“As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God, turn now ten times the more to seek him”(Baruch 4:28).

The poetic imagery in our first reading today is coming from the personification of Jerusalem, speaking as a mother to her children. Those who have been in exile “for sacrificing to demons instead of God” (Baruch 4:7) and she is calling them to repent, to turn back, and to come home.

We may not see any relevance in our own lives as we are not making any sacrifices to demons nor are we in exile. And yet, there is much to learn. Our world offers many diversions and distractions that are not a part of what God has planned for our lives.

He not only has our best interests in mind, but he also knows what will lead us into isolation, desolation, and exile from our authentic selves. God knows what will fulfill and satisfy us at the core of our being. He wants nothing more than to reveal to us the truth of who we are and who he is calling us to be. To see his guiding light though, we need to be able to cut through the clouds of lies, half-truths, apparent goods, and our own sins.

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary established by St. Pope Pius V that commemorates the naval victory of the alliance of Genoa, Spain, and the Papal States against the more powerful Turkish navy at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Pope Saint Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of Mary as the sailors before the battle and people throughout Europe prayed the Rosary for victory.

Mary is encouraging us to rise up and win the battle for our souls. Just as the children of Judah were called back from their mother Jerusalem to come home to God, our loving mother Mary calls us to do the same. She is gently challenging us to let go of our fears that keep us crouched in a defensive posture of selfishness; to let down our defenses so we will allow others to see who we truly are; to have the humility to admit where we are weak and in need of healing; and to trust her Son who loves us more than we can ever imagine. He loves us in our imperfection, in our suffering, in our sin, and even defiance.

Though we have strayed, as we are willing to repent and open our whole hearts to Mary, she will lead us through the clouds that separate us back to her Son, where we can rest and abide in his love. In trusting in Mary and Jesus, we will be freed from that which binds us and restore the glory of our relationship with our loving God and Father, for “God’s love is absolutely free: we don’t have to merit it or win it, we only have to receive and welcome it by faith” (Jacques Philippe, Interior Freedom).

Photo: Where I start my evening Rosary walk each evening, with Mary, St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, October 7, 2023

“Is God indeed to dwell on earth” (I Kings 8:27)?

Solomon dedicates the temple with the hymn of praise that we see in today’s first reading. He is appealing to God to remember the promise that he made to his father, David. He is not only offering this hymn and the prayer that follows to God but also addressing the people gathered. Solomon is requesting that the focal point for God and his children going forward is to be the Temple. He adds a prayer that goes beyond our reading today, but ends with an appeal to God: “May the Lord, our God, be with us as he was with our ancestors and may he not forsake us nor cast us off. May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may walk in his ways and keep the commands, statutes, and ordinances that he enjoined on our ancestors” (1 Kings 8:57-58).

Solomon is calling his people to give their hearts and minds to God. He is putting into words the invitation that God has given humanity from the time of creation, that all humanity is to be one with God. God has been ever faithful, but his children fell before, during, and after the reign of Solomon. Solomon himself started off very well but did not end very well.

God has not ever given up on us. In the fullness of time, he sent his Son into the world. He “has come to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). In today’s gospel account, that would be Zacchaeus. This tax collector was excited to see Jesus and was shut out from doing so by the people, so he climbed a tree and Jesus came to him and dined with him. Zacchaeus was found and blessed to have Jesus come into his home.

This encounter is an echo of Solomon’s words that we read earlier: “May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may walk in his ways and keep the commands, statutes, and ordinances.” Zacchaeus sought to restore what he had taken because his heart was drawn to experience the love and forgiveness of Jesus’ heart.

We are given the same opportunity today. May we dedicate ourselves to God this morning as we pray together, “Loving God and Father, draw our hearts to you that we may experience your love. Show us the way in which to walk, lead us to practice your truth by putting into practice your commands, and help us to follow your will in our thoughts, words, and actions.”

In our surrender to the love of God we become free of that which binds us and will experience the reality and truth that our heart, mind, and soul is meant to be the dwelling place for God. We are to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus has come to share with us. We are lost when we walk on our own way apart from our Father, but we are found when we return to rest and abide in his love. May we trust in Jesus and slow our breath so that our hearts beat in the same rhythm as his Sacred Heart. May we carry Jesus with us in all that we do and share his love with all those we meet!

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Photo: In a special way, let us pray for our Diocese of Palm Beach as we celebrate our cathedral of St. Ignatius of Loyola which was dedicated on October 6, 1984, where I was also ordained a permanent deacon in 2013, and hope to be ordained a priest in 2024. I can still feel Bishop Barbarito’s hands on my head!

Readings for the Mass today: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30; Psalm 84; and Luke 19:1-10 optional readings from the Common of the Dedication of a Church.

Years ago, my wife, JoAnn and I, went to a free dinner talk. I don’t remember what the speaker was selling but the one thing I do remember while he was giving his presentation was, “Wouldn’t it be great if he was talking about Jesus?” This was years before I thought about becoming a deacon, let alone study for the priesthood.

Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit (Luke 10.1).

Jesus called and appointed me as well. Looking back, I can see the dots that he has been connecting along the way. I have not regretted my saying, “Yes” to any step on this journey that has led me to the point of writing to you this morning. It has not been easy. Yet, God has remained faithful to his promise to be there, provide, and take care of me. He has brought healing, fulfillment, and inspiration to grow beyond my comfort zones, to rebuke the lies I have believed, and to not settle for anything less than his will.

If you have made the time to read this reflection, God is calling you as well. Does not matter your age or station in life. As I shared yesterday, Jesus is not just a historical figure from the past. He is present right now as I am typing and as you are reading. As he appointed the seventy-two, he is appointing you as well. Appointing you to, in your own unique way, to be loved and to love in return. To be willing to encounter those who cross your path today and allow God to happen.

Growing as a disciple of Jesus is not so much about what we do but about what we are willing to allow the Holy Spirit to do in and through us. Whatever your schedule of events today, invite Jesus to accompany you and he will let you know how you can prepare the way for others to receive him. It could be as simple as a smile, a warm hello, making time to listen when you sense someone needs to talk. Be open. Jesus will let you know. You don’t have to sell Jesus to anyone, just be open to allow him to work through you.

Photo: Rainbow over St. Vincent De Paul chapel, St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, October 5, 2023

God has created everything that exists. All that God has created is good and depends on him. In God’s creative design, he has also created a richness and vastness of diversity that is amazing and beyond our comprehension. Just taking a walk each evening around the lake here at the seminary, I have experienced in each evening such beauty and wonder, especially with the cloud formations at play while the sun is setting.

On our planet, God has brought forth a richness and diversity of natural wonders, animals, and peoples as well. In the natural order that God has created, there is such a range of uniqueness while at the same interconnectedness. And yet, with the fall of our first parents and humanity, sin, and suffering has entered the world and not only disordered but set off kilter God’s natural order and brought about dis unity.

Pope St. John Paul II highlights our fallen nature in his encyclical, The Gospel of Life, line 36 in which he writes: “man not only deforms the image of God in his own person, but is tempted to offenses against it in others as well, replacing relationships of communion by attitudes of distrust, indifference, hostility and murderous hatred. When God is not acknowledged as God, the profound meaning of man is betrayed and communion between people is compromised.”

Our Gospel today from Luke briefly touches on this compromised nature and falling for the temptation toward division and Jesus’ response. Most Samaritans and Judeans were not seeking inroads regarding how to bridge their divides. They at best tolerated from a distance and at worst killed each other.

This lack of compassion toward one another is displayed when the Samaritans refused to provide hospitality toward Jesus when they found out he and his disciples were going to Jerusalem, the city of the Temple for the Judeans. The Samaritans worshipped not at Mt. Zion, but Mt. Gerizim.

Each group also believed that they were the true Israelites. There were other causes to fuel the division as well and James and John seemed to have them on the front of their minds when they responded by asking Jesus “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” The brothers were recalling how Elijah did just that (see 2 Kings 1:10 and 12) and seeking permission from Jesus to do the same. Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village (Luke 9:54-56).

Jesus would have none of it. His face was set toward Jerusalem where he would not call down fire or a legion of angels to destroy the Romans or the Jewish high council. He was heading to the holy city to give his life for them, for the Samaritans, and for all of humanity, past, present, and future. Jesus, the Son of God, became man to save humanity, to save you and me. He came close to unite those places in our human hearts that divides us.

Jesus rebukes the Sons of Thunder, impulsive and self-seeking, James and John while at the same time trusting in them and seeing their promise, which they both would fulfill.

Jesus sees our promise as well. In what ways are we resisting Jesus’ invitation to work toward building up the kingdom of God, even in small ways, by keeping others who we may deem as different at arm’s length? May we ask the same Holy Spirit, who touched and transformed James and John’s hearts at Pentecost, to move our hearts and bring about greater healing within so that we may not only embrace the wonder of God’s beautiful gift of diversity in creation and humanity but to also think, speak, and act in ways that help bring about better unity where there may be division in our places of influence.

Photo: Rosary walk, St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 3, 2023

I went to Central Connecticut State University for college. I commuted during the day for classes and worked back in my hometown of East Windsor at the Prospect Hill Nursing Home, as it was named at the time, second shift, and as needed third shift to pay my way through school. Navigating through Interstates 84 and 91 traffic wasn’t always the easiest.

I was often told by many not to cut through the north end of Hartford to get to New Britain where Central was located. One day I was running late and the traffic on the highway was not helping matters so I diverted my course and headed through the north end and got a flat tire. I was not mugged, held at gun point, nor was my car stolen. I was helped without hesitation.

Did two angels come to my aid that day? Was my guardian angel moving the hearts of the two men that helped me? I don’t know, but I remembered moving from a place of rising frustration, then anxiety, to gratefulness within only a few minutes.

Those that helped me that day lived out today’s gospel without hesitation: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”

The dynamic duo that came to my aid that day treated me like family, they received me as their little brother. Not only did they help me to get my tire back on in record time like any of the best pit crew guys at Nascar, they offered me something to eat and drink which I thanked them for but shared I was already late.

Whether they were angels or not, they acted like them. Each of us do have our own guardian angel, and thus why we celebrate them today. Mine may have been working with the guardian angels of the two men who helped me. It is good to ask our guardian angels for help for the little as well as the big things. That’s what they are there for, messengers of God sent specifically to help us in our times of need.

May we also have our hearts and minds open to be moved by our guardian angels so as to be there for each other and those we come across who are in need and let God happen!

Photo: Evening Rosary walk, St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, October 2, 2023

Where we tend to place our attention and focus, our thoughts will follow. As we entertain those thoughts, our words and actions will also follow. From there we create habits that carry us through our days and nights, months, and years. If not healthy habits, the momentum that we have created can be difficult to change over time, though not impossible.

Jesus is coming upon the chief priests and the elders in today’s Gospel and shining a light on their unwillingness to see from a different perspective, which is God’s and not theirs. He tells them a story about a father asking his two sons to go out and work in the vineyard, one originally says, “No”, and then goes, the other originally says, “Yes,” and then does not. Jesus then compares the priests and the elders to the second son and the prostitutes and the tax collectors to the first son.

The point is not what we say, but what we do and are we willing to change when we realize we have missed the mark? The prostitutes and the tax collectors repented at the invitation of John, the priests and elders did not.

St. Paul who called himself the Pharisee of Pharisees was so zealous that he was one of the foremost persecutors of the early Church. Yet, in his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was willing to change. He was willing to see no longer from his point of view but from God’s. He was willing to humble himself and be transformed over the next three years.

It is wise to be careful with that word humility. Some of us have the perspective that to be humble is to put ourselves down and allow people to walk all over us. That is not humility. A better understanding of humility comes from C.S. Lewis who wrote: “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”

St. Paul did the180 of 180’s and not only thought less of himself going forward but surrendered all to God and gave us one of the most powerful messages of humility in the Bible. Here are two points that he wrote to the Church in Philippi: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). Again, not thinking less of ourselves, but of others more, especially regarding that God is to be first in our lives.

The God who sent his Son to show us the truth of humility, again, expressed powerfully in the words of St. Paul as “he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus asked that this cup, the cup of his blood to be poured out, be passed from him. As fully human, he would seek to preserve his life, but Jesus put the will of his Father over his own, he put the lives of humanity over his own.

Jesus gave his life for you and me, so that we might have life and be able to live it to the full. We have been created to love and to be loved. And the best way to begin and continue into this day is to be humble enough to trust, breathe, receive, rest, and abide in the love of Jesus and allow him to show us where we need to heal, to change, to let go, so that we can have the humility of the second son, change course, and follow the will that God has placed before us today.

Let us receive the hand of Jesus and follow him to work in the vineyard of his Father, meaning, let us allow ourselves to be loved by Holy Spirit in the quiet of our hearts and minds and share the love that we have received with those we encounter today.

Photo: May our heart beat in the same rhythm of humility as the sacred heart of Jesus. Mosaic for my living quarters at St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, October 1, 2023.

I was moving the inflated mattress through the bedroom door of our apartment and struggled to do so as it was fully inflated. I made it through and got into the second bedroom. I was moving the mattress because the tenants in the apartment two floors above were enjoying themselves later into the evening when JoAnn and I were trying to sleep. Since she had to have some form of pain medication every two hours, the hope was that being on the other side of the apartment would be enough of a buffer not to be disturbed any more than the every two hour alarm waking me up to wake JoAnn up to give her medication.

JoAnn didn’t understand why I didn’t take the time to deflate the mattress more before heading through the door. Which would have made more sense. I shared with her, I was only thinking, and not fully coherently with lack of sleep, of getting the mattress to the next room and it looked like it would fit which it did, eventually.

Sometimes we don’t understand. We don’t understand why we or others do what we do. Don’t understand why we are going through something, don’t understand why we are going through something for so long, don’t understand the behavior or lack of behavior of another, something that is said and or shared. Not understanding can come from the simplest of issues, moving a mattress through a doorway, to the most complex or even life-threatening diagnosis, fourth-stage pancreatic cancer.

The disciples found themselves dumfounded by Jesus’ words today when he said, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand. This was not the first nor the last time the disciples did not understand what Jesus was sharing with them, especially now that they were coming to understand that he is the messiah, took them a while to get there, and now he is telling him as the messiah, he is going to die. Two steps forward and five back! We may find ourselves in the same position in our own reading of the Bible at times.

When we don’t understand something or someone, the response that is good to resist is giving into frustration, impatience, anger, or throwing your Bible across the room or something at the someone we may be losing patience with; that includes resisting throwing harsh or angry words. A good first move is to take a few slow breaths and be alright with not knowing, then step away from the situation, and ask God for some guidance. Certainly, talking to another, as JoAnn and I did will help clarify things as well.

Sometimes, just that little step will give us a different perspective because we have moved out of a fight or flight response, a knee jerk reaction, and can see the issue or person a little clearer. More time also may be needed, it could be necessary to gather more information, and we may need to reach out to ask for another perspective, help from someone we trust, has some understanding of the present situation, or person we are struggling with.

Some things can be answered with a Google search and there are other things that cannot. Let us not be afraid though, like the disciples were in today’s reading, to ask Jesus for some clarification and guidance. May we also have the patience to listen and wait for an answer. Sometimes, we have to go through an experience for a longer time to get an answer to the why, and sometimes we may not get an answer – still waiting for one regarding JoAnn’s cancer.

No matter what the challenge or scenario, we need to continue to trust in Jesus today as the disciples did, even when we don’t understand. Continue to breathe, and pray, seek, ask, and listen. Above all, know that Jesus walks with you, he cares about you and your issues, and his love will carry you when you most need him to. Hopefully, we can receive a resolution sooner than later, but our goal is that no matter how long it takes, to be grounded in the love of Jesus so as to feel his peace even as we walk in our seasons of not understanding.

Photo: Breathing, walking, praying Rosary. Good way to end the day at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, September 30, 2023.

He promised that he would be there so that she would not have to die alone. The hospital called that her time was closer while the priest was visiting another ill parishioner. He finished up as fast as he could, and unfortunately ran into traffic, and too many lights turning red instead of staying green. And although he pushed the speed limit, when the priest arrived at the nursing station and asked for the name of the woman, the nurse informed him that he was too late, she had already passed.

He felt horrible because he promised her that she would not die alone. As he was mulling over the unfortunate timing, the nurse continued. “An interesting thing happened. An orderly came in with another patient, and I had no order for her to be in this room. This woman looked at your friend and asked if she could have her bed closer to hers, then reached out her hand. They held hands while the orderly and I left to check into the matter. When we returned, your friend was dead. The orderly then moved her bed out. The funny thing is that I have been checking since they left and found no record of this orderly or his patient being in the hospital.”

She did not die alone after all. Was this a visit from two angels?

Today we celebrate the feast of the archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Rafael. Angels are eternal, spiritual beings. They are not human but can take on human form in their appearance. Also, when we die, we do not become angels. We are human beings, and as such we are human and spiritual.

One of the possible reasons for Satan, who is an archangel, and the other angels, now called demons, rebelled against God was because in our participation in the life of Christ, we become higher than the angels. That was too much for them to take and so choosing their pride over God, they rebelled.

Jesus as fully God and fully man is infinite and eternal as Son, while at the same time finite as human. In Jesus coming close to be one with us in our humanity, we can become one with him in his divinity. Like the angels God has given us the reason and freedom to choose. We can choose to grasp at divinity on our own terms through our pride or we can receive the gift of God’s love, the very presence of his Son in whom we can become one with.

The wonderful reality we can ponder today is that in God’s order of creation, we all have a significant part to play and we are all interconnected: God, angels, humans, and creation. We also can enter into the day with the affirmation that we belong to an incredibly extended family of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the angels, and the saints. We can be at rest, no matter what challenges we are going through, in knowing that we are not alone, we are loved, and that many in heaven and on earth are not only cheering us on but also willing to help us on our journey.

Photo: Angels bowing before the Body of Christ in the tabernacle, St. Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 29, 2023

The people of Judah have returned from their exile in Babylon and God, through the prophet Haggai, is calling them to rebuild the temple which will again be the house that God will “take pleasure in” and “receive” his “glory” (Haggai 1:8).

Herod is hearing the stories about Jesus, teaching with authority, freeing people from possession, healing people such that the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and he wonders, “Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”And he kept trying to see him (Luke: 9:9).

Our loving God and Father welcomed his chosen people back home after freeing them from their time of exile and sought to dwell with them again, to have his house among them, even though generation after generation they turned away from him. Herod who had John the Baptist executed because of a foolish vow is having a tug at his mind, and could it even be a tug of his heart to come to know his Son, Jesus?

The psalmist gives us not only the interpretive key for these readings but the whole of the Bible. “The Lord takes delight in his people” (Psalm 149:4).

He took delight in his chosen people and still does, he took delight in Herod even though he killed one of his prophets, and he takes delight in each one of us. He has loved us before time began, he knew us before we were in our mother’s womb, he loves us more than we can ever imagine, and more than we can ever mess up.

God delights in you this morning. God is looking at you and loving you as you are right now as you read these words. You are precious in his eyes, he cherishes, and adores you.

I invite you to receive this truth, breath it into the depth of your souls.

Because every word is true. Yes, God loves you and me with all our imperfections, “pride, fear of not being loved, the conviction of how little we are worth,” and all the other lies the enemy fills our minds with.

If any thought other than how much God is loving you right now is coming into your mind, renounce it right now in Jesus’ name. It is a lie. Breathe slowly and allow yourself to sit in God’s presence, continue to breathe, for: “Only under the gaze of God can we fully and truly accept ourselves” (p. 35, Interior Freedom, Jacques Philippe).

I invite you to accept that you are a beloved daughter or son of God loved unconditionally. Continue to rest and abide in his gaze of love. Believe, carry, and return throughout the day to these words that he offers you through another prophet, Isaiah: “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, I love you” (Isaiah 43:4).

Photo: Evening Rosary walk, St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, September 28, 2023