Rejoice and Be Glad in Jesus!

Jesus will make a way!

The message of Jesus is so profound yet it it is so contrary to the way humans approach life. However, if we aim to fulfill the Way of Jesus, Heaven would be in our hearts and that Heaven would radiate from us through our world!

Our Gospel Portion today is the Sermon of the Plains, this is found in the Gospel of St. Luke 6: 17-26. Our selection is as follows:

“Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on the account of the Son of Man!

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in Heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”

Luke 6:22-23

If we would take Jesus seriously, there is nothing that people would say and/or do to us that would destroy us! The real relationship that matters is our relationship with Jesus! We are built on the shoulders of those who took Jesus seriously! For the first 300 years of Christianity, being faithful could lead to be to being executed. Yet they were faithful unto death!

An example only 10 years ago, 21 people were beheaded, and the execution was filmed by their executioners. The executioner were members of ISIS. These Coptic Christians refused to renounce Jesus! These Christians truly lived the words of Jesus and they speak to us today that Jesus Is All! It has encouraged me to be more faithful and thousands of others.

Hopefully we will not have to experience execution physically for Jesus, but in little ways we may experience the hate of others because Jesus Is All for us!

May we never let anyone take Jesus away from us!

Jesus is our Heaven and we will experience Heaven here and now in Him!

Have an awesome Sunday!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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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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Let Us Be Light!

May we be light to the darkness that surrounds us!

Happy Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus to the Temple!

We have another aspect of the Christmas Mystery today, the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. Our Gospel Portion for today is St. Luke 2:22-40. This event follows the Jewish Law referred to as follows,

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to press Him to the Lord

(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:22-24

This celebration was done 40 days after the birth of Our Lord! What a blessing to celebrate this event of Our Lord’s life! Jesus did everything that people would do, yet the significance was magnificent! At the Presentation, God entered the Temple in bodily form. His presence blessed the Temple and two individuals received Him as Lord in His Temple. We read of one of these individuals as follows,

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon… And it was revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Holy Spirit he came into the Temple; and when the parents brought the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law, he took Him in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now let your servant go in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory to Your people Israel”

Luke 2:25-32

Today it is customary to bless candles and walk into our temples, our church buildings. We have received Jesus, we carry our lights into the church, but do not leave them there!

Can we carry our lights out in the world? There is so much darkness and pain around us!

May we bring the Light of Christ everywhere we go!

Be light and break up the darkness!

Happy Feast Day!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

https://gofund.me/033e2079

Be Free!

When Jesus set you free you are free indeed! John 8:36

Our world has a way of controlling our minds and ultimately controlling our habits. But Jesus came to show us who we really are. Jesus in our Gospel Portion today, St. Luke 4:14-2, makes His mission clear and with it, we can find the peace that we need living in this world.

We read,

And there was given Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set liberty to those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4: 17-21

This is one of the Epiphanies of the ministry of Jesus. In the reading He did and the proclamation He made, we hear that He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. If we truly follow Jesus, we will experience inner freedom that He provides.

Will we allow Jesus to free us?

Jesus comes to us with the gift of His presence. In His presence we know what the world may say about us does not matter. We know that we are loved and we have a purpose.

Society changes but the dignity given to us from Jesus does not change!

In Jesus, we are free, indeed our innermost being can not enslaved!

Have a blessed week!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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They Have No Wine!

Bring Your Concerns to the Lord!

Today we enter the mystery of the Wedding at Cana by reading our Gospel Portion, St. John 2:1-11. Let us concentrate on the following,

When the wine failed, the Mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

His Mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” John 1:3-5

The Miracle at the Wedding of Cana was the first sign in Jesus ministry that pointed to His Divine Purpose. It was initiated at the intercession of His Mother. Mary would not take no for an answer. And Jesus did exactly what she wanted. Because of the action of Jesus, the wedding was saved! Water was changed into the best wine. The Discipline realized that Jesus had power over the elements and they started to see Jesus with a new understanding.

This is an Epiphany!

Now for us, what can we learn from this event?

Mary gives us the example, tell Jesus what you need. He can change our situation and possibly make it exceedingly better for us.

Talk to Jesus, ask Him and trust in Him.

Sunday Blessings!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Holy Family, Teach Us How to Live!Let The Holy Family Guide Us!

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas!

On this Sunday we remember the Holy Family. From this family we have World Salvation! As Jesus is the model of Divine Living in the world, His Family models for all humankind the family. And we know that the family is the the source of human society. Our Gospel Portion today is, St. Luke 2: 22-40. We read from this text,

And a there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe tribe of Asher; she was of great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the Temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

And the Child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon Him. Luke 2: 36-40.

Mary and Joseph had an awesome responsibility, and they handled it well! Each step, Father God gave them the encouragement to do their job of raising their Son. But as we see, they had to do their part. In the scene above, we see Mary and Joseph at the Temple performing the rite of Presentation of Jesus. And they met a holy widow. That must have been a tremendous blessing! They would go to their home, and they would both faithfully raise Jesus and He would be taught everything he needed to know to be an adult and at thirty years of age would begin His Ministry- World Salvation.

God, in Jesus, did not need fancy things, He needed Love and hard-working parents. Can we apply this to our families? Following the Holy Family of Nazareth, we may participate in the transformation of society!

Merry Christmas!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Rejoice, Christmas Is Near!

Repair Our Lives!

We are close to Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus! And we have a Gospel Portion that challenges us to be ready to receive Him anew this Christmas.

Celebrating Jesus requires us to look at ourselves and see how our lives will welcome Him. Our Gospel Portion, St. Luke 3: 10-18, gives us St. John the Baptist’s Preparation Plan For Receiving Jesus. We read,

And the multitude asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than is appointed you.” Luke 3: 10-13

Sharing with those who do not have and being honest are keyways of being open and ready to receive Jesus anew. These are very concrete steps we must take to receive the Lord Jesus. We can open our hearts if we are charitable and honest in the way that we live our lives.

It is beautiful that it is an uncomplicated way to be open to receive Jesus!

This approach is an all-inclusive approach! It is a daily approach to receive Jesus, because Jesus is always available to be born again in our lives.

We need Advent every year so that we will do what we need to do every day of our lives!

Have a fantastic 3^rd Sunday of Advent!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Prepare A Pathway for Jesus!

Be Open and Receive Him!

As we come closer to the great Feast of the Lord’s birth, we are reminded that we must look at St. John the Baptist. Our Gospel Portion for today is St. Luke 3: 1-6. We read,

…the word of God came to John the son of Zachariah in the wilderness and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path…” Luke 3: 2-4

Christmas time is perhaps the most special time of the year and the season makes so many demands on us that we may forget that we need Christmas for our spiritual health.

We must make a pathway to receive Jesus anew in this very special Holiday Season! This is a decision we need to make for our spiritual wellness!

The pathway to receive Jesus will not make itself! Find time to read Holy Scripture and pray and in doing so, all the busyness of the Season will make more sense.

Focus on the Reason for the Season, Jesus, and peace will take over our preparations for the Season.

Happy Second Sunday of Advent.

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

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Have Hope!

Hope In the Lord!

We begin again the mystery of faith! Advent begins our yearly journey in the Word of God! Today we begin with the Gospel Portion, St. Luke 21: 25-36, and it is fearful scene, yet we must be hopeful through it all! We read,

“But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 2: 36

Our world can become dangerous and terrifying, but Jesus gave us the answer to our life situations in good times and bad times. That answer is to be connected to Him! We do this by prayer! Regardless of what we have to go through, and I am sure each of us have experienced terrifying times, peace is maintained in union with Jesus!

Jesus is the answer to handle everything life throws at us!

Happy First Sunday of Advent! May this Season fill us with Grace

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Jesus is King!

Let Him Reign!

We are coming to the end of another cycle of liturgical readings. Today we look at Jesus who we can choose to be our King. It always our choice, but it is the choice that leads us to peace. Our final Gospel Portion for Ordinary Time 2024 is St. John 18: 33-37. We read,

Pilate said to Him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” John 18: 37

We have followed Jesus many Sundays of 2024 and He has given the truth to us. We have followed Him from His Incarnation, birth, early life, mission, Passion, Death, Resurrection and Post- Resurrection appearances. We have experienced the Truth! We need to do this each year!

Let the Truth Set Us Free!

Reviewing the Holy Word, Sacred Scriptures, bathes us in the Truth. This Truth will free us from the lies of this world.

Jesus gave us Himself so that we can be truly our real selves. He will keep us free!

Happy Christ the King Sunday!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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