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Seek and you will Find A Reflection for Sunday July 27th 2008 By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFMission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy www.missionstsergius.org
The first reading for this Sunday is from 1 Kings 3:5 “The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” and it called to my mind another similar passages from Holy Scripture. One is found in Deuteronomy7 4:29 “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Another is found in 1 Chronicles 28:9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” and still another in Matthew 7 :7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Each of these passages are a solid reminder of God’s promise and love for ALL His children who embrace Him and seek Him for solace and forgiveness as well as healing and strength. Today’s Gospel from Matthew 13:44-52 relates the parable that Christ used to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. “Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” Once we have found the truth of Christ’s message and recognize that Almighty God, the Father and creator of all things is a loving, compassionate and forgiving God who has created all things good, we need to hold on to that message and value it as the most precious thing we have.In Paul’s letter to the Romans 8:28, which is the second reading for this Sunday, Paul reaffirms this knowledge by saying “ Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.” Combined, these words should hearten us and lift us up when we feel depressed, forlorn or abandoned. We need to remember that we are never completely alone as long as we hold on to the love of God and believe the message that Christ gave us. It is not the rules of man, or a church organization that should establish how God perceives us but what is embedded deep in our hearts. If we live our lives to serve God with our whole heart and with a willing mind, as the reading from Chronicles reminds us, GOD WILL NEVER REJECT US! Over the past week there has been much written about in the Boston and National press about the three women who were “ordained” to the “Catholic” church as priests. There have been statements by the Roman clergy and others about the validity of these ordinations. Among them this statement which to my mind was in direct contradiction to the Roman churches own teachings; “Christ had no female disciples”. The truth is that there were female disciples and the church has called them thus even to recognizing them as saints. They were Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus, Mary the mother of James, Mary the mother of Jesus and our Blessed mother, Mary Madeline on whose feast day I am writing this reflection and others. It was the women along with the youngest of the apostles that stayed with Christ through the entire passion and death on the cross while all the other apostles including Peter hid away in fear. As far as women deacons we find mention of the qualities a women deaconess must have in Paul’s letter to Timothy and in Romans when Paul talks about Phoebe a women deaconess. The reality of it all is that the Roman church has had in its past not only women deacons, but also priests and in the past has had married priests. So why the divergence of truth? I do not know for certain, but can only surmise that it has something to do with control, power and domination as well as finances.
Another statement was; “The Roman Catholic church is the only true church and salvations outside it is not possible”. This also contradicts past teachings since the church excommunicated Fr. Feeney for making that very same statement. If there is no salvations outside of the Roman church, I feel that an enormous number of God loving, fearing followers of the teachings of Christ who accept the basic truths of the Christian Faith as found in the Nicene Creed have been excluded from heaven by the Roman church which has placed their contradictory teachings above those of the writers of the scriptures quoted above. According to the readings I have used, it is God Himself who looks into our hearts and decides who will attain heaven. It is not any humans place to usurp God’s decision. We are taught in today’s readings; ““But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” “know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts If you seek Him, He will let you find Him” “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” God will NEVER reject anyone who comes to him and has faithfully followed his teaching to; LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU” Remember “God loves ALL His children exactly as He created them” Therefore, seek him with your heart, mind and entire being and follow Him with love toward ALL His children and you will have the gates of heaven opened to you. AMEN
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What is the Root of All Evil?
A Reflection for Sunday July 20th 2008
By Rev. Fr. Robert Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/Franciscans of Divine Mercy
www.missionstsergius.org
We often hear the expression “Money is the root of all evil” and sometimes it seems that it is very true.
All we have to do is look at the current situation in the world and more explicitly in the United States and ponder if that is not the case.
In reality the root of all evil is NOT money but man’s DESIRE FOR POWER and symbols of status; greed and the seeking of great wealth to increase one’s status in the eyes of powerful people, or jealousy over losing control over people because of a loss of status in the world of finance is the actual cause of the evil that often occurs. Money is an obvious measure of one’s status, so it’s easy to confuse the two.
The actual statement from which this expression came is; “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” and is found in Timothy, 6:10. Even some Religious denominations have succumbed to this desire for money not for humanitarian use but for status and the symbols of status and power.
This past week we have seen something we have not seen since the depression in 1934, long lines of people rushing a bank to withdraw their savings because the bank had collapsed. We have also seen people loosing their homes due to foreclosure because of the practices of unscrupulous banks whose only goal was to increase their stock value and the dividends to their stockholders and obscene salaries of CEOs.
Because of the actions of the business tycoons and greedy politicians millions of our low income and elderly citizens are suffering significantly, which is most certainly an intrinsic evil.
The reading from the book of Wisdom 12 for this Sunday talks about being kind to your brothers and sisters in Christ, which is every individual on the face of the earth. “You are mild in judgment, you govern us with great lenience, for you have only to will, and your power is there. By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people how the virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men” It is sad that our government leaders do not follow this kind of governing.
Kindness, Compassion, Justice, Mercy, and Charity are virtues that often seem to be in short supply in our world today. They have been replaced with the notion that we should live with the concept of “obscene salaries of CEOs”
In August 2004 Andrew Greeley wrote in the Chicago Sun Times; “The most serious spiritual problem in the country today is reckless and untrammeled greed. Greed caused the disgraceful corporate scandals that fill our newspapers. Greed is responsible for crooked cops and crooked politicians. Greed causes the constant efforts to destroy unions that protect basic worker rights. Greed has produced rash tax cuts that have given money to the rich and in effect taken it away from the poor.” Unfortunately things have not changed but only gotten worse. The oil companies continue to earn exorbitant profits which have caused the prices for gasoline and heating oil to almost double in the last year. Coupled with the fact that many of them hold the rights to explore for oil on vast tracts of land in and off shore the US that they are not using. This is an prime example of Greed causing great evil because it is hurting those who can least afford to be hurt, the poor, aged and ill.
In his comments in 2004 Andrew Greeley went on to say; “No one said during the bizarre deification of President Reagan that he taught us that greed is good and that we should feel good about our greedy country. Greed is the reason that the country is being run by the insurance, pharmaceutical, weapons and petroleum industries. Greed causes worldwide sex slavery of women and children.”
This situation has only gotten worse in the last four years.
One of the results of all this is that agencies like food banks, the Salvation Army and churches, our included, that attempt to relieve the suffering of the poor, aged and ill have experienced a great drop is their donations which have resulted in their inability to help all those who need it.
The time is now for every person who claims to be a God fearing follower of Jesus Christ to look deeply within themselves and seek the Holy Spirit’s help is making the changes necessary in ourselves to eliminate this source of evil from our mindset and help us to be more mindful of the needs of others.
Today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans affirms that; "The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. … and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well” from Romans 8:26 - 27
Let us rid ourselves of self indulgence and instead begin to find way to be charitable, compassionate , forgiving and most importantly, True followers of Christ by living as followers of Christ and loving, caring for our neighbor ( every human on the face of the earth) as Christ loved and cared for all He encountered. AMEN
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At the ripe young age of 73 and after completing three years as a priest and twenty five years as a deacon and more than 40 years as a teach I find myself asking many questions about the state of our life today versus the 40’s and fifties.
It is true that technology has made major advances in our lives but I also believe that we have lost a great deal as well. We can see world events as they happen and not in a News Reel at a movie theater days later. We can communicate with people on the other side of the globe instantly. We see pictures and videos immediately after we take them and can send them to friends across the globe within minutes of their taking. We have explored space and discovered cures for polio, tuberculoses, Measles and chicken pox. We have had some great advances but we have also lost a lot.
As a child we had to walk to school, for me the distance was about a mile and a half. We also walked home for lunch and back again and then home at the end of the day. That meant we walked 6 miles every day and then we would also engage in games in the neighborhood. Is that the reason we did not have so many overweight young people back then?
I remember that all our meals were cooked at home from vegetables grown in our own yard or delivered by The Green Grocer. There were no micro waves, convection ovens, instant meals or fast food places. We had our milk, butter and eggs delivered by Kennedy’s and Hood and bread, cakes and pies were often baked at home or by a neighbor and if bought it came from a local baker.
Weekends were family time and we would either have a house full or visit other members of the family. Neighbors had block parties and neighborhood cookouts. Holidays were family and neighborhood events. Sunday began with church and it did not matter what denomination you belonged to every person in the neighborhood went to the church or in the case of our Jewish neighbors, to synagogue on Friday evening and often on Saturday as well. Many Catholic churches had a daily mass attendance that was greater than what some Sunday masses have now.
Most stores were not open on Sunday which meant families had time to get together and bond.
Gang violence was almost unheard of and the worst thing young people did was to sneak a cigarette in the rest room or take a sip of dads beer. Hearing about a child bringing a gun to school or worse yet, killing someone was unconscionable.
Neighbors looked out for one another and I remember rationing during WWII neighbors shared with each other to make sure all had food enough for their family.
Parents never disputed a teacher when their child was found to have broken a rule of failed to bring tan assignment but usually supported the teacher completely and when it was an infraction the child received not only the punishment of the school but another from the parent.
Most public meetings and often sporting events began with a prayer by a clergy member of one denomination or another.
Professional sports were just that, sports that people played because they enjoyed playing them, and not the big business they have become making tickets out of reach for many families. Babe Ruth, DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Bobby Orr and Ferdinand (Fernie) Flannon never even dreamed of the salaries that today’s players expect.
When you went shopping the store clerks were courteous, knowledgeable and stores usually had a policy of “The customer is always right”. Made in America was the tag on most clothing.
I had the pleasure of seeing the original performances of THE KING AND I, OKLAHOMA, and many other Broadway shows, went to the circus, the Ice Capades, Ice Follies, Hockey Games, The symphony, Operas and other cultural events often. I can not afford to attend even one of them a year now.
Music & Art were a part of our curriculum in grammar school with the basic subjects of Reading, Math, Science, Grammar, Spelling, Writing, Geography and History. Schools had at least two if not three field trips a year to museums, historical places, and cultural events. These were at little or no cost and included in the school budgets.
So much has changed and as I have said previously but I am not certain that all the changes have made our lives more sociable, friendly and affordable.
People have little time because many have to work two jobs just to make ends meet.
Families rarely get together on a regular basis, People have little time to attend church weekly and certainly not on a daily basis.
I feel greatly blessed to have lived in those times and to have experienced all that I have. I am blessed to still be in contact with friends I knew in the first grade and my youth.
Students I had more than 40 years ago still keep in touch with me.
God has blessed me with many memories that I hold fondly in my heart and I worry and pray for our young people today for they face many challenges we never had to face and I believe are greater than those we did face and overcame.
The time is now for us to all reflect back on what we have lost and try to reclaim those things that made us the great nation we were that every other nation looked up too.
The time is now for us to return to a God loving people, not afraid to express and live our faith.
There is but only one God, One Creator, by what ever name you desire to honor or call him/her.
We are all children of God and everything in creation belongs to God. God made us the caretakers of this planet when as Geneses says "God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
Genesis 1:26 - 30
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Do You Hear God’s Teaching?
A Reflection for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Reformed Catholic Church International
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Divine_Mercy_Franciscans
For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me. Matthew 13:1 - 23
These words taken from the Gospel for this Sunday may very well describe the condition of our country and to the rest of the world.
It would appear that we as people have not learned much since Paul wrote these words in his letter to the Romans 8:18-23 “but creation still retains the hope of being freed, like us, from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God. From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free.”
Throughout history the children of God have sought to find a place where they were treated with respect and dignity and acknowledged for their inner self and not for their race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, or their wealth. Even in this country that proclaims to be founded on the principal that “ALL PEOPLE ARE CREATED EQUAL” distinctions are made because of a persons wealth, or race, creed, marital situation or sexual orientation.
Paul begins his letter to the Romans “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature ….And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."
If we are meant to please God one might ask how we do that. The answer, as far as I am concerned, is simple. We please God by first of all giving God the thanks and praise that He deserves for all He has provided us with and then we show compassion, respect, equality and charity toward all God children no matter who or where we encounter them.
Just as Christ told them many things in parables the word of God is not always clear to us and often given mistaken interpretations in order to meet the popular views of the time in order to maintain wealth and power.
In today’s Gospel we hear the parable of the sower who scattered seed and some fell along the edge of the path, some on rock, some on thorns and some on fertile soil. Only the seeds that fell on fertile soil grew and bore fruit, the rest died for one reason or another. So it is with the Truth of Christ’s teachings.
Jesus goes on to say in this Gospel; “Listen, anyone who has ears!…they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive. For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me.”
When we are true to the teachings of Christ and adhere to His teachings, giving Love to all God’s children as He gave Love to all He encountered, forgoing the man made rules that have caused division and suffering to so many, then and only then will we be true to Christ teachings and give honor and glory to Almighty God.
The family of God need to become a true loving, compassionate, caring, family and look out for the well being of every member of the family, not just the select few who meet our standards.
We need to work to end the violence, hunger, homelessness and suffering so many are encountering and find was to lift the sick, poor, and aged up so that they can enjoy some of life’s basic needs.
The Gospel reading ends with these words; “Happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path.”
Let us not receive God’s truth as given us by Jesus Christ and then go our way accepting only that which suites us and seek only wealth, power and material and physical pleasure, for when we do we give ourselves over to the temptations of the evil one and are in danger of loosing our heavenly reward.
All God’s children are precious to Him and should be to all of us who consider ourselves followers of Christ. AMEN
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With God, All things are possible. Have faith and trust always in God and He will be there beside you in all things. Be not afraid as long as you are truly serving the Lord.
27:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
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