The Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - November 11, 2018

First Reading: 1 Kings 17:10-16

Psalm: Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 (1b)

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28

Alleluia: Matthew 5:3

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

I will be addressing the readings randomly.

Life in this world is unpredictable as much as we try to control it, even for those who have fame, power and fortune.  We are seeing that play out in California as  out of control fires are devouring whole cities, forcing thousands to flee for their lives.  We’ve seen it in increasingly destructive hurricanes and storms ravaging the eastern United States.  We are experiencing it in our own lives and those of our loved ones as we experience disease, lost jobs, rising prices for housing and health care, death, violence and catastrophe.  My own daughter-in-law and her son, our grandson, lost their husband and father, respectively last month.  And we lost a beloved son.  Not much has really changed since Biblical times.  Who can we trust in during such perilous times?  Even people who love us are often prevented by their limitations as human beings from coming through for us.  It is easy to conclude we are on our own and let terror, despair and the enemy of our souls overwhelm us.

Well, there is a God, our Father, up in the heavens who keeps faith forever, who makes promises and keeps them and who reigns forever.  And He is not distant but is always aware of what is happening in our lives whether we are trusting Him and confiding in Him or not.  He sent His own son into our world to become one of us, die for us, conquer death for us to take away our sins, ascend back into heaven for us to appear before Him on our behalf as both our eternal high priest and sacrifice.  Not only that but His Son Is coming back to take us home to Father’s house, if we believe and entrust ourselves to Him in this world while looking forward to the eternal life with Him promised to us.  I gleaned these reflections from the Psalm and the second reading.

But what about life in this world, what hope does He offer us in this world while we are traveling through it?  Well, there are the lives of Elijah and the two widows and the Psalm in today’s readings to take to heart.  

In the first, Elijah confronts Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, in a showdown on God’s behalf.  God had given Elijah the power through prayer to control the rainfall in the region.  And Elijah was sent by God to pronounce upon the king and the region a multi-year drought that would not end until Elijah prayed for it to.  Now droughts always meant famines in those days.  And King Ahab responds by wanting to kill the messenger so God directs Elijah to a series of refuges for his safety.  One of the places He provides is the home of a poor widow and her son in neighboring kingdom in Zarephath of Sidon.  The widow isn’t even Jewish but God had already contacted her, giving her a heads up that Elijah would be coming and commanding her to provide for him.  See 1 Kings 17:9.

Now the widow and her son have been suffering both from the loss of their husband and his father and also from the famine.  They only have enough food for a meager last meal before they die of hunger.  But she is willing to share it with Elijah on the basis of God’s promise through him that He will provide for her and her son until He sends the rains again.  So trust in God’s promise to her and her obedience prior to any fulfillment of that promise was requested and given.

That impressed me!  Wow!

In the Gospel reading, Jesus took the religious leaders, the scribes who were teachers of the law to task for using their position for the self-gratification of getting their egos stroked and for greed.  They were even taking widows houses while they were reciting lengthy prayers.  Jesus called them out and said they will receive a very severe condemnation, presumably from His Father when they are called to give an account.  Sound familiar?

Then Jesus sat down opposite the temple treasury to observe the crowd bringing their contributions to the temple.  He saw the rich dropping in big bags of money.  Then He noticed the widow, one of those being taken advantage of by the unrighteous scribes, putting her two last small coins, all she has.  So he called his disciples and brought her generosity to their attention.  She gave more than all the rich because she gave it all while the rich gave their leftovers.  

Now most of us would probably have been looking at the big bags of money the rich were giving.  But not Jesus.  His eyes zeroed in on the poor widow, one of the least of these.  He marveled at her faith.

Which brings us back the Psalm which I have included below.

The LORD keeps faith forever,

secures justice for the oppressed,

gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets captives free.

The LORD gives sight to the blind;

the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.

The LORD loves the just;

the LORD protects strangers.

The fatherless and the widow he sustains,

but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

The LORD shall reign forever;

your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

Praise the Lord, my soul!

Kind of reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.

26 Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,

28 and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something,

29 so that no human being might boast before God.

We can rejoice.  God cares for us and will assist us.  Often through His people, His Church.  My family and I have experienced His care and His miraculous provision many times.  Often in the nick of time.  So this reflection was not just an academic exercise for me.  We just need to trust Jesus as our rock in this crazy world, growing and walking in obedience to His will.  He’ll come and get us when it’s time to come live with Him forever.

I love this prayer from the common preface in the Mass because it is so true.

I love this prayer from the common preface in the Mass because it is so true.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

It is not only right and just and our duty to thank God because He really does deserve it, it is also our salvation.  When we allow our hearts to be thankful to God and give Him thanks, it saves us and unites us with Him.  My heart swells with gratitude just thinking about it.

Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the World

Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world, have mercy on us and give us light in our darkness.

Lord Jesus, you love us and gave yourself for us.  You love us still and feed us with your own flesh and blood through the Eucharist.  Give us your life to strengthen ours.

Lord Jesus, you became one of us so that you could experience life and death in this world and become our faithful high priest who knows how we feel.  Help us in our loneliness when we feel no one cares.  You do, Lord, you do.

Lord Jesus, you even come to us physically in the consecrated host so that you enter us when we receive you in the Eucharist and are present with us in Adoration.

Lord Jesus, help us to choose life and the Father’s will instead of our own.  Help us to not lean on our own understanding but yours.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of us your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.  Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth.

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 19, 2018

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 19, 2018

First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6

Psalm: Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 (9a)

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20

Alleluia: John 6:56

Gospel: John 6:51-58

This Sunday’s reading are about attaining the wisdom to know where to find life for the journey in this world and the next.  Life is a person, a relationship, a community, a shared meal, a way in which to walk and learn.

We find Wisdom in the first reading inviting us all over to her house, a house with seven pillars which represent perfection and the seven collections of proverbs contained in the Book of Proverbs.  She is inviting us all, everyone in the city who recognizes their foolishness, ignorance and lack of understanding to come eat and drink the sumptuous meal she has prepared for us.  It is a meal which will enable us to forsake our foolishness and advance in the way of understanding.  Her meal that she has prepared for us possibly foreshadows the Eucharist with the meat (flesh) and the wine(blood).

The Psalm begins with the faithful inviting others to join the banquet of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for his deliverances.  It is an invitation to taste and see the goodness of the Lord and experience the joy of gazing upon Him and putting our trust and hope in Him.

Verse 5 is particularly meaningful to me in the context of having become a Catholic.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me,

delivered me from all my fears.

My fears were tempting me to despair of life and feel like committing suicide.  I didn’t know how to seek Him in prayer to obtain answers and find deliverance.  But the Lord led me to the Catholic Church, the Sacraments and the prayers of the Church, particularly the Rosary.  I can now say that He has delivered me from all my fears.  They still come at me but I know what to do with them now.  Thanks be to God!

The Apostle Paul then exhorts us further into the way of wisdom and into the fight against the daily onslaught of evil, living intentionally and seeking to understand the will of the Lord through learning.  Whereas most people in this world try to self medicate with the goods of this world to deal with the stress and strain in their lives, St. Paul advocates sung praise and thanksgiving as ways to be filled with the Spirit and handle the difficulty of life.

It is interesting how when we sing and focus on the Lord, we feel better.  A lot of the old hymns that I used to think were pie in the sky and corny now ring true because I am experiencing what they were about.  Hymns Iike Count Your Blessings.  Here’s the first verse for an example.

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Finally Jesus really does give us Himself and His life in the Eucharist as He proclaims in the Gospel reading.  The Eucharist is one of the most important ways that Jesus has provided for us to come to Him and remain in Him and receive life from Him.  I love every word and action in the Mass.  It is interesting how Jesus gives the John 6 discourse on His being the Bread of Life after criticizing the Pharisees and scribes for seeking eternal life by searching the Scriptures rather than coming to Him the source of eternal life in the Eucharist.  The Scriptures point to Him.

Tips for praying the rosary

Tips for praying the rosary

General tips in praying the rosary
1. Expect it to be somewhat dry as you are learning the prayers. Think of all the other things that you have learned how to do and how they were at times tedious as you learned them. But eventually you mastered them if you persevered. Then it became more satisfying.

2. You have an attentive audience to your prayers. God the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary are listening to your prayers even as you are learning them. You are not just saying words that don’t matter. You are praying, even if somewhat clumsily. They want you to succeed because they know it will help you to draw near to them and they will in turn draw near to you. They are present. And that is a promise. James 4:8a, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” NABRE So pray with expectation they are there even if you don’t feel them. Your attitude and faith make a big difference in how satisfying prayer will be. If you are just saying words into the air, not thinking you are connecting with anyone, then why pray? Prayer then becomes a dead thing and God is probably saying, “are you talking to me?” By the way, just so we are clear Mary is not God but she can be present as can the saints and angels

3. There is nothing wrong using a booklet or a list to help you remember the prayers and mysteries or eventually in your mediations on the mysteries after you get the Hail Marys down enough to begin to multi-task. If you find you just can’t meditate while praying the Hail Marys, then meditate on the mysteries at the beginning when you state the mystery.

4. The Catholic Church considers the creeds to be prayers so when I am praying the rosary alone I pray the Apostles Creed like this to more clearly address it to God. I also drop the archaic English to make more like I am just talking to God declaring my faith in Him and His plan of salvation.

I believe in You, God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in You, Lord Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord. You were conceived by the Holy Spirit. You were born of the Virgin Mary. You suffered under Pontius Pilate. You were crucified, died and were buried. You descended into hell. The third day you rose again from the dead. You ascended into heaven and are seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence shall You come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in You, Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen

5. I drop the archaic English from the Our Father.

Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

6. I drop archaic English from the rest of the prayers and replace it with current English.
7. I also recite the prayers in archaic English occasionally so I am prepared for group prayer sessions which usually use the archaic English.
8. You don’t have to drop the archaic English if you don’t need or want to.

How many prayers do you have to learn to pray the rosary? Not many and I bet you already know some of them by heart.

1. The Sign of the Cross
2. The Apostles Creed
3. The Our Father (Lord’s Prayer)
4. The Hail Mary
5. The Glory Be
6. The extra Fatima prayer, Oh my Jesus, which is optional but I always pray it after the Glory Be. David doesn’t use it.
7. The Hail Holy Queen after you finish praying the decades. That prayer will seem strange to newbies from Protestantism but it grows on you as Mary becomes dear to you. Now I love it.
8. There are other awesome prayers you can add at the end but those are optional. Some prayer books have them and some don’t.

That’s it.

Then you just have to put them together into the introductory prayers to the rosary and the 5 mysteries/decades for the day. There are plenty of examples/lists/brochures of the structure so I won’t include that here.

You can add your prayers to the rosary at any point as they come to mind or you are led. The various mysteries may jog your mind and spur your heart to pray about similar situations you or others you know are going through. Even if you don’t add any of your prayers, God is sifting through your heart changing things and bringing them to the surface. Or He may give you insights into the mysteries that leave you awestruck, singing praises and thanking Him. Sometimes He may interrupt your rosary to work through something with you or redirect your prayers. And you may never get back to the rosary for the day. That’s His prerogative. Let Him.

If you wrestle with anxiety, the rosary will keep you in God the Holy Trinity and Mary’s presence to bring them to the surface and offer them up. You will probably find your trust in God, peace and tranquility growing. Sometimes since your anxieties are being handled by God, you will find yourself having fewer anxieties to bring to Him and you will focus more on others, having greater empathy and compassion.

Sometimes you will find that you have drifted and can’t remember where you left off exactly. I just go back to the last place I can remember praying and start from there unless I feel it was a God redirection.

Where to start
With the mysteries for that day of the week. Again, there are lists that are available so I won’t reproduce them here.

If praying all five mysteries for the day with the related decades of the Hail Marys is too much to start with then pray one of them. The next day those mysteries come up then pray the next one in line.

The main thing to remember is that you are loved by God the Holy Trinity and by Mary. They are pleased by your efforts to draw near. Even if you don’t pray any other prayers but the rosary prayers, you are praying for you and for others. God is working in your heart and their hearts and the world is being changed and His kingdom is being advanced. Mary is interceding for us. You will start to see things happen.

If you need links to the lists and structure, let me know.

May God bless you as you start to pray the rosary. It has revolutionized my life.

The Priority of Abiding in Jesus

The Priority of Abiding in Jesus

Revelation 2

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write this: 

The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands says this:

2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked; you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and discovered that they are impostors.

3 Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary.

4 Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first.

5 Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

6 But you have this in your favor: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God.”

As Jesus begins His letter to the church in Ephesus, it sounds like a very good church.  But by the end of the letter, He is threatening to yank their lampstand which we know is their designation as a church because in Revelation 1:20 Jesus revealed that the lampstands are the churches.  So that is a pretty severe penalty!

What is the reason for such drastic course of action? “You have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first.”  Notice that this lost love even affected the quality of their works.  They were no longer what they were at first.

Evidently their love had grown cold.  How did that happen?  What causes people to fall away?  And what can we do to prevent this calamity from happening to us?  What is the antidote for this dreaded disease?

This type of scenario comes up a lot in the forum and in the Journey Home program in people’s own journeys, churches, families and circles of friends.  It is a major source of concern and heartbreak and the subject of many prayer requests.

A frequent suggestion is that better catechesis (teaching) was or is needed.  If they just had been provided with better, more accurate biblical and theological information, then they wouldn’t have wandered away, left the church, drifted into heresy or whatever.

But that is not what Jesus, the Bible or the Catechism says.  Knowledge and understanding are very important and helpful but there is something more important still that is often missing in peoples’ lives and that is frequently overlooked.  They’ve either lost it like the knowledgeable Ephesians (Revelation 2:2b) or they never really had it, which is perhaps the problem of the Pharisees in John 5:39-40, who were also very knowledgeable in the Scriptures.  Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” RSVCE

What is this missing and/or lost element which makes people more susceptible to wandering away?  It is having a real love relationship with Jesus.

The Apostle Paul prays for us in this regard in Ephesians 3:14-19.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,  16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man,  17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  18 may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  RSVCE

Note that love is what roots and grounds us and keeps us from being shiftless wanderers.  And that the love of Christ surpasses knowledge even though knowledge is very important.

Often we put knowledge before love and forget to pursue the love relationship. 

We can also put action and service before love as Martha did in Luke 10:38-42 and as the Ephesians were doing in the Revelation 2 passage.

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house.  39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.  40 But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;  42 one thing is needful.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” RSVCE

I always find it interesting how people bristle and come to the defense of Martha and seek to negate what Jesus is saying to Martha in this passage.  I think Jesus is touching a sore spot in their lives.

I am guilty of having done both of these things, putting knowledge and action/service before a love relationship with Jesus.

So how do we develop this love relationship with Jesus?

Well, the first step is to be honest ourselves and with God and admit that we have a problem. 

Jesus told the Pharisees, you need to come to me in order to have the life you are seeking to find in the Scriptures.  He told the Ephesians, “You have lost the love you had at first.  Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first.”  And he told Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Which story matches best with where we are at?

I think I was more like the Pharisees.  I never really had it in the first place.  Even though I was raised in the Presbyterian Church from birth through age 14, had a “born again” experience where I asked Jesus into my life as Lord and Savior when I was 20, prayed extemporaneously on occasion, studied the Bible, theology and church history and became a Bible teacher and lay preacher, I had never really developed a love relationship of trust with Jesus.  He was more of an acquaintance to me.  I knew I needed to develop a closer walk with Him but I couldn’t seem to do it.  I prayed for the Holy Spirit to fall on me in prayer and praise and worship songs.  I looked at the various Protestant traditions, movements and spiritualties but nothing changed.  I looked at Anglicanism and Eastern Orthodoxy on my way to the Catholic Church but still nothing lasting and consistent.

So what was the game changer for me?  Well, Jesus led me to His Church, the Catholic Church with its myriad of devotional helps and channels of grace like the Sacraments, prayer books, holy cards, rosary beads, crucifixes, statues, paintings, liturgy and rites, smells and bells.  Most of all He led me to the Rosary so I could learn to spend time in His presence, meditating on twenty events/mysteries of both His and His mother Mary’s life while asking for her help as I do so.

You see, in order to become close to someone and learn to love and trust that person, you have to spend time with him or her.  That’s why it is so important to pray to God, the Holy Trinity.  The Catechism goes so far as to say in paragraph 2558.

"Great is the mystery of the faith!" The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles' Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.

It is also important to bear our hearts to God for the Apostle Peter exhorts in 1 Peter 5:6 and 7.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you.  Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.

Often we do not have words for what is in our hearts, but prayers like the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Liturgy of the Hours keep us in prayer long enough so that God can begin to deal with our hearts and draw the things that trouble and hinder us to the surface.  The written/memorized prayers are also a rich resource for additional ideas about what to pray with God about.

So what is my motive for starting this topic?  It is simply this.  I spent many years knowing a lot about God but not really knowing, trusting and experiencing Him on a daily basis in prayer.  Evangelical Christianity is highly intellectual.  It focuses on knowledge.  Prayer is mentioned and even urged but at least in most of the churches I attended hardly any instruction in prayer was ever given.  Extemporaneous prayer was all that was needed and intercessory prayer was the main focus.

I have listened to and read hundreds of conversion stories because I love to hear them.  Many of them center on discovering the truth and authority of the Catholic Church as reasons for conversion.  Often the Eucharist and other Sacraments are mentioned but I would say to a lesser degree.  They are all good reasons.  But prayer is not mentioned very often as a reason for conversion.

Now maybe people are more reticent to talk about the state of their prayer lives and so that is the reason it isn’t mentioned very often.  Kind of like lovers talking about their love lives, perhaps.  Or perhaps they haven’t yet discovered and dived into the vast ocean of grace and mercy to be found in Catholic spirituality and prayer.  If the latter is the case, then I desire for them to find what I have found after long searching and almost despairing of life.

Jesus wants that love relationship with us.  I will close with an excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Prayer as God's gift

2559 "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."

2560 "If you knew the gift of God!" The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God's desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God's thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him.

2561 "You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!" Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God.

The Third Sunday of Easter- April 15, 2018

The Third Sunday of Easter- April 15, 2018

First Reading: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19

Psalm: Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9.  (7a)

Second Reading: 1 John  2:1-5a

Alleluia: cf Luke 24:32

Gospel: Luke 24:35-48

Today’s readings are about God’s constant desire for us to turn to Him and enter into or resume a relationship of forgiveness, restoration, love and trust with Him.  A relationship in which He will hear and answer when we call and do wonders in our lives, grant us faith, understanding and courage and put gladness in our hearts as we carry out the mission of being His witnesses of His Gospel to the world in which we live.  And it is Jesus who has made all of this possible through His death and resurrection which we are currently celebrating in this Easter season.  That is good news indeed which is true even in the midst of fear, pain, suffering, persecution and loss if we keep our eyes on Him.  This wondrous offer is always open to believer and unbeliever alike as we shall see in today’s readings.

The context for the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles is that Pentecost has come filling the new Church with bold and joyous power, prayer, proclamation and living.  Peter and John have gone up to the temple at the hour of prayer and encountered a lame beggar at the Beautiful Gate.  Peter looked at the beggar who asked him for alms.  Peter responded that he had neither silver or gold but that he would give him what he had, Jesus.  And so Peter took his hand and commanded him to rise and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  And the beggar was able to stand, walk and leap, praising God.  The beggar was well known by all the temple goers being a daily sight as they entered the temple.  His healing caused a great commotion as the people in the temple were filled with wonder and amazement at seeing him healed.  And all the people ran together around Peter, John and the beggar in Solomon’s Portico.  When Peter saw the crowd he assured them that it wasn’t  the power or piety of Peter and John that healed the beggar but rather it was Jesus, His name and the faith provided through Jesus that had made the beggar strong and well.

And so Peter begins to address the crowd in the first reading, to carry out his mission as a witness on which Jesus sends him in today’s Gospel reading.

As you can see, Peter immediately confronted the crowd with their responsibility for handing over Jesus to Pilate to be crucified in spite of Pilate’s assessment that Jesus was innocent of any wrongdoing and demanding the release of a murderer instead.  They had denied that Jesus was who He said He was.

Then Peter softened the blow by acknowledging that they and their leaders had acted in ignorance and that the whole incident was part of God’s plan foretold by all the prophets that his Christ would suffer.

And then Peter made them the offer.  Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.

It is important to note that this exchange is just the beginning of a salvation history lesson that lasts for the rest of chapter 3 and is interrupted by the arrest of Peter and John in chapter 4 by the temple captain and the Sadducees.

The responsorial Psalm provides additional context for what we see happening in Acts, God providing relief in distress doing wonders for his faithful ones, shining His face upon us, putting gladness in our heart and granting us peaceful sleep because in His presence we may dwell secure, even if we don’t feel His presence, even if our circumstances are anything but secure.

In the second reading from the first epistle of John, John declares the purpose of his epistle is so that they may avoid the pitfalls of sin.  And then he reassures his readers that forgiveness and removal of sin are still available in and through Jesus for everyone.  The offer Peter made in Acts is still good for believers who have fallen into sin and unbelievers who are still outside the Faith alike.

Then he gives his readers a litmus test so they can make sure they know Jesus.  Are you ready?  We can know we know Jesus if we keep His commandments.  If we don’t keep His commandments but we say we know Him, we are liars and the truth is not in us.  Simple?  It seems so.  But we almost invariably start thinking about the fact that we keep committing sins and we start getting alarmed that maybe we are kidding ourselves and we really don’t know Jesus.  And then we start trying really hard to stop sinning so we can prove to ourselves and the world that we really do know Jesus.

And then we read the last verse.  But whoever keeps His word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.  So then we add trying to love God really hard to our to-do list showing up at the adoration chapel, adding extra prayers.  And of course, we can’t keep it up and so eventually we get discouraged and we start to slide into sloth and indifference, going through the motions or not.

Does this chain of events sound familiar to anyone?

Yeah, well, the first thing we may have forgotten is that confessing our sins is one of His commandments.  So by continually confessing our sins on a regular basis we are keeping His commandments and we will begin to experience healing.  In fact, in the same epistle John says that if we say that we have no sin, present tense, the truth is not in us.  Jesus already knows that we are going to fail in our trust in Him.  He knows what it is like to live in this world because He has already been here, done that, remember?

The second thing we may have forgotten is that John also says in his epistle that we love because God first loved us.  So we have to begin to know and experience God’s love for us before we can grow in our ability to love Him and others.  How do we do this?  By hanging out with God in prayer and spiritual reading, being still and knowing that He is God.  Did you know that you can pray while doing stuff?  So being still doesn’t always mean inactive, although some inactivity time before God is important.  Then we begin to live life out of this knowing and guess what?  His commandments and word start to take root in us and become precious to us and we start keeping them more and more out of our relationship with Him as His love flows in and through us.  He becomes our true love.

In the Alleluia, we ask for Jesus to help us to learn His word and adore Him.

And in the Gospel, we see Jesus doing just that with His disciples.

Amen