13th Ordinary Sunday July 2 4 2017

12th Sunday Ordinary Time 2017

Homily for Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, The Body of Christ

A Reflection by

By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM

Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Mercy

Link to Mission Web Site: www.missionstsergius.org

Link to Franciscans of Mercy Web Site: www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Email Address: Divinemercyparish@msn.com

 

The feast of Corpus Christi has very special significance in the Church. 

In honoring the Eucharist, especially following the celebrations of the Ascension and the Trinity the universal church proclaims one of the basic beliefs of the Catholic faith, that in the Eucharist or Holy Communion as some refer to it, we are receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

The feast of Corpus Christi is one of the most exalted mysteries of the Catholic faith, since for sublimity and incomprehensibility to mortal man; it yields nothing to the allied mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation and is often one that is challenged by other Christian denominations along with the other two mysteries.

It is one of the mysteries that require you to have complete faith and trust in God.

Recently Pope Francis had this to say about the Eucharist in his reflection on the Seven Sacraments; “First, the Eucharist affects the way we see others. In his life, Christ manifested his love by being with people, and by sharing their desires and problems. So too the Eucharist brings us together with others – young and old, poor and affluent, neighbors and visitors. The Eucharist calls us to see all of them as our brothers and sisters, and to see in them the face of Christ.
Second, in the Eucharist we experience the forgiveness of God and the call to forgive. We celebrate the Eucharist not because we are worthy, but because we recognize our need for God’s mercy, incarnate in Jesus Christ. In the Eucharist, we renew the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ for the remission of sins, and our hearts are enlarged to receive and show mercy.
Third, in the Eucharistic celebration, we are nourished as the Christian community by Christ’s Word and Life. It is from the Eucharist that the Church receives continually her identity and mission. It is in our celebration that Christ fills us with his grace, so that our lives may be consonant with our worship of God in the Liturgy. Let us live the Eucharist in a spirit of faith and prayer, with the certainty that the Lord will bring to fulfillment all that he has promised”.  On Thursday, the feast of Corpus Christi in many countries especially Italy the Pope said this regarding the Eucharist; “To live the experience of faith means to let the Lord nourish us and to build our existence not on material goods, but on the reality, that does not perish: the gifts of God, his word and his body, The Body of Christ is the bread of the end times, capable of giving life, and eternal life, because the substance is this bread of love.”

Because Holy Thursday is linked so closely with the final days of Christ’s earthly life and therefore often with sadness it was very appropriate that we celebrate the gift of that day to us of Christ’s body and blood on a separate day to honor the Corpus Christi. 

The Eucharist is often called “The Bread of Life” because of the promise by Christ that; “He that eats of My Flesh, and drinks of My Blood, lives in Me, and I in him” which is found in John 6:54.  

The words found in John 6 are a clear explanation of why we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi as a separate joyful feast and one that is affirming and welcoming and clearly shows Almighty God’s infinite and everlasting love for us. 

In the Eucharist, we have been given Christ as a companion to us for as long as we live and through partaking of this bread of life we receive the strength to overcome the daily temptations that plague us. The Body of Christ is a sustaining strength for us and therefore a life-giving source.

Paul’s letter to the Hebrews 9:11-15 proclaims the following; “the blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit, can purify our inner self from dead actions so that we do our service to the living God. When we receive the Eucharist, no matter if we receive it as just the bread or in the bread and wine, we receive the Body and Blood of Christ which will nourish us and assist us to reject temptations.

If only we all could have the kind of love and devotion and belief young children have when they receive their First Communion every time we receive the Eucharist.   I feel that as adults, we become complacent and receive the Eucharist more out of habit rather than recognizing what a wonderful gift God has given us in the Eucharist. If we approached the table with more faith and devotion when we receive the Eucharist we might receive and appreciate the gift Christ left us and be more open and willing to live our lives as He instructed us.   We might become more concerned for the wellbeing of all the people of this world and be more active in speaking up against injustice, poverty, war and genocide. We might have to courage and strength to fight for fairness and equal rights for all people regardless of their race, nationality, creed or sexual orientation.   

Prayer

O God, who in a wonderful Sacrament has left unto us the memorial of Your Passion; grant, we beseech You, that we may so venerate the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood as to experience continually, within ourselves, the fruit of Your Redemption.   O Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored and loved, with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, and by all who receive you into their bodies and souls, even to the end of time!  O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!   We ask this in the name of our redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. AMEN

Corpus Christi 2017 June 18th

Homily for Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday 2017

Sunday June 11, 2017

A Reflection based on Readings from

Exodus, 43, Daniel 3, Corinthians 13, John 3

By Rev. Fr. Bob Johnnene OFM

 Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Mercy

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

www.missionstsergius.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

 

 

The readings for this Sunday the feast of the Blessed Trinity of God Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit proclaim one important message that we need to burn into our memory and hold fast to since it sums up the most important thing we need to know about God.

Our God is a God of LOVE, MERCY, and COMPASSION.

In essence, God is LOVE consummate. In the first reading from Exodus we read where God himself proclaimed to Moses the following; “"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity." The Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday comes from the book of Daniel and is the ultimate praise prayer that we should profess every day and one which we Franciscans do say at least twice a day in keeping with the fact that St. Francis himself prayed it often throughout the day. It is simple and yet very powerful.  “Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all age, Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever. Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. Glory and praise forever! Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. Glory and praise forever!”

The second reading informs us on how we should live with one another and again it is a message of extending love like that Christ exhibited to all we meet especially our family, friends and members of our Faith Community.  The reading tells us to; “Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.” The reading ends with a prayer that we say several times as we celebrate the Mass.   “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

The Gospel begins by reminding us of how much God and His beloved son loves us when it says; “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” St. John then goes on to remind us that God is not interested in being a God of condemnation; “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  

It is, I believe, very appropriate the this year Trinity Sunday that celebrates the 3 distinct separate manifestations of Almighty God  yet the unity of them happens to fall this year on Father’s Day since Christ called God His Father.  He even told us that when we pray, say; “Our Father who art in heaven”

God exists as three persons but is one God, meaning that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have exactly the same nature or being as God the Father in every way. Whatever attributes and power God the Father has, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have as well. "Thus, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are also eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely loving, and omniscient." All this means that since all the attributes of God are Consubstantial meaning "of one being" in that the Son is "generated" ("born" or "begotten") "before all ages" or "eternally" of the Father's own being, from which the Spirit also eternally "proceeds.". All 3 personas of God are the same and therefore the great power and force that is God is LOVE.

To sum up, if we are to become Christ like or God like, we need to work hard on being more loving and accepting of everyone, even those who don’t always treat us well.

That is very difficult, but remember, as he hung on the Cross Christ called out “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. To be forgiving of those who have done harm to us is the ultimate way of expressing Love but it is extremely difficult and requires us to be reject the normal human reaction to retaliate. I find that I need to constantly implore the Paraclete to give me the strength and inspiration to be able to become more loving in my relationships with those who do not always treat me well. And since God is generous and loving I find that somehow I am able to forgive and be cordial to those who have hurt me.

Whether we pray to God in the name of Adonai, Yahweh, El-Olam, Jesus or The Paraclete (Holy Spirit) we are praying to the one and only God. The same God that Abraham, Isaac, Moses, King David, Jacob, Mohammad, the Apostles and all the Saints prayed too.

In short, let us establish a line of communication with God and let us try to have more love for all those we encounter. Just possibly, if we can achieve that it will start spreading like a virus that invades people turning their hearts of stone into hearts filled with compassion, mercy and the desire for a world without war, hunger, poverty, homelessness and prejudice.      AMEN

 

Trinity Sunday 2017

Pentecost Homily

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Reflection for Pentecost Sunday by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM

Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

TV SHOW LINK: https://www.youtube.com/user/RevBobJohn

 

Based on Readings from; Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7;Romans 8:8-17, Psalm 104, John14:15-26;

 

“Come, Holy Spirit, come! And From Thy clear celestial height Thy pure beaming radiance give.Come, Thou Father of the poor,Come with treasures which endure,Come, Thou Light of all that live.Thou, of all consolers best,Thou, the soul’s delightsome Guest,Dost refreshing peace bestow.Thou in toil art comfort sweet,Pleasant coolness in the heat,Solace in the midst of woe.Light immortal, Light divine,Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,And our inmost being fill.If Thou take Thy grace away,Nothing pure in man will stay;All his good is turned to ill.Heal our wounds; our strength renew;On our dryness pour Thy dew;Wash the stains of guilt away.Bend the stubborn heart and will;Melt the frozen, warm the chill;Guide the steps that go astray.Thou, on those who evermoreThee confess and Thee adore,In Thy sevenfold gifts descend:Give them comfort when they die,Give them life with Thee on high;Give them joys that never end.

These words are the translation from the ancient Latin Hymn/prayer Veni Sancte Spiritus, sometimes called the "Golden Sequence and dates back to the thirteenth-century.

The feast of Pentecost, which is also referred to as the Birthday of the church, celebrates the decent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles after which they went forth preaching the Good News of Salvation. 

After the Holy Spirit descended upon them in tongues of fire when they spoke they were heard by the people of every race and nationality proclaiming the truth of Jesus teachings in the language of the nationality of those listeners present.

The word of God needs to be proclaimed in the language of the listener which was the intent of having the liturgy of the Eucharist, commonly called the Mass, translated from the Latin into the language of the people by Vatican II making it more understandable and reverent to all participating. Sadly the translations failed to meet the original meaning of the Latin and became less than a spiritual experience and more a modernized prayer service and theatrical experience in some cases. The mass we now celebrate was revised again in 2010 to be true to the original Latin.

God’s word was not meant for the chosen few but for the entire human race. The Apostles were told to preach the word to all nations even unto the ends of the earth. In order to do this and faithfully proclaim the truth one has to know the meaning of the original Greek and Aramaic words of the first writings.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us “No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” It is in this letter that one of the most redeeming passages of scripture can be found. Paul informs us “everyone has different gifts bestowed on them by God through the Holy Spirit.” He goes on to affirm that there are “Different forms of service, but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces them all. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” “For in one Spirit we were all Baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greek, slave of free person, we were all given to drink of the one Spirit”

Paul’s letter to the Romans admonishes us to “Live by the Spirit”, it goes further to tell us that the desires of the flesh can cause a breakdown of the graces provided to us. Some of the “Desires of the flesh” Paul mentions are, lust ( desiring after someone or something that belongs to another or craving for self gratification) idolatry ( the worship of false gods which would also include placing money or wealth or power above love of and worship of God), hatred, rivalry, jealousy, anger or fury, selfishness, and drunkenness.  

To elaborate on each of these today and how we might possibly cause ourselves to be separated from God, and the Gifts of the Spirit which God freely gives us through the Holy Spirit, would take more time than we have.

 I will however, point to the fact that hatred, jealousy, rivalry, anger , fury, and selfishness are among those Paul mentions and often times cause more pain and hurt toward others than some of the more obvious sins of the flesh.

It is some of those “Desires of the Flesh” that have caused the separations that exist within the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church just as giving in to those personal pleasure desires have caused the scandal that has disgraced so many.   So many of the “rules” that churches enforce and claim are necessary for salvation have nothing at all to do with our salvation but with the churches maintaining their financial income and to prevent people from searching for the truth of God’s teachings and researching the history of the church.

 Each of these “Desires of the Flesh” affords us many ways of sinning. They are human faults that every individual has; our task is to try our best to resist their lure to partake of their pleasures.

One thing that I personally can attest to is that, if we call upon God daily, or as many times as we need to in order to resist the temptations that plague us every day and ask God to send us the Holy Spirit, God will oblige.

One of my daily prayers is “Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart and kindle in in me the fire of your love so that I might be renewed”

In John 16: we are promised, “The Spirit will guide you to all truth. The spirit will not speak on its own, but will speak what he hears from me and declare it to you” The spirit speaks within us always with God’s will and teachings, we need to hearken to what we hear, even when it is opposite what popular thinking is proclaiming and be steadfast in proclaiming what our inner voice is telling us. God is always there awaiting your call to Him. He does not have an answering machine, voice mail, or a secretary. You are not asked to press (1)if you need healing, press (2) for forgiveness, press (3) to seek a favor and so on.  You will not receive a message “Sorry God is busy taking a call from another special customer, please remain on the line and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received”.  God is always listening to what we are saying and will respond to us according to what He feels is best for us. God always answers our prayers, just not always in the way we want, but in what will be best for us.

Many times God actually comes to us and speaks to us in our dreams or quiet times and even sometimes while driving a car, listening to the I pod, watching TV or playing ball.

Unfortunately, we are often too preoccupied to listen to what he is telling us through the Holy Spirit.

I suggest that the time is NOW for us to begin to be more receptive to those calls from God. Don’t put Him on hold, but take a break from whatever we are engaged in and listen with an open and receptive heart.

We need to allow ourselves to “Receive The Holy Spirit” so that we can begin to develop a deeper and closer relationship with Almighty God and allow us to receive all the gifts of The Spirit, Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

May God grant us the wisdom and understanding and the ability to hear Him when He speaks to us and then go out and live in accordance with His will.

AMEN

Pentecost Sunday 2017