21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Reflection
Do You Serve The Lord Your God?
Based on the readings from: Joshua 24:1-2,15-18, Psalm 33:2-3,16-23, Ephesians 5:21-32, John 6:60-69
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD, Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus
Franciscans of Divine Mercy/ Reformed Catholic Church International
"Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness…. Choose this day whom you will serve… as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15)
Just as Joshua challenged the tribes of Israel to chose who they desired to honor and worship, we today are being given the same challenge. Do we choose to serve those human gods of Greed, power, domination, discrimination, materialism and self-effacement or do we choose to follow the way of the son of god, Jesus Christ.
Do we choose to live our lives according to the way Jesus taught by being forgiving, compassionate, kind and generous to all God’s children, especially those in need?
Throughout all of history, one idea has prevailed; it is that there is a supreme being that governs all.
We find it in the histories of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Aztecs, Mayans, Native American Tribes, in fact every known civilization. Humans have recognized that there is something greater than themselves throughout history.
We humans have sought this greater power out, as history has shown, in every generation. They have given that acknowledgement to the sun, volcano’s, lightning and other natural and sometimes human and imaginary things. They have worship their “Gods” under the names of Ra, Zeus, Apollo, Pele the Goddess of Fire, Mercury, Aesir, and hundreds of other names.
When Almighty God made himself known with the words “"I am that I am. Here is what you must say to the Israelites. Tell them, 'I am has sent me to you.' "(Exodus 3:14) we were told who we should give honor, praise and reverence to and whom we should thank for all things.
When Jesus Christ was transfigured, God informed us clearly who Jesus was with these words; “"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Matthew 17:4-6).
God has told us to listen to what Jesus was telling us. To listen to the words and teachings of Jesus Christ, not some mere human individual, but Jesus the son of Almighty God. When we read the teachings of Christ, we find clear concise guidelines as to how we are expected to live our lives. These are found in the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, and in the “GREAT COMMANDMENT”, "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-30)
Could Christ’s teachings be any clearer, yet so many try to make this love and service to Almighty God so difficult by injecting a lot of man made things in the way.
The have twisted to original writings of the ancient scriptures and the writings of the apostles and early church fathers and in some cases even rejected some of them because they did not “FIT THE POLITICALY CORRECT AGENDA” of that time.
People found passages that referred to a specific kind of sin and twisted it around in order to exclude some individuals from serving God or even to participate in the worship of Almighty God.
When we choose to ignore the teachings of Christ, when we decide what God means and we judge others as outcasts and deny them the opportunity to worship Almighty God and acknowledge Jesus as the son of God and the redeemer and Savior sent by God, then we are not serving Almighty God.
Jesus, rejected no one, not even those who were to crucify him. Jesus sat and ate with those that Jewish law forbade sharing a meal. Jesus spoke with and treated women as equals.
If we believe that Almighty God created all things, and we believe that Jesus was the Son of God made man, then we cannot even think about acting like a god and making judgments that are the exclusive property of Almighty God.
We can dislike the way another person acts, we can reject their choices as not acceptable, we have the freedom to choose not to associate with some people because they seem to be breaking the commandments of God by lying, cheating, stealing, killing, committing adultery, coveting another’s wife or property and act in an manner other than that prescribed by God.
When we decide that power, money, prestige, fame, greed or sexual gratification are more important to us that living according to God’s way, we are not serving God.
We need to remember how we were taught in Paul’s letter to the Romans 14; “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” and Matthew 7; “Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.“ In James 4 we read; “Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it.”
The law of God is very clear, we are not the ones to judge a person because of how things appear “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ( John 7:24, 51)
We need to judge a person by their deeds. Do they feed the poor? Do they Clothe the Naked? Do they respect and love All of God’s creatures? Do they give shelter to the homeless?
We do not have a right to deny anyone the same rights and privileges as every other citizen.
The question poised at the beginning of this reflection was, Do you serve the Lord ? You do if you live in a manner prescribed by Jesus Christ and do not make judgments according to man made decisions but only by the example and teachings given us by Christ.
“Christ went on, “This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him…Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.“
Let us serve Almighty God not only by claiming to be a Christian but by living out the teachings of Christ in our daily lives. AMEN
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Truth in Love, Caritas in Veritate
"Truth in Love, Caritas in Veritate"
A Reflection on the recent encyclical of Pope Benedict
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com
This week I have chosen to write my reflection on the encyclical that was released by Pope Benedict XVI. I will begin with what he said At an audience before the wives of some of the worlds presidents and prime ministers in Italy for the Group of Eight meeting and follow up with my own view of not only the encyclical but the who notion of how TRUE LOVE is the only answer to the worlds problems. The Bishop of Rome noted that the inspiration for the encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” is a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 4:15, in which the apostle speaks of acting according to truth in charity: “Rather living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ.”Benedict XVI acknowledged that he did not pretend to offer technical solutions to social problems but that the encyclical "focuses on the principles indispensable for human development. Most important among these is human life itself," he declared, " Benedict XVI gave particular attention to the "scandal" of world hunger, noting how "Caritas in Veritate" calls for "decisive action to promote food security and agricultural development, as well as respect for the environment and for the rule of law." When we read Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians in it’s entirety we find it also points out the diversity of God’s creation with these words; “Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong.” … “We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. Love should always make us tell the truth…. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love. As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, and they are so greedy” ….“Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ”. Obviously, even in St. Paul’s time, people were being self centered and disposed to greed often forgetting the Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy which instruct us: To feed the hungry; To give drink to the thirsty; To clothe the naked; To harbor the homeless, To visit the sick; To ransom the captive; To bury the dead., To instruct the ignorant, to counsel those in doubt, To admonish sinners, To bear wrongs patiently, To forgive offences willingly; To comfort the afflicted and To pray for the living and the deceased. In our world today I believe that we whom God has called to be His servants here on earth must remind those we serve of their responsibilities, as children of God, to practice these works of mercy and to point out that if all persons did so, the world would be a much better place in which to live. LOVE is the key that opens the door to a better world. Love of self as God created you, love of your neighbors, friends and even enemies as Christ pointed out when He taught; "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44) The message of LOVE is consistent throughout scripture here are just a few examples; “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14). “We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it” (1 Corinthians 4:12). “On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21). “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9). “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble” (1 John 2:9-10).
The bottom line is that if we all began to practice loving one another as Christ loved us and realized that love is not just Carnal but spiritual and requires hard work to become a reality we could change the world.
I remember how THE FLOWER CHILDREN of the 60’s were disparaged because they attempted to promote this way of life but then they went astray by uniting the message with the carnal type of love and participating in sexual promiscuity or as they called it FREE LOVE. There is no such thing as free love, love takes responsibility and dedication in order to be real and fulfilled.
In order for TRUTH IN LOVE or CARITAS IN VERITATE or any real change to happen in this world we have to change our current ways of being self-centered and greedy we need to take to heart St. Paul’s words when he wrote to the Ephesians “no longer have any feelings about what is right, and they are so greedy” ….“Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ”. (Ephesians 4:17-20) AMEN
A Reflection on the recent encyclical of Pope Benedict
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com
This week I have chosen to write my reflection on the encyclical that was released by Pope Benedict XVI. I will begin with what he said At an audience before the wives of some of the worlds presidents and prime ministers in Italy for the Group of Eight meeting and follow up with my own view of not only the encyclical but the who notion of how TRUE LOVE is the only answer to the worlds problems. The Bishop of Rome noted that the inspiration for the encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” is a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 4:15, in which the apostle speaks of acting according to truth in charity: “Rather living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ.”Benedict XVI acknowledged that he did not pretend to offer technical solutions to social problems but that the encyclical "focuses on the principles indispensable for human development. Most important among these is human life itself," he declared, " Benedict XVI gave particular attention to the "scandal" of world hunger, noting how "Caritas in Veritate" calls for "decisive action to promote food security and agricultural development, as well as respect for the environment and for the rule of law." When we read Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians in it’s entirety we find it also points out the diversity of God’s creation with these words; “Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong.” … “We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. Love should always make us tell the truth…. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love. As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, and they are so greedy” ….“Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ”. Obviously, even in St. Paul’s time, people were being self centered and disposed to greed often forgetting the Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy which instruct us: To feed the hungry; To give drink to the thirsty; To clothe the naked; To harbor the homeless, To visit the sick; To ransom the captive; To bury the dead., To instruct the ignorant, to counsel those in doubt, To admonish sinners, To bear wrongs patiently, To forgive offences willingly; To comfort the afflicted and To pray for the living and the deceased. In our world today I believe that we whom God has called to be His servants here on earth must remind those we serve of their responsibilities, as children of God, to practice these works of mercy and to point out that if all persons did so, the world would be a much better place in which to live. LOVE is the key that opens the door to a better world. Love of self as God created you, love of your neighbors, friends and even enemies as Christ pointed out when He taught; "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44) The message of LOVE is consistent throughout scripture here are just a few examples; “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14). “We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it” (1 Corinthians 4:12). “On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21). “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9). “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble” (1 John 2:9-10).
The bottom line is that if we all began to practice loving one another as Christ loved us and realized that love is not just Carnal but spiritual and requires hard work to become a reality we could change the world.
I remember how THE FLOWER CHILDREN of the 60’s were disparaged because they attempted to promote this way of life but then they went astray by uniting the message with the carnal type of love and participating in sexual promiscuity or as they called it FREE LOVE. There is no such thing as free love, love takes responsibility and dedication in order to be real and fulfilled.
In order for TRUTH IN LOVE or CARITAS IN VERITATE or any real change to happen in this world we have to change our current ways of being self-centered and greedy we need to take to heart St. Paul’s words when he wrote to the Ephesians “no longer have any feelings about what is right, and they are so greedy” ….“Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ”. (Ephesians 4:17-20) AMEN
Friday, June 19, 2009
Fath can conquer All Dificulties
12th Sunday of Ordinary Time Reflection
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com
Based on the readings from: Job 38:1, 8-11, 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, Mark 4:35-41
“From the heart of the tempest the Lord gave Job his answer.”
These words taken from the first reading for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary time are a reminder that sometimes in the darkest moments of our lives; God is actually trying to send us a message.
The reading from the Gospel of Mark is also a lesson we need to keep always in the forefront of our minds and it is that Faith and trust in God will overcome all trials if we believe. The story is of how a strong gale sprung up and the apostles became afraid that the boat was about to sink while Christ as asleep in the stern. The apostle being terrified; “woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going to drown!’ Christ woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then Christ said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?” Far too often in our lives we become afraid and feel overwhelmed by the circumstances that surround us. I certainly can relate to that feeling when sometimes I wonder if I am making a difference in peoples lives and actually doing the Lord’s work especially when people rarely respond and so few seem to respond to our plea for donations to support the work of the ministry. It is in those times that God always seems to send me a message of affirmation by either a phone call or an email message, letter or a donation arrives.
Faith in God is the strongest weapon to sustain one in times of difficulty.
Without faith we often sink into deep hopelessness and depression because we feel alone and forgotten. God never forgets any of us. God is always there if we call upon Him and He will always answer us in the way that is in our best interests even if we do not see it that way. We need to call to mind the words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians; “The love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them……therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-17) Just as the apostles feared that they were about to sink and drown in the storm because they were forgetting who was with them, we also often forget that God is there beside us if we but seek Him out in our hearts using faith as the device to call upon Him.
This past weekend I had the extreme pleasure to meet hundreds of people who seemed surprised but happy to find us at the Boston Pride Festival and loved our mission’s message of; GOD LOVES ME AS HE CREATED ME. All 800 of the stickers we had made up were gone before the day was half over. One female impersonator gave Bishop Mel and me a warm friendly embrace and a sincere “Thank You” for our message of affirmation. More than 30 people signed up to receive our weekly reflections and the Mission News Letter and many offered a small donation to help us spread the word of God’s Infinite Love for ALL His children regardless of their race, creed, nationality or sexual orientation.
With faith there is Hope. With Hope there are possibilities.
For much of my life I told people that my theme song was THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. It still is! My dream now is for a time that every human being on the face of the earth is treated with dignity and respect. I dream of a time when all Christian faiths will once again unite as one just as the early church was one. I dream of a time when all the hierarchy treat each other as equals and focus on directing the church according to the basics Christ taught in the SERMON ON THE MOUNT and as found in the CORPORAL AND SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY and not on how much power and wealth they can attain.
I have FAITH that one day, more than likely not in my lifetime, this will happen because it is the will of God and in God’s time, He will bring it to be. We humans forget that our time is not God’s time. God often is patient and allows us to have our way as a test. The first reading for this Sunday was from one of my favorite books of the Bible, the book of Job. In fact at one time in my life it was the Book of Job that saved me from self destructing and led me back to God and my service as a Deacon, Teacher and now priest. The book tells of how God allowed Satan to test Job’s actual faith and trust in God. Job lost everything he had even his family but he never gave up on God. As a reward, God gave Job back 10 times what he had before. The message for this week is; HAVE FAITH AND BELIEVE THAT GOD LOVES YOU AS HE CREATED YOU and will come when you call to Him. AMEN
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com
Based on the readings from: Job 38:1, 8-11, 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, Mark 4:35-41
“From the heart of the tempest the Lord gave Job his answer.”
These words taken from the first reading for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary time are a reminder that sometimes in the darkest moments of our lives; God is actually trying to send us a message.
The reading from the Gospel of Mark is also a lesson we need to keep always in the forefront of our minds and it is that Faith and trust in God will overcome all trials if we believe. The story is of how a strong gale sprung up and the apostles became afraid that the boat was about to sink while Christ as asleep in the stern. The apostle being terrified; “woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going to drown!’ Christ woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then Christ said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?” Far too often in our lives we become afraid and feel overwhelmed by the circumstances that surround us. I certainly can relate to that feeling when sometimes I wonder if I am making a difference in peoples lives and actually doing the Lord’s work especially when people rarely respond and so few seem to respond to our plea for donations to support the work of the ministry. It is in those times that God always seems to send me a message of affirmation by either a phone call or an email message, letter or a donation arrives.
Faith in God is the strongest weapon to sustain one in times of difficulty.
Without faith we often sink into deep hopelessness and depression because we feel alone and forgotten. God never forgets any of us. God is always there if we call upon Him and He will always answer us in the way that is in our best interests even if we do not see it that way. We need to call to mind the words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians; “The love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them……therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-17) Just as the apostles feared that they were about to sink and drown in the storm because they were forgetting who was with them, we also often forget that God is there beside us if we but seek Him out in our hearts using faith as the device to call upon Him.
This past weekend I had the extreme pleasure to meet hundreds of people who seemed surprised but happy to find us at the Boston Pride Festival and loved our mission’s message of; GOD LOVES ME AS HE CREATED ME. All 800 of the stickers we had made up were gone before the day was half over. One female impersonator gave Bishop Mel and me a warm friendly embrace and a sincere “Thank You” for our message of affirmation. More than 30 people signed up to receive our weekly reflections and the Mission News Letter and many offered a small donation to help us spread the word of God’s Infinite Love for ALL His children regardless of their race, creed, nationality or sexual orientation.
With faith there is Hope. With Hope there are possibilities.
For much of my life I told people that my theme song was THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. It still is! My dream now is for a time that every human being on the face of the earth is treated with dignity and respect. I dream of a time when all Christian faiths will once again unite as one just as the early church was one. I dream of a time when all the hierarchy treat each other as equals and focus on directing the church according to the basics Christ taught in the SERMON ON THE MOUNT and as found in the CORPORAL AND SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY and not on how much power and wealth they can attain.
I have FAITH that one day, more than likely not in my lifetime, this will happen because it is the will of God and in God’s time, He will bring it to be. We humans forget that our time is not God’s time. God often is patient and allows us to have our way as a test. The first reading for this Sunday was from one of my favorite books of the Bible, the book of Job. In fact at one time in my life it was the Book of Job that saved me from self destructing and led me back to God and my service as a Deacon, Teacher and now priest. The book tells of how God allowed Satan to test Job’s actual faith and trust in God. Job lost everything he had even his family but he never gave up on God. As a reward, God gave Job back 10 times what he had before. The message for this week is; HAVE FAITH AND BELIEVE THAT GOD LOVES YOU AS HE CREATED YOU and will come when you call to Him. AMEN
Friday, June 5, 2009
Trinity Sunday 2009 Reflection
Trinity Sunday Reflection
Based on the readings from Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40, Romans 8:14-17, Matthew 28:16-20
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD, Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
The first reading for Trinity Sunday from Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 gives us the following statement supposedly from Moses; "Moses said to the people: Understand this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other. Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children may prosper and live long in the land that the Lord your God gives you for ever" This advice, on the face of it, is straight forward and actually easy to follow so why have religious leaders over the millennia made following it so difficult by injecting man made regulations into it and therefore making it so difficult for people to know and love and worship God? The second reading for Trinity Sunday is from Paul's letter to the people of Rome, which we are told was the chair of Saint Peter the first Pope. In it Paul tells the Romans the following; "Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, `Abba, Father!' The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory." Romans 8:14-17 These two reading combined confirm that if we follow God's commandments, love God, worship God that as heirs to God's kingdom we will share in God's glory if we practice Christ's teachings. Exactly what was it Christ said was the greatest two commandments? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself" Mark 12: 29-31 In Luke 16:13 we are advised of the following; "No servant can serve two masters at the same time. He will hate one of them and love the other. Or he will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can't serve God and Money at the same time." This advice is what seems to have diverted so many people, including leaders of the various religious denominations, from loving and serving God, as they should. In today's world we are facing a financial crisis which some claim would be worse even that the depression of the 20's and early 30's and it was brought on by GREED. People, especially corporate executives and people who had to have the most modern and costliest of homes, gadgets and luxuries often at the cost to the poorest of society. This was not the way God or Christ and saints like St. Francis, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Padre Pio or for that matter Pope John Paul I would have wanted it. The Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20 relates the story of the first things Christ had to say to his disciples after he had risen from the dead; "The eleven disciples set out to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, `All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Here we hear for the first time the trinity spoken of together. Here we also hear Christ telling us to observe or practice what he taught. Christ also affirms that "know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Christ will never leave us. We might choose to give up on believing in God and practicing our faith as we should because we feel that we are not wanted or a religious person has rejected us.
God the Father/Creator, His beloved son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, in other words the Trinity, are always with us and ready to hear us. We only have to call out to them and they will hear and answer us with what will be best for us. They will also attempt to protect us and guide us even when we turn a deaf ear to them.
The Trinity is One God in three personifications. The WORD by which creation came to be when God SPOKE.(See Genesis 1 ) THE SPIRIT as defined in Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD and in Numbers 11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied," THE SON, God made flesh, as we read in Mark 1:10; "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." and in Luke 1:32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Let as resolve on this feast of God as the Trinity to give God the honor, praise and worship He deserves, as we have been instructed by the prophets, Christ and the Apostles and ignore all the man made regulations that have caused so many pain and to feel unwanted, unloved and separated from God and often prevented from His worship. AMEN
Based on the readings from Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40, Romans 8:14-17, Matthew 28:16-20
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD, Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
The first reading for Trinity Sunday from Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 gives us the following statement supposedly from Moses; "Moses said to the people: Understand this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other. Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children may prosper and live long in the land that the Lord your God gives you for ever" This advice, on the face of it, is straight forward and actually easy to follow so why have religious leaders over the millennia made following it so difficult by injecting man made regulations into it and therefore making it so difficult for people to know and love and worship God? The second reading for Trinity Sunday is from Paul's letter to the people of Rome, which we are told was the chair of Saint Peter the first Pope. In it Paul tells the Romans the following; "Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, `Abba, Father!' The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory." Romans 8:14-17 These two reading combined confirm that if we follow God's commandments, love God, worship God that as heirs to God's kingdom we will share in God's glory if we practice Christ's teachings. Exactly what was it Christ said was the greatest two commandments? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself" Mark 12: 29-31 In Luke 16:13 we are advised of the following; "No servant can serve two masters at the same time. He will hate one of them and love the other. Or he will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can't serve God and Money at the same time." This advice is what seems to have diverted so many people, including leaders of the various religious denominations, from loving and serving God, as they should. In today's world we are facing a financial crisis which some claim would be worse even that the depression of the 20's and early 30's and it was brought on by GREED. People, especially corporate executives and people who had to have the most modern and costliest of homes, gadgets and luxuries often at the cost to the poorest of society. This was not the way God or Christ and saints like St. Francis, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Padre Pio or for that matter Pope John Paul I would have wanted it. The Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20 relates the story of the first things Christ had to say to his disciples after he had risen from the dead; "The eleven disciples set out to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, `All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Here we hear for the first time the trinity spoken of together. Here we also hear Christ telling us to observe or practice what he taught. Christ also affirms that "know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Christ will never leave us. We might choose to give up on believing in God and practicing our faith as we should because we feel that we are not wanted or a religious person has rejected us.
God the Father/Creator, His beloved son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, in other words the Trinity, are always with us and ready to hear us. We only have to call out to them and they will hear and answer us with what will be best for us. They will also attempt to protect us and guide us even when we turn a deaf ear to them.
The Trinity is One God in three personifications. The WORD by which creation came to be when God SPOKE.(See Genesis 1 ) THE SPIRIT as defined in Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD and in Numbers 11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied," THE SON, God made flesh, as we read in Mark 1:10; "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." and in Luke 1:32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Let as resolve on this feast of God as the Trinity to give God the honor, praise and worship He deserves, as we have been instructed by the prophets, Christ and the Apostles and ignore all the man made regulations that have caused so many pain and to feel unwanted, unloved and separated from God and often prevented from His worship. AMEN
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, Come, Holy Spirit, Come
Reflection for Pentecost Sunday
by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD
Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
based on Acts 2:1-11; Galatians 5:16-25; Psalm 103, John 15:26-27,16:12-15, John 20:19-23
“Come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home shed a ray of light divine!” with these words the beautiful prayer to the Holy Spirit, VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS, begins. The feast of Pentecost is also referred too as the Birthday of the church because it celebrates the decent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. After the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in tongues of fire when they spoke people of every race and nationality heard them proclaiming the truth of Jesus teachings in the language of the listeners present. The word of God must be translated carefully preserving the meaning of the original writings at the time they were written and not, as has been done with Holy Scripture and other church documents, into the meaning the words have taken on throughout history. The purpose of having the liturgy of the Eucharist, commonly called Mass, translated into English and other languages under Vatican II from Latin, was to make the liturgy more understanding to all participating, unfortunately 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 often loosing reverence. God’s word was not meant for a chosen few but for all . The Apostles were told to preach 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.A perfect case in point is the word “homosexual” being found in translations of scripture. The word “Homosexual” was created in 1869 by an Englishman and references where it is used in scripture were not referring to the sexual orientation but to group sex or sexual excesses used as a form of worship to false Gods or for humiliation of a human being which is a grave sin. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us “No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13)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” The Gospel admonishes us to “Live by the Spirit”, it goes further to confirm 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, besides the obvious one of indiscriminate sexual pleasure are:, immorality , lust , idolatry ( the worship of false gods which would include placing money or wealth or power above 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 the Gifts He freely gives us through the Holy Spirit, would take more time than we have. Hatred, jealousy, rivalry, anger , fury, and selfishness are among those Paul mentions and usually cause more pain and hurt to others than partaking in those that involve sexual pleasure with a loved one. 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 scandals that has disgraced so many. 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. 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 begins with “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 to popular thinking. God is a loving, forgiving, compassionate God. Jesus proclaimed this by his words and actions so often by relating to all who came to him regardless of their race, creed or sexual orientation.God is always there awaiting your call. He does not have an answering machine, voice mail, or a secretary. 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 God on hold, but take a break from what ever 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 begin the elimination of the “Desires of the Flesh” that have prevented us from receiving 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 so we live our lives with compassion, love, charity and true Christian Brother/sisterhood toward all we encounter. AMEN
Reflection for Pentecost Sunday
by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD
Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
based on Acts 2:1-11; Galatians 5:16-25; Psalm 103, John 15:26-27,16:12-15, John 20:19-23
“Come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home shed a ray of light divine!” with these words the beautiful prayer to the Holy Spirit, VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS, begins. The feast of Pentecost is also referred too as the Birthday of the church because it celebrates the decent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. After the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in tongues of fire when they spoke people of every race and nationality heard them proclaiming the truth of Jesus teachings in the language of the listeners present. The word of God must be translated carefully preserving the meaning of the original writings at the time they were written and not, as has been done with Holy Scripture and other church documents, into the meaning the words have taken on throughout history. The purpose of having the liturgy of the Eucharist, commonly called Mass, translated into English and other languages under Vatican II from Latin, was to make the liturgy more understanding to all participating, unfortunately 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 often loosing reverence. God’s word was not meant for a chosen few but for all . The Apostles were told to preach 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.A perfect case in point is the word “homosexual” being found in translations of scripture. The word “Homosexual” was created in 1869 by an Englishman and references where it is used in scripture were not referring to the sexual orientation but to group sex or sexual excesses used as a form of worship to false Gods or for humiliation of a human being which is a grave sin. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us “No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13)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” The Gospel admonishes us to “Live by the Spirit”, it goes further to confirm 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, besides the obvious one of indiscriminate sexual pleasure are:, immorality , lust , idolatry ( the worship of false gods which would include placing money or wealth or power above 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 the Gifts He freely gives us through the Holy Spirit, would take more time than we have. Hatred, jealousy, rivalry, anger , fury, and selfishness are among those Paul mentions and usually cause more pain and hurt to others than partaking in those that involve sexual pleasure with a loved one. 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 scandals that has disgraced so many. 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. 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 begins with “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 to popular thinking. God is a loving, forgiving, compassionate God. Jesus proclaimed this by his words and actions so often by relating to all who came to him regardless of their race, creed or sexual orientation.God is always there awaiting your call. He does not have an answering machine, voice mail, or a secretary. 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 God on hold, but take a break from what ever 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 begin the elimination of the “Desires of the Flesh” that have prevented us from receiving 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 so we live our lives with compassion, love, charity and true Christian Brother/sisterhood toward all we encounter. AMEN
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
God Loves ALL People
God Loves All People
A Reflection for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 2009
Based on the readings from; Acts 10:25-26, 34-35,44-48; 1 John 4:7-10, John 15:9-17
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD, Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergious.org
Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com
“The truth I have now come to realize’ he said ‘is that God does not have favorites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.” These words attributed to St. Peter and taken from the first reading for this Sunday should bring comfort and exaltation to all who read or hear them. When we couple them with these following words from the second reading and the Gospel, we have complete affirmation of God’s infinite love for every one of His children regardless of their race, nationality, creed or sexual orientation. “My dear people let us love one another since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.” In addition “My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another. No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another, God will live in us and his love will be complete in us. We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.”
These words from the Gospel attributed to Jesus Christ strengthen the message even more; “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy is complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.”…. “I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. What I command you is to love one another.’
On December 25th 2005 Pope Benedict XVI issued his first encyclical as the new pope, entitled DEUS CARITAS EST which in Latin means God is Love.
It matters not what Christian denomination you belong to or for that matter what religion, the main message we need to hold deep within us is GOD IS LOVE and His love is infinite.
The readings of this week are again a reminder to us of that main fact of the Christian faith. We need to keep this message always in our hearts especially when people are berating us or when we are made to suffer from discrimination or bigotry. Any person who does not love as Christ called us to do for one another is not a real or true Christian.
God’s infinite and unlimited love is for every person on the face of the earth who calls to him seeking his mercy for their transgressions, seeking His relief from their pain and suffering or just giving Him the honor and praise He deserves or seeking to partake of the sacramental gifts.
The only requirement that is made of us is that we keep His commandments and when Christ was asked what are the most important commandments he replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31).
Throughout the years since Christ taught the apostles and the Christian faith evolved from the Jewish faith because of Christ who told us He came to clarify or establish a new COVENANT between God and His children. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:16-18). Christ was the sacrificial lamb of the new covenant and in His sacrifice he gained for us everlasting life and assured us of God’s love. Christ made it clear whom he came to save when He said; “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:13) God extends us his endless mercy and love when we come to him with love in our hearts for Him and for our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ.That is the wonderful affirming and comforting message for this Week; God’s love is endless, infinite and unconditional to all who seek it. Let us look not on the sins of those who claim to be God’s representatives but let us seek God in ourselves and those around us by how well they exemplify LOVE in not only their words but more importantly in their deeds. AMEN
A Reflection for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 2009
Based on the readings from; Acts 10:25-26, 34-35,44-48; 1 John 4:7-10, John 15:9-17
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD, Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergious.org
Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com
“The truth I have now come to realize’ he said ‘is that God does not have favorites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.” These words attributed to St. Peter and taken from the first reading for this Sunday should bring comfort and exaltation to all who read or hear them. When we couple them with these following words from the second reading and the Gospel, we have complete affirmation of God’s infinite love for every one of His children regardless of their race, nationality, creed or sexual orientation. “My dear people let us love one another since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.” In addition “My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another. No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another, God will live in us and his love will be complete in us. We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.”
These words from the Gospel attributed to Jesus Christ strengthen the message even more; “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy is complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.”…. “I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. What I command you is to love one another.’
On December 25th 2005 Pope Benedict XVI issued his first encyclical as the new pope, entitled DEUS CARITAS EST which in Latin means God is Love.
It matters not what Christian denomination you belong to or for that matter what religion, the main message we need to hold deep within us is GOD IS LOVE and His love is infinite.
The readings of this week are again a reminder to us of that main fact of the Christian faith. We need to keep this message always in our hearts especially when people are berating us or when we are made to suffer from discrimination or bigotry. Any person who does not love as Christ called us to do for one another is not a real or true Christian.
God’s infinite and unlimited love is for every person on the face of the earth who calls to him seeking his mercy for their transgressions, seeking His relief from their pain and suffering or just giving Him the honor and praise He deserves or seeking to partake of the sacramental gifts.
The only requirement that is made of us is that we keep His commandments and when Christ was asked what are the most important commandments he replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31).
Throughout the years since Christ taught the apostles and the Christian faith evolved from the Jewish faith because of Christ who told us He came to clarify or establish a new COVENANT between God and His children. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:16-18). Christ was the sacrificial lamb of the new covenant and in His sacrifice he gained for us everlasting life and assured us of God’s love. Christ made it clear whom he came to save when He said; “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:13) God extends us his endless mercy and love when we come to him with love in our hearts for Him and for our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ.That is the wonderful affirming and comforting message for this Week; God’s love is endless, infinite and unconditional to all who seek it. Let us look not on the sins of those who claim to be God’s representatives but let us seek God in ourselves and those around us by how well they exemplify LOVE in not only their words but more importantly in their deeds. AMEN
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Good Shepherd Sunday Reflection
Good Shepherd Sunday
The 4th Sunday of Easter
From the Readings of Acts 4:8-12, 1 John 3:1-2, John 10:11-18
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
This Sunday is sometimes called GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY because of the Gospel reading from John. When we take both the second reading and the Gospel reading together, we have a very stung and encouraging affirmation of God’s infinite mercy and love for all His children.
The second reading for the fourth Sunday of Easter extols us to contemplate on these words “Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
John is telling us that just as Christ was not acknowledged and respected in His time, so also are some of God’s children today not respected or even allowed to fully participate in the worship of their God or sacraments that Christ gave us because of divorce or their sexual orientation. There are some in society that would even prevent some from having the same legal benefits of others. John also makes it clear that eventually we will find that God views us all with the same regard and infinite love and accepts and welcomes us into His presence as long as we have lived THE GREAT COMMANDMENT “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22: 35-40)
Christ, as the son of God, came to this earth to shepherd us or guide us on a safe journey to heaven. He did this by clarifying the Old Testament teachings, not setting them aside, but letting us know exactly what God desired from us. In John’s gospel, we hear his say the following; “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. …..I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, and one shepherd. The Father loves me, because I lay down my ….and this is the command I have been given by my Father.”
Christ, in this passage, confirms that he came not only for the few, but for ALL.
On this fourth Sunday of Easter we are being called by God to open our hearts and minds and free them from man made prejudices and regulations that discriminate against any of God’s children. We are called also to forgive those who discriminate against us because they have not fully opened their eyes to God’s inclusive love and are still living in the darkness of ignorance brought on by misinterpretation and translation of scripture from the original languages the books were written in.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles ends with these words; “This is the stone rejected by you the builders, but which has proved to be the keystone. For of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.’ (Acts 4:12)
Just as the people who refused to accept Christ as the promised of the ages and dismissed his call to have mercy and compassion for the poor, sick, aged and infirmed and to reach out to the entire human race with friendship and love we should not follow their example. We need to welcome ALL God’s children regardless of their race, creed, nationality, marital situation or sexual orientation and recognize them as children of God and therefore our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We need to remember that Christ founded not many churches or beliefs but ONE belief which was handed down to us by the apostles who established the first “churches”. In Ephesians 4:5-6 we read; “"There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all" therefore it is incumbent upon us to heed the words of St. Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth “Brothers and sisters, I ask all of you to agree with one another. I make my appeal in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then you won't take sides. You will be in complete agreement in all that you think.”
Christ, The Good Shepherd, came to enlighten and guide ALL of God’s children and would never let any of His sheep be scattered or driven from the flock because of discrimination or a failure to welcome then as God created them so neither should we. We need to find the means to come together again as one faith, one church, and one family of God and make what Christ said in today's second reading "there will be only one flock, and one shepherd" come to be a reality again as it was in the first 300 + years of Christianity. We need to stop all the bickering that has divided God’s family and church just as Paul instructs the church at Corinth. AMEN
The 4th Sunday of Easter
From the Readings of Acts 4:8-12, 1 John 3:1-2, John 10:11-18
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org
This Sunday is sometimes called GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY because of the Gospel reading from John. When we take both the second reading and the Gospel reading together, we have a very stung and encouraging affirmation of God’s infinite mercy and love for all His children.
The second reading for the fourth Sunday of Easter extols us to contemplate on these words “Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
John is telling us that just as Christ was not acknowledged and respected in His time, so also are some of God’s children today not respected or even allowed to fully participate in the worship of their God or sacraments that Christ gave us because of divorce or their sexual orientation. There are some in society that would even prevent some from having the same legal benefits of others. John also makes it clear that eventually we will find that God views us all with the same regard and infinite love and accepts and welcomes us into His presence as long as we have lived THE GREAT COMMANDMENT “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22: 35-40)
Christ, as the son of God, came to this earth to shepherd us or guide us on a safe journey to heaven. He did this by clarifying the Old Testament teachings, not setting them aside, but letting us know exactly what God desired from us. In John’s gospel, we hear his say the following; “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. …..I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, and one shepherd. The Father loves me, because I lay down my ….and this is the command I have been given by my Father.”
Christ, in this passage, confirms that he came not only for the few, but for ALL.
On this fourth Sunday of Easter we are being called by God to open our hearts and minds and free them from man made prejudices and regulations that discriminate against any of God’s children. We are called also to forgive those who discriminate against us because they have not fully opened their eyes to God’s inclusive love and are still living in the darkness of ignorance brought on by misinterpretation and translation of scripture from the original languages the books were written in.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles ends with these words; “This is the stone rejected by you the builders, but which has proved to be the keystone. For of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.’ (Acts 4:12)
Just as the people who refused to accept Christ as the promised of the ages and dismissed his call to have mercy and compassion for the poor, sick, aged and infirmed and to reach out to the entire human race with friendship and love we should not follow their example. We need to welcome ALL God’s children regardless of their race, creed, nationality, marital situation or sexual orientation and recognize them as children of God and therefore our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We need to remember that Christ founded not many churches or beliefs but ONE belief which was handed down to us by the apostles who established the first “churches”. In Ephesians 4:5-6 we read; “"There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all" therefore it is incumbent upon us to heed the words of St. Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth “Brothers and sisters, I ask all of you to agree with one another. I make my appeal in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then you won't take sides. You will be in complete agreement in all that you think.”
Christ, The Good Shepherd, came to enlighten and guide ALL of God’s children and would never let any of His sheep be scattered or driven from the flock because of discrimination or a failure to welcome then as God created them so neither should we. We need to find the means to come together again as one faith, one church, and one family of God and make what Christ said in today's second reading "there will be only one flock, and one shepherd" come to be a reality again as it was in the first 300 + years of Christianity. We need to stop all the bickering that has divided God’s family and church just as Paul instructs the church at Corinth. AMEN
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