Conversations with you

I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.  John 5:30 Today's Gospel of John comes after Jesus heals the man who had been by the Bethesda for thirty-eight years.  He longed to be healed.  Tradition holds that the first person to feel the swirling water would be healed, and he struggled each time to get there.  Thirty-eight years is a long time to wait for healing, Jesus knew his faith was strong, did he truly believe the waters would  heal him or was he waiting for Jesus.  At this point Jesus said, "pick up your mat and walk" and the man was instantly healed.  This irritated the Jews who followed each letter of the law, not only was the man carrying his mat on the Sabbath, but Jesus healed him on the Sabbath.  After the healing is where Jesus equals himself to God and this irritated the Jews more and were looking for a reason to kill Jesus....

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.  (Luke 1:30-33) Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.  Do you fear God?  What are you afraid of?  Are you afraid of what he might ask of you?  Are you afraid of what he might  tell you?  The fear lies in not wanting to change who you are, not wanting to accept the fact that there is a power above all that can change you.  Fear is not accepting the fact that you are wrong and he is right.  Apply the words that Mary says in response. to your life, "may it be done onto me according to your word", (Luke 1:38) The true fear is in the fact that I can not or I will not change the ar...

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.  Mathew  5:17 To do the will of God is to understand what the fulfillment of the law really means.  Am I doing right if I do the least possible for any particular activity during my day?  Am I doing right if I stand idle while someone talks bad about a person that I do not know or that I do not like?   Jesus did not come into this world to recreate all that God had created, he came to answer the questions we have around what God created.  He fulfilled everything that was written in the old testament that was prophesied and is answered in the new testament with his words that were spoken.  Jesus tells us a little later that eventually heaven and earth will pass, but until then his law will stand as a testament for all generations.  And if you abide by the law in following the commandments you will  be ...

Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’  Luke 16:31 God waits for you to call on him, from today's readings we see the contrast in what the after life will truly be.  The beggar at the door of the rich man's house was seen as just part of the landscape, he was given no real value as a human being.  We do the same thing to the people around us, see them as part of the landscape and give them no value as a human being.  But the beggar chose to trust in God to provide for his needs.  The same is true in the first reading, Cursed is the man who seeks his strength in flesh and not in the Lord (Jeremiah 17:5).  Trust in the Lord to provide for your desires.  Our greatest fear should be sitting in purgatory and having  the realization that we could have done so much more for the salvation of the souls of the people that are around ...

He said to him, “Follow me.”  Luke 5:27 Picture this setting, Jesus walking through the streets and the crowds moving in all directions.  You see people moving through the crowd in no particular order, just hustling and busy.  Then you notice him, you see him as if he is the only person standing in the street.  Picture Jesus looking at you, your eyes catch his, and you see his lips move but you don't hear the words in your ears, you hear the words move you in your heart, "follow me".  Jesus is not asking you to just move your feet and follow him he is asking you to move your heart and follow him.  He is not asking you to just walk in to mass or to just walk in to the grocery store.  He is asking you to follow him with every part of your being, body and soul.  When you live and love with Jesus in your heart, you shower the people around you with that same love that is inside you.  When Jesus said "follow me" he was calling you to repent, repen...

 Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more no in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mother and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.  Mark 10:29-30 This is one of the last conversations we had regarding our faith, and it was not an easy one for me.  We talked about what you leave behind and what little value your possessions and material items have here on earth, which was a good preparation for Lent at the time.  Memories are what you will cherish, so carry those with you for the rest of your life, because in the memories is where I will be with you.  She had a calm and serial tone that she knew, I had a want of miracle that was nothing short of selfishness. I have come to understand how she believed and p...