Conversations with you

So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples,  “Let us also go to die with him.”   John 11:16 In reading the context of this statement from Thomas he held the same initial approach as Peter, they would think they would have done anything for their Lord.  When it came to his final trial they all fled.  We do this every day, we flee from Jesus in our sins.  But in the end these Apostles all came back to Jesus in the upper room.  On Pentecost they were filled with the Holy Spirit and came to truly believe that He was the Messiah, the long awaited Savior of the world.  I am perplexed by this line from Thomas in the middle of all that is happening with Mary and Martha on the death of their brother Lazarus.  Jesus could have been there while Lazarus was sick and cured him as to not make him suffer.  It was strictly for our benefit that Jesus waited as long as he did, before going to comfort the Martha and Mary.  Everything Jesus does is for our benefit, we may not understand it in

His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.  John 9:2 So many thoughts around today's Gospel that make you really think.   God does not make bad things happen to good people, God allows bad things happen to good people.  We often think we have disappointed God because bad things have happened, a punishment from God, but God does not work in revenge or punishing you for something.  Truth be told, God is mercy, God allows bad things to happen to increase our faith.  If you don't have faith you may never understand why things happen as they do.  Trying to teach my kids it is God's will be done, not yours or mine.  God is in charge and faith allows you to believe that his plan for you is better than anything you could have thought for yourself.  Could he have cured Stephanie, of course he could, h

Jesus said to his disciples: “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 Jesus came to break down the barriers the Pharisees had built in order to let you and me know that God truly loves us. He fulfilled the law with his Commandments and Beatitudes to guide our path to him.  He knew we would make mistakes so he gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation to cleanse us.  This is a God who really loves you and me, he meets us were we are at, but does not want us to stay there he wants us to abide in him.  He challenges us to grow in him.  The Commandments are only a guide, as he says in Mathew 5:21-45 not to show anger; not to lust in the heart; to forgive our enemies, this is what we are called to do, we are made for love.  Turn to the Lord and let him break away the things that are keeping you from him every day.   Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake thei

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”  Mathew 20: 17-19 Can a human mind truly know what Jesus went through when he said this to his Apostles?   They were not able to comprehend this as all they were thinking about was, 'what is in this for me?'  Don't you do the same thing, what am I going to get out of this?  How is this going to benefit me?  We need to look for Christ in each person we meet whether it is in our family or on the street.  Read Mathew 25: 31-46.  What you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.  Jesus did not come to condemn the world he came to save it.  He is giving you every opportunity to build u

Lets open with a prayer. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. Lord Jesus, I believe in your presence in my life, family and those here today. I believe that you ask nothing of me that you do not give me the strength to do. I trust in the power of your grace and the care of your love. I love you, Lord, and I wish to love you with this prayer so that I may work according to your will and in your love. Amen Good Morning ~ Some of you may not know me, my name is Cory Sommer. I have been a member of St. Michael Catholic Church since 1999. When Pete asked if I was interested in giving my witness back in January, my immediate thought was am I ready, and after praying about it, I said yes but I still will probably read this word for word as that is where I am at right now. My second thought was, if I am ready, what are the daily readings for Mass for the day and what is God trying to teach me at this moment in my life. So if you know me you know that, and

At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here."  Luke 11:32 To read this Gospel passage it is just as true today as it was over 2000 years ago.  There is something greater and we have the opportunity to partake in it each time we attend Mass.  The true presence of Jesus is alive and with us, take the opportunity to sit with Jesus.  "In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.”  2nd Corinthians 6:2. Today's society has lost its moral compass and tried to control what they believe is right.  We have lost the correlation between sexual sin and spiritual guilt or how are ability to spend has made us forget about the poor or the connection between the use of contraception and the breakdown in the nucleous of the family and the simple fact of marriage between a man and a woman finally how relativism is driving the