tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41946654770703470412024-03-14T02:12:55.241-04:00the wood pilethoughts from a woodsman /artist/ Permanent Deacon in the Roman Catholic Church.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-3380017176733912052015-04-14T11:33:00.002-04:002015-04-14T11:33:26.753-04:00Homily from the Second Sunday of Lent (B)<b id="docs-internal-guid-e77b3a21-b88e-581b-4697-960e41616f28" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today begins the second week of Lent, so we will be talking about repentance, sacrifices and all the things that go along with Lent. But first we must put it into context, relative to the world today and why we need to hear this message.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why is it important to be here today ? In this place surrounded by these people.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Simply put it is what I am about to talk about is counter cultural. The world we live in here in North America would rather we did not embrace these teachings and live by them. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was told recently to get with the program “the world is changing”. This is true….. and precisely why I say these things. But because the world is changing.. does not mean its changing for the sake and benefit of our souls.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Archbishop Mancini suggest in his recent pastoral letter entitled “Lord, where are you going” suggest that we focus on three things in this new age of secularism.. they are mission, community, and formation. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I do my job right we will be doing a couple of these points right here and now. And after your Sunday devotions and socializing you may even go out and do “mission”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So being the just the beginning of the second week of Lent…. this is indeed a season of repentance and penitence, but today the Church is already talking to us about the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Resurrection</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">transfiguration</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Jesus in today's Gospel, Peter, James, and John get a glimpse of Christ's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eternal glory</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, even though they were some what puzzled. My friend Dan Menier while giving theological lectures always said the apostles were slow to catch on to things.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">St Paul</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in today's Second Reading, writes passionately about</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God's power and faithfulness as revealed in Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And he actually </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">changes his emphasis</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> mid-sentence , he says “It is Jesus who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us”</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And in the first reading about </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abraham</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and Isaac, which narrates events that took place almost 2000 years before Christ…. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the release of Isaac</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from his bonds gives him new life - this too is a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">symbol</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Christ's resurrection.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even today's Psalm, when it speaks about </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">walking with the Lord</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the Land of the living and God "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loosening the bonds</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" of his servant, is pointing our attention towards Christ's glorious resurrection.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And yet, Easter is still more than a month away, fortunately unlike the Apostles we do have the full story.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knowing the whole story we can understand that Lent is indeed meant to be a time of repentance and penitence, a time of sacrifice and reflection in which we </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">acknowledge the weight of suffering</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the world and in our lives, suffering that always has its </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">roots in sin</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This suffering is always </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">part</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the story of every human life, with or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">without</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Christ; but </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Christ, it is not the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">end</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the story.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our crosses </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">purify</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> us of selfishness, if we allow them to, teaching us to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lean </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">more on Christ and to have a greater experience of his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wisdom and joy</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in other words his resurrection.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In our Catholic faith, the cross and resurrection are two sides of the same coin; we must never allow ourselves to think of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> without thinking of the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">other</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This balance between the cross and the resurrection, sorrow and joy, helps make sense out of a lot of confusing aspects of the spiritual life.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since both are necessary for our growth in holiness, just as sunlight and darkness are both necessary for the growth of plants, God allows us to experience both, in accordance with the timing that he deems best.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the resurrection moments, God grants us exceptional clarity and satisfaction in our Christian journey.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, like spoiled children, we tend to hold on to those good feelings as if they were God himself.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We echo Peter's comment in today's Gospel: "Lord it is good for us to be here! Let's just put up some tents and never leave!"</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But earth is not heaven, and God loves us too much to let us settle for anything less than the fullness of his friendship.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so, he leads us down from our high mountains and walks with us to Calvary, letting us share the weight of his cross.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On mountaintops he strengthens our hope, but with crosses he strengthens our love, as we learn to cling to him more than to his gifts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that's what Christian wisdom is all about.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So what can we do to speed up our Christian wisdom learning curve?</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The easiest way is to work together. ( which is community or it might be mission the 2nd and 3rd of the three points I mentioned at the first of the homily) </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we decide never to let those around us carry their crosses alone, then we can be sure someone will do the same for us.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By carrying each other's crosses, we combine the joy of Christian charity with the pain of our earthly exile - keeping perfectly in mind both the cross and the resurrection.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of these things hopefully have been part of your “formation” which was the first point in the archbishops letter to us. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Jesus comes to us in this Mass to help us carry our crosses, let's promise him that we will do the same for those around us.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-63636179212401231652014-07-17T18:28:00.001-04:002014-07-17T18:28:27.991-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVQaofYRixDVoRSZPkv87kyUrlccYme8rUDjR5lypm6Ez5amSu4GP2iC8IWS2ygaa07DWhaVgrsoTBRXvqdffZejRs-Z18ijVYuCZFclEW6ZxQxTBYsQA6HYGRgS-ikUDhg9gZrDI45aj/s1600/7dbc265e3e8a93eca94b5e8519832890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVQaofYRixDVoRSZPkv87kyUrlccYme8rUDjR5lypm6Ez5amSu4GP2iC8IWS2ygaa07DWhaVgrsoTBRXvqdffZejRs-Z18ijVYuCZFclEW6ZxQxTBYsQA6HYGRgS-ikUDhg9gZrDI45aj/s1600/7dbc265e3e8a93eca94b5e8519832890.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Maggie</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-5566288261187365682014-07-17T14:55:00.002-04:002014-07-17T14:55:36.795-04:00<h1 class="commentDescriptionContent" style="background-color: white; color: #171717; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3', 'Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro', メイリオ, Meiryo, 'MS Pゴシック', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; max-width: 600px;">
To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is itself to succumb to the violence of our times. Frenzy destroys our inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful. ~Thomas Merton</h1>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-76775551569435260952014-05-06T14:43:00.000-04:002014-05-06T14:45:31.466-04:00Friends<span style="font-size: large;">This is why I got rid of Facebook and use the internet to share things with people I only know because of the internet. The people around me have to use old methods of conversation... phone etc. And I would say in all conversation ..... less is more. Click the link below and watch carefully.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Put down that phone!</span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-46101897663156720952014-05-06T06:16:00.001-04:002014-05-06T06:16:05.475-04:00spring at last<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwP9BGKcrnfHuFoVb4owC7dKBs4jAj2TQ6cJXWPTxqV4AWgFSuwVQODOHBwDFOLJuici6fk4fBmWejGemRld8l9xQ_Qs8vFvp3vium65tAS92obz4hxIx7ADyBN7uB6MmTVCJtjidUm_55/s1600/IMG_20140506_070719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwP9BGKcrnfHuFoVb4owC7dKBs4jAj2TQ6cJXWPTxqV4AWgFSuwVQODOHBwDFOLJuici6fk4fBmWejGemRld8l9xQ_Qs8vFvp3vium65tAS92obz4hxIx7ADyBN7uB6MmTVCJtjidUm_55/s1600/IMG_20140506_070719.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The black flies should arrive today as well :-)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-90627925923436882822014-05-02T15:13:00.000-04:002014-05-02T15:13:02.240-04:00Another vocation to the priesthood coming from our our humble parish of St.AmbroseOn Saturday, May 10 at 7pm, Brother Pio (Sean) Libby (Franciscan of Halifax) will be<br />
ordained by Archbishop Mancini to the transitional diaconate. The ordination will take place at St.Catherine’s Church in Halifax. Sean is originally from our parish and so this gives us great joy that another from our community has answered God’s call to serve the Lord in ordained ministry. Let us pray for Brother Pio as he takes this next step in responding to God’s call.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-68980727393076536162014-04-26T15:33:00.003-04:002014-04-26T15:33:45.660-04:00ram pump<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/FNDvoq_deh8/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/FNDvoq_deh8?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/FNDvoq_deh8?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Ram pump</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-25468548710653484092014-04-26T15:24:00.001-04:002014-04-26T15:24:21.213-04:004 wheel drive!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXd-0wkJCANFsDfMwN8J4YqLmEvW5GUNPVm5VFwf2B5zp50EiEkTdAHFNvs91PLFQQHQn_TtxbIxtulr81M84GHxDSzoximUuVenBGLZuYorLuG1HfUJnrX7xgXaUsEFmt3x72Ox70vLF/s1600/unnamed+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXd-0wkJCANFsDfMwN8J4YqLmEvW5GUNPVm5VFwf2B5zp50EiEkTdAHFNvs91PLFQQHQn_TtxbIxtulr81M84GHxDSzoximUuVenBGLZuYorLuG1HfUJnrX7xgXaUsEFmt3x72Ox70vLF/s1600/unnamed+(1).jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We can go anywhere in our Suzuki Carry trucks</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-72599585648086875082014-04-25T16:25:00.005-04:002014-04-25T16:25:57.541-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">
Happiness is a new lamb to hold</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGq7ryMT43ksSRYaInbJOc9eQczUadx0jqiZ3IpH3XRqRnqOcuTjbOM9IQYZ24U3h1jkQpNGuTNlQmzNZf2a4oQz0EF3liS5en39-JTPvUlcB_q7z6R5TuH-mCZhSOYdjomjOgvOLzmcG4/s1600/BjciZWbIMAAfONF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGq7ryMT43ksSRYaInbJOc9eQczUadx0jqiZ3IpH3XRqRnqOcuTjbOM9IQYZ24U3h1jkQpNGuTNlQmzNZf2a4oQz0EF3liS5en39-JTPvUlcB_q7z6R5TuH-mCZhSOYdjomjOgvOLzmcG4/s1600/BjciZWbIMAAfONF.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-16765054820848520722014-04-24T15:56:00.003-04:002014-04-24T15:56:27.216-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Good Friday Homily</span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-ec3237e5-954e-3d06-fa4f-7ede01e9e834" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sister Marie Paul, last night at St. Ambrose reminded us that the Holy thursday, Good friday and the Easter Vigil are all one liturgy, not separate from the other. So even though it is a solemn day it is anticipation of Easter Day and the joy that comes with it. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the Holy Thursday mass we were reminded by the liturgy and Fr. Gerald to serve each other as Jesus did by washing the apostles feet. Today we are to remember the cross and that even though it is a sad event… it is “God’s will be done” It is with this knowledge that through the cross we are saved from the curse of death.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To help us understand this I want to read you a quote from one of the orthodox Saints.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5131999015808106; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord accomplished our salvation by His death on the Cross: on the Cross He tore up the handwriting of our sins; through the Cross He reconciled us with our God and Father; and through the Cross He brought down upon us </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">grace-filled gifts and all heavenly blessings.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> But this is the Lord's Cross itself. Each of us becomes a partaker of its saving power in no other way than through our personal cross. When the personal cross of each of us is united with Christ's Cross, the power and effect of the latter is transferred to us and becomes, as it were, a conduit through which </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">every good gift and every perfect gift</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is poured forth upon us from the Cross of Christ. From this it is evident that the personal cross of each of us is as essential to the work of salvation as the Cross of Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> St. Theophan the Recluse</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So take heart…. and understand that if we shed tears on this day they are tears of joy that God should send his only son to die for us on a cross so that we may be reunited with Him and overcome even death itself. </span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amen</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-45810430590877856672014-04-24T15:45:00.001-04:002014-04-24T15:45:14.670-04:00Newest post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jxAxJcEfjpBNIftyQXKo-K0uL5NQ2yDHtXIldReyCdfS_OxeafqII-oVTZKAkTXTpLT2wv9J1hRGXTLN70FM-1DANcpPFwcNYeZoMDiawwVSQxa8pKe7N7LeOdASeyP6l8uQ57tjCua1/s1600/1149004_10153929307825258_1382421384_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jxAxJcEfjpBNIftyQXKo-K0uL5NQ2yDHtXIldReyCdfS_OxeafqII-oVTZKAkTXTpLT2wv9J1hRGXTLN70FM-1DANcpPFwcNYeZoMDiawwVSQxa8pKe7N7LeOdASeyP6l8uQ57tjCua1/s1600/1149004_10153929307825258_1382421384_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lambs of 2014</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-7492061505500411492013-12-08T17:52:00.001-05:002013-12-08T17:52:41.441-05:00Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Advent Year A<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Advent Year A</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-74de1c60-d468-c28c-4c4a-aa4a21cb2dea" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesse was the father of the great King David of the Old Testament. He is often looked upon as the first person in the genealogy of Jesus.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Church art, a design developed showing the relationship of Jesus with Jesse and other biblical people. This design showed a branched tree growing from a reclining figure of Jesse. The various branches had pictures of other Old and New Testament figures who were ancestors of Jesus. At the top of the tree were figures of Mary and Jesus. This design was used mostly in stained glass windows in some of the great medieval cathedrals of Europe. The Cathedral of Chartres (which was dedicated in 1260) has a particularly beautiful Jesse Tree window.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another development in religious art during the Middle Ages was that of Mystery Plays–drama that depicted various Bible stories or lives of Saints and Martyrs. These plays were performed in churches as part of the liturgical celebrations. One such play was based on the Bible account of the fall of Adam and Eve. The "Tree of Life" used during the play was decorated with apples. (Quite possibly this is one of the elements that helped to evolve our own Christmas tree.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Combining the two ideas of the stained glass Jesse Tree window and the Tree of Life from the Mystery Play we come up with our Jesse Tree </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Gospel today tells of John the Baptist and his message. We read “In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have all heard this Gospel before. Some more times than others. The challenge for us here today is, not to just make this one more time we have heard this story. It is to actually hear the words and understand. We need to ask ourselves how is this gospel relevant in a way that I can use what I have just heard.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lets start by looking at the word “repent”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Repent - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make a change for the better as a result of remorse or contrition for one's sins.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To start with I know for sure that there is absolutely no one here who has not sinned. Not me not Father Gerald, not anyone. So we can say we have fulfilled part of the definition of repent. That was the easy part. The other part of the definition was to “make a change”. This is a little harder to do than to be a sinner. Its a peice of cake to be a sinner… no trouble at all. But to make a change now that is hard.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First we need to look at what this change is relative too. Is it relative to the way we golf or play hockey. Could be. Is it relative to how we treat our dogs or pets. Maybe. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Really for us today it is relative to the coming of the Kingdom of God, to the birth of Christ, to God made man. So this change we speak of is something that we all need to do to prepare for this special day, this coming of the Son of Man. We could put it in the form of another question …. is your heart ready for the arrival of the Lord.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the ways we can prepare is by prayer. You may say “I already pray”, this is true. But maybe we need to pray for God to give us the grace to change just one little thing that may make us just a little closer to him. One grace to make us strong to be just a little less sinful.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another way to change, instead of less sinful, we can pray for the grace to be more loving. This can surely apply to everyone here as well. And by more loving I mean towards your family and neighbors and especially towards our God. Who gives us his Son, the baby Jesus, who has changed us and this world for all time to come. So much so that we have actually moved this fact to the back of our minds. Its sort of like getting a gift of something special, say a new coat or hat and then as the days and weeks pass it becomes ordinary and we just grab it, put it on and head of to work. Our society that we live in is sort of like that and this gift of salvation, this gift of eternity has just become an old coat or hat. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How sad to say that our faith, our spiritual home and the gift of all gifts has been turned into something mundane, something that would be unrecognizable to the people of not so long ago. We need to pray that we receive the grace to renew our love for a gift so great that it lasts into eternity.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another suggestion for change, that may be a result of the prayers to be less sinful and more loving, may be to resist the commercialization of Christmas, so as to reaffirm the reason we make it a special day. The farther the reality of the kingdom of God is from or minds the more we consume for no good reason. Consuming was not part of the message of John the Baptist. He did not say “repent and buy each other gifts”. John did not proclaim the kingdom of God so that the market square would be full of shoppers, yet this is why the large corporations proclaim this season is special. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The real change we need is one of heart so that it is directed by that voice crying in the wilderness. From this Sunday onward we are to “prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight!” This is the only thing that we truly need to focus on from now until the big day. We will all do this in our own ways, and it is indeed appropriate to celebrate the coming of the Lord with feasts and family gatherings. It is good to be giving and generous at this time of the year. It will be nice if there are lights and a little snow on the ground (I don’t believe I said that ). And I hope that Santa Claus will visit my Christmas tree.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> At the same time I will be examining the ways I have, that do not lead me closer to Christ and, if I pray well, God may give me the graces needed to make changes in my life so that I am able to say that I am truly ready for the coming of the Son of Man.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-65979396986604458752013-09-29T18:31:00.002-04:002013-09-29T18:31:16.049-04:00Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time year C<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first reading and the gospel of today, about the parable of the poor Lazarus and of the rich man, give the direction how to live the present. These readings are not meant to scare us or torment us about the horrors of hell. These readings today tell us that if we are only concerned about our material wealth and our own well being that we will not recognize Jesus in those who are in need.. Lazarus represents Jesus who has suffered all our trials and has the scars of crucified love. He is the one who is at our doorstep and waits for us to open our hearts.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus gives us this story to make a point so….. it is worth thinking about. First we come upon the rich man with no name (really his name is his wealth) the second man is the one by the gate (he is the one helped by God) Both of these men are under the watchful eye of God but both are more or less open to that presence. The rich man does not think he needs God, he is so well of in material things, such as, food and good clothes. The poor sick guy has nothing but God, he has no food and is sick, only dogs will come near him. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Lets look at ourselves in this light. We also have problems that we can hide under our wealth and outward appearance, but God knows what they are. These problems often make us humble and look for God. They make us yearn for a way to God's presence. It is in this state that we are blessed. we are blessed because we are poor in spirit. When we realize this, we come to Gods level. Remember. The kingdom of heaven is ours because we are poor of heart. We are indeed sons and daughters…. like Jesus… for this reason we are rich. Rich because we have God as our Father.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Having said all this … it is not a sin to be rich. It is only sinful when your wealth tricks you into believing that it is a god in itself. We need to recognize when God is speaking to us through those in need. We need to know when to love someone.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We can look to Mother Teresa for advice in this matter. She once said “That love starts at home: family first, then your town or city. It’s easy to love people who are far away, but not so easy top love those who live with us or are next door to us. I don’t agree with the big way of doing things… love needs to start with an individual. To love a person, you must make contact with that person, become close. You have to let people come in contact with the poor. When you do that you cross this enormous divide. It,s no longer these “millions” of people, but somebody you have actually touched.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> She tells the following story “Once in Bombay there was a big conference on poverty. When I reached the place, right in front of the door where hundreds of people were talking about food and hunger, I found a dying man. I took him to our home for the dying. He died there. He died of hunger. And the people inside were talking about how in fifteen years we will have so much food, so much this, so much that…. and that man died.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>She continues “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. I picked up one person. Maybe if I hadn’t picked up that one person I would not have picked up 42,000. The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if I did not put that drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. Same thing for you. same thing in your family.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rich man in our gospel reading could not have been expected to save the world. But he could have helped the beggar man at his gate.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-02ec6a91-6bd7-1a1b-dea0-d91fe3a961a8" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another kind of wealth we can think about is inner wealth or richness</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To illustrate what I mean by inner wealth I have another story to tell…</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There once was a wandering monk who came upon a village. He was about to settle down under a tree for the night when a villager came running to him and said “ Give me the precious stone”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What stone are you talking about” asked the monk. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Last night I had a dream that if I went to the outskirts of the village at dusk I would find a monk who would give me a precious stone that would make me rich forever”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The monk rummaged around in his sack, found a stone, and took it out. “ This probably the stone you are talking about” he said, as he handed it to the villager. “I found it in the forest a few days ago, you are welcome to it.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4267578125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man took the stone and gazed at it in wonder. It was a diamond, the largest one he could ever imagine. He took it home with him. But all night he tossed around in his bed unable to sleep. Early next day he went back to the monk and said, “During the night I have done a lot of thinking. You can have the diamond back. Instead, give me the kind of wealth that makes it possible for you to give this diamond away so easily”</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Architects Daughter'; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The richer a person’s inner life is, the simpler becomes his outer life. So also is it easier to be in the presence of God. That recognition of Gods way to heaven is called the way of Jesus. There are no other ways. It is a path of love. It is a love… pure, true, real, spiritual, made of concreteness and of the the gift of one’s life and riches that leads to heaven.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-21569158583828663452013-03-29T17:36:00.004-04:002013-03-29T17:36:55.651-04:00Good Friday Homily<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6088215436320752" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6088215436320752" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good Friday of the Lord's Passion (ABC)</span></span><span style="font-family: Unkempt; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></h1>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6088215436320752" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus Christ, our Savior, true God and true Man, has experienced the absolute depths of human misery.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we contemplate his Passion we cannot doubt it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isaiah tells us: "He was spurned and avoided... a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces..."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have all felt like that at some time in our lives, because we live in a fallen world. </span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have all been sick, and betrayed, and hurt.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we have all caused pain in others.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The effects of evil and sin have reached out and touched each one of us, just like ripples in the water reach to the shores when you throw a pebble into the middle of a pond. The pebble was original sin.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus saved us by coming down to our level, by stepping into the middle of our pain and sorrow, Isaiah tells us this, he says: "It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings he endured,".</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He saved us</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">not by eliminating suffering,</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but by suffering with us and for us,</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by teaching us through his own example to trust and love God even in the midst of suffering.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do we fully realize what this amazing truth means? </span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It means that we don't have to become perfect before we can be friends of God. It means that, in Christ, we can go right into God's presence just the way we are, with all our miseries and confusions and wounds and sins.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Should we think Jesus' arms are outstretched on the cross, waiting to embrace those who never sinned? Those who are already saints? No, they are there for us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Letter to the Hebrews understands this. </span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Listen again to the earth-shaking sentence that can free us from all fear and hesitancy in our relationship with God:</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it says "So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this day, this sacred Good Friday, let's join our hearts to those of all Catholics throughout the world, and let's lift our eyes to this saving cross of Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This cross is the "throne of grace" that God wants us to "approach confidently" so we can "receive mercy and find grace for timely help."</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we approach the cross and kiss it or simply touch it, let's do so not just with our feet and our hands, but with our whole selves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In prayer, let's lay our own troubles at the foot of this cross, this throne.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's lay the troubles of those we love at the foot of this throne.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's lay the troubles of the world at the foot of this throne. Nothing would please him more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He came among us and bore "our infirmities" because he wanted to be close to us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He dreamed about walking by our sides, sharing our crosses, and winning our friendship.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, let's tell him, by the sincerity and confidence of our prayer, that his dream has come true.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From today until Easter all the tabernacles of the world are empty, and all the altars are bare. </span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a reminder of the sacrifice of our Lord, of the emptiness that would have been in each of our hearts had Jesus abandoned us in our sin.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But he didn't abandon us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so, today, when we receive him in Holy Communion,</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">let's make our hearts into his tabernacles,</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">let's make our hearts into his altars,</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">let's make our hearts into his thrones,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so that between now and Easter he has a place to stay on earth, and we become living billboards of the truth that God wants us to come to him just as we are.</span></span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-39419962394214586182013-02-25T07:19:00.000-05:002013-02-25T07:19:03.327-05:00Homily for Second Sunday of Lent (C)<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5205534428823739" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The natural seasons of the year give a</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> rhythm to life</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Each season provides nature with something it needs to keep growing.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The same thing happens in the Church, with </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">liturgical seasons</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. In each liturgical season God sends us </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">graces</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> we need in order to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">keep growing</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in wisdom, holiness, and happiness.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But these graces don't benefit our souls </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">automatically</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the way sunlight benefits plants. Rather, we have to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">take them in on purpose</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But how</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? How can we bathe in the supernatural sunlight that will make us grow, make us better, make us change, during this liturgical season?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today the Church reminds us of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the most effective method</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> we have for drinking in all the graces God wants to give us during this Lent: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prayer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5205534428823739" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today's </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First Reading</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tells us that "The Lord God took Abram outside..." and had a conversation with him. That's prayer.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5205534428823739" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> gives us an example of King David's prayer in the face of danger, "Your presence, O Lord, I seek. Hide not your face from me..."</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5205534428823739" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">St Paul, in the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second Reading</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, reminds the Christians in Philippi that while most people occupy their minds "with earthy things... Our citizenship is in heaven." Our </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">attention</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is on God - that's prayer.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5205534428823739" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, in the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gospel</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Jesus leads his three closest disciples away from the hustle and bustle of life, up to the top of a high mountain, where he can be alone with them, and give them a lesson in prayer.</span></b></li>
</ul>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5205534428823739" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have to ask ourselves: is our prayer life </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in good shape</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? Has it improved in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the last year</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the last ten years</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? If it's</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> out</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of shape, we won't be able to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">drink in the graces </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God wants to give us this Lent, the ones we really need.</span><br /><hr />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prayer brings </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">many benefits</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to our lives. One that is often overlooked comes across in this Gospel reading.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the reasons that Jesus brings Peter, James, and John up the mountain is because </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">they need to see a glimpse of Christ's divine glory</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as Lent is bringing us closer to Christ's passion and death, so in St Luke's Gospel </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the Passion is drawing nearer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They are on the way to Jerusalem. </span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus knows that when his followers see him betrayed, scourged, and crucified, they will be shocked and disheartened. They don't know this, but he does.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knows they will need something to hang onto in those dark moments, something to give them hope and encouragement. This experience on the mountaintop is exactly that.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is meant to give them a deeper knowledge of Christ's greatness.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This knowledge, this experience, will in turn enable them to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">persevere through the hard times</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ahead, and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to help the other disciples persevere too</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God wants to do the same with us</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even better than a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good coach, parent, or doctor</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, he knows </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what lies ahead</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for each one of us: the triumphs and the temptations, the success and the struggles.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wants </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to equip us</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to get the most out of each of them.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wants </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to outfit us</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for each stage of our life's journey.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But if we don't make room for prayer in our lives, he can't</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we don't go up the mountain with him and give him a chance to do fill us with his grace, we won't be ready when the future comes.</span><br /><hr />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of us have to ask ourselves about our prayer lives. We need to be honest. If our prayer life hasn't grown in the last year, we need to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do something</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> about it.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God still has so much he wants to do in our lives. Improving our prayer life will </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">give him room to work</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One way to do that is by instituting a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">daily quiet time</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We never let a day go by without </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">taking a shower</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, because we know our bodies need that cleansing.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We never let a day go by without </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eating</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, because we know our bodies need that nourishment.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many people almost never let a day go by without </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">exercising</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, because they know their bodies need that stimulation.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why not do </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the same thing for our souls</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? That's what a daily quiet time is for. It's a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one-on-one appointment with the Lord</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which gives him room to refresh, nourish, and exercise our soul.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's very simple to do.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Choose a time and place in which you won't be </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">interrupted</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Then do three things:</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, Remember</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Remind yourself that Christ is with you and wants to be with you. Think of all the blessings he has given you.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second, Read</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Take out a spiritual book, a Bible, or your favorite prayer book and read a paragraph or two, slowly. No rush. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Third, Reflect.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Think about what you read. Listen to what God wants to say to you through it. Apply it to your life.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember, Read, Reflect.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before you know it the fifteen minutes will be up, and you will have received </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a word of encouragement</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from God to help you live the life he wants you to.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prayer is the secret to drinking in all the graces God has in store for us. Today, he is hoping we'll decide to become better pray-ers. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let's not disappoint him</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-29713070130246789672013-02-12T14:19:00.002-05:002013-02-12T14:19:25.356-05:00Quote from Pope Benedict<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">When asked by a journalist how the Church could be more attractive, Benedict replied: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">"I would say that a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for her own ends, she does not work to increase numbers and thus power. The Church is at the service of another: she serves, not for herself, not to be a strong body, rather she serves to make the proclamation of Jesus Christ accessible, the great truths and great forces of love, reconciling love that appeared in this figure and that always comes from the presence of Jesus Christ."</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-76866765351868919352013-01-24T10:05:00.002-05:002013-01-24T10:05:30.909-05:00Winter on the farm<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w304SpeuBuc?list=UUrl7FjWtjtIoS_rj4LVLx-A" width="560"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-47335399148507248192013-01-03T07:26:00.003-05:002013-01-03T07:26:41.373-05:00I was just checking how many page views and it appears that more people are reading my blog than I suspected. Thank you all for viewing. Peace and blessings in the new year to you all! :-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-23703158308832411852012-12-29T20:05:00.001-05:002012-12-29T20:13:29.924-05:00Homily for Christmastide: Feast of the Holy Family <b id="internal-source-marker_0.2183122003916651" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<h1 dir="ltr">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.2183122003916651" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Homily for Christmastide: Feast of the Holy Family (C)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></h1>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.2183122003916651" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Church shows great wisdom in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dedicating</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> this Sunday after the Solemnity of Christmas to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Holy Family</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, the Church's 1 billion Catholics are all </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thanking God</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for the gift of the family, and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">asking</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for God's help to live family life as he </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">designed</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> it to be lived.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And he </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">did</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> design it; it was his idea.</span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.2183122003916651" style="font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the very </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beginning</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, he created us male and female – husband and wife, father and mother.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And after original sin shattered his original design, he </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">redeemed</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> us by sending a savior </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">into a family</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, thereby restoring and reaffirming his commitment to work in this world </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">through family life</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We will probably never know </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all the reasons</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> behind God's decision to make family life so central to his creation and redemption.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But we can certainly identify </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">some</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of them.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">most important </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reasons is to show us that </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">life</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">every</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> human life, is a </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">precious gift</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that comes directly from God.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">None of us can </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">produce</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> another human being alone, the way an artist produces a painting or a bricklayer produces a wall.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Human life comes from the union of </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two loving spouses</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a union which God often </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blesses</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with the conception of a child.</span></li>
</b></ul>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.2183122003916651" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That each human life is a gift from God is a truth that </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">comes across powerfully</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in today's First Reading, where Hannah shows so clearly her understanding that her son is not first of all hers, but God’s.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It also comes across in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">today's Gospel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, where Jesus shows his </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">first allegiance</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be towards his heavenly Father, not his earthly parents.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the same goes </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for us</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> – for every single human being.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">None of us is a simple “product” of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">science or chance;</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> none of us are the result of a “</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mistake</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”: we are </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> beloved children of God, called to live forever with him in heaven.</span><br /><hr />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the reason behind the Church's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">uncompromising</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> position on all moral issues regarding the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dignity</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of human life.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Human beings are </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unique members</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of this earth, created in God’s image, and, though fallen, destined for eternal glory.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other creatures around us, from rhinos to rain forests, are beautiful and marvelous and deserving of our respectful and responsible use, but they </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do not share the same dignity</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as a human being.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">entire physical universe</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is less valuable than the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tiniest human embryo</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, because the universe will pass away, but </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">every human soul will live forever.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our popular culture does not </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">agree</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and it is more and more trying to convince us that human beings are a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cancer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the earth.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take for example the most recent [November 2009] report of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">United Nations Population Fund</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It concludes that families should be </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rewarded</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">refusing</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to have children, because children perpetuate the polluting of the earth:</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Each birth results not only in the emissions attributable to that person in his or her lifetime, but also the emissions of all his or her descendents... Hence, the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">emissions savings </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from intended or planned births multiply with time.”</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If awarding carbon credits for having fewer children seems like a good idea to us, we can be sure that we are </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not thinking as God thinks</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Certainly, we are called to use and develop the earth's resources </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">responsibly</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but the earth is not more important than the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">people</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> who inhabit it.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, it's </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for us people</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, you, me, and even our ornery neighbors – that God made the earth in the first place.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Human life is not a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cancer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the planet; embracing the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gift of human life</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the very </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">purpose</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the planet.</span><br /><hr />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Few truths of our faith have more </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">practical consequences</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> than this truth that every human life is a gift from God, a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sacred</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> reality.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">most important</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> practical consequence is that we need to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">take care of our own lives.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">royalty</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, members of </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God's family</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, called to </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fulfill a mission</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in God's eternal plan of salvation.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That matters</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And we need to </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">act</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> like it matters.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need to keep our hearts </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">strong and free from sin</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, using frequently and wisely the gifts of prayer, Holy Communion, and confession.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need to </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">guard ourselves from temptation</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by exercising self-discipline in how we spend our time, money, and talents.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need to </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that the devil "prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour," as the Bible tells us (1 Peter 5:8).</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wants to lead us </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">away from God</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, precisely because he knows </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">how much</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> God cares for us.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">second</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> practical consequence has to do with the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">people around us</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, especially those </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">closest</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to us.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are so used to focusing on their failures, foibles, and </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">imperfections</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that we tend to </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">take them for granted</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But God </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">never</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> takes them for granted.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead, he takes each of us </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by the hand</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loving</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> us without </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">condemning</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> us, and leading us along the path of redemption.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And we are called to do the same, to </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be God's messengers</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to be </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">living signs</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of his love for those around us by how we treat one another.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this Mass, God will come to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">each one</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of us, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in spite of</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> our personality flaws, sins, and hang-ups.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He goes </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beyond</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">surface</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> appearances and sees all of us </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as we truly are</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: created in his image and destined for everlasting glory.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, let's ask him to teach </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">us</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to do the same.</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-22525340821779934912012-09-06T19:05:00.001-04:002012-09-06T19:05:25.617-04:00that's Mr.Egg Plant to you!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-55643991197298597682012-08-13T15:10:00.002-04:002012-08-13T15:11:40.949-04:00One of the happy workers at St.Isidore Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sFuXmjY9iTq4VKOMKxmjYjS5BG5wj0WqyjoVH8T5DfytWCoZBRd8Doj809a_OfTVvSD-n5J8JTQykFIIfevuq0JafiA2yHSuNxvh11wCmsLiFmFRYs7Bp3w1asQka7CgdhyafAX0l0rI/s1600/419890_10151356342774852_1008545390_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sFuXmjY9iTq4VKOMKxmjYjS5BG5wj0WqyjoVH8T5DfytWCoZBRd8Doj809a_OfTVvSD-n5J8JTQykFIIfevuq0JafiA2yHSuNxvh11wCmsLiFmFRYs7Bp3w1asQka7CgdhyafAX0l0rI/s320/419890_10151356342774852_1008545390_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="color: #274e13;">Sophie is a cheerful addition to our farm!</span></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-21990442237570195192012-07-25T18:54:00.000-04:002012-07-25T18:54:13.761-04:002012 Farm Pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Garnet driving our recently purchased Farm All and Sophie on the willie-wag.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlzVMXrjvSXW1wfasn9YcN7C2MMFcQBn3Svozx1mtvrrW-GRBaRoIG-OOYdNssudmansk4SelMz8GmmjzmAht6bL8NujbY7c2X9dFLQ3U3aWkIdDzMju-bCld8Klxkz5QFCyq9pp20jGS/s1600/Image0136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlzVMXrjvSXW1wfasn9YcN7C2MMFcQBn3Svozx1mtvrrW-GRBaRoIG-OOYdNssudmansk4SelMz8GmmjzmAht6bL8NujbY7c2X9dFLQ3U3aWkIdDzMju-bCld8Klxkz5QFCyq9pp20jGS/s320/Image0136.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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My son Kyle driving the John Deere.</div>
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Sophie getting her first ride in the side car. You can just see her helmet sticking up there.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-74235382336009347392012-06-07T06:17:00.001-04:002012-06-07T06:23:33.758-04:00eugeneukulele<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #274e13;">One of my favorite folk songs.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-78308908324662662642012-05-17T18:55:00.001-04:002012-05-17T18:55:23.229-04:00Spring on the farm.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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the new old tractor a 1973 Farm All 140</div>
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The sheep finally get some green grass after a long winter of hay.</div>
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<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194665477070347041.post-54531646616619677262012-04-02T19:50:00.003-04:002012-04-02T19:52:08.032-04:00A new old lumber jack song<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/YCnYsy7B40o?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866987828510701334noreply@blogger.com2