tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65448985969388731982024-03-16T11:51:21.778-07:00Deacon Mike's BlogPsalm 115:1 & Matthew 25Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-32792478550212771042024-01-27T13:55:00.000-08:002024-01-27T13:55:14.178-08:002024/01/28 - Harden Not Your Hearts<p> Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time</p><p>Dt 18:15-20 Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28 </p><p>BEFORE MASS</p><p>Remember what happened when God gave them the 10 commandments? – if you go back to Exodus you’ll see that God didn’t just speak to Moses – he spoke directly to each person. God had Moses get all the people to gather around the base of the mountain – and this dark cloud covered the mountain and there was lighting and a loud Shofar – like a horn – and– in that they heard the voice of God speak directly to them….and it FREAKED THEM OUT! They said – Moses -YOU speak to us – don’t let God speak to us again lest we die! Keep that in mind for the first reading.</p><p>Now there’s a connection between that reading and the Gospel – in a way the Gospel is a fulfillment of the prophecy in the 1st reading.</p><p>Oh – and pay particular attention to the psalm, because it kinda threads all the readings together, although it may not be obvious.</p><p>HOMILY</p><p>What’s the prophecy in the first reading? God promised to send a prophet from among our own kin - who would speak HIS words.</p><p>Then BOOM – in the Gospel, we have – Jesus speaking with authority! There’s two pieces to that authority– first – you probably already know this – but any good rabbi of the day would be good because he could quote other rabbis – like "Well, Gamaliel says…" or "Rabbi Nicodemus says…" But Jesus quoted the words of no one – He directly spoke the Word of God - because He IS the Word. Did you see that – He spoke the word of God DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE… just like in the first reading, except this time He is in human form, so they can bear it.</p><p>Y’all knew that, I’m sure. But there’s another authority here – the first miracle in the Gospel of Mark shows Jesus’ authority over demons. </p><p>1 John 3:8 told us - "the reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." The Demons KNEW that. That’s why they asked the question – “have you come to destroy us?” They knew who He was and what His purpose was.</p><p>Notice Jesus’ authority over them: The demos must listen to the Word of God. Why is that? Demons are what? Fallen Angels. Fallen Angels don’t have free will. They can’t change their minds because their identity is set – see – at the moment of creation angels had one choice – to serve God or not Serve God. They made their one choice and it was not for God… Lucifer said, Non Servium… I will not serve. We could get into 'why' he said that, but that’s another homily. The important point is that these for fallen angels - their identity was set - in effect, they’re hearts were hardened…</p><p>But they cannot NOT listen to Jesus. They must follow His command, because He is Lord of all creation… demons are created beings. Yes, The Word of God has authority over the demons.</p><p>You and I have that same authority – with a twist. If you and I were to cast out a Demon, we’d have to say – “In the name of Jesus, I say Quiet! Come out of him!”. But Jesus didn’t have to add that first part because He has the personal authority. Our authority is only in His name. There is power in the name of Jesus.</p><p>Notice too that he first told them to be Quiet. We never want to allow the demons to speak, because they speak lies and plant seeds of doubt and fear and distrust.</p><p>Jesus speaks with authority to US too. You and I are also created beings, but we were made in the image of God – and one of the main ways that we are 'like God' is that we have free will. When Jesus speaks to US, We can choose to listen or ignore… When we ignore or reject the Word of God - in effect, then we become like the demons…. With hardened hearts. But When we soften our hearts, we hear the Word of God and let it change us. </p><p>If Today you Hear His voice, harden not your hearts.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-47955653759100802142023-10-01T17:45:00.001-07:002023-10-01T17:45:03.769-07:002023/10/01 - Learning on the Way (the Lord teaches the humble His way)<p> First Reading: <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/18?25" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Ez 18:25-28</a></p><p>Psalm: <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/25?4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9</a><br />Second Reading: <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2?1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Phil 2:1-11</a><br />Gospel: <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/21?28" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0b416c; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Mt 21:28-32</a></p><p>Before Mass:<br />It’s great to be back from my pilgrimage – and I’ll be talking about it a little bit today – but I’ll give a presentation about it on Oct 31st if you want to hear more. Be careful – I could talk your ear off.</p><p>Three things to pay attention to today for the homily: </p><p>The first reading talks about God not being fair. At some point, all of us have probably thought that way. </p><p>Second- there’s a line that says “the Lord teaches the humble His way.” Listen actually in all the readings for ‘the way’ and ‘the path’. That’s probably the key to today’s homily.</p><p>Third – The Gospel talks about changing our minds. It’s more than just changing your mind like – oh – I’ll have chocolate instead of vanilla. The change of mind Jesus is referring to involves the core of how we believe and how we live.</p><p>How is God encouraging you to change YOUR mind?</p><p>Homily</p><p>Did you hear those three mini-themes in the readings? God is not fair, Jesus wants us to change our mind, and “the Lord teaches the humble His way.”</p><p>In spanish, the word for ‘the way’ is ‘camino’ – as many of you know, I just got back from the Camino de Santiago – the way of St James. It’s a 500 mile pilgrimage across Spain to the tomb of St James, and for those who are humble, the Lord can teach us as we walk the Way. What did He teach me?</p><p>I would pray daily for God to send me a Divine Appointment – someone He needed me to talk to – either to help them – or to teach me something. And most days I’d end up walking with someone and asking them questions – first the normal stuff like name, where are you from? where did you start walking? How far are you going? – then I’d ask questions aimed at drilling deeper – like – ‘why are you walking the camino’? ‘have you had any revelations in your silent time’?</p><p>That kind of deeper conversations created some instant friendships with people as they shared some deeper thoughts they might never have put into words before. Most of them I’ll never see again, but a few have become friends for life.</p><p>I learned that Not everybody in the world thinks like this boy from southern Indiana. In fact, it seems that many people out there have almost no spiritual upbringing. Faith is a foreign concept. Jesus is just someone who was misunderstood a long time ago and it would never occur to them to give their life to Jesus or God. It was surprising and a bit depressing that very few people were walking for spiritual reasons… we were some of the few. God knew I needed to have my mind changed and my eyes opened to the fact that the world needs God more than I ever knew.</p><p>Personally, there was one aha moment where I felt God changed my mind. We had a 19-mile hike one day up the mountain to O Cebrero, but we decided to take the scenic route, which wasn’t marked quite as well – so we lost the trail. At one point the path just ended and we weren’t sure whether to go back or what – fortunately, gps showed we were only a hundred yards from a road, so we went cross-country to the road and found our way back to the main camino. In doing so, it added a couple of miles to our already long day. The trail was rough in places and as we went it got steeper and steeper and the sun was getting hotter and hotter to the point we were having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. It would have been easy to think – “this isn’t fair God – It’s too hard”. But the joy I felt at the end of the day made me realize… the climb is what made the rest on the mountain top so sweet. </p><p>You see – a few days before, we had climbed the highest peak on the camino to the ‘cruz de ferro’ – ‘iron cross’ – which is supposed to be a great spiritual moment for pilgrims as we leave our burdens at the foot of the cross. But that day had been kind of a let-down… it was like a walk-in-the-park to that cross; not much of a challenge, so it didn’t feel very special at all! That LACK of challenge made it less meaningful… but THIS climb to O Cebrero meant MORE to me BECAUSE it was a struggle – and the extra miles we walked ADDED to the struggle – which made arriving at our destination so much more meaningful. </p><p>The lesson I learned is that God USES struggles to bring more joy to our lives. It doesn’t seem like it at the time, maybe – we may think God is not being fair – but once we realize that the challenge is necessary to make the reward sweeter, then we realize that a lost trail or a rock to trip on or a steep hill are actually blessings.</p><p>Think about those two guys in the Gospel… both were challenged to work in the vineyard. The first one DIDN’T do what he was supposed to do… He thought that the joy in life could be found doing something OTHER than what the Father told him to do. But the second son changed his mind and found that DOING the will of the Father is what made his life sweeter.</p><p>God wants us to change our mind… not because He’s a selfish tyrant who wants us to do whatever He says – He’s not being unfair. He knows we humans need to work for our own sake – as cruel as it sounds…WE NEED THE STRUGGLE.</p><p>At the same time, I know some people – many of you, in fact, who seem to struggle more than others. From my perspective, I look at that kind of suffering and think ‘God, your way isn’t fair!’ Why don’t you relieve this suffering? I believe you CAN do it, so why DON’T you?</p><p>In the end, I have to trust that somehow – even though it doesn’t seem fair to me – or you – God is allowing the struggle for some reason. When we’re not sure we can put one foot in front of the other, the only thing we can do it to keep following the Path – keep looking for the Way. When we don’t know what else to do, we trust that the best path is to keep doing what the Father told us to do.</p><p>That doesn’t take away the pain ‘now’, but Just knowing that we’re doing God’s Will gives us joy in this life as we anticipate the sweetness of the mountain top ahead.</p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-4667809925466966082023-07-19T18:58:00.007-07:002023-07-19T18:58:56.313-07:002023/07/16 - It Ain't about the Dirt<p> Before Mass</p><p>You know how we talk a lot about ‘sharing the good news’? What is the good news? I mean, a lot of times we hear the Gospels and honestly, it doesn’t SOUND like good news. For many people, religion is just a list of rules to make us feel guilty. You ever feel that way?</p><p>Well – today’s Gospel is the story of the Sower and the Seed – and at first it doesn’t really feel like all that good of news. So I want you to challenge yourself as you listen today with a few of questions: First – what’s the obvious interpretation of the parable. Second – what’s the REAL point of the parable? And Third – a question we should ask everyday: How is THIS scripture GOOD NEWS?</p><p>Homily</p><p>So what do you think – was that parable ‘good news’? </p><p>My gut reaction is ‘no’… it’s yet another scripture which is supposed to worry us – like ‘am I doing enough’? I mean, obviously from the text you and I are the dirt – and we gotta be worried about what kind of weeds and thorns we allow to grow around us – and how many birds we allow to steel away the seed – and whether our dirt is too packed-down to allow the seed to sink in. That’s the most obvious reading of this parable – and it’s valid… but is that really the focus?</p><p>Notice - the name often given to the parable is ‘the sower and the seed’. The focus is not about the dirt… the focus is not on you and me… it’s on the Sower …and the Seed. So let’s back up and see if there’s something else we’re supposed to learn.</p><p>The Gospel began with what seems like an throw-away sentence, “On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.” See anything interesting about that?</p><p>On that day… what day? If we go to the prior chapter of Matthew, we’ll see that Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue and close to towns and the religious leaders were watching him very closely. In fact, they had just accused him of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Pretty much, no matter what He did or said, they were trying to cancel Him.</p><p>So Jesus ‘went out of the house’ - took his teachings outside – away from the cities, more to the point – he took his teachings outside of synagogues, the very places where you would EXPECT to hear the word of God. Instead he sat down by the sea – his ministry changed that day to do much of his teaching outside the cities, away from the watchful eyes of the religious leaders.</p><p>Another significant change that day was the way he taught. If I asked you how Jesus typically taught, what would be your answer? Parables, right? Everybody KNOWS that Jesus taught in parables - But I hadn’t realized that up to THIS point in Matthew’s Gospel, he hasn’t told one parable. But that changed TODAY. The apostles apparently noticed the change in tactics, because they asked him – ‘why do you speak to them in parables?’ And he gave an archaic answer – “This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.</p><p>At first, I’m like – that’s Not helpful, Jesus – why don’t you just speak plainly? Actually he’s quoting Isaiah who said that the people will close their ears on purpose to AVOID hearing because they don’t WANT the truth and they don’t WANT to be healed.</p><p>I think it’s because of all the pushback he was getting from religious leaders. Anyone who WANTED to understand him was going to understand the parables, but anyone who was just looking for a reason to complain and cancel him was going to find SOMEthing to get ticked about. But a PARABLE is different. To those who WANT to hear truth, a parable reveals truth - but if you’re just looking for something to complain about, the parable just sounds like a nice story about a stupid farmer who doesn’t know how to plant properly. Jesus says – whoever has ears ought to hear. If we’re really listening – and wanting Jesus to speak to our hearts, his teachings WILL sink in. We WILL hear and understand. </p><p>This is where the parable starts to make sense to me… Jesus’ words are what is being scattered. His words are the seeds. He scatters them freely and they land on everyone… yes EVERYone. But not everyone WANTS to hear him, so the seed bounces off their hard hearts like a seed bouncing on the pavement. Some people are caught up emotionally by His teachings, but when they meet any pushback or difficulties from the world around them, it’s like thorns choking out the tender plants or the sun baking them. But those people with ears – those who WANT to receive the word – are like the soft soil, and they gladly hear and accept the Word and it produces great fruit in them.</p><p>Notice too that God spreads the seed in abundance! Whether the soil wants the seed or not, God dips his hand into his satchel and grabs a bunch of seed and throws it EVERYWHERE…and he goes back for another handful. God does not spread sparingly – you might even say he doesn’t spread very wisely – I mean, what kind of farmer would purposely waste seed by allowing it to go where He knows it can’t grow. God’s seed is infinitely abundant and he is reckless is giving it away.</p><p>Here’s the thing –God makes the dirt – God makes the seed – God spreads the seed – God sends the rain and sunshine. Making seeds grow has nothing to do with OUR effort – it’s all God’s effort. So what’s the lesson that you and I are supposed to leave with?</p><p>The ONLY part of this that you and I control is whether we WANT to hear and accept the Word. If we long to hear, we will be blessed to hear. If we long to see, we will be blessed to see. But God even helps us with THAT! Just like He sends rain to soften the soil and break up the clods, God has built this entire world around us to SHOW us His Glory! He’s filled our lives with experiences which are meant to soften our hearts and DRAW US TO SEEK HIM. That’s right – God actually gives us EVERYTHING we need to produce fruit. All we gotta do is pay attention… allow the WORD of God to sink into our hearts and grow.</p><p>Then we produce 100 fold. That’s like cherry tomatoes or tomatillos – once you plant one plant, you’ll have hundreds every year after that. Once you and I allow the word of God to produce fruit in our hearts, then WE become spreaders of the seeds of God’s love by spreading to those around us. </p><p>THAT is when the Kingdom of God overtakes the entire garden.</p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-2792477574564085872023-04-23T11:52:00.000-07:002023-04-23T11:52:09.667-07:002023/04/23 Hearts on Fire<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Before Mass:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">In this Easter season, our first reading is always from
Acts – this is the story of the early Church.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">In fact, today’s first reading is a sermon given by Peter on the day of
Pentecost… moments after the Holy Spirit was poured forth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then the Gospel is actually the evening of Easter
Sunday…. Just hours after Mary Magdalene came back with the unbelievable news
that Jesus had Risen!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s a tradition for many Christians during the
Easter season where one person says ‘He is risen’ and the other person echoes
‘He is risen indeed!’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought we’d
try that right now…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Did you feel anything in your heart when you said
that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">See – that’s basically what happened on that first
Easter Sunday – and we’ll hear about it in our Gospel today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want you to think about how YOU felt saying
that… and compare that with how THEY likely felt when they said it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there a difference ?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ponder that as we listen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Homily </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How do you start a fire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matches?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lighter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rub two sticks together?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
started a fire simply by explaining the scriptures to these two disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember what they said: ‘Were not our hearts
burning within us as he talked to us on the way?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have you ever experienced that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you ever had your heart set on fire by
Jesus?Many of us would have to say, no… so Here’s the real question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>why did THIS conversation set their hearts on
fire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seriously – they were disciples,
for Pete’s sake!… they had heard all of this before…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they were very likely two of the 72 whom
Jesus sent out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember when he sent
them out two by two to spread the word, to heal the sick and all that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had likely seen God work through
them!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had likely seen
healings…lives changed.. demons cast out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>THAT should have set them on fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because of that fire, they bet their entire lives on Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It became personal to them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So you can imagine how they felt watching all their
hopes/dreams/plans get nailed to that cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Walking along that morning, they were likely still in disbelief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This doesn’t make sense!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were so SURE He was the one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s my point:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>these guys had HEARD Jesus warn them that he had to be killed and rise
from the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They HEARD it… but they
didn’t understand…or didn’t listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Because they already knew
all the answers</u>… they ‘knew’ the Messiah would come and kick Rome out and
restore Israel as the greatest kingdom on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were so SURE of their understanding of
the prophets, that anything contrary to their deeply-held beliefs just didn’t
sink in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were like yeah-yeah-yeah
Jesus – skip that part about dying and just get to the part where you kick some
Roman back-side.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">See what I mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were so entrenched in the fact that they were the Chosen people…
the sons of Abraham… they were so confident in their “knowledge” of God that
they didn’t really listen to what Jesus was telling them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That “knowledge” had to be nailed to a tree…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that “confidence” had to be crucified so that
they would be open to actually <u>listening</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And today, they finally “heard” it…. Their hearts were
so raw with emotion that they were open vessels just waiting for Jesus to fill
them up – and He did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave the
greatest bible study ever as they walked along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, they understood all that had
happened was <i>exactly</i> what Jesus and the prophets had predicted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their hearts were set on fire as the TRUE
understanding sunk in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They RAN back to
Jerusalem and their emotion bubbled over as they exclaimed “He is Risen” – and
the apostles replied “He is risen indeed!”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do you and I feel any of that emotion when we say
that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honestly, probably not normally –
and that’s not to make us feel guilty or anything… the problem is, we’ve heard
this our whole lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve heard the
stories so many times that they sound ‘normal’ to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the first disciples, <i>resurrection</i>
was unheard of… it was something to <i>shout </i>about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for us cradle-Catholics, it’s just a fact
– like the sun comes up in the east or 2+2=4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Facts are true – but facts are boring – they’re not personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus rose from the dead is a fact… but it <u>NEEDS
to be personal.</u><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How do we get there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We gotta move…or more correctly – we gotta allow God to move us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the disciples, you and I can get too
comfortable with what we “know” about God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We’ve got God all figured out – we know exactly the minimum we need to
do to get to heaven – and we check the boxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We don’t need to know any more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We don’t WANT to know anymore. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus wants to walk with each of us personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wants to set YOUR heart on fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Let Jesus
re-teach us everything we already know but never actually let it sink in.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">THEN we can recognize Him in the breaking of
the bread.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He is Risen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
is risen indeed!<o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-13485732358100554762023-03-18T18:23:00.013-07:002023-03-19T13:24:43.201-07:002023/03/19 Are you Blind?!<p>Do you ever put yourself into the story of the Gospel? Ever wonder what it would have looked like to BE THERE the day that these miracles happened? </p><p>It’s no secret that The Chosen is probably my favorite TV show ever. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s a series where they develop some fictional but very believable background stories for the people in the Gospel. For example, y’all remember that Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus – we know that from the Bible - and the scriptures tell us that she had had 7 demons cast out from her. From those two facts, they built a beautiful back-story to show what that might have looked like – going back to her childhood, the weaved a story filled with pain and loss and fear and darkness – and the cinematography is brilliant at times – like one time you can kind of tell that the demons are kind of taking over, and as that happens, a door closes blocking the light and she was left in darkness. Hopefully you can see the connection to today’s readings which deal so much with light and darkness. That first episode ends with Jesus liberating her simply by calling her name… you might say, he restored her true identity. Well – I’m skipping a bunch of details – but she met a guy who was astounded that she had been released from her demons and he asked how it happened – and here’s where Mary said possibly the best line of the whole series. </p><p>“All I know is I was one way and now I am completely different, and the thing that happened in between was Him. ” </p><p>She had been in darkness and had given up all hope of escaping the demons – in fact, she had been ready to end her life – until Jesus showed up and called her by name… bringing her back from darkness to the light. Think that changed her life?!?! Once she saw the light, she became a follower of Jesus to continue walking toward the light – and to help others come to know him.</p><p>Hopefully you can already see the connection with today’s Gospel, because Jesus heals a man born blind…. Literally restoring him from darkness to the light! And the guy says, “One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”</p><p>Is that YOUR story? Have you ever had that kind of experience? Can you point to the moment in your life that changed everything? The moment when the Glory of God changed your life?</p><p>That might not seem like a Catholic question to ask. You know – you talk to other Christians and they can often name the date and time they were ‘saved’… which means it’s the moment they felt like they made the decision to accept Christ as their savior. One and done. Now – there’s something beautiful about that – something to be celebrated for sure – but we need to be clear about one thing: You see – salvation is an act of GOD – not OUR action. Yes, we must accept it, but God moves first. In a way, it’s like lovers… both must act – but one is an act of surrender. </p><p>I remember a buddy of mine who grew up Catholic and he was going to church with his wife – I think to a Baptist congregation – and he said they kept pressuring him that if he didn’t have that big AHA moment that he could point to when Jesus became his savior, then he’s not saved! He said – I’ve not had that big moment – Jesus has just always been with me.</p><p>Isn’t that true for most of us – we’ve been raised in the Faith and receive the Sacraments and go to religious Education – and many never have that big AHA moment. Unfortunately, that means for many people, we’re only going through the motions. Unfortunately, that also means many people walk away… in fact, MOST people walk away. If we never have that personal encounter with Jesus, then religion usually remains nothing more than checking boxes. I submit to you that we Catholics really DO need that AHA moment… or a least a moment when we surrender to the Love of God… where we make a willful choice to allow God to open our eyes and touch our hearts. </p><p>You see – we were all born blind! Every one of us needs that moment when we open our eyes and realize that we’ve been changed… when we wake up and realize that one moment ago, we were in darkness, but now we are in the Light. We need that moment when we can sing – “I was blind, but now I see”… and MEAN it! But even that is dangerous… we might make a decision to follow Christ today, but a year from now we’re blind again – why? Because when we THINK we were already in the light, we don’t need feel the need to do any more to change. Here’s the kicker – while I think we need that BIG event when Jesus breaks through the darkness, it must be followed by a DAILY event…a daily surrender. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I would say my eyes were opened back in 1995 after I made my Cursillo. That was my AHA moment….but it wasn’t just going to Cursillo weekend – that was like the SEED. But immediately afterward I joined a small group of men who meet weekly to encourage each other in our walk with Jesus… to share nuggets that we learn in our study and prayer. THAT was what really transformed me. If I’d gone to Cursillo and didn’t change my life to Seek Jesus, I’d still be where I was in 1995 – in darkness. But I continue to seek Jesus. My eyes continue to be opened almost every day to a truth or an insight that I hadn’t considered… to surrender to God’s love a little more each day. That’s a benefit to having a wife and friends who like to study and pray and share their insights with me. We grow together. If I thought I knew everything already because “I’m the Deacon!”, then I wouldn’t be listening – and I would remain in darkness.</span></p><p>Jesus is reaching out to you today – and every day. In the Sacraments, in the scriptures, in the people around you, in nature… He is reaching out to touch your eyes. He might even spit and make you muddy to get your attention. The only thing standing between us and the light that Jesus wants to reveal is our stubbornness. If I don’t realize I’m blind, I won’t accept the healing. If I think I already know everything about God – I’ll miss what he’s doing right now!! …Like the pharisees in the story who didn’t even seem to notice that Jesus had overturned the laws of nature by healing a man born blind! All they cared about was that it was the wrong day of the week. They were willfully blind and totally MISSED the Glory of God.</p><p>Each of us can pray this Lent about what areas of our lives we’re blind to and ask Jesus to reveal the Glory of God to us. This is not a matter of putting ourselves down – that’s not at all what I’m talking about. This is not about Catholic guilt – but about taking an honest look inside at where we are blocking Jesus from touching us. The first step in being ‘saved’ is to realize that we need a savior. The first step to seeing Jesus is to admit that we’re blind.</p><div><br /></div>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-64098938611788760782023-02-23T18:47:00.000-08:002023-02-23T18:47:39.095-08:00Been there; Done that; Got the T-shirt<p>I love Colorado. I
remember my first trip when I couldn’t take my eyes off the mountains. They filled me with wonder and awe. Camping, cooking out, hiking, friendships…
all of these things are indelibly printed on my mind. THIS experience changed my life… Colorado became
part of ‘who I am’. Several times, I’ve
bought T-shirts to commemorate the trip to my beloved mountains – announcing to
the world my New Identity: I’m a
Colorado-freak.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Don’t we all do that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We go somewhere or have a powerful experience which feels so awesome
that it impacts our very identity, so impactful that we buy a T-shirt to tell
the world about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like maybe a concert
– where the music and special effects are awe-inspiring, and we get caught up
in the crowd’s frenzy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We think, ‘Life
should ALWAYS be like this!’… and we buy a T-shirt to tell the world that this band/concert/whatever
is now part of ‘who we are’;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>part of our
identity:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a (fill in the
blank)-freak.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But not every T-shirt really tells our identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My brother went to London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I stayed home and worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
enjoyed the culture, the food, the beverages… I stayed home and worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He brought me a really nice T-Shirt from
London…one that many people would be jealous to have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thing is… I’ve never been to London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That shirt, as awesome as it is, is nothing
more than a sentimental reminder that my brother loves me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, I appreciate it, but I’ve never
experienced London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>London is part of
the United Kingdom… but it’s not MY kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My only connection to that kingdom is a now-faded T-shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, for many of us, that happens to our Faith
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our parents or grandparents had
faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They enjoyed the Catholic
culture, the Eucharist, and the cup of salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For them, this was more than a T-shirt; it
was their very life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They passed it on
to us, but unless we personally experience a relationship with Jesus, our Faith
is nothing more than a sentimental reminder that our parents/grandparents love
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are members of the Kingdom of
God… but it’s not MY kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My only
connection to that kingdom is like my now-faded T-shirt.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some of us may LOOK like we’re in the kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, we go to church once in a while –
maybe even regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We throw something
in the collection basket to appease our need to feel charitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We might even go so far as to wear a
Christian T-shirt, announcing to the world that Jesus is King!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we don’t know Jesus, he’s not really
OUR king… and we’re not really in the kingdom.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How can we turn this around?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I propose that we all need an experience which fills us with awe and
wonder;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an experience that immerses us
into the culture, the joy, and the lifestyle of Catholicism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to surround ourselves with others
whose enthusiasm is infectious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need
an experience which makes us realize ‘this is how life should be!’; an
experience so intense, we want to buy a T-shirt to commemorate the event and
tell the world that this is now part of who we are. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The best way I’ve seen is a Retreat or a Conference centered
on an experience of the Holy Spirit – showing us that this Faith our parents
gave us really IS the source of joy: like Cursillo, Welcome, Steubenville
conferences, Renew Ministries, Encounter Ministries, Seek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These events and many others give us a taste
of the culture of Catholicism which we don’t always see in our daily lives nor,
unfortunately, in our home parishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caught
up in the emotion, we might even buy a T-shirt, telling the world we’re now a
Jesus-freak.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even so, a one-time event doesn’t change our identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To keep that new-found Joy, something’s gotta
change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To build and maintain a
relationship with Jesus, we need to develop a lifestyle of prayer and study –
putting it on our daily schedules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we
don’t know the King, If we don’t immerse ourselves in the lifestyle of
Catholicism, then our connection to the Faith is nothing more than a faded, hand-me-down
T-shirt.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-46489533283674715642023-02-18T18:19:00.005-08:002023-02-18T18:19:46.060-08:002023/02/19 - Order into Chaos<p>When I was on the Fire Dept, we’d be called when things… were not going well. Arriving on the scene of a working structure fire, emotions were high, people wer crying or even screaming, they might even be frantic trying to get your attention to save their loved ones. In a word: It was ‘chaos’.</p><p>But we were trained to bring order into the chaos. Immediately we’d talk to bystanders to find out if anyone is inside – then we’d search the perimeter, looking for safety issues like overhead power lines or gas meters or other structures that might be in jeopardy. Taking command of the scene, one person would be the Commander and would quickly layout a plan in his mind and call in additional resources if needed.</p><p>As units arrived, each would receive their orders – catch the hydrant and lay in a 5” line – deploy an attack line to the rear entrance – ladder the south side of the structure and prepare to ventilate. As commander of the scene, he would give orders – knowing that each person would fulfill the role they’d been given. Each of us had trained for this moment. The adrenaline was rushing – because … THIS is what we were made for, and we gladly fulfilled the role we’d been assigned.</p><p>As a firefighter, we were called to bring order to the chaos…. By following orders.</p><p>Notice that word ‘order’ – used two different ways: we were called into the chaos to restore order, by following orders. To do that, each individual played their part. We didn’t question orders. We WANTED to fulfill the role we’d been given. It’s what we were made for.</p><p>Today’s readings give us some orders: be Holy, be Perfect, Love your neighbor, don’t take revenge, turn the other cheek, pray for your enemies, go the extra mile… it may come across as a bunch of rules to follow. A lot of people think that’s all that religion is about – a bunch of rules … but there’s a different way to look at this.</p><p>God himself saw the world was in chaos, so he stepped in PERSONALLY<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to bring order to it. We can take comfort in the fact that HE HAS A PLAN. He’s like the commander at a fire scene – He has the plan, and each of us has a part to play. Each of us has been given our orders… not as rules to follow – not moral checkboxes we have to check to get into heaven - but as our part in helping God to bring order to the chaos of the world! </p><p>Think about that – what would happened if you and I, as Christians would take those orders seriously? Loving everyone – including our enemies – we would seriously change the world. Let me give you a brief example: </p><p>Immaculée Ilibagiza was a survivor of the Rwandan genocide in 1994 – yes – just 29 years ago fell into chaos. One tribe took over power and tried to annihilate the other tribe. Immaculee survived by hiding in a 3x4 foot bathroom – that’s smaller than the bathrooms here. She hid in there for 91 days – with 7 other women. They had to take turns sitting down it was so crowed. Outside, they could hear the chaos as the other tribe went house to house systematically killing everyone from her tribe. Her father and brother were shot – her mother and sister were hacked to death with machetes.</p><p>Finally, after 91 days, it was over…she was free. What should she do? She had EVERY right to demand revenge on those who killed her family and a million other people from her tribe… yes a MILLION! But she was a Catholic – with a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother – and somehow she found it in herself to forgive those who did this heinous act… even forgiving the man who killed her family to his face. She now is an international speaker sharing the message of Divine Mercy. Her example is an inspiration to each of us to turn the other cheek. Because of her efforts, Rwanda is much further down the path of healing that it otherwise would be.</p><p>How is that possible? Immaculee took seriously the orders she’d been given by Jesus – to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. See – she didn’t see those as rules to follow or as an infringement on her freedoms… no – she saw this basic instruction as THE way that God wanted to restore Order to the chaos. </p><p>God put all of us Christians on this earth so that WE could share HIS love with the world. It’s what we were made for. Can you imagine if every Christian in the world LIVED this way? We’d be in heaven… which is the point. YOU AND I have the ability to establish the Kingdom of God right here – right now – every time we choose to love instead of hate – to forgive instead of seeking revenge.</p><p>How do you and I put that into practice? I think it starts at home. The first reading tells us not to bear hatred or harbor a grudge against our brother or sister. We all, by nature, tend to take our family members for granted and we get into little fights which can escalate into hate – constantly seeking revenge against our own brothers and sisters or even our spouse. How many of us sitting here today have a brother or sister or spouse we no longer talk to? Imagine how we can change the world just by loving them instead of seeking revenge. That may sound radical – but that’s exactly what it means to be Holy; to be set-apart – different – not like the rest of the culture. To the rest of the world, when we love our enemies, they’ll think we’re out of our minds…. But The second reading reminds us that the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. </p><p>Love our neighbor as our self. We’re told in the 2nd reading that we – you and I – are the temple of God – which means you and I are holy. But that also means that everyone around us is holy too! Co-workers, classmates, the lady at the checkout… We must treat them like they’re holy too… because they are. </p><p>When somebody does something stupid in traffic, instead of flipping the bird – flip a few beads of the rosary to pray for them.</p><p>When someone does something unforgiveable, be the first to forgive. Unforgiveness is one of the greatest weapons that Satan uses against us… to divide us… but when we forgive rather than holding a grudge, we disarm Satan!! Don’t you think THAT changes the world?!</p><p><br /></p><p>Last thing: Jesus said be Perfect as your heavenly father is Perfect. I’ve always thought ‘perfect’ meant to do everything exactly right – like – follow all the rules perfectly. But that’s what the Pharisees tried to do and Jesus didn’t have very nice things to say about them! So, what’s He meaning?</p><p>Remember – Jesus wasn’t speaking English… he was speaking in Aramaic – and the Gospel was written in Greek, so right away we may lose some of the meaning that Jesus intended. The word used by the Gospel writer was ‘telios’ in Greek. It’s translated into English by most bibles as ‘perfect’. Now – who am I to question the folks who know their Greek… but consider this:</p><p>‘Telios’ comes from the root word ‘Telos’, which has to do with the purpose or end for which something was made. For example, if I have a chair – it’s telos is for sitting. Make sense? A chair is made for sitting on. While You could use it for other purposes, like standing on it to change a lightbulb, it’s purpose – its telos – is for sitting. </p><p>So a chair reaches it’s telios, when someone sits on it – you could say a chair fulfills the purpose for which it was made when someone sits in it… it is now complete – which was translated to be ‘perfect’. </p><p>So – instead of Jesus commanding us to be ‘perfect’ - perhaps a better translation might be: fulfill the purpose for which we were made! What were we made for? What’s our telos? To be Holy – set apart. To be different. To Love our enemies. We’re sorta like firefighters – made to bring Order into Chaos. But the best summary actually comes from the Holy Moments book which we gave out at Christmas: “You are made in the image of God – act accordingly”.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-29546341862895569012023-01-06T18:31:00.001-08:002023-01-06T18:39:52.364-08:002023/01/08 Epiphany - How do we find Jesus?<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before Mass:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I want to give you the punchline, so to speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might be easy to get caught up in the nice
little story about the Three Wise men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But if you pay attention to all of the readings – especially THAT story
of the wise men, you’ll see a common theme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God wants everyone in the world to know and adore Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He reveals himself to us in Creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gives us Reason that we can come to
knowledge of Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He reveals himself
so us in Scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s given us
everything we need to find Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But pay attention to who actually finds Jesus – and who
doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should surprise us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/60?1"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #363936; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Is 60:1-6</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/72?1"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #363936; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13.</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/3?2"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #363936; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/2?1"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #363936; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Mt 2:1-12</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Homily</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
What we don’t hear about in today’s Gospel is the fact that all three of the
wise men were married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we don’t
hear about is the fact the three wise men had wandered around in the desert for
two years trying to find Jesus….and all the while, Belthazar’s wife Sheila kept
insisting – ‘Why don’t you just stop at the next Oasis and ask directions’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ok – I made that up </span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😊<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> I want you to imagine,
that YOU are at that Oasis when this caravan pulls in and asks YOU this
question: “How do we find Jesus?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re
asking YOU!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would you have an
answer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honestly, I’m not sure I could
give an answer very quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
SHOULDN’T we know the answer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us
have been Christian all our life – we’ve got the Bible – and the Church – WE
should know Jesus better than anybody else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So – how DO we find Jesus?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let’s start with an easier question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>say I wanted to drive to Tuscaloosa…does
anybody here know how to get there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
could I find out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can google it, pull
up MapQuest, Or put it into my GPS navigational doohickey…three different ways
to find Tuscaloosa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s not too hard,
- but - what if I need directions on how to find Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– how could I find out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I google Jesus, I’ll find thousands –
literally tens of thousands of churches who claim that THEY have the one and
ONLY way to get to Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How can that be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How is it that one guy named Jesus was here – a book called the Bible
was written about him – and now 10’s of thousands of different churches have
different directions to find him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We believe that Jesus started ONE Church …and within it he gave authority to
teach, baptize, and forgive sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
endowed it with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He graced it with the seven Sacraments so that he could continue to
reach out and touch his people through the hand of His ministers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He inspired its leaders to write the
Bible. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would Jesus start a Church, anyway?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>To help people find him.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Church IS the GPS navigational doohickey
for finding Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We might think with all of that going for us, we must
be God’s favorite – like OUR CHURCH has a corner on the market for getting
to Jesus – but we’d be wrong!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
that’s the point of today’s readings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>The
people who SHOULD have found Jesus DIDN’T find him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You see, there were two important groups of people who
DID come to see Jesus when he was born:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the shepherds and the magi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today’s
Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the fact that these pagan wise men came to
know Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That should shake us
up!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys weren’t Catholic, they weren’t
Christian, heck, they weren’t even Jewish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They tried to find God by reading the signs in the stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to most of our standards today, we might
call them kooks – yet, they came to know Jesus through this method….so is it
all bad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shepherds, on the other
hand, found out about Jesus through direct revelation – when an angel appeared
to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t seem to have a problem
with that, do we?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I stood here and
told you that an angel appeared to me last night, you’d think I was a little
off my rocker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, we accept it as
perfectly normal for these guys 2000 years ago to receive a vision from an
angel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But there was actually a third group who came to know
that Jesus was born.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
shepherds came to know through a vision of angels. The magi knew through
through creation: by reading the stars. And King Herod’s scribes came to know
through searching the scriptures. Visions, stars, scriptures – three different
ways of arriving at the same truth. Of course, this doesn’t mean that ANY path
to Jesus is just as good as the other. Notice how Matthew indicates that when
the guiding star got to Jerusalem its light failed and the magi HAD to consult
the scriptures to direct them to Bethlehem. That’s an important point:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Magi needed more than the natural light
of the star… they still needed the SUPERNATURAL light of scripture to finally find
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Anybody
listening to the Catechism in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This week we HEARD this very lesson – the
catechism tells us (somewhere around paragraph 35-40) that it’s possible for
mankind to find God through reason and witnessing Creation – it’s possible –
but very hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, we need to rely
on divine revelation – which is exactly what we saw with the story of the wise
men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their wisdom – their reason and
watching natural signs in creation only took them so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, they had to go to Jerusalem to
get directions from the Torah – the Jewish scriptures – God’s divine
revelation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
the crucial question in the story remains: Who actually FOUND Jesus? Notice
that Herod and his scribes had the scriptures, but <u>they failed to find Jesus</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the magi, who followed the natural light
of the stars WERE able to find him. Why? Because the Jewish scribes, even
though they possessed the shining truth of revealed scriptures,…they didn’t
follow it. They did not walk in the light of the scriptures. The magi, on the
other hand, who enjoyed only star light DID follow its guidance. See – It’s not
the <u>possession</u> of the truth that matters, it is whether we’ll follow
where the light of that truth leads us. It is better to have the dim light of
the stars and follow it than to have the bright light of the holy scriptures
and neglect it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ouch – I’m preaching to
myself here – In other words, we can’t just relax knowing that we possess the
fullness of truth – we have to actually act on it in order to find Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So,
let’s ask another question about Tuscaloosa…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If I googled directions and printed them out for you, would you follow
them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or – as you’re driving down the
road would you see a side-road that looks pretty and say – “I’ll bet I can
still get there from here….I’ll just go up a ways and see where it takes me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since you don’t even know where Tuscaloosa
is, that would be pretty silly to try to find your own path to get there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have been given the most direct route to Jesus – in the Church
that He established.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what does that
benefit us if we don’t follow the directions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nature worshipers and even non-believers who try to find God through the
dim light of natural reason might actually be finding Jesus before some of us
Christians who have been given all the revealed truths about God …if we fail to
look at the map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the point of
today’s readings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last
point really quick:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all of our readings indicate
that All the nations on earth will adore the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow, God plans to shine his light to all
the corners of the world so that ALL people will be drawn toward him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like God planned to put a star in the
sky to guide all of the pagans to find Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is that star?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the
Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s you and me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WE are the stars guiding everyone around us
to find Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the question each of
us has to ask ourselves:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am I walking in
the Light?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does my life reflect the love
of God to those around me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone
follows ME, will I be leading them TOWARD Jesus, or AWAY?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Be
a star. Shine so brightly that when people look at you, all they see is Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-72635748687406099662022-11-26T16:56:00.000-08:002022-11-26T16:56:36.546-08:002022/11/26 - First Sunday of Advent - see the Gorilla<p>Before Mass</p><p>On my way to church Saturday my attention was caught by a car parked in an odd spot - probably a hunter - but it made me realize there was a lake right there. I've driven that route for 20 years and never noticed that lake! Anybody else ever had that happen? </p><p>For example, did you ever notice on that stained glass window over there that Jesus is holding some sort of orb with a cross on it... I think I've seen it before, but never really paid any attention to it.</p><p>We don’t always notice stuff – because it’s not on our radar – it’s not important. We actually get into the habit of ignoring stuff. It’s normal for us humans to build habits –Think of a baby – walking for the first time, every ounce of concentration is directed at moving those feet and maintaining balance. Yet – as they get the hang of it – it becomes a habit and before you know it, they’re running out the door and don’t even THINK about walking. </p><p>As true as that is humanly, it’s particularly true in our spiritual lives. We come to Church and out of habit, we kinda get into a zone… I know I do. It’s like part of our brains turn off as soon as we sit in the pew.</p><p>But Jesus tells us to ‘Stay Awake’! He’s inviting us to wake up so we don’t miss out on what God is doing in this present moment.</p><p>Wake up right now – pay attention to what’s going on – to the words of the prayers, songs, readings – pay attention to who is around you. See if this changes your experience at Mass today. In fact, if this changes your experience at Mass, I’d love to hear about it.</p><p>Homily</p><p>How well do you pay attention?</p><p>There’s a famous experiment about attention which goes something like this: Someone is set down in front of a TV screen and a video is played showing people passing a ball around in a circle. The person is told to count the number of times the white team passes the ball – so they press start and begin counting. At the end of the video, the researcher comes back in and they announce that they counted 14 times – and by golly they’re right! But then the researcher asks – did you see the gorilla? Gorilla? What gorilla? They play back the video and sure enough, half-way through, this guy in a gorilla suit comes right into the middle of the screen, beats his chest, and runs off the other side. More than half of the people counting DIDN’T see the gorilla. You and I might think we’d see it – but maybe not.</p><p><a 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7jIqduuJwWE4yvIFA5Sn5mq7kaid0czwaUsD4n6wbBTdLiD5CNA37oYeIv1Vdq42vMYIGb+1DhvWeTlhR3Lz0v7UOBlLAJa+alLA9m7Wlw8lNwM4px4UeFc/hRRNiZp5K0j2WgcjYrExSPYQ2Sk8URGbsclcFMIfINXCc4yEVQNoAxsYwm6VouV9E/YEO4q0TQtNf/Twl/kp7zMdT98wuc3C2kLBSfFwwB5ZldupHe1A3Q946RlMac1RG5gvPTK3XGQgS004UUSbCnxDYGcW4ovcX67+ZMxd7Sj/aBBFg2E8/KvA6/JywY7keel3am9oyNmgPJpCNrRppFtprQ3gIDIp6xQqW6Vm1qDXak1msscOCmXQB8K+qfsQ7jlWpzW+5WOfWmLIZjowUhjxAYe16OxKeakj/AJT6buUyUTPdQoDhWryCGU5+Zii+sF56pzcdUFNivhvpgT3ukcXOQyjldEbuwnkOYC3g9JyPBzwQ2cjz0u4KbxlGLmj/ACnclAIDMqRYwgyMCkfdaU95DW15Khj+FDE3yW+hP2L7zlhhqnHsFjHB07qQyG/QcnuLDG8eHLUHtY8cOCxf07HKt+kazZWF5k/HSMp+9qi+sMzTRbnABOxuHBoWU3ExvVgqb6aef7jyrQzhebDPCOx6DkeDnguwo89J4Kbxlhy3+oZaPJQyIRIsWjJF/mE/S5pLXArEWZSjwoGa8VCxO3efQm7F96vdYYHRK5O73WgjwmdTxbHXxS/TnufgmX4KncHu0jwpHBrbKwnDih0DLEGnNKhNzK06QMBKlldM42dkAg1QSG9JWMlayLdE25xVoc5tOkgoO1NDug5O7SgvIWD2jKPPT4KadssNRxLEeShlal7E8DSFM8saXNO61Eny558KOAGw+wVhMNHHiQ6z6M30yvuR4KwTf7L78lYpmmY5eE00UOl1uBYD3bIkRwMhgNUOU1z2Ah5v+VMS5zbWG7HIdAQK28hXlinnSQm8JqG/CvQdQCxU0sh+Y7K1SCBRywz+WdTu0ocLyFh/pD8o8nqZlgRc7j7DIK0Sp+ApeFijUfuTsAsHhxhmAuaDK5aSZ3lRENl6hnL9Mr7v9J3CiGiNoWPZTwaQyb3lAV0tFuCDS5wa0flTxsZDQFlP5asN2OQ6B04obJppNcHJrQFKSbACkaGWXH/SMNQayhxkAfZEoJh0yAo7npk7Tk3uCjFRD8o8nqb5V0sA2o5HnygEBSKJ8UpjsGlP4UjS6q8FGRpop9D5graRyopNY0k79Izl+mV9yjY6Z40tOkeVI4sj1NHAU+IlnNvXla23VhN7yh0WiSK/k0mxaWsDfIG5WImiY0sDw4p/IUH0yhmEOmRgeFJE6M8JjxqAtN4WkvOnXSlhih06W7nyni2PH8cpjSXFoaVBho27kWVLAxzSnDS6kMonaowemXsyZu8IbMajz1M+5PPyFRCoIq9s9JPhSDSBZpYgVR1BOcCwG04i1qspu4WmkdiCDRCZiWOHz7FNljd94C8Z3lL9Mr4RO5WCtsD2/wAqVgfGSDVeFLFKJWMr5XnlHAYdtDU4qPDYNg2gBKxQayf5RSBB6SLC+PO5ojMpoJrQDY5T23RWHNxlDMdZY13ITsDh3G6op8OltNVuYa4Re48lbnymAJlKY01ONvcgUFh36SWrg9EvAyZ3hHtajz0hN7inCwmvgEcY+MNgv6iBv3ak7Gj7I/8Aqdi53ew/CcJHm3PcU/jkpxdfcULQTXbpjDIDRor4Gt2lwc2vKdGWGnbjwUWNvhQztfUWiiOkvL78AZYV7WSSMJ5QcLWIp2JjGrYbpovdAc+yxRa6Y0q9kCVZVjNp+ZBbFYbschnatHMZhEWnRNPhTwhh2VFNcByo3NPCxLwGkkom3Eq0CgaIKBtoPRL4yj3cE7hqPPUO45N/C23pClatycLClZvaBVngIbNpYXdjl/tFoeNLuF/TEONH8FQwiOzduPKDVSrKVpHzNCc/4dgG3KBgDNVW73QjNgErRpxL/wAJvCnfoicuSSrQCroHKFoBYd1EtQ9ULFdwylYHMKbLKywHp73v7nXlVqkCoDYLT0S8jKHvCf4R56vuyaT4QFA0hkU6yNkR7p2zqCAr8o7/ACjkpn9nStuegZHJ/YU7ZywHzNeEO8J2+JkTeAsfJTdCGQ6KyZvkDpIKBsA5BX6eJ7wgnEMYXFE6i41ycxtlwVEakHRLyMsOLkCdyjz1ffkCrzJV2E5FhcflCLXg0VG0NNnlEWCojqZXt0jN/a5O7gmSugfrbwEzERSU8WoyHvlcPdWGiysWZS8uLXV4TTsgh4CkaGEAG9leZFhR7DLlRG4x6I6cR3obAk8BYicykj7QUNgrvLnIbmhyVFF8Mb93RJ3DLC7yNR3JR56j3DO1aBXKHCcoDUwvgqSNrrFKiC4Epig4egrV1kDm/sKdyE0apGhUA1wG2ywzaYfypLJABWOY9zAdTjS2pDKulhRKabBWHNtPojoHKn3esVMfptKA+XIKx5CawOsh4FeCg3UCbAKghJeJNqHS/uywY+cIlHnqdyOjUmvvZWrTlel7T/KuzaloyupM4UQqP0H9pTuQsOLcXJ7wyN73bBQN/wDrCSxRV6t/CxkpbEGjyVt6P+0DQWHFMJQ9QKY0XlEkkk5DocaBWHaWxWeT0u7jlg8jz1P8dBNJ3ilqJCbtuhxZTuFG64Q72CabLj7lNGyAprR6DuCpDVKFulgCkaCxwUP6a0s1SzvcP8EwNGzRTRwFjXXI1vUcwmgWiRSjFRMQ9QLGu0tevA6ozrkDasdR7jlg0Eeep/AQytOF5MdpNFclWqtMfWHeFH2hMbb2hHk9ZTj8pRGp7W/yq4UnaU11Ye1Hs0EqZ/xJXHqLkMhkxhkkYxEi6HAyHphfqJ3A6rUMYiH/AJHqvco8LCdrj/GRcLWoLW0L4jFratQT3fLsE1+wtqc5B/8A4rX/AOKu96RG26YdQyDgnpqw9mUUqNnZaXeyo+y0n2Wl3stJ9itLvYrS72Kc11FRC5iciAU3eNzE55ayrohAklxPv0uNBDIIBEELBNDY3yOcATwFbP8AMLUz/MIOj/zb/wBWqP8AcZ/1a4v3G/8AVrhHMrEJIf3mLXD+8xfFh/eYviwfvMXxYP3mL4sH7zF8WD91qE0H7jVjXskk+VwNInpiZ961P52Wpy1O90C4+UL/AMltXKILV7KKZkDafe6/rIPYou34WoLUFqHsrVqwtQWoLUFqCaLTm3ymUxdya2k/dNTnvZRYaKdLO0/UK+LP+4V8Wb9wr4k37rlrl/cd/wBQfN+47/qMkn7jv+ovk/cd/wBWt997lh28qrCJpX5HKnLvhk6d/dN4P5Q6JDZQyCYLQoEWpKJ24WlVSoKgq/hGvZV/Cr+FpWkfwtI/hBg/haR/CDQnipHDIdEHYcqVKlSpFqohwTjr8KgiN1WZIGR6KQFAIgoW6QC8rRCaaTtwtC0rStCDQtLVpatIRaFgh3rcI0VTfZOFsK8u/PQN0e4oZBQgvkDApIWBpHlBpbsUAtAQY1aWqgqGWy2VBUPZfKqCFKYASbeRkOiCgzo4V9R59Jgt2Tyox89qrQaE51bIFbOBcDaByAVdWHcBJynN/lU4IE+VuWlEU5356IhvanZTg4dGHIbKg3XR1NWJaA8UQVSpV6NDPECnhEdLH6CviMPn0jz6UY85P4Ki5yJATnEpkmmvZRz4UAg0wKWWGQ1EMrVq+k+CopNTaOfLXI7Od+eiMUxStD2EIJuUe7xaLR7Kq8elWdZYpvyBy5F53mQE2YigVY0g+DnWRIzPPQUFWZKbsMpD4UTdIydwiqWkeQhQ4V+iw6Smm8vtKPc78o5tOwC2TxpkIQ2K1BX5CY/W0f8A4JhcbkOOikMjdFQ74OP0CN8qVZ75jc5FMeGSaiLVhx1BFPPQOq+mNyBQqind7x/KOQ7mhHY5YhpoPWxVBBQmnkKsqVKlSrKui1atWDsiNLnDMUHC+FJEWfMNwVatOOyiFQxtPgegefRaPOTjSAtyCKkO/QB0HrHKYbQG6nFTuzjAMgR5KCeAWOCHkIZB1FpXNH3VZ10VlXVMPmBzqwoJDWhykgBNtNfwhdluk2FhIHYnEAaSGtFlP+o6hQB9A1foONIMeG2WkBF2xpBh5tM78jwUdyVXRavorKsrVpjqTXrGNpwdm008FHlC8pG6ZSPdBBHhRG4lSrppUqzLVWRpSN1NVEbHnK0DTmlNNuH8qKNjGkBos+UHNhiedrPlc2TyUcq6SBeZ2Tcymt1yNamiRrKlcHewHhPawm6opxA3LlCXOkJI2Xunn5aGdZ0qVdVKgqRcAhiCsQ8va3cIKlxS5AQyxTOHDIZYTfWOulSrKkQqRbSYySWTQwb+6dgHsP1QXKX9PdyZwXnwpI3xOp4zieY3B/sm/qDjY+EU+R8nNZEKs6VKkecygCts2nQ7UjiWObVG1Jcmx7UGhoUYJ2pAUatPaT2oscNyDS1t9wtWYAVBV0V0yglHIZHgpoJY38IAhBPbqYQh5HkZBYY6ZvyuCeu1fSU2R+HxLJT2+UC19OY4U5S4aNxY8yaCDZdaxDsEaGvWfOyOEwbuJ/hofp2F7pcTbU9sWr+0DoHReVdJ56aVKiqVZO4UELJoA5shDgdyniZ4bG4MYzy8bkpgDyGxx1GOXO5UnwA/4IOtx8DwhhoYyR8IEqZjWFunzyqHXSpUqCKJoJxvKtszwVEbjGewUzNEl+CimprtL2lHm1ed5WgR1ndaWhFrTVjIgHkBaWohV0Dq8+jSpOCwpYyFrWivLijicOHfKC8+7U+djW280PY8ps4N/A0M1cuPKfK7t1WfdVvZ6b6LV5kWvh2tC0jSVSGUH0j+chlOLiW9ZO7QgQ5jT61dIRHpnnKj010UhY2BTZpWCm6Wj2aE4azbtz7lFo9ry36vGd9JGbtnFcZQH5SMmk5EagQiKJbkFC8tdoPCJ39KuqlWVKiqKpV1UvOYzOXCv0a9O86VKYjWKzh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rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gorilla Video</a><br /></p><p>There’s a phenomenon in us humans called selective attention – where we focus on one thing and can ignore everything else around us. We do that with our eyes, but also with our thinking. That’s actually a useful thing, because 99% of what our eyes see are irrelevant to us. We only really see what we focus our attention on. Unless something grabs our attention, or it’s pointed out to us – we don’t even notice. Kinda like the fact that there are 4 blades on the fans over your head. Chances are – you never noticed that useless detail...because it's a USELESS DETAIL. Selective attention helps us a lot!</p><p>However, this selective attention also can work against us. We can be so focused on what we think is important, that we miss the really important stuff. Many times we’re distracted by stuff going on – you know we’re all really busy – but many times we intentionally distract ourselves to KEEP from paying attention. In fact, we build habits of distracting ourselves… reading the bulletin during the homily, checking our phone constantly, allowing a computer or TV or video game to eat up hours of our time. It’s like we’re asleep.</p><p>The second reading tells us now is the hour to wake from our sleep. Jesus invites us in the Gospel to Stay Awake. What’s he mean?</p><p>Father Anthony DeMello, a Jesuit priest explains - Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep, so to speak. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they raise children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. Meaning - They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.</p><p>You see - being alert, awake, and vigilant in the biblical sense is not a matter of living in fear that the world’s about to end – or that we’re about to die. Rather it is a matter of paying attention to God working in every moment of our lives. What’s that look like? We pay attention to our relationships – to the person right in front of you. We recognize Love at work in those relationships. We pray about how WE can be more loving and forgiving. We recognize the blessings in our lives and we’re thankful for them… and not just on Thanksgiving! When we wake up and recognize God at work, we can’t help being grateful, thanking, appreciating, affirming, forgiving, apologizing, and being more mindful of the joys of life.</p><p>What’s all this have to do with Advent? First - Advent means ‘arrival’ or ‘coming’. It’s a season where we’re REMINDED to be mindful – to pay attention – to wake up – because Jesus is actually arriving every moment of every day… we just don’t always see it. Can we take this command of Jesus to wake up seriously? Perhaps we can do a nightly examen where we mentally walk through everything that happened that day – good or bad – and thank God for it and look for where He was working in that event.</p><p>Secondly – to make this Advent meaningful – you and I can actively MAKE advent happen – in other words, through our actions, the Holy Spirit can arrive. Anytime we sow Love, Peace, Joy – we are inviting the Spirit into that moment.</p><p>To Wake up is to look for The kingdom of God, which is all around you and me. Seriously – it’s right here – right NOW! Do you see it? <softly> Do you hear it? If we want to encounter God, we don’t encounter Him in the past – we don’t encounter Him in the future. We can only encounter God is the present moment. Wake up and seek Him and we WILL find Him already at work.</p><p>I attended a workshop last week where we were talking about listening to the HS. Just like I’ve been talking about here, The Spirit is constantly trying to <softly> speak to us and through us… but we’re usually not paying attention. We did this little exercise where several of us stood in the front of the room facing the wall – then people would stand behind us where we couldn’t even see them and we were supposed to ask the HS for a word about them. I was facing a crucifix – it had been there all along – but suddenly my eyes were drawn to the left shoulder – there was a visible crack where the arm attached to the body. I almost ignored it – it seemed like an insignificant detail - but I felt like THAT was what the Holy Spirit was pointing out to me – so I mentioned to the guy behind me that there was something significant about that shoulder being disconnected from the body.</p><p>Immediately, he said – well, I’m having surgery this Friday and they’re going to disconnect my shoulder so they can reconstruct the joint! My jaw hit the floor. I almost didn’t even mention the crack in the shoulder because I didn’t see what it could possibly mean… but because I was intentionally paying attention to the HS, I took a risk and told him about it. What do you think, was that coincidence?</p><p>Another time I was driving to Jasper and had the thought that I should call someone – so I did – and just left a short voicemail explaining that the Spirit told me to call her and deliver a short message of encouragement. She was so appreciative – and the next day we sat down for two hours to talk, because she had some heavy stuff she really needed to get off her chest. </p><p>I’m convinced that the Spirit wants to do that every day – for every one of us – maybe every minute – but until we Wake Up, and stop distracting ourselves and intentionally start paying attention, ...</p><p>...we’ll miss the gorilla in the room.</p><div><br /></div>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-5854681792883283652022-10-22T18:42:00.000-07:002022-10-22T18:42:15.252-07:002022/10/23 - Burn the Boxes<p>Before Mass</p><p>In the Gospel today, we’ll hear about two guys who go to church… seemingly for different reasons. And it raises the question: Why do we come to Church? Why do we pray? Is it to make ourselves feel good? Is it to support other people in the pews? Do we even HAVE a reason for coming to church? In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a strong clue about the reason for prayer. He implies that the purpose of prayer is to be ‘justified’. That’s not a word we use often, so we might miss the meaning of the Gospel.</p><p>One place we might use that word is when we’re typing something – and we tell the computer to Left-justify everything. It means to line everything up in a straight line. If you’re a carpenter, you’re familiar with a plumb-bob – that string with a weight on it which shows you where the plumb line is – which is exactly straight up and down. </p><p>So in a spiritual perspective, to be Justified means to be lined-up with God – to be in right relationship. THAT is the goal of prayer. </p><p>Homily </p><p>Let’s pretend for a minute that God is in this box. I know – God cannot be contained – but play along for a minute. God is in this box. Now – the goal of the Christian life is what? To be with God – to become part of the divine. In short – our goal of our religion… the goal of our LIFE in general, is to get into this box with God.</p><p>How do we get into the box? Well, we actually have a pretty good idea of the path to get to God, because He has TOLD us: Through scriptures, prophets, and revelation to saints, God has revealed paths for us to get to him – things like following the commandments, praying, celebrating the Mass, praying our rosary and chaplets – all of these are ways that have been given to us to get into the box. So let me ask – if I do all those things we’ve been told will I automatically be in the box with God? </p><p>I mean surely, if God revealed that praying a rosary is the fastest way to heaven – then SURELY if I pray it daily I’ll be in the box with God.</p><p>Surely if I go to Mass and receive Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity weekly – or even EVERY DAY – SURELY, I’ll be in the box!</p><p>Surely if I give my 10 percent to charity, THAT would put me in the box.</p><p>And surely - SURELY – if I do ALL of those things, then I’m good, RIGHT?</p><p>Maybe you think that’s not enough… What if we added confession - or novenas - or bible study or working the soup kitchen – THEN we’d be in the box, right? Add all you want – I still say – it won’t automatically put us in the box with God.</p><p>See – that’s the perspective of the Pharisee in the Gospel today. The Pharisee was not a BAD person. In fact, he was the goodest of the good people… In the days of Jesus, the Pharisee was the ‘religious guy’ who did everything right… by definition – that’s what Pharisees do – they follow every law to the letter, and they THINK that guarantees that they are in the box with God. And since they’re so tight with God, THEY’ve got the moral high ground, - so they look down on everyone else. That’s what we hear from the first guy in the Gospel – looking down his nose at ‘those sinners’ and patting himself on the back for being so good.</p><p>Now – the rest of us would look at the Pharisee and based on everything we know, would have to agree – he IS the goodest of the good people. He’s SO good, in fact, that there’s no way we can measure up. I mean, If following the law of Moses is THE path to God, then the path is so steep that 99 percent of us ain’t got no chance of ever climbing into that box…. So we’d just give up. God is out of reach. Instead of helping us to reach God, the law becomes an impediment keeping us from God.</p><p>That’s one perspective – but Jesus brings in the Publican… which is tax collector. He is the baddest of the bad people. Worse than a sinner, He’s a traitor against Israel – he’s a extortionist – a cheater – a thief. To put that in perspective, think to yourself of the worst, most un-holy person you know. The person you are SURE has no chance of getting the heaven. DON’T say their names out loud! Maybe it’s your Deacon 😉 or maybe a family member, co-worker, politician, maybe somebody involved in human trafficking, Hitler maybe… we all have someone who we think is a bad person. Surely God hates them.</p><p>Jesus says – that person – that baddest of the bad persons – knows how to get in the box with God – and the Holy guy does not. What?</p><p>See how this just doesn’t make sense? The Jews would think - Jesus – we’ve only been given ONE path to God and it’s called the Law of Moses. THIS guy follows that path better than anyone we know … and now you’re saying even THAT ain’t good enough? </p><p>Jesus is pointing out what is missing in the prayer of the Pharisee. Access to God is not about all the external things of religion… it’s about the internal state of our hearts.</p><p>Notice, because the Pharisee has the moral high ground, he easily becomes inflated with Pride – and y’all know Pride is considered the root of all the deadly sins. Because of that, instead of humbling himself before God, he thinks he’s ALREADY justified – he thinks he’s already IN THE BOX with God…. He doesn’t need God’s help, thank you – he’s got it all under control.</p><p>But the baddest of the bad guys successfully gets into the box with God… not by doing all the externals of religion… in fact, he likely does NONE of those things… instead his path into the box is to approach God in humility… to open up his heart and admit he is a sinner and ask for mercy. He recognizes that he cannot approach God without God’s mercy. That is the key to the box.</p><p>We see this another time in the Gospels when Jesus is hanging on the cross and the thief says – ‘we are getting what we deserved’ – and then he asked Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Notice – he admitted his sin – then asked for mercy. He’s considered to be the thief who stole heaven… by one act of humility at the end of his life, he got into the box with Jesus.</p><p>So – how do we apply this to our lives?</p><p>It’s a normal human tendency to put God in a box…. And only those who follow the secret path of OUR religion can get to God… and if it gets too easy, we add on more rules to make the path even harder. Why? Because we kinda like being on the moral high ground. We like feeling that we’ve done everything WE can to EARN God’s attention. This naturally leads to pride. We put ourselves in a box of moral certitude and feel like we are justified because of our actions. WE followed all the rules! – at least better than that guy over there so we DESERVE to be with God.</p><p>Religion can also lead us to putting other people into boxes. ‘Those people’ don’t do things exactly as I do, so they obviously aren’t going to be loved by God. Those people over there are the wrong political party – those people over there are not pro-life – those people over there do whatever – notice the common thread: ‘those people over there’. Anytime we put people into a box, we think they are excluded them from God – but in reality, we’re excluding ourselves from God. Because our pride – our lack of humility – keeps us from opening our hearts to other people – and therefore keeps us from opening our hearts to God.</p><p>The thing is – THERE IS NO BOX. God cannot be contained in a box this size – nor the size of this church – nor the size of the world or even the size of the universe. God is all in all – and the path to get to God is not some list of a thousand things to do – but the path to God is to simply, humbly admit that we are sinners in need of a savior and to ask God for mercy. THAT is the Good News of the Gospel. The purpose of prayer is to admit that we’re NOT justified – that we’re NOT living as we should – and ask God for mercy so we can improve our relationship with Him.</p><p>Now – let me be clear – doing all the things our religion suggests ARE good things. They are TOOLS given to us by the Church and by saints throughout the ages to ASSIST us on the path to get to God. But if we think the rules or the tool is THE way to God, we’ve missed the point of today’s Gospel. For example, I may say a rosary every day, but if it doesn’t change my heart – it’s not opening my mind and heart to God. A relationship where we don’t share our hearts is not a real relationship. Think about that from a human perspective – you may be physically close to your spouse or you may be texting your friends often to stay connected– but if you don’t reach the point of sharing your deepest thoughts and dreams and feelings – sharing your heart with them – then the relationship remains only on the surface. Same applies to our spiritual life – only through sharing our deepest thoughts in all honesty and humility will we deepen our relationship with God.</p><p>Yes – do all of our religious practices – but – burn the boxes and turn to God with humility.</p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-56790096986620989052022-10-02T16:50:00.001-07:002022-10-02T17:03:58.773-07:002022/10/02 - Be the Bolt<div style="background: white; line-height: 22.5pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/Habakkuk/1?2"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4<br /></span></b></a><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/Psalms/95?1"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9<br /></span></b></a><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/1?6"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14<br /></span></b></a><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/17?5"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Lk 17:5-10</span></b></a></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 22.5pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Note: homily based on this quote:</div><div style="background: white; line-height: 22.5pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: kepler-std, serif;">Don’t be a fool! It’s true that at most you play the part of a little bolt in that great undertaking of Christ's. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: kepler-std, serif;">But do
you know what happens when a bolt is not tight enough or when it works itself
out of place? Bigger parts also work loose or the gear-wheels get damaged and
broken. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: kepler-std, serif;">The work
is slowed up. Perhaps the whole machine will be rendered useless.<br /></span></b><span style="font-family: kepler-std, serif;"><b>What a
big thing it is to be a little bolt!<br /></b></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "var(--font-main)", serif; line-height: 107%;">St. Josemaría Escrivá, </span><a href="https://www.catholiccompany.com/way-furrow-forge-1-vol-edition-i3322/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "var(--font-main)", serif; line-height: 107%; text-decoration-line: none;">The Way</span></i></a></p></div><p>Before Mass</p><p>Ever think about what’s holding our roof up over our head? The ceiling is held up by those beams up there are called trusses – it’s what allows long spans without posts. But we learned in the fire department a long time ago that if one piece of the truss fails, the whole thing collapses. But as long as each bolt and piece of metal does its job, the church stands.</p><p>You ever notice that bolt right there on the end… I never did either – but for the homily today I want to tell you the story about that bolt… it’s name is Bobbie. Bobbie the Bolt.</p><p>In the Gospel today, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith – then he goes off into the weeds, it seems, talking about servants serving at the table. What’s that got to do with increasing our Faith, Jesus? I admit, at first I saw no connection.</p><p>Hopefully the story of Bobbie the Bolt will help us understand.</p><p><br /></p><p>Homily</p><p>When Bobbie was just born, he was nothing more than an unformed piece of metal. He could have been anything when he grew up! He dreamed of being the nose on the front of a jet… He thought about being a bullet that a soldier would use to defend his country… He even thought it would be cool to be the metal canister in a hand-cranked ice cream freezer.</p><p>But he was just a blob of metal.</p><p>As he got older, his life experiences started squeezing him and forming him into something more recognizable – but Bobbie didn’t like what he saw when he looked in the mirror. Bobbie was forming into a bolt. That’s not what he wanted to be! Bolts are boring! I want to be a jet – not a bolt!</p><p>Yet, every job he took – every experience of his life seemed to form him more and more… leaving grooves in him for some unknown purpose. He went through some really hard times which almost melted him – but he came through even stronger than before – he became hardened steel.</p><p>Finally, when he reached maturity, some workers picked him up and stuck him through a piece of metal truss beam and tightened a nut on the other end of him. Bobbie was bummed out… he would prefer to be the truss beam, not just a boring bolt! The truss was lifted into the air and the roof was put on, and Bobbie has been in that place in the ceiling ever since…. Holding up the roof of our church here.</p><p>So, what do you think – did Bobbie have a good life? Did he fulfill the purpose God gave him?</p><p>You and I are like Bobbie. We may have dreams about what we want to be – but everything we do in life forms us into the tool that God needs us to be. See – it’s by doing the job that is in front of us that we become who we are. It’s by Fulfilling the responsibilities we’ve been given that the path to holiness opens up for us. </p><p>That’s an important lesson – in fact, it’s one of the central themes of Opus Dei – the organization founded by St. Josemaria Escriva. Literally, Opus Dei means ‘the work of God’. Josemaria’s point was that in doing all of the mundane work of everyday life, THAT is how each person is sanctified – that’s how we become holy – THAT is how we increase our faith.</p><p>Each job we do forms us into the tool – or the bolt – that God needs us to be. As each of us does what we’re called to do, we form the Church – literally – it takes every one of us doing our part to hold this church together. Yeah we need Priests – and maybe we need Deacons – but we also need church cleaners, musicians, altar servers, grass cutters, office staff, people to wash dishes after the parish social… I could go on and on… it takes hundreds of people doing their seemingly mundane job to keep this church standing.</p><p>Just like that bolt right up there. If we don’t do our job, the whole structure would be compromised. </p><p>Now – let’s connect this to the parable in the Gospel. Does Bobbie the Bolt deserve thanks for doing his job? Would we ever THINK of praising that bolt for doing what it was made to do? No – Bobbie is simply fulfilling the purpose that God gave him. He is doing his own Opus Dei…the work of God.</p><p>You and I are like that bolt. Without even being noticed, we simply fulfill the mundane responsibilities in front of us every day – as mothers and father, husbands and wives, co-workers and bosses, friends and brothers and sisters, students… our work IS our path to holiness. </p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When we humble ourselves to change a diaper, take out the trash, sweep the floor – it teaches us humility. </p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When we faithfully get up each morning to earn our pay and provide for our family, it teaches us self-less-ness. </p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As we reach out to others in need or offer a kind word to a friend who’s feeling depressed, we learn what it’s like to Be the love of God for each other. </p><p>In these simple, mundane tasks appointed to us, we are doing our own Opus Dei – the work of God. Each task leaves a groove in us for some unknown purpose which we may not understand …but we can trust that God will harden us like steel if we need to be.</p><p>When we ask ‘Lord increase our faith’ – the answer is: do what you’ve been given to do… and when you look back, you’ll see that you’ve become a hardened piece of steel – made by God for a specific purpose… to hold the Church together.</p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-3945837501419095522022-08-28T06:42:00.000-07:002022-08-28T06:42:05.838-07:002022/08/28 - And you thought you were just coming to church<p><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Before Mass:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The overwhelming theme of the readings today is
HUMILITY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll just tell you that now, because
that’s not what we’re going to talk about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We don’t often preach on the 2<sup>nd</sup> reading, because it doesn’t
always fit the theme of the other two readings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But today, it’s a powerful one, and I really felt like Spirit prompting
me to concentrate on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To understand
that reading though, you gotta know just a little back story – because it refers
to something that’s not obvious to us today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The first part of the reading refers to’ </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">blazing fire and
gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such
that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What?!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That make sent to anybody?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
first century readers would immediately have known what he was talking
about:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Mt Sanai, God was giving the
10 commandments to Moses, but what the people experiences was thunder and
lighting and trumpet blasts and the mountain was smoking – THAT was how the
people experienced the voice of God- and they were SO terrified that they
begged Moses – YOU talk to God so we don’t have to hear him lest we die!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Literally, they thought approaching would
kill them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our reading today is saying
THAT is NOT how WE experience God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">You
and I are in the New Testament – and that’s what the second half of the reading
is about ‘No, you have approached Mount Zion’ – that’s symbolic speech for you
have approached HEAVEN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So put your
thinking cap on… When exactly have you and I approached HEAVEN?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re not dead yet – is there another time we
approach heaven? – at Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the
main thing to remember as you listen to the second half – he’s describing
what’s about to happen right here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="color: white;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Homily<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Have you ever been someplace
that was so beautiful – so moving – so above-and-beyond that words fail when
you try to tell your friends about it!?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I feel that when I come back from Colorado.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As much as I try to show pictures and tell
the stories, there is no way I can communicate to you just how phenomenal the
experience is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because unless you were there, you just don’t
get it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s more than mountains, it’s
more than awesome sunrises and clouds and trees and the smell of the spruce and
the breezes and the wildlife sightings and the cold, crisp, dry air….I could go
on and on, but I’d still fail in my descriptions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">That’s kinda what’s happening
in today’s second reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The letter to
the Hebrews is TRYING to describe something phenomenal, over-the-top, moving –
but words don’t do it justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the audience hasn’t seen what he’s
trying to explain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s TRYING to open
their eyes to recognize what is right in front of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s trying to open OUR eyes to what we’re
about to experience here at Mass.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">If I had my way, right now
I’d quit talking and we’d watch a video which SHOWS us what this reading is
trying to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you saw it on
facebook or the website – if so, you’re at an advantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For everyone else, – I’ll TRY to convey some
meaning by adding more words even though it may be an epic fail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So, Pick up your missalettes
and turn to page 207.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to go deep
into several lines in the second half of that 2<sup>nd</sup> reading. We’ve
heard this kind of stuff our whole lives, but it’s so full of metaphors that it
comes across as just flowery church-talk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember what I said before Mass, he’s talking about The Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s put those glasses on and see if it
makes more sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Skip to the line: “you HAVE
COME to Mount Zion <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">a) “Mt. Zion”, “the city of
the living God”, “the heavenly Jerusalem” —<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These are three of images which the Bible itself uses to describe
HEAVEN. Think about that: We are visiting the city of the living God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where is God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In heaven!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many saints have told us that Mass truly is “heaven on earth,”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let that sink in a little – when we’re
kneeling here during the consecration, we are actually in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">b) “Innumerable angels in
festal gathering” — If God was to open our eyes just once so that we could see
the invisible — as he has to some mystics in Church history — we would see
them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would be overwhelmed to see the
entire heavenly host surrounding us in the sanctuary. All the angels are here!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also notice they are in ‘festal gathering’…
is that important?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YES – they are
dressed up for a feast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the
feast??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll come back to that in a
couple minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">c) “The assembly of the first
born enrolled in heaven” — “Assembly” is the translation of ekklesia, which is the
Greek word for Church. Y’all know the Church is not the building, but the
people – and that includes all people past, present, and future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bottom line – we may think we come here to
pray individually or even as a community - but we’re not alone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every person who has their name written in
the book of life is praying together with us as brothers and sisters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So move over and let them into your pew!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">d) “God the judge of all” —
God the Father is here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already said
we have approached God’s holy city, but God himself is HERE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is all loving, but He is also our judge —
so we should never pretend that we’re better than we are – because He knows us
better than we know ourselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should
approach the judge in humility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on
the other hand we need not be terrified, because this same God gave us Jesus as
our defense lawyer – and he’s already written his defense brief on our behalf
in his own blood (1John 2:1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">e) “The spirits of the
righteous made perfect” — This refers to the saints, who have been made perfect
by God – through earthly trials, through martyrdom, through purgatory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Love of God has perfected them. All of
them are here as well — here!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our
church!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Including our patron Saints
Isidore, Raphael, and Celestine — praying right alongside of us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">f) “Jesus, the mediator of a
new covenant” — Wait – WHERE is Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He’s in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He stands
forever before the throne of his Father offering his body as the once-for-all
sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But – He is also HERE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is the mediator… think of it this
way:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because we have the Body of Jesus
on our altar, THAT is what makes it possible for us all to participate in that
heavenly liturgy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re both in heaven
and on earth because we have a mediator who makes it possible!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is the priest, He is also the
sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When father holds up the host
at the consecration, it’s no longer Father holding the host, but Jesus himself
holding it up using the hands of our Priest!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a community, we join in THE sacrifice which is forever offered in
heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not a new sacrifice – He
died once for all - but Jesus stands forever before the throne offering himself
as this sacrifice on our behalf.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">g) “The sprinkled blood that
speaks more eloquently than the blood of Abel” — OK think - What blood are we
approaching?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blood of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who was Abel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was Adam’s son who was killed by his brother Cain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Abel was killed by his brother, his blood
cried out for <u>vengeance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other
hand, when we, the brothers of Jesus killed him, </u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his blood speaks not of vengeance but of
forgiveness: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s an example – we’ll
hear the words shortly: “This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and
everlasting covenant, which will be shed for you and for all SO THAT SINS MAY
BE FORGIVEN.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put two and two together… Why
did Jesus empty himself of blood?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
forgive us!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus’ blood seeks
forgiveness – and Forgiveness is more eloquent than vengeance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This is the reality every
time we come to Mass! Honestly, I have to remind myself often, because without
the eyes of faith, we would never see this nor believe any of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">There’s a video I HIGHLY
recommend<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>called ‘The Mass Unveiled’ –
you can google it – or find it in the bulletin or there’s a link on our
website (and below).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s only 5.5 minutes and gives
a great visual of what’s going on at Mass – in fact, if you watch it, you’ll
understand that much of my feeble descriptions were made after seeing that
video….and you’ll understand that my words didn’t do it justice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">One last note – it’s not
coincidence that the Gospel speaks of being invited to a wedding banquet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Mass IS the wedding feast of Jesus as He
is wed to his bride, the Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve
all been invited here by the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
the angels are here in their festal garments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How we approach the feast has consequences – if we’re all pumped up and
exalted and think we deserve this somehow, we will be humbled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we humbly recognize that there is NO
WAY we could deserve what Jesus did for us, then we will remain lowly – HUMBLE –
then the Father will exalt us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’ll
say, ‘friend come to a higher position’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Father will call each of us by name to
approach Him more closely, not just to the seats in the first row, but beyond
the first row, to wed us to His Son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did
you catch that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what this
marriage feast is all about:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You and I
come forward to be WED to Jesus himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And you thought you were just
coming to church today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+mass+unveiled&refig=ea5bec4f945cc78fc39b44beec1a77c1&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dthe%2bmass%2bunveiled%26form%3dANNTH1%26refig%3dea5bec4f945cc78fc39b44beec1a77c1&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=6293CF01BE23714A0D906293CF01BE23714A0D90&FORM=WRVORC">The Veil Removed - Film - Bing video</a></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><o:p style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+mass+unveiled&refig=ea5bec4f945cc78fc39b44beec1a77c1&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dthe%2bmass%2bunveiled%26form%3dANNTH1%26refig%3dea5bec4f945cc78fc39b44beec1a77c1&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=6293CF01BE23714A0D906293CF01BE23714A0D90&FORM=WRVORC"> </a></span></o:p></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-23319301504738786632022-07-23T17:42:00.000-07:002022-07-23T17:42:24.234-07:002022/07/24 - Thy Kingdom Come<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before Mass:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think today’s Gospel might be one
of the main reasons why a lot of people turn away from God – or at least turn
away from prayer. “Seek and you will find – ask and it shall be given to
you.” It SOUNDS like Jesus is saying that whatever we ask for, he’ll give
it to us!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But we know that’s not
reality. I prayed for rain a couple of weeks ago and watched as storm
after storm went around us. We all pray for folks to be healed but they don’t
get better. We pray to do good on a test – to get a good job – to fix a
broken relationship – but IT DIDN’T HAPPEN. It would be easy to think
this prayer stuff is hogwash… and you might even conclude that God doesn’t
exist – I mean obviously He ain’t answering my prayers, so God must not be
there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And you’d be right – I don’t believe
in that kind of God either. He’s not the great vending machine in the sky
ready to grant wishes like a genie. You know, if we push the right
button, say the right prayer, use the right words, get down on my knees and REEEAALLLY
mean it this time – that God will grant our every wish. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That’s not what Jesus means. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hint: look at the last line of the Gospel - it's all about the Holy Spirit. Also, check out the second line of the Our Father prayer: Thy Kingdom Come.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">HOMILY</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus taught us how to pray:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thy Kingdom Come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray it all the time, but What are we
really saying?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In short, it means we want God’s will to be done on
earth as it is in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re asking
God to establish His kingdom right now – in our world – and in our hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s that look like?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The story of Sodom and Gomorrah gives us a perfect
example.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Those cities had become corrupt… so corrupt that God
was no longer on their radar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Holy
Spirit was not only UNWELCOME there but had been run out of town and replaced
with UNHOLY Spirits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s a dangerous place to be – any society that
loses sight of God becomes corrupt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>THEology, which is the belief in God, is replaced by IDEology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s ways are replaced by human ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a society without God, IDEOLOGY becomes
the new religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any place without God
is, by definition, Hell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This story repeated itself in the 20<sup>th</sup>
century as several communist revolutions ushered in the bloodiest century known
to man. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They forcefully replaced
THEOLOGY with their IDEOLOGIES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Holy
Spirit was no longer welcome, as religion was considered to be the "opiate of
the masses".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few of us here were alive
at the time, so we may not know or remember that Tens of Millions of people
were killed in these communist revolutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One of the people who spoke out was a writer named
Alexander </span>Solzhenitsyn, (<span style="font-size: 12pt;">yeah, it’s
spelled just like it sounds).</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In his
book, The Gulag Archipelago, he revealed the truth about the evils of the
Marxist regime in the Soviet Union.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Arguably,
this book was the first domino to fall in the slow but inevitable demise of the
USSR.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At first, he had been a supporter of the socialist
movement in his country – but eventually he found himself sentenced to the
Gulag – a work camp in Siberia – a place indistinguishable from Hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thought long and hard about ‘How did I end
up here – personally?’ and ‘How did the whole country end up here’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The communist party was supposed to create in
a utopia by redistributing wealth away from the ‘rich’ so that the average
worker would have a better life… that’s the propaganda that ushered them into
power…and it may sound good on the surface, but implementation of that ideology
was never imagined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The wealth was redistributed alright– but it just
meant a different class of people were now wealthy, and those who HAD the
wealth before were now dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you had
more than one cow so that you could sell milk – YOU were considered part of the
evil elite class….and you disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People
quit trying to make life better for themselves… In this new Utopia, as the
‘rich’ peoples’ wealth was confiscated, the government should take care of everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second – if you did work and get ahead – you
would be targeted as the evil elite class and your goods would be confiscated
and you might disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard work to
make life better was discouraged.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyone who spoke out was sent to the Gulags – or work
camps – to work until they died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You and
I might ask, how did this happen?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
didn’t people speak out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is it that
so many millions died?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because anyone
who told the truth about how life was WORSE not BETTER was silenced… every
person deceived themselves daily into explaining away their misfortune.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short – they were lying to themselves –
and that trained them to lie even more… so when they reached the line of
morality where no one should cross, they continued to lie…and the regime
continued…and their neighbors and family members disappeared in the middle of
the night.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Why am I wasting your time repainting the dark history
of the last century?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First – because we
should all know history – and people under 30 or 40 might not even know about the
Marxist revolutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But mainly because
it serves as example for today’s message.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A society that is corrupt is destined to fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see it in Sodom in the first reading –
corruption had become the norm – and likely anyone of integrity had either been
silenced or had already left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why
when Abraham bargained with God, God didn’t hesitate to say he wouldn’t destroy
it if they found 10 good people… because he knew that IF there were 10 good
people left, 10 people who haven’t yet trained themselves to lie – that there
was still hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But a society built on lies - false-ideologies –
instead of Theology – is corrupt and is destined to fall – it NEEDS to
fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray ‘Thy Kingdom Come’!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well - It’s impossible for the kingdom of God
to be established if the Father of Lies is the King.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THAT king must be overthrown… THAT society MUST
fall - will INEVITABLY fall – not necessarily through the ACTIVE will of God
sending fireballs from heaven, but through the passive will of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God allows us the freedom to become corrupt,…
and then allows us to reap the harvest of our corruption - to feel the <u>consequences
of our actions</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not moral
chastisement – it’s not punishment - but rather simple cause and effect logic…
so let’s follow the logic – see if you agree with these statements:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First: Anyone who does not pray loses sight of God and
God’s will for him/her…personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Agree? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice it starts with
prayer;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I don’t pray, I lose sight of
God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Second: Anyone who loses sight of God is bound to
sin…destined to sin… and their heart becomes corrupt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Agree?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If God is not on our radar, we WILL sin and we WILL become corrupt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Third: Anyone who falls into corruption will surround
himself with corrupt individuals so that their own misdeeds don’t stand
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They spread false ideologies which
push God out – and that leads to a corrupt society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When the individual is corrupted, the society is corrupted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Finally, when a society reaches a certain level of
corruption, it becomes indistinguishable from Hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think Gulag Archipelago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think Maoist China. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think Auschwitz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Kingdom of Hell MUST fall in order that God’s
kingdom can replace it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the World and
in our own hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It all starts with prayer…and Jesus himself teaches us
how.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Learn to pray.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Learn to pray that God will give you the Holy Spirit – </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> to give you eyes to see God’s will for you.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
To Seek first the kingdom.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Pray that God will eliminate the corruption in our hearts…my heart / your
heart.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Pray that God will use US as the remnant to save our society – to rid our
culture of false ideologies and replace it with True </span></span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><u>The</u></b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ology </span>- so<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> that Jesus can establish His
Kingdom here and now.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s not MY kingdom come.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">It’s THY<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Kingdom Come.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-5385936880637623372022-05-22T10:25:00.000-07:002022-05-22T10:25:32.797-07:002022/05/22 Putting the Squeeze on<p><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A<a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/15?1"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0in;">cts 15:1-2, 22-29</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/67?2"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0in;">Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/21?10"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0in;">Rev 21:10-14, 22-23</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/14?23"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0in;">Jn 14:23-29</span></b></a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: white;">Before Mass<i>:</i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">The homily today is going to center on the beginning of the Gospel
– listen to this: </span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><i>“Whoever loves me will keep my word,<br />
and my Father will love him,<br />
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.<br />
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;"</i><br />
</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">What’s
that mean? If you’re like me, I read
this as another one of the churchy rules that tell me what I have to do to make
Jesus love me. But that’s not what it
says… and it’s not at all what it means.
See, reading it that way, the implication is that if we don’t do what
Jesus says, he WON’T love us. Is that even
possible? Is it possible for anything we
do to make God love us? Is there
anything we can do to make God NOT love us?</span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">The short answer is NO. </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">The long
answer is: </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">There must be another way to understand Jesus’ words</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">…and that’s
what we’ll talk about in the homily.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: white;">Homily</span></span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Jerry’s younger brother, Ted was adopted when he was just an
infant. He always knew he was adopted,
because every year since he was about 5 years old, a check would come in the
mail on his birthday. Ted’s real father
explained that because of their situation at the time, he had convinced Ted’s
mother to put him up for adoption. </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">And since then, He said, “not a day has gone by that I didn’t tearfully
wonder how that baby was doing… that baby is my son!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He explained that although he deeply regretted
giving him up, he is still convinced they made the right decision at the
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They simply wouldn’t have been
able to give him a good home… but that didn’t change his love for his son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So now, 5 years later, he had a decent job
and wanted to help to provide for his son… so please accept this check to
offset whatever costs there are in raising him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All I ask is that you please explain to him that his father loves him very
much.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: white;">When Ted turned 18, his real father sent the normal check for his
birthday… but this time he sent a letter directly to Teddy. It was a long letter… explaining the details
of his birth and his reasons for giving him up, but those details aren’t really
important right now. I want to read to you
just a part of that letter:<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: white;">Teddy – <o:p></o:p></span></span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: white;">I am so proud of the man you grew up to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your Mom and Dad have kept me in the loop all
these years about your grades, your hobbies, and even the fact that your
favorite food is vanilla ice cream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’ve sent me photos so I could watch you grow… They sent copies of
some of the pictures you drew in school;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They even invited many times over the years to come visit<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- and I almost did many times – but felt it
was best to allow you to grow up without me complicating things.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: white;">Know that I love you – and I have always loved you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m hoping you will understand that as much
as it hurt us, your mother and I simply HAD to give you up for adoption… for
your own sake… but I’ve often dreamed of the day when I could give you a hug to
let you know how much I love you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: white;">Now that you’re fully grown, I’d like to allow you to make a
decision for yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would really
like to meet you and to be a part of your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I realize this may be major dilemma for you… your life is going so well:
do you really want to complicate it by bringing me into it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever you decide, I’ll still be here –
loving you every minute.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">So, based on what you know – does Ted’s real father love him? It sure seems so… first he chose not to abort
Teddy. Second, he knew that he wouldn’t
be able to give Teddy a good life, so even though it hurt him, he gave him
away. Third, he tried all his life to
have a relationship with Teddy from a distance – and even provided as much as
he could for Teddy’s growth.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah – it seems evident that he loved his
son.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Question</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">: Did Teddy EARN his father’s love?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No – nothing Teddy could do <u>or not</u> do
would change the fact that his father loves him.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">But – here’s the real question… do Teddy and his father have a
relationship?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Teddy know and love
his father?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No- he doesn’t even know him
other than as this ‘vague idea of someone out there somewhere kinda watching
over him – who supposedly loves him, but they’ve never met.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to have a personal relationship, Teddy
needs to get to know his father and share his life with him.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">You and I are Teddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
Father in heaven could have kept us with </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">H</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">imself forever, but He chose to
give us to some earthly parents to raise us – so that we could experience a
full life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice there’s nothing Teddy
did to earn his father’s love… likewise with us – regardless of what we do or
don’t do, our </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">F</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">ather loves us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YOUR FATHER LOVES YOU….as you are… nothing
you can do about it.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">But just like Teddy, our </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">F</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">ather wants to have a
relationship with us – YOUR father wants to have a relationship with you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has been inviting you into that
relationship every day… every moment of your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look around at all the ways He has blessed
you and you’ll recognize that He is crazy about you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But - Until we meet Jesus, God remains </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">to us as </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">just a ‘vague idea of someone
out there somewhere kinda watching over us – who supposedly loves us – but
we’ve never met’.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">We ‘know’ God love us – we’ve heard that ad nauseum since we were
kids – </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">You know: John 3:16 and all that – God so loved
the WORLD - </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">but do we really KNOW it</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"> PERSONALLY</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We won’t fully know God’s love un</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">til</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"> we give Him love in return….and
I think that’s the key to what Jesus is saying today.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Love that is given is only complete when it is returned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love is only complete or consummated when the
Love is returned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That may sound pretty deep
or philosophical, so let me give you some examples:</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Imagine you hug someone…. And they don’t hug you back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Like hugging a fish… not
that I’ve ever hugged a fish, but you can just imagine!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">You have expressed your feelings to that
person, but they gave nothing in return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But!!! Imagine if that person leans into the hug and squeezes back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It changes everything!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It creates a moment of intimacy and builds a
bond in your relationship.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">God is always hugging us – and he’s inviting us to hug Him back so
that we can experience a new level of the Love relationship He’s offering.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Another way to think about it is a married couple – when they
first meet, they fall in love and they kiss for the first time – that kiss –
when it is given and received by both of them, opens up a whole’nother level in
their relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Just think of
the emotions, feelings, thoughts and dreams that are enkindled by that first kiss!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">When they’re married, their relationship
reaches a whole new level of intimacy, because there is a <b>total </b>gift of
self to one another….but it doesn’t stop there even… as they grow old together
and share each other’s joys and pains and struggles of life, their intimacy
grows to the point where what they thought was true love in the beginning,
pales in comparison to the intimacy they have now.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">God is madly in love with you – YOU – personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you and I don’t experience that love
fully unless we return that love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Communion is a moment of extreme intimacy… God is offering himself
to you personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s up to us to love
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think about this as you come
forward today to </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">C</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">ommunion:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As you receive Him, He is receiving you – as you consume Him, He is
consuming you… like a hug – like a kiss.</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Jesus made a pretty big promise today – God already loves you –
but If you love God in return, God will make his dwelling in you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let that sink in:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all we have to do is give love away, and Love
himself will take up residence IN us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">When we
return Love to God, God Himself will be in us – and since God is Love, the more
we give love away, the more we become the Home of Love.<br />
</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Lean
into that love today and squeeze God back.</span></span></span><em><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #666666; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-90139602242584538542022-03-12T17:47:00.002-08:002022-03-14T18:59:34.127-07:002022/03/13 Cut and Transfigured<p> Before Mass</p><p>The first reading may seem kinda weird,,,and gross, so let me explain what it’s about and maybe it’ll make some sense. God is making a covenant with Abraham – the father of our faith. You’ll remember a covenant is more than a contract – a covenant is a family bond… kinda like adoption - or marriage. Once you’re adopted, you can’t be un-adopted. God wants that kind of relationship with Abraham, and Abraham asks for a sign – so God gives it to him in a way that would have been perfectly normal to him, but it sounds very weird to us… and probably gross too. It’s a ceremony involving a lot of cut up animals…You’ll see what I mean when we listen. Just remember this is sort-of like God making a vow to Abraham like, ‘cross-my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye’. Do kids still say that? </p><p>How about this: God is basically saying, I would DIE before I break this covenant with you. I’ll repeat that for you to think about, because that’s a loaded statement: God is saying I would DIE before I break this covenant with you.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/15?5"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-size: 9pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Gn 15:5-12, 17-18</span></b></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/27?1"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Ps 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14.</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/3?17"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Phil 3:17—4:1</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9?28"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #363936; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Lk 9:28b-36</span></b></a></p><p>Homily</p><p>See what I mean about the first reading being kind of gross or weird? What’s up with them cutting those animals in half anyway?</p><p>Like I said before Mass, God is making a covenant with Abraham, and in those days, that’s how you sealed a covenant: You’d take and animal, cut it in two, and then both parties would walk through the middle of the parts – basically saying ‘if I do not keep my promises, let me be cut in two like these animals’. The only way out of a Covenant is death.</p><p>In fact, the word for covenant in Hebrew is ‘berit’ – which actually means ‘to cut’… which is a reference to this ceremony of cutting all of these animals. It’s a serious matter to enter into a covenant, and this bloody ceremony would make it VERY memorable to you. But notice – normally BOTH parties must walk through the middle… but in this case, Abraham is sitting over here in a trance. Only God passed through the parts – symbolized by the torch and the fire pot – So God is saying, ‘if I’m ever unfaithful to this covenant, let ME be cut in two’… which is absurd, because God can’t be cut in two. But there’s a deeper meaning here: The fact that only God walked down the middle meant He was taking on ALL of the responsibility in this covenant - in other words, God was saying “if either one of us is unfaithful, I will take the punishment upon myself!!” In that light, this suddenly could be seen as a prediction of the future crucifixion.</p><p>That’s how much we can trust God… Regardless of what WE do, HE will always fulfill his promise to us. The Israelites, on the other hand, would not fulfill their side of the covenant. God KNEW this and had already accounted for it. However, He continued to invite them into a more personal relationship… Inviting Each person to personally enter into the covenant… which means they need to ‘berit’… cut something. God decided things needed to become a bit more personal… ok, a LOT more personal. That’s where circumcision came in… they had to cut off part of themselves in order to personally enter into that covenant. That became THE sign of the covenant people!</p><p>Today we don’t physically cut anything off – but we still make sacrifices. We definitely see this during Lent, when most of us give up something: we ‘cut’ ourselves off from something we like. Like we don’t eat meat on Fridays in Lent… Before the 60’s that was the rule for EVERY Friday. And it was kinda cool, because the whole culture recognized that Catholics were different… that we had 'cut' ourselves off from meat on Fridays. In a way, it set us apart. You’d drive down the street and see Friday specials everywhere: catfish - or seafood buffet or whatever. It was a visible symbol to the world that WE are a Covenant people. But in the 60’s, the Church relaxed that rule to allow us to eat meat on Fridays except during Lent, but in the same breath they said that if we’re not abstaining from meat, we should choose something ELSE to do or give up. <u>In short – every one of us is supposed to ‘berit’ – be cut off from something at least once a week… not as a stupid rule we have to follow – but as a sign that WE are in a covenant relationship with God!!</u> </p><p>It may seem like this ancient practice and vocabulary of covenants is foreign to us – but some of it has stuck in our language. Have you ever heard the phrase, “let’s cut a deal”? There's that word 'Cut', or ‘berit’. And here's a phrase I'm sure you've heard: ‘Until death do us PART’? Right there in the vows of matrimony, we recognize that in a true covenantal relationship, we can only be separated by death.</p><p>Finally, Jesus started a new covenant and what happened…. HE was cut… crucified and his heart was pierced. That cutting was the sign of the new covenant…but it was more than that...I think it also relates to the old covenant. Since the Israelites were consistently unfaithful. And remember God had promised that if EITHER of us is unfaithful, I'LL take the punishment. Maybe that's why He chose to take on a body in order to die to fulfill the old covenant vows… and then He expanded the covenant by ushering in the New and Everlasting covenant open to all people for the forgiveness of sins.</p><p>In this new covenant.. in this new WAY of living, you and I are like Jesus.</p><p>Just like He climbed the mountain, we are all struggling through life - trying to get closer to God. Just like He had to suffer - We all have to make sacrifices – we have to berit / cut ourselves somehow – and just like he was glorified, we all will be glorified. Yes - All of us can experience that same transfigured, glorified body revealed by Jesus. But – is that something we only experience in the next life? No – the Kingdom of God is among us! We can be transfigured and experience glorification right here and now. How?</p><p>Notice what Jesus was doing when He was transfigured… why did He go up the mountain? Anybody catch that? He went up to <u>pray</u>. It says:</p><p><span> </span><span> </span>While he was praying his face changed in appearance</p><p><span> </span><span> </span>and his clothing became dazzling white.</p><p><span> </span><span> </span>And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,</p><p><span> </span><span> </span>who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus</p><p><span> </span><span> </span>that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.</p><p>In other words, when Jesus prayed, several things happened: </p><p>- he was physically changed – being lit up like a lightbulb. </p><p>- He connected with the saints in heaven. </p><p>- He received His marching orders for how He was to fulfill God's mission in His life… and finally </p><p>– prayer is where he found His truest, deepest identity when the Father said, “This is my Chosen son”. All that from prayer!</p><p>You and I can tap into that same power!! </p><p>When you and I pray, we can be physically changed… the Spirit can light us up so that others are attracted to us. In fact, prayer that DOESN’T change us isn’t really prayer… if we’re just checking the boxes, we’re not really allowing our relationship with God to grow. </p><p>Second, we can connect with the angels and saints. Notice that Jesus wasn’t talking to two dead guys… but they weren't DEAD!! Moses and Elijah were ALIVE… this is evidence of eternal life! So we can confidently connect with the saints in prayer. </p><p>Third, We also can get our marching orders for how WE are to bring about the mission of OUR lives. </p><p>Finally, did you notice that the whole Trinity was there that day? Obviously Jesus, the son was there - then there was the cloud which overshadowed them, which was the Holy Spirit - and then we had the Father speaking to Jesus. You and I can also enter into that same realm of the Trinity – as we talk with Jesus, the Chosen Son, the Spirit will overshadow us with the glory cloud – and we’ll hear the voice of the Father reminding us of our truest, deepest identity: You are my beloved Son or Daughter. YOU are a beloved son or daughter! Why? </p><p>Because, we are adopted. We are a covenant people. </p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-69371192415707925512022-02-19T06:11:00.001-08:002022-02-19T06:15:22.891-08:002022/02/20 7th Sunday Ordinary - Strike Back<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="j4tl" data-offset-key="cbqv0-0-0" style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cbqv0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="cbqv0-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23</span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="j4tl" data-offset-key="6i6m9-0-0" style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6i6m9-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6i6m9-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13</span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="j4tl" data-offset-key="3qi4d-0-0" style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3qi4d-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-offset-key="3qi4d-0-0">1 Cor 15:45-49
</span>Lk 6:27-38</span></div></div><p>Before Mass:</p><p>Important backstory to the first reading – You may remember that the first king of Israel was Saul and the second king was David. What you might not remember is that for 15 years, Saul was actively trying to kill David – hunting him down – because he thought David would steal his crown. David had vowed his life to serve Saul and had led Israel to military victory many times, yet Saul couldn’t see past his fear and pride. So David went into hiding… no home… scrounging for food… always on the run. That’s where our story picks up today. Pay close attention to what David does when he has the chance to kill Saul.</p><p>Our Gospel is loaded with great one-liners from Jesus – each sentence packed with moral genius. Divine genius. The two lines I want to zero-in on are about Loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. I want to invite you to personally HEAR Jesus’ teaching today… we might have heard it a thousand times, but let it touch your heart today anew.</p><p>To prepare, let’s all pray a one minute – let’s think about who our enemy is: who is it that we want to lash out at? Maybe it’s a politician, a co-worker, a family-member, maybe even your spouse. So close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so – and pray this prayer to yourself – Holy Spirit, reveal to me now who my enemy is. </p><p> </p><p>Homily</p><p>Demonstration: Two kids come up – what would you do if He hit you? You’d hit him back, right? (to other kid) And what would you do if he hit you? You’d hit him back, of course! So I want you to demonstrate something – every time you get hit, I want you to hit back - now don’t hit too hard… just a little punch in the arm. Go ahead – every time you get hit, I want you to hit back. Go. Faster…</p><p>OK stop. Let me ask you – if I didn’t say stop, how long would you keep hitting each other if you followed the rules I gave you? Forever! So – let’s try this one more time… you stick with the same rules. If you get hit – you hit back – but only if you get hit. (to other kid) YOU, however, if you get hit, turn your other arm instead of hitting back. OK you go first… </p><p>Well, this is kind of boring… Why aren’t you hitting him? Aaahhh… because you are a follower of Jesus who said to turn the other cheek rather than striking back. OK – great demonstration – have a seat. </p><p>Keep that demonstration in mind as we go on with the homily.</p><p>Imagine you witnessed constant injustice all around you – so bad that you felt like you HAD to speak out against it. Imagine you’re in a country where speaking out will likely get you killed…seriously… killed. Now imagine you actually HAD the courage to stand up for your moral beliefs and you DO speak out… and in a mock trial, you narrowly escape the death sentence and instead you are locked in a cell … tortured… mistreated… for years….and years… and while you’re in prison the injustice and violence in your country continues to grow and grow and those in charge are not held responsible. Your name is banned from being spoken.. your image wiped from the memory of everyone… well – not everyone – because your moral convictions stuck in the mind of every person who ever heard you speak, and the world called for your release….but nothing changed.</p><p>What would you do if you got released from prison… pardoned after 27 years. That’s 27 years of your life wasted in a dark cell or doing hard labor. 27 years of torture and mistreatment. 27 years missed of your kids growing up… of never seeing your wife… How would you react?! By every right, you should lash out at those who so unjustly took your life away from you. </p><p>30 years ago this month, the world waited as Nelson Mandela stepped to the microphone in front of a crowd of 50,000 – anxious to hear what he would say – what he would do.</p><p>The country was on the edge of civil war. Violence had taken on a life of its own and seemed to be a never-ending spiral – a cyclone of pain and death and destruction. It seemed impossible that the violence could be stopped… </p><p>But then something happened… He chose to forgive. This stopped the cycle of violence. He went on to become president of South Africa and led the reconciliation process. He even went so far as to invite his jailers to the inauguration and dinner!!! The first step in loving your enemy is to forgive them… to forego your right to retaliation.</p><p>I want to read part of an interview that Bill Clinton did with Nelson which I think explains it well:</p><p><i>Bill said to Nelson: “That was pretty smart of you to have your jailers come to the Inauguration and all of that, but let me ask you something.” “Didn’t you really hate them for what they did?”</i></p><p><i>He said, “Oh, yeah, I hated them for a long time.”</i></p><p><i>He said, “I stayed alive on hate for 12 years. I broke rocks every day, and I stayed alive on hate.”</i></p><p><i>Then he reflected further, “They took a lot away from me. They took me away from my wife, and it subsequently destroyed my marriage. They took me away from seeing my children grow up. They abused me mentally and physically. And one day,” he said, “I realized they could take it all except my mind and my heart.”</i></p><p><i>He said, “Those things I would have to give to them, and I simply decided not to give them away.”</i></p><p><i>And so – so Bill asked, “Well, what about when you were getting out of prison?” “The day you got out of prison in 1990, it was Sunday morning, and I got my daughter up early in the morning, and I took her down to the kitchen, and I turned on the television, and she was just a little girl then, and I sat her up on the kitchen counter.</i></p><p><i>And I said, ‘Chelsea, I want you to watch this. This is one of the most important things you’ll ever see in your life.’ ”</i></p><p><i>Bill said, “I watched you walk down that dirt road to freedom.” And he asked Nelson, “Now, when you were walking down there, and you realized how long you had been in their prison, didn’t you hate them then? Didn’t you feel some hatred?”</i></p><p><i>Nelson said, “Yes, I did a little bit.” He said, “I felt that.” </i></p><p><i>But he said, “As I felt the anger rising up, I thought to myself, ‘They have already had you for 27 years. And if you keep hating them, they’ll have you again.’ And I said, ‘I want to be free. And so I let it go. I let it go.” </i><i>(</i><a href="https://spiritualgrowthevents.com/nelson-mandela-story-leave-your-prison-behind/">Nelson Mandela Story of Forgiveness</a>)</p><p>Every one of us has been hurt. By those we love, by those who attack us or anger us, or even by strangers. We all have that in common.</p><p>But we each write our own story. We can choose to be another cog in the wheel of retaliation that continues the cycle of violence. Or we can be bold and actually LIVE the teaching of that radical revolutionary, Jesus Christ when he said to LOVE YOUR ENEMY. As long as we live under the rules of retaliation, Love cannot take root. WE must break that cycle… each of us must make the intentional decision to LOVE our fellow man and fellow woman as a child of God…to forgive rather than retaliate.</p><p>Imagine if we lived that way… like David who refused to kill Saul. Like Mandella who refused to retaliate.</p><p>Imagine how we would change the world if we turned the other cheek rather than striking back.</p><div><br /></div>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-30537036985129473982022-01-23T17:34:00.001-08:002022-01-23T17:34:22.443-08:002022/01/23 - Annointed and Appointed (It's Why We're Here)<p>Before Mass</p><p>Today we hear about the greatest preacher who ever lived… and chances are, you’ve never heard of him… at least that you remember. We’ll hear about him in the first reading – his name was Ezra. How do we know he was a great preacher? Because it says he read from the book of the law for 6 hours and the people were crying and shouting amen with their hands in the air…. </p><p>Obviously, that wasn’t a Catholic congregation… 😉</p><p>I thought I’d try that today – I’ve got a copy of one book of Canon Law which I’m going to read to you for 6 hours. Sound like fun? Not.</p><p>As you listen to that first reading, see if you can figure out why the people were crying – why they were raising their hands and shouting ‘Amen’ – what on earth could Ezra have been saying to them? I can tell you, it’s not obvious. So, I’ll give you a clue – it has to do with their Identity…. Which is also the thread that pulls together the second reading and Gospel, so listen for Identity.</p><p>Next – apply it to yourself…. What is your identity? Who are you? Why are you here? </p><p>Homily</p><p>Why are you here? Maybe you never figured that out yet – maybe you’ve never even thought about it – or maybe you and I have forgotten why we are here because we’ve forgotten who we are.</p><p>The Israelites had just returned from exile in Babylon. They had all but forgotten who they were… Everything that had made them unique as a people was taken from them in the exile – their land, their temple, their ways of worship. But God wanted to remind them who they are… their TRUEST IDENTITY…they are HIS people....HIS CHOSEN them. So, He inspired the king of Persia to allow them to return to Jerusalem to re-build the temple. He even went so far as to appoint Ezra the priest to be IN CHARGE of re-establishing Jewish Law in Israel. </p><p>So when Ezra and a rag-tag group returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, they were distraught…dismayed… everything was destroyed… the amount of work ahead of them was insurmountable and they didn’t know where to start! They had to rebuild their own homes, rebuild the temple, rebuild the walls of the city, rebuild farms and vineyards – all the while defending themselves from the people who had occupied that land while they were gone. They might have given up – they probably were ready to give up – but Ezra called the people together to read the Law of God to them – to remind them why they were there.</p><p>He must have been very eloquent, because they were crying and raising their hands shouting Amen! (Can I get an Amen?!) Somehow, they were cut to the heart – but wait - how do you get cut to the heart by reading laws? I can think of a couple of reasons – first – the ‘law of God’ is more than laws… it’s the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, the writings of Moses…. where all the stories of salvation were written down. In hearing the stories, I think they recognized WHY they had been exiled… how their forefathers had not followed God's law and so they suffered the inevitable consequences. </p><p>Second – and more to the point for today – it says that Ezra interpreted the scripture as he read – that’s kinda like a homily – where we read the word of God and then explain how it applies to us. Ezra must have explained that all along in those stories, God has been reaching out to His chosen people inviting them into a deep, intimate relationship, but they kept turning away. Don’t miss that – God – THE God – the Great El-Shadai – the Alpha and Omega – the Lord of Lords wanted a personal relationship with them, but they had rejected him time and again. Ezra must have been a great homilist who touched their hearts… they realized that this relationship is not just PART of who they are – it IS who they are. They were the Chosen people.</p><p>Surely you know, This is not ancient history... it’s really about you and me.</p><p>Every one of us is Chosen by God. He wants that intimate relationship with YOU and Me. Every one of us has turned away from God at some point. Every one of us has been exiled in one way or another – walking away from our heritage and forgetting who we are. Our culture tries its best to strip us of our identity as a Child of God. I mean, just walking out the door of our church into our culture, we are bombarded with things that go against the life that God has planned for us. That’s part of why we come here every week: we listen to the Word of God and we enjoy THE most intimate union with God we can have this side of heaven as we participate in the Eucharist. THIS is the relationship that God holds out to us. THIS is who we are!</p><p>The Israelites recognized from the Law that this is who they were supposed to be… this was their heritage… Maybe that was it – the reading of the Word of God made them realize they were finally home. Imagine you had been away from the Church for decades and then you walked into some place like St. Joe’s… you’d be in awe – you’d immediately feel the Presence of God - and thinking – this is mine – this is my heritage - this is part of who I am – this feels like home….and that’s when you and I might even start to cry.</p><p>How’s that fit with the second reading? Wow – I could talk for 6 hours about just that one reading! But instead, I’ll give you just a one-line summary. Basically, Paul tells us that every person who makes up the body of Christ (that’s you and me)… every one of us has a purpose - given to you us by God himself. </p><p>In fact – each of us is appointed and anointed by God to do something to build His kingdom. It’s part of our identity as Christians. God has appointed us to a specific purpose – and what’s really cool is that He has also anointed us – given the strength, equipped with the tools, divinely sent us to fulfill that purpose. The technical term is charism - a gift or talent given to each individual for the sake of the Church. This purpose is so integrated with our Identity, that without a purpose, we forget who we are. </p><p>God had Chosen the Jews, not because they were the smartest or holiest or best at anything… just read the Bible and you’ll get that message that loud and clear. God Chose them because THROUGH them He wanted to bless the world. The Israelites were supposed to set themselves apart from the world so that they could introduce the rest of the world to God. But when they turned away from God, they forgot who they were...they forgot their purpose.</p><p>You and I, as children of God, are supposed to set ourselves apart from the world. We’re supposed to LOOK DIFFERENT… think about that – am I any different than my neighbor? Each of us is supposed to set ourselves apart so that through US, God can bless the world. When we KNOW our Identity and LIVE it, we are different from the world – and the rest of the world should see that we live in Shalom – peace – because of our intimate relationship with God. Being Catholic – Being Christian – doesn’t make us better than the world. We are not here to JUDGE the world, but to invite the world into relationship.</p><p>A lot of people see Christianity as just a set of rules to follow – but you and I know that it’s not about rules – it’s about Relationship. It’s not about LAW, it’s about LOVE. Here’s the key point: It doesn’t matter who we are, but WHOSE we are. We are children of the Father. He is our Abba - our Daddy. Once we know whose we are – and we’re confident that we have a place in God’s heart, then it just overflows from our hearts to want to reach out to others to let EVERYONE know that God wants that same relationship with THEM. THAT is our purpose! WE have been appointed and anointed:</p><p> <i>to bring glad tidings to the poor.<br /></i><i> to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind,<br /></i><i> to let the oppressed go free</i></p><p>We might think – wait - that was why JESUS came – but that’s not my purpose! And we’d be wrong. We are Christians. Literally that means we are ‘little Christs’… ‘little anointed ones’!! We are appointed and anointed to speak love to everyone in the world. We might be the only Bible that many people read… and the scripture should be fulfilled every time interact with anyone.</p><p>It’s who we are. </p><p>It’s why we’re here. </p><div><br /></div>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-86458643195778014192021-12-26T13:17:00.000-08:002021-12-26T13:17:50.355-08:002021/12/26 - Holy Family... like a chipped plate<p>Before Mass: </p><p>Today we actually have the convergence of THREE feasts at one…. First, obviously, it’s Christmas – it’s one of those holy days that’s so big, we actually celebrate it for 8 days.. it’s call the octave of Christmas. Second, it’s Dec 26th - the Feast of St. Stephen – he was one of the first deacons of the Church and he was officially the first martyr. You can read about him in the book of Acts in the Bible. It’s actually because of Stephen that I can do some of the things I do… deacons were ordained to serve at the table… so that’s why I’m up here in the sanctuary and I am considered to be ‘minister of the cup’. Also, Stephen was inspired to preach the Gospel – and that’s why Deacons are ordained to read the Gospel and preach the homily. In Stephen’s case, that’s also what got him stoned to death… something I don’t really want to repeat, by the way.</p><p>However, today’s major emphasis is on the Feast of the Holy Family… and that’s what we’ll talk about in the homily. What makes a Holy family 'HOLY'? I want to give you a nugget before we read the readings so you can listen with a different perspective.</p><p>To be HOLY is to be ‘set apart’. Remember that: to be Holy is to be set apart. Each of the readings give us some insight for how PEOPLE are set apart for God…. So listen for that today.</p><p> </p><p>Homily</p><p>This week I was getting out a plate to make a salad and as I turned I misjudged the height of the counter and accidentally chipped a piece off of this plate. While I was sorry I did it – luckily for me, this plate already had three chips in it, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. It wasn’t like the plates on the bottom of our stack which we hardly ever use… they’ve been set apart for use when we have company – I guess so our company doesn’t see that the man of the house is a clutz and chips the dishes.</p><p>Most of us probably have a similar set of plates – those special Christmas plates which only get used for one Christmas dinner each year – and even then the kids don’t dare touch them… they use the paper plates. </p><p>One family was digging through their great grandmother’s things after she passed away and they stumbled across a box of unopened china – matching the set that was in the china cabinet...which never got used.... The box said it was packed in 1894…. Yet it was never opened. Those plates were set apart because they were too priceless… too fragile… so they never got used for the purpose for which they were intended…for three generations.</p><p>Contrast that with another family I know who use the good china at EVERY meal… they recognize that EVERY time the family gets together is a special occasion. They learned that the hard way: See – one of the young boys of the family had died several years back – and the Mom realized that her son had NEVER used the special plates. Her son had never felt like any occasion was special enough – that <u>HE wasn’t special enough</u> to get out the fine china.</p><p>Mom unpacked those boxes immediately and put the dishes into the kitchen cupboard where, to the bewilderment of everyone else in the family, they used it for EVERY meal… even for a bowl of ice cream! At first they were all really nervous – and the first time one of them broke – everyone stared at it in horror, wondering what Mom would say. She simply grabbed a broom and started cleaning it up and said – that’s what they’re for – to be used. Just get you another one. </p><p>Here’s my theory: I think God sees US as like fine china. Every one of us is priceless and fragile, so He has set us apart. However, whereas normally WE set things apart and almost never use them, God is more like the Mom in my story…. He has set us apart to be used every day. Not because we aren’t special… we are infinitely special to him… but because he wants us to fulfill the purpose for which we were made… <u>to show everyone else how special they are</u>. You and I have been set apart.</p><p>Like I said before Mass, to be Holy literally means to be ‘set apart’. You and I ARE Holy, because God has made us so. Listen again to the line in the second reading – ‘See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. And so we are.’ I love how he said that...'and so we are'. It's like, God said it - so it is.</p><p>Did you catch that? We are children of God… how did we get that title? Baptism… just like Samuel was taken to the temple and dedicated to the Lord and Jesus was taken to the temple on the 8th day for dedication, you and I were likely brought to the Church as infants and baptized… dedicated to the Lord. Baptism is basically an adoption ceremony where you and I are adopted as a son or daughter of God. In baptism, we are made HOLY… we are set apart… not because of anything WE did or anything we deserved –<u> but because of God’s action</u>. That partly explains why we baptize infants. While it might seem to make sense that we should wait and be baptized when we’re old enough to make the decision for ourselves, in reality, that's bad theology. This is an <b>act of GOD</b> and not OUR actions. </p><p>Yet – as we grow up – we do decide whether we want to LIVE our lives as a child of God. We decide our actions and what we believe. How do we fulfill the purpose for which we were made? How do we continue to set ourselves apart for God? Let’s look back at THE Holy Family.</p><p>Besides the fact that THE Holy Family is made up of the son of God and two saints… what made them ‘holy’? </p><p>What really sets Jesus, Mary and Joseph apart is each of their of deliberate decisions. They each willingly decided to live out the purpose for which God had created them. Joseph chose to accept Mary and her unborn Son as his own and dedicate his life to protecting them. Mary chose to bear the Christ and put her life at the service of Him. And the Son of God chose to become flesh, to become a member of a human family. In short, their family’s holiness is reflected in the fact that they didn’t put their own desires first. They counted others as more important than themselves. </p><p>That’s different. That’s not like normal humans… at least not like our culture teaches us. Like them, Your family and mine are also called to be set apart. The family unit is the place where each of us is trained to put others first. As you know, infants are completely selfish when they’re born… they have no way to think of others – but as they grow up, we <u>teach our kids to think of others</u> rather than themselves. In short, we teach them to <u>ACT holy.</u></p><p>As members of the family of God, you and I are all set apart to look out for others. John reminded us in the second reading, we are called to love one another. THAT is how the family of God is recognizable to the world… because we love one another. That includes our immediate family – our parish family – but much more even.</p><p>This past Monday, several dozen folks from our area headed to Kentucky to assist with the disaster clean-up. As you would expect, the devastation was jaw-dropping. We were in what WAS a wooded subdivision in Bremen Kentucky… but some houses were completely gone… others were off their foundation, and some were half-torn-away. The trees were gone or down by the hundreds. The homeowners were shell-shocked – which was understandable considering their entire life had been turned upside down literally in just a few minutes.</p><p>We stood in one yard looking at the immensity of the job and just didn’t know where to start. By lunchtime we had at least 60 people working in two yards – and by the end of the day, we had most of that mess cleaned up. Feeling like we had made a dent, all we had to do was turn around and see dozens more yards in this neighborhood needing just as much work… and then you think about the fact that this stretched for over 200 miles. It’s unfathomable. We’ve seen tornados in our area, so we have personal experience of the devastation… but the scale in Kentucky is unbelievable.</p><p>I bring that up because of the people. It felt like family. People were so appreciative that we’d come from so far to help. At lunchtime, two ladies drove up in a four-wheeler ‘Hey you want lunch’? They unloaded enough food to feed an army….and left to get more. Then another 4-wheeler came by asking if we needed any food… then an hour later another lady came by INSISTING we take some hot food… and who can resist smoked pork?!</p><p>Like I said – it felt like family. Everyone was ready to tell their story and hear your story. Thankfulness was in every conversation. Every person there was like this chipped plate… every one was special, but every one was being used by God to fulfill the purpose for which we were made… to love one another....to show everyone else how special they are.</p><p>So we ate - and shared stories - and worked hard together.</p><p>It felt like family. A Holy Family. </p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-47400143670873582882021-12-11T18:30:00.000-08:002021-12-11T18:30:32.310-08:002021/12/12 - Darkness does NOT win<p>Gaudete! Rejoice! Humbug…What’s there to rejoice about anyway? That’s how the Israelites would have responded when this prophecy was first proclaimed by Zephaniah. The whole world was going crazy and the country was in deep trouble….</p><p>Things were going from bad to worse – the leaders of the country had abandoned morality and instead they honored the gods of money, power, sex, and personal freedom. Child sacrifice to false gods was becoming normal. Most people had abandoned the faith handed down to them from their parents. People who still followed religion were looked down upon and ridiculed. Zephaniah could read the writing on the wall….It was obvious that God was not going to let this continue – that bad things were going to happen… not as punishment, but as a consequence… and as a way for God to bring the country back to himself. </p><p>That’s what the prophecy from Zephaniah is about… in most of the book, he is warning of the impending doom – begging them to change their ways. You see – he is prophesying BEFORE the exile… before the darkness has closed in. But in the snippet we hear in today’s first reading, he’s looking BEYOND the upcoming darkness to the time when the Messiah would come. He’s looking BEYOND the upcoming exile to the time when God the Father would rescue His people. Rather than let His people sit in complete despair, God offers this ray of hope – like a flashlight – or a candle– so that when the darkness comes, they have this hope to hold-on to. The darkness will not last forever… the sun will rise again. The Lord is Near – our God is in our midst. THIS is good news.</p><p>Obviously, this message was meant for Israel… not us, right?... We can’t imagine living in a country that has abandoned morality… that sacrifices its children to the gods of money, power, sex, and personal freedom. We can’t imagine living in a country where people have walked away from the Faith – walked away from the TRUTH - and those who do follow religion are ridiculed. </p><p>If you’ve watched any news in the last couple of years, you know that Zephaniah’s prophecy applies to every age – including ours – where the darkness is creeping in. It is a message of hope. It reminds us to Stand fast – even rejoice in our sufferings because the darkness does not win. The Lord is Near – our God is in our midst. Do you think God gets all anxious watching the nightly news? God’s GOT this! The light will return… He already has a plan to rescue us even before the darkness closes in.</p><p>31 years ago this week, an earthquake devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000 persons. In one small town, immediately after the earthquake, a father’s first thought was ‘MY SON!’. He rushed to the local elementary school, only to find that the school had been flattened and there was no sign of life.</p><p>But without hesitation, he started digging… it never occurred to him NOT to dig. This father concentrated his efforts on the spot where he believed his son's classroom had been. He kept repeating what he had often told his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you when you need me!"</p><p>Many other parents flocked to the area. Many didn’t even bother digging… it was hopeless… there’s no way anyone survived that collapse. Some did help – but after an hour or two, gave up.</p><p>So, he proceeded alone – through the day and into the night… for 8 hours... for 12 hours... 24 hours... 36 hours. Then in the 38th hour, as he heaved away a heavy piece of rubble, he heard voices. He screamed his son’s name, "Armand!" "Dad! It's me”! Then, he heard his son turn to the other kids in the hole saying – “See- I told you he would come!” </p><p>Moments later, the dad was helping his son Armand and 13 other frightened, hungry, thirsty boys and girls climb out of the debris. Out of the darkness and into the light! They were as good as dead, but he had brought them back to life! The father embraced his son and said – ‘sorry it took so long, son…were you scared? Armand said – ‘it was so dark and scary – many of the kids were crying… but I told them – ‘My Father promised no matter what, he’d always be there if I needed him. – so he WILL save me...and if he can save me he can save you too.’ </p><p>God - OUR Heavenly Father, is in the rescue business. THAT is the Good News. You and I were trapped in darkness of our sin until Jesus came to save us. What’s more, that promise from the father continues for us today even as the darkness closes in around us… The Lord is Near. That’s where the Peace beyond all Understanding comes from that Paul mentioned in the second reading.</p><p>What’s that look like anyway, this ‘peace beyond all understanding’? </p><p>It means that when the world is falling in around us, when it makes no sense at all to still have hope – we can trust that Our God IS IN OUR MIDST! God has a plan to rescue us from the darkness even before it gets dark!! </p><div><br /></div>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-24065988203995385642021-10-23T18:33:00.000-07:002021-10-23T18:33:52.257-07:002021/10/24 - What you really, really want...<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We don’t usually get a name…. In the Gospels, we
usually hear about the "crippled man" or "the woman with a hemorrhage"… but today
we get a name – Bartimaeus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is significant
because it says this guy MUST be a real person – not just a story.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He could have still been alive when these
stories started circulating and he could easily have stepped forward saying
“that’s not how it happened”.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, this is a real event – but the masterful way Mark
tells the story reveals spiritual insights as well, which means this story is
also about you and me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First - The blind man is a beggar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has no power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has no control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is at the mercy of the people around him even
to be able to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he is at the
mercy of God to inspire people to have compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You and I are that beggar…. We have no control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are at the mercy of God and the people
around us to help us through life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
may ‘think’ we’re in control, but events happen which prove to us time and time
again that we have no control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
good thing people have done for us was because God inspired them to compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Second - The beggar is blind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His entire world is limited to what he can
hear and feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knows there is more to
life beyond the reach of his fingers, because he can hear it – he can sense it
– but he can’t see it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You and I are the blind man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experience tells us there must be more to
life than what we can hear and feel – Science CAN’T explain everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something in us KNOWS there is a God – but
the culture tells us to only believe what we can see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, <i>some</i> people have such a good sense of
the divine that it’s as if they CAN see God… we want that sense too!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we call out – Lord, I want to see!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Third - Bartimaeus doesn’t know Jesus – but he’s heard
the crowds talk about him… how he healed that deaf man and that woman with a
hemmorhage – and for the first time he could remember, a strange feeling called
hope arose inside of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is the
source of his Hope, so he wants to meet Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You and I are Bartimaeus – at some point in our life,
we realize that we don’t have a relationship with Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hear other people around us who seem to
have that relationship – who have a joy or peace about them that can only be on account
of Him – and it raises a feeling inside of us – even when all hope is gone,
our hope lies in meeting Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s like we KNOW that God is out there – we KNOW that
Jesus is real – we’ve heard stories about Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We KNOW he works miracles, but we’ve not SEEN it for ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, just the fact that others HAVE seen
miracles creates that feeling of hope in us – so we cry out – Son of David,
have pity on me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus asked him, “what do you want me to do for you?”
– and without hesitation, Bartimaeus answered – Lord, I want to see!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice, there was no hesitation… <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How much are we like him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we KNOW what we want from Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it on the tip of your tongue?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would you be able to answer that question if
Jesus asked you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you want from
me?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Also notice that when Jesus called him, the man
dropped everything and ran to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let
that sink in – if a blind man drops something, it’s GONE…forEVER. He’ll never 'see' it again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s ready to risk
everything he has – everything he has put his faith in – everything he has
acquired in his meager existence to create ‘some’ level of comfort – or at
least to survive the cold nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
ready to leave it all behind because his greatest desire was to be able to SEE.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What do YOU want to see?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do your actions support your ideal? Are you doing the things necessary to attain your greatest desire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would you drop everything to attain it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would you leave your life behind
for a chance to meet Jesus? For example - <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jerry always said he wanted to see mountains, but
every vacation was at the beach.<br />
Sara wanted to see northern lights but couldn’t stand the cold, so she never
went north.<br />
Alex says he wants to meet Jesus, but he never made it a priority to go on a
weekend retreat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Too often, what we SAY is our deepest desire isn’t
really true – and our actions prove it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s a short story to hopefully make my point
clearer:<br />
When he was still in high school, Jerry and his buddy Joe would go to dances –
Jerry loved it – he was out there busting a move – break dancing – and he especially
liked dancing the slow songs with the girls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joe hated it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He thought he was too cool to get out there and act like a fool… he
thought the girls would think he was a dweeb, so he sat against the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his mind, Jerry was a dweeb – acting like
a fool out there on the floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t
notice that<u> Jerry</u> was the one slow dancing with the girls…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe hated it so much he didn’t really even
want to go to dances anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But then…, Elizabeth showed up – and Joe was smitten –
she was the girl of his dreams – and he overcame his fear of looking stupid and
asked her to dance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They danced a slow
dance and he wished the music would never end… but then a fast dance started
and he stood there kinda awkwardly for a moment, but Elizabeth just said –
c’mon let’s keep dancing – and she started dancing – and Joe – still awkward –
tried to mimic what he’d seen Jerry do – dancing around a bit – but looking
over his shoulder in case somebody was laughing at him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice that- his beloved was dancing in front
of him, but he was so self-conscious that his attention was not on her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Slowly, he got more comfortable and his attention
gradually re-focused on Elizabeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
smile made him feel less self-conscious and he relaxed and danced and looked her in the eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And wouldn’t you know it – by the end of the night, Joe
LOVED dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that night, HE was
the one who would be coaxing Jerry to go with him to the next dance, hoping
that Elizabeth would be there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The moral of the story, is that we all need SOMEthing,
some desire, to pull us out of our comfort zones. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our normal tendency as humans is to be
SELF-conscious – to think only of ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would be a lonely existence except that God planted a desire in us to
connect with others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In theological
speak, it’s called EROS – it’s that passionate desire that has the power to
overwhelm our inhibitions and change the way we act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short – EROS pushed Joe away from being a
wall-flower and onto the dance floor, where he discovered the love of his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(They’ve been married now for over 30 years
now, by the way)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Without EROS, we’d all be stuck in our own world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without eros, boy would never meet girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would only look at our SELVES and never
look at our beloved face to face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What’s your EROS?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is your deepest desire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
desire has God placed on YOUR heart?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Several years ago, I was out of town at a Catholic
conference and went to Mass – and somehow I was convicted that I was not in a
state of Grace, so when it came time for communion, I simply crossed my arms to
receive a blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still recall the
exact words this Priest used to bless me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“May God grant you your deepest desire”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At first, I thought – is that a good prayer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because if you asked me what I desired, -
well, you can probably guess what I desired – because I’m a red-blooded
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I knew there had to be more to
this blessing than those kind of surface desires…. This blessing was that God
would fulfill my DEEPEST desire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What IS my deepest desire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask yourself that… what is YOUR deepest
desire? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I propose to you that whatever
our deepest desire is was put there <b>by God</b>… and that deepest desire IS
to be united with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like a
homing signal placed inside of us which draws us ever back to our Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until we RECOGNIZE our deepest desire, we
won’t live our life in a way to achieve that desire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll always find reasons why we shouldn’t
drop everything and go after that desire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If we learn nothing else from Bartimaeus, let it be
this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus IS our deepest desire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drop everything and run to him… and when you
can see, -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>look your beloved in the eye
and see God face to face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-58579484457384535782021-08-22T12:25:00.000-07:002021-08-22T12:25:29.340-07:002021/08/22 - This is a hard teaching<p>Catching some of the news in the past week, not only from Haiti, but from Afghanistan… I can only imagine what it’s like to be a woman living in Afghanistan right now… for the past 20 years, the US has pushed back the Taliban and maintained a semblance of peace. Now that the US has started pulling out, The Taliban is reimposing Sharia law over the country, which means women no longer have any rights. What’s worse, if anyone associated herself with the US while we were occupying the country, she now has a target on her forehead. Those women who aren’t already dead are trying to erase any associations – shredding documents – burying their phones – putting on their burkas and trying to blend-in - submitting to the male-dominated regime. They no longer have a choice…about how they live, about religion, about education, about kids, or even how they dress. They are less than second-class citizens in their own home. </p><p>It reminds me of an interview a few years ago of an Islamic woman who became Christian. By the way, She lives with a constant death-threat now, because: You do not have a choice to leave Islam. Second – she talked about videos that some men were making in order to help Islamic men be better heads of their households. One title was “How to beat your Islamic wife into submission”. <pause></p><p>This may be the kind of thoughts that come to mind as we read our second reading: Paul tells us, “Wives be subordinate to your husband”. As many times as I’ve preached on this reading – as much as I KNOW this is not what it sounds like, I can’t help but bristle at that statement – feeling in my heart what many women must think when they hear that. Women in our culture – women sitting here right now – have too often been treated without the respect they deserve – and historically, this passage was used as a justification for men to impose their wills on women… giving them no real choice. </p><p>However, Paul was writing to a culture not unlike what I just described in Afghanistan. Women were less-than second-class citizens in their own homes. Paul is trying to raise Christian families out of that culture. While you and I would likely use different words which would be less misunderstood, the sentiment he’s trying to communicate includes guidelines for BOTH husbands and wives. Seriously – listen again to the first line of that reading: Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. He’s addressing both husbands and wives – both should be subordinate. He then gets more specific: Women are to be subordinate to their husband… or another translation might be ‘submissive’… SUB-MISSIVE which literally means “under the mission” of the husband. What is the mission of husband? He tells us in the very next line… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her.</p><p>In other words – the mission of the husband is to give himself completely for his bride. That means we are to lay down our very lives for the sake of our bride! What bride WOULDN’T want to put herself under that mission? What bride would NOT want to allow her husband to love her that way? Just as Christ gave himself completely so that we could become part of the body of Christ, the husband’s job is to give himself completely so that “the two can become one flesh”. Noone hates his own flesh, so we cannot treat each other without respect and love.</p><p>Still – we may find ourselves saying “this is a hard teaching, who can accept it?” </p><p>Jesus heard that same statement in today’s Gospel as he was teaching his disciples perhaps the most important lesson of His ministry. The disciples could not accept that he REALLY meant they had to eat his flesh. That goes against their deeply entrenched Jewish beliefs that eating someone’s flesh would be sacrilege. Because they couldn’t accept that one teaching, many of them walked away. While that is sad, for me it is the BEST reason I’ve found for believing that Jesus really meant what He said… See, If he was only speaking symbolically, he would immediately have said – wait guys – don’t leave! I was just using a metaphor – you know – my body is LIKE food…. C’mon back now.</p><p>No – instead Jesus upped the ante several times, using words that made it VERY clear he was talking about really eating his flesh. Instead of clearing up any misconceptions, he says, “does that shock you?”. Then he doubled-down again – even asking his inner-circle of Apostles… do you want to leave too?? </p><p>He gave them a choice. They could accept his teaching and continue to follow – or they could go back to living like the rest of the culture. Many of them chose to go back to their old lives…. Over this one, central teaching.</p><p>Which takes us back to that first reading: Joshua was the leader who took over as leader after the death of Moses. After conquering the promised land, Joshua gave them the choice: decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. </p><p>In other words, there is a whole culture around you – and you’re going to be tempted to conform to that culture. You’re going to be tempted to chase after false gods of money, sex, power, and fame.</p><p>Joshua laid the choice before them – allowing them to walk away if they wanted – but He made it very clear which answer is the path to true joy: “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”</p><p>You and I have that same choice today – not just a once-in-a-lifetime decision, but we have to choose each and every day… each moment even! We can choose to conform to the culture … but the path to true joy is through this one-flesh union with Christ himself. </p><p>Unlike many people in the world, WE have the choice – something we should no take for granted. We have the choice to walk away. But hopefully we’ll all answer as Peter did: “to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. “</p><p>Now is the time for you and me to decide. In the words of Joshua: </p><p>“If it does not please you to serve the LORD,</p><p>decide today whom you will serve,…</p><p>As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”</p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-67661858729994848092021-03-20T16:55:00.002-07:002021-03-20T16:55:49.018-07:002021/03/21 - The sliver of light visible from inside the tomb<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Before Mass:</span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Today we’ll hear the familiar, amazing story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. One thing I need to bring up which may help you understand the story. In the ancient world, you had to be dead for three days to be declared legally dead. Up to that point, you might just be sleeping. But when the body started to decay, that was a clear sign that the spirit had left the body. That’s a key point, so keep it in mind.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There’s so much in this story, so listen closely – but I’ll call your attention to this one line – actually you’ll hear it twice: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”. Have you ever said something like that to God? I propose to you that this one statement applies to all of our lives. We all have that thing in our life which seems hopeless – and if God really loved me and really was with me, He would have fixed it a long time ago! In fact, if God really loved me, he would never have let this happen!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Call those situations to mind as you prepare to listen to the Gospel – because this is not just a story of something that happened 2000 years ago – it is our story – your story – my story. Each of us has given up on God ever showing up in some aspect of our lives… but today listen closely to hear the command of Jesus… ‘Roll away the stone’.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Homily</span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">OK – so finish this sentence: Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he ______. We’d expect it to say – so Jesus immediately ran back to his friend to cure him. Any of us would have done that. But no – our Gospel says, ‘when he heard he was ill, he remained where he was for two days. What kind of heartless Messiah is Jesus to LET his friend die! We HAVE faith in you Jesus – we KNOW you can heal him – and THAT makes it even worse. We know our God has the power to remove whatever it is in our own lives… this illness – this death – this evil – this relationship gone bad – the job situation - whatever it is in our life – We HAVE FAITH that Jesus COULD take it away, but apparently He has CHOSEN NOT to act. What? God – I thought I was your friend- I’ve served you my whole life – I pray – I fast – I go to Mass – why aren’t you acting?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Our tendency is to come to the conclusion that – well either God isn’t as powerful as we thought He was – or I’m not his friend like I think I am. At first, we maintain our faith in God and think – I must be doing something wrong… so we re-double our efforts at prayer and fasting and trying to do everything right to win the favor of God to take this pain away…. But still, we hear only silence. At some point, we give up – OK – there’s nothing I can do about this, and God, if you’re there, you apparently ain’t gonna do nothin’ either – so we roll a stone across the entrance of the tomb and walk away. We get discouraged… which literally means to lose heart – ‘cor’ being the root word meaning heart.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet, even in our despair, we know somewhere in the depths of our spirit that God is still good and any hope that exists will come through God. That’s why both Martha and Mary approached Jesus and the first thing they said was, ‘if you would have been here, my brother would not have died’. They had faith!... but Jesus let them down. They had become discouraged – lost heart – given up on Jesus, rolled the stone across the entrance of the tomb and walked away.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why? That's the question most of us ask... Why doesn’t God cure everyone? Why doesn’t he annihilate the pandemic? Why didn’t he stop it before it started? Why has he taken a year already. Why is our country going down the toilet? Why are the morals of our society being ripped to shreds? Why doesn't God act?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I’d say it’s the same reason that Jesus gave for why he didn’t get up immediately and run to save Lazarus. Listen:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">“This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Somehow, Jesus knew that the only way people were really going to understand the kingdom he was preaching was to see firsthand that behind every death is a resurrection… beyond every hopeless situation is hope… beyond every discouragement is a new heart. Sounds harsh – but Jesus knew he had to let the situation progress beyond hope, because – without death there can be no resurrection. Jesus knew that people needed to COMPLETELY give up hope before they could realize that all their hope is in Him alone. That’s why he waited… so that Lazarus would be in the tomb for four days. Legally, a person had to be dead for three days before they could be declared dead. Up to that point, there was still hope that maybe they’re just sleeping or maybe their spirit will reenter their bodies… If Jesus had shown up before Lazarus died, it would have been just another miraculous cure, instead of this super-miracle. If Jesus had shown up even one day earlier, Lazarus would not yet have been legally declared dead, and the impact of the miracle again would have been minimized because people would have explained it away with whatever science they could use to back up their opinions – they would come up with an answer why Lazarus was alive, and it wouldn’t have anything to do with Jesus. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Like Lazarus, you and I aren’t given a choice whether we want to suffer. Suffering is a part of life. We pray for miracles – we pray for Jesus to show up – but often we’re disappointed because He doesn’t show up when and how we want him to.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But even when all evidence is to the contrary, God IS up to SOMETHING. Somehow He will reveal His glory through our situation… Perhaps we could pray differently – we could pray more daringly: ‘God – I surrender all to you. Do with me whatever brings you the most Glory.’ Embrace the suffering… embrace the cross we’ve been given. Surrender everything to Jesus. Yikes – that’s a tough prayer.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Only when things are hopeless can we see clearly that Jesus is the only source of Hope. Only when things are dark can we see the cracks of light shining into our tomb. Only when we’ve become discouraged – lost heart – can we receive a new heart and a new Spirit.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As we all lie in our tomb of grief and despair and discouragement, hope springs eternally in our hearts. We strain our ears in the silence… listening for the command of Jesus as he speaks into the darkness: “Roll away the stone”.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-18682891152538643342021-02-28T17:04:00.001-08:002021-02-28T17:04:46.628-08:002021/02/28 - Hand over the Playdough<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Before Mass<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How’s your Lent going? If you’ve
fallen down on your resolutions, I have great news… today is a new day… you can
start again. Why do we give up stuff for Lent, anyway? You ever
wonder that? Hopefully today’s readings homily will give you a new
perspective on that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Y’all know the story of Abraham,
right? Today we’ll hear about when God asked him to sacrifice his only
Son Isaac. <pause><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that
doesn’t bug us, then we’re not listening… GOD ASKED ABRAHAM TO SACRIFICE HIS
ONLY SON!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What kind of God would ask a
father to give up his only son? Doesn’t seem like a very loving God, does
it? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have some ideas – maybe not THE
answer, but something to consider which may make more sense. So as you
listen think about why WOULD God ask Abraham to do that? And what does
that have to do with me?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Homily<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I need a volunteer – somebody who likes
to play with playdough. Come on up here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I need this playdough made into the
shape of a heart for my homily… Can you make it? (Ella agrees)… OK – go
ahead (but I don’t give her the playdough). Go ahead – make a heart… (Ella
will say something like – I can’t if you don’t give it to me). Oh – can I
trust you with it? You won’t keep it? I kind of like my playdough,
you know… I don’t want you to ruin it. (finally give it and she makes a
heart). Awesome, thanks – that’s exactly what I needed. I’ll set it
right here, because I’ll use it in a few minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">OK – back to that story of Abraham… we
gotta go back just a bit in the story to make my point.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Abraham had his life all planned out
and HE was going to make it happen… then if you remember, God stepped in and
told him to Go out to a land I will show you… leave your country, your land,
your relatives, your friends, your livelihood, your entire sphere of influence
and go somewhere where you will be a nobody. If you can surrender all of
that to me, I will make great things happen through you. Amazingly,
Abraham did as God asked… he went wherever God told him to go… but that’s not
the end of the story. Abraham wanted a son more than anything, and when
he finally GOT that son, once again he thought he had his life under control
once again. This is where our story comes in today... Abraham had
surrendered everything to God – except one thing – his son – his only beloved
Son. Like any good father, his world revolved around his son… his future
depended on that son.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Because Abraham was holding on so
tightly, God was not able to do great things through him. He had to be
able and willing to let go of the thing most precious to him – once again
amazingly, Abraham did as God asked… fortunately he didn’t have to go through
with it, but his actions proved that he was willing to surrender everything,
including his own most precious possession – his son… and now he is considered
the spiritual father of more than half of the world’s population. I’d say
God upheld his end of the bargain… and he’s not done yet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did Abraham EARN that? It might look
like it… he did what God told him to do so God blessed him, right? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s not how God works. We
don’t EARN anything. It was because Abraham surrendered everything to God
that God was able to work miracles and bless the world through him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But – there’s another story here… what
was Isaac thinking during this traumatic event? We usually think of Isaac
as a little boy looking up to daddy asking, ‘Daddy, where is the lamb for the
sacrifice?’… but if we look closer and do the math… It appears that Isaac was
actually in his 30’s…let that sink in – a man in his 30’s, carrying the wood
for the sacrifice up mount Moriah. Sound familiar? Isaac was like
Jesus – a man in his 30’s carrying the wood for the sacrifice up Calvary… which
is a mountain in the Moriah range… the same mountains that Isaac was climbing…
possible even the same exact mountain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What would a man in his 30’s think
about being sacrificed by his own father? Other than fear, I can say he
must have had a lot of faith that God would raise him from the dead.
Isaac’s show of faith was maybe even more incredible than Abraham’s, as he was
willing to surrender his MOST PRECIOUS thing… his very life … the ultimate
sacrifice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just like Ella couldn’t make a heart
out of the playdough until I gave it up – until I surrendered it – you and I
are called to put everything into God’s hands and let Him mold us into who HE
needs us to be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s what Lent is about…
practicing surrendering to God. We train our wills by finding by
something in our lives that we’re attached to – and we surrender it to
God. Maybe you’ve never really been taught that before... Lent is a
training ground for Holiness. It’s a time to make intentional sacrifices.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There’s something in our psyche that we
know sacrifice is a good thing… it seems to be a universal truth in all
cultures… if I give up something good, then something good can come out of
it. If I give up something better, then something better can come out of
it. So likewise, if I make the ultimate sacrifice, God can bring about
the ultimate good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again…It’s not that
we EARN anything… don’t fall into a performance mentality that makes us think
we are in control or God owes us something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sacrifice is about seeing what God can do with whatever we put into his
hands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Don’t just give up chocolate… unless
that is the most precious thing in your life. Give up something hard… For
many of us, maybe time is our most precious thing…. I’m really busy, got a lot
going on, my plate is full…. We never seem to have enough time, so it is
precious. Consider giving some of your time to spend more time with your
kids or wife – or volunteering – or prayer – or adoration – or stations of the
cross… things you know you should do anyway, but – well – life is busy and
those things just never reach the top of the list. Give serious thought
to what is most precious in your life and whether you could surrender it to
God. Eventually, every one of us will have to surrender our lives to God…
either now or at the end of our lives. But if we want God to transform
us, why not start today? Find something precious to give up in order to
train our wills to be ready to surrender anything/everything if God asked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I was listening to a podcast and this
nun was talking about how in their monastery, they all give up the same things.
which makes a lot of sense in a community like that… you don’t want to start
any competition of who can be holiest…might end up with nobody eating anything
for 40 days </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she was thinking in her prayer how she
was SOOOO glad they didn’t give up coffee in the monastery, because she could
never live without coffee! Then she hung her head…. She knew exactly what
God was calling her to give up this Lent – so she asked her superior for
permission to give up coffee. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Likewise, our men doing Exodus and
women doing Fiat are making a lot of sacrifices and doing a lot of extra
reading and prayers during these 90 days leading up to Easter… not because
we’re holier than anybody else, but because we WANT to be holy… we want to
train our wills to be able to surrender everything to God, knowing that we will
be freed from all of our earthly attachments. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">God wants to Transfigure every one of
his beloved sons and daughters to look like Jesus in the Transfiguration… He
wants to make you and me into images of His love in the world…to show His glory
to the world. But just like Ella couldn’t make a heart until I surrendered
the playdough to her, God cannot transfigure us / mold us to look like Jesus,
until we open up put our lives into His hands.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-47186706979915303342021-01-30T16:46:00.001-08:002021-01-30T16:50:35.961-08:002021/01/31 - Who do we give Authority to Speak to our Heart?<p>Video (much better than reading):<span style="color: white;"> <span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3XfFxAY1SU-TSinEWGF0P8EfdItUxxG1dzkE4U2z_r_EzakQzNJfZSFBc&v=GYm29F7yEeA&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3XfFxAY1SU-TSinEWGF0P8EfdItUxxG1dzkE4U2z_r_EzakQzNJfZSFBc&v=GYm29F7yEeA&feature=youtu.be</a></span></span></p><p><span>Preview/Context: 00:00 - 03:30<br />Homily: 16:10 - 24:10</span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Text Below:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Before Mass <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Who do we
give authority to speak into our hearts?
That’s the question to consider as you listen to the readings today – it applies to all of the readings - even the 2<sup>nd</sup> reading, although I won’t talk about that
today. Who do you give authority to speak to your heart?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s a
backstory to the first reading which I need to share to set the context.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Remember
when the Israelites were in the Desert at Mt Sinai and God gave them the 10
commandments? Well – at first, God came
onto the mountain with thunder and lightning, speaking directly to the
Israelites who were gathered at the base of the mountain. Each person heard him speaking directly to
their heart. It was so overwhelming,
they were so scared to death! They told
Moses – you talk to God and tell us what He says – don’t let him talk directly
to us again! So Moses became the
mouthpiece of God for the Israelites – but God promised that He would raise up
a prophet from their own kin who would speak His words. This is an important prophecy: first it refers to Joshua, who immediately
succeeded Moses as the prophet – and HE became the new mouthpiece for God. But it also refers ultimately to another
prophet named Jeshua… we call him Jesus.
When Jesus came he fulfilled that prophecy perfectly because God himself
came in human form – from the kin of the Israelites – and once again God was
able to speak directly to His people! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hopefully
that will make the first reading more understandable – but also – the Gospel is
the first time in Mark that Jesus starts teaching – talking directly to His
people, so today is the fulfillment of that prophecy. We’re only on verse 21 of the Gospel of Mark,
but in this short time we pick up several themes – He proclaims that the
Kingdom of God is at Hand, He teaches, and He proves that He has been given
ultimate authority by performing his first miracle.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As we read
that Gospel, I want to invite you to imagine yourself in the story… <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">HOMILY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Who do we
give authority to speak into our hearts?
If God himself was to speak to you or me today, would we listen? Are we like the Israelites… do we even WANT
God to speak to us? I propose that most
people DON’T want to hear God speak unless He agrees with them. Seriously, for the most part, people don’t
really want to hear ANYone else’s opinion… we just want to hear our OWN opinion coming
from someone else’s mouth. If your
opinion doesn’t 100% match mine, don’t talk to me. In fact, you must have a demon in you, so go
back to where you came from. Yeah – it
ramps up quick like that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Surely
you’ve noticed that it’s almost impossible to have a civil discussion about
anything nowadays. We immediately get
ramped up, indignant, offended. Why has
it gotten so bad? I’m pretty sure social
media is largely to blame: not only do
we get fed stuff every minute which is DESIGNED to get a rise out of us, but
the social media algorithms know what we click on and what we agree with and
will feed us stuff specifically designed to keep us clicking… specifically
designed to make us harden our hearts and dig our heels in even further! Think about it! If I think X is true, the social media folks
will only shoot me snipits of headlines which catch my attention, cater to my
opinion, and only prove that those who oppose my way of thinking are not just
wrong – but they’re wackos bent on destroying society as we know it, and I’d
better get really MAD!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s such a
devious plan that it almost feels demonic… like some evil force is infiltrating
our culture – even infiltrating our church - just TRYING to tear us apart. This divide is tearing apart our country,
tearing apart our church, tearing apart our families, and often, tearing each
of our own hearts. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Like the
demon in the Synagogue today, this demon is among us – even in our Church. The demons are getting braver… coming closer
to Jesus… they know who He is – and they think that by calling out Jesus to
those around us, he can drive Jesus away… But they have no power over Jesus…
demons have no power except that which we give to them. Hear that – demons are created beings –
created by God – and they have zero power except that which we allow them to
have.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s
important that we identify those demons in our own lives – call them by name –
and throw them out of the Church / out of our lives. In some ways, the 70 men and women participating
in Exodus and Fiat are learning that.
Every one of us are finding that we have allowed something to control
our lives… not necessarily anything demonic, but you and I become a slave to
anything that we give control to other than Jesus. By purposely taking on asceticisms – which is
things that are hard to do, like Fasting – we are learning to exert control
over our will – and thereby allow Jesus to take His rightful spot at the center
of our lives. Only Jesus has that
authority to speak to our heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What can we
do?<br />
Pay attention to whom we give authority to speak into our lives. Recognize that the traditional media and
social media have been commandeered by someone with an ideology bent on calling
out and putting a spin on everything you hear to make us all think that anyone
who thinks differently than ME is self-centered, self-serving, immoral, and
just an all-around mean person. As long
as the demons can keep us thinking that way, we are doomed. Let’s Fight back.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Name the
demons and call them out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If your
blood pressure goes up every time you watch the news, stop watching the news. I’m not saying we should bury our heads in
the sand – but find a source of Truth instead of the half-lies, spin, and hype
that is being fed to us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If your
anger boils every time you look at Facebook or Twitter, delete those accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you’re
sure you’re right and everyone else is wrong, think again. If Love is not part of the equation, we’ll
get the wrong answer every time. A good
friend has a catchy quote: If you’re
wrong in HOW you’re right, then you’re still wrong. In other words, Truth spoken without love can
still be evil. This is NOT a right-wing
or left-wing statement… These tactics are infecting everyone. Yes – even Demons can speak truth..or at
least half-truths… but with evil intent:
to divide the Body of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Instead of
concentrating on what’s wrong with the world, narrow your focus and concentrate
on loving the person in front of you. If
there’s no person in front of you, then reach out to someone… there are plenty
of people in need of human contact. Practice
love… spread love… establish the Kingdom of God now. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It starts by letting Jesus have authority to
speak to your heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6544898596938873198.post-80619860011206800052020-12-26T08:18:00.000-08:002020-12-26T08:18:54.627-08:002020/12/27 - What Makes a Family Holy?<p>Before Mass:</p><p>Welcome to St. Isidore, as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family.</p><p>What IS a Holy Family – obviously, Jesus, Mary and Joseph… but what about our families? What is it that makes our families holy? Is it a family that prays together? A family that goes to church together? A family whose kids grow up to still practice the Faith?</p><p>Is it even important for our kids to have Faith? Does it really make a difference? Hopefully you can look at your own life to answer that question. I imagine most of us here would agree that having Faith has been important to our lives, so it would be important to pass that on to our kids. Well – what if today I gave you the magic bullet … if you pull this one trigger, it dramatically increases the chances that your kids will have Faith. Would you pull that trigger? Hang tight for the answer… you might be surprised.</p><p> </p><p>Homily:</p><p>“God sets a father in honor over his children;”</p><p>In our modern culture, that kind of talk can be offensive… it might sound sexist or anti-woman. In some ways, that may be a justified reaction, since too often the MOM is the one who really deserves the honor for all the hard, relentless, thankless work she does from the moment she becomes pregnant until she’s in the grave. Yet the scripture tells us that ‘God sets a father in honor over his children’? I think there’s something we’re supposed to learn from that… So without for a second disrespecting Moms and grandmas, let’s dig a little deeper. See – it’s not that God sets a father in honor over his children because he DESERVES honor… but because there’s something built-in to the way kids’ minds work that makes the father have more impact in certain areas of family life. Here’s what I mean:</p><p>A recent survey showed that if a Father does not go to church, only 30-something percent of their kids will go to church once in a while when they grow up… and only 1 in 50 will go to church regularly... !<b>ONE IN FIFTY</b>! That’s right – if Dad doesn’t go to church regularly – regardless of whether Mom goes at all… chances are your kids will NOT be in Mass 20 years from now. May sound depressing, but look at the statistics from a <b>positive</b> perspective: <u>If a father DOES go to church regularly, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children WILL become churchgoers.</u> Did you catch that? If Dad has Faith, 60-75 percent of their kids will have Faith when they grow up.</p><p>Mom’s faith is important, but for some reason, the Father's faith – or lack thereof – can make or break all of the efforts from Mom in the area of Faith. See – regardless of whether the Father ‘deserves’ honor, somehow children automatically seem to look up to their Father in a way differently than they look up to their mother. It’s not sexist or bigoted, it’s just apparently something built-in to our psyche … almost like God made us that way. “God sets a father in honor over his children;”</p><p>Is that important? Well, do you think it’s important for kids to have a faith life? More than that – do you think it’s important for ADULTS to have a faith life… because your kids are only 10-20 years away from being adults… so if we want them to have Jesus to hold onto, we gotta do what we can <b>now</b> to instill that in them…. And it seems the Father can make it or break it. <b>That’s </b>the ‘magic bullet’…</p><p>Men: The future of the church is in our hands. The future of our kids is in our hands. The future of our families is in our hands. And if you think about it, the future of our very country is in our hands, because surely the reason our country has declined morally is because more and more kids have walked away from the Faith. No Faith – No Family – No Future. </p><p>Whether we agree with it or not, the Devil knows this fact: kids look up to their dads, so if He can take US out – he can take out our kids. If he takes our kids out, he takes out the family. If he takes out the family, he takes out our society. Half the battle is realizing that we are in a battle. The Devil wants to take you out. Unfortunately, we men are often easy targets – we have a mental make-up that is easily addicted… we all have addictions: work-a-holic, alcoholic, sex, pornography, video games, hunting, food, sweets, ice cream… we all have one or more things that we “just can’t live without”. It’s time to break the Devil’s hold on our lives. We want to be FREE.</p><p>You may have noticed the orange signs on your way into church… we’re starting Exodus 90 on Jan 4th and ending on Easter. It’s a 90 day exercise of Prayer, Asceticism, and Fraternity. Exodus 90 helps men let go of the things that are holding us from being who God is calling us to be; the man our wives, our families, and Church need us to be. </p><p>I have a lot of respect for our military; The training, the sacrifices they make – there’s something to that. Marine recruits go through what’s known as ‘the crucible’ to complete their training and earn the title of ‘Marine’. It tests every recruit physically, mentally and morally and is the defining experience of recruit training. The Crucible takes place over 54-hours and includes food and sleep deprivation and over 45 miles of marching plus tests designed to push men to their limit… not to break them… but to call out the man inside of them. By pushing through the challenges, each man finds that his capacity exceeds what he thought he could do.</p><p>Exodus is kinda-like a 'crucible for Catholics' – it’s like Lent – but on steroids. It challenges us in ways specifically geared toward the things that men are easily drawn to, and it gives us the tools to be able to make it. One thing about the crucible – you can’t do it alone – you need your team – we all need someone to help us over a wall or to give us encouragement when we hit our breaking point… likewise one of the main tools of Exodus is a small group called a Fraternity…in fact, I’ll say the Fraternity is the most important part of Exodus. The Devil will take us out if we don't have a brother watching our back.</p><p>Make a 90-day commitment to change your life – make it as a new year’s resolution – make it as an extended Lenten observance – make the commitment for yourself and your children. Are you interested? Talk to me after Mass – or see page 5 of the bulletin. </p><p>Now is the time, Men. Our children look up to US – the future of our church depends on us – the future of our society depends on us. You hold the magic bullet to making your family a Holy Family.</p><p>Christ came into the world 2000 years ago to set the captives free…. You and I are the captives. We will be free. </p><p>St. Joseph, Pray for us.</p><div><br /></div>Deacon Mike Seiberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293933111561568691noreply@blogger.com1