Factum non iustus lacuna…("Acta Non Verba", no more!)

As I got ready yesterday morning, there was tweet that came to my phone that caught my eye.  In the morning, my routine does not usually include listening to podcasts from the previous Sunday’s homilies.  However, this one was from his excellency, Timothy Cardinal Dolan.  As I listened to the beginning, I began to envision the amount of construction that must be happening at Saint Patrick’s for him to make a point of apologizing before beginning his homily.  It was Easter after my reception of the Sacraments of initiation that I first attended Mass there.  It was over twenty years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  The homily that amazing Easter morning was given by Cardinal O’Connor, it was the most Spirit filled sermon/homily I had heard up to that point, in my two years ofythin attending Mass.  That homily tied together Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the importance of right to life movement in our country, and support for unwed Mothers through the housing project that was at that time supported by the Sisters of the convent that was attached to the Cathedral.  I rememberhis homily because it was not what he said but how he took one statement at the end and tied everything together.  I have never been able to remember what that one thing was, and I may never know, but I know what God used to make it speak to my heart.  It was the same way that he was able to move my heart from over 2000 miles away and two days remove from the live exhortation from the current Archbishop of New York.  The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what it is.  Now back 20 years ago, it is possible that the Spirit was coming from inside me, but yesterday I got the overwhelming feeling that

the Spirit was coming through our Spirit-filled Cardinal of New York and President of the United States ConferCatholic Bishops.

If Jesus was a blogger, I imagine that title would be his title for today’s gospel reading.  If the disciples would just believe what Jesus was saying about everything, they wouldn’t have left.  Isn’t it funny how true this still is today?  If we would just believe everything that God has revealed through His Holy Church, we would never leave.  When we look at the real presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the call to repentance in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the many Sacred devotions that have been revealed through the Saints over the past 2000 years, we could see a Catholic faith that is hard to follow, or we could see a Catholic faith that makes following Jesus easy, if we would just believe that the revelation is true.  What is it that is being revealed to you today about the church, that you find hard to accept?  How would it be made easier, if you would just accept it and believe.  In today’s world we are told to look at everything with a discerning eye, and that is good, for things of this world.  However, when it comes to things of the kingdom of God, we should just accept them, and belief becomes easy.  We could leave like the disciples that left Jesus did, but what became of them…Who were they?

I pray that the whole body of Christ comes to a greater understanding of Jesus and what he is calling us to do with our lives, through the devotions and truths that have been and will be revealed through the church.  I ask this, as always, in the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…Amen!

Gift:  Fear of the Lord (Wonder and Awe) – With the gift of wonder and awe (fear of the lord), we are aware of the glory and majesty of God. A person with wonder and awe knows that God is the perfection of all we desire: perfect knowledge, perfect goodness, perfect power, and perfect love.

Reading:  The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. (Rev 6:15-16)

Observation:  When I first read this in the first reading of the Divine Office this morning, I was thinking about what this would look like when it happens.  However, I peeked ahead and the next chapter in Revelations, and was reminded that this has probably already happened.  Rather than start thinking about getting ready for the next scroll to be opened and what that will look like, I thought that I would say that the only reason people, including myself, would ever run and hide in caves and call on rocks to fall on them is if they were living in sin and were afraid of their judgment.

Personification:  Self-Control. If it is not enough to know that you cannot receive the full measure of God’s grace While you are in a state of mortal sin,or separation from God, than I hope we can all display the fruit of self-control in our lives because we know that God’s wrath will continue to be poured out on this evil world and we need to ready to be swept up to heaven if our time comes. 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, continue to have mercy on me a sinner…Please keep me in a state of grace to be ready at all times to receive His Body and Blood that brings me into communion with you…I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…Amen

Death has lost it's sting!

Understanding – With the gift of understanding, we comprehend how we need to live as a follower of Jesus Christ. A person with understanding is not confused by all the conflicting messages in our culture about the right way to live.

Reading:  You are walking now by faith, still on pilgrimage in a mortal body away from the Lord; but he to whom your steps are directed is himself the sure and certain way for you: Jesus Christ, who for our sake became man. For all who fear him he has stored up abundant happiness, which he will reveal to those who hope in him, bringing it to completion when we have attained the reality which even now we possess in hope.

This is the octave day of your new birth. Today is fulfilled in you the sign of faith that was prefigured in the Old Testament by the circumcision of the flesh on the eighth day after birth. When the Lord rose from the dead, he put off the mortality of the flesh; his risen body was still the same body, but it was no longer subject to death. By his resurrection he consecrated Sunday, or the Lord’s day. Though the third after his passion, this day is the eighth after the Sabbath, and thus also the first day of the week.

And so your own hope of resurrection, though not yet realized, is sure and certain, because you have received the sacrament or sign of this reality, and have been given the pledge of the Spirit.  (Second reading from today’s Office of Readings from a Sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop)

Observation:  For me, today is the first day of living in the Spirit and no longer being controlled by the flesh.  Why can I make such a bold claim, because my flesh has been transformed by my relationship to Jesus through my Baptism, who died and was resurrected to transform me into a new creation.   My flesh will need to be renewed again, by the reception of the other Sacraments that sustain me in this world, but today is the first day in a long time that I can say that I know that Jesus is the Way, and the Truth and the Life, and it is by His grace that I am healed. 

Personification:  Faithfulness. It is the fruit of faithfulness that I want to display today and everyday for the rest of my life.  As I looked at the list of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit on my journaling page, I thought faithfulness looked and sounded the most like thankfulness.  I believe that I can display the fruit of faithfulness, by giving thanks and praise to God who is responsible for everything good in my life.

Prayer:  Glory and praise to our God, who alone gives light to our days…Many are the blessings he bears to those who trust in His ways…Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for gracing us with your presence in our church and in all the churches around the world today…Amen!