Be Faithful Like Jesus!

Jesus models for us how to deal in any situation, be faithful to God!

We read in the Gospel of St. John,

“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:26

We must look at this Gospel selection from the context that we are in liturgically. We are in the Season of Lent, the last days of that season and in the time called Passiontide. We are preparing our hearts for Holy Week.

In this time, we know that Jesus would experience some horrendous abuse of those in authority in His culture. Jesus would experience denials and betrayals of those near and dear to Himself. Jesus would ultimately be murdered on the Cross. Yet He remained faithful through it all. Jesus would be honored by Father God and He would rise again!

Jesus is the Model for us all!

Our entering into the Passion of Jesus is not just for the days leading up to the Glorious Resurrection Sunday. Rather, Jesus sets a pattern for all of us follow in how we to live as His followers.

We will rise again regardless of whatever we have to experience! There is no stopping a child of God!

Have a most blessed and fruitful Passiontide!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

Become a Jesus Follower!

Happy Lord’s Day!

Becoming a follower of Jesus changes our whole perspective in our lives. We allow Jesus to use us wherever we are. We bring all of gifts, all the skills that we have, but use them now for the greater glory of God!

We read in the Gospel of Mark:

And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He (Jesus) saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said he them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of people.”Mark 1:16-17

Simon and Andrew had a major life shift. They would be reworked as instruments of Kingdom Building! But they were still Simon and Andrew. They would use their knowledge base, their expertise in a new way, Jesus’ Way!

As followers of Jesus, we too make use of our knowledge base and our expertise, that does not change. However, what changes is how we use these gifts.

Let us reflect on the gifts that we have and discern how we are using them to bring the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth!

May we be the change that changes our world!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

https://gofund.me/e7ad6a0b

Let God and Follow Jesus!

There are so many things in our world that may occupy our thoughts and actions. These things may have value or may be a distraction. We may be able to do something about them or maybe it is out of our control.

But what brings meaning to our lives?

What is the purpose of our lives?

The Disciples in today’s Gospel selection from St. John helps us to see what brought meaning to their lives.

We read:

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

John 1:35-37

These two disciples were looking for something to make sense out of their lives. We can imagine that they had the normal concerns for people in their time, but something was missing.

This may be a reminder to us. We may be going through some situation that is occupying our lives. But if we follow these Disciples, and follow Jesus, we will find peace!

We may be in the midst of a stormy time, but do not focus on the storm, focus on Jesus and walk through the storm doing what you are able to do!

May we bring Jesus into our lives and TAKE BACK OUR PEACE!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

https://gofund.me/e4fbd23a

Jesus Rules!

When We Allow Jesus to Rule, Peace Reigns!

We are again at this special time of the year! We close our spiritual journey 2023 and next Sunday we will begin again. Each year’s Scriptures speak to us differently; the Scriptures remain but our lives changes and they speak to us where we are.

Today we look at the Final Judgment and we can look at our lives and see what side we are on. There are somethings that we cannot compromise on, if we are truly following Jesus, if Jesus is truly our King! We read from Matthew’s Gospel:

“Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to me.’”
Matthew 25: 34-35.

Jesus is very clear; the God of Mercy will be the God of the Final Judgement and the Judgement will be based on the mercy that we share with one another.

This challenge goes against what the world sees as important, and we are so affected by the world! We are called to rise above the world and its non-Christlike behaviors.

We can be Christlike and thank God we have this day to evaluate ourselves and become more Christlike; it will have eternal rewards!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

https://gofund.me/e4fbd23a

Wholeness of Life Matters!

How We Live Reveals Who We Are!

Jesus had a real problem with hypocrisy! He was quite clear to the religious leadership of His people, Judaism. He heard one thing from their mouths, but He saw something different in their actions. Jesus found their way of living a major cause of His concern for them and the people that they were serving.

Jesus wanted better for His people, then and now!

It is not enough to have a title like teacher or father. All teachers, for Jesus’ Followers, must have as their real Teacher Jesus! All fathers, if they are Jesus’ Followers, must have Father God as their real Father Source! This requires the leadership of the people to be teachable!

Jesus tells us:

“He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbled himself will be exalted.”
Matthew 23:11-12

Being humble means being teachable! Being able to be taught by Father God and the Lord Jesus will allow each one of us to be Servant-Leaders after the Heart of Jesus!

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

You Are The Christ!

Who Is Jesus To Us?

How We Treat Each Other Says Much!

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of living God!”
Matthew 16:16

Jesus in our Scripture selection above asked who He was to His disciples and Peter responded that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. This was done through divine inspiration. However, Peter would have to live this answer, not always perfectly, and he would fail to live up to it, but Peter would be martyred because of his living out this proclamation.

Who is Jesus to us?

Trying to follow the Way of Jesus can be challenging. It requires a love that transcends the way of the world. As Peter ran away from the Cross, he would find his way back. We may fail too, we may run away from the Cross (by the way we treat each other), but hopefully we do not give up!

May we always return and embrace the Cross of Love!

Each interaction, each relationship with others, give us an opportunity to live our response to who Jesus is to us!

May we proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, by the way we treat each other!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2