August 28, 2016 REFLECTIONS show

Sunday August 21st Reflection

Reflection for Sunday August 21, 2016

                 21^st Sunday of Ordinary Time
                                     By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM
                                  Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus
                                    Franciscans of Joy of the Gospel

Independent Catholic Church of the Americas

Link to Mission & Franciscan Web Sites:  www.missionstsergius.org

www.OrderFrancisacansofMerccy.org

The readings for this Sunday have much to say about who are welcomed into the house of God our Father.

The first reading from Isaiah 66 tells us that God in the human form of Jesus Christ will be sent to teach and gather ALL NATIONS and it foretells that his disciples would be sent to ALL the ends of the world to proclaim God’s GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION.

The Lord says this: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: (Isaiah 66:18-21)

The second reading from the book of Hebrews 12 tells us that God will reprimand us if we fail to follow his teachings but it is because he loves us as a father and wants us to strive for perfection but will also forgive us and embrace as because he is merciful and loving.

“do not get discouraged when the father reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his children. Suffering is part of your training; God is treating you as his children. Has there ever been any child whose father did not train them?  (Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13)

As I was reading the passage from Hebrews my thoughts traveled back to my youth and the times my parents “spanked me” or took away a privilege because I had broken a rule or failed to do as I was told.  

The spankings were all administered on that part of our body that has a lot of padding and they were administered with love just as Gods chastisements are.

Today that kind of punishment is considered child abuse and parents have been jailed for “spanking” their child. 

I have to wonder if the lack of punishment when a child has done something wrong is why we have so many children totally unaware of correct social behavior and very self-centered focusing on luxuries, fame, fortune and personal self-gratification  rather than doing works of social justice.

The Gospel from Luke ends with words that we have all heard many times; "And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last." (Luke 13:30)

Some Christian clergy persons have claim to know who is and who is not acceptable to Almighty God and who is damned for eternity.

There is not a clergy person of any denomination that knows that for sure, in fact the church teaches that even Judas Iscariot who betrayed Christ and then hung himself could very well be among the heavenly elect since all he had to do with his last dying breath was think “God forgive me” and God would have forgiven him because God is a compassionate and merciful God. Determining who can enter the kingdom of heaven and who will be condemned to Hell is God’s and only God’s determination.

God is going to judge us on how well we followed and lived the teachings that he sent Jesus to this earth to make completely clear to us.

Have we lived the The Beatitudes by caring for the planet God created, being compassionate toward the poor, sick, imprisoned, elderly, homeless, unemployed, and did we respect our neighbor as we would like to be respected?

The Gospel of Luke has three parables, the first about the narrow door and how some will not be strong enough to enter, I am reminded of the traditional Christian song “When the Saints Come Marching in; Oh, when the saints go marching in Oh, when the saints go marching in, I want to be in that number When the saints go marching in”

The second Parable is about those who are late and that refers to those people who failed to ask for forgiveness, a very good way to not fall into this category is to frequently receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

The third parable concerns those who are pretentious and think they are better than their neighbor and a much better Catholic because they attend Mass every week, receive Eucharist and pray daily but failed to be compassionate, merciful and were very judgmental of those who were not of the same faith, nationality or social strata as them, they would leave church and criticize someone because they didn’t dress as well as they did or their skin was of a different color.

The Gospel ends by telling us; “For behold some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last”

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis constantly is reminding us of the infinite mercy and love of God for ALL His children and telling us to seek out that mercy as it is freely given by God. We need to do that before it is too late as the Gospel tells us this week.

In the Sermon on the Mount Christ tells us too; “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” He is advising us to not be ashamed to let people know we love God in the way the Sermon on The Mount instructed when it said; “ Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

God is calling us to be caring for ALL of His children no matter who or where they are since every human being on the face of the earth is a child of God.

The sermon also tells us how we should pray when it teaches us this; When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. … When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
In the sermon we are advised to be “ that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

During the time of Christ the Sadducees tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest.

 A Pharisee was a man especially trained as an expert in the Torah he was an official interpreter of the Law.

The most distinguished position of the day was that of a scribe. He wore a special long robe and was always given a seat of honor at public gatherings, such as the synagogue and they were looked up as living models to be followed.

Today the equivalent of Scribes, Sadducees and Pharisee’s would have to be the Hierarchy of all Churches who have taken it upon themselves to determine who will be welcomed and who is not.

Some have even gone so far as to prohibit people from worshiping “God and partaking of the Sacraments.

This was not Christ’s way and it should not be ours. 

Our job, as Christ’s Presbyters,  is to proclaim the infinite mercy and love of God for ALL and instill a love of God and therefore his teachings as found in the greatest Sermon of all given by Jesus Christ who as we proclaim in the Creed every time we attend Mass is: “the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end”.

Scripture tells us that God acknowledged that Jesus was His son with these words; "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Luke 3:22).

Christ told us in the Sermon on the Mount that he was sent by the Father "to fulfill God‘s law.” Jesus told us he came to give us a “New Covenant” and in this week’s readings we are told that gaining everlasting happiness among the heavenly elect will not be easy, it will be like trying to enter a narrow gate, we won’t be able to enter if we are late to seek God’s forgiveness and we certainly won’t be welcome if we consider ourselves better than others.

I sum up this week’s teachings with Christ’s own words;

Christ was sent by God “unless our righteousness surpasses that of the scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees, we will not be among those who are invited to partake in the banquet of heaven.”  AMEN

 

August 21, 2016 REFLECTIONS TV show

20^th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2016

Based on Readings from Jeremiah 38, Psalm 40, Hebrews 12, Luke 12:49-53

By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus

Order Franciscans of Mercy

Link to Mission Web Site:  www.missionstsergius.org

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

 

 

The Gospel for this Sunday begins with these words; Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”

What exactly, I wonder did Christ mean by “He had come to set the world on fire?”

What is meant that Christ came to inflame us with the truth of God’s will and that he wished that those who were living at that time, and had been told of God’s will by the prophets, had listened and practiced God’s will.

Even after Christ came, people refused to listen and often scorned Christ. Granted, thankfully, some who heard Christ listened and believed and they became his disciples and the persons who founded the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church we profess to believe in every time we pray the Creed.

 The Gospel goes on to say; “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized and how great my anguish is until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Those are heady words and very difficult to comprehend, but if we examine them well we can begin to understand exactly what Christ was saying.

What Jesus is telling us is that he did not come here to win a popularity contest, but came to upset the apple cart and overthrow the common beliefs and concepts of his time.

The Baptism that Christ speaks of is not that of water and the Holy Spirit, which he had already received but the Baptism of immersion into the pain and suffering of his passion and death so that he could overcome sin and win all who believed the forgiveness of sin and everlasting life at the end of their earthly time.

Christ knew that what he preached would be very unpopular among some, he knew even some of his own family would reject him.

Christ in essence was foretelling what many would experience who tried to follow the teachings and truth he proclaimed.

The second reading for this Sunday compares life with running a race and tells us that we need to persevere in our attempts to live in accord with Christ’s teachings in spite of the rejection by some of our family and friends or the unpopularity of it.

The first reading from the book of Jeremiah relates how people sought to have Jeremiah killed because they did not like being told that what they were doing was wrong. Not much changes even today.

Children don’t like to be told what to do, employees of think they know better and fail to follow company rules. Even clergy, have rebelled, and rejected things because they were difficult.

Throughout history people have rejected one thing or another because it did not fit their personal agenda.

Being a true Christian, a follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ is not easy and Christ knew that.

As the song by Lynn Anderson proclaims; “I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain sometimes. When you take, you got to give, so live and let live, I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.”

Christ never told us that living in accord with his teachings would be easy, but he did tell us how to live, and the prime way was to LOVE. Love God, Love your neighbor, Love one another as Christ loved us.

To follow Christ, one has to make difficult decisions; one has to be willing to seek not fame, fortune, popularity, and power, but needs to have compassion, forgiveness, mercy, generosity, and humility.

One needs to care for the sick, homeless, oppressed, unemployed, aged and poor.

To live our lives as true followers of Christ, we need to spurn the popular notions of society for those that are often the most unpopular.

From shortly after the apostles established the first churches, later generations have decided to make changes in order to suite some sort of gain in power, wealth of to reject something they found difficult.

That trend continues to this day. Everyone wants to be the boss and far too many demand that things be their way or no way.

That is not a Christian way.

Christ established on Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church through his teachings and the apostles with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ came to set the world on fire with the Love of God and the knowledge of God’s infinite mercy and love for us.

We need to become open to receiving that fire and letting it consume us so that we then go forth setting others on fire with the love of God.

We can accomplish that be opening ourselves to living lives that are compassionate, forgiving, merciful, charitable and focused on being a reflection of God and Jesus Christ as the title of this show proclaims.

May God’s love set you afire with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and may you go forth enkindling that fire in others.  AMEN

20 th Ordinary Sunday August 14, 2016

19th Ordinary Sunday Aug 7, 2016