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Believe in the Gospel

Today’s readings on this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, are all about reflecting and repenting. Jesus talks about repenting our sins and believing in the gospel and gathering followers (apostles). We saw this last week when Jesus picked up some followers in Andrew and Simon Peter.

However, the gospel today is more than just gathering followers. As I mentioned, it is about repenting and believing in the gospel. Believing in the kingdom. It may even sound like St. Paul and Mark’s gospel are at odds with each other as each passage today appears to contradict each other. I will get to that more a little later.

I would like to start with the first reading today from the prophet Jonah in Chapter 3. In the scripture, God tells him to warn the people of Nineveh about pending destruction God had planned for them because of their wicked ways. Jonah proclaims the news to Nineveh and the people believed and “proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.” (Jonah 3:5) God then saw how the people repented and withdrew his promise of causing evil and repented from harming them. So in this, I believe holding on to faith and having a full prayer life is important to maintain a fulfilling existence. This in turn can help with having a perpetual belief and faith in the gospel.

In Psalm 25 today, the psalmist is repenting and asking God for guidance and security through life:

“Make known to me your ways, Lord; teach me your paths; guide me by your fidelity and teach me, for you are God my savior, for you I wait all the day long. Remember no more those sins of my youth, remember me according to your mercy, because of your goodness, Lord.” (Psalm 25: 4-5, 7)

St. Paul tells the Corinthians “time is running out,” (1 Corinthians 7:29) whereas, in Mark’s gospel, Jesus says, ‘”This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.“‘ (Mark 1:15) How can the kingdom of God be at hand if St. Paul says the time is coming for fulfillment? I believe what St. Paul is saying, we may always have temptations and forget about the urgency of the gospel message and feel “the world in its present form is passing away,” (1 Corinthians 7:31) and that time may be running short. This, I believe, only perpetuates the need to believe in the gospel and to turn away from one’s sins to bring the gospel message to fulfillment.

In Mark’s gospel today, Jesus is referring to John the Baptist being arrested when he talks about the kingdom of God being here. For Jesus, John’s arrest meant the final moment when the old covenant was rejected, which now made room for the new covenant with Jesus. It is the good news Jesus brings in with the new covenant to bring about the new order of things. This of course comes to fulfillment with Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection.

Do not worry about present worldly things. Think about the good things, such as sharing the gospel and making “fishers of men,” (Mark 1:17) and living the spiritual life within the glory of God through Jesus in God’s kingdom.

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God Reveals, Manifests Himself to the Nations

Today, January 7, 2024, is the observance of Epiphany in the Catholic Church. This day is recognized as falling on January 6. Epiphany comes from Greek origin, meaning “revelation from above.” In 567, the Council of Tours set Christmas and Epiphany as special days in the Church on the dates of December 25 and January 6, respectively, and the 12 days in between became the Christmas season. In the Church, Christmas is celebrated more than one day. As mentioned, it is a season lasting nearly two weeks.

So, all the readings today have an interconnected theme or idea running through them. The day is a time when Jesus is revealed to the world to be the Son of God, who will become the savior of the world. At this time, Jesus is being revealed to Israel and the nations as referenced in the first reading. Through these readings, we discover the Gentiles will come to know the God of Israel.

Today we recognize Jesus is the Son of God and how that revelation came about on the day of his birth. This revelation came to the magi on their visit to the baby Jesus. The day also recognizes this epiphany at Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River as well as the miracle at the wedding in Cana (turning water into wine).

First I will dive in to the gospel reading for today. The idea of the revelation about Jesus is reflected in the other readings today. The gospel is the account of the magi visiting the Christ child. It is from Matthew, Chapter 2. The magi first go to King Herod and inquire about the newborn Jesus. The magi recite, more of paraphrase a passage from the prophet Micah, because Matthew’s passage also references another passage from Samuel:

“And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, since from you shall come a ruler, who it to shepherd my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:6, NAB)

This passage also goes back to King David, since Jesus was born from the line of David. 2 Samuel says, “…you shall shepherd my people Israel…” (2 Samuel 5:2, NAB)

Upon arriving, the magi offer gifts for the baby Jesus. The gifts of the magi – gold, because Jesus will be King; frankincense, because he will be a high priest; and myrrh is for the prophetic nature of Jesus being the Lamb of God – says they realized he was a newborn king and were prepared with the gifts they offered. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb for the redemption of the world. Jesus (God) not only reveals himself but he manifests himself to the nations. This is represented by the magi that come to visit. They made the choice to follow the star, bring gifts and pay the new king homage.

In the first reading from the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah proclaims that a light will come to Zion to bless the people. Darkness has come over the people through paganism, idolatry and such. Jesus will be the light. This should give us faith and hope in what God is doing for the chosen people, and for us now. Verse six states, “Caravans of camels shall cover you, dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and heralding the praises of the lord.” (Isaiah 60:6, NAB) This is in reference to the magi.

The psalm is from Psalm 72, and is a beautiful hymn of praise to the king of Israel, asking for the king to rule with justice and fairness. During this time, people were known to intercede for the king, offering prayers and praises because the king is human, giving only what he has received from God. The people realize God is worthy to be praised and offers the same for the king of Israel to rule with goodness on its people.

“O God, give your judgement to the king; your justice to the king’s son; that he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment. … May the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. May all kings bow before him, all nations serve him.” (Psalm 72:2, 10-11, NAB)

The second reading from the New Testament today illustrates further God revealing himself to the Gentiles (the world). In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he writes the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God to his apostles is written in the gospel. Paul states even the Gentiles are “coheirs, members of the same body…” (Ephesians 3:6, NAB) It is Paul’s point, at the beginning of the letter, everyone who believes and follows the gospel is a son or daughter of God:

“…if, as I suppose, you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit, (namely, that) the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly earlier. … which was not made known to human beings in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (Ephesians 3: 2-3a, 5-6, NAB)

How has God manifested himself to you? How do you respond with such a revelation? Take time today to reflect on this epiphany of Jesus as the Son of God, and always take time for God to give him his rightful honor and praise.

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Love and Be Blessed

Many times in our lives we may not feel blessed. Or we may not feel like we’re worthy of God’s love and blessings. We may go so far as to think, at times, that we don’t deserve His love and blessings.

In John 8, it begins with the scribes and the Pharisees who brought to Jesus, a woman who committed adultry. When he told those present that anyone without sin be the first to cast a stone upon her. No one did. And eventually, all of them went away. This represents God’s mercy and love. You can never be too far gone that you will not be able to receive God’s love.
This brings me to today’s verse.

Today’s verse I would like to share with you comes from Deuteronomy 30:16. It says, “For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”

It seems you are never too far gone. No one is ever very far away from the Lord. That’s what this verse says. We are all special children of God. We are blessed. If we obey what He has set out for us and follow in His ways, we are blessed. The first verse of Psalm 112 says, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in is commandments.”

There will be hardships and difficult times that we endure. But God is there. We may not fully understand the situations at the time, but know that He is there. Having faith is trusting in God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

As I said last week, to be a light for others. When you are blessed, you can go forth and share that blessing with others. You can be a blessing to them.

God wants nothing more than to love us. We are His children. We are His flock, Jesus is our shepherd. Set your hearts and mind to honor Him and keep His commandments, just as He told Abraham in Genesis 12:2, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

Here is a little prayer to ask God to help you love and be blessed: “God, please teach me how love and obedience work toether. Please help me to love You through obedience. And please help me to obey You out of Love. Amen.”

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Renewed Spirit

A couple of weeks ago at my church (of which I have been getting involved with again), there was a mission. It was a three night series and was designed to get back in touch with God. It was a great experience and was led by Fr. Ron Hoye, a Vincentian priest of the Congregation of the Mission. They are based in St. Louis and conduct missions across the country. The Catholic church I attend brought him to lead the mission. And in presenting this post I am not in any way establishing one way to look at things or one thing to believe. If you have differing beliefs or thoughts, that is fine. I am just presenting my thoughts, my beliefs. This, by all accounts, is my journey.

Background
Let me preface this by telling a bit more of myself. I was born and raised Catholic and always have had a belief in God, but not because it was what I was taught, it’s what I believed. But I guess it is, sort of, in a way because of what I was taught. But anyhoo, I always kept that belief and I’ve always had my faith.

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I carried that faith with me through my youth, through college, and then adulthood. There have been periods where I have felt I “lost my way,” and was looking for ways to get back in touch with my faith. I went back and forth like this in my early college years, and then in 1995 I transferred to the University of Central Missouri (then Central Missouri State University) in Warrensburg to finish my undergraduate college work, and eventually my masters.
I was able to get back in my faith by going on a retreat about mid-way through the first semester. It was an eye-opening experience for me. I never experienced anything like it before. I attended several of these retreats as staff to help others maybe gain an awesome experience as I did on my first retreat. For a while I stayed true. After college, I went back and forth for several years with my faith and attending mass when I finally stopped again for about another seven years.

Leaner-challenges

This year has been a year of changes for me. I moved out, away from my marriage (4.5 years at that point) and slowly began to find myself again. I have been attending weekly mass again and have changed jobs. I am much happier now than I was during the last half of my marriage. When this mission was announced, I decided to attend.

The Mission
The mission was entertaining, informative, spiritual, and uplifting. It brought me back on the path toward God and having a relationship with Jesus. That’s what the mission was about, developing and maintaining that personal relationship with Jesus.
Fr. Hoye was wonderful as he presented stories about personal experiences that challenged and strengthened his faith. He was personable to his audience and brought a recurring theme to mind when I attended those retreats in college. That theme was “Let go, let God.” Believe that in God, all things are possible.

The Main Thing
Something he did during the three days he spent here was at the end of the first night. He brought along several notepads of sticky notes. He told us to write three things down that we’re thankful or grateful for from the day before going to bed. Then, upon waking up in the morning take the note off and stick on the bathroom mirror (or some place where it would be accessible). Additionally, he said it has to be three different things each time. We can’t double up. It would be for about 25 days, because that is how many sheets of paper were possible in the notepad.
The exercise becomes more difficult to do as each day passes. I am a little more than half way through. It really makes you think and does put your priorities in perspective. In doing this, it also puts my faith in check. It keeps me on the path to do all I can to maintain that personal relationship with Jesus, despite what life brings my way. Even though I may get busy with work or other life issues (as has happened since the mission), I still stay true in my continuing journey with God.
One more thing about Fr. Hoye. He has written a book called “Awake.” It is intended for those who would like to grow more closer to God and have that more personal relationship. The book contains short stories and reflections on faith and following Christ. It is an enlightening and spiritual addition on the journey with Jesus.
For more information on parish missions, visit http://www.parishmissions.org.