July 30, 2017

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time A 1 Kings 3-5, 7-12; Romans 8: 28-30; Matthew 13: 44-52 I was talking to two 60 + people this week who made the same statement, independent of each other. They said, ‘I just don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.’ When I was a teacher and counselor some high school students would ask, ‘Father, can you help me, I don’t know what God wants me to be?’ I responded to the students, ‘What do YOU want to be?’ I responded to the 60 somethings, ‘What do YOU want to do?’ The readings today are challenging each one of us to see our real treasures. They help us see that our greatest treasure is our true self, which is nothing other than the person that God created us to be. Reaching this goal , is the goal of discipleship and its goal is heaven. So is the path that we are on, the direct path or are we wandering too much? We begin with looking at how David became king. We remember that Saul was king, and Samuel the prophet was told by God to go to Bethlehem to the clan, the family of Jesse. God told Samuel, “How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Take a heifer along and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do; you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you…do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature…not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” God rejected seven of Jesse’s sons and then Samuel sent for Jesse’s youngest son, David, who was shepherding. Kingship in Israel at that time was different from other nations because they were chosen by God and not by popular acclaim or heritage. Their task was to serve God and shepherd God’s people on the right path of life. Today we can see that Solomon was on this path by the request he made. In a dream God offered to fulfill any request that Solomon had. How would we answer that request if God asked ‘I will do anything you ask for.’… Solomon knew that his role as king was to serve God. We can see this since he refers to himself twice as “your servant.” Do we ever refer ourselves to God as “your servant”? Why not? Isn’t that what we are? Solomon also states that the people are God’s people and he wants to rule them with justice and care. So often we hear that Solomon asked for wisdom…He actually said, “O Lord, my God, You have made me Your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve You in the midst of the people whom You have chosen a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give you servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” God granted his request, he will have an understanding heart. Do I have one? Do I want wisdom to be smarter or a heart that knows how to help and care and love? We can easily get sidetracked with Paul’s passage to the Romans today. Last week Paul shared that the Spirit helps us pray as we should. Today’s Paul tells us that salvation was God’s plan from the beginning. Let’s put it this way, we all have loads of worries and anxieties like: ‘Are the children safe? How will I be able to care for my aging parents? Is my job secure? Will I have enough money? How can I cope with retirement? NOW what if SOMEONE could assure you that EVERYTHING will be all right. They tell you that all your worries and difficulties will be taken care of…and God adds Because I love you! NOW if we heard this and believe it wouldn’t our actions be a whole lot different. Wouldn’t our life be changed in a totally different way? Paul is saying this today to each of us. Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” God’s plan is for each of us is to be in heaven if we believe in Jesus and follow His commandments. We ask for the grace to TRUST Jesus' words. The Gospel of Matthew today contains three parables about the ‘’Kingdom of heaven.” They compel us to look at and seek after the most precious things in the world. Heaven is the goal of every person. Heaven has been promised to every person. We are to believe in God and follow His commandments. Our life is living as Jesus told us and showed us. This means struggling for those principles which alone can give our lives meaning and direction and the three parables help us in this. These three differ from the other parables on the reign or the kingdom of God. They refer to the city on a mountain, the wheat and weeds, the mustard seed, the net of fish, the great banquet, the marriage feast. All these speak of the members of the reign as a group, today’s parables are addressed to the individual. In the first two parables the person sells all he has. Both demand a giving up, a definite risk and total commitment. It’s not emphasizing the pain in the ‘giving up’ but on the tremendous value of the reward: the reign…the kingdom. Jesus gives us one more parable to help us: that of the net thrown into the sea. The net collects all sorts of fish of every kind. The lesson: there is no discrimination. All are collected and the useful are separated from the useless. There will be tolerance of both good and evil until then end. What is Jesus telling us: How precious is Heaven…How important it is to put nothing in the way of our journey to heaven. Detachment from things is a necessary consequent of attachment to Jesus. What is the meaning of life….What is true happiness: it is in discovering the meaning of life and of finding ourselves in the adventurous path of holiness. The things of this world pass away. Our loved ones pass away. Only our faith in God is with us at all times. Solomon asked for an understanding heart…God gave Him that and wisdom. Faith in God is the only treasure that remains with us when all else is gone and all other paths fail. Living the Word, Scripture Reflections and Commentaries for Sundays and Holy Days, concludes in this way. “St. Francis deSales offered a prayer for wisdom that went something like this: ‘Lord Jesus, I surrender to You. Make me a lute that You play Touch any string and allow me to make music in harmony with you.’ Faith gives us the wisdom to love as Christ loved, live as He lived, and surrender all for the greatest treasure. Therein lies wisdom at all times.” Reflect on: • Who or what is my pearl of great price? • What role does my faith play in the decisions I make, whether big or small? • How much am I willing to give for something depends and on how valuable it is to me. How much would I be willing to sacrifice for the Kingdom of God? Sacred Space 2017 states: “The parable is not inviting you to think about somebody else—some random trespasser. Jesus is inviting you to recognize where your heart is. For whom or for what would you go without everything else? Think about this hidden treasure. It inspires, enlivens, and opens horizons of new plans and dreams. Not everyone should be told about it immediately but the excitement it brings cannot always be hidden I thank God for what gives meaning to my life. Perhaps God looks at me and sees a hidden treasure, wondering when I might discover it.

July 23, 2017

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time A Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19; Romans 8: 26-27; Matthew 13: 24-43 What is heaven all about? It is about God. What is heaven like? Today Jesus gives us three parables which give an insight into heaven by prefacing them with “The Kingdom of Heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field….The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed… The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast … Next week Jesus gives two more parables: “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure buried in a field…The Kingdom is heaven is like a net thrown into the sea… Then the following week Jesus brings His apostles up a high mountain and is gloriously transfigured. For the past few weeks Jesus has been defining what discipleship is all about. Today He draws attention to the focus of our work as disciples, namely the kingdom of heaven. This seems to be an easy topic, but it is defined by people who want to get to heaven so therefore they will adopt the entrance rules according to what they feel will get them there. Heaven is where God is; shouldn’t He be the one to lay out the entrance rules? There are a number of books which tell of the last moments of people’s lives and a vast number of books that tell of a person who has had an ‘after life experience’. Wouldn’t these give us a clear picture of heaven? I personally shy away from all these books putting my trust and belief in what Jesus says. But I have enjoyed Mitch Albom’s books, especially Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Have a Little Faith because they show people who live according to Jesus’ triple law of love. Today’s reading from the book of Wisdom sets the theme for the Gospel reading by showing us that God judges with mercy and permits repentance for our sins. The book of Wisdom is loaded with rich vocabulary and wonderful phrases that encourage its readers to recognize what truly counts for wisdom in each of our lives. It challenges us to look for the wisdom that God gives versus what the world offers. The book show us that if we live the Wisdom of God we will enjoy living forever with God, immortality with God, living forever in Heaven. It show us that God is like a teaching, loving Father who guides us each step of the way. This wisdom from God saved the faithful Israelites during the Exodus by providing them manna from heaven along with quail. See how much God loves you! Moses said repeatedly. See how much God has forgiven you for your sins and rejections of His love! We can see in this passage God is like a teacher leading them patiently, realizing that we all learn from our mistakes. The call is to continue living in the Lord. Wisdom states, “But though You are master of might, You judge with clemency, and with much lenience You govern us; for power whenever You will, attends You. And You taught Your people, by these deeds, that hose who are just must be kind; and You gave Your children good ground for hope that You would permit repentance for their sins.” In our pursuit of heaven God realizes we can’t comprehend His unrelenting, and incomparable love, so He helps us. Paul states very plainly in his letter to the Romans that we weak human beings just don’t know how to fulfill the most basic of our Christian duties: to pray the way we ought. Most of us confine our prayers to those of petition. But we really don’t know what we should ask for. This is not a problem for Paul; we must realize that the Spirit is within us, always helping us. One spiritual writer defined prayer as ‘the divine within us appealing to the divine above us.’ Paul continually adds that the heart of all prayer is being alive to call God ‘abba’ or ‘daddy’. This is the term that Jesus used. Do pray in this way? Jesus is using parables to describe the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven…God’s rule. The farmer in the first parable is looking around at his field which symbolizes the world. He sees people who are both good and bad. The weeds in the parable seem to be indistinguishable from the wheat until they harvest. So the farmer must be patient and tolerant until the harvest. We know the good people in our lives and we certainly are aware of the bad. We need the same virtues to be used for both. It could be the gift of ourselves that helps turn a bad one into good. The mustard seed, it is an ordinary seed which is very tiny. When it grows it is nothing more than a large shrub. God's kingdom is in the simple, the ordinary. The Kingdom of God’s love grows when we share our love. God takes care of the growth. But if we hide the love we are not living what love is all about. Jesus continues with the parable of the yeast. Look at the vast amount of dough that results from the yeast - three measures, this would be about fifty pounds. This could easily feed well over a hundred people. Jesus is telling us this is how the kingdom works. It can start out tiny, when it catches on and begins to work, it produces an extraordinary amount. Jesus is talking about love; your love, my love. When it is given and not hoarded, God will take care of it's growing and spreading. This is what heaven is all about. Within each one, the Spirit is sown. It may be difficult for us to grasp the extent of the change which is going on inside of us or even realizing that this change is achievable. To be real this must happen through the Holy Spirit and prayer. The transformation of the world into God’s love does not come from our complaining. It comes from our action and living love. Any change starts with you and me. So we ask, How am I living God’s triple command of love? This is my way to heaven. This is heaven where only love is. So I reflect on: • Am I my most severe critic? Am I too hard on myself? In what areas of my life? How does this attitude affect my prayer life? • What times or events in my life have awakened me to an awareness of God’s great kindness to me? Am I grateful? • Do I trust the Spirit to help me pray as I ought? Do I ask for this grace? • I look at the time when my faith life seemed to be at a low point. Who helped me to see God? Did I continue to pray? Did my prayer take a different form? Was it more personal like talking to ‘Abba…daddy’. Sacred Space 2017 states: “The weeds are a species of wild wheat, sometimes known as ‘false wheat.’ Only at harvest time can the farmer distinguish the real from the false. Jesus is saying that good and bad are mixed together in this world and indeed in each of us. We must be patient with others and with ourselves. Jesus does not condone or encourage what is not of God; yet He seems able to acknowledge that different motivations and spirits are at work. How might I let this spirit of Jesus shape my life? Perhaps I can look back on events in my life that seemed barren or weedy and see now that God was at work. “

July 16, 2017

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time A Isaiah 55: 10-11; Romans 8: 18-23; Matthew 13: 1-23 Did you ever ask yourself, What am I hungry for from God? What can God help me with? Does God support me when I’m trying to lose weight or something like that or is He just concerned with religious things? How active do I let God be in my life? Do I let God be loving and caring or do I feel I’m not that important with all the needy and impoverished in the world? Do I want to pay attention to God only when I want or when it is convenient or do I feel that God always has a message for me? Do I seem to come across with the attitude that God is waiting for me and when I’m available I will respond? Matthew was having a problem with his community: some were rejecting the message of Jesus and others were accepting His message. He goes back to the time that Jesus compared this situation to Isaiah’s. God had told Isaiah that the very people who needed God’s words would reject them. Isaiah was told this when he received God’s call as prophet. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am;’ I said; ‘send me!’ And He replied: Go and say to the people: Listen carefully, but you shall not understand! Look intently, but you shall know nothing! You are to make the heart of this people sluggish, to dull their ears and close their eyes; Else their eyes will see, their ears hear, their hearts understand and they will turn and be healed. ‘How long, O Lord? I asked. And He replied: Until the cities are desolate, without inhabitants, houses, without a man, and the earth is a desolate waste…” (Isaiah 6: 8-10). In Matthew’s community there was a conflict with those Jews who accepted Jesus and His teaching (the Jewish Christians), and those Jews who rejected it. For a variety of reasons people had hardened their hearts and the Gospel of Jesus could not penetrate them. Jesus was a storyteller and used images that were familiar to His audience. Their methods of farming were very different from today. The first-century farmer scattered the seeds on the ground first and then turned over the soil. Since the seed rested on top of the ground for a while before the farmer was able to plow, the wind could blow it to an area where the farmer had not intended. That is why it landed on the foot path or on rocky ground or among the thorns. What Jesus does is not to concentrate on the type of seeds but on the soil. The soil on the worn down path resists all aspects of the seed. Matthew is comparing these to the scribes and Pharisees who refuse to understand or even listen. The soil on rocky ground accepts the seed but when hardships come it rejects the seed as is evident in the disciples that just couldn't stick it out with Jesus. The thorny soil lets the seed take root but quickly gets all tangled up and bears no fruit; here Matthew is referring to Herod, Pilate. Finally the soil that allows the seed to grow and bears much fruit describes the faithful followers of Jesus. Probably many of us have gone through most of these soil types. At times our soil was rocky. We heard God’s word but we didn’t allow it to take root. Letting the seed take root means letting the Gospel message make a difference in a person’s life. It means living out one’s commitment to Jesus. How do we do this? By responding in living the Corporal works of Mercy which Jesus describes in Matthew 25: 34-46, “Then the king will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, a stranger and you welcomed Me, naked and you clothed Me, ill and you cared for Me, in prison and you visited me’” So does the Gospel of Jesus make a difference in my life? Do I let worldly cares like fame, power, money, possessions, pleasure, become the center of my life? Do I believe in Jesus and what He said but I just don't take the time to reflect or check out Scriptures and learn how to love Jesus? Or is God rooted in my life? How the seed grows depends on its type of soil. How God’s word grows in me is how willing and receptive I am to God. What each of us needs to remember is that God entrusts to each person the responsibility for her or his own part in relationship with God. Is the future gloomy; No! As Isaiah states God's word must and will achieve its intended purpose. Isaiah 55: 10-11, “For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return here till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” The task that Jesus puts in front of us in the Gospel is to realize that we can find God in all things at every moment. To do this we must take time to reflect on our experiences and discern what God is showing us and how He is leading us. St. Ignatius of Loyola encouraged The Examen, his five step prayer for awareness. 1) Pray for God’s help. Prayer is a dialogue with God. So invite God to be with you during this time. Ask God to help you be grateful and honest as you look back on your day. 2) Give thanks for the gifts of this day. For St. Ignatius, gratitude is the most important step on the spiritual journey. So I review the day and name the blessings from the obvious to the ordinary. God helped me in each moment. 3) Pray over the significant feelings that surface as you replay the day. You may have some very strong feelings that may be painful or pleasing. These can tell you about the direction of your life this day. Ask God to help you understand these. 4) Rejoice and seek forgiveness. Be grateful for the times you were brought close to God and ask forgiveness for those times today when you resisted God’s presence. 5) Look to tomorrow. God is with us today…while we sleep…and with us tomorrow. Invite God to be a part of our future. What do I need God’s help with…and be very practical….Ask God for the help we need. Let God love us. So I reflect on: • What are the thorns in my life that try to choke the sprouting seeds of virtue? • Can I see God’s grace active in my life? What examples come to mind? • How do I till the soil of my heart to let God’s seed grown within me? Sacred Space 2017 states: “The different kinds of ground on which the seed falls represent the different ways in which we receive God’s word. The degree of receptivity depends on the individual and the particular circumstances of his or her life. The parable provides hope and encouragement, in that the sower succeeds ultimately in producing a crop from the seed that fell on good soil. Such crowds gathered to see and hear Jesus that He had to preach from a boat. They were hungry for spiritual nourishment and for leadership. Lord Jesus, I pray for the church and for all believers today. Make of us a community of disciples, all seeking you.”

July 9, 2017

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time A Zechariah 9: 9-10; Romans 8: 9, 11-13; Matthew 11: 25-30 How often have we used the expression, ‘Will there ever be a time…? Then we insert in the blanks: when there is peace in the world…when people will not be greedy…when all people will respect everyone and their religious, cultural and political viewpoints…when there will be no more killing and violence…no more abortions and death penalties…when all life is respected from the womb to the tomb? Will there ever be a time when my family will get along with each other? Will there ever be a time when people will live what Jesus taught? Will there ever be a time when all this will happen? Today’s readings address these points by turning us in the direction Jesus points out; the direction of knowing He is with us, cares for us and gives us help always. Are we listening or do our minds and motives get in the way? Zechariah starts his work by sharing some symbolic visions. The Jewish exiles have returned. There is much to do. The temple in Jerusalem has to be rebuilt and rededicated. There is much to be hopeful for but they are afraid. The nations around them are strong and powerful, Israel is their enemy. The prophet tells them wonderful things will happen but they have to put God first in their lives. They must trust God. We must trust God. Do we believe that God has a plan for our salvation? Jesus explained this plan. Zechariah explains the plan by predicting an end to wars and divisions. The Messiah, the eschatological king will bring peace. He comes in a unique way, riding on a beast of burden used for farming and for transport. He does not come on a war horse as leader of an army. This king will abolish all the trappings of warfare. There will be no need for a show of military strength. This messiah king’s rule will extend all over the world. Matthew quotes Zechariah in 21:7 when Jesus enters Jerusalem in the Palm Sunday procession. “Say to daughter Zion, ‘behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” I’m sure it was very difficult for Zechariah’s listeners to believe that this could ever happen. The same thoughts are real in us when we see the condition of the world with violence, wars, no respect for life, and following the god they want god to be. Zechariah concludes today’s segment saying, “…and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to then ends of the earth.” Do we understand peace as Jesus meant? Luke says when the apostles were in the Upper Room listening to the accounts of the Resurrection, Jesus appeared and said, “‘Peace be with you.’ But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then He said to them ’Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts. Look at My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.’” They had big time trouble recognizing God’s plan…I’m sure we would be in the exact position. But this is God’s plan. God is in control. Listen! Paul tells the Romans that their previous way of living was totally consumed with themselves. Then they came to the realization of what Jesus taught them: they have the Spirit of God living in them. They are loved by God and are to be known by their love. This is how they are to live. This is how we are to live. Because we are loved, all the time, we should live a life of constant gratitude, recognizing our debt to God for the gift of our salvation. That’s why Paul uses the expression, ‘we no longer live according to the flesh. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Todays gospel from Mathew is set right in the midst of Jesus being rejected by the ‘religious professionals’. The chapter starts out with John the Baptist in prison and he sends his disciples to Jesus asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus responds “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised , and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” Then Jesus began to “reproach the towns where most of His mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.” Then Jesus changes course and praises God for having revealed mysteries to the ‘little ones’ that are hidden from the ‘wise’. The 'wise' is a reference to the scribes and the Pharisees; the ‘little ones’ refers to Jesus' disciples. God has a plan. The plan includes an enormous invitation, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy, and My burden light.” Look how Jesus starts: “Come to Me…” Life is bigger than little old me. There is something much bigger to life. Jesus has something much more for each person. Do I trust? Just like the Israelites and the Romans, we all have difficulties that surround us. We sit and complain about our lives. We do our complaining by comparing…'why do bad things happen to me?’ Do we look at the progression of scripture stories starting with Genesis and the Fall? Adam and Eve did what they wanted, what they thought would bring them happiness. The history continuing with Abraham and the wandering of the Jewish nation in the desert and their constant complaining and doing what they wanted to do. It seems that it is the consistent habit passed down through the ages to rely on ourselves. How often do we rely on the Lord? Jesus said, “Come to Me…” Why would He say that if there was another way? Therefore, there isn’t another way. All life is about God’s eternal plan. It includes the way, the only way that we go to heaven. God loves us and shows us the way and helps us. “Take My yoke upon you…” Jesus explains more about this way: the thing about yokes is that they must be operated by two. That’s where Jesus part comes in; He helps us with our burdens. Do we go to Him? Do we trust Him? It is good for us to remember Jesus’ words. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Jesus never said that this will happen immediately. We feel it should. Does He always help us? ABSOLUTELY! Matthew 7:9 continues: “Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him.” So I reflect on: • When has thinking that you ‘knew it all’ got in the way of your learning and growing? • Every life is burdened with disappointments that we can’t control. How come we do not go to Jesus? Do we feel that He doesn’t care? Do we feel He can’t do anything? • Why do we feel that our hurts, pains and disappointments mean that God doesn’t care? • What is the difference between happiness and gratitude? Sacred Space 2017 states: “Jesus is inviting those who are not in the comfort zone, who feel oppressed by anxiety and uncertainty. Lord, I do not ask that you bring my life completely under control; to be mortal is to face uncomfortable realities. I beg You to be my uncomfortable comfort zone. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus offers us a lifeline, “Come to me…” He says. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? And yet we find it difficult to believe that reaching out to Jesus can make a difference. Lord, You invite us to take Your hand and walk with You; how stubborn we can be sometimes. Help us receive Your whispered invitation and respond with faith

July 2, 2017

July 2, 2017 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A 2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16; Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10: 37-42 What does it mean to be hospitable? When I looked this up in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, I make an amazing discovery of words surrounding hospitable. HOSPICE - a lodging for travelers or for young persons or the underprivileged; a facility or program for caring for dying persons HOSPITABLE - given to be generous and cordial reception of guests; readily receptive. HOSPITAL - hospice, guest house; an institution where the sick or injured receive medical or surgical care. HOSPITALITY - hospitable treatment, reception, or disposition One of the characteristics of being a Christian is to be a loving person at all times. This is seen in how I treat the people who are in my life today and each day. This is to be extended to all people in the world. Am I doing this? The readings help us to focus on this aspect of Jesus’ command. In the first reading from the second book of Kings, Elijah was about to be taken up to heaven in a 'fiery chariot’ and Elisha asked for a double portion of the spirit that had been given to Elijah. From today’s reading we can see that the Lord did gift Elisha. He traveled to Shunem and was given lodging by a well-off woman and her husband. He was invited to return since they enjoyed being with this ‘holy man of God.’ They decided to give him a furnished room so that he could stay over night when he needed to. Elisha was impressed with their caring and asked his servant for suggestions on how he could reciprocate. This couple had no son and were elderly; so the prophet promised them that, “... this time next year you will be fondling a baby son.” A wonderful story, but it continues. Many years later the son developed a serious ailment and died in his mothers lap. They quickly sought out Elisha who returned and brought the son back to life. What are the messages? How much care has God for us at all moments of our life. Am we responsive? Are we afraid to ask for favors? Do we feel our demands are too insignificant for God? Paul in his letter to the Romans today is describing the Christian life as a life of discipleship. This means that we must follow the way that Jesus laid out for us: the way of love. This is going to involve many hardships and stressful times. It is a life of pain and suffering that leads to our earthly death. Jesus told His disciples: “…and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me…” Our Baptism has changed us. Do we know that? The symbolism of being plunged into the waters of baptism and not being able to breathe and then the baptized comes out gasping for air, shows symbolically that we died to an old way of life: a life of sin that leads to death. Then we rise from the waters of rebirth into a newness of life. This is the life of grace, God’s help to totally give love, which leads to eternal life. So every day of our life we have to ‘die to our selfish ways, our sinful ways’, and rise to the life of Christ which is love and share this. So we take up our difficulties, our pains, our crosses carry them and live with them while being love and bringing God’s love to each person. How exactly do we do this? Matthew shares the hows in today’s gospel. These are the last words of Jesus’s second major discourse and comprises the entire tenth chapter. This has been entitled as the ‘Missionary Discourse.” It contains Jesus’ instructions to His apostles on how they are to spread His words and the difficulties they will encounter. It is a chapter for each of us. Jesus asks if they are willing to ‘take on the job’. Are they willing to make sacrifices to be His follower? Are they going to ‘chicken out’ if it gets difficult? Do they realize that there will be choices that have to be made? There will be times that family and friends, jobs and commitments get in the way. Will this hinder them or make them give up? The same questions are asked each of us? Each one of us by our Baptism are called to be Jesus’ followers. Are we brave enough to be a Christian? Are we strong enough to take up our daily crosses? Can we withstand mockery, disappointment even failure, knowing that we have been called out of love to be love? Jesus says, “…whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” This is a definite reference to embracing cruel and often unjust suffering. Crucifixion was the harshest death penalty Rome inflicted. Matthew clearly believes that God bestows rewards on those who believe in the Gospel message of Jesus and lives it. Jesus is telling us that our kindness will be rewarded. We know that. When we’ve gone out of our way to help someone and it involved a little sacrifice on our part, maybe of our time, or another commitment, we feel good inside. What does it ‘feel like’? We experience a goodness that we helped…one was raised ‘from the dumps’…we felt more alive and got a semblance of what real living is all about. The opposite is also felt when we do not respond… we turn into our self, we care just about me, we have a ‘bad taste’ inside and want to wipe that away. The reality of our life is that we are all one family — the family of humankind. This means that no one is a stranger, no one is a visitor, we are all in God's family. Both the Old and New Testaments constantly promise rewards for our kindness and love. The ultimate promise is that we are all united to Christ and in Christ. We are all called to be generous givers and to be gracious receivers. If we are all one, there is not sin, we live in love and are in love. Isn’t this the description of Heaven? Are we preparing for this Heaven? Or we giving my own description to Heaven coupled with my own entrance qualities? So I reflect on: • How does my Baptism , my belonging to the family of God, affect my other relationships? • When has ‘welcoming someone’ changed my life? • Jesus calls me to love my neighbor…every person in my life and those in the whole world. What must my attitude be to each of these groups? • For the most part I have trouble loving those who I do not know well…what can I do to love these people as Jesus does? • “In the passage that speaks about losing your life for His sake, do you think Jesus is talking about physical death or full compliance with God’s will? Does completely surrendering to God’s will mean you have no free will? Is surrendering to God’s will an act of free choice?” Sacred Space 2017 states: ”Jesus acknowledges virtue in a person who welcomes righteousness. He recognizes support even in people who are not well acquainted with Him yet. I hope to have this generous spirit toward others. We can grasp at life or hold it lightly. Grasping just makes us anxious and greedy; holding life lightly builds up our trust and hope.”