in the lobby of a downtown hotel. I must have made it past this preliminary screening because he told me that I would be receiving some documents in the mail. He was not lying. There were lots of documents and a checklist of things that I had to provide before the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, Loretto PA would consent to allow me to try my vocation. There were tests to take, psychological panels to fill out and documents to obtain followed up by a one-hour screening at the office of a local head shrinker. All of this was to assure them that my motives were pure and I was not an out of work ax murderer looking to open a branch office in Pennsylvania. Today, in light of the scandals that are plaguing the Church, I am sure that the process is even more rigorous than it was back in the '70s when I underwent it.

So what happened to our hierarchy? They went through the process the same as I did plus they spent years discerning if celibacy and the priesthood were for them. I think the vast majority of the hierarchy began to trust too much in the process and not enough in the Holy Spirit. I am speaking here of the leaders that practiced trying to solve the predator priest problem by playing the Move 'em Out game where they transferred problem priests to other parishes. Were they working for the good of the Church when they did this? Why of course they were or at least they thought so. We know now what they were doing was to spread the contamination and to give the predators a new virgin hunting ground. They acted in what they considered charity by transferring these people, many of whom they had been to seminary with and had close relationships that spread over several decades. It was, the long black line similar to the long blue line of the police. What happens in the Church, stays in the Church (although we see that it doesn't) and we take care of our own. In all of this, our Bishops displayed great trust in human nature and a lack of faith in the Holy Spirit. Each time a predator was moved, each time a violation of a person be they young or old, male or female, the bishop was making it harder and harder to reform the Church and was no longer doing his job. His job is to lead people to heaven and not to protect the church from chastisement from outside forces. If he had stuck to the leading people to heaven, the perpetrators would have been thrown out, put in jail, and the Church itself would be in a better position today than it is right now.

The College of Cardinals, the Bishop's Conferences around the world, and even local parish priests have lost credibility. The public now looks with suspicion at these men who are supposed to be good examples whom we should emulate. Every "solution" to this issue involves the bishops doing something, coming up with a rule, investigating this and that and yes, they are now coming down hard on predator priests. Schools that were named after what appeared to be holy men are being renamed with any inspirational artwork being relegated to storage closets and or landfills.

Our Holy Father, Francis, whom I respect as a good and holy man but as a terrible pope finally came out with a definitive what to do rule for those cardinals and bishops that still may be unsure. While the rules apply to Vatican City, they are a model that should be adopted by all. Here is the news story from May 5th courtesy of API.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for the Vatican City State and Vatican diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of allegations to Vatican prosecutors, as he seeks to create a model policy for the Catholic Church.

The mandatory reporting provision, while limited in scope to Vatican officials, marks the first time the Holy See has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time.

Francis also issued child protection guidelines for Vatican City State and its youth seminary, acting after the global sex abuse scandal exploded anew last year and The Associated Press reported that the headquarters of the Catholic Church had no policy to protect children from predator priests.

While the new norms only cover Vatican City State, affiliated institutions and the Holy See’s diplomatic corps, they were still symbolically significant and were welcomed by a former seminarian whose case helped spark the reform.

“I see this as something positive,” Kamil Jarzembowski told the AP.

The law for the first time provides a Vatican definition for “vulnerable people” who are entitled to the same protections as minors under church law. The Vatican amended its canon law covering sex abuse to include “vulnerable adults” in 2010, but never defined it.

According to the new Vatican definition, a vulnerable person is anyone who is sick or suffering from a physical or psychiatric deficiency, isn’t able to exercise personal freedom and has a limited capacity to understand or resist the crime.

The issue of whether “vulnerable people” can include seminarians, religious sisters or other adults who are emotionally dependent on clergy has come to the fore in the wake of the scandal over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a once high-ranking American cleric who molested seminarians, and revelations of priests and bishops around the world sexually preying on nuns.

The new law covers all personnel who live in or work for the Vatican and any abuse that occurs in the Vatican, the 44-hectare (110-acre) city-state in the center of Rome and its other territories, as well as the Holy See’s vast diplomatic corps.

The Vatican’s own ambassadors have figured in some of the most scandalous cases of sex abuse in recent years, with papal representatives accused of groping, distributing child pornography and sexually abusing minors in their far-flung posts.

The provisions to punish them criminally are now contained in the city state’s criminal code and are separate from the canon law which also imposes canonical penalties, such as defrocking, for predator priests worldwide.

The law now requires any Vatican public official who learns of an allegation of abuse within the law’s jurisdiction to report it to Vatican prosecutors “without delay.” Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to 5,000 euros ($5,615) or, in the case of a Vatican gendarme, up to six months of prison.

Information obtained during confession is exempt from the reporting requirements, in keeping with Catholic doctrine.

“With this document, the Vatican wants to send a message that it takes these crimes seriously, wants to prosecute them, to avoid cover-up, and also to create an atmosphere that prevents these crimes from happening in the first place,” said Ulrich Rhode, a canon law professor at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability, an online database about clergy abuse, said any law that protects even a single child is to be applauded. But she faulted its limited scope as reinforcing the Vatican claim that it is only responsible for protecting children in the city-state.

“Let’s hope (Francis) finds the courage soon to enact new, sweeping laws in this larger jurisdiction,” she said.

Francesco Zanardi of the Italian survivor advocacy group Rete L’Abuso (Abuse Network) echoed her call, saying: “If minors have the luck of being abused in the Vatican City State, their rights will be protected. Outside, we can’t do anything.”

Many of the law’s provisions answer longstanding victim complaints about how they are treated by the church, while also ensuring that the accused are entitled to a defense and efforts to restore their reputations if the claims are not substantiated.

The legislation requires that victims be welcomed, listened to and provided with medical, psychological and legal assistance, and sets the statute of limitations at 20 years past the victim’s 18th birthday.

They must be kept apprised of the investigation, a significant point given that victims are usually kept in the dark about canonical sex abuse investigations.

Victims and their families are to be protected from any retaliation. Jarzembowski, who reported abuse at the Vatican youth seminary, was kicked out the following year.

Mimicking some provisions in place in the U.S. church, the guidelines require background checks for Vatican staff and volunteers working with minors and calls for safe environment training for all Vatican personnel.

The Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, acknowledged that very few children actually live in the Vatican City State. But he said Francis decided to make the legislation and accompanying guidelines a model.

Last year, the AP reported that Vatican City had no policy to protect children, even though the Holy See required such policies in Catholic dioceses around the globe and had told the U.N. in 2013 that such a policy was in the works.

The absence of clear-cut policy became evident following revelations that Jarzembowski, then a teenage seminarian in the Vatican’s youth seminary had, in 2012, accused one of the older boys of sexually molesting his roommate.

Nothing came of it. Vatican police, who have jurisdiction, weren’t called in to investigate. A series of bishops and cardinals said they investigated, but no one ever interviewed the alleged victim. The accused was eventually ordained a priest.

On Friday, Jarzembowski told the AP the law answered many of the loopholes into which his case fell, particularly its recognition that the youth seminary falls under Vatican jurisdiction.

“Before there was a situation where a group of kids were there, in the Vatican City State, but they were seemingly in a legal limbo,” he said.

Jesus as the Sheep Gate

2019-05-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Gospel	John 10:1-10 ©

I am the gate of the sheepfold

Jesus said:

‘I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognize the voice of strangers.’

Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them.

So Jesus spoke to them again:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

I am the gate of the sheepfold.

All others who have come

are thieves and brigands;

but the sheep took no notice of them.

I am the gate.

Anyone who enters through me will be safe:

he will go freely in and out

and be sure of finding pasture.

The thief comes

only to steal and kill and destroy.

I have come

so that they may have life and have it to the full.’

Jesus uses a lot of different terms to describe Himself and His mission. Some of these terms are pointing to Him as He really is, such as "I am the bread of life." which we find in John Chapter six. In other places, such as our reading today, He is using language which the people of the time, well versed in the keeping and use of sheep, would have understood quite well.

So, what was Jesus telling us here? Jesus is the sheep gate. A sheep gate is a gate in which sheep pass through (Duh.) But the sheep gate that Jesus is referring to is the gate near the pool at Bethesda in Jerusalem. Yes, the very same pool where the sick and suffering waited to be healed and where Jesus would at some later time heal the paralytic. But the pool itself was not some beautiful spa where the notables went to bathe and enjoy the healing properties of the waters. No, it was quite the opposite. Those of delicate sensibilities and those of delicate dress and temperament did not patronize pool. This pool was near the sheep gate by the temple. The sheep would be taken through the sheep gate and washed in the pool at Bethesda to make them pure and ready for sacrifice. So, any lamb washed in these waters then went through the sheep gate and into the temple and would not come out again nor pass through the sheep gate, it was a one-way road for our wool-bearing friends.

Should we be afraid of Jesus when he describes Himself as the sheep gate? No, because Jesus Himself says that the sheep that enter through Him will be safe and will come and go through the gate multiple times always finding pasture. We enter the fold through Him and He makes sure that we have all that we need and more than that, we will have life and have it to the full.

Mother's Day - Was Mary a Good Mother to Jesus?

2019-05-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that we set aside to honor the most important people in the world, our mothers. I want to examine in a cursory manner the relationship between Jesus and His Mother. I say cursory because books can and have been written about their relationship. How would we rate Mary as a mother using the standards of the twenty-first century as our model? We will look at a few moments in their combined lives and then total up the score.

Birth

Well, Mary passes the first test of being a good mother because she decided to give birth. In her time there was no "choice" in the matter and she was in a tight spot indeed. She was betrothed to Joseph who knew her in every way except in a carnal way. He loved Mary and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. At this moment, to him, she was an ordinary girl that caught his attention and who had agreed to marry him. The betrothal period was about a year during which time Joseph would prepare a home for his new bride. This conveyed all of the rights of marriage on the couple including the right to engage in intimacy but it was the custom to refrain until the marriage was solemnized. When Mary went away for three months and came back three months pregnant it presented a dilemma for her. Back then they had a cure for unwed motherhood and it was called stoning. If she was found to be with child and Joseph claimed that he was not the father there would have been a quick fancy trial followed by an immediate execution of the death sentence. Mary who knew the child was a holy one kept steady and told Joseph who must have been heartbroken. That he had a dream and he understood all and took Mary into his house, the betrothed and he became man and wife. In today's world, Mary could have considered having the baby murdered by being vacuumed out of her womb, or she could have taken a "Plan B" pill to cause a miscarriage. But today, she would be in no danger because being pregnant before marriage is not seen as being wrong anymore. But back then, she would have had to leave her home, never to return, and go to some far-away place, have her baby and make her way in the world as best as she could. A single mother was a novelty back then and as a woman, without means, she would have had a hard time. So, Mary put her faith in God and she had the child and they named Him Jesus.

Compliance

One thing all mothers, from earliest times, had to do was to be sure that all of the legal niceties were taken care of. She and Joseph took their baby, the Child of Promise, to the temple and before they could even get into the inner courts, a man stopped them and took the Infant in his arms and told Mary what she already knew. He told her that this Boy would be a sign and a sign that was rejected and that He would be the rise and fall of many in Jerusalem. Simeon also prophesized that a sword would pierce her heart too. She must have left the temple after Joseph and her sacrificed two turtle doves, the sacrifice of a poor family in thanksgiving for the birth of their child. Mary and Joseph also traveled with Jesus to Passover when He was twelve and panicked when they seeming lost Him. Was he kidnapped? Was he hurt? They searched for him for three days until they found Him in the temple teaching the elders and asking questions of them who were amazed at the wisdom he had at his tender age. Mary asked her Son why He had done this and Jesus gave an answer that had I given it to my parents would have resulted in a grounding that would still be in effect today. He told them that He had to be about His Father's business. Then he left with them and the Bible says He was subject to them.

Teaching

The mother was responsible for teaching the children in the ways of the Lord. The father helped a bit but it was not considered his job. So Mary taught Jesus, who, even though He was God, he still had a human brain that needed to be taught the rules, regulations, rituals, and traditions of the Jewish world. Yes, Jesus was God and yes he possessed a brilliant mind but He still had to strive to learn about what it was like to be a Jew in the first century and Mary taught Him and taught Him well. He knew more than those that had been sent to study under famous rabbis. That is why when he came under scrutiny by the temple gang they were amazed because they could find no one who would admit to training him formally. So Mary did a great job for sure.

Kick-Starting

A mother eagle sometimes has to kick her child out of the nest so that the child could start to depend on his own devices, find his own food, find a mate and perpetuate the species. At Cana, it appears that Jesus was not quite ready to start his ministry. Mary probably looked into his eyes and with her eyes, the eyes of a mother saw some hesitancy, some unsureness, and yes, probably even some fear. Let's face it. Jesus was very comfortable with His life. He had lived thirty years in relative peace and enjoyed putting the lessons learned from Joseph into practice. He loved the smell of wood shavings and was proud when a project brought in a small bonus because the people were so grateful for the wonderful work He did for them. He was proud that He was able to take care of His mother. So, knowing that Jesus could help their friends whose party had run out of liquid refreshment, she asked her son. Jesus responded saying basically, "Yeah, what do you want me to do about it? It isn't time yet." Mary shrewdly told the waiters to do whatever Jesus told them to do and their wine problem would be solved. They did, it was, and Jesus started to be watched by people and reluctantly, Jesus gave up the peace and serenity of home life and took His mission on the road. Mary, His mother kick-started the mission,

Consoling

We jump forward three years and the worst has come to be. Jesus has been condemned, has been tortured, and is now carrying a cross to be nailed upon on Calvary. He wills Himself forward and He sees His mother. She approaches and their eyes meet. That brief moment gave Jesus a boost of energy and He stared into her eyes and was going to say something but the Roman guard pushed Him forward. But never in history was it more important for two people to look at each other. I believe that each understood that this is what had to happen. Mary for her part mourned for her Son and Jesus in these last few moments of life came up with an idea to keep His mother safe in the world, He would entrust her to John the Apostle. With this matter taken care of the Savior marched on.

Mourning

Jesus was removed from the cross. His body limp and cold was placed into the arms of His mother who would have a moment to say goodbye. Her tears mixed with the rain that was falling and the dripped on her dead Son's body. She sobbed and cried. She was inconsolable. Jesus's body was pried from her hands and taken away for burial. She, like any mother who has to bury a child thought of their happy lives with Joseph and then with just her and Jesus. More tears fell. Thunder sounded in the distance and she rose up and after helping with the burial, she went home to mourn afresh. Love of a human will always end badly. It is our fate to die and that is an unchanging law. In every pair of people, there will be a parting and that parting will be painful and will leave scars. Time will heal the pain but the loss you feel when someone is called home to God or more simply dies is a common human experience. Even Jesus, the Son of God felt it when Lazarus died.

So, How Mary Measure Up?

I think we can safely say that Mary was a good mother. She falls into the one-hundred percentile. Every mother should try to emulate her. We are commanded to honor our father and mother. Jesus followed this commandment to the letter and fulfilled it perfectly. But what about those of us who did not have a satisfying experience at home with our mother? Perhaps she was mean, or maybe an alcoholic or maybe she thought of herself over her child or children. Do we have to honor such mothers or are we free to hate them and cut them out of our lives forever? We are not commanded to honor our father and mother if they were perfect parents. No, the commandment does not say that. What we are to do with imperfect parents is to, as best as we can, see our way clear to forgive them. I know that this is hard and may even be impossible for us to do without the help of God. We must try and we must ask for help. We need not put ourselves in harm's way. We just need to be thankful to our mother for the life she gave us and we need to pray for her and for the healing of any pains and scars she may have inflicted on us. We must be generous with our prayers. We may never sit down with them for coffee again but we can request that both they and ourselves can heal and maybe even one day reunite.

My Mother Has Passed Away

My mother has been dead since 1990, 29 years without Mom. I miss her today just as much as I did when I saw her take her last breath on earth. It makes the holiday of Mother's Day kind of hard for me to take although it has gotten easier over the years. But how do you honor your mother if she has passed away? You pray for her. If you really loved her in life, do not abandon her in death. Purgatory is a real place and in spite of the fact that you "know" she went right to heaven, it is still possible that she might be in purgatory. Pray for her. Have a mass said for her and plan to be at that mass. Talk to her, pour our heart, let her know how you feel. She is still your mother.

TO ALL MOTHERS, GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU ON THIS MOTHER'S DAY 2019

Miracles Are All Around Us!

2019-05-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

First reading	Acts 9:31-42 ©

The churches grew and were filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit

The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Peter visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down in Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you: get up and fold up your sleeping mat.’ Aeneas got up immediately; everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they were all converted to the Lord.

At Jaffa, there was a woman disciple called Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek, who never tired of doing good or giving in charity. But the time came when she got ill and died, and they washed her and laid her out in a room upstairs. Lydda is not far from Jaffa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men with an urgent message for him, ‘Come and visit us as soon as possible.’

Peter went back with them straight away, and on his arrival they took him to the upstairs room, where all the widows stood around him in tears, showing him tunics and other clothes Dorcas had made when she was with them. Peter sent them all out of the room and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to the dead woman and said, ‘Tabitha, stand up.’ She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. Peter helped her to her feet, then he called in the saints and widows and showed them she was alive. The whole of Jaffa heard about it and many believed in the Lord.

Whenever there is an abundance of something we tend to take it for granted. For example, we want to go somewhere in our car. We get in and see that the gas gauge shows almost empty so we go to the gas station and fill up with gas. We don't think about it, we just go and get it. Go back a few years now to when the Arabs were angry because the U.S. was supporting Israel and they slowed down the amount of oil that they were sending us which meant that we could not make as much gasoline and that caused lines at the gas pumps. We realized at that moment that we were being held hostage by OPEC. Gasoline was now rationed. Depending on your license number you could buy gasoline on even or odd numbered days. On Sunday, all stations, nationwide, were closed. On the days you could drive you were mandated to save gasoline on the highway, we were limited to 55 miles per hour maximum. This limit, which was pretty much ignored, was supposed to save gasoline. So, you see that an abundance led to indifference and a shortage led to concern and conservation.

Every day we can, if we look, see miracles around us. The issue is not the lack of miracles which requires much study and interpretation to see one but rather recognizing them as abundant and as gifts from our Father in heaven. The very fact that you are drawing breath and able to see things around you is a miracle. Life itself in all of its forms is a miracle. The food we eat, the water we drink all came from the hand of God to sustain us.

Our ancestors understood that their world was filled with miracles and they watched for them and thanked God for them daily. A miracle is usually described as something that happened that did not have an explanation in nature. Do you realize that using this definition we can consider electricity a miracle? Sure, we know how to generate it, to distribute it, and to use it but scientists have never been able to define just what it is. Electricity is, therefore, a miracle. That would mean that everything that we use electric for is a miracle too! Our smartphone could not exist without the humble electron so perhaps the smartphone is a miracle too.

I hope you see my point. God has provided us with a wonderful world, full of miracles to help us live our lives in a better and more comfortable fashion. It follows that when we take advantage of the miracles we find in the world that we should use them not only to enrich our lives but we should make it point to be a miracle for those in less fortunate circumstances than we are.

You and I are walking miracles. Inside of us is a soul that will never ever die. We, humans, have the capacity to feel the joys and sorrows of other people. We can empathize, which means we can share in the feelings of others. When we do this we can reach into our resources and be of help to others. Other occupants of this planet such as animal life normally cannot do this.

So today, think of yourself as a miracle, as the beloved of God the Father who has been so very generous to you in so many ways. Before you eat or drink, think and thank God for what you are about to do, it is a miracle. Before you start your labor for the day, think and thank God for you are about to do is a miracle. And today resolve that you, an ambulating, talking miracle will not keep the joy of God's love to yourself. Distribute miracles as you walk through life, it is why you are here!

Why Do You Persecute Me? - Conversion For Fun and Prophet

2019-05-10T05:00:00.001-07:00

First reading	Acts 9:1-20 ©

This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before the pagans

Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He had gone to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorize him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he could find.

Suddenly, while he was traveling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there came a light from heaven all around him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Get up now and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.’ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the voice they could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but even with his eyes wide open he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. For three days he was without his sight and took neither food nor drink.

A disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a vision in which he heard the Lord say to him, ‘Ananias!’ When he replied, ‘Here I am, Lord’, the Lord said, ‘You must go to Straight Street and ask the house of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment he is praying, having had a vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him back his sight.’

When he heard that, Ananias said, ‘Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who invokes your name.’ The Lord replied, ‘You must go all the same because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went. He entered the house, and at once laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately it was as though scales fell away from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. So he was baptized there and then, and after taking some food he regained his strength.

He began preaching in the synagogues, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’

Today we read about Saul an eager and devoted man who was ready to go to great lengths to stamp out this Jesus cult which was rocking the temple to its foundations. Day by day he saw good people being lured away by the smooth-talking of the followers of that crucified pious faker who claimed to be the Son of God. It seemed to Saul that no one was taking this cult seriously. The chief priest and the Sanhedrin sat around and talked and talked and talked and at nightfall they were no closer to a plan to rid the people of the Jesus Cult. Saul approached them and agreed to take on the responsibility of ridding Judea of this menace. He was very successful in the city but some had fled to other cities and slipped through the fine sieve that he constructed. He armed himself with letters of authorization and began to hunt these Christians on the road. Then, he was thrown from his horse, blinded, and he heard a voice asking "Why are you persecuting me?" Saul was a bit shaken but found the voice to say, "Who are you?" He received the answer that he never expected to hear, "I am Jesus."

Thus began the conversion of one of Christendom's greatest evangelists. In a way, his conversion story is much like the story of many of us. Oh, we may not have seen a bright light, or have fallen from a horse or even been struck blind but each of us has a conversion story, something that propelled us on the way to being a faithful follower of Jesus. I think that in my case it was two things that happened to me when I was a small boy. Each incident involved a woman being Christ for and to me. First was my mother Violet (I had a pet name for her, it was "Mom.") She faithfully took me to church with her every Sunday. She made sure that I knew that this place we were going to was the House of God and was not a place to use any other voice than a whisper. She pointed out the tabernacle to me and said that Jesus was there. I tried to be very good at church. I tried to follow what the other people were doing. When they made the sign of the cross, so did I. Except it looked more like I was shoeing flies away than an actual sign of the cross. I was impressed that all of these people were here to visit Jesus. There was music and the priest read a story about Jesus and then he spoke about it, which I didn't understand. But I was fascinated by the whole thing, the quiet, the people praying, the little box where Jesus was and the fact that I had been brought here by my mother so it had to be a good place to be.

The second woman was always dressed in the same clothes, black and white and she wore a veil. She was known by many names but the two that we children used the most was "sister" and on ocassion, we would raise our hand and chant her other name as we clamored for her attention and said, "sss sss sss." Yes, forty kids trying to get sister to call on them. It kind of sounded like a convention of snakes. This sister taught us that Jesus loved us. What converted me was simply the story she told about Jesus leaving the ninety-nine safe sheep and going out to look for the one that was lost. When He found the lost sheep, He would pick it up and carry it back home on His back. Sister showed a picture of Jesus doing that and I, from that day forward, was convinced. My conversion to becoming a real Christian had begun.

Very few of us are converted like Saul was. Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, was converted in one big incident and he never looked back from that moment on. The cult he had once hated became the Church that he loved unto death. For me, my conversion is an ongoing process. I heat up for a while and then I seem to cool down. Later, I realize that I have begun to stray from the path and I reconvert myself and for a time I work harder on myself and try to get closer to Jesus. When will I be fully converted? I don't think any sooner than when I stand before Jesus. Everyone is converted when they see Jesus face to face. For some, this conversion comes too late because when they look into the face of Christ, they can only see their failures, their acts of self-love and their refusal to adhere to the Words of Christ. Jesus does not accuse them, they confess how they have failed to Jesus but they feel no remorse. These are the ones who will prefer to spend their eternity away from God and their request will be granted. The rest of us will also see our failures but as we look into the eyes of our Savior we will see how He even used our failures to create good in the world. We will look in His eyes and see the love He has for us, his servants, and will bid us take our place among the Saints of heaven.

My suggestion to you is to keep converting yourself. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and re-convert again and again, as many times as is needed to be the Friend of Jesus, who is very happy to carry a lost sheep such as yourself back to the fold.

Martyrdom - Is It Safe?

2019-05-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

First reading	Acts 6:8-15 ©

They could not get the better of Stephen because the Spirit prompted what he said

Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. So they procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.’ Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’ The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.

Our reading today stops a bit short and does not describe the fate of Stephan who was one of the first deacons of the Church and the first martyr. Once again we have the august personages of the Great Sanhedrin meeting in conclave faced with this issue that they thought that they had taken care of when Jesus was disgraced and hung on a Roman cross for the scripture says, "Cursed is he who hangs on a tree." In the language of the time, the crosses used to dispatch criminals was referred to as a tree. So, the holy men of the Sanhedrin did all that they could to nip this Jesus thing in the bud.

The blood of martyrs became the seed of the Church. People of the time had no belief system that made death something that anyone would find appealing. But the Christians believed that death was not the end of things and that they would be with the Lord if they remained faithful.

This begs a question; What is the difference between Christian martyrdom and Islamic martyrdom? Is there a difference?

I believe that there is a definite difference in the mindset of Christian martyrs versus Islamic martyrs. A Christian person does not seek out opportunities to die for their faith. A living Christian is certainly what Our Lord has in mind because a living Christian can preach The Good News to others and show them the benefits of being Christian. A Christian martyr is typically not a volunteer, although he or she can be, such as in the case of Maximillian Kolbe who sacrificed his life so that another might live. But normally Christian martyrs are rounded up or arrested by the authorities and in Rome, they were sometimes given a chance to redeem themselves by offering a pinch of incense to the emperor who was considered (at least by himself) to be a living god. In the Roman world one just did this out of habit and did not really believe that the oaf sitting on the throne was any kind of god. It was viewed as something that would unite Romans and thus keep the empire strong. Christians lived in the world and most likely prior to their conversion, they partook in this civic duty without thinking much about it. Once they came to believe that Jesus was Lord, the ritual took on a new meaning and they could not in good conscience sacrifice even a pinch of incense to the false-god that the emperor was. This was seen as treason by the man on the throne and was a crime worthy of death. As the Christian martyrs were marched off to be killed in the arena, their fellow Christians would ask for their prayers for they knew that they would be heard as they were about to shed their blood for their beliefs. So we see, that Christian martyrdom was in a sense voluntary since a pinch of incense would be the tonic that could save their lives.

We look next at Islamic martyrs. In the modern era, we have what radical Muslims call "The Nineteen Martyrs." These were the men who participated in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Osama bin Laden is seen to be the number one martyr. We also have many, too many, examples of men, women, and children putting on a suicide vest and going to a crowded place, killing themselves and scores of innocent people. The person wearing the vest is considered a martyr for the cause. These people are volunteers who agree to commit savage acts of murder so that they can receive a reward from their diety. This cult of death is a perversion of main-stream Islam to be sure but it is the public face of this leaderless religion where the word of one teacher is just as good as another so the radical Islamic is free to choose from among the most blood-thirsty teachers available and thus legitimize their murder of innocent people. For this type of people, blood will run in the streets until the whole world is not only Muslim but the form of Islam that is the strictest and which saps the joy out of life as one person watches another, ready to denounce him or her for crimes against Allah.

For the Christian, life is better than death but death is not a thing to be feared. Until the day we are called home, and that day may include our being martyred for the Faith, we live the Christian life day by day. We learn how to love one another as Christ loved us - remember he spared nothing. We also try to live in harmony with the world at large being of the world but not part of it.

Third Sunday of Easter - Why Lamb of God?

2019-05-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

The following is from CATHOLIC ANSWERS

To understand why the title “Lamb of God” is used for Christ, we must first appreciate the celebration of Passover. Recall that at about 1250 BC, the Israelites were slaves of Egypt. Almighty God heard the cry of His people: Exodus 2:24 stated, “He heard their groaning and was mindful of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” God sent Moses to deliver His people from their bondage. After Moses had performed nine signs, Pharaoh’s heart was still unmoved. Finally, God told Moses to have each family take a one-year-old, male, unblemished lamb; slaughter the lamb; and paint the door posts and lintel of every house where they would eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. That night, the Angel of Death would “passover” the homes protected by the blood, but take the lives of the first born children unprotected by the blood of the lamb. Because of that blood sacrifice, Pharaoh let the people go: they went from slavery to freedom, from a land of sin to the Promised land, and from death to new life.

The prophets used this image of the lamb to describe the Messiah. Isaiah prophesied, “Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearer, he was silent and opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). However, the image is twofold: the Messiah would be both the sacrificial lamb to atone for sin and the suffering servant. Interestingly, when speaking to the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading this exact passage from Isaiah, St. Philip told how it referred to Christ and how He fulfilled it (Acts 8:26ff).

Nevertheless, in the Gospels, Jesus is specifically identified as “the lamb of God” in the sense of both the sacrificial offering for sin and the suffering servant. As John the Baptizer was proclaiming the coming of the Messiah at the River Jordan, he saw Jesus and proclaimed, “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). After foretelling His passion, death, and resurrection for the third time, Jesus asserted, “Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest, and whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. Such is the case of the Son of Man who has come, not to be served by others, but to serve, to give His own life as a ransom for the many” (Matthew 20:26-28).

The imagery of “Lamb of God” becomes clear in the Passion Narratives of the Gospels. In St. John’s gospel, Pilate condemned Jesus to death on the preparation day for Passover at noon (John 18:28, 19:14), the hour when the priests began to slaughter Passover lambs in the temple. After the crucifixion, the Gospel recorded that they did not break any of Jesus’ bones in fulfillment of Scripture (John 19:36); this reference corresponds to Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12 where none of the Passover lamb’s bones were to be broken. After our Lord’s death, the soldier thrust forward his lance, piercing the heart of our Lord; out flowed blood and water (John 19:34), always interpreted as signs of the life-giving sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Baptism.

Ponder the depth of what is happening in the passion narratives! At the crucifixion, Jesus, the innocent and sinless victim, takes all of our sins unto Himself. He though does not just bear our sins and suffer the punishment for us that is due for them; no, Jesus Himself expiates the sins. He as Priest offers Himself on the altar of the cross. Through His blood He washes away sin. However, unlike the Passover lamb that was slaughtered, roasted, and eaten, our Lord rose from the dead, conquering both sin and death. He has truly delivered us from the slavery of sin, shown us the path of salvation, and given us the promise of everlasting life. He has made a new, perfect, and everlasting covenant with His own blood. Therefore St. Peter exhorted, “Realize that you were delivered from the futile way of life your fathers handed on to you, not by any diminishable sum of silver or gold, but by Christ’s blood beyond all price, the blood of a spotless, unblemished lamb…” (I Peter 1:19).

We must not forget that this image evokes victory. The Book of Revelation highlights this notion picturing the Lamb surrounded by angels, the “living creatures,” and elders, who cried out, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12). Jesus is the King of kings, and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14) who will be victorious against the powers of evil and will invite the righteous to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), the union of the Church, the new Jerusalem, in heaven with the Lord.

For this reason, the Agnus Dei is sung during the fraction, the breaking of the consecrated Host. St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) preached of how the fraction symbolized the Passion of Christ: “What Christ did not suffer on the Cross, He suffers in the sacrifice for thee.” The hymn itself invokes Christ and recalls His sacrificial death with overtones of a hymn of victory of the triumphal Lamb. This belief is then emphasized again when the priest holds up the fractured Host and says, “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, happy are those who are called to His supper.” (Or, in a literal translation of the Latin, “Happy are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb,” better reflecting the imagery of Revelation.)

As we celebrate the mysteries of the Mass, we look to the Lamb who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. We must gather around the altar of the Lamb, offering to Him our own hearts and pledging to be His servants, so that we may welcome Him and become wedded to Him in the Holy Eucharist.

2nd Saturday of Easter - Kentucky Derby - Today We All Run For The Roses!

2019-05-04T06:02:00.001-07:00

What kind of horse are you? Today is the Kentucky Derby This started me to thinking about the different type of people that are in the world and how they can compare to different type of horses. Where do you fit in?

THOROUGHBRED

We all like to think of ourselves as thoroughbreds, proud, high spirited, hard-working, brilliant, admired, and inspirational in short at the top of the heap, a real winner. Shockingly, most of us cannot legitimately claim this title and that is okay. We have to be what we are and nothing else. The human thoroughbred will do his or her own thing when he wants to. He will be strong-willed, intelligent, vocal about his needs and he will not accept anything less than what he perceives as the best. Thoroughbred humans can exist at both ends of the socioeconomic scale, from the super rich to the street person. It is not a matter of money but attitude. On the plus side, the Thoroughbred will get what he needs, on the negative side he will be hard to be friends with and since he trusts no one’s opinion but his own he will make mistakes. He may be lonely as people will find him and his needs hard to understand. On the positive side he will have what he needs to make him happy, on the negative side, he may not recognize this and find his life empty because of things he cannot reach. He will always be a finisher but he does not like to look at the tails of the other horses in the race and a thoroughbred human in second place will be angry but will usually only blame himself for not running harder. This desire to be first will fuel his ambition. To be a thoroughbred human means you never reach your goal, you have to keep moving, the carrot on the string is always just out of your reach and you figure that if you run harder you will eventually, get to eat it. The life of a thoroughbred is not all oats and honey.

TROTTER

Perhaps you are a trotter. There is something majestic in a trotting race; all of the horses running in apparent harmony while at the same time each of them are trying to gain an advantage and win the race. A human trotter will be disciplined to the extreme, taking one step at a time and keeping focused on keeping in step. The trotter human will have some trouble with other people, especially thoroughbreds because they will want to take a disciplined approach to problem-solving where others will want to plunge ahead and get the job done. The trotter will weigh the consequences of each action and take his time in deciding. The trotter does not make too many mistakes, will not take too many risks, and while he will maintain a spotless record, there is a danger of the trotter slipping into mediocrity.

THE MUSTANG

The wild mustang is an American Icon, an animal running proud, free and wild, answerable to no one. This is another horse we would like to see ourselves as. Again, there are fewer mustang humans than we would think. The true mustang accepts no boundaries, no bridle nor bit and when cornered is hard and dangerous to break. While we might think of ourselves as mustangs, the wildness required to be one for most of us has thankfully been bred out our kind long ago and is but a dim memory. The human mustang has a disregard for the niceties of ordinary life, you accept him for what he is or you can go your way. It is hard to get to know the Mustang, he has no fear except being saddled and domesticated. He is hard to reason with unless he agrees with your position. The Mustang tends to be anti-social, will take any advantage that he can to best you and will be ruthless if necessary to gain his desires which are seen as the ultimate good. The Mustang follows his law. In our jails, prisons, executive suites of banks, brokerage houses, and in many of our state and national legislative bodies you will find many fine examples of human mustangs, mores the pity.

Jumpers and Steeplechasers

There is nothing more beautiful than a horse trained to jump over obstacles in the steeplechase. The human jumper plans and practices and pays attention to form and style. He moves ever forward, keeping the future in sight and preparing for the next obstacle. It is hard to surprise a jumper, but they limit their vision to what they can see. They can see a three rail fence directly ahead and make all preparations to jump it with style and grace, but might not see the water hazard right behind the fence. Out of all the horse types, the jumper will listen to your ideas and take them into account as he plans the future. While he fiendishly keeps his eye on the goal, he misses seeing the beauty around him. The jumper is mild-mannered and the easiest to talk to.

The Junk Wagon Horse

The final type of horse does not seem to be one we would want to imitate but I think that many of us most resemble this kind of horse. The junk wagon horse accepts what is, moves slowly but surely down roads he has trod before. He does not notice the burden of the wagon as he has carried it for many years and it feels a part of him now. He works day in and day out embracing the day to day chores of everyday life and feels simple pride when the job is done. At home, he gratefully eats his oats and afterward falls into a sleep where he dreams of being a thoroughbred, trotter, or Mustang. He awakes in the morning, forgets his dreams and slips on the bridle and bit and goes back to work not noticing the burden of the wagon because he has carried it for many years.

Okay, here is the point of this article. There are many different types of people in the world. We all have a vision of who we are and how we fit into the scheme of things. Our vision is colored by our training at home and at the various schools we attended, our experience out in the world from the youngest first impressions of the world to mature judgments made after years of hard work, calloused hands, and remembered experiences. The exotic horse types are rare and special. But that does not mean that the workhorse, people like me and perhaps you, are not special. God has put you here on the earth to complete a mission that only you can complete. Neither how others see you nor how you see yourself can be allowed to interfere with the mission. Listen and watch for God working in your life. The thoroughbred, the trotter, the show jumper, the Mustang, and the Old Workhorse all will be given the strength that they need to carry out what needs to be done. Labor in love and do what God wants you to do.

Jail Break

2019-05-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

First reading	Acts 5:17-26 ©

The men you imprisoned are in the Temple, preaching to the people

The high priest intervened with all his supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Prompted by jealousy, they arrested the apostles and had them put in the common jail.

But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them out, ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.’ They did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to preach.

When the high priest arrived, he and his supporters convened the Sanhedrin – this was the full Senate of Israel – and sent to the jail for them to be brought. But when the officials arrived at the prison they found they were not inside, so they went back and reported, ‘We found the jail securely locked and the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one inside.’ When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news they wondered what this could mean. Then a man arrived with fresh news. ‘At this very moment,’ he said, ‘the men you imprisoned are in the Temple. They are standing there preaching to the people.’ The captain went with his men and fetched them. They were afraid to use force in case the people stoned them.

The accommodations were spartan, to say the least. Ancient jails were not known to be comfortable places. If you wanted to be fed, in many jails you would need to bribe the warders or have food catered in by your friends or family. So, it was the fondest wish of any prisoner incarcerated in an ancient jail to be out of there as soon as they could arrange it. That meant escaping or breaking jail. It was hard, if not impossible to do. Many times you were furnished with shackles that hobbled your walking ability or you might even be chained to the wall to guard against sleepwalking.

One feature of any jailbreak is the getaway. You wanted to be far away once your hosts figured out that you were gone. Why saw through bars, shimmy up walls, go over barbed wire if all you were going to do was to stand outside the jail's gate smoking a cigarette until the guards saw you and dragged you back to your cell? Well, in our story, an angel of the Lord helps the apostles to escape. They are not set free for their own good, but rather are told to go back to the temple, where they were arrested and where they told others about this New Life, the Good News. This is exactly what they did and sure enough, some guards came and because of the popularity of the apostles, they did not roughly haul them away but asked them gently to please come and say a few words to the Great Sanhedrin for they are awaiting you at this very moment. They go along with the guards because they know that God will see them through.

It is the same for us. Sometimes, God will release us from a prison of our own making and we for our part will feel the need to help others that were caught in the same prison. This is a guiding principle of any twelve-step program. You have to share it or you will lose it. So today, think of all of the prisons that God has freed you from. Think how He has stood you up, pulled you up as it were from your own bootstraps and set you on a better path. Use what you have, experiences good and bad, to help others. That is why were are in this world. We are not here to save ourselves, this has already been done for us believers. We are here to save others, to instill in them the news that they are beloved by God and they are welcome to be a part of His household forever. Is there any more important work we can do?

The Early Church - A Socialist Utopia In The Making???

2019-04-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

First reading	Acts 4:32-37 ©

The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul

The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.

The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all given great respect.

None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any members who might be in need.

There was a Levite of Cypriot origin called Joseph whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He owned a piece of land and he sold it and brought the money, and presented it to the apostles.

Good day comrades! First of all, let me say that if you are looking at the graphic, you are probably saying, "Comrade Michael the Lesser, there is a difference between socialism and communism." Comrade Michael the Lesser would respond, "Yeah, but this picture caught my attention so I thought I would use it." But, the scripture passage is often used to state that the early Church was trying to set up a socialist utopia here on earth. Well, while it sounds like the seeds of socialism have been planted, they really were not. The Church has never said one form of government is better than another, except it has condemned communism because of its atheist dogma and lack of respect for the human being. The Church, on the other hand, has cautions for all types of government. She wants governments to be servants of the people and not the people to be servants of the government. But what do we have here in our passage? We have some of our fellow Catholics turning their possessions into money, which is then used to help less fortunate members of the Church. This is a completely voluntary thing while in socialism and communism this generosity would be compelled by the state.

With what we know today, wouldn't it be a great experiment to see if we could have the benefits of socialism? No, not really. Socialism has a tendency to fall apart. Religious and pseudo-religious communities come and go, they all have a couple of things in common. First, the surrendered property starts out helping everyone but soon enough the funds are diverted to help the founder of the group and his or her appetites get more and more extravagant. For example, do you remember the televangelists Jim and Tammy Baker? They hauled in millions and instead of using it for their ministry they used it to pamper themselves. There were extravagances aplenty including jewels and furs for Tammy, vacations in hotels that featured gold plated toilets and sinks, antique Rolls Royce automobiles, two of them, I guess "his and hers." Their ministry fell apart due to scandal, Jim was found in an intimate encounter with another man by Tammy. Then all of the excesses and theft from the church coffers came out, and Jim was sent to prison, initially for forty-five years which was later reduced to eight years.

Perhaps more socialistic in nature was Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. Jim was an old-fashioned film flam man but he did not seemingly start this way. He started as a person concerned with social change and the ending of racial segregation in our country. He gathered a large following and he became friends with politicians and thus had political clout and he knew how to use it. Through the years the temple evolved into less of a religious organization and more of a political one. At one point, Jim condemned the Bible as a book full of lies. He demanded his followers sign over their property to him and that he would take care of them. Eventually, Jim decided to build a utopian community in Ghana. Several hundred of his followers left everything behind and went to Ghana with him. He was a pill popper. He took pills to wake up, to go to sleep, to walk, to talk, any reason was good enough for him to take a pill. The effect of all of these drugs made him paranoid. When a US Senator came to investigate rumors that people were being held against their will, Jim decided that the time had come and he induced his followers, nine hundred of them, to swallow poisoned Kool-Aid and they all, except a few that escaped into the jungle, died. Jonestown was a monument to Socialism.

What the scripture passage tells us is simply that the people in the early Church were inspired to be generous and inspired to help those less fortunate. The Church was not setting up a new socialist government, the Romans would not have approved, but they were setting up, as Christ told them to do, the Kingdom of Christ on earth. We can thank those early Catholics (Yes, Catholics) for the example that they showed us. We can thank them too for showing that Christianity is compatible with many forms of government.

Burdens

2019-04-29T06:39:00.002-07:00

Gospel
Matthew 11:25-30 ©

You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

‘Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.

Burdens, we all carry them. I do mean all of us including those you might think that they do not have a care in the world. Even a child carries burdens and here is an example that from my own my life and you may have heard me speak of this before. When I was young, I had a learning disability. During the time I was in school learning disabilities were not understood and so I was classified as "dumb" by the powers that be and I was left in the wake of the class as it sped forward leaving me to flounder in the sea. It was a hard burden to carry because the kids in the class took their cue from the teachers and since I was considered the bottom of the barrel, I was pounced upon by all of the boys that needed to prop themselves up on my shoulders by making sure that I would rise no further. I had a hard time in grades one through seven at the Catholic school I went to. I felt crushed, unwelcome, unloved, and I a lower form of life than other people. This followed me throughout my school years until the age of about twenty-five. It was then I laid my burden down and I believe with the grace of God started my recovery. I attained a fresh new look as to who I was and how I fit in. Talents came to the top and I was recognized at work with promotions and raises. I found comfort in my religion and Jesus and His teachings brought out in me the talents that really mattered. I discovered that I could feel empathy for those who were downtrodden and I think it is because I remembered all those years when I was considered a joke among my peers, how I felt so alone. This experience made me who I am today. I thank God for all He has done for me over the sixty plus years of my life. His love and His grace have shown me that every one of us, no matter how successful we may appear on the outside, still carry burdens on the inside. These burdens may be self-made or they may have been foisted upon us by the circumstances of life. There is hope in Jesus. He can relieve us from any burden that gets too heavy for us. All we have to do is to trust in Him and ask for help and help will come.

I have enjoyed my life in spite of the burdens I have had to carry. Today, I still carry some but I know that what doesn't kill me will make me strong. I also know that my burden can be laid at the feet of Jesus at any moment when it gets too heavy for me. Thank you, Jesus.

Divine Mercy Sunday Can You Trust In What You Cannot See?

2019-04-28T07:30:00.001-07:00

Gospel	John 20:19-31 ©

Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.

‘As the Father sent me,

so am I sending you.’

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

‘Receive the Holy Spirit.

For those whose sins you forgive,

they are forgiven;

for those whose sins you retain,

they are retained.’

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:

‘You believe because you can see me.

Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing this you may have life through his name.

"Show me! Put it right here in my hands. I'll believe it when I see it. That's impossible, I've got to see it for myself!"

Sound familiar? Does it sound like you? Do you know anyone who sounds like that? Don't feel bad if you are skeptical about things in this world. The world lends itself to being something that you should be skeptical about. We all learn to be street smart no matter what street we live on. Let me give you an example of something that happened to me that made me more street smart. I saw an ad on Amazon for a copy of Microsoft Office good for five users and the price was only something like ten dollars. I bought it. I congratulated myself when I downloaded it and it actually worked...for a few days. On day four I loaded word and it came up stating that this was not a licensed copy of Office and if I wanted it to work I would have to purchase a copy from Microsoft. This was an example of a deal being too good to be true and an example of how a fool and his money are soon parted. It made me smarter. I went to an MS dealer and purchased a legitimate copy, which cost slightly more than ten dollars, actually a whole lot more than ten dollars, but it downloaded and is still working to this day. So, life brings us lessons that make us a "Let me see the proof" kind of people. This keeps us safe from scammers (Most of the time) and we adapt our life accordingly, evolution at work! But this also puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to spiritual things, things we cannot see, hear, touch, or smell. How do we overcome this disability that serves us so well in our human life? Make no mistake, we have to overcome it or else we will fail at the thing that is the most important to us, arriving in heaven and being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Saints.

Luckily for us, God has a plan. He sends us abundant graces, more than we will ever need or use, that overcomes our tendency to demand proof and He opens our eyes so that we can see Him in the world around us. We see Him in nature, we see Him in the people around us, every time the sun comes up in the morning, inside of us a bell goes off and unless we suppress it actively as some people do, we know, deep inside of us, that we have a loving God who is caring for us as we go through life. This is called faith. As we go through life and we see God's hand interceding for us we gain trust. To trust in God, one singer says, is to believe the sun will rise again while you are standing in a rainstorm.

In this world there is sinfulness. Sin happens when we turn away from the ways of God and go our own way. Some of us never turn around again and go off happily following selfish misery to our destruction. But many of us feel the tug of grace pulling us back and we turn from our mistakes, and errors, and sins and we turn back to God. We know that God will take us back if we are sorry for what we have done. We Catholics have the sacrament of confession where we receive in a real way, in a way that we can hear. We receive the absolution of the priest who is speaking in the Persona Christi, and all of our sins are washed away. How do we know this? Because Jesus told it to us as we read in the Bible. (Matthew 28:20) We trust in Jesus and believe His words carry absolute truth in them.

Between now and that day when Jesus returns is a time of great mercy. Jesus today is willing to overlook and to forgive all of our faults, all of our sins, no matter what they are. Take advantage of this time of mercy. If you wait until the end times when Jesus comes in His glory, you will be facing the Just Jesus who will dispense justice. The time of mercy is NOW. Catholics, when was the last time you went to confession? If it was more than a month ago, maybe that is too long. The Church rule is that we must go once a year. Do you think that is enough? Would you think that taking a shower and changing clothes once a year would be enough? How about washing your car, is once a year enough to keep it clean? So it is with your soul. But you tell me, Michael the Lesser, I don't commit any mortal sins so why should I have to confess these minor sins. Okay, fair enough. It is obvious you have no idea how serious a venial sin is. If God says, "Honor your father and your mother" would you call your mother a dirty so and so? Calling a stranger a name is bad enough but because you have done it to your mother who is deserving of your love and respect and has great dignity, your error is larger than when you said the same thing to a stranger. Would you agree that this is true? Well, when you commit even a venial sin, the sin is in essence against God no matter who was the victim of your shenanigans on earth. You've offended the dignity of God the Father of all with your sin, and although the matter is "small" in nature, it is big in effect.

Trust in Jesus, trust that His love for you can overcome any obstacle you can put between you and Him. He is never more than arm's length away from you and is listening very carefully for the slightest hint you want to come back. Once you do that your soul will be flooded with grace and your eyes will be opened and you know the Love of God first hand. Trust in Jesus. Trust in Jesus. Trust in Jesus. Amen!

Easter Saturday - How Can You Be Silent?

2019-04-27T05:34:00.000-07:00

First reading	Acts 4:13-21 ©

We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard

The rulers, elders, and scribes were astonished at the assurance shown by Peter and John, considering they were uneducated laymen; and they recognized them as associates of Jesus; but when they saw the man who had been cured standing by their side, they could find no answer. So they ordered them to stand outside while the Sanhedrin had a private discussion. ‘What are we going to do with these men?’ they asked. ‘It is obvious to everybody in Jerusalem that a miracle has been worked through them in public, and we cannot deny it. But to stop the whole thing spreading any further among the people, let us caution them never to speak to anyone in this name again.’

So they called them in and gave them a warning on no account to make statements or to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John retorted, ‘You must judge whether in God’s eyes it is right to listen to you and not to God. We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard.’ The court repeated the warnings and then released them; they could not think of any way to punish them since all the people were giving glory to God for what had happened.

Gospel	Mark 16:9-15 ©

Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News

Having risen in the morning on the first day of the week, Jesus appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom he had cast out seven devils. She then went to those who had been his companions, and who were mourning and in tears, and told them. But they did not believe her when they heard her say that he was alive and that she had seen him.

After this, he showed himself under another form to two of them as they were on their way into the country. These went back and told the others, who did not believe them either.

Lastly, he showed himself to the Eleven themselves while they were at table. He reproached them for their incredulity and obstinacy because they had refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.’

Today I will be brief, or short and sweet if that is how you want to call it. Peter and John were hauled before the Sanhedrin after curing a man. The elders, who had the same power that they used to stifle Jesus (or at least so they thought) told them to not teach in that man's name again. They told them that they would obey God and not the elders for they had to keep proclaiming what the saw and what they heard. They were cautioned again and because the miracle had been seen by many and they were giving glory to God for it, the elders feared that a riot would break out so they left the two Apostles go.

Jesus appeared to many but still, there were those that refused to believe unless they saw for themselves including some or all of the Apostles. So, Jesus appeared to them and told them to, "Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation." What more needed to happen to make them believe?

So...What in the world are you waiting for? Sin and death have been conquered. We no longer need to be slaves to these two bitter pills sent through the ages from Adam and Eve. Death will claim our body someday but it will never claim our soul and because of the work of Jesus we will live forever more. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Get off the couch and let people know the Good News!

Easter Friday - "Gone Fishing"

2019-04-26T04:27:00.001-07:00

Gospel	John 21:1-14 ©

Jesus stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.

It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Have you caught anything, friends?’ And when they answered, ‘No’, he said, ‘Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.’ So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ At these words ‘It is the Lord’, Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak around him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land.

As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’; they knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead.

Although the Gospel writer mentions several Apostles, this story's main characters are Peter and Jesus. Everything that happens points of Peter being the leader of the group since when he announces "I am going fishing" everyone decides to go with him because after all, he is their leader. They get to their boat and spend an evening with nothing to show for it. They come back to shore and Jesus is there and asks them if they caught anything. They tell Him," no," and he suggests to them that they should cast the net over on the right side of the boat and you will find something. They do and they get a catch of 153 big fishes. Why 153? In the time of Jesus that was the number of known species of fish in the sea. So the number 153 symbolizes the Apostles duty to preach the Good News to all nations, to everyone, everywhere. Notice also that Simon Peter is said to have gone aboard and hauled the heavy net in - this symbolizes his duty as the chief of the apostles and leader of the Church that Christ established. One other interesting point that a lot of people do not see, Jesus did not ask for one of the fish that they had just caught. No, He has breakfast already cooking over a charcoal fire. Where did He get the fish? It was dawn so He could not have purchased from anyone. Scholars say it is the only time in the Gospel where Jesus makes something out of nothing. Every other time He fed people it was with material that was already present such as barley loaves and a few fish, washing jars at Cana filled with water, etc.

The fish that the Apostles caught that day was caught only after the Risen Lord told them what to do and where to fish. We can do nothing without the help of Christ. So, on this Easter Friday, let us remember that we are the Easter People and that our job is to make certain that the Word of Christ is distributed to all people. We should not be happy until all people are united in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Easter Tuesday - Piercing The Darkness

2019-04-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

First reading	Acts 2:36-41 ©

You must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus

On the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke to the Jews: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’

Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptized. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

We have just completed a forty-day journey through the desert as seen through the eyes of a simple man on a pilgrimage. Our own walk may have been very different than his or perhaps we did not walk at all. It is of no consequence because now we have a reason to be hopeful. We have a reason to be joyful. We have a reason to want to announce the good news that death has lost its sting, that sins have been forgiven. We should be walking with a spring in our step for Jesus Christ has Risen Today! Yes, we are two days away from the day which we memorialized the Resurrection with great ceremony and ritualistic celebration. The Church asked us to reflect, fast, give alms, and repent for forty days. Today she bids us rejoice for fifty days - From Easter to Pentecost - and to be ready to tell everyone we meet why we are so happy. The pagan world welcomes Easter as the time when the cold and gray of winter are banished. They give a bunny the power to bring candy to children. They play hide and seek with eggs. This is all great fun, even politicians in Washington get into the act. At the White House, there was an Easter Egg rolling contest. Easter, for pagans, fades into nothingness when the sun rises on Easter Monday. It was fun while it lasted, but now there is work to be done. The childish things like bunnies and hard-boiled egg hunts are put back on the shelf and the serious business of business returns. For a Catholic especially we realize that the festive season has just begun. In the words of a song that is sung on Holy Saturday at the vigil Mass, "We will sing to my God who has delivered us from death, into life into freedom through the sea."

Let me exhort you. The death of Jesus on the cross was for you, personally. The resurrection on Easter Morning was for you personally as well. Jesus did not destroy death for the world, He did it for you. How can you be silent about that? These next weeks between now and Pentecost, give vent to the joy. Let everyone you know how happy you are about the gift that Jesus gave you. Your joyful face should cause people to wonder why you are so happy. If they ask, tell them, tell them, tell them. If they don't ask, tell them anyway by the way you live your life, with joy. Be a little kinder, be more gentle, be helpful, let the love that is bursting through the walls of your soul escape into the wild. The joy is the Spirit of God in you. Don't hold it in, dispense it freely. People will notice and more importantly, you will notice the difference in how people treat you.

Brothers and sisters, the world is in darkness this day. The pagans have not a clue that they are loved beyond measure by God who knows them better than their own mother and father. They see the grave and live their life in abundant poverty of spirit. Give them the gift or at least make them wonder why you are so different than they are.

CHRIST IS RISEN

CHRIST IS TRULY RISEN

Easter Sunday - Walking to Emmaus - End of the Desert Journal

2019-04-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

Gospel	Luke 24:13-35 ©

They recognized him at the breaking of bread

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognizing him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast.

Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him, they saw nothing.’

Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.

When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’

They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him at the breaking of bread.

My flight from Tel Aviv arrived on time and my wife picked me up at O'Hare International Airport and we were famished for one another's company. This was the longest we had ever been apart in our marriage. We got home and I didn't even unpack. I was too tired and we went to bed. We slept from about nine until seven the next morning. I awoke with still feeling the effects of crossing so many time zones in such a short time, jet lag! But we hurried along and made it to Mass fifteen minutes early. All of the relatives were there and the Mass was memorable, beautiful, and the choir sounded as if they were inspired by angels! Afterward, we all went to the restaurant where we had reserved a party room and we all had a wonderful time reliving old stories and laughing at ourselves and one another. The birthday cake for our daughter was brought out and we all sang Happy Birthday to her and with our second cup of coffee, Aunt Ginger spoke up and asked me about my trip to the Holy Land. Everyone there knew that I had been gone for over forty days and they wanted to hear all about it. I had no prepared remarks but I did my best.

"Thank you, Ginger. I never realized that my little journey would become a subject for an after breakfast talk so I do not have any prepared remarks but let me put in terms reminiscent of the Gospel reading we heard today. You all know me, I have always been interested in the history of the time Our Lord walked the earth. Every aspect of it fascinates me but none more so than the walk of two disciples to Emmaus. Emmaus, as we reckon it today, is about ten miles from Jerusalem. This made it slightly outside of the distance that the two men could walk on a Sabbath which legally was about seven miles. I would assume that these faithful Jews started from a house outside of the city proper which most likely made the journey legal. Imagine the two of them, heartbroken because they really thought that this Jesus was the Messiah. But how can He be the Messiah if He is dead? Picture this, the two of them are in the middle of nowhere. There are no crowds on the road on this day and suddenly, out of nowhere, a third man joins them in their journey. We know it is Jesus because the Gospel writer tells us so, He asks the two what they are talking about as they walk along. They say Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus feigns ignorance and you can almost hear the disdain in the disciple's response which was basically, "Were you living under a rock? Don't you know that Jesus gave every indication that He was the Messiah? Now our Chief Priests delivered Him over to Pilate and had Him crucified? Where have you been? Were you in your cups and in a stupor?"

"Jesus calls them to task and calls them foolish and slow to believe. He then holds a clinic in Bible prophecy about Him and explained every scripture that referred to Him. The travelers must have been spellbound. They arrive at the place in Emmaus. Jesus makes as if He is going to go further but the two invite Him in so the conversation could continue. He accepts their invitation and when they were at the table He blessed and broke the bread and they suddenly realized that Jesus, the Messiah that had been crucified, was there, alive with them. No sooner had they realized this and Jesus disappeared from their midst. He had disappeared because He was still there in the Eucharist, His very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. They immediately went back (a ten-mile walk!) and told the others what had happened."

My days in the Holy Land were like a forty-day journey to Emmaus. I learned more in the desert about myself and about my spirituality than I ever knew before. I learned that Jesus did not come to earth to die for the sins of the world, no, He came to die for my sins, the offenses I committed against God and my fellow travelers. I learned that God is not impersonal but very personal. He knows me inside and out. I cannot hide from Him but I can hide from myself. Walking through the desert, the mountains, the city of Jerusalem was an experience I never will forget. To see the very place where the Cross was erected that Jesus was on and to touch the stone where His body was prepared for burial was amazing but more amazing was that after this trip I felt that Jesus was no longer out of reach for a sinner like me but rather He was a personal friend and that as a friend I could ask for and receive help in my life because I have a twenty-four hour a day lifeline to Him. Now when I go to communion, I take time to be with Him and to bare my soul to Him for He is with me and in me. No longer do I feel that going to communion is just a social norm for me to practice, no, it is a personal act where I am united to Jesus and to all of my fellow Catholics inside my church and in the Church as a whole. So, yes my trip changed me and changed me for the better. I can never go back to the way I was. Praise God and Jesus for I know now what it means to be an adopted son and a member of the Household of God.

Holy Saturday - Homeward Bound

2019-04-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Gospel	Luke 24:1-12 ©

Why look among the dead for someone who is alive?

On the first day of the week, at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on entering discovered that the body of the Lord Jesus was not there. As they stood there not knowing what to think, two men in brilliant clothes suddenly appeared at their side. Terrified, the women lowered their eyes. But the two men said to them, ‘Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man had to be handed over into the power of sinful men and be crucified, and rise again on the third day?’ And they remembered his words.

When the women returned from the tomb they told all this to the Eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them also told the apostles, but this story of theirs seemed pure nonsense, and they did not believe them.

Peter, however, went running to the tomb. He bent down and saw the binding cloths but nothing else; he then went back home, amazed at what had happened.

It is hard for me to believe that just in a matter of hours I will be back in Chicago. In one respect it is a relief that I am leaving this strange land of Israel. The Israeli people are warm and friendly but they have this hang-up against the Palestinians and of course, the Palestinians have a hang-up against the Israelis. So, the Palestinians feel the need every so often to fling some rockets at Israel and Israel in appreciation either flings some good old missiles made in the US of A back at them. Dealing with either party on a one to one basis is not a bad experience. They both are warm and friendly to tourists, they love that hard currency that we bring to them. But put an Israeli and Palestinian in a locked room and you can bet your last dollar that one or both of them will come out of the room with a black eye!

We did have a guide and a priest go with us as we followed the Via Delarosa. To do the stations of the cross was kind of hard. It is a commercial district and every Christian tourist wants to follow the path the Jesus took to Calvary although there is some doubt if this is actually the same route but it really does not matter because you are following the path in good faith. Besides, excavations have revealed Roman pavement dating to the time of Christ so that it is very likely that Jesus had passed this way and walked on this ground from time to time. There is something about walking the actual steps that make the stations more real. Believe you me, you need all of the help you can get because the street is popular with tourists, it is a commercial district where you can purchase souvenirs of your pilgrimage everything from crucifixes (for followers of the Catholic tradition) and crosses without the figure of Jesus on it for those that believe that Martin Luther or some other "reformer" founded the church. No matter where you go on the street it is a cacophony of noise and buying and selling. But once you are in the Church of the Holy Seplecur the timbre of the noise seems to change. It is quieter, it is definitely cooler, and you can observe all manner of men, women, and children from every Christian denomination in awe in seeing the place where the Cross of Christ was placed and to see the stone where His body was prepared for burial. I know I wanted to stay for hours in this place but time is the enemy of modern spirituality and we had places to go and people to see and all too soon we left the street and ascended the Mount of Olives, which does not have too many olive trees on it anymore. On Mount Tabor, we visited the church that was built on the spot where it is believed that Jesus was transfigured. The church is built in three parts to represent what Peter said, "Let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Next, we visited the Garden of Gethsemane where the Passion of Our Lord really began. A Gethsemane is not really a place. The word means "Olive Press" so there were many of them in Israel at the time of Jesus. But this particular one was a favorite resting place for Jesus and the twelve and like all humans, Jesus sought out the familiar and comfortable at times of stress. In this garden, Jesus was abandoned by His Apostles. Of course, one of them Judas Iscariot was not there, yet, he was with the priest and the temple guards along with a detachment of heavily armed Roman guards that Pilate sent along as a touch of sarcasm. In truth, if the Temple gang had sent one Sadducee to ask Jesus to come in for a chat, Jesus would have come. But now, after asking his Apostles to stay awake and pray, He Himself fell on his knees and poured out His heart to the Father. He was human, He did not want to feel the pain of death, but He was also the Son of God and He was completely obedient to what the Father's will was to be in this matter. Yet, He asked that this cup be taken away from Him if the Father could see His way clear to do so. The Father sent an angel to console His Son but the angel said nothing so Jesus accepted the will of the Father. I believe He then began to see what was in store for Him and He saw the sins of the world and each of us, those that had lived and died already, those that were living then, and finally those that were to come after Him. He sweated blood. This is a rare condition that afflicts people when a person is in deep fear and in contemplation. So Jesus was in a sense a broken man at this point. He was looking at His life and His mission and found He was coming up short. He was grieved that He couldn't reach more people but He was also consoled that the Apostles He had selected were more than able to spread the Word of God even though they all would abandon Hiu this night and even the man He had appointed as the head of His Church would deny Him three times. He had, I believe, a vision of all of the things that would happen to Him and the human in Him rebelled at the thought of pain and agony. But He set His face like flint and did not shield his face from being struck and being spat upon.

Then it began. It began with a kiss, a sign of friendship, the kiss of a traitor. It began with a sign from Judas that he really did not believe in Jesus when after kissing Him he said, "Hail Rabbi." To Judas, Jesus was not a master, but a mere teacher. Judas, quite to his surprise, was roughly pushed away by the commander of the Roman guard and Jesus without further ado was taken into custody. Peter drew his sword and hacked off an ear of a bystander. He was chastised by Jesus who also seemingly without being noticed by the contingent sent out to get Him healed the ear. Jesus is led away and now the politics of the day started working their magic against Him. He was led first to Annas who was the high priest emeritus. Annas was the first high priest to be appointed by the Romans and he served from 6 to 15 A.D. and although deposed by the Procurator, Valerius Gratus, he and by extension his family wielded great influence in Judea. As a matter of fact, nothing of any importance would be decided until the opinion of Annas was sought and known. The office of High Priest was his unofficially and at the time of Jesus, he was the puppeteer that pulled the strings of the current High Priest, his son-in-law Caiaphas. So, although the scriptures make it seem like this visit was just a mark of respect for the old gent, it was nothing of the sort. Annas wanted to size up his opponent and after seeing Jesus was comforted that this death would cause no uproar. With that, he sent Jesus with no comment to Caiaphas. No comments were needed. Caiaphas was quite aware of the thought of Annas and would not accept any outcome that did not include the dead body of this Jesus being laid in a tomb.

Caiaphas had a problem. It was a problem of time. He had to dispose of this sadly delusional messiah before the Sabbath and the Passover began, He had to do it quickly, quietly and he had to pass the blame off to the Romans. A stoning would not do him any good. This Jesus had to be lifted up on a Roman cross. He sent servants out to get key members of the Sanhedrin out of their beds so that they could try Jesus of Nazareth at night, which of course was technically not legal, but no one of the people that he summoned would split these hairs. He knew that they would see the writing on the wall and follow the path to Golgotha that he would lay out for them.

Jesus was brought into the chamber. He did not frightened, he looked resigned. He did not glare or disrespect the high priest or members of the council in any way. As a matter of fact, He said nothing. Witnesses, Sanhedrin members, came forward and testified against Jesus but the testimony fell apart because it did not match. Caiaphas was one step from having to release this so-called messiah. The silence of Jesus was protecting Him because no witnesses testimony had so far been found credible. If the silence continued, Jesus would be a free man. Caiaphas tossed the dice knowing full well that his roll would result in a loss. He asked Jesus if He was the Son of God. He inhaled deeply as one silent second went to two and then the culprit spoke, "You say that I am." This is a rough translation and it really means in our English today, "Not only am I the Son of God, but you acknowledge out of your own mouth." The eyes of Caiaphas sparkled, he almost chuckled, but then he screwed his countenance into a self-righteous, holier than thou look and tore his garment and said, "We have no need of witnesses, he has blasphemed. What do you say?" To a man, they voted that Jesus was to die. They led Him away and sent out servants to make sure that most of the Sanhedrin would attend a very early morning meeting to make the condemnation official since a trial could not be convened during hours of darkness. Those that were known supporters of the charlatan would accidentally not be informed. Jesus would be condemned and sent to Pilate, who normally rubber-stamped their decisions and Jesus could be decorating a Roman cross by nine in the morning long before the drunks and tax-gatherers would be out and about to make a scene. By the end of the day, Caiaphas would ask that the legs of the culprit could be broken and the idiot be buried before this solemn Sabbath began. He breathed a sigh of relief and sent word to Annas as to what was going to happen. Annas replied congratulating him for nipping this messiah thing in the bud. Messiahs do not come from Galilee.

Pilate did not care too much for the Jews. Early in his tenure as procurator, he caused a stir because he had his guards carry shields that stated the emperor was divine. This caused a riot which he put down using the same troops. He was of a mind to show these backward people that Rome had the means to enforce its will and was not afraid to spill Jewish blood, even in their temple, to prove it. Unfortunately for Pilate, word got back to the Emperor about what went on and he received a censure and orders to remove the offending wording on the shield. Rome, meaning the Emperor, wanted peace. Pilate had started as an ordinary soldier and he distinguished himself in battle and rose in the ranks. But it was the fact that he married well, his wife was related to the royal family, that he was appointed Procurator of Judea. He wasn't a full governer, Judea was too small to have a governor but he saw this as the first step on his way to being a senator in Rome. History loses track of Pilate pretty much after the Jesus incident so while we do not know his fate, we do know that he was a lousy governor who did not have the nack of the carrot and the stick. He was a stick man and that kept the excitable Israelites just barely on the right side of rebellion where just a gentle push would put the province over the edge and be the cause for their destruction by the might of the Roman legions. The Jews could not hope to win against the Romans. Years later, they would try, and the siege at Masada was the result as was the destruction of the temple in about the year 70 A.D. It is to this man that the fate of Jesus would be entrusted.

Jesus was brought to Pilate. The chief priests would not enter the house of a Gentile and defile themselves for the Passover so Pilate went out to see them. They told them their story and Pilate wanted very much to frustrate this so-called high priest who looked down upon the Roman official as one would look at a pile of camel dung in the middle of the street. He listened to the story, spoke to Jesus, who said nothing, which was not good for the defendant because, in Roman law, silence was considered almost an admission of guilt. In spite of this Pilate went to the rabble outside and told them that he found no reason Rome would punish this man with death. Caiaphas was floored. He had a decent relationship with the despot procurator and usually, it was a matter of just getting a nod of the head and the criminal would be taken out and crucified. It was a common and ordinary transaction that the two had agreed to many times in the past. Neither the Temple nor Rome needed a Messiah to stir up trouble so Caiaphas was not sure why this time was different. Then, Pilate after hearing that Jesus was a citizen of Galilee he figured he would send this case back to the Jews that sent it to him. He ordered that Jesus be brought to Herod for judgment.

Herod was famous for his drunken parties and lavish displays of his piety in donating to the temple. In actuality, he gave no thought to the people under his jurisdiction. He left their fate pretty much to the whims of the Romans. He did not like Pilate who seemed to mock his rank in the country. But he really appreciated the fact that Pilate thought so much of him that he would send this magician, Jesus, to see him and to consult with the judgment of Him. Jesus was brought before him. The chief priest and his cronies quickly explained what needed to be done and the need for it to be done as expeditiously as possible. Herod was not going to be rushed. After all, he was a king. He had Jesus brought before him. He questioned him closely but received no answer from the man. He finally gave up, had a ridiculous cape that a king from a very small nation had left behind, it was gaudy and cheap, had it placed upon Jesus and sent Jesus back to Pilate. Herod would not be taking the blame for this man's death upon a Roman cross.

Pilate had heard from his wife and was told not to harm this Jesus because of what she had heard in a dream. He shook his head and thought to himself, "That is why Rome did not make her the procurator of this land." He went out to the priests and was amazed that the party had grown. What had been a rag-tag group of temple leaders had grown into a sizable crowd, When he once again pronounced Jesus innocent, the crowd grew malevolent and shouted for the death of Jesus. He said, "Although He is innocent, I will have him flogged and then I will release Him." Jesus was taken to a courtyard where the soldiers were assembled to watch the punishment. He was stripped and chained to a pillar. Two soldiers whose job it was to administer the flogging took up position behind Jesus. We would call the whip used a "Cat O Nine Tails" but it was a bit worse than that. At the end of each braid, there were metal pieces designed to tear the flesh from the back of the victim. The men began the punishment under the trained eye of the commander. This flogging was to stop just short of death and it was his responsibility to see that it did. Time and time again the lash came down and Jesus screamed in pain. Then after only what the commander felt was a "mild" punishment, he ordered it stopped because it looked to him that Jesus could not take any more. Jesus was unchained and he fell to the ground and unconsciousness claimed him. But this was not a satisfactory thing for the commander. He had Jesus doused with icy water which brought him back to the reality and the pain that he had been awarded. The assembled soldiers had heard that Jesus claimed to be a king so they put the robe that Herod sent him away with and mocked Him. One soldier decided that no king worth his salt would be without a crown! He went to some bramble and he carefully wove a crown of thorns. He bowed to the King of the Jews and carefully put the crown on Jesus' head. Blood began to flow on to the face of the Holy One. The soldiers mocked Him some more and then they heard that Pilate was ready to see the Man again, they helped Him up and brought him to Pilate.

Pilate was a man who had a strong stomach. But even he was surprised at how pitiful that Jesus looked. His servant asked if he should clean up the man. Pilate said, "No, this may be a way to let Him go free. Maybe this blood-thirsty lot will be satisfied with a thoroughly mocked and broken king of the Jews." Pilate had Jesus brought out and yelled, "Ecce Homo." This means "Behold the Man." The crowd yelled for his death. Then Pilate played a trump card, his last. He reminded them that he would release with a free pardon any criminal that they wanted at the occasion of the Passover. He said, "In my dungeon, I have a man named Barabbas, he is a murderer and a thief, and a scoundrel. To take a life for this man is just as if you were to kill a mosquito that landed on your arm. He has made many widows and orphans in your country and now awaits execution on the cross. Before you see Jesus of Nazareth, a deluded man who has never hurt a soul, who preaches peace and who I believe has been brought to me out of the envy and fear of your leaders. Rome finds no reason to execute Him. So I offer you the choice. Choose Barabbas the murderer or Jesus, the King of the Jews to be released to you." None of the followers of Jesus were in the crowd. Some companions of Barabbas were there and they along with the puppets controlled by Annas yelled for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus. Then the chief priests showed their true colors and they themselves blasphemed against their God. Pilate asked, "What I should crucify your king?" To which they replied, "We have no king but Caesar!" Pilate had lost and that point was driven home when Caiaphas yelled, "If you release Him, you will prove yourself to be an enemy of Caesar for anyone saying that he is a king has Caesar as an enemy. I pity you if the word were to get to Rome is Jesus walks free" The battle was over. He called for water and a basin. He washed his hands in a symbolic washing stolen from the Greeks and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood." To which the Jews replied, "Agreed, his death be upon and upon our children." This too means more than what it says. It means literally, "We are so confident that this man is guilty that we know there will be no effect on those that come after us." Jesus was taken away to be crucified.

Jesus, still wearing the crown of thorns was given the cross beam of the cross he was to occupy, The upright portion of the cross was kept on the hill called Golgotha which means "Place of the Skull." Jesus carried the timber the best that be could but he made a misstep and fell. Some say that this first fall caused internal injuries that lessened the time Jesus would be able to endure the cross. But He continued along the road to Golgotha, part of the time being helped by a conscript taken from the crowd. He met his Mother, but the guards would not let him linger except to exchange a glance at one another and finally, almost with a feeling of joy that the journey was over, they arrived at the Place of the Skull. Jesus was knocked to the ground and in short order, nails were driven through his wrists and causing Hum great agony the crossbeam was lifted, His feet were secured to cross and the race with death began. He pulled Himself up so that he could breathe. He looked up to heaven and said, "Father forgive them, they do not know what they do." Hours past and he was getting tired. Insects landed on Him and doubled the agony of keeping Himself up high enough so that He could breathe. Near the end, he gave His mother, Mary, to John the Apostle to take care of because she had no one else. Then He knew all He could do had been done. Now, he would end the old covenant and begin the new one by drinking the fourth cup of wine that he had not drunk on Thursday night, the drink that was the cup of forgiveness and closed the Sader. He said, "I thirst." Some sour wine was held up to His lips on a sponge and He drank it and said, "It is finished." and Jesus willed that death take His body and He gave up His spirit. At that moment, a great storm hit. The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom and the ground shook. Pilate had given his permission for the Body of Jesus to be removed and they laid it in a borrowed tomb because the Sabbath was near. We now wait for the Resurrection. Without Jesus defeating death as He did, He would have just been a footnote in history.

I know it is strange for me coming home before the Easter celebration in the Holy City but I promised my wife that I would be home in time to celebrate my daughters birthday which happens to be on Easter Sunday this year. It's the big four zero for her this year so we have integrated our Easter celebration along with her birthday celebration. I will not be home in time for the Easter Vigil Mass but we plan to go to the nine o'clock Mass on Easter Sunday. The whole family, all my kids their godfathers and godmothers, aunts, uncles will all be at church with us. I will be the second best Easter Sunday in recorded history.