Conversations with you

 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.   Mathew 16:18 Nothing that happens in this world will destroy the church.  We are One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic through Jesus Christ who created the church.  So when you read how the church is being attacked from all sides, Jesus foretold this will happen, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."  John 15:18-25.  There is an evil in this world that wants to destroy the Catholic Church and will do everything in its power to try, but true Catholics know this will never happen.  You have the power to change the world by changing you. Lord Jesus, you are the only foundation that can hold us up when trials and disaster ...

And those who find it are few.  Mathew 7:14 Your salvation is no easy task, hence why few ever find the narrow gate.  To enter through the narrow gate means to do the will of God.  We are called everyday to help our neighbor, care the sick, feed the hunger, take care of our parents, guide our children and none of those tasks are easy.  How do you prioritize any of these much less one of them.  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).  If you would read Psalm 1 every morning,  I have to think that you are going to do what is right in the eyes of God.  The road is vast that leads to destruction, that is why it is so easy to find. The devil waits on every corner of our life with the temptations that he knows we can not refuse.  Are you able to decide the diff...

And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.  Luke 24:15 From the words of St. Jerome,  'ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of God'.  This is why I believe they did not recognize Jesus as he pulled up beside them and questionedhim why he did not know of the things that happenedin Jerusalem.  They even said, "Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”  Luke 24:22-24. Were they ignorant to the scripture pass where Jesus told them on the third day he would rise?  Where were they going, nothing was said that he would be found in Emmaus.  E...

He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.  John 6:6 Jesus does this same thing with you and with me.  Jesus knows what he is going to do, the question is what are you going to do?  Everything that happens in your life happens for a reason and God supplied you with everything you need to be successful in every situation at every given point in your life.  To think like this is to live everyday Mathew 17:20-21 "For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."   Do you think I chose this path for my life, never in a million years did I think this is what my day would like like.  I choose to pick up my cross everyday and do the very best that God has allowed me to give to this world. I get my strength from the word of God, in particular from, Acts 5:38-39 "For if this endeavor or this activ...

But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.  John 3:21 The start of today's Gospel is one of the more famous quotes used throughout the world, but I would like to bring attention to the last line of today's Gospel.   Light is an amazing and natural thing the world can not be without.  If we would not have light we would not have life.  You can close your eyes and try and hide from the light, but it is always there.  Sin lives in darkness, truth shines from the light.  God is truth therefore God is light.  The only way to heaven is through Jesus, and we get to Jesus by emulating the lives of the Saints, the ones who have gone before us.  Jesus also said in Luke 12:52 "Do you suppose I came to give peace on earth?"  Jesus knew that there would be people who would disagree with his teachings and those disagreements would exist in our own families.  Things happen in your lifetime...

He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”  Luke 24:44 In order to understand what Jesus is talking about that is to be fulfilled, we have to understand what what was written in the old testament, the he must suffer, and die and be resurrected.  Jesus told his disciples these things while he was with them and it has been documented and verified.  This is why I look to the first reading as an understanding of what he is talking about.  "Now I know, brothers and sisters, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer.  Acts 3: 17-18. Ignorance by definition means lack of knowledge or information.  So even though Jesus was standing before them teaching them and expla...

And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”  Mathew 26:21 Today's Gospel is really about an examination of conscience.  When we sin we betray Jesus.  And when we avoid confession we are saying, 'it is not I, Lord'. I have always wondered about Judas, if he was truly that bad, why did the other Apostles not suspect him immediately as the betrayer.  Jesus always knew and for scriptures to be fulfilled had to have things happen a certain way.  It is troubling to think in how many ways am I like Judas in my life?  Do I sell Jesus out for less?  Of course, do I feel bad and want to reconcile or do I push it aside and say it is not that bad.  We also think of the things that we have done that have hurt Jesus, have you ever thought about things you have not done that hurt him more?   We are called to make Jesus Lord of every area of our life, which is no easy task, but with God anything is possible....

This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: ‘Say to daughter Zion, “Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”’   Mathew 21:5 Finally we see what the true Kingdom of God is going to look like.  The King will enter the royal city meek and humble.  The king came to be crushed by the hands of the very people who were looking for a king to turn back the Roman's and lead in a new kingdom.   Many times in the public ministry of Jesus did the people try and crown him king, but as he stated my time has not come.  Jesus had to demonstrate what his Kingdom would truly look like, a Kingdom of service.  Jesus fulfilled what the prophet had foretold, he would enter the city riding on a donkey.  When the Pharisees saw what this was, they feared what this would mean for them, which is why they determined Jesus must die, 'it is better for the death of one ma...

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 Jesu...

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 c...

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 ...

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 gi...

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 ...

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  Mathew 4:1 When Jesus battles the devil it is never with sword or stick.  The weapon he uses is prayer and the word of God.  The devil is a fallen angel.  He knows scripture just as well as Jesus, he just does not bow down to it.  He believes he is as powerful as scripture.  When Jesus answers his questions he realizes he has been defeated,  but he is always willing to try again.  He will never give up until the second coming when God fulfills all his promises.   The devil has now turned his attacks on us the weak flesh of the chosen people.  He knows how to defeat our will and if we allow him to he will succeed,  but we also can defeat him if we too turn to prayer and scripture to defeat his temptation.   God will bring you through if you only ask and believe that he is the One true God.  That is why we need to always be prepar...

 But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.  Mathew 5:39 In today's society is this even possible?  Do we strive for greatness or do we with compromise mediocrity?   We are made in the image and likeness of God, and Jesus says 'be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.'  Mathew 5:48. So we are not to settle for what we think is best , but to work for what God wants to do in your life and be the greatness we are called to be, to give without ever giving up.   We need to break the mold that other people have for our life and let Jesus be the potter, for as it was said, 'Yet, Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you our potter: we are all the work of your hand.'  Isaiah 64:7  We can no longer compromise what we know is wrong, we need to strive for what is good in the eyes of God.  Let today's Gospel penatrate your heart and allow God to change your life.   Jesus teach me true charity. Changing Min...

He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.  Mark 8:23 When we talk to Jesus we need to be removed from all the noise and clatter that is around us every day.   We need Jesus to lead us to a quite place.  Think about this story and the beauty that it speaks.  Jesus put spittle on his eyes and laid his hands on him, and he laid his hands on him a second time.   There is two times in our life where the priest (Jesus) lays his hands on us, once in our Baptism, similar to the spittle we have water pour over us.  Then at our Confirmation the priest again lays hands upon us similar to today's Gospel.   In today's Gospel this man receives his Baptism and Confirmation and in the process is healed.  Do you look to Baptism and Confirmation as a healing similar to today's Gospel?   In addition to an awakening we are also healed of all infirmities of the soul.  Jesus wants to speak to you in the quietness o...

From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.  Mark 7:21-22 God created everything and everything he created was good.  God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Genesis 1:3  It is what we do with the good things God created how we use them or process them that turns them bad.  It is our free will that allows us to do the will of God or to defy him.  And through the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to understand. St Paul warned the Galatians: "I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control.   You can choose to be evil or you can choose to be good.  What lives inside of you is what God sees.  Changing Minds...

What we see as lost or no hope, God sees as an opportunity. (There is a fish trapped in there) Where do you go to listen to and discern what God's will is for your life?  Do you feel you are doing the will of God?   Stephanie always felt called to Mexico and she still draws us there.  There is something about the salt and and sand that replenishes us.  If salt loses its flavor it is tossed out and trampled under foot.  Stephanie was called here to make sure her salt never lost its flavor.   Changing Minds Moving Hearts 

No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.  Mark 1:21-22 In today's Gospel we learn that Jesus came to bring something new into the world.  Personally,  I am reflecting on where Jesus learned the tact of sewing and how he came to understand the art of what happens when you sew something new on old clothing.   I can only imagine what Jesus childhood was like and try and understand as he learned some he knew everything.  It is mind blowing to try to comprehend this type of childhood.  We hear the one instance in the Bible when Joseph and Mary found him in the temple at the age of twelve where he was listening and asking questions to the teachers, but yet all were amazed at his understanding and answers.  Jesus is God but yet took on human form and in this person is supposed to be a child.    Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he...