"We should see our sin, no matter how grave or how small, as a little twig.  And then we should see a huge and blazing fire.  If you were to throw that twig into the fire it would immediately be consumed.  The twig is our sin and God’s Mercy is so powerful that it can easily and quickly consume it.  We only need to be willing to admit our sins and throw them into that burning fire of Divine Mercy" (St. Faustina, Diary #178).

Sometimes, instead of casting our sin into the fire of God's mercy, we place one sin upon another until the stack seems too much for us to bear. Even then, instead of trusting in the mercy of God we remain in sin. But the good news is very clear, even then, God's mercy is consuming, if we but sincerely repent and ask forgiveness. Yet, how easier it would be if we cast our initial sins regularly and quickly in faith. The ploy of the Evil One is to keep us in bondage. The grace of God offers us real freedom. Choice.

 A story is told of a blind boy who was flying a kite. He enjoyed this pastime along with others of his own age. A passer-by, knowing him and wanting to mildly tease the blind-fellow, said: ‘Hey, boy! Do you know where is your kite? You don’t know whether it is on the ground or up in the sky, do you?’ ‘Oh yes,’ said the blind lad, ‘I do know! It is now quite a fair height up in the air.’ How do you know that?’ asked the passer-by, ‘you surely can’t see it.’ The boy replied, ‘I can’t see it, it is true, but I can feel the tug of the string!’ The ‘tug’ of the string help the boy to realize the presence of the kite and to sense its height in the air!

How attentive are we to the "tug" of the grace of God on our hearts, which we call the move of the Holy Spirit? We don't see his grace, but we can become sensitive to the grace of the moment. That grace may be someone's name that comes to our mind or it may be a "chance" encounter with someone we haven't seen for a while. In God's plan there is nothing "by chance". Everything has a purpose and timing. So that we can become more attuned to the "tug" of the Spirit, we need to pray everyday for the grace of awareness to know when the Spirit is moving in us and what the Spirit is calling us to do in a given situation. How many opportunities have we missed? Lord, help me to be attentive to the move of your Spirit within me.

 

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

July 7-15, 2022

Blessed and Immaculate Virgin, splendid beauty of Carmel, you look with love on all who wear your blessed habit; look kindly on me and spread the mantle of your loving protection over all mankind.

By the power of your intercession strengthen my weakness, and by your wisdom light up the darkness of my mind.

Increase in me those virtues in which you excelled — faith, hope and love; adorn my soul with such graces and virtues that it may ever be pleasing to your divine Son.

Assist me in all the activities of life, and, by your presence console me at the time of my death.

In that hour present me to the Blessed Trinity as your child redeemed by the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

O Beautiful Flower of Carmel, most fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, holy and singular, who brought forth the Son of God, still ever remaining a pure virgin, assist us in our necessity! O Star of the Sea, help and protect us!

We present to you our petition:  (Mention your request here)

Our Father....
Hail Mary....
Glory Be....
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Homily Fifteenth Sunday Year C 

Reading 1: What was the great commandment for the Israelites? It was summed up in these words: There is no other God. God alone is our God. You shall love God with all your heart, mind and strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. They would recite this at least three times a day.  Moses here is reminding the people after one of their rebellious actions against God of the command of God which they previously said yes to. Even though they had sinned, they were invited to return to the Lord with all their heart and soul.

 

Once more Moses enjoins them to embrace and live what is already on their hearts and in their mouths. But to know something is not enough. To speak the truth is not enough. It must be acted on. How often we know what is right but do not do it? Paul calls this the law of sin within us. He says: I do what I don’t want to do and I don’t do what I want to do. Woe is me, I am a wretch, he says. Only in Jesus, who has saved me, do I have the grace to overcome this law of sin within.

 

If we were conscious of our relationship with God would we choose to sin? If a man or woman really loves their spouse, would either one be unfaithful even in the heart? Sin is the opposite of love. The reason the Israelites repeated the great Schema was to keep the Lord ever before them and to choose the way of the Lord, rather than offend the Lord through sin.

 

Reading 2: Paul talks about the centrality of Jesus as the God/Man. Without saying it directly, he is proclaiming that Jesus is truly God and Man. How does he say it in different ways? He is the first born of all creation, reflecting his humanity.  He is the image of the invisible God, reflecting his divinity.  Jesus said he who sees me sees the Father for the Father and I are one.

 

Being the first born of all creation, he is the pattern of all creation. All things were created for him, through him and in him. Yet He is God. He is before all things and all things are sustained in existence through him.

 

Do we hear the foundation of our Creed which we proclaim each Sunday? He is God. He is the beginning, the first-born of the dead through his resurrection. He is preeminent. In him all fullness dwells in him as God. Through his death and resurrection he has reconciled us to the Father, bringing peace and healing.

 

Gospel: The first thing we notice is this is another attempt to test Jesus and to discredit him as a teacher. The question is legitimate. What must I do to inherit eternal life? It is the same question another person, the rich young man, also asked Jesus.

 

In his response, Jesus quotes the great schema that Moses referred to in the first reading. Notice Jesus responded with a question. When the scribe answered correctly, Jesus responds with the words of Moses: Do this and you will live.

 

The man is not satisfied. He questioned Jesus further, not because he was really interested, but to justify himself. Jesus knows the animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. He knows the ritual laws of purity and cleanness that the scribes would follow. So he chooses an illustration that will throw light on the law of legality and the law of love.

 

When the scribe affirms the truth of love, Jesus pushes him further by saying it is one thing to know the truth but it must be lived and acted on to make a difference. Do we go out of our comfort zone to help others or do we put barriers between ourselves and others? Do we just know what is right and wrong or do we act on what we know is true?

 "Do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, pleasing and perfect." (Rom 12:2)

When St. Paul mentions not "to be conformed to this age", we can very easily apply his words to our present situation. The evils around us want to be all consuming. But the same can be said of every age before us and after us. The evils may be different but the response will always be the same for those who truly follow the Lord. It is a choice before us: the way of this age or the way of the Lord, the wide road, leading to eternal destruction or the narrow road, leading to eternal life. Joshua and the Chosen People had the same choice.  The choice is easy even though the living out of that choice will be demanding. Like Joshua we are called to proclaim and live out the choice. For me and my household, we will follow the Lord.

 Fifteenth Sunday Gospel C

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

• The key phrase  here is “to test him”.  Was he really interested in the truth? It is Jesus who in turn will test him. 

 Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?  How do you read it?"  He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

• As a scholar of the law he knew the answer before he asked the question. 

He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." 

• Jesus gives him the real answer to his question. Knowing the truth is not enough. One must act on the truth.

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 

• He continues to test Jesus. But his understanding of the scope of the command of God is limited. Jesus stretches his tent pegs. Jesus says your neighbor includes the one you most despise.

Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.  A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.  Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 

• The presumption is that this person is a fellow Jew and to the priest and Levite he is dead. 

• The priest and the Levite observed the ritual laws of purification, which forbade them to touch the corpses of anyone other than family members. They were probably on the way back from the Temple and did not want to become ritually unclean.

• Who is that person we try to avoid at all means? 

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.  He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.  Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. 

• Jesus specifically chooses to use a Samaritan in his story because of the animosity between Jews and Samaritans. Neither would have anything to do with the other. 

• Yet this Samaritan risks his life for his “enemy”.  He is moved with compassion. He goes out of his way to minister to the man.

The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him.  If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"  He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."  Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

• The Fathers of the Church saw this parable as an allegory. It signifies “Christ’s restoration of mankind. Adam is the man attacked by Satan and his legions; he is stripped of his immortality and left dead in sin. The priest and the Levite represent the Old Covenant and its inability to restore man to new life. Jesus comes as the Good Samaritan to rescue man from death and brings him to the inn of the Church for refreshment and healing through the sacrament.”

• In this parable Jesus teaches how a true disciple of his should act towards others. 

• Jesus compares the failure of the ministers of God with the unselfishness of the hated Samaritan. 

• The Samaritan does not have the scribe’s learning. He does not have the concern for security and fear of ritual uncleanness.  He had spontaneous love. 

• As God has been merciful to us, so we are called to merciful to others, even the least.

 "Gratitude...goes beyond the “mine” and “thine” and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.