“Hear this you who have trampled upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land.” (Amos, 8.)
I suppose if we were sitting in the temple when this was said, we too would be looking around, like children when a teacher asks, “Who did it.” But the reality is that it is very easy for us both as individuals and as a community to ‘trample’ and not even realize it. Continue reading ““Choose God by lifting up the lowly” – Luke 16:1-13″
As we continue to celebrate the Year of Faith here at Mother of Divine Providence Parish, it does not seem possible that it will end in November. There have been many spiritual surprises given to us during these months. This month of September has been dedicated to the treasure that we have in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Father Cioppi has been preaching on the need for forgiveness and he has been praying the Mass of Reconciliation on Wednesday and Friday each week this month. He has also been available for confession from 7:30 to 7:50 A.M. on those days. Continue reading “HOW DO WE NURTURE OUR FAITH?”
When I was growing up, Saturday night looked liked this. After dinner we watch an old TV series called Combat. Right after Combat, we went to confession. After confession, we hurried home to watch Sea Hunt.
We went to confession every two weeks, all of us, Mom, Dad, my brother and me.
What happened? How did people loose their sense of sin? How did people loose their understanding that sin is not a private event? Sin, even in its smallest form is public. When you inflict pain, even upon yourself, you inflict pain on everyone who is in communion with Christ. Continue reading “Confession is a sign of Resurrection – Luke 15:1-32”
People often confuse humility with a sense of unworthiness or a lack of self-esteem. But humility is a virtue of internal strength and fearlessness. It is an awareness of who we are in relationship with God. A humble person does not think they are beyond their own servanthood. The humble person if he is intelligent and wise appreciates proverbs and always listens before he speaks.
The humble person seeks to understand the true human condition and offer God’s goodness to the poor; to people without families and by becoming companions for those who are forsaken or imprisoned.
Today, as a parish struggling to perfect the virtuous life both as individuals and as a community, we approach this Stone Altar and offer sacrifice for those who feel they cannot worship here because of arrogance, sloth or indifference.
On this Sabbath Jesus comes to dine in our home. He offers the table as a perfect metaphor for our seeking humility. Go, rather, go to the lowest place. It is there, in the chair of the least that we will find humility as the keystone to all the virtues. “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Are we ready to receive as our guests the stranger, the crippled and the lame? Or will we become indifferent and show no respect for our guests?
Holiness, my friends is always found in their inability to repay. Joy is found in our willingness to give.
People will come from the East and the West, the North and the South to enjoy the wonders of the Kingdom of God. The question is: Will we be among of them?
Last week the Philadelphia Eagles played a preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field. The stadium was filled with fans, most of them wearing a green Eagles jersey identifying them as part of “the team.” As the television cameras panned the crowd you couldn’t help but notice a sea of green flowing through each section of the stadium. And it was noisy as every person tried to cheer the loudest for their team.
At one point in the game, during a timeout, the camera zoomed-in on one of the Eagles VIP club boxes located high above the field. From what I could see there is a noticeable difference between the club box seats and the ordinary seats surrounding the field.
The club box has extra-large padded seats, all angled toward the sideline to offer the best view of the game. It’s climate controlled so that it’s not too hot in the summer and not too cold in the fall and winter months. The food looked to be upscale as well. And there is a private entrance to the box that sort of said “not everyone can enter here-you have to be invited.”
I thought the most intriguing aspect of the club box, however, was the people inside. You’d expect them to be well-dressed, dignified, wealthy or part of the local social scene. But they were just normal people like you and me. That got me to thinking: what did they do to get inside and, how do I get in? Now I know some Eagles fans think that a club box seat is almost heaven. So I just can’t pass up the chance to make an analogy with today’s readings.
In each reading we are told to be watchful. Just because you wear the jersey of “team-Catholic” and profess to be its number-one fan, doesn’t get you an automatic invite to the best seats in the house. Many people will be called to heaven’s club box but only a few will be admitted. The chosen few will not necessarily be the people you think should be there. Those people entering heaven will include people of different religions and cultures and others who hold political views different from your own. God will gather them to himself as a sign of His universal glory as they come from every nation and walk of life.
At Lincoln Financial Field there’s a pretty steep price to enter the club box through the VIP door. Most people scrimp and save for years just for the opportunity to be “on the inside.” They know getting there will be difficult yet they realize the effort it takes will be worth the sacrifice they are required to make.
Getting a seat in heaven’s club box also comes with a steep price tag. Jesus wants each of us to be a VIP in heaven. So in today’s Gospel he turns his focus to the price of entering heaven’s most exclusive gate (also known as “the narrow gate.”)
The narrow gate is not a secret passageway with directions that are given to just a few privileged people. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Directions to the narrow gate are available to anyone who wants them. They’re right here in Sacred Scripture. But there’s a catch. To find the entrance to the narrow gate that leads to the VIP club box you have to follow the directions!
Ask yourself this question: How many times each day is the name of Jesus on your lips? (And be careful, swearing doesn’t count). Get to know our Lord by sharing in his life. He invites you to do so every day at Mass and looks forward to speaking with you in prayer. He wants you to know that you are a VIP; that he loves you; and looks for you to love Him in return.
There are a few other directions you’ll need to follow in order to find and enter through the narrow gate. I’ll let you read them for yourself. But keep this in mind: Jesus makes it very clear that anyone who does not make the necessary effort to follow His directions will be left outside heaven’s club box. Our Lord warns us that many who consider them self to be “part of the team” will be locked out of the box for the final game of the season.
Who will be inside heaven’s club box? Only those who are disciplined enough to follow His directions to and through the narrow gate will be admitted. As we heard in the Letter to the Hebrews, all discipline seems to be a cause of pain, yet it brings the peaceful fruit of Heaven to those who practice it.
People will come from the East and the West, the North and the South to enjoy the wonders of heaven.
Will you be one of them?
Once a year, on my summer vacation, I meet up with a former student and his family. We have dinner together and we remember those lost days in high school.
It is gratifying to see his children growing up and turning into the little terrors he once was. I have to laugh as he does, remembering and in that memory be proud of the man, the husband, the father he has become.
When someone remembers us, it makes us feel appreciated, accepted and gives us a certain dignity. The psalmist today says that God thinks of us even though we may feel ‘afflicted and poor.’ We come together this weekend as fellow Catholics also to remember that ‘we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses so we can persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus’ alone. Continue reading ““Do this in memory of Me” Luke 12:49-53″
Wow! There’s an awful lot going on in today’s scripture readings. Collectively they touch on faith, trust, alms giving, spiritual vigilance, stewardship, penance and the burdens of responsibility. I had to re-read those passages three times just to sort out where to start.
As I read-through the Letter to the Hebrews I was reminded of a comment once made by Mark Twain. He was listening to a wealthy industrialist who was speaking to his friends about faith. At one point the man said: “Before I die I want to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, climb to the top of Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments out loud.” Upon hearing this statement Twain openly replied, “Why don’t you just stay home and keep them?” Continue reading “Faith”
“You have so many good things stored up for many years, but this night your life will be taken from you. What does it matter to God how many things you have?”
There is a story about a poor woman walking down Fifth Avenue in New York. She notices that a wealthy woman has lost her purse and can’t pay for a cab. The poor woman reaches into her pocket and pays the fare.
The rich woman is dumbfounded and insists that the taxi driver give the money back. The poor woman grabs the richer one’s arm and says: “Can’t you let a body do something now and then-just to stretch the soul?”
Faith helps us understand our place in the world. When we are free from possessions, it helps us when we see injustice, arrogance, poverty and sinfulness and gives us the ability to change these things for the love of Jesus. The rich woman could not understand the freedom the poor woman had to share. All she felt was her attachment to her own needs because her wealth was earthly.
The essence of the Christian life is after all the ability to see our material possessions for what they are: nothing, meaningless, temporary. What is rich in the eyes of God is our faithfulness to God from which we have no desire to separate but towards which we are always attracted.
Faith helps us take all we possess in the world and weigh it against the wealth of God’s love. “Alone before God the human being is always unique and unrepeatable, somebody thought of and chosen from eternity.” – JPII.
Faith, in the end, is the ability to “stretch the soul” in order to touch God.
This weekend our parish celebrates the fiftieth anniversary our Church’s Dedication by Archbishop John Krol. We offered this land, this building, and our very lives to God on that day. He in return made this ground holy. This dedication is more than a part of the history of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia or even in the history of Catholics in America.
This dedication reflects our families’ commitment to live out the teachings of Jesus and to hand on this faith to our children and our children’s children. This history, given to us by our parents and their parents before them, taught to us through the bishops, from the lips of Christ Himself. I cannot change His Words. I cannot alter their meaning; I can only continue to teach you the Truth, a Truth that will set you free.
There is no doubt that those of us who take His Name will be misunderstood and hated for our beliefs. Nevertheless, the truth is that a Christian loves the person, any person without judgment. God does not wish anyone harm, but will hold us accountable for our decisions.
All human beings, from conception to death are made for goodness. And our Goodness recognizes mercy and justice; it recognizes consequences and does not deny them.
At this point we still enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Take advantage of these freedoms and become heralds of the Gospel. Do not condemn, but do not be afraid to teach, by word and deed, the Gospel of Jesus.
We have a place here in the garden of holiness in which to rest, to be silent before God and hear Him speaking to us. Here, in this holy place, we can respond with the words He gave us.
There is a need to help the poor, to care for the lonely and to share with others a Christian charity that is chaste and bound to Christ. It is Divine Providence, not our own.
Do not be silent in regards to your children; teach them the Gospel of Jesus, openly and without fear. Teach them what love means, what chastity means, what purity of heart means or their lives will surely be destroyed in a Godless vacuum of confusion and self-obsession.
Our dedication this weekend reminds us of the hope we possess because of the love given to us by God. Be grateful for this brilliant gift. Tell people about it, invite them to come and sit quietly by the rivers of new life. Show your children how to ask, how to seek and how to find!
At first glance, there seems to be a dichotomy between the lives of Martha and Mary. Which is best path to heaven, prayer or service?
There is a story about a young Benedictine who was confused by his order’s motto: Work and Prayer. So he went for counsel from his Abbot. The Abbot invited the monk to row across the lake with him.
The Abbot rowed first, but with one oar only. As a result, the boat went in circles, round and round, getting nowhere.
The monk, looking rather confused, grabbed the other oar and began to row in sink with the abbot, explaining: “Abbot you have to use two oars to get anywhere.” The abbot smiled and said, “yes, the right oar is prayer and the left oar is work, unless you use them together, you just go in circles.”
How do we row across the lake of our life, with one or two oars?