The man whispered "God, speak to me" and a Bluebird sang, but the man did not hear. So the man yelled "God speak to me!" and the thunder rolled across the sky. But the man did not listen. The man looked around and said "God let me see you." And a star shone brightly, but the man did not notice. So, the man cried out in despair "Touch me God and let me know that you are here." Whereupon God reached down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on. Don't miss out on God's blessings, just because they aren't packaged the way you expect them to be.

Be attentive to the still voice of God, the subtle push, the beauty and wonder of God in one another, in the circumstances of our life, in the awe of creation. God speaks to us in his various ways on his terms. For He is God and we are not. We answer to him and not him to us.

"Now one of the things we must cast out first of all is fear. Fear narrows the little entrance of our heart. It shrinks our capacity to love. It freezes up our power to give ourselves. If we were terrified of God as an inexorable judge, we would not confidently await divine mercy, or approach God trustfully in prayer." (Thomas Merton)

There is a natural and instinctive fear, such as fear of a poisonous snake or fear of fire. But most of our fears are unnatural and baseless, except in our mind. Many people live in fear in the present moment because of an event that happened in the past which still controls them. They are afraid to trust God because something that happened in the past, which they blame God for. But this fear paralyzes one from the gift that is most important, namely love. 

What can one do? First, identify the fear. This kind of fear could be the devil's way of keeping you away from God. Second, what is the source of the fear? Third, ask God for the grace to choose to address the fear by doing the opposite. Fourth, keep doing this until it becomes a habit. Fear doesn't go away quickly, but as you continue to attack it, it will be less dominating in one's life.   

Thirty-first Sunday Gospel Reflections C

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 
· Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. The journey from Galilee to Jerusalem took him through the town of Jericho. This was the town that Joshua and the Israelites conquered as they entered the Promised Land.

Now a man there named Zacchaeus,  who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.  
· Being a tax collector marked him as one who was disliked by the local people. His wealth came from the additional commissions he was able to keep from the taxes of the people.
· He must have heard of Jesus’ reputation. He may have even known Matthew, who was a tax collector before becoming a disciple of Jesus. He was curious to see Jesus.
· The primacy of grace is at play here. Without knowing it, he was being motivated by God to seek to see Jesus.
o The irony is that Zacchaeus sought with great effort to see Jesus, only to discover that Jesus was seeking him.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." 
· How did Jesus know his name? Was it a word of knowledge? Had they met before? If so, why would Luke say: “he was seeking to see who Jesus was?”
· The grace of salvation was prepared for by the grace of wanting to see who Jesus was. Zacchaeus responds to the different graces he is receiving.

And he came down quickly and received him with joy.  When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."  
· Zacchaeus is known to the local people who have also heard that Jesus was passing through their town. They have no kind words for him, for in their eyes he was a public sinner. For Jesus to stay at his house was contrary to their understanding of the Law.
· How often do we judge others from their public life?

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." 
· As Matthew left his past behind him, Zacchaeus is willing to do the same.
· The first step to discipleship is acknowledgment of sin, repentance and a firm decision to turn away from sin and to turn to Jesus.

And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.  For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."
· God gives the initial grace, we respond to that grace and God grants us salvation.
· How many people at the same scene had received a similar grace but did not respond to it and as a result did not experience the mercy of Jesus?
· How often have we not responded to the grace from God which would have brought us to a deeper relationship with God? What blocked us? Sin? Fear? Lack of trust? Shame?
· How do we apply the lesson of this event to our life?

I came across this story. In Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with  his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, "Prayers won't  help you get out of  here any faster." Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, "I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God."

Wasn't this the prayer of Jesus before his death, "Not my will but yours be done." This is key to our relationship with God. We say the words in the Our Father, "Thy will be done." But are we praying that his will be done in our lives now? The ultimate will of God for us is our eternal salvation and happiness with Him forever in glory. We may not understand his will in a given situation, but by embracing it we are uniting ourselves with God.

This is the road to true sanctity.

"Although love involves freedom, not all freedom involves love. I cannot love unless I'm free, but, because I'm free, still I may not love as I please....True love wants to be free from something to be free for something... To be devoid of love is the essence of hell." (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen)

Love is a gift and a response. God freely gifts us with his love first and we are free to respond or not. "Forced" love is obligation, not love. God never forces us to love but invites into the circle of love through love. The same is true between us and another human being. To truly love another, I must free that person to respond or not to respond. My love cannot have any strings attached or any expectation. 

Sometimes love is given only to be received. It is like a person throwing a boomerang, only to have it returned to him. That is opposite of one shooting a bow and arrow at at target. The joy of the former is to have the boomerang returned to him, a sign of self-love. The joy of latter is to hit the target, a sign of other love. 

Why do we choose to love another? Out of freedom? For self? Solely for other?

Let me share a story of a man who was at sea alone in a small boat. A storm arose, battered the little boat and threatened to overwhelm it. The man prayed. Then he distinctly saw Jesus coming toward him, walking on the waters. Remembering the story from the gospel, he cried out, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” Jesus answered. So the man put on a life jacket, stepped over the boat’s gunwale, stepped onto the churning water and walked to Jesus. Jesus said to him, “Why did you doubt my word, O man of little faith?” “Lord, I did not doubt your word!” the man protested. “Then why the life preserver,” Jesus asked. “Oh, that!” the man replied: “that was just in case.”

How hard is it for us to trust in the Lord! We have the "what if" attitude. I know he is God, but what if he doesn't come through. Our trust is not totally in the Lord; we cover our back with our own "life preserver." What is yours? How can he show us his plan, if we have a safety net just in case? If I believe that he is the Lord God, then I don't need a safety net. All I need is to fall fully into his embrace with absolute trust that he will catch me. Scary? Yes. But the only way.

Homily Thirtieth Sunday Year C

Reading 1: The main themes in this reading are:
                   1. God shows no partiality; the weak and oppressed he will hear.
                   2. The one who serves God willingly is heard.
                   3. The prayer of the humble God will respond to.
                   4. To the proud and the conceited he will give them justice.
                   5. To the humble and repentant one he will show mercy.

If we want our prayers to be heard effectively, then we need to recognize our sinfulness before God and repent. It says that a humble and contrite heart God will hear and answer with his love and mercy.

Gospel: Luke’s Gospel is a gospel of contradictions. He contrasts those who are righteous in their own eyes, namely the Pharisees, the adherents of the Law, versus those who are unrighteous in the eyes of Pharisees, namely the public sinners: the tax collectors and adulterers. In other places he contrasts the Jews and the Samaritans, the rich and the poor.

Here Luke contrasts a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee proudly stands before God touting his own horn about how good he is and not like the tax collector. He is expecting the Lord to reward him for his good works and his faithfulness to the Law. In his mind, he justly deserves it and has earned it. On the other hand, the tax collector recognizes his life of sin. On his knees he pleads for God’s mercy, not his justice.

Based on the first reading who was heard by the Lord? It is easy to compare ourselves with others, or to proud ourselves at the expense of others. But before God we are all sinners in need of his mercy, no matter how many good deeds we have done.  God knows the heart of each person and judges us accordingly. The proud he humbles; the humble he raises up.

Reading 2: Paul is at the end of his life. He reflects on his journey and acknowledges that he has fought hard in defending the faith, first by keeping the faith and secondly, by sharing the faith. He knows in faith that God in his mercy will reward him for his fidelity. Then he acknowledges how God has been his defense, providing and protecting him on his journey.

He had been abandoned by those he had hope would have defended him in the times of his difficulties. Only God stood by him and gave him strength to endure and continue to proclaim the truth to the Gentiles. Thus, his confidence was in God who would bring his life to completion. He humbly acknowledges the mercy and grace of God as the source of any good he had accomplished.

The humble receive praise the way a clean window takes the light of the son. The truer and more intense is the light is, the less you see of the glass....Humility is the surest sign of strength. (Thomas Merton)

The focus is not the self but the other. Too often we fail to be a conduit. The praise of others is to God who has used us to touch another. Sometimes we are like the ant on top of the elephant. The elephant tramples the trees, and we think we have great power. Humility lives in the truth and seeks to see things through God's perspective.

A story is told about a young boy who was trapped at the roof of their burning house. The smoke was so thick that he cannot see anything around him. He was crying, calling his father for help. Suddenly he heard his father’s voice asking him to jump. But the boy replied: “No dad, I can’t see you!” The father said: “Jump, I can see you my son. Jump, I’ll catch you.” “Dad, I’m afraid,” said the poor boy. “Don’t be afraid my son, trust me and you’ll be fine,” replied the father. Finally the son jumped, landed in his father’s arms and was saved.

"Accordingly, there are five kinds of forgiveness in the Bible. First is Judicial Forgiveness. This is the eternal forgiveness of all sins of the one who has trusted Christ, (Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:7). Second is Paternal Forgiveness. This is restoration of fellowship with God after we committed sin. The conditions are twofold: a) Confession (1John 1:9; John 13:4-10); (b) Forgiveness of others. Third is Personal Forgiveness. This is the restoration of our fellowship with others. This is so important because Jesus teaches us that we are forgiven if we are willing to forgive others, (Matt. 6:14-15). Fourth is Social forgiveness. This is restoration of our fellowship with society, (John 8:1-10). This may be a personal attitude or getting ourselves involved in programs and ministries of our parish. Fifth is Ecclesiastical Forgiveness. This is restoration of fellowship with the church (2Cor. 2:5-11). This forgiveness assumes a prior discipline by the church. The purpose of discipline is restoration; and forgiveness assumes repentance and restoration."

Twenty-eight Sunday Gospel C

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
· Because lepers were unclean, they were not allowed either in the Temple or in the Synagogue. They were ostracized from others, less in contact, they would render others ritually unclean. For the most part, they lived outside in their own community.
· Notice their cry: “Have mercy on us!” They probably had heard of Jesus’ healing ministry.  Hearing he was coming through their area, they hastened to meet and petition for healing.

And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”
· Notice he doesn’t touch them as he had done before. He doesn’t say, “Be healed.” By his command, he was telling them that if you believe that I have healed you, go to the priests to confirm it.
· Jesus said this because only when they have recovered, and fulfilled the Levitical requirements, could they be reinstated into the life of the people.
· At the moment there was not change in their condition. They came as lepers and they left as lepers. What was different was the conviction in their hearts that Jesus had done something.

As they were going they were cleansed. 
· This is not the first time that people left Jesus, believing in his word and latter their faith in Jesus’ word was confirmed. Recall the Centurion who came seeking the health of his servant, or the woman whose daughter was possessed.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.  He was a Samaritan. 
· The first thing to note is that one of them returned, glorifying God with gratitude and faith in Jesus. How often we experience God’s mercy and grace but do not respond with gratitude!
· In fact, should not our whole day be a prayer of gratitude to God for all his blessings just that day? Gratitude opens us up to the more that God desires to give us.
· The second thing to note is that Jesus points out that the one who returned with gratitude was not a legalistic Jew, but a Samaritan who was to the Jews a scum.
· God shows no partiality, for all are his sons and daughters, which is how we are to treat others.

Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?  Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
· The other nine were healed and were satisfied. One returned thanks and experienced the further grace of God, salvation.
· Jesus wants not only to heal our bodies but to bring the healing grace of salvation for our souls.
· As you reflect on this passage, what applications can you make in your life?
· What is God saying to you?

Twenty-Seventh Sunday Gospel Reflections C

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."  
· Have you ever felt like asking Jesus this same thing?

The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 
· We increase our faith by exercising our faith. The more we exercise it, the more we are able to step out in a greater degree.  It is not that we do not have faith but that our faith at times may be weak because we are not exercising it.  The more we do so, the bolder we will be to exercise our faith in greater matters.
· Are we afraid to step out in faith because we are concerned more about ourselves than being obedient to God? Are we concern that if nothing happens it would look bad for us?
· The focus of our faith is the Lord and his power and not on our human weaknesses.
· The first thing we need is discernment to make sure that God is asking us to step out and act. Then we need courage to be obedient to God regardless of the consequences.

"Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?  Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'?  Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?  So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
· God judges us on our obedience to what he has asked us to do not on the results that occurred or did not occur. As Mother Theresa said: “God wants fidelity more than success.”
· What will you do as a result of your reflection on this teaching?