Be Opened!

The Lord Wants Us to Receive Him!

In our portion of the Gospel today we have Jesus healing a deaf-mute person and the message has something to tell us about our situation at times. We read in the Gospel of St. Mark,

And looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Eph’phatha,” that is, “Be opened!” And his ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he spoke plainly. Mark 7: 34-35.

The person healed by Jesus could hear the truth and speak the truth after his experience with Jesus.

Jesus is the Supreme Truth, and if we surrender to Him, we will be set free!

Our society may inhibit our healing from Jesus. Often Jesus is counter-cultural to the society that we live in. But all we need to do is to open up His Word and live His Word, He will heal our deaf-muteness!

Jesus is calling over us Eph’phatha, but are we willing to let Him take control?

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Put Your Focus on Jesus!

Jesus Will Straighten Your Path!

Today in our Gospel Portion, we have a scene between Jesus and His Disciples and the Pharisees and the Scribes. Our focus on life is addressed. We see in St. Marks Gospel,

Jesus says, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of the person are what defiles him,” Mark 7:14-15.

Jesus tells His Disciples 2,000 years ago and He is telling us today that our focus matters. The Pharisees and the Scribes were taken aback by the Disciples not doing the ritual of washing of hands before meals. Their focus of the external kept them from hearing Jesus and with the end result, missing the message of Jesus and changing their lives.

What we focus on matters!

The external actions of others, the actions of people, must not keep us from Jesus and His message.

Distractions exist but do not let them keep us from knowing and loving and living Jesus!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

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Hold On To Jesus!

Jesus Will See You Through!

Jesus is so radical for some people that His message is avoided! Today we see in St. John’s Gospel that some of His disciples walked away from following Him!

May we never fall into the trap of placing our egos ahead of Our Lord!

St. Peter gives us the response that we must follow if we are true believers! We read in the Gospel of St. John,

Jesus said to the Twelve, “Will you also go away?”

Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.” John 6: 67-69

St. Peter, though he had faults, he was a truly a flawed individual, he is a wonderful example for us. He kept making mistakes but he kept coming back. The Pilar of the Church was a real person. His ego did cause him problems, but unlike Judas, his ego did not lead to permanent death!

Trust in Jesus regardless of what our feelings are and what our thoughts are.

Jesus is the Way, His Word and His example is what we need live in true peace!

Total Trust in Jesus!

May we say to ourselves and fashion our actions with this old yet useful phrase, “What would Jesus do in this situations?”.

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Life is Christ!

Feed on Him and Live!

We continue with Jesus the Bread of life which is so important for those who follow Jesus! We must feed on Him because He is our life! We read in St. John’s Gospel,

So, Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will have no life in you…” John 6:35

There are so many distractions in our lives, with all the craziness, the Presidential Election in the U. S., all the wars around the world, and everything that we see in the news, without the right food, Jesus, we may enter despair and depression!

But if we feed on Jesus despair and depression will not be the final result!

However, since the Jesus’ time, there have been forces determined to destroy the food of our only hope in a world bent on self destruction. Faith tells us that these forces cannot win. We see in the Cross that, though these forces nailed our Hope to the Tree, our Hope rose on the third day.

Eat Jesus and keep rising!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord!

Eternal Life is Ours!

Jesus makes us a promise in today’s selection from the Gospel of St. John. We read,

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats if this bread, he will live forever.” John 6:51

When we consume Jesus, we partake of His Divine Life and it changes how we live in the world! As people living in the world, we will have struggles, but they cannot destroy us.

We join the Lord who turned the instrument of death, the Cross, into the instrument of life eternal!

Eternal life is ours if we feed on Jesus, in His word and in the Sacraments!

Every cross we have to deal with becomes the key to resurrection! We, through Jesus, overcome all that is meant to destroy us!

Feeding on Jesus will bring us through all things, if we surrender to Him and let Him take control of all of the situations that we go through! Even the final cross, our earthly death, cannot have the final say, or to put it as St. Paul said,

“O death where is thy sting or grave where is thy victory.” 1 Cor 15:55

Feed on Jesus and have Eternal Life!

Eternal Life Now!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Receive the Bread of Life!

Jesus Came to Feed Us!

Life is not easy! There are many struggles that we have to handle. There are many storms we have to traverse! Without food, we may collapse on our way. There is physical nourishment and of course that is extremely important! But we cannot live without “Soul Food” and this is the food that God gives us!

In our Gospel reading from St. John today, Jesus shares with us His teaching on the spiritual food we need for the journey of life. We read,

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35

Jesus and knowledge of Him gives us the spiritual bread for the journey. When we feel hopeless, which can happen when we are in the midst of a storm, when we eat of Him, we will find the spiritual nourishment to carry on.

Jesus will get us through every situation. This has been my experience and I know, without a doubt in my mind, that Jesus will do the same for you!

Feed on Jesus and prosper!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Give All to The Lord!

Today as we meditate in the Gospel of St. John in Chapter 6 the feeding of the Multitude, we look at a young person who gave to the Lord all that he had, and Jesus could work the miracle. We read in St. John’s Gospel,

“Here is a lad with five barley loaves and two fish, but how far will that go with so many?” John 6:9.

Never underestimate what Jesus can do!

It is not how much we have to give to Jesus; it is what Jesus will do when we put our total trust in Him!

Jesus, after teaching the multitude, saw the need that the people had, they needed a meal to stay safe as they return to their homes. Jesus would provide the meal through the resources of His people. His Apostles still did not know Him. They judge the situation in an ordinary, natural way, they did not have enough to feed the people. However, when we deal with Jesus, we encounter an extraordinary, supernatural way!

Do not underestimate Jesus!

Give to Jesus what you have. Trust in Him, and let Jesus work the miracle He decides!

Jesus, I surrender all to You, take control of everything!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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We Were Lost, But Now We Are Found!

Thank God for Jesus!

There are so many opportunities to get lost and there are so many people who claim to love us, but really have their own agenda at work. But God enters and leads us to “Green Pastures”. We are given a place of peace in a world of confusion.

Thank God for Jesus!

We read in the Gospel of St. Mark,

As He (Jesus) landed He saw a great throng, and He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He began to teach them many things. Mark 6:34.

The sheep have to be taught!

Without the Good Shepherd, we would be lost in the world! There are so many problems that we have to deal with on the daily basis, with His word we have the means of handling our situations and staying in love and in peace.

The people in our Gospel selection today knew they were missing something in their lives and that something was Jesus!

Perhaps we are those people today and Jesus wants to be available to us! All we have to do is to seek Him.

Today there is so much hurt all around us, in our families, at our work places and in our society, but we do not have to despair! Let the Good Shepherd speak to our hearts and let Him take control. Let Jesus show how to be more like Him in all of our relationships.

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. Matthew 11:29

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Be The Change That Jesus Wants!

The World Needs Our Apostleship!

In our Gospel selection from St. Mark that we read today, we see Jesus sending out the 12 Disciples. He gives them Divine Gifts that will change the world they enter into if they are received. We read,

And He (Jesus) called to Him the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. Mark 6:7.

By this point in the Gospel of St. Mark, these first leader of the Ministry of Jesus had been prepared to spread the ministry wherever they went. They were to be Jesus’ presence among those who received them.

Jesus is Divine Love in Person!

At this point in Jesus’ Ministry, He was located in one location at a time, but through the Twelve, He was present in six places more.

Jesus’ Power!

Where the Twelve went, they carried the Power of Jesus to combat the power of the evil one. The Power of Jesus was given through them as His agents!

Be part of the Divine Change!

Through the Power of Jesus, we too are able to make positive changes in the world where we are. But do not get discouraged when we are not received! Our obligation is to give of ourselves, people have the right to receive us or not. Or as Jesus said two thousand years ago,

“And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.” Mark 6:11.

We must move on! People need Jesus’ Power, hence do not fret about those who choose to stay without Him! Keep moving and be the change that you experienced in Jesus to those who receive you!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Let Jesus Bless You!

Believe and Trust in Him!

It is possible to miss a blessing because of unbelief. What a shame! We see in our Gospel selection of today, how unbelief in Jesus can keep us from healing. We read in St. Mark’s Gospel,

And He (Jesus) could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Mark 6:5-6

Familiarity breeds contempt! And contempt blocks miracles. However Total Trust in Jesus allow miracles to enter into our lives!

What does this say to us as we live our lives today? Most of us know Jesus, but do we believe He can bring miracles into our lives.

Familiarity breeds contempt, but faith opens the door for Jesus to take control!

Jesus wants to bring peace and healing into our lives, but He will not force it on us! Allow Him to work the miracles He has in store for us!

Lord save us from blocking Your blessings in our lives!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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