Let the Word Prune Us!

May we bear an abundance of fruit!

Jesus uses the grape vine to help us understand our place in the world as His Disciples. We read in the Gospel of St. John,

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

John 15:4 RSV-CE

Abiding is key for our relationship to Jesus and to the world. In this relationship we make Jesus present in us, in our places of school or work, in our activities of entertainment and in everything we do. In keeping this relationship constant we make the miracles we need, and our world needs! We will bear much fruit!

However, if we sever this relationship, we are dead as representative of Jesus. We are not able to produce the fruit that the world most desperately needs.

Choose to be fruitful!

This means staying in the Word! This means living the Word, the Bible and letting it convict us!

Allow ourselves to be pruned by the words of Jesus!

We may not be able to change the world, but Jesus is able to change the world if we remain true Disciples of Jesus!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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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

We Will Not Be Destroyed!

We Belong to Jesus!

Jesus had Holy Anger with the Market Place Temple! He turnover the money changer’s tables and made a scene that reminds us of the importance of keeping the house of prayer focused on love. And then He related the true place of prayer, the human person. We read in the Gospel of St. John:

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John 2:19

The physical house of prayer is very important, put the true place of worship is the individual. As radical as Jesus cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, He calls us to be radically focused on love in the Temple of our bodies.

During this holy time of Lent, may we work on protecting our temples, our bodies from things that separate us from God who is Love. May we work on keeping ourselves focused on love and remember we will rise with Jesus!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

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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

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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

The Shema Life

Living Divine Love!

The ancient Hebraic statement of faith is central to Jesus and the Holy Family of Nazareth and must be central to those who follow Jesus!

Jesus states in the Gospel of Matthew:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your mind.”
Matthew 22:37

And along with this statement of faith, which is and continues to be central to those who follow Him, Jesus tells us how this statement of faith is to be accomplished. This love must be lived in daily living:

“You shall love your neighbor as you yourself.”
Matthew 22:39

The Trinity of Love!

Jesus brings together the Way of Life of His People Judaism and confirms it for the whole world in His Life, Passion and Death on the Cross and Holy Resurrection! There are three movements of Divine Love which would bring Heaven on Earth, if we, as a people, put it into practice. This Trinity is, love of God, love of self, so that we can truly love our neighbor as God wants us to!

We cannot change anyone, but we can allow God to change us, and in doing so, we can inspire others to surrender to God, who can and will change them too!

Remember, if we know we are powerless, and we know that God is the Ultimate Power in the Universe, and we surrender ourselves to God, God has the power to change us!

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

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