Category: Spiritual

The Wedding Garment

Make Love Your Garment!

The Wedding Feast is a Love Feast!

At times our Sacred Scriptures can be difficult to understand. For example, in the Gospel of St. Matthew 22:11-12,

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless…”

What is the “Wedding Garment “?

In this Parable of the Wedding Party we we know that Jesus is talking about being in line with God’s Kingdom. The original guests were invited and they had their own things to do, they did not join the party. Then the invite went to everyone, and they came, but one was not properly dressed. Being properly dressed for the party is essential. Not have the “Wedding Garment” is like being present at the affair and not really being there.

Perhaps being properly dressed refers to being clothed in love!

Clothed in Love makes sense because it is a love fest! God became one of us to bring us together in Divine Love!

We can be at the Wedding Feast and not really be there, because we choose not to be love.

This is a wonderful reminder and challenge! Being clothed in love means we are Kingdom People! This is our ongoing goal, working towards it, we will always belong at the “Wedding Party “!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

Be Good Tenants

To Be Good, We Must Work Out of Love!

“Therefore, I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing fruits of it.”
Matthew 21:43

In the Parable of the Tenants, we see the reality that some workers work for their own gain and not for the gain of the owner. Jesus uses this parable to help us see the problem of working in the vineyard and the fruit produced.

There is a crisis of leadership. There is leadership based on the things of the world and there is leadership based on Jesus. This problem existed in Jesus time on earth and it continues today.

We have a choice to make. Will we follow Jesus and make good fruit? Will we allow our love to bear fruit at the corner of the world were we are? True followers of Jesus will produce good fruit.

Our world will be transformed if followers of Jesus would bear good fruit!

May we always be good tenants, tenants that all belongs to the Lord!

Pax.

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Be Teachable!

Humility is Truth!

It seems that human beings have this tendency to judge each other. For whatever reason, people will look at someone else and see how they are lacking in something that makes them less perfect. It seems to make the judging person feel better about themselves. This common approach hides the reality that we all need to be healed!

Jesus, in the Parable of the Two Sons, is helpful here.

Jesus said, “what do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go out to the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘no’; but afterwards he repented and went.”
Matthew 31:28-29

In this selection from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is referring to public sinners who said no to living God’s way and took the way of the world. These individuals, with the preaching of John, the Baptist, repented.

Humility is being teachable!

The conversion of the public sinners did not change the hearts of those who were proper members of the culture that Jesus belonged to. They seemed to believe that they did not need to change. The words of John the Baptist could not reach them because they were not teachable.

All of us fall short of the Divine Love that God wants us to live in the here and now. John, the Baptist, call is for all people.

May we all be humble, be teachable and love each other better each day!

Pax.

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Grace In Abundance!

God does not follow our way of doing things. God follows God’s plan for our wellbeing. The Parable of the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) gives us an inkling into the Divine Way! It concludes:

But he replied to one of them ,”Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last one as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”
Matthew 20:13-16

The owner of the vineyard is the Lord, and the Lord goes out to find us to work in The Vineyard, God’s Kingdom. We can apply this Parable in many ways. This is one of the wonderful things about the parable. For today, let us see that God wants all to be saved. Whenever we make ourselves available, God will put us to work. This wonderful reality does not follow our human work ethic. That work ethic is based on time served and merit. These are not Divine Principles, rather for God, the reward for us is abundant grace at any moment we turn away from our previous way and go to work in the Kingdom Vineyard.

Thank God that we are not God!

When we approach someone who is new to the Church, may we apply Divine Understanding in dealing with them. The newcomer has as much right to belong as any one of us!

All belong in the Kingdom, not because of the time they arrived, not because of what ability they have, but because of who God is!

God’s Grace Is Abundant!

Abundant Blessings!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

Forgive Always!

Forgive And Find Peace!

Jesus Leads The Way!

Life gets crazy, and we often have to deal with people who hate. Sometimes people will hate us and do things that take away our peace. However, the Lord Jesus has the answer for us to regain our composure and move forward in peace. We can and will rise again if we follow the Lord!

Jesus answers Peter, His chief Disciple, with the answer that can bring us out of whatever emotional situation that we may find ourselves in:

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:21-22

We find peace in Jesus!

Jesus understands the human situation and even though the Great Rabbi Jesus was speaking to Peter two thousand years ago, it is relevant to interpersonal relationships today and will be current probably to the end of time. Let us be honest, human relationships can be messy. For Peter, seven times forgiving someone is generous, however, we must follow the Master, Jesus, seventy times seven time, that means forgiveness without limit, as our peace seeking approach.

We do not forgive because of the other person, we forgive to be free!

A wise person once said, “We will all be friends in Heaven, so forgive and be in heaven today”!

Remember, no matter what has been done to anyone of us, forgive as Jesus taught! In doing so, we win! We will have a victorious life! We will be free! We will have peace!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

The Holy Cross!

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Jesus accepted our crosses and they were nailed with Him on His Cross! We still have to deal with our crosses in life, but if we surrender our wills. If we give them to Jesus! There is no cross that can destroy us! We will rise again! Alleluia!

We adore You O Christ and we praise you, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the whole world!

Have a meaningful and awesome Solemnity of the Most Holy Cross!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

We Remember!

Have a meaningful Day of Remembrance! May we all experience Divine Consolation! Peace and love.

One of the first to give his life on 9/11/2001. Father was faithful unto death! May we be faithful in all that we do! May we give our lives for the Greater Glory of God!

Honesty Matters!

Let Shalom Reign!

Our Lord is very practical about human relationships. He realized that we would hurt one another, yet he does not want us to stay in this hurting space but bring it out in the open. In openness of our feelings, with people who can be reasonable, we can find healing and move on to Kingdom Building!

Jesus says:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”
Matthew 18:15

Hiding hurts is not helpful, rather, they may lead to resentments. Holding on to hurts may lead to anger and outbursts that can destroy relationships. Jesus wants us to be together, to work with one another and for Shalom to reign.

Shalom, peace, can reign where honesty exists in relationships! We may do something wrong to our sister or brother and have no idea that our actions are hurtful. We can only truly know someone’s feelings if they share them with us.

Let us always be reasonable! Let us always be kind! Let us keep the peace!

And let us Stay in Prayer!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

Embrace The Cross!

Embrace Your True Self!

Jesus shows us the essential nature of carrying one’s cross. He did that by modeling this process with His own life. He tells us directly:

“If anyone comes after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24

Jesus had to deny Himself as the world would see it, that is, to compromise with the world for self preservation, and embrace His true self by defying the world and all of it’s temporary pleasures. The cross is often difficult and painful, but it is embracing who we truly are and here we find peace.

The message of Jesus, the message of Divine Love, was a threat to those in authority in the culture that Jesus lived in. These individuals had compromised themselves to be comfortable. Jesus’ words and how He lived, contradicted their approach life. To Jesus everyone must be treated with love. This meant loving oneself and loving others as if we were loving ourselves! This message is key to Jesus’ Jewish tradition and He would not compromise it even if this meant dying for His true self!

Embracing one’s cross may lead to one’s Crucifixion!

To follow Jesus means for us to embrace the cross of following Him. Usually it means living a good Christian life, a life where Divine Love reigns, however, it also means being willing to die to be faithful to our true selves as Jesus’ disciples. No compromising Love of oneself and one another!

The saints, the holy ones, did this. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta’ Feast is approaching in a few days. Mother Teresa had an inner call that called her out of the comfort of her convent school environment to the streets of India, not to convert those who she encountered, rather, she loved herself so much that she had to become Jesus to the poor of the street!

We all have our call! Wherever we are, let us embrace our cross as true disciples of Jesus and be Jesuslike wherever our mission is!

Pax.

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