The World Need Servants!Bring the Peace of Jesus to everyone we encounter!

Jesus encourages us to be like Him in the world. Imagine that God became one of us to show us how God wants us to live. Our focus must be on serving one another, regardless of who the person is, including those who have betrayed or hurt us deeply. Our love must be supernatural. The Kingdom of God must be a reality in the way we live and treat one another. Our Gospel Portion helps us enter into Divine Servitude. We read St. Luke 17:5-10, and we will concentrate on

“So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”
Luke 17:10

Sometimes our Lord says strong things that may shake us. However, we need to be shaken up at times so that we can be true to ourselves as His disciples.

As disciples of Jesus, it is our duty to serve others. It is easy to forget that God became one with us to serve us, because we did not know how to behave.

We are called to serve others! Remember, at the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of His Disciples. Jesus gave us the example of Divine Servitude. This process of service is not an option! It is our duty!

Please take Jesus seriously and be a teacher of the Kingdom by how you treat everyone.

An excellent example of this teaching ministry is found in the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He famously said, and I paraphrase, preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. And he also said that the only sermon people may experience is in our actions.

May we do our duty as disciples of Jesus Christ and expect nothing in return, other than being faithful to the Lord!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Being Humble Always Matters!

Through humility, we can be raised!

Love and humility are intertwined. We cannot separate the two. We find this in the life of Jesus, who chose to join humanity even though He remained Divine.

Today our Gospel Portion is St. Luke 14:1-14, and we will meditate on,

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

St. Luke 14:11

Jesus is the example that all of His followers must follow. He provides the means to bring Heaven to earth, and He showed this in His 33 years of life with us.

St. John the Apostle told us that God is love (1 John 4-8), and we see that lived out in Jesus’ life. Now our challenge is to live love out in our lives. When we encounter every individual, we are to be that love.

It is normal to love those who love you back; however, what is most difficult is to love those who openly hate you! This is so hard to do, but we are called to do this supernatural love.

Genuine humility is required to love like Jesus!

Remember, God allowed those who hated Him to execute Him, and He forgave them and the whole world! To receive that forgiveness, we must humble our pride and love those who aim to harm us.

When we become like Jesus, we allow Him to exalt us in the present moment!

Be humble like Jesus and be exalted by Him! Live in Heaven on Earth!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Follow Jesus!

Happy St. Peter and St. Paul Day!

We celebrate two key founders of the Apostolic Church, St. Peter and St. Paul. They are essential in understanding the original Church of Jesus Christ. They provide an example of how we should function as the Apostolic Church today. Jesus gave Peter the message, and Peter and Paul followed it until they were martyred. Our Gospel Portion for today is St. John 21:15:19, and we will meditate on,

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” St. John 21:17

It is a simple message, yet the world complicates it. It led to the Crucifixion and death of our Lord and the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul, the many martyrs of the early Church, and is present in our world today in the recent Martyrdoms of the Christians who attended the Divine Liturgy in Syria.

Feeding the Sheep is a problem for those who refuse to follow the Love Jesus taught and still teaches through those who are faithful to Him!

Sadly, through the two thousand years of this message, there is still so much hate. But we celebrate the faithfulness of our ancestors in the faith. We know that many faced cruel deaths, but they are still alive and are interceding for us today!

Love never dies!

My friends, keep “feeding the Sheep”!

Feed the sheep with food, feed the sheep with the Word of God, and feed the sheep with actions of Divine Love!

Be Jesus today!

Happy Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

Follow Jesus!

Happy St. Peter and St. Paul Day!

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” St. John 21:17

Feeding the Sheep is a problem for those who refuse to follow the Love Jesus taught and still teaches through those who are faithful to Him!

Love never dies!

My friends, keep “feeding the Sheep”!

Feed the sheep with food, feed the sheep with the Word of God, and feed the sheep with actions of Divine Love!

Be Jesus today!

Happy Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

Be Love and Show Others the Way of Love!

Let Jesus be your guide!

On this Fifth Sunday in Eastertide, we have a renewed commandment of love. Jesus is clear that all who follow Him must abide by His commands. Our Gospel Portion for today is St. John 13:31-35, and we will concentrate on the following,

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, you also love one another.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

St. John 13:34-35

People will know we are Christians by our love. This concept was part of a children’s church song when I was growing up, and it will always be true because Jesus is quite clear about it in His Word!

For all time this is essential for all people. We improved the world around us by doing what Jesus said and did. Continuing with this line of thinking, Jesus is still living in the world by how we treat one another.

Yes, my sisters and brothers, there are many people who say they belong to Jesus, and that is between them and God. Our concern is whether, are showing our relationship with Jesus by how we treat others.

Do we love everyone as Jesus would?

We may remember the meaning of the letters WWJD, meaning, What Would Jesus Do? This filter of our actions will never lose its significance!

We are to make a difference in our world!

Make a difference today, tomorrow, and forever! Be Jesus, be Love and show the world who we belong to!

Enjoy the Eastertide and be encouraged!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Allow Jesus to Heal Us!

Jesus wants to make us whole!

Happy Third Sunday of Lent!

I hope and pray that this holy time brings us peace and joy.

Today our Gospel Portion is St. Luke 13: 1-9. We will concentrate on the following section,

And he said to the vine dresser, “Behold, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?”

And he answered him, “Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” Luke 13: 7-9.

God is merciful and God gives us time to bear fruit!

Each Season of Lent allows us to be fed to produce fruits of righteousness throughout the year. The things of the world oftentimes reduce the potency of God’s Word in our lives. During Lent, we do things to help us receive Divine Nourishment, Divine Fertilizer, that will allow us to produce more for God’s Kingdom.

Please use Lenten time well! Read the Sacred Scripture! Fast and pray, and let this Lent be the best ever!

The world needs our fruit of righteousness now!

Be instruments of God in the world! Make the world a better place by our fruits!

Blessings!

Pax, The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/1ad6a4aa

Being Tempted is a Reality!

Jesus reveals how we respond!

Welcome to the First Sunday of Lent 2025!

We begin this sacred time always in celebration of the holy time of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness as He prepared for His mission to humanity. Here we renew our mission to ourselves and the world!

Our Gospel Portion is taken from St. Luke 4: 1-13 and we will concentrate on the following,

And Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’ ” Luke 4:8

Jesus had to go through three temptations from the evil one after His 40-day fast. He was in a weakened state, but He relied on Father God and was victorious over these temptations. In doing so, Jesus modeled for us how to deal with the temptations to do the wrong thing in our lives.

Temptations are a reality, it is how we deal with them that matters!

The Son of God, Jesus, came to teach us how to live out our true selves in a world that is not comfortable with the truth! There are so many easy answers to our problems and many of these answers are contrary to our true selves as images of God in the world. In our selection today we see our focus. If any action takes us from the true worship of God, then it is not appropriate for us!

During this sacred time of Lent, may we work on ourselves so that our lives mirror Jesus in all that we say and do, now and ages unending! Amen!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Heart Work Matters!

A better world begins with us!

Today in some parts of the globe is known as Carnival Sunday. It is the last Sunday before the Season of Lent. We are in the last days before many of us will enter into a time of introspection, Heart Work! Our Gospel portion is, St. Luke 6: 39-45, and our selection for meditation is,

“The good person out of good treasure of his/ her heart produces good, and the evil person out of his/ her evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart their mouths speak.” Luke 6: 45

I know that I have always heart work to do because judging others is so easy to do. But if we judge someone, how can we truly be loving to them?

Jesus calls us to look at ourselves first, then from self knowledge of ourselves we can determine if we live out the life and message of Jesus, we can help others to do the same.

Jesus reminds us of the need to work on ourselves when He tells us,

“Can a blind person lead a blind person? Will they not both fall into a pit?” Luke 6:39

Our hearts must see and acknowledge what is going on in them, and compare them with the Heart of Jesus. The old yet important question still needs to be asked of ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” The answer to this question requires us know Jesus and have Him as the center of the totality of our lives!

As we close this last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, may we take Jesus seriously and make our world a better place through our lives!

Blessings!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/1ad6a4aa

Be A Child Of The Most High!

Love Matters!

Being a Child of the Most High is challenging. However, it is a sure way to find true peace in one’s life. Jesus models this way of life.

Our Gospel Portion today is St. Luke 6:27-38 and our section to use today follows,

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.” Luke 6: 35

How does one truly become a Child of the Most High, simply it is to do what the Son of God Did! Jesus’ words and example are the way of life that brings peace on Earth and good will to all. This way of life goes against the way people normally live and treat one another, but it is the way of peace.

Be little Jesus and transform our lives.

The life, Passion, and Death of Jesus is His modeling of the good life for us. It is the life of a true child of the Most High.

Be like Jesus and change the world one person at a time!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/033e2079

Give Jesus Total Trust!

Jesus will make something beautiful out of us!

In our Gospel Portion today (St. Luke 5: 1-11) we have a very important conversation between Jesus and Simon Peter. We read,

And when He ceased speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night! But at Your word I will let down the nets.”

And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking. They beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boat, so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Luke 5: 4-8

We must think like Jesus, not like Simon Peter. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Simon Peter had a limited understanding of himself. And that makes perfect sense. He knows how holy Jesus is, he knows how powerful Jesus is, and he knows how sinful he is. But Jesus saw through the shortcomings of Simon Peter and He knew He could do marvelous things through him.

Simon Peter did follow Jesus and Jesus could build His Church using him! Simon Peter surrendered to Jesus and this gives us an example for us to follow!

Do not let our opinions of ourselves become a barrier to God’s plan for us!

Let Jesus have His way with us and He will do marvelous things through us too!

Be blest!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/033e2079