​Acts 16:16-34
John 9:1-38

In history, it hasn’t always been an easy thing to be a Christian. Sometimes, like in the first centuries after Christ, you might have to pay with your life in order to serve God. Other times, you might have suffered  ridicule, or be cut off from friends or family.  

While in recent decades and centuries, it has been safe, even socially preferable at times, to be Christian, the pendulum may be swinging the other way. In today’s world, there is increasing pressure to reject Christian morality, even a Christian world-view. Scripture and Tradition are clear that marriage is for life, and that it’s between one man and one woman.  But today? We’re expected to consider any manner of relationship as “normal” - and there are those who would have us approve of more than 2 people in marriage.

Scripture says “And God created them, male and female”.  But today? “Well, maybe God made a mistake.I’m a woman in a man’s body”, they might say.  And, despite the increasing evidence that gender reassignment therapy results in higher suicide rates , society wants us to operate as if God makes mistakes? I don’t think so.

And it’s not just social pressure that we have to put up with.  Recently, there was an incident involving a Catholic hospital in Oklahoma.  The Federal Government presented it with a choice to either extinguish a candle in its chapel’s sanctuary or risk its ability to treat patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which would have jeopardized its ability to operate at all. 

After a religious liberty law firm informed the government that this was a violation of the hospital’s First Amendment rights, the government backed down.  In the words of the vice-president of the law firm, the Department of Health and Human services “has told Saint Francis that it can keep its living flame — a sacred candle housed in the hospital chapel.”

Also, starting in 1989, the government has used RICO laws, originally aimed at racketeering, against pro-life groups. 

How do we respond to this?  Some might suggest that we take our lead from those on the other side of these culture wars.  We should be out there protesting.  And there might be value in that, but not as a first line of defense.

But it’s not the best response.  Paul wrote to Timothy, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way”.

And, in his first epistle, Peter tells us, “also be  prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence”. Know your faith, explain the faith, don’t debate it.

And that’s what we see Paul and Silas doing here.  They began with prayer. And the local demon, a spirit of divination possessing a slave girl, constantly followed them, shouting the truth,  but in such a way as to become a distraction.  And the townspeople who had them arrested talk about them teaching.

They prayed, and they gave a defense of the hope within them.

After their arrest, they were beaten with rods. Ouch.

How would you react to that? I HOPE that I’d react like Paul and Silas, but I know me.  Being human, I’d probably be less than polite.  But what did Paul and Silas do?  About midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God.

David sang, “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will continually be in my mouth”.  In his Epistle, we read, “Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise”.

The effect of that prayer and praise? The other prisoners were listening to them. Then when God freed them with an earthquake, and they didn’t use the opportunity to escape, the jailer asked what he had to do to be saved. Although the jailer may have heard their preaching, it was the prayer and praise that ultimately brought him into the Church!

Praise of God has often accompanied martyrdom.  More than a century after his event, St. Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, was to martyred. When he was tied up to be burned, Polycarp prayed, "Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be received today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, among those who are in you presence, as you have prepared and foretold and fulfilled, God who is faithful and true. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen."

And then there’s St. Lawrence of Rome. Sentencing Lawrence to die, the prefect had a great gridiron prepared with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!”

Remember our Lord’s words. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you”.

My brothers and sisters, I hope that we may never be called to martyrdom, but there may be opposition. We don’t know the future, but we DO know how to be ready.

Praise God in every circumstance. God inhabits the praise of His people,
Pray for those who persecute you - Christ said to pray for your enemies.
Pray for our leaders.
Or, as Paul said, Pray at all times  And praise at all times.

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

Sunday of Forgiveness/Cheesefare Sunday

Romans 13:11-14;14:1-4
Matthew 6:14-21

​In our society, we are encouraged to prepare for retirement.  We have Social Security, IRAs, 401Ks, and just savings in general. Eternal life is like Earthly life in that regard.  God wants us to prepare for our Eternal Retirement.  And Lent is a time that gives us a boost towards that preparation.
​
In fact, this Gospel is a Lenten how-to.

First, our Lord tells us the importance of forgiveness. He’s told us this so many times. In the Our Father, he teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.  And, in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful for that shall receive mercy”.  You see, forgiving others, showing mercy, that results in God showing us mercy. And it enables us to receive mercy.  And we’re ALL in need of His mercy.

The second key is fasting. When you fast, don’t let others know that you’re fasting.  If you go around with a long look on your face, letting people know just how much you’re suffering to perfect yourself as a Christian, letting them know how much your suffering helps you conquer your passions, are you REALLY suffering to perfect yourself? Or are you drawing attention to yourself, looking for pity? Remember, “Blessed are the meek, for THEY shall inherit the earth”. And, if you’re showing others how successful you are in conquering the passions, does that include how successful you are in conquering pride?

The third key that our Lord gives us for a good Lent is one he’s given us before.  Don’t store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, but store up treasures in heaven.

In the ancient world, there was a common belief that the inward life was much more important than physical comfort.  Often, wisdom was viewed as being more precious than jewels, that poverty and sickness were not all that important in the big scheme of things.  The belief was that the good man can be happy whatever happens to him. 

And in generation after generation many of the ablest men, and women also, acted upon the belief. They lived by free choice lives whose simplicity and privation would horrify a modern laborer, and the wise of the world about them seems to have respected rather than despised their poverty.

Our Lord is telling us to strive for this perspective.  If we store up treasures on earth, our attention is taken away from the interior life. That’s why poverty is so often stressed in monastic life. The Church doesn’t want us destitute, but she DOES want us to  have little dependence on our physical condition and comforts. And one of those comforts is food.

But, remember, even if we understand why it’s important to fast, we’re still likely to be under attack from the Enemy. Fasting is indeed a spiritual battle.  In this world, we are in an almost constant battle with the forces of darkness.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

Our struggle, though, has a dimension beyond the personal struggle.

And, when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated, God spoke to the people. “If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.” 

And earlier in this sermon, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”  In the ancient world, salt was a preservative.  As the Body of Christ, it is our duty to live in such a way that the earth is preserved.  And, as Christians, those who bear the name of Christ, it is our duty to humble ourselves, pray, seek his face, and turn from our wicked ways - not just that our sins be forgiven but that our land might be healed.

In many ways, our nation is a mess.  I’m not here to tell you which side of a political issue you should take.  I can’t do that.  But I can tell you what you can do.  

Use this Lent not only to prepare your eternal retirement, storing up treasures in heaven.  Use this Lent to bring God’s healing to our land.

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

​2 Tim 3:10-15:  
Luke 18:10-14 

Often, we forget how lucky we are.  As Byzantine Catholics, we have a number of rich liturgical cycles to enrich our year.  There is the Weekly Cycle, where we are called to remember different aspects of God’s grace and activity on each of the seven days of the week.  There’s the Sanctoral Cycle, based on fixed dates, where we celebrate various acts of God working in Salvation History, acts centering on the Life of Christ, His Mother, or the Saints.  Beginning on September 1, the first major feast of that cycle is the Birth of the Theotokos on September 8, and the last major feast is the Dormition of the Theotokos, on August 15. The most important feast in the cycle, though, is certainly Christmas.

And then there’s the cycle that centers on Pascha and Pentecost.  And that cycle starts today, on the first of the Pre-Lenten Sundays, the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. It contrasts the first of the capital sins, pride, with its corresponding virtue, humility.

What is a publican? 

He’s a tax collector. In Roman times, tax collectors weren’t just low level government functionaries, like they are today.  They were more like contractors.  If they were tasked to collect taxes on one hundred people, they had to pay Rome the taxes on those one hundred people, even if they didn’t collect it.  They would overcharge, sometimes exorbitantly. And the extra amount they collected? It was theirs.  So, Publicans became rich while being despised by the people.

In contrast, the Pharisee was a member of the leading religious party of the time - like the faithful church goer today.  He took pride in his righteousness, in following the rules to the letter of the law.  The prayer of the Pharisee is one of pride: “Thank you, Lord, that you’ve made me so righteous” is his prayer.  

What is pride?  Webster’s dictionary defines this type of pride as exaggerated self-esteem.  St. Augustine observes that pride is the source of all evil.

It was pride that started this entire cycle of evil.  Lucifer was the most beautiful of angels. He was so beautiful that he thought that HE should be God. And as a result, there was war in heaven.  He rallied as many as a third of all angels to join him. And he fell. The name Lucifer means “light bearer”, but no longer is the bearer of God’s light.  He is The Adversary.  He is Satan. 

And it was pride that Satan used to get inside Eve’s defenses. You remember the story? He asked her what God had said, and she said that they were not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, saying that eating it would result in death.  He replied that what God said wasn’t true. “You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.”

Not only did Satan aspire to be God, he also appealed to Eve’s desire to be like God.

Exaggerated self-esteem.

How can this apply to us today? 

When we look at somebody and, rather than feeling compassion, we think how much better we are than they are – that’s pride.  

When we’re impressed with our own righteousness – that’s pride. 

When we see the faults of others but ignore ours - that’s pride.

When we exalt our own understanding over the Church’s defined teaching – that’s pride.

Exaggerated self-esteem.

On the other hand, the prayer of the Tax Collector is one of humility.  “Have mercy on me, a sinner”.

The best example of humility that we have is our Lord.  As Paul wrote to the Philippians,  “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name”.

Saint John Chrysostom teaches: He who places humility as the foundation of his character can safely construct a building of any height. Humility is the strongest fence against evil, an immovable wall, an impenetrable fortress; it supports the entire edifice and does not allow it to fall… it makes it inaccessible to all attacks…and through it God, the lover of mankind, pours out on us his plentiful gifts.

Every year, the Church gives us this cycle of 10 weeks - 4 Sundays before Lent, 5 Sundays before Palm Sunday, and then Holy Week – to prepare to enter into our Lord’s Passion and Death, and then to celebrate His triumph over Death. And the first step in that journey is to look at ourselves and discover where we are controlled by pride, to discover exaggerated self-esteem in our souls. When we know that, we see the truth and, with the Publican, we can pray, “Have mercy on me, a sinner”.

We can pray this hymn from our Mattins office: “Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn the humility of the Tax Collector that we may be exalted and cry aloud with him to God: Have mercy on your servants, O Christ our Savior, born of a Virgin, Who endured the Cross and raised up the world with you by Your divine power”.

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

1 Tim 4:9-15:  
Luke 19:1-10 

What’s in a name? In earlier cultures, one’s name would sometimes be given as a reflection of their character. We hear of this with the names of Native Americans, but the practice was not confined to those cultures.

The Old Testament Patriarch Abram’s name means “Exalted Father”. God later changed his name to Abraham,  meaning “Father of a multitude” - and he did become a father of a multitude, first through his physical descent, becoming the father of Arabs, Israelites, and many other nations.  And then, through adoption in Christ, he became our father.

The name “Paul” means “small” or “humble”.  In writing to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul refers to himself as least of the Apostles.  And Jesus? Our Lord’s name means “Jehovah is salvation”.

What about Zacchaeus?  Well, his name means “Pure”.  Now, it seems that the name doesn’t really fit his profession of  Tax Collector. In Roman times, tax collectors weren’t just low level government functionaries, like they are today.  They were more like contractors.  If they were tasked to collect taxes on one hundred people, they had to pay Rome the taxes on those one hundred people, even if they didn’t collect it.  They would overcharge, sometimes exorbitantly. And the extra amount they collected? It was theirs.  So, they became rich while  being despised by the people.

And Zacchaeus wasn’t just a tax collector; he was a chief tax collector. So, he was in charge of a number of other tax collectors. And, we can probably say that he shared in the excessive taxes collected.

Doesn’t sound very pure, does it?

But, the thing is, our Lord doesn’t care about our past.  We all have a past.

Matthew was a tax collector, but Jesus chose him as an Apostle.  After the Resurrection, Matthew continued preaching to the Jews.  Eventually, he went to other nations and was martyred for the faith.

I mentioned Paul saying he was the least of apostles.  Why? Because he persecuted the Church! The book of Acts says that he was breathing “murders and threats against disciples of the Lord”.  But God sought him out, took a hold of his life, and turned him into one of the greatest Apostles.

Then, there’s St Augustine.  In his younger days, living in Carthage, he lived a rather hedonistic lifestyle. He had a son with a mistress, but then, when a job opportunity in Milan presented itself, he took his son there, dumping his mistress.  Yet, from there, God got a hold of his life, turned him around, and made him into one of the most influential Christian teachers of all time.

Yes, God is not so much concerned with our past as with our future.

So, what happened with this chief tax collector? When Jesus came by, Zacchaeus lived up to the promise of his name.  He climbed up a tree in order to see  God! And, when Zacchaeus sought Jesus, Jesus reached out to him and invited himself to Zacchaeus’s house for dinner.

The crowds, of course, were none too pleased that Jesus reached out to him, though. “Oh, he’s gone to eat with a sinner”. How often do we do that, when we see a celebrity looking for Christ? “Oh, he just wants to look good to people”.  Right?

But Zacchaeus?  He didn’t care what the crowds said about him.  Neither should we care what people say of us when we seek to know and seek Christ. Rather, Zacchaeus sought to make restitution to those whom he’d wronged.  The Law required that he repay 125%, but Zacchaeus went over and above that.  He promised to pay back FOUR TIMES!

In Jeremiah, we read God talking about the New Covenant. He says there, “I will write my law upon their hearts”.  Well, isn’t that what happened here with Zacchaeus? And Jesus said, “Today, Salvation has come to your house”.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. 

Our names can actually indicate what He plans for us.  Yes, our parents didn’t have the meanings on their minds when they named us, but God knew. Or maybe your parents named you for a saint, and you can take inspiration from that. So, find out what your name means, and ask yourself how it applies to you.

God doesn’t care about our past so much as He cares about the future He calls us to.


Seek God, and He’ll find you.  ​

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

​2 Tim 4:5-8
Mark 1:1-8

Shakespeare wrote, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them”. John the Baptist was born for greatness.  No,  not greatness as man defines it. He was born for greatness as God defines it.

One thing that we tend to overlook is that John the Baptist was born to be a priest. As we know, the Old Covenant was given as a shadow of the New.  Under the New Covenant, those in Church ministry - Bishops, Priests, Deacons - are chosen by the church.  But under the Old, there was no choosing. Being a priest or Levite was by birth.

The son of a priest was a priest, and Luke’s gospel tells us that John’s father was a priest named Zechariah. 

And this priest, John, was the first to recognize Jesus as the Incarnate God. Luke tells us that upon being told that she would bear a son, Mary went to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John.  He tells us, “when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb”. 

Like Jesus, John’s birth was foretold by Gabriel, the same angel who foretold the birth of Jesus. Because Zechariah doubted it, he was struck dumb until John was born. Gabriel said that his name would be John - a name that nobody else in the family bore. When the baby was born, Zechariah confirmed the name and was able to speak again. As a result, the people who witnessed this miracle wondered what plans God had for John.

John was born for greatness.

We won’t see John again for about 30 years. He was in the desert, preaching and baptizing.  If we saw him today, we’d probably call him a wild man of the desert.  As our Gospel today says, he was dressed in camel’s hair with a leather belt, and his diet was bugs and honey. That was certainly counter-cultural, no matter what the culture!

But counter-cultural behavior can point the way to God, and that was certainly the case with John.  All four gospels identify him with the messenger sent to prepare the way of the Lord, preaching a Baptism of Repentance. Because of this, Jesus called John as “the greatest of men born to women” Matthew reports him as saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near”.  Luke tells us more, that he was preaching more than mere repentance.  It shows him challenging the people to live moral lives.  

John was born for greatness!

But, all four Gospels have him saying that one is coming after him, one whose sandals he’s not even fit to tie.  And then, the One, Jesus, comes to him, asking for Baptism. 

After this, there’s only one more story about John.  Herodias had divorced her first husband to marry his half-brother, Herod Antipas. The historians don’t agree on the details, but it is clear that, besides everything else, she was also related by blood to the brothers.  So, it was a situation of divorce, adultery, and incest. 

As the Gospel of Mark relates it, “Herod had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias. John had said to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.' Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias’s own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, 'Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.' He even swore to her, 'I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.'  She went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for?' She replied, 'The head of John the Baptist.' The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, 'I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.' The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her.  So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother.”

John already knew what Jesus would teach -  “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna . . . . . Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

John was born for greatness.

And you were born for greatness.  You may not be great by baptizing Jesus. You may not be great by confronting the powerful.  

But you can be great by the Acts of Mercy - because, as Paul tells us, God is rich in mercy.

When John told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have Herodias - that was a Spiritual Act of Mercy - admonish the sinner.  

When you pray for the living of the dead - that’s a Spiritual Act of Mercy.  Counsel the doubtful, forgive others, comfort the sorrowful - Spiritual Acts of Mercy. 

Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick or imprisoned? Corporal Acts of Mercy.

John was born for greatness, but so were you.

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

Sunday after Theophany

Eph. 4:7-13
Matt 4:12-17

​Do you remember the story of King David. Nobody expected much of him. The youngest of Jesse’s sons, he was a shepherd boy. He was a harpist. He was not a warrior, by any means. Yet, because of his musical ability, he caught the eye of King Saul, and he became part of the court.

In those days, Israel was at war with its perpetual enemy, the Philistines. One particular Philistine was named Goliath. Goliath was a giant. Goliath was a bully.

We all know the story. David volunteered to face Goliath. King Saul wanted him to wear his armor. David tried it on, but then refused. He went out to face Goliath and do battle using the only tools he knew - a sling and some stones.

He used the tools he had.

And those tools did the job God had given David.

When we think of ministry, we tend to think in terms of priesthood. In the Old Covenant the priests were descended from Moses’s brother, Aaron - the Levitical Priesthood, with Levites assisting them in Temple Worship. In the New Covenant, the Church, we have priests of the Order of Melchizedek, with Deacons helping them in Divine Worship. But this ministerial priesthood isn’t the only priesthood in the Church today..

Just before giving him the Ten Commandments, God said to Moses, “You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites”. And Peter tell us, “you are 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”.

This royal priesthood, which has existed since the time of the Exodus, consists of AL of us. Every believer is a priest! The difference is this. The ministerial priesthood is directed to the Body of Christ, the Church. And its focus is administration of the sacraments, to build up the Body. But you, members of the Royal Priesthood, have as your focus all of humanity. 

The Royal Priest doesn’t administer sacraments. The Royal Priest administers God’s love.

We are to minister using the tools we know.

You become a Royal Priest by the simple act of Baptism. Remember what we sing? “All you who have been baptized into Christ, you have put on Christ”.

Our Epistle today tells us “He gave some as Apostles, some as Prophets, others as Evangelists, others as Pastors and Teachers”. Why? As Paul tells us, “to equip the holy one for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”.

What’s an Apostle? The immediate context would tell us that it refers, as Scripture call them, Peter and the Twelve - and we can add Paul to that list, also. Beyond that, though another English translation of the title would be Missionary.

A Prophet? The office existed in the Old Covenant - there are Old Testament books
written by four men classified as Major Prophets - Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel - and twelve men classified as Minor Prophets. Beyond them, however, there were many more men such as Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and Elisha. There actually were schools of the Prophets. A prophet is one who delivers the word of God to the people, sometimes challenging them,s ometimes foretelling the future. When David sinned with Bathsheba, it was the prophet Nathan who confronted him.

An Evangelist, simply stated, is one whose ministry is to deliver the Evangelion, the
Gospel, to those who haven’t heard it, or perhaps haven’t truly committed to it. They
encourage people to follow Christ.

Teachers lead Christians into deeper Christian life. Or they may lead into a deeper
knowledge of Christ and His Church. And a pastor is a leader, shepherding his flock, keeping them from error. In fact, often the phrase in the Epistle is understood to mean that “pastor and teacher” refers to a single office.

Now, some may ask how that applies to them. These ministries, a gift from God, do not apply only to the ordained ministry.

The Old Testament prophet Daniel was not a priest. He was of the tribe of Judah,
probably a descendant of King David. The Church refers to St. Mary Magdalene as Equal to the Apostles. Philip had four daughters who had the gift of prophecy. They were all members of the Royal Priesthood.

Look at Mother Angelica. She was certainly an Evangelist and Teacher. St. Catherine of
Siena has been declared a doctor (or universal teacher) of the Church.

And I’ll tell you a secret. Any Christian can operate in these ministries. Can we deny
that Billy Graham was an Evangelist. Yes, his theology was a little off, but if God can use him, God can use any of us.

He wants us to use the tools he’s given us.

What kind of tools? Paul writes to the Romans, “Since we have gifts that differ
according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

He continues, “Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one
another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep".

You are priests, priests ministering God's love each other. You are priests ministering God's love to those outside these walls.

God has given us tools to minister to others.

Use the tools He’s given you.

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

​Col. 2:8-12
Luke 2:20-21;40-52

Humans have rites of initiation. From the highest to the lowest, we see it.
Politicians are sworn in, taking an oath of office.  The Military have to take an oath.  Without these oaths, they cannot act on behalf of the government.

When I became a member of the Lay Dominicans, I had to make Life Promises. When we married, my wife and I each made vows. Without those promises, without those vows, I could not really say that I was admitted to that state of life.

In Genesis, Chapter 17, we read of a covenant that God makes with Abraham. “I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now residing as aliens, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God. For your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.  This is the covenant between me and you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.”

Circumcision became the outward sign of the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law. And it applied not only to the Jew, but to any foreigner or slave living among them who would partake of the Passover. 

In Leviticus, we read that a male child is to be circumcised on the eighth day.  And so it was with Jesus, the feast we celebrate today. The heir to the throne of David submits himself to the Law of Moses, receiving the sign of the Covenant - the same Covenant that he, as God, had made with Abraham.

Beyond that, it was the first sign of his sacrifice for us. It was the first shedding of his precious blood. We read in Leviticus, “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement on the altar for yourselves, because it is the blood as life that makes atonement.” As a further sign, he is given a name that points to his purpose, Yeshua - Jesus, meaning Yahweh - God - saves.

Throughout his ministry, Paul was troubled - attacked, really - by people saying that circumcision - and adherence to the Mosaic Law - was required of all who would follow Jesus. He addresses that in the Epistle. “In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead".  

This echoes two admonitions in Leviticus. “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your  heart, and be no longer stubborn”, and “the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”.

In these last two quotes from Leviticus, we learn a very important aspect of our faith. We are told to circumcise our hearts - and then we’re told that GOD will circumcise our hearts. Our faith and our spiritual growth depend on us as much as it does on God!  As I pointed out a few weeks ago, our good acts don’t save us; they carve out a portion in our souls for the Holy Spirit to fill with grace.

To understand circumcision of the heart it helps to understand physician circumcision. 

Physical circumcision involves removing the foreskin of an organ, an organ that can get a man in a lot of trouble, an organ that can be an instrument of sin.  Circumcision of the heart, then, is cutting away anything in the heart that can lead us to sin.

Writing to the Galatians, Paul warns us of such things. “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”. 

It can be difficult and painful to cut out such things.  They can become ways of life.  But Paul offers a solution. Continuing in Galatians, he says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law".

Look at the last of the Spiritual Acts of Mercy, praying for the living and the dead. Do you really think you can pray for someone and continue hating them?  I mean REALLY pray for them?  I don’t think so.

Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked - as you continue to show them those mercies, they become more than just anonymous faces. You begin to love them.  And when you begin to love them (obeying the Second Great Commandment), you begin to love God (obeying the First Great Commandment). “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”. 

Why was Christ circumcised?  In all of history, only Jesus fulfilled the entire Law of Moses. His circumcision is the first step of his fulfilling the Law. And it is the confirmation that he is fit to be heir to the throne of David.

Circumcision is not a part of Christianity - it’s part of the Old Covenant, a covenant made by God with the physical descendants of Abraham through his grandson, Israel.  

Baptism is the Rite of Initiation of the New Covenant. And it is in Baptism in which we are buried with Christ and rise to new life. 

​​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

​Sunday after Christmas
​
Gal 1:11-19
Matt 2:13-23

Sometimes, you can do all the right things, and people will still persecute you for it. That’s precisely what happened to Paul. He starts out by saying that the Gospel he preaches is not of human origin. He didn’t even learn it from another man, but directly from the Lord.  And then, after three years, he went to Jerusalem, where Peter confirmed that what he’d received really was from God.

Does that mean that God gave him a direct revelation of the Gospel?  Not necessarily. 

Have you ever looked at something, something you’ve read many times?  And then, suddenly, it just makes sense?  Everything clicks.  

I think that’s what happened with Paul.  He’d been schooled in the Scriptures, no doubt in the original Hebrew and in the Septuagint, the Greek translation that we find cited in the New Testament.  He was a very learned man in Jewish Law.  And in those three years between his conversion and going to Jerusalem, I’m sure he studied and prayed, and then he prayed and studied. And then he made the connection.

In the thirty-first chapter of the Prophecy of Jeremiah, the Prophet records God’s words. "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  

Paul pondered this, and he pondered the words from the Last Supper as recorded in Luke’s Gospel. “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in my blood. 

And then Paul understood.  God had a plan all along!

The Law which God gave Israel on Mount Sinai made provisions for the Gentiles who lived among the Israelites.  They were not required to follow the Law in their personal lives, but just to live morally.  That Law - things like circumcision and keeping kosher - was meant for the Jews, not to make them holy, but to show them that God had a purpose for them. God had a plan all along! 

And he finally understood what would be written in the Book of Hebrews.  The Law was given as a shadow of the Good Things to come.  The Old Covenant was given as a shadow, as a teacher, of the New Covenant. And that was God’s plan all along! 

When Paul looked further at the Law, he saw God’s pattern for worship.  He saw that God’s plan was that Israel was to be a nation of priests, spreading knowledge of God’s love to the world.  But he saw that alongside the nation of priests, there was also a special class of priests who would offer blood sacrifices to God on behalf of the people, and chief among those priests would be the High Priest who entered the Holy of Holies once a year on the day of Atonement.  And he saw that pattern carried on in the New Covenant, but with Jesus as high priest .  As we read in Hebrews, “when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the Law.

He started thinking back on the stories that he’d heard about Jesus.  He remembered that, while Jesus said that he came to save the Israelites, He never turned away a Gentile.  And he looked at the history of Israel.  There had always been non-Jews, Gentiles, who lived among them.   

The New Covenant is with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, but non-Jews, Gentiles, are a part of it.  Gentiles are adopted as part of the nation.  And that was God’s plan all along!

Just like the Old Covenant, the New Covenant doesn’t require that the Gentile become a Jew and follow the Law.  As Paul wrote in the next chapter of this Epistle, “ a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. 

To live by the Old Covenant, you had to follow rules.  There was little concern in changing the heart. There were commandments.

But look at what God said through Jeremiah. “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts”. The Old Covenant is external, the New Covenant is internal.

Under the Old Covenant, you had to follow rules to live up to being a Jew. But, under the new - well, doing good things won’t save you.  All the prayers won’t make you holy, all the acts of charity won’t do it either.  But, what they do is this.  Every prayer, every act of charity carves out a pocket in your soul that allows God to fill it with His grace.  

Listen to what Paul says later in Galatians. “If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy,  drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.” 

Paul talks about one new man in Christ.  He talks about Christ being the New Adam.  THAT is the New Covenant. We are no longer slaves of sin and the flesh. We become, by adoption, children of Abraham, part of God’s people, God’s family.  The holiness we seek is not something for us to strive for, it’s something that the Holy Spirit will grow in us if we make room.  He wants to grow those fruit in us!  
And that was God’s plan all along!

So, let Him do it!!

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

The Sunday before the Nativity of Christ
Heb 11:9-10,17-23,32-40
Matt 1:1-25

I love the Troparia the Church gives us.  They have some real meat in them.  Sure, we have the cycle of the eight Resurrectional Troparia, and it’s easy to take them for granted. “Oh, yeah, we sang that before”.  But then, along come the feasts, and we get the opportunity to learn something new. And they often show us that God had a plan from the beginning.

This one sets the whole coming of Christ against the backdrop of mankind’s fall as told in the opening chapters of Genesis.  God had created man in his image and gave him stewardship over the entire world. And he only gave one command.  Don’t eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

The Bible tells us that the Serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals that God had made. And this particular serpent was a mouthpiece for Satan.  And Satan knew that that human destiny was, in fact, to become like God.  So he twisted God’s command, not much, but just enough so that Eve ate the fruit.  She was deceived, but Adam willingly went along with it.  And they lost spiritual life and were barred from the garden. An angel guarded the entrance.

But the troparion tells us that today, Eden has been opened for all! The Tree of Life has been restored to all. The Birth of Christ re-opened Eden for mankind.

And that was God’s plan from the beginning!!!

Matthew’s Gospel was written for the Hebrew people, and they knew their history. So, rather than being a dry list of names, the genealogy I just read to you shows that Jesus is the missing piece of the puzzle, the long awaited Messiah whom they’d been anticipating for centuries. 

That was God’s plan from the beginning.

In Genesis, we read God making a covenant with Abraham. 

God’s first promise was that Abraham’s descendants were to be like the number of stars in the sky. 

The second promise was that, although they would be slaves for 400 years in an alien land, eventually they would come out of that land with great possessions. If you’ve read the book of Exodus, or seen the movie, “The Ten Commandments”, you know that that’s exactly what happened.

The second son, Jacob, of Abraham’s second son, Isaac, became the child of this promise.  And it is through that son, later known as Israel, that God sent the Messiah.

The third part of God’s promise is yet to be fulfilled. Abraham’s descendants would occupy the land from the Nile River in Egypt to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern day Iraq, and as far north as modern day Turkey.  God told him that his descendants would occupy the whole world, at least as much as Abraham could conceive. That will happen when the whole world becomes Christian, because we, as Christians, are part of the New Covenant that God has made with Israel.

That has been God’s plan from the beginning.

The genealogy continues down to David. There are three women mentioned in that lineage, and they are not Hebrew women, but Gentiles. Rahab was a Canaanite woman, Ruth a woman of Moab, and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, was a Hittite. God always planned to include Gentiles in His Kingdom - first in the Kingdom of Israel, and now in the Church.

Just as He had made a covenant with Abraham, so God made a covenant with David. A descendant of David would rule over the house of Israel forever.  And that’s what the genealogy shows - Jesus is the legal heir to the throne of David. Even though he was not the blood son of Joseph, he was the legal son. It’s Luke’s genealogy that shows Jesus was descended through a different line from David.

And don’t you know that God always chooses the right person for His plans.  

Look at Joseph. Not only was he heir to David’s throne, but we can see here that he was a good man.  Learning that Mary was pregnant, he didn’t want to humiliate her. He didn’t want to have her stoned, even though the Law of Moses would allow it. No, he was a righteous man, a merciful man, and he chose to divorce her quietly - that is, until he learned that the child was conceived of the Holy Spirit.

And then look at Mary.  We get more details of this in Luke’s Gospel.  When Gabriel greets her, he calls her kecharitomene - a word not otherwise found in Greek literature.  It means “female for whom the reception of grace has been completed” - in other words, Full of Grace; it is a clear indication that she is the Immaculate Conception, conceived without Original Sin. 

When that Archangel Gabriel told her that she would become the Mother of God, she responded by saying, “Be it done unto me according to your word”.  St Irenaeus says, “If the former Eve disobeyed God, the latter Eve, Mary, was persuaded to be obedient to God…. And thus as the human race fell into bondage by means of a virgin, so it is rescued by a virgin”.

Not only man’s perdition, but the fallen state of creation was brought about by the disobedience of the first Eve and Adam, and the restoration of man and creation is being brought about by the New Eve and Adam, by her obedience, and his Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection.

That, my brothers and sisters, is what we are celebrating.

God had a plan from the beginning - and it includes each one of us!

REJOICE!!​

​​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

​Twenty-Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

Ephesians 5:9-19 
Luke 12:16-21 

Do you realize how sad this parable is?  The man accumulates all this wealth, so much so that he had to tear down his barns and build new ones to store his wealth.  And then, what happens? He dies.  Unprepared.

Now, notice, Jesus didn’t say that his soul was lost. You can assume that this man would eventually reach the fullness of heaven.  But he has no treasure in heaven. 

As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”

1300 years ago, there was an English writer, a monk, named Bede.  He’s a saint, and the church counts him as one of its Universal Doctors, just like St Basil, St Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas.  

In his history of the English speaking people, he tells us about a man named Drythhelm.  Now Drythhelm had what we today would be called a near-death experience, being shown a vision of the afterlife.  He saw hell as a place of thick darkness with a flaming pit.  He saw heaven, of course.  And he saw two places for those not ready for heaven.  One was a beautiful plain, a place for those who lived a good life but were not yet perfect, a place where they could seek that perfection.  

Our Ukrainian Catholic Catechism clarifies. “If a person has fallen asleep in God, having repented of all sins, but has not yet achieved spiritual maturity—the fullness of life in Christ—then that person enters the kingdom of God, in the words of St Paul,“as through fire”. After death, such a person is still in need of spiritual healing and cleansing of all stain, in order to dwell ‘in a place of light ... where there is no pain, sorrow, or mourning.’ In the Church, this healing condition of the dead is referred to as purgatory’”. I sometimes call it heaven’s mudroom.

The last part of Drythhelm’s vision was a place of fire and ice, a place which was not hell, but was for those who repented at death, those who were far from perfect, whose suffering would allow them to seek perfection. Is this why Paul wrote to the Philippians to work out our salvation with fear and trembling?

But, some may argue that Paul says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Think about it, though.  Who is the great healer of our souls? Who is the lover of our souls? Our Lord is, of course. The psalmist wrote, "If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in the place of the dead, there you are."

 Think of it like this. If you spend time in the darkness and then go out into the bright sun, what happens?  The sun is so bright, and you are so unaccustomed to the brightness, it actually hurts, doesn’t it?

Heaven is like that.  We live in a world shrouded in the darkness of sin.  And, be honest with yourself.  You sin.  We all sin. And, sometimes, we have an attachment to that sin. And when we sin, it hurts our souls. We need healing from that hurt, and deliverance from that attachment.

So, let’s look at treasure in heaven. It is freely given by God, but you have to prepare yourself to receive it.  Every time you pray, every act of good works you do, every spiritual exercise you do - these things won’t save you.  But what they DO is carve out a portion in your soul for the Holy Spirit to fill with God’s grace. 

And the more that our souls are filled with God’s grace, the less we need that spiritual healing and cleansing.

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

The Church gives us so many ways to build up treasure.  Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.  Living the Beatitudes. Studying the faith.  Praying the Rosary and the Akathists. The Church encourages us to know and practice the four Cardinal Virtues - Fortitude, Temperance, Prudence, and Justice.  And She teaches the three Theological Virtues - Faith, Hope, and Love. 

The beauty of it is you don’t have to remember them right now.  They’re all in your Hear Me, O Lord prayer book.

I like to think of heavenly treasures as possessing a spiritual energy. When you have a lit candle, and you let your friend light their candle from yours, you share that energy.  But you don’t lose any of the flame, do you?

In the same way that you can share a flame, you can share the Spiritual Energy of your treasures.  The seventh of the Spiritual Works of Mercy is praying for the living and the dead. When you do that, you’re passing the flame of God’s grace to the one you’re praying for.  

Having treasure in heaven makes you spiritually rich.  Remember the rich young man? Jesus told him that to gain eternal life, he must give his riches to the poor. So, if you’re rich in Treasure in Heaven, give it away!  

But, if you give away heavenly treasures, you won’t lose them, no more than you lose the flame of that candle!

Eastern Catholics don’t talk much about Indulgences, and we don’t have much of a tradition of them. But we still pray for the dead.  Praying for the dead predates the time of Jesus, both for Jews then, and Christians now.  Despite the medieval abuse of Indulgences, the principle remains. Praying for the dead is an Indulgence.

Put another way, an indulgence is nothing more than giving our spiritual riches away to those in Purgatory, those who can no longer pray for themselves.  And isn’t that a great act of charity?

So, my friends, remember….

Purgatory is Real

Treasures in Heaven help us lessen or avoid purgatory 

We can share our treasures

Now, go and share your treasure.

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

​Kontakion (6) You did not worship a man-made image, O thrice-blessed Youths, but were glorified in the test of fire, protected by a power beyond description. From the searing flames you cried out to God, saying: Hasten to help us, O merciful Lord, for in Your greatness You can do whatever You will. Kontakion (6) You did not worship a man-made image, O thrice-blessed Youths, but were glorified in the test of fire, protected by a power beyond description. From the searing flames you cried out to God, saying: Hasten to help us, O merciful Lord, for in Your greatness You can do whatever You will. 

Colossians 3:4-11
Luke 14:16-24 


Last week’s Gospel was about storing up treasures in heaven  This week, our Lord takes it a step further. The great feast in the parable represents the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. In the book of Revelation, the establishment of the Kingdom of God is expressed in these terms: “'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure' And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb'”.


All those invited? That’s us, the Church, the Bride of the Christ, those who have been given the privilege of hearing the Gospel of the Lord, especially those who’ve heard it from an early age. It’s also those who’ve been called by God to the Church later in life.  But that calling comes with a cost.  The cost is not in accepting the call, of course. We must live the call. Our Lord’s parable shows those who are invited but, rather than coming to the feast - rather than living the call - choose to focus on the needs of this life, on their attachment to sin.


In the Epistle, Paul lists some of those attachments to sin, warning against them. He’s not talking about virtue, just the avoidance of sin. The description of the Wedding Supper says that the Bride has made herself ready.  How? Through the practice of virtue, among other things.


We must live the call.


Our kontakion today reminds us of that cost, that of living the call.  The three youths mentioned, along with the prophet Daniel, their kinsman, had been taken captive some 600 years before Christ, when Babylon conquered the southern Hebrew Kingdom of Judah.  King Nebuchadnezzar had made an image of gold, a 90-foot tall statue, and ordered everyone in the kingdom to worship it, saying ”but if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace; and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”


The three youths, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, refused, saying, “If that’s the case, our God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, know this, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up”.


When they were thrown into the furnace, it was so hot that those who threw them into it were themselves burned up.  But the three were protected.  As the account says, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He said to his counselors, 'Didn’t we cast three men bound into the fire?' They answered the king, 'True.' He answered, 'But I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.'” 


The three were let out. Their hair was not singed. They didn’t even smell of smoke.


They stood for the truth - they lived the call.  When persecuted, they were protected, and the Lord stood with them.  And then, afterwards, the stigma of the persecution didn’t stick to them, neither the burning of the fire nor the smell of smoke.


When they first arrived in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar provided gourmet meals for them.  But the meals violated Jewish dietary laws. Daniel and his friends refused to defile themselves. The official in charge of them was concerned that not eating the rich foods would damage their health.  So, Daniel said, “Let us eat only vegetables and water for ten days, and then examine us’.  And, after ten days, they were healthy.  Subsequently, as scripture tells us, they increased in wisdom and authority.  


They lived the call.


Temperance is one of the cardinal virtues, and it counters gluttony. It pertains to us today, when we are in the time of Philip’s Fast.  The Church gives us these fasting periods, especially to develop temperance, and she gives us reminders of those who’ve fought the fight, run the race, so that we can follow their examples.


The Catechism tells us, “Human beings have a natural need for food and drink; food is necessary to support life. However, an excessive desire for food distorts a natural human need. This leads to the sin of gluttony, wherein food becomes an end in itself. There are various manifestations of this sin. The first of these is excess in food and drink. The Holy Fathers taught that food consumed in excess harms the soul. The second manifestation of gluttony is the quest for food and drink primarily for pleasure. A lack of self-control in eating and drinking leads to voraciousness in everything else, since one seeks to satiate the hunger and thirst of the soul by overindulging the body”.


 St John Chrysostom talked about temperance. He tells us, “We have, you see, a gentle and loving Lord who demands nothing of us beyond our capabilities. In other words, it is not arbitrarily that he looks for fasting and abstinence from food to be performed by us, nor simply for the sake of our remaining without food, but rather that we may be detached from things of this life and devote all our spare time to spiritual matters”.


So, my brothers and sisters, prepare yourself for the feast - not only the upcoming Christmas Feast, but the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.
​

• Avoid the attachment to sin.
• Stand for the truth, like the 3 youths
• Practice the virtues, especially temperance to overcome gluttony.

Now go, my friends, and live the call.

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

20th Sunday after Pentecost
Gal 1:11-19
Luke 7:11-16

Some 800 years before Jesus, the Prophet Elijah was hiding out from the evil king of the Northern Kingdom, a man named Ahab.  The Lord told him to go to Zarephath, a town where a woman, a widow, had been commanded to feed the prophet.  She was running out of flour and oil, and she was about to make one last loaf of bread for herself and her son – and then they would just lie down and die.  But she obeyed the word of the Lord that came through the prophet, and for the time that Elijah was there, they always had enough to eat. 

After a time, her son got sick and died.  As the story continues in the Bible, “So she said to Elijah, ‘Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?’  Elijah said to her, ‘Give me your son.’ Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. He called out to the LORD: ‘LORD, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?’ Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and he called out to the LORD: ‘LORD, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.’ The LORD heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body, and he lived.”

Luke, both in the Gospel and in Acts, approaches teaching the faith through narrative, following the model of the Old Testament. That’s what he does in today’s Gospel.

Matthew’s Gospel provides insight into the thinking of the people at the time.  We read, “When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” Jesus knew that people were looking for Elijah to return.

In raising this widow’s son, He proves Himself greater than the prophet they’re looking for.  Elijah lay on top of the boy from Zarephath, praying, pleading with God to raise the boy.  But Jesus? Jesus said, “Get up”.

Elijah prayed that God conquer death. Jesus commanded, and death was conquered.

But there’s more to the story.  In both accounts, we see that God is concerned with widows who’ve lost their sons.  He would not leave them destitute.

Tradition holds that Joseph died before Jesus began His ministry.  Why is there no reason to doubt that? We can see from the Gospels that Mary accompanied her Son in His ministry.  Joseph wasn’t even mentioned at the Wedding at Cana.  If he were still alive, wouldn’t he show up somewhere?

From the cross, we see Jesus showing the same concern for His mother that He shows for other widows. John tells us, “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home”.

But don’t the Gospels talk about brothers and sisters of Jesus?  There are two things in the passage I just read. The first is that in the New Testament, brother and sister don’t necessarily mean children of the same parent. Would the Virgin’s parents give the same name, Mary, to two daughters?  That wouldn’t make sense, would it?  And where brothers and sisters of Jesus are mentioned, they are never called children of Mary. In addition to calling them children of the same parents, the terms are used to indicate close relatives. We see the same terminology in Genesis, where Laban, who is previously called the brother of Rebecca, is referred to as the brother of Jacob, Rebecca’s son.

The other thing we notice is that Jesus felt the need to give care for His mother to one of His disciples. You see, crucifixion is excruciating.  Breathing is difficult, and getting enough air in your lungs to allow speech is even more difficult.  If Mary had other children, her care would naturally go to them.  For Jesus to give her care to another would be an insult. Do you really think that, while dying, Jesus would make that effort to insult a sibling?

And, He didn’t give care of His mother to just anyone. John, the disciple who loved him, wasn’t just a disciple.  He was one of the Apostles, and not just one of the Apostles.  Time after time, the Gospels talk about the three who were closest to Jesus – Peter, James, and John. He was part of the inner circle, as it were. 

Peter had denied Jesus three times.  James – well, Scripture says that all the Apostles ran away – all but one.  John stayed by him until the end.

At that point, John represented not just the Apostles, but the entire Church.

And Jesus said, “Woman, behold your son”.  He was giving her not just John as a son, He was giving you and me.  He was giving the whole Church!

So, along with God as our Father and Jesus as our brother and redeemer, we have a mother that we share, a mother who cares, and a mother who, as mother of the King, has the authority to approach the King with our petitions, just as Bathesheba took Adonijah’s petition to her son, Solomon.
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I’ve thrown a lot at you today, so let me recap.

• Jesus is God. He cares about not just widows, but all of us. As God, He can speak the words to make miracles happen.
• At the time of the crucifixion, Mary was a widow with no children except Jesus.
• Jesus gave the care of Mary to John. When He did that, He gave her to John, and by extension, to all of us as mother.
• As our mother, she loves us and has the boldness and authority to bring our petitions to her Son, the King.

So, remembering that, will you join with me as we pray….
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen
​

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

17th Sunday After Pentecost

2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1
Matthew 15:21-28

Do you remember what the Apostles said right before the Ascension? “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The Apostles were clueless.  You know that, right?  Three years hanging out with the guy, and they still didn’t understand.  They heard him tell the Pharisees, “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, give unto God what is God’s”. And so many times, He indicated to all who would hear that the kingdom was spiritual, not political.

And here they are, asking, “When will you take political power?”

That’s the context of this Gospel today.

They’d gone about 50 miles, from near the Sea of Galilee, which is in Israel, to the area of Tyre and Sidon, in modern Lebanon.  But Lebanon was not populated by Jews; it was not part of Israel, so the Apostles would’ve said, “Why are we talking to them? They’re not our people”.  So Jesus said to them, “Well, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel”. 

Mind you, he’d already healed a centurion’s servant. He’d already said that whoever believed in Him would have eternal life. They knew that he wouldn’t reject a gentile who needed help.  But still they said, “Send her away”.

Just like the widow who begged the unjust judge to help, this Canaanite woman begged Jesus to help her daughter. And Jesus responded to her faith and healed her daughter.
However, I want to revisit the concept of Jesus being sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. That was His primary mission.  Where does that leave us?

Some 600 years earlier, speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah, God said, “The days are coming… when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah … I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”.

In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul likens the Jews to a tree, a tree from which some branches have broken off.  But he also speaks of Gentiles – that’s us – being grafted onto that same tree.  And, do you remember the words of the Anaphora – the Eucharistic Prayer?  “This is my blood of the New Covenant”.

In the days of Jesus, the Israelite religion had taken many forms.  There were the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Zealots, the Samaritans, the Essenes, and a handful of others not even mentioned in the Bible. And there was a branch of that Israelite faith that centered around a crucified carpenter from Nazareth.  After the destruction of the Temple in the year 70, only two of those groups survived – the Pharisees, who developed into Rabbinic Judaism, and New Covenant Judaism, which came to be called Christianity.

The Old Covenant had the sacrifices of the Temple. 1 Corinthians 10 shows us that the New Covenant has the Sacrifice of the Eucharist.

The Old Covenant had the Passover, where a Lamb was eaten to remember how God had freed them from the bondage of Egypt.  The New Covenant has Jesus, our Passover Lamb, who is eaten to remind us how God has freed us from the bondage of Sin.

The Old Covenant had the Levitical Priesthood. Hebrews Chapter 7 tells us, “The Priesthood being changed, there is necessarily a change in the law”. We have the Priesthood of Melchizedek.

The Old Covenant had the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies once a year, on Yom Kippur, to make atonement for the sins of the people for one year’s time.  Hebrews Chapter 9 tells us that the New Covenant has our High Priest, Jesus, entering the Heavenly Holy of Holies only once, making atonement for all, for all time.

The Old Covenant had the Law of Moses. It starts with the Ten Commandments, but adds to them so that there are a total of 617 commandments.

The New Covenant has the Law of Love.  Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first Commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”.

Yes, we are, in reality, New Covenant Jews. And like the Jews of the Old Covenant, we are a chosen people.

The Old Covenant Jew was the people through whom the Messiah, Christ, would come to save the world.  The Old Covenant Jew was set among the nations to be an example of worship of the One True God amongst a sea of believers in Pagan Gods.  The Old Covenant Jew was set among the people of the Earth to be a beacon of morality, of righteousness (who sometimes failed).

The New Covenant Jew is, as Paul puts it, One New Man in Christ, a new people who have the privilege and duty of taking that same Christ to the whole world – whether our world is our workplace, or across the sea. The New Covenant Jew is today still set among the nations to show the worship of the One True God. And the New Covenant Jew is still set to be a beacon of morality – even if we, too, sometimes fail.

How do we show the worship of the one true God?  Just as we read in the Book of Ezra, we publicly proclaim scripture in our Liturgy.  Our Priests offer the Sacrifice on the Altar. Even the architecture of our churches, our temples, is a mirror of Solomon’s Temple.
 
So, how do we apply all this?

·       Love God by practicing the Beatitudes
·       Love our neighbor by practicing the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
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On those depend the whole Law and the Prophets.

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2025/10/we-are-new-covenant-jews.html

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

19th Sunday after Pentecost
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When I was a boy, my father had a friend who was a hard man.  I’m not saying that he was a bad man, just hard.  Life had been hard on him.  His younger brother had died after being struck by a car. And as a result of that, their mother became mentally unstable, and she spent years in a mental institution. He grew up being just like his father, a hard man. Never one to show compassion, he was not one to think of the other guy, except when the goals of the other guy were the same as his.  

In his seventies, he lost his wife to cancer.  And then he got cancer.  He spent his final months in a hospice run by Franciscan nuns. 

He told one of his nieces that in the hospice, it was the first time in his life that he felt loved.
Our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel are, “Be merciful, as your Father in heaven is merciful”. Those Franciscan nuns obeyed Him. And the fruit of that mercy was that this dying man, a man who had a hard life, this man who had a hard heart - he felt loved for the first time in his life.

Sometimes, though, it’s just difficult for us to be merciful. We let our emotions get in the way of doing what we should. We want vengeance. We want the other guy to pay for the evil he’s done. But what does Jesus say? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  That’s just living out the Second Great Commandment - “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. And then he tells us, “Love your enemies and do good to them”.

Greek has three words meaning love. The first is eros (ἔρος). It’s where we get our word erotic, and it’s a love that’s associated with passion. Pope Benedict points out that it’s not just the love of a man for a woman, it’s also the love for music. It’s the love for the arts. It’s the love you have for anything that you’re passionate about.

The second type of love is philia (φιλία). It’s a feeling of affection, the love between friends.  It’s the Phila in Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love.

The third type is agape (ἀγάπη).  It’s a love that’s a choice, it’s an action, not a feeling.  When the Apostle John says “God is Love”, this is what he’s talking about.  In that great chapter on love in 1 Corinthians, “Love is gentle, love is kind”, that’s what Paul is talking about.  And when we are told to love our neighbor, to love each other, and to love God, it’s not eros, and it’s not philia.  It’s agape.

All of this answers the question of WHY we’re called to love.  But there’s still the question of HOW.

Our Prokeimenon points us in the right direction. “The Lord is my strength and my song of praise, and He has become my salvation”. The Lord will strengthen us to love. How do we tap into it, though?

In Romans, Paul tells us, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect”. It’s our responsibility to do the work, and God will provide the grace to give the results.  

What are the steps?

First, pray.  Paul says, “Pray without ceasing”.  Make your life a prayer.  Practice the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy – not as a work,  but as a prayer.  Pray set prayers like the Rosary. 

The next thing is reading the Bible. Read the weekly readings from your prayer book, “Hear Me, O Lord”. Read the Psalms & Proverbs. Meditating on them can reach deep into your soul. 
If you think you can’t understand, you’re not alone.  In Acts, we read the story of when Philip meets an Ethiopian Eunuch reading the book of Isaiah. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading, and the eunuch replied, “How can I understand if nobody explains it?”. Of course, Philip explained it.  But what he realized is that sometimes we need an explanation.
Jesus promised the Apostles that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth.   And those Apostles became the first bishops.

That truth into which the Holy Spirit led them is the traditional understanding of scripture, of our faith.  Where do we find it? You can start with the Brief Catechism on page 10 of your prayerbook, “Hear Me, O Lord”.  From there, you can read the Catechism of the Catholic Church or our Ukrainian Catholic Catechism, “Christ Our Pascha”.
Take one of the Beatitudes each week and ask yourself how you can live it out in your daily life.
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And then, as your mind is renewed, just make your actions reflect the faith that is forming your inner being. Show God’s love, God’s agape to all.
As our Lord tells us, “Your reward will be great. You will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked”.

Remember, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Go, and take every opportunity to be merciful.

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2025/10/be-merciful-as-your-father-in-heaven-is.html​

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

Baptism homily (Baby “Michael”)
(Readings are Rom 6.3-11 Matt 28.16-20)
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Do you realize that you’ve just witnessed a miracle? 
Today, Michael has had the devil driven from him. On his behalf, his godparents have rejected Satan and affirmed Christ, and he has been joined to Christ. 

He was anointed with oil 

• The forehead was anointed so that “the mind might be opened to understand and receive the mysteries of faith.” 
• The breast was anointed so that he “would love the Lord with all your heart.” 
• The shoulders were anointed so that he “would accept Christ’s yoke.” 
• The ears were anointed “for the reception of the voice of the divine Gospel.” 
• And his hands and feet were anointed so that he would “raise your hands towards the holy place and always act justly,” and “walk in the ways of Christ’s commandments.” 

Then, he was baptized, as our Gospel says, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. As Christ said, “You must be born of water and the spirit”.  He has been born again. 

And then, to top it all off, he has been sealed with the Spirit through Chrismation. This is a public witness that you now belong to God! It is through the Holy Spirit that we live and serve God. Through all this, Michael has been brought from man’s natural state of separation from God, from spiritual death, into communion with God, into eternal life. He is now able to become a partaker of the Divine Nature! 

As the hymn reminds us, “all you who have been baptized in Christ, you have put on Christ”. 
Michael, my new little brother, today is the first day of your eternal life! Welcome to the family!
Now, parents, and godparents, how does this affect you?  Does this simple reception of the Divine Mysteries mean that Michael is set for eternity? Well, no.

You are the first catechists that Michael will have.  You are to show him how to live a Christian life.  You have the primary task of overseeing his formation as a Christian, a Catholic.  You must be sure to get him to church on Sundays and Holy Days. And, all the while, while he is learning the faith, you must be deepening your own faith, your own devotion to Christ; for how can you impart your faith to him if you don’t nurture it? 

Some years ago, I was honored to serve as cantor for the funeral of a deacon who’d also been a high school teacher of mine.  When I told a friend of mine that he’d passed, his response was, “He didn’t just teach me history.  He taught me to be a man”.  So, I say to you, don’t just teach Michael the facts of the Faith, teach him to be a Christian.
And, if you need help, talk to us, to the priests and deacons.  That’s why we’re here, to help you grow.


In the Gospel reading, our Lord told the Apostles to make disciples of all nations.  And that’s what we are – disciples – students of righteousness, of truth, of Christ!  A child newly baptized is like a sponge, ready to absorb all spiritual truth.  But we adults also can absorb these truths, and we can support others in absorbing these truths – in being true disciples.
Glory be to Jesus Christ!!!

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

When the Lord God brought Israel out of Egypt, he didn’t just give the Ten Commandments.  He gave the Law of Moses, instructing them not only how to live, but how to worship Him.  He gave explicit instructions to build His Tabernacle - His dwelling place where he would meet His people.  

He gave instructions that the Tabernacle include images - images of angels - angels, because there were no human souls yet in heaven.  Those images were on the veil and on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  


Later, when constructing Solomon’s Temple, giant statues of Seraphim were placed in it.  And, in some of the synagogues from later in Israel’s history, shortly before the birth of Christ, archaeologists have found icons depicting biblical events, just as we have icons of biblical events and the life of Christ.

But, some misinterpreted the prohibition against making idols as a prohibition of any sacred painting or statue.  In the 7th century, Muhammad included that understanding as one of the tenets of Islam. As a result, during the Muslim conquests that followed, some Christians started to hold that prohibition as a tenet of their faith. That group, the iconoclasts, advocated destroying icons. The doctrine was called iconoclasm.


Finally, a Church Council was held in 787, in Nicea - the same place that gave us the first part of the Creed. After much debate, the decision was made that, yes, indeed, the use of sacred images, of icons, was part of the Faith, and always had been.  We celebrate those Council Fathers today. 

But the battles continued for nearly 60 years longer, until, on the First Sunday of Lent in 843, when, at the conclusion of yet another council, the council fathers marched into Hagia Sophia - the great cathedral in Constantinople - and restored the icons.  Iconoclasm was defeated, and the Sunday became known as the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

So, what’s so important about icons?

When we use incense, our worship engages our sense of smell. Hearing the scriptures, the liturgy, and the hymns - that engages our sense of hearing. Receiving the Eucharist, we use our senses of taste and touch.  The psalmist said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. We are to worship God with all our senses, and icons complete that circle.
Icons have been called “windows into heaven”. Hebrews gives us mental pictures of the heroes of our faith who came before Christ. Their actions are described, and we can imagine those actions. With icons, in a sense, we can see those saints. 


In the chapter before our Epistle reading in Hebrews, we read this: “You have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven”.  When we come to worship, we are surrounded by “the assembly of the firstborn in heaven”.  And the icons are here to remind us of that. They allow us to have a glimpse of that assembly!

For centuries, literacy was a rare thing; only the rich and educated could read.  Icons filled the gap, teaching the faith to those who could not read.


Think of one of the common icons of the Resurrection.  It depicts our Lord standing on two doors - He’s broken the gates of Hell.  Below that, we see a figure of a man, bound in chains; and Revelation tells us that Satan is now bound, bound until he is released at the end of time, before his final defeat. Surrounding Christ are saints from the Old Testament, including His ancestor, King David.  And He is raising a man and a woman from the grave - Adam and Eve.
Some years ago, I was at a retreat. The focus of the retreat was Eucharistic Adoration.  Adoration is a wonderful devotion, of course, but it’s a western practice. At one point, I approached the retreat master, a Dominican Friar, and explained to him that I was Byzantine.  I asked if Adoration had a parallel in our tradition.  Without hesitation, he replied praying with icons.


St. Basil tells us, “The honor paid to the image passes to the prototype”. Citing this, the Nicene Council Fathers continued, “he who does worship to the image [of Christ] does worship to the person represented in it”.

To sum up, God gave us icons so we could use our sense of sight in worship.

• They allow us to see images of Jesus and the saints.
• They allow us to see that we are part of a great assembly, worshiping the God of the Universe.
• They show us scenes from scripture and the lives of the saints, teaching us our faith.
• Praying with them, Christ and the saints are made present to us. The honor paid to the icon is passed to the person represented.
  
  
  

My brothers and sisters, let us rejoice that our Lord wants us to engage all of our senses in Divine Worship.

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2025/10/god-wants-us-to-worship-him-with-all-of.html​

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross - 2025

Gal 2,16-20
Mk 8,34-38;9,1

I want you to picture in your mind what Pope John Paul II looked like right before he was elected Pope.  A virile man, still relatively young looking.  Only 58 years old, he still was physically active, a skier, a hiker.

Then, three years later, an assassin’s bullet nearly took him out.  Once he healed from the bullet, he may have been slower, but he kept going.

Now, think of what he looked like, twenty years later.  His body racked with Parkinson’s disease.  HIs mind was as sharp as ever, but his body was failing. Sometimes, you couldn’t understand what he was saying because of the illness. He had offered his body as a living sacrifice.

You may ask what Jesus meant when he said, take up your cross.  Our beloved John Paul shows us.

A few verses earlier in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus had told His close disciples, His inner circle, that he must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.  But here, He’s speaking to the crowd, not just his disciples.
Denying themselves? They could understand that. There was an ascetic tradition among the Essenes, one of the groups of Jews at that time. But pick up their cross? The cross was a Roman tool of torture and execution, and picking it up would have come across to them as an invitation to be tortured and executed. 

Indeed, there were some who, in the years to come, were to be tortured and executed.  Throughout history, that has occurred again and again. And, it happens in some places even today.

But, at least at the moment, that’s not required of us in our society. Yet, to use our Lord’s words, we do live in a faithless and sinful generation. Violence, government corruption, all manner of sexual sin. We have to be prepared to suffer.

What is the value of suffering?

There are 3 ways

1. It contributes to our salvation

St Peter of Damascus writes: “By way of trials and sufferings we must purify the divine image in us in accordance with which we possess intelligence and are able to receive understanding and the likeness to God”. 

“By way of trials and sufferings we must purify the divine image”.

Not only do sufferings purify the divine image in us, we begin to see what’s important in this life. We learn to let go of the unimportant things. Suffering helps us lose our attachments to things of the world. Sometimes one sees in the elderly the desire for release from this life; why? Certainly, they can just be tired, but also they may have lost their attachment to many of things of this world.  Suffering willingly accepted can bring about that same detachment - a detachment which leaves us room in our souls, our lives, to develop holiness.

2. It can directly help others

The most perfect example of this truth is our Lord himself.
Of course, the sufferings He endured on the Cross bought our salvation.  And Isaiah wrote in his Suffering Servant passage, “By his stripes we are healed”.
There are examples of suffering helping others drawn from daily life, too.  
Think of the mother who forgoes a meal so that her children can eat. 
Think of someone with an elderly parent,  a parent who’s difficult at times. Yet that son or daughter takes care of that parent, enduring abuse. As much as love can underlie that care, there can still  be suffering.

Or again, the parent with a gravely ill child. This loving parent often, despite the suffering in seeing their child suffer, will put on a brave face; the parent will show love and compassion - and strength - and this strength borne of suffering will give hope to the sick child.

3. It completes Christ’s afflictions

We hear the phrase “Offer it up”.  How can offering up our suffering do any good?
St Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church”.  
How does it add? How can anything be lacking in Christ’s afflictions?

Well, think of the sun. 93 million miles away, yet we still feel its heat.  If you put a piece of paper on a sidewalk in the sunlight, nothing really happens.  But, if you use a magnifying glass, you can focus the heat from the sun and make that paper catch fire.

There is nothing lacking in the power of the sun, but that magnifying glass gives it a focus; it completes what is lacking.

There is nothing lacking in the power of Christ’s afflictions, but our sufferings, when offered as a sacrifice, give His afflictions focus; they complete what is lacking.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that Original Sin “is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence”  In telling us to take up our cross, our Lord is telling to accept the suffering that is part of being being human and turn it into something good.
Turn your suffering into

• A tool for your own salvation
• A tool to directly help others
• A tool to complete Christ’s afflictions.

Check out Deacon's Blog

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

1 Cor 1:18-24
John 19:6-11; 13-20; 25-28; 30-35

It is said that the Chinese have a curse, “May you live in interesting times”.  It’s meant as an insult, of course, but the Fourth Century really was interesting times.  It began with the Domitian Persecution, the worst persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire. 

But that period soon ended.  In 312, right before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, the Emperor Constantine had a vision.  He saw a cross in the sky, with the words, “In hoc signo vinces” – in this sign, you will conquer.  After winning the battle, Constantine did indeed adopt the Cross as his symbol.  He issued the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity.  And, in 325, realizing that the Church had to be one in belief, he called the First Council of Nicea, the 1700th anniversary we celebrate this year.  From it came the first half of the creed that we’ll recite in a few minutes.

Saint Helena, Constantine’s mother, was already a Christian.  Once he made the faith legal, she set about discovering physical evidence of Christ. She went to Jerusalem, hoping to find the True Cross.  She found an old Jewish man named Judah, who told her that the Cross was buried under the Temple of Venus, which the Emperor Hadrian had built on Golgotha. She had the temple destroyed and had the area excavated. They found three crosses. 

At that time, a funeral procession was passing by.  To determine which, if any, of the three crosses was the True Cross, they touched the first cross to the dead body.  Nothing. Then, they touched the second cross to the body. Again, nothing.  Then, the last cross was touched to the body, and the person was restored to life!  Then, to be sure, they touched the Cross to a sick woman, and she was cured!!!  The patriarch lifted up the Cross for all to see, and the people cried, “Lord have mercy”!

I want you to think about that situation. To the typical Roman, the word Cross would not have had a positive meaning.  The cross was an instrument of torture. The cross was an instrument of execution. Death on the cross was reserved for the lowest of criminals. In fact, Paul says in the Epistle, “The message of the Cross is foolishness for those who are perishing”.

And here were Christians venerating a cross.  And that cross, that instrument of torture, of death, had restored a dead woman to life and healed a second woman!

Yes, the Cross is an instrument of torture, of execution, but it’s also an instrument of healing, of salvation.  Our Gospel today tells us how it became just that.  Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree’”.  Jesus received that curse so that we might be blessed!

In our lives, we sometimes have to endure crosses that we would not choose, crosses that are at the time a curse, but God turns them into great blessings.

As often happens, in my late teens I started going my own way spiritually.  I began considering other religions, other philosophies.  It began during my senior year in high school, and within a few years, I pretty much was doing and thinking whatever I wanted to. 

About a month before my 20th birthday, when I was in music school in Boston, I received three free tickets to a concert.  I asked two friends, one black, one white, to go. As it happens, we got off the subway one stop too early, in the heart of a rough neighborhood. Within a few blocks, we were being chased by white kids who hated blacks.  The result was that my black friend ran fastest and was able to get away.  My white friend was pretty badly beaten, and I was hit atop my head with a baseball bat. Fortunately, we were helped by people driving past.
When I eventually returned to the dorm, I was shaken up; I suffered a mild case of PTSD for close to 20 years. As I calmed down, I realized that the attack was a message from God, that He was trying to bring me back home to Him.  It took a while, but I did get involved in a church back here a few years later.  And that started a chain of events that brought me to here this morning.

A very painful event of my life. A cross that I would never have chosen. A cross that God turned into blessings.  But, I exalt the cross given to me that He has used for His glory.
Have you ever been a caretaker for an elderly parent? Sometimes, in their weakness, they become cranky, demanding. Taking care of them can be difficult. It can be a cross.
What about you? Do you have terrible experiences in your past, things you wish you’d never have experienced? Did God bring good out of it?

Paul wrote to the Romans, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose”. YOU ARE called according to his purpose.
Think back over your life.  Think about how God has allowed all things to work for your good.  And exalt those crosses. Use it to bring glory to God.  And thank Him for it all.
​
Check out Deacon's Blog

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

16th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cor 6:1-10
​Matt 25:14-30

When we hear the word “talent”, we normally think of the natural endowments of a person, as Webster puts it.  But in the Gospel reading, it refers to an ancient unit of weight, or its value in silver or gold.  As English speakers, though, it helps to realize that any gift we get from God becomes a talent in the first sense of the word. And it helps to recognize that any gift we get from God is as precious as gold.

David was just a shepherd boy, likely born out of wedlock – at least that’s what some Jewish sources suggest. But he had a talent.  He played the lyre – a type of harp – beautifully.  And that caught the ear of King Saul, and Saul added David to his court.. David used the talent God had given him.

At that time, Israel was at war with the Philistines, and their great warrior was a giant named Goliath.  I’m sure you’ve heard the story. The warriors, including the king, were afraid to go up against him; he was that big. But David? David had been a shepherd and he had no fear.  He told the king that he would fight the giant.  Saul tried to give his own armor to fight against Goliath, but David said no.  “I will fight him just as I have fought every animal who tried to steal my sheep”.

So David went out with just his sling and stones, with the talent God had given him. He fought against the warrior, the giant. He fought against Goliath.  And he surprised the army, he surprised the king, and he surprised Philistines.  With his sling and a rock, he killed Goliath.  David used the talent given by God.

In time, King Saul and his sons were killed by the Philistines in battle.  David became king. Using the warrior talents and the political talents God had given him, for forty years he led Israel. He expanded the country through conquest and through diplomacy. He was the greatest of all the kings of Israel.  David used the talent given by God.
The Gospel today talks about talents. 

The five talents that God will give us are our five senses.  They are our means of learning about the world around us.  And God will reward us for developing the talent that he gives us for understanding the world, for understanding the physical things of the universe and using that understanding to benefit humanity. 

The two talents are wisdom and action.  They can be thought of as learning about Him and using that knowledge to touch others.  It’s what I do when I’m up here, using the knowledge I’ve gained, the knowledge of Him, of His word, so that I can point you in the way to serve Him, as imperfectly as I might do that.  It’s what  Sunday School teachers do with their students.
The single talent He speaks of is, in a sense, the simplest, but it’s also the most important.  It is the ability, the obligation, to pray, to engage in spiritual warfare.

Have you looked around? The world we live in is becoming increasingly dangerous if you happen to express a belief that goes against the cultural norm.  We’ve all heard about Charlie Kirk, of course.  I’m not asking you to agree or disagree with anything he said.  But, ask yourself, did he deserve to die?  Do any of us deserve to be killed because we don’t follow the ideas of society? 

In our society, it’s almost assumed that it’s OK to react with violence towards someone who disagrees with you.
THAT. IS. DEMONIC.

It’s what the Nazis did.  It’s what the Communists did.  It’s what the supporters of slavery did in our own country two centuries ago.
How should we react?  Do we fight back?

As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”.

Our land is sick, and God gave us the answer to that illness when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated.  On that day, he said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land”.

It’s up to us, the people called by his name.

What can we do? 

In your “Hear Me, O Lord” prayerbook, there’s a section called “Little Catechism”.  Learning the ideas in that little six-page section is a great starting place. Live the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Live the Cardinal and Spiritual Virtues. In the section on the Liturgy, under “Third Antiphon”, you’ll find the Beatitudes.  Meditate on all those things, and really start living them.
That’s the Basic Training for our spiritual warfare.  But what about weapons?  Again, in “Hear Me, O Lord”, we have a battle manual for that warfare. Prayer. 

Another weapon in the battle is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  During the Consecration of the Eucharist, the priest prays, “We offer to you yours of your own on behalf of all and for all”, while the deacon lifts the Eucharist Elements. In the Chaplet, at the beginning of each decade, we pray, “Eternal Father, we offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world”. 
When we pray the Chaplet, we tap into the power of the Eucharist!!!

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land”.

My brothers and sisters, God has given us the ability to fix this land.
God has given us the privilege to fix this land.
God has given us the duty to fix this land.
It’s up to us.


St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray.  And do though, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
​
​Check out Deacon's Blog

​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

By Deacon Lou Pizzuti, OP 

EIGHT SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

​1 Cor 1.10-18
Matthew 14:14-22

During the Second Gulf War, we often heard about the city of Mosul in Iraq. But, did you know that it is mentioned in the Bible? Within the limits of the modern city, you’ll find the Ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh. 

About 800 years before Christ, God called a man named Jonah to go and preach repentance to the people of the Nineveh.  What did Jonah do?  He ran away, getting on a boat heading west instead of going east.  When God sent a storm that was about to sink the ship, Jonah had the crew throw him overboard, telling them that he was running from God’s call.  

The Bible tells us that he spent three days and three nights in the belly of a big fish.  During that time, he had the chance to repent, to decide that he would follow the call.  So, when he was back on dry land, God called him again to go to Nineveh.  So effective was his preaching that there was widespread repentance and revival, even as high as the king!  And, as a result, God did not bring destruction to the city.

God had already given Jonah the skill and the knowledge to fulfill his calling, but he avoided it.  In our Gospel, the disciples had the skill and the knowledge to feed the five thousand, one of the Corporal Works of mercy.  And He gave them the means to do it, when they decided to actually obey him.  Not only did He give the means, the bread and the fish, but He even increased it so that they were themselves blessed when they obeyed.

Look at David. A poor shepherd boy. Some Jewish sources suggest that he was the result of his father engaging in an illicit affair.  His brothers appear not to have thought much of him.  But, he was a good musician, and so he caught the king’s attention.

When the Philistine Goliath challenged the Israelite forces to combat, nobody wanted to fight him.  He was a giant, standing nearly ten feet tall. Who would want to go up against someone like that? Not the king, not his army. Nobody - nobody except a little shepherd boy.  David had a mission, a mission to serve God by defeating Goliath.

You all know the story.  A kid, a sling, and some rocks.  Against a well-armored giant.  But, the Lord was on David’s side, and he defeated the giant. Eventually he became the greatest king in Israel’s history.

How does this apply to us? Are we called to fight giants, or preach in Nineveh?
The Bible speaks of three priesthoods.  

The first is the Levitical Priesthood. They were the priests of the Mosaic Covenant, with the task of ministering to the people of Israel in the Temple, with the Levites helping out in the temple worship.

The second is the Priesthood of the New Covenant.  Those priests minister in and to the Church, administering the Sacraments, with the Levites of the New Covenant, the Deacons, helping.

The third is first mentioned in Exodus, before the giving of the Ten Commandments, where the Lord says, “I will make you a nation of priests and kings”. In his first epistle, Peter says that we are a Royal Priesthood.  This is a priesthood that transcends the covenants, applying to both the Jew and Christian.  In fact, as the Fathers of Vatican II put it, when we are baptized, we share in Christ’s office of priest, prophet, and king.

The world.  That’s who we, as royal priests, are called to minister to. How? To begin with, we should practice the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy.  These are some of the specific actions we can perform, but there is also the context of our ministry 
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes that God has given Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. 

That doesn’t mean that only the ordained - bishops, priests, and deacons - can function in these ministries.  

When David sinned with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan - who was not a priest, confronted him, resulting in David’s repentance.

Think of St Catherine of Siena, a laywoman. More than 50 years ago, Pope St. Paul VI declared her a Doctor of the Universal Church, a teacher of universal significance.
One of the original Deacons, Philip, had four daughters who had the gift of prophecy.  
Paul repeatedly references Prisca and Aquila, two helpers of his in his apostolic work, and our Eastern tradition refers to Mary Magdalene as Equal to the Apostles.

And those ministries can even be filled by faithful non-Catholics.  We all know of Billy Graham.  Can we honestly say that he was not an evangelist?

But you may say that you don’t have the knowledge. St. Francis said, “Preach always.  When necessary, use words”.

If you have to use words, there are two solutions.  The first is to ask God to give you the words - and He will often give you just the right words for a specific situation.  Paul speaks of the Word of Knowledge and the Word of Wisdom, along with the Gift of Prophecy.

The other solution is study. Read the Catechism. Learn the Akathists and other prayers that are in your prayerbook.

God calls each of us to minister to those outside this building.  We do it in the Spirit, through the ministry gifts. And we do it with the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Will you answer the call?

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2025/08/why-should-you-use-your-gifts.html

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

By Deacon Lou Pizzuti, OP 
​​

The First Six Ecumenical Councils

Last week we celebrated July 4.  That’s not a celebration of the signing of the Constitution or any legal document. Instead, it celebrates the day that the Thirteen Colonies broke from the British Crown by signing the Declaration of Independence.  That declaration is a declaration of principles, a statement of what we, as a nation, believe.

In the same way, the Church has made declarations of principles, although it took three centuries to get started.  Up to that time, Christians were just trying to survive and avoid persecution!

From the year 325 to the year 787, the Church held 7 councils, councils that came to be called Ecumenical Councils.  Of course, there were also regional meetings, just like there are local and regional government meetings.  But, those 7 Ecumenical Councils affected the entire Church, east and west, and the Eastern Orthodox Churches continue to hold them as foundational.  Since then, the Catholic Church has continued to hold Ecumenical Councils. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the most recent, the 22nd Ecumenical Council, Vatican II.    

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Kállistos Ware has said that the first seven Ecumenical Councils established the basic faith of Christendom.  They are our Declaration of Independence.
Today, we celebrate the fathers of the first 6 Ecumenical Councils, all of which were held in the Eastern Roman Empire, in what is today Turkey.  All six ultimately dealt with the question of the Trinity and Christ’s divinity.  The creed we recite comes to us from the first two.

Once the Church declared, at the first council in 325, that Jesus was God, and at the second council in 381, that the Holy Spirit was God, it got messy.  They spent 250 years debating, and yes, fighting, about just how Jesus was both God and Man. Ultimately, the issues were not only theological but linguistic and philosophical too – and, some would argue, politics also played a hand in it.
 
The Third Council, in 431, was called to combat Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Oxford English Dictionary defines his teaching as a heresy “by which Christ is asserted to have had distinct human and divine persons.” The Council responded by teaching that Mary is Theotokos – the Christ Bearer, or Mother of God, rather than the term Nestorius preferred, Christotokos, the Christ Bearer.  By Theotokos it is asserted that, from the moment of conception, He Whom Mary bore was God; the Divine did not descend upon the man Jesus, but that He was always God.

The Ancient Church of the East did not accept the council.  It continues to exist today, not in communion with any other Church, with only a half million members.

The Fourth Council was only twenty years later in a city called Chalcedon, and it defined Jesus Christ to be True God and True Man. One would think it would end with the definition that He had both a Human Nature and a Divine Nature.  But it didn’t. The issue was debated for another two centuries and a total of three Ecumenical Councils.  Those who rejected the council are today generally called non-Chalcedonian, or Oriental Orthodox. They believe that He has a single united nature, human and divine.  (I told you earlier that the issues would be not only theological, but linguistic and philosophical, didn’t I?)

The Sixth Council dealt with a heresy that admitted two natures, but said that He has only one will.

What the one-nature group and one-will group forgot was the words of St. Gregory the Theologian.  He said, “What is not assumed is not healed”.  Jesus certainly had a Divine Nature. For Human nature to be healed, He had to assume human nature. For Human will to be healed, he had to assume human will.

Now, remember I said that there was a political element?  The EMPEROR was a part of the one-will crowd.  In the 650s, two men were put on trial for teaching against it.  Pope St Martin I was found guilty, and he died on the way to exile.  St. Maximos the Confessor was also found guilty.  In 662, he was sentenced to exile, but also to having the removal of that which offended the one-will crowd– the tongue and his right hand!  He died soon after.

In its eleventh chapter, the Epistle to the Hebrews talks about Old Testament heroes of the faith.  Let me add Pope St Martin and St Maximos to that list.  Let me add the Fathers of the first Six Ecumenical Councils to that list. They all understood what Paul was saying to the Romans (10:4) - Christ is the End – the whole purpose of the Law. 
 
They understood what Jesus told the Samaritan woman – The TRUTH will set you free. 
As the writer of Hebrews ontinues, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, …. let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us”.

 The American Founding Father, Patrick Henry, said, “Give me liberty or give me death”.
Let us stand with Saints Martin and Maximos and the Fathers of all Six Councils.  Let us say, “Give me truth or give me death”.

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2025/07/give-us-truth-or-give-us-death.html

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

By Deacon Lou Pizzuti, OP 

​Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Feast of all the saints of Rus’ Ukraine

Romans 6:18-23
Matthew 8:5-13

Last Sunday’s Gospel spoke of the impossibility of serving two masters, and that one could not serve both God and mammon, or money. And our epistle this week is an elaboration on that idea.

The first master we could serve is sin, and when we are slaves of sin, we are freed from righteousness. Think about that. When you are a slave of sin, you can do nothing righteous. It doesn’t matter how “good” the action is, there is no righteousness in it.

The altruistic atheist rejects Christ, and is therefore a slave to sin. He may be wealthy and finance a childrens’ hospital to rival St. Jude’s. But, he’s a slave to sin, and there is no righteousness in his charitable works.

Take a great religious leader of another faith. Being of another faith, he rejects Christ, and cannot but be a slave to sin. All the good he does? There is no righteousness.

That’s what Paul is saying here. The ONLY way that we can be righteous is to be a slave to God. He writes to the Corinthians that God has made Christ our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption

Some years earlier, he made a similar contrast in his letter to Galatians.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Notice, though, when Paul talks about the works of the flesh, he’s talking about things we ought not do - immorality, impurity, dissension, drunkenness, and the like. But, when talking about the fruit of the spirit, he’s talking about who we are and can become - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

It all comes back to that promise of New Covenant that I’ve mentioned so many times. “I will make a new covenant, says the Lord, and I will write my law upon their hearts”. That’s the point - true righteousness comes from a transformation of the heart, and that transformation can only come from God.

Today we celebrate All the Saints of Rus’-Ukraine. In the Troparion, we sing to them, ‘monastics, martyrs, and staunch confessors”. A monastic is one whose heart has been transformed such that they sacrifice life in the world, life in society, that they can devote themselves in prayer for that world and for the salvation of their own souls. A martyr is one whose heart has been transformed so that they willingly give up their life as a testimony to the world of the grace of God. And a confessor is one who suffers for the faith without giving up their life, but that their heart has been so transformed that they consistently confess the Gospel in their life.

And the soldier in the Gospel? He understood what it meant to be a servant, a slave. As one with authority, he understood that to be under authority, one will obey the commands of his commander. And, to be a slave of God, one will obey the commands of God.

Being a Christian is being a slave to righteousness - not just in our actions, but also in our thoughts. Using adultery as an example, Jesus shows us that even contemplating it, thinking about it, is committing it in your heart. In other words, daydreaming about committing a sin has the same spiritual effect on your soul as actually committing the sin!

Later in Romans, Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. And, to the Phillipians, he wrote, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”.

My friends, we all daydream. It’s part of being human, isn’t it. How do we turn this into our advantage?

When you daydream, decide what it will be about. Think about growing the fruit of the spirit in you. Think about showing love, having joy and peace. Dream about being patient and kind. Dream about having goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

Take control of your dreams, of your thought life.

Dream about being a saint!

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2023/06/dream-of-being-saint.html

​​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

By Deacon Lou Pizzuti, OP

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Romans 15:1-7
Matthew 9:27-35

When we are first born, we inherit Adam’s sin - not the individual acts, but the sinful nature and spiritual blindness which resulted from the Fall of Man.  Through Baptism, that sinful nature, Original Sin, is healed.  But the blindness continues.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians “now we see as in a glass dimly, but when the perfect is come, we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall understand fully”.

Today’s Gospel gives us the easiest means of curing that spiritual blindness.  Just ask to see!
Is it that easy? Well, earlier in Matthew, Jesus tells us “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you”.  


So, how do these blind men ask?  The first thing is that they were Israelites, not Gentiles - they recognized Jesus as Son of David, as the Messiah.  So, for one to ask to have their eyes opened today, they must be Christian.


Then, they cried out to Jesus.  They invoked Him as Messiah, just as we can call out to him by name.


They were direct.  They asked Him to have pity on them.  And then, they expressed faith that He was able to answer them.


Does this mean that we can say, “Hey Jesus, let me see”? No.


Remember the parable of the unjust judge and the widow.  The judge didn’t fear God, he didn’t care about his fellow man.  But, the widow kept demanding justice, and she wore him down, and he gave in.  


Certainly, we aren’t going to wear God down, but He wants us to persevere.  Through perseverance, we realize what we really want.  And, through perseverance, we form a place in our hearts to receive the grace that we’re asking for.


In the Church, both East and West, there’s a long tradition of invoking the name of Jesus, alone. 


The story is told of a priest who was posed a theological problem.  How did he respond? It wasn’t by hitting the books or asking another priest.  Rather, he went before an icon and prayed that simple prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”.  After a period of time, Jesus answered his prayer and gave him the answer he sought.


And it’s not just to open our eyes to truth. In his commentary on The Lord’s Prayer, St. Maximos the Confessor writes, “When we call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is not hard for our conscience to be made pure, and then we are no different from the prophets and the rest of the saints. For God's purpose is not that we should suffer from His anger, but that we should gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. So then, whether we are watchful in virtue or sometimes fall asleep, as is likely to happen because of our failings, yet shall we live with Christ. As we look up to Him with cries of distress and continual lamentation, it is He Himself that we breathe. Let us therefore put on the breastplate of faith, and take as our helmet the hope of salvation: then the arrows of dejection and despair will find no chink through which to wound us”.


St. Edmund had special devotion to the Name of Jesus, which Our Lord Himself taught him. One day when he was in the country and separated from his companions, a beautiful child stood by him and asked, “Edmund, do you not know me?” Edmund answered that he did not. Then, replied the child, “Look at me and you will see who I am.” Edmund looked as he was bidden and saw written on the Child’s forehead, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” “Know now who I am,” said the Child. “Every night make the Sign of the Cross and say these words: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.’ If you do so, this prayer will deliver you and all who say it from sudden and unprovided-for deaths.” Edmund faithfully did as Our Lord told him. The devil once tried to prevent him and held his hands so that he could not make the holy sign. Edmund invoked the Name of Jesus, and the devil fled in terror, leaving him unmolested in the future. 


And St. Hesychios the priest said, “Stones form the foundation of a house; but the foundation of sanctity - and its roof - is the holy and venerable name of our Lord Jesus Christ. A foolish captain can easily wreck his ship during a storm, dismissing the sailors, throwing the sails and oars into the sea, and going to sleep himself; but the soul can be sent to the bottom even more swiftly by the demons if it neglects watchfulness and does not call upon the name of Jesus Christ when they begin their provocations”.
In The Glories of the Holy Name, Fr Paul O’Sullivan tells us that when we pray the name of Jesus: 

1. We offer to God all the infinite love and merits of the Incarnation. 
2. We offer to God the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. 
3. We offer to God all the more than 500,000 Masses and Divine Liturgies being celebrated in the world—for His glory and our own intentions.

So, let us go from here with the name of Jesus on our lips, not as a swear word, as is often the case in the world, but as an act of praise and as a prayer.

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2024/07/call-on-jesus.html​

​​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

By Deacon Lou Pizzuti, OP

12th Sunday after Pentecost

1 Cor 15:1-11
Matthew 19:16-26

What is a god? A god is to that which we give great, or ultimate importance. For the Christian, the one true God, three persons in one being, fits this definition. The First Commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them".

Our God is a jealous god. It’s not that our having devotion to another god takes away anything from him; He’s perfect, after all. No. Our devotion to another god takes away from us, from what we can become because of Him. As our Lord said, “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”.

That is the lens through which we should look at all that God has done and said. His ultimate purpose is we each have eternal life - the life of heaven. As Paul says, God “desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”.

In our Gospel, we see a young man who lives externally the life of a Jew. He keeps the commandments: “‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Yet, he knew something was missing.

He knew, at a very deep level, that he didn’t have eternal life. He obviously wanted eternal life - at least until he found out what it would cost him. When Jesus told him to sell all he had and follow Him, he realized that he couldn’t - or wouldn’t - give his riches away to the poor.

Was his devotion to the riches? Was it to the relationships that the riches afforded him? Was it the social standing? We don’t know, but whatever it was, it was his own personal god, a god he could not forsake.

Let’s look at a few more examples from the Bible of people choosing who, or what, they would have as their god.

The prophet Isaiah tells us the following. “How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’"

Lucifer, whom we know better by his title, Satan, or Adversary, fell because he believed he was greater than his Creator! He made himself his own god, and he took one third of all the angels with him.

At the same time, there was an archangel who chose to have his Creator as the God whom he would worship. He is called the Commander of the Heavenly Host, and his name means “who is like God?”. That name is Michael.

The third is the Theotokos. In just a few days, we will celebrate the completion of her time on this earth, the Feast of the Dormition. But earlier, much earlier in her life, the Archangel Gabriel came to her, calling her κεχαριτομένη, full of grace. He explained to her that, while yet a virgin, she would give birth to Christ, God with us. Think about that. She was maybe 12 or 13 years old. Although she was betrothed to Joseph, she knew that it was likely that he would divorce her, and that she would be stoned as an adulteress. But how did she reply? “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you’ve said”. She knew who her God was, and she chose to follow Him without regard to the cost.

At the end of this Gospel, Matthew records the commission Jesus gave to the Apostles - go into all the world, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Church tells us that when we are baptized, we are baptized as priest, prophet, and king - sharing with Christ in those offices. So, we can say that we each share in that commission He gave to the apostles.

We are ambassadors for Christ.

Luke relates to us the story of Jesus sending out 72 disciples - not the apostles, just laymen, to visit towns, spreading the Gospel. He told them this.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you. . . . When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

So, that’s

Bid them peace


Fellowship with them


Minister to them. Then, and only after those three things


Preach

Now, not all are called to preach. But all of us can bring peace, have fellowship, and minister in love.

We’re not required to give all our goods to the poor. We ARE required to bring peace, fellowship, and blessing.

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2024/08/you-are-christs-ambassador.html​
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​I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.

​By Deacon Lou Pizzuti, OP

14th Sunday after Pentecost

2 Corinthians 1,21-24;2,1-4
Matthew 22,2-14

​When our Latin friends come to the end of their liturgical year in November, they celebrate the feast of Christ the King and look at the second coming of our Lord. Today is the last Sunday of our liturgical year, but we don’t make as big a fuss as they do. So, it’s kinda appropriate that this, the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, just happens to come at this point.

We don’t talk much in our Rite about the second coming or the surrounding events. But ultimately, our Gospel addresses it.

The Wedding Feast is shown as having three callings. The first time the king calls, the people just refused to come. In the same way, when God began calling people at the very beginning, they refused to come to Him. Up until the time of Abraham, those responding to God’s call were few and far between.

The second calling resulted in some people ignoring the call and going about their own business. Other people did respond, but they responded negatively, killing the messengers. In the same way, some of the Children of Israel ignored God’s call, and went about their business. Others killed the messengers, God’s prophets.

Those hearing the parable would have known that he destruction that came about was in two stages. After the death of King Solomon, Israel was divided. The Northern Kingdom, which retained the name Israel, became more and more rebellious against God. After 200 years, in 722 BC, it was conquered by the Assyrian Empire.

The Southern Kingdom, which was called Judah, lasted a little longer, falling to the Babylonian Empire about 150 years later. And in the process, Solomon’s Temple was destroyed.

So, God’s call went out to the whole world. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”.

Now, it’s appropriate that this Gospel reading comes today, at the end of the liturgical year. The Wedding Feast in the parable points to the end of history. We read in Revelation, chapter 19, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’”

In the Gospel, the king notices a man at the wedding feast, one of those “whomever” was invited. But this man was not wearing the proper garment, and was thrown out. Imagine being invited to a wedding feast, and showing up in shorts and a tank-top. I imagine it would be a similar situation.

What kind of garment are we to wear at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb? The passage from Revelation tells us. “The fine linen is the righteousness deeds of the saints”. What righteous deeds? Well, to begin with, practicing out the Works of Mercy - both Spiritual and Corporal. Further, practicing and developing the virtues.

But those are external acts. Pope Francis writes, “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord.’” And St Catherine of Siena tells us that God is head over heels in love with each of us.

Yes, God loves us. Of course, being human, we can never love as deeply, as completely, as God loves us. But we can cultivate our love for Him. And we are to love Him not only with the mind, but also with the heart, soul, and strength. We must engage our emotions in our love for Him.

The first way to cultivate our love, of course, is that we can receive the Sacraments. As the Paschal Communion Antiphon says, “Receive the Body of Christ. Taste the medicine of immortality”. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. And Confession is the restoration of our relationship with Christ.

The second is prayer. Pray scripture. Pray the psalms. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through His Word. Pray the Rosary, or any of the other number of good devotions.

The third path to cultivating our love for God is praise. Psalm 149 says, “Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory”.

He takes pleasure in our praise, and He adorns the humble with victory. Another translation says “He will beautify the humble with salvation”.

Consider some of the things we say, or sing, in our Liturgy.

The First Antiphon says, “Shout to God, all the earth. Sing now to his name, give glory to his praise”. Shout, not speak, shout to the Lord.

The Third Antiphon says “Come let us sing joyfully to the Lord”. Not sing quietly, but sing joyfully.

The Tone Three Prokeimenon verse - “Clap your hands all you nations. Shout unto God with a voice of praise”.

And the first psalm of the Typica says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul”. This isn’t asking God to bless us, but telling us to bless the Lord - with our praise. He takes pleasure in his people!

When you say these things, don’t just repeat the words. Let them become a part of your mind, your soul. Don’t just say them, feel them!!

Let me close with Psalm 150

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

https://uccreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-lambs-wedding-feast.html​

I am blessed to be Dominican, a member of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.