I woke up early this morning to go to 8am Mass.  My friend and I are trying to go at 8am because there are so many distractions in the day that sometimes Mass just can’t happen.  8am is like, the “safe zone” where no one can touch your schedule and it’s too early for anyone to care anyway.  It’s also the perfect way to start your day. I should know that the reason I’m here standing at the end of this day is because God gave me the strength to power through it, and that began with the Eucharist I consumed this morning.

Today’s readings:

Acts 20:17-27
Psalm 68
John 17:1-11 

The two stories in the readings today talk about two leaders who are getting ready to leave their followers behind because it is now their time to go.  Paul is summarizing his journey from Asia into Ephesus and tells them of the journey he will soon make to Jerusalem.  But says to them that this will be the last time they see him in person for he does not know what will happen to him when he travels to Jerusalem, though only guided by the Holy Spirit.  And in the Gospel, Christ explains  how God will be glorified through Him, and that what Christ will be doing will be for the sake of all the people Jesus will leave behind. He commends His followers to God as God’s people and says that He will no longer be in the world, yet His people will be in the world as He is coming to God.

The way that the Priest described this in his homily was that of a legacy that was being left behind.  Just as a teacher has to let his students graduate and go out into the world, taking all they know and spreading that knowledge, so do Paul and Jesus have to leave their followers and rely on them to bring the Good News to the people of the world.  Jesus of course precedes Paul and even paves the way for Paul to begin his ministry.  But the theme is that they’ve both invested portions of their lives preaching and arming the people with all they need to know. And now it is time for them to go.  The priest described this with the word “fidelity”.  A faithfulness to a cause, which now can live on for generations through the people who are faithful enough to spread it.

How this relates to me?  Well, that needs some context too. I’ve been praying a lot about vocations, and that specifically my vocation [or that which I currently feel I am called to do] will bear fruit for God.  I want to be a father.  I want to have a holy family and raise good children.  I want them to learn from me and my wife how to be a Christian, how to be courageous, how to love, how to act, how to pray and be faithful.  I want them to do great things even long after they have left me, or I have left them.  And I want them to learn how to continue this teaching of faith to their kids, so it may perpetuate generations after I am gone.

I’ve had this recent revelation that what we do on Earth as Christian’s / Catholics today doesn’t just affect the present time.  Our faith and actions can change the world incrementally [I mean, if you look at the grand scale that is… “the world”… then “incrementally” is the right word], but know that there are ways that the results of our actions can have staying power.  If we can lead by example and get others to follow our lead [just like Jesus and Paul] then the mission of Christ can stay alive for generation after generation.  

This revelation has been made more personal when I realized that I can most affect this by raising a Catholic Christian family.  Evangelization really does “start at home”.  I think when this first dawned on me I was immediately taken back.

You mean I can really change the world?  ”Why yes. Yes you can. And you can change the world for the many people who are yet to be born and to live on this earth years before you die, through the simple gifts I give you today”.  

Ok, I mean I’m not there yet nor have I been granted said gifts [in the sense of children] yet.  I’m still praying that this desire is shared by God for me.  But do you get what I’m saying?  That’s an amazing thing to think about.  My preparation…  The countless daily noon and 8am Masses, the prayers, the Rosaries, the CLP’s, the hours of service, the acts of sacrifice and charity, the fasting, etc… everything that one may to do prepare them self for what we sometimes think is the pinnacle of our lives — the Sacrament of Marriage — may very well be only the beginning of the gift God is giving you.  And if you take care of it correctly and feed the fruits of your Marriage, your gift could blossom and could one day change the world.

Love.

Peace.

I emailed my Favorite Priest from St. Peter in the Loop to see if he would be open to being my spiritual adviser.  I pray that he accepts!

Pray for me.  Notice the dark period of my blog.  I have not had the time or diligence I initially wanted to maintain with blogging and reflection.  I hope that spiritual advising will help solve this problem.  Even if I don’t blog, at least I can discuss and reflect just the same.

Maybe I convert this to a semi-video blog?  We’ll see.

Thanks & God bless you.

As my grandfather lay on his death bed, gasping for air, surrounded by my aunts and cousins, I had no hesitation to want to go to Mass today. His condition was “unstable” [Lolo was just breathing heavily, with his eyes closed and head tilted to the side] and we were all uncertain of when he may pass.  I asked my sister and cousins if any of them wanted to go with me, and they had said no because they would rather spend as much time as they could with my grandpa.  This is the obvious answer, and I completely understood.  

It had been months since my grandpa was bed ridden and even less since our family had installed a hospital bed.  Since late last year our entire family had been preparing for this moment, praying, visiting, taking advantage of every last moment we could spend to comfort him and enjoy his company.  I was like the rest of my family and had checked in on him here and there.  However, it wasn’t just that. Our family has really been bracing ourselves to bear the coming of this day.  And to be honest, by now my heart wanted nothing more than my grandpa to go home.  That’s all I could say to him today, “Lolo, just go home”.  Home meaning to your maker.  Go to the Lord and go home.

I don’t hold anything against my siblings or cousins for staying with Lolo, there was no way Lolo would be alone today.  The reason I wanted to go to Mass today was so that I could play my role in a different way.  Lolo’s life was about to come to an end and we could all see it.  I saw it, and yes, I was sad.  But I’ve had months of uncertainty to worry and now that the time was nearing, my concern turned away from his comfort on Earth and toward the journey he would be embarking on in the afterlife.  I wanted to go to Mass because I knew it was time to pray to the Lord that Lolo’s soul would be taken into Heaven, because I could not bear the thought of my grandfather being anywhere else but back with his maker.  Spare him from the suffering of hell, and at least allow him to wait in purgatory, Lord.  But put Lolo Philip on the road to meet you, and to be received by you in Heaven.  I prayed this last night, this morning when I woke up, and at Mass today.

I’ve never experienced this before. None of my relatives have ever passed away when I was old enough to remember. This “fear” that the one you love may not be received into the eternal life in Heaven was legit, and at this point, the most concerning thing to me. It made me realize though, that I loved Lolo Philip so much.  So much that it wasn’t just enough for him to go in peace, but I didn’t want anything less than my grandfather to leave his earthly body and be received in eternal peace with Our Father in Heaven.  I would be devastated to think that Lolo wouldn’t be waiting there for me when I get to go home.  This was all I wanted, and today, this was my prayer.

At Mass I reflected upon this notion and I shared this with my aunties today at Lolo’s bedside.  As we were all telling Lolo to go home, I told them how I reflected on Lolo’s passing.  How he will soon have the privilege to pass through the gates of Heaven, and see God, Jesus, Mary, the Angels and the Saints.  And how Lolo’s wait was over.  ”We should be jealous of Lolo”, I said. He gets to meet his maker very soon and does not have to suffer on Earth anymore.

[Sigh] Beloved, if this experience has taught me anything, it is that the life we live on Earth is a temporary one; meaning the pain, suffering, and even joy and happiness (on Earth) are temporary.  Aspire to achieve the eternal life God promises us.  Our goal is Christ, and our mission is to be united with Him.  Lolo Filemon Trinidad Sr, achieved that goal and completed his mission today.

I love you Lolo.  Thank you for loving me and taking care of me all these years.

Mother Mary, pray for us. Plead our case to the Lord, that He may hear us and answer our prayers.  St. Joseph, pray for us.  All the Angels and Saints, pray for us.  Please pray for the soul of Filemon Trinidad Sr, that he may be reunited with his Father in Heaven.

Amen.

Peace. 

This is a copy of the email I sent to my girlfriend this morning. I’m currently reading “Rome Sweet Home” by Scott Haan which is why I bring up this book.  But the email I sent was a sharing of how I saw God’s beauty today.  I feel it’s appropriate to share with you, Beloved.

[Warning] You know what? I’ll keep some of the “cheese” in to keep it genuine.  XOXO hearts and kisses and unicorns and what not. [Hahaha oh grow up]  God is alive in my relationship too, no reason to hide that.  Amen?  Amen.

Hi sweetheart,

This is just a little sharing from my train ride in. So aside from you in my life, I realized that one of the most beautiful things in the world to me is when I witness (or in this case, read about) someone turning to Christ from a period of turning their back on Him. Like, you know how I love love love seeing God working in my life.  How much more beautiful is it to see God not just working in someone, but changing them right before your eyes?  It’s a miracle and a true grace that’s occurring.  We see the miracle of Christ in the Eucharist every day at Mass, but outside the walls of the Church God still works.  Sigh. I’m in love.

Anyway, I’m at a part in the book where the other converts (remember I said one did it before the other).  Man, I don’t know if I want to spoil the book by sharing about it and how I kind of relate, but remind me one day (if you ever read it) that I want to :)

Today I walked to St. Peter. I emphasize walked because I had time to walk. I had spent my entire morning working hard on a client deliverable. 9am brief meeting [seriously, who schedules 9am meetings?!], and after that it was a debrief, and right after that it was “get to it!”  At 10:30am it felt like it was 3pm! It just felt like so much had happened.  However, I got into the groove of things and was really able to crank out some work. I looked at my calendar and realized I had zero meetings that afternoon [I had taken care of my 3-4pm briefly over the phone] so I decided to go to Mass. In looking at my schedule, it dawned on me that I had nothing to worry about. The circumstances were perfect.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 1:1-2,3,4 and 6
Luke 9:22-25

The first thing I did when I walked into St. Peter was find a pew and kneel.  It was 12:05 and I had time before the next Mass started.  And I just had to thank God for my day.  It really was set out perfectly for me; not a care in the world.  But with not having any cares, I was able to 1) come before the Lord in pure joy and gladness, and 2) take time to pray for those who weren’t as happy as me.  It was a nice 7 minutes before Mass and just the kind of start I needed.

I love that today’s readings talk about choosing life.  Honestly, the old lady who did the readings today read a little fast, and I sort of got distracted.  The only thing I heard from the entire First Reading was “choose life”. It was only when the Priest reiterated that it was Deuteronomy and Moses speaking that I realized the slight context of the reading.  Anyway, “choose life” made me reflect on a few things.

One thing I immediately noticed [aside from the Priest starting the opening of the Mass kneeling in front of the altar] was that the candle holders and the crucifix were darker.  They were some sort of dark glass on the candles and the crucifix was made of black metal. It really looked like “death” had decorated the front of the Church. I thought to myself that this must be something they roll in for Lent, to represent either Christ’s suffering and death, or our death to ourselves.  But at that moment, what I realized was that Lent really is a season of Life.  And the words “choose life” resonated in that way with me. At the very end of the Lenten Season and the Passion, Christ is anything but dead, and we are anything but dead with Him. It’s because of Him that we are more alive than we were without Him!

My second thought came during the Homily as the Priest was recapping the readings.  When Christ says to deny one’s self, take up their Cross, and follow Him, His command is given so that the listener would choose life.  The second aspect of life that I reflected upon today was the —- [scratch of record] —- I’ll get to this after my next thought.

As I was sitting, listening to the Homily I also thought of those people who say “I’m going to live life to the fullest”. No doubt, I’m one of those people at times, and I don’t like turning down opportunities to experience the life God gave me [shoot, let me recap my trip to Australia, mmk?].  But what I more thought of was the attitude that one might take if they were critical of Christianity, and thought that the rules of the Church restricted life. I mean, people every day talk about the Church [and Christianity as a whole] as a “dictatorship”, an “oppressor women”, or “taking away your choice”.  Those things, if they were true, would certainly take away a lot of the freedom to, what some might say, “live one’s life to the fullest”.  Yes, it’s true my faith is the reason I’m not indulging in every urge to live a sexually active lifestyle, to partake in drugs or abuse of alcohol, or to give into temptations to think solely of myself and my desires.  But as a Christian, as a Catholic, we all need to realize that this faith of ours that, to some people, may restrict us from being free and “living life”, actually gives birth to a new life in Christ and preparation for eternal life!

So going back to my point from the last paragraph. To deny one’s self is necessary to follow Christ, yet at the same time when we choose to “lose our life” for Christ’s sake, we in turn gain a new life that no one can take away.

“What profit is it for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” I wish I were strong enough to be smart about this question when I live my daily life. Unfortunately, I’m not perfect and don’t always understand the implication of the answer to this question.  But through God’s grace, we’re occasionally given chances to understand that there is something more important in our lives than what we see, feel, sense, in this world.

Funny, as I was writing that last paragraph, it reminded me of my prayer before Mass.  My mind was so open and free that I had the clairvoyance [ooh big word] to ask God to allow me to see His graces and realize Him more in my life.  This after confessing that my vision has recently been cloudier than usual, but then to just ask Him to clear it up for me so that I can see Him working.  Literally, I asked for me to “sense” Him.  Which is also funny, because as I think of what makes us truly alive, it’s our ability to sense, know, and think.  You feel most alive when you have a oneness and awareness of the world around you. So how much more alive can you be when you not only sense the world around you, but sense the works of the Maker who gave you life!!! Open your eyes, ears, mind and heart to Him brothers and sisters. Hmmm… that was an unexpected perspective on “choosing life”. Thank you God :)

Okay, one last thought.  And this one came to me as I was heading toward my train home.  But today was just, so good.  As I mentioned, my day was prepared so perfectly for me today, and I was genuinely happy.  Not just happy, but thankful.  Again, so happy and thankful, that I could pray for those who I knew weren’t as happy and thankful as me.  It made me think of a goal I set for myself a long time ago where I wanted to reach a point in my faith where I could come to God in both my toughest times, but also in my most joyous.  Like my love and wanting of God would not be conditional.  Today I felt like I had achieved that level of faith.

“Jesus died for you, won’t you live for Him?”

Mother Mary, please pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Peace.

PS- I prayed it today, and the Memorare really is a beautiful prayer.

Heh. So I went to St. Stanislaus this evening for Mass and it was (as always) in half Spanish.  It’s funny because I didn’t even have a chance to hear the first reading or Psalm.  I’m looking them both up right now and I almost don’t want to read them.  Those were the only two readings read in Spanish when I went to Mass today and I’m sort of taking that as a sign that God wanted me to focus on the Gospel. …Ok, fine I’ll read them eventually, but after I reflect on the only one of the 3 readings I could understand. Ok? 

Here you go, Erik.

Today’s Readings

1Kings 8:1-7, 9-13
Psalm 132
Mark 6:53-56

One word describes the theme of my Sunday and Monday: “healing”.  As I was driving to Mass on Sunday I felt compelled to pray to God.  I had things on my mind so it wasn’t entirely random, and I get contemplative when I drive, but you could say that this prayer was somewhat of an impulse.  I said, “Lord, heal me from my sickness”.  It wasn’t a cry for help or a deep, dark moment of desperation [although I was serious about my request] but rather, what I’d like to call an act of faith.  Like, I know I can go to Christ for these things and I believe that if I do, He’ll heal me how He plans to heal me.

You can imagine my pleasant surprise then when I went to Mass and the Gospel reading was about Jesus Christ first healing Simon’s mother-in-law then spending an entire evening healing all the sick the people of the town brought to His door. To me that was what I needed to be reminded of, that Christ is a source for healing. But not just the healing of physical ailments or diseases, but also diseases of the soul and spirit.  Jesus is a healer of souls, and that simple request in my car followed by the related Mass readings was enough to remind me to believe in that.

So take that small experience on Sunday and add on the fact that I didn’t even understand two of the other readings at Mass today. It encourages me. The only reading that God allowed me to hear this evening was the Gospel.  And today’s Gospel was so short and simple too.  Christ crosses the sea, and as He gets out of His boat, crowds of people flock to Him bringing their sick for Him to heal them.  The sick lining the marketplace where He went, just waiting to touch the tassel of His cloak.

…the grace to know I am saved 

I am thankful, you don’t even know.  I could very well be blind to the fact that Christ is a healer and go on with my life depending on other things to “heal” me.  Things that might provide temporary senses of relief, but never absolute solutions.  Medicine can suppress symptoms or cure certain diseases, yes.  But how do you heal a hurting heart or battered soul?  How do you heal continuous sin or loneliness? What do you do when you feel devoid of love or hope?  The answer for me has been Christ.  The absolute for me has always been Christ.

Throughout my life, Jesus Christ has always been with me. Of course my family and friends have always been there for me when I needed them, but I can’t say I could have gone to them for everything. What I am thankful for is that I can go to Christ with anything, no matter how grave or insignificant my concerns are.  And it comforts me that Jesus was sent to this world to heal me. His purpose was to die for my sake.  Recall that my God did not die in vain.  And it’s for this reason that I believe that I am forever saved from any diseases the world may try to infect on me.

…receiving Him

The Priest said something significant at Mass today during his homily, and I reflected on this during my Adoration after Mass.  He made an example of the faith that the sick had. Many probably knew of Jesus’ fame, but some probably never knew exactly who this man was.  However, they knew that He had healing powers, so they reached out in hope that they steal a touch of the tassel of His cloak.  And as the Gospel says, “and as many as touched it were healed”.  Well, if those who were healed were done so by just the touch of His cloak, imagine how we are healed when we touch Him. When we receive Him during Holy Communion and partake of His body and His blood within us. How much more are we healed then?

…what is God trying to say?

I think God is trying to tell me that He is here. He also is saying to go to Mass more, because as I was driving away from St. Stanislaus I had on Catholic radio [950AM Relevant Radio] and I had just turned it onto a segment that was saying to seek the sacraments and aim to go to Confession at least once a month.  Keep diligent in this and you prayer and God will use you for great things.  Um… how much clearer can that message get.

[Um! Did I forget that on Sunday at St. Gertrude, we had our throats blessed for the feast of St. Blaise! Healing all up in this yo!] 

But yeah, you know what, if I had to boil it all down, I think God really is reminding me to seek His sacraments [outward signs, instituted by Christ, to give grace — graces such as healing yo!]. He really did point my eyes toward Him this weekend when I simply called His name.  God answered me, and He told me that if I want His healing, especially the spiritual kind of healing my heart was desiring, that I can get it through His sacraments. 

[Heh, look at that. I went from healing, to sacraments] 

Mother Mary pray for us. Be our advocate in heaven.  Plead our case to the Lord that He may hear our prayers and intentions.

St. Joseph, pray for us.  St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us.  All the angels and saints, pray for us.  Amen. 

Peace be with your Spirit. 

I was happy that I had time to carve out a moment to meet my maker yesterday.  Adoration was nice.  And the only revelation I had in kneeling before Christ was that I had absolutely no revelation.  The important thing to me was that I made time for me and my friend to visit Him.  And what was pertinent at that moment was all I focused on as I prayed.

Relationships are up and down and sometimes flat.  You don’t need a major event to mark the significance of a relationship, merely to acknowledge that it exists.  The significance lies in that. 

Mother Mary, pray for us.  Be our advocate in heaven.  Plead our case to the Lord that he may hear our prayers and intentions.

St. Joseph pray for us.

Peace. 

I got to work early today, at around 8am, and left by 6pm.  It was more or less a busy, yet manageable day for me, but I was able to get home and back to my car by around 6:40.  Recently, I realized that I haven’t made much time to go to Mass or Adoration lately.  And I don’t know what it was, but I had been kicking around in my head the notion of stopping by St. Stanislaus on the way home.  I knew that it would mean more to me that I was taking time out of my own free time to see Christ, versus some more convenient time [say, during a lunch hour at work].  Needless to say, when I got to my car I drove directly down Milwaukee to the Church.

To my pleasant surprise, I arrived at the Church literally minutes before Mass was about to start.  I thought I was going to attend a 20-30 minute session of Adoration.  But it wasn’t until I walked through the front doors that I realized it was just about 7pm and Stan’s has an English/Spanish Mass everyday around this time.  So I walked down the long aisle, past the intermittent rows of the few people who were there and took a seat near the front.

Immediately, I felt at home.  I felt that I was where I needed to be at that very moment.  As the opening rituals of Mass began I felt like I was “coming home”, which implies that I had left “this home” for quite a while.  And it certainly felt good.  I was secure, and at peace; protected from the world and the chaos of life outside the walls of this sanctuary.  And the best part was that I wasn’t under pressure to go anywhere.  I didn’t have the 1pm meeting to run back to or an afternoon of work to worry about.  God surprised me with the grace to meet Him, and granted me more of an experience than I was expecting.  I thought I was just going to stop in and say hello, but instead Christ greeted me at the door, “entering my roof” so to speak, and allowing me to receive Him, physically & spiritually.

And His presence at the consecration of the Eucharist.  Sigh.  I can’t even begin to describe how real it was.  The Priest brought consecrated hosts from the tabernacle and blessed them for a moment, and as I saw him praying over it all I could say and think was “This is real. You are here”.  Reader, I should have prefaced this by saying that one of my prayers has been to desire Christ again, and yearn for Him again. After not attending daily Masses or making time during the week for Adoration for quite a while, I wanted to make sure that my soul still felt the longing for Christ.  And when I knelt in the Church knowing truly that Christ was before me, my body was in pure anticipation to receive Him.

Today’s Readings
2 Samuel 5:1-7,10
Psalm 89
Mark 3:22-30 

A few things I wanted to reflect on:

1. Ever think how awesome the parallel between Jesus Christ as King and David as King is?  And how David foreshadows the coming of Christ through his story?  Jesus is to come from the House of David.  Both of them are “Kings” [though one of Israel and one of Heaven & Earth] that emerge in the most unexpected ways.  David is presented last of his brothers, yet is chosen to be anointed.  Christ comes not as a majestic king, but as a small, helpless baby born in a manger among animals and poor shepherds. And God chose them both to lead His people in their own ways.
2. “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” - Mark 3
   
   This verse always scared me, ever since I was younger.  The fact that one could possibly commit something that was unforgivable made me scared that I might once accidentally commit such an offense toward God.  Well, it still has that slight affect on me, but now that I’m older and more secure in my faith I know that is far fetched.
   
   Still… if you read the passage and listen to the accusation the scribes were making of Jesus, you begin to see how grave their offense is.  Committing the worst blaspheme you could, directly to the Son of Man.  Telling Him that He drives out demons through the help of demons.  He’ll forgive sins and blasphemies, but when you direct them at Him and the Holy Spirit, Jesus says that is unforgivable and an everlasting sin.  Dang…
   
   I think where we see this play out from a more modern / relatable perspective is that we cannot deny the Holy Spirit gives Life.  This is something the Priest said today to relate to the Pro-Life marches going on around the nation and in DC, and that is that we cannot deny the life giving nature of God’s spirit.  We live in a world that is divided against itself, especially when we think of the culture of death and the culture of life that exists in society.  Because we stand divided, our world is destined to fall if we cannot unite under a culture that promotes life.
   
   
3. Before ending Mass the Priest prayed the prayer of St. Michael, and asked for the intercession of Mother Mary, St. Joseph, St. Stan, and all the Saints.  I loved that Mass ended that way.  It reminded me to be weary of the devil and the many ways he tempts us.  It also reminded me of the summer when I was more fervent in my prayer and, you may say, more aware of the spiritual battle both inside and outside of me.  Lastly, it reminded me to continue to call upon the many advocates I have in Heaven who continually plead my case to the Lord and who I can ask for protection from everyday (even more so recently).  I am not alone in “this”.

On the way home I was listening to 950AM Relevant Radio, and I was reminded of a verse that a friend of mine shared just last night, about Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him, and Martha worrying about preparing the house for Him.  My entire experience at Church today was this break from the busy, and a conscious effort to let go of “my agenda” to sit quietly in God’s plan for me that very moment.  In that quiet time at Mass and after Mass, I prayed for all those I love and care about, and thanked God for the abundance of love He has shown me through those around me and His blessings.

God is good. God is love.

Peace. 

This is a brief reflection from a quick reading tonight.  I literally spent 5 minutes reading the Bible and got to this and stopped, but I think this passage means a lot so I want to share what I got out of it.

Love For One Another - 1 John 3:11-18

 ¹¹ For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; ¹² not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

 ¹³ Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his ^[a]heart ^[b]against him, how does the love of God abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Loving one another is such a simple phrase but the most complicated and difficult concept at times to grasp.  If our hearts were truly what God wanted them to be, this wouldn’t be so hard. We would not think twice to help someone in need, or to have faith in someone despite their flaws, to not gossip or lie for our own enjoyment, to not steal for personal gain, to not harm another one of God’s children, to give alms when we have the resources to.  

However, our hearts are not unselfish and temptation does not neglect to tug at our desires every moment of our life.  Therefore many times [if not all the time] we think of “how this affects me” first, which, when we choose ourselves over others, results in many of the selfish things mentioned above. And it’s the people who get over that initial hurdle of “myself” that continue to grasp the notion of loving one another.  When we move past our own desires and concerns, and begin to care for the concerns of someone else, we begin to love.  Then we help those in need, we have faith in others, we refrain from slander, we work for what’s just, we care for God’s children, and we give of what we can.

Verse 17 and 18 stick out the most to me.  If you have, yet see your brother in need and close your heart, how can you say you have God’s love in you?  Don’t just say, but do.  I feel that verse goes further than just giving money or serving, but speaks to acts of righteousness and goodness too.  May all you do be good and may it all be in truth.

Peace.

Recap:

• Gospel reading on Sabbath
• True meaning of Sabbath
• “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”
• Sabbath’s per the Catechism were intended for man to turn from servitude of economics and money
• It is not meant for us to completely turn from servitude towards others
• Daily Mass in the middle of the day is like a mini Sabbath 

Feast day: St. Anthony the Abbot

Quick bites because I’m at work!  I’ll elaborate later.

Peace.