10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Cassie

In today’s gospel Jesus says that anyone who does the will of God His Father becomes  not only His disciple, but also His brother and sister and mother.

What is the will of God?  The will of God is what He wants for our fulfillment and  happiness.  Ultimately Gods’ will is for us to come to the happiness of heaven.   It is His plan to help us achieve our ultimate purpose of life.

On the one hand, whatever fits in with His designs for us can be called the will of God.  This would include getting what  we need for our physical, emotional and spiritual well being.

On the other hand, whatever interferes with His plans for us is not part of the will of God.  This would include anything that deprives us of our basic necessities, impedes our growth as persons or harms us spiritually.

In our life we sometimes have accidents, tragedies and misfortunes.  They are not part of God’s will since they produce so much pain and sorrow for us.  However,  even though they are evils, they can still be used by God to bring about some good that does fit into His plan for us.

There are certain things in our lives that are already determined by God’s will, we do not have any choice about them.  This would include things like being born, being redeemed and being destined to die one day.  There are also things about our lives yet to be determined.  With these we do have a say.  This would include things like vocation decisions, career choices and lifestyle preferences.

As disciples of the Lord, we sometimes have to surrender with faith our own desires to His demands.  But in doing so, what we gain far surpasses what we give up.

Doing God’s will can never diminish or impoverish us.  On the contrary, it will enlarge and enrich us.  Doing God’s will may be difficult at times, but it will always draw us into a deeper relationship with Jesus as His disciples and as His brothers and sisters.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on by Cassie

Do you believe strongly in Christ’s presence in the Eucharist?  On the Feast of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of the Lord), we have an opportunity to reaffirm our faith in the Eucharist.  This day we can take our stand and accept God’s covenant gift with us.  We can tell the Lord that we believe all He said at the Last Supper about the Eucharist.

During our journey through life we sometimes have to cross deserts, encounter accidents endure disappointments or suffer tragedies.  By ourselves we could never survive.  Left to our own strength we would give up.  That is why we need the Eucharist and the strength that comes from this sacred bread to energize our spirits.  This is why we need God’s special presence and power.

In Mark’s gospel we read how our Lord left the upper room and walked out to the Mount of Olives.  What He left was the Last Supper during which He instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist.  His walking out to the Mount of Olives was also something very sacramental and symbolic.  Jesus was showing that He was ready for His destiny and that He was resolved to lay down His life for us on the cross.

May this often be our own experience after celebrating the Eucharist.  Coming into church we may be afraid of what we have to face in the future.  But when we leave, may we be resolved to take up our cross.  Coming in to church we may have serious doubts about how to deal with certain difficulties.  But when we leave,  may we be filled with determination to do what God expects of us.

As we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass pray for faith in the Eucharist.  Pray for a faith which firmly believes that Christ is always present in the Eucharist, regardless of how absent He may seem to be at times.  Pray for a faith which believes that Christ’s power is always available to us, regardless of how helpless we may feel at times.  Pray for a faith which enables us to walk with the Lord to our own Mount of Olives and rise with Him in glory.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

The Most Holy Trinity

Posted on by Cassie

In the Creed we confess that there is one God, but three Persons.  Too often we have negative feelings about our faith in this mystery because we can not adequately understand it, let alone explain it.

The readings today take a positive approach to explaining the three divine Persons.  In the first reading from Deuteronomy it simply states in a very positive way that God is Lord of all, that He created us and that there is no other God.

St. Paul refuses to get fixated on our fears and on those things that enslave us.  Instead, he gets all excited about how we are led by the Spirit of God’s family, into true freedom and ultimate glory.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus doesn’t make a lengthy speech to the apostles about how they should explain the Trinity.  He just tells them to proclaim this teaching and to baptize in the name of the Trinity.

God the Father is the beginning and the end of all, the creator, the ruler.  He is the God who gave us the Commandments and the God we address as “Our Father.”  Jesus Christ is the only– begotten Son of God, the divine Word of God who took on human nature.  He died for our sins and rose from the dead to bring us eternal life.   Jesus shows us the God who heals and forgives us.  He also shows us the God who challenges us to higher things and sends us out to do His work.

The Holy Spirit is the comforter who is always with us, the Paraclete who teaches us.  The Spirit is the breath of God giving us new life, the love of God poured into our hearts, and the power of God enabling us to become His witnesses.

As we profess our faith this day in the Trinity of Persons in the one God, may we pray to them to help us become the kind of person we are meant to be— a true child of God Our Father, a living image of Jesus His Son and a consecrated temple of the Holy Spirit.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell