If the voice of the Lord seems angry with us or we are afraid to her his voice, we may be projecting our own self-guilt or self-condemnation upon the Lord. We perceive that he is angry with us because we deserve his anger. We are like the guilty child who automatically puts his hand out to be slapped.

To say he stands at the door knocking illustrates the Lord's respect for our freedom--to choose to invite him in or to choose to ignore him. Imagine: The Lord God who created us out of nothing; who has power of life and death over us; who can annihilate us; asks us permission to come into our lives. Does that make sense? Isn't that somewhat foolish? God waiting upon us; Aren't we to wait upon the Lord? The mystery of the person who is God. "My ways are not your ways; my thoughts are not your thoughts" "For God's folly is wiser than men, and his weakness more powerful than men." The mystery of free will; the mystery of love; the mystery of relationship. Our God is unpredictable. Who can understand the mind of God?

It is the same God who when we sin forgives us and makes us white as snow. (Is) It is the same God who loved us so much that he became man. (Phil) It is the same God who gave this life for us when we were sinners. (Rom 5) (To be continued)

Story: It is said that demons were sent to win souls away from God. One by one they were questioned by the demon-in-charge on the strategy each would use. One said that he would convince the world that there is no hell--and he is successful in his missionary work. Many souls are lost. A second demon said that he would convince the world that there is no heaven. Again, he is successful in winning souls away from God. A third said that he would convince the world that there is no hurry. And he is the most successful of all in winning souls away from God.

The evil one causes confusion within us, anxiety, distress, uncertainty. There is an inner struggle: a part of us wants to respond and a part of us fights a response. "I cannot even understand my own actions. I do not do what I want to do but what I hate....The desire to do right is there but not the power. What happens is that I do, not the good I will to do, but the evil I do not intend....What a wretched man I am! Who can free me from this body under the power of death?" Rom. 7:15ff

Remember the words of Jesus, quoting Isaiah? "Listen as you will, you shall not understand, look intently as you will, you shall not see. Sluggish indeed is this people's heart. They have scarcely heard with their ears, they have firmly closed their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back to me, and I should heal them." Mt. 13:14-15

The attitude we need to have is that of the servants who are prepared to receive the Master on his return. "Be like men awaiting their master's return from a wedding, so that when he arrives and knocks, you will open for him without delay. It will go well with those servants whom the master finds wide-awake on his return. I tell you, he will put on an apron, seat them at table, and proceed to wait on them. Should he happen to come at midnight or before sunrise and find them prepared, it will go well with them." Lk. 12:36-38 We are called to be faithful servants.(To be continued)

Thirty-first Sunday  Gospel  B

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well Jesus had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" 
· Most of the times the scribes question Jesus, not because they are looking for answers, but to trap Jesus. However, as we will see, this scribe probably is seeking the truth from Jesus.
· The reason he asked this question was that the rabbis had indicated there were as many as 613 commandments that the people were to follow. How often, as human beings, we complicate things when God makes things so simple?

Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 
· What did Jesus do? He took the first three commandments of the 10 that reflect our relationship with God and said the first commandment is to love God totally with our whole being. Then he took the other seven commandments of the 10 that focus on our relationship with others and said that we must love others.
· Later Jesus will simplify things even further by saying: “I give you a new commandment: Love (God and others) as I have loved you.”
· Love is the great commandment. Everything can be boiled down to this one command.

The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 
· What was the wisdom Jesus showed that impressed the scribe? He simplified things without compromising truth, while others complicated them.
· How simplified or complicated is our life? How can we simplify it?

And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." 
· To know the truth puts one not far from the kingdom. However, one does not embrace the kingdom until one acts upon the truth and lives it as best as possible.
· We know the truth. How well are we living the “two” commandments, that are in reality one. Is love of God and others the motive underlying everything we do?

And no one dared to ask him any more questions. 
· This week what can we do to put this teaching into practice?

Wasn't repentance the call of the O.T. Prophets? Circumcise your hearts. Return to the Lord, and he will return to you. Turn away from sin and turn back to the Lord your God. Wasn't that the call of Jesus, "Repent and believe in the Gospel, for the Kingdom of God is at hand"?

The voice of the Lord is the voice of the Shepherd calling his own by name. These hear his voice and answer him. They know him and he knows them. The voice of the Lord is the voice of a Father to his child, correcting but not condemning. Or the voice of the Mother who wants to caress the child even when it is wayward. The voice of the Lord is the voice of the lover calling to the beloved.

He calls us in order to share life with us, to share fellowship, to share a meal, Eucharist, to share intimacy, calling us to holiness.

We have to acknowledge that as God calls us by name to open our hearts to him, another voice calls us to remain closed to the Lord. The voice of the evil one is not the voice of Truth but an angel , disguised as an angel of light to deceive us and to misdirect us and to block any positive response to the Lord's voice. For to respond positively to the Lord would mean to close our ears more tightly to the voice of the deceiver and father of lies.

He speaks half truths to us; he says that we are unworthy and no good and unlovable; He makes us feel that we are not capable of responding to the Lord. he says we have time. (To be continued)

We cannot understand God's love for us. His love is forever and unconditional. He may chastise us and discipline us but always  because of his great love. We do not love ourselves or others have not loved us or we do not love others unconditionally; therefore we expect to be treated the same way by God. His love is incomprehensible. We have no categories to compare it to. He loves because he is love. His very life is love. He loves us as we are and yet calls us to become even more. He knows our potential and loves us to reach our potential.

To recognize the voice of the Lord and respond to that voice brings us to look at ourselves. Are we presentable to receive the Lord? Are we prepared to receive him who is love and who is sinless?  Do we need to straighten out our house before he comes? There is obvious and recognizable sin in our life.
 He is not asking us to be perfect before he enters in, but he calls us to be repentant and truly desirable to turn from sin, so that we can truly welcome him into our lives. (To be continued)

In the Scriptures we have many examples of God crying out the name of the person as he knocks at the door of his heart. In the Garden God cried out to Adam; but Adam has hidden himself. Why? because he had sinned through disobedience. To Abraham: "The Lord said to Abram: Go forth from the land of       your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you." To Moses: in the burning bush experience. To Samuel in the Temple. Sometimes we are not in tune with the voice of God  and do not recognize the Lord's voice. To Jonah: Sometimes we don't want to hear the voice of the Lord because of what he asks of us.

Sometimes , like Elijah, when we hear the voice of the Lord in the whisper of the wind we hide ourselves.
Sometimes we are afraid to answer God because we know we have  done wrong and are afraid he will condemn us. Se we try to hide from God, hoping he will not find us out.

Sometimes we are afraid he will tell us something we do not want to hear. Sometimes we feel unworthy for the Lord to enter into our house. Sometimes we harden our hearts when we hear the voice of the Lord.

Sometimes we know in our heart that what God is saying is true but we are not ready to accept it because it means change. We are comfortable where we are and not willing to confront things in our life, like the rich young man in the gospel. (To be continued)

He knocks at the door of our hears because of his great love for us. God reveals this love in many ways, by many examples and analogies: Creation; Incarnation; sanctification; he is the Shepherd, we the sheep; he leaves the ninety-nine in the desert and goes after the lost sheep. Even after we have alienated ourselves; God lures us back into the desert, purifies us and weds us to himself as if we were his virgin bride.
He loves us in spite of our sinfulness. God again and again covenants us to himself because he loves us. The theme of his great love for us is constant in the scripture. How much more can he do to show his love?

He knocks at the door of our heart because the door is closed. It can only be opened from the inside.
This sometimes is a sign of our relationship to God; not openness but blockage; but the blockage and obstruction is from our point of view. Someone has asked, if we noticed that there is a distance between ourselves and God, who moved away?

How do we know God is standing at the door? God is calling us by name. God is crying out to us. Many times the scriptures talk about our crying out to God and a sense that he doesn't answer. "How long, O Lord, how long? I cry out to you but you do not answer." Here it is God who cries out to us.(To be continued)

Thirtieth Sunday Ordinary Gospel Reflections B

They came to Jericho. 
· Jericho is located about fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem, five miles west of the Jordan River, and six miles north of the Dead Sea. It is the last major city before climbing up to Jerusalem.

And as Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. 
· It was not uncommon in those days for beggars to be on the main roadways begging for help.
· Imagine yourself being Bartimaeus. Try to feel what he may have felt at the moment.

On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." 
· What is unusual about his statement? He is physically blind, but he has the spiritual insight to recognize Jesus as the son of David, the one promised to come. Imagine his faith expectancy.
· In your spiritual blindness cry out to Jesus from your heart. Imagine your faith expectancy.

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. 
· How many times have others tried to prevent us from both recognizing Jesus and coming to him in our own journey?
·
But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." 
· How persistent have we been in crying out to Jesus in our times of our own spiritual blindness?
· Like him we cannot stop crying out from our inner need.

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 
· When Jesus calls us out of our spiritual blind state, how quickly do we respond?
· Imagine the scene and yourself being Bartimaeus.

Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" 
· Be still and listen to Jesus say the same thing to you.

The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." 
· What do you want from Jesus? What is the spiritual blindness that you want to be freed from? What is that area of sin that keeps you away from him?

Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. 
· Do you believe that Jesus wants to do the same for you here and now? What is needed on your part?
· What is the process that we see in this story which is the way Jesus wants to work in our lives as well?
· How can you respond to Jesus this week that reflects the meaning of this passage?

"Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, and he with me." Rev. 3:20

It is Jesus who knocks. Why would he knock? He is Lord of all, King of Kings. He doesn't need us. We need him. Shouldn't we be the ones knocking at his door, pleading to be let in.

Story of a vision: A man saw his heart as a mansion with many rooms. Jesus came and knocked at the door of his heart. After some time the man welcomed Jesus and invited him into the front room. After a while, Jesus moved to the next room and began knocking at that door and the doors of all the rooms in the house. At times there was hesitancy to open a particular door because of what was in that room. At other times, there was refusal. He went to each door, knocked, and waited until he was invited in. When finally he was invited into a particular room, his presence brought light and healing love into the darkness and the darkness began to dissipate.

Parable of those foolish virgins who were not prepared to greet and welcome the bridegroom, because they had to go and buy oil for their lamps. When they finally came they found the door closed. The cried out to be allowed in. There were told "I do not know you."

At another time,  Jesus said: "None of those who cry out, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of God, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. When that comes, many will plead with me, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not exorcised demons by its power? Did we not do many miracles in your name as well?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Out of my sight, you evildoers." Mt. 7:21-23  What is Jesus saying to you through these words? (To be continued)

How great is our God! How great is his creation! How great are we to be created in his own image and likeness, to be so loved by him, to be call good from the first moment of our existence and until the last, to be shown in so many ways, especially through the sacraments, God’s direct and intimate personal love. Do we have a reason to celebrate? You better believe. Do we sometimes forget this most important revelation of God’s love? Unfortunately, we do. When we allow ourselves to be depressed and to feel or think that nobody loves me, nobody cares, I am unlovable, we are denying the truth of God’s word and actions. We are buying into the lie of the Evil One, who has chosen to reject the goodness of God and to alienate himself forever from God. Because he is forever alienated from God by choice, he seeks to create in us a sense of not being loved, of not being good, of needing to satisfying ourselves no matter the cost. The I becomes the center of our world, not God. What makes me feel good, what satisfies me, what I desire and want is more important than anything else. He tells me to grab for it, because no one else really is going to give it to me.

This weekend God wants us to hear the truth. God wants us to get real. God wants us to see and be open to his intimate love for each of us. He wants us to rise up from where we are and to know that there is more. There will always be more.  Expect God to do something new in your life, if not this weekend then very soon. It is like going to the Niagara Falls. Don’t come with a thimble or a cup or a bucket, come with a vat. God wants to give you more than you can receive at any one time. His love is boundless, more than the energy of a thousand suns.

Since love is convey through signs: words and actions. Jesus became the sign of the Father’s love for us. It was hard for human beings to experience the visible sign of God’s love in a way that would convict us and convince us beyond a shadow of doubt that God loves us unconditionally. When someone says to you: I love you. You are not sure if this is just mere words or they are a genuine reflection of truth. Words along are not sufficient. We look for external signs or manifestation of that love.

Jesus on the cross becomes such a sign. Jn 15:13 “Greater love....” But that happened 2000 years ago. What about today? What tells us today that God loves us. Jesus left us the sacraments as signs of his eternal love manifested personally to us today, here and now. “Sacraments are outward signs, instituted by Christ, which gives grace.”

He communicates his real love through the sacraments, which are real signs of his love. To bring us into a share of his divine life, to free us from the alienation of original sin, to hold us in his creative hand and to say, you are my son or daughter, I love you with an everlasting love, he recreates us in the saving waters of baptism. We are reborn, no longer dead in sin, but reconciled and restored to our original beauty and goodness. He feeds us with his Body and Blood so that we may grow in his love. When we sin and are repentant, he forgives us and heals us in the core of being through the sacrament of reconciliation. As we grow as disciples, he commissions us as witnesses of his love through the anointing power of the Holy Spirit through confirmation.  When we are in need of physical healing, he shows his love by anointing us in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. When we choose to celebrate the gift of married love with another, he sacramentalizes our committed, exclusive, perpetual love through his sign of love in the Sacrament of Marriage. When he calls some to be to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, to forgive sins and to proclaim the Gospel all in his name, he ordains and consecrates them for the sake of the  Kingdom of God.

In the words of CCC #1116 Sacraments are “powers that come forth” from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in His Body, the Church. they are “the masterworks of God” in the new and everlasting covenant. (To be continued)

Why did God create us in his image and likeness? Why did he create his goodness and beauty within us? Listen to Ephesians 1:4-6. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will,for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved."

But the sad thing is that even though God created us good and sees his love and life reflected in us, many of us come into awareness later on in life, not of our goodness but of our unworthiness. Somewhere we have the perception that we are not good, that we are not lovable, that we have to earn the love of others; that we are flawed. For some of us we are broken and wounded.


But God who is love, who is good, desired his original plan to be fulfilled. To show us how much he loves us and how love can transform us and enable us to see the truth of our self-worth, he chose to give us many signs of his love—the greatest of which is himself becoming one like us in all things but sin. (To be continued)

Twenty-Ninth Sunday Ordinary Gospel Reflections B

· The passage that precedes this in Mark’s Gospel is Jesus’ second prediction of his upcoming passion and death on the cross.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish (me) to do for you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." 
· Does this sound like one up-manship to you? Does our prayer to Jesus sound similar at times? Are we more focus on ourselves than on Jesus and others at times?

Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" 
· Jesus reminds them of what he just said about his upcoming passion and death. In other words, can you drink of the cup of suffering I am about to experience? Are you willing to embrace the cross of suffering?
· Jesus offers each of us the same invitation: to join him in the mystery of his passion and death. How do we understand and respond to this invitation?

They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." 
· Jesus is predicting their future sharing in his suffering and death. James was beheaded and John was persecuted. We can’t avoid the cross. It is part of our journey to eternal life.

When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. 
· Why do you think they were indignant? Was it because they were thinking of the same thing but were upset that James and John beat them in the asking?
· When was the last time we became indignant at the way others act, especially when it makes us look bad?

Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." 
· What does having a servant’s heart mean to you?
· What kind of a servant are you in your family setting? In the Church? In the community?
· To what extent are you willing to give your life for the sake of others, not literally, but figuratively, by thinking of what is best for others rather than what is best for you? How easy or hard is this to do daily? What are the consequences?
· What needs to be rectified in our relationship with Jesus and the faith community, if we are going to embrace the cross in our own lives?
· What application in our daily life this week will we make from this reflection?

We are told in scripture that after each of the major elements of our created world came into existence by the word of God,  God looked upon everything he had made and  found it very good. What a powerful statement! God created man and woman in his own image and likeness and said it is good. But there was something else that was said to human creatures, not said to others by God. That is: I love you.

There is an adage that says: God doesn’t make junk. All that God creates is intrinsically good.  Because God plants within the core of our being his goodness, his image and likeness. Because God is good and God created us in his image and likeness, then we are good. Only goodness comes from goodness. It is not something we earn. It is a given, a free gift.

When you and I were created in that moment of love which brought us into existence, God said you are good.  Have you ever seen the faces of those who hold a new born child. Their faces are beaming with joy for they behold the sign of God’s blessings and goodness in the face of the child; they hold in their hands the gift of goodness, a reflection of God himself. Thing about this. (To be continued)