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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Love Is the Way!

Be love and enter the Narrow Door!

Love is essential! We were created out of love, and when we live a life full of love, we live a life we were meant to be.

Today our Gospel Portion is St. Luke 13:22-30, and we will concentrate on,

“Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

Luke 13:24

Love is what we need to live a life of peace. However, we cannot force others to be instruments of love. God has given us free will. For those who follow Jesus, there is only one way to treat people: we must treat people with love!

It is hard to love people who do mean things to us, but if we want peace, this is our only option. Living love does not mean we keep putting ourselves in harm’s way. But it does mean to let the hurt go and move forward.

Not living love takes away one’s peace if one follows Jesus. We know what He preached and what He did on the Cross for all people.

When we do what Jesus would do, peace reigns in us!

The Narrow Door is open to those who love. Be that love and do what Jesus would do!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Bring Peace Wherever We Go!

Have a blessed Sunday!

Our presence in the world as followers of Jesus brings His Peace. We are the Seventy-two Disciples in the world. That is a tremendous responsibility, but our world desperately needs us to be faithful to our call!

Our Gospel Portion today is St. Luke 10:1-20, and we will meditate on,

“Whatever house you enter, first say ‘peace be to this house!’” St. Luke 10:5.

To bring peace, we must already have it. Jesus’ Peace must already reign in our lives. The original 72 Disciples had been taught by the Master Himself; hence, Jesus already reigned in them.

We are the Seventy-two today!

Jesus has taught us through His Word, His followers’ example, and their words.

We bring peace more by who we are and how we treat everyone than by our words.

Live the Peace of Jesus and radiate that peace in our homes, at our workplaces, and with everyone we encounter.

Peace must begin with us! Let the world be a better place through us!

Happy Sunday!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/1ad6a4aa

Pray For The Presence of The Holy Spirit!

Let us prepare for The Lord’s Ascension and the Novena of the Holy Spirit!

My friends, we are in the last section of Eastertide, and we are getting prepared to embrace this wonderful time of the year. We need Easter! Easter helps us embrace the complexities of our lives.

Our Gospel Portion for today is St. John 14:23-29. We will concentrate on,

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, * and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 14:26

Jesus realized that we have to be reminded about Him all of the time. Evil is ever present and without Jesus, we would succumb to the evil around us. Concretely, this would mean we would forget to love like Jesus. There are many situations that we deal with that will lead to a non-love response, but Jesus provides the Divine Spirit for His Message to come back to our minds.

Pause, pray, and act only in love!

My friends, if we take only one thing from Eastertide, may it be that we treat everyone the way that Jesus would.

This week on Thursday, we will remember the day that Jesus ascended to the Father. On that day we will begin the Novena to the Holy Spirit. These are days that Mary, Jesus’ Mother, and Jesus’ Disciples joined in prayer in the Upper Room waiting for the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Make this upcoming Pentecost powerful in our lives by joining Mary and the Disciples in prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to pour afresh on us in power!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/1ad6a4aa

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.

https://gofund.me/1ad6a4aa

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

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.

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Be A Kingdom Person!

Help Jesus Change the World!

As we come close to the end of the Liturgical Year 2024 we meditate today on the Kingdom of God in our Gospel Potion, St. Mark 12:28-34. We read,

And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask Him any questions. Mark 12: 33-34.

Today in our Gospel reading, we see Jesus being questioned about the Greatest Commandment, and Jesus’ response is the Shema. And then He continued with the command to love your neighbor. The Scribe agreed and furthered the explanation. The Scribe knew the way to the Kingdom of God but refused to ask any more questions about The Way personified in Jesus. Further questions of Jesus would be too dangerous! He would have to change his life and follow The Way!

May we ask Jesus about every aspect of our lives and be willing to change to follow The Way! Jesus is the way!

Pax, the Hermit of Peace.

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We Serve to Lead!

Jesus is our model!

In our Gospel Portion today, St. Mark 10: 35-45, we read about servant leadership.

“But it shall not be with you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you, must be slave of all.” Mark 43-44

Jesus has turned the world of leadership upside down. He showed this with His very life. He allowed Himself to serve others so that He would lead a service revolution!

Leadership in Jesus’ Way is not about wealth or power, but making everyone better in the encounter with Him.

The world would be a better place if the world took Jesus’ words and example seriously!

But like Jesus, we change the world by living out His message and His example.

Are we truly willing to lead like Jesus’ leads?

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/561b35cd

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.

https://www.gofundme.com/6ndjm4-christophers-fund-for-charity