Hebrews 12: 1-4 (Sunday, August 19, 2007)

Last Sunday, the second reading from the book of Hebrews set as a model for Christian faith, the faith of Abraham. Today we might ask, how can we have the enduring faith of Abraham? Christians have what Abraham did not have during his lifetime, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the perfecter of our faith. Our Christian life is a journey, or as the author of Hebrews will prefer to call it, “a race.” It is a race of faith in which Jesus Christ is the final line in which our victory would be declared. As with every race, there are witnesses and we need a lot of preparation so that we will not make a fool of ourselves. Today we had the privilege here in Parkersburg of a half marathon. Those who ran in the marathon have spent many weeks preparing themselves. We were there yesterday morning to watch them. We witnessed the race. Some of the spectators are those who have won the marathon before, many years ago and others are thinking about running a marathon in the future. If everyone in the marathon kept spinning around in one place, why would any of the spectators ever think of running a marathon? The same is the Christian life. Our forefathers in the faith who have gone before us are our witnesses as we try to live the Christian life. They are available to give us all the support that we need to win the race. Also, there are many spectators here on earth who are watching how we live our Christianity. The way we live it out will determine whether they would join the Church or not. As with all those that run a race, we don’t need to keep spinning in one place, they must be progress in our faith. We must keep moving forward.

How do we move forward? The letter to the Hebrews gives us the answer. By ridding ourselves of “every burden and sin that clings to us.” You cannot run a Marathon with five, six and even seven different heavy back packs on you. Even running with one heavy backpack will affect you. The sins in our lives weigh us done as we run this race of salvation. Sometimes we get into this mentality that the little sins don’t matter, it is only the big sins that matter. It is the little sins that lead to big sins. We deceive ourselves that once it is not adultery, fornication, pornography, murder, etc. it is okay. The little sins affect tremendously our Christian race. In most cases, these sins lead us to the bigger once. We need to rid ourselves of sins such as:

Ø Lying
Ø Gossiping
Ø Telling dirty jokes
Ø Using God’s name in vain (e.g. saying, “Jesus Christ” when we are mad with someone.)
Ø Cheating on your time sheet at work
Ø Taking things from work home
Ø Taking sick days when you are not sick
Ø Holding grudges against fellow employees and relatives
Ø Being impatient with your spouse, children or parents
Ø Not helping with house chores
Ø Not cleaning up behind ourselves
Ø Irritating and aggravating your parents (e.g. not taking no for an answer.)
Ø Spending too much time on the cell phone or computer.
Ø Fighting with your sisters and brothers
Ø Not playing with your younger siblings
Ø Disobedience.

We need to get rid of all these things, if we truly want to be the people that God has called us to be. For some of us these things have become so much of our lives that we do not even consider them sins again. There is a saying that when evil persist in a community for more than six months, it becomes a way of life and is acceptable. For us Christians, it is not just acceptable to live in this way. We must begin to rid ourselves immediately of all these sins. God’s plan for us is not to tell lies, gossip, be disobedient, be impatient with other people. His plan is that we be Christ-like and at the end enjoy eternal bliss with him in heaven. The best place for us to begin to work on ourselves towards getting rid of these sins is the confessional. We don’t wait to confess only the so called “big sins” in confession. We need to use frequently this sacrament so that we get the sacramental grace needed to combat small creepy sins that may cause us not to win the race.

We also need to evaluate ourselves constantly to see if we are spinning in one place or we are moving forward. I will strongly recommend what is called a spiritual daily order. At the beginning of the month, you list all your weaknesses that you need to work on for the month. At the end of each day, look through them and every one you did well, mark a plus sign and every one you did not do well, mark a minus sign. At the end of the month, bring it with you to the confessional and show it to your confessor. In this way, you can evaluate yourself with the help of the priest how you are doing. Remember, you cannot do this all on your own. You need the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the great intercessor to help you. Ask her for the graces you need to continue running the race successfully.

Matthew 19: 13-15 (Saturday, August 18, 2007

Children are a gift from the Lord. Jesus Christ loved children and always wanted children to be brought to him. The gospel of today invites us to bring our children to Jesus. Parents have the responsibility of bringing their children to Jesus. They can do this by first building a strong family prayer life. Saying the Rosary as a family, praying before and after meals, is an effective way of bringing children to Jesus. John Paul II teaches us that the family is the domestic church. It is the first church in which a child would be schooled in his or her faith. This education in the faith is not only in the scholarly knowledge we impart to our children but primarily in the way we live radically our Christian life. A child would not cultivate the Christian responsibility of going to church every Sunday, if one or all of the parents stay back at home every Sunday. We must teach our children by the way we live our faith.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of our children. Help us to be witnesses to our children by the way we live our Christian faith, so that our children may come to know and love you as their Lord and savior.

Matthew 19: 13-12 (Friday, August 17, 2007)

Today’s gospel affirms the sacredness of the married life and a life of celibacy. The teaching does not diminish any of the vocations. Married life is as good as celibacy. Both vocations are a gift from the Lord. You do not become a priest or nun because married life is difficult but you embrace this life because you have been called to do so.

Marriage as with any vocation is not something you try and if it does not work out, you abandon it, but it is a vocation you embrace with love. As Christians, marriage is a permanent life long commitment that must be lived in charity and love. It is a union in which two persons (male and female) become one. It is the two in oneness. This oneness is never to be broken. That was the divine plan and Jesus reaffirms this teaching. Christians are called upon to uphold this teaching in a world that attacks the institution of marriage and family life. As we go out today, let us continue to pray that God strengthen married couples to live their vocation in a radically Christian way.

Prayer
Lord, bless all married couples. Strengthen them in their marital union. Deepen their love each day for their spouses and may you keep far away all things that will lead them to divorce and help them to be patient, understanding and charitable to each other.

Matthew 18: 21 - 19-1 (Thursday, August 16, 2007)

Without faith, it is difficult to forgive others who have offended you. You need faith to recognize that through the event of the Cross, Jesus Christ has forgiven you all your sins. Saint Paul tells us that Jesus died for us while we were still living in sin. He forgave us and offered his life for our salvation even before we asked for forgiveness. As he has forgiven us, he invites us today to forgive other people. We should not place limits on how much we forgive, but generously forgive as Jesus continues to forgive us. There is no offense your fellow human person can commit against you that is greater than that which you have committed against God. If he whom we have offended the most forgive you, why can you not in the same way forgive those who have offended you?

Forgiveness brings us healing. It makes us whole. Until we forgive, we do not feel whole. Our moods always change when we encounter the person that has offended us. As Christians, the right thing to do is to ask for forgiveness even if we are the ones that have been offended. That is the Christian difference that we must take seriously.

Forgiveness from the heart does not mean that you forget that the event ever took place. It means not holding the offence against the person that offends you. This also means not keeping records of offences you have forgiven. Like Jesus, forgive without counting the offences.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us today all our failings, as we continue to forgive those who offend us. Give us the graces we need to forgive those who have hurt us the most and those we feel, we cannot forgive.

Luke 1: 39-56 (Wednesday, August 15, 2007 – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

We celebrate today the feast of Mary. Mary is a model of faith. We can only understand this dogma of the assumption in light of Christ and the Church. Mary is the one that was specially prepared to give birth to Christ. She said “yes” to God and took upon herself a difficult challenge of being the mother of the savior. She was faithful even at the Cross. She becomes the first person that Jesus gives the honor of raising her body and soul to heaven. The Christian hope of the resurrection is that we all would be raised body and soul.

Vatican II describes Mary as the symbol of the Church. Her yes at the annunciation made her the first Christian. She gathered with the Apostles in the upper room praying and interceding for the Holy Spirit. Her life was full of grace and because of that, her soul constantly proclaimed the glory of the Lord. It was only right that she who is full of grace is the first to experience the resurrection of the body and soul.

Today’s feast reminds us all of our destiny. We are made for heaven. Again and again the scriptures tells us about the resurrection of the body and soul. The most faithful one, Mary, has shown us the way, we her children must follow. We can only follow by emulating her virtues of faith and humility. As we celebrate her feast today, let us contribute our pains, sufferings and inconveniences to the capital of graces and in return ask the Blessed Mother to intercede for us that we might be faithful and humble.

Prayer:
Blessed Mother, we acknowledge you today as the one full of grace. We know you are proclaiming the glory of the Lord in heaven. We ask you to intercede for us that we might be faithful and humble. We pray that through you constant intercession for us, we will one day re-unite with you and your son, together with all the angels and saints in our eternal home in heaven.

Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14 (Tuesday, August 14, 2007)

God’s ultimate plan for every one of us is that we be saved. When we stray, like the good shepherd, he goes in search of us to bring us back to his fold. When we come back to him, he receives us with joy and celebrates our home coming. We may have committed a particular sin and we have continued to dwell on that sin, refusing to accept God’s generous forgiveness. God invites you today back to his fold. Do not stay away from him because of your weaknesses but come to him that he may make you whole.

I want to assure you that God is in search of you to heal you, to give you peace and joy in your life and to put you back in the right path. Please do not turn your back on him.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, because of our sinfulness, we are sometimes ashamed of coming to you. We want to say “yes” to you today. We ask that you put us in the right path so that we will be the people you have made us to be.

Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14 (Tuesday, August 13, 2007)

God’s ultimate plan for every one of us is that we be saved. When we stray, like the good shepherd, he goes in search of us to bring us back to his fold. When we come back to him, he receives us with joy and celebrates our home coming. We may have committed a particular sin and we have continued to dwell on that sin, refusing to accept God’s generous forgiveness. God invites you today back to his fold. Do not stay away from him because of your weaknesses but come to him that he may make you whole.

I want to assure you that God is in search of you to heal you, to give you peace and joy in your life and to put you back in the right path. Please do not turn your back on him.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, because of our sinfulness, we are sometimes ashamed of coming to you. We want to say “yes” to you today. We ask that you put us in the right path so that we will be the people you have made us to be.

Matthew 17: 22-27 (Monday, August 13, 2007)

The disciples of Jesus are overwhelmed with grief when Jesus tells them of his passion, death and resurrection. This was most probably a shocking revelation to them. They did not expect Jesus to surrender himself to the hands of men, so that he would be killed. We can only imagine what was going on in their minds when they heard this. Why were they overwhelmed with grief? May be because they considered their time wasted. Now, people will laugh at them because their master has been killed. What if he doesn’t resurrect? The resurrection event has taught us that Jesus does not make empty promises. Whatever he says is true and it will come to pass.

Today, let us live our lives as someone who truly believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus. This means being patient with other people even when they get on our nerves. Jesus was patient even with those who were crucifying him.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, you crucifixion and death has taught us humility and patience. Help us to be patient with those whom we find the most difficult to be with and give us the graces we need to appreciate the good in them.

Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19 (Sunday, August 12, 2007)

This reading from the book of Hebrews is in my opinion an excellent teaching on the meaning of Christian faith. The writer says that “faith is the realization of the things hoped for.” This means we are certain of the things that we hope for. As Christians, we hope for eternal life – this is not empty hope or what Sigmund Freud would call “the future of an illusion.” We are absolutely sure that there is eternal life. We are so sure of this because Jesus Christ, who is the singular descendant of Abraham taught us so and not only that he taught us to believe in eternal life, through the event of the Cross and his subsequent resurrection and ascension, he assured us of his power over death and guaranteed us everlasting life with him in heaven.

When God makes his promises to us, we must always take them serious because God does not make empty promises – He doesn’t make promises that he cannot keep. Our acceptance of God’s promises even when we do not know the outcome is what is meant by faith. The people of Israel suffered in the wilderness for forty years because they lacked faith in God. When in the book of Numbers, God commanded Moses to Choose one man from every tribe to go survey the land of Canaan, (the land of promise) he is giving to them, the people doubted the power of God to give them that land. They went and surveyed the land for forty days came back with the confirmation that it was truly flowing with milk and honey. However, they started doubting the possibility of getting this land. They started spreading the rumor that in the land, they saw the Jebusites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and even the Anakims (who were giants.) Not only that, they described themselves as grasshoppers. Due to their lack of faith, God told them that they will receive what they wished for themselves. As grasshoppers their bodies would be buried in the wilderness.

Our lack of faith can turn our blessing to a curse. This is what happened to the people of Israel. The blessing of a land flowing with milk and honey was turned to a curse of forty years in the wilderness suffering. This is the path that was not taken by our father in the faith, Abraham. In his story as portrayed by the book of Hebrews, we learn three significant things about faith:

Ø Faith is a leap into the unknown. When God directed Abraham to leave and God to a land he was going to give to him, Abraham did not know where this land is; he did not know the conditions he will face there; he did not question the Lord. He trusted in him and he proceeded to the unknown. Sometimes God confronts us with such difficult challenges. How do we respond to him? Faith requires that we drop our own plans for our lives and let God lead us. Sometimes we work out our own template of our lives and then we want God to conform to our own template. Faith means working according to God’s template for our lives. It means letting God take charge of our lives; it means becoming a blank check in his hands so that he will write any amount he wants on it and cash it whenever he wants. This is a very difficult thing to do, yet it is just what Christians are called to do. How wonderful it is to be in a situation where you do not want to worry about anything because God is in control. That is how life would be if you surrender to God in faith.

Ø Faith means trusting that God will make the impossible things possible. In our day to day language, we do not hesitate to use sentences such as “it can never happen.” I want to assure you today that, that sentence is not in any of God’s books or scripts. Christians should never use such languages. With God, “all things are possible.” That situation you were just thinking today that is irreversible, God can reverse it within a twinkle of an eye. The scripture abounds with great miracles where things that human beings thought were impossible became possible. The whole event of the resurrection is what would seem like impossibility to human beings. Yet, Jesus did it. He even brought his friend Lazarus back to life. Don’t give up yet and Christians should never give up. We need to always hold firm to Christ because he may change that situation in the split second. Abraham and Sarah having a child at that point of their life was an impossibility to human beings but they trusted in the Lord and it came to pass. Put your faith in God and not in the human person.

Ø Faith demands that we are ready to make sacrifices when God wants us to. We must be open to sacrifice our most precious treasures. Isaac was the precious child of promise. When God demanded of Isaac from Abraham, he trusted in the Lord and he offered Isaac for sacrifice. You may have been saving money all through your life to buy yourself, your dream car at retirement. You just went to a dealership and negotiated for a 2008 Mercedez. You will return the next day with a Cashiers check from your bank. On your way home, you hear a story on West Virginian Public radio of children dying of hunger and disease in Darfur. You could hear God speaking to you to give away that money to save lives in Darfur. What are you going to do? Will you say Lord, I have saved all through my life to buy this car, I cant give this money out; or would you say, Lord, this is your gift to me, you will bless me more, I will give out this money. This was a similar situation Abraham found himself in. In his own case, it was even a human life. When God calls us to make sacrifices to him, we must make them because that is the seed of more blessings in our lives.

We are called today to have the faith, like the faith of Abraham. He is our Father in the faith and we all who believe in Christ are his descendants. If we have the kind of faith he has, we too would share in the blessings that have been extended to Abraham.

John 17: 14-20 (Saturday, August 11, 2007)

The disciples could not perform a miracle because of their lack of faith. It is not that they did not receive the power to perform the miracles, but their faith was not strong enough. Throughout the scriptures, we are assured of this power to perform miracles. For Christ’s disciples, nothing is impossible for them to do. We are the disciples of Christ and this is directed at us. It is very easy for us sometimes to just give up. We sometimes invoke the will of God to defend our lack of faith. We will say, “oh it is the will of God that things should be the way they are.” While nothing happens without God’s knowledge, sometimes things happen because of his permissive will. He permits them to happen.

We are challenged today to look into our lives and see those places where we need a miracle. Let us approach God with faith and ask him to perform a miracle. He has given to us the authority to perform miracles. Let us hold firm to that authority.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, enlarge our faith that we might boldly prophesy miracles of transformation in our lives and in the lives of those around us. May we be instruments of your miracles in the world.

John 17: 14-20 (Saturday, August 11, 2007)

The disciples could not perform a miracle because of their lack of faith. It is not that they did not receive the power to perform the miracles, but their faith was not strong enough. Throughout the scriptures, we are assured of this power to perform miracles. For Christ’s disciples, nothing is impossible for them to do. We are the disciples of Christ and this is directed at us. It is very easy for us sometimes to just give up. We sometimes invoke the will of God to defend our lack of faith. We will say, “oh it is the will of God that things should be the way they are.” While nothing happens without God’s knowledge, sometimes things happen because of his permissive will. He permits them to happen.

We are challenged today to look into our lives and see those places where we need a miracle. Let us approach God with faith and ask him to perform a miracle. He has given to us the authority to perform miracles. Let us hold firm to that authority.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, enlarge our faith that we might boldly prophesy miracles of transformation in our lives and in the lives of those around us. May we be instruments of your miracles in the world.