Mass Prep Sunday November 25th 2018

Sunday November 25, 2018   34^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Jesus is Lord. What Are You Going To Do About It?

The tie in between today’s reading: The reactions to: Thy Will Be Done.

Psalm 93:1-5, Daniel 7:13-14, Revelation 1:5-8, John 18:33-37

     There is one pervasive theme running throughout all of our readings today: Jesus Christ reigns! In heaven; he rules absolutely. When He commands Gabriel to jump the response is, “How high?”  I suppose if you’re an angel, that’s a legitimate question. On earth, things are a little messier as God allows the drama of this sinful world to play out while He gathers the last of His elect to Himself.  But know this: He will come back to claim His throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. It will be a day of thunderbolts and earthquakes, of rewards and retribution.  The Alpha and the Omega will fulfill the opening statement of the Our Father: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  In this present life, we all live in one of three categories in our relationship to Jesus Christ and His second coming. You are either in conflict with it, compliant in it, or committed to it. The question is where do you fit in?

     Conflict is simple enough. You have a free will and you will not have Jesus to reign over you.  You’re not alone. It’s a pervasive philosophy throughout the world. You are convinced that the outcomes of your choices will be better if you disregard God. I mean, if God happens to agree with you, so much the better, but it’s not necessary. Your pride places your intellect above the Omnipresent Brain that sees the end from the beginning. This is the very nature of sin and it is dumb. Essentially, heaven would be hell for the person in conflict with the Almighty. What’s left for the God of light to do but to oblige your autonomy by sending you out away from Him and into the darkness to create your own little universe. Consider though, He did everything divinely possible for you to avoid that fate. Be careful what you wish for.

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     The compliant person sees the benefits of a virtuous life.  He believes in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.  He is invested in the social gospel of love thy neighbor in order to create peace on earth. Although he is not perfect, he is convinced that if he does good, then he is good. He feels that his participation in church will draw him closer to God and help make the good man that he is even better. His premise is confirmed weekly by his give no offense pastor, that tickles the ears of the congregation in order to keep the collection plate full and ensure his own retirement. He only understands Christ’s sacrifice on the cross in the vaguest of metaphors. He rationalizes sin and makes it trivial. He is comfortably ignorant, which makes him unaware that in his mind he has recreated God in his own image. The real Lord is a stranger to him. So when he meets Jesus face to face he will be greeted by, “I never knew you.” and be turned away.  He was all for the kingdom of God, but didn’t really care about the King.  What he didn’t realize was that the King is the kingdom.

The kingdom of God is in you (Luke 17:21).

     The committed are committed because it’s their new nature. The committed know that heaven is first a state of being and a physical location second. You don’t go to heaven. Heaven comes to you through your relationship with Jesus Christ. Your faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins means that you spiritually died with Him on Good Friday and were spiritually made alive with Him when He resurrected on Easter Sunday. You are spiritually born again into citizenship of the kingdom of God. This reality is played out in the physical world as each of the committed live out their new lives modeled after and sustained by their King. When Jesus comes again to reign on the earth, it is only to complete physically what has already been done spiritually. For now, the Kingdom of God is advancing soul by soul and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We, the committed born again stand as ambassadors of Jesus Christ with the good news that you can also become a citizen in the kingdom of God. Accept by faith the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for your sins and submit to Him as your King of kings and Lord of Lords. Today! For the kingdom and the power and the glory is God’s now and forever. Be part of it.

Are We There, Yet?

Sunday November 18, 2018  33^rd Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Are We There, Yet?

The tie in between today’s readings: Know what’s coming.

Psalm 16:5-11, Daniel 12:1-3, Hebrews 10:11-18, Mark 13:24-32

     When I was a kid growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, my parents would take us on weekend trips to Wildwood, New Jersey. On the way, there were road signs to Zaberer’s restaurant “…Just Minutes Away!” it would say. In our own version of, Are We There, Yet, we would try to guess how long it would take to get to Zaberer’s. Winner got first choice on Boardwalk activities that night. We were often wrong. In our gospel today, the Mark 13 fig tree allegory gives us a road sign pointing to Jesus’ second coming.  Many Biblical scholars correlate the fig tree to Israel. They site Hosea 9:10 and other verses as proof. They believe that the establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 connects with the fig tree putting out its’ leaves…and ushering in the last generation. Now, I don’t know what your thinking is on end of the world prognostications. Personally, I think that it’s a no win situation. In the most likely case, being wrong just makes you look stupid. When someone finally does get it right: who cares? The world is over. It’s time to move on, unless you’re going for heavenly bragging rights, like the kid in the “guess the number of jelly beans in the jar” contest. These road signs do have a purpose, however. They heighten your focus on what’s coming in order for you to put your life in order. Seriously, no matter when Jesus returns the most important thing to realize is that when a person dies, it’s the end of the world for them! God has a job for His people to do while there’s still time.

     We, the Church, should be living with eternity in mind. The unbelieving world will be surprised when Jesus returns like a thief in the night, because they have “bartered for another God” as it says in Psalm 16. Their focus is trained on this earth…the one that is passing away. We have an urgent gospel message to relay. It’s contained in our reading in Hebrews today: Jesus’ one time sacrifice for sin avails forgiveness for the world. He is now seated at the right hand of God, interceding for those people who come to Him for salvation. We are the ambassadors of Christ imploring everyone to be reconciled to God through Jesus. Those who respond will receive everlasting life in heaven. Those who refuse will face the “Great White Throne Judgment” for their sins and there will be no mercy, no grace, and no hope.

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     What will Jesus’ second coming look like? Pandemonium! The sky will fall! The earth will shake! People will futilely cry for the mountains to bury them so that they might be hidden from the all seeing eye of God. The angels, like the wind, will separate saint from sinner. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 14:11). The books will be opened and destinies decided, as it says in our reading in Daniel today. Some will go to everlasting darkness and shame. Those that are in Christ, the children of God, however, will shine like the stars forever in heaven.

     Examine yourself. Where are you now and where do you want to be? The Bible illustrates the consequences of your decision. Are you building your life high and dry on Jesus the Rock or is your real estate down below on the sandy bank? When the levee breaks, mamma it’s too late to move! Have you put your trust in the God of Jacob’s ladder or are you buying a stairway to heaven with your good works? Are you on the broad easy road of the world that goes to destruction or have you picked the narrow path leading to life? The insidious lie is that in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on. God says, “Today is the day of salvation.” Put your trust in the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God to take away your sin. Don’t wait! The fig tree is in leaf and the horizon is fast approaching. Whether the second coming is today or whether in death it becomes the end of the world for you. Your face to face with the living God could be…just minutes away!

Mass Prep Sunday November 11th 2018

Sunday  November 11, 2018    32^nd Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

A Tale of Two Widows

The tie in between today’s readings: Getting a happy ending

Psalm 146:6-10, 1 Kings 17:10-16, Hebrews 9:24-28,Mark 12:38-44

     Psalm 146 starts out singing heartfelt praises to the Almighty God for being an abundant helper. It recounts God’s resume of great works: the blind see, the hungry are fed, wrongs are made right, and much more.  Anyone who has prayed for and gotten a miracle shares a bond with the Psalmist for their happy ending. Many of us though, don’t get the answers to our prayers that we want. It seems God is not listening. Why can’t we be like the lucky ones? Is there a magic God formula that we need to follow? Does God play favorites? Let’s explore this question by comparing the two widows in our readings today.

     It hadn’t rained for a long time and everyone was suffering. The Lord had provided for his prophet, Elijah, up until now, but even the brook that was sustaining him dried up. Now, God tells him to go to, of all people: a poor Gentile widow in Zarephath! Here is a key. God tells Elijah that He has commanded her to provide for him. Apparently, she did not get the memo because when he finally gets there, he finds her preparing the last of her rations for her family’s final meal and he wasn’t on the guest list. Elijah has learned by now that God doesn’t send where He doesn’t provide. He confidently assures the widow that if she bakes him some bread first, then God will provide for her and won’t let the supply of flour and oil run out. With nothing to lose in her desperate situation, she complies, a happy ending ensues, and she comes to faith in the God of Israel. She writes a book “Psalm 146 and Me”, makes the rounds on the talk shows, has it turned into a movie, and lives comfortably off the royalties. Alleluia! This is the feel good kind of God story we crave, not only for the widow, but because it gives us hope that one day we too may be a winner in life’s lottery. Now, let’s take a look at widow number two in today’s reading in Mark’s gospel.

     Jesus finishes condemning the Pharisees for, among other things, devouring widow’s houses. Then, He sits down with his disciples and watches the rich Pharisees make an impressive display of their large contributions to the Temple treasury. They astound the people with their apparent generosity and holiness. Then a poor widow, who most likely had her final means of support taken away from her by those self same Pharisees, drops her last two mites into the chest.  Jesus applies God’s heavenly multiplier to her contribution and commends her for giving more than anyone else. What becomes of the destitute widow now that she has laid everything on the altar? We hope that something miraculous happens to her as a reward for her faith and dependence on the Almighty. Most likely though, nobody cares about her, she starves to death, and Psalm 146 seemingly mocks her by the lack of a happy ending.

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     So, why the disparity?  Psalm 146 has two levels of meaning: physical and spiritual. Yes, God does rescue the desperate out of their circumstances. We hear stories about people escaping perils by the help of strangers only to conclude afterwards that they were with angels. You most likely can recall an event in your life and wondered if God was in it.  Jesus was rescued from treacherous situations because His time had not yet come and that’s the point. Miracles aren’t done for miracle’s sake. God intervenes in the physical world in order to promote a heavenly agenda. The passages of Psalm 146 take on more significance in the spiritual sense.* We ought to view them more as salvation metaphors than mere physical deliverances. After all, what lasting good is in the physical? It all ends. Even those amazingly rescued in the Bible eventually died. Christ’s purpose was to die as a sacrifice that could satisfy man’s sin debt to God (Hebrews 9:24-28). So when He asked His Father in heaven to rescue Him from His fate in the Garden of Gethsemane, the answer was “NO!”

     We must have faith in God through the trials of life knowing that all things will work together for good. Even though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him (Job 13:15). Let us remember that for every Joseph released from prison, there is an executed John the Baptist. For every David that slays a Goliath, there is a martyred Stephen. For every Isaac spared from a sacrificial knife, there is a Christ with a spear in His side. (Praise God for that!) Jesus triumphed over our greatest adversaries: Sin and Death. In this world we will have tribulations, but we are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37). It’s the focus on the spiritual that gives us the confidence in this physical world to face the lions…singing. God did not rescue Jesus, so He can now rescue you. Come to Him for salvation and have a real happy ending.

*See Mass Prep for Sunday September 9, 2018

Mass Prep Sunday November 4th 2018

Sunday November 4^th, 2018      31^st Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Greatest Commandment

The tie in between today’s readings: Do You Love Me?

Psalm 18:2-4, Psalm 18:47-51, Deuteronomy 6:2-6, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 12:28-34

     Listen, everyone! I am God, the only God, and I command you to totally love Me.  Wow! Who does God think He is? Run. Jump. Stop. Go. Love! Is love just another verb, an action word of duty, like kiss your smelly Aunt Roberta? Don’t I have a free will in this? Can God really order me to have affection for Him or direct it to someone else, like my adversarial neighbor?  If you examine today’s reading in Deuteronomy, which is also echoed in the gospel, the answer is yes. Since love is a command, love therefore, is a commitment, not an emotion to be expressed. It is a total act of my will to do all in my power for another’s benefit. Fickle sentiments ride in the backseat.  Love is purposeful, dependable, and real. But how can I love a God that I cannot see?

     It’s like dating. You can’t love God until you get to know Him. A lot of us have preconceived notions of who God is or what He’s like, with no more validity than a teenage girl dreaming of the perfect guy. This makes God in our image. Lose It! He’s written a book for you to see the kind of personal being that He really is. You’ll discover the genuine love of grace and mercy, of compassion and sacrifice that He’s committed to you; your knight in shining armor. You’ll find a God worth loving. Then, you give your heart. This is our emotional response to God first loving us. It’s the rush of the believer’s new converted life. It’s the willingness to please, to discover more, and to be with God in prayer and meditation because He is precious. Where your treasure is, so will your heart be.  The beautiful thing is the more you think of God, the more you will desire Him. When you give you heart to Jesus, God gives a new heart for Him to you. There is no end to the depth and richness of a life filled with a heartfelt love of God. Pursue it!

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     Dating God with your mind and heart leads to a commitment of your soul. Your eternal soul is your core being: your personality, inner self, and identity. Loving God with your soul involves personal choices in your lifestyle. It’s like being married: the two become one. You desire to live a life of faithfulness and devotion, forsaking all others (obstacles) that get in the way. You want to live obediently, pleasing to Him and under His guidance. Here you find out that instead of struggling to live a life that is sinless, your dedication to God nurtures you into a life where you sin less. No fake religious airs or pious triteness here: you’re the real deal. And that takes strength.

    Loving God with all your strength is transformative. It’s the tough love of God changing you into the image of Jesus. He answers your prayers, but not how you think. He gives: trials to produce patience, broken heartedness for understanding, calamity to cultivate trust, and humiliation to make you great. He breaks you down and gives spiritual gifts to build you up. He wants you to see what He sees, feel what he feels, and be His hands in this world. You can love you neighbor as yourself, from your very soul, because you have the strength of the Lord, the mind of Christ, and a heart for God.

     So why do I want to love God? Is it because if I don’t then He’ll get mad and zap me? Of course not, instead, its’ the fulfillment of life’s purpose. We were made to have a relationship with God.  God’s command for us to love Him drives us in that direction. In fact, if I reject the love of God and choose to live a hedonistic, self centered, transient lifestyle; I am really zapping myself.  What’s it like for you? Do you know about Jesus who loved you first, who bore your sins upon a cross, and constantly lives to make intercessions for you to the Father (Psalm 18, Hebrews 7)? Have you given your heart to God? Do you want to be in His word and in prayer more than binge watch Netflix? Can you commit to Him, become one with Him as if you were married.  Persevere when the going gets tough, for better or for worse. The real question is not “do you love God?”, but more like “are you in love with God?”  If not, then you have some soul searching to do. If so, then you know the relationship is not about you. Look around and pray beyond your nose. Let your light shine out to a world in need…for the love of God.

Mass Prep Sunday October 28th 2018

Sunday October 28^th, 2018  30^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Marco…Polo

The tie in between today’s readings: There’s always hope with God.

Psalm 126:1-6, Jeremiah 31:7-9, Hebrews 5:1-6, Mark 10:46-52Mark 10:46-52

     Today’s gospel gives us an insight into a man. His name is Bartimaeus. They call him Blind Bartimaeus so that nobody confuses him with regular Bartimaeus, the productive person in their town. Every morning, he would feel his way along the buildings in town until he reached his spot and sat down with the other beggars along the Jericho road. Maybe someone would have pity on him today and throw him a shekel. Maybe someone could help him get to the market and not rob him so that he could buy some bread and eat tonight. That would be grand. There have been so many hungry nights…too many.  Sitting in the dark, he can hear hush tones around him saying how useless he is. Helpless. Worthless. Pathetic. He has prayed many times that God would put him out of his misery. Each morning he debates whether today he should sit down with the others or… just keep going down the Jericho road out into the desert to die. “But not today,” he argues with himself, “maybe hold on for one more day.” When you’re a blind guy begging on the side of a busy street, you hear a lot of gossip, the same old griping about Roman taxes, and every once in a while, something new. This man named Jesus, who can heal the sick and raise the dead. “I wonder,” he thought many times, “What if Jesus came here?”  That became his thread of hope.

     Today was like any other, no one had given him anything, so far. He swiped away the insects and despaired when he thought of another …then the background drone of the crowd grew louder. What was that? G? Gees. Jesus! An adrenaline bolt shot through him. This is it!

      Blind Bartimaeus shouted out of his darkness into the Judean afternoon, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

      The crowd shouted him down, “Shut up!”

     “Shut up?” he thought, “Why would they want to shut me up? Jesus is coming. He can heal me. He must heal me! If not, I’ve got nothing left but death in the desert!”

     He cried out again. The crowd rebuked him even louder. It was becoming a desperate game of Marco-Polo. He could feel the intensity of the throng growing around him. Jesus was getting closer! His last chance:

     “JESUS, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”… (Marco!).

     “Who called to Me?”… (Polo!). The crowd quieted. “Bring him to Me.” 

     Feeling ashamed, the crowd encouraged Bartimaeus to come to Jesus.

     “What shall I do for you?” He asked.

     “Rabboni, that I may see.” Bartimaeus replied.

     “Go. Your faith has made you well.” Jesus said and it was so. The crowd was amazed and gave glory to God.

     Once Blind Bartimaeus followed Jesus out of town shouting praises to God on the Jericho road. It was a different road now.

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     They say that in life a man cannot last a minute without hope. That is why God always offers it. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, is our Old Testament reading today. He proclaimed to wicked Judah that there was hope to escape the coming destruction from God if they repented.  They refused.  God’s judgment came by Nebuchadnezzar and exile in Babylon.  Yet, even now, in our passage God promises to restore Israel after their time of punishment.  We can take this principle to heart. Our disobedience has consequences. We will reap what we sow. Sin leaves scars.  But, God promises a way of renewal and reconciliation back to Him, if you want it. You are never beyond hope with the Almighty.

     The title of Psalm 126 should be “Pinch Me I Must Be Dreaming” as it picks up on the return of the exiles back to Jerusalem. Now, in their exhilaration, the great task of rebuilding lies ahead of them. There is a new hope that with God’s help, their efforts in faith will be rewarded. I get this from verses 5 and 6, which are used in the hymn, Bringing in the Sheaves. God has things for us to do. It is our adventure with Him in this life. Faith calls us to action. Hope anticipates the outcome. We shall indeed rejoice.

     We hope in God. He meets us where we are. He gives: hope in struggling, hope in trials, hope in repentance and, hope in the future. In all of it, God is there to help us through. As it says in our reading in Hebrews today, we have a great high priest in the Lord Jesus Christ who is infinitely acquainted with our circumstances. No matter what situation you find yourself in, He promised never to leave you or forsake you. The Good Shepherd is seeking the despairing, the desolate, and the hopeless. If that’s you then…Marco!…Polo!

Eulogy for Sara Cocco

Eulogy for Sara Cocco

October 26, 2016

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

     My mother had a difficult childhood that she only spoke about on rare occasions, but God had a plan.  He brought a teenager over from Italy who had nothing.  They fell in love, got married, and struggled to raise a family.  My father would always be trying to better our situation, which at times required mom to sign papers, putting the little we had up as collateral.  She always did this with complete trust in him.   God blessed this and things finally began to turn around for us about the time I was entering High School.  Dad always credited his success to Mom’s support.

     This new chapter in their lives allowed Mom’s generosity to emerge: from the presents that she would distribute to us from their many travels, to birthdays, Christmas, and even Halloween.  She loved Halloween.  It was required that the grandchildren be brought to the house for tricks and treats and that the family picture be taken in costume for next year’s calendar.  Mom had an “open bowl” policy when it came to candy so everyone who came to the door could pick out whatever and almost as much as they wanted.  This meant that she would have to buy a pretty good amount of candy...much more than my father thought reasonable.  So she would kind of squirrel away bags around the house and they would magically appear Halloween night.  A few weeks ago, Mom used my Father’s trip to New York as her opportunity to buy a hoard of chocolate for this year.  She left strict orders that Dad was not to know. So, in her memory my sisters, Linda and Lisa set up some of the candy in front of the church as Mom’s last trick or treat and as a tribute to her we ask that you take some on the way out.

     Mom loved the many places that they travelled to all over the world, but her real home away from home was only a few miles away.  It was Strawbridge’s.  Mom loved to shop the clearance racks and after season sales.  I remember about the time my wife, Donna and I were married Mom started the Dickens’s Village collection of porcelain houses for all of us. Beautiful pieces, we’d put them up around the house at Christmas…absolutely gorgeous.  Every year after Christmas, she bought out all the pieces she could at a discount, then we would get a phone call:

“Hello…it’s me…your mother…Listen. I just got back from Strawbridge’s and I got each of you kids the City Hall and the Victoria Station for the Dickens’s Village.  Now, they only had 3 wig shops left so I got you an apothecary because you’re a Pharmacist, but because it was cheaper than the wig shops, I bought you some extra townspeople, so you’re actually making out a little better on the deal.  When can you come over and get them?”  

After a while, the Dickens’s Village series ended and she wanted to start us on another collection, but by this time each of us had an attic full of Dickens. We told her it was enough.

     But that was all right because the grandchildren were here!  She especially liked buying for the girls. 

“Hello…it’s me…your mother…Listen, I just got back from Strawbridge’s and I bought Victoria some summer clothes.  They’re size 6s…don’t worry, she’ll grow into them. When can you come over to pick them up?”

Everyone at Strawbridge’s loved Mom. One lady who worked there would come into the Pharmacy and tell me what a wonderful person Mom was.  It even got to the point that if nobody had seen her for a week she would come in and ask if everything was ok. “Sure,” I would say, "Mom’s away on another trip.”

     Then, the sad day came that Strawbridge’s closed. All of Mom’s friends retired or found new jobs. Mom missed Strawbridge’s, but not to worry. Only three blocks up the street… was a Macy’s!

“Hello…it’s me…your mother…listen, I just got back from Macy’s. I found this gorgeous prom dress for Victoria…90% off. I know she’s only eleven…don’t worry, she’ll grow into it. When can you come over?”

     I, too, was on Mom’s “to buy for” list ever since she learned that I liked collecting Star Trek.   Every year she had an order of Christmas ornaments for me.  A few weeks ago she called.

“Hello…it’s me…your mother…listen, I’ve got your Star Trek 50^th year ornament. When can you come over?” 

I told her I could make it Friday and we talked about our granddaughter and her great granddaughter, Ava’s Baptism coming up and how excited she was to see her.

     Then, a day later, she fell.  A series of tragic events ensued which have now brought us all here together today.  As we leave and try to live on with the hole that has been left in our lives with her passing, let us comfort each other and not forget what our faith teaches; we have a Savior and He says to us, “There is a better world that waits for us. This is not the end. I am the Resurrection and the Life. I’ve won the victory. I have overcome the world and I will wipe every tear from your eyes because Death is dead!”

      One day, I will go and meet Jesus and He’ll say to me,”I’ve sent for someone to show you around heaven.” Then, I’ll turn to see a beautiful angel with a loving smile. She’ll come closer to me, reach out her hand and say,

“Hello…It’s me…your mother.”

Mass Prep Sunday October 21st

Sunday October 21, 2018   29^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Don’t Miss This!

The tie in between today’s readings: The wages of sin is death, but eternal life is in Jesus.

Psalm 33:18-22, Isaiah 53:10-11, Hebrews 4:14-16, Mark 1`0:35-45

     The wages of sin is death. The day Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit they died just as God told them, first spiritually, then physically. Before He threw them out of Paradise, the Almighty promised a showdown between Satan and Himself. God declared that Satan would bruise the heel of the woman’s seed, but Satan’s head would be crushed. From that point on, a war raged between the Devil, who was trying to hold on to his conquered kingdom, and God reaching out to redeem a fallen mankind.

     From our perspective, God should have struck Adam and Eve dead right then and there for their sin. But instead, He kills the first animals and makes clothing for them. He covered their nakedness and by this also symbolically covered their sin. The sacrificial system had begun. Don’t miss this! The purpose of a sacrifice is substitution: the acknowledgement that I deserve to die in the place of this animal.  Therefore, an intimate connection arises between me and the life that is taken to cover my sin debt to God.  As Biblical history unfolds, God expands on the application of a sacrifice. With Abel as the first example, we see the sacrifice of a lamb for a man. Then fast forward to the Passover: a lamb for a family. Next, as God sets up the Levitical priesthood, Yom Kippur applies a sacrifice for the nation. But the Bible says that the blood of bulls and goats could not really take away sin. These have all so far been ceremonial foreshadowings of the real sacrifice: Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. On Calvary’s cross at high noon, the showdown is climaxing.

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     Today’s reading in Isaiah tells us that God was pleased to crush Jesus as a sin offering. But how can something that happened two thousand years ago apply to us today? Our reading in Mark 10 can clue us in.  James and John want prime positions in Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus asks them if they can drink His cup and be baptized with His baptism, referring to His baptism by fire in paying the wages of our sins on the cross. They say yes and Jesus agrees that they will. This illustrates an amalgamation between Christ and the sinner, in this case James and John. By faith, we spiritually drink His cup with Him in the garden of Gethsemane (condemned) and are baptized by fire with Him on the cross (executed).  We die as Jesus did. Satan bruised Jesus heel on the cross, but his head is crushed by Christ’s resurrection.  In Him, we also spiritually resurrect to a new life freed from sin, from the Devil’s control, and redeemed back to God. *

      Game Over! Once and for all, God accomplished on the cross what the whole history of animal sacrifices could not do: complete and eternal salvation for mankind.  When we do sin we now have a great high priest, Jesus Christ, who understands our weaknesses and beckons us to come and find grace (Heb 4:14-16). He sits at God’s right hand and pleads for our pardon by His sacrifice. The Father always listens.  So if Satan ever makes you feel guilty by tormenting you about your sinful past…just bring Jesus up and remind him about his disastrous future.

     On the surface, the sacrificial system of blood and death seems all so gruesome and gory, but if you peel back the layers you see one shining attribute echoing through it all: love. God so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3:16). Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Here is love, not that we loved God, but He loved us and gave His life a ransom for many, and on and on (1 John 4:10). Love is why it pleased the Father to crush His Son! We can rejoice in God’s mercy and loving kindness through Jesus (Psalm 33).  So don’t be on the outside looking in. The wages of your sin needs to be paid. If not by Jesus, then it will be by you in the lake of fire forever: the second death (Revelations 20:14). Do not refuse the love of God, because there is no escape if you neglect so great a salvation (Hebrews 2:3). By faith, believe in the sacrifice offered to you in Jesus and go through the judgment of God with Him. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).

·         I go into this topic in more detail in Mass Prep September 30^th and in a Sacramental Illustration of Saving Faith, both located in this blog.

Mass Prep Sunday October 14th

Sunday October 14, 2018    28^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Wise Up!

The tie in between today’s readings:  God’s Wisdom is priceless

Wisdom 7:7-11, Psalm 90:12-17,Hebrews 4:12-13, Mark 10:17-30

     Knowledge is the stuff that you keep in the attic of your brain. In and of itself it will win you an Amazon gift card after round three on Quizzo night, but not much else. You need to know how to use all this “head stuff” that you have. You need wisdom. There are two kinds of wisdom. One is earthly wisdom, which comes from historical, social, and personal experiences. From these you knit a world view together in order to keep yourself on the road to happily ever after. The failing of this “best guess” approach to life: “If I only knew then what I know now.”  What we need is to get a helicopter view of what lies ahead of us. To find out where the twists and turns are. Climb the ladders and avoid the chutes. While experience is good, what we lack is the beginning to end perspective that can only come from God’s wisdom. In today’s reading in the book of Wisdom, God comes to Solomon like the genie in the lamp and offers him one wish.  Solomon says, “Your wisdom is more precious than anything I could ask for.” God is pleased. He grants Solomon wisdom for his “head stuff” and, as a consequence, he gains riches and honor.

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    Now, being wise in your life decisions and acquiring riches as you pick up a headline or two is great for this world, but that’s not the whole story. Psalm 90 acknowledges our difficult and brief lifespan. What is life’s purpose? Even God given blessings have to be tempered with an eye toward the grave. How should we look at death and the hereafter? Again, we need to seek God for this question because our perspective is limited. In Mark 10, we see a rich young ruler, perhaps struggling with these questions himself, coming to Jesus and seeking wisdom for the next life.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” he asks.

“Obey the commandments.” Jesus replies.

“No worries, Jesus, I’ve been a good person all my life,” he asserts.

Jesus tests his statement by challenging him with the first commandment: no other gods before Me.  “Go sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow me. Your treasure will be in heaven.”

“Oh no, sorry, Jesus, I can’t do that. You see I’ve got a lot of stuff. Couldn’t I just…”

“Treasure in heaven!”

     The man grieves as he walks away. The rich young ruler not only loses his opportunity to be the 13^th apostle, but foolishly fails to see, that in the end, he has to give it all away anyhow. You can’t take it with you, after all. “How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” Jesus remarks.  Everyone stands around drop jaw astonished.

 

“Who, then, can be saved?” they ask.

“It’s only possible with God,” Jesus answers.

     Our reading in Hebrews, it tells us that God knows you inside and out. He is wise to you. He loves you anyway. God encourages you to respect what He says. He gives instructions in the Bible. In these instructions God also holds a mirror to your soul, shows you your sin, and gives you the solution. What must you do to be saved? With man it’s impossible. God in His wisdom has provided a savior for you: Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:22-24). Settle the question. Embrace Jesus as your Savior. You will have the peace and blessing of God on earth and in heaven.  As for life’s purpose, let me give you a hint from Proverbs 11:30: “He that wins souls is wise.”

Looking At Flu Shots: Both Sides of the Needle

     It’s September, already.  Where did the summer go? Between getting the kids ready for back to school, when you spend so much money it’s like second Christmas, and planning your “Labor Day Summer is Gone Last Hurrah Party” there is another item thrusted onto your to do list: flu shots. Unlike those other guilt ridden gotta-do’s like calling your mother or buying whatever your kid has to sell to pay for their absolutely necessary four day band trip to wherever; flu shots are the gift that keeps on giving.

     First of all, flu shots save lives, for people with pre-existing conditions like: asthma, diabetes and chronic pulmonary disorders, it’s an extra line of defense against a prolonged hospital stay or worse.  The elderly and the very young have a weaker resistance to the flu and need to be protected. Pregnant women also show up on the “flu shot priority list” and even, of all people, Native Americans and Alaska natives…go figure. Even if you’re a healthy person, getting a flu shot will help ensure that you won’t be giving the disease to others, like your parents, or your spouse and kids. This is called: herd immunity.  Hmmm…I’ll have to ask my priest if this falls under a Corporal Work of Mercy. Lastly, getting the flu sucks. When I was a young healthy buck and was going to live forever, I never got a flu shot.  I hate needles.  Then I got the flu. First, I was afraid that I was gonna die, then I was afraid I wouldn’t. It was four miserable days of sweats and chills, dizziness and nausea. No thanks! And now I get one every year.

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     Then, after you finally kick the flu and go back to work, the only good thing about that pileup on your desk is that your boss can’t see you to give you grief for being out.  You’re coworkers flash you a pseudo smile, ask how you’re feeling, and how glad they are that you’re back. All because they want to make sure you’re not planning to call out again and they’ll be shorthanded.  You are so getting stuck with planning the company picnic this year!  Speaking of business, it cost about $10 billion in hospital and doctor visits each year because of the flu. That’s probably why you’ve got this great immunization coverage in your company health plan. See, they really do care! C’mon, it’s free, or almost! Get the shot.

     And it’s oh, so easy to get one, in fact, you almost have to try to avoid getting a flu shot.  Most pharmacies and grocery stores this time of year hawk vaccinations like melons at a Persian Market. Employees button hole you in the aisles asking if you had your flu shot yet. Robo-calls and texts bombard you daily. Coupons, discount cards, and points on whatever program they’re running entice you to give up a little time and your arm for your health. Guilt ridden announcements let you know that your flu season peace of mind is only a rolled up sleeve away.

      Getting your vaccination early is not a bad idea. It takes a few weeks for your body reach full immunity from the shot, so the sooner you get one the better. You’re going to want to be covered for the holidays and after when the flu really hits. It’s a lot easier, to get it in the late summer or early fall, too, when all you have is a light shirt sleeve to roll up, rather than in the winter, when you have to take off your parka, and a sweat shirt, and a sweater, and another shirt…

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      Why all the hype? Well, of course, you know that any Health Care Professional (HCP) worth their salt really does care and wants you to get immunized.  The reason why they hassle you like a Bangkok pimp is because they have to make a quota. Even before the first shipment of vaccine arrives, each store receives their projection of shots to be given for the year. It’s ambitious and like department stores trying to capture pre-holiday Christmas sales, the push to get your totals in early comes hard and heavy. District managers, like nervous mothers, hover over each day’s results, because it’s hard to catch up if you stumble out of the gate.  In order to help reach company goals you may have a store sponsored flu clinic where you work. Take advantage of it. It will not only relieve some of the pressure off your HCP but, it is convenient, quick, and the boss will think that you’re a real team player. You can also get other vaccinations that you might need such as: Pneumonia and DPT. Why not? I mean, you’re there anyway. By the way, don’t think that you can call out the next day claiming you got the flu from the shot. The virus they use is dead. You may feel a little punky, sometimes, but suck it up and drag your sorry butt into work anyway; remember the company picnic?

     In my days of giving immunizations I submitted a few suggestions to head quarters to help increase our flu shot numbers. Although I never received a response, I believe these ideas have some merit, so I’ll throw them out there, for what it’s worth, to any HCP who may be interested. My first brainchild was; The Shot for a Shot program. This is where you make a deal with the local tavern owners and give a voucher for a free drink to any of the patrons who get a flu shot there in the bar, of course they would have to get their hand stamped; only one to a customer. This could help pickup business on a slow night: see, a Win-Win. This program could also be expanded to bowling allies for a free game or admission to a AAA baseball game to help increase traffic. They could both use the slogan:  “Strike Out the Flu”. That would save big dollars on signs and advertising.

      My best idea, by far, is to take over an empty toll booth at a bridge or turnpike: the Flu Shot Lane! We could pick up all or part of the toll for the car to pass. All they would have to do is give us their insurance card and put their bare arm out the window. We could give credit to E-Z Pass drivers and even more if the passengers get vaccinated too. Long haul truckers would find this idea really convenient and just think of all the shots you could give to senior citizens on excursion buses.

     Finally, when the flu season is over, the district is usually rewards the hardworking staff of the store with the most shots with a Pizza party! Really? Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you think with all the money they made for the company that they could do a little better. So, I decided to dedicate a song to honor all those hard working over achievers, who push the numbers for their team. I had a few ideas: first was “Don’t Stop Injecting” sung to “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, then there was “Flu Shot Hero” sung to “Jukebox Hero” by Foreigner, but I decided on: “Flu Shot Queen” sung to “Dancing Queen” by Abba, because these contests are usually chick things, anyway. I Hope you like it!

Flu Shot Queen:  For you over achievers.

(OOOOO)

You can draw. You can stick, really for you it’s no trick.

See that girl. Watch that scene. Digging the Flu shot Queen.

The end of summer has come around,

You get a package from Fed Ex Ground.

Check it in and store it. You know what to do.  Nobody will get the flu.

Hey there! Mister now, don’t be shy.

C’mon now you don’t want to Diiie.

And you’ve got insurance.  You’ll get yours for free.  Don’t walk away from me.

And now it’s plain to see…

You’ll be the Flu Shot Queen, smart and keen, working behind the screen.

Flu Shot Queen…recognized by the CDC…oh yeah.

You can draw.  You can stick, really for you it’s no trick.

(OOOOO)

See that girl. Watch that scene.  Digging the Flu Shot Queen.

All your techniques are first rate.

You’re so good you’re getting Daaates.

Boney armed old ladies, truckers with tattoos; they’re all the same to you.

And since you saw it through…

You are the Flu Shot Queen…smart and keen working behind the screen.

Flu Shot Queen…recognized by the CDC…oh yeah.

You can draw. You can stick, really for you it’s no trick.

See that girl.  Watch that scene.  Digging the Flu Shot Queen

     So I hope that I’ve encouraged and enlightened you to get out there and get that flu shot ASAP. Go see your HCP. Roll up that sleeve and take one for yourself and humanity. Maybe they’ll even give you a fancy band-aid and a cookie. What the heck! Bring your whole family and make it a bonding thing. Why should you be the only one having fun? Then chalk it off your to-do list. Then the only thing left for you will be the car inspection, and the radon test, and back to school night, and…

Mass Prep October 7th

Sunday October 7^th, 2018   27^th Sunday Ordinary time (Cycle B)

For Better or Worse

The tie between today’s readings: Who do you love?

Genesis 2:18-24, Psalm 128: 1-6, Hebrews 2:9-11, Mark 10:2-16

     Love is the glue that holds all relationships together. God is all about relationships. In the midst of Paradise, loneliness marred the creation.  Why?  Man was made in the image of God and God is love. Adam was to love too, but there was nothing in the Garden for him to bond with. The orangutan wasn’t going to cut it; Adam needed a valentine. The Lord took a rib from Adam’s side, made a woman and gave her to him. Adam recognized her as, “Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”, which translates into: WOW!!! They were naked and not ashamed; it was all so beautiful. Until they ate the apple and the world turned upside down. Love degraded into selfishness and when God asked them about the tree incident, Adam threw his beloved under the bus. It’s been that way ever since.

     In today’s gospel (Mark 10:2-16), Jesus takes the Pharisees to school over a divorce question. In the process, He adds a new reason to stay together: “What God has joined together, let no man separate.” It takes time for the two of you to really become one. You have to give up what you want to blend with the other. It’s not easy, but there is a God dimension to a marriage. You made your promises of love to each other, in the sight of the Lord, until death. God commits to that. He will help you as you push through the problems to reach the blessings. That is another reason why God hates divorce. It cheats you out of the rewards of a life well lived that were waiting for you if you only had the faith, the altruism, and the resolve to get there. The three of you make an unbeatable team, but you’ll never know it if you quit. I’ve been married to my high school sweetheart for thirty eight years this week. I don’t love her the same way that I did when we first got married. The love I have for her has matured though the difficulties of life and has gotten better by far. It’s worth it! Hang in there!

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     Mark 10 also shows us that children reveal a lot about ourselves. To the Apostles, they were bothersome, disruptive, needy little urchins that get in the way. This shows a selfish attitude common to all of us. Jesus rebukes them for their mind-set and saw the same children as trusting, hopeful, and unpretentious free spirits who, despite all the things they could be doing, wanted to be with Him. At any given moment in time, we can be either like the Apostles or like Jesus. Children are a mirror to our own souls. They push our buttons and what comes of it speaks to the kind of person we really are inside.  Many times, when the kids were growing up, after an encounter of sorts with them, I would ask God, “Do I treat YOU like that?” Often, I would get an answer, “As a matter of fact…” I would have to change my ways after that and every once in a while even come up with an apology to them. They have helped me get closer to God and perhaps even become a better person. Children truely are a blessing.

     Families are complicated. But in the end, it all comes down to what kind of person you want to be. Self-centered people are toxic. They like running credit card relationships: Take what you want from others up front, bolt when it gets difficult, and stick them with the emotional bill. Half of the couples split up now- a-days. I believe it is because they came together with a naive credit card mentality along with a flawed concept of love. We need to squash this trait in ourselves. Foster love. Blessings come hard. They are paid for upfront with sacrifice and an eye toward the future. But, you are not alone. The Almighty is committed to your endeavor. He will give you the grace you need to do the things you need to do. Take up your cross for love’s sake and grow more into the image of Jesus Christ, the greatest lover of all. Fear God and walk in His ways toward your happy ending (Psalm 128).  

Mass Prep Sunday September 30

Sunday September 30^th, 2018    26^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Cut It Out!

The tie in between today’s readings: How do you view sin?

Numbers 11:25-29, Psalm 19:8-14, James 5:1-6, Mark 9:38-50

     A person’s view of sin is a good indicator of their attitude about salvation. Ever since Adam tried to pass the buck in the Garden by telling God that the woman He (God) gave him caused him to eat the forbidden fruit. (Gen 3:12), we’ve all looked for ways to rationalize our failures. We blame our environment, our heredity, or society. We compare ourselves to others and proudly soothe our conscience by taking a higher position in our moral pecking order. “I know I’m not perfect, but I’m better than so and so.” We cling to our relative moral standard and elevated estimation of our own goodness. This leads to an easy believism in the church and no appreciation of the crucifixion. It’s almost as if Jesus died to save us from bad habits.  On the contrary, a serious evaluation of our transgressions against the perfect standard of a holy God is devastating. At this point, we not only realize that we need a savior, but we become desperate to find one. When we do, He gives us a new life in Himself and forgives us by removing our sins as far as the east is from the west. We love Him, because whoever is forgiven much, then loves much in return.  True, after all is said and done, both types of people still sin. The authentic born again person, though, struggles against his sin nature… the other, not so much. Why fix something that really isn’t broken?  The difference is all in the attitude.

     In Psalm 19, David asks God not to let presumptuous sin rule over him.  This is the “jump off the Temple” kind of sin Satan tempted Jesus with. It presumes on God and forces His hand, placing us in charge.  This kind of grace-abuse is familiar in the pews. We call it: Carnal Christianity.  It is a contradiction of terms and an anesthetizing cancer in our churches. This “Carnal Christian” thinks salvation is a policy from the “The Jehovah Fire and Life Insurance Company”.  When Christ died on the cross, He paid the premiums for everyone in the whole world.  All you have to do to be saved is to recognize a good deal when you see one. C’mon down!  It’s free! We’ll baptize you on the dotted line. Thank You, Jesus!  There’s no compulsion to pray. Read the Bible or grow in grace…why? When was the last time you dug your policy out of the drawer? When you sin, you’re just placing another claim with God, as you cite: 1 John 1:8-9 and maybe throw in a little, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  The Carnal Christian needs to wake up before it’s too late. He needs to examine himself to see if he really is in the faith. The nature of your born again life requires that you forsake your sin and become more like Jesus. If you won’t; if you just want to go along your merry way, like the rich church people in James 5, file your sin claims, abuse and presume on the grace from on High, then God has an answer: “I never knew you.”

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     In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us that everyone will be salted with fire in Mark 9:49. I want to use this as an illustration of salvation against my earlier insurance policy example. Among other things salt is connected with judgment; remember Lot’s wife. Fire is as well. I believe these are judgment metaphors.  John the Baptist said that Jesus will come and baptize believers with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt 3:11, Luke 3:16). Then, you have that strange scene when Jesus asks James and John if they could be baptized with His baptism and drink His cup. They said yes. Jesus agrees that they would (Mark 10:35-40, Matt 20:22-23). I think that this is a baptism by fire that Jesus and all believers, in this case James and John, go through for salvation. When Jesus drinks the cup at Gethsemane we, in a spiritual sense, drink our sin portion with Him. Then we are baptized by fire (or judged) spiritually along with Jesus through the crucifixion. We have passed through the judgment of God. We die with Him and are spiritually born again with Him when He resurrects on Easter Sunday.  Salvation is personal and intimate. If I live, you will live also. The Holy Spirit helps us to grow in our new life conforming us to the image of His Son. Go and sin no more…well, at least make that your goal.

     There is support in this new life. God provides an escape route when temptation comes along. He also gives us each other to lean on when things get difficult, as seen in Numbers 11. So if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off.  Stop playing with sin. It has no place in your life. Get an appreciation for, “This is My body given for you.” We are more than conquerors in Jesus.

   

Mass Prep Sunday September 23

Sunday September 23^rd, 2018   25^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

What kind of person are you?

The tie in between today’s readings: Pride vs. Humility

Wisdom 2:12-20, Psalm 54:1-8, James 3:16 - 4:10, Mark 9:30-37

     The Bible shows us that God is all about relationships. The Almighty is concerned with our standing with Him and how we treat each other. In today’s readings, we see three kinds of people: the atheist who doesn’t know God, the church-goer who thinks he knows God, and those that God knows. Let’s look at the categories, see where the shoe fits, and find out how a believer should react.

     In the book of Wisdom, we see how an atheist thinks. Because he believes that there is no God, then life is meaningless. Eat! Drink! And be merry for tomorrow we die! He is wise in his own eyes because he mocks the unproven superstitions of religion. Instead, he embraces the gospel of Star Trek. He is tolerant to everyone except the religious person who holds to absolutes concerning right and wrong. By their very existence they condemn the atheist’s world view without a word. Short of inventing a god-o-meter, the only thing a righteous person can do is to live with integrity!  A life filled with solid reasoning, care for others, and solid prayer; this is a spiritual battle (Psalm 54).

 

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     The person who thinks that he knows God is self deceived: a Pharisee. It’s all pride! (I must be careful at this stage because I may be one of these people myself.) This person keeps God in a container between his ears. He remakes the Almighty in his own image.  He believes all that he wants is good and prays to God the genie to rubberstamp his desires. We know that this is true because of today’s epistle. James is taking the CHURCH to task because of their self-centered carnality. The gospel reading also touches on it when the apostles argue over who is the greatest among them. James gives the remedy to this situation. He tells us to reject our pride, confess our sins, and submit to God (James 4:6-10). You have to see yourself as the Pharisee before you can confess as the tax collector. 

     A relationship with God turns our world upside down. The greater serves the lesser. The first shall be last. When you think that you are really something...you’re nothing. That’s why we need to be like children before Him. We have to see ourselves as having no rights, no strength, and maybe a little dumb. We have no hope in ourselves and nothing to offer but dependency and trust to the One who can take care of us. When He does accept us in His beloved Son, He gives us His Spirit, which then leads us to call God our Father. Just as a child plays dress up with their parents clothes, we show that we love Him; more importantly, that we are in love with Him, by imitating Him. Whoever loves God is known by God. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Mass Prep Sunday September 16th

Sunday September 16, 2018   24^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Crosses Required

The tie in between today’s readings: Listen!

Psalm 116:1-9, Isaiah 50:5-9, James 2:14-18, Mark 8:27-35

     Let’s eavesdrop in on the conversation in today’s gospel.  “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ”. And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matt 16: 17). Bravo, Peter!  As the gospel continues, Jesus began again to teach them about His upcoming death and resurrection. Peter, the now self appointed “smartest kid in the class”, takes Jesus aside to set Him straight.  Jesus rebukes him, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest, but man’s” (Mark 8:33b). After being at the apex with his confession of Jesus, why did Peter then crash and burn? It all has to do with listening. In making his confession, Peter listens to God, in the second part he does not.  Sensing everyone’s anxiety, Jesus explains that to follow Him everyone must take up their own cross.  In other words: listen. Thy will be done is paramount in anyone’s walk with God. Faith requires that we listen to God when He doesn’t make sense.  But then, why have faith if you can’t test it?

      Isaiah 50 contains Messianic prophesies pointing to the crucifixion. In them, Jesus shows that He is listening and will go the distance to fulfill the Father’s will. This is no easy thing. The Bible is full of prophesies of Christ as the suffering servant. Jesus knows them all and is acutely aware of what’s coming. In light of this, you have to wonder how He was even able to sleep at night. I’m sure that it was not unusual for Him to bolt up out of bed in a cold sweat, pale and sucking air from yet another nightmare. Still, He goes to the cross because God is His Father. Their intimate relationship gives Jesus a confident faith. His Father loves Him and can keep Him. Jesus spent many a night in prayer because He knows that the God that He listens to is also listening to Him (Psalm 116). The apostle Paul puts it this way: For this reason I suffer all these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day (2 Timothy 1:12). He trusts in the promises of glory and triumph that await Him beyond His ordeal. Because of this, along with the nightmares of suffering, Jesus can dream “The Impossible Dream” and in following His example so can we.

     There is another lesson in listening to God that is picked up in James 2: 14-18. Because we are so busy with our own lives, we often miss it. I call it: God put you in my way. It is a line from the movie, The Four Feathers, not the old one, the 2002 version. In the movie an Englishman (Heath Ledger) is rescued and aided in his quest to save his friends by a black mystic. When asked why he is helping, the mystic says, “I have no choice. God put you in my way.” Personal piety is important part of listening to God in the Christian life, but our faith becomes genuine in the world when we help someone in need. Let’s look and listen for opportunities from God for the people that He puts in our way and besides just saying, “I’ll pray for you”; make them a pot roast too.

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     To conclude: God loves you as you are, but loves you too much to leave you as you are. Crosses are required! He wants you to carry the image of Jesus in your life. God will guide you by His still small voice, by scripture, or when He puts someone in your way. Go with it! He that began a good work in you will finish it (Philippians 1:6). But, you need to listen.