benediction

1 thess 4:13-18; Psalm 96 The Lord comes to judge the earth; Luke 4:16-30

Today we read psalm 96.  It is a very upbeat psalm: 

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the , all you lands.

Tell his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.

For great is the Lord and highly to be praised;

awesome is he, beyond all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are thing of nought,

but the Lord made the heavens.

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;

let the sea and what fills is resound;

let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!

Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.

Before the Lord, for he comes;

for he comes to rule the earth.

He shall rule the world with justice

and the peoples with his constancy.

What a beautiful way to begin the day. 

It is a berakhah or broche, an atmosphere of thanksgiving and praise for God.

One Jewish tradition says that a pious Jew should bentsch God one hundred times a day, pronouncing a broche over God.  these are the Berakah prayers: "berukh atah Ha-shem Elokaynu melekh ha-olam: blessed are you Lord our God, king of the universe"

Here are a few examples:

When one awakes: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world.  You give the souls back to their mortal bodies and thus link the morning awakening to the hope of resurrection."

When the Jew looks around in the morning: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the World. You open the eyes of the blind."

When one gets out of bed and places their feet on the floor: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the world.  You have established the earth on the waters.'

In the mindset of the pious Jew everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected  and should be received with rejoicing and thanksgiving.

Rejoicing and thanksgiving is our benediction to God.

We should seek to live with a benediction in our heart and soul and mind and truly we enter into the new song daily. 

St. Augustine

1 Thess 4:1-8; Psalm 97 Rejoice in the Lord, you just; Mt 25:25:1-13

A few words from the doctor of the church:

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!  

You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.  

In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. 

You were with me, but I was not with you...

You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.  

You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.  

You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you.  

I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.  

You touched me, and I burned for your peace."

"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were wise, who brought flask of oil for their lamps....therefore stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the nor the hour."  Jesus

Keep the lamps lit, the wicks trimmed, and go out.  The bridegroom awaits our diligence.  

We must be externally prepared and inwardly ready and thus holiness is executed perfectly.

paths of holiness

Here are five ways of growing in holiness according to St. John Chrysostom:

First path: condemnation of your own sins; be the first to admit your sins and you will be justified.   A man who condemns his own sins is slower to commit them again.  Rous eyour conscience to accuse yourself with in your own house while their is time.  Better to accuse yourself now then have to face the judgment seat of God

Second path: put out of our minds the harm done to us by another; we must seek to forgive others often without cause without hesitation.  Jesus tells us, "forgive others and your heavenly Father will forgive you.

Third path: prayer that is fervent and careful and comes from the heart.  Communion with God awakens in us a deep awareness of ourselves and where God wants us to be.  When we look toward God in prayer we gaze into our own hearts and become aware of our own need of compassion and mercy.  Thus, we will be merciful in our life.

Fourth path: almsgiving.  We must be generous in our gifts toward others in need.  This way we show to God that what we have received from him is not in vain.  The power of almsgiving is great and far reaching.  We must always remember the poor for we ourselves are poor in spirit. 

Fifth path: humility.  A man who lives a modest and humble life and sin is removed form him.  We must remember the tax collector he beat his breast and hung his head and was heard.  The humble cry reaches the ears of God and God reaches down to lift us from the dung heap.  

Do not be idle, then, but walk daily in these paths.  Through them we can once again gain our health and thus truly approach the holy table with confidence, and go gloriously to meet Christ, the king of glory, and attain the eternal blessings through grace, mercy and kindness of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. 

Dios solo basta

1 thess 2:9-13; psalm 139 you have searched me and you know me; Mt 23:27-32

Pope Benedict reminds us that the love of God is the "love that moves the sun and all the stars."

Dios solo basta: God alone suffices. 

As we have been reading in the psalm 139 all week, that which gets intensified today, the psalmist reminds us of the essential character of God: "even there your hand shall guide me and your right hand hold me fast."

There is no place, no time, no condition in which the hand of God is not present. 

"Even there" is the recognition of faith, a recognition that brings assurance and confidence as we tread this way and that through life's toil and drudgery. 

"even there" reminds us of the "love that moves the sun and the stars, " the love that desires to move us to safety. 

God is near he is always within calling distance. 

Where ever we can imagine, place or time, even there his hand shall guide, even there.

Jesus the punster

1 Thess 2:1-18; Mt 23:23-26

Puns are a fascinating reality.  It is a play on words that is meant to be humorous, grab someone's attention and sometimes make a point. 

For instance>  Math teachers are known for having problems. 

>Two silk worms were in a race.  It ended in a tie. 

>I recently spoke to a soldier who had been in battle three or four times.  He said he survived mustard gas and pepper spray.  He was a seasoned veteran.

> Have you heard about the guy who got his whole left side cut off.  Yeah, that guy. Well, he is all right.

Jesus in today's gospel uses a pun.  He plays with a couple words that gets lost in translation. 

He tells us as the translation reads, "you strain out a gnat and swallow a camel."

In Aramaic it reads you strain out a galma and you swallow a gama.

Jesus makes a funny.  He does so to help the listeners to remember the point of the conversation. 

The point is, don't get so bogged down in the little details that you lose sight of the big picture.  In this case, we should focus on judgment, mercy and faithfulness.  These are the things that are most essential, and everything else flows from there. 

If we lose sight of these then we will be lost. 

Don't strain the galma and swallow the gama because you are liable to choke to death.

John 6:66

Joshua 24:1-2, 15-17, 18b; Psalm 34; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69

We all are familiar with many scripture passages; early on we are asked to remember passages and store them away so that they can aid us in life. 

Most of us are familiar with Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd."

Most of us have been bullied with John 3:16 "God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that who ever believes in him might have eternal life."

Many of us are familiar with the scripture passage Lk 22:42 where Jesus says, "let this cup pass from, but let it be your will not mine."

Or we are familiar with the words of Jesus to the repentant thief, "this day you will be with me in paradise," as a response to the thief's words, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" which can be found in Lk 23:42-43.

Many of us are familiar with Psalm 27, "The Lord is my light and my salvation."

or Psalm 139, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

How many of us are familiar with John 6:66?  It is an important passage for all of us to remember.  It comes up into day's gospel.  

What is John 6:66? 

"As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him."

When the stakes get higher the group gets smaller!

Jesus follows this scripture passage with a question of his own, "do you also want to leave?"

The issue at hand is an issue of faith. 

It is said that 90% of Americans believe in God, yet only 20% go tot church on sunday.  Believe and faith are not the same.  One can believe and not have faith. 

Believe in God is a safe bet; where you can continue to live as you desire and not have God interfere with your life choices. 

Faith, however, involves trust that God is not only with us but for us.   Trust that God is actively involved in our world and life and he demands that we become actively involved as well. Faith entails a conviction, drawing the line in the sand and standing fast.  Faith involves a risk of vulnerability to the stares and laughs of the world.  Faith involves love, to receive the love offered and to love in return.  

The one who believes acknowledges that this is a "hard saying; who can accept it?"

While the one who has faith responds, "Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of everlasting life.  we have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

Assumption

Rev 11:19; 12:1-6,10; Psalm 45 The queen stands at your right hand arrayed in gold 1 corinthians 15:20-27,Lk 1:39-56

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary body and soul into heaven.

God brings Mary to be fully united with her son. 

She does not suffer the corruption of death. 

This celebration points us to our ultimate destiny; it reminds us what redemption is about: union of body and soul with God forever. 

As we ponder the beauty of the Blessed Mother and seek to give her the honor due here are few words of poem that have always struck a chord with me:

"may our reach always be beyond our grasp, otherwise, what is a heaven for."

It is by the power and grace of God through Christ that heaven is made not only possible but accessible as we see this reality in the Blessed Mother herself.