“When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them.” (MK 2: 1-2)
We can meet Jesus in so many places. Wherever He is, He is always concerned about us. Even “at home” He doesn’t look for privacy and rest but is concerned about our relationship with God—“He preached the word to them”–to those “at [His] home” and outside because “there was no longer room for them.” Our homes are also places where He loves to be, where there is a place for “the word.”
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.” (MK 1: 45)
Jesus takes care of us everywhere. Also in “deserted places.” There is no need to go especially there (but of course you can go and I would strongly recommend this) because we have such a place in ourselves: hidden, shameful, and empty. Jesus chooses these places to be with us to give us many consolations. There is no place, no loneliness which cannot be filled with God’s love. And God’s word beckons us—“people kept coming to Him from everywhere.”
“Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people.” (Gospel Acclamation)
Welcome back Dear Readers,
I am back from my yearly retreat at my hermitage. Thank you for your prayers. I am back to my service—helping you to start a new day with a new hope. God is love and loves us. We are His beloved children: sinners, broken, rejected, but still His children, loved more than we can expect. I know it perfectly because I am like you. So please accept again, with a New Year, my humble support, and let God’s Word change us not for the better, but to be a more loving, gentle, and respectful givers-of-self. Because our goal is not to be better, but to be like He is. And God is not a Perfect Person, but God is Love as a Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Homily, 13th of January 2016
Not permitting any word of his to be without effect
“Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.” (1 SAM 3: 19)
Sounds like we can use this as a New Year’s wish, or more seriously—as a new standard for us. Our God gives us His word every day, and we can take this word and—as another translation says: “not permit any word of his to go unfulfilled.” How humble is God giving us His word to fulfill. How important we are to God that He sends us every day a word to help us grow in love.
“My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord. I know them, and they follow me.” (Gospel Acclamation)
Dear Friends,
Please keep me in Your prayers. I’m just about to start my individual annual retreat in my hermitage.
I’ll keep you in my prayers very much.
God bless and see You in two weeks.
Fr. Jay
“When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.’” (MT 2: 13)
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Herod’s plan was “to search for the child to destroy him” because he was afraid of Him. Joseph took Jesus away and saved Him, so Herod “became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The only reason they were killed was likeness to Jesus by age. Today we pray for all innocents, especially the unborn, who are in danger for similar reasons—parents are afraid of them. St. Joseph will show us how to “take the child and his mother” and protect them.
“We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the white robed army of martyrs praise you.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. And so we are.” (1 JN 3: 2)
Not only are we “called the children of God,” but “so we are.” There is no problem for Our Father in Heaven to claim us as His children, even if our own parents, from time to time, are not happy with us as their children. God is proud and happy. Today’s Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph reminds us again that we have a home, where we are unconditionally loved, protected and supported. We can always come to the Holy Family, at least for a short visit, and take from Them the atmosphere of the Holy Home.
“Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“…but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.” (ACTS 6: 10)
From our beginning, where we were invited to this world by God and our parents, we are incessantly protected by God’s love. It is His gift—wisdom, it is His gift—spirit “with which we speak.” All His gifts protect not only us but also the dignity of our opponents or enemies; these gifts reveal truth, but always with love.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD: the LORD is God and has given us light.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Beloved: When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” (TL 3: 4-7)
“Not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy” reminds us today of God’s Wordin the history of our salvation. At the beginning was Adam and Eva, the first couple, now Joseph and Mary, chosen to receive the true appearance of “the kindness and generous love of God our savior”—Jesus Christ, “our savior” and Redeemer. God’s merciful love came first to the Family and to the poor and spread to the whole world. “But whereas Adam and Eve were the source of evil which was unleashed on the world, Joseph and Mary are the summit from which holiness spreads all over the earth. The Savior began the work of salvation by this virginal and holy union, wherein is manifested his all-powerful will to purify and sanctify the family – that sanctuary of love and cradle of life.” (Redemptoris custos, 7)
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David.” (LK 1: 68-69)
What is more important than the message that God is coming to us because we are His people, because we are important to Him and because He knows everything about our wounds and slavery and is coming “to set us free.” He knows because He came as a man, “born of the house of his servant David,” and “has raised up for us a mighty Savior.”
“O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.” (Gospel Acclamation)
