May 4, 2014 - Third Sunday of Easter ~ The Road to Emmaus

Gospel lk 24:13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

“Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.  He asked them, ‘What are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped, looking downcast.”

I once worked with someone that when I said, “goodbye, see you tomorrow”,  to them at the end of the work day they would respond “Si Dios quiere”; which translates “If God wants it”, in other words to say, “if it be God’s will that I am still alive tomorrow you will see me”.  Now normally this would be a very good understanding of giving complete control of our lives to God and that His will should be done in heaven and on earth.  But in this situation this person would not say it with confidence and trust in God, but with sadness and gloom in their voice.  It is as if this person were saying with downcast eyes “Woe is me, my life is such a struggle”.  My sisters and brothers in Christ, in today’s Gospel the two disciples are saddened to the point that their eyes are not fixed on the glory of Heaven but instead “downcast” and looking only at the ground beneath their feet.  When life is not what you expect, when there is tragedy and suffering do you look “downcast” or do you fix your gaze on our Risen Lord and His promise of eternal life?  Sisters and brothers we are called to place our Hope and Faith in our Lord who has conquered sin and death once and for all!  To walk with our feet on this earth but to fix our eyes on Heaven, our HOPE!  Have Faith; trust in our Lord, trust in His Word, trust in His Mercy!  Stop waiting to die and live each day as a gift from God!  Let our Risen Lord be the source of your Joy and your Peace, see His awesome power and love in the breaking of the bread; may God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!  See you soon, Si Dios Quiere!!  Blessings. Fr. Steven 

Sunday April 20, 2014 - Easter Sunday - CHRIST IS RISEN!

Gospel jn 20:1-9

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.

Sisters and brothers in the Lord; CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED, HE IS RISEN! Today we celebrate that glorious day when our Lord conquered sin and death once and for all!  Joy fills our hearts as we come to worship our Risen Lord!  On this Easter Sunday let nothing bring you down, let no sufferings or tragedies of this fallen world consume your heart; for today Jesus the Christ, the Just Judge, manifests the divine sovereignty that has authority over heaven and earth!  So often we can become so discouraged by the injustices of our world; the extreme poverty that sees children perishing from hunger and lack of basic health care, families torn apart by war and unjust immigration laws, and the so many divisions caused by socio-economic inequalities.  These problems in our world can at times give us a negative view of the world; but today is the reassurance we need!  CHRIST IS RISEN!  Though completely innocent (perfect in every way in fact); Jesus suffered, died, was buried and on the third day - conquered the grave once and for all!  This is the encouragement that sustains us, this is the strength we need as we are called to go out into the world and be instruments of His divine Love, Mercy, and Justice.  Sisters and brothers, we are a Resurrection People, strengthened by our Lord’s Victory and called to go out into the world and speak in the face of injustice and corruption.  Let today EASTER SUNDAY be the inspiration we need to renew our own hearts, our families and our world in ensuring Justice and Truth for all people, but most especially for the poor.  Happy Easter and may our awesome God fill your hearts with the JOY and GRACE of our Risen Lord!

“In the face of serious forms of social and economic injustice and political corruption affecting entire peoples and nations, there is a growing reaction of indignation on the part of very many people whose fundamental human rights have been trampled upon and held in contempt, as well as an ever more widespread and acute sense of the need for a radical personal and social renewal capable of ensuring justice, solidarity, honesty and openness.” No. 98  IOANNES PAULUS PP. II VERITATIS SPLENDOR    

April 13, 2014 Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

April 13, 2014

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

 

“The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is the he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.’”

“They all said, ‘Let him be crucified!’ But he said, ‘Why? What evil has he done?’ They only shouted the louder, ‘Let him be crucified!’”

Sisters and brothers today we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion in which our Lord made His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem and was eventually led to Golgotha. When Jesus entered Jerusalem the people shouted “hosanna” which if translated literally is taken from the psalms and means “save us, we pray”.  However on the occasion of the Messiah’s entrance into the Holy City it was more of an acclamation of joy rather than the literal meaning.  The people rejoiced that Jesus the Christ had arrived to save His people! But how quickly their hearts changed!  For it would be shortly after His entrance into the Holy City that the people would turn on the Savior; not very long after His glorious entrance would the people shout “Let him be crucified!”  Sisters and brothers do we not do the same thing?  One of the criticisms of Catholics by others is that we mock the Sacrament of Confession thinking we can do whatever we want and act however we please as long as we go to Confession on Saturday.  Meaning, the running mockery of our faith by others is that Catholics go out on Friday night carousing and fornicating, go to Confession on Saturday, and receive Communion on Sunday and then repeat the whole process the next weekend.  It is as if we are saying to our Lord; “Yes, I believe in you and trust in you on Saturday and Sunday but on Friday I am going to turn my back on you and do my own thing!”  Is this not what the people of Jerusalem did?  Sisters and brothers when we enter into the confessional we are opening our hearts completely to our Lord’s healing touch.  A divine healing that has the power to transform our lives only if we let it! We should not think that we can keep committing the same sins over and over again and just go to confession to “wipe the slate clean” without truly putting in the effort to change our life.  When we leave the confessional we are tasked with striving to never commit the same sin/error again.  Please do not misunderstand me, more than likely there are certain temptations that each of us will struggle with throughout our whole life, but the point is that we must never stop putting in the effort to turn away from sin.  Beloved, as we enter Holy Week let our hearts, minds, and souls prepare the way for our Lord, let us truly strive for conversion; and may every knee bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!