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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Jesus Remains, Trust in Him!

Life May Get Insane, Yet We Need Not Be Insane!

I our Gospel Portion for today, St. Mark 13: 24-32, we see the scene of the end of time. It is a chaotic scene, yet there is an important verse that brings hope to all the uneasiness of this scene. We read,

“Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away.” Mark 13: 31

It is wonderful that Jesus places this message in the end of His description of the end of time. Jesus gives us this gift because we will all have to experience the end of our time on the earth, and we will also experience the end of time of our loved ones and things that are important to us. Jesus reminds us that we are to hold on to His Words! They have the power to bring peace to our souls.

Chaos will happen, people will change and die, but none of us will be lost if we hold on to Jesus! We will have stormy weather, yet Jesus will guide us through the storm and bring us to a place of peace.

May we have Total Trust in Him!

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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The Widow Mite Challenge!

Are we able to give to the Lord our all?

Money is so important for our lives today, it seems strange that a poor person, a widow, would give so much money in the collection as the one mentioned in our Gospel Portion today (St. Mark 12:38-44). The widow has come down to us in history because of what she did about two thousand years ago. We read,

And He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came, and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. And He called His disciples to Him, and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put more than all those who contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living.” Mark 12: 41-44

The Widow is a challenge for us because she gives her all to God. It is much more than the amount she is giving; she is giving herself. This donation of hers is a sign that she has trust in God and that God will provide.

Are we ready to do the same? Here I am not saying to sell everything and give ourselves to God. But I am saying it is time to reflect on our relationship to God to make sure God comes first and let everything else flow from this relationship!

Sunday blessings!

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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