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.

https://gofund.me/bc47edef

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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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

Be Kingdom People!

Let nothing separate us from the Lord!

We live in a world of many distractions and these distractions can get in the way of our relationship to Jesus. In our Gospel Portion today (St. Mark 10: 17-30) we see that at work in the life of one individual. We read,

And he said to Him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.”

And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and come follow me.”

At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. Mark 10:20-22

What keeps us from following Jesus in a more complete way?

We know from the reading above, this poor rich man had possessions that kept him from following Jesus completely. But things that we have that are important to us can do the same thing. Could it be the company that we keep? Could it be the places that we go? Or could it be our habits? Whatever it is, we know that the Lord is still merciful and is waiting for us to let go and let Him take control.

Each day we have an opportunity to let go and follow Jesus. He knows us and He loves us, and He has peace for us. He will help us surrender to Him and join His earthly kingdom!

Be Kingdom People!

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/3b910b57

Jesus Teaches Love!

Are we teachable?

Jesus’ disciples, in today’s Gospel Portion (St. Mark 10: 2-16), exhibited a behavior that was repugnant to Him. We read in the Gospel,

And they were bringing children to Him, that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw it, He was indignant, and said to them, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for such belongs the Kingdom of God.” Mark 10: 12-13.

What were the Disciples thinking? They seemed to misunderstand their Master!

Jesus wants all to come to Him! He has a blessing to give everyone. Unlike the officials in Jesus’ time who came to Him to try to trick Him, these parents sent their young ones to receive the blessing that only Jesus could give.

We are to be childlike! Our greatest desire is to be connected to Jesus, to live in His blessings! However, as adults we allow things to keep us away from being in the blest state with the Lord.

Total surrender means to come to Jesus just as we are and let Him take control.

May our motto be,
“Jesus, I surrender all to you, please take me and bless me and always keep me in your blessing.”

Being childlike in Jesus matters!

Happy Lord’s Day!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/561b35cd

We Must Carry Our Cross!

Peace is Found in Following the Lord!

Jesus helps us today with our Gospel portion, St. Mark 8:27-35. Here we see Our Lord dealing with who He is, what will happen to Him, and what His followers must do. Let us concentrate on this last part of the text. We read,

And He called to Him the multitude with His disciples and said to them, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow Me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8: 34-35.

There are two Crosses, selves, that exist in our lives. The first Cross is the one made by the world, and the other cross comes out of being a disciple of Jesus. If we hold onto the cross of the world, we are doomed because the worldly Cross follows the evil one. It leads to enjoyment of the things of the world in a self-centered way. Whereas discipleship of Jesus’ leads to participating in Divine Love. In doing so we find life in abundance.

Choose the Jesus’ Cross, though it is often one of suffering, it is the one way to peace.

Choosing this cross will change the way the world is if we carry our Jesus’ Cross faithfully. As the old children’s hymn states,

“The one way to peace is the Power of the Cross.”

Choose peace!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

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Be Opened!

The Lord Wants Us to Receive Him!

In our portion of the Gospel today we have Jesus healing a deaf-mute person and the message has something to tell us about our situation at times. We read in the Gospel of St. Mark,

And looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Eph’phatha,” that is, “Be opened!” And his ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he spoke plainly. Mark 7: 34-35.

The person healed by Jesus could hear the truth and speak the truth after his experience with Jesus.

Jesus is the Supreme Truth, and if we surrender to Him, we will be set free!

Our society may inhibit our healing from Jesus. Often Jesus is counter-cultural to the society that we live in. But all we need to do is to open up His Word and live His Word, He will heal our deaf-muteness!

Jesus is calling over us Eph’phatha, but are we willing to let Him take control?

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/3f1b25a2

Put Your Focus on Jesus!

Jesus Will Straighten Your Path!

Today in our Gospel Portion, we have a scene between Jesus and His Disciples and the Pharisees and the Scribes. Our focus on life is addressed. We see in St. Marks Gospel,

Jesus says, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of the person are what defiles him,” Mark 7:14-15.

Jesus tells His Disciples 2,000 years ago and He is telling us today that our focus matters. The Pharisees and the Scribes were taken aback by the Disciples not doing the ritual of washing of hands before meals. Their focus of the external kept them from hearing Jesus and with the end result, missing the message of Jesus and changing their lives.

What we focus on matters!

The external actions of others, the actions of people, must not keep us from Jesus and His message.

Distractions exist but do not let them keep us from knowing and loving and living Jesus!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace

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